Joshua 22:17
Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord,
Tag: Confronting Sin
What a great passion they had in Israel at this time. Even though the 2 1/2 tribes were NOT committing any sin, the leaders of Israel decide to confront the "possibility" of them allowing sin into the nation. There is a good record of this in Joshua. In chapter seven Joshua and the nation confront Achan who had committed sin by stealing gold from the fall of Jericho, which was against God's command. They were very much sensitive to sin in their camp and the impact of that sin on their nation. The "sin at Peor" was still impacting them. The prophet Balaam lead them into establishing a covenant with the Moabites. The Moabites eventually would lead members of the nation into the worship of Baal. This is why the elders of Israel did not want the 2 1/2 tribes to set up a worship alter, contrary to the Law. They would soon discover that the tribes were making a memorial wall and not a worship center. It will not be long before the elders of Israel are not as sensitive and the fall of Israel will begin. However, here is a time they were sensitive and wanted to protect the holiness of the nation.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
Tag: God's Omniscience in regard to Sin - Genesis 16-19
Genesis 19:12-13
Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
Tag: God's Omniscience
God knows about sin. We don't hide anything from God. In the previous chapters God herd Sarah laugh in her heart when she overheard God tell Abraham that she would have a baby at 100. God knew that she was doing so in a mocking manner. In the next few verses we will see God destroy Lot's wife because she looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah in desire as God was destroying the city. In the above passage we read that the "outcry" of the people of Sodom came to God's ears. God knows we sin and hears the pain of that sin. God heard the sin of Cain as Abel''s blood cried out from the ground. God saw the running of Jonah who failed to head God's call for service. Jesus knew of the betrayal of His disciple. God knows we sin. God knew the sin of David as he killed Uriah. God knows our sin!!!
Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
Tag: God's Omniscience
God knows about sin. We don't hide anything from God. In the previous chapters God herd Sarah laugh in her heart when she overheard God tell Abraham that she would have a baby at 100. God knew that she was doing so in a mocking manner. In the next few verses we will see God destroy Lot's wife because she looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah in desire as God was destroying the city. In the above passage we read that the "outcry" of the people of Sodom came to God's ears. God knows we sin and hears the pain of that sin. God heard the sin of Cain as Abel''s blood cried out from the ground. God saw the running of Jonah who failed to head God's call for service. Jesus knew of the betrayal of His disciple. God knows we sin. God knew the sin of David as he killed Uriah. God knows our sin!!!
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Tag: Sin; The Old Nature - Romans 7-8
Romans 7:21-25
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Tag: Sin; The Old Nature
In Romans 6-7 Paul is teaching the Romans about the reason for the Law and the way Law "ignites" sin in our lives. Sin is like gasoline in our lives. When the Serpent tempted Eve to disobey the Law (don't eat the fruit), he ignited the passion of sin (the gasoline) and that caused Eve to sin. Christ came to fulfill all the Law and then die for us, thus breaking the penalty of the Law on us. However, Christ's death also gave us power over the "igniting of sin" in our lives by the Law. Yet, as the above passage teaches, we are not, YET, completely free from the Law. Hence, sin still is a battle raging in our lives as believers. But, the deliverance from that burning sin is through the power and resurrection of Christ. Note what one commentary states:
Paul’s primary emphasis in the present passage, however, is not on the believer’s eventual deliverance from sin’s presence but on the conflict with sin that torments every spiritually sensitive child of God. He therefore ends by summarizing the two sides of that struggle: So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
In the poem Maud (x. 5), one of Tennyson’s characters yearns, “Ah for a new man to arise in me, that the man I am may cease to be!” The Christian can say that a new man has already arisen in him, but he also must confess that the sinful part his old man has not yet ceased to be. (John MacCarther)
Even though we have the indwelling Christ, until we are glorified in heaven we will carry the sinful man with us. Our walk with God is to live in faith and give Christ full reign in our lives. When we don't, our sin nature is waiting to be ignited to produce the burning of sin in our lives.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Tag: Sin; The Old Nature
In Romans 6-7 Paul is teaching the Romans about the reason for the Law and the way Law "ignites" sin in our lives. Sin is like gasoline in our lives. When the Serpent tempted Eve to disobey the Law (don't eat the fruit), he ignited the passion of sin (the gasoline) and that caused Eve to sin. Christ came to fulfill all the Law and then die for us, thus breaking the penalty of the Law on us. However, Christ's death also gave us power over the "igniting of sin" in our lives by the Law. Yet, as the above passage teaches, we are not, YET, completely free from the Law. Hence, sin still is a battle raging in our lives as believers. But, the deliverance from that burning sin is through the power and resurrection of Christ. Note what one commentary states:
Paul’s primary emphasis in the present passage, however, is not on the believer’s eventual deliverance from sin’s presence but on the conflict with sin that torments every spiritually sensitive child of God. He therefore ends by summarizing the two sides of that struggle: So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
In the poem Maud (x. 5), one of Tennyson’s characters yearns, “Ah for a new man to arise in me, that the man I am may cease to be!” The Christian can say that a new man has already arisen in him, but he also must confess that the sinful part his old man has not yet ceased to be. (John MacCarther)
Even though we have the indwelling Christ, until we are glorified in heaven we will carry the sinful man with us. Our walk with God is to live in faith and give Christ full reign in our lives. When we don't, our sin nature is waiting to be ignited to produce the burning of sin in our lives.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Tag: Faith - Recognizging Christ's Authority - Matthew 7-8
Matthew 8:5-13
When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
Tag: Faith - Recognizing Christ's Authority.
