God’s Omniscience Does Not Prevent His Omnipresence - Psalms 137-139

 Psalms 139:7-10 (ESV)

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

In the first six verses of this psalm, King David, the writer has stated that he is in awe of God’s intricate knowledge of him.   Later in the song he will write:

Psalms 139:17-18 (ESV)

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

The point being that David is so struck by God’s knowledge of him he responds by asking where he can flea from God’s presence.   So, David’s response to God’s omniscience of him, is to try to run from God’s omnipresence.   If we really believed that God knew everything about us, we would probably do the same thing.  We would want to hide.   But, we can’t.  Not only does God know everything about us, He is continually present with us.  God knows us intimately, but yet He wants to be with us continually.   What other time does mankind experience that truth.   If people really knew us the way we are, with all the evil in our hearts, with all the selfishness in our being, would they really want to be around us?  We might hope our family would do that, but that is less likely than we can imagine.   God, knowing us the way we truly are, deep into our inward being, still wants to and is, continuing to abide by us.   That is truly unconditional love.   We do not have to fear that when we mess up in life that God will abandon us.  He does not!   We can rejoice that when we fail (and we all fail miserably), God will abide with us forever.   Even though God is omniscient toward us, He is also omnipresent to support us.  

Pray Over the Work as Much as You Do the Work! - Nehemiah 1-4

 Nehemiah 4:1-5 (ESV)

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

When God put into Nehemiah’s heart to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and the Temple, it is doubtful that Nehemiah thought about opposition to the work.   When we get a vision from God to do something great for Him, we don’t always think of all the problems and challenges.  Their is no doubt that Nehemiah understood the difficulty that comes from repairing a broken down city.  In fact, in chapter two of the book we read how he went out at night and took an inventory of the work.   He knew the structurally challenges.  But, how could he know about two characters who were simply jealous about work being done to make the lives of the people better.  Note what was said earlier about Sanballat and Tobiah: 

Nehemiah 2:10 (ESV)

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

What would motivate someone to oppose the betterment of the welfare of others?   Since they were not of Israel there is no doubt their hatred for the Jewish people was the catalyst for this rage and obstructionist approach.   Sanballat and Tobiah’s first approach was mocking Nehemiah and the people.   The attempted to use a “mob” mentality to dissuade Nehemiah and his followers.    Nehemiah’s response is to give it all to God.   He is not interested in a verbal battle with these two, or any fools that follow them.  He has work to do.  In fact, later he would respond to a request by the two to meet with them, the following way:

Nehemiah 6:3 (ESV)

And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

Instead of engaging these fools, Nehemiah turns them over to God.  This is such a great strategy for dealing with mockers, scorners and skeptics in our lives. Nehemiah will have many of these prayers throughout the rest of the book.  He simply is drawing to God’s attention their treatment of God’s work and believes God will take care of the problem.   Each time they attempt to prevent the work, Nehemiah turns it over to God.   That is God’s solution for His people.  Nehemiah started this journey in prayer (chapter one) and he continues to perform the work in prayer.   

Dress Distinctively - Deuteronomy 20-22

 Deuteronomy 22:5 (ESV)

“A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.

The above verse is probably why some people don’t like the Old Testament and/or the Bible in general.  “God is too picky,” they would yell out.   They would tell us that God is too “old fashioned” or “out of touch” with our progressive mindset.    The interesting thing about the above verse is that women’s clothes and men’s clothes during this time were not that far different.   We might call one a dress (woman) and one a robe (man) but they were basically the same style.   The ancient far east had not progressed to department store selections.  This fact actually makes the above verse even more powerful, however.   God is commanding a distinction centered around something that is not that distinct.  This makes God’s message even more potent.   God does not want the slightest confusion as to the distinction of genders.  Today’s society may not like it, but this is God’s command.  You can argue it and dispute it and disobey it and even deny it.  But, it does not change the character of God, nor His purpose.   God knows that the nation of Israel is about to enter the Promise Land.  Currently the inhabitants of the land worship idols, practice sorcery and have little distinction about how God created.  Their sexual practices were similar to today’s society.  They saw nothing different from one practice to another.  They simply did what was right in their own eyes.  The issue with the above passage is that mankind does not like to be told what to do in any area of life, much less how to dress.  Yet, God wants His people to be distinct.   The above verse is NOT talking to the unbelieving world.  The above verse is being spoken to God’s people because God is bringing them into the midst of a world that makes no distinction in dress, sex, gender, or even their gods.  If you are unbeliever, don’t be offended by the above verse.   It is not for you.   You have bigger fish to fry in regard to a relationship with God. If you are a believer, this is for us.  We are to come out from the world and be completely different from them:

1 Peter 2:9-12 (ESV)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

That includes how you dress!!

Knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ - 2 Peter

 2 Peter 1:2 (ESV)

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Does this mean the more we "know" God the more we experience grace and peace? Peter is writing to the church in a time of great persecution and false teachings.  Because of the persecution, Peter states in 2 Peter 1:14 that he will soon be “putting off my body,” a euphemism for death.  He will become a martyr for the Christian faith.   As he starts this letter he wants them to know that the truth “knowledge” of God and the Lord Jesus Christ is essential as an avenue for God’s grace and peace.   Note the other times in this letter that Peter uses the same thought to motivate his readers:

2 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

Confirm Your Calling and Election

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

2 Peter 1:8 (ESV)

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:18 (ESV)

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

All these point to the same truth that Peter is trying to convey to his readers.  He wants them to know that to endure the persecution and to avoid the false teaching, they are to increase their knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus.  Knowing God deeply allows us to avoid the shallow false teachings we see in the world and to receive the power we need to endure through very real persecutions.     We can’t “just” know God.  We have to yield to His character in our lives to “escape” the corruption that is in the world.  Some “said” they knew God.  Even the false teachers would say that.  Note what Peter says about these false teachers:

2 Peter 2:20 (ESV)

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

The true knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ will produce more and more fruit and endurance and discernment.  Some will only pretend to have this knowledge and use it for their own gain.    But, those who do increase their knowledge of the Godhead will have power from the Godhead to live in this world, despite the corruptions of the world.  

The Power of the Gospel Message - Acts 17-18

Acts 17:10-12 (ESV)

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

The above story of Paul sharing the Gospel message with the people of Berea is a good look of what we hope happens in every mission field in the world.   Paul has been run out of Thessalonica by a band of jealous Jewish leaders.   They didn’t want their power upset so they caused a great uproar and Paul and Silas were run out of town.   The same Jewish leaders will come to Berea to do the same thing, later.  But, not until Paul teaches the message of the risen Christ and the people begin to believe.   This is the pattern throughout the book of Acts.  Preaching leads to believing which leads to the building of the church which leads to persecution from religious people who think they will lose their power ... which they do.  God has established the method He wants to further the Church.  The Church is not built by anything but the teaching of the truth of the resurrection of Christ.   In our modern day marketing of the Church less emphasis is put on doctrine and teaching of God Word of truth and more on meeting the needs of the people we are trying to attract.  We titillate them to be part of our body but when something tough comes down they flee to some other group of believers who will meet their personal needs.   Paul preached Christ and Him risen from the dead.  The message was not complex.   Later a man named Apollos would come along and do the same things as Paul.  Apollos did not have all the doctrine he needed at the first, however.  The writer of the book of Acts states the following about him:

Acts 18:26-28 (ESV)

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

Showing the Christ (the Messiah) was Jesus was the theme of the New Testament.  Jesus came to save the world and that is the only message that will build the true Church.  There is nothing wrong with trying to meet the needs of people, but the real need that must be meet is that Jesus died and rose again for their sins.   

What Will the Earth Look Like in the Future? - Zechariah 8-14

 Zechariah 14:20-21 (ESV)

And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

If you wanted to know the end of God’s plan and the fullness of what He is designing, the above two verses give us a great window to see the culmination of all His work.  God full intent is to usher in holiness to the world.  In this final chapter of Zechariah we read about the complete re-formation of the world.    Recently a global politician stood before a group of other pompous politicians from around the world and stated that the global world we know today needs to change into a new formation and a new system.   He was correct in his utterance but probably deeply wrong as compared to Zachariah’s words in this chapter.   God is re-shaping the world.  God is bringing the world into a new system.  But, the system and shape is in the form of holiness.   God is going to bring in such a vastness of holiness that even horses will have on their bells, “Holy to the Lord.”  Even the pots in the house of the Lord will be declared holy.   The final addition of the heavens and the earth will be holiness.   God’s plan is to bring all things into holiness. That is our great hope and our great expectation.    We can rejoice that even now He is making us holy for His kingdom.   Note:

Hebrews 10:14 (ESV)

14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

He has “perfected” us in the holiness of His Son and He is continually sanctifying us through His Spirit. That is God’s order, plan and final edition of this earth.   That is our hope.  

God Directs Our Paths - Ecclesiastes 9-10

 Ecclesiastes 9:1 (ESV)

But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.

A theme throughout Ecclesiastes is that life has little prediction about it.   Life is complex and unpredictable.   Solomon, the author, is recording his observations of life and what meaning can be derived from those musings.  As always, we have to start with the end of the book to understand the contents of the book:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV)

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Solomon’s conclusion helps us understand the observations recorded in the first verse of chapter nine.   We are to fear God because in the end it is He who will bring all things into judgement.   In chapter nine Solomon is about to make the point that life is unpredictable and futile because in the end, all men and creatures die.   So, whether we have love or hate in our lives we will all die.   His point is that we everything is in the hand of God and the only thing true for all is the end of life.   That is the only thing we can predict.   In the conclusion of the book he tells us that this ending is for judgement.   He tells us that our “deeds” are in that had of God as he starts chapter nine.  All our ways are before God.  Note another passage by Solomon that echos this thought:

Proverbs 5:21 (ESV)

For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.

In this Ecclesiastes passage we see this Proverbs expanded.  Not only are the ways of man before the eyes of the Lord, they are also in the hand of the Lord.   He not only sees them, God holds our ways and directs our ways.   We can fear this thought, as in be scared of God.  Or, we can fear this though, as in be in awe of God.   When we walk close to God we will be in awe of His directing us in the most minute ways.   

