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.
222
GOD OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS
Psalm 4:1 To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
David is in distress in this psalm. As I have been dwelling in David and his writings for a time, it has become evident that David was in distress often, almost constantly it seems.
The distress he is in is often related to the struggle to rise to the throne promised to him by God, and the obstacles to attain the throne seem insurmountable. Obstacles not only physical, regarding his very existence, but the slander and lies that were spread by his enemies that would (humanly speaking) derail any chance of his gaining the throne.
This psalm speaks directly of David undergoing some serious slander. Consider the next two verses for some context.
Psalm 4:2-3
O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.
David’s honor was being turned to shame. The very things that David did in obedience to God were being upended and twisted by the enemy, with many lies being spread to diminish his character.
And David calls upon God. He refers to God as the God of his righteousness, for he is in the midst of a “righteousness reputation” battle, and he knows that it may end up badly for him. Some lies may stick in the population’s perception, some of the slander may remain in the peoples mind’s.
That is the condition we all live in! No matter how desperately we seek the Lord, and how dedicated we are in obeying His will, we should not expect our names to be lifted high amongst our enemies, those who attack the Risen One and His people. This is the fallout of being in a battle with a worldview that accepts the use of lies instead of truth.
But as each of us may go through unjust character assassination, let us remember that our God is the One to look to for our righteousness, that we need to pursue His character and His nature, His desire to be of the truth, and to live in a gracious, forgiving and loving manner to both our brothers and sisters, and our very enemies, those who may be actually tearing us down.
For our God is the God of our Righteousness, even as we may be defamed by the enemy. We need to recognize that the enemy will not advance any description of “rightness” of our lives in following God, for that would be an admission of their own error.
They will not willingly admit their position to be in error, so they must lie about the truth.
But our God is the God of our Righteousness, and He has prevailed in the resurrection, and shall prevail in our lives!
He is the God of 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.
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.
2 Samuel 2:18-23
18 And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle. 19 And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” 21 Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. 22 And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” 23 But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, stood still.
Do you see the Lord in Asahel. A man determined to face the leader of the enemy camp, a man seeking to honor his sovereign and in the pursuit, experiencing death!
But I get ahead of myself, for this passage also speaks of Abner and as such continues to describe the type of man we will bump into occasionally as we follow David’s life through these studies.
Let’s remember Abner in this story, a man who led Saul’s army against David and was essentially running the northern kingdom. He was Saul’s cousin, and had power for many years. He was not about to give that up.
At the pool of Gibeon, he sought to find victory over Joab and David’s forces, but death took all 24 soldiers. Now the full battle broke out, with the nation of Israel in full civil war. Joab’s forces were dominating and Abner was on the run. Although he was on the run, he was not an easy adversary, for Abner had been a warrior his entire life and had shed much blood. To kill a man meant nothing for Abner and yet in this altercation, he sought to pause, to distract Asahel from the chase. All with good intentions? You be the judge.
Nevertheless, he warned off Asahel, sought to redirect, all without success. Eventually, after expressing the fallout that would result in his killing Asahel, it became apparent the death was necessary in Abner’s mind. And Abner continued in his flight.
But let’s also return to Asahel. I realize I began this blog with a short bit on how Asahel may picture the Messiah in his actions, but let me reconsider.
At some convenient point, Asahel determined within himself that it was his calling to take on a challenge for David. The actual circumstances may have simply provided an opportunity for a young man who sought to prove himself. His brother Joab was the Kings general, and his other brother Abishai, had proved his muster back when David entered the camp of Saul and took his spear and water jug. For a quick review, my reader may want to check out the story of Abishai in Life of David – 20.02. To say the least Abishai was honored in his mighty acts for David.
And then there is Asahel. A man who sought to attain to the glories of his brothers, and by all accounts of Abner not worthy of any glory yet.
But Asahel was “I” centered, and I fear his ego delivered him to an early death.
I suppose I see a bit more of me in Asahel, for the only thing he says in this passage is “I”, and it seems that he may have been out of his depth in the confrontation. For though he died for a noble cause, for his king and country, it was a method that seemed destined to failure, and that seemed fueled by his own desire for glory.
Asahel was a brave, but rash young man, seeking his own glory. This is a severe parting of the ways in his representing a picture of the Christ as a willing servant and sacrifice, a Son who sought His Father’s will above his own life. Asahel’s impacted the lives of the army of David, and especially Joab, for we shall return to this killing in future posts, but for now, two lessons may be gleaned from this passage.
Rash decisions
Asahel made a rash decision to make a name for himself in the heat of battle. This most assuredly was not a planned effort with, making a decision based on possible outcomes, times of prayer and considered dangers. Of course it was in the heat of battle, but it was not a requirement for Asahel to chase Abner, an order Joab had directed to Asahel to be obeyed. No it seemed to be nothing but a decision Asahel made on the spot, and locked Asahel into the chase with no the freedom to pull away. And that brings us to the second lesson.
Self glory
In Asahel’s decision to follow after Abner, a greater adversary, Asahel locked himself into a inescapable condition of either killing Abner or dyeing, No other option was available for Asahel, for that would require a humility, a realization that he was out of his depth, and a certain self abnegation.
Self glory has often placed me in similar circumstances. Thankfully none that required my death, as I am obviously still punching keyboard keys! But the desire for self glory, and the forgetfulness of the glory of God in any circumstance often leads me in to a false dichotomy. Either one result or the other will be required as I seek my own glory.
It isn’t so if we allow God to be in the mix, for though I sometimes invite Him into my mess, He has remained faithful in working through my self glory mess for His eventual sake.
It is the “eventual” aspect that bothers me. I have wasted much time in my walk with Him.
As I close, consider decisions that are made in your life, and let’s seek to ask for God’s guidance in those decisions. Let us not be driven by self glory, but to raise up the glory of God in all our actions!
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.
221
GOD OF MY PRAISE
Psalm 109:1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Be not silent, O God of my praise!
I occasionally attend a church my daughter and her family attend, and it is a growing church, filled with young children, young adults and young families. With such a mix of folks making up the congregation, it is full of energy.
It is a church that I have found to be filled with the Spirit and upon every attendance, during the praise session, I almost invariably shed tears, trying to offer up praise with the congregation. I typically can’t express my emotions during the praise songs, but when they bring out the old hymns, I totally break down.
To hear the old hymns in this day and age of the church is so refreshing, so Christ centered, so historic for my own walk with Him.
It is a church that I have begun to learn to praise the Lord Jesus for all He has done in a outward, emotionally manner that has somewhat taken me aback. To actually try to sing, despite those around me being affected by my out of tune, out of time, out of tone type of singing. (I can hear my voice and trust me – it is awful!) has not been a typical expression of my faith in my four decades as a believer.
He has become more than ever the God of my praise, and yet as we read this passage, David doesn’t relate this name to the times of rejoicing amongst the faithful, of singing songs to the Lord to the point of tears, but is facing enemies that are overwhelming him.
David begins this psalm with an expression, a confession of his faith regarding who his God is and how he relates to Him. God is the God of his praise, the only one who receives the praise he offers up. But this psalm speaks of difficulties, of threatenings, of dire possible consequences on David’s life if God doesn’t show up. David is on the edge, but no matter, he is not about to forget that God is still in control, that God is worthy, no matter the circumstances he finds himself in.
Is he expressing the same emotion and heart felt praise I mentioned above? Possibly, but I think David may be praising God out of his will as opposed to the emotion I experience in church on Sundays.
And there is a difference I fear, for when a believer comes to a time of difficulty in his or her life, is God still worthy of praise? Note that I refrain from asking if it feels good to praise God in difficult times, for I think that a poor motivator. There are times when it hurts to praise God, when things are falling apart, and it seems many enemies are surrounding us, and there may seem to be no escape.
Is He the God of my praise then? When lies are spread about your character, do you look to Him and praise His name? When struggles come, and pile up in your life, is He still worthy of your expression of praise, your commitment to praise His name, even in a whisper to Him, a prayer asking for help?
Don’t get me wrong. I love to go to my daughters church, for it is a time with her and her family, and a time I can express my faith openly in the midst of the congregation. Good times and a good life, and I am so thankful for what the Lord has done in my family.
The challenge though, as hard times may be around the corner, is will I continue to praise His name, even though struggling with serious challenges, disappointments and discouragements?
This is the backdrop of David’s expression in our psalm today, and I pray for this type of will in our soul to conquer over difficult times with praise to the God of my praise.
May He gives us strength to be the men and women that praise Him at all times, and in all circumstances.
We truly need Him.
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.
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.
220
GOD OF LOVE AND PEACE
2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you
I was born before the hippy movement, and I will admit it – I wore bell bottom blue jeans in my high school years. I listened to the music, took part in the rejection of a stiff conservative culture and experimented with mind altering drugs. Even to this day, the music catches me and takes me back to “good” intentions and a carefree attitude.
