Don’t Relax The Power of God’s Word - Matthew 5-7

Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV)

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

This section of Matthew (chapters 5-7) is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. It covers a variety of topics and is powerful in understanding both Jesus’ mission and the believers’ purpose and practical way to live out that mission.   The above passage has so many truths to unpack but the one highlighted is very practical for today’s age.   In our society we have many teachers, pastors, clergy, priest and other religious leaders wanting to relax the commandments of God.   Obviously when Jesus is talking about commandments, He is referring to the Old Testament Law specifically for the hearers of this teaching.  But it is also applied to all of God’s laws, principles and teachings He gives us.   What Jesus is saying is that He didn’t come to abolish His Father’s Word.   He came to fulfill it.   The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were always twisting and revising the Word of God to fit their interpretations and life style.  It is nothing new for a religious leaders in our day, to also relax God’s Word to fit their life style.  Today we have a rampage of this type of relaxing.   The word used for relaxing, in the above passage is the Greek word,  lyō.  This is Vine’s  definition for it:

lyō; a primary verb; to “loosen” (literally or figuratively): — break (up), destroy, dissolve, (un-)loose, melt, put off.

It is translated as follows:

AV (43) - loose 27, break 5, unloose 3, destroy 2, dissolve 2, put off 1, melt 1, break up 1, break down 

When we lyo (pronounced loo-o), Scripture we attempt to diminish the power and/or authority of it. We here someone say that a Bible passage no longer means that. We might hear them talk about the Bible has to be taken for the culture and God no longer holds to that thought today.   The relaxing of the authority of God’s Word means that there is nothing absolute.   God’s Word is absolute.   Jesus didn’t come to make God’s relative for today.  He came to fulfill God’s Word in His life in front of us so that we can fulfill all of His Word (in the power of its meaning) in front of Him.  

The Nations Rage - Isaiah 12-17

 Isaiah 17:12-14 (ESV)

Ah, the thunder of many peoples;

they thunder like the thundering of the sea!

Ah, the roar of nations;

they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!

The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,

but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,

chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind

and whirling dust before the storm.

At evening time, behold, terror!

Before morning, they are no more!

This is the portion of those who loot us,

and the lot of those who plunder us.

Our nations of the earth like to flex their muscles.   Leaders like to puff out their chests.    Political beasts like to trump the power of others.   The Psalmist said it this way;

Psalms 2:1-6 (ESV)

Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

“As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill.”

In this section of Isaiah we are reading about the oracles he cried out, by the Holy Spirit, against the nations that oppressed the people of Israel.  The oracles were prophetic utterances that proclaimed doom and gloom on them for their evil acts.  This above section of Isaiah’s oracle is just one example of those in this section.  This particular pronouncement is against Damascus.  The point of the teaching is that no nation is actually in charge of themselves.  God uses all nations to accomplish His will and His favor.   We ought not to fret about the nations as they flex their muscles.  God is in charge and has an oracle for them all.  

Look Into The Eyes of Those Suffering - Job 6-8

Job 6:28-30 (ESV)

“But now, be pleased to look at me,

for I will not lie to your face.

Please turn; let no injustice be done.

Turn now; my vindication is at stake.

Is there any injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

Look at me!   When people feel unseen, it is as though they feel they have no value.   When Job’s friends first showed up to visit him, this is what we read:

Job 2:12-13 (ESV)

And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

When the three friends showed up they could not look at him and could hardly recognize him.   Apparently, as this first dialogue with them unfolds, they still cannot look him in the eyes.  In essence Job is say, “Please look at me. Quit looking away.  If you could see in my eyes and look deep you would see that I am not lying!”    The challenge we have as we read Job is that God has already told us that Job is righteous.  We have seen the acts of Satan come against Job.   However, his three friends show up with a particular world view.   Their view of pain and suffering is retribution oriented.  They only have the view that if someone is suffering it is because they are doing something wrong against God and God is punishing them for it.  But they are wrong.  They can’t (or won’t) change their world view just because Job claims he is innocent.   The story of Job, however, is about the suffering of the innocent (a picture of what will happen to Jesus centuries later).    Instead of changing their world view they condemn Job.  Job wants them to look at him.  Really look at him.  He wants to be seen.   He wants them to know that he innocent and He is trusting and walking with God.   Yet, his friends refuse to even look at him and hear him.   This might be as painful to him as the loss of his family, his riches and his health.   We are to look at others when they are in their grief and suffering.  We are to see them.  Yes, some may be there because of their open sin against God (think of David and the loss of the baby after his adultery).   But others might be there because Satan is trying to dissuade the innocent from following God.   We are to see them.  Don’t put your worldview onto others and make them live your view of life in their life.  See them!

