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Philippian Bits – 3:5

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

3:5   circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

Paul refers to five accomplishments he can claim to in his life, prior to meeting the risen Savior, and that he labored in. It is quite a list of honor and status!

Circumcision

Not only circumcised, but circumcised on the correct day after his birth. Some in the nation may have been circumcised beyond that day. For example, the rare gentile who would enter the Jewish faith would get circumcised as an adult! Paul was better than that dirty convert, though it was nothing he actually done. It was done to him.

Of the correct people

Paul had the right blood in him. He could trace his lineage back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and surely that made a difference in God’s eyes! Paul was better than those who were outsiders to the physical lineage of Abraham, though it was nothing he actually done. It was done to him.

Of a better Tribe

Paul was out of a better tribe, one that had a history of relative faithfulness to God. Paul was better than some of his own blood brothers, though it was nothing he actually done. It was done to him.

A Hebrew of the Hebrews

Here we may be entering into Paul’s efforts to attain to being “better than the rest”. I understand Paul’s intent with this phrase to say he is the Hebrew”ist” of Hebrews, not of any offshoot from the pure Hebrew life, such as the Hellenistic Hebrews, who had left behind the mother tongue and many other aspects of the Hebrew lifestyle. Paul was better than some of his own cultural brothers, though even with this claim, his parents were the ones to provide this basis for him to build on. Nevertheless, he was better!

A Pharisee

Ok – here we go! This claim is the beginning of where Paul’s chest used to go from large to gigantic in terms of pride. Paul was doctrinally pure, a condition that bolstered his previously granted situation in life with his own efforts. By his own choice he determined the correct religious party to follow after, based possibly on what seemed a higher moral or religious code. Nevertheless, his approach to the law was impeccable in his interpretation!

Sadly, the One who gave the law, and lived it perfectly interpreted the law and the prophets quite differently. But Paul was sincere to say the least!

Sincerity in an error simply means you are sincerely wrong, but amongst those who followed after the pharisaical life, Paul was up there amongst the best!

Wow – he truly was better! In a race of competition to see who is the greatest, it surely wasn’t Christ in Paul’s previous life. Nope, I think Paul might suggest he was the greatest.

Our next verse will continue in this vein of vanity, but let us remember this is the life and attitude of the old Paul, and of his confidence in the flesh.

To close this post, I would like to ask my readers a difficult question.

What reasons do you have to place confidence in the flesh?

  • Is your background purer in some regard than your neighbors?
  • Do you have skills that elevate you above your friends?
  • Have you been granted privileges that others have not, and find comfort in these privileges?

May God have His way in our lives.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 56.01

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 56:1-4

1 To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

Considering the background to this psalm in our last post, we saw that David was in flight mode, slipping into greater and greater deceit, first with his own people (the priest’s of Nob) and now with those who were his enemy. Let us remember that David is the one who killed the Philistine giant Goliath, and as he enters the city of Gath to seek asylum, he is in possession of Goliath’s sword. Surely he did not bring it in front of Achish, reminding him of his previous victory over the Philistines.

Nevertheless, as he writes, he is reaching out to God for grace. 

He speaks of “man” oppressing him, trampling on him all day long. The term trampling does not only carry the meaning of a crushing, of a beating down, or a stepping on, but also of a “panting after”. This picture is of his enemies chasing after him, panting out their breath, seeking with all their strength to catch him. This is no passive effort on David’s enemies part, but in his mind, and in truth, his enemies are but a step behind him.

He needs God’s help, the God who he has come to know in the fields with his sheep, the God who he has sung songs to and has worshipped under the stars while all alone with his livestock. 

3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Verse 3 is a favorite of mine, for I am one who may experience fear (rightly of wrongly) more than most. It seems to be my achilles heal, and this story of David on the run resonates with me. I can somewhat identify with him, for though my circumstances are no where as dire as they were for the future king, the allowance of fear controlling my actions is just as real. I am thankful that David is a real man, a man of weakness in the midst of his victories and that the Lord of heaven brought him though difficult times

The question in my mind is whether David considered his act of madness in front of Achish to be an act of faith, “helping” God with the circumstance he was in. Or was this statement a statement of a lesson learned, where David is writing of his future decisions to trust God when fear strikes. 

This refrain of trust in the midst of fear comes up again later in the psalm and is the theme of this psalm, for in the midst of the circumstances David was in, his primary experience was of fear.

As fear sometimes grips our hearts, even in times of actual danger, do we learn from our actions in the midst of the fear? 

Can we determine as David does, to trust God instead of succumbing to fear? Surely we have known God to be the One who rescues, and yet we are but frail men and women, susceptible to fear. Unless we act in faith, knowing our God is on our side.

May His name be lifted up in our lives, even as we trust him in our fears!

…in God I trust; I shall not be afraid

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Names of God – ANOTHER PRIEST – 35

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. At this point in our study, we will begin with “A God Merciful and Gracious”, the twenty-third Name of God on my list. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

35
 
ANOTHER PRIEST
 
Heb 7:15-16 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,
who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.
Our last description, by those rejecting the call of God on their lives spoke of another King, a King that was a rightful king, a different type of King, ruling over not only His own specific Kingdom (sometimes called the church) but also claimed authority over all of creation, over all other kings.

He is “another” King, One who was not of the same nature, form, class, or kind. He is different than what He was being compared to.

The author of Hebrews uses the very same term here, speaking of another priest, a different Priest. Our Priest did not come from the Aaronic physical lineage. No no no. This is not the Priest we have come to know.

Our Priest has been appointed High Priest, not through a blood line, but by shedding blood and being raised from the grave, as stated in Hebrews 5:5.

Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;

No other priest was able to lay claim to this fact, and the path Jesus took to be appointed to this office was by being the sacrifice along with the One bringing the sacrifice. He is different, and as the Book of Hebrews clearly teaches in every comparison of Jesus with the Jewish culture, He is Better!

