Christ In The Old Testament Festivals - Leviticus 22-24

Leviticus 23:1-2 (ESV)

Feasts of the LORD

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

In chapter 23 we have the list of seven feast the nation of Israel was to observe.   As all the Old Testament does, these feasts are a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ and the establishment of His rule and reign in the New Testament age.   Here are the seven feasts mentioned in this chapter:

1. The Passover (v. 5)

2. The Days of Unleavened Bread (vv. 6–8)

3. The Feast of Weeks, called the Day of 

4. Pentecost in the New Testament (vv. 15–22)

5. The Feast of Trumpets (vv. 23–25)

6. The Day of Atonement (vv. 26–32)

7. The Feast of Tabernacles (vv. 33–39)

The Eighth Day Feast, called the Last Great Day in the New Testament (v. 39)

Each of these feasts/days were established by God to show the nation how to approach Him.  When Jesus came and sacrificed His life for us, He also fulfilled the real meaning in these feast through His death and the establishment of the Church.  Note:

1.  Passover points to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (1 Corinthians 11:23–34; Luke 22:14–23).

2.  The Days of Unleavened Bread point to removing sin and pride from our lives and taking on the obedience and mind of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 5:6–8; John 6:4, 31–58).

3.  The Day of Pentecost points to the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church of God (Acts 2).

4.  The Feast of Trumpets points to the Day of the Lord described in the book of Revelation—the year preceding the return of Jesus Christ, during which the seventh seal will be opened and the seven trumpets of God will be blown (Revelation 6:17; 8:1–13; 9:1–21; 11:15; Isaiah 34:8; 63:4).

5. The Day of Atonement points to the day when Satan the devil will be imprisoned for 1,000 years and no longer able to influence mankind (Leviticus 16:6–10, 21–26; Revelation 20:1–3).

6. The Feast of Tabernacles pictures the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ and His saints on planet Earth (Revelation 20:4–6; Zechariah 14:16–21; Isaiah 11:1–16).

7. The Last Great Day pictures the Great White Throne Judgment that will occur after the Millennium, when all of those who have ever lived and died without knowing the truth will be given their first genuine opportunity to know Him and practice His way of life (John 7:37–39; Revelation 20:11–13; Matthew 11:21–24; 12:41–42).

(Source taken from https://www.lcg.org/beliefs/new-testament-church-kept-holy-days-bible)

The point of the text is to realize that God did not have two separate ways to approach Him.  Rather He had a way through the Levitical priesthood in the old economy, working with a nation and He the same way in the new economy but through His Son, working with the Church.   God is approachable and He makes a way to approach Him, by faith in Christ.   The Old Testament was the shadow of Christ.  The New Testament was the fulfillment of the shadow in Christ.   

Power of the Gospel in the Midst of Shame and Suffering - 1 Thessalonians 1-3

 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2 (ESV)

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.

What do you do when you are discouraged, threaten and/or harmed for doing something good?  Would you continue to do it?  Would you go to another town, right next door to the town you did the good thing, and do the good thing there?   This is the point Paul is making in the above passage.  To fully understand the context we have to recall a few verses from the book of Acts, the history of Paul’s visit to Thessalonica.  First we have to read what happened to Paul and Silas in Philippi:

Acts 16:22-24 (ESV)

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.

Paul and his missionary team preached the gospel in Philippi and were beaten and imprisoned for it.   Now let’s read what Paul and Silas did, after leaving Philippi to travel to Thessalonica.  

Acts 16:40 - 17:2 (ESV)

So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

The key thought when reading about Paul’s visit to Thessalonica is the phrase, “... as was his custom ...”.    Paul was beaten in Philippi for preaching the gospel and after his release he travels with his team and preaches the gospel in the neighboring city.   He actually established a church in the town.  This is the church he is writing to in 1 & 2 Thessalonians.   He is writing, as we read in chapter two to remind them that his visit was not in vain, even though it followed a time of suffering and shame from the non-believers in Philippi.   Yet, they became “bold” in their declaration of the gospel to these Thessalonian people.   When discouraged, shamed, and even beaten Paul became bold for the gospel.    He did not shrink away.   He understood that the preaching of the gospel was the power of God.  When we are discouraged and shamed and ridiculed, would we respond by being more bold and preach the gospel to more people?  Recall what he just wrote in this little letter prior to chapter two:

1 Thessalonians 1:5 (ESV)

because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

What kind of people are we?  

The Power of Coming Together - Luke 23-24

 Luke 23:12 (ESV)

And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.   That might be the take-a-way of the above passage for some.   Both Herod and Pilate were used by the angry mob and the wicked religious leaders of the day to find a cause for Jesus’ death.  They thought they would pit these two ruler against each other.  Instead, they drove them together.   They still found a way to crucify Christ.  But, they outcome for Herod and Pilate was to come together in unity.   What do we learn: 

Principle: A single act of focus can rally and unite even the greatest foes. 

When we have a single act of focus we come together like three side of an equilateral triangle, when you start at two opposing sides and move toward the same point you end up at that same point.   No matter how far apart if everyone runs to the same point we will end up together in the end.  That is the what we learn from the above.   We can also see the story of the Tower of Babel.  God wanted mankind to disperse and make new nations  and replenish the earth.  But, instead they all came together at Babel to build a town to God.   This was not God’s intent. Note what is said among the Trinity about this tower being built:

Genesis 11:5-7 (ESV)

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.”

Even God thought that they would be able to do much when they were totally unified.   He confused them with language barriers and that lack of confusion caused them to spread out around the world, God’s point of the matter.    But what we learn is that when parities come together and talk and unified around a common goal you get a powerful result.   

God Majors In Restoration of Dry Bones - Ezekiel 37-42

 Ezekiel 37:7-14 (ESV)

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

When you are discouraged, read the above passage.  When you are dismayed, read the above passage.  When you are thinking you have lost all hope and all possibility for restoration, read the above passage.  

Israel is in exile.   They disobeyed God and He he allowed them to be imprisoned by their enemies.   God did so out of love.  God disciplines every son He receives.    But, God does not abandoned those He loves.   He restores them.   He can take the dead bones of our lives and add to them His breath.   We are never lost and out when we have God on our side and as our King!!  

