Under Christ's Law

1 Corinthians 9-10

I've often wondered how best to express the condition that Christians are in with respect to the law. It is clear to me that the old covenant no longer applies since Jesus' sacrifice on the cross fulfilled the law, so in a very real way the 10 commandments are not law for us, but yet to ignore them would be a huge mistake. Paul depicts this condition very well in 1 Corinthians 20-21.

To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law.

The parentheses tell the story in the story that I was searching for... "I myself am not under the law, though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law."

Always the Bridesmaid...

1 Samuel 11-15

Seems to me that Jonathan is one of those people that never really got his due... he remained always the bridesmaid, never the bride. His father King Saul encouraged the Israelites to join him in battle, then led them into battle, but he never really showed the kind bravery and faith that Jonathan displayed in 1 Samuel 14. While Saul and his 600 men camped beside the pomegranate tree trying to figure what to do about the Philistine army, Jonathan and his armor bearer... approached a Philistine outpost, laid a fleece before the Lord, received the Lord's response, climbed the cliff to the outpost, then attacked and killed the 20 men there. The Lord used this attack to create confusion and fear within the Philistine army such that they began attacking each other. Later, after David came into the scene, Jonathan could have chosen to be jealous of David, but instead chose the more honorable route and supported David in his bid for the throne that traditionally would have been his.

Leah's Redress

Genesis 48-50

Revenge, reparations, redress... I don't know exactly what to call it, but the irony clearly demonstrates how God's ways are so very different than ours. In life and death, birth and burial, and for generations to come... Leah truly was first, except in Jacob's eyes. At first sight, Jacob was madly in love with Rachel and was willing to work 7 years for her hand in marriage, only to be tricked into marrying her older sister Leah, so he labored an additional 7 to marry Rachel too. Yet Leah's womb was the one opened by God, so that she conceived before Rachel, still Rachel was Jacob's first love.

In the course of time Rachel too conceived but her first-born was sold into slavery by his half brothers and she died giving birth to her second-born son. She was buried in a tomb on the side of the road to Bethlehem, while Leah lived to an old age and was finally laid to rest in the family tomb with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebecca. Many years later when Jacob died in Egypt, he made Joseph promise to bury him next to Leah.

And even though Joseph was to be ruler over his brothers, it was Leah's fourth son, Judah, who was to receive the richest blessing from Jacob, and from whose lineage was to emerge the kings of Israel. Interestingly enough, when Leah named her first three children the names she chose showed a bitterness and self pity... and her sons reflected it. Scripture does not explain why, but when she gave birth to her fourth son the name she chose reflected a newfound joy in the Lord saying "Now I will praise the Lord." It was this son who was to become father to kings.

Not Fit for a King

Mark 5-6

When Jesus visited the area of the Gerasenes he met a man who was possessed by a legion of demons. The people of the area did not know Jesus, but the demons did. The local Gentile population were more closely tied to Greek roots than Jewish, hence the abundance of pigs which would not be found in Jewish country. It is very likely that they did not know of the one true God, but instead worshiped pagan gods who had no power. So when they came face to face with the miraculous power of Son of the Living God, they were very afraid. Much like the Israelites at the foot of Mt Sinai, they didn't want to have to face God's power for fear of his wrath. But they loved hearing the second-hand stories of his works, but didn't want to get too close... so they begged him to leave. In essence, the feared that they were not fit for a King. How often do we tread the same path, wanting to hear the testimonies of other's encounters with God, but not so sure that we want to get that close. Father God, come close today. Let your face shine down upon me.

Sin Whispers to the Wicked

Psalms 36-38

Thus opens Psalm 36... "Sin whispers to the wicked" beckoning them come, deceptive in its quietude. In the garden of Eden, if the serpent had brashly ordered Adam and Eve to flagrantly defy the master gardener, they would have probably run away, but as it was, sin whispered them in. Once caught up in sin, their conceit keeps them from seeing their real condition... they make no attempt to turn back because they do not even know how far they have turned from true north.

Nothing much has changed since Eden or the heyday of Jerusalem. Sin still beckons... and the wicked still respond. The righteous trust in the Lord, but how easily we get distracted from the narrow path. When you think about it, it is nor smart. If you were traversing a narrow path where the stakes were great (like on the face of a cliff) wouldn't you keep a steely focus on the path and not look the left or the right. Why then do we get distracted by the whisper of sin as we travel the narrow path to heaven, where the cost of failure is so much higher?