How much better is this High Priest who lays His life down in order to represent us before the Father, to plead for us before the Father and to provide a new life for us to enter into.

Thankyou for being a different kind of Priest, a High Priest who is not of the same ilk that got us nowhere, but that you have experienced our existence (Heb 4:15), provided an eternal sacrifice (Heb 9:25), and provided us all things necessary for living properly before our God.

Praise your Name in all our doings this day

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Hebrews 12:18-25

Hebrews 12:18-25
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest
19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.
20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.”
21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

The Old Covenant and the New Covenant compared, with the responses associated with the covenants included. At least with the experiences of the Old Covenant. Terror. Even the mediator of the Old Covenant spoke of trembling with fear. The sight of the mountain, that physical place where the covenant was ratified with the children of Israel, that mountain was a place of terror, of blazing fire, of darkness, of gloom and a tempest. It must have been a horrible, frightening experience, a physical experience that set the tone of the relationship between God and His new nation.

The author provides a stark contrast for New Covenant participants, in that we have come to persons (angels, assembly of the firstborn, God spirits made righteous, Jesus) and not a physical mountain that could not be touched.

The Old covenant was based on rules, a fear inducing agreement between God and a nation and destined for failure, due to our inherent weakness and rebellious nature! So impersonal, so distant, such a separation between participants in the covenant!

Not so with the New Covenant! The New Covenant is personal, individual (to a point) and has the full revelation of the Lord’s loving sacrificial nature at the center of it!

Now, after understanding the difference in the covenants, is it wise to refuse him who is speaking? Judgement was a natural consequence of the law, but when I break a law – say by speeding, I pay a fine and move on. If I were to break my relationship with my wife or child, there is no coming back from it. Some healing may occur, but damage is done to one I love. Much deeper cut. Much harsher pain.

Both covenants had consequences, but I would argue that the New Covenant, based on the sacrifice of the Master, and not simply on an agreement over some rules (I am being somewhat glib at this point) provides deeper consequences.

The apostle even compares the sourcing of the warnings as a comparison of the covenants, and therefore the differences in the consequences. Under the law the warnings were from earth, but our warnings are from heaven.

Note that this is the second time the apostle brings up the topic of believers “not escaping”. A good self study for those interested would be to compare what the Old Testament saint would escape from in the Old Covenant, and consider the corollary for the New Testament saint.

Hebrews 2:3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

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Life of David – 3.03

David Anointed King

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

The Disappointment

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.”
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”
9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”
10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.”

Samuel needed the Lord, for his initial viewing of Jesse’s first son was impressive, but misleading. Eliab was handsome, tall, and seemed to have all the outward appearance of the next king of Israel. After all, Samuel did not have a lot of experience in anointing kings, for he had only anointed Saul previously, and he was handsome and tall. The qualifiers were present in Samuels eyes, but not with God.

Reject him!

One of my wife’s favorite phrases from the Old Testament is in this passage.

For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

What does this say to Samuel. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The appearance of a man can (and usually is?) quite deceptive. Even if the appearance and the character align, in that they are both beautiful, good and right, it is for the Lord to chose whom He may call. Appearance does not factor into the equation.

God looks on the heart.

What does this say about Eliab? Might it reflect specifically on Eliab, or is this simply a general truth for Samuel to understand. It turns out that Eliab was not the purest of souls! Consider 1 Samuel 17:28, where Eliab may expose his general heart condition

Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

Eliab had been rejected, and his little brother had been chosen over him. Anger erupted and Eliab entered into the way of Cain, where the righteous deeds of another was the catalyst for him to enter into jealousy, and rage. We will consider this passage in the future, but for our purposes presently, the Lord saw something in Eliab that was not appropriate for the call to kingship.

It turns out that all of Jesse’s sons were rejected. All those who were present in the little town, those who were with Jesse, simply were not the future chosen king of Israel.

Disappointment and disillusionment must have hit Samuel for a moment. He risked his life to visit this town, and it looked like it was for nothing. Didn’t he request for Jesse to bring his sons? How could he have understood the Lord so poorly?

Are all your sons here Jesse? Is there one that you didn’t bring? Is there any hope that the future king is still a possibility?

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abel 3

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN
 
ABEL
 
Bloody Death
 
Genesis 4:8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
 
Hebrews 12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

No where in the Word is the death of Abel described as being bloody, other than a reference to the blood of Abel in Hebrews. To think of Cain killing Abel, with the associated blood on his hands, brings a bit of a clearer picture somewhat to my thinking. And to extrapolate a bit further, as killings that are associated with emotional motivations such as rage or anger, the victim is usually struck multiple times, with the perpetrator somewhat loosing his control. I could imagine quite a large amount of blood was shed in the killing of Abel.

But to speak of the quantity of blood that was shed is not strictly the topic I want to draw your attention to, but that the mention of blood as being an indicator of a type of death.

A rage filled hatred that results in a bloody death.

Abel experienced it – at least for the first strike. Jesus experienced it for forty lashes, and for hours on the cruel cross. Both men shed blood in their death, but Jesus’ blood was shed, not simply as a result of a jealous rage, but to forgive those who commit such crimes.

For those who hung Him on the cross, for Cain, for me, for you. He shed His blood to cover our sins. May we praise His name today.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – ANOTHER KING – 34

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

34
 
ANOTHER KING
 
Act 17:7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
This description of our God came off the lips of those who refused the gospel. 

Paul and Silas were preaching the gospel and setting up churches in cities they came to, turning “the world upside down”. Those against the life of God actually defined the message very accurately, for they described it as a message introducing conflict of authority and upsetting the status quo.

For the message to bring about such a clear definition by those who hated it, speaks volumes to the clarity of Paul and Silas, and of the effect of the message on those who heard it. Jesus claim of Kingship was presented to those Paul and Silas met, and decisions had to be made, commitments were being lived out and allegiances were being transferred. 

