I was tripping through some you tube shorts and found an amazing video of young boy about to get a needle.
Needles. Another topic that I loath.
I have confessed my distaste of anything related to eyeballs and my general reluctance to visit the optometrist, as I spoke in an earlier post, but I also am somewhat queasy when it comes to needles.
Yes I know – I am a bit of a weak kneed type of guy, a bit of what we used to call a sissy. (Is that word allowed any more?)
But in my tripping over you tube shorts, I found this kid with an attitude! (see the embed below) Nothing of the standard style attitude of self serving, or reluctance to get the nasty deed done.
Nothing like my own experience.
No – this kid was all over getting this needle. Even though tears fell, he was not delaying the inevitable, nor he was whining about how unfair life was, or trying to find a way to get out of the pinch.
No. Through the tears his attitude was amazing, and it speaks of the power of our outlook on life. Somehow this youngin had been taught that life was for the living, that though some things may hurt, let’s keep pushing forward. Avoidance of difficult things is for those who do not want to live!
Watch this little boy tackle a problem, and tell me you don’t want to face troubles and difficult times with the same energy this youngin’ had.
Super impressive!
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.
251
GREAT KING ABOVE ALL GODS
Psalm 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
We have considered the simple adjective “Great” in an earlier post, (Names of God – GREAT IS OUR LORD – 249) with it’s varied meanings that may be applied to the subject, our God.
In our post this morning, we find the psalmist describing our God a a great King above all gods. Now when I read that, I confess, the comparison seems to be that of an apple with an orange.
Let me explain.
The psalmist is declaring God as a King, and then comparing this King against all other gods.
Yes it may seem like I am splitting hairs here, but the message is that God is not simply One who is creator and sustainer, but that He is ruler as a King, One who is a Monarch over the believer.
He is not One who is far away, having brought this creation into being, and One who simply provides for His creation, out of a self imposed responsibility, but One who is actively ruling over the people, One who has authority in the Kingdom, One to whom His subjects bow to willingly and out of deep devotion.
Notice the Psalmist speaks of our God as a King above all gods. This speaks to the competition we find in our lives as to the gods we listen to. There truly are other gods, and the Psalmist openly confesses to this tension, this competition that those in the Kingdom must wrestle with.
For the Psalmist though, it is a cut and dry position, a declaration for him that though there are other gods, there are none as high and lofty, none that exercise such a loving and righteous sovereignty over His subjects as the King we worship.
He is God, and He is Great, and He is a Great King. All of these descriptions describe our Savior, and this truth offers no real confusion when we consider how He has stepped into humanity, taken our weakness, proved His love and given righteous guidance as found in His Word.
He is King, a Great King over all other authorities!
May we worship Him in truth today.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 74:4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs. Psalm 74:5 They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees. Psalm 74:6 And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers. Psalm 74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground. Psalm 74:8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
Asaph is describing the complete desolation of the sanctuary of God. Not only a desolation of the sanctuary, but the apparent overpowering of the God behind the sanctuary. This is the overarching struggle for Asaph, for his faith in the God of Israel is in a God who parts the water, who delivers nations from bondage, who provides offspring to barren women and wins battles by unconventional means.
How could this desolation be happening? Asaph knows God can do something, but there is no response. It is as if God has abandoned His people. As we spoke of in our last post, Asaph called out for God to run to their rescue. God had abandoned them, and He needed to be reminded of His covenant with His people, for how could the foes find victory if God was still present?
Those foes in the sanctuary had no regard for the importance of the structure, what it represented and what they were doing.
Or did they?
Notice the last verse in our reading this morning. In their effort to subdue those of the land of Israel, the foes knew they needed to cripple the faith of the people. The synagogues (or local meeting places) along with the temple/tabernacle needed to be destroyed for victory over the people.
In order to subdue the people, all the meeting places of the people had to be destroyed. This is and has been the adversaries strategy for eons. Subdue the people, by destroying community, by tearing apart the body of Christ.
Even as the enemy took wild stokes of their axe on the structure of the sanctuary, so today we find an onslaught of attacks on the truth of God, the faith of the believer and the desire of the enemy to keep believers separate from each other.
During my weekday commute, I have been listening to the beatitudes in Matthew. Since it is not a time of study, I have been listening to the passage out of paraphrase called the Message. The passage in chapter 5 speaks of another reason for persecution by the enemies of faith.
Matthew 5:10-12
You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. Not only that – count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens – give a cheer, even! – for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Not only do our foes know that to “defeat God”, they need to defeat the people of God. They hate the truth, for as they vigorously deny it, they are witness to the undeniability of its reality. Every time we join together in true worship, whether it be in massive congregations or small home studies, the sanctuary of God is revealed to the lost, the truth of the gospel is displayed to the foe, and an illogical hatred erupts in the heart and mind of those opposed to God and His people.
The foes destroying the sanctuary of God in our verses were not haphazard in their strategy of desolation. The battle plan has never been altered for time immemorial. Sure – the specific conditions are different, the faces may be unfamiliar, but the intended results are always the destruction of a unified, cohesive body of Christ, a congregation that is focused on the holy, and that seeks to follow the Truth.
As we seek to follow the truth, opposition will come in some form or another. It is the way of the world, that the god of this world does all he can to “swing the axe” within the sanctuary.
May we be strong believers, seeking to honor God, even as we may be entering a time of contradiction, when it appears God is quiet.
May we be faithful, knowing the heart of God even if He is quiet.
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.
250
GREAT KING
Malachi 1:14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
There are a number of issues going on with this passage. As I read it, certain New Testament passages are erupting in my mind.
That Swindler
Who is this cheat, this swindler that Malachi is pointing his finger to?
Although I rarely am reminded of this fact, Malachi is communicating to a very specific group of Israeli people. He is speaking to the priests, those men called by God to represent the people before Him, to receive the offerings God has prescribed for the nation.
This passage begins in verse 16 with the Lord’s direct charge to the priests.
Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
Malachi goes so far as to claim the priest “snort” at the offerings, and claim it is a weariness. Malachi then speaks of this cheat, this swindler, this priest who vows a male sheep of his flock.
That Land Hold up now – Were priests and Levites provided land in the original covenant? I know there is no mention of land in this verse, but where did the priest keep his sheep? Something tells me the Levites were to have no inheritance, no portion of the land of Israel.
Deuteronomy 18:1-2 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD’s food offerings as their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.
Granted, by the time of Malachi, the Levites and Priest’s may have established a reason to have land in order to “manage” the sheep for offerings, but is that not similar to the Lord’s message in Mark?
Mark 7:9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! Mark 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ Mark 7:11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”‘ (that is, given to God)–
Somehow I think the priest’s conveniently set up a tradition of owning land, but of course, it was a burden they accepted in order to serve God.
That Vow
We have noted that the priest looks down on the offerings, even snorting at them, and then we find he makes a vow. A vow of providing a male of the flock.
An acceptable sacrifice before the Lord is a male of the flock, an unblemished offering before the Lord. Multiple verses in the book of Leviticus, the handbook for the priestly order, speak of offering up an unblemished male.
Is it fair to understand that when the priest vows to offer a male, he is referring to an unblemished male according to the handbook of the priests?
I think this is a safe assumption!
But let us consider the vow for a minute more for making that vow seems to be a problem in my mind. Was it not the priest’s responsibility to offer up the correct sacrifice, so what is going on with this vow? Was it necessary?
