Obey God Rather Than Man - Exodus 1-4

Exodus 1:15-22 (ESV)

Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

What an amazing story of trust in God.   They actually defied the orders of Pharaoh to obey God.   This falls into the same category where Peter and the Apostles found themselves when told by the government authority to stop presenting the gospel: 

 Acts 5:29 (ESV)

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Disobeying government to obey God has a very thin line.   Notice during the persecution of Christians in Rome what Paul told the church in Rome:

Romans 13:1-3 (ESV)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ...

The midwives in Egypt were disobeying the authority of the day to save lives.  Peter and the apostle were doing so to speak the gospel message.  Disobeying God’s establish earthly authority because you don’t like it is not in God’s word.  These midwives were rewarded by God for saving lives and, especially saving the lives of God’s chosen people.   They obeyed God rather than man, not for personal gain, but because it was the moral and godly thing to do.  God rewards these types of acts of faith.  They put their lives on the line to obey God.   

Accountability In The Faith - 1 Corinthians 9-10

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 (ESV)

Warning Against Idolatry

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Paul is writing to this church at Corinth to correct many of the areas of their spiritual lives that need correcting.  They have plenty of challenges.  There are some in the church who have come out of worshipping idols and this has caused a great stir among them.  In chapter ten Paul is going to address this. 

He starts out the chapter, however, reminding them of those past events of Israel.  Like the Corinthians, they were giving many blessings.  Like the Corinthians, however, thy have not honored them the way they should.   He will go on to detail some of the ways they dishonored God.  Paul does not want them to be unaware of this danger.  He is about to get into some very specific acts of disobedience in the book and he wants them to recall what happened to Israel. 

Many in Israel, despite having all the privileges of Moses’ leadership and the good will of God, still never entered the promise land.   The promise land is the picture here for God’s blessing.   What Paul is warning this church about is their acting in disobedience will cause them to miss out on God’s manifold blessings.  When you are given much, God requires much.  

Luke 12:48 (ESV)

But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

This is the basis for all the correction Paul is about to do.  He does not want them to be unaware of their requirements.  We have been given much. God requires much from us. 

Unconditional Love Demonstrated - Mark 5-6

Mark 5:1-2 (ESV)

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

Notice in this section the type of people Jesus meets. In the above passage we see him meet a man full of demons.  Note some others just in these two chapters of Mark:

Mark 5:21-22 (ESV)

And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet

Mark 5:24-25 (ESV)

And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years,

Mark 6:1-2 (ESV)

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?

Mark 6:33-34 (ESV)

Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Jesus rejects no one.  He has compassion on all men.  No matter their thoughts toward Him, He still shows them compassion and wants to heal them of their physical alignments and their spiritual separation from His Father.   This is the very definition of unconditional love.  

Beware of False Teachers - Jeremiah 1-5

Jeremiah 3:14-15 (ESV)

Return, O faithless children,

declares the LORD;

for I am your master;

I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,

and I will bring you to Zion.

“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

The above passage comes from a section in Jeremiah where God begins to talk about restoration. He is already told Jeremiah to write about destruction. Now he pivots to restoration.

As we read, we notice that not everyone will be restored. Even though all will be taken into captivity, only a few will returned.  This is true of all apostasy. As the masses move away, only a few will come back repenting.  

When they come back, God makes a wonderful promise. He is going to give them shepherds (teachers)who will teach them. This is actually part of the problem that got them into destruction. It was those who were supposed to be their teachers who led them astray.  Notice what Jeremiah will eventually write:

Jeremiah 23:1-2 (ESV)

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.

Although those teachers led them astray, now, in the above prophecy, teachers will lead them back to God.  God uses men to lead his people back to Himself.  They do this by teaching the truth of God‘s word.

We will know if we are being led astray as we listen to teachers and how they handle God‘s word. The nation of Israel failed to discern that their teachers were teaching falsehoods. Peter warned of the same thing for the church:

2 Peter 3:1-4 (ESV)

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 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.”

Beware of false teachers!

We Know Practically Nothing About God - Job 25-26

Job 26:7-14 (ESV)

He stretches out the north over the void

and hangs the earth on nothing.

He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,

and the cloud is not split open under them.