God's Perspective

Jeremiah 1-6

As the Lord recounts the stages that his relationship with Israel has gone through, the question that runs through my mind is how he would characterize our relationship. In the honeymoon of their relationship,  he relates that the Israelites were eager to please and loved him, even as they passed through the barren desert. But then they started to stray away and the process of breaking his heart had begun... they defiled the land and corrupted the possession he had given them... they abandoned the fountain of living water by digging their own cistern that was cracked and couldn't hold water... and prostituted themselves with other gods and didn't even feel ashamed... and then pridefully declare that they have done anything wrong and wonder why God could possibly be angry with them.

Therein lies the core difference, it is bad enough that we create a crack in the relationship between ourselves and God by sinning, but when we don't even feel the shame of our sin, then we have completely abandoned the creator... the one who declared to Jeremiah “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” When his chosen people took this route, he unleashed an army from the north upon them. Do we really think so highly of ourselves and so little of God that would dare approach his throne with attitude?

True Treasure

Job 23-24

In the midst of his suffering, Job has the ability to declare... "I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread." I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread... oh that I could truthfully claim the same. Do I even want to treasure his words more than food? Christ clearly did. When tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread, he declared "People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." And later he told his followers "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again."

Job, who had never read the Word of God, believed this even in the midst of great suffering. Can I, living in the lap of luxury... having read all about it... believe it too? "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends." He bids me come... to believe and share.

Moral Relativity

1 Corinthians 7-8

Most conservative and orthodox Christians would emphatically deny the concepts of moral relativity, and I would agree with them... to a point. But a critical reading of 1 Corinthians 8 makes it difficult to be too extreme with this position. Hear me out.

When Paul discusses eating food sacrificed to idols, he says that food doesn't change our relationship with God, we are no better or worse if we eat or not. But... he goes on to say that those who think that eating food sacrificed to idols is sin become defiled when they eat. Furthermore, if seeing us eat, they choose to imitate us and thus become defiled, we are at fault. Is that not moral relativity?

The "S" Word

1 Samuel 6-10

Sometimes you just have to shake your head at the stupid things people do. Why is it that the Israelites never learned? Why is it that people today continue to fall into the same traps?

Samuel's sons were not like their father, they were greedy and corrupt. As a result the Jewish leaders went to Samuel and told him they wanted a king... so they could be like everyone else. Like everyone else? God's chosen people decided that they would rather be like the other people who had kings. Kidding, right? Nope.

Samuel was displeased, but God told him not to worry, the people were not rejecting Samuel, they were rejecting God. Then God told Samuel o explain to the people what would happen if they got a king. So he told them...

“This is how a king will reign over you,The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”

So they said "my bad" we don't want a king after all. Wrong. They said that they didn't care and wanted a king anyway. Stupid. People haven't changed much, they'd still rather have an earthly king, than a heavenly father. Sad.

 

More Than Just Saved

Genesis 44-47

Joseph brought his family to Egypt to live while there was still five years of famine left. So seventy Israelites moved to Goshen in the fertile Nile delta in the midst of a regional famine. Meanwhile Joseph continued to provide leadership for Egypt during the famine... by selling grain, Joseph eventually collected all of the money in Egypt and Canaan for Pharaoh, then he traded grain for livestock and soon Pharaoh owned all of the livestock, then he traded grain for land and soon Pharaoh owned all the land and all the people were his servants. And then a couple paragraphs later we read... "Meanwhile, the people of Israel settled in the region of Goshen in Egypt. There they acquired property, and they were fruitful, and their population grew rapidly."

Don't you just love that! While all of the natives of Egypt and Canaan were selling everything they owned to just get enough food to live, Jacob and his family thrived. They were more than saved, they were exalted. That is how it is to be in God's grace. Yes, Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood that we might be saved, but we are more than saved, more than conquerors even, we are exalted into the presence of the Father... for eternity. Woo Hoo! Praise God! Halleluia! Thank you, Jesus.

Sadness Fills His Heart

Mark 3-4

The intent of a man's heart is often revealed as much by the questions he won't answer as by the answers he gives. It was a Sabbath and Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. Jesus looked out over the crowd that was there listening to him. He saw Pharisees, he saw Jewish laymen, and he saw a man with a deformed hand. So he asked the man to come forward and he asked the crowd a question... “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

For the Pharisees, who closely followed the minutest detail of the law, this should have been an easy question. They nay have been wrong with their answer, but they "knew" what the law required because they had written it and held it over the people's head. So how many Pharisees answered his question? None. Not one. Because in their heart, they did not desire to know the truth, they just wanted to keep up the status quo, and Jesus was definitely altering their status quo. The condition of the heart was revealed by their silence to an all-knowing God-Man. Jesus was deeply saddened by what he saw in their hearts. When Jesus gazes into our hearts, is he saddened or does he beam with pride?