As the Lord reminded us in the Beatitudes, those who shout out their acts of righteousness have their reward.
Matthew 6:2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
By making this vow, the priest may have been looking for his reward. But let’s think about that for a moment. What reward did a priest deserve? He was simply performing his religious duties. Do I want a pat on the back if I go to church? Do I look for a hooray if I give a missionary 50 bucks? Am I to expect accolades if I show mercy to one less fortunate?
Luke 17:9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Something is so wrong in this picture!
In Summary
We have a cheating priest, owning contraband land, and offering up left over, unwanted sheep to the Great King. How utterly amazing that the religious leaders of the chosen people had sunk so low.
Malachi was the last prophet to appear before John the Baptist introduces the Great King to Israel. Much of Malachi’s prophetic message decries the state of the priesthood of Israel. Over and over again Malachi represents the Great King as deserving of so much more respect, honor and devotion than He is receiving.
Is it not the same today? It is too easy to relate Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of our modern church!
Prior to the crucifixion, Jesus spoke to one of the ruling religious class, and summarized Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of his day.
Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
For the laymen in the Body, let us also fear that we are also of the same ilk, providing to the Great King far less than He deserves!
For He is the Great King, the Ruler over all.
May we recognize our own sin before the Lord, our own disregard of the Great King, and humbly ask Him for forgiveness and power to love Him with all our hearts, soul and mind.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
I finally went to the optometrist this Saturday. My glasses had become scratched, and my last checkup was close to two years ago.
It was time.
Now for most folks, a trip to the optometrist is no biggee. A puff of air on the eye, and a few drops in the ocular space, some flashing lights and staring through some fuzzy glass for ten minutes. For most, simply an inconvenience, a necessity to acquire a new set of eye crutches!
But for me, something went wrong in my mind a long time ago. Anything to do with eyeballs simply grosses me out. I get all gurgly inside, and simple leave a group if I think a conversation about eyes will get too graphic. And to think of contacts? No – not even a consideration!
So when I ended up in the optometrist’s chair, I was somewhat preemptively apologetic. Almost immediately, as the doctor came in, I warned her I was not going to be a very good patient, that I was really particular about eyeballs, and that I don’t mean to be difficult, but that is the patient she had.
She looked at me and asked me if I was an engineer.
Pardon me? What makes you ask me that?
She mentioned that many of her patients that are “particular” about their eyes are engineers, and that got me thinking. A subtle characteristic that I didn’t even realize was placing me in that group of humans known as engineers!
As I walk this life, I pray that more and more subtle characteristics of the Lord Jesus may be found in my life. Actions and attitudes that have “rubbed off on me” by being near the Master, things that I don’t even think of.
May it be so!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
FREE SALVATION
Isaiah 45:13 I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the LORD of hosts.
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
We are in Isaiah once again, with the Lord Jesus clearly being seen through the eyes of a redeemed, freely purchased sinner.
Ok – I am getting ahead of myself, but when I see the setting free of exiles, and that freedom from exile is not for price of reward, that simply screams grace grace grace!
Can’t you sense the completely surprising freedom that is spoken of here? Imagine those who had lived under the Babylonian captivity all their lives, for by the time Cyrus came around, the Jews had lived in Babylon near to 70 years. Bondage in a strange land, amongst those of a strange tongue had been their lives, and though there had been prophecies of the captivity only lasting 70 years, the outworking of this freedom may not have been clearly communicated to those under the yoke of their captors.
Yes – the Jews had heard of the prophecies relating to the 70 years of captivity, from Jeremiah, and of that Daniel fellow. Details may have been a bit sketchy, and not much was understood about the one through whom this freedom would come. Maybe a powerful Jewish prophet like Moses would bring the people out of their Egypt. Or better yet, maybe a mighty Jewish king, like David could rally the downtrodden to escape from a world power such as Babylon.
No – not only was the freedom to come completely without cost, but was to be from a completely unexpected instrument in God’s hand.
A heathen king names Cyrus would provide a freedom from exile for the Jewish people, a freedom that would cost them nothing but a willing heart to follow after.
The cost for this freedom was expressed with two words, amplifying the freeness (is that a word?) of the freedom.
מְחִיר mᵉchîyr
This term is commonly referring to as a price or hire. For Cyrus, this was not a consideration in releasing the Jewish community.
As a contrast, when the Word refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, he made rulers, dividing the land for filthy lucre*.
Daniel 11:39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.
שַׁחַד shachad
This term may refer to a bribe or a present, even in the bribing of kings
1 Kings 15:19 “Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.”
No bribing, or convincing with filthy lucre* was required for this freedom from exile to occur.
Cyrus was not provided any kickback, leverage, or influence – other than the character appreciation this act added to his stature – in the release of the Jews from his newly acquired kingdom. As a matter of fact, he added his influence to those who remained behind to fund those who ventured out!
Surely, with very little imagination, we can recognize a glimmer of the grace of the Lord Jesus in this heathen king, for Jesus surely rescued us from our captivity, giving us the water of life without price.
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
May we remember the costly salvation we have been offered without price, and be a thankful people!
*BTW – for those younger than I – and I suspect most of my readers are, filthy lucre is an old phrase the KJV used for money, and it is just so appropriate at time to use the old term. As a curiosity, how many of my readers connected with the term prior to reading this footnote? Let me know.
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.
249
GREAT IS OUR LORD
Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
As we consider the names of God, we see the same modifier describing different aspects or characteristics of our God. Such is the case for our current streak of Names.
Since we began in Post 245 – Great and Awesome Name, we have considered the modifier “Great” included in our descriptions. This should not surprise us, for our God is Great, but what does that mean?
Let’s consider some shades of meaning in relation to the term “Great”.
SIZE The first possible meaning might include the concept of size. You know – the fire was great, as in it was a large fire!
SIZE (in comparison) We sometimes call animals of the same genus “great” to differentiate them from others of like nature. An example might include the “Great Blue Heron”, or the “Great Grey Owl”. Great in this case relates to a comparison amongst the same type of animal
SIZE (numerically) How about the way great is used in relation to quantity? There was a great number of students waiting to go into class.
QUALITY Quality may be described when using great, as in – the cheese was great, better than I had ever tasted!
SUPERIORITY Great may be used in relation to character, to the noble and good life lived by a man or woman. She was a great servant of those in need.
SKILLFUL I have a friend that is adept, very skillful at learning languages. She is a great linguist!
CHIEF OR PRINCIPAL Great is sometimes used when describing the principal or main building on a site. I recently visited a ranch in Texas and had meetings in the “great” house.
ENTHUSIASTIC To be considered great in relation to enthusiasm would describe one who loves a certain topic or activity, and then be described as great. Something like – Frank was a great lover of hotdogs. (He wasn’t passive towards those dogs!)
There may be more shades of meaning I have missed, but to call our God Great may include some or all of these shades of meanings.
Which shade of meaning might you consider your favorite? Is there any shade of meaning that you might consider not applicable to God?
Let me know in the comments.
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 wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 74:1 A Maskil of Asaph. O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Psalm 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt. Psalm 74:3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
Before we dig into this psalm, it may be good to recognize that the background to this psalm is somewhat debatable. Does Asaph refer to the times of the tabernacle being overtaken at Shiloh, as the Philistines took the ark and defeated the Israelites? Asaph does speak of Shiloh in a future Psalm, of God’s abandonment of the tabernacle at Shiloh.
Or might this description of the sanctuary being destroyed be referring to the Babylonian invasion, with the author being of the sons of Asaph.
