Thursday, March 21, 2013
Perspective changes everything!
It amazes me the impact a little perspective has (or would have in this case). Ruth is lamenting the deaths of her husband and two sons, and rightly so. She makes the statement, however, “I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.” (Ruth 1:21) From her perspective this might have been true, though she did have a loyal daughter-in-law (see Ruth 1:1-18 to understand the context) that she seems to be forgetting her. From our perspective, we know that Ruth would become the great-grandmother of King David and would be a part of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 1:5). My, how a little perspective changes everything! Would that we would keep this in mind in the midst of our own trials and tribulations.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Angry God of the Old Testament?
“1 And the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, 2 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath. 3 Thus says the Lord: I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. 4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. 6 Thus says the Lord of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the Lord of hosts? 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, 8 and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.’” - Zechariah 8:1-8 (ESV)
So often we hear of people talking about the God of the Old Testament as angry. There certainly are plenty of verses in the Old Testament which mention God’s wrath (verse 2 being one of them) because of sin, but I’m afraid this aspect of God does not give us the whole picture of God. In fact, it’s but one side of who God is. There are many other aspects to God’s nature and revelation in the Old Testament. This text, along with many others, reveals another aspect of God: his jealousy.
Though we tend to think of jealousy as a negative thing (i.e. someone else has something we want), there are legitimate manifestations of it. For example, a wife should be jealous if her husband commits adultery. Because of their love for one another expressed in covenant, his affections are not to be given to another. This is a fair parallel to God and Israel. He has chosen her and called her His own; she is His. He has been faithful to her. She has been unfaithful to Him, whoring after other gods/idols, and He is jealous for her affections. This is not a negative thing. In fact, if God were not jealous, something would be terribly wrong with his love for her.
God’s jealousy for His bride helps us better understand His wrath. Just as a husband would be angry at his wife’s infidelity, so God hates sin and is storing up wrath toward those who are unfaithful to Him.
God’s goal is revealed at the end of verse 8, “they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness” (ESV). God calls us to be His people, to make Him our God, and to do so in faithfulness and righteousness. Making Him our God involves more external activities such as going to church, reading the Bible, or singing some songs to Him. Those can be done in the flesh. No, making Him our God is a matter of the heart. It is being faithful to Him as a bride is faithful to her husband and inviting Him to rule our hearts which leads to righteous living. Just as a loving wife desires to please her husband, so should we desire to please God in the way we live.
Texts like this give us a deep and robust understanding of God’s love, a love that doesn’t simply hate sin, but also redeems us from sin (see Zechariah 3:4 which points to Christ’s imputed righteousness in 2 Corinthians 5:21) and jealously calls us into an intimate loving relationship with Him. With the Spirit’s help, may we likewise hate our sin and cling tightly to this Lover of our souls, and may this love for Him produce the fruits of faithfulness and righteousness in our lives.
So often we hear of people talking about the God of the Old Testament as angry. There certainly are plenty of verses in the Old Testament which mention God’s wrath (verse 2 being one of them) because of sin, but I’m afraid this aspect of God does not give us the whole picture of God. In fact, it’s but one side of who God is. There are many other aspects to God’s nature and revelation in the Old Testament. This text, along with many others, reveals another aspect of God: his jealousy.
Though we tend to think of jealousy as a negative thing (i.e. someone else has something we want), there are legitimate manifestations of it. For example, a wife should be jealous if her husband commits adultery. Because of their love for one another expressed in covenant, his affections are not to be given to another. This is a fair parallel to God and Israel. He has chosen her and called her His own; she is His. He has been faithful to her. She has been unfaithful to Him, whoring after other gods/idols, and He is jealous for her affections. This is not a negative thing. In fact, if God were not jealous, something would be terribly wrong with his love for her.
God’s jealousy for His bride helps us better understand His wrath. Just as a husband would be angry at his wife’s infidelity, so God hates sin and is storing up wrath toward those who are unfaithful to Him.
God’s goal is revealed at the end of verse 8, “they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness” (ESV). God calls us to be His people, to make Him our God, and to do so in faithfulness and righteousness. Making Him our God involves more external activities such as going to church, reading the Bible, or singing some songs to Him. Those can be done in the flesh. No, making Him our God is a matter of the heart. It is being faithful to Him as a bride is faithful to her husband and inviting Him to rule our hearts which leads to righteous living. Just as a loving wife desires to please her husband, so should we desire to please God in the way we live.
Texts like this give us a deep and robust understanding of God’s love, a love that doesn’t simply hate sin, but also redeems us from sin (see Zechariah 3:4 which points to Christ’s imputed righteousness in 2 Corinthians 5:21) and jealously calls us into an intimate loving relationship with Him. With the Spirit’s help, may we likewise hate our sin and cling tightly to this Lover of our souls, and may this love for Him produce the fruits of faithfulness and righteousness in our lives.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Genuine faith or just going through the motions?
