Sing After Victory - Judges 1-5

Judges 5:1-5 (ESV)

The Song of Deborah and Barak

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

“That the leaders took the lead in Israel,

that the people offered themselves willingly,

bless the LORD!

“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;

to the LORD I will sing;

I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.

“LORD, when you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

the earth trembled

and the heavens dropped,

yes, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains quaked before the LORD,

even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.

After a great victory we should sing praises to God.   That is the point of the above verses.   Barak, through the prophetess Deborah, had just had a great victory over their oppressor, Jabin, King of Canaan.  Jabin’s commander, Sisera, had been killed by a woman who drove a tent peg through his temple, as he sought refuge from her.  Jabin had oppressed the people of Israel for 20 years.  The narrative reads that he oppressed them cruelly for 20 years.   This is what made Deborah and Barak break out in song.    This is not the first time we have such a response to victory.  Note:

• Moses and Miriam broke out in song following the destruction of the Egyptians after the crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-21)

• King Jehoshaphat broke out in song as they faced a large army (2 Chronicles 20:21-22)

• Women broke out in song after David’s victory (1 Samuel 18:7) 

• David himself broke out in song after victories (2 Samual 22 and Psalm 18)

We ought to have a play list we play when God gives us victory over something.  God has intended song as a way to praise Him.  

Psalms 40:3 (ESV)

He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

and put their trust in the LORD.

Psalms 42:8 (ESV)

By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,

and at night his song is with me,

a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalms 95:1-2 (ESV)

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Sing a song of praise today! 

God Maintains History - Genesis 20-23

Genesis 23:17-20 (ESV)

So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.

In the above verses we have the final consummation of the purchase of a field by Abraham from the Hittites.   To bury Sarah, his deceased wife, Abraham purchased this cave for an agreed upon price with the owner of the cave.   This was all sealed in front of the leaders of the land, at the city gate:

Genesis 23:16 (ESV)

Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

This became a binding contract and the cave now was owned by Abraham.   In this cave Sarah would be buried.  But through the years, not just Sarah, but others.   Note:

Genesis 25:9-10 (ESV)

Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.

Genesis 35:27 (ESV)

And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

Genesis 49:29-30 (ESV)

Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

Today Jews, Muslims and Christians all wish to visit this cave.    This has become a significant historical location for the credibility of the Bible and the story of Abraham and his descendants.   All recorded here, in Genesis.  God watches over the scared places His deems important to His story of the ages.  

The Kindness of God Draws us To Himself - Romans 9-11

Romans 11:22-24 (ESV)

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

It is God’s kindness that leads us to our salvation. In this section of Romans, Paul is outlining what happened to the nation of Israel.  They were given the Law and Prophets and yet rejected their Messiah.  Because of their rejection of Jesus, salvation was given to the Gentiles.   The above passage is about two things regarding this salvation:

1. The source of it: God’s kindness

2. The obtaining of it: By continued faith in the grace of God. 

Make now mistake, our salvation (Jew or Gentile) is solely based upon God’s kindness toward us. A kindness we do not deserve:

Romans 2:4 (ESV)

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?’

We need God’s kindness to draw us to Himself because:

Romans 3:12 (ESV)

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

It is God’s kindness that leads us to Him.   We must then continue in faith.   Those who temporally believe have no hope in Christ.   Faith is a continued act.   We have been grafted  into the vine of salvation.  That being grafted in means we abide in Him.   The is the theme of John 15.    

God draws us by His kindness and keeps us secure by our abiding continuously in Him.   

Turn From Something - But Turn Toward Someone Else! Matthew 11-13

Matthew 12:43-45 (ESV)

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

The context for this section in Matthew is Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God.  He is in the midst of giving parables and stories to illustrate how the Kingdom of God is received and operates.  The above passage is one more of those examples.  

