Psalm 12:
Seems like an appropriate Psalm for the day we begin the 2016 political voting cycle.
We see a group described as having flattering lips & a double heart, meaning people who may say and do the right things, but not with the right heart. Is that too cynical of me to relate that to our political system? I am not actually one that believes that all politicians are that way, it just seems many that get ahead are.
Probably many of us though are just as double hearted in our own worlds as well, we just don’t have it displayed on TV. Have you ever said and done the right things for the wrong reasons? Me too! So this Psalm is also describing us.
On the other hand there is the Lord. His words are pure described here in the Psalm as being like silver tried in a furnace seven times. This means the purity of His words are of the highest degree possible and it is on this that we trust the promise that we can be kept in the care of our God, that we can be preserved from the wickedness of the generation we are in.
Psalm 13:
David lives out the journey of a Christian. The beauty of the Psalms to many are how relatable they are.
From sorrow to singing the journey of the faithful.
Psalm 14:
Almost this exact same Psalm with only minor alterations is repeated in Psalm 53.
Calling someone a fool in the Bible is strong language (v. 1)
Fool: Biblically defined, “refers to someone who is morally deficient.”
We can believe there is no God not only by literal denial, but also by living in such a way as if there were no God. In other words you don’t have to be an atheist to be a fool. You can be a card carrying Christian and still be a fool if we live as if there is no God.
Those are my thoughts today in my reading of Psalms 12-14
Tomorrow’s Reading: Job 9 & 10
You may recall on Day 24 we read about the cities of refuge where someone whom killed another individual unintentionally could escape to, in order that they may be protected and have a fair trial. I find it of intrigue that in chapter 21 of Joshua we see the cities of refuge were cities that were allotted to the Levites—the priests—the pastors. Is this in order that judgments against individuals might be dealt with or mitigated in a merciful way? Or could it just be that these cities were within just a short distance of everyone and thus this put the Levites within a short distance of everyone? Or maybe both? The latter would make sense in that the dispersion of all the cities the Levites received (48 total) on a map we can see the dispersion of them indicates that the rest of Israel was never far from the Levites who were responsible for the religious education of the people. God wanted Israel to remain connected to His Spiritual leaders.
Chapter 22 is a positive example on how to solve conflict. The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh did something that offended the rest of Israel. Israel was ready to go to war against them and destroy them, but before they did they sent messengers to let Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh know what they believed their grievance to be. When these tribes heard of this, they did not become defensive instead they gave explanation, a logical, and reasonable explanation at that. Such that the rest of the tribes were happy to hear the explanation and rejoiced that there would be peace.
Imagine that: We’re upset, let’s go explain why we are upset. Oh we’re sorry we didn’t mean it the way it was taken. Here is what we meant. Oh that makes sense. Well let’s not have conflict then.
Amazing how proper conflict resolution tactics can save all of us from a world of hurt!
Joshua 24 is a review of the history of Israel. We saw Moses do similar and it is done often throughout the Bible. Reviewing history is a good way of teaching truth. And I believe the reason Joshua did it and others can be summed up in the statement that Ellen White wrote,
“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” Life Sketches p. 196,
Oh that we would remember such a truth!
Finally at the conclusion of Joshua we find one of the great verses in scripture,
“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (24:15)
And with that we will close this post and the book of Joshua with one of my favorite all time songs:
There are so many things that struck me about today’s reading I am going to go chapter by chapter.
Chapter 16:
I believe 16:2c is phrased the way it is for a reason,
“And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” (italics/bold mine).
This phrase “listened to the voice” conveys more than just the meaning of hearing the words, it means to also pay attention and embrace the thought, the concept, the way of acting.
God said to Adam, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife” (Gen. 3:17)
And you can find many other instances of this phrase in the Bible and it always involves an action related to or inaction in response to a specific concept/belief.
What is the “voice” or belief Abram listened to in this case?
“Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.” (16:2a).
The worst thing Abram did was not the act of sleeping with Hagar, yes this was bad, but it was the belief that lead to this wrong action that was really the sin. The belief that God could not do what He had promised He would do for Abram without the help of alternate methods, in this case Hagar. Most of our sins are not the great wrong we do, the great wrong we do is “listening to the voice” of the devil that leads to those wrong actions. We often focus on the actions, but just like in Genesis 3 God doesn’t say to Adam “because you ate the fruit from the serpent.” No the action is what happened outward, God cares about what took place inward, and so He said to Adam “Because you listened to the voice (the untruth, the doubt, the lie) or your wife” So when Genesis 16:2c tells us “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” rather than getting caught-up in the question, “How could she even suggest this?” or “What is Abram thinking he is a fool.” The bigger lesson for us is don’t listen to the lies that ultimately lead to the illicit acts of sin.