"6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:6-8 (ESV)
In light of Micah 3 (the sins of Judah's leaders) and 6:9-12 (the sins of the people), this text (and many others) points to the fact that God is not pleased with us going through the motions. Sincere motives will lead to holiness. Faith leads to obedience. I fear too many in the church in America have professed faith in God, yet their lives give no evidence of that faith. They may even go to church every Sunday, yet their actions reveal their true hearts, just like those in Judah to whom Micah is writing.
For me, this begs the question, “Am I like that?” Are there times when I just go through the motions with my heart (and as a result my actions) unaffected? There are. Just like those in Judah, I need God’s grace to open my eyes to see my sin and bring me to repentance that I may find forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Unfortunately for Judah, we never see evidence of this grace in their lives, and I fear that will be the case for too many in the American church today.
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:6-8 (ESV)
In light of Micah 3 (the sins of Judah's leaders) and 6:9-12 (the sins of the people), this text (and many others) points to the fact that God is not pleased with us going through the motions. Sincere motives will lead to holiness. Faith leads to obedience. I fear too many in the church in America have professed faith in God, yet their lives give no evidence of that faith. They may even go to church every Sunday, yet their actions reveal their true hearts, just like those in Judah to whom Micah is writing.
For me, this begs the question, “Am I like that?” Are there times when I just go through the motions with my heart (and as a result my actions) unaffected? There are. Just like those in Judah, I need God’s grace to open my eyes to see my sin and bring me to repentance that I may find forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Unfortunately for Judah, we never see evidence of this grace in their lives, and I fear that will be the case for too many in the American church today.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
God speaks
"When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, 'Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.'" - Hosea 1:2 (ESV)
God speaks. He reveals Himself to people. This has been true throughout the history of the world (Hebrews 1:1-2). He predominantly speaks through Scripture. But what are we to do when we receive a word to which Scripture does not directly speak? For example, I was set to speak to a group of people one time when, about ten minutes before I was to speak, I had a very strong impression that I was to speak about something completely different (which I had previously studied). How are we to determine if messages like this are from God or from our own thoughts?
In reading Hosea 1:2, I have to ask myself, “How exactly did God speak to Hosea? Did Hosea hear an audible voice? Did God put thoughts into his mind? Was there some other way God communicated to him?” The text doesn’t say. It simply says that God communicated a message to Hosea.
The text is likewise silent about Hosea’s response to this message, except to say that Hosea obeyed it. It doesn’t tell us if Hosea doubted whether or not this message was from God. In fact, I cannot think of a single example in the Bible where the recipient of a direct message from God doubted that it was indeed God giving the message.
Hosea’s example here is striking because of the message itself. If anyone had reason to doubt the author of the message based on the content of the message, Hosea did. “Take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom...” This is preposterous! There are no Bible verses to support the content of this message.
I have to wonder, “Did Hosea question this word from the LORD?” If he didn’t doubt that it was indeed a message from God, did he oscillate in his response, or did he simply go forward in obedience? I can’t imagine marrying a prostitute was an appealing prospect for Hosea. Yet the text gives absolutely no indication on any negative, questioning, or faithless response in Hosea. It simply tells us that he did what God told him to do.
I believe the concept of the recipient knowing for sure when God was speaking is an important aspect for those who seek to “know God’s will” in our day and age (though there are certainly many more points to be considered with regards to knowing God’s will). Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
This begs the question for me...do I know God’s voice? I can think of times when I can say with much certainty, “God spoke to me.” There was a weightiness or sense of God’s presence that convinces me it was God speaking in those times. I can think of many other times a thought comes my way, and I wonder, “Is this God speaking, or are these simply my own thoughts?” To be honest, I can’t say with any degree of certainty which it was to this day (which makes me think these thoughts were probably not direct messages from God). In any case, the point is this: When God speaks, the recipient knows it was God speaking. And when God speaks, we must obey.
God speaks. He reveals Himself to people. This has been true throughout the history of the world (Hebrews 1:1-2). He predominantly speaks through Scripture. But what are we to do when we receive a word to which Scripture does not directly speak? For example, I was set to speak to a group of people one time when, about ten minutes before I was to speak, I had a very strong impression that I was to speak about something completely different (which I had previously studied). How are we to determine if messages like this are from God or from our own thoughts?
In reading Hosea 1:2, I have to ask myself, “How exactly did God speak to Hosea? Did Hosea hear an audible voice? Did God put thoughts into his mind? Was there some other way God communicated to him?” The text doesn’t say. It simply says that God communicated a message to Hosea.
The text is likewise silent about Hosea’s response to this message, except to say that Hosea obeyed it. It doesn’t tell us if Hosea doubted whether or not this message was from God. In fact, I cannot think of a single example in the Bible where the recipient of a direct message from God doubted that it was indeed God giving the message.
