The Scapegoat

Leviticus 16-18

When Aaron took the two goats as a sin offering for the people of Israel, he was to cast lots to see which goat would be sacrificed and which goat would be driven out into the wilderness as the scapegoat, with all of Israel's sins upon it. I wonder what happened to the scapegoats. It was sinful to the Israelites to capture the scapegoat and pretend it was yours, so what happened to them? Did they wander aimlessly for years, or did God later take them after they had served their purpose?

Did They Understand?

Luke 21-22

On Jesus' last night with his disciples, he broke bread and shared a cup with the Passover meal. At the end of the meal, he shared another cup with them then offered them a gift of immeasurable worth. He said... "I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom." Wow!

I have a feeling that this phrase meant very little to them at the time, almost as though it were just more words on top of the other words Jesus spoke that night. I wonder if they really understood the gift that Jesus had just bestowed on them. It's not like he never said anything like this before... he had. It is just that when Jesus spoke truth, there was power behind it. It wasn't just a gesture to thank them for their faithfulness. It was the greatest invitation in the history of the world. And the part that's even better, is that the invitation still stands... for us! Hallelujah.

One Day

Psalms 84-86

The Psalmist would rather spend one day in the courts of the Lord, than a thousand elsewhere... rather be a gatekeeper in God's house than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. Conceptually, he is saying that the scraps from God's table are better than the choicest morsels from the banquet table of the wicked. At the conceptual level it is easy to say "Me too," but in practice it is much harder to follow through. The practical outworking of this desire must begin with vision of the possibilities of living in God's shadow, then following up with a true intention to shun evil in favor of righteousness, and then the means of making it happen will be brought before us. Do we have the same desires?

Entertaining Sermons

Ezekiel 31-36

The notion of spectators listening to a sermon as entertainment is not new. Sometimes we get the notion that today's sinners are better or worse than yesterday's, but the reality is that there have always been hypocrites in the pews.

So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it!

 Do we fall into the same trap? Will God speak a prophetic word to our leaders and say the same thing of us, or will we hear the word of the Sovereign Lord, and then act upon it? If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

The Classic Battle

Proverbs 10

From the beginnings of mankind the classic battle waged inside the hearts and minds of men has been the battle between good and evil. Proverbs 10 lays out many of the natural consequences of that battle via comparisons and their logical out-workings so we get paired...

A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother.

These verses are not meant to predict the exact consequences of a particular action, but rather to provide a backdrop to showcase the nature of the differences between good and evil. Only an unbeliever would choose evil.

Life Verse?

Colossians 1-2

I've never been a big fan of life verses, but some people for whom I have a lot of respect think highly of them. Perhaps I've never run across a verse at the intersection of my desires and God's desires for me. There is a verse in today's reading that could be just that...

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

Paul's admonition to his friends at Colossae was to make sure that they made their decision on a true reading of scripture and not just what others had to say about the matter. I have become more and more convinced lately that part of the reason the the church in America has so little spiritual power is that it has become a business in so many ways. Likewise, it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish Christian workers from their worldly counterparts. What would it be like to live not according to "human tradition" or by the "common sense" principles of the world, but rather based on what the scriptures actually say? That sounds like a life worth living.

Run Away

2 Kings 6-10

Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail hardly qualifies as fodder for a blog on scripture since it is far more sacrilegious, than sacred... but there's a part in the film where King Arthur and the Knights attack the Killer Rabbit and the King says "Charge" and they all charge the bunny rabbit and the bunny attacks back and the king says "Run Away" and the knights say "Run Away, Run Away." Today's scripture reminds me of that dry Monty Python style British humor.

Meanwhile, Elisha the prophet had summoned a member of the group of prophets. “Get ready to travel,” he told him, “and take this flask of olive oil with you. Go to Ramoth-Gilead, and find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends, and pour the oil over his head. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you to be the king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run for your life!”