Facing Hard Situations - Psalms 6-8

Psalms 6:1-3 (ESV)

TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDING TO THE SHEMINITH. A PSALM OF DAVID.

O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath.

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;

heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O LORD—how long?

The above lines from Psalm 6 are meant to be the beginning of a song that Israel would sing in worship.   Most of the time, when we are studying Scripture in general and the Psalms specifically, we want to know the historical setting the passage is talking about.  So in the above lines we would often ask, “When was this in David’s life?  What circumstances are happening to David as he pens these lines?”  These are correct questions to ask and are important concerns to better interpret the studied text.   However, one commentator makes a great point about this psalm and the psalms in general:

(Understanding the Bible Commentary Series) 

Psalms generally are written not out of the particular experiences of their composers but for the various experiences Yahweh’s worshipers may face. Therefore, we should ask not, “Out of what circumstances was this psalm written?” but rather, “For what kind of circumstances is it appropriate?”

There was undoubtedly something happening in David’s life when he authored these words.  We don’t know when and where or why, however.   We are not given enough details.  We can speculate, but that is not always healthy in the interpretation of Scripture.   The point made by this commentary is one to consider.   When David pours out his heart to God asking for grace and compassion, we all can relate to many circumstances we face where we might utter these same words.  A key truth to learn from this passage might be that in times of trouble, like David mentions, we do have a God we can turn to for mercy and grace in time of need:

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We might add, as David did, But you, oh LORD, how long?   There is always the circumstances we face and the then, also, time we must face them.   The circumstance can carry a weight hard to bear.   The time we are in the circumstance, without knowing how long, can be a relentless burden.  Some suffering is but for moment.  Other suffering is forever.  When Paul wrote about his own suffering and the constant bearing under it, he wrote these words:

2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 4:17 (ESV)

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

Having an eternal view point always gives us a better approach to our afflictions.  But asking God for grace and knowing He will provide it NOW, is even better.   David cries out and expects God to hear him.   

Failure To Complete The Task - Joshua 11-15

Joshua 13:8-13 (ESV)

The Inheritance East of the Jordan

With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them: from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland of Medeba as far as Dibon; and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites; and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); these Moses had struck and driven out. Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.

If you have never been to another country, the listing of the names of the cities in that country is not that appealing.   If we read a list of the names of any nation but have no context for the nation, we might be lost as to the value of even giving you the cities’ names.   That is what this section of Joshua can be like.  Joshua and Israel have conquered the main big cities of the Land of Canaan, a land we know little about.  The author of the book is now getting into the distribution of the conquered land.  We have to  remember that the entire reason for the book of Joshua is to show that God’s covenant promise to Abraham and Moses is being fulfilled physically in the land, but will also be fulfilled spiritual through the line of David and the Messianic promise, who will live in the land.  The land is the tangible that leads to the promise fulfilled in Christ for the spiritual.   Therefore the distribution of the land is important to read, if only to confirm to us that God keeps His promises.  However, one of the issues with the distribution of the land is found in the last lines of the above text.  It reads as follows:

Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.

The people did not drive out the inhabitants of the land.   They allowed some of the people to live with them.  This will become the major theme of the book of Judges when we finish Joshua.   God set them up for success but they refused to drive out all the nations around them that practiced sin.   Eventually this will be Israel’s downfall.   The take-away is that when we allow sin to hang around, it will eventually hang us.   That is what happens. This passage is one of the first mentions of Israel’s failure to conquer the land.  We read it again at the end of this section:

Joshua 15:63 (ESV)

But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

Make no mistake, when we allow sin to be in our midst it won’t be long until it is in our hearts and lives.  This book of Joshua is to be a celebration of God fulfilling His promises to  give them the land.  But it also has the ugly thread as to why the land would eventually consume them.   

 

God Is A Covenant Making God - Genesis 8-11

Genesis 9:8-13 (ESV)

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

God is a covenant making God.   The word, covenant is used almost 300 times in the Bible.   It means to make a league or a confederacy with someone.   It is first used a few chapters earlier, with Noah, regarding the ark, the flood and God’s promise to keep Noah and his family safe through it all: 

Genesis 6:18 (ESV)

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

There are seven covenants recorded in the Bible:

1. The Adamic covenant (even though the word is not used). 

2. The Noahite covenant.

3. The Abrahamic covenant. 

4. The Mosaic covenant. 

5. The Davidic covenant. 

6. The Messianic covenant. 

7.  The Everlasting covenant. 

One of the greatest passages that speak about God’s covenant with man (the Everlasting Covenant, specifically) is in Hebrews:

Hebrews 8:10-12 (ESV)

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws into their minds,

and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor

and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

for they shall all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

and I will remember their sins no more.”