Hosea’s example here is striking because of the message itself. If anyone had reason to doubt the author of the message based on the content of the message, Hosea did. “Take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom...” This is preposterous! There are no Bible verses to support the content of this message.
I have to wonder, “Did Hosea question this word from the LORD?” If he didn’t doubt that it was indeed a message from God, did he oscillate in his response, or did he simply go forward in obedience? I can’t imagine marrying a prostitute was an appealing prospect for Hosea. Yet the text gives absolutely no indication on any negative, questioning, or faithless response in Hosea. It simply tells us that he did what God told him to do.
I believe the concept of the recipient knowing for sure when God was speaking is an important aspect for those who seek to “know God’s will” in our day and age (though there are certainly many more points to be considered with regards to knowing God’s will). Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
This begs the question for me...do I know God’s voice? I can think of times when I can say with much certainty, “God spoke to me.” There was a weightiness or sense of God’s presence that convinces me it was God speaking in those times. I can think of many other times a thought comes my way, and I wonder, “Is this God speaking, or are these simply my own thoughts?” To be honest, I can’t say with any degree of certainty which it was to this day (which makes me think these thoughts were probably not direct messages from God). In any case, the point is this: When God speaks, the recipient knows it was God speaking. And when God speaks, we must obey.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Do I really believe God is good?
I find Jeremiah 44:15-19 very interesting. The people are evaluating who to worship based upon how their lives are going. They feel that this “queen of heaven” was better than YHWH at making their lives good. They reason that they had plenty of food, prospered, and saw no disaster when they made offerings to her. When they stopped making offerings to her, their fortunes reversed.
I wonder how many people (including myself) do this today? It’s easy to point fingers at the prosperity gospel as a relative of this kind of thinking. But I’m not going there. I’m thinking of those (including myself) in Christ-centered gospel-preaching evangelical churches. Do we evaluate the reality and worthiness of God based on our prosperity? When things go well, we praise Him. When things go poorly (at least from our perspective), we tell ourselves that God is good, but do we genuinely believe it inside, or is it just a theological “belief” in our minds that we doubt in our hearts?
“God is good.” is a truth that must press deep into our souls. We must realize, not simply in our minds but rather in our hearts that we are not intended to be the evaluators of this truth. God isn’t letting us decide or evaluate what circumstances are “good” or “bad.” We desperately need His perspective on the circumstances of life.
I wonder how many people (including myself) do this today? It’s easy to point fingers at the prosperity gospel as a relative of this kind of thinking. But I’m not going there. I’m thinking of those (including myself) in Christ-centered gospel-preaching evangelical churches. Do we evaluate the reality and worthiness of God based on our prosperity? When things go well, we praise Him. When things go poorly (at least from our perspective), we tell ourselves that God is good, but do we genuinely believe it inside, or is it just a theological “belief” in our minds that we doubt in our hearts?
“God is good.” is a truth that must press deep into our souls. We must realize, not simply in our minds but rather in our hearts that we are not intended to be the evaluators of this truth. God isn’t letting us decide or evaluate what circumstances are “good” or “bad.” We desperately need His perspective on the circumstances of life.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
God’s loving discipline – wooing His people back to Himself
Leviticus 26 blew me away this past week! Verses 1-13 talk about God’s blessing on His people for their obedience. Certainly in light of mankind’s depravity, ANY blessing from God is undeserved. Yet God promised exactly that for the Israelites. Unfortunately, they did not obey God, despite these wonderful promises.
The rest of the chapter, verses 14-46 talk about discipline for disobedience for the Israelites. Look at how God does this (Scripture quotations from ESV):
“14But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16then I will do this to you…”
“18And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins…”
“21Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.”
“23And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.”
“27But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins.”
“40But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”
We know from history that the Israelites did disobey. The thing from this chapter that stood out to me wasn’t that God was vindictively punishing the Israelites for their disobedience, but rather how God was wooing His people back to Himself through loving discipline. The discipline becomes increasing more severe for the Israelites the more they disobey. The point isn’t God becoming increasingly angry at the Israelites for their continued disobedience. What God is doing is increasingly bringing discipline on them so as to bring them to a point of repentance. In a sense, God is doing whatever He needs to do to get the Israelites to repent. God’s heart in this is love for the Israelites. In their disobedience, they are prostituting themselves and serving other gods. Through discipline, God is lovingly wooing them back to Himself, the King of kings, Lord of lords, the God above all other gods. Disciplining them is the most loving thing God could do in the midst of their disobedience. And the fact that the discipline starts out light and becomes more severe shows that God was trying to woo them back to Himself, not unlovingly punish them in anger. The best evidence of this is the way the chapter ends in verses 40 and following where God talks about how He will graciously remember His covenants with their Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if they repent.