Glory in Calamity - Psalms 134-136

Psalms 135:7 (ESV)

He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,

who makes lightnings for the rain

and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

God makes lighting, rain, wind from a storehouse full of it!   As this journal entry is composed I am sitting on our boat in Florida.  Six weeks earlier a hurricane (Ian) went through and destroyed much of what is around us.   Ian did minimal damage to our boat.   The day Ian went through the winds in Cape Coral were a sustained 150 mph.   A hurricane five is 157 mph.   That wind came from the storehouse of God.   The surge of the hurricane is what caused most damages to homes and even some boats.  Our car, which was in a parking garage was completely damaged by the surge of water estimated at 15 feet high.  That rain and water came from the storehouse of God.   If you lost a home, car, or boat to this devastation you probably ask why?  Why did God release, or allow, such a storm to devastate so manly and so much.   Even almost two months later the carnage of “stuff” piled along streets is unmeasurable.   In Psalm 134 the writer is praising God.   The entire song is written to show the power of God over the weakness of the little gods man creates for himself.    The devastation is hard to take.   The “why” is unsure and a struggle to explain.   There is sin in this world and the earth itself groans for the day of redemption:

Romans 8:19-22 (ESV)

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

There is nothing that is not affected by sin in the world.  But, the wind, the rain and even the lighting is all because of God’s great power, all stored for His use and His glory.  We do not embrace the carnage left by a hurricane. But we just glory in the power of God it represents.   

Justice and Spiritual Leadership - Deuteronomy 16-19

 Deuteronomy 17:8-10 (ESV)

“If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the LORD your God will choose. And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the LORD will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you.

There is a spiritual aspect of justice.   In the above passage we read God’s instruction to the nation of Israel in regard to providing a system of justice to the nation.   We have to remember that Israel’s form of government at this time was a theocracy (God decides), not a democracy (man decides).   But, God did allow mankind to be His representative in regard to acts of justice.  It was the priest that were given the power to be the judge.  Moses was of course, from the tribe of Levi (the tribe all the priest came from), so, he too, would be part of the justice system.  God incorporated the spiritual leadership (Levites), with the judicial system.   That was God’s plan for a system God designed.   But, to God, all authority is His system.  Note:

Romans 13:1-2 (ESV)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

We forget that even though we live in a democracy and are governed by our Constitution, we are still living in God’s world and He sets up who governs.   The authorities in our form of government may not recognize that they are “actors” put in place by God, but we should.   They may not know that their power is from God, but we should.   Israel was told to obey the decisions of their “judges.”   So, too are we.   Yes, the judges of Israel were supposed to make decisions based upon God’s Word and our judges in our land make decisions based on their own, self-directed laws, but we are still to obey.   God establishes all forms of government and we are to live in them and still act in faith toward God.  The authorities are established by God:

Psalms 75:6-7 (ESV)

For not from the east or from the west

and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,

but it is God who executes judgment,

putting down one and lifting up another.

Flourishing in Suffering - 1 Peter 4-5

 1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

The book of 1 Peter was written to a church who was suffering from many things, not the least of which was from the human government at the time.   The first verse of the book tells us who Peter is writing to:

1 Peter 1:1 (ESV)

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

The church was being persecuted and they had dispersed around the region.  The extent of the persecution was quite severe.  Here is what one historian wrote about this time frame and the aspect of the church suffering:

(UBC-NTSet) Nearly fifty years after the probable date of 1 Peter, Pliny the Younger (A.D. 62–113), the Roman governor of Bithynia-Pontus (109–111), one of the provinces to which this letter was addressed, wrote to the emperor Trajan for advice on how to deal with Christians:

“I have never taken part in investigations of Christians, so I do not know what charge is usually brought against them. Neither do I know whether punishment is given just for the name [of Christian], apart from secret crimes connected with the name. This is the course I have taken: I asked them if they were Christians. If they said yes, I asked them a second and a third time, with threats of punishment. If they still said yes, I ordered them to be executed. Those who denied being Christians, I thought it right to let go. They recited a prayer to the gods at my dictation, offered incense and wine to your statue, and cursed Christ. Those who are really Christians cannot be made to do these things.” (Pliny, Letters 10.96)

In 1 Peter 4:10, above, we read the conclusion of Peter’s entire argument in the book.  He has been trying to encourage the church and trying to help them stay pure, despite the persecution.  It is in persecution or suffering that we often fall away from obedience to Christ.   He tells them a number of things to motivate them and comfort them:

1. He tells them that their suffering is just a “little while.”   That might not seem comforting, but compared to the eternal weight of glory, it is.  Paul stated the same thing:

2 Corinthians 4:17 (ESV)

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

2. God is the God of all grace.  God’s grace is an active and empowering aspect of God’s attributes.  It is an attribute He shares with us.   What we do this in the power of His grace, not in our own strength. That is a key to living in and through suffering. 

3. We are living for eternity, not for the present moment.  We are not to think of this suffering by viewing it through the lens of this earth, but through the lens of eternity.  

4.  God, though the ministry of Christ and the power of the Spirit will restore us, confirm us, strengthen us and establish us in our suffering.   There is nothing more motivating than to know that in the midst of suffering you will NOT be moved, but rather brought into a more firm relationship with God as a result of the suffering.   

Suffering is an aspect of the Christian life that not only does not go away, but rather gains intensity as you age.   But, so, too, does the grace of God to endure and flourish in it.  