In the above passage the centurion is commended and rewarded for his faith. The key in the passage is to understand the character of his faith. His expression to Jesus about his own authority and his recognition of Jesus' obvious authority over the sickness of his servant, caused an unusual reaction in Jesus. Seeing the man's faith, Jesus states, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith." The lesson we need to learn here must consider what we learn about faith. The centurion did not have faith in Jesus' doctrine, although he could have. The faith act here is that the man "recognized Jesus authority." When Satan tempted Jesus he offered Jesus authority over all the kingdom Satan showed him. Jesus casts Satan away. The reason? Because Jesus knew all the kingdoms of the world were already under his authority. The centurion recognizes that. No one in Israel did. The speaks directly to the nations rejecting Jesus as their Messiah; their King with all authority. When we pray, in faith, we need to recognized Jesus authority to command sickness, pain, suffering, etc. That prayer is an act of faith recognizing Jesus' authority.
When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
Tag: Faith - Recognizing Christ's Authority.
In the above passage the centurion is commended and rewarded for his faith. The key in the passage is to understand the character of his faith. His expression to Jesus about his own authority and his recognition of Jesus' obvious authority over the sickness of his servant, caused an unusual reaction in Jesus. Seeing the man's faith, Jesus states, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith." The lesson we need to learn here must consider what we learn about faith. The centurion did not have faith in Jesus' doctrine, although he could have. The faith act here is that the man "recognized Jesus authority." When Satan tempted Jesus he offered Jesus authority over all the kingdom Satan showed him. Jesus casts Satan away. The reason? Because Jesus knew all the kingdoms of the world were already under his authority. The centurion recognizes that. No one in Israel did. The speaks directly to the nations rejecting Jesus as their Messiah; their King with all authority. When we pray, in faith, we need to recognized Jesus authority to command sickness, pain, suffering, etc. That prayer is an act of faith recognizing Jesus' authority.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Tag: Security Taken Away - Isaiah 18-22
Isaiah 22:8-11
He has taken away the covering of Judah.
In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
Tag: Security Taken Away
God is about to bring judgement on Israel and in the above verse tells them one reason why. Instead of trusting in Him during tough times, they thought it best to trust in their own fortifications. In stead of turning to Him, the first thing they did was they "looked to the weapons of the House of Forest." (This was their armory.) These weapons would not save them. The second they the did was to created a moot between the two walls around the city. The City of Jerusalem had two walls: An outer wall and an inner wall. The space between was often filled with the poor and the bigger. However, when God brought the Babylonians agains them, instead of trusting in God, the Israelite leaders filled the space in between the outer and the inner wall with water, hence making the moot. God's chastising in the above verse is found in the last line: "But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago." God wants repentance in times of chastisement, not fortitude. Often when we talked to people who are in sin and God brings some difficulty, they fortify themselves. The concept of "intestinal fortitude" is something our society celebrates. However, God wants repentance and He wants to use recognize Him. They had a chance in their discipline to see God. Instead they saw their own solutions, which would not and did not work. Their pride hindered the humility you need to say, "I have nothing to save myself, I need God."
He has taken away the covering of Judah.
In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.