Two kingdoms were on the scene, and we all know this situation cannot exist. One of the Kingdoms must dominate at the expense of the other. 

It is interesting with this thought that Luke uses the greek term ἕτερος héteros, het’-er-os when he describes Jesus as “another” King. This term is also used in Galatians 1:6, describing another gospel. It is used to describe a second “thing” as one not of the same nature, form, class, kind; different.

The gospel the Galatians were turning from was a gospel that was of a different form, a different message, of a different nature.

The Kingship that Paul and Silas were introducing into the Roman empire was of a different kind also. It was not simply a kingdom that was similar to the current Roman empire, driven by political desire and exercising an unsatiable appetite for power, willing and able to kill to maintain it.

The Kingship of Jesus was and is different, for it is a kingdom that is established on service to others and not dominance over others, of giving up rights for the sake of love, and of dying for others instead of killing.

Yes He is another King, and for being so different, we should be most thankful, praise Him for His reign, and seek to follow after Him, being in a Kingdom that is ruled by love and forgiveness.

May His name be praised!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 3:4

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

3:4   though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:

Paul, in our previous verse discussed the churches identification and spoke of our not to trust in the flesh. Always the expert teacher, Paul gives his testimony, detailing his fleshly attainments, and his final rejection of any confidence in them in front of God,

His fleshly accomplishments are nothing to snicker at, for he has much he could trust in, more than the Judaizers who are preaching this troubling message of circumcision.

Note that by entering into a description of Paul’s list of accomplishments, a component of living under the law is exposed. Competition! This is the nature of the one who trust’s in the flesh, for it is never enough, and by comparing ourselves with others, we find some comfort, foolish as it is!

Have you sat in your pew and considered how much more dedicated you are than Sally, who only attends one service a week? Or that you have performed in the choir more than Frank – Dang he can’t even hold a note!

Paul won this competition with many of his physical equals, but he found rest in the work of Christ.

Put down the list, and find rest in Christ.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 56.00

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Introduction to Psalm 56

This psalm deserves an introduction to it. The circumstances of David’s life at the time of his writing this psalm, is such that if known, provides a depth to the statements David’s provides us in this psalm. 

To discuss the background, we need to visit 1 Samuel 21:10-15.

1 Samuel 21:10 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.

David is on the run from his father-in-law, the king of Israel, and we pick up in the story right after his visit with the priest’s of Nob, where he retrieved the sword of Goliath. Goliath the Philistine, that is.

Next on the route for David was a visit Achish, the Philistine king of Gath, where he sought sanctuary from Saul. This visit with Achish should not be confused with the time he came with his army, offering an alliance to the Philistine king. At that time, Achish provided the City of Ziklag to David as a base camp for his men.

No – David was alone in this visit.  He was being chased by the king of Israel, and David was not in fight mode but flight mode. 

1 Samuel 21:1 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”
1 Samuel 21:2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place.

When in flight mode, if you have ever suffered through the stress and confusion associated with that frenzied state of affairs, it is easy to justify a story or two to accomplish the goal of escape. We find David falling into this justification of deceit with his visit of the city of Nob and visiting the priest Ahimilech. He led the priest to believe he was on a secret mission for the king, when in reality he was running from the king. He informed the priest that he was meeting with his band of men at a predetermined place. This most likely was a stretch of the truth, as there is no mention of any men joining with David immediately after his escape from Saul.

David’s descent into deceit continues as he enters the city of Gath, and is brought before the king of Gath. I can only assume he wanted to find refuge from Saul in the neighboring city, hopefully laying low, drawing little to no attention to himself as he sought to formulate a plan for survival. Such was not the case, for as he approached Achish, the king of Gath, his reputation of being “the king of the land” preceded him. 

1 Samuel 21:11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land?

What the servants of the King of Gath understood is difficult to know, and it may be immaterial to our current discussion, but to be considered the “king of the land” is quite a statement. His victories overshadowed Saul’s and these accomplishments dogged David’s life, causing the jealousy of Saul and now the tension with Achish. 

Could it be that even Saul’s enemies knew that he was but a paper tiger, a king with no reputation worthy of his position, a king who who is being overshadowed by a young, unknown upstart named David. It was such a common saying in Israel that the neighboring enemy cities had heard the claims. Claims that David was ten times the man Saul was.

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”

At the mention of this news to the king of Gath, fear took greater control of David, causing him to slip even further into deceit, changing his behavior.

1 Samuel 21:12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
1 Samuel 21:13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.

My friends, as we look into this Psalm in our next post, let us remember the situation David is in. Fear is controlling David to the point of acting insane, with spittle running down his beard. He is on the run from his own people. He has no-one with him, and apparently no where to hide. He is not the experienced strategist he is destined to, able to call on God to determine correct moves and decisions with confidence. He is entering a period of life that will consist of preparation for his kingship, through suffering and survival.

Fear tried to latch onto the greater David, for even in the garden, He asked for escape, for the cup of suffering to be taken from Him, but He did not succumb to the fear, He did not choose to take the path of flight, but stood against the massive fears running through his thoughts. He is the Greater David. the True King, rightfully so! 

Though David is a great man of faith, this excerpt from his life is a reminder that we are but dust, and that the Creator is the One to look to for our safety and Security. 

Hope to see you as we consider the text of the 56th psalm in our next post.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.

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Names of God – ANOINTED – 33

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

33
 
ANOINTED
 
Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
To be anointed. To be anointed is to have oil smeared or rubbed oil on the person being anointed.

It has many connotations nowadays, but in the Old Testament, to be anointed was to be chosen, to be set apart for a special task or office, even to be given protection.

I understand one of the earlier uses of anointing, in a practical sense, was by the shepherds as they sought to protect their sheep from gnats and lice. By rubbing oil on the sheep, the parasites would not be able to reside on the sheep and therefore be protected by the oil.