These questions will not be resolved in this post of course, but the fact that this psalm may refer to one of multiple falls of the sanctuary speaks of the impact of our own selfish behavior in relation to the people of God.
As we ignore (or refuse) to be the church, our enemy will come and seek to destroy, whether it be by outside or inside forces. Worse yet, and for Asaph the focus of this Psalm, is that God Himself pulls away from the sanctuary, allowing the sanctuary to be defiled, destroyed and abandoned, giving our enemy an apparent victory.
The topic of God abandoning His sanctuary, abandoning His people is the struggle Asaph speaks of in this psalm. As with Psalm 73, where Asaph struggled with the ease of the wicked, this psalm also provides us a glimpse into the faith struggle of this great man of God.
Our introductory verses speak of Asaph’s shock, of how God had cast off His people forever. Let us not dull the sharpness of this question. To be cast off is to be spurned, to be forcefully rejected.
David warned his son of this danger!
1 Chronicles 28:9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
This question of being cast off flies in the face of the constant claims of God’s promises for the people of God. Asaph will attempt to remind God of who He is and how He has made claims and promises to the people He has led.
The Sheep of His pasture
This phrase speaks of God’s ownership of His people. Some may relate this phrase to God’s ownership of Israel due to His creative acts, that the nation is His due to the original creation, and they were the chosen people for His purposes.
The concept of creation and purchasing is intertwined in Asaph’s plea to God.
The congregation He purchased
קָנָה qânâh – To purchase, sometimes to create. Moses used this term in relating to the nation being redeemed from Egypt.
Exodus 15:13a “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed.
Eve declared she had “gotten” a man with the help of God using the same term.
Genesis 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
God has created this nation of Israel out of nothing, for what nation has ever begun from a promise to a single barren man? His creation of the nation of Israel truly mimics His creation at the beginning. Out of nothing, God creates all things!
Asaph understands this, and reminds our God of His ownership and purchase of the people He is acting against.
The people He redeemed
גָּאַל gâʼal
Those He redeemed are the people of His inheritance. The redemption spoken of here looks back to the time when they were under bondage, when they had no strength, no freedom, and no hope. After the sanctuary had been destroyed, these redeemed were again experiencing the same condition of bondage and the loss of hope.
Asaph is reminding his God of the redemption He provided and is now effectively lost to His people. How could this happen?
Based on these descriptions of how God has related to the nation, Asaph implores Him to pay attention, to act, to run to their rescue, to come and help. God has obviously been absent, even working actively against the sheep of His pasture. Asaph is asking for His return, His turning back to His people.
The works of God are mysterious, and as the people of God, we understand so little at times. Even as we see through a glass darkly, and at times when the Lord may be teaching very hard lessons, we have the knowledge those of the Old Testament only imagined. Our God, no matter the situations we find ourselves in, know of the Messiah, of His acts of sacrifice, of His showing the love of God to weak, broken and helpless sinners.
We know of His person, for He walked with us, and died for us. He is with us, and we can take comfort in the midst of trials we don’t fully understand. For Asaph, he will continue to struggle with the conditions he is living in, just as we might.
Thankfully, we have the blessing of knowing the One who proved the love of God for us.
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.
248
GREAT HIGH PRIEST
Hebrews 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Years ago, my son decided to read through the Old Testament, and as he was going through the Pentateuch, he made a comment I will never forget.
“Those priests were butchers!”
From a young man who had spent most of his life preparing food, as he had read the duties of the Priest, he interpreted it as equal to the task of a butcher. I had read the same passages many times and never came away with that impression.
My concept of the priest was flavored more from the ones who interacted with the Messiah in the New Testament. Businessmen, politicians and religious imposters. A dangerous mix for the people of God to be under!
Was the priest intended to be a butcher? Is that the message we should take away from our reading of the Old Testament? Or maybe, the priest was to be a manager of people, one who controlled and manipulated people and goods.
To be a priest entailed many tasks that I do not intend to venture into with this short post, but two items need to be considered as we think of our God as the Great High Priest.
The High Priest in the Old Testament was a prefigure of the Messiah in many ways. For the purpose of brevity and to relate to this post, consider the High Priest before a holy God and before a sinful people.
Before a Holy God
As the priest entered the presence of God, he “carried” the people on his heart. His approach before a holy God was for the people, as he carried a broken, sinful people on his heart, pleading before the Righteous and Holy God for a people who were not worthy, who had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
His “ministry” was of a broken heart for the people he represented.
Exodus 28:30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly.
Before Sinful People
His behavior before his people was likewise towards them. It was the prophet that did much of the rebuking, correcting and chastisement in the nation as they rebelled against God, though correction of the people was not out of the priest’s job description. When required, he chastised the people.
But for the faithful Israelite, who came before the priest with an offering, with a lamb, a goat or a pigeon, the priest was of the receiving nature. He was approachable, without rebuke to the one who sacrificed in the right spirit. Proper sacrifice was received gladly, with open arms.
For our time together this morning, consider both of these attributes in the Lord Jesus as our High Priest. Were not sinful broken people on the heart of the Messiah as He faced the judgement of sin in His body on the cross? Though He suffered such horrendous injustice in His service for His people, He has not turned to His people in anger due to this injustice. He is not holding some grudge, or demanding some retribution from His people. He is approachable, with open arms, receiving His people as they come with their own sacrifices of praise and love to Him.
The apostle encourages the people of God to draw near to our High Priest, a High Priest that is able to sympathize with our weakness, having experienced the power of temptation.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus is our true Great High Priest, and all other images in my mind of a butcher and a businessman vanish as I see His arms open up!
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace
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.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
LOVED BY THE LORD
Isaiah 48:14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
We are in Isaiah again, with a picture of the Messiah coming through loud and clear.
Isaiah is calling the people together for a message that has not been declared. Now a bit of background may be beneficial. Isaiah is decrying the peoples dependance on dumb idols, their idolatry is rampant, and many of the prophecies regarding Cyrus are provided for a generation of God’s nation many years in the future. No idols can do that! When Isaiah speaks of “Who among them”, he is referring to the dumb idols! No idols could predict a future deliverer of Israel centuries ahead of the time.
Not only will the prophecy regarding the release of the Jews from captivity be astounding, but the instrument of release for the Jews will defeat the Chaldeans and perform God’s purpose on the Babylonians.
And the Lord loves him. This instrument of devastation on the Babylonians is loved by the Lord. This instrument of release from the Babylonians, for the people of God is loved by God.
This instrument of devastation and deliverance is a heathen king, a man who God raises up over a century after this prophecy, and we know of this kings name as Cyrus.
In this series on Cyrus we have seen him as the deliverer, the freedom giver, the man who obeys God’s will and much more. But here in Isaiah, we see Isaiah revealing the heart of God towards a heathen king.
Some may think this declaration of love by the Lord is to be reserved only for the anti-type of Cyrus, that is the Lord Jesus, and there may be merit to that, since the Father loves the Son! Yet even if Isaiah provides a sort of limited love of God for Cyrus, it is an amazing declaration for the people of God to hear.
God’s servant, a stranger outside of their camp, outside of their nation is loved by God! Another description of Jesus from the Old Testament, this time describing the relationship of the Son with the Father, through a stranger to the people 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.
247
GREAT GOD
Daniel 2:45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
Daniel is beckoned before the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzer, after the king experienced a startling dream. He had watched in his night visions as a massive structure was erected before him, made of various metals.
