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
Caleb
A Different Spirit
Numbers 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.
John 5:19 …For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
Caleb had a different spirit. It is interesting that the very first thing in my research for understanding this characteristic of Caleb, was that “different” (the Hebrew word is אַחֵר ʼachêr) may be translated as another, or even more interesting, is that it is related to the idea of following.
Now Caleb had a different spirit and as God Himself describes Caleb, He reveals the spirit of the rest of the tribes. Caleb was of a “following” spirit, a different spirit than those he lived amongst.
Being of a different spirit brings about many potential problems, conflicts, loneliness, attacks and rewards. We may see some of these hazards in the life of Caleb and how Caleb reflects the Lord in his life and love for God, but for now, let us think of how the Lord Himself was of a different spirit.
Even from birth, Jesus was identified with the very Spirit of God, brought to earthly existence by the Spirit of God. No other man on earth could make this claim.
Jesus was of a different Spirit!
Jesus exhibited a following spirit, a spirit that followed after God in all the Father’s commands.
John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
Jesus was of a following Spirit!
He submitted to the will of God in all things, even death!
Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Jesus was of an enduring Spirit
Caleb endured through 45 years of waiting, due to the many detours caused by the sin of the nation, wandering about a desert. How frustrating for a man to know the promise of God, and yet not to act on it!
Jesus also knew the will of God, and in the midst of the nation called by God, gifted by God, protected by God and led by God, found disappointment, frustration and exasperation in dealing with such a blessed nation. Yet Jesus endured through this to the very cross, enduring even through the greatest injustice mankind has exercised on an innocent man.
Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
Caleb was of a different spirit, but Caleb was but a minor reflection of the greater Spirit found in Jesus.
Jesus was of a different Spirit, a saving Spirit, a loving and patient Spirit, and for that we can be eternally thankful!
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.
208
GOD WHO SEES
Genesis 16:13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
Two people are seeing in this verse! But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s think about who is speaking, and why this person is speaking this way.
This lady’s name is Hagar, an Egyptian servant of Sarai, Abrams wife. Hagar, an Egyptian slave that Sarai gave to Abram to lie with, to be a surrogate mother for Sarai.
Hagar had been Sarai’s slave for a number of years, and had witnessed the faith of both Abram and Sarai. She was a lady that had possibly been yanked from her home, poverty stricken slave stock, and now travelling with a group where the leader had heard from a “new” God.
Her mistress gave her to her husband for procreation.
Her mistress wanted a child by hook or crook, even though the word was out that this “new” God was going to provide a child for Sarai. But her mistress couldn’t wait, and Hagar eventually conceived Abram’s child, whom Sarai could take for her own.
But during the pregnancy, her mistress seemed to be kinda touchy. A bit too sensitive? It turns out that in the course of this experience, Hagar may have looked on Sarai “with contempt”. Was Hagar continually and in an ever increasing way, looking down on Sarai? Was she boasting over Sarai, walking through the camp, shaming Sarai, and speaking of how great she was? I don’t see that in the text.
The text states that Sarai complained to Abram thus.
….May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt.
Hagar may have been contempible towards Sarai, but might Sarai have been a bit sensitive to the success of Hagar in providing the child she wanted? Might Sarai be experiencing a bit of jealousy, envy, frustration, and even fear in her reactions to the success of this venture to provide her a child?
I will let the reader consider, but in every relationship conflict, there are two sides to the story. Nevertheless, Sarai couldn’t handle this, and went to Abram. Abram gave Sarai the right to “do what you want”.
It isn’t until chapter 21 that Sarah kicks her out, sending her away. At this time, Sarai simply deals harshly. She afflicts Hagar, the mother of her son.
It is a sad commentary on where envy will take a person. Envy is the emotion that rises up in each of us as we look at someone or some situation, and want what they have. Sarai wanted to have a child. Hagar was having Abram’s child. Sarai may have experienced some contempt from Hagar, but I suggest that whatever wrong Hagar may have done, this envy resident in Sarai multiplied the offence, and fed Sarai’s boiling heart to the point she afflicted Hagar, to the point where Hagar left the encampment, fleeing from Sarai.
Remember, we are in the middle of a desert during this conflict. Hagar left security, safety(?) and sustenance for the barren desert. The affliction must have been severe!
So given that Hagar is running from a woman who is associated with the Living God, and is afflicting her in some severe manner, it is amazing that at the appearance of the angel of the Lord, she simply answered His questions, and did as He said!
