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. 

Keep Your Commitments - Joshua 21-24

Joshua 22:1-4 (ESV)

At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God. And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

To fully understand the above text we need to go back to when the tribe of Ruben, Gad and Manasseh, requested from Moses permission to settle on the east side of the Jordon river.   During the wilderness wanders and just before the nation crossed the river to take possession of the promise land, these 2 1/2 tribes desired the rich land on the east side of the river.   Moses granted their request, with on stipulation.  They had to help their brothers fight for and obtain their portion of the promised land.   This called for extreme faith by these tribes, assuming they left their women and children on the east side, as they fought for years on the west side, along side their brothers.   In the above text Joshua is now releasing them from their obligation to Moses’ demands.  They have fulfilled their promise.   This is a great testimony to them and to Joshua.  He honored a promise from his predecessor.   They also kept their promise to a predecessor, who had died years earlier.  This shows the obligation of a community to honor past landmarks and decisions.   As new situations arise it is still important to honor past obligations and promises.   Leadership does not change that.   These tribes may have liked Moses’ leadership style and not Joshua’s.  However, it was about keeping a commitment.  They were now honored for keeping that commitment.  

Don’t Stop Praying For Them - Genesis 16-19

Genesis 19:1-4 (ESV)

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.

When Abraham and Lot, years before, had to split due to their large prosperity, Abraham allowed Lot to choose where he wanted to live.   The choice was:

Genesis 13:12 (ESV)

Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.

Eventually, apparently, Lot moved closer and closer.    When the angels arrived to Sodom, Lot was now sitting among the elders of the city.  He has promised his daughters to be married to their men.   That probably negotiated him to higher levels of influence in the city.  Lot was fully assimilating his life into the world of Sodom and Gomorrah.  

When the angels arrived, however, Lot must have had the righteousness in him, come alive.  Apparently, although living among them, he was still bother by them.  Note what Peter, through the Holy Spirit, says about Lot centuries later:

2 Peter 2:7 (ESV)

and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked

Lot brings the angels into his home and bakes them a meal, somewhat lacking as compared to what Abraham had provided them in the last chapter.  But times may have been hard for Lot.  The key is that he was not fully gone and done in by the wickedness of Sodom.   But God still had to send someone to pull him out.  Abraham intercession for him in the last chapter, moved God to remove him in this one.  The angels had come to destroy the city.   But also came to rescue Lot.  Through intercessory prayer we can rescue those who are living close to sin’s capital.   Never stop praying for those you see pitching their tent to and in the Sodoms of this world.   

Adopted!! Romans 7-8

Romans 8:15-16 (ESV)

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

The above lines, taken from the middle of a paragraph  give us the marvelous truth about how we became a child of God.   Now, no child gets to choose their parents.   But those children who are born out of love and goodwill, to a loving set of parents, can have a wonderful and celebrated life.   But a child born and abandoned, does not have such a true experience.   They are forever scared and only hope for celebration.  But when the day of their adoption arrives, they are now positioned for a completely different life.    This is our status as believers.  We were abandoned by sin and lost in sin and controlled by sin.  And then God adopted us.   Before we had no father.  Now we can cry out, Abba Father!  Now, He knows us by name:

John 10:14 (ESV)

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

(2 Tim. 2:19), 

He knows us by name!!  We are listed as VIPs in His contact list!!  

What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus? Matthew 8-10

Matthew 8:18-22 (ESV)

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

This section of Matthew also includes a parallel thought to the above:

Matthew 10:37-39 (ESV)

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When God calls us to follow Him, there is no half-in follower.  You are either all in by faith, or not in.  Our love for Him should make all other love like hatred.  The church at Ephesus was actually called out about this by John in the Revelation:

Revelation 2:4 (ESV)

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Our having one foot in the arena of God and one foot in the arena of the world is not what God called us to do.  Leaving all to follow Him means all, and not all, but this.   In the above passage we read that Jesus was demonstrating this truth when He walked this earth.  There is nothing wrong with owning home, but He had none.  There is nothing wrong about having a career, but He had none (His will was to come to His Father’s will).  We are to remember that his si not our home.   We are homeless, because He is our home.  

View What You See Through The Lens of What God Has Planned - Isaiah 18-22

Isaiah 19:3-4 (ESV)

and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,

and I will confound their counsel;

and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,

and the mediums and the necromancers;

and I will give over the Egyptians

into the hand of a hard master,

and a fierce king will rule over them,

declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

This section of Isaiah’s prophecy is a collection of oracles from God, through Isaiah’s lips, to various countries and towns within those countries.   The above is written to the Egyptians.  When God works in the world He is in complete control of the world.  That is a wonderful thought to a believer.  As we read the news and watch images across our country and other countries, we could lose focus as to what is going to happen.  Nothing is going to happen that God did not design, intend, permit, and produce.    He even uses evil to accomplish His plans, even though He is not evil.  But evil becomes a mission for God to destroy, while at the same time God uses its unholy actions to accomplish His plans.   We might be fearful of the visions we see, but God provided Isaiah’s vision for us to have peace in the truth of His sovereign power.  

Words of Redemption, or Word of Condemnation? Job 8-10

Bildad, one of Job’s three friends (who came to comfort him) decides he must speak to Job’s condition.   The following words, in his mind, he must think are comforting to a suffering man.  Yet, what is basically says is that, “You, Job, are a wicked man and your life has been planted in weak soil and in place nothing can take root. You are trusting in things that have the strength of a spider’s web.  Your prosperity is shooting up to sky before others, but has no foundation to sustain it.  Your suffering is the evidence of this fact.”  And, to end, as adding insult to injury, he states, “Now you are dying, but God will use your ashes to bring forth another in your place.”  

Read it yourself:

Job 8:11-19 (ESV)

11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

12 While yet in flower and not cut down,

they wither before any other plant.

13 Such are the paths of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless shall perish.

14 His confidence is severed,

and his trust is a spider’s web.

15 He leans against his house, but it does not stand;

he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

16 He is a lush plant before the sun,

and his shoots spread over his garden.

17 His roots entwine the stone heap;

he looks upon a house of stones.

18 If he is destroyed from his place,

then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

19 Behold, this is the joy of his way,

and out of the soil others will spring.

Perhaps in our work with others, along with pointing out their natural sin, we can show them, also, the path of redemption.   Bildad had accusations, but no redemption.  

Not Now, But Soon! Psalms 9-11

Psalms 10:1 (ESV)

Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

The opening verse in chapter ten gives us the conclusion of the chapter, but before we hear the contents of the chapter.  The majority of the verses in this chapter are speaking about how arrogant the wicked portray themselves.  They are puffed up and belligerent.   The writer of this song will come to a great conclusion in the end, however.  

Psalms 10:16-18 (ESV)

The LORD is king forever and ever;

the nations perish from his land.

O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

But the ending is far from the beginning.   There are times in our lives when we certainly feel the same way this writer felt.   There are times we know in our head that the LORD is king forever and ever.  But there are times when our hearts ask, “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?”   This is the experience of all who follow God.   We know He is there, but we tend to still ask, “Where are you?”   In the middle there is an entire process when we see the prosperity and peace the non-believer seems to enjoy.    And they do enjoy it.  We are not to camouflage that their earthly experience is, in most times, much more enjoyable than the believer.   But that is when we remember that their experience is only on this side of glory and it is only an earthly feel.  God wants us, also, to enjoy our earthly life, but He also wants to make sure we remember this earth is NOT the end of our journey.  All we do here is for the glory of Him whom we will see there.   Our perseverance in faith is based not upon what we are feeling here, but on what we know is finally there!