Our Relationship with Wisdom via Christ - Proverbs 13

 Proverbs 13:1 (ESV)

A wise son hears his father's instruction,

but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Proverbs 13:10 (ESV)

By insolence comes nothing but strife,

but with those who take advice is wisdom.

Proverbs 13:14 (ESV)

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,

that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 13:16 (ESV)

Every prudent man acts with knowledge,

but a fool flaunts his folly.

Proverbs 13:19-20 (ESV)

A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,

but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

All the above proverbs from chapter 13 have a similar theme:   Listen to wisdom and good happens, turn from wisdom and bad happens.  Throughout Solomon’s proverbs there is a theme that is personified in these two proverbs:

Proverbs 9:10 (ESV)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Proverbs 7:4 (ESV)

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”

and call insight your intimate friend,

Wisdom is having a deep relationship with God based upon our awe and reverence for Him and His ways.   Wisdom is not a set of books and principles.  Although wisdom can be found in books and in Godly principles to guide your life. Wisdom is not years of living and experiences gained.  Although living a long time and learning from experiences can provide a traveling soul with wisdom.  Wisdom is a relationship with God, through Christ.   It is being in awe of God and desiring a deep relationship with Him.   In the above proverbs we read that knowledge, teaching, instruction, and advice can produce wisdom.   But, the proverbs of Solomon are about acquiring knowledge, teaching, instruction and advice that fosters an awe and fear of God in a relationship with Him through Christ, who is wisdom:

1 Corinthians 1:24 (ESV)

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV)

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

Christ is our wisdom and we are to have an intimate relationship with Him thereby creating in us and dwelling in us, the wisdom of God.   

Pray Even When It Is Dark And You See No Light - Psalms 87-89

Psalms 88:8-14 (ESV)

8 You have caused my companions to shun me;

you have made me a horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O LORD;

I spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But I, O LORD, cry to you;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14 O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Psalm 88 is a very difficult song of prayer.  The reason is that the writer pours out his lament about his condition and, unlike most songs of lament, there is no refrain that speaks toward God as the writer’s final salvation.    This song ends by simply saying that “darkness has become my companion.”   In the above verses we read one of the song writer’s complaints.   He recognizes (and even praises God for) God’s power of deliverance.  Though this prayer warrior does not (in this song) experience what he writes, he does recognize that God has done “wonders.”  He praises God that He has brought “righteousness to the land.”   He does agree that God hears prayers in the morning, that they come before Him.  But, his lament is that these things have NOT happened to him (at least at the time of the composition of this song).   The writer knows that God is to be praised but in his current, dark estate, he sees none of those characteristics of God praise worthy attributes experienced in his life.    We have no context as to when this took place.  In the Hebrew copy of the song we are told that the song was composed by:

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

The song is a “Maskil” (a musical term for a poem) of “Heman the Ezrahite.”   We only know this man was very wise (1 Kings 4:31) and he was the descendent of Zerah (1 Chronicles 2:6).  That is all we know.    But, Heman is in a dark place.   The strength of this prayer is that despite it lacking a ultimate, but-you-did-deliver-me-in-the-end type conclusion, Heman has turned to God in this darkest of moments.   We know other prayers in Psalms have that ending we all hope to read.   We can only rejoice that even in darkness when you feel to relieve and have heard no response, God is still there, hearing our prayers when they arise in the to Him.  We are not to pray because we have relief.  We are to pray because God commands it, deserves it (even in our darkest moments) and does hear it.   The answer is God’s part.  The prayer is our part.   

Prayer Changes Things - 2 Kings 16-20

 2 Kings 20:1-7 (ESV)

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.” And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

Hezekiah was a good king.  Throughout the book of 2 Kings the stories of the various kinds always start out with a declaration by the Spirit of God that states whether they were a good king or an evil king.  Note the following said about him in the beginning of this passage:

2 Kings 18:3 (ESV)

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

So, He did right.  He will eventually do wrong, as they all seem to do, but for the most part Hezekiah did good things, meaning he obeyed God’s commands.  He was also a man of prayer.  In the above text we see one of these times of prayer.   Sick and told that he would die he turns to God and ask God to remember all the good things he did for God.  God rewards him with more time on the planet.   He will eventually prove he is not worthy of this extra time, but he is given it by God as gift and answer to his prayer.   It is assumed that many people on the earth have asked God to live longer.   This is a story of a specific ask and a specific answer of 15 years.   Notice, however, at the end of the passage, that the prophet Isaiah instructs Hezekiah’s servants to dress the wound Hezekiah is afflicted with by putting a “cake of figs” on the boil.   Fig trees are used often in the Bible for many reasons.   One of which is as a symbol or sign for redemption.   If you do a search for the fig tree in God’s Word you will find many times it is used by the prophets as well as Jesus in the New Testament.   When Isaiah instructed them top a cake of figs on Hezekiah’s boil we have to ask if it was a medicinal or a miracle?   It was probably more a sign miracle, meaning that for those around Hezekiah it as a sign of the prophet’s prayer being heard.   If there was anything medicinal in the cake, it was provided by Isaiah’s prayer over it.   The more likely thought is that since Hezekiah prayed and God answered, the prophet was instructed to provide the cake to show the connection between the King, the Prophet and God.   The people would understand that if something was instructed by the prophet, it was from the hand of God.   That is the point that needed to be made.  Hezekiah prayed and God intervened.   That is the significance of prayer and God’s intervention in a life.  We ought not to be afraid to ask God to do great things for us.  God does and will intervene as He sees fit.   Prayer changes things whether it is followed by a cake of figs or not!

Love Others and Let God Seek Revenge - Leviticus 19-21

 Leviticus 19:18 (ESV)

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Proverbs 20:22 (ESV) 

Do not say, “I will repay evil”;

wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.

Roman’s 12:17-19 (ESV) 

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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.”