I can imagine some may think Hagar would have some questions for God. That Hagar may want to demand some answers, as our moderns sometimes say. How dare that believer Sarai treat me so roughly. How dare that believer Abram abdicate his leadership over me? How dare all these bad things happen to me through believers.
But for Hagar, an Egyptian slave that was treated unfairly by a Hebrew “believer”, she simply answers the Lord’s questions!
Oh – and she names God!
She named Him the “God Who Sees”, the God who saw Hagar, who looked after her. Hagar had finally saw the God who saw her, who protected her, who looked out for her.
A great lesson from this passage is that when we see the Lord, truly see the protective hand of God in our lives, conflicts with those on earth become secondary. God told Hagar to go back to Sarai, to go back to the affliction even to submit to Sarai.
In the midst of envy and contempt, God can interrupt the conflict, and give confidence to the one who knows God is watching to go back to a bad situation. For now she knows who is looking out for her, watching over her!
It is wonderful to know that our God is the God Who Sees!
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 71 is a psalm written by an aged saint, a man who had walked with the Lord through many trials and triumphs. Some think this psalm represents David’s thoughts as he approaches the grave, as he ages and finds his life coming to a close.
One thing that is obvious in this psalm, that whoever wrote this psalm had an intimate experience with the Word of God. I have heard the claim that in the 24 verses of this psalm, there are up to 25 references, allusions and hints of other psalms within this reflection of an old saint. He has saturated his life with the Word, to the point that even phrasing of the old book comes through this old man’s message.
It is truly a witness of the wisdom to engage in an early and consistent immersion into the Word of God for every saint.
Let’s take a moment to consider
Psalm 71:17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. Psalm 71:18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Psalm 71:19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? Psalm 71:20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. Psalm 71:21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.
This old man, this old saint who has known God, even from the womb somehow, who leaned on the Lord from before birth, speaks of the teaching work of God in his life. Out of this teaching ministry, the result for this ol’ saint was that he proclaimed the wondrous deeds of God.
He did not proclaim the wondrous works of God out of a vacuum, but had been taught, trained, led by God through many experiences, many trials, many troubles and calamities (vs 20). Given this experience of the leading of God, this ol’ saint does not presume upon his history, but is reaching out to God, seeking that God would continue teaching, that God would not forsake him in his old age.
What a tremendous spirit this ol’ saint had, that he still had a deep resolve to follow, tinged with the fear of God, not assuming but continuing to seek God in his last days.
One additional impression I have of this ol’ saint is that he doesn’t whitewash his pilgrimage with God, but admits that God made him experience trials and troubles.
Did I say one additional impression? Get a load of vs 20. Is that saying what I think it is saying?
Psalm 71:20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
Yes, the ol’ saint has seem his many troubles and calamities, directly from the hand of God, but in this statement, he speaks of reviving, even bringing him up from the depths of the earth.
Now I have been told by some very respectful Bible teachers that the Old Testament does not speak directly of a resurrection for the faithful very often. One passage that stands out is Daniel 12:2.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Granted, there are a number of passages that refer to, point to, imply of, and hint at the bodily resurrection of the faithful, but many are pictures of this truth, as in the Shunammite’s child, being resuscitated from death, only to eventually face death later on! 2 Kings 4:18–20, 32–37
Some are super clear, as in Job 19:25–27, and consider verse 26
And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God
Additional passages in the Old Testament that provide the hope of resurrection in various ways may be found at the end of this posting for those interested.
For our passage today, in verse 20, this ol’ saint provided a declaration of resurrection that is as clear as any in the Old Testament. As the Lord was dwelling on the Word, how this short passage must have impacted Him, speaking of the faithfulness of God to this ol’ saint, and the hope of resurrection for him in his last days. Jesus would soon enough face his last days, though as a much younger man, but the hope of resurrection was on His mind and in His heart, fanned by the promise of God to His saints!
Might Paul have had in mind this passage as he wrote to the Ephesians of the resurrection “process” of the Lord Himself?
Ephesians 4:9 ….He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
He may have, especially in speaking of the lower regions, the earth, and that the psalmist spoke of the depths of the earth.
As believers age, and have followed after the Lord during our pilgrimage, we can take the place of this ol’ saint, finding confidence in the faithfulness of God, even of the resurrection, for our God is the only God that has proven Himself to crush death under His heal!
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.
207
GOD WHO JUDGES ON EARTH
Psalm 58:11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Two sureties are expressed in this verse.
1. There is a reward for the righteous 2. There is a God who judges on earth
It is the second surety that appeals to me in this post. It is “God who judges on earth”.
I don’t recall ever dwelling on this phrase before, and my intent is not to dull the truth that a judgment day is coming, and that the judge will be God Almighty for every soul on this old globe.
