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
Amos
Burden Bearer
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Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The topic of Amos as a burden bearer is not found in any particular verse of Amos but is related directly to the person of Amos, specifically the name his father gave him. For you see the name Amos actually has the meaning of “burden”.
In Amos’ call to prophecy, he laid out burdens (judgements) against the nations surrounding Israel. As we read the book of Amos, we find that this burden was not limited to those around his nation. He had to speak to Israel, the northern kingdom.
Amos was required to bear his burden to his very own nation, and this burden of prophecy is a foreshadow of the true Prophet Jesus, who delivered His burden of rebukes to His people. Not only was the responsibility to expose sin a burden for Amos, this burden was amplified many fold for the Messiah, for as He is greater than Amos, so His burden of prophecy is greater, delivered to the faithless and twisted nation of Israel.
Matthew 17:17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”
Whereas Amos delivered his burden on the people of the northern kingdom, with the eventual dispersement of the ten tribes throughout the nations, the nation of Israel (the southern kingdom) was still standing, and for those who were faithful to God, this provided was an escape from judgement. Amos’ burden was heavy, yet in the midst of this judgement, those who sought refuge could find it in the southern kingdom.
Jesus, as mentioned above, also delivered His burden to the remaining people of God centuries later, and this judgement was final in relation to a physical kingdom. No nation of Israel would remain, no kingdom of God that could be physically found. Nothing to flee to. No country. No land. No nation. No government.
For we as believers know that the kingdom of God is not found, in a place, or through a government, or by any nation, but in a Person. The One who not only carried the burden of prophecy to His people, as Amos had, but also accepted the judgement each of us deserved, dying a tortuous death and breaking away from the tomb, to provide us an escape, a Savior who who continues to bear our burdens.
With His burden of reconciliation for the world completed, He has invited those who seek Him, to join Him in understanding His nature, His character and to become more like Him as they follow.
Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
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.
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.
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FOUNDER OF SALVATION
Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Our previous Name of God, the Founder and Perfector of faith discussed the concept of a Founder. It is the very same word that we found in the previous passage.
It speaks of a leader, One who ventures into the unknown.
Jesus is the great Founder. He is described in our earlier post as the Founder of faith, but in this description, we find that He is the Founder, or leader of our salvation.
I ask my reader – Is there a difference? As you may expect, I consider this name to provide additional insight into the person of Jesus Christ, and hopefully I can communicate this distinction.
The difference, as can be surmised, is what Jesus is being described as “founding” or leading His followers into. In the previous post, the passage described His way of life, the faith He displayed for us to follow after. It is a faith of self denial, of self sacrifice, of full surrender to the Father’s will, even every moment of His life. Challenging to say the least, even at my best times with Him!
For this passage, His leading of His followers is to the goal of salvation, not to a way of life as in our previous verse.
Early in my faith, when salvation was discussed (or thought about), I defaulted to a location or destiny after death. And this is the intent of the passage if I understand it correctly.
Yet as I grow as a believer, I find the path and the goal is tending to melt together, for as I follow the path, I find salvation to actually be hinted at at various times in the way He protects and guides, somehow providing me an opportunity to experience His salvation a bit at a time.
Now don’t consider me some whacked out heretic yet, for I am still looking forward to being absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. There have been periods of time in my life where the Lord saves me in minor (or major) trials or temptations. He has been so kind, patient and gentle with this ol’ man in the past (and present), that looking back, I have understood His saving grace just a wee bit more with each of His “salvations”.
He is good, and as He leads, we are to follow, though at times under much trial and temptation. Hang on to Him for He is the One who Leads us into salvation, even though as He suffered, we may also suffer for Him.
He is good!
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.
Thoughts on the topic of speech from the book of wisdom
This will be my second post on the topic of speech from the book of proverbs. Proverbs has much to say on the topic and due to the shear number of verses available on this topic, will provide ate a number of posts related to it.
For our time together this morning, our topic will be perversion of speech, the type of speech that is categorized in the proverbs as perverse. The old KJV used the word frowardness when translating it, and I always struggled understanding the message.
Prior to delving into a few of the verses in Proverbs dealing with this type of speech, there is one lone verse other than in Proverbs that speaks of perverseness. It isn’t good news for those who consider perverseness to be a light topic in God’s view!
Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
Perversion can only exist in relation to righteousness, goodness and truth, for to pervert something is to twist the truth, to oppose righteousness and to resist goodness. Perversion speaks of active rejection of God’s ways.
Active rejection of God’s ways is found deep in our heart’s, the core of our being. We are either in rebellion with God, living in a perverse state, or seeking deliverance to God’s ways, fighting against perversion we live in.
Some may think that since they were never drawn to pornography or sexual deviancy, violent acts, or social sins, these passages on perverseness do not apply to their lives. Let us not restrict the message proverbs communicates as simply that which society describes perverseness. When proverbs speaks of perverseness, it is not limited to simple twisting of social norms, but the twisting of all that is good and right in God’s eyes. Consider Deuteronomy once more
Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
Perverseness is related to faithfulness. An abandoning or rejection of God’s way. And as is with all the Scripture, the source of perversion as discussed in Proverbs is centered in the heart. In our culture, perverseness is understood as blood spattered murder and violent raping. These acts are how we understand perverseness in our society.
Is the Word speaking the same way? No no no.
The evil being described as coming from a perverse heart is sowing discord!
Does that not speak to the tremendous import God lays on the unity of His people. Not uniformity, for that is not the topic when discord is under consideration in the proverbs. Uniformity may be maintained for a time even in the midst of discord, but upon the very instance of discord being sown, the unity of a family is poisoned.
Proverbs 8:13 ESV – The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Perverted speech is hated by God and to be hated by the people of God. Again, let us not restrict ourselves to socially determined perverseness. Not only does God hate perverse speech, which perfectly makes sense since it is a twisting or His nature and attributes, but the end of a perverse tongue is death.
Proverbs 10:31 ESV – The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
The perverse tongue will be cut off. It has a limit to it’s life, to it’s ability to sow discord or to twist truth. Not so with truth, for truth, as the nature of God, is of the eternal.
After our discussion on perversity, and the possible redefinition in our minds as to what is perverse, it may seem to some that there is no hope for the believer. We are so soaked in the filth of our current society, with multiple mediums fighting for our attention, pushing pornography, violence and death. How can we escape from speaking with perverseness.
Proverbs 10:32 ESV – The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.
Note that the author speaks of the wicked knowing what is perverse. The wicked! If the wicked knows, believers surely know of perversity pouring from their mouth.
As we mentioned at the start, it is a matter of the heart towards our Living Savior, of not only repeatedly committing to follow Him, but also repeatedly rejecting the filth of this society.
A short passage in 1 Thessalonians rings in my ears when the dual action of repentance and faith in our lives is considered.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV -… how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
Turned to God
Turn from a perverse tongue (considering our topic)
Serve the Living God
He is looking for a people that know and exercise lips that are used for acceptable speech, rejecting the speech that will come to a crashing end, a perverse speech distributing destruction on it’s way to destruction.
Bless God and your neighbor. Be a positive witness of the goodness of God. May God bless you and keep you, giving you strength to speak properly for Him.
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 68:32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, Selah Psalm 68:33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. Psalm 68:34 Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Psalm 68:35 Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel–he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!
Our final portion of this fantastic psalm speaks of the God who in David’s sight has risen, not only in the lifting up of the ark, glorious as that must have been, but even greater in the realization that all the kingdoms of the earth will acknowledge the greatness of God, even to sing of God, sing praises to Him.
For David, he may have saw this in a physical realm, thinking that the theocracy of Israel would be the eternal dominating nation over the kings of the world.