The cultural revolution was breaking forth on the western world and it’s impact on our society has been catastrophic.
One example will suffice, for I do not want to delve too deep in the problem and not consider our Lord in this post. Back in the day there was a popular song about the sharing of land.
Maybe I’ll be there to share the land That they’ll be givin’ away When we all live together, we’re talkin’ ’bout together, now
As a teenager, who could argue of the merits of such a culture, where all are sharing and there is togetherness, love and peace?
I listened to this song a while back, and realized it was normalizing a socialist / communist condition, describing it as full of togetherness, with peace and love. A culture that provides love and peace without God.
What I was experiencing was a relentless barrage of this message, along with a complete twisting of what true love and peace really is. Lust was called love, and forced pacifism (by the end of a gun) was named peace.
This is not the message of the Word, and it certainly does violence to the name of God we are considering if these twisted messages are considered when we read of the God of love and peace.
The God of love represents the very opposite of lust, of the unbridled release of the wants and desires of a sin sick heart, of a self satisfying seeking of all things no matter the damage causes. The God of love provides motivation and strength to live a life of constraint, of be self controlled, to consider others instead of being a slave to our needs and wants.
The God of peace provides the believer a calm in the midst of a storm, a freedom of the soul in the midst of trials, a release of concern over those circumstances that are beyond our control.
The world tried to convince me of the benefits of its definition of love and peace. It only took a few years of following after that elusive promise that I realized it was an empty, hollowed out promise that provided disappointment, despair and eventually death.
And then one day, a young lady asked if I would like to sit with her on a bus ride to Toronto. As we spoke, she testified of Jesus, and of His saving actions in her life. She had recently been in a car crash that should have taken her life, but the God of love and peace preserved her. The God of love and peace kept her so she could introduce me to this same God, the God of love and peace that shattered my understanding of love and peace.
No longer did the message of lust and pretend peace have control over my thoughts, and my outlook on life took a complete turnaround.
Do you understand God as a God who allows lust and provides a pretend peace? Consider who the God of love and peace is, for He is a self sacrificing God, a God who considers others first, who came to serve and to give His life for others.
To understand the gospel is to be shocked at the difference between the message of the world and the message of the Messiah, for He is the very embodiment of who the God of love and peace is.
And the world crucified Him as they sought their “love and peace”.
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.
But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
Isaiah is describing a prayer of an exile, looking forward to the time when a faithful one has been delivered to Babylon, and his recounting of the the history of Israel. For the sake of understanding the passage we are considering, let’s take a few moments and read some of the context.
Isaiah 63:7-10
I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.” And he became their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
This prayer begins with describing the saving power of God, of His great goodness, His compassion and steadfast love. This man of prayer started out admitting, declaring God’s work in the nation, of His continual and constant caring for the nation.
It wasn’t that God had only taken care of the nation without expense to His own honor and name. When the nation was afflicted, He was afflicted. The Angel of His Presense performed a saving work in their lives. The speaker remembers God’s love, His pity, His redeeming acts, how God had lifted them up nd carried them through the trials they experienced.
But then we come to verse 10. For those not accustomed to the story of the Bible, this verse must surely be jarring. How could this response to a loving powerful God be justified? How is it that a nation experiencing the constant and continual care of God in showing acts of kindness and care towards the nation could rebellion be an expected response?
It is surely a mystery, a statement of the depth of sin in the human experience.
The nation rebelled, and rebelled, and then rebelled some more. After constant warning and pleading with His people, they received a response they deserved. For so long, the grace of God poured out on the nation, but there came a time when, in the wisdom and knowledge of God, the relationship was evidently beyond repair.
God was turned from Loving Savior to Israel’s enemy. How terrible and unnecessary this turn of events! The nation lost it’s only hope, and in so doing, gained an unassailable foe, One who would gain His will despite the rebellion of the people He cared for.
This condition of becoming the enemy of the Lord is not an isolated teaching found in the Word. Other examples may be found throughout the Old and New Testament. It has been half a decade since I published The Lord’s Enemy, and I hope it makes clear what it takes to loose the blessing of the Lord on your life.
The nation was taken into captivity, with many of the nations being put to death and the loss of the land, and the temple. A complete and utter defeat.
Consider the loving kindness of God in your life. Recognize it, be thankful, and obey His bidding, for His yoke is light.
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 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 would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the Lord.
Hosea is preaching to a nation fully committed to spiritual adultery. Note that Hosea speaks of their choice of worshipping a thing (an idol) as being the very thing that restricts them from worshipping the Living God. The decision of Israel’s leaders to kneel at the altar of idols results in the inability to worship God, and the Lord warns Israel of her rebellion and that they are in the midst of judgement.
A nation once in relation with the Living God is now in rebellion, and out of that rebellion, judgement will fall on the people. Hosea speaks of this judgement as a creeping, slowly consuming judgement, such as a moth eating a robe, or a rottenness spreading through a nation. This slow creeping judgement may be seen as a mercy of the Lord in the midst of judgement, providing opportunity for the nation to return. Yet their commitment to idolatry has trapped in their spirit of whoredom, committed to gods they know not.
Hosea 5:12 But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
Hosea speaks of the nation as not knowing the Lord due to this commitment to idols This duality of the nation’s “allegiance” is a smokescreen to the very ones thinking they can worship the Lord and idols simultaneously.
Hosea 5:6 With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the LORD, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.
Hosea is blunt. Take sacrifices to the Lord, even as you think of the idol worship you also take part in. This commitment to spiritual adultery results in an empty Temple, for the Lord has withdrawn.
He is not to be found. He is gone!
The nation is without her Savior, for she has dealt faithlessly with the Lord. Now to make things worse, Israel approaches her enemy Assyria, even as she sees her desperate condition, and turns to a foreign nation.
Hosea 5:13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.
There is no hope to be found for Israel in a foreign nation. There is no hope available as they seek assistance from anyone other than the Lord, and He has left their company. A terrible situation to be in, abandoned and alone!
But to be abandoned is not the end. The Lord Himself reveals just a few verses later that He has not simply abandoned the nation, but He will act as a lion, a beast that will tear the nation apart, carrying the victims away.
No one shall rescue God’s people from God.
Hosea 5:14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
Israel has went from being a people of God to being God’s enemy. The life they chose has caused this tragic state of affairs. The very idol worship the nation takes part in, that Israel learned from the nations surrounding them, from the very leaders of Israel who were to direct them to God, restricts them from returning to the Lord. Actions have consequences and this decision on the part of Israel, specifically her leaders, has brought about the departure of the Lord. His stance toward the nation has not simply went from a loving kindness and care to abandonment, but to actively taking part in the very destruction of the nation.
Hosea 5:15 I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress earnestly seek me.
He will leave the nation, returning to His place, His throne in heaven, until the very affliction heading their way brings them to their knees.
Why is it that we cannot simply humble ourselves before Him without the trials and suffering? I understand trials are not always a form of getting our attention, as I see Hosea describing the situation here. But it is so sad to hear of this unnecessary pain due to stubbornness of heart! The state of affairs for the nation is dire, and the Lord has been patient with a people who have rejected Him for centuries.
Centuries?
Yes, Solomon was the last king of the unified nation, and upon his death (aprox 975 BC) Israel followed after the idol. The northern kingdom’s first king, kiing Rehoboam made it convenient, and the nation loved the convenience!
All during the two centuries between Rehoboam and the capture of the northern kingdom, the Lord reached out to them with prophets, seeking their repentance from idolatry. Thankfully, there was a remnant that escaped from the Assyrian capture, heading to the southern kingdom during Hezekiah’s reign. (refer to Conditional Security – 2 Chronicles 30:9 for some additional information)
Although the northern kingdom disappeared, fully disciplined by the Lord, there were a faithful remnant that escaped the doom of the Assyrian destruction and captivity. They sought the light of the Lord, even though they were torn down and their land was stripped from their possession .
Hosea prophesied in chapter 6 of those who would turn to the Lord Jesus when he arrived, but chapter 6 may also speak of those who saw the Assyrians heading their way, realized the threat on their doorstep and fled to the south, returning to the Lord.
Hosea 6:1 “Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. Hosea 6:2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Hosea 6:3 Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”
The Lord is patient and full of loving kindness and mercy, even for those who have rebelled to the very brink of destruction.
Let us not continue to ignore the call of God on our lives until it is near too late. He is calling us to return, even to press on to know Him.
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.
2 Samuel 2:12-17 12 Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.” 15 Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon. 17 And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
Pool of Gibeon
Abner is on the march. He made Ish-boseth the king of what remained of Saul’s kingdom and the first order of business was to confront David.
Now let’s remember that Abner and David had history, that Abner “discovered” David for Saul, he knew of David’s prowess on the battle field, he had been loyal to Saul during the hunting of David, and he had been publicly shamed by David, in front of all his troops. You remember when David crept into the camp and took Saul’s spear? Abner took a serious shaming then.