Yet, in my nitpicky way of looking at a passage, I don’t see the psalmist stating there is a God who judges the earth, or there is a God who judges those on the earth. Of course, since I am not a Hebrew scholar, or even close to understanding the nuances of this ancient language, or the structure of the message, I ask those reading to understand my limitations, and my possible error.
Yet I can’t help but think of this passage describing God as judging on earth. What does that mean?
Some translations are somewhat different for the translation reads of God judging in the earth.
…God who judges in the earth NKJV …God who judges in the earth NET …God judging in the earth YLT …God that judgeth in the earth ASV
…God who judges justly here on earth NLT …God who judges on earth CST …God who judges on the earth NASB …God who judges on earth LSB …God who judges on earth RSV …God who is judge on the earth BBE …God who judges on the earth AMP
All of that is provided to support the general truth of God judging, with the added information that the locale of the judgement will be on, or in the earth. For some reason, I have had the opinion that judgement would occur in the heavens. And that may be the truth, for this verse may not be contradictory, but complementary to that truth, or be speaking of a different type of judgement.
But as I said, this verse directs me to a day a long time ago, over two millennium ago, when God did judge on the earth, in a small back water nation, on a hill called Calvary, with judgment poured upon the One who walked this earth, spoke righteousness and loved to the very death.
Our God is the GOD WHO JUDGES ON EARTH, and the most fierce some judgement is that which His own Son experienced on earth, for all men to see.
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
Boaz
Preeminent
Ruth 4:1 Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, “Turn aside, friend; sit down here.” And he turned aside and sat down.
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
In the book of Ruth, one would think she is the important character, the one who is spoken of, noted, and referred to the most. It’s all about her!
Or is it?
Yes, Ruth is the reciever of blessing, but in a strictly quantitative review of the book, Ruth, by name is only referred to 13 times. Boaz, on the other hand is referred to more than twice that! Twenty-eight times!
Boaz is not only described as a worthy man, an obedient Jew, a Kinsmen Redeemer, a Redeemer of all, expressing acts of kindness, providing for the less fortunate, accepting a foreigner for a wife, a judge and the resurrector of a families hopes, but his name is referred to more than twice Ruth’s is. He is the one who is preeminent in this book, that rises to the top.
In reading the book of Ruth, I find great comfort in seeing Boaz as a type of Christ, and Ruth as a type of the church. As the church, we are the widow who is rescued, the poor who is provided for. We are the recipients of all of our Boaz’s great qualities and His acts of kindness.
Boaz is the preeminent name in the book of Ruth.
Jesus in the preeminent name in the church, and throughout creation.
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.
206
GOD WHO HAS MERCY
Romans 9:16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Warning warning warning!
We are in a passage that is full of controversy, that fuels a theology that, in my opinion, locks a person away into a fatalistic future, either elevating them to a special status, or condemning them to a hopeless destiny.
This controversy is not to be considered in this post. (But Carl – you just did!)
Let both sides of the discussion put down their arguments, their opinions – yes – even the opinion expressed above is to be put down, to be put aside in the attempt to think of our merciful God.
Again, to be clear, our name here speaks of God owning a characteristic. He has mercy.
But Carl – He is the King, the rightful ruler who has no competition, no equal. He is all powerful, and is able to do whatever His will allows. He is the Judge of all of creation, and in this position, has no one to effectively attack His decisions. No one could mount an effective argument over what ever He decides.
We all agree that He is above and beyond all our reach, that we have no defense against His decisions, that we are without any argument in His acting out of His will.
Paul – why are you bringing up this mercy thing? Not that God knows of mercy, or that He may exercise mercy, or that He thinks mercy is good, but that He has mercy.
Mercy is of God’s character. In relation to judgement, God makes judgements. He determines justice. Out of the perfections of His character, God makes determinations. These decisions are based on His character, but are not of the unchangeable character of our God. Let us not forget that mercy is an integral part of the perfections of His character.
Consider.
God is love. 1 John 4:8 God has mercy (our verse today) God is true. John 3:33 God is faithful 1 Corinthians 1:9 God is light 1 John 1:5 God is righteous Daniel 9:14 God is just Deuteronomy 32:4 God is a consuming fire Hebrews 12:29
My friend, I cannot find in the Bible a like description of God’s character being that of condemnation. Granted Psalm 50:6 contains the phrase “God is judge”, yet I am not convinced this speaks of a condemning heart. Simply that He makes determinations or judgements! God is described as just, or righteous, and for that we can be thankful. He seeks not to judge, in the manner of condemning.