Tag: Security Taken Away
God is about to bring judgement on Israel and in the above verse tells them one reason why. Instead of trusting in Him during tough times, they thought it best to trust in their own fortifications. In stead of turning to Him, the first thing they did was they "looked to the weapons of the House of Forest." (This was their armory.) These weapons would not save them. The second they the did was to created a moot between the two walls around the city. The City of Jerusalem had two walls: An outer wall and an inner wall. The space between was often filled with the poor and the bigger. However, when God brought the Babylonians agains them, instead of trusting in God, the Israelite leaders filled the space in between the outer and the inner wall with water, hence making the moot. God's chastising in the above verse is found in the last line: "But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago." God wants repentance in times of chastisement, not fortitude. Often when we talked to people who are in sin and God brings some difficulty, they fortify themselves. The concept of "intestinal fortitude" is something our society celebrates. However, God wants repentance and He wants to use recognize Him. They had a chance in their discipline to see God. Instead they saw their own solutions, which would not and did not work. Their pride hindered the humility you need to say, "I have nothing to save myself, I need God."
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Tag: God's Unkowningness vs our loneliness - Job 8-10
Job 9:11
Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
Tag: God's Unknowingness vs our loneliness
Job is in a dark spot. He has lost everything and now he is lamented that loss. His words just prior to those above are claiming God's awesome power and creative acts. Job, although in a bad spot, is attempting to talk about God in the right way. He is telling his friends that he believes God is great and God is beyond anyone''s comprehension. However, he takes his thoughts and words too far. Likes his three friends, his statements are true but his application is false. Job, in the above text, is stating that God is all around him but totally invisible to him. He is making the claim that, although God created all things, Job can see God. Here is where his pain clouds his reasoning. If God created it all, wouldn't he be able to see God in the creation? Note what Paul tells us in Romans:
Romans 1:19-20
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
The creative things we do see, reveal the things about God we can't see. Job was so blinded by his pain he failed to recognize God, all around him. His pain made him feel alone and full of sorrow. Yet, God is right next to him, ready to give comfort. That is the issue with suffering. It removes our ability to see God in all His glory. We think we are totally alone. We are not!!
Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
Tag: God's Unknowingness vs our loneliness
Job is in a dark spot. He has lost everything and now he is lamented that loss. His words just prior to those above are claiming God's awesome power and creative acts. Job, although in a bad spot, is attempting to talk about God in the right way. He is telling his friends that he believes God is great and God is beyond anyone''s comprehension. However, he takes his thoughts and words too far. Likes his three friends, his statements are true but his application is false. Job, in the above text, is stating that God is all around him but totally invisible to him. He is making the claim that, although God created all things, Job can see God. Here is where his pain clouds his reasoning. If God created it all, wouldn't he be able to see God in the creation? Note what Paul tells us in Romans:
Romans 1:19-20
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
The creative things we do see, reveal the things about God we can't see. Job was so blinded by his pain he failed to recognize God, all around him. His pain made him feel alone and full of sorrow. Yet, God is right next to him, ready to give comfort. That is the issue with suffering. It removes our ability to see God in all His glory. We think we are totally alone. We are not!!
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Tag: Grace and Mercy - Psalms 9-11
Psalms 10:16-18
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.
Tag: Grace and Mercy
God has common grace and mercy. This is grace and mercy He gives to everyone, no matter their faith in Him. If God did not give common grace (blessings we don't deserve) and mercy (withholding judgment we do deserve) His judgment would simple destroy man. Jesus said it this way:
Matthew 5:45
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
In the above verse David calls for God to hear the prayers of the afflicted. The "afflicted" in this chapter are those who are bing afflicted by the wicked. He is particular talking about the rich and powerful. Those who use their position for selfish gain and oppress the weak. David tells us that God "hears" the prayer of the afflicted. He further tells us that God will "do justice." That earns He will make things just for the weak. We can rejoice that God is just and carries that justice to those who call upon Him!!
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.
Tag: Grace and Mercy
God has common grace and mercy. This is grace and mercy He gives to everyone, no matter their faith in Him. If God did not give common grace (blessings we don't deserve) and mercy (withholding judgment we do deserve) His judgment would simple destroy man. Jesus said it this way:
Matthew 5:45
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
In the above verse David calls for God to hear the prayers of the afflicted. The "afflicted" in this chapter are those who are bing afflicted by the wicked. He is particular talking about the rich and powerful. Those who use their position for selfish gain and oppress the weak. David tells us that God "hears" the prayer of the afflicted. He further tells us that God will "do justice." That earns He will make things just for the weak. We can rejoice that God is just and carries that justice to those who call upon Him!!
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