Abner may still be licking his wounds!
It seems that Abner and Joab had communicated and coordinated a place and time for confrontation. Initially it seemed the two men decided to be “civil” about the terms of battle. The setting appeared to be a polite meeting of national leaders, a diplomatic conference amongst warriors. But these men were warriors, battle hardened soldiers that knew the fate of the kingdom was to be decided on the battlefield.
Why then suggest the battle of the 24 soldiers?
Was it suggested in order to save the lives of fellow countrymen? The nation had just split with the anointing of David and the crowning of Ish-boseth. Up till then, the men were all united as the nation of Israel.
Or was it that both generals understood the weakness the nation would suffer if both armies fought to the death? After all, it may have been only a few weeks previously that the Philistines rampaged through the nation, showing their dominance and striking a serious blow on the nations army.
I want to think the generals were thinking of the nation as a whole at this time, but the end result was simply a bloodbath with no desired outcome. Even if some of one group of 12 survived this fight, would not the armies take up arms again, if not that day, soon enough.
No, twenty-four soldiers fell that day, with much blood spilling out. As an act of honor for these men, the field was named the Field of Sharp Swords. Instead of risking all the soldiers, 12 of each side would battle, and die. A futile act that accomplished nothing. 12 men sacrificed to no end. And a bloody civil war broke out. Israel was at war with itself, consuming itself and becoming weaker and weaker militarily with every man falling.
How foolish for a nation to war against itself. For the sake of the pride of two generals, a nation was on fire.
At this point, what could David do? He was being guided by God onto the throne of Israel, and because of loyalty to Saul and a desire to maintain position, Abner forced his hand. Did not Abner know of the promise of God, the anointing of David to rule over all Israel? I suggest he knew, but was not concerned about the peace of the people of Israel, just the power of his position.
My friends, may I remind you we have Abner’s in the church. We must recognize that strong, self willed men often fight to get into leadership positions within the church body, thinking they are great gifts to the kingdom of God. But as Abner was destroying the kingdom he publicly pledged allegiance to, so these men and women who seek power also, with a feigned humility, seek control over the flock, no matter the cost.
When I think of this condition within the church, I ponder on what it means to lead. How is it to best impact those we love without shoving our opinions sometimes violently down their throat.
May I suggest the written/spoken word, fitly spoken, with a quiet humble spirit is powerful for the one who has ears to hear.
Also, any attempt to force our will on another believer seems to be beyond the scope of our calling. Now of course if I see a brother walking into a busy street, I will not quietly mention John 3:16 and hope for the best. I will force my will on him, knocking him back to the sidewalk, away from the traffic.
That should be obvious, but in relation to counselling our brothers, I often think of Paul in his relationship with Apollos. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, requested (strongly urged) Apollos to travel to Corinth. Apollos decided not to.
1 Corinthians 16:12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.
Paul didn’t seem threatened by the decision Apollos made, though it was against his wishes! How could Apollos reject the counsel the great apostle provided?
For myself, I reconcile this conflict understanding that both men answered to Jesus. Apollos related to Paul as a man who was his brother, and not his Lord.
May we sit under leaders in the church who understand the importance of believers following Jesus directly as opposed to interjecting their opinion into the relationship between the believer and his Lord.
With that said, I would like to emphasize to all who read this that this is a call to obedience to Jesus, not a call to disobedience to a Christian leader. There is a difference! May we have the wisdom, grace and humility to understand the ways of God for our lives!
And watchout for those Abners! They seem to be multiplying, tearing the church apart and letting many die on the field of battle for the sake of their wants!
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.
219
GOD OF KNOWLEDGE
1 Samuel 2:3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
As we venture through the Names of God, it should become obvious of how great and awesome our God is, of His multifaceted, unfathomable depth of character, of His ability to address every one of our needs, concerns and questions.
Each time we consider a certain characteristic of the Lord, we by necessity exclude other characteristics of His Person simply because we cannot plunge the depth of His goodness, grace, justice and love.
Out of each of these short studies, I tend to come away thinking of Him in a slightly different way, and find my understanding of Him to somehow expand. He is really beyond our imagination.
One additional outcome of these short posts is that the God we learn about in each study is also teaching us of our own condition, our weakness, our inabilities and our sin. We are not God, and every time we consider the greatness of our God, we consider our own “not greatness”. We are not God!
In our passage this morning, a woman has suffered years of provocation, sadness, distress
1 Samuel 1:7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.
1 Samuel 1:8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”
1 Samuel 1:10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.
Hannah suffered for years, being taunted and without child, praying at the temple with such deep emotion that the priest assumed she was drunk.
1 Samuel 1:13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman.
Hannah received answers to her pleadings before the Lord, and a son was born to her that would grow to be one of the greatest prophets Israel has known. After the arrival and weaning of the child, Hannah gave back to the Lord that which she prayed for. A tremendous sign of self sacrifice for the Lord’s sake. She gave her only child up to be dedicated to the Lord, being separated from him for most of his life.
1 Samuel 1:28 Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
After all of this, Hannah prays again, and we find she describes the Lord as the God of Knowledge. After all her struggles before the Lord, she brings up the topic of arrogance and pride in relation to our God. Now I know it is easy to relate this statement to Peninnah, her husbands other wife, and likely this is the aim of the claim, for she speaks of her mouth deriding her enemy.
1 Samuel 2:1 And Hannah prayed and said, …My mouth derides my enemies…
She provides counsel for the arrogant and the proud, a rebuke to those who speak great pompous words.
But Hannah speaks of God as a God of Knowledge. Now it may be said that Hannah is not referring to God’s ability to perform calculus, or His knowledge of number of stars in the sky. No – she is speaking of God’s knowledge of a souls actions, even of His knowing of our reasonings, motivations and desires that produce our actions.
Now there are often times when I have thoughts or desires to perform some action, but after consideration (or by distraction), I do not complete those actions. Truly Jesus knows my heart, but Hannah speaks of His knowledge as it pertains to our actions, our work. That which I do, not what I think.
Now there is no denying that what and how I think is critical in my life to perform works that may be judged positively, but for our verse this morning, Hannah is not considering only motivations or secret thoughts, but actions that are evident to all. Nothing is hid.
Jesus spoke of the eventual revelation of our actions while He was walking amongst us.
Mark 4:22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.
Luke 12:2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
The proud and arrogant are to recognize this truth, but as the proud and arrogant, they reject our God of Knowledge, sometimes with great violence, and pursue selfish goals.
But no matter our reaction, whether by violent rejection or in a peaceful acceptance, He is the God of Knowledge. He knows our lives, our works, our actions, and it is the wise one who recognizes the God of Knowledge in a spirit of humility.
To know the God of Knowledge, to walk with Him, demands a humility before Him. We need to recognize Him as much greater that us, as the One who knows and who judges our actions.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 2:8-11 8 But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, 9 and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
One new character is introduced in this passage, along with Abner. Now before we ventured into a short discussion on Ish-boseth, it might be good to consider Abner for a moment.
Abner is the son of Ner, who was Kings Saul’s uncle, making Abner and Saul cousins. Abner rose to power as Saul’s general through his time on the throne, and was the man responsible for bringing David to King Saul during the time of Goliath.
Abner was no shrinking violet, for he proved himself in many ways a man of action. Upon the death of his cousin and sovereign, he travelled back to the family of Saul, took Ish-boseth to Mahanaim, and made him king.
Notice all the action verbs are related to Abner. Abner took Ish-boseth. Abner brought Ish-boseth to Mahanaim. Abner made Ish-boseth king.
In many ways, Abner stemmed the tide of David’s rule over the remaining portion of Israel by taking charge and setting up a competitive kingdom. From Abner’s point of view, David was setting up a competitive kingdom, a threat to the monarchy of Saul. David was a direct challenge to the authority granted to Saul through God. At least that is how it appeared to Abner, and it certainly made sense to Abner. After all, monarchies continued through bloodlines – all the nations knew this! This must be the same for Israel, for they truly wanted to be like the nations.
This is an assumption that the Israelites often fell into. The assumption I refer to is that blood lines trump the promise of God. Let me explain.
By now, it was common knowledge throughout Israel that David had been anointed by Samuel as a young boy to be the next king. David was worthy, and prior to his anointing, Saul suffered the rejection by God of his reign over God’s people. This loss of kingdom was not done in a secret meeting, but before all the elders of Israel. Samuel clearly informed Saul and the nation through it’s leadership that Saul was now dethroned by God.
1 Samuel 15:28, 30
28 And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.”
For the remining time of Saul’s life, he would be ruling against God, and not with God. For up to 15 years, the nation continued with Saul over them, though dethroned, persecuting the anointed king of Israel.
This era of a false king over Israel speaks of the same condition we find ourselves in currently. Is not the ruler of this world dethroned? Is not Jesus the anointed King over all? And yet a usurper, an adversary who has (limited) control over the lives of so many, continues to persecute the rightful King. Though the adversary has been publicly dethroned, he still reigns in rebellion for a period.