When God put the rainbow in the sky it was a reminder to Him and us that God is a covenant making God.  He will not break a covenant.   This is God’s faithfulness to us by being faithful to His promises.   God cannot go back on His word.   A covenant is His word.   Man constantly breaks the covenants he makes with God.  But God can NEVER break a covenant that He makes with us.   We can rest in our faith because God is a covenant making God.  

Justified by Faith - Romans 3-4

 Romans 3:5-8 (ESV)

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

If you have ever spoken words to someone and have had them twist the words and make them say what you never wanted them to say, you can understand the frustration around the above passage.  Paul has been preaching justification by faith and faith alone.  His detractors have twisted his teaching to make it say nothing he never intended.  They are doing this (mostly the Jewish leaders) to keep their own power and to be used by Satan to thwart the gospel message.   In essence, the above passage sounds like this:

Paul, you are teaching about justification by faith.   But that makes it sound that even though man is a sinner, God gets glory because He justifies us, despite our sin (remember, the Jew’s had a system of works).   We might as well keep sinning, then.  You are saying that if something is broken and someone fixes it, the one who fixes it is glorified.  If that is the case, we should all be broken so that this person is glorified by fixing us.   The more we break ourselves (sin) the more glorified the Fixer is.  This is why it is unfair of God to judge us.  He is actually benefiting from our sin. He is glorified by it. Then why subject us to wrath? 

Paul will later respond to this perverted interpretation of justification by faith in chapter six by saying:

Romans 6:1-2 (ESV)

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Throughout Romans, Paul is countering these false teachers who have infiltrated the church at Rome.   He wants the believers there to be sound in their faith.   To take liberty with sin in your life because you think being justified by faith means you bring more glory to God through your sin, is a perversion of great magnitude.  This is why Paul starts his argument on it here in chapter 3 but fully develops it more in chapters 5-7.   He wants believers to know that God’s righteousness is not magnified when man sins more or less. As one commentator stated it:

 Romans 3:5 (Understanding the Bible Commentary Series) God is perfectly good and just; otherwise, he could not judge the world. Human evil is not worse because it grows, anymore than cancer is more deadly because it infects three vital organs instead of one. Nor is human evil less evil because God chooses to meet it with good.

God’s righteousness stands on God’s character.  God is not exalted because we are worse sinners.   Paul wants them to know that God will judge us with wrath because we deserve wrath for little sin as much as bigger sin.  There are not degrees of sin with God. Man is sinful and deserves wrath.  Yet, God chose to save us by faith. He chose to justify us by faith based upon His righteousness, not our feeble unrighteousness acts of works.  That is argument of Romans.   Don’t find yourself trying to justify your sin thinking it will bring glory to God because it allows Him to forgive you more.   God is glorified because God is righteous and our being forgiven does not make Him more righteous.  

Popularity Is Fickle - Matthew 3-4

Matthew 4:23-25 (ESV)

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Popularity is fickle.   One day they like you and the next day they don’t.   This is the fate of Jesus.   It is hard to read the above passage without also remembering this passage:

Matthew 27:21-23 (ESV)

The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry the crowds were all for Him.  He was doing great miracles and they loved Him for it.  However, once He began His teaching, they decided He should be crucified.   Teachings like this:

Matthew 10:39 (ESV)

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 16:25 (ESV)

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

We ought to go to Jesus today for our healings.   We tend to call the doctor first and go to prayer second.   That is not necessarily a bad thing.  But Jesus does heal and we need to seek Him.  But we can’t have the healing without the teaching.   The crowds in Jesus’ day were okay having Him heal their bodies, but they rejected His prescription for how to heal their souls.   Physical life, yes; eternal life, no.   The one who can heal the body, first wants to heal the soul.   Jesus used the signs and wonders like God does in every age.  He begins every new movement in His plan with outward signs and wonders.  But He then moves to the inward need of man.  He does want to heal us of our sickness, but He first and foremost wants to heal us from our sins.   Jesus knew the answer to this question He asked of the religious leaders just before He healed the paralytic: 

Matthew 9:5 (ESV)

For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?

We grieve over the pain and suffering diseases and afflictions that come upon our families and friends.   We pray earnestly for healing for them.  And we should!   But do we equally grieve each day for their sins and their separation from God?   We often neglect the later and spend urgent time in prayer for the former.     Jesus is popular when He heals the body.  He is often ignored, or even rejected when He wants to save the soul.