Eventually for one to be chosen by God, such as a priest or king, a ceremony would be held, where the one in question would have oil rubbed on them to signify a special call on their life. 

Therefore, the Old Testament often refers to kings or priests as anointed one, and with that designation, a separation also was associated with it. A called one, that is an anointed Aaronic priest was not to take on a task associated with a king, and the anointed king was not to take on a task associated with an Aaronic priest. Two independent offices of anointing for men.

Prior to the law, one man appeared on the scene that was both king and Priest. His name was Melchizedek, and so great was this man that even Abraham bowed to Him. Many hundreds of years later, an itinerant preacher showed up on the scene, who was anointed, not with oil, but with the Spirit of God, and was not only the greatest prophet to walk on earth, but was the High Priest of God, and the true King of all. All three offices came together in Jesus Christ, and all three offices were associated with an anointing.

He is the Anointed One, for the Greek term Christ, or Messiah is actually the same term as Anointed. 

He was and is the Christ, the Anointed One, who is our Prophet, Priest and King.

It is good to remember that just prior to His death, He experienced an anointing by a no-named woman. An anointing for His death, for another office that our Messiah was to fulfil was that of a sacrifice for lost sinners.

With that last anointing He went to the cross, and as typical of our God, He laid the protection down willingly in order to become the full expression of Prophet, Priest and King for men and women to join, to follow and to adore.

He is the Anointed! 

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Hebrews 12:14-17

Hebrews 12:14-17

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
12:15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
12:16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
12:17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Hold up!

It is by faith that we will see the Lord, by faith that we will approach our Maker and our Redeemer. Why would the apostle bring the concept of holiness into the equation? As a matter of fact, he also includes our striving to be at peace with EVERYONE!
As a side bar to this topic, the striving for peace with everyone does not mean that we are at peace with everyone. Peace is dependent on two parties, and the apostle is simply placing our responsibility for peace making on us. We are to strive for peace with everyone.

This is a forgotten discipline in the Christian faith, for we think we have rights, and can be easily offended by others, harboring resentment and anger, and thinking we are in good standing with the Lord. Striving for peace does not provide any shelter for the believer to harbor ill feelings towards any.

Now to the actual attainment of peace with everyone, some may reject any effort to bring peace into a relationship. We are not responsible for their actions, but we are to seek peace with all continually. This means the rejection of an offer of peace does not provide us the freedom of harboring ill feeling to the one who rejects us. We are to strive!

Back to our topic!

We are to strive for peace and the holiness (or the sanctification) believers are to grow in. As the alternate option to seeking peace and sanctification, the apostle brings to the audience a reminder of an Old Testament character who eventually sold his birthright for a single meal. A single meal! How could anyone do that? (Does anyone hear the Lord’s reproach to the disciples when he spoke of the “flesh being weak”?)

Let’s take a moment to consider the example the author brings to our attention.

The apostle speaks of failing to obtain the grace of God, which is the equivalent of a root of bitterness springing up and causing trouble. In Esau’s case, this root of bitterness may very well have been the result of his own decisions, for he did decide to sell his birthright to Jacob. A major regret! Out of that decision, Jacob, through deception, attained Esau’s blessing. Birthright and blessing lost, for without the birthright, the blessing would be hobbled. Jacob needed the birthright to get the upper hand and continue with his dominance over Esau.

If someone stole that which was rightfully yours, or at least traded you stew for riches, would you not experience a root of bitterness erupting in your heart? Out of this bitterness, Esau’s immediate and extended family were impacted, with an extended separation from each other. The bitterness continues to fester, and as we know, what is in the heart comes out. This bitterness most certainly controlled Esau in many ways, and affected many he came into contact with.

He did seek to find restoration, to find his place in the family, through seeking the blessing from Isaac. But he was rejected. He found no chance to repent. Now wait a minute. It looks like he sought it with tears, and he desired to inherit the blessing. Why was he rejected?

The cast had been set. The birthright had been sold, and the blessing had been granted. His chance to repent had passed. He may have been sincere, truly seeking restoration, and yet the conditions of the situation did not allow the blessing to be taken from Jacob and granted to Esau.

As we go about our daily lives today, consider Esau and his decision making process. He prioritized a breakfast over a birthright. Out of that thought process, he also lost the blessing.

Now it turns out that Esau came to grips within himself later in life as we can see in a future meeting with Jacob. As we see in Genesis 33, Esau sought reconciliation with Jacob, Esau exhibited the desire to find peace with the one who abused his weakness and stole his blessing.

Genesis 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

Yes Esau, due to his foolishness in his youth, lost out on his rightful potential as the patriarch of the nation of Israel. The nation that sprang from his seed was known as Edom, and became a thorn in Israel’s side. But Esau, it appears found peace in himself and from that peace actually sought peace with Jacob, the one who abused and cheated him of his rightful place in the family. Let’s remember that Jacob was the very focus of Esau’s bitterness, the reason Esau allowed bitterness to fester in his life. Yet he sought peace later in life, with the very one who could be blamed for the bitterness.

If someone has hurt you badly, taken advantage of you, emotionally scarred you, seek peace with that person. This is the call of God on your life.

We are to be peacemakers.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

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Life of David – 3.02

David Anointed King

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

Samuels Obedience

4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

In our last post, as we entered into David’s anointing, we found Samuel being thrust into a precarious situation, between obeying the Lord, and being safe in relation to King Saul. Samuel understood that anointing the new king of Israel may very well end up with his head on a chopping block. After expressing his concern to the Lord, we see the compassion of the Lord in adjusting His command to allow for an “alternative delivery” method. The Lord told Samuel to take a heifer for sacrifice to use as a cover for this uncommon trip. And it was an uncommon trip, for as we see in the opening verse this morning, the first thing out of the elders mouth was to see if Samuel was coming “peaceably”.