Taste and See

Psalms 33-35

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord! What a wonderful invitation. What is the proper response to one who merely speaks, and the heavens are created...who breathes and the stars are born? What do you say to one who understands everything you do because he made your heart? What gift can you give to one who watches over you, hears your cries for help, and rescues you from your troubles?

This trio of psalms lifts up the awesome might, worthiness, and righteousness of the Lord as a target of constant praise and adoration. The psalmist proclaims that "with every bone in my body I will praise him." It is only right that our response is one of unbridled adoration and praising all the day long.

Mighty To Save... Or Not

Isaiah 62-66

When I saw that Isaiah 63:1 contained the phrase "Mighty to save," I thought that surely I should blog about that since the song "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong United is so awesome... but God's Word is never that simple. God definitely has the power to save and is ready and eager to save us, but the bigger questions are from what and for what. Yesterday we looked at what a difference the knowledge of eternity would have made for Job, alas, Job never knew the joy this side of eternity, but Isaiah has been given glimpses into heaven... seeing the Lord on his throne, and in Isaiah 65:17 we see perhaps the first glimpse of eternity... "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth." Hallelujah! Mighty to save indeed. He will save us from weeping and crying, infant deaths, toiling in vain and more... but even better, he will save us for eternity... eternity with him. Good News!

What a Difference Eternity Makes

Job 21-22

Job is so flustered that he asks his friends to just listen to what he has to say and after he has spoken they can resume their mocking. The remainder of his rant is wondering why the wicked prosper while he is in agony. Perhaps, he muses, God will punish their children, but Job prefers that God would punish the sinner so that they would understand the judgement passed on them. In his pain, he wants to make sure that the sinners see the havoc they cause before they go to the grave. There is a bitterness to Job's rant, and then it occurred to me why Job is so distraught... he doesn't know about heaven. Yes, he has experienced tremendous loss and significant pain, but that doesn't explain it all. His relationship with God is much the same as all of his contemporaries, it is a relationship based on good things in this life... good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. But that is not the relationship that God want with us. God wants us to be so devoted to him, so in touch with him, that we can put off good things for a little while now, in order to share an eternity with him. What a difference knowledge of eternity makes!

Your Body is a Temple...

1 Corinthians 5-6

I think that those words have begun more Pharisaical attacks than perhaps any other. Whether it is over-eating, or smoking, or drinking, or just being a couch potato, it seems that nothing is off-limits to the body-is-a-temple police in trying to guilt someone into doing better. Mind you, I think that any of those activities can be sinful if they take us away from God. I like how Susanna Wesley put it:

"Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."

But using 1 Corinthians 6:19 to condemn any of these things is clearly a case of eisegesis. A simple examination of the text will show this to be true. Going back to verse 12 Paul says that everything is permissible for him (i.e. not sin)... but not everything is beneficial or profitable. He even specifically mentions food. BUT, there is something that is NEVER okay... sexual immorality. Why? All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. It is right here that Paul says that our bodies are temples. He is very clearly calling out sexual sin as different from other sin, because sex unites bodies, and to unite God with an immoral act is always sin. So by all means, let us treat our bodies as temples of the Lord where the Holy Spirit dwells.

Dedicated to the Lord

1 Samuel 1-5

Samuel, like Samson, was dedicated to the Lord by his mother at birth, but unlike Samson, Samuel remained faithful to the Lord. Samuel's mother, Hannah, had been barren and dedicated her son after the Lord opened her womb, giving him to Eli the high priest of Israel. While Eli's sons were sinning, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. To get a feel for how pure Samuel was... at the time he was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God.

In those days the LORD only rarely appeared, so when the Lord called to Samuel at night, Samuel thought it was Eli. When Eli realized what was happening, he instructed Samuel to say "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening" and God revealed his plans to Samuel.

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 

When I first read that line I thought that it was a characterization of Samuel's holiness and righteousness, that is, that Samuel didn't let any of the Lord's words fall to the ground. Having read the same passage in other translations, it appears to be a characterization of how God treated Samuel, that is, that God ensured that all of Samuel's prophecies came true. In either case, it is a testament to Samuel's life.