Hebrews 10:30 (ESV) 

For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

It seems that Moses (the author of Leviticus), Solomon, Paul and the writer of Hebrews all received the same memo from the Holy Spirit.   God is making a point in the book of Leviticus that the summary of the laws, rules and regulations is to love your neighbor.   Hence we read from Jesus’ own words when He was asked to sum up the Law:

Luke 10:27 (ESV)

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

There will be those who don’t love you back, however.   There will be those who hurt you and do damage to you and yours.  The initial impulse is to hit back and hit back hard.  But, based upon God’s word we are to allow God to carry out the vengeance.   He has both the mercy and wrath in perfect harmony and love to do that work.  We do not.    We are to love unconditionally and God is the judge to carry out His wrath when others harm us.  

Overcoming Bad Moments in Life - Colossians 3-4

 Colossians 4:10 (ESV)

Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him),

At the conclusion of most of Paul’s letters we read a list of those he is commending to the readers he is writing to.   These men and women listed have done something that has furthered the gospel and Paul’s work around the establishment of that group of believers and/or believers in other places.   Colossians is not exception to this pattern.  In the above passage we read about Aristarchus and John-Mark.    Both, according to the above passage are men who are companions with Paul in ministry.   Aristarchus is stated as being in prison with Paul.  We can probably assume that of John-Mark as well.  

Aristarchus, whose name means, “the best ruler,” is listed in several places in the book of Acts:  Acts 20:4; 27:2,4; Acts 19:29.   In one of those passage we can read that he was familiar with suffering for the Gospel:

Acts 19:29 (ESV)

29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel.  

It seems that Aristarchus would be a normal person Paul would speak highly of, based upon his previous travels and experiences with Paul.   But, Mark is the more intriguing mention for Paul.  He, too, is mentioned often in scripture, both in Acts and in other books, as well as by Peter.   

Acts 13:5

Acts 13:13 

Acts 15:37-39

1 Peter 4:13

Philemon 24

2 Timothy 4:11

It is the Acts 15:37-39 passage that helps us understand something interesting about Mark’s being mentioned here, in Colossians:

Acts 15:37-39 (ESV)

37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus,

John-Mark had failed Paul and his uncle Barnabas on their first missionary journey.   Yet, here he is commended in the letter to the Colossian church.   Somewhere along the journey and growth of the church there was growth in John-Mark.  Paul did not want him on the second missionary journal, but note what he will later write:

2 Timothy 4:11 (ESV)

11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

John-Mark is a great story about all of us.   We may fail but when God empowers us we can be assured we have some further profit to the church.  We should never hold the history of someone against them when God is enabling their present walk to be so historic!  

Love Your Family - Even If They Hate You - Luke 21-22

 Luke 21:16-19 (ESV)

You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

In chapter 21 Jesus was asked by His disciples about the end of times.  He gives them many signs we have heard or read many times.  There will be wars.  Their will be pestilence.   There will be earthquakes.  And, there will be family hatred of those who believe.   That seems so harsh.  But, Jesus is telling them that if you come to Christ, toward the end time, you will experience that ugly truth.   It has been that since the church was established.   It is increasing more and more as the end draws nigh.  But, in the ends time it will be even more pronounced. It was recently reported that in China young school students are being told to turn in their parents for worshipping Christ in their homes.   That is the fulfillment of what Christ is saying in these verses.   

Notice the last line of the passage, however.   We are to have “endurance” through even the worse of family betrayal.   What is endurance?  

Revelation 14:12 (ESV)

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

Endurance is keeping the commandments of God and keeping faith Jesus.   So, obeying His word to love those who hate you is one of those things we do to endure.   So, when family, friends and country hate you because you are of the faith, keep His command and faith in Christ to bear the hatred in love.   

The Watchmen Must Blow the Warning Horn - Ezekiel 31-36

 Ezekiel 33:7-8 (ESV)

“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Ezekiel is to be a watchmen for God’s purpose.   The prophets had a hard job in these days of Israel and/or Judah’s history.   The nation split and became to nations but their heart was one, running from God.   They were disobedient and God sent prophets to speak to them.   In the above passage we read that Ezekiel is to be the watchmen on the tower who hails to the community that the sword is coming.  In his case there is no tower, the sword is the Sword of the Lord, and the community are the peoples of God, living in open rebellion to God.   God is telling him that if he warns the people and they do not heed the message, that is on them.  But, if he fails to deliver God’s message and dose not warn them, it is on him.   In essence, he was accountable to deliver the message, but not to for response.  Ezekiel could not worry about the people’s response to him.  He was only to worry about getting the message correct.   He could not worry about if he were to offend them.  His duty was to warn them.  

Imagine if we ran our churches today with that mindset.   We are so worried that the people sitting in the pews will dislike the message we fail to deliver the truth God gives us.   The message continues to become more and more watered down away from sound doctrine.   Instead we give shallow homilies to replace deeper exegesis.   Perhaps this is why the author of Hebrews wrote:

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

That writer tells the early church that leaders  “will have to give an account” for how they lead the church.  This is what Ezekiel is being told.   So, too, church leadership.   When placed in a position of authority the responsibility is to give God’s message and not be concerned about how you are treated or understood.   Part of the shamming of this society is to silence the watchmen.   But, if the watchmen is silent it is him who will be held accountable with the blood of those they failed to warn.   

Capture Souls! Proverbs 11-12

 Proverbs 11:30 (NASV)

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls."

This proverb tells us that righteous people should be doing two things in regard to there relationship with others: One, they should be imparting righteous fruit, as from a tree. And, two, they should seek to win others (or attract) others to that tree. The first line in this Hebrew poem tells us that righteous people should be producing fruit. And that fruit is a source of “life” for those who partake. This goes right along with Christ telling the disciples they were to be the “salt of the earth.” As righteous people (righteous because we have be declared by God “righteous” ... Romans 5 and Hebrews 10)  we should be the source of life for a broken and dying world. The second line tells us that those who “win” souls are wise. The win here is not to win them as to win people to Christ (although that surely is the goal). The word "win" in the NASV is translated differently in the ESV.  Note:

Proverbs 11:30 (ESV)

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

and whoever captures souls is wise.