It isn’t in His heart, yet because God is righteous, and we rebel, judgement (condemnation) proceeds from the throne based on His character, as a result of our rejection.
But judgement (condemnation) is a just reaction to our rebellion, not the core of His nature!
Do you see God as being primarily a condemning judge, One who actually seeks to condemn, that His very nature is to reject that which is not pure?
Consider Jesus, for in Him, we have witnessed the heart of God, the nature of God, the character of God. He took condemnation so we may find God, so we may find mercy.
Our God has mercy. Seek Him while He may be found, for He is a 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.
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 71 is a psalm written by an aged saint, a man who had walked with the Lord through many trials and triumphs. Some think this psalm represents David’s thoughts as he approaches the grave, as he ages and finds his life coming to a close.
One thing that is obvious in this psalm, that whoever wrote this psalm had an intimate experience with the Word of God. I have heard the claim that in the 24 verses of this psalm, there are up to 25 references, allusions and hints of other psalms within this reflection of an old saint. He has saturated his life with the Word, to the point that even phrasing of the old book comes through this old man’s message.
It is truly a witness of the wisdom to engage in an early and consistent immersion into the Word of God for every saint.
Let’s take a moment to consider
Psalm 71:14 But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. Psalm 71:15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. Psalm 71:16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
Remember our psalmist is in the midst of a battle that is possibly going to consume him, take his life and snuff him out! Was it not just a few verses previously, that he spoke of his enemies consulting to take his life?
Psalm 71:10-11 For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”
I bring this to our memory, for he begins this portion with hope and praise. He has not won some lottery, or received a promotion at work, but is experiencing a life changing, life altering, possibly life ending event in this passage, yet has the eye of faith that will hope and praise God.
He has a history with God, and is entering his last days, but though weakened, he has a history with God, knowing that God is a faithful and loving God. With this history and the knowledge of the faithfulness of God in his life, he has the strength of spirit to raise up praise in the midst to trial, to hope in a seemingly hopeless situation!
And he isn’t shallow in his experience with God, for he speaks of “talking up” God all day long! He has a deep well of experiences to draw from, of a life where God showed up on a consistent basis, providing a deliverance for the saint, whether small or great, exhibiting His faithfulness.
But let me settle on verse 16, for that is a verse that speaks of the Lord Jesus.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
Did He not come to rescue us?
Did He not come with the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD? So many miracles! So many chances for the soul to admit He is the One!
Did not the Lord Jesus declare the righteousness of the God of Israel, the God of the fathers, the eternal God?
Did not the Lord Jesus remind us of the “onlyness” of God’s righteousness? Granted, I don’t think “onlyness” is a proper word, but hopefully you get my intent. Jesus spoke of God’s righteousness alone, and not of any others, but God’s alone! He minced no words in declaring that God alone is truly righteous, and that all others are not!
He spoke the truth for us, and though it is difficult to hear, His words are a balm for the weary soul, even as we submit to the truth that only God is righteous, and that we are not.
Jesus came with mighty miracles, reminding us of such a righteous God and our need for Him.
And He provided us the way, the truth and the life!
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.
205
GOD WHO HAS BEEN MY SHEPHERD
Genesis 48:15 And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,
Let’s remember who is speaking in this verse.
It is that rapscallion Israel, the one who lied and cheated through out his life, causing strife and turmoil in the family, breaking his mother’s heart in having to run for his life, tearing apart his connection with his brother, creating division within his own family by favoring Rachel, deceiving his father, conning his Uncle Laban, and unwilling to let Benjamin go to Egypt to acquire food for those of his family.
Israel has the nerve to speak of God as being his Shepherd all his life. Yet this should not surprise us, for we know of the mercies of the Lord, of his gracious leadings, and of how he bends down to us, reaching out to us in our state of sin and pulling us out of misery.
But there is one thing to note in Israel’s statement regarding God as his Shepherd. He doesn’t declare himself as a particularly good sheep, or of any type of sheep.
No this statement doesn’t take into account the goodness of the sheep, but only the faithfulness of the Shepherd, the Shepherd who is faithful to His sheep.
God who has been my Shepherd.
To think that Israel considered God and not himself at his final moments on earth speaks volumes, for he had come to a place where he recognized the goodness of God in spite of his own actions, and that was worth focusing on!
It is wise to focus on the God who has been our Shepherd!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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
Boaz
Resurrector
Ruth 4:10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”
Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
In this passage, we find Boaz finalizing the transaction with the closer redeemer. And as Boaz felt that it needed to be clearly stated, he identifies Ruth, the foreigner, as also being included in the trasafction. Boaz, in redeeming the land of Elimelech, Naomi, Chlion and Mahlon, also bought Ruth.