Even as Jesus was on earth, the majority of the nation preferred the ruling class as opposed to the anointed Son of God. The rejection and persecution of the Son of God, along with the persecution of His followers became evidence of this very condition. They assumed bloodlines from Abraham trumped the promise of God.
Abner made this assumption also. He knew of the promise given to David by God, and yet forced the continuation of a monarchy over Israel that had been rejected by God. He was a man of action, basing his actions on false assumptions, seeking to maintain his own position within the now threatened government of Saul’s rejected monarchy!
We will see Abner often in the next few passages and was certainly a force to be reckoned with! But as mentioned in the introduction, let us now consider Saul’s son Ish-boseth.
Ish-boseth was a puppet of Abner, a weak man that held little promise as a leader, and that was used by Abner to extend a kingdom doomed from the start.
He is known commonly among believers as Ish-boseth, and the name means “man of shame”, or per Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, a man who shames himself.
This is an amazing name for anyone born into a culture where the ruling principal of the culture is elevation of honor as the highest goal. To be shamed is the ultimate insult. What was Saul thinking when this child was born?
Later in the Old Testament records provides an alternate name for this son of Saul. Eshbaal.
1 Chronicles 8:33 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal;
This name may provide us the mindset of Saul at his birth. He was named Eshbaal, or “a man of Baal”. Saul was in full rebellion against the God of Israel, and his son bore the name showing of his allegiance to Baal, as opposed to the God who made him!
Ish-boseth became a ruler over Israel, God’s people. He would rule for a short time, but the anointed king was on a path of victory. The anointed king would become dominant over the people of God. The anointed king would be preeminent. The anointed king would unite the kingdom under His leadership.
God’s kingdom is not like the nations. We are not to depend on bloodlines to determine the rightful ruler, but on the blood of One! It was His blood shed on Calvary that opened the kingdom of God for all! Let us look to the promise of God instead of any bloodline that may appeal to our senses, for the anointed One has proven to be the True King of kings through the resurrection from the dead, and ascension to the throne of God.
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.
218
GOD OF GODS
Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
Moses is speaking to the nation, describing the tremendous privilege and benefit they possess being the people God has called out from the heathen, from those whom Abraham, Isaac and Jacob rubbed shoulders with.
God needs the nation to know what is required of them to maintain this blessedness, to experience the goodness of God in their national experience. He is not asking them to swear allegiance to some tribal god who rules over a patch of land, or some family spirit that favors only those of the bloodline of Abraham, or to bow to a god who controls the weather or the flood of a river.
Moses understood that this ragtag group of whiners and complainers had been extracted from the land of bondage, a land they had become accustomed to, a culture they naturally relate to, including gods who have some power, some authority, some seeming control over circumstances. They lived in this culture all their lives in Egypt, and understood, not just theoretically but in experience the worship of many gods strewn through the land of the Egyptians.
Moses needs them to understand the God they are required to serve as the God over all these other gods, and rightly so, for during the plagues, God showed Himself over the Egyptian gods in each plague, and during the escape He showed Himself dominant over nature with a fiery column leading them, a pillar of smoke directing them, provision of food from heaven, and the splitting of the sea for their safe passage, even with the nation witnessing the collapse of the Red Sea on their enemy.
God is the God of gods, and for those Moses spoke to, they had ample proof, ample evidence of the superiority of Jehovah Elohim over the paltry powers of their previous masters.
God is the God of gods, and He is proving that to us as we see His power working through the world, frustrating the powers that be, bringing life through the gospel and healing to the nations.
God is the God of gods. And due to His elevated position over all gods, Moses calls upon them to do the bare minimum.
Deut 10:12-13 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?
As indicative of the love of God, note that all the requirements prescribed to the nation are not necessarily for God’s benefit. He is God of all gods and requires nothing from us for His benefit. No, these requirements of obedience bring us into the experience of God He wants for us, and that we desperately crave for.
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 if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”
Hezekiah is the king, and Israel is in disarray. Hezekiah is ruling over the southern kingdom, with the northern kingdom on the brink of destruction. The Assyrians campaign to take the northern kingdom extended from 734 – 732 BCE, with Samaria falling to the Assyrians in 722 BCE.
Many Bible scholars note that Hezekiah’s first passover was in the year 727. So as Hezekiah was initiating his first passover, the northern kingdom was on the edge of collapse. The Assyrians were in the land, and were actively dominating the weakened and abandoned northern kingdom.
Hence the context of this verse we are considering. Hezekiah is speaking to those in the northern kingdom, those who lived in a kingdom that had continually rejected the Living God, ruled over by kings who consistently practiced evil.
Hezekiah was no innocent in this regard. He understood the judgement that was falling on the northern kingdom, and the only hope they had. In his efforts to bring piety back to the southern kingdom, through the observance of the Passover, Hezekiah went all evangelical, reaching out to those who had rejected God.
He sent emissaries from Beersheba to Dan, throughout all of Israel, providing a plea to turn back to God. As expected, he received two responses.
Rejection
2 Chronicles 30:10 So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.
A portion of the northern kingdom, even under the threat of the Assyrian armies decimating the countryside, simply mocked Hezekiah’s invitation. The peoples heart had grown stone cold, and the people were in full rejection mode, no matter the consequences.
REception
2 Chronicles 30:11 However, some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
What is heartening is that though the northern kingdom was in captivity mode (a condition which God had provided the enemy freedom to destroy the northern kingdom forever) there were some in that kingdom that repented, humbling themselves of their sin, and travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover.
Hezekiah made it clear that to yield themselves to the Lord, to come to the sanctuary, and to serve the Lord, they had the chance of experiencing the fierce anger of the Lord being turned away from them.
These were the Lord’s chosen people turning back to God, a people that had rejected the nations God and was now returning through repentance and humility.
Hezekiah’s Passover was full of gladness, and great joy. As a matter of fact, the remaining chapter of 2 Chronicles speaks of gladness and great joy multiple times, even though some had not prepared themselves properly for the feast.
2 Chronicles 30:18b-20 …many of them … had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
Those who had rejected now received, and there was great joy, and healing of the remnant.
A fantastic story in the midst of a terrible situation, providing for believers throughout the ages a picture of our merciful God receiving back his people.
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.
2 Samuel 2:1-7 1 After this David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” 2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. 4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,” 5 David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. 6 Now may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing. 7 Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”
A bit of a recap is in order.
David, as a young man and an increasingly important soldier for the nation of Israel, became in the kings eyes a competition to the throne. The rumor spread through Israel that he had been anointed by the prophet Samuel and tensions rose in the royal family. Eventually David became an outcast, literally running for his life from the man he had just eulogized in the previous passage.
For the young man David, his initial anointing from the Lord by Samuel to become the next king may have occurred as early as age 15. 2 Samuel speaks of David being 30 years old when he began to reign.
2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
I understand that David was 30 years old in this passage when he was anointed the second time by the men of Judah in verse 4, creating a split kingdom. David ruled over Judah, while the remaining tribes assumed the royal lineage, under Saul’s son Ish-boseth.
With all of this background, what jumps out to me is the extended period of time David was “on-hold” for the throne. Not only on hold, but under pressure, experiencing disappointment, despair and a threat of death at the hand of his father-in-law.
In all of his waiting, there must have been times when he looked back on the day Samuel anointed him, and longed for the realization of his ascension. Up to 15 years of waiting, and now the door is open. Obviously David was meant to simply take the throne, for he had been promised it, and this is the opportunity to take it.
Yet he asked the Lord. He saw opportunity, and we know David was a man of action, yet he asked of the Lord for guidance on timing and location. Note that he was very specific in his request to the Lord, even to which city would be best to return home to. He brought his family, and his faithful men, and resided in Hebron.
Now what happened between verse 3 and 4? David is in Israel, and suddenly the men of Judah anointed David. Was this a spontaneous action on the part of the men of Judah, or did David run a political campaign to arouse the locals to his availability to lead?
If David was reluctant to enter Israel without the Lord’s direction, it seems obvious to me that he trusted God to bring to fruition the promise he made to David. To begin a political ad campaign seems out of character for David at this point of his life, even having the appearance of him trying to influence the situation for selfish gain.
He arrived in Hebron, and the promise was realized by the actions of the men of Judah. To think David interjected his will on the men of Judah to attain the throne seems to be without justification from the text and out of character for a man who sought God for such specific direction.
In this second anointing of David by the men of Judah, the nation was split in two, with Saul’s son Ish-boseth taking the throne to the north.
And then David acts. It may be considered his first official act as king over Judah. He praises Jabesh Gilead for their mercies to King Saul.