There are some commentaries who have a problem with the Hebrew word translated in the ESV as "captures."  The word is always used in the Old Testament in a violent sense.   Yet, When we understand that the righteous is trying to provide words that can take a person off the path of foolishness, sin and death, we can better understand the word choice.   This is a war.   Note what James says about preventing a person from sinning:

James 5:20

... 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. 

A person who speaks righteous words will be a tree of life to those who listen and will also, through the warring actions of the Spirit, rescue them from death.

God’s Favor On Us - Psalms 84-86

 Psalms 84:8-9 (ESV)

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed!

Psalm 84 is a pilgrim psalm.  It is a song that the people of Israel would sing as they traveled to Jerusalem for the Day of Atonement and/or other feasts like Pentecost.   The people are coming to worship and are, in this song, employing God to both hear them and look upon them with favor.   The recognize that He is their shield.  There is a two-way appeal to the above two verses taken from the middle of the song.   They people are asking God to hear them as they cry out, but they are also asking that God responds by blessing them.   They ask that God look on “the face of your anointed.”  This is a popular phrase in Psalms:

Psalms 31:16 (ESV)

Make your face shine on your servant;

save me in your steadfast love!

Psalms 67:1 (ESV)

May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

Psalms 80:3 (ESV)

Restore us, O God;

let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalms 119:135 (ESV)

Make your face shine upon your servant,

and teach me your statutes.

Any good favor we have is because God “shines His face upon us.”   The phrase means that He looks on us with favor.  We have nothing good unless it comes from God and flows from His grace:

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.

Act Accountable When Doing God’s Work - 2 Kings 11-15

 2 Kings 12:9-16 (ESV)

Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the LORD. And the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they bagged and counted the money that was found in the house of the LORD. Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the LORD, and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the LORD, and for any outlay for the repairs of the house. But there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the LORD with it. And they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests.

The work on the Temple is not exempt from being done in the right way with the highest form of integrity.    Jehoash was the king of Judah in this time and he wanted to rebuild the Temple after years of abuse and neglect as they worshiped the god, Baal.   The work is begun but, 23 years later (see verse 6) Jehoash sees the work is not being done.  He is oblivious for 23 years, however.   Why was the work not being done?  The Priest were apparently using the funds given to the project for something else.  They were not “into” a building project, apparently.  Even Jehoiada had to be watched.  In verse ten, above, we read that the “king’s secretary” had to take over the administration of the project.    The only people that could be trusted was the workers on the job.  In the above we read that there was “no accounting from the men into whose hands they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen.”   So, apparently the only trusted souls in this project was the construction manager.   That is sad.  The king didn’t even see the problem for 23 years.  The priest, even the high priest, Jehoiada, could not be trusted.   But, the lower level, middle manager could.   God’s work is not to be done in a less that honest, integrity and professional manner. Note what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about the collection of money needed for those in Jerusalem:

2 Corinthians 8:19-22 (ESV)

And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you.

When we do work for Christ it ought to be done exactly, swiftly, honestly, and passionately.   Not like we read above.   

The Great Exchange - Leviticus 16-18

 Leviticus 16:20-22 (ESV)

“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

On the Day of atonement the priest would bring before the alter two goats.  One goat would be for offering for the sins of the people, while the other goat would be the scapegoat.   The priest would not lay his hands on the head of the goat signifying the sins of the people were laid on the goat.  The first goat paid for the sins of the people and the scapegoat took the sins away.  This, of course, is a picture of Jesus not just paying the price of our sin, but actually taking our sin on Himself.   This is what Isaiah stated:

Isaiah 53:6 (ESV)

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Paul and Peter said it this way:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV)

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

The “great exchange” is that Jesus “exchanged” our sin for His righteousness.   We came with nothing but wickedness and left with His righteousness.  He came with righteousness and left with our wickedness.   That is the scapegoat.   We can rejoice that God has provided a way to not just pay for our sins but to remove them far from us.  

Psalms 103:12 (ESV)

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

He Has Completed It ALL - Colossians 1-2

 Colossians 2:16-19 (ESV)

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Mankind has never invented a religious approach to a god and/or after-life without it including stipulations on their performance.  In fact, the more elaborate the requirements to perform, the promise of great reward.  The deeper the commitment the higher the achievement in the life to come.  In the church in Colossae there was no exception to this thought.   Although Paul had established the church on the basis of Christ’s finished work, false teachers had joined the body and was leading it astray to a set of requirements and observations that would qualify them for God’s approval.   He starts the book off reminding them that they are reconciled by Christ’s work, not their own efforts:

Colossians 1:21-23 (ESV)

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

We were reconciled by “His body” to be made “holy and blameless.”   But, as we can read in the above text there were those in this church who were trying to put requirements on them to observe certain days, certain festivals, certain eating requirements which would qualify them for heaven.   Paul wants them to be reminded that Christ is the Head of the Body and it is through Him they grow.  He tells them it is “from God” that we grow.  Yes, we must demonstrate our faith.  But, it is not the demonstration that makes us holy, it is His work in us that produces holiness and that holiness then flows from our being.   We must not allow others to pass judgement on our performance when the performance has already been accomplished by Christ’s work.   He has completed it ALL!! 

Jesus’ Authority - Luke 19-20

 Luke 20:1-8 (ESV)

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Jesus asks them this question in an attempt to actually answer their question.  They wanted to know where His authority came from.  When He was baptized, God spoke from heaven approving of Him, thus giving Him authority.  If they would have answered that John's baptism was from God they would have realized God's voice that day gave Jesus authority.  But, since they were rejecting both John the Baptist and Jesus, they could not respond.   This is the pattern of the religious.   They have lots of tricky questions and lots of “I got you moments.”  But, they fail to recognize the basic truth that Jesus is Lord and we are to honor Him as such.   They did not want to really know the “authority” Jesus had.  

In truth, Jesus had told them many times that He was “from His father, in heaven!”