I am slightly hesitant to make this next point but…
Ishmael for those that may not know is the Father of the people that became Islam in the Middle-East, why I am hesitant to point that out is because of the prophecy that then comes to Hagar about her unborn son,
“He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers.” (16:12)
The conflict in the Middle-East should not surprise us, it was prophesied. Nor should we think that man made ways are going to overrule the prophecies of God. They may bring temporal peace, which is good, but eventually the turmoil will stir again. Also I want us to understand the prophecy is stated in both ways,
- “His hand will be against everyone” = sometimes the conflict will be because of Ishmael’s offspring.
- “And everyone’s hand will be against him” = sometimes the conflict will be because of us!
We can’t blame it ALL on Islam!!!!
Chapter 17:
This is a giant testimony of grace…Abram gets what he doesn’t deserve.
What a patient and long-suffering God we serve!
Circumcision (17:10-14)—just the thought of circumcision at the age of these individuals sends chills down the spine of every man!
I want to make a separate point about this, besides just the pain.
Of course this outward sign takes place in relation to the male reproductive organs because Abram doubted that God could give Him a baby, in this sign there is a constant reminder of this idea, “God is the creator, He is the one that ultimately gives life.”
Now I want us to think about that for a moment.
In the Garden of Eden there was an outward sign of trust in God as Creator, “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” “I the Lord have made all this and since I made this and you trust Me to know what is best for you. But so you have choice I will put in the garden a tree. Trust your Creator, or…”
The outward sign of loyalty to God in the garden was in relation to creation.
Then came circumcision which we already saw is in relationship to physical creation, but now jump past circumcision to the outward sign of loyalty in the New Testament…
Baptism…
And what did baptism symbolize?
“Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:1-7)
Baptism is a symbol of rebirth or recreation.
When we are baptized we are saying more than just we accept Jesus, we are saying, “I trust that Jesus can make me knew, He can recreate me!”
Baptism is therefore us trusting The Lord to be our Creator or rather our ReCreator.
Now jump ahead to Revelation 14—
“And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” (Revelation 14:6, 7)
There is in this end time message a direct allusion to the 4th Commandment. Why is this significant? Because Revelation 14:12 then tells us what the outward sign will be of those that will embrace this message in the last days,
“Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12)
The outward sign is in relation to keeping the commandments of God. And what commandment was specifically referenced in Revelation 14 that would have context to Revelation 12? The 4th Commandment, which is the commandment of what? The Sabbath Commandment, and what is the Sabbath Commandment to remind us of according to Exodus 20?
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Ex. 20:8-11)
It is to remind us of our Creator.
Throughout history God has given to His people an outward sign of an inward understanding of our trust in Him as the Creator and ReCreator.
And in the last days the outward sign will be…
4. The Sabbath
Chapter 18:
18:26-33 we see Abrahams negotiation with God for Sodom and Gomorrah and what struck me in this negotiation is how just a few righteous folk can impact an entire city…
They don’t in this case, but God is willing to protect (bless) the entire city just based on a few. Imagine the impact then we could have on our city if we truly walk with God?
I sometimes think about the questions I want to ask folk when I get to Heaven. In this chapter one of them is developed, “Abraham why did you stop the negotiations at 10? Why not ask, ‘but for just one Lord?’” I wonder what he will say.
Chapter 19:
This chapter actually shows us no ones heart was totally sold out for the Lord and yet the Lord shows mercy. Even as Lot needs to leave the city, “he hesitated” (19:16) but the angels took him by the hand and the wife and the daughters and dragged them out of the city. But here is what is so fascinating and again shows the power of our spiritual influence that may even safe as place of safety for some ‘till they figure out their need for the Lord,
“Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.” (19:29)
It was not Lot’s goodness that spared his life…it was Abrahams righteousness! Can I tell you this motivates me to ask Jesus to take all of my heart, not just for me, but for my children potentially someday. Not that their eternal destiny can be decided by me…each one must choose that for themselves…but maybe my life and my prayers and my appeals to God will have some protection over them if they wander close to a place they should not be.