What gives there? Is this a question that informs us of the general nature of the prophet, or of the elders suspicion of problems associated with the visit. The text tells us the elders were trembling as the prophet met them. Something must be wrong! After all, Bethlehem was a small village. Of no real importance at the time.

As an aside, isn’t this typical of those who live under a law system, that a first response is that there is trouble, that some type of discipline or judgement is about to happen. Not that a blessing was about to drop on the village, that the little town would find out they produced one for the greatest kings that ever lived, or that they would eventually become the town where the eternal King would begin His earthly life. But I am getting ahead of myself!

Samuel quieted the concerns of the elders, and informed them they needed to prepare for the sacrifice he was to make in the town. Samuel also sought out Jesse, informed him of the need of his presence along with his sons, and consecrated them prior to this eventful meeting.

No information regarding the reason for the sacrifice was given, at least that the record tells us.

Jesse – you just need to bring your sons…

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abel 2

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN
 
ABEL
 
A Better Sacrifice
 
Genesis 4:4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering,
 
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. The sacrifice Abel offered was of a living animal, and not from the harvest of a field. The LORD has regard to the offering Abel provided. Not due to the type of sacrifice, that is, not simply due to it being of an animal, but that is was “by faith”.

Faith is the key element that made Abel’s offering acceptable. As a picture of Christ, Abel’s faith is quite revealing. Faith, and not the sacrifice itself was the key element that elevated Abel in God’s sight. How much more the faith of the Son of God in obeying the will of God, laying down His life, suffering the whipping and scourging, carrying the cross to a hill of shame, and finally hanging exposed for all to see, being associated with criminals and thugs.

God’s message did not get muddled or blurred in Jesus understanding. He knew the message and against all His internal desires, against any self preserving influences He experienced, He refrained from finding an escape route and obeyed the Father. The faith of the Son of God, in performing His work on the cross shines when we consider it in hindsight.

No one during that period of disillusionment and disappointment understood the necessity of the torture and murder of this itinerant preacher, except for One person, and it was His trust in understanding His Father’s voice that carried Him through the cross and out of the grave.

Abel exercised faith in bringing his sacrifice. Jesus exercised faith by becoming the Sacrifice. Jesus great faith was exercised greatly. Consider looking back at the situation. No one understood the plan, and all around Jesus, distractions and deceptions were swirling about. But Jesus heard His Father and He followed through. He followed through, despite all the possible arguments, all the logical reasonings, all the self saving thoughts that He may have had to reject.

He had the great faith.

May we have some faith to follow. And Lord, have mercy on those of us as we stumble, for we love you, but we are but flesh!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – ANGEL OF THE LORD – 32

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. At this point in our study, we will begin with “A God Merciful and Gracious”, the twenty-third Name of God on my list. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

32
 
ANGEL OF THE LORD
 
Gen. 22:11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, Here I am.”
The Angel of the LORD. This Angel is the first angel that I came across in the Old Testament, that I thought might be special, set apart from the others, different.

Only later did I come to understand that others thought so also, and that most (if not all) Bible scholars consider this reference to be associated with Jesus, in what they call a Theophany, or a Christophany. This is the technical term of describing this appearance as being a visitation from God, and not simply from a servant, a flaming minister sent from God.

The Angel of the Lord shows up in unexpected circumstances, but our verse above is instructive in that He arrived at the point where Abraham was going to slay his own son in obedience to God’s message.

Consider that the Angel of the LORD is a pre-Christian appearance of Jesus, and that He
stopped the slaying of Abraham’s son. No one would arrive to stop the slaying of the Son of Man. Yet the Son of Man stopped the slaying of Abraham’s son.

He is a God who treats us better than we deserve, and that is willing to take our punishment, our trials, our troubles, and any that we must go through, we can be assured He is with us, for He promised that He would be with us to the end of the age.

Praise God.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 3:3

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

3:3   For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh–

In our last post, Paul was writing to his church regarding the dogs who were attacking the church, those evil workers who sought to cause the church a distraction by requiring circumcision to be included in gospel. Whether that be to get saved or stay saved, or to create a “higher level” of spirituality within the church, isn’t really the issue. All three topics were to be Christ centered.

Paul continues his warning, defining he church, as opposed to those workers who were claiming to be right with God, who had that higher level of spirituality, who were “in the club”.

Given the backdrop of circumcision Paul is addressing, he brings to the forefront of the discussion that we – the church – are the circumcision. Consider how these two parties represent the message of God.

The Judaizers message is literal, physical and brings bondage to the law. In our time, it could also be considered sexist. Might only men attain to this status? For the Judaizers to require this physical mutilation is restrictive,

Paul’s message is metaphoric, spiritual, and provides freedom. In our time, his message is inclusive , inviting both male and female to true circumcision, to a rejection of stubbornness toward our Maker and Redeemer

If only the evil workers would consider what the Old Testament teaches about circumcision.

Deuteronomy 10:16 – Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.

Early on, Moses their prophet (and ours) spoke of the true circumcision, the circumcision of the heart.

Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

Jeremiah entered into a condition within the nation that depended on the mutilation of flesh as opposed to the spiritual renewal required by God, and spoke of the danger this false dependence created!

Jeremiah 9:25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh–

Jeremiah does not mince words when he defines those who depend only on the circumcision of the flesh, those who will be punished!

We worship God through the Spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus.

We put no confidence (or trust) in the flesh.

As we venture through this fantastic chapter, Paul will supply a number of confidences he has rejected in order to have the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. Our next post will begin to discuss this topic.

Hope to see you there!

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 55.06

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 55

20 – My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant.
21 – His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
22 – Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
23 – But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

Let’s remember where David is at in his life for a moment. He is on the run from his son’s treachery, on the brink of “loosing” his kingdom. Yet, as he is in the quiet of the night, reflecting on the circumstances he finds himself in, thoughts must have whirled about in his head.