As an aside, I find that some of the funniest parts of the Bible are the places when the one, true God comes into contact with other people's gods. In 1 Samuel 5:1-4 we read... "After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained." I love that!

The Groom's Best Man

Genesis 40-43

Most of the major biblical characters have character flaws that place them clearly in the realm of regular sinners. Even though they have moments of great faith or courage or love... they also display doubt, fear and hatred. When the exceptions appear, they are conspicuous because of their differences. Joseph was just such a man. At every juncture of his recorded life Joseph took the righteous path... oftentimes at great personal cost.  Still, God's ways are unfathomable to me. When I examine Joseph's life, the only flaw that seems even remotely present is pride, yet even that is offset by his tender heart. It is easy to see that God used Joseph like he used Esther, to save his people. Yet in the end, Joseph was always second in command... the "best man" and it was David, a full-blooded sinner, whom God referred to as a "man after mine own heart." Hmm?

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

Mark 1-2

It is hard for me to read the beginning of synoptic gospels without thinking back 20 years to the time when Springfield Christian Church presented the Broadway play Godspell. Our friend Tom Heimbach opened the play in the darkness with a rendition of "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" that still resounds in my mind. Have you ever experienced God in a way that, try as you might, you can never repeat?  Somehow I think, that most of Jesus' active ministry on earth was like this for the people who were touched by it. In just the first two chapters of Mark we meet people who were

• Called to follow him
• Cleansed of demon possession
• Amazed by his teaching
• Healed on many diseases
• Forgiven of their sins... and so much more.

I have to think that many of them, years later, longed for an encore presentation from God. Perhaps after hearing that Jesus was crucified on a cross, they felt a deep sense of loss because they had never met a man like Jesus before, and now felt that they could never experience what he had done again. I wonder if any followed up on the crucification, to learn of the resurrection. Were there Galileans, who had witnessed his miracles at home and gone seeking him only to discover that he had died? Could they have possibly dreamed that he would rise again? Would they dare to believe that could happen too? Or did they start to doubt their own miracle? I wonder if any of them found the truth. How glorious that must have been!

I think they must have felt like those two who met him on the road to Emmaus... they said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” It changed their life. Prepare ye the way of the Lord... it will change your life.

Jabulani

Psalms 30-32

Jabulani is a Zulu word meaning come to bring happiness to everybody or rejoice. When the psalmist cries out to the Lord in Psalm 30 that the Lord would hear his pleas and have mercy on him, his resultant feeling was one of Jabulani... "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!"

Oh that we would likewise be filled with joy, not from worldly things, but from the knowledge that the Lord hears our cries and has mercy on us. In the short space of time that it has taken me to write this entry, each of my three children has come to me asking for help -- to fix a bike, to fix a computer, to find some pliers to make a stink bomb device. The world begs us to engage it and to be consumed by it. Moving into Psalm 31, we see the answer "I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God." The only true rescue we can find from the world is in the blood of Jesus. If we will trust in Jesus... trust in God... depend upon his ways, he will cleanse us from our sins and take our guilt away. "So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!" Psalm 32:11.

The Great Oaks

Isaiah 56-61

Growing up in Central Texas, we were surrounded by great oaks. While the Sequoias of northern California may be taller and the Baobab's of Africa wider, the great oaks (especially live oaks) have always been amongst my favorites. What does the Lord think of the oaks... he tells Isaiah that in their righteousness, those who mourn for Israel will be like the great oaks that the Lord has planted for his glory. He wants “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” — Isaiah 61:3, NIV

What a wonderful image! In the midst of sadness and mourning, the Lord will rain down blessings upon those whom he favors. Who does he favor... those who bring good news to the poor... those who comfort the brokenhearted... those who proclaim the captives release. Certainly his favor rests upon his Son who fulfilled this prophecy, but we are also invited to enter into his favor and grace.

The Difference a Relationship Makes

Job 19-20

Job's cries of pain in Chapter 19 are not the result of his physical distress, but rather the emotional loss he feels in God's apparent absence. Of course,we know that God is very present in Job's life and indeed our own, but it is clear that many things that happen in our lives (like the sin that Job's friends are so intent on laying on his shoulders) that can block our ability to feel God's presence. As sad as Job's lament is, how much sadder is the life that never feels God's absence because of unbelief.

Something to think about

1 Corinthians 3-4

"Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life." If Paul were to walk into our house, our Sunday School class, our church, would he speak as though to spiritual people or as though we ere infants. Something to think about...