He covers the face of the full moon

and spreads over it his cloud.

He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters

at the boundary between light and darkness.

The pillars of heaven tremble

and are astounded at his rebuke.

By his power he stilled the sea;

by his understanding he shattered Rahab.

By his wind the heavens were made fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,

and how small a whisper do we hear of him!

But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Job, once again, is confronted by one of his comforters.  Bildad has come before him and described him as a maggot, as a worm, in the proceeding chapter.

Job 25:5-6 (ESV)

Behold, even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure in his eyes;

how much less man, who is a maggot,

and the son of man, who is a worm!”

Bildad wants Job to know how pure God is.  He rightly says that, compared to God, we are nothing more than a worm; if even that.   Job is not debating with Bildad, however.  

In the above verses Job, himself, confirms the mighty power of God. He confirms how awesome God is and how little we actually know about that awesomness. Notice how Job describes God:

Verse 7 - He is powerful enough to hang the earth in the universe on nothing. 

Verse. 8 - He has puffy clouds hold tons of water. 

Verse 9 - He hangs the moon in the sky.

Verse 10 - He can keep light from dark separated.

Verse 11 - He shakes the heavens with thunder.

Verse 12 - He can make the entire sea calm, but can completely destroy a city. 

Verse 13 - His breath can be a fair breeze and yet by His hand He controls even the lowly serpent. 

In the last verse we read Job’s main point.  We know all this about God and yet we know nothing at all.  All we know about God is like the pop of an old child’s cap-gun compared to the destruction of a neutron bomb.   

Job is not moved any more by his friends’ words of comfort, hat are more like darts in his eyes.  He is moved by the power of God, which is like arrows in his heart.  

  

Meekness is NOT Weakness - Psalms 36-38

Psalms 37:10-11 (ESV)

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalm 37 is all about the contrast of how God will care for the righteous and correct and condemn the wicked.   The psalm starts out like this:

Psalms 37:1-2 (ESV)

OF DAVID.

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

We don’t know when David wrote it, but there were plenty of times in his life this could be applicable.  Apparently he caught himself fretting over the prosperity of the wicked.   God’s message to him was, “I got this!”  

In the above couple of verses we are simply told that there is going to come a day when we glance over at the prosperity of the wicked and they are not there.  As we turn and change our glance to a gaze we will find that they are really not there.  God will remove them and as hard as we search, they are simply gone.  God will correct, condemn and remove them wicked. 

In contrast we have the statement about the meek inheriting the earth.  This, of course, is where Jesus was quoting in the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:5 (ESV)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

In contrast to the wicked’s pride, the believers meekness is rewarded with great benefit.   The meek inherit the earth.  

The world sees meekness as weakness.  It is often defined as timidity.     Yet, note what Jesus said about himself here:

Matthew 11:29 (ESV)

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The word gentle in the above verse is translated meek in other translations.  Jesus defines himself as meek.   Meekness is power under control.  Meek people don’t have to flex.   They don’t have to push out the chest and elevate their chin.   They are okay in their position because they KNOW they will inherit the earth.   That is our designed and divine posture.  

Take Initiative For God - 1 Samuel 11-15

1 Samuel 14:12-15 (ESV)

And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.” Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.

Jonathan is often an overlooked figure in the story of his father Saul and, who will become Saul’s enemy, but Jonathan’s best friend, David.   Jonathan is portrayed in Scripture as a strong, loyal and courageous figure.   The above story, however, demonstrates his initiative. 

At this point in history the Philistines and Israel are in back and fourth battles.  They each seem to get their victories and each their defeats.   When Israel asked for a king, God accommodated and gave them Saul.  Johnathan was one of his sons.   

In the above story we see Jonathan doing something courageous for God; stepping out on his own.   He and his armor bearer attack this Philistines outpost and God gives them a great victory.   God will use this to strike fear into the Philistines,   Saul does not know Jonathan is on this expedition.   This shows his initiative.  God uses him to strike fear into the Philistines.  

The truth to learn here is that using one’s initiative to trust God can be used by God to capture the hearts and minds of others.  We don’t have to wait until we are directed to fight God’s fight.  We can conquer in our lives and that allows God to conquer through our making ourselves available to Him.