Leviticus 26 represents a type (Webster’s Dictionary: “a person or thing (as in the Old Testament) believed to foreshadow another [as in the New Testament]”) of the gospel message in the Old Testament. Just like Israel, all of mankind is sinful and repeatedly and continually runs after other gods. The penalty for this sin against God is death. God mercifully and graciously paid the penalty for our sin in the death of Jesus Christ. Just as He did with Israel, through discipline God lovingly woos mankind unto Himself so as to bring us to repentance (Hebrews 12:1-13). He graciously blesses those who repent with all kinds of blessings (Ephesians 1:3), just as He promised to bless Israel.
To God be all the glory for His wonderful gospel!!! Father, in your mercy, enable me to always respond favorably and quickly to Your loving discipline.
The rest of the chapter, verses 14-46 talk about discipline for disobedience for the Israelites. Look at how God does this (Scripture quotations from ESV):
“14But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16then I will do this to you…”
“18And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins…”
“21Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.”
“23And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.”
“27But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins.”
“40But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”
We know from history that the Israelites did disobey. The thing from this chapter that stood out to me wasn’t that God was vindictively punishing the Israelites for their disobedience, but rather how God was wooing His people back to Himself through loving discipline. The discipline becomes increasing more severe for the Israelites the more they disobey. The point isn’t God becoming increasingly angry at the Israelites for their continued disobedience. What God is doing is increasingly bringing discipline on them so as to bring them to a point of repentance. In a sense, God is doing whatever He needs to do to get the Israelites to repent. God’s heart in this is love for the Israelites. In their disobedience, they are prostituting themselves and serving other gods. Through discipline, God is lovingly wooing them back to Himself, the King of kings, Lord of lords, the God above all other gods. Disciplining them is the most loving thing God could do in the midst of their disobedience. And the fact that the discipline starts out light and becomes more severe shows that God was trying to woo them back to Himself, not unlovingly punish them in anger. The best evidence of this is the way the chapter ends in verses 40 and following where God talks about how He will graciously remember His covenants with their Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob if they repent.
Leviticus 26 represents a type (Webster’s Dictionary: “a person or thing (as in the Old Testament) believed to foreshadow another [as in the New Testament]”) of the gospel message in the Old Testament. Just like Israel, all of mankind is sinful and repeatedly and continually runs after other gods. The penalty for this sin against God is death. God mercifully and graciously paid the penalty for our sin in the death of Jesus Christ. Just as He did with Israel, through discipline God lovingly woos mankind unto Himself so as to bring us to repentance (Hebrews 12:1-13). He graciously blesses those who repent with all kinds of blessings (Ephesians 1:3), just as He promised to bless Israel.
To God be all the glory for His wonderful gospel!!! Father, in your mercy, enable me to always respond favorably and quickly to Your loving discipline.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Identity
13Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” – Exodus 3:13-14 (ESV).
A thought hit me as I was thinking about this verse. God’s identity was based solely and purely on Himself. “I AM WHO I AM” could also be translated “I AM WHAT I AM.”
Not so with me. I’m always looking for something outside of myself to base my identity. If someone would ask me who I am, I would answer things like: child of God, husband, father, friend, youth director, etc. My identity is always based in relation to someone else or something else.
Not that this is a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it was God’s design. “26Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” God designed us to find our identity in Him.
My struggle is that I so often base my identity in other things, especially things I’m good at (relative to other people) or try to be good at. In a way, I live my life as if I have to earn my identity. I’m not just a child of God; I want to be a good Christian. I’m not just a husband, father, friend, or youth director; I want to be a good husband, father, friend, and youth director, etc.
The reality is that God chose me before the world began (Ephesians 1:4) and loved me even while I was a sinner (Romans 5:8). There is nothing I can do to gain my identity in Christ; He already did it for me!
A thought hit me as I was thinking about this verse. God’s identity was based solely and purely on Himself. “I AM WHO I AM” could also be translated “I AM WHAT I AM.”
Not so with me. I’m always looking for something outside of myself to base my identity. If someone would ask me who I am, I would answer things like: child of God, husband, father, friend, youth director, etc. My identity is always based in relation to someone else or something else.
Not that this is a bad thing. On the contrary, I think it was God’s design. “26Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” God designed us to find our identity in Him.
My struggle is that I so often base my identity in other things, especially things I’m good at (relative to other people) or try to be good at. In a way, I live my life as if I have to earn my identity. I’m not just a child of God; I want to be a good Christian. I’m not just a husband, father, friend, or youth director; I want to be a good husband, father, friend, and youth director, etc.
The reality is that God chose me before the world began (Ephesians 1:4) and loved me even while I was a sinner (Romans 5:8). There is nothing I can do to gain my identity in Christ; He already did it for me!
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