The False Hope of Financial Gain - Acts 15-16

 Acts 16:19-24 (ESV)

But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

If there is anything worse than no hope, it would be false hope.   Having nothing to put your hope in, nothing to trust, is an imaginable place to be in life.  Note what Solomon stated on the subject:

Proverbs 29:18 (ESV)

Where there is no prophetic vision (hope) the people cast off restraint,

but blessed is he who keeps the law.

But, worse than having not vision for the future is to have a wrong vision.  In the above passage we read the Peter and Silas cast out a demon in a young girl.   The girl had some type of fortune telling skills but, subsequent to the casting out episode, the demon left and her power was lost.  This infuriated the “owners” of the girl (Imagine this being played out in any city today).   As a result of that spiritual work (a young woman was rescued from demonic activity, as well as the dehumanizing of her for capital gains.   But, the people and the magistrates do not see the glory in the transformation, they only see the loss of the compensation.   Whenever we trust in a revenue stream for our hope we are worse than no hope at all.   These men had arranged their lives to put trust in fleeting and vain riches. 

Ecclesiastes 5:10 (ESV)

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

Hope is a powerful, but only if it based upon substance.   Paul gave them a truth that was worthy of hope.   The leadership of that group cared more about the false hope of financial gain rather than the spiritual victory.  

Simply, Powerful Message - Zechariah 1-7

Zechariah 7:11-14 (ESV)

But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

The entire book of Zechariah is a motivational book sent by God, written through the hands of the prophet, to encourage and inspire the nation to continue to build the Temple ... but with a pure heart.  In the first seven chapters there are nine motivational tools employed to move the nation to continue to build both heart and Temple.   Ezra came back from the exile to collect the people together to build the Temple.  Zechariah was sent by God to rebuild the collective hearts of the people.  In the above passage we see one of his final arguments for them to build.  Their ancestors had not listened to God’s Word.  Zechariah is reminding them of what happens when you refuse to obey God.   The reason for their previous captivity was that they had turned their hearts “diamond-hard.”   Therefore God turned His heart equally hard against them.   God wanted them to see that the reason that the land was desolate and unpleasant was because they had refused to listen to God in the past.  The take-a-way point for them is to NOT repeat that same hardness of heart.   Their fathers had rejected the prophets of God and the message they carried from and for God.  Zechariah is reminding them to NOT do that again.  Failure to listen to God with a diamond-hard heart is the certain path to discipline and, eventually, destruction.  There is no secret message here.  That is the basic truth of God’s Word.   Disobey God and you will for certain, at some point, be disciplined and/or destroyed by God.  Obey God and He will, eventually, bless you.  That is the message of Zechariah.  That is the message of the Bile.  Obedience leads to blessing.  Disobedience leads to cursing.   

Anger - Ecclesiastes 7-8

 Ecclesiastes 7:9 (ESV)

Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,

for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

Now that is a truth we should wrap our hearts and souls around, quickly!   The anger in our heart will lead to destructive behavior in our lives.   Solomon is telling us a truth that few really grasp at the day-to-day level of living.   We do not fully grasp the dangers of anger.   There is a reason that the following verses were written about us and anger.  Outside of it damaging to our relationship with God, look what God says about anger:

 

Ephesians 4:26 (ESV)

26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Matthew 5:21-22 (ESV)

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Romans 12:19-21 (ESV)

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

James 1:19-20 (ESV)

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Colossians 3:8 (ESV)

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Nahum 1:3 (ESV)

3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

1 Timothy 2:8 (ESV)

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

This last one from Paul’s pen to Timothy’s life is very revealing.   When we are angry, are we really in our fullest worship to God?   We can’t, at the same tim, worship God and be angry at mankind.   Solomon states that we are foolish if we think that anger will not crush our spirit.  It literally “rest” in our hearts.  The word “rest” in the above proverb is the same word God used to say Noah’s ark “rested” on the mountain.  It is a word that is often used to “rest” at the end of hard battle or day or situation.   The point Solomon is making is that if we are not carful, anger can put its feet up on our emotional footstool and stay there.   He states it is foolish to allow that to happen.   The only thing that happens after that is certain destruction of the heart, soul and eventually the behaviors of life.   Anger resting in the soul will steal the joy in the heart.   

God Chooses His Place - Psalms 131-133

 Psalms 132:13 (ESV)

For the LORD has chosen Zion;

he has desired it for his dwelling place:

God picked Jerusalem (Zion) for His city to dwell in.   Of all the places on the planet He picked this little place in the mid-east.   To put that into framework we have to remember what God said about anyone trying to build a “house” for God.  That is what Psalm 132 is all about.   David swore he would not rest until God had a place to dwell.  Up until that time God was, of course, manifesting His glory over the Tabernacle.  And although the curtains and boards of the Tabernacle were the exact design of God (right down to the type of boards and colors of the curtains), nothing can actually “contain” God.  Note what Solomon stated when he actually started to build the Temple:

2 Chronicles 2:6 (ESV)

But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?

Note what God Himself said:

Isaiah 66:1-2 (ESV)

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

Thus says the LORD:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the LORD.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

God made a choice that Zion would be His place to show His glory.  Just as He choose Israel to be His people and Christian believers to be the Body of Christ.  God chooses.   And, someday He will return to the same place as He completes His plan:

Zechariah 8:3 (ESV)

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.