 John 5:17 (ESV)

But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

John 5:36 (ESV)

But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

John 8:18 (ESV)

I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

John 10:37, 38 (ESV)

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;  but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

Jesus did not blindfold them about His authority.   He was doing the works of His Father and they should believe Him because of that.   They did not.    So, too, many today.  They do not recognize the authority that Jesus had, has and will demonstrate latter to them.   The fact that they do not affirm His authority does not diminish it.  Like a person who has mentally lost reality and thinks he/she can fly, so too those reject the Lordship of Jesus.  You may think that gravity does not exist, but at some point you will finally see it if you attempt to jump off the roof.   So, too, Jesus’ authority.   Deny it exists all you want.  But, at some point you will see it, albeit, too late. 

Nations Will Be Judged - Ezekiel 25-30

 Ezekiel 28:20-24 (ESV)

Prophecy Against Sidon

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against her and say, Thus says the Lord GOD:

“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon,

and I will manifest my glory in your midst.

And they shall know that I am the LORD

when I execute judgments in her

and manifest my holiness in her;

for I will send pestilence into her,

and blood into her streets;

and the slain shall fall in her midst,

by the sword that is against her on every side.

Then they will know that I am the LORD.

“And for the house of Israel there shall be no more a brier to prick or a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.

In this section of Ezekiel the prophet is pronouncing doom on gloom on those countries and nations that did harm to Israel.  Israel was and is God’s chosen people.  Those who do harm to them eventually are held accountable.   This is true throughout the ages of God’s plan.  In the above passage we read about it being carried out against a small country of Sidon.   By the above prophesy, at the end, we read that this small city was a “brier to prick” and a “thorn to hurt them” and treated Israel with “contempt.”  In Judges 10 we read the Sidon did not get conquered by the nation of Israel and Israel would eventually adopt their gods.  This is why the rest of the oracle agains them portrays that God will reveal Himself to them and declare His holiness to them.   They will “know that I am the LORD” becomes the cry before them, as throughout all these oracles.   

We do not disobey God and injure God’s people without consequence.    Sidon (and the rest of the nations and cities cursed in this book) are a warning to all that attempt to damage the walk of God’s people with Him.  Israel failed and will be taken into captivity as a result of their sin.  But, those around them do not get a pass.  Peter said it this way taken a quote from Proverbs:

1 Peter 4:17-18 (ESV)

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

The nations can rage against God and His people.  But, eventually their end is coming. The Psalm song-writer Asaph was envious of the prosperity of the wicked, until:

Psalms 73:16-17 (ESV)

But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me a wearisome task,

until I went into the sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their end.

They have their END!

Right Talk Comes First From a Right Heart - Proverbs 10

 Proverbs 10:32 (NASBStr)

The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable,

But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.

Proverbs 10:32 (NIV1984)

The lips of the righteous know what is fitting,

but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

Today I sat in front of a Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and head administrator of a school system.  They asked my opinion on several employees and about their culture.   As I sat there I asked God for wisdom (as in James 2), since the questions being asked carried great gravity as to ramifications for several people.   As I offered my response it was evident that God gave me some insight only He could give.  My answer(s) was not only plausible but also acceptable to them.  They saw the ideas I presented as good and right for them.  This is exactly what Solomon is talking about in the above proverb.  Both the NASV and the NIV indicate to us that when we walk by faith and live in the righteousness that God clothes us with wisdom.  Through Christ's work on the cross we will be blessed with wise and fitting answers to life's toughest problems.   When we attempt to answer the questions asked with the wisdom of this world, or of our own flesh and mind, we fulfill the second line of the above proverb.   The wicked (those who walk according to the flesh) are perverted in their responses.   They only offer perverse answers.  When we walk by faith and have the righteousness of Christ we can ask for wisdom and be assured that what God gives us is not only favorable to Him, but also favorable to man.   We just need to make sure we are getting our answers from above and not from within.   Note the other proverbs in this chapter:

Proverbs 10:20-21 (ESV)

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;

the heart of the wicked is of little worth.

The lips of the righteous feed many,

but fools die for lack of sense.

Proverbs 10:31 (ESV)

The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

Solomon has let us know that when their is righteousness in the heart (put there by God) there will be aptness on the tongue (enabled by God).

God’s Protection - He Fights His Fight For Us! Psalms 81-83

 Psalms 83:5-8 (ESV)

For they conspire with one accord;

against you they make a covenant—

the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites,

Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

Asshur also has joined them;

they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah

In this song we read about a plot that is being formed against the nation of Israel by ten of their enemies.   Throughout the history of Israel (past and present) they have had conspiring enemies around them and against them.  This is nothing new.  We probably don’t even need the Scriptures to tell us that.  Most historians see and would admit that Israel seems to have an unusual place in history as the center of controversy.   This is because they are God’s chosen people and the world does not want to submit to God so they take their anger out on His people.    Why would I say that?  Look at the above text again.  Especially the first lines of these particular verses.  We might get lost in the list of the ten other nations, but the key is in the first line of the above:

For they conspire with one accord;

against you they make a covenant—

Asaph, the writer of this song, is talking to God.  He is telling God that there is a problem and he needs God’s divine intervention.    He pleads to God for Him to recognize that these nation so not like Israel, but this is His fight, not their fight.   They were chosen to represent God and the fight is against God, not Israel.  These nations may think they are fighting against this tiny nation, but they are not.   They might think that way but God’s people can not think that way.   

The same is true for us today.  Notice what Jesus prayed to His Father in John about believers then and to come:

John 17:13-16 (ESV)

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

The world will hate us.  The world will plot against us.  But, it is not us that they hate:

John 7:7 (ESV)

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

Asaph is writing a praise song not that these ten nations are plotting against him, but against God.  He appeals to God for deliverance because it is God’s fight.   The say is true today.  We can appeal to God to protect us against a wicked world because it is not our fight, it is God’s fight.   The following verse is not exactly the same time as Asaph’s song, but it has the same theme.   God promised King Jehoshaphat, in a similar situation, the following:

2 Chronicles 20:15 (ESV)

And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.