Let’s remember that Jabesh Gilead is not in Judah, but within the land of Gad originally, and as such was under the leadership of Ish-boseth. This doesn’t stop David for he has the temerity to send men to Jabesh Gilead, and to speak a blessing on them, repaying their kindness and encouraging them. No mention is made of Saul’s son reaching out to the only ones who showed his father respect.
David was astute in the healing of the nation, and as he grew in power within the tribe of Judah, he sought good relations with those outside of his authority.
This is instructive, for I sometimes think with an “us / them” attitude. My little kingdom needs my attention and those outside of it can find encouragement elsewhere. This is not David’s stance, for he sought to bring all of Israel into a united kingdom.
So is the Greater David, as He is constantly looking beyond the borders of His kingdom, inviting those into the kingdom of God, seeking to enlarge His tents.
As Isaiah once prophesied of the expansion of the Kingdom of God.
Isaiah 54:2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.
The place of His tent has been enlarged, even to include the entire earth. Let us look to those who may be on the outside as those we need to encourage to enter the Kingdom, to meet the Savior and to enjoy eternal life in the Son, the Greater David.
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.
217
GOD OF ALL GRACE
1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you
I am beginning to see a theme in the last few passages that I have wrote on. The idea of suffering before comfort is granted is a theme that is throughout the Word, and by coincidence, the theme has erupted in the midst of a few passage we have recently toured. (2 Cor 1:3).
Passages such as when Jeremiah in his purchasing of the land in chapter 32, not experiencing the land but a sign for the future in the midst of trial. I will let my reader consider others they may remember!
It is the same in 1 Peter, a letter Peter writes to dispersed believers, believers who may be on the run due to persecution by authorities, persecution by enemies, persecution by friends that have turned on them. Peter speaks of the sufferings they would or were presently enduring. Note the time factor “suffering a little time” added by Peter, giving the believer hope. Again we see the cross before the crown teaching we so often find in the Word.
How long is a little time? Forever, for when suffering comes upon a soul, time creeps by, seemingly creeping by to allow for every sorrow or pain to be experienced fully. Time stretches out to infinitum and as the hope of relief fades, it is common to experience the wearing down of the soul’s inner man, a fragile heart being beaten down, discouraged and depressed.
How is the time element instructive for us as it relates to the name of God we are considering? The God of all grace is the God of yesterdays, today’s and tomorrows needs. He is the God of all grace in the midst of trials and sufferings. He is the God of all grace, able to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish each of us no matter the condition we find ourselves in.
All grace.
He is not the God of partial or just enough grace. Elsewhere, the Word speak of His grace as sufficient to our needs.
Have I not seen grace as being described as abundant?
In this passage, Peter speaks of God as the God of “all” grace. Might he be stretching the truth, or are we the type of people that want to limit our God.
As life may bear down on us, let us seek to rest in the God of all grace, even as some difficult trials come upon us “for a little time”.
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.
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
David has executed the Amalekite who he understands killed his king and best friend. Now, after completing judgement on the Amalekite. David now turns to mourning, to writing a lament regarding Saul his king, and Jonathon his friend. For this passage I would like to consider the two subjects in separate posts.
This post will consider David and his expression of mourning for Saul, his father in law, his friend, his adversary, and his king. A much more complicated relationship, yet the expression of sorrow from David is an honest and deep expression of David’s respect for Saul, and the throne he occupied. He saw Saul as representing God’s man for the nation of Israel.
Let’s read the lamentation once more, considering David’s relation to Saul.
2 Samuel 1:17-27 17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18 and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said: 19 “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. 21 “You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 22 “From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. 23 “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. 24 “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! “Jonathan lies slain on your high places. 26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. 27 “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”
David’s relationship with Saul, to say the least, was fraught with conflict, tension, confusion, madness and abandonment. No telling of the naked truth would suffice in this funeral dirge for Saul, and as we see David speak of the departure of his king, we see into the heart of David a deep commitment to honor the one man who caused him such terror and trial!
David’s relationship with Saul is expressed in this passage from the point of view of a honorable man, as David sought to honor the king with his accomplishments, and not with the kings efforts as they impacted David. This time of mourning was not about David, but about the first king of Israel, and as a man of character, David would focus on that.
sword of Saul returned not empty
Saul was first and foremost an effective warrior. His sword accomplished that which it set out to perform. This statement, true as it was, honored Saul, and was intended to dull the memory of his body taken from the battle field and shamed by the Philistines.
It is an extension of David’s desire not to have the news of the fall of the mighty ones (Saul and Jonathon) spread through out the Gath and Ashkelon, the land of the Philistines.
Right from the start, Saul knew how to muster his army, how to execute effective combat, and won many battles to the benefit of his kingdom. David remined the nation of this characteristic of their first king.
beloved and lovely
David is being, at least in my opinion, incredibly gracious in this description of Saul, for as we discussed in the previous post, these terms refer to love and agreeableness.
David, in his experience, must have felt betrayed in any love Saul had for him, as he was rejected many times by the king, even in his efforts to bring the king success.
As for agreeableness, this also seems to be difficult to associate with David, for Saul seemed to be against many requests David brought before the king. Many times Saul would not consider any benefit David requested.
As David recounts these characteristics, he may be thinking of Saul in the beginning of his relation with Saul, as he ascended in his kingdom as an effective soldier for Saul, and as a family member eventually. As an example, David won the hand of two of Saul’s daughters. Two of Saul’s daughters? Saul’s eldest daughter Merab was a reward for taking out Goliath. David eventually rescinded the offer due to his humble origins. Yes, Saul finally agreed to the provision of his second daughter to David, but if I recall, it was grudgingly, and with ulterior motives.
After David married Michal, and was forced to begin running from Saul, Saul took Michal from David and married her off to another man, named Paltiel.
Agreeable? David is so gracious! As mentioned in the first post, this funeral dirge, as it related to Saul, is a difficult discussion, yet it shows the heart of David as he relates to the dead, his forgiving spirit, and of his desire to speak well of his departed king.
swifter than eagles, stronger than lions
Again, David refers the the effectiveness Saul exhibited in battle. He was swifter that eagles. David had first hand experience of Saul’s swiftness, as he was often barely ahead of Saul and his army as they pursued him.
Yet we cannot claim this phrase is only for Saul, for David declares this characteristic was of both Saul and Jonathon, that they were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions as a team, in unity on the battlefield.
Both Saul and Jonathon were effective in battle, exercising a swiftness and courage that often overwhelmed the enemy. As a military tactician and strategist, David honored both men in this statement, emphasizing their strength together.
daughters of Israel, weep over Saul
Finally, as a fruit of the military wins over their national enemies, the populace experienced prosperity. During Saul’s reign, in our study on David, we have focused on how Saul impacted David. This obviously was only a part of Saul’s efforts in the throne, and it is apparent that Saul brought much good to the nation. He provided an environment that elevated the living conditions of this upstart monarchy.
All of that is gone now. The nation has been overwhelmed, with the victorious Philistines marauding through the country without a leader to defend it. For some, it may appear the nation was over before it ever had a chance. A one king nation and now it has been vanquished. A flash in the pan, an utter failure of a nation, soon to be absorbed into the surrounding cultures.
Yes it was a very dark day for Israel. Prosperity was gone, along with a potential loss of identity, becoming at best a puppet state for Philistine, or simply to fade away as a people. No other country has experienced the lows that Israel has, and as an early national defeat, the people would mourn, the survivors would mourn, the rebels would mourn.
And God would provide a man who had been through the wringer, who had been under God’s preparatory hand for years.
David would ascend to the throne.
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.
216
GOD OF ALL FLESH
Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
Jeremiah is living in the midst of the downfall of Jerusalem. As he had been preaching for years, the captivity was upon them. No-one could deny the inevitable catastrophe facing the nation of Israel.
Jeremiah 32
24Behold, the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and because of sword and famine and pestilence the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it. 25Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.’”
In the midst of this total decimation of God’s people and their country, and most importantly of the Temple, Jeremiah was instructed to buy a plot of land.
25Yet you, O Lord GOD, have said to me, “Buy the field for money and get witnesses”—though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans
Utter foolishness, for it would not be long before all the land would be trampled over by the Chaldeans, and the few “lucky” Jewish people left alive would be dragged to Babylonia, a strange land with a strange tongue, strange gods and strange customs.
What good would buying a piece of land do for Jeremiah. If he survived, and he had confidence he would, the land he purchased might simply be taken by the victors.
But that is the very point. Jeremiah is watching his nation go up in smoke, and he invests in it. He invests due to the Word of God instructing him to, to lay a claim that showed other’s, and in a special way himself, that the current circumstances are not final.
Jeremiah’s act of obedience showed that though terrors and trials were surrounding the nation, God was the God of all flesh, that He not only had his hand on Israel, but also Babylonia, for He is the God of all Flesh.
God has His hand on the Babylonians, and the time they have to oppress Israel is limited. Seventy years of captivity is allowed by God, as Jeremiah prophesies in the book. That is the extent of abuse the Babylonians will exert on Israel, and then those who hears God’s voice to return will return. A mere blip on the screen in God’s timetable.