19:26 has a very interesting phrase in it,
“But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
“From behind him” in my mind this just struck me. As spouses we need to walk together, to protect each other. “The two shall become one” this is not just for companionship, it is also for protection. The Bible could have phrased this, “But his wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” In fact this is how I thought it was phrased. But no under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Moses, the writer of Genesis…who wasn’t there to see it so he wouldn’t know these very fine details, but he’s inspired to add, “his wife, from behind him” Lot was not being a good husband, a strong spiritual leader in his family!
Which is seen and taken to an entirely higher level in the last verses of chapter 19. Verses 30-38 I hope make all our stomachs turn, and out of this act there was forever a reminder of this despicable sin, Moab and Ammon the countries were forever a thorn in the flesh of God’s people…sin has far reaching consequences.
So those are my thoughts. Sorry this was so much longer than normal, but I was seeing things I had not seen before in these chapters and wanted to share them with y’all!
Tomorrow’s reading: Joshua 21-24
Romans chapter 9 is a very challenging chapter of scripture. With a cursory reading and without deep examination this scripture will lead many to believe as John Calvin did as John Piper does that God created some people so that He could demonstrate destruction, His wrath upon them.
I am not a Calvinist though and I would find myself more in line with what John Wesley wrote about Romans chapter 9,
“Whatever that Scripture [Romans 9] proves, it can never prove this. Whatever its true meaning be, this cannot be its true meaning. … No Scripture can mean that God is not love, or that his mercy is not over all his works. That is, whatever it prove beside, no Scripture can prove predestination.” (This from his sermon “On Free Grace.”)
So what then was Paul saying?
In order to understand that we have to understand first the great objection the Jews had at this point of history,
“that the rejection of the Jews and reception of the gentiles was contrary to the word of God.”
Paul here was not dealing with “personal election” or “predestination” rather he was dealing with how God could accept the Gentiles and reject part of the nation of Israel. This was a hard concept for God’s “Chosen People.” So Romans 9 is dealing primarily with the nation of Israel.
Some may say well it sounds like an individual thing when Paul writes, “Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (9:13) This is in fact one of the primary texts used by Calvinists to show that God has chosen some people to live in heaven and some people to stoke the fires of hell. But if we use sound exegesis to allow scripture to interpret scripture we would see that the passage here Paul is quoting, Malachi 1:2, 3 underlines the truth that Paul is looking at this from a national focus (i.e. his people Israel) and not at the individual level, because in Malachi 1:2, 3 Esau represented the country of Edom and Jacob represented Israel and so Paul is restating the meaning of Malachi’s phrase, “simply that God preferred Israel over Edom to be the people he wanted to work with to reach out to the world.” This also illustrates that what Paul was addressing was an issue of service not salvation. Salvation is about belief that is the theme of Romans 10, and even Romans 11 (which is not part of our reading today) helps us to understand this, “You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith.” (11:19, 20a)
God did not stop using Israel because He was predestining them to be lost, but because of their unbelief and Paul warns the Gentiles,
“for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.” (11:21) In-other-words “if you stop believing and being my witnesses in belief you will be cut off also.”
Why?
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (10:12, 13)
The election as God’s people for service is not based on anything other than faith, not works, which then makes us all individually equal.
Can I tangent for a moment. Seventh-day Adventists, you are not remnant because of the right beliefs, you are remnant if you have faith and that faith drives you to be a witness in spreading God’s end-time truth. Israel was not willing to be used by God and they thought they could save themselves through their own good works so He chose to get His message out a different way.
Romans 9 is a tough passage but if we couple it with Romans 10 which is all about salvation coming through faith not God arbitrarily choosing.
And if we understand that Paul is speaking of the national focus of Israel, not the individual Jews being rejected, then we will see that this text does not teach predestination unto salvation.
For a great exposition of this I would encourage you to read this piece by Greg Boyd, he goes into much more thorough explanation than I have here. With other extensive points of explanation regarding Romans 9.
Did this blog help? Did Boyd’s blog help? Let me know.
Happy Sabbath.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Genesis 16-19
Authority was a key theme within today’s reading. A centurion—a Roman—an unlikely source confesses the authority of Jesus; a confession Jesus praises, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.” (8:10).
Then the disciples who should confess Jesus’ authority are surprised His authority is not limited, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (8:27).
The demons understand Jesus’ authority, “Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (8:29b) They recognize His authority as Judge.
Then the scribes deny Jesus’ authority, “And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” (9:3)
Jesus then illustrates His authority to forgive sins (9:6).
A woman bleeding understands Jesus’ authority, “If I only touch His garment I will get well.” (9:21)
Jesus then with His authority gives authority to His followers (10:1)
But Jesus reminds them that their authority is through the power of God not themselves (10:19, 20).