God’s Word Always Comes True - False Teachers Prove It - 2 Kings 6-10

 2 Kings 10:10-11 (ESV)

Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the LORD has done what he said by his servant Elijah.” So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

To understand the above two verses we have to have a brief history lesson regarding Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel.   For years they controlled the kingdom of Israel.   Ahab was the king, but it appeared as though he was but a puppet with Jezebel pulling the strings.    Their evilness was deep.  They established the false worship of a god named Baal.   When Elijah had a show down with them on the mountain and killed the priest of Baal, Jezebel sought Elijah’s life.  That was the beginning of the end of Elijah’s ministry and the beginning of the start of Elisha’s ministry.   Elisha then prophesies that all of Arab’s descendants and Jezebel will be destroyed by God.    To accomplish this task, God raises up Jehu to be the king.  He takes down all of Ahab’s descendants and all of the new priest of Baal and Jezebel herself.   That brings us to the above verses.   Jehu understood his purpose in the hand of God.  He was to fulfill the words that Elijah has spoken years ago about Ahab and his wickedness.   Elijah prophesied, Elisha directed Jehu’s rise to power and Jehu carried out the end of the Ahab’s wickedness.   Those who doubt the fidelity of God’s Word will one day be ended by the completion of God’s Word.  Ahab, Jezebel and all the prophets of Baal probably scoffed about Elijah’s prophecy.  Even though it hung over their heads they rejected it and thought it would never happen.  It did!

In our day there is much the same. In fact in the first century church we read from Peter’s words that people scoffed about Jesus’ return:

2 Peter 3:3-7 (ESV)

knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

Men will always scoff at the validity of God’s Word.  But, as they scoff, they actually fulfill God’s Word.   Their rejection of truth becomes the proof of truth.   Beware that God’s Word will come to fruition.  It may not be in the timing we see, but it will always find its end in completion.   

Community Matters to God - Leviticus 13-15

 Leviticus 14:10-13 (ESV)

Sacrifice for Infectious Disease 

“And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy.

In this section of Leviticus we read the laws about someone who has contracted an infectious disease.  The translators use the word leprosy to convey this disease.  Most commentators and historians do not believe this is leprosy as we have today but a form of skin infection that could spread through the camp of the Israelites.  When reading these sections of the Bible we might be lost as to “how does this apply to me, today.”   If we get a skin infection we run to the local pharmacy and buy some ointment.   Or, we go to the med center.  Or, we make an appointment with a dermatologist.  Or, in a worse case scenario we go to the emergency department of the local hospital.   None of this existed in Israel’s word, living in the wilderness.   We are not given much, if any, insight into the medical field in Israel’s history.  We are told in these passages in Leviticus that the priest not only cared for the worship of the people, but also acted as the health inspector.   As we read all the steps to move from inspection of a person’s skin infection to diagnosis to healing to restoration to the community, it is the priest of God who does all this work.  This implies that God gave to the priest (through these documents) insight and wisdom to discern what needed to be done.  This would amount to a large portion of the priest time and energy.  Remember that there were probably more than a million people living in tents in a large area.   The walking from one spot to another to inspect would be daunting.   Perhaps this is one reason that in the restoration to the community aspect of these instructions we read the individual would have to provide a guilt offering.  It may not indicate that they were guilty of anything causing the infection, but that the offering was for the priest, it was holy.  These offerings was the way that God provided for the Levitical priesthood.  They had not portion with other inheritance.  They were to live for and by the offerings brought.   God needed someone to care for the health of the community and He also needed to care for the needs of the priest in that care.  So, the offerings were the way for the individual to demonstrate their willingness to follow God’s instruction and show that healing was complete and that the priest would be rewarded for the large amount of work done in these instances.  The entire cycle of events come to a lose with all the people of the community being brought together and provided for based upon God’s cooperate love.   

Argumentation and Debate - Philippians 3-4

 Philippians 3:4-7 (ESV)

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

When we are in a courageous conversation and we turn to our accomplishments to prove our point, we have already lost the influence of the conversation.   That is Paul’s point in the above passage.  He is faced with some false teachers that have found their way into the church at Philippi.   The Philippians were a church that constantly supplied and maintained Paul in ministry.  Note:

Philippians 4:14-16 (ESV)

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.

Paul did not have to qualify himself but he does.  He admits that by doing so he is not really helping the cause.  He admits that was is gained to him is loss for Christ.   The situation he was in was compounded by false teachers who were appealing to their bona fides to augment their argument.  They thought if they could toss out their qualifications it would solicit loyalty from the church members at Philippi.  So, Paul joined them in laying out his credentials.  Not to really prove he was more qualified than them (though he was).  But, he did it to show them that such talk is useless regarding the Gospel of Christ.  Our “works” do not benefit in such moments.  It is “God’s work in us” that benefits in these moments.   Man-made and man-produced resumes do nothing to win a discussion about the truth of the Gospel.  That is Paul’s point.  He is saying, “I can throw down my accomplishments as well, but how ludicrous is that!”   Be careful that in your next argument, discussion, debate or conversation you start to appeal to who you are to prove you point vs what God has done in you!!   Join Paul in saying:

Philippians 3:8 (ESV)

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. 

Kingdom of God is in the Heart Before it is Seen in the World - Luke 17-18

 Luke 17:20-21 (ESV)

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Curiosity is curtailed when you begin with an end in mind.   The Pharisees came to Jesus to ask Him about the Kingdom of God.  There is no reason to suspect they had ulterior motives.   They probably really did want to know.   They anticipated, however, something different that Jesus was about to present.  They, like most of the Jewish nation, were looking for something tangible regarding the Kingdom of God.  They asked the question with the end in mind and could not hear the answer Jesus gave.   Notice what will be written later by Luke regarding this matter:

Luke 19:11 (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.