God is Sovereign - Ezra 1-5

 Ezra 1:7-11 (ESV)

Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them: 30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

When the nation of Israel was taken captive by the Babylonians their captures not only took the people into captivity, but, as always happens in wars, they also took the shinny things.  The war was about accumulating slaves, property and trinkets.  Wars are often ideological in theory but material in actual practice.   They may want power and reign but they desire possessions and goods.   In the above text we read that when the exiles are about to be sent back to Jerusalem, Cyrus, King of Persia (who had defeated the Babylonians) is willing to give them back all the possessions originally taken from them.  Think about this.  Here we have a heathen nation take the possession and another heathen nation conquers the first nation.   However, through all that change of power and leadership, everyone one of the vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem are restored, without as much of a missing cup. This is God’s sovereign power over all things.   What a relaxing thought.  What a peaceful thought.   God is in control of all things.  Even the silverware and utensils of the Temple.  Wow!!

Stop Sin Before It Grows - Deuteronomy 13-15

 Deuteronomy 13:12-15 (ESV)

“If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword.

God’s Word is full of stories as the above.   Purity within the people of God is always God’s heartbeat.   Notice some of the New Testament verses that bear this out:

Galatians 6:1 (ESV)

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

James 5:19-20 (ESV)

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (ESV)

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

God’s desire for His people is holiness.   When something or someone threatens that holiness we are to intercede and take corrective actions.   When we don’t we allow corruptions to spread.  Sin is like cancer in the Body of Christ.   Allowed to live and it grows and spreads.  We are to stop the cancer of sin before it destroys the body.  

God’s Authorities Are To Be Honored - 1 Peter 1-3

 1 Peter 2:13-17 (ESV)

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

November is always election season.  During these times it is almost impossible to avoid the ads slamming the other candidate and promoting nothing of value about why we should vote for any of them.  As a believer in a worldly system about democracy, we sometimes might struggle about our role since we are not of this world.   Peter’s entire point, up to the above verse, was to make sure the believers of his day were understanding their role in the world.  He has just told them they are different.   He has just told them they are from a royal priesthood and a “holy” nation.   That means they are NOT of THIS nation.   We might rejoice in our freedom allowed by this country, but we are NOT of this country.   That is why Peter can write the above passages about honoring the king, even as supreme.  Peter recognized that the rulers of this world are only puppets in the hand of a Mighty God.   Peter knew that this was not our world.  But, Peter also knew that God works in an authority structure.  He believed that the powers in government were put in place by God (remember, his time frame was a autocracy, not a democracy).  When approaching an election season we are to remember that God is the one who is on the throne and He allows others to serve Him in positions of authority, weather they believe in Him or not.   So, we are to honor those God’s gives power, weather we agree with them or not.   God demands we honor those He chooses to put in places of power.  

The Star Preacher - Acts 13-14

Acts 14:11-15 (ESV)

And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

Superstar preachers have been around for awhile.   Here, on the first commissioned missionary journey of the church we see the first attempts of stardom.   Mankind is very easy to titillate.   It is easy to make them swarm a good thing.    The crowd has just witnessed that Paul and Barnabas performed a miracle (through the Holy Spirit they performed a miracle by having a lame man walk).   They now want to worship both of them.   Paul and Barnabas now have a chance to become what some of the preachers in our day desire: Stars and household names.   This typically only happens in the mega-church world, but preachers today don’t always seek a humble and quite life.   Some, at least, do, however.   In the above passage we see the Paul and Barnabas did not take the bait that Satan tossed out to them.   They pleaded with the crowd to realize they were but messengers of God to deliver the good news of the Kingdom of God.    This group wanted to sacrifice to them.   Regretfully this still happens in churches today.  We see churches worship their pastor/preacher more than they worship the pastor/preacher’s message and God.   Paul and Barnabas would not have any glory given to them.   They wanted the people to respond to Gospel.   They used this occasion to point people to Christ.   So powerful was their urge to worship the messenger rather than the message, here is what we read latter:

Acts 14:18 (ESV)

Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Later, both Paul and Barnabas would be almost stoned to death, however, when the Jews from Antioch stalked them:

Acts 14:19 (ESV)

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.

So, this stardom ended rather quickly.   They went from kings to goats immediately. Maybe that was to keep them humble.  Perhaps that is what is missing in today’s church.   Our star-studded preachers have very little persecution in their lives that comes from preaching the Gospel.   Perhaps that would be something that would keep us all humble.  Suffering tends to keep us away from wanting to be seen as a god.   

Motivation to Keep Working (For God) - Haggai

 Haggai 1:5-6 (ESV)

Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

At any given span of our lives we could quote the above passage and feel the pain of financial problems and understand the strain of working hard and seeing little.   We seldom, however, contribute that to God’s sovereign power.   We see it as bad luck, lost opportunity, and/or possibly mis-management on our part (which may be true).  But, in the above passage we see that God is in total control of these things in our lives (even our bad management).  God uses our ineptitude and other factors to create the calamity we read above.  In the case of Haggai, the prophet, God is telling the people about this problem.   Because they decided to return to the land of Israel (from being in exile) and focused on their own comforts, God brought about this disaster upon them.   When we focus on US and not HIM, this is what can happen.   Solomon reminds us repeatedly in the book of Ecclesiastes that chasing riches is like chasing the wind (see chapters five and six).   But, it is also like trying to fill up a bag that has a hole in the bottom.   God was angry at the nation because of their lack of priorities.  Haggai was sent to focus them on the right priorities of life.   God has nothing against creature comforts.  In fact He is the one that provides any comfort we now celebrate and enjoy.   But, He does not provide them so that we can ignore Him or the work He has designed us to do.   We have in our country a retirement mindset.  But, it is not just about the work we do each day, we take the same mindset about the work God has designed for us in regard to His kingdom.   God has work for us to do and there is no age limit or retirement package for it.   We are to occupy ourselves until the Lord comes.  This is Haggai’s message.  

