Break the Cycle - Judges 6-11

Judges 10:6-10 (ESV)

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the LORD and did not serve him. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the Ammonites, and they crushed and oppressed the people of Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the people of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. And the Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.

And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, “We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.”

This is the cycle of most Christians.  What we read above is an actual cycle that was happening throughout the book of Judges.  But it is also a picture of what happens in the lives of most believers.  The cycle looks like this:

• We forsake God and turn away from obeying His word. 
• We seek after other gods to meet our needs. These are gods that are contrary to the Word of God. 
• We fall into oppression and depression because of these gods we now serve.  They can’t satisfy us and, instead, bind us. 
• As the pain grows greater we are driven to cry out to God.  
• As we cry out to God for deliverance we must repent of our first mistake; turning from God. 
• God sends deliverance to save us from our evil choices. 

This happened over and over and over in the book of Judges.  It does, too many times, also, in the life of the believer.  The way to stop this cycle is to not turn away from God, but to obey, daily, His word and walk in His Spirit.  We don’t have to live in this cycle.  He sent His Spirit to guide us in truth to keep us walking in step with the Spirit.  On our own we fall into this cycle.  With the Spirit of God we are set free from this cycle.  

God IS Sovereign, Even Over Our Marriage Partners - Genesis 24-27

Genesis 24:1-9 (ESV)

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

The above passage is about the sovereignty of God and Abraham’s faith in it.   He wants his son, Isaac, to have a wife from his own tribe.   He makes his servant, Eliezer, swear an oath to make sure that happens, after his death.  Eliezer wants to make sure he is covered to do what Abraham wants and wonders out loud what will happen, regarding this vow, if he can’t convince a young woman from Abraham’s tribe, to come back with him to marry Isaac.  This is where Abraham inserts his belief in God’s complete sovereign rule. Abraham’s belief is based upon God’s promise to him.   This is not blind faith and/or empty hope.  This is based upon the word of God, given from God as a promise to Abraham.   We believe in God’s sovereignty because we believe that God keeps His word and directs the affairs of mankind.  We have no reason to fear becuase God is sovereign over all.  He says so in His word.   

Look At the Interest of Others - Romans 12

Romans 12:15 (ESV)

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

But what if you don’t feel like rejoicing?  What if you feel like rejoicing and don’t feel like weeping?   The above admonishing from Paul follows something he stated to the church at Corinth, years before.  Note:

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Paul is writing to the Roman Christians in chapter 12 and he wants them to take similar posture when it comes to living with others.  In the Corinthian passage it was more about the nonbeliever.  In this Roman passage it is more about their fellow believer.  The theme is the same.  We are not to promote ourselves and look at our own interest, but rather the interest of others.  Paul said something similar to the church at Philippi:

Philippians 2:4 (ESV)

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

This is the Christian way.  We are not to seek our own, but seek what is best for our fellow believers.   That is Chrisitanity.  

The Gates of Hell Won’t Prevail - Matthew 14-16

Matthew 16:18 (ESV)

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

What a divine promise.   Satan is actively trying to crush the church.  But he can’t!  That is a promise by God to the church.   Peter was the recipient of the promise.  Peter had just expressed deep faith in Christ and that solicited Jesus comment about the church. Peter had confessed that Jesus was, indeed, the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God:

Matthew 16:15-17 (ESV)

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

This revelation to Peter, by the Father, gives us the formula for being established in Christ, via His church.  The Father gave the servant (Peter) the knowledge of the Son (Jesus) and that faith would be the basis and security of the church.    That gates of hell can’t prevail against us.  The church is based upon the faith given to us by the Father.    The world prevail is often translated from the Greek word, nike, but not this time.  In Greek mythology, Nike, was the conquering, victorious god. She represented triumph in all contest.   That could be the word here, with Jesus stating that the gates of hell will not nike.  But Matthew uses a stronger term here but using the Greek word katischyō.  In the Greek, kata, means against.  The second half of the word, ischuo, means powerful.   So the translation means that the gates of hell can’t be powerful enough to fight against the church of Jesus Christ.   That is a promise we can hold to in times of feast and famine.   This does not mean Satan won’t try.  This does not mean that churches won’t close.  This does not mean churches will be successful in every aspect of God’s work. Of the seven church’s in Revelation, Jesus commended them all for something, but five of them He stated, I have this against you.  So, even churches Jesus highlights have flaws.  But the church will never be defeated by Satan’s attacks. It can be limited and/or diminished in the eyes of man, however.  But we have this promise that in the end, we will prevail.  

Simply Obey - Isaiah 29-33

Isaiah 30:23-26 (ESV)

And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

The contrast in Isaiah between God’s discipline and God’s forgiveness and blessing over Israel is so strong.  As we read each of these chapters we are told of God’s great wrath on the nation for their disobedience, and then, suddenly, we come across verses like those above.   In one stroke of the pen, Isaiah writes about doom, and in the next, about blessing.   Such is the life of Israel.  Their disobedience toward God’s word is met with certain peril.  Their obedience to God’s word is met with promised prosperity.  

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon asks 23 questions about life.   He ponders all the riches and the wonders of the world and then asks questions about the real meaning of life and the purpose of life.  In the end, this richest man of all times, concludes with the following.  His last words in Ecclesiastes seem to sum up the very theme of Isaiah’s prophecy:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV)

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

At the end of the matter is obedience to God’s word and will.   That is the summary from Solomon. It is the conclusion from Isaiah.   It is the main theme of Jesus’ teaching:

Matthew 22:34-40 (ESV)

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Proverbs of Ashes - Job 12-13

Job 13:6-12 (ESV)

Hear now my argument

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

Will you speak falsely for God

and speak deceitfully for him?

Will you show partiality toward him?

Will you plead the case for God?

Will it be well with you when he searches you out?

Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

Will not his majesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

It is too bad we can’t hear tone in a passage of Scripture.  It would be nice to hear Job’s tone in the above words. He is speaking to his three friends who came to console him.    In verse four of this passage, he refers to them as physicians.   We have no knowledge that they were, but when we read their words spoken to Job, they might be classified as a philosophical theologians.   They have a philosophy about pain and suffering.  Job calls these ideas they present to him as maxims.  He is calling them out for their thoughts and beliefs and if examined by God these maxims would prove to be proverbs of ashes.    They are defenses of clay to Job.   This is the world’s mindset and thoughts about innocent suffering.  Remember, we can NEVER read a passage in Job without reading the beginning and then end of the book:

Job 1:1 (ESV)

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Job 42:7 (ESV)

The LORD Rebukes Job’s Friends

After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

These men came, armed with ideas.  They end up leaving as idiots.   Their philosophy did not meet the moment.  Their theology was mis-guided; often true but applied wrong.   Like the Pharisees, they twisted doctrine to meet their dogma:

Matthew 23:16-22 (ESV)

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Man’s dogma is simply proverbs of ashes.  

Our Speech Matters to God - Psalms 15-17

Psalms 15:3 (ESV)

who does not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor,

nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

A command of God is that we use our tongue and speech to glorify Him.  We do this in the way we treat and speak about others.   Note:

Proverbs 11:9 (ESV)

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,

but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

Proverbs 11:12 (ESV)

Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,

but a man of understanding remains silent.

Colossians 3:8 (ESV)

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

Ephesians 4:25-32 (ESV)

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting TALK come out of your mouths, BUT ONLY SUCH IS GOOD FOR BUILDING UP, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

(You can also read Romans 15:1-7)

Our speech matters to God!