This land purchase of Jeremiah represented God’s faithfulness to the remnant, and personally of Jeremiah’s trust in God. He made a tangible exchange of funds (which might be of much greater value during a time of famine) for a piece of land he may never experience.
But Jeremiah trusted that God’s people would return, that God would have the remnant come back. And that because God was the God of all Flesh, God would not be frustrated with the decisions or acts of Israel or Babylon.
God id the God of all Flesh, and even today, as the world seems to be burning, God is the God of all Flesh! And we can rejoice in His guiding hand as we seek to follow such a good and powerful God.
Praise His Name.
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.
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
David has executed the Amalekite who he understands killed his king and best friend. Now, after completing judgement on the Amalekite. David now turns to mourning, to writing a lament regarding Saul his king, and Jonathon his friend. For this passage I would like to consider the two subjects in separate posts.
For this post, lets consider David and his expression of mourning for his best friend Jonathon. I wanted to discuss Jonathon, for his feeling toward Jonathon definitely seem less complicated.
2 Samuel 1:17-18 17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, 18 and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said:
David wrote out his heart, and intended the entire nation to be taught of his feelings of the downfall of the ruling family of Israel. He was not seeking to sling mud, create division or push some agenda on the nation. He spoke of them as mighty ones, Israel’s glory, beloved and lovely, united in death. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s read the passage.
2 Samuel 1:19-27 19 “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. 21 “You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 22 “From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. 23 “Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. 24 “You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. 25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! “Jonathan lies slain on your high places. 26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. 27 “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”
David refers to Jonathon specifically in verse 22, 23 and 26. Now of course, as David speaks of the mighty ones having fallen, he is including Jonathon, but for the sake of this post, let us consider David’s specific references to Jonathon
bow turned not back
David starts out with the bravery of Jonathon. Any reader of the Old Testament, and of the exploits of Jonathon can readily recall when he took on a battalion of Philistines with his sheild bearer. And he attacked based on outside circumstances, believing God could direct. Amazing courage.
Also, to be in the kings house and yet to be faithful to David, the rightful king, must have strained at Jonathon’s senses of right and wrong, but we must consider the courage it took to be faithful to one in the house of his very enemy.
This condition should be easily recognized by the believer in Jesus, for as we believers walk this earth, we are essentially in the house of the enemy of our King. As Jonathon, we also are to realize our allegiance is with the King not in the land, and that a rebel king is seeking our obedience.
May we be faithful in walking with the only True King!
beloved and lovely
Beloved – simply expressing love for family, a neighbor or for God. David knew his friend and that he was of the right spirit, not vengeful, but with the right spirit.
This word is used of Saul in the same passage, and it will be mush harder to understand when we discuss David speaking thus of him!
Lovely – to be pleasant, agreeable. Sometimes this term refers to singing. This is the spirit of seeking unity, to be at peace. This should not be confused with the spirit of giving up, or of appeasement, for they are two different spirits. To be agreeable is to seek a way for finding similar ground to stand on with those you differ.
Truly, to be agreeable is as much an attitude as an action, and in the attitude of being agreeable, much can be accomplished. To be flexible in finding righteousness is a skill that comes from the Lord, and exhibits a gracious character, a character that draws people to us.
lies slain on your high places
David did not shy away from hard truths. Jonathon had been massacred on the hills, even on the high places.
High places sometimes refers to areas of cultic worship. For our passage this morning, it is likely David is referring to the battlefield of Mount Gilboa. Even as Israel had the advantage in location, for the word speaks of the Philistines chasing the Israelites on Mount Gilboa, Jonathon was slain.
love was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women
This is a magnet verse for a certain group within the church that carry an agenda. It is as if the term “love” (אַהֲבָה ʼahăbâh) describes love in a restricted physical sense only.
When coupled with the following verse, this group within the established church claim David and Jonathon were lovers sexually.
1 Samuel 20:17 And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
Regarding the term “love”, it is true that the term is used once in reference to sexual desire.
2 Samuel 13:15 Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, “Get up! Go!”
And it may be understood to speak of the sexual act between a man and woman, but many times, even in the most sexually active book of the Bible (the book of Songs), the term may also speak of the emotional spiritual desire and not only that which is of the physical act. I have added a few verses to consider for my reader.
Song 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Song 2:5 Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.
Song 5:8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.
Song 8:6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love.
Song 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house,
Proverbs has a reference that leans towards the sexual act between a man and a woman
Proverbs 5:19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. he would be utterly despised.
The point is that the term does not have to identify sexual activity, and may refer to love generically, that is in the sense of care, bonding and commitment.
My goodness, this term is also used in God’s care towards His people.
Hosea 11:4 I led them with cords of kindness,with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.
Jeremiah 31:3 the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you
So what is David speaking of in this verse then?
I would suggest we remember David’s experience with women, even at the time these passages were written.
David entered into multiple marriages, and at times, his wives tried to shame him, or were used to provide advantage for king Saul.
As he was not faithful to one woman, it can be understood that this reflected into his own opinion of women and their importance in a man’s life.
David had found a soul he could trust, that his soul had bonded with and that he related to deep in his heart. His attachment to Jonathon was soulish, of the inner man and related to the higher ideals of friendship, trust and honor between men.
For those men in my audience, think back to your closest male friend, and honestly consider your feelings toward him. A close friend, a trusting relationship, a bonding of experiences between men, does not require the introduction of any sexual act between them. But there are some in the established church with an agenda.
For the believer, the man or woman who has a living experience with the Risen Savior, it is wise to consider those introducing this heinous picture of David and Jonathon as worthy of rejection. David had enough sin on his plate. We need not consider his relation with Jonathon to also be sinful!
Leave a comment to discuss!
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.
215
FATHER OF MERCIES
2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
We recently considered this verse, speaking of the name God of all comfort, and found this passage to be couched in the middle of an extended discussion on affliction.
I will not repeat the discussion on that funny sounded word used in the Greek, describing the affliction, for many who read this blog certainly have a remembrance. For those who have tripped over this post without this background, consider Names of God – GOD OF ALL COMFORT – 214
For the sake of this post, I want to share a realization of a difficult time experienced in our family. For the sake of those still reeling from this event, I will not describe it other than to say it was a life and death event. Nothing more serious could have been experienced by all.
As my wife and I were travelling to be with family, to be of help of some sort, any sort, I began to realize that every soul touched by this tragedy was hurting. Now that may seem obvious to many, but it became crystal clear that night.
The hurt was multi-layered, with each soul affected deeply and differently. I was convinced that each soul would be ministered to by the Father of Mercies, in very different manners and methods. It was good to remember that though I was hurting, God calls believers to heal the hurt, to provide a balm for the pain and to acknowledge the various types of suffering each soul was going through.
And in all of this, a story came to me of Steven Curtis Chapman, and the accidental death of his 5 year old daughter. She passed away because Steven’s teenage son did not see her as he backed the family SUV over her. A tragic event!
As I heard Steven tell the story, he made a point of yelling out of the window as he took his daughter to the hospital, of yelling out the window to the son who struck the little girl, of yelling out that he loved his son. Steven openly ministered to the pain of the son, in the midst of his own heartbreak.
This is the heart of the Father of Mercies, where the Father of Mercies calls out to his children as they accidentally (or intentionally) inflict pain on each other.
In the midst of suffering affliction, let us be more like the Father of Mercies, seeking to minister to those we are in pain with.
Active love is like that. Remember, it isn’t all about us, for every soul in hurting, and if we know the Lord, we have His Spirit to guide us, His Spirit to provide the strength and His Spirit to direct us in the way to minister to the hurting.
Let us think of others instead of ourselves.
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.
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.
213
GOD OF ALL THE CLANS OF ISRAEL
Jeremiah 31:1 “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
Jeremiah is speaking of an astounding prophecy here, but we need to get into Jeremiah’s head for a tiny bit.
He is experiencing the coming decimation of Israel, of the Israel he lived in, but the Assyrians had come down and taken care of the ten northern tribes years back.
The ten northern tribes, had fallen back in 722 BC to the Assyrians. The Word speaks of the Assyrians attacking Jerusalem, but our King Hezekiah, with a starving city were rescued by the angle of the Lord. An amazing rescue of the southern kingdom, including the death of 185,000 Assyrians. The Assyria leader whimpered back to Ninevah.
Israel seemed to be invincible!
But Israel only seemed to be invincible, for Jeremiah, close to 125 years later, saw the Babylonian conquest of the remaining nation of Israel on the horizon. In reality, by the year 597 BC, the Babylonians had overtaken the City of Jerusalem, with the occupants either starved to death, taken down by pestilence and disease, killed in military skirmishes or defensive efforts, or finally taken away to a strange land and a strange people, away from their sacred temple which the Lord had abandoned until many centuries later.