Now this is the first time Daniel is brought before the king, and the task was daunting. Not only interpret a dream, but determine the dream? Recount the contents of the dream the the king.
Very unexpected!
Daniel and his friends prayed, and in Daniels next appearance, he not only interpreted the dream according to truth, but also was able to provide the contents of the dream to the king.
Daniel spoke of “a great God” in his confession before the king, and as this most likely was the first time before the King, Daniel introduced the King of Kings to the king of Babylon in a somewhat generic way. Daniel would be before the king many times, and would have national/worldwide influence before this king. This initial introduction Daniel was somewhat restrained, for he only revealed the contents of a dream. After all, it was only a message to a king regarding his kingdom’s eventual fall.
An additional passage is found in the Old Testament regarding our Great God.
Nehemiah 8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
In this passage, we have another man of God describing our God as great. Ezra was addressing a community of faith, who were ready and willing to hear the Word of God.
The reaction of the people of God was amazing. As Ezra opened the book of the law, the people stood. As he read the book of the law, the people wept. Imagine that! Weeping in the congregation of God’s people, due to the reading of the Book of the Law.
Revival in the congregation was breaking out, for the Word reflected their failure, their sin and their disobedience, yet their hearts were open to the Lord.
One man revealed a dream. One man revived a nation. Both actions were attributed the our Great God.
Paul also speaks of our Great God, providing us clear indication of the identity of the One on the cross.
Titus 2:13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Take note that we have went from the indefinite article “a” in describing God with Daniel – (a Great God), through to the definite article “the” in Ezra’s declaration (the Great God) to Paul’s possessive description of God.
He is our Great God.
Lord Jesus – we look to You, our Great God for a time of revival as in Ezra’s day, a period of open hearts in front of the open Book.
Help us have open hearts to Your ways!
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 wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 73:27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. Psalm 73:28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Let’s remember the rollercoaster ride Asaph has spiritually taken. Early in the Psalm, he was paying attention to those in Israel who were finding success financially, who were enjoying a comfortable life, who had acquired image and power in the community. It seemed that these folk, that Asaph called “wicked” were doing just fine!
As a matter of fact, not only were they doing fine, it appeared God was allowing unrighteousness to gain a foothold, for those whom Asaph called “wicked” were snubbing their nose at God, ignoring the covenant they belonged to, without any negative impact.
Everything seemed so backwards for Asaph, and for all appearances, so real, so factual, so true, and so easy. No need for morning prayers, or torah reading. Observance of temple rituals could be ignored, and the required sacrifices were put on hold.
The life of the wicked that Asaph observed was the life to choose.
He wanted it, and was entering into the sin of envy, which was bringing him to the doorstep of idolatry. He freely admitted his conflict, and was experiencing an inner battle that was relentless, with the ultimate victor seeming to be the lifestyle of the wicked, with all the trappings of ease, comfort and possessions.
That is until he entered the sanctuary of God and he finally understood the reality instead of a image he perceived of both the wicked and his own life.
In our short passage this morning, Asaph is concluding his findings, and provides a stark difference of the future of both the wicked and the righteous. Earlier he had mentioned how his efforts had all been in vain, useless efforts for success in life.
Psalm 73:13 – All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
He sees things completely different now.
Any efforts Asaph performed in being near to God are no longer considered a burden, a vanity or a problem. He sees that the lifestyle and focus of the wicked is taking them farther and farther away from God. The term Asaph uses regarding the actions of the wicked is an adjective describing a removing, a departure, a going away from. The lifestyle and choices of the wicked are not neutral, and God has not provided any allowance for a wicked lifestyle. The judgement of the wicked’s lifestyle is that it takes the worker away from God.
God is still the center of all, and those chasing the life of the wicked are running far from God. They are becoming remote, and as they are moving away from God, the source of all life, it is obvious the end result is perishing.
No life! God will put an end to the unfaithful!
For Asaph, and for all who have any sense, it is good to be near God. He doesn’t speak of his end, or of his destiny as he did regarding the wicked, but of his current condition of seeking God, of his present blessing. For Asaph, his condition is “good”. The term speaks of wealth, prosperity, favor, goodness and of a better condition. All that Asaph was being lured away from God by the appearances of the wicked were supplied by the very nearness of God.
As we make the Lord our God our refuge from the temptations and lurings of the world and the wicked, we will find a life of reality, the best of life and enjoy satisfying blessings in God alone.
May we be full of the goodness of God in our lives such that we also tell of all the works of God with those we rub shoulders with, even boasting of the goodness of God when compared with the frail, unstable and fearful lifestyle of the wicked.
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.
246
GREAT AND AWESOME GOD
Daniel 9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
Daniel was a righteous man.
Of all the men in the Old Testament, Daniel shines as a glowing example of a man committed to the God of Israel. To show the status of Daniel in the mind of God, Ezekiel lumps him in with Noah and Job as men of faith, men whose righteousness could not hold back the judgement on Israel.
Ezekiel 14:20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
Daniel was a righteous man.
But we find Daniel starting to pray in this verse, and our verse this morning is the beginning of a prayer to God that dwells on confession, describing rebellion, sin, wickedness, transgression, disobedience, unfaithfulness, shame, iniquity, and the departing from the Lord by the nation now in captivity.
Daniel provides for us a prayer of confession unlike any in the Word, for he was in the midst of conditions directly resulting from centuries of sinful choices by the nation. He was righteous, but he also was carried away in the judgement, carried away to Babylon.
In this passage, Daniel is identifying with the rebellious nation, taking his place with the people who rejected the Lord. He is such a great picture of the Lord Jesus, in that though He was completely sinless, He came and identified with us!
And he begins his prayer by speaking of the Lord as the Great and Awesome God. In calling God this, Daniel continues by giving us further explanation as to why the Lord should be called by this name.
Our Great and Awesome God is faithful. Daniel speaks of God’s faithfulness to those who have rejected His covenant. To those who have departed from Him. To those who have rejected God.
Now, if you haven’t reacted to this “slip” in my earlier description of Daniels’s prayer, I want to draw your attention to my heresy. Daniel does not speak of our Great and Awesome God keeping covenant with sinners, but with those who keep the covenant, those who love God and keep (or obey) His commands.
Daniel, after describing the faithfulness of God the covenant keeping people, then goes on and describes the people of Israel, (including himself) as an undeserving, sinful and rebellious people. The covenant is for those who obey (Daniel comes to mind). No covenant is referred to here for those who reject God.
This is no small omission, for without the covenant, there is no “legal” responsibility on God’s part to act. God has a covenant with those who obey.
This is a big problem is God was only and always committed to the Sinai covenant, but even though the covenant is broken, smashed by those who promised to keep it, the Person of God has a heart, a love for the people that goes beyond the covenant.
The heart of God is a heart of mercy, of forgiveness, and exemplifies the GREAT AND AWESOME GOD we recognize in the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
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.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
Man of God’s Counsel
Isaiah 46:11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
NT Passage
Isaiah is in the middle of a passage that is comparing the idols of Babylon with the One True God. He is providing a prophecy of future events, so that when the prophecy is fulfilled in 150 years, the Jewish nation will have another example of the superiority of their God over any and all idols. The people that would see this prophecy come to reality would be the nation in captivity, a people under the thumb of Babylon, seeing the salvation of God coming from a Gentile king.
To understand the verse we are considering this morning, we need to include the previous verse.