God – why is this happening? How could my own son, and a fellow companion, a close friend, perform such treachery? Who can I trust now?

Consider when God promised the kingdom to David, in 2 Samuel 7:11, He promised the following to the young king.

 2 Samuel 7:11b-13

Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.  When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Now he is on run from his greatest threat, one of the very offspring David may have expected to establish the Kingdom as God promised. Looking back on this promise, we believers have the luxury of knowing God was speaking of Jesus. The kingdom of God is established by Jesus, and He has built a “house” (dynasty) for the name of God. Yes we see this and rejoice in it.

David did not have this luxury. He is being chased down by his potential successor, and I imagine that when he is in his quiet moments, he is recounting this promise from God. A promise that speaks of his days being fulfilled and his lying down (passing away), ushering in his offspring, his very child, that will establish the Kingdom.

I don’t know about you, but if I was in his place, I could see this promise being fulfilled, even in my/David’s defeat. Absalom would “allow David’s death” and he would become sovereign. Are there arguments against this? Yes of course, but that is because we know the history.

I want us to reside in the moment with David, to try to get in his head. Late at night, David may have considered his understanding of the promise of God differently than previously, and given this possibility, this makes verse 22 all the more potent.

The “burden” David refers to is his “lot in life”, the situation he found himself in. He was in the midst of a time where the promise of God may be coming to fruition in a different manner than he originally expected.

There comes a time for every believer to accept their lot in life as from the hand of God. This does not allow us to simply lie down and become passive in our lives, for the Lord wants us to constantly test His will and seek to perform His pleasure. But admittedly, as the days go by, and our past decisions are set in stone, we may find ourselves is circumstances we did not expect.

David made some bad decisions. I too, have made some bad decisions. David would incur the consequences of these decisions, of which might be his current circumstance!. In all the confusion, conflicts and bewilderment, David gave sage advise in his last message in this psalm, to those of us in similar circumstances.

…I will trust in you.

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Names of God – ANGEL OF GOD – 30

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

30
 
ANGEL OF GOD
 
Judges 13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name,
This is the first of four names within our list that includes the term “angel”, with the most popular, or should I say the most familiar being the Angel of the Lord. For this post we will consider the Angel of God.

For the Name of God we are considering today, some may reject this suggestion as referring to Jesus, since it implies He is simply a messenger of God and not God Himself. In my mind, that strikes at the very heart of the Godhead, for the very nature of the Godhead, as we see in the life of Christ, is to serve.

Some also may reject this name for Jesus, yet would accept “the Angel of the LORD” as designating the Son. This distinction seems arbitrary and simply incorrect, for the Angel of God in this passage is described as the Angel of the Lord just three verses earlier. The Angel of God is the Angel of the LORD. The difference in the name is simply that Manoah’s wife described Jesus as the Angel of God to her husband, when recounting the Angel’s visit.

The background to this passage is the birth of Samson, a very special man – a man chosen from birth to be a Nazarite, a man that would save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. I am tempted to discuss Samson, for certain aspects of his life reflect the Son of Man, but I will save that for the Jesus in the Old Testament series.

Jesus, as the Angel of God, took on the appearance of an angel in order to bring specific messages to certain people in the Old Testament. Consider the explosion of information provided for us as the Son of Man delivered His message to the entire world, to all generations, throughout time for all to hear. His designation of Angel of God symbolized a microcosm of what was in store for those of us in the future!

Note also that His appearance was as an angel, yet as we focus on the Old Testament in these Names, we need to remember that He did not take on the appearance of a man when He came to rescue us, to deliver us from ourselves and our sin, but that He took on the likeness of men, and was found in the form of a human.

He appeared as the Angel of God, but He became the Son of Man.

He is truly the Servant of God we do not deserve, that we cannot comprehend, that we thank to little, and that we will forever praise.

Praise the Name of God.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Hebrews 12:10-13

Hebrews 12:10-13
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

The apostle continues in this passage with an exhortation to endure, and not only endure but to be strengthened by the very outcome of the discipline being experienced. Truly this is a challenge, and yet knowing the intent of the Father’s discipline should spur us on. It is not that the Father is disciplining us out of anger or frustration, or that He is simply considering His own reputation. His intent is to bring about peaceable fruit of righteousness in His children. But is that what the apostle wrote? Let us read it again. His intent is to bring about “peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”.
That qualifier is what grabs my attention.

You see, all who claim Christ go through trials, and as I glibly read this passage, it appears that all believers gain from these trials. At least that is what I used to think, for I did not consider those who may not be trained by the trials they are going through.
Consider one who may be experiencing a difficult trial, even a discipline from the Lord, and though may struggle and doubt for a period of time, at one point they simply say – that is enough. They make the internal decision to “not be trained.” To reject the discipline. What might the apostle be referring to in this instance, and yes I do understand this is inference to our topic! Yet the statement is qualified by our active participation in the discipline.

Where does that leave the one who refuses to enter and remain under the discipline of the Lord?

Verse 12 and 13 speak of the apostles hope for the believer who is struggling with understanding the discipline of God in their lives. We all need to understand the motivation of God (love) , and the outcome of the endurance (peaceful fruit of righteousness), and from these two truths, be encouraged, strengthened and renewed to continue in our faith, to endure doubts and struggles, even to the point of shedding blood as he refers to in verse 4.

Be trained by the discipline my brothers and sisters. There is great love bringing this time of testing to you and a great outcome will be realized after the trial has passed and you have endured. Therefore, endure for the current time, and during this time of trial, look to Jesus, who set the example, who …

endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

He is good and He is good all the time.

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Life of David – 3.01

David Anointed King

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

David Anointed King

Samuel has been notified that Saul is no longer the future for Israel. In God’s eyes, Saul is no longer king over Israel, due to rebellion. As we will see in our future posts, it will take a period of testing and struggle to get to the point where the people of Israel catch up to the truth of Saul’s true condition.