Jesus wants them to know that the Kingdom of God was not what they supposed in their minds.   It must have shocked them when He stated they could not observe it, but that that it was already “in the midst of you.”    They were looking for a geographical and physical ruler.   In those days and for centuries later, the world was ruled by monarchs who had absolute rule over the people.  There was no reason to suspect that the Kingdom of God is any different. And, in one respect, it is not.   God is the ruler of all mankind.  He will, in then end, set up a physical and tangible kingdom of which there will be a city and a throne and Him in the throne (read the Book of the Revelation).  However, what Jesus wanted these Pharisees to know right now was that He, Jesus, was the Kingdom of God (it began at His birth) and that it would begin as an internal submission to His Lordship.  The Kingdom of God will be observed, but as it flows from the hearts of those who receive Him and His rule in their lives.   They wanted outward deliverance from the oppression of Roman rule.  He was offering, first and foremost, inward deliverance from the oppression and condemnation of sin.   When we start asking questions to find out how to prove what we think we will miss the truth of Scripture which goes beyond our thinking.  We are most often outward, external and temporary.  Jesus Christ is first upward, internal and eternal.   Christ’s Kingdom is one of His ruler in our spiritual hearts that will flow out into our physical behaviors.  The Pharisees, like most people in power, are only looking to establish rule and structure.  Christ says the Kingdom is in your midst which actually meant, “right inside you.”   Christ wants to rule in us before He establishes His Kingdom for us and with us.  

A Dry and Thirsty Land - Ezekiel 19-24

Ezekiel 19:13 (ESV)

Now it is planted in the wilderness,

in a dry and thirsty land.

Sometimes God plant us in a dry and thirsty land?  But why?  In the case of the above passage it is due to rebellion against God’s Word.  Israel had been given all types of blessings by God but it was contingent upon their obedience to the Law.  They did not and hence a dry and thirsty land experience.  God, as Ezekiel prophecies in this book, leads them to a dry and thirsty land into captivity.   Where else has God led someone to a dry and thirsty land and for what reason:

1. Job - was lead into a dry and thirsty land because of his righteousness.  God allowed him to suffer in a dry and thirsty time to show to us the concept of innocent suffering which was the same the Son would do someday for us on the cross. 

2. Joseph - was sold into captivity by his brothers and then purchased as a slave and then accused of raping someone and then left to rot in prison.   God allowed him to suffering in a dry and thirsty place to later bring him out to save the entire nation of Israel.   

3. Daniel - was put into a lion’s den because he kept his vow and convictions to pray to God despite the kings edict.   God allowed him to live in a dry and thirst lion’s den to show the king and the Babylonia people the power of God.  He did the same for Daniel’s three friends in a fiery furnace.

4. Jonah - was put into the belly of the whale due to his lack of obedience to go and preach to a people he didn’t like.   God put him into a floating dry and thirst belly to allow him to repent and return to do God’s will.  

God can put us where He wants.  He can often put us in a dry and thirsty place to accomplish His will for us.   

Wisdom Speaks More and More Truth - Proverbs 8-9

 Proverbs 8:8-9 (ESV)

All the words of my mouth are righteous;

there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

They are all straight to him who understands,

and right to those who find knowledge.

Wisdom is calling out to mankind.  That is the theme of chapters 8 and 9 of Proverbs.   We learn all we need to know about wisdom in Proverbs, but these two chapters in particular give us great insight.   The above two verses are an example of that insight.  We learn a few things about proverbs from just these two verses:

1.  Wisdom has no unrighteous in her.   The verse line of the above states that “all the words” are righteous.   This is a truth we are not used to in our lives.  We don’t listen to anyone with the mindset that “all” their words are true.  We are hesitant toward some and skeptical toward all.   But, wisdom, whenever she speaks (in God’s Word) is always speaking right and truth. 

2. Wisdom has nothing crooked in her words, nothing twisted.   When we listen to people, most of them tell us truth.  But they typically tell us only the truth they want us to hear.  They give us a truth that allows us to come to a conclusion they want us to believe.  But they don’t always tell us “all” truth.  If we have “all” truth we might come to a difficult conclusion.  Politicians do this all the time.  They tell us the truth.  But the truth is twisted and crooked because we are not told all truth.  When confronted they tell us it is our fault since the part they told us was the truth. 

3. The more we hear Wisdom the more understanding we get about wisdom.   This might be one of the most potent truths in Proverbs.  To those who seek to understand her, Wisdom give us more of her.  Those who find her will find more understanding and more knowledge.   She is always giving us more as we seek her more. 

Wisdom is available to all and the more we find her and seek her the more she opens up to us and invites us to have more.   Whereas Folly kills and limits our knowledge, Wisdom expands our capacity for even more Wisdom.  

Our Forgetfulness vs God’s Faithfulness - Psalms 78-80

 Psalms 78:39-43 (ESV)

39 He remembered that they were but flesh,

a wind that passes and comes not again.

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness

and grieved him in the desert!

41 They tested God again and again

and provoked the Holy One of Israel.

42 They did not remember his power

or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,

43 when he performed his signs in Egypt

and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.

Psalm 78 has much structure to it. It is divided into sections to review the history of Israel and to portray how they responded to God’s grace during that time of history.  In the above section we have verse 39, which is the closing verse of one section and then verses 40-43, which is another separate section.   The reason to include verse 39 in this journal entry about section 40-43 is to highlight the issue that the entire song is meant to convey.  Despite Israel being given blessing after blessing they would simply forget God’s grace to them.  BUT, God knew they were but flesh and would continue to give them more and more evidence of His grace.   They would not “remember” HIs power and grace, however.   They would test Him again and again.  Their rebelling was based upon their failure to remember God’s power and privileges.  He knows we are flesh.   This is why we must constantly be in God’s Word to be reminded of His great power and His abundant grace in our lives.  We can often go through our day without even recalling His amazing care for us.  Our flesh is weak.  Jesus said it this way:

Mark 14:38 (ESV)

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Reading God’s Word, praying God’s Word into our hearts strengthens our heart and our flesh.   We must constantly be reminding ourselves of His amazing blessings He gives us.  Psalm 78 tells us of their forgetfulness but it was written to remind them of God’s faithfulness.  

