2nd Evangelical Free Church

Blogging Through Isaiah: God is trustworthy. Idols are worthless.

Isaiah 46

Bel and Nebo were 2 of the chief gods of the Babylonian religious system. Bel, also know n as Marduk or Baal was the chief god while Nebo was his son. Nebo was the god of writing, and was in charge of writing down the destiny or future that the gods had decreed for each person. At the New Year (celebrated in Spring) the 2 idols were paraded around in grand procession. Here Isaiah describes them as heavy, overbearing and tottering over. This was an obvious reference to the inability of idols to take care of themselves, let alone take care of their devotees. They could not save themselves from toppling over, so how could anyone think they had any power at all? 

By contrast, Yahweh the Lord God Almighty is able to carry and protect His people. He cares for them. He disciplines them for their own good and is always able to help them in their time of need. Yahweh is a God who can always be trusted even in the toughest times when all hope seems lost. He knows all things; He knows the beginning and the end and the future of all human beings is in His hands not in the hands of the capricious and greedy gods of the Babylonians. As we thinkabput our lives, it is a good thing to lsee how the Lord is working and how He can use us. He can always be trusted.

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Don’t place your trust in pleasure.

Isaiah 22

The valley of vision refers to Jerusalem and Judah. It was a misnomer, for in reality Judah lacked vision. She was blind to what the Lord was doing. The Lord was angry because the people, as a whole, failed to heed the prophecies Isaiah has just declared against the nations. If mighty Babylon was going to suffer a crushing defeat, how could little Judah survive? The Jews may have been filled with dread at this prospect, but this did not turn them to God for answers, help or comfort. Hezekiah may have repented but not the nation as a whole. They chose to follow other leaders who only led them astray. And, in the light of the doom that would come shortly they decided to seek comfort in sensuality and pleasure rather than in the Lord. 

Many of the people of our world are like this. Many are quite pessimistic about their lives and about the world in general. That feeling of dread and fear causes them to adopt lifestyles of hedonism and sensuality. All they have is the pleasures of the flesh. These delights numb them to the pain of life and block out their feelings of despair and grief but do not eliminate them. They reason that if this life is all there is, then it is vital to enjoy themselves by finding meaning and comfort in indulging fleshly appetites. But they lack vision. They do not see what God is doing; they fail to heed any of His warnings; they reject all of His loving invitations to come to Him and find rest. Non-believers lack vision because they are blind to their sinfulness, their need for repentance and their need for a Divine savior. The hope of the cross shines like a beacon in this dark world. Pray that many would see it and come to faith in Jesus. 

 

Blogging Through Isaiah: Joy for the righteous.

Isaiah 9 

Isaiah moves sharply from the darkness to the light. The light of salvation, the light of God’s glory will shine. Isaiah sees this light beginning with the downfall of the Lord’s enemies, in this case Assyria. He foresees the preservation of the righteous remnant as part of the light. The full culmination of the glory of God will be at the coming of the ideal King who will rule with justice, mercy and eternal sovereignty. He will be unlike any earthly King even those that ruled Israel and Judah. He is speaking of the Lord God Himself, the Messiah, God Incarnate, Immanuel. Jesus will be that perfect King who will bring healing and salvation not just to the Jews, but to all the nations.  

The righteous remnant look joyfully toward that day, even though the coming of this King would be many years after Isaiah was writing. To get to that point, Judah, the righteous remnant, would have to endure some severe tribulations. We Christians, like that remnant, look forward with hope to the 2nd coming of the King. Yet we too must faithfully persevere through tribulations and persecution. We must continue to trust God in the midst of violence and chaos even though what we see and experience causes many to doubt God and forsake Him. We will believe in the dawn of the light of God’s glory even though we are in the midst of darkness. In that way we can live lives of faith and obedience that give glory to God.

 

Blogging Through Nehemiah: Compromise Again!

Nehemiah 13

Nehemiah had returned to Artaxerxes for it was required that he return periodically to reaffirm his loyalty. After some time, perhaps years, when he returned to Jerusalem he found that the revival and the reforms he had instituted had ended. The Jews had strayed from their faith in God and had violated the covenant which they had entered into. This was indicated by different incidents mentioned here each of which made Nehemiah very angry. He was zealous for the purity of the faith which had to be maintained at all costs. It just shows us once again that the Jews were weak and sinful and susceptible to pagan influences even as their ancestors had been. 