Luke 19:11-13 (ESV)

As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

The Headache of Wealth - Ecclesiastes 5-6

 Ecclesiastes 5:13-17 (ESV)

There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

As always, we have to remember what the book of Ecclesiastes is about before we try to understand each topic it covers.   Solomon, very, very rich, Solomon, is exploring the meaning of life.  His conclusion at that end of the book is to fear God and worship God:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV)

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

In this section of chapter six, above, we are reading about something that Solomon two times states is “a grievous evil.”  The Hebrew word for “grievous” is often translated “sickness” or “disease.”  So the topic covered in these verses is speaking about something we don’t want to have in our lives.  Yet, most do.  The subject is about the accumulation of financial gain.  This section is about the plight of the rich.   Solomon knows this world.   He is telling us the following about what happens if we find ourselves accumulating wealth (or striving to do so):

1. If we accumulate wealth and hoard it, it will hurt us. 

2. If we accumulate wealth and invest it, it can be lost in a bad venture.

3. If we accumulate wealth, #2 can mean we lose our wealth and have nothing to give to our offspring.   

4. If we accumulate wealth, we can’t take it with us. 

5.  If we accumulate wealth, we can still be lonely, sick and angry.   

Our society is obsessed with wealth.   Solomon was so rich he once covered expensive ivory throne with pure gold:

1 Kings 10:18 (ESV)

The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold.

Therefore, Solomon knows what he is writing about.   The accumulation of wrath only adds more trouble to your life unless God gives you the ability to enjoy it:

Ecclesiastes 5:19 (ESV)

Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.

Only God can give us the ability to BOTH earn wealth and to enjoy wealth.   Without God’s wisdom and without following God’s commands, wealth will only torment us and cause grief in our lives.   

Vengeance from God is Dramatic - Psalms 128-130

 Psalms 129:5-8 (ESV)

May all who hate Zion

be put to shame and turned backward!

Let them be like the grass on the housetops,

which withers before it grows up,

with which the reaper does not fill his hand

nor the binder of sheaves his arms,

nor do those who pass by say,

“The blessing of the LORD be upon you!

We bless you in the name of the LORD!”

The book of Psalms are songs and prayers that were written for, mostly, specific events or occasions.  Many of those occasions were the pilgrimage to worship in Jerusalem (Zion).  Psalm 129 is one of those songs that were written too be song on their way to worship on one of the holy days for Israel.   This psalm has two parts.  The first part (verses 1-4) is about the affliction that Israel had occurred, probably during the exile.   But, there is an historical aspect to it, as well, as the writer reflects that Israel has been tormented by its “haters” for centuries.   In the second section of the song (above) we read the prayer for vengeance on these “haters.”    It should be noted that the writer is not imploring the people to exact vengeance, but rather pleading with God to carry out the justice.  We are not to do vengeance since we read in other parts of God’s Word that vengeance belongs to God:

Romans 12:19 (ESV)

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

However, notice the way that this song of prayer unfolds about the vengeance on their enemies:

1. The prayer wants the enemies of Israel to be full of shame.  Shame as powerful, powerful emotion.   At its core one who is shamed is ostracized from community.    They feel abandoned, lonely and unsupported.  

2. The prayer wants them to be as unstable as the “grass on the roof tops.”   We don’t relate to that imagery, but homes would use dirt to cover their homes and grass would grow on it as a result.  But, having no root the grass would wither and die quickly.   So, too, is the stability of the “haters” of God’s people.  They may think they are full of greenish and freshness, but will soon, be dead and withered.  There is no stability for them.  

3. The prayer wants no one to talk by and bless them.   Only God brings blessing into people’s lives. No matter our faith or lack of faith or even atheistic views of life, anything good that happens to us is from the God of the universe:

James 1:17 (ESV)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Matthew 5:45 (ESV)

... For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The above prayer is asking for the most severe vengeance that could happen to someone at the hand of God: That God would remove His natural blessing on them.   Those who “hate” Israel have nothing in front of them but shame, instability and lack of natural blessings.   It is a crude and horrible place to be in life.  But, such are those who “hate” God’s chosen people.  

Godly Leadership - 2 Chronicles 33-36

 2 Chronicles 34:31 (ESV)

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

The above passage is a commentary on the commitment of King Josiah. He took the leadership of Israel when he was just eight years old.  At 16 years of age and then again at 20, he begin to lead the nation in spiritual reforms.   During those reforms they found the Book of the Law while cleaning out the Temple.   What was Josiah’s response? 

2 Chronicles 34:19 (ESV)

And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.