Isaiah 46:10-11
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
God has a purpose for the nation, and His purpose, or counsel, per verse 10 shall be accomplished. God will accomplish His will for the nation, and He becomes very specific in the manner He will do it!
His first declaration is that He will call a bird from the east. Now it is not uncommon throughout the Old Testament for a king to be referred to as a bird of prey, but for Cyrus this picture is very appropriate. Not only was Cyrus and his armies known for their swiftness of attack, the standard presented by the armies of Persia before military campaigns was also the golden eagle with outstretched wings, mounted on a long spear. Cyrus literally was depicted as a bird of fowl.
But for the term we refer to in our topic this morning, Cyrus was a man of God’s Counsel, a man who would execute God’s will.
Let us not think that God was in counsel with Cyrus, debating the will of God, even considering the manner of execution of His will with the king. No – Cyrus was not a man of God’s counsel in that manner.
God is describing a king who would be God’s instrument in executing His will, a man that would deliver a salvation to the people of God in the midst of their captivity under the Babylonians.
This passage is an amazing prophecy describing God’s will to be accomplished by a Gentile king for a captive people 150 years before it was to be realized. Once Cyrus released the Jews, protected and provided for them as some went back to Jerusalem and the Temple, presents a vivid shadow of the greater Cyrus, the Lord Jesus.
Was Jesus not a man of God’s counsel, and so much more? He was intimately involved in the plans and deliberations for the release, not only of the Jewish people, but for all mankind from the bondage and captivity of sin and death. He was also described for centuries before His arrival, with multiple prophecies describing our Savior, giving us a full and complete picture of the Messiah, so we might not only understand, but marvel at the way the prophecies combined into a multi faceted picture of the Suffering Servant / Reigning King.
He perfectly fulfilled the will of God, executing the Word of God even as it was communicated to Him moment by moment in His communion with the Father .
He is God’s Counsel for us, the Man who far exceeds the shadow provided for us in Cyrus!
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.
245
GREAT AND AWESOME NAME
Psalm 99:3 Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he!
We find our verse this morning in a Psalm that highlights the holiness of God, and for a brief moment, before I opened the full psalm, I assumed the “them” in this verse, referred to the nation of Israel, for they were God’s people and they had been privileged to know of His holiness, His “otherness”, His separated status.
I rattle on about this for it was many years that I understood holiness to be principally referring to the sinlessness of God. Now, I do not want to imply that sinlessness is not included in the term “holy”. I just want to confess that I think it describes a much greater concept than simply a negative about God, that He has no sin.
He is without sin, sinless and apart from sin. But for God to be called holy is to describe God as being different, other than what we understand, righteous in a way we may not fully understand, unless we dwell on Jesus, and the manner in which He lived among us.
Jesus was holy, separated from sinners, as the apostle tells us, but we know He lived amongst the worst of sinners, the “dregs” of society, a friend of sinners.
Hebrews 7:26 ESV – For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
The contrast between our understanding of holiness and how He lived out His holy life often astounds me.
I often think of sin as the Old Testament describes it. If I touch it, it defiles me, and my responsibility is to stay away from all contamination. Haggai describes my understanding in his second chapter
Haggai 2:12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” Haggai 2:13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.”
Non Transferable Holiness does not transfer to items. Any item that is holy is alone holy. Whatever it meant to be holy, to be separate, to be consecrated to the temple, or to the priest, or to God, alone was holy.
Isolated Holiness was to be protected by isolation. If a sinful person or item touched a holy item, it became unclean.
For many years, I understood that to be holy was to stay away from sin, and by inference, away from sinners, seeking to keep my life pure by isolation. Fat chance at success with this, for it produced a believer that was ineffective, lonely, self righteous and somewhat angry.
But then I started noticing that Jesus drank with sinners, went to parties, touched lepers and forgave adulterous women, raising them up by their unclean, sinful hand. How could He do that, and remain holy, separate from sinners, as Hebrew speaks?
As a follower, does this example of Jesus’ holy life amongst sinners allow me to go out drinking and partying? For some believers, this may be allowed, but due to my past, my running from God in my youth, my teenage alcoholism and previous drug habits, I knew I had to refrain from certain activities to avoid temptation. Eventually my thinking morphed and I thought my abstinence from those who partook was my holiness. How little I understood!
Everything turned upside down when Jesus arrived, for when a sinful person touched Him, power was transferred from Him to the sinful person. Forgiveness and healing, illumination and understanding flowed from Him. His was a life of non-isolation, of being in the midst of all who welcomed Him, and even amongst those who hated Him. He was simply put – unbelievable!
I realize I have focused on the holiness of God in this post, but so many thoughts were flooding my mind of how Great and Awesome Jesus, in His life amongst us, actually was. His holiness, His “otherness” is so foreign to my standard thinking of God that when I am caught in the conflict between my thinking and His message, I tend to blurt out the praise I have for Him, weak as it is.
May we praise the Great and Awesome name of Jesus, for He is Holy. He is so different from us and He calls us to a holy life, a different life than we are living. A life of change and growth, a life of holiness amongst the hurting and the sinful.
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 wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 73:23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. Psalm 73:24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Asaph has been through a struggle. From temptation through inner trials and finally to a final triumph through a realization of the glories of God and his own sinfulness. He has finally settled in a good place. A place of rest, of peace before the Lord, and a deeper understanding his place before God.
Four areas of blessing are realized by this man of faith.
Security
While Asaph was in his struggle, watching the rich get richer, the wealthy dodge judgement, the prosperous avoiding discomfort and pain, Asaph was struggling to keep his heart pure. At times, I imagine his heart was not quite hitting the mark, slightly less pure than the desired goal! A bit impure, a bit jealous of the lost, a bit envious. And we know the seriousness of envy. It is the precursor to full blown idolatry.
Yes – Asaph was dancing with dangerous partners when he envied the ways of the rich. Even in his wanderings, Asaph confesses that the Lord was his security, his faithful God, his only hope through the dark, the hand that was ever present in his life.
Guidance
Asaph may have been breaching this topic in our previous verse when he speaks of God holding his right hand. He comes out and clearly states the guiding ability and performance of God in his life, specifically speaking of God’s counsel.
Counsel is another word for advice, and the Scriptures give abundant testimony to the wisdom of receiving counsel.
In Asaph’s specific case, I lean to understanding his referencing the inner counsel that he eventually became attuned to as he entered the sanctuary of God. To my fellow believers, we know that in the still quietness, if we are willing to hear, the Lord will provide guidance in alignment with his revealed Word.
As an aside to this topic, it is wise for the believer to consider the importance of counsel from other believers. I have for too long sought only the inner counsel, without allowing for believers to give guidance. Proverbs addresses this truth numerous times.
Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 24:6 for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
One note of clarity. The word speaks of a multitude of counsellors. Having one counsellor may be the equivalent of having an echo chamber. Not wise at all. Be wise and get bunches of counsel!
Sufficiency
What is it for something to be sufficient? Does it imply that for something or someone to be sufficient is the availability of everything you could imagine? Is it a way to denote that all things are good, or is it that nothing bad, or evil will enter my experience?
For something, or in Asaph’s case, for someone to be sufficient, simply means that God is enough. It is not referring to the limitless abilities of God to perform, provide or produce for His saint. For God to be sufficient for Asaph means that God is enough.
We humans are a temporal, time and space based creature. We are limited in every possible manner. We can’t even understand what it means to be limitlessness, to be eternal, to possess all powerful or all knowledge. We are limited creatures and have limited needs, though they may seem great to us as we live in our bubble.