Somehow the notion that a prophet of God should have to run away after anointing someone to be king is rather humorous to me. To Jehu's army pals, the prophet seemed more a madman than a comedian, but they also thought it odd... then they helped Jehu kill all of Ahab's family, including Jezebel, so that God's word would be fulfilled. Am I tuned in to God's Word well enough that I hear his voice and obey... no matter how silly it may sound? Hmm...

Purity in All Things

Leviticus 13-15

The book of the law of the priests contains many rules regarding disease and discharges... almost to a disturbing level. Why? Why so many rules regarding how to recognize disease and ritually purify those with a disease, but no instructions on curing the diseases? Why so many rules about natural bodily discharges and accounting someone unclean because of them?

I don't know, but it occurs to me that above all else, God was trying to get the message of purity and holiness into the hearts and minds of his people. When even naturally occurring emissions can make a man unclean, then clearly intentional sin leads to impurity and uncleanliness. We must be careful with everything to ensure that the holiness that God credits to us is not wasted by our inattention to detail.

Dumb as a Rock

Luke 19-20

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, the crowd cheered his entrance... they waved palm branches and shouted "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven" The Pharisees were angry that he did not rebuke the people for saying these things. Jesus's response had to catch the Pharisees totally off guard... “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” The rocks may be dumb, but even they know their creator, and they can't help but cry out in his presence. How smart are we?

An Unknown Voice

Psalms 81-83

Imagine the feeling of hearing an unknown voice say "Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you." Once saved by the unknown voice I would want to know more about this one who saw my troubles and lifted my burden, and saved me. Having learned that the voice was the one who created the heavens and the earth... and that he cared about my personal problems, I'd want to get closer to him... to never let him go. I'd tell my children about him and my grandchildren and any who would listen. I would never pursue other gods... until I did. God is so full of patient loving kindness. I do not deserve the blessings he has rained on me and the burdens he has lifted, but praise God that he has.

Pride of the Nations

Ezekiel 25-30

After the last of Judah was taken into captivity, God turned his wrath on the nations surrounding Israel. God spoke a prophetic word to Ezekiel regarding the nations. God handed the Ammonites and Moabites over to the Babylonians because they gloated over Judah's demise, and to the Edomites and the Phillistines who took revenge on Israel, God ordained that they would fall by the sword of Israel and God himself respectively. So what punishment should befall Tyre who had grown prideful due to their success at trading or the Egyptians who had grown prideful by claiming to have created the Nile? Tyre was to be demolished beyond recognition and buried beneath the sea, Egypt was to be given to the Persians and become an also-ran... never to rule again. The sin of pride runs deep in a man's heart and a nation's heart... pride that turns the man or nation away from the creator... and God will not allow it to continue.

Wisdom Worship

Proverbs 8-9

I can't shake the feeling that Proverbs 8 and 9 may cross the line from appreciating wisdom to worshiping wisdom. Wisdom is a wonderful gift as long as it is kept in its proper place. Solomon was not able to effectively harness the power of the wisdom he was given and though he achieved many great feats, in the end he suffered as did the Kingdom of Israel.

Enemies of the Cross

Philippians 3-4

Paul wrote to his friends in Philippi... "For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ." If today's enemies are anything like the enemies in Paul's day, they exist both within and outside the walls of the church. Sadly, many of the enemies of Christ may even think they are friends of Christ, but he told us that in the last days there will be some who say "Lord, Lord" and he will say "I never knew you" which is really to say... "You never knew me, and you didn't really ever want to." No wonder Paul has tears in his eyes. It is a sad fact that too many people in the pews, don't even know that they don't know Christ. How can we open their eyes, hearts, and minds?

Faithful and Faithless

2 Kings 1-5

The start of 2 Kings presents a real contrast between the faithful and the faithless. The measure of faith in a person cannot be predicted by one's status in the world, but it plays heavily in one's status in the next.