Faith Without Sight - 1 Kings 1-5

 2 Kings 2:15-18 (ESV)

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the LORD has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

The above passage is very interesting as to the conduct of the group of prophets. In the verses prior to this they, on two occasions, told Elisha that his mentor, Elijah, was going to be taken up to heaven.  Note:

2 Kings 2:3-5 (ESV)

And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

Yet, when Elijah is taken up they are the ones who want to go and find Elijah.   It may have been that they thought he simply died and they wanted to recover the body.   It may have been they simply thought, as stated, that Elijah was just taken somewhere.  Whatever the case, they do go and search for the old prophet while the new, young prophet, Elisha, sits and waits.   When Joshua took over for Moses, Moses died first.   This time, Elijah was simply ushered off to heaven.   This all must have been so strange to these lessor prophets and to Elisha himself.  Yet, this was the transfer of God’s power that Elijah spoke about.   It was true that Elisha would get a double portion of the Spirit.  It was true that Elisha would now carry Elijah’s mental.  But, the skeptics in the crowd had to be shown and had to have visible signs.  It reminds us of Thomas when the Lord appeared to the disciples but he was absent.  Note:

John 20:24-28 (ESV)

Jesus and Thomas

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Blessed are those who have faith to believe without signs and physical evidence for their eyes.  

Sacrificial Atonement - Leviticus 10-12

 Leviticus 12:8 (ESV)

And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”

The above verse is in the context of a mother having recently given birth and finished her purification time.   Moses is writing God’s instruction for what the mother must do to worship God.   The previous verse tells her to bring a one year old lamb to present as a burnt offering to honor God for the birth of her child.   But, as the above verse states, if she can’t afford a lamb, she can bring either two turtle doves or two pigeons.   Both the dove and the pigeon would be common for her to find.    She would have to go out and find them, but even in poverty she could fulfill the requirement.  Because the child was born in sin (all mankind are born in sin) she would need to make a sin offering to make atonement for the baby’s sin.   God provides the way and the method and commands that she obey this.    She can’t say I am poor and can’t afford the sacrifice.  God provides for her to complete the requirement.  This is a picture of what Christ did for us.  We were poor in spirit and could not afford a sacrifice for the sin nature we received at birth.   So, God sent a sacrifice (His Son) to die for us.   Even in our poverty God makes allowance for our forgiveness.   To the women in the OT God allowed them to find a dove or pigeon on the street to make atonement for their sin.   It was to be a picture for the Lamb of God (His Son) who would die to make atonement for our sins.   

Mindset of Christ in the Church of Christ - Philippians 1-2

 Philippians 2:1-2 (ESV)

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Chapter two of Philippians is known for what follows the above two verses.  This chapter contains what is often referred to as the kenosis of Christ - The emptying of Himself as the Son of God to become the Son of Man.  He set aside the full glories of some of His attributes (omnipresence for example) to take on the form of a servant and die on the cross for us.   

However, it is important to realize where Paul is going in this chapter when we read the above two verses.   Paul is not, in this chapter, simply writing a doctrinal thesis on Christ’s emptying Himself.  Paul is using Christ’s willingness to set aside Himself for others as the prime example of what makes the above verses real in the lives of the church.   He wants them to have the “same mind” and be of “one mind.”   In our society, in any organization, having the “same mind” and having “one mind” is a valuable commodity.   Business owners pay great amounts of money to have consultants help the teams be of the “same mind.”  We are typically divergent in mind. Our backgrounds, our training, our beliefs, our passions, our values all speak to us to have different minds than the world around us.   Yet, Paul is telling this church to have the same mind and be one-minded.   How?  He tells them that “in Christ” we have the necessary “comfort from love” (Christ’s love for us and His producing love in us for others) and we have the “participation of the Spirit” (being fully baptized in the Spirit) to be of one mind.   Through Christ’s work and example and the Spirit’s indwelling we can have all the “affection, sympathy and joy” necessary to be of the same mind.   The world cannot grasps this.   They fight and bicker over some of the smallest things.   Things that do not matter for eternity.   As believers we are come together in one mind and in a singleness of mind that is centered on Christ.  That approach brings us not only together but demonstrates the life others would want to emulate.   Paul later adds the following to this concept of being of “one mind:”

Philippians 2:5 (ESV)

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ...

Having the mind of Christ means we will set aside our preferences as He set aside the use of His divine attributes.   If Jesus can set aside the use of His omnipresence, we can set aside our simple preferences.    

Divorce - Luke 15-16

 Luke 16:18 (ESV)

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

To make sure we know all of Jesus’ teaching on the above subject, let’s read the following before we determine what He is saying:

Matthew 5:31-32 (ESV)

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19:3-9 (ESV)

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Mark 10:2-12 (ESV)

And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Three of the four Gospels mentions something about divorce.  It is interesting that there is little teaching in the New Testament Epistles about the divorce.  There is teaching in 1 Timothy and Titus.  Yet, those two don’t really  mention divorce but the teaching is solely for those desiring to be an Elder in the church at instructed to be married to one wife.   

It is obvious by Jesus’ teaching that three things come to mind:

1. God did not intend for a marriage to end in divorce.  He designed them to stay together.  So, anything outside that design would mean we are on a path that God did not originally design.   

2. However, God did recognize that “hardness” of a spousal heart and Moses was instructed to give teaching on divorce.   This shows that God knows the hearts of man and marriage is a heart issue.  God knows that we have sin and God gives us a path through that sin. 

3.  The only exception that seems to fit Jesus’ teaching is if one spouse is unfaithful to the other.  In cases of sexual immorality divorce is part of God’s plan to keep the marriage pure.   At least that is what it states.  

If we bring in other teachings about unconditional love and forgiveness, one could make an argument that an injured spouse should seek to keep the marriage together.  Here is what is says in 1 Corinthians about that thought:

1 Corinthians 7:12-16 (ESV)

To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

So, the heart of the issue is the heart.   Marriage was designed for no separation.  When hardness of heart creeps into the marriage one party may want out and one party may not.   If there is unfaithfulness in the marriage it does not change the above teaching except the unfaithfulness does, based upon Jesus’ teaching, make divorce a certain option.   If the injured spouse can stay in the marriage with the unbelieving spouse, they should (according to Paul’s teaching).  But, if the unfaithful spouse decides the leave the remaining spouse seems to be “free.”   Which would mean they are allowed to remarry.    In the end, it is the glory of God in marriage that God wants.   However, God knows the hardness of the hearts of men and women and knows that road might become messy.  That is where God’s grace provides a pathway to what God intended, but via a different road.