In the above passage we see further Josiah’s commitment to obey God and to carry out the words of the Law.   The covenant he made with God had three elements:

1. It was made in a public setting.  Josiah was not about to be a silent majority or a closet believer.  He “stood” in front of the entire Kingdom and proclaimed his allegiance to God. 

2. The covenant was with the LORD. It was not a covenant with man.  It was not a covenant for others.  It was made between him and Yahweh.   Josiah was committing his life to God and made a covenant to honor God. 

3. The covenant was to keep God’s Word.  He as not making a covenant to simply be a good king.  Josiah was willing to put his life under the authority of God’s Word.   It was commuting to obey God’s Word himself and to carry it out in his leadership and throughout the kingdom.  

Josiah will later have a sacrifice in the Temple that was the greatest sacrifice of all kings all the way back to the times of Samuel.   How was this possible?  Because he made a covenant to obey God’s Word today that would be carried out tomorrow.  

Blessing or Cursing? Deuteronomy 10-12

Deuteronomy 12:28 (ESV)

Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

This is a good summary verse for this section of Deuteronomy.   Moses, as his life is drawing to a close, is outlining and reviewing all the commands of God to the nation of Israel.  Joshua will be taking the people into the promise land and Moses is laying out their requirements to continue to worship God.    Moses started these chapters with these admonishments:

Deuteronomy 10:12 (ESV)

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 10:16 (ESV)

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.

God does not want them to enter the promise land and forget who He is.  He is warning them to not take up the gods of the nations He is about to dispossess in the promise land.  Note:

Deuteronomy 12:29-30 (ESV)

“When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’

God is a jealous God.  He does not want us to worship anyone but Him.   There is no need to worship anyone but Him, since He is the only true God.  All other gods are the imagination of man’s evil heart.   Yahweh is the only true God.    In this section He makes it clear that if they obey Him, He will continue to bless them.  But, if they disobey Him, He will bring cursing on them.  That is the essence of God’s plan.  Obedience equals blessings and disobedience equals cursing:

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 (ESV)

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.

Grace to Win the Inward War - James 4-5

 James 4:3-6 (ESV)

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

In this section of James the Apostle is telling us why we have fights and feuds among us.  He tells us it is because of the “lust and passion” that “war” within us (vss 1 and 2).  As he develops that theme he goes on to say what we read above.   He wants us to be able to pray to God (a topic he uses to close this letter to the churches) but realizes that we can’t hope to pray right if our heart is wrong.   Our heart is wrong when we don’t realize that the heart is in love with sin, expressed by a desire to live like the world.  Throughout the book of James we are being instructed to live unusual non-worldly lives.   James gives us some deep theology when he writes about the fact that we have a spirit in us that “years jealously.”    The evilness that is in us is at war with the goodness God placed in us.   There is a real war going on in our hearts each day.  The evil spirit in us yearns for sin.  The Holy Spirit in us years for godliness (the fruits of the Spirit).   What James is telling us concerns the matter of this on-going war.  The more we ware friends with the world’s ways, the more the Spirit is grieved within us and the more the war between our natural flesh and God rages on.  For the believer that war is finished as to the victory at the end, but it never-the-less is a constant fight in this present world.   What is the answer?   James gives it to us at the end of the above section.   BUT HE GIVES MORE GRACE!  The only answer to this war within us is the grace of God forwarded to us.   God gives grace to the humble.  We can’t fight this war by working harder in our own flesh.  Remember, our flesh is the thing that is at war with God.   The only way to conquer the worldly desires in us is through the grace of God, given freely to those who submit in humility to God.  When we constantly resist God and think we can do this on our own, we look more and more like the world. That is the very thing James wants us to avoid.    The answer for the war in us is the grace of God given freely to us.  When we ask in humility we receive grace to conquer the war within us.  

Keep Your Eye On the Main Thing - Acts 11-12

 Acts 11:27-30 (ESV)

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 12:25 (ESV)

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

In the above verses we have a report of a mission that was conducted by the early church to care for those impacted by a natural, geographical incident.   This would have been considered a world wide famine.   (In between 11:30 and 12:25 is another entire story about the church involving persecution).   When Agabus prophesied about the famine, the church took action.   They immediately began to think of the impact this famine would have on new believers, their brothers and sisters in Christ.    God provided them inside information and they did not simply spiritualize it and say that God would simply provide.   God does provide in the middle of world wide crisis and in minor crisis.  But, He intends the Body of Christ, believers, to care for each other.   Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were sent out to complete the mission.  The first missionary journey in the early church history was not to spread the Gospel to the unsaved.  It was the Gospel in action to minister to the saved.  The Church is to care for the Church.   This was and remains one of the primary missions of the Church.   God intends that the hands of the church care for the feet of the Church.  God intends that the eyes of the Church look out for the ears of the Church.  That is the Body serving the Body.  That is the pattern intended in the history of the Church and in today and tomorrow’s Church.   We are to keep our eye on the main THING.   The Body of Christ is the main THING.  

The Wrath to Come - Zephaniah

 Zephaniah 1:14 (ESV)

The great day of the LORD is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter;

the mighty man cries aloud there.