And those who receive the authority of Jesus’ followers receive Jesus’ authority (10:40).
Chapters 8 & 9: Jesus’ authority demonstrated. Chapter 10: how that authority is to play out in the lives of Jesus’ followers.
It seems to me that the evidence of us possessing the authority of Jesus is found in just that…
We are witnesses!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Romans 9 & 10
Today I struggled with what to write. So I went and read some commentaries and I want to share with you directly from a commentary by Paul Apple entitled, “Jehovah is Salvation”
I don’t know that I agree with every point, but I found it interesting. So here it is:
(Isaiah 17:1-14) Judgment on Damascus-Warning Against Forgetting God-Forgetting God dishonors Him greatly but does not cancel out His covenantal remnant program
a. (Isaiah 17:1b-3) Devastation coming for Syria and Israel
b. (Isaiah 17:4-6) Glory fading away for Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel-yet a small remnant preserved
c. (Isaiah 17:7-8) Faith refocusing on the only true God
d. (Isaiah 17:9-11) Root sin = forgetting God and seeking security in the arm of the flesh
(Isaiah 18:1-7) Core Salvation Message for the Gentiles (Isaiah represented here by the Ethiopians)-Transition from Woe to Worship – Stand Still and See the Salvation of the Lord and Worship Him Alone
a. (Isaiah 18:1-2) Woe-Dangerous threats can stir up a frenzy of protective activity
b. (Isaiah 18:3) Waiting-Wait for the Lord to manifest His dominion
c. (Isaiah 18:4-6) Watching-The oppressive invasions by world powers will be nipped in the bud by the Lord who reigns over all
d. (Isaiah 18:7) Worship-Submission and tribute will be gratefully offered when the Lord reigns visibly from Mount Zion
(Isaiah 19:1-20:6) Judgment on Egypt-The Futility of Trusting in the Arm of the Flesh and the Process of Salvation-Egypt will face deserved judgment and experience undeserved blessing-but will never be a dependable source of salvation
a. (Isaiah 19:1-15) Egypt cannot save itself-human wisdom leads to ruin
b. (Isaiah 19:16-25) Egypt cannot save you because it needs salvation itself-The Process of Salvation:
1) (Isaiah 19:16-17) Conviction of Sin-starting point of the conversion process-Fear of God
2) (Isaiah 19:18) Crossroads of Decision-pledging allegiance-Salvation vs. Destruction
3) (Isaiah 19:19-22) Consummation of Salvation-leading to worship and growing knowledge
4) (Isaiah 19:23) Congregation United in Worship-reconciliation and fellowship on human plane
5) (Isaiah 19:24-25) Congregation United in Blessing-unity of saved Jews and Gentiles experiencing God’s blessings
c. (Isaiah 20:1-6) Trusting in the arm of the flesh (Egypt and Ethiopia) will be futile-always leads to bondage and humiliation and shame
(Isaiah 21:1-10) Judgment on Babylon-The Horror of God’s Judgment-Horror strikes those who perceive the destructive consequences of trusting in the arm of the flesh
a. (Isaiah 21:1-2) Harsh vision of unrelenting attacks
b. (Isaiah 21:3-4) Horror overwhelms God’s prophet
c. (Isaiah 21:5-9) Hopes crushed by the shattering of the arm of the flesh
d. (Isaiah 21:10) Hard times lie ahead for the people of God before millennial blessing
(Isaiah 21:11-17) The Certainty of God’s Judgment-There will be no stay of execution with respect to God’s judgment plans for the nations-regardless of how general or how precise the revelation of His timeline
(Isaiah 21:11-12) Judgment on Edom (Dumah = Silence)-How much longer? Uncertain timeline but hope will be followed by even more severe hardship
(Isaiah 21:13-17) Judgment on Arabia-Precisely one year until fleeing refugees reduced to a very small defeated remnant
(Isaiah 22:1-25) Judgment on Jerusalem-The Valley of Vision-Unbelief = The Unpardonable Sin –
Two Specific Examples of Self-Reliance:
a. (Isaiah 22:1-14) The refusal to trust in God constitutes the unpardonable sin as divine protection is removed from the self-reliant who blindly party their way to destruction
b. (Isaiah 22:15-25) Self-reliance leads to condemnation-whether the fault lies with the leader (and his presumptuous self promotion) or with the people (and their proclivity for hero worship)
Tomorrow’s Reading: Matthew 8-10