The northern tribes were gone. Who ever may have survived has entered into the general populace, loosing the identifying character of God’s chosen people.
The southern tribes were conquered, with a majority having died in the conquest, and the few left carried off to a strange land for 70 years. Even after the 70 years, only a portion of those who had settled in Babylon returned to Israel.
And Jeremiah has the gall to claim that the God who is bringing this destruction on His people will become the God of all the clams of Israel.
“I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people”
Those who belonged to the northern clans have no available lineage to trace from, and since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, no other Jew may claim direct lineage to the national population. No records. None.
So why is God so specific here, defining that He will be the God of all the clans, or all the families of Israel?
Jeremiah, in verse 5 & 6, goes so far as to speak of Samaria (northern kingdom) as the place to plant vineyards, and defines Ephraim (northern kingdom) as being invited to Zion, to worship.
Jeremiah 31:5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. Jeremiah 31:6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’”
But that is not all.
This recall of the northern tribes, of the remnant of Israel from the north country, will return, for God is the father to Israel, and Ephraim is His first born.
Jeremiah 31:9 ESV – With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble, for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
In all of this, the intent of all of this rescuing of a sinful nation, of calling all the tribes back is two fold.
First, to show the grace of God towards those who have walked away, to be a God who is the God of the wayward as well as the faithful.
He is the God of ALL the clans of Israel.
Secondly, (and I am partial to this truth), verse 10 – 11 speaks of the return of Israel to cast out the word of God to the nations, even to far off lands covered in snow.
Jeremiah 31:10 “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ Jeremiah 31:11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
God’s ways with Israel have a purpose for those who came after. Those in the nations, such as I was born into, a nation covered in snow, heard the Word of the Lord and saw the faithfulness of God’s patience with a wayward nation.
God brought the remnant back to the land, for a Special Man was to be born there, with a lineage and a purpose that was beyond our imagination. He was born there, established in His lineage, and was crucified for our sins.
He is now not only the God of all the Clans of Israel, but the King of all kings, and the God of ALL the nations.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Thankyou Jesus for your saving life. May we represent you properly, with patience, kindness and love to our neighbor.
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.
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.
214
GOD OF ALL COMFORT
2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
We will discuss the Father of Mercies in our next blog but for this post, lets take a minute to consider the God of all Comfort. It is instructive to understand that Paul calls our God the God of all Comfort in the midst of a passage that speaks of affliction.
Affliction.
When I think of affliction, (the Greek term is thlipsis – refer to Patience – Associated with Suffering, and a second post Love Like Jesus – Enduring all Things) – I think of crushing, of squeezing, of unrelenting pressure. It is in the context of pain and stress, pressure and trial, that Paul describes our God as the God of all Comfort.
For us in the modern world, we also experience stress and pressure. Do we experience it differently than Paul and his team? I think it may depend on the reason we are experiencing the pressure.
Is it a pressure that is gained because of a burden God has placed on your life? Is it a resistance to be faced from those who are against God, and because your are His child, against you? Paul faced this pressure, even to the point of death as he mentions in v10.
2 Corinthians 1:10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.
Or is it a pressure that is caused because a need isn’t being met? Or even worse, is it pressure created out of a desire to get ahead, to make a deal work, to orchestrate an outcome?
May I suggest this is a different animal altogether.
Yet Paul says God is the the God of all Comfort. I don’t think there is a qualifier embedded in the “all” in this instance. Now of course, the comfort in this instance of self afflicted stress comes from the hand of God in the midst of failure, regret and disappointment, but He is the God of all Comfort.
It is His nature to care, to comfort those who are in trials.
2 Corinthians 1:6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.
There is one additional caveat, in that the comfort comes through patiently enduring. This tells me the comfort is not immediate, but that the trial may be an extended suffering, an extended trial with God seemingly absent in the trial.
This is the patience of the saints.
For Paul, in all his trials for the gospel, he found comfort from the hand of God, even from the God of all Comfort.
We can rest in the loving hand of God, knowing that His heart is to comfort the afflicted, that though it may seemingly delay, we can rest assured His gentle care and comforting guidance will be provided at the right time and in the right way.
For our God is the God of all Comfort.
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.
Mark 9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me
John was a zealous follower of Jesus, and as one of His inner circle, may have acquired a bit of the “I’m special” disease, thinking if your not with his group, following Jesus physically with the group, you were not following Jesus.
This disease is common among believers, for we often reject those who are in the family of God because they may understand Jesus differently than us, go to a different denomination, observe rituals we may not, yet they are manifesting the Spirit of Christ.
The “I’m special” disease is alive and well, but for this post I want to consider the impact of a small phrase Jesus mentioned when John came to Him, trying to control the movement of the Spirit amongst others.
Jesus stated that “no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me”
Soon afterward?
First off, let’s establish that if the man is expelling demons, He is doing that by the Spirit of God. Consider Jesus arguement when the Pharisees argued of His source of authority /power as He expelled demons.
Mark 3:22-27
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Although Jesus is arguing that the Pharisee’s complaint is fallacious, it may also be applied to this situation in order to establish this follower as being in the faith.
Yet Jesus says that “soon after” phrase and it got me thinking. Yes He speaks of reward in the passage, and as a believer who was once a committed OSAS adherent, I would have claimed this demon casting man would have lost a reward but not his salvation.
But consider
1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Speak evil of Jesus. Jesus is accursed. Personally, I don’t see a difference, and it appears Paul is setting a standard that argues against my previous “loss of reward” understanding.
In summary, I might suggest that as Jesus speaks of “not soon after” in our topic verse, He is referring to the repudiation of Life in the Son, and not just rewards.
But on second thought, let us consider who Jesus is referring to in this verse. Let’s review the context for a moment.
Mark 9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Mark 9:40 For the one who is not against us is for us. Mark 9:41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
The term “reward” speaks of payment or of wages. μισθός misthós
Is Jesus speaking of rewards in relation to the one who was casting out demons (verse 39), and then speaking evil, showing that he has walked away from Life in the Son. Or might He be speaking of those who are in the Body, faithfully serving, even a glass of water. Note that there is a verse in between where Jesus speaks of the unity of the family of God.
Jesus mentions a glass of water being given to those who belong to Christ. This glass of water represents any good that is offered to those in the Body of Christ, and that the one who does good in serving will receive a reward. Note that there is no mention of loosing the reward. The one speaking evil has walked away. Casting out demons is definitely a sign of a good work being performed. But this follower seems to have departed, speaking evil of Jesus as he departs.
I might suggest that the one who provides blessing will not loose his reward. Does this apply to the one who speaks evil of the Savior?
Consider how this small phrase actually speaks of the importance of faithfulness in the believers life, of seeking to maintain a love for the Savior, and not slipping into the Spirit of the age, where it is common to speak evil of the One who rescued us from the evil one.
Let us be thankful for the opportunity to be believers, that we may , in the name of Jesus, do good and speak blessing on those we meet.
As the Master has said, the reward is for servants serving the Body of Christ, even in the smallest of ways.
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.
2 Samuel 1:11-16
11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. 12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. 13 And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” 14 David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” 15 Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. 16 And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
First off, let’s consider the extent of impact the news this Amalekite provided had on David. But not only did it affect David, but all that were with him. At first I assumed it would be all his soldiers, but that is not stated, simply that all who were with him took hold of their clothes and ripped them.
When I read “all who were with him”, I thought of the army, then considered those men who were within earshot of the Amalekite as he spoke the news that brought him his death. After a second read though, I am inclined to think the text may not only be speaking of geographical nearness to David, but of the spirit of the men that heard the news. They had the same spirit of allegiance to King Saul, and to the nation that rejected them that David had.
The power of influence on our friends and acquaintances is inferred in this passage, for the spirit of David, his heart for God and his desire for the best for Saul lasted to the end, and when all hope was extinguished, sorrow came. Such was the spirit of David and of those who were with him.
No celebration, no rejoicing, no seeking an opportunity for the future king, no planning meetings or strategy sessions. Mourning and sorrow was the natural (spiritual?) reaction to the death of Israel’s first monarch.
As for the Amelakite, that was a different story. Thinking he would acquire rewards in removing David’s (assumed) enemy, he stepped into an environment that brought his own demise. How often have we sought to gain advantage, only to recieve defeat, to not only be disappointed, but to take a serious hit in life, a correction.
Thankfully, as believers, even as we slip into the attitude of gaining advantage over another, (and let’s be honest – we to often do), we have a loving Father that will teach us and instruct us (if we are open to Him) even during the discipline that needs to be experienced.
For the Amalekite, he fell by the sword. He killed by the sword (per David’s perception) and he died by the sword.
A fatal judgement, quickly executed fell on this Amalekite due to his act of lying. He killed no man, yet suffered the death penalty.
In this instance, the passage in James speaks loudly to me.