The behavior of the Jews should warn us against compromise with the world but it might not. Rather we may think some of Nehemiah’s actions to be bizarre and rude. Perhaps we feel that way because we are not as concerned for the purity of our faith as he was. We do not want to behave in ways that seem rude and offensive. We do not want to reveal to others their faults. We want to like and praise what the world does. This may be because we have compromised with the world and accepted its ideas as to what is good, politically correct and polite. But there is nothing polite or acceptable about sin or its consequences. We must root sin out form within the community of faith. Sin in the kingdom of God must be revealed and soundly rebuked for it dishonors the Lord. We should have no relationships with those who claim to be brethren but who are engaging in lifestyles that are hostile or dishonoring to the Lord unless or until they repent. We may think we want to help them but, as Nehemiah discovered, the presence of carnal believers serves to lead others astray. 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: Compromise with evil spells trouble.

2 Kings 11 

The story of Athaliah is one of rebellion. She attempted to grasp hold of the throne of Judah and David while eliminating the rightful heirs. She trampled upon God’s covenant and placed the survival of the entire kingdom in jeopardy. The only thing that stopped her was the godly men of Judah who boldly risked their lives to keep the Kingdom intact. They anointed a new legitimate King who was able to restore order and administer justice and continue the line of David.

At various times throughout history, the existence of the Church of Jesus Christ has been threatened by politicians, rulers, kings, and despots who sought to take away her authority  in order to rule over others with impunity. Of course the church has also been threatened by compromise with the world as misguided church ministers and clerics sought to make the church a political and military power or worse, a religious empire with them at the head.

The Church today is still under attack from politicians and groups of people who seek to silence the truth so the individual can do whatever he or she pleases. Apparently the rights of the individual to do as he pleases surpass the responsibility to obey God and His Word and to love our fellow man. In addition, the church is under attack from within as many ministers make friends with the world to advance their own kingdoms rather than the kingdom of God. As in the past, however, the true church will always triumph as God will use humble believers to boldly oppose the wicked. The seed of the church is truly the blood of the martyrs.

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: The greatness produced by wisdom.

1 Kings 4

In his great wisdom, Solomon chose capable men to be his officials and governors. Through the use of such men he was able to govern and maintain control over a vast amount of territory which stretched from the border of Egypt in the south to the Euphrates River in the northeast. This represented Israel at her largest extent, a large piece of land that included modern day Palestine, the Sinai, Syria and parts of Jordan and Lebanon. Israel at this point was at peace which allowed all her inhabitants to enjoy the wealth and prosperity God had provided. 

Solomon was not a warrior. He was a sage, a wise man. His God-granted wisdom allowed him to maintain the peace and administer justice with equity thus ensuring tranquility. His wisdom surpassed that of the wisest men of Egypt and Babylon and presented a powerful testimony to the greatness of Yahweh who stands alone as God. And Solomon used his wisdom not just to rule but also to teach others the fear of the Lord God. He used his abilities to help others. 

Solomon’s proper use of wisdom should serve us as an example that we should seek the prosperity and well-being of others, not demand it for self. This attitude of self-promotion and self advancement seems to be the way many politicians and people live their lives. They want for themselves and do not care for others. And this is also true even in the church and among those preachers who promote a message of health and wealth. They may preach about God but they often do so to ensure prosperity for themselves at the expense of others. No one ought to profit at the expense of others.

 

 

The Chronicles of the Kings: The past was not as good as we might think.

1 Chronicles 7

This genealogy covers the rest of the 12 tribes with the exception of Zebulun and Dan. In their place, in order to preserve the ideal number of 12, the Chronicler has added Ephraim and Manasseh both members of the former Northern Kingdom of Israel included in the exiles returned from Babylon. The list appears to have been based on a military census, probably the one that David took which ended in disaster (2 Sam. 24). The number of fighting men gives the impression of the former glory and strength of Israel, perhaps of nostalgia. The purpose of the Chronicler, however, is to get the people focused on reality. The nostalgia is tempered by the reminder that all this was lost due to idolatry. 

Many times humans look at the past with nostalgia. We look at the glory and/or simplicity of the past, of the days when we were kids, or when our grandparents were kids, or the days of our forefathers. In America it is quite common to look at the past history of the nation and idealize the lives and values of the founding fathers or the important personages of our history, or the deeds and accomplishments of our valiant armies. Nostalgia usually forgets about the hard times, the evil, the racism, the fear, the sickness, the sinfulness, the suffering, and the cruelties of war.  We forget that the glory was always tarnished by sin.