The scene is set by describing an unclean spirit who departed from living inside a man. We have no idea why this unclean spirit left, only that he did leave.  He left looking for another place to dwell.  We can assume that the man he previously occupied, had done some spiritual work.  When the unclean spirit returns, he finds the man’s house empty, swept and put in order.  There was some spiritual experience for this man.   However, the house (the inside of the man) was still empty.   He did not fill it with anything, or, in this case, anyone.   He may have had reformation but he did not have regeneration.   He became moral by getting rid of something, but he did not become holy be inviting the Savior into his life.   We can often have a religious experience and not have the presence of the Savior.  A moral change of heart is a good thing.  But if does not come with the inward dwelling of the Son, through the Spirit of God, it is only empty, swept and put in order.  The man had a worse experience at the end.  Seven more evil spirits entered his life (his home).   Repentance is not just turning away from something or someone.  It is also turning toward someone.  If we turn from something we must turn to someone, or the last will be worse than the first: 

Acts 3:19-21 (ESV)

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (ESV)

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Acts 26:20 (ESV)

but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

God Will Punish Workers of Evil - Isaiah 23-28

This is what God can and will do to nations that place themselves higher than He is.  This city described below is an archetype of all cities who reject God.  Make no mistake in thinking, whatever a man sows, he shall also reap.  This section needs no further commentary. It stand on its own as a testimony to God wrath and man’s utter depravity.   The two cannot co-exist.  

Isaiah 24:1-13 (ESV)

Judgment on the Whole Earth

Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;

as with the slave, so with his master;

as with the maid, so with her mistress;

as with the buyer, so with the seller;

as with the lender, so with the borrower;

as with the creditor, so with the debtor.

The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

for the LORD has spoken this word.

The earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

The earth lies defiled

under its inhabitants;

for they have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore a curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,

and few men are left.

The wine mourns,

the vine languishes,

all the merry-hearted sigh.

The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,

the noise of the jubilant has ceased,

the mirth of the lyre is stilled.

No more do they drink wine with singing;

strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

The wasted city is broken down;

every house is shut up so that none can enter.

There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

all joy has grown dark;

the gladness of the earth is banished.

Desolation is left in the city;

the gates are battered into ruins.

For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth

among the nations,

as when an olive tree is beaten,

as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

Stupid People Will Remain Stupid - Job 11

Job 11:12 (ESV)

But a stupid man will get understanding

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man!

Isn’t that the truth.   This verse is being said by a man named Zophar.  He is speaking to his friend Job.  Job is in extreme suffering and has lost everything precious to him.  The only thing he has left is a nagging, faithless wife.   Zophar has traveled many miles to comfort Job.   Zophar apparently believes the above words will add to Job’s comfort.   They do not.    We have here a great example of good counsel said to the wrong person in the wrong way.   The thought that Zophar conveys is truth.  Those who have no mind for wisdom and truth are stupid and will not receive understanding:

Proverbs 17:16 (ESV)

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?

People who want to remain stupid will remain stupid and no amount of knowledge and wisdom will change that.   Zophar is spot on with this philosophy.  His difficulty is that he is speaking to a man who has understanding.  Job was declared righteous by God in chapters one and two of the book.  Zophar doesn’t know this and shows up at the end of chapter two.   Job is suffering because God allowed Satan to vex his spirit, not because he is stupid and won’t accept understanding.    The truth of Zophar should be utter from the roof tops. But the application to Job’s condition is not truth.   We need to be careful when we give truth when we don’t know what God is doing.   

Man’s Tongues Validate God’s Wrath - Psalms 12-14

Psalms 12:3-4 (ESV)

May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue that makes great boasts,

those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,

our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

In this song, David is calling out to God regarding the evilness around him.  He wants to be saved from it.   One of the characteristics of this evilness is the tongue of the evil.  The voices of this world are cruel.   As I write this there are protestors in one of our cities coming into churches to scream their anger.   The above verses from David’s writings from back then, describe the images we see on our news now.   The voices of the world scream and shout and attempt to drown out the voice of God, heard through His people.  There is no reasoning.  There is not dialogue.  There is no discussion.  There is only shouting and screaming.   They believe with our tongues we will prevail.   The tongue, of course is simply an extension of the heart.   When people do not know God, they shout out against God.  Note this verse in Revelation.  The scene is God sending His wrath on people who refuse to submit to Him.  Note their response:

Revelation 16:21 (ESV)

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Men think their shouting with drown out the grace of God and the wrath of God.   But their lips only confirm the condemnation of God is valid.