Israel is a nation that is divided, in that two kings are present. The visible King Saul, who is in appearance to the people, the king of Israel, and a young teenager, an “invisible” king who has the seed of greatness in Him and the call of God on him.

Isn’t this the condition we find ourselves in today. God has enthroned a King and there are those who still follow after a usurper king, a king that has been dethroned from all authority and power. Yet some still regard him as the one to follow.

1 Samuel 16:1-13
1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’
3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”

In our portion of the Word this morning, we see Samuel being charged with the task of anointing a new king, even while Saul is still the reigning monarch, the man who knows his time is up, and that a competitor in on the sidelines, called by God to take his place! Given Saul’s history, and if we didn’t have the knowledge we have of his downfall, should we expect any type of peaceful handover of power? No – it seems obvious that this would end up being a life and death competition. One of these men would have to die.

And Samuel is in the midst of this struggle.

If I was Samuel, I may think this may be the perfect time to inform the nation that their idea of having a “king like all the nations” is a horrible idea (which it was), and that the true King will resume His rightful position in the nation (which He should). Yet in the wisdom of God, this request for an earthly king by the people would have to run it’s course, and it will be over 400 years until the nation enters captivity. The nation seemed to find success under David and Solomon for many decades but even during this time, cracks and failures seemed to spell the end for Israel’s period of having an earthly king like all the nations around them.

Samuel will need to visit Jesse, a Bethlehemite, a man with a son who will replace Saul. Surely this will be a man of statue, a fighting man, impressive as Saul was in physical prowess and bearing. But Samuel wasn’t granted any further information regarding Saul’s replacement, but he was provided a cover for the trip. The Lord considered Samuel’s concern and provided a reason to show up at Jesse’s town. Samuel knew that Saul would have spy’s following him, and informants willing to “rat” on him, in order to gain Saul’s approval. The relationship of prophet and king had soured and will never be restored.

A cover was provided, a reason was supplied to Samuel for this visit that would formally start the transition from the kingdom of Saul to some future.

Take a heifer for a sacrifice. As we will see in a future post, this was not a common occurrence for the prophet to bring a heifer to a town for a sacrifice, as the people questioned Samuel as he arrived. But for the purposes of anointing the new king in a secretive manner, this would suffice.

The new king would be anointed, with David’s family and the elders of Bethlehem present. Could we assume other inhabitants of the small village attended? Most likely, but the text doesn’t say. Nevertheless, the new king was anointed in the midst of a small group of people. Enough for just one of them to get back to Saul possibly.

Another King was anointed in the midst of a small group of people, and His reign has continued as foretold. The anointing of Jesus was with the true oil of the Spirit, during a baptism that connected Him with those who He would seek to destroy, with those would seek to destroy Him. He was and is the true King!

Former citizens of the old kingdom are still turning to Him. Have you realized He is the true King?

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abel 1

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN
 
ABEL
 
A Shepherd
 
Genesis 4:4
and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering,
 
John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Abel was a shepherd. Jesus was a carpenter. But in reality, Jesus was a Shepherd, a good Shepherd, not of those four legged wooly critters, but of a more stubborn and cantankerous type of “sheep”.

Yes, both were shepherds, but Jesus was the Shepherd of all Shepherds, and is the One who not only was murdered due to anger and envy, but His mission was to lay His life down. As far as I can imagine, Abel did not have an inkling of the darkness in Cains heart when they went out to the field. Abel never saw it coming!

Jesus came to die. It was His end goal, His target to hit, the will of God for Him. For Abel, his death was a consequence of living a God honoring life, of seeking to do good. He was the first martyr, and his end would be repeated by many others before the good Shepherd would experience the same vitriol of hatred. But for all the martyrs that have come and gone, the good Shepherd has joined in the same suffering, and provided us a salvation from the enemy of our souls, the one who desires to murder our souls!

Similarities between Abel and Jesus exist, and they are awesome to find as we venture through the Old Book, as we consider not only the similarities, but also the differences.

Can you think of any other similarities?

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – ANGEL OF HIS PRESENCE – 31

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

31
 
ANGEL OF HIS PRESENCE
 
Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
This passage is found in a chapter of Isaiah that recounts the Lord’s Day of Vengeance, and of the Lord’s mercy. After describing the vengeance of the Lord, of God trodding the winepress alone, of trampling them in His wrath, and of their blood staining His garments, Isaiah reminds the audience of the Lord’s mercy, of the steadfast love of the LORD.

This steadfast love of the LORD is described in our verse as a love that took action, joining those who deserved suffering in the suffering. This love of God took part in the affliction. He was afflicted with them in all their affliction.

Does this refer to the cross alone, or to the ever-present pain the Godhead experiences due to our consistent and stubborn rejection of His Kingship over us? This I cannot answer and may not be of any practical significance to us, for if we take anything away form this short consideration, we should realize that our God is a suffering God, and that He is present in our suffering.

But this is not the only activity Isaiah brings to our attention, for God is not simply suffering with us, but that in the suffering, His presence saves them, redeems them, lifts them up and carries them.

He is with us, in our suffering, providing deliverance, redeeming those who are “irredeemable”.

He is good, and He is good all the time. May the Name of the Lord be praised.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 3:2

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

3:2   Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

Now that Paul has grounded his church in the joy of the Lord, reminding them of the strength that is provided to them through Jesus, he addresses the “bad guys”.

Dogs

The Jewish population had a way of describing the unwashed, those who were not of the best blood, that were not in the club. Dogs. Oh they had other loving names for them, but this seemed to be one of the popular ones.

Jesus used the term to communicate to his audience when He spoke in Matthew 7:6 about the privilege of possessing holy truth.

Matthew 7:6 – “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

A little later in His ministry, this term came up again, with the Lord testing the faith of a Syrophoenician woman – you know one of those unwashed!