For those of us who have met the Savior and are learning of Him, we have such a greater hope, such a stronger salvation, such a more personal connection through a suffering Savior. As Israel triumphed over their neighbors through the power of God, much could be ascribed to the God of Israel. David spoke of His greatness of God in the wars that Israel entered into, and how the Lord delivered the nation of Israel in His faithfulness.
Yet, in the final act, when the Living God willingly laid down His life for the sake of His enemies, all the physical victories paled in estimation.
We have such a great salvation, a salvation that could not be understood, imagined or comprehended in the days of old, when David was seeing God rise up. He didn’t see the whole of it!
And dare I say, we also are very weak in comprehending God’s glories in the saving work of Jesus.
May His name be praised, though we grasp so little of His mercy and grace found in the Only One!
In the mid nineties, I had a little red Buick and a big ol’ bass box in the trunk, and would listen to “Christian Rock”, cranked to 11.
(What did you say? Huh? Can you say that again, I didn’t hear you….)
I have gotten away from that genre for many reasons, the least of which may be a loss of hearing, but some songs have stuck with me over the decades.
The artist’s I listened to sought to reflect Scriptural teaching for the most part. They ranged from “preaching” pop culture religion to significant theological teaching. As I listened to the lyrics, I found some to be quite challenging.
To be honest, I listened because I could justify the rock beat with “sanctified lyrics”.
Occasionally I will post a song, supply the lyrics and make a comment or two. If you decide to listen to the tune, turn the speaker down unless you are already deaf. Some of the songs tend to have a certain “volume” about them!
This post will consider the song
Less of Me – by Grammatrain
The one line that get’s me is….
All I want is to be free I need so much less of me
No matter how long it has been since I listened to these fellows, I always come away thinking I needed to hear that!
Take a listen!
Less of Me – by Grammatrain
Seems like I am always in the way Of who I am trying to obey I need something to make me understand I don’t live when I live by my own hand
Is everyone staring holes in me Sometimes I wish that me they could not see Like a snowfall dropping down in June I do what I know I should not do
All I want is to be free I need so much less of me
All my problems exist and I still say I believe in who only is the way
Let me know what you think of the lyrics, and of the tunes!
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
Early in my writing in this blog, I wrote on the topic of “What Jesus Probably Didn’t Mean”. I really enjoyed finding the intended meaning of the phrase, by simply considering the context of the passage. It was usually very challenging!
It has been quite a while since I had considered that series, and when I was “a pondering”, I considered that the Word, apart from the gospels, has provided numerous sayings or phrases we hear in our day to day lives.
Let’s take a moment to consider Proverbs 18:24 and what it’s original message was as compared with my initial understanding.
I just finished a post on James 2:12-13, under the “Let me Tell You a Story” series and while I was trying to unpack James’ intended message (that I think I finally understand), I was about to refer to our verse in Proverbs under consideration this morning. I understood it would support James general point of teaching – his call for us to be kind and to exercise mercy to those less fortunate. My reference verse was a memory verse from so long ago, I had always interpreted Solomon as generally saying to be friendly.
You know – if your friendly, you will have friends. I think this is a generally obvious truth, but I don’t think Solomon is aiming to teach this after considering the bulk of translations we will quickly review in this post.
Let’s get started.
KJV
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
As mentioned above, the ol KJV reinforced the thinking that to have friends required being friendly. Be friendly and get friends. Simple!
YLT
A man with friends is to show himself friendly, And there is a lover adhering more than a brother!
The Youngs Literal Translation is very close to the KJV. It tends to introduce the requirement to be friendly due to having friends.
NKJV
A man who has friends must himself be friendly*, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
*some manuscripts read “may come to ruin”
The New King James is very similar to the Old King James, other than it provides a note regarding readings of other transcripts. A bit of a surprise for a fellow that has his foundation in the KJV, but it set me on a trek to understand this verse in a whole new way.
This particular passage may be one of the first verses I have run across where the two manuscripts have a minor deviation in the original autographs, seemingly making a difference in the message. As you may know, the KJV and the NKJV are based on the Textus Receptus. All other translations take advantage of manuscripts that have been discovered since the KJV was first translated.
I understand these new manuscripts agree 99% with the Textus Receptus, and in the case of our verse this morning, we find one of the rare times there is a variation. And this variation has helped me to see that What the Bible Probably Didn’t Mean was the result of my referring to only one translation. I would encourage all to take advantage of the explosion of translations the English world is blessed with to better understand the message that God has provided us.
Nevertheless, let us continue with the translation review and try to understand Solomon’s intent with this verse.
ESV
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Ok – This is not the same message! Many companions begin to give me the idea of those who are not deep friends, but that the relationship is somewhat less than I originally thought. This should make sense, for if I took a bit of time and considered my original understanding, I might have thought different.
How many deep and lasting friends have you had in your life? How many companions? I will readily admit that I have had many companions, for while we may have had a common purpose or the same local geography, we enjoyed each others company. But once things change, the nearness fades, and time proves the friendship was somewhat of a surface relationship, that of a companion.
NLT
There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.
What? When I first read this, I was flabbergasted. What is going on here? Ok now that my concept of friend has been adjusted to that of possibly just companions, this translation begins to bring a negative slant to the first phrase. Friends that destroy each other?
NIV
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Now the verse is speaking of friends who I consider simply acquaintances, even those who are fair weather friends. We all know of these people, and surely we are such to those we have encountered in our lives. This version highlights the danger of having surface friends, those who are not of a sacrificial nature, but that we assume so. Those who promise the world yet do not stand by us. Trusting in these folk is an invitation to disappointment.
CSB
One with many friends may be harmed, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
Is this speaking of the disadvantage of having many friends? What is going on here?
NASB20
A person of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
NASB95
A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
As the CSB provided guidance as to the possibility of being harmed if I have too many “friends”, the NASB seems to make it a fact! A person with too many friends comes to ruin. What a statement! How could this be true?
My imagination is running wild with this particular translation, and is thinking of the man or woman who has found success in life, with everyone wanting to be associated with them. The continual praise and “friendship” received by so many “friends” during a time of success provides a false sense of security. Once the success fades, or another person’s success draws away those friends, the true nature of the situation is revealed and can lead to a ruination, a time of emptiness and disappointment.
The verse speaks of false friends, the unwise dependence on these fair weather friends, and the direction to the wise to depend on a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Though there is a variation to the meaning of this verse due to manuscript sources, it should be considered wise to understand Solomon’s main point. Trust in God for He is the best friend you will ever encounter. Fair weather friends will come and go, but God is faithful, God is good and God has went through extreme acts of sacrifice to prove His care for us.
Trust Him.
Below find a few additional verses for those who would like to continue reading some of the variations of translations.
LSB
A man of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
AMP
The man of too many friends [chosen indiscriminately] will be broken in pieces and come to ruin, But there is a [true, loving] friend who [is reliable and] sticks closer than a brother.
NET
A person who has friends may be harmed by them, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
RSV
There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
ASV
He that maketh many friends doeth it to his own destruction; But there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
DBY
A man of many friends will come to ruin but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
WEB
A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post. If you know someone who may find our discussions interesting or challenging, please invite them to the blog.
As always, I look forward to comments, likes and new subscribers.
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.
1 Samuel 25:23-31
23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
Abigail absolutely shines in this passage.
Sacrificial
Consider her sacrificial act. She willingly take the place of the wicked, assuming the guilt of Nabal’s actions, even requesting all the guilt to fall only on her, her very willingness to intervene between a fool and judgement is so Christlike it would be foolish to ignore this picture of our Lord.
Humble
Consider her humility in approaching David, and her regarding her own husband as a fool, making a point of describing his foolishness as being so thorough that even his name describes him perfectly. To be called Nabal in the Hebrew tongue is to be called Fool, for it is the same word!
Courageous
She knew David was on the hunt for blood. Consider her bravery in approaching a man set on vengence! David was a man of renown throughout the nation, known for his ability to kill tens of thousands. He was a soldier par excellence!
Consider that David was on the hunt for all the men (vs 22) in Nabal’s household. Strictly speaking, Abigails physical life was never on the line. Though we are not sure this was Abigail’s understanding, her stepping out to confront this deadly problem was definitely not common for a lady to undertake.
Servant
Consider her stance as a servant. Her reference to being David’s servant in verse 24 (2x), 25, 27, 28, and finally in verse 31, speaks of her recognizing her place before the future king. Though she is the wife of a mega rich man, (though he be a fool), it is quite amazing of a woman of means, willing to submit to a future king and provide gifts to an army coming to kill the household!
Repentant
Though Abigail did not take part in the rejection of David’s men, we find in verse 28 that she did beg for forgiveness as if she herself performed the rejection!
This general truth is often seen in those who seek the favor of God. Consider Daniel, at the end of the captivity, when he prayed to God confessing the sins of the nation of Israel, as if he had committed the sins himself!
Abigail took on a position few take, and that is of assuming guilt of others and asking for mercy!
A savior
Abigail was a type of savior for David, for she recognized that if David came to shed blood, it would be a stain on His kingdom, and provide “grief or pangs of conscience” for the killing. She stepped forward to interrupt David’s foolish behavior. Yes, the actions may have been somewhat self preserving for Abigail, and she performed this act to save Nabal and all his house, but she also recognized that David was a victim in this scenario.
He was acting out of anger, and this would not work the righteousness of God into his life. As she is speaking of this truth, she let slip a phrase that is amazing.
vs 31 …my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself.
Did you catch it? David was working a salvation for himself. How well spoken is this lady! Might she have also said that he was merely seeking revenge? For that is what David was venturing to perform. He made a judgement on a situation based on a perceived (or actual) injustice, then unilaterally determined a punishment based on his feelings. The final step in this process of revenge was to take action on his judgement and execute the justice!
She came to David with a sacrificial, humble, courageous, repentant spirit, taking the position of a servant, and became a type of a Savior for David.
She was one impressive woman! Wonder if her spirit impacted David in any way?
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.
I can’t tell you how often I am driving to work and as I am pulling into my parking spot, a passage I am listening to takes on a slightly different perspective, provides a different meaning. As you may know, I grew up in the church upon my salvation at the old age of 21, and delved into studying the old King James Version This passage this time was found in the book of James, chapter 2.
James 2:12 (KJV) So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
This passage spoke to me of end time judgement, of the great white throne, of the end of life. The believer was to be judged by the law of liberty, and that judgment was to be without mercy to those who showed no mercy. The last phrase just seemed to be tacked on. I was never quite sure of the intent or reason it was just hanging onto the last of the verse. Don’t get me wrong – I thought it bode some type of good news for the one being judged, but it just didn’t click!
Fast forward 30 years and I begin to read the ESV, along with other translations.
James 2:12 (ESV) So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
This verse seemed to clear up that hanging portion, where James speaks of mercy triumphing over judgement, and it continued to offer great hope, though the judgement spoke of was without mercy!
Enter the paraphrase version of the Message, and this morning as I parked my jalopy, this passage was brand new, and I understand it differently.
James 2:12 (MSG) Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. 2:13 For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.
As the previous versions spoke of judgement, and the law of liberty, I envisioned end of life judgements as I spoke of above. Yet this passage is in the middle of a portion of Scripture that describes a “respect of persons” problem in my life, that is my estimation of a person’s worth based on his or her appearance. Check the chapter out for a quick review.
James then enters into this talk of judgement. Judgement based on a rule that sets us free. Might this rule of freedom, this law of liberty, be that which frees us to be kind, loving joyful, faithful, gentle, and the such?
Might James be addressing how we relate to those less fortunate, and that by refusing to act kindly to the less fortunate, we should expect the same. We should expect to be treated unkindly. Isn’t it true that this is standard operating procedure for this world, to make judgements that result in unkind actions towards the poor?
And that last phrase?
A believers kind mercy will win in the end, though judgement by others may be inevitable, it is not the final word. Kind mercy has greater impact on others than exercising judging attitudes.
James message? Be kind to those less fortunate. It is our calling! This passage is for today, and not for end of life judgements. James is teaching in real world, present time life situations.
I tell you, it blew me away, for the rest of my walk that morning was consumed with how blunt I had been in my understanding of the Word and it’s message to me.
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
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.
154
FOUNDER AND PERFECTER OF FAITH
Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Could we speak of Jesus as the founder of our faith only? Of course. Might we talk of Jesus as the perfecter of our faith only. Surely this is true.
Yet for this name of God, we have both of these descriptors combined together, to bring together a mind picture for our edification.
To be a Founder is to be a leader, one who takes the lead, who ventures out into unknown territory.
Many men have ventured out, and due to the newness of the effort, unknown enemies and unexpected obstacles, adjustments had to be made by the founder/leader, revisions to their plans were reluctantly accepted, and at times the final expected result of the efforts were not realized. Success was not guaranteed for founders/leaders which may speak of why their are so few leaders/founders
Yet Jesus led. He led unexpectantly, into a path that no man ever considered. He took the apparent path of failure, of suffering, of humility and loss. He continued to lead directly into the jaws of death, wavering but never succumbing, asking for alternate wills from His Father, yet humbly accepting the worse news. And He continued to lead into the tomb.
He is the author, the leader, the founder of our faith. And He is the Perfecter, not only in His example of living the faith He preached, but following the Father’s will perfectly, without making adjustments, revisions or excuses to the calling He received.
He ventured out into a dark world, never making an adjustment to His calling, and providing us the high calling of a faith that has been walked perfectly.
He walked the faith from start (as the Founder) to the end (as the Perfecter), and through out it all, no fault was found. Never was the path ever walked, from start to finish, as He walked it even to death of the cross!
Though human, He is beyond mere humanity, as we are so frail and incapable of so much, yet He was tempted, and that without failure, to display the perfect life!
No wonder God elevated Him to be seated at the right hand of the throne 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.
Thoughts on the topic of speech from the book of wisdom
We will continue in this post on the topic of speech from the book of proverbs. Proverbs has much to say on the topic and due to the shear number of verses available on this topic, will provide ae a number of posts related to it.
Speech
Proverbs 18:6-7
A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating.
A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
It isn’t often that Solomon writes a one sided proverb as he does here, describing the fools word’s and not contrasting them with the righteous man’s words in the same breath. But alas that is the situation in this passage.
In this short passage we learn of the lips and mouth of a fool. Is there a difference in the mind of Solomon between lips and mouth? Granted they are two different Hebrew words but for the life of me, I do not think Solomon is making a difference in his message. It is a difference without distinction. He is speaking of that orifice that causes us such trouble for our lives, and yet has been given to us by God to provide blessing and honor to others, especially to the Lord.
The result of the lips/mouth of a fool is strife. The ESV is picturesque in their translation, but the term “fight” is usually translated as strife. Dispute. Contention. Bickering. Arguments. Differences of opinions in Christian circles – we are so polite! Say it however you want, strife is not a synonym for peace and unity.
As we read the Word, we find that the result of a fools lips is strife. So often we understand this is describing the one who does not fear God, and that is true. Yet strife is strife, and we should be quick to admit as believers, we often fall into the role of a fool, spewing strife from our lips, (for righteousness sake, of course).
We always have a righteous excuse for causing division or debate. We are fighting for the truth we declare, willing to suffer the slings and arrows for the sake of righteousness. What hogwash. Strife is that which pours out from a fool’s mouth, and the second portion of the verse actually warns us of the result. It is as if we invite a beating, for one does not initiate a strifeful time without coming out of it looking the loser, even if a battle is won, or the argument is ceeded. How often I wrestled with my opponent – a brother in Christ – for the sake of a point of contention, winning the argument and losing the brother. I lived the fools life far too long, and the desire to be right was (and is) so strong in my heart, yet I know the Lord’s will is for grace and truth to be center stage. Peace and unity in Christ is the goal. Not peace at any cost and unity being found in some forced uniformity.
Our second verse speaks of the end of the fool, due to his mouth/lips. His lips produce his ruin! Destruction. How can that be? How can the sending of vibrations from an orifice on the body cause the destruction of the same body. How I struggle with the impacts of this truth sometimes, thinking the words are of no serious import. This also is wholly hogwash!
We must remember that the mouth/lips of any man is simply a conduit of the bubbling within the heart of the man or woman. Did not our Lord speak the truth when He spoke
Matthew 15:18-19 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
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 68:28 Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us. Psalm 68:29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you. Psalm 68:30 Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war. Psalm 68:31 Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
Lets continue in Psalm 68, where David is describing the God of Israel as rising up, bringing power to the nation, and delivering the tiny nation surrounded by enemies. His methods are unconventional to say the least, but David only concerned with God’s faithfulness, and Israel’s continued resting under His blessings.
David continues with his prayers in seeking God to continue His work in and for the nation of Israel. Think about it. It is one thing to begin strong, and by this time in the history of the nation, God had proved Himself over and over. David isn’t resting on his laurels, presuming that past victories secures future success. David is looking to God for His continuation of His power over Israel’s enemies.
Interestingly, David sees this power to be related to the temple, and rightly so, for he understood that the military success of Israel was not by human wisdom or strategy, but by the Spirit of God directing and empowering His people. This direction was hard linked to the temple, and David, of all the kings of Israel, knew of this connection well.
Centuries pass and the truth remains, that the source of strength and power of the people of God is God Himself. This never changes!
Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
As success follows success for the Israelites, and the enemies realize they are fighting much more than a small nation of slaves who came out of Egypt, the enemies come to their senses. David speaks of the humbling of the nations surrounding him. Mortal kings are generally known for their pride and arrogance, but for kings to bear gifts to Israel speaks of a humility and an admittance that they have come to the end of their rope, that they have no resources available to defeat Israel, their god is so weak, weaker than the God of Israel!
But to get to this humility, God is called upon by the warrior king David to
Rebuke the beasts
David describes beasts that dwell among the reeds, herds of bulls with the calves of the people. God is to speak correction to these bulls, these enemies of Israel.
Now we must remember when God speaks, it is not merely the compression of air from a voice box to produce sound. For God to speak is for God to expect and have results occur.
Consider Isaiah 17:13
The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away…
Notice that upon the rebuke of God, they (the enemies) will flee away. It is not that the enemies will consider God’s rebuke and then decide if they will accept it. Actually, for God’s rebuke to be directed to a nation will result in the nation fleeing.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute
This is a difficult portion to understand, as this psalm has presented many difficult portions. Nevertheless, God’s next action requested by King David is to trample, or to stamp down. In some passages, it is translated as hasten, or humble thyself
Proverbs 6:3 then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. ESV
Proverbs 6:3 Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor. CSB
Proverbs 6:3 Do this now, my son, and be delivered, For thou hast come into the hand of thy friend. Go, trample on thyself, and strengthen thy friend, YLT
How this works out in this verse is a mystery to me, other than the truth that those who seek the high life through money very often are humbled by the very thing they chase after. No matter how it works out, or how this passage is understood, the action of God trampling those who are against Israel is being requested by King David. No mincing of words for David is escalating the requests for God’s actions on the enemy!
scatter the peoples who delight in war.
To be scattered is a judgement that was left to the very end for the nation of Israel herself, as if that was the worst punishment that could be inflicted on a nation. Babylon came to scatter the people of Israel for 70 years, only to be restored under the mercy of God, and for the future provision of salvation through the Messiah. The second scattering of the nation, under the mighty Roman empire ended up without the same mercy, being permanent.
David was seeking this type of action by God on the enemies of Israel. This type of action seems irreversible for a nation, for only under the hand of God has any nation ever returned, and that only once after the Babylonian captivity!
There was no recovery for any nation if scattered. Absorption of the nation into other cultures would be inevitable, and the unified personality, dreams, and nature of any nation scattered would come to an end. This is David’s way of asking for the complete domination of any and all of Israel’s enemies.
Poetic? Yes!
Graphic? Yes!
Eventual? Yes!
In the end, all the enemies of God will be dominated by the Living God. Through pain, sorrow, humiliation, and death, the Living God, Jesus Christ, has become the King of Kings. The time will come when all mortal kings will acknowledge this truth. For Jesus has suffered pain, experienced sorrow, faced humiliation, and passed through death in order to draw all men to Him.
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.
154
FORERUNNER
Hebrews 6:20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The high priest in the Old Testament, when he entered behind the veil, did so as a representative of the nation of Israel. On the day of Atonement, the high priest was to provide a temporary atonement for his own sin, and the sin of the nation. His entrance into the Holy of Holies required him to remove his sacred outer garments, and enter with only the linen tunic.
Leviticus 16:4 He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on.
He entered the Holy of Holies to represent himself and the nation, to present blood from a bull, and to sprinkle this blood on the mercy seat. Upon completion of this ministry, the High Priest was to exit the Holy of Holies. His ministry was completed for one more year, at least in relation to the atonement (or covering over) of his and the nations sins.
He was not to remain behind the veil, not to make any other claims of his authority behind the veil. He entered behind the veil in the simplest of garments, signifying humility before God. Before the people, he had lavish garments, with gold and jewels and fine colored threads. Not so for before God
Consider Jesus, our Forerunner.
He entered the Holy of Holies completely humbled by the death He experienced, by the suffering and torture of His passion. Yet the author of Hebrews speaks of Him as though He was the tip of a spear, the edge of a knife, the lead spy going into the land. He was the One going ahead, venturing into new territory, doing what no man has ever attempted. As He ventured into the Holy of Holies, He was not merely representing His followers, but He was making claims of ownership for His people.
He wasn’t entering the Holy of Holies as the Old Testament priest, temporarily and with other blood than His own. He offered His own blood, not for His own sins, for He had none, but for the eternal payment for our sins. Nothing temporary about the True High Priest as a Forerunner for His people, and until we enter into glory with Him, He has entered and claimed it for His people.
Jesus has gone as a forerunner into the Father’s presence on our behalf. He is our Forerunner, perfect, sinless, high and lifted up.
May His name be praised amongst His people, His congregation and those who are seeking to be with Him in glory.
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.
Ephesians 5:3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Ephesians 5:4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Ephesians 5:5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Ephesians 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
Paul provides us a tough passage here, and his motivation appears to be the correction of a slackness in the people of God, for he comes out of the gate speaking of certain sins as not even to be named among the them. Those who are in the body should never hear whispers of this type of activity. Heaven forbid that the lost hear!
But alas, in todays church, it seems to be commonplace that the world hears of every dirty little secret the church has, and it seems the church, like the Corinthian church of old, revells in their “freedoms” But enough of my whining, and back to the passage.
So when Paul speaks of something not even being named amongst them, is Paul simply lamenting the churches ability to keep things under wraps amongst themselves, that secret sins should be not spoken of? Hardly think so. He is providing a warning to those who claim to follow the Savior.
The key verse within the passage for the sake of our topic is Paul’s reference to the inheritance in the kingdom of God. Two things needed to be considered.
1. Who is Paul talking to?
Is it fair to consider Paul’s warning to be applied to the believer’s in this church. Should we understand his warning to be towards those outside of the church? (Does that even make sense?)
2. What is the intended message of inheritance.
Lets read the verse once more
Ephesians 5:5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
If he is talking to believers, (and I think that is obvious) when he speaks of having no inheritance, is he implying that they belong to the kingdom, but receive no benefits? A sort of still saved but no rewards scenario? Could that be his message?
Or might it be that having no inheritance in the kingdom, means there is no family connection, no legal standing with the kingdom, the citizenship is not existent?
This is deadly serious council from the apostle, for the specific sins Paul speaks of seems to be considered flippant in todays society, and in the church, many consider it to be a norm for many within the body.
No inheritance! This should make the heart of the believer shudder.
May we find peace in the Lord and strength to maintain purity in our lives, that judgement does not fall on the church
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 would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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.
1 Samuel 25:18-22
Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
Abigail exercised wisdom quickly. She had the means and the methods required. Not only did she have access to bunches of food on hand, food that was available at a moments notice, but it seems Nabal’s inventory was such that this removal of these mass quantities of food didn’t set off any alarm for Nabal.
Now of course those who may have been assigned to the accounting of Nabal’s assets may have understood the situation, and covered for Abigail, but this only speaks of the wisdom of the servants in combination with respect towards Abigail.
Either Nabal had so much stockpiled food that this large removal didn’t impact his balance sheet appreciably, or there was a coverup, in order to protect Nabal, and his entire house. After all, the servants understood that harm was coming to get them!
1 Samuel 25:17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
Abigail jumped on this situation, short circuiting the obvious request from Nabal, for she knew her husband, that he would not allow any asset to leave his inventory.
Abigail was in rescue mode. David was in retaliation mode. He was looking for blood.
Even before Abigail approached him, David seemed to be reiterating the wrong that Nabal had inflicted on him. I suppose for David,it was an unwritten agreement, or a socially accepted manner of helping those who needed help, that would result in some type of reward, even creating an obligation.
Of course, a man of Nabal’s stature was able to ignore obligations without any serious social impact. So what if people looked at him with a glare. He was filthy rich! And still breathing.
But maybe not for long, for though the socially accepted manner of renumeration was rejected, David seemed a fall back response was to wreak havoc and inflict vengeance on Nabal. He seemed to go dark fast, thinking Nabal’s response warranted extreme blood letting violence. After all, it could be argued, this is simply justice working itself out!
That is a problem!
Revenge is off limits to God’s people, and just yesterday I wrote a short post on it. Kind of providential, but if you are interested, please check out Let Me Tell You a Story – Revenge and Justice. Revenge and justice only relate to one another when the justice is based on our own fickle law system that favors our condition and provides no mercy to any one else.
David was in the wrong in this instance, and he seemed to be revelling in it.
But not to worry – some woman on a donkey was coming to straighten him out in a most unexpected manner.
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.
It may have been a week ago when I wrote on Forgiveness and Justice, and since then, I have come across a passage in Romans that has brought an alternate idea to my mind, a concept that provides an alternate reaction to injustice other that through forgiveness
Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
And what might that idea be Carl?
Revenge.
Is not revenge a form of justice, and we know God loves justice. Is revenge not a way of creating a fair and equitable resolution to the injustice we all suffer?
But I am getting ahead of myself. What is revenge?
The Greek word is ἐκδικέω ekdikéō, from which we get the translation “avenge” in our verse. A few years ago, I penned a blog series about a Christian’s relationship to judging (Judge Judge Judge), I recorded a short study on dikē. I think the root word may be recognized in our word for revenge.
With that connection, I submit to my reader that revenge has the component of judgement. Not judgement as in condemnation, although it may include it, but the judgement is the determination that a certain action was unjust.
Two items to consider.
Emotion & Knowledge (of circumstance)
A judge is to be impassionate about the determination of any righteousness being broken. Not only is the judge to be impartial, and without emotional connections to the plaintiff or the defendant, but he is to have knowledge of all the circumstances of the occurrence being judged.
How inadequate we are in both these arenas of ability, when we seek to make a judgement on the actions of another, to determine if injustice has be inflicted on us
Knowledge of the Law
The second item to consider when we seek to make judgement, beyond the emotional bias and the lack of knowledge of the circumstances from both parties perspective, is the intimate knowledge of the law, or standard by which we are to make judgement.
Of course I have intimate knowledge of the law I want to use, the law of Carl, the law that is malleable and forever favoring my weaknesses, while harshly falling on my inflictor of pain!
That law is deceptive, and full of hypocrisies. It may appear fair to myself, but it is not a standard that anyone else accepts.
The law by which all judgement is to be determined is of course the law of God, the standard which we are too often incapable to discern when we are hurt or treated poorly.
It is in these times when we have been, in our opinion or in truth, treated unfairly that we need to pull back and not make judgement on the circumstances.
Our word in Romans actually is translated as “take revenge”, as in it is our prerogative to make a judgement and determine the punishment based on the judgement. Our judgement of the injustice! Our decision on the severity of the punishment!
Paul suggests we do not take revenge. Take it cool, try not to make any judgement in order to determine a punishment, and then to inflict it on someone, even though they may not even understand my actions. Seems fair!
Golly. That is not what Paul is saying. Let us read it once more, though it is a difficult word!
Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Never. Never avenge yourselves. As we have ventured through this short review, it has been important to remember that it is in the heart and mind, that revenge begins. I quickly can make a decision or judgement that what I experience is “unfair” or “unjust”. As a matter of fact, my decision making skills in this regard are instantaneous
Even if the action is not a perceived injustice, but in actual fact a unjust action against me, inflicted on me with evil intent, Paul tells us to never take revenge
We ain’t got the knowledge, and we ain’t got the impartiality to make a just judgement. And we certainly don’t know the law as intimately as the true Judge, the law that is the standard for judgement to be determined and justice to be accomplished
With Paul, I theoretically echo his admonition to each of us.
Romans 12:19 – 21 c…it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
May this teaching Paul provides become less theoretical and increase in practical application in our lives.
When your spouse says something that may offend you, don’t make an internal judgement and decide on how to get back at her. Either talk with him/her about it, or simply forgive them.
When your boss, who is extremely busy, cannot answer an important question you need answered, realize the situation make an informed decision based on your current knowledge and do your best. And don’t harbor unjust thoughts towards him or her.
When a church friend or official looks like they are not “walking properly”, make an effort to openly discuss with them the appearance of impropriety. Sitting back and stewing about it, or spreading gossip is not the type of action that is pleasing to the Lord.
When I started this post, I said there was an option on how to deal with injustice other than through forgiveness. For the lost, this is the only alternative. For the believer this is not an available option, though it is too often exercised.
Relating to believers, I was wrong in my earlier statement! Revenge and the believer are not to be in the same room!
Let the Lord, the One who has intimate knowledge of the true law, has the capability to be impartial between two parties, and knows all the circumstances of the infraction; let Him be the judge and the One who passes the sentence.
He is the Only One who will do it correctly.
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
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.
153
FOOLISHNESS OF GOD
1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Paul is reaching out to the Corinthians, the wise, rich, independent, strong and sinless Corinthians. A church that had attained, that was above the fray and that was beyond reproach. A group of believers that had come to understood a better way.
Throughout Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he is sarcastic, biting and ruthless in his treatment of each of their many topics of division within their body.
Who to follow, how to relate to others, sexual “freedom” issues, marriage and divorce concerns, spiritual gifts, how to properly worship, who to worship, and the very heart of the gospel was blurry or denied. They even struggled with the resurrection.
So every time I pick up a letter associated with the Corinthians, I think of two churches. The first church almost 2000 years ago, west of Athens in Greece. And another church somewhat more recent!
Given that background, consider Paul’s intent when he speaks of the all knowing, all wise God as associated with foolishness. Paul is sarcastic to an infinite level, or he is relating to his audience in their pride.
He obviously is speaking to them from their standpoint, for they had come to the point in their “spiritual maturity” that the methods God uses in bringing souls into His kingdom, providing them life and love was actually foolishness.
And of course this is true for any who consider God’s kingdom when in another kingdom. Everything to do with Christianity and God’s truth seems so upside down, so inefficient, so backwards and against reason.
Could not the wisdom of man improve God’s methods, of providing greater results and better outcomes for the church? The Corinthians had surely found out the foolishness of God in their spiritual growth. They could do better!
My friend, when I read Corinthians, I read my autobiography, for I am constantly ruminating on how to avoid (or improve – how proud!) the simple truth of the Christ, how He is the answer to all conflicts, sin issues and relationship problems.
For the name of God to be associated with foolishness speaks of my pride. His ways are so far above us that when we step out of the Spirit, we simply revert to the “Corinthian” way of thinking. He is not foolish of course. We are. Yet to communicate to a foolish people, Paul hung this name on our God.
And there is wisdom in that!
1 Corinthians 3:18 ESV – Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
Are we not to be foolish for God, accepting the “insulting name” from the other kingdom with some honor? To be foolish from the worlds viewpoint is to reject the basic tenants of the world’s order, of it’s expectations and allowances, of how a man centered society works.
If you consider the methods God uses to reach others foolish, consider which camp you lean towards. The Corinthians were joining the wrong camp, listening to the wrong counsellor, and walking away from true wisdom, love, peace and joy.
The “foolishness of God” associated with our God speaks to our fallen, and proud condition. This insult of degrading the wisdom of God to foolishness is common for those outside of the body. Not only is it common, it is the only option for those who are blind. Not so for those who have had their eyes opened!
And yet God is willing to continue putting up with this insult in order for people to truly trust in Him instead of themselves.
He truly is the wisdom of God, even as some of His own people assign foolishness to His ways! Let us humble ourselves and line up with the wisdom of God, accepting God’s ways as best.
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.
Thoughts on the topic of speech from the book of wisdom
This will be my third post on the topic of speech from the book of proverbs. Proverbs has much to say on the topic and due to the shear number of verses available on this topic, will provide ate a number of posts related to it
Speech
We are going to continue with the topic of speech in the book of proverbs, since it is so full of guidance and wise observations by the authors. This post will dwell on the effectiveness of softness.
Softness? My youngin’s, as they grew up struggled with the idea of softness, sometimes getting it mixed up with smoothness. They would refer to teddy bears and pillows as being smooth, and in a way they may have been right, but they always squeezed the bear or pillow as they told me how smooth it was. They got it now, but for our sake, let’s consider a couple of proverbs referring to softness, and then understand the idea of softness for the Hebrew mind that was originally reading these passages.
Proverbs 25:15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.
Proverbs 15:1 ESV – A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
“Soft” in these two passages, speaks of gentleness. The Hebrew word רַךְ rak, can even be translated as tender, even weak. Though I opened with the idea of softness as being related to teddy bears and pillows, it is not exactly what the Hebrew mind may have thought of.
To be soft for us is to have no structural frame within the body. No bones or frames that would restrict “squeezing” No internal supporting structure.
Although this may be a reach, I do not understand the reference to softness in these two verses to mean the same as my youngins finally figgered out. A soft or tender answer to the ruler (or to wrath) does not imply a softness of the one giving the answer, but a softness or tenderness of deliveryof the answer.
As a matter of fact, in my experience, to give a gentle, “soft” answer requires much conviction. To deliver a word of wisdom in a tender way tells me that the communicator has convictions, that the giver is strong enough in the truth, that he or she understands a peaceful tender delivery, without volume or argument, has great impact.
You might be thinking, a soft person may provide a soft answer. Solomon isn’t thinking of a malleable, syncophantic character mimicking an answer for the sake of being noticed. He is describing one who provides an alternate answer, an answer that hasn’t been provided yet, an answer that will change the situation!
These verses speak of strong people with convictions, delivering an answer that takes guts, but in a gentle, even a weak way, depending on the truth of the matter to sway the hearer rather than the volume of the message.
How awesome is the communication of truth dependent on it’s own strength. We need not argue for the truth, other than to present a defense in love for the truth. Volume and a bombastic delivery, or an over dependence on eloquence or style, may actually do damage to the reception of truth by the hearer.
1 Corinthians 2:4 ESV
and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power
Paul did not depend on plausible words of wisdom. He spoke depending on the Spirit and the power of the truth.
And yet we know that Paul surely wasn’t soft! He was the apostle of the gentiles! The one who planted multiple churches, and guided many in their Christian lives. He influenced many of the church’s leaders, even the original apostles. Yet as you read his writings later in his life, his answers dripped in a gentleness that is wholly unexpected. He seemed to depend on God instead of his own plausible words of wisdom.
How different he seems to be when compared to some in authority within the church seem to be. Gosh golly, how different he seems to be when compared with me!
Oh to have the power of truth in a velvet glove. To have the truth and deliver it with a soft answer.
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 68:24 Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary– Psalm 68:25 the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines: Psalm 68:26 “Bless God in the great congregation, the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!” Psalm 68:27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
Let’s remember the general topic of this psalm. David is writing to describe the entrance of the ark into the city of David. But more significantly, it is not simply the delivery of the ark that David has envisioned in this psalm, but the rising up of God in this action. His very first verse speaks of God arising, and His enemies scattering.
Throughout this psalm, David is describing God as One who helps the helpless (v5-6), produces results with the unlikely (vs (11-12) acts selflessly in His victory march (vs 18) and bears His people up (vs 19), instead of being supported by them.
He is altogether different than those who rule over us by the ways of men! For this we must be so thankful.
This particular passage is describing the procession of God into the sanctuary. Taken alone, we might look at verses 24 – 27 as a fairly sanitary, well rehearsed, orderly procession, and for the most part, from David’s standpoint, I am sure those bringing the ark are of such a reverent stance.
Yet the procession is spoken of immediately after the psalmist speaks of God’s foot “wading in blood” and dogs (scavengers, not pets as we commonly think of them as) lapping up their share of blood.
This is such a gruesome picture, a picture of violence sometimes described in the psalms. This particular occurrence of a warring King with bloody feet speaks of complete and utter domination over the enemy. This picture describes an imagery the Hebrew people would understand.
This image reminds me of a number of other times in the Word that speaks of the Lord being associated with blood and judgement.
Consider Isaiah 63:1
Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”
Isaiah continues in verse 3
“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained
and again in verse 6
I trampled the nations in My anger; in My wrath I made them drunk and poured out their blood on the ground.”
The typical Hebrew saw the God of all creation as their Savior in physical battles, providing them strength, wisdom and power over their national enemies. Of course, there were those of the remnant who understood the spiritual salvation that we as New Testament believers understand, even though dimly.
When my thoughts think of bloody feet, one verse comes to mind.
Revelation 19:13
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God.
The King of Kings is arriving from heaven, and the picture John provides is that of the victorious One, with His robe dipped (or sprinkled) with blood. Note also that He is on a white horse, (typical of a Victorious General leading a procession after defeating His enemies) being described in such a way, before He enters battle. You see, after the King is described as having blood on His robe, it is then that the King slays the enemies with the sword coming from His mouth.
Revelation 19:21
And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Okay – so whose blood is on his robe/feet? The enemies have not been slain. Is it not surely His blood, speaking of His victory over death, signaling to the enemies that He is no longer subject to their threats or attacks.
He is even now in procession, leading His church, those who have been captured, and willingly follow after Him. He is victorious and the blood is the witness! No better verse to close than the verse the psalmist provides us!
Psalm 68:26 “Bless God in the great congregation, the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”
Israel’s fountain is a fountain of blood, drawn from Emmanuel’s veins! Take a moment and enjoy this old old hymn. Be still and listen carefully, enter into the message.
What great truth’s were provided in the old hymns.
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away
May you be blessed in the Lord today, as you consider how great He is!
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.
152
FLAGSTAFF
Isaiah 30:17 A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill.
Be honest with me. Have you ever considered this passage to direct your thoughts to the God we serve, specifically that the term “Flagstaff” might refer to the Lord Himself?
Granted at first, I assumed not, but as I pondered, I considered that this term is very appropriate for the God we serve. Let me try to explain.
The old KJV translates this Hebrew term as beacon, as do some other popular translations. Some other versions translate it as a flag, or a mast. The message Isaiah is speaking of is that of a lone pole or mast, a beacon that all can see, that is alone, well seen, stable and strong.
What catches my imagination is the concept of being high above all, the mast not only being tall, but also being on top of a mountain. Nothing is above this mast, and as all of the nation of Israel flees from a threat, the nation of Israel will also see a flagstaff, a beacon or a mastpole, a single One that is resolute in the face of threats, setting His face as it were to Jerusalem, determined to hang on a cross for all to see.
Consider Him, who as the threats were poured out, He was resolute, being seen by all. The threats turned out to be real, and yet He persisted!
In His battles, He was left all alone, hanging on a rugged cross, His body broken, and His life snuffed out. The threats were realized by those who spit them out, but so were the promises of God who spoke them centuries earlier, for the singular One became the Risen King three days later.
His cross was on top of mount Calvary. Those in the area could not help but see Him.
Psalm 2:6 As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.
He is currently enthroned on Zion, God’s holy mountain, for all who will open their eyes to see.
He is the Flagstaff, raised for all to see. Will you consider Him, His claims as the Messiah King?
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.
Hebrews 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Let us “hold fast our confession”.
It is a common refrain within the book of Hebrews, for the author uses the phrase “holding fast” and “confession” in two other passages within the book.
Hebrews 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
That terminology may seem a bit archaic for us moderns, so I would like to break the phrase down for our consideration.
To “hold fast” is synonymous to retaining, or to keeping carefully. The transliteration of the Greek word is kratéō (G2904 in the Strong’s Dictionary).
Thayer’s dictionary adds the idea of it referring to becoming masterful of or to be powerful. The idea in using this term is to communicate that there is a battle, a resistance to maintaining this confession. It is not a neutral condition, for if it was, we would not be exhorted so often to persist, maintain, and persevere.
Is it not understood that our confession will be resisted against, our confession will find opposition, even a deadening. A “force” will seek to pull it from us, whether it be the world, the devil or our very own selves.
Ourselves? Why would we fight against our our confession? Is there not an assumption commonly taught that our confession, once publicly spoken, is a continual and everlasting, never changing truth?
But I am getting ahead of myself.
Let’s consider what the author is speaking of when he refers to a confession. The Greek term is homologia, and means “to say together” or to agree to the same thing with someone. It had legal connotations in the ancient world, and the context of this passages speaks of believers agreeing with God about who the Messiah is. Throughout the book of Hebrews, the author elevates Jesus above all. He is the Christ, the Messiah, God Almighty in human form.
The statement “Jesus is the Christ” is eternal. There is no challenge to this truth for there is no force capable of changing the declaration of God in the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. He is the living One. Yet that is not a confession. A confession takes two parties to agree to. God has made the statement “Jesus is the Christ” by raising Him from the grave.
But as the apostle writes to the Hebrews, he is writing to a group of believers who are under the gun, struggling with the world’s influence on them, with the devil’s temptation to return to mere religion, reducing the Lord Jesus to simply a good teacher, or a moral man that loved His enemies. He is writing to a people, not about an absolute truth statement, that is that Jesus is the Christ, but their confession of that truth in their own lives.
We know – or should I say, I know – that when an easier route to take is offered, when resistance may be reduced in the fight, the temptation is very real. If I do not keep my eyes on the crucified One, my confession will become historical. Something I entered into in the past. A confession that may not be current.
A historical confession, great as it may be, is no match for a living and vibrant confession on a day by day basis.
That is the message of this text. Yesterday’s confession was good yesterday. How is your confession today?
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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.
1 Samuel 25:14-17
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. 16 They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”
So what is going on in this short passage? The Word, through this young man, recounts what has occurred to a woman named Abigail. It seems to be a repetition of the previous story.
I think there may be a lesson for us in this repitition of the story. Hopefully I will communicate it properly.
A bit of Background
Remember there are three characters in this chapter, and David, one of those characters is spoken of in glowing terms to this lady named Abigail. David, unbeknownst to him in his current rage, is described as protective, caring, giving and supportive of those who needed protection. Protection that has suddenly soured, becoming Nabal’s greatest enemy. And a single solitary young man took it upon himself to speak to Abigail, for it seems Nabal was not an approachable man. This I believe is a message for us all, in that approachability is somehow couched in this passage and may prove to to be a useful consideration for us today.
Let’s consider each of these characters in their approachability.
David
First let’s consider David. Though it was the last passage that we saw him approached with the soldier regarding Nabal, we see he has not reacted well. He blew up and saddled up with swords a clanging. Although not a common reaction for David, at this time in his life, a wise man does not react out of emotion. Does not the Word challenge us to be guided by peace, the very peace of Christ?
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
With that said, I am an emotional fellow, and find this to be a challenge in my life, but as with David in this passage, have flown of the handle in a reaction that has not produced the righteousness of God
James 1:20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Nabal
What can I say about Nabal? I have the sense the only reason anyone approached him was out of duty. It is interesting that when David’s men approached Nabal regarding thier request, the Word states
..they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. – 1 Samuel 25:9
They waited. Of course this may be the common response of a group of men to show respect, yet as I consider Nabal’s general character, it may be that they waited for an emotional explosion, which appears to have happened. Personal defamation of David spewed from Nabal’s mouth, and David’s men received the insults to take back to their chief.
Abigail
And then there is Abigail. Not much is said of her in this passage other than the fact that a young man, of Nabal’s servants (?) approached her and spoke some pretty bad news. The passage doesn’t speak of her interrupting the messenger or of her anger rising, or of her dismissing the information. She, in the silence, seems to be a patient, kind and approachable lady. She was so approachable that the young man felt he had the freedom to speak his mind regarding her husband Nabal, calling him a “worthless man” and one that cannot be spoken to.
Kind of amazing that Abigail had this reputation of openness and approachability. Her non-response regarding her husband in the next passage speaks volumes to her character, for if she had anything against him, this would be the perfect time to enter a whine party!
Approachability. It is all about how we handle our emotions when the worst of news comes to us. Do we think of ourselves only, possibly taking out our disappointment, frustration or anger on the messenger, or do we consider those around us, and especially God, finding ways to express the peace of God to those who need to see Jesus?
Approachability. Would you consider yourself approachable? It seems Jesus was approachable, even to those who would eventually murder Him. He would accept them into His presence no matter.
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.
2 Chronicles 6:28 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 2 Chronicles 6:29 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, 2 Chronicles 6:30 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, 2 Chronicles 6:31 that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
We were in church on Sunday and was listening to the preacher teach on prayer, and as he was reading through the above passage, verse 30 caught my ear.
The passage begins with Solomon asking God to forgive those who are suffering under a famine, a pestilence, a blight, or mildew or locust or caterpillar, even if their enemies besiege them at the gates – whatever the plague many be, Solomon asks God to hear their prayer from heaven, and to forgive them.