James 2:10-11
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Don’t get me wrong in thinking this Amalekite was a believer, and that as James spoke to believers in this passage, I am assuming this man as a believer. No no no. The passage is offered to remind us that sin is sin, and the category of sin we fall into does not provide us any safety.
That is, I may be a liar, and think I don’t deserve death, much like this Amalekite, but the Word says I am mistaken. It is in our rebellion against the person of God, against the character of God found in the law of God, whether by “white” lie or murderous actions that we fall. The law perfectly reflects the character of God, and any deviation from the law proves us the rebel.
There is One who perfectly represented God, fulfilled the righteousness of God and suffered a rebels death for those He loved.
Even for that Amalekite, He died.
And for 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.
212
GOD MY MAKER
Job 35:10 But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
In the book of Job we have three comforters counselling Job in his suffering. By the time we get to chapter 35, they have all had a chance to correct poor Job, and in this verse we hear Elihu giving his wisdom to Job.
Elihu is seeking to counsel Job that the proud are insincere in their searching for God, even in the midst of suffering. Elihu claims that the proud, (in this instance Job) though in times of suffering, do not seek God in sincerity, confessing God as their Maker!
Just a few verses later, Elihu reveals his thinking, even as he sees his friend suffering in a pile of ash, covered in boils.
Job 35:13 Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it.
Job 35:16 Job opens his mouth in empty talk; he multiplies words without knowledge.”
As an aside, it is interesting that the term “Maker” is in the plural, possibly revealing even the most ancient of men to consider the Godhead as a trinity. But that is a side issue, for we are looking at the name “God my Maker”, and considering the source of this name, as he seeks to counsel his friend.
This is instructive for my heart and mind, as I sometimes have the opportunity to be with a believer who is in the midst of a trial, and my first response is usually to speak a harshness, a truth that needs to be considered, that needs to be addressed by the one suffering. I am pretty good at this style of “comforting” the suffering.
After all, they need to get right, whatever that might mean in my mind, and I see myself as the avenging angel delivering the message that will magically turn the tides and produce righteousness in the suffering soul’s heart and mind.
But as I have performed this “ministry” – can you hear my sarcasm – I have to admit two things.
1. I fear the very same “counsel” if I was in a trial. 2. I would most likely rebuff “counsel” given in this spirit of haughtiness if I was in a trial.
My mind thinks of the passage where the Lord Himself spoke of not breaking a bruised reed, as He described His own ministry amongst those who are bruised.
Matthew 12:20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
I may have wandered a bit in this little post, as I am wont to do occasionally, but as I think of Elihu, speaking to the suffering Job, I find I easily identify with him. I understand the desire to simply say something, even a true thing, in order not to be involved in the suffering.
I simply don’t want to touch, see, hear or feel the suffering of the saint, so I would rather rebuke and exhort, and walk away, thinking I have done the Lord’s work.
But “God my Maker” does not break a bruised reed, nor will He quench a smoldering wick. Both of these represent items of the weakest sort, and yet He seeks to bring justice, implying the healing of those downtrodden, suffering and in trial.
God my Maker is so different!
May we enter into the other’s pain, instead of simply judging and speaking down to them in their pain.
May we also be different, in the way that please God our Maker.
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.
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.
211
GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
Paul has spent much time in this letter to the Corinthians speaking of his apostolic authority, defending against those who would defame him, who would vilify him, and seek to negate his impact on this church.
The Corinthian church was a difficult church that Paul spent much time with. Not only the 18 months when he originally evangelized, but then again on his second missionary journey. This painful visit he spoke of in 2 Corinthians 2:1 was followed by his second letter, of which we read today. Even after this second epistle, he visited again. Three trips by the apostle, with extended stays associated with the visits.
Even in his writing, 1 & 2 Corinthians are two of the longest letters written by Paul to his churches.
All of this history is to give context to the name we have for today. During all of his stay with the Corinthians, and for the majority of the second epistle, Paul has been defending himself, generally to the claim that he is a liar. That there are those who claim he is not an apostle, yet he says that he is.
After a period of time, of defending his position and reputation, of teaching and preaching, of writing to these believers, Paul resorts to the bedrock of his own stability.
God knows he is not lying!
As I sit here and consider the strength of that claim, the inner peace that claim provided, of the defense made against his detractors in the realm of reality! Awesome.
To possess the truth and then to state that God also knows this truth is unassailable. Paul appeals to the very God and Father of the Lord Jesus. Now whether you consider this phrase a description of the trinity, (with God representing the Holy Spirit), or that God the Father is described with two different names is for others to debate.
Paul is hauling God Himself into the courtroom of church opinion, before these Corinthians who are judging Paul to be a liar. What a witness for Paul to call, for the Corinthians claim to know God, His ways and thoughts!
I find it amazing that Paul calls on the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, especially after he speaks of his own weakness, and the shame associated with the escape from Damascus.
The Corinthians seem to not have solidly grasped the self sacrificial life of the believer, and would rather listen to those who may glamourize Christianity into something it is not.
But Paul knew. And the God and Father of our Lord Jesus knew Paul, and the truth of his claims.
As moderns, we also need to be reminded of the truth of Paul’s claims, and reject those who whisper in our ears that he is a liar. He represented the God and Father of the Lord Jesus with his words and life, of which we have the privilege to share.
May the name of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus be praised today in our lives
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.
Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.
In our last few posts on this topic, we have considered the message of Zechariah (a post exilic prophet, a man that prophesied after the Jew returned from captivity in Babylon), the message of Moses as he provided a warning in Deuteronomy 29 to the newly formed nation and Ezra (who many think wrote 1 Chronicles) as he documented King David’s warning to his son.
There is a certain theme that may be observed in many of these Old Testament texts. Although King David’s message to his son doesn’t apply, the theme I speak of is that these Old Testament passages may be aimed at sending out a plea for a national response, addressing the national backsliding of Israel, and calling for a national repentance.
Some may think the application of a conditional security may not be found in these calls to the nation of Israel to repent. Yet, nations are made up of individuals, and the application of this truth of a conditional security seems to be readily transferred to the individuals who hear this message.
Our passage today is not addressed to the nation, but to the very prophet of God, the weeping prophet who had been calling the nation to repentance for many years. He had stood firm as God’s spokesman in front of the people, but at this point in his ministry, he was in deep sorrow, confused with the bitter response he had been receiving, and the seemingly obvious failure he was becoming in bringing the nation to it’s knees.
A bit of context may help.
Jeremiah is in prayer to God, speaking of his experience of the Word of God being a joy and delight, and of Jeremiah’s willingness to separate himself from the “revellers”, much like the Psalmist spoke of in Psalm 1:1.
Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:17 I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. Jeremiah 15:18 Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?
But Jeremiah reveals his condition in verse 18. He has stood with God, but has unceasing pain, as if a wound unhealable. He has stood with God, but has received trials.
What is worse, is that Jeremiah speaks of God as a deceitful brook. The quiet part came out and Jeremiah is on the edge of loosing his trust in God, speaking of Him as waters that fail.
Did not Jeremiah speak of waters earlier on in his ministry, as he sought to describe the people he had been sent to minister to?
Jeremiah 2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
It seems obvious that Jeremiah is tasting of his own rebellious heart, and may I ask, how many of my readers can relate to this pain as Jeremiah describes it? Such a low point, so low that he is actually mimicking those who he declared judgement on rather than being the prophet he has been called to be.
In a word, Jeremiah is in deep trouble in his soul, for as he is coming clean to God, he speaks of how he struggles with the situation he finds himself in, and confesses his doubts to the God who called him into this life of hardness.
Does this not speak of Jeremiah’s honesty before the Lord, and how the communication between God and his prophet was open and available. Jeremiah must have known that God was willing to hear of the truth in his soul. Jeremiah was not looking to simply cover it up with regulatory actions, with religious observance. Jeremiah was utterly raw with the Lord, and as we may have expected, God judged him, condemned him and removed him from the office of prophet.
My friend, this is not the God we know of, for though Jeremiah was on the precipice of loosing his faith, God sought his prophet to return , (meaning Jeremiah had left God in some manner), and He promised to restore his prophet.
Jeremiah would stand before the Lord again, if he returned.
One evidence of this return would be that which Jeremiah would utter. If Jeremiah returned, he would stand before the Lord, and if He uttered what was precious, Jeremiah would be His prophet.
Jeremiah’s open and frank admission before the Lord must have been very difficult for this prophet, for he knew of the judgement of God on those who walked away, yet he spoke truthfully to God, and God replied with a hopeful, yet specific message for Jeremiah.
It is a blessing to see that the God we serve, or at times the God we struggle with, is the God who listens to our complaints, our concerns, our lack of understanding and understands our lack of strength. After all, He is the Almighty, the All Knowing and the Ever Living God who is never surprised with the pain, struggles and doubts we experience.
He is the God who seeks us even as we are in the midst of falling from Him. He is good, and He is good all the time!
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
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