Matthew 15:26 – 27 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

For Paul to use this term in relation to Jewish preachers spreading a teaching requiring circumcision is quite shocking. After all, Paul is writing to a congregation of gentiles (read “congregation of dogs”) that in the mind of the legalizers, required circumcision to get right with God. Paul calls them the unwashed, the dogs, the ones outside of the covenant! But he goes further!

Evildoers

I tend to like the translation of evil workers, as in the RSV, NASB, ASB, and KJV, simply for the association workers have of being hired. The motivation for the spreading of evil, which modifies the type of worker we are considering here, is not love, nor grace or mercy, or in response to the grace shown to us, but for sake of filty lucre!

Regarding the modifier “evil”, the Greek word is kakos, and though it means “of a bad nature” or wicked, troublesome and destructive, whenever I come across this word, I think of my little grandbabies, before they were potty trained, and had a “kaka” in their diapers.

That stuff was of a bad nature!

Flesh Mutilators

Here we see a reference to the teachers troubling the Philippians. Paul is referring to those who preached Christ and circumcision.

These preachers saw the growth of the church and had to get involved. Prior to the church exploding on the scene, they did not have the challenge of the gentiles becoming so arduous in following after God, for they had put up enough walls to keep them out of the old boys club. Now it was a different story – It was getting out of hand, and God “needed” them to correct the gentiles in their faith.

By cutting their foreskin off!

Take a moment and consider the sacrifice of the Messiah. The eternal God, humbled to the existence of flesh and bone, hanging on a cross for the sins of the world, dying to release us from our futile life. A message of grace and mercy that beckons us to follow in the same life, a life of sacrifice and otherness, a life of following after Him.

Where does circumcision fit in? Where does the Lord Jesus speak of our needing this to get right with Him?

Kindly remember my friend that He has all authority, His message is the full and final message for mankind, and it is a message of commitment, not of circumcision, of grace, not of law, of the new covenant, not of a covenant that has ceased and that has vanished away.

But take note my friend, though the flesh mutilators are greatly reduced in numbers during our time, the same misinformation is spreading at an alarming rate.

Christ plus nothing is the message. Any mixture of our efforts in getting right with God, nullifies the grace that was abundantly provided for our sakes.

Watch out for those evil workers! They are kaka!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 55.05

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

16 – But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.
17 – Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
18 – He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
19 – God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

In our last post we considered Davids thinking in his prayer for confusion of message in the planning of his son Absolom. David now speaks of his confidence in God’s deliverance in his life. He speaks of God’s delieverance, and yet immediatly speaks of his complaint and moaning in front of God contuinually.

What am I missing here. Are we not to leave our concerns before the Lord, trusting He will take care of our trials. Is not David’s continual returning to God with his complaints and moans an expression of faithlessness? How does my reader understand this apparent conflict in David’s prayer?

God will save David, that is he is confident of God’s deliverance, and yet David keeps begging, complaining, moaning and coming to God.

As I grow in my walk with the Lord, I am sensing this very tension in some areas of my own experience. Granted, David is experiencing this tension with greater clarity, but as I grow older, I also see where my confidence is focusing on God Himself and not the circumstances we are in. That is too easy for me to say, for my situation is no where near the condition David was in the midst of in this psalm. In all that, I am understanding the end of our faith is to love God, and to accept His will for our lives. Is David accepting God’s will when he is moaning day and night before the throne?

I would strongly suggest David was doing exactly that! How can we know the will of God if we do not test it, seek how our wills are to align with God’s will, push the limits to determine God’s direction. I would suggest that David knew that generally speaking, God would save him, deliver him from his foes in battle, and in the end, prove to be the God who saves!

In between, in the specific way this deliverance is provided, David is in prayer. And this is the great blessing our God has given us to not only change us but to change God.

WHAT? Carl – you cannot be suggesting that God will revise His plans and decisions based on the requests of His children! But my friend, the Word gives us this hope and privilege.

Although I could suggest a number of times where a believer’s prayer influences God’s actions, I would love to hear from my readers. Take a few moments to comment on your most recent answered prayer, and how the Lord redirecting an almost certain situation into one that included your plea.

I am looking forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.

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Names of God – ANCIENT OF DAYS – 29

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

29
 
ANCIENT OF DAYS
 
Daniel 7:9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
Who is this “Ancient of Days”?

We find our passage in Daniel as he is in the midst of describing his vision of the four beasts, coming up out of the sea. Four beasts, with descriptions given that mix animals with birds, or animals with men. Each of these beasts had characteristics that were frightening, even as you consider the first one, which was given the “mind of a man”. Consider the mind of a man, without the conscience or a soul connection with God. Truly terrifying if true!

Each of the four beasts exhibited aspects that instilled fear, power and dominion over others!

Then Daniels attention is grabbed by some commotion out of his line of sight.
The true reigning monarch shows up.

He, the Ancient of Days, took His seat, His throne, and His appearance was that of purity, of a fiery judgement or cleansing power, with millions at His feet, serving Him. The formerly described beast that was so mighty, was simply killed, and that not of any active judgement from the Ancient of Days, but by His sheer presence, and the record of the books.

He was the Supreme Ruler, the Ultimate King over all, until…

Until the son of man was presented before the Ancient of Days.

At that point, in my understanding, at the point of the Lord’s ascension, the son of man was …

given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

The Ancient of Days, the Father of Glory gave to the Son the Kingdom. A Kingdom that will never end, and that shall not be destroyed. In the end, as Paul tries to explain, (or at least I try to understand), the Kingdom will be brought to the Father.

1 Corinthians 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

Somehow, in some manner beyond my comprehension, the Kingdom will transfer to the Father, with God becoming all in all.

1 Corinthians 15:28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

All will be subject to the Son and to the Father. Harmony will be reestablished in creation, and we shall be happily and wonderfully subject to the true King.

May the Ancient of Days be honored in our lives today

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible