For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
2:30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
What is going on in this verse? Is Paul laying a guilt trip on the Philippians? This seems so out of character for this letter.
My first reading of the verse seems to imply that Paul was expecting a service from the Philippians that they were not willing to provide. But that cannot be the intended meaning, for this church is the one church we know of that repeatedly provided support for the apostle.
So when Paul brings up the “lacking in your service to me”, what in tarnation is he trying to say?
Let’s take a step back from the specific situation to the general lifestyle of believers. We are all to serve one another, to be a community of caring for one another whether we are 5 feet from our brother or 500 miles from our brother. But this physical distance makes it impossible to physically serve those who are a distance away form us. It is an impossibility!
The Philippians sent Epaphroditus to provide for Paul the funds from those in the church, and to supply assistance, or service for a period of time to the apostle. To be within “5 feet” from the apostle, providing a service to their loved apostle through the physical presence of the missionary they sent. The Philippians were lacking, (as all churches are) in providing service due to the physical world we live in. Paul is making a statement of fact, as opposed to laying a guilt trip on those he loved.
It is good to remember that we all are always debtors to our brothers, that we all owe love to our brothers and sisters. We all are debtors to our brothers and sisters.
Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The only One who does not owe us love is the One who provided the most scandalous love possible. He is the One who loves the most unlovely, the most hateful, despised and rejecting people imaginable. The grace of God is uber abundant!
We must remember that He is the One who, out of sheer grace, provided this love we walk in every day, and is the example for us to follow. Out of His love towards us, we are to love others.
We “owe” it to them, for He is worthy.
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 wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 55.03
9 – Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city. 10 – Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; 11 – ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.
As suggested in our first installment on this Psalm, I am of the opinion this psalm is cry out to God in relation to the rebellion of David’s son Absolom, and his trusted advisor, Ahithophel, Bathsheba’s grandfather. David understood that success for the rebels depended on good planning, and wisdom in the fight. David resorted to a two pronged approach. Seeking the Lord for his safety, and strategic use of available resources.
First off, this prayer is David’s cry for help to the Lord in a very specific way, as he seeks to defeat those who rose up against him. Secondly, to divide (or confuse) the message Absolom hears will bring the greatest oppotunity for David to survive this threat.
David’s strategic use of available resource becomes available when he flees the city of Jerusalem, at such a low point in his life. As he is ascending the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered, he was informed that Ahithophel, his counsellor joined with his son Absolom in the rebellion. With Ahithophel, success (humanly speaking) was guaranteed for Absolom.
Yet in this lowest of low points for the king, a man comes to his service. Hushai the Achite arrived before the king with his coat torn and dirt on his head. He was in deep sorrow for the king and faithful in his friendship to David. As he presents himself to David in his sorrow, David – the warrior that he is – is not shy is seeing Hushai as a resource to defeat the rebellion. He surely is a bright star in David’s dark night.
Also note that Ahithophel and Hushai had history in David’s inner circle, and I assume they knew each other well. For Hushai to take on the espionage that David requests is very dangerous, for Ahithophel must surely know of Hushai’s prinicpal station in life as David’s friend.
1 Chronicles 27:33 Ahithophel was the king’s counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend.
Having laid the background to my understanding of this time in David’s life, and having Hushai go into the enemy camp with the goal of frustrating Ahithophel’s wisdom for Absolom is genius. But it is only the plans of a man, of a king on the run. Hence the cry out to God in verse 9 of our psalm.
Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.
David saw the opportunity with Hushai, but realized the only success he truly had was in God providing the confusion needed for Absolom to make a critical mistake. Without Hushai, Ahithophel would have singular influence over Absolom. David may have seen this this as the critical point of success or failure in returning the the throne.
David’s prayer of confusion, of dividing thier tongues, of have two conflicting messages provided to Absolom, was only a plan, good as it was, but the execution and direction of Absolom’s decisions were dependent only on God. And David knew it!
Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
The Lord indeed turns the heart of a king (and serf) wherever He wills, and David, in his prayer, was not shy about seeking God’s favor in the current crisis. David used the offer of Hushai’s service to set up a situation that God could turn Absolom’s decision into foolishness.
I believe David’s specific cry for help had this background in his mind. He sent a spy into the midst of the enemy, and provided an alternate message to Ahithphels counsel. Now it was up to God to steer Absolom’s decision. For further reading, see 2 Samuel 17:1- 23 for Hushai’s success with Absolom. Note how Hushai catered to Absolom’s pride with his counsel!
Considering the situation, that is Hushai’s sudden turn from his friend David and Ahithophel’s suicide based on Absolom’s decision to follow Hushai’s counsel, for Absolom to continue with Hushai’s counsel seems most unwise for Absolom. Why did he continue with his decision? Do I hear that pride motivator Hushai introduced into the argument ringing in the air?
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
God is good, and God can use even the pride of man to bring glory to his name. May his name be praised.
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.
25
ALMIGHTY
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
We have earlier considered the Old Testament reference to “Almighty” in our fifth post in this series, as in Names of God – EL SHADDAI (ALMIGHTY GOD) – 5. The passage we considered was in the early narrative found in Genesis 17, when God spoke to Abraham at 99 years old!
This Greek name bears much of the same message, yet I sense an expansion of the thought.
Let me try to explain.
The term for almighty in the Greek is παντοκράτωρ pantokrátōr, made up of πᾶς pâs, referring to each, all, any or everything and κράτος krátos, referring to dominion, power and strength. Now at first glance, you may ask what is the difference in this description beyond that in the earlier post, when Abraham was spoken to. And granted there may not be much, for I do not want to go beyond what the Word is trying to communicate to us.
Yet when Abraham was spoken to, it was in relation to his own life, his progeny, his offspring. It was in relation to a single individual, a man of faith, following God to the best of His knowledge.
In our current study, this message is given to multitudes of believers, and speaks of national, even global dominion as the One who was crucified has been granted all authority on earth and heaven.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Although I cannot speak for how Abraham understood the self revelation of God in relation to being almighty, we New Covenant believers have no reason to limit the extent of His control of the universe. As John records, multitudes are now expressing the truth of His reign over all!
Revelation 19:6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
All things are within His sight and as the King, He has control over all things. He decides to allow or to redirect, to permit or to restrict, to let happen or to force change.
He is the Sovereign King and as the King, He is the Almighty. Can we rest in that truth?
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.
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. –
In Paul’s writing, I do not recall a time when he is harsher, more blunt or shocking than in this passage. There may be a passage in Romans or 1 Corinthians, but I gotta remind myself – this isn’t a competition. This passage is simply a tough one to take in no matter how you approach it.
Tough Issue 1
Paul is in the midst of reprimanding the church in Galatia for their desire to use the law for a basis of sanctification, for living correctly in front of God, for maintaining a relationship with the Lord. The first issue that is tough for me to understand is the fact that Paul does not speak of sanctification in this passage, but justification. The same justification the same author speaks of in Romans 3:24
…justified by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
or how about Romans 5:1
…since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
My point is bringing these two (out of many possible verses) to our discussion is that Paul refers to justification as a past act, not a continual act. That is, when I repented, and placed my faith in the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice for me, I was (past tense) justified. At that point, as I understand the Word, the process of sanctification began, a continual process of becoming like Him, of following His and His will for me, frail and incomplete as that is.
So why does Paul bring up justification, as opposed to sanctification? He is addressing his message to believers, and he is going back to the very foundation of their Christian life, the point of rebirth! Are we to see this dependence on the law, circumcision in this particular instance, to be so serious that justification is nullified?
Ok, might Paul be referring to those who simply think they are Christians in the Body, and trying to reveal to them their utter error in never trusting Christ? Why would Paul address them as believers if they are not? Does that not introduce confusion into the passage, especially for those who truly are believers? I don’t understand Paul shifting gears in relation to who he is talking to in this passage.
Tough Issue 2
To be severed!
Tough issue number two. When Paul speaks of “severed” from Christ, he is referring to one who had not been severed earlier. Let me try to explain my thought.
When my son is cooking chicken for his ol’ dad to enjoy a good supper, I see him with his cleaver “severing” the leg from the body. The leg was attached, but upon the act of severing, it is no longer attached. For something to be severed speaks of it being attached previously. For Paul to use such a term speaks of separation from Christ (by their choice – for it surely is not the Lord’s choice), that by choosing to trust in some religious act instead of in Him, they are in reality choosing that religious act over finding life in Christ. It is an either/or situation, not a “let’s improve the Christian life with the law” type of situation!
Tough issue 3
Fallen away from grace.
Either the reader of this letter trusts in Christ or trusts in an outward act of religious show, but out of this decision flows the issues of life and death. To be fallen from grace, by attaching oneself to the Law, is an act that for Paul has dire consequences.
The term used for fallen away is ἐκπίπτω ekpíptō, and it is in the aorist tense. Since I am no Greek guru, I understand from my research this is typically considered to be an act in the past, a completed act, as the English translation communicates. It isn’t a process of falling, but of having fallen. Although it may seem I am laboring with tenses in many of the points I bring up, it is my desire to be clear with the text, to try to take the text and understand his original message.
And that message is a tough one!
If I were to summarize Paul’s message, I would have to say. Trust Christ and do not trust religion! Religion will kill you!
And if you teach that religion is the way of life, take a gander at Galatians 5:12. Surely there was no love lost between Paul and those who would unsettle believers from their trust in the Savior
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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.
Todays passage is a very popular passage on the topic of obedience, found in the middle of Saul’s Judgement
1 Samuel
17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”
Saul just came back from putting up a monument of himself and Samuel has the grace to say – “Though you are little in your own eyes”. But does he?
Some versions translate this phrase as a past tense action on Saul’s part, as in “Although you were once small in your own eyes” which makes some sense. Saul was small in his own eyes at one time, when he was out looking for the donkeys, or hiding in with the equipment. But those days are gone.
Saul was given the privilege and honor of being the first monarch in Israel, the first man to be given a throne. As we have mentioned earlier, his position was demanded by the people, and was provided by the Lord. But the power got hold of him. And we all know that power has a corrupting influence on the human condition.
So, let’s consider how power brought this man to this point in the story. What is the effect of power on a man or woman? One effect of power is a lack of understanding of how much power is actually granted to you. In this instance, Saul assumed he had more authority, more power than God by openly disobeying a clear command.
Try to understand Saul’s situation. Folks around Saul would succumb to his wishes, to his demands, sucking up to him to get his favor. He was the one to be pleased, to be honored. A whole nation would bend the knee to him. It was all about him!
This false image of power Saul lived in, giving him the allusion of being the center of the universe, also brought out the covetousness that resides in every human heart.
Notice Samuel’s question – Why did you pounce on the spoil… Samuel uses the verb pounce, not describing a military action, but could be translated as to “dart greedily”. Saul was exercising his “right” to take what he wanted. This is typical of those in power, for the expansion of wealth of those in power is common.
This action of not obeying the voice of the LORD was evil in the sight of the LORD. Saul’s self image of ultimate authority and of covetousness was something that could not be tolerated in the first king of Israel. In any king of Israel.
Except One!
The only King of Israel that will never be dethroned is the One who had all the power, all the authority and yet relinquished His position, suffered for us and became poor for our sakes. His every actions are so anti-typical of Saul, and provide believers another support in our understanding that His kingdom will never fall, His kingdom will never loose her King.
He will reign forever!
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.
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
ADAM
DEATH IN A GARDEN
Genesis 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
John 19 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
When I speak of death in the garden, I am not referring to the act of dying in a garden, for we know that Jesus did not die in a garden, but on a rugged hill named Calvary, the place of the skull. Not a picture of life and abundance, but of death and suffering.
Yes, John says there was a garden “in the place where He was crucified”. My understanding is that the garden was close by and could be generally considered to be “in the place” where He was crucified. The garden would be His final resting place, until He ruined the plans some had.
For Adam, his rebellion was in a garden, and the judgement of God came down upon Adam in the garden, for the Lord sent him out of the garden to work in a broken world. Jesus entered the broken world, being judged and condemned by sinners, only to enter death willingly through His obedience in a garden. His prayer to the Father in the garden set Him on a path of suffering and death that Adam had once experienced in kind. You see, Adam lost his unending fellowship with God, which is all he had known, and his fall into sin must surely have been horrific!
Jesus in all of eternity past, had never experienced any loss of fellowship with the Father ever. After the garden, Jesus entered into a death march.
Adam in a garden due to rebellion resulted in rejection from a garden into judgement and death.
Jesus in a garden, due to obedience, resulted in a judgement and death on a cross and into a tomb, representing death, in a garden.
The message of this word picture is that a garden was originally a place of life for Adam. Though he lost that life, a new (and better) life has been restored to us by Jesus, for in the garden, Jesus brought life and immortality to all of creation.
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.
24
ADVOCATE
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
An advocate is an old term we don’t use often in our society, as we commonly think of one who argues in our favor as a defense attorney, a lawyer that we pay to defend us in front of a judge. The lawyer performs his duties being motivated by a paycheck at the end of the week, as one who stands before a condemning judge, physically apart from us, pleading before the judge, seeking to the judge of our innocence, sometimes by revealing a partial truth, or by exposing only some of the facts. Of course, I may be a bit jaded towards lawyers, for I am sure there are some who seek to do right, speak the truth and desire justice to be performed.
Our Advocate in heaven is quite different.
He is the truth, and will not shy away from expressing the “guilt” of our actions, for John notes that “if anyone sins”. Jesus is our advocate, and John reminds us that He is righteous, not us!
He is in relation with us, and not simply seeking a paycheck. He is not motivated by “filthy lucre”, as the old KJV sometimes refers to money.
He is beside us, associating with one of God’s children that has sinned, standing beside me, representing me as the Righteous One before the Father.
No – let’s reread that passage once more – the passage says we have an advocate with the Father. Our advocate in not merely standing in front of the judge, representing his client, but is an advocate with the Father. Am I pressing this too much to think that the personnel relationship Jesus has with the Father, that this relationship also bears weight in our representation before the Father?
Not only has He died for our sins, and out of that tremendous gift of grace towards us, have the right to defend us before a judge, but on top of that advantage, Our Advocate is with the Father.
One final thought to consider in this passage is that John does not refer to our Father as a judge in this passage. Our advocate is with His Father.
Truly, I am sure that as we consider the descriptions of the Lord, we will find more than we expect, as we slow down and consider the ramifications of the passages we sometimes gloss over.
Our Advocate is much more that a legal representative before a judge due to our sin.
So much more!
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.
For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
2:29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men,
In our last post on this wonderful letter between an apostle and his church, we found him giving to the church their apostle back, for Epaphroditus was a sent one from the church to provide funds and service to Paul. Now Paul was sending him back, and in this verse he reiterates the response they are to have and express when they receive him back from the expedition they sent him on.
Rejoice. The predominant response Paul is concerned about in Epaphroditus reception back into the church is that of joy. This is the second time he has mentioned it in regard to Epaphroditus in as many verses. Yes – Rejoice!
Yet Paul adds one more response he is expecting, and that is to honor this servant. He has not simply travelled to Paul, provided the funds from the church and travelled home. He has experienced a sickness, a near death sickness, that most likely was the result of this trip.
This is another picture of the Lord Jesus, who ventured to this condemned world with the intent of experiencing suffering and death, and to return to the Father. Epaphroditus, in his mission to provide for Paul, mirrored Jesus at least in the experience of facing death.
I assume that as he ventured to Paul in Rome, he did not expect to face death. Jesus did.
He knew what was in store for Him prior to his leaving the glories of heaven, and He came anyway. He was not delivered from death, as we find out of Epaphroditus in our next verse, but he entered death, to come out of the grave three days later. Although Epaphroditus provides a picture of the Lord in his experience on earth, it is only a picture, and does not express the depth of experience the Lord travelled through for us.
In all of this, Paul has one more response the Philippians were to express to the returning soldier for Christ, and that is to honor him. They are to hold Epaphroditus, and men like him, in high regard, to prize them as good soldiers of Christ, and to relate to them as precious men of faith. We shall find that the reason for this honor in our next verse, in that Epaphroditus was on the edge of the grave due to his service for Christ.
The point is the church was not to carry any sort of feeling of failure in regard to Epaphroditus, but that they were to honor him. He was a servant who suffered in the midst of his mission, completing his task for the church and impacting the apostles life with his humilty and commitment to Christ.
This is a man who is to be honored by the Philippians. A man who is a reflection of the Lord Himself, and to this day, should be considered a soldier who faithfully served His Master.
May we also be a faithful servant to our King.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 55
4 – My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 5 – Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. 6 – And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; 7 – yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah 8 – I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.”
Oh my goodness, do I resonate with this passage.
How often have I been under some type of stress, and my first reaction is to flee. Run away. Some nights my stomach is in knots, fearing the day’s events. As I take my time in the morning on my walk, I often want to succumb to the temptation to simply walk away from the days events. Don’t get me wrong, for these events are not life and death situations as we know David is impacted by, but though the depth of my fears may be far less than David’s, the reality of wanting to escape is just as real.
At times, the only thing that pulls me back from the brink of escaping a pressure situation is that there is no advancing in the faith if the wind is always at your back. An old Scottish preacher, by the name of Alexander Maclaren, made a statement that rings true for all believers.
“So the psalmist’s wish was but a wish; and he, like the rest of us, had to stand to his post, or be tied to his stake, and let enemies and storms do their worst.”
Remember that David is facing near death on a daily basis within this psalm, and to make matters even worse, the threat is from a close friend. The wind in his face was tornado-like, and his daily experience was one of anguish, terrors of death, fear, trembling and horror.
Horror! This term is rarely used in the Old Testament, and David is admitting to being overwhelmed by this horror. What he was experiencing I cannot tell, and cannot relate to. Yet this passage smacks of the suffering the Messiah experienced on His way to the cross. He did not turn back, nor fly away on the wings of a dove, but fully embraced God’s will. And out of that obedience, He sent the Holy Spirit to comfort us in our times of anguish and fear.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. At this point in our study, we will begin with “A God Merciful and Gracious”, the twenty-third Name of God on my list. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
23
A GOD MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS
Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
What a good way to start out with on our third phase in the Names of God series. Merciful and Gracious. As I new believer in the church, I was told that grace is getting what you don’t deserve, and mercy is not getting what I deserve.
Does that make sense?
Yet, this merciful term has a bit more to it that just not getting what we deserve, as if that didn’t provide enough to be blessed by. This word “merciful” also includes the concept of compassion and somewhat surprised me when I think of merciful. Remember, merciful, in my mind, speaks of the refrain of some action or judgement upon a person that deserves it. To add the idea of compassion brings to mind the motivation behind the my concept of mercy.
When I consider the mercy of God, I commonly think only of the actions of the Lord (or better said, the refraining of rightful actions) and not His motivation in refraining from a judgement. Yet our God is a compassionate God, a God whose heart is that of a Father, seeking the best for His children, teaching, guiding, warning and loving His children.
The second term only strengthens this thought, for the psalmist reminds us of the graciousness of our God, a descriptor that blows up for us in the New Covenant. But for God to be understood as gracious is definitely not only a New Testament descriptor, for there are multitudinous passages referring to our God as gracious in the Old Covenant.
Moses, the law giver, did not understand God to be a harsh, dictatorial God, but when Moses met God, after he destroyed the first two tablets of the law, God began His self revelation to Moses, with the very same description we are considering today
Exodus 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Moses, out of anger in seeing the Israelites sinning, through down the tablets of the law, a picture of us all “breaking the law”. And God reveals Himself as a God merciful and gracious.
Our God is a most surprising God and His name is to be praised
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. Hebrews 2:2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, Hebrews 2:3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
We have been working through multiple passage under this series and it is somewhat surprising that this passage has been neglected till now. It is such a powerful passage warning us of our tendency to drift away from the message of the grace of God, and the great salvation He has provided!
When I embraced the OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved) teaching, I looked at this verse as a passage that was delivered to the lost, and the danger of their rejecting the great salvation the Lord provided for the world. This was the result of reading the third verse only, with a set of OSAS goggles on, interpreting the verse the way I was told to interpret it.
Lets consider the immediate context, and the specific message of the third verse.
Context
The author is speaking to Christians, including himself! Notice how he refers to “we” a couple of times in the first verse. Yes I have heard that the we could be referring to Hebrews, and not Christians since the author may have been Jewish, but honestly, this seems to be such a stretch to avoid the obvious. Consider the author’s fear of drifting away in the first verse. The direction of movement is away from the gospel, which implies there may have been a time when the audience (and the author) were closer to the message.
The entire book of Hebrews is speaking to believers who are on the edge of abandoning their faith, and for the author to change the audience in this small passage makes no sense for me. There will be a number of these passages in Hebrews, where the author addresses the audiences dangerous position. His audience contains Christians, those who believed in the Jewish Messiah, leaving behind a dead religion, a religion whose purpose was to bring them to faith, not to be a competition to the truth!
Specific Message
Again, as an OSAS adherent, I read the third verse thusly.
Hebrews 3:3 how shall we escape if we neglectreject such a great salvation?
How often have you heard a preacher or teacher read this verse, and then go on as if he is teaching it to an audience of lost souls, that they are rejecting the gospel? As if the church is full of lost souls, and that if any believers are in attendance, they are allowed to listen, but it doesn’t really apply to them.
The term the apostle uses is neglect, and refers to an attitude of negligence, carelessness of disregarding the truth we have been given. A few chapters later, the apostle uses this same Greek word in a bit different way, for he speaks of God showing no concern.
Hebrews 8:9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
The same Greek word (ἀμελέω ameléō, G 272), but the one “neglecting” is God, and the ones being neglected are the very ones who considered the truth they had been provided as unimportant. Note that the author reminds the Hebrew believers that the Hebrews of history did not continue in the covenant they had been provided! Might it be that the Hebrews of old neglected the covenant, made light of the covenant? Surely this is the authors intended message!
Don’t make light of the gospel. We are in a life and death battle, a battle that will have consequences.
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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.
Today’s post we will review Saul’s Justification.
1 Samuel
14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
Notice Adam in this verse anywhere? Blameshifting on steroids! THEY brought the sheep.. THE PEOPLE spared the best…. Regarding that which was in obedience to the command, Saul joined in on that activity – WE have devoted the rest to destruction.
Stop! Samuel had had it.
He knew Saul was going to loose the kingdom, and this was the trigger that set off the announcement. Samuel had just spent the night hearing from the LORD, and it wasn’t good news. The man that was to be the replacement for God in the nation of Israel has lost his position, is being kicked “out of the garden”. There are some minor similarities of Saul with Adam, but then again, there are some similarities of Saul with me!
Saul was brought short by Samuel, in the midst of his blameshifting and justification of his actions. So religious, wanting to sacrifice the best of someone else’s sheep and oxen! Quite a sacrifice! No matter, for this is the beginning of the end for Saul, and he falls hard!
Our next post will review the judgement that was to fall on this man named Saul.
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.
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
ADAM
HIS DOMINION
Genesis 1 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Matthew 28: 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
In Adam’s creation, God granted him dominion over all created beings, even over “all the earth”. Did Adam do anything to deserve this tremendous act of benevolence? Dang, the only thing he did was to “become”, if you know what I mean. He was completely passive in his own creation, and all of creation previous to his own. He came into this creation with nothing but the love of God shining down on him, and the beauty of creation encircling him.
Within this condition, God provided Adam the kingdom of the earth, for that is what dominion is speaking of, that is Adam was granted the right to rule over the entire creation. This appointment of ruling was granted out of absolutely nothing Adam did. Please understand my point for it may seem I am laboring to make it.
I assume by now you understand though Adam and Jesus were both granted dominion, Jesus far excels the example of Adam, for He did not have a perfect creation to rule over as Adam, but took a broken world, and suffered to redeem it, and out of a sinless life and vicarious death for our sake, was granted all dominion (authority) in heaven and earth.
A picture they say is worth a thousand words, but the picture of the “dominion of Adam” over earth barely scratches the extent of Jesus’ kingdom. And to return to the thought of deserving the kingdom, as we said with Adam, he did nothing to deserve the dominion over God’s creation. Jesus did everything to deserve the dominion He has been granted. And why? Because He is worthy!
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.
Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!
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 was a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
22
EL QANNA (JEALOUS GOD)
Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
Whenever the concept of jealousy comes up in relation to the LORD, I fear we bring to mind the image of a drunken, insecure man wearing a “wife beater” shirt, ready to blow up at the hint of any disappointment or challenge in a relationship. Granted, this is how much of our experiential jealousy works itself out in our world (minus the shirt thing!) but as I found out in a previous study series (A Jealous God), for our God to be jealous is everything we should ever want.
He is jealous for our sake, not out of an insecurity of his worth, for He is certainly worthy, He is jealous for our sake, not out an emotional dependency He has, for prior to our creation, He was in full harmony within the Godhead. No, this jealousy, if I understand the Word properly, is a burden the Lord has taken upon Himself for our sakes, and not some knee jerk emotional reaction to the actions of others.
In our verse above, the context is the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the name He provides us is in relation the His people worshipping idols. Throughout the history of the Old Testament, for a father to allow idols usually plays out in the son worshipping the idol.
An example may help.
The patience of the Lord in the Old Testament regarding His people’s continual attraction to idols seems outrageous, for even King Manasseh – the king who typifies the idol worshipping king of Israel in my mind, was granted forgiveness, and restoration.
2 Chronicles 33:10-13 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.
This amazing repentance of Manasseh and personal restoration from idolatry by God for the king did not stop the degradation of the nation into captivity, for the children of the nation were on a course of self destruction, with each generation hardening against our Jealous God. Eventually, the beneficial aspect of God’s jealousy (that is, the actions of the Lord, intended for the for the people’s sake) became extremely harsh, for the nation who was granted this love continually spurned it.
Even in the Babylonian captivity, our jealous God continued to show His commitment to His people, using the captivity, not as a final judgement on the nation, but as a learning period for His people as a nation. He exercised the discipline the sons required in order for the restoration of the nation, knowing that the very nation would include those who would condemn the Messiah.
Yet out of this horrific exercise of hardened sinners, the jealousy of God was fully manifested, in that even in the rebellion of men, the grace of God provided for our benefit the gift of eternal life, the privilege of the Spirit of God, and the comfort of the Father’s love for the church.
He is good, and out of His jealousy for us, He has provided all good things!
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.
For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
2:28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.
Paul has spent the last few verses speaking of Epaphroditus, of his character, his sickness, his impact on the apostle and the expected response of the Philippian church.
But note that Paul is now stating a somewhat obvious fact, coupled with two anticipated responses. An obvious fact Carl? Yes, when Epaphroditus turns up in Philippi with this letter for the church, (for most scholars would say he was the courier), isn’t it obvious that Paul sent him back?
Or might Paul be emphasizing something other than the obvious. Maybe he is emphasizing his attitude in sending Epaphroditus, his eagerness to provide this servant back to the church, his desire to provide for his church at his own expense.
Remember that Epaphroditus was sent to Paul to provide time and money, and though the church’s missionary delivered the funds, his time of service was severely limited dues to his sickness. Yet Paul does not grasp at this lost opportunity for someone to provide a service for him. Instead, he is eager to send him back to the church, for the church’s sake, and as Paul mentioned earlier, for Epaphroditus sake.
So Paul is eager to send him back for thier sake. And he is thankful for the recovery God provided to his friend, so that he my be relieved of his own anxiousness.
Whoa Paul, I thought Christians were not to be anxious. Just a chapter later you will write
Philippians 4:6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Well, there is a simple explanation for this seeming hypocrisy, for the anxiousness Paul mentions in our verse today is a Greek word that speaks of being free from pain or grief, to be less sorrowful. Paul is speaking of the emotional environment he lives in due to the situation his brother and the Philippians are in.
An alternate reading of the passage fleshes this thought out somewhat better.
Philippians 2:28 NASB95 – Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned [about you.]
This “anxiousness” is other related!
In Phil 4:6, when Paul provides a commandment to the believers to not be anxious, he is referring to our common understanding of the cares and concerns of everyday life, of the “worrying” we enter into, that steals our joy.
This “anxiousness” is self related!
So Paul expresses his motivation in his eagerness to provide for the Philippians, his seeking “less sorrow” over the situation and that the Philippians would rejoice at seeing him.
Of course this last phrase may bring confirmation or regret within the congregation, depending on how Epaphroditus is welcomed home, but for some reason I want to think that the Philippians rejoiced at seeing their brother come home. If there were an element within the church that may still harbor feeling of disappointment in the success of Epaphroditus mission, this reminder to rejoice would hopefully quell that sentiment.
In our own lives, if there is opportunity for us to dwell on the failure of others, let us remember the definition of love, that Paul not only exhibits here, and encourages in his church, but explicitly describes for our own lives in another letter he wrote.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Help us O Lord to love one another the way you loved us!
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.
Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!
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 was a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
21
JEHOVAH-RAAH (THE LORD MY SHEPHERD)
Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Out of all the Bible, this has to be one of the most recognizable names of our God. The LORD my Shepherd. We know it was revealed to us through David the shepherd king, yet He has always been a shepherd to His people. The idea of a shepherd began with the tending of sheep, of providing for these beasts of the fields. The first martyr was a shepherd, providing a glimpse in the Great Shepherd’s fate.
Genesis 4:2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
The term is sometimes translated as pasturing a flock, that is to take the flock to a place of sustenance, refreshment or safety. Many other men were famous shepherds. Abraham, Isaac and Israel, along with Moses, Amos and the shepherds near Bethlehem.
To be a shepherd meant to be alone, in the fields, amongst the wild beasts, in the cold of night, or under a blistering sun at high noon. To be a shepherd meant to forsake your will for the sake of some “dumb” animals, animals that were in constant danger, unknowing of any threat and requiring constant care. To be a shepherd meant to have animals as your closest friends, to identify with them, to plan for their survival, to seek their good, to search for the lost one, and to teach the wandering one difficult lessons.
Yes – The LORD is my shepherd, for He has acted like a true Shepherd, in that he has been all alone on the cross, fighting the wild beasts that want my soul, forsaking His will for the Father’s will, in order to seek and save a poor dolt like me. He is a constantly caring God, who seeks to be a friend, has identified with us, seeks our good, and teaches us difficult lessons.
I am thankful for the LORD my Shepherd.
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.
18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,
20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Rejection. Paul is warning Timothy of the results of ignoring a good conscience. No – that is not right! It is not a matter specifically of ignoring to maintain a good conscience, which by the way is dangerous, but Paul speaks of some, who we will meet soon, as rejecting faith and a good conscience.
Two actions are being described in this verse.
Holding
G2192 – ἔχω échō To have, to hold, to own or possess.
This is a typical term to define ownership or to keep within close proximity, to cling to or to be closely joined to. The thought communicated is typical of Paul’s writings, and that is to maintain a close relationship with the Lord, and the two vehicles to maintain this relationship is faith and a good conscience. Paul is highlighting Timothy’s continued efforts for his ministry.
Rejecting
G683 – ἀπωθέομαι apōthéomai. To push off, cast away or to thrust away from. This seems to be a deliberate action on the part of the subject. This isn’t a matter of human frailty, in that we all fall down occasionally. Paul is using a word here that speaks of a decision to reject faith and a good conscience. To be able to reject something implies the possession of the thing being rejected – how can you reject something you do not have!. May we safely assume that the two men mentioned in this passage were believers at one time?
Two men are given as examples, who have rejected faith and a good conscience.
Hymenaeus
Hymenaeus shows up in one other passage in the New Testament. Paul is speaking of him as swerving from the truth, and upsetting the faith of some. Pray tell, Paul – what is Hymanaeus teaching that is so bad that you are calling him out for it?
2 Timothy 2:16-18
But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.
Only that the general resurrection has occurred in the past! Consider if you were a believer during this time, and heard that you missed the resurrection. Talk about gutting the gospel! The fellow was causing tremendous damage in the church, and is to be considered an enemy of the gospel in my opinion. And in Paul’s opinion too, if I’m reading him right.
Alexander
There are a number of Alexanders in the New Testament, or at least there could be. We just don’t know. I tend to lean to the thinking Paul is referring to Alexander the coppersmith in our passage to Timothy, since Timothy is in Ephesus and the riot in Ephesus was lead by Alexander
Acts 19:33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.
Another reference to Alexander , that Timothy would recognize and may be the one Paul is referring to in our passage in 1 Timothy, is Alexander the Coppersmith. Personally I would find it difficult to think this is a different man Paul refers to but I will leave that up to my reader
2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
Both Hymenaeus and Alexander have rejected a good conscience and faith. The results do not appear to be characteristic of good Christian living, so I ask you my friend.
What is the result of their rejecting a good conscience and faith?
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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.
Let’s consider Saul’s Monument
1 Samuel 15
12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
Saul was in great spirits! He had set up a monument for himself, and had performed the commandment of the LORD. What? Wait! What did that say? He set up a monument? For himself? Saul was riding high here, and this was a precursor to a great fall. Notice that King Saul blessed Samuel, as if he was some great spiritual giant, that could bless poor ol’ Samuel.
Hebrews 7:7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.
Notice also the story told to Samuel about Saul’s actions. “Turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal” That seems unnecessarily wordy, unless of course the narrator is speaking of Saul’s victory parade, and how he made the most of it. Who knows, but it does seem a bit odd.
Nevertheless, this short passage describes a man who is in rebellion, about to loose his kingdom, boasting of how great he is, full of self confidence and strutting about.
I suspect he was feeling like we sometimes do when we are oblivious to the truth of the situation. There is tremendous wisdom in a continual attitude of humility, willing to hear others as opposed to our own voices.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
We don’t have to wait to be humble. As a matter of fact, if we wait, it might not be our choice and the humbling may be far worse! Notice that it is a choice, or James wouldn’t have told us to “humble ourselves”. It is just not our nature to bend, and we have to understand that if we are going to have any victory.
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.
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
ADAM
IN HIS IMAGE
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Luke 3:38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Both Jesus and Adam were in His image.
Of course Adam’s creation was all encompassing. Everything about Adam at his creation was in the image of God.
At the visit with Mary by the Spirit, Jesus earthly body was also created, and with that creation, the image of God had taken a physical form. Adam kept the image untarnished for a matter of hours, maybe a day. Jesus is the image of God, in all His glory, and has retained that image spotlessly from the very beginning.
Definitely Adam was a refection of the Lord, though the duration was fleeting. But He is the eternal image of God, and knowing that makes all the difference!
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.
Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!
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 was a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
20
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU (THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS)
Jeremiah 23:6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’
How New Testamental can a prophet get?
Notice that Jeremiah is not defining the LORD as righteous, though God is. No no no. The name we are looking at today is The Lord our Righteousness. God Himself is our righteousness, and none other. So what is Jeremiah telling us in this name.
When I think of righteousness, I sometimes fall into the thinking of sinlessness. Is that a correct understanding? Possibly. Could there be more to righteousness than just sinlessness? I am not sure but would like to offer my understanding, that hopefully will honor the LORD, in that He is our Righteousness.
In the English language, to be righteous is to act in accord with divine or moral law. It has implications of being virtuous, true, good and decent. All of these characteristics are gained by “keeping the rules”. And that is the rub! What rules? You see, the rules define righteousness acts. If the rules stated I need to skip instead of walk, walking would be considered sinful. (And girls would naturally be more righteous than boys – lol)
Therefore, if there are two sets of “rules” existing in a culture or society, there will be two sets of righteousness, both in conflict with one another. Does that make sense?
Let’s consider this concept another way. Some examples of two righteous ways of life are exhibited in the times of the Messiah. One righteousness was performed via the law of God, or at least the law of God as interpreted by centuries of men analyzing, arguing and reinterpreting someone’s interpretation. The folks that had mastered this righteousness were called the Pharisees.
The other righteousness was exhibited perfectly by a lone preacher that was connected with His Father, with eyes that read the Word with light, understood the heart of God, saw that up was down, light was dark and right was wrong. He persistently understood the Old Testament in ways that shocked the experts, and from that understanding lived a life of sacrifice, not of religion, of denial, not of reputation, of service, not of self.
And these two righteousness clashed. One took the path of violence and envy, the other the path of peace of love.
The LORD our Righteousness speaks of our rejecting one righteousness, and a daily clinging to another righteousness, that is the LORD (a person, not a set of rules) as our righteousness. He is the One who is “the rule”, and by His very character defines what righteousness is, and then came to earth to exhibit that righteousness in front of our eyes.
What does this righteousness look like?
Watch a humble preacher teaching life altering words in simple stories, washing his friends feet, teaching the worst of sinners of the love of God, and then bleeding for His enemies.
His name is Jesus and He is the Lord our Righteousness.
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.
For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
2:27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
Paul has been speaking of Epaphroditus, a man who travelled from the Philippian church, a messenger sent by the much loved church Paul founded on his second missionary trip. Paul spoke of Epaphroditus longing for them in an earlier verse, and his concern for them, even though he was staring death in the eye. This is an amazing reflection of the Lord in that, even in suffering and weakness, this brother was concerned about others, and not only others, but the burden his sickness was adding to the Philippian’s lives.
Where do we find believers like this, that sacrifice an opportunity to gain pity, in order to show love?
Yet Paul speaks not only of Epaphroditus sickness and it’s impact on the Philippians, but also his own experience with Epaphroditus. I do not know of any evidence of Epaphroditus meeting Paul prior to his travels to Rome for the church. No mention of him in Acts, and he is only referred to in this epistle, yet Epaphroditus in this one mission trip has a major impact on the great apostle Paul.
Paul speaks of avoiding “sorrow upon sorrow” by the mercy of God, in raising Epaphroditus from the sick bed. Death appeared to be imminent, and Epaphroditus did not have a general hospital to visit for care. Possibly his only friend was a man who was an enemy of the state, who was in jail for preaching another King other than Caesar, waiting on his death sentence.
Both these men were looking death in the eye, and what was their response? Both expressed a compassion for others, entering into the trial of those suffering.
The term “sorrow” is well known amongst us – We have all had sorrow at some point in our lives, and to try to describe it at this time seems fruitless. One thing I do find very instructive is the physical effect sorrow can have on the body. Consider.
Luke 22:45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,
What specifically caused the disciples to fall asleep on the night of the Messiah’s betrayal? Luke tells us it was due to sorrow. Sorrow caused the exhaustion of the disciples, resulting in their passing out when the Messiah needed them most.
Grief. Sorrow. It is not merely an emotion we suffer though at times. Sorrow affects our physical lives. Sorrow not only impacts the physical body, it also crushes the spirit!
Proverbs 15:13 – A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.
In the midst of this “sorrow upon sorrow” God had mercy on Paul by extending mercy to Epaphroditus. His mercy is abundant and one act of mercy from the hand of God ripples through to many.
Let us be merciful towards both our brother and our enemy! It is the Lord’s way, and both Paul and Epaphroditus lived in it.
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 wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 55.01
1 – To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! 2 – Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, 3 – because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
The history of this psalm is unknown, but we can deduce a few items from the psalm to give us David’s situation. First off, it appears David is speaking primarily of a good friend who has turned on him, a betrayer, even called out as a covenant breaker!
Secondly, this is no idle threat, for David describes his condition including the “terrors of death”, and of horror overwhelming him.
David was in deep trouble, with his life on the line, not knowing how close he was to being destroyed. A constant stress, a continual pain and agony of mind and soul. A period of time when the Lord did not answer his prayers, for his repetition of seeking God to give ear, to not hide, and to attend to David, smacks of disappointment in previous efforts of prayer to God. The stress builds, and the heart is failing, and the LORD seems to be quiet.
Note that the basis of his prayer is depending on the mercy of God, that he realizes he has no other claim at this time. He is an experienced man of God, realizing his failings in front of God and depending on God’s mercy for his rescue. As the Lord had promised his kingdom to be forever, it was not promised to David that he would live a long and extended life and as such, David understood that his life could be cut short without any blemish on the Lord’s promises to him. Yet he calls on the mercy of God for deliverance in this time of terror.
What was the source of this terror you may ask? David gives us the reason in verse 3.
Noise of the enemy/Oppression of the wicked
As we have mentioned in earlier posts, the Old Testament prophets, when writing in poetry, would use a method of “rhyming” thoughts as opposed to our method of rhyming the last words in a couplet of phrases. In two verses, the author would say the same thing with a slight expansion or clarification of the previous phrase. I think this is happening here.
The oppression of the wicked is equivalent to the noise of the enemy. Threats, verbal attacks, intimidation causing a sense of imminent danger produced the stress residing in David’s heart. Words are powerful, and our words, whether intention or not, may cause tremendous stress in other’s lives. David’s enemies were certainly taking advantage of this type of warfare. Our enemy also does this!
An interesting connection, that will undoubtedly increase the readers understanding of David’s stress level is the two following phrases he uses in describing the type of stress he is undergoing. This is conjecture, but I find the connection interesting, and plausible.
When David speaks of the enemy “dropping trouble on him” this has a similar sound as when he was escaping from the City of David, from his own son Absalom’s treachery.
1 Samuel 15:14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
David continues with the description of the enemies motives, calling it a grudge. Both Absalom and his chief counsellor Ahithophel may be described in this manner.