The Lord's Choice

Ruth

God quietly turned the ancient world on its head while everyone was looking, and they didn't seem to notice. No ancient odds-maker could have predicted the lineage that God would use to get from Abraham to the Messiah's ancestor. To summarize:

• Generation 1: Choose second son (Isaac) over first son (Ishmael) who was born of handmaid
• Generation 2: Second son (Jacob) cheated first son (Esau) whom God hated
• Generation 3: Skipped to the fourth son (Judah)
• Generation 4: Fourth son again, but this time the son was conceived by his daughter-in-law under unusual circumstances when Judah thought Tamar was a prostitute.
• Generations 5-10 are known, but details are not available in scripture
• Generation 11: Boaz marries Ruth (a forbidden Moabitess) and Obed is born.
• Generation 12: Obed is the Father of Jesse
• Generation 13: God chooses the eighth son, David to be king and ancestor of the Messiah

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Our thoughts don't even come close. Thankfully, God is running the world.

Friends and Relations

Genesis 36-39

When Lauren was a little girl, I used to read to her every night. One of the books that we went back to time after time was a compendium of Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. I was always intrigued by Rabbit and the fact that he has good relationships with the minor animals in the forest, who are usually referred to as his "friends-and-relations".

From Genesis 36:15 we see that "the sons of Esau's oldest son, Eliphaz, became the leaders of the clans of Teman..." and from Job 2:11 we see that "three of Job's friends were Eliphaz the Temanite..." So Job's friend was a descendant of Esau, an Edomite. The Lord wasn't happy with Eliphaz' responses to Job, and indeed later the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Obadiah prophesied the destruction of the Temanites. Wonder what happened to the Shuhites and the Naamathites?

To add to the interrelatedness of the biblical characters, we find in Genesis 37 that Joseph's brothers sell him to some Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt who were descendants of their grandfather Isaac's brother  Ishmael. Finally there is the whole sordid affair of Joseph's brother Judah and Tamar who was married to two of his sons, and whom he later married after he impregnated her when he thought she was a prostitute. Friends and relations indeed.

God Steps Aside

Matthew 26-28

Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” With those words, the Son of God who had more than twelve legions of angels at his disposal (more than enough to handle the pitiful few gathered against him) allowed himself to be taken captive. Though it cost his son's life... though he wants something so much better for us... though it grieves his heart, God is willing to step aside and allow us to have our way.  Beware the soul who chooses to go it on his own.

Anapestic tetrameter

Psalms 27-29

Reading through Psalms 27 something struck me. It was one of those things that could only happen at the confluence of several very random events aligning, either that, or God's ways are not our ways. The factoids align like this:

• I can't keep the beat and don't have rhythm.
• Francis Chan preached a sermon in November 2008 that I just listened to yesterday.
• Lauren posted a blog entry on Tuesday, March 2nd
• I read the 27th Psalm today

Huh? Francis Chan's sermon about end times (heaven vs hell) included a section about the how children's bible stories don't really tell the gospel story. His example was that the story of Noah's Ark as told to children focuses on the faith of one (a good thing), but minimizes the horrible reality that millions perish because they don't know the Lord. Lauren's blog entry celebrated Dr Seuss' birthday. Since I can't keep the beat and don't have rhythm, when I read through the 27th Psalm, parts of it reminded me of the anapestic tetrameter (da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM) that Dr Seuss used to make his children's books so memorable.

My "what-iffer" started thinking. What if the gospel truths were put into a meter that would help children learn the truths of the gospel? No hidden truths disguised as cute children's characters, but instead gospel reality simply written in a style which draws and pulls the reader into the text so that the kids know not only the stories, but also the underlying truths. We know that the psalms were originally created in a style that was suited to the oral tradition of the time, but much of that is lost in the translation to modern English vernacular. Perhaps, I should dust off my poetic side.

His Thoughts, My Thoughts

Isaiah 51-55

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Foolishness... Power. My thoughts... His Thoughts.

Evidence of Evil

Job 17-18

Bildad does a silly thing... he asks Job "Do you think we are stupid?" And then, as if to punctuate his question he proceeds to give Job more ammunition to support his answer. In Life According to Bildad, the evidence of evil is very clear. You can tell a person is evil because...

• their lights are snuffed out
• their stride will be shortened
• they fall into a pit
• they are surrounded by terror
• hunger depletes thier strength
• disease eats their skin
• ...

Get the picture? In Bildad's view, you can tell a bad person because bad things happen to them. Hmmm... Job, in his righteous kindness, choose to ignore Bildad's question, but a thousand years later, Paul didn't. Though not directly referencing Bildad, Paul tells Timothy "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and imposters will flourish." Who will you listen to? Who will you believe?

Foolishness... Power... Foolishness... Power...

1 Corinthians 1-2

While the citizens of Rome were enchangted with the Glory of Rome, Greece's attention was elsewhere. The Corinthians pride was invested in knowledge. Paul knew this... he knew that to get the Corinthians to listen to him, they would need to be approached from the perspective of reason.Yet he knew even moreso that the path to a saving faith does not come through reason. Thus he declares...

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

Indeed, those who do not believe by faith, but reason alone cannot fathom how kingdom math works. Lose your life to save it... foolish. The least shall be the greatest... foolish. Find salvation up on a cross...foolish. Yet those who are foolish in the eyes of the world find true power in these words and in the eternal life promised by the one who lived them.

Do Whatever Seems Right.

Judges 17-21

There is precious little in the way of encouragement in today's reading. Instead, we get three or four vignettes that are each more discouraging than the previous, closing out the book of Judges without redemption. Following on the heels of Samson's tragic end, we find...

• The story of Micah, who stole a lot of money from his mother, only to return it when he heard that she has placed a curse on the thief. So how does she treat him? She rewards him with a fifth of the money which is used to make a silver idol for him "dedicated to the Lord." Huh? Then he hires a Levite to be his personal priest and assumes that surely the Lord will bless him now.
• Along comes the tribe of Dan (no relation) and they steal his idols, steal his priest, kill all the peaceful sidonian inhabitants of Laish and set up their new "home" with the idols. Oh by the way, they are not in the place that God had ordained for them (because that was too hard).
• Then there is another Levite who brings a concubine to his home in Ephraim, but she runs back to Jerusalem, so he goes to get her and gets sidetracked on the way home so he spends the night in Gibeah (since it is an Israeli town.) The next scene mirrors the scene at Lot's house in Sodom, when the men come to the place he is stayig and ask for the owner to send out the new guy so they can have sex with him, but he will only send out the women whom they rape and kill. The Levite is angry they killed her (doesn't seem real angry about the rape though) so he cuts her up into 12 pieces to send one to each tribe of Israel.
• The tribes seem upset about getting these body parts so they get together 400,000 troops and go to his house, but he tells then the story so they go to kill the entire tribe of Benjamin. In the first two days of battle, 40,000 Israeli troops are killed in battle and finally on the third day, the rest of Israel manages to kill off all but 400 survivors from the tribe of Benjamin. Then they feel bad for the remaining Benjamites (because they will die off and be gone forever) so they kill off the entire family of Jadesh-gilead (because they wouldn't help destroy the Benjamites) and steal their virgin daughters to give to the Benjamites, then allow the few reamining Benjamites who don''t have a wife to steal one of their daughters (because they took an oath that they wouldn't GIVE their daughters on marriage).

Perhaps most tellingly, the book of Judges ends with the following: "In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." No kidding. Left to our own devices, we exalt the degradation around us, and degrade that which should be exalted. For all have sinned and fall short. May we never use our own eyes to decide what is right!

I Don't Get It

Genesis 32-35

Sometimes I just don't get it (my children might argue that I seldom get it... but thats a different story). Some biblical stories just don't seem right. How could the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob put so much faith in his chosen ones? Especially Jacob! By earthly standards Jacob and his kids were just rotten... .even evil. It seems that at every step they do the wrong thing. Just in today's four chapters we see...

• Jacob cowering before the prospect of meeting his brother Easu.
• Jacob conniving to win his brother's favor by bribery.
• Going so far as to call Esau "lord" even when he knew that his destiny was to be Esau's master based on the blessings that he stole from Esau.
• Even after meeting Esau, he again deceives Esau by saying that he would follow after him, then went the other way.
• Then his sons take retribution against an entire village because the son of the village leader raped their sister. They didn't limit their retribution to the offender, but instead, deceived the men of the town into becoming circumcised, then murdered them all, then stole all their stuff, and enslaved thier children and wives.
• To top it off, Rueben, the oldest son slept with his father's concubine.

It is this hardy band of people to whom God says “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.”

Really? This is really his chosen people? I don't get it! BUt God does, and he is Ell Shaddai -- God Almighty. He knew Jacob's heart. He knows mine too. What does he see there?