• King Ahaziah sought counsel from the god of Ekron, not the one true God... he died in agony.
• Elijah the prophet had faith in God and rained fire on his would be captors... he was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.
• A poor widow had faith and lived abundantly because of that faith
• A wealthy woman had faith and shared of her abundance, she was blessed with a child, who died and was brought back to life because of her faith
• Naaman the Aramean general had faith and was healed of leprosy
• Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, lived in the shadow of a man of great faith, but had not faith and lived out his life with leprosy as a result.

These six people couldn't have been more different from a worldly perspective, but God does not judge from a worldly perspective. He judges the heart within, so a foreign general who battled the Israelites is blessed, while an Israeli king is cursed. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...

Never Think Pride is a Small Sin

Leviticus 10-12

It is easy to get into the habit of thinking some sins are smaller than others, and perhaps no sin is easier to regard as small as pride when it occurs within one's own self. Pride sneaks up in so many insidious ways... for Nadab and Abihu it came in the form of offering incense to the Lord. It might seem that they performed a righteous act, but God judges the heart, not the action. Through his eyes, he saw the second highest priests in the land...

put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord.

Whether they were caught up in the emotion of the day wanting to be a part of what was happening, or they intentionally disobeyed God's commands, one thing is clear... God examined their actions and found them wanting. He needed priests that would put God first and set aside personal wants and desires. God still searches for servants who will put him first and themselves last.

A Servant's Life

Luke 17-18

We started a new sermon series at Mulder this week called Serve - Real Life Stories from Mulder. Lisha was the real life story and she did a fantastic job preaching God's Word. Today's lesson from Luke 17 is a tough one for a would be servant of Christ. Too often when Christians perform a work of service they look for feedback in the form of thanks, etc.... but what did Jesus say about this? "When you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’" Is that what your church looks like... a bunch of unworthy servants, simply doing their duty?

The Favored Son

Psalms 78-80

By all accounts, Ephraim was poised to be the lead tribe coming out of Egypt. Though the younger of Joseph's two sons, he was given the special blessing by Jacob before his passing... but his ascendancy never really materialized. In Psalm 78, Asaph is similarly struck by the fact that Ephraim followed after false gods. Perhaps the Egyptian bloodlines of his mother predisposed him to follow after other gods, because the tribe of Ephraim although numerous and strong consistently disappointed. As a result of Ephraim's sin, God rejected Ephraim and chose Judah to lead his nation.

Freewill and Destiny

Ezekiel 19-24

The concept of free-will is just as muddy in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. The Israelites waffled back and forth between the one true God Yahweh and fake gods fashioned by man of wood and stone. But the God is a jealous god and does not desire to share his bride with any other. The one whom he has bought for a price, he intends to keep.

“You say, ‘We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols of wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will rule over you with an iron fist in great anger and with awesome power. And in anger I will reach out with my strong hand and powerful arm, and I will bring you back from the lands where you are scattered. I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will judge you face to face. I will judge you there just as I did your ancestors in the wilderness after bringing them out of Egypt, says the Sovereign Lord. I will examine you carefully and hold you to the terms of the covenant. I will purge you of all those who rebel and revolt against me. I will bring them out of the countries where they are in exile, but they will never enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

 If God is this jealous over his people in Israel, be assured that the price he paid for us is even higher and his jealousy even greater. He desires that none should perish, but we go on playing the fool. Our destiny is union with God, but we must be holy and faithful and set aside all other gods that would steal our hearts.

Another Warning About Immoral Women

Proverbs 7

There are many scriptural warnings about the dangers of immoral women, yet very few passages that sound the alarm from the opposite male perspective. I wonder why. Are womoien just inherently more sinful? Does Eve's part in the sin of Adam play into this at all? I have a theory, it goes something like this... Men are rotten to the core, so when an immoral woman tempts a man... then sin is likely to occur. Adam's sin was not Eve's fault, but God knows how much control women have over men, so when a man is tempted by a woman, he often fails. This is what is so scary about today's society... many women are not only not saying No, but they are tempting men in areas that men are weak. In Solomon's wisdom, he wanted his son, and sons to follow, to beware of immoral women... stay as far away from them as possible, because they will lead you to death.