God is bigger than our bubble!
Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
Though Paul speaks of God as being able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, for Asaph, his personal faith findings are that God is enough.
Paul spoke of the abilities of God, and they are truly limitless, but for sufficiency’s to be considered speaks the language of satisfaction, not abilities. Satisfaction of the saint’s deepest needs fulfilled in Christ. As for the wants of the believer, they may be ignored since they are but distractions, but that for which the saint was made for, satisfaction is found in God Himself. He satisfies the saint in areas he may not even understand!
There is a difference, and may I suggest that realizing the sufficiency, the “enoughness” of God in our hearts is a tremendous blessing for the believer to enter into.
Strength
My heart is ticking away. It has been ticking away for over 67 years. 2,817,995,627 beats, give or take. Close to three billion beats. That is crazy, and thankfully that ol’ ticker has never missed or skipped a beat!
That particular physical truth astounds me, and except for this past couple minutes, I have been blissfully ignorant of this exceptional display of the keeping power of God over my physical life.
How much more am I unaware of the strength God provides in the midst of trials and blessings, sickness and weakness, struggles and victories. One day, I will find out my incredible ignorance of God’s strength being provided to my insignificant life, the continual faithful infusion of His mighty hand, and His power provided despite my pride and arrogance.
To think I am the source and strength of all my blessings! Poppycock! (Of course, I blame Him for any and all my failures, but even in this, it shows my darkness of mind!)
He is my strength, especially in my weakness, in my realization that I have no real ability, no real strength, no real wisdom, knowledge or discernment. I could go on with what I am not, but to what profit?
He is our strength.
For Asaph, as he fought his way through this Psalm, and provides for us the wisdom he accrued through it, he can honestly say his head is screwed on straight now.
He is in a good place, seeing God for who God is, and Asaph for who Asaph is.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
244
GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL
2 Chronicles 30:9 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.”
Our passage this morning is found in the middle of King Hezekiah’s preparation for the first Passover the nation would enter since Joshua. Shocking, for even King David did not celebrate the Passover.
Nevertheless, this Passover was marked by a number of special situations.
First off, King Hezekiah, in his desire to celebrate the Passover, allowed this celebration to be performed a month late. The Temple had just been cleansed and the priests were in need to be sanctified. The people of the north were invited and time was required for cleansing and travel to occur.
This was an allowance provided in the law found in Numbers 9:6-11.
Secondly, the temple had been closed by Hezekiah’s father, King Ahaz for 16 years. This about face by Hezekiah was a bold stance of faith for this young king, for he may have been as young as twenty-five years old as he ascended the throne of Judah.
Thirdly, Hezekiah invites the northern tribes. This is an astounding request, for the northern tribes had been conquered years before Hezekiah ascended the throne. To invite the northern tribes could have been interpreted by the reigning Assyrians as an effort to reconsolidate the nation of Israel as the original twelve tribes.
Definitely a risky move, but one that showed Hezekiah’s desire to celebrate the Passover properly!
And this is the context of our verse. Hezekiah is calling out to the northern tribes, pleading with them to return to the Lord, to celebrate the Passover and to recommit to the covenant they had abandoned. Though they had been overtaken by foreigners, a proof that they had abandoned the Lord according to Deuteronomy 28:25 passage, mercy and grace was available to them, for the Lord their God is a gracious and merciful God.
Did they return? A few did, but sadly, the majority of the northern tribes remained conquered.
It is interesting that the message spoke of both mercy and grace. Both terms are used exclusively of God, and are combined a few times in the Old Testament, revealing the character of our God as we know Him in the Lord Jesus.
He truly is gracious and merciful to His people and as we recognize His grace and mercy towards us, we will be drawn to honor Him in our lives, returning to Him as we wander, and seeking to celebrate His goodness in our lives.
He is our gracious and merciful God.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
Loved of God
Isaiah 48:14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
John 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
I had never considered the subject of this passage prior to considering the Cyrus the King of Media Persia. Who is the Lord referring to when He calls the nation of Israel to assemble and to listen. The context of the following verses speaks of this one as being against the Chaldeans, and that he will do His pleasure on Babylon. Though it is without a doubt God Himself that will bring about the downfall of Babylon, He has an instrument on the earth that will fulfill His will.
In this case, Isaiah speaks of Cyrus, 150 years in the future, who will march on Babylon, conquer Babylon, free the Israelites and provide safety and allowance for provisions to enable the reconstruction of the Temple.
Isaiah could simply describe Cyrus as a tool in the hand of God, a device of destruction on the Chaldeans, an instrument on earth to direct and use! After all is said and done, the Lord is over all, and he controls the heart of the king.
Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
Remember that Isaiah is referring to a king, a Gentile king, a king that will conquer nations, consolidating an empire.
But Isaiah speaks of the Lord loving him. Now I am not convinced this love refers to any response of the Lord to the actions of war that Cyrus lead, various idolatries he entered into, or of Cyrus’ moral perfections.
Isaiah simply states “The Lord loves him”.
In my mind, weak as it is, this speaks of the uncaused love of God toward each of us, it is a shadow of the universal love of God for all mankind. It is the love of God described for a man centuries prior to his being on earth.
Of course, it is easy to see this reference to the love of God for Cyrus as a shadow of the love of God for the Greater Cyrus, the Lord Jesus and of His fulfilling the will of God while He was on earth.
Jesus was loved of God, without hesitation and without disturbance, without any break in deep fellowship between the Father and the Son.
Except when the love of God was taken from Jesus in order for the love of God to be opened fully to us mere humans, fallen creatures that had no hope. The love of God has been proven to each of us by the cross and the resurrection. He went without the Father while on the cross so that we need never be without the love of God.
May we rest in that truth, and forever understand the extent of the love 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.
243
GRACIOUS GOD
Jonah 4:2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Our God is a Gracious God. He is the same God Jonah knew, but for one experience. Jonah did not quite know the depth of grace we as believers may experience by living after the appearance of Jesus.
But the human heart hasn’t changed, for as Jonah confessed the truth of the very character of our Gracious God, we also teach, sing and confess of the graciousness of our God.
As Jonah knew of the Graciousness of God and feared the results, we too know of His Graciousness and fear the potential result.
How often have I halted, hesitated or avoided speaking to my neighbor or an acquaintance due to the same reason Jonah expressed here.
Fear of persecution?
Is it fear of persecution? I dare say this is not Jonah’s complaint, for he doesn’t address the recipients reaction to the message.
Upset of Normality
Is it a desire to maintain a status quo? I think that may be some of the concern Jonah has, since he was a part of the inner group, and he was sent to a group that was outside. Many the infusion of acceptance of the outer group would dilute the specialness of the inner group? Evan as I write that, it seems to be foolish, but how often have I witnessed this?
As my wife and I attended a well established church years ago we had a few friends come visit the service. They were energetic, unconventional and to say the least unorthodox due to the newness of their association with church. The church was small, and as I mentioned, well established. If I remember right, they actually sat in someone’s pew seat! (Don’t they understand Jesus died for that saint to sit in that pew seat?).
To say the least, the friends, after a few visits, decided not to return. And status quo was maintained!
Injustice
Is it a sense of injustice? Ta-daaa! That is the ringer folks, for as we glory in the forgiveness we have been freely granted, we tend to want to see justice fall on others.
We sometimes dress this thinking up with terms like righteousness and holiness, with our desire to express the need for justice to be inflicted on “our enemies”, but somehow that defeats the very word of the Master when He challenged us to live as He did.
Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
For grace to be realized in life, a sense of injustice has to first be accepted in our own lives, but then we also have to allow this to be offered and experienced in the lives of others.
As an aside, as I have considered the idea of universal salvation (through Jesus alone, for He is the only Savior), I have had many in the church rebut me with the very argument of injustice. That would be unfair they say. I have heard believers state that “they deserve” to burn in hell. So loving!
Why do we as believers in our Gracious God hesitate to consider the Graciousness of God from beyond our own understanding?
As a thought experiment, consider the days prior to the Lord’s appearance. Many, if not all in Israel never anticipated such an explosion of faith when He appeared, or the rapid spread of the the church outside the boundaries of the land of Israel, beyond the bloodline of Abraham. Many sought to restrict the growth, keep it within the inner group, and maintain a status quo. But the real stumbling block was the open, graciously free invitation to all. That was simply unacceptable. The graciousness of God was too much!
He is the same Gracious God, who surprised the Jews of Jesus day. May He surprise us in our daily lives, and may we be open to the work of God, rejecting our self centered desire for justice, and reveling in the Gracious God we love and honor!
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 wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 73:16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, Psalm 73:17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Psalm 73:18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. Psalm 73:19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Psalm 73:20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms. Psalm 73:21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, Psalm 73:22 I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.
Asaph, prior to our passage this morning, and after the last fifteen verses describing the perceived benefits of living as the wicked live, is in the middle of a inner battle I believe all believers must go through.
Psalm 73:14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. Psalm 73:15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
He speaks of being stricken and rebuked, over and over again, every morning. He knows once he speaks his heart, damage will fall on the faithful, but the evidence is so obvious. There just seems to be so much “proof” provided that it creates an inner conflict for the believer.
Psalm 73:16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
Asaph was being worn down, confessing that the situation he was considering was a wearisome task. The inner battle was wearing on him, and it seemed he was in a position of eventual defeat.
That is until. Until he entered the sanctuary of God. The solution for Asaph actually was available throughout his struggles. His perspective on life had been infected by the perceived and temporary ease of the wicked one’s life, without considering the actual and long term impact of the person of God.
Asaph as he entered the sanctuary of God, became aware of two truths.
Ruination of the wicked
Asaph understood no longer the perceived ease of the wicked, but the eventual, long term ruination of the wicked. Not only the ruination, but the very footing they consider to be stable, is a slippery place. One mistake, one happening, one uncontrollable incident, and everything they count on falls apart! There seemed to be a perceived future, but that was all smoke and mirrors, for Asaph say there was no actual future for the wicked. The ruination was certain, for he states that God Himself set them in slippery places, and God Himself makes them fall to ruin.
Sinfulness of the Saint
Being away from the Lord, for the saint is a very dangerous situation. After entering the sanctuary of God, Asaph faces his own heart as he looks to the Lord. He admits to his own sinfulness before God, how brutish he had become!
As he uses the term brutish, I think of violence, as in brutality, but the term speaks of foolishness, even stupidity. The term is used in Psalms two additional times.
Psalm 49:10 For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Psalm 92:6 The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this:
He further defines him life before God as a beast, and this term usually refers to cattle or livestock. The Hebrew word for beast carries with it the idea of a mute animal, a silent beast. Might he be possibly referring to the wicked’s lifestyle as impacting his freedom of speech before the Lord and His people? He has mentioned earlier his reluctance to speak of his finding’s and this is to his credit!
But he was restricted in his communication to the people of God. Thankfully he restrained from speaking of his logical findings, but this also may have brought a hesitation of speaking of the goodness of God before the people.
He was silent, conflicted and strickened. What a sad, (and for myself, a familiar) place to be!
Asaph needed to enter the sanctuary of God. When he did, all the perceived benefits of the wicked disappeared!
For modern believers in the Messiah, what does it mean to enter the sanctuary of God? Many may consider that constant attendance to a church building is the equivalent for the saint today. This may be so, but I am hesitant to state this is a perfect application, for there are many church buildings that have been constructed in order to provide a sense of security, a sense of power and influence that may distract from the very person of God. Never mind the variable of the teaching disbursed from the pulpit. Many – not all thankfully – in today’s modern church have a teaching that is suspect, with a dependance on the Word being weak, and sometimes completely absent, or worse yet hostile to the Word.
With all of that said, to enter the sanctuary of God for the believer today is to draw near to the throne of God.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
For the New Testament believer, the sanctuary of God is present and available at all times and in every location, for the sanctuary of God is the Lord Jesus, His holy Spirit and the Father Himself. As we approach the throne of God in our formal and informal prayers, our thoughts are lifted away from the untoward methods and mealy, meager goals of the wicked, and to higher, loftier and eternal matters that can only be recognized as we dwell on the many glories of our God.
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.
242
GRACE OF GOD
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
It may not be the most accurate of understandings, but as I grew in the Lord, and read this passage, I found that I couldn’t help but replace “grace of God” in this verse with Jesus.
After all, He has appeared, in all His glory and grace, exhibiting the beauty of holiness as He rubbed shoulders with sinners, and the righteousness of the Law as He knelt down before that woman’s accusers.
He is in all ways, and from every standpoint, the grace of God, having appeared to a small group of people for a short time, but due to His victory over sin and death, having walked out of the grave, has been with us forever through His Spirit.
I am so thankful that the grace of God is bringing salvation to most people, and that His victory will have some effect on His creation.
Of course I am being somewhat sarcastic, for the passage speaks of bringing salvation for all people. Many within the church would state that the intent of the passage is that Jesus made salvation possible, but for salvation to be realized, the faith of the hearer has to be exercised!
Amen and amen. This is the message of the grace of God, and yet if I understand the teaching of a universal salvation, all will come to Jesus at some point, either prior to death, or in the fires of judgement.
We seek the prior to death option!
Paul may have been concerned that those who interpreted this statement of “bringing salvation to all men” in the universal sense may have concluded that there was no need to fight against sin and ungodliness! This was unacceptable in Paul’s mind, for it produced an understanding of the grace of God as simply a license to sin.
Unacceptable.
The grace of God, understood properly as per Paul’s teaching has much to say regarding training and waiting under the tutelage of Jesus, the Grace of God Himself.
Titus 2:12-13 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Paul may have taught of salvation brought for all, but this teaching does not provide an opportunity for license to sin, but is the greater motivation to live soberly, upright and godly lives, for we shall see Him, the Grace of God, our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
However you understand this topic, may God bless you, and keep you and continue to reveal the Grace of God, Jesus Christ in your life!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
Undefeatable
Isaiah 41:2 Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. Isaiah 41:25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name; he shall trample on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay.
Luke 9:51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
This passage in Isaiah 42 is generally accepted as referring to Cyrus, though it seems per the verses supplied, there were two subjects “stirred” up. One from the north and one from the east.
Many explanations have been provided, with Cyrus birth being from the east, and his approach toward Israel being from the north. Even within the second verse, his origin speaks of the east, in that he has come from the rising sun.
Besides this minor discussion on the subject of who is being stirred up, it is apparent that once he is stirred up, nothing will stop him. Isaiah belabors the point that this one who is advancing on Babylon has left all other countries conquered. He continues in verse 25, on the topic of this victorious one who shall “shall upon my name”.
Though Cyrus is being referred to here, and though his victories consisted of physical domination, the picture we look back on is of one who is undefeatable, unstoppable, and without equal in his day.