Here is what RC Sproul writes about this verse and the verses that follow:

“The message is not politically correct in our time. The descriptive terms Zephaniah uses to paint the picture of the day of the Lord include the following:

bitter; devastation; darkness; troubler; refuse; devoured; alarm; desolation; gloominess, distress. wrath; fire; blood  

It seems almost as if the Holy Spirit enlarged Zephaniah’s vocabulary to make the point clear. The litany of descriptive terms leaves little doubt about the horror of this predicted day. And this passage is but a small portion of the prophecy. The full message is even more hair-raising in its graphic declaration of the outpouring of God’s wrath.”

Excerpt From: R. C. Sproul. “Saved from What?.” Crossway Books & Bibles, 2010-07-10. iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright.

If you continue to read through chapters one and two of Zephaniah, you read more and more of these words of devastation.  God takes sinning against Him seriously and will, at some point, pour out his wrath on mankind.   For those who believe we are not to worry:

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (ESV)

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

There is a “wrath to come.”   It is not intended for believers.  But, those who continue to worship the creation and not the Creator will be fully consumed by His wrath.  

Pursue More than Wealth and Power - Ecclesiastes 3-4

 Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 (ESV)

Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business.

Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, is in pursuit of the meaning of life.   He is striving after something that will give Him meaning and understanding of the important things of life.   We have to remember that Solomon was rich enough to pursue whatever he wanted to pursue.  He was powerful enough to not deny himself any pleasure, adventure or enterprise that he so wanted.   That is what makes this journey for the meaning of life so powerful.  You can write about finding the meaning of life if you have the meanest to leave no rock unturned.    

In the above passage we read just one more conclusion has has drawn from this search.  Solomon has stated that the person who decides to remain alone, no wife or family to be obligated to, cannot find meaning of life in his toil, no matter what the volume of that hard work.   One of the great privileges we have is to work hard for the ones we love.    Solomon states in the above verses that what good is it to deny yourself pleasure (and work hard) if you have no one to share the fruit of your labor?   

Solomon is checking off the boxes as to what is vanity and simply chasing the wind.  Those who decide to live alone, be obligated to no one and to acquire wealth and power, are, according to Solomon, simply living a vain life.  He states boldly that this, too, is vanity under the sun.  God has designed the meaning of life and Solomon will summarize it at the end of this book.   But, one thing is sure in his mind, pursuing wealth and power, just to pursue wealth and power, is vanity under the son.   The only thing that matters is:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV)

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Abundant Blessings - Psalms 125-127

 Psalms 126:1 (ESV)

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

Psalms 126:4 (ESV)

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like streams in the Negeb!

In this short song we have the celebration of those returning from exile after the rebuilding of Jerusalem.   The nation of Israel had been in captivity for 70 years and Jerusalem had been devastated by the carnage when they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians.   Several nations had pillaged the city and deteriorating walls had allowed the inhabitants that remained to further bring about the cities destruction.   But, God allowed them to return and under Nehemiah rebuild it.  It was not like before, but it was, never-the-less, something to celebrate.   This is the tangible evidence of Israel’s fortunes.  Just like the city was restored, so too was the nation.   While Nehemiah rebuilt the city, Ezra the priest rebuilt the worship systems.   God was restoring their “fortunes” because they were now back in fellowship with God.  This is all the meaning of verse one.  It was a dream come true that they were back in their land. 

But, in verse four we read that they are not satisfied with simply being in the land.   They wanted more.  They wanted their fortune to be like the winter rains that appear in the Negeb (the surrounding plains of Jerusalem).   Those flowing streams provided refreshment, repose and beauty to the land and the people.   They wanted more of God.  That is the essence of this song.  They wanted more of Him and the feeling of His presence.    That should be the hearts desire of all believers.  We should be both satisfied with what God gives us physical blessings, but want more of God in who He is and His presence.   That is the word picture of this poem.    In the New Testament we read Paul’s writings on a similar vain of thought:

Philippians 3:10 (ESV)

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Our hearts should sing an equally passionate song of wanting more and more of Him.  He is more than we can fathom and should be the focus of our praise and adoration:

Romans 11:33 (ESV)

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Power Comes From God - 2 Chronicles 29-32

 2 Chronicles 32:15 (ESV)

Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!’”

In the above passage we have the summary of what is wrong in the world around us.  This is the world's view of God.  He is just one of many.   He is insignificant to mankind’s plans and power.   Men believe that their sovereignty controls all gods and all gods start with a little “g.”   

The context of the above passage has to do with King Hezekiah and his reforms over Judah.   The king has restored the worship center and fortified the cities, especially Jerusalem.   When Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, attempts to besiege the city, he uses taunting to persuade the people of Judah living in Jerusalem to surrender.   He attempts to undermine Hezekiah’s leadership and faith.    This is what the world does.   The world attempts to dissuade the believer by causing them to compare God to the gods and lump them all into one pot.    But, note what Isaiah (who is alive and on scene at this exact moment) states to the king who will eventually take down Sennacherib, Cyrus, King of Persia:

Isaiah 45:5-7 (ESV)

I am the LORD, and there is no other,

besides me there is no God;

I equip you, though you do not know me,

that people may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness;

I make well-being and create calamity;

I am the LORD, who does all these things.

He states, though you don’t know me, I will equip you.   God is going to use Sennacherib but not in the way he thinks.   God is the only true God and will, in a moment, show him that.   God is not to be compared to the world around us and their gods.   We alone is the God of the universe and will not allow anyone to defame him.