In my own life, I recall the innocence of childhood, of growing up in the fifties. I look back fondly with thoughts of holidays and celebrations. Yet my nostalgic wistfulness is tempered by the reminder of the real threat of nuclear annihilation that gripped our lives back then as well as the lies I was told, and the spiritual abuse I suffered at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church. We must avoid looking back at an idealized version of the past lest we forget the lessons that the sins of the past teach us that we need to grow into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. Then indeed we will find real glory in being one with Him.

 

 

Blogging through Samuel: Somebody’s got to do the dirty work.

2 Samuel 19:40-20:1-26

In my opinion, Joab again comes off as David’s best advisor, despite his violent temperament and his disobedience to the King. Joab thought he knew what was best for David and for Israel and had proven himself many times. The problem concerned whether or not he was wrong to disobey the King’s authority even when David was wrong or confused. Nothing David did in this chapter regarding rebellion was outright sin but it did demonstrate a lack of sound judgment. Like a good servant, Joab acted to correct David’s error even though he had to resort to violence and deceit. 

Christians should never act with deceit even when they do so for a good purpose. The end never justifies the means even when that end is something right and good. The Lord values faithfulness and godliness more than He does getting results. Our culture operates in a different way and to some degree the Christian culture in America reflects this attitude as well. The Christian culture values charismatic preachers, numbers, upbeat music, flashy services and success. Leaders of mega churches as well as tele-evangelists get all the fame and recognition but refrain from doing humble service except that which boosts their image. The majority of pastors and churches go both unnoticed and unappreciated except by those individuals whose lives have been touched by the love these faithful ministries. Joab is the type of guy who speaks the tough words and does the dirty but necessary jobs few leaders would touch.

 

Blogging through Joshua: The Good Book.

Joshua 23

As Joshua began his farewell discourse he reminded the people of all that the Lord had done for their ancestors, the patriarchs as well as their ancestors who had died in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. He wanted to encourage the people to faithfulness for he knew that when he was gone, they would become complacent and start to compromise with their idolatrous neighbors. He used the very words the Lord had spoke years before about maintaining fidelity to the book of Moses, the words that Moses had heard from the Lord God Himself. If the people harkened to and obeyed those words, they would have nothing to fear from the pagans or their so-called gods. The Lord was much more powerful than they. 

We too must pay attention to the revealed word of God, that is, the Bible. It contains all the truth we need to live in contentment, peace and righteousness. For almost 2000 years people acknowledged its supreme value and have tried to live by its precepts. But today it is largely ignored. Its truth has been replaced by the thoughts and opinions of thousands of authors of books of self-help, psychology and philosophy who all claim to have the solution to all of mankind’s problems. There are even many so-called Christians books that make the same claim. But the truth of God is the Word of God as guided by the Holy Spirit. No book is as trustworthy and powerful as it is. If only would remain true to the Word of God as they say they do, they would be able to counteract the claims of the world and the devil that pervade most modern literature. 

 

Reading Genesis: The covenant of God is wonderful.

GENESIS 9

Once the flood waters receded, life began anew. A new society had to be formed. Any society needs rules to govern it so that people do not run amok and do whatever they want without regard to God, their fellow human beings or other living creatures. God laid down some of these rules in a new covenant. God pledges that He will never again destroy the world by flood. His pledge is the rainbow a sign of God’s faithfulness to His covenant. He always keeps His promises even when we do not. In this covenant, the Lord lays down laws. While He now allows man to eat meat, the blood of an animal is forbidden as food: the life of a creature is in the blood. In addition, no human being may be murdered. If a human is murdered, the killer’s life is demanded in return. These two items actually hint at what life may have been like before the flood: humans behaving like beasts, eating animals while they were still alive, tearing into living flesh much as a lion tears into its prey. There may be a hint at cannibalism as well or at least indiscriminate killing of one’s fellow human beings to please one self without a thought as to the life they were taking. Hence the need for rules so society will run smoothly and there will be respect for each human being.

 

Finally we see this weird tale about Noah’s drunkenness and the sin of his son Ham. Noah obviously committed a sin by getting drunk and engaging in lewd or thoughtless behavior. But God does not fault him. Instead Ham, the son who found Noah in his nakedness is cursed, or rather, his son Canaan is. Rather than cover up his father’s nakedness Ham decided to gossip about Noah and ridicule him for his foolishness.

Meditate & Apply: In Exodus 20:5 God tells us that the punishment for the sins of the parents often falls upon their children. Doesn’t this sound unfair? You may think so, but think about it and then read Exodus 20:6. In our world today, aren’t the children often the victims of their parents’ sinfulness?