We know the background to Absalom’s grudge, and his ability to hold a grudge for extended periods. When Amnon rapes his sister, he holds a grudge for two years before acting on it! But then his grudge comes to fruition (as unforgiven grudges always do) in his planning and executing the premeditated murder of his brother. Absalom’s next grudge is exercised when he spends 4 years after returning to Jerusalem, grooming the populace for his rebellion against the king. Grooming the populace to accept him in order to take the kingdom from his father. Right in the City of David, right under the nose of his father!
As for Ahithophel, David’s actions in having Uriah murdered in battle may be coming back to bite him. Consider Ahithophel’s relation to Bathsheba.
2 Samuel 23:34 – Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
2 Samuel 11:3 – And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
Catch it? Bathsheba, it appears, was the granddaughter of Ahithophel. Consider the ramifications of that.
This psalm may be speaking of David’s condition in the potential loss of his kingdom, and if the kingdom was lost, surely his life was forfeit! At the hands of his son and/or his friend.
Treachery, mirroring the very treachery of an apostle who turned on the Messiah. David was spared from experiencing the results of the enemies threats, but for the Messiah, the threats were realized, for He was crucified, He was put to death by His enemies.
He experienced so much more than we can imagine, and His cause was to rescue us from those who hate us. We are to walk in the same manner as He did, loving His enemies and proving it through His sacrificial life and death.
But let it be known that our deliverance may not be as David’s deliverance, but nevertheless, we can and should trust Him in the times when the noise of the enemy is loudest.
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.
Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!
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 was a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
19
JEHOVAH SHAMMAH (THE LORD IS THERE)
Ezekiel 48:35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD Is There.”
Let us remember the circumstances Ezekiel is writing under. The nation has been decimated by the Babylonians, Jerusalem sacked and the temple, the magnificent temple of Solomon has been cut down, destroyed. The people of God have been either killed in battle, underwent starvation and subsequent death, or carried off to a strange land to the north, amongst those who speak with a different tongue and worship a different god.
According to my research, Ezekiel receives this revelation of God’s name 25 after the deportation of the Jews into the strange land of Babylon. Two and a half decades of living in shock and confusion, for being away from the temple meant there was no ability to provide sacrifices to God, no priests performing the required rituals for the people.
And recently the people had been alerted that any hope of returning quickly to Jerusalem to be near the temple, well – that wasn’t going to happen! The Babylonians destroyed the Temple, and even the prophets were speaking of a long captivity, of 70 years away from the land!
Many of the Jews understandably may have lost heart, seeing that they would never survive the captivity, and then finding out that the temple was destroyed, accepted their destiny was to grow old in this strange land. With all the established physical connections with God broken, and experiencing the disciplinary hand of God, the Jewish people’s faith must have been crushed. A people without a home, a land, and seemingly without a God.
So when Ezekiel starts to describe a future city, the people’s ears must have perked up. Ezekiel has already spent considerable time in earlier chapters describing a temple to be constructed after the captivity, but in our passage today, Ezekiel is describing a city, not a temple. And the name we are considering this fine day is “The LORD is There”. This is curious, for the careful reader will recognize that the name is not associated with a temple, as most would expect, but with a City, where day to day life happens.
My understanding is that Ezekiel is not only trying to encourage the remnant, but to expand their understanding of relating to God. No longer is a faithful one to meet with God in the temple on holy days, but that the faithful one would be living life, minute by minute, in the presence of God. Such a tremendous promise. The promise of permanence of God’s presence is provided to the faithful here, for the verse speaks of a city having this name “from that time on.” The city where the LORD is!
This series is not on eschatology, on when this blessing will occur, but is seeking to provide a vehicle for those reading to consider who our God is, through his names and descriptions. Personally, the understanding I have tried to explain above fits with our current church age, in that He is the ever-present One, the LORD who is There in the City of God. He is building this city, stone by stone, and He is There.
Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Hebrews 11:16 …. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
What city do you dwell in?
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.
I found a book called “Judas Iscariot: Revisited and Restored” by Ivan Roger, and though I have read it once before, this time the authors points seem to be sinking in a bit more.
The general theme of the book is that much of the popular understanding of Judas, and his relationship within Christianity, is colored by theological presuppositions and general bias against Judas.
In our previous discussion, we considered the Greek word translated as “woe” within the gospel of Matthew, along with a grammar lesson on pronouns, and who they belonged to.
In this post we will consider John 13:27, where the Lord commands Judas to quickly do what he needs to do. Let’s take a moment to read the verse.
John 13:27 ESV – Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Our author makes the point of Jesus statement as being a command to Judas, to go do it quickly. The word “do” is a Greek word that means “to ordain, to appoint or to deal”. It does not have any implication of rejection, as if Jesus was “kicking him out of the upper room”, as it sometimes is communicated to me by well meaning friends. No, per the language, it appears Jesus is actually commissioning Judas to perform his task. A task of “delivering the sacrificial lamb” to the priest. The author’s detailing of this deliverance is worth the purchase of the book and I shall not expand on it here.
Note also two additional items to consider.
Warning?
Jesus gave Peter advance notice of his impending failure and denial. When other disciples were in the midst of failing a particular task, the Lord corrected them. In this instance, Jesus commissioned or encouraged(?) Judas to perform his assignment. No discouragement, no warning, no statement from Jesus that would restrict Judas from his endeavor. Judas was told to do it quickly!
Woe?
As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus spoke the following.
John 13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
Jesus understood Judas’ mission. If I was in the room, knowing the same, I would expect “Woe is me” from the Master. But after Judas left the room, setting in motion the deliverance of the lamb to the high priest, Jesus spoke of glorification, both of Himself and of God. Glorification, in this context is speaking of the crucifixion, and the wheels had begun to turn. Judas set the stage for the priests to begin the process.
And God is glorified!
So help me in understanding from this passage where Judas is standing in relation to Jesus. Is he the enemy? Is he Satan? What think ye? Leave me a comment below.
I look forward to your return for our next posting on this book at Considering the Bible, and if you have found my ruminations to be a blessing (or a challenge), invite your friends to join us.
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