During his reading, I was tracking with the preacher, but then he read out the following
and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways
Forgiveness and justice? If we are forgiven, why does Solomon suddenly revert to associating what the Israelite gets with what he does, with the way he walks and lives his life?
Something seemed off in my mind, and as usual, when misunderstanding a passage of Scripture, what was off was my mind, my way of thinking!
You see, during his reading I had brought into my thinking that forgiveness removed the past, removed history from my life, removed my past actions and wrongdoings, with all the impacts and damage that come as a result of walking in sin.
Forgiveness removes guilt, and restores relationship. Forgiveness does not change the past. Forgiveness can change the future, but the past is cast in stone!
So often we think that forgiveness is the cure all for a life of sin, that we can run with the devil and get right with God at the end, with all our destructive ways somehow becoming rainbows and lollipops. Our rebellion will leave scars on our lives and the lives we touch, but thankfully, with the forgiveness provided by the Lord, we have hope that under His leadership, our ways will produce opportunity for blessings to flow from our lives.
As we follow Him, and understand how blessed He is, and how often and deeply He blesses us, we are to follow in the same, and provide blessing to others.
For Solomon, I can imagine him telling us that the blessings God renders to each of our hearts is according to all of our ways. Rebellion produces bitterness, anger, resentment, confusion, hatred, and such.
But be careful, for this is not simply a tit for tat type of message, for our hearts have to be changed in order to produce the ways God is pleased with. Our hearts have to be forgiven, in order for us to truly forgive others, to reach out to those we may have hurt and find ways to bless them.
Forgiveness and justice are related, but not the way I originally thought in my broken mind. Justice occurs to every single person on this earth. It may be delayed, or seem out of place at times, but justice is an unavoidable reality for each of us. Forgiveness provides us the strength to accept the just results of a life poorly lived, the wisdom to resolve those acts of sin against others in the past (if possible), and the power to be different, to be a blessing instead of a selfish &#!!!*%. His death provided us the opportunity for forgiveness of our sins, and His resurrection provides us this power to live a life of blessing others.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Galatians 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
My friend – Get right with God as early as possible, so that you may experience the opportunity of being a blessing to others and as a side benefit, allow the God of justice to render to your life the blessings He wants to shower on you. But as we who know the Lord, He is One who does hoard blessings to Himself but is gracious, giving and loving. As we share, we will find out that God renders blessings to those whose ways are a blessing.
Be a blessing to someone today. Go out of your way to help someone, to surprise them with a kind word or action. And be blessed by blessing them.
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
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.
150
FIRSTBORN OF THE DEAD
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
Was it not just a few posts back that the Name of God we considered was “Firstborn from the Dead”? (It was – check it out here if you missed it)
If you did read it, you may be thinking to yourself this is a repeat. Let me assure you this is not a repeat.
The previous name considered the Jesus as being raised from the dead, and though it spoke of the resurrection, it was primarily related to His preeminence. That is that He was first and greatest, that His resurrection was and is the ultimate sign of His Kingship and the only recognized ultimate authority presented by God to all of creation.
This name speaks of King Jesus as the Firstborn of the Dead, with the implication that He is the first to be raised from amongst many. The emphasis of His resurrection in this verse is to communicate that the resurrection is associated with those who had passed on, that were in the state of physical death. He is the first to exit from that population with a new body.
Those who were in the population of the dead had hope, for He was pulled from the pit, and they also, as other passages teach, were pulled from the pit also, because of His leading out of the grave.
His resurrection is associated with our resurrection, and our resurrection is utterly impossible without His breaking the chains of death.
John is telling those in Revelation (and us) that the resurrection of the Firstborn is the signal that resurrection is an accomplished fact, that death is not the end, that resurrection is available to the dead, and that others, though not the first, surely followed Him out of the grave.
Speak of the resurrection today. Speak of the Firstborn from the Dead, and of the Dead. Let one person know that Jesus is the One who provided us life and a life completely beyond our understanding.
He is the Firstborn of the Dead. We shall all enter that realm of death some day, with our only hope of being delivered in the person of Jesus, who has gone on before us to lead the way.
He is the Resurrection and the Life!
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.
Thoughts on the topic of speech from the book of wisdom
This will be my second post on the topic of speech from the book of proverbs. Proverbs has much to say on the topic and due to the shear number of verses available on this topic, will provide ate a number of posts related to it
Speech
It has been years since I have wrote the first in this series on speech in proverbs. I am slightly surprised by the delay since the Proverbs have so much to say on the topic.
How does speech relate to prosperity, life and peace? Much in every way, and Solomon, ever the graphic storyteller, has some word pictures that are meant to stick in the mind, somewhat like an ear-worm – that constant tune you can’t get out of your head. Solomon wants to provide us mind worms, pictures in our mind that need to rise to our thoughts as we walk through our lives.
Proverbs 10:11
The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. KJV
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. ESV
But first, let us consider the last phrase. Does violence cover the mouth, or the mouth covers over violence?
I tend to like (a preference with absolutely no support other than my personal history with the KJV) the idea or word picture of violence covering the mouth of the wicked. But for a moment, let’s consider the message of the ESV, (and to be honest, the majority of other translations!)
For the mouth to cover violence is to hide the violence, to minimize, to distract from, to lie about the violence. Of course this does not assign the origin of any violence to the wicked person trying to cover it up, but I think it is only natural to associate it. Who is going to cover over violence of someone else, unless there is an advantage for the speaker?
Yet this is a common refrain through the Scriptures, that the wicked lie. They distract the hearer from danger, and seek to sugar-coat the truth until it is unrecognizable.
Yes the mouth of the wicked conceals violence, and as we know from the Scriptures, this violence often turns on the wicked. How foolish to live in a delusion of “concealing violence” when in fact it is that very violence being concealed that may actually fall on the wicked.
The message is clear, and is not dependent on this lone verse within the Word to be established. An example might be Haman for those interested in following this thought. I will leave it to the reader to chase that topic.
For the same verse, as mentioned earlier, as the KJV, and other versions translate it, violence covers the mouth of the wicked. What a word picture – I can’t help but think of my little grandson, stuffing banana, avocado, or any other yummy treat into his mouth prior to being “civilized with the tools of fork and spoon. A mess to say the least! Yet that picture doesn’t quite fit the message. That little boy is just too cute to associate with the wicked!
Violence covering the mouth brings to mind one’s appearance, of junk (violence) on the face, of the mouth no longer visible but for the junk, the violence that is characteristic of the source.
When violence covers the mouth, there is no opportunity for good to be expressed, for anything other than violence to pour out. When a mouth is covered over, it is the result of that which pours out of that orifice!
Now of course, we know that orifice called the mouth is simply a physical member of our bodies that expresses our hearts. The mouth either expresses fresh water or salty, grapes or figs.
James 3:11-12
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Is it not expected that the mouth be covered with violence, for violence is embedded in our heart. Violence is the nature of the war we live in, prior to meeting Jesus. Is it not the truth that He is our peace? He produces peace in our lives, and that we are to be peacemeakers?
At no time in the believers life can we justify a destructive behavior, a period of violence to reside in our hearts. As we do, the violence will cover our mouths, the violence will be seen by all, (except possibly by us) and the peace that is such a great gift is simply jettisoned from our lives for the sake of pride, arrogance and a rejection of God’s Spirit.
Our verse began with…
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life
Solomon writes of not only the mouth of the righteous as life giving water, but also of providing life sustaining foods
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
and again..
Proverbs 10:21
The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
When we converse with others, our loved ones or our enemies, check the content of that which pours out of that orifice! Is the message that of life and health, or violence and division? Of peace or destruction?
In other words, how messy does you mouth appear to others?
Considering the Bible 