Is this not the same vision of the One who could not be stopped in bringing the kingdom of God to His people? Even to those who had openly rejected His teaching, and His person, He would not retreat from His mission
Luke 9:51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Nothing stood in His way, and having entered the valley of death that day, He continued to His expected end, with dominion over His enemies being completely secured as the stone rolled away.
Cyrus, great warrior and king that he was, was simply a reflection, a faint shadow of the One who was unstoppable in His pursuit to defeat the evil one, the world order and our own stubbornness.
May His name be lifted up!
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.
241
GOOD TEACHER
Mark 10:17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
In all the ancient writings, through all the volumes of commentaries written by the ancient rabbis’ and within all the Old Testament Scriptures, no teacher, prophet, king or priest was ever called “Good Teacher”.
No teacher, prophet, king or priest in Israel would accept this title if offered to them. The rabbi’s throughout ages taught that to claim this name was equivalent to accepting the identity of God Himself.
But then the Good Teacher walked the earth.
And when a man came to Jesus, calling Him “Good Teacher”, this must have created a stir in the surrounding audience. Surely this young prophet teacher would deny any association with this title.
But Jesus didn’t refuse the name, for how could He refuse a name that was commonly accepted as belonging to deity and still be the Truth. What He did do though, was to dig into what this young man understood when he called Him that. Ever the Teacher, Jesus is the proverbial questioner, the One who could teach perfectly by asking the right question and letting it sit.
As an aside, it has been rightly said that the longest sermon Jesus ever preached, or at least that has been recorded was the Sermon on the Mount, in the gospel of Matthew. There is some who think Matthew compiled many of Jesus teachings into this one sermon, but let us assume He spoke this message completely at one time. If so, the entire sermon as written spanned up to 15 minutes. I suppose the point I am making is that He cut to the quick, He got to the point, He did not loose focus.
As I did just there with that aside. (I am horrible with chasing rabbit trails!) Nevertheless, Jesus was the Good Teacher, and He accepted that title, moving on help this man consider what he really was saying.
Are you calling Me God young man? Is that what you are doing, and if so, do you realize the implications of that statement? If I am God, (as you say), the God of the Old Testament, what you must do to “inherit eternal life” is already provided to you. The God of the Old Testament, (that is who you speak to), has provided the Law for your instruction. But in case you do not remember the Law, I, the God of the Old Testament, will remind you.
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”
Another thing (that might be an aside, – remember – I am horrible with asides/rabbit trails -) is that Jesus worked with this man, not only digging to find out what he understood, but then when challenging him, provided him as much assistance as possible. As much assistance as possible, for Jesus left off one of the last 6 commandments, knowing the young man had a struggle with a certain issue.
Jesus sought out this young man, with the passage speaking of Him loving the man, and in Luke, we find he was not simply a random man as Mark records, but a ruler, a man of position and wealth.
Luke 18:18-19 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
And the one commandment that Jesus left off was that cantankerous covetousness commandment, for this was the very commandment that obviously was not kept by this young man. Note that Jesus didn’t simply quote out the missing command found in Exodus 20:17.
Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Jesus taught this man, along with all His followers, the positive side of the coveting command. Jesus opened up the commandment found in Exodus in an amazing way, showing the young man the depth of law keeping required to fully obey the God of the Old Testament.
Mark 10:21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Jesus is the Good Teacher, and if He can open up a young rich rulers heart with a few questions and prodding, we should expect the same. But with all teachers, the students need to be listening.
Has He, the Good Teacher, the God of the Old and New Testament asked you any questions lately, prodded you regarding a choice you made, or reinterpreted a passage to mean much more than first imagined?
Have you been able to hear Him?
After all, He is the Good Teacher, and Good Teachers love to teach!
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 wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 73:4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. Psalm 73:5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Psalm 73:6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Psalm 73:7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. Psalm 73:8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. Psalm 73:9 They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. Psalm 73:10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. Psalm 73:11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Psalm 73:12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. Psalm 73:13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. Psalm 73:14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. Psalm 73:15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
In our last post, we considered verses 4-9, where Asaph describes the conflict going on in his heart regarding the wicked one’s experience in life and his behavior. They enjoy a full and powerful life, even while abusing their neighbor and rejecting any authority God has in their lives. This is confusing for this man of God, but he is not willing to abandon his argument quite yet.
His thinking is quite logical, for he make an observation, and then comes to a conclusion, by stating “therefore” We will continue with his thinking this morning and find out where his logical pathway leads him, but before we go any further, let us read the passage once more.
No God No Justice No Followers
Psalm 73:10 Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. Psalm 73:11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
Asaph is coming to a dangerous tipping point in his logical argument. He sees the wicked’s life of ease with no apparent discipline being applied by God, and comes to a conclusion.
If this is the way the world works, why fight it? If God is allowing the wicked to flourish without any repurcussion, as all the evidence proves, the conclusion must be that God has taken His hand away from the personal lives of the people of His nation. Maybe God has revised His requirements? Maybe God has lowered His expectations, or realized He has demanded too much. Maybe God simply doesn’t care anymore.
Wow. This logical progression of Asaph takes us down a very dark and slippery slope, and I suspect this thinking has been the cause of many a followers downfall. Even as Asaph describes this thinking process, he comes to the conclusion that this situation actually provides, or might I say encourages the faithful to “turn back to them” and find “no fault in them”.
The faithful are turning back to the wicked, and find no fault in them. Is not Asaph describing those who have previously sought God turning away from Him. The faithful are seeing the abundance and freedom of the wicked, taking the bait, and by so joining the wicked, agreeing with the methods and attitudes of the wicked.
The result is a denial of God by those who seek the life of the wicked. Asaph has provided us the spiralling downfall of the faithful as they observe the wicked and make unholy choices.
Conclusion
Psalm 73:12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. Psalm 73:13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. Psalm 73:14 For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning. Psalm 73:15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
Asaph makes his summary statements in these verses and repeats his foundational observation. The wicked have it easy, implying the righteous do not. The wicked have riches, implying the righteous do not.
In the midst of the righteous mans life of “struggle and poverty”, Asaph wonders if it is worth clinging to the old truth. The call of God demands a clean heart and innocent hands. What is the benefit? Why go through all this trial and trouble?
My friend, if I have followed Asaph’s thoughts and conclusions in my thinking once, I have followed his thinking a dozen times. Many times the believer observes the evidence provided, sees the logic of this train of thought, but has no real defense against it. After all, it is the way of the world.
Notice though, that Asaph provides the faithful man’s inner turmoil. All this evidence is tempting, yet he is strickened and rebuked every morning. He just can’t take that last step of joining the wicked, for his heart is telling him he is missing something, and if he succumbs to his logical conclusions, he will only add to the weakening of God’s people as he abandons the God of Israel. He knows the end result, even as he is hinting at it in this verse.
As turmoil and indecision enters our hearts over life changing decisions, we may need to consider the inner struggle as a blessing, a cleansing, even an renewing of our thinking. As we enter this struggle, it will be a battle to prove our devotion to the God of our salvation. Riches, ease and comfort can not be our gods, if we are to be called by His name.
Thankfully Asaph provides us good news in the next passage, a resolution to his thinking, a missed piece of evidence that changes all the perceived truth he has accumulated. Asaph’s struggle came to an end, and it came to an end decisively!
It is a solution for the faithful to consider as they may wander towards the lifestyle of the wicked.
Considering the Bible 