Now at first glance, and by impression, it seems Boaz had a thing for this young woman. He was impressed with her character, her bravery, and her faithfulness to Naomi. So it is fair to think that Boaz went through this effort and cost simply out of love, and I want to think that. ‘Cause I think it is true!
Boaz doesn’t say anything like that in his only public statement regarding his taking Ruth as his wife. Verse 13 simply states
Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife….
But let’s take a second look at verse 10. Boaz provides his public motive for redeeming the family and land of Naomi. He explains clearly that his reason for this redemption.
All his efforts and the cost associated with this transaction was to enable him to
to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance,
that the name of the dead may not be cut off
In Israel, according to the laws given by Moses regarding inheritance, land was to remain in the name of the family. My assumption is that Mahlon was the eldest son of Elimelech and Naomi, for in those days, the land of Israel passed down the family line through the eldest son. But to be a childless widow in Israel meant the end of the line for that family. There was no hope.
Ruth, in this instance clearly provides a picture of the gentiles prior to entrance into the Body of Christ. Alienated. Stranger. With no hope. Without God
Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
This condition of hopelessness, of no continuing life, was addressed by God in the laws given at Sinai, in that a close relative could take the place of the elder son in the family, and produce offspring to perpetuate the name. This option within Israel essentially provided new life to a family that had experienced the loss of hope for a continued lineage.
Boaz was all about declaring that he would perpetuate the name of the dead. He would perpetuate! To “perpetuate” is typically translated in the Old Testament as “rise up”, “arise” or “raise”, providing us a picture of Boaz reflecting the One who raises up.
How clear it is that Boaz is a picture of Jesus. Jesus also took a foreigner to the covenant, and by entering into covenant with her, raised her up to have life and hope in the Kingdom.
Jesus, in a far more powerful and extremely deeper way, provided life for His Bride, and the hope of a continual lineage in the Kingdom.
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.
204
GOD WHO GIVES GENEROUSLY TO ALL
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Specifically, James is referring to God’s lavish giving of wisdom in this passage.
But let it be known by all who read this, I want to give witness that God gives generously to all in more than just the acquisition of wisdom.
He has been providing for my family in so many ways and at unexpected times that I simply want to say thank you to Jesus for His many mercies, for His continual faithfulness, for His overarching reach down into our lives even today, and for His continued work in us in the future.
Yes His is faithful, and His faithfulness has convinced me that He will continue to grant mercies and grace to this family, a family that may not recognize it, that are somewhat erratic and worrisome, that get too easily distracted from His person. We are not what He deserves! And conversely, He is so much more than we deserve.
May we honor Him more today than we did yesterday.
As mentioned initially, before I couldn’t resist in praising Him for His grace to us, James is speaking of saints who need. Saints who, in this instance need wisdom. James is speaking of one characteristic of the saint that is a required tool in our lives, yet if we are honest with ourselves, we are much needier than simply lacking wisdom.
We are such needy folks, and we sometimes do not want to admit this, for it strikes at our pride. And pride is the very problem for the believer! Pride keeps us cold, hard and unreachable! But James returns to this message of abundance available for the saint, (a spiritual abundance, not the adulterated message of physical abundance), but that which truly satisfies the soul.
James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
James spoke of our God as One who gives generously to all. There is no restriction on God’s part, for my imagination see’s Him “just itching to give” to those who will set their pride down, and lift their heart and voice to Him and ask.
He is the God who gives generously.
May we not only recognize this in our God, but also find ways to reflect a generous life to others! And that is a skill that requires much wisdom!
But we know who provides! Thankyou Jesus for 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.
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.
203
GOD WHO FULFILLS HIS PURPOSE FOR ME
Psalm 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
Purpose.
What is it to have purpose?
An end goal to strive for? A reason for a process to be performed? An intention of an effort to be expended?
We all need purpose, but this verse isn’t directly addressing our purpose. Note that David is crying out to God who fulfills His purpose.
For David, he wasn’t questioning of or considering his (David’s) purpose in life, though it certainly might be related to the purpose of God. As we can agree, a believer naturally seeks to have the same purpose as God, to embrace the same will and to aim for the same goal.
And what is that purpose or goal? As Jesus answered Pilate, His purpose was to bear witness of the truth.
John 18:37 …… For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world–to bear witness to the truth. ….
He spoke of God’s Kingdom coming, of God’s will being done.
Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
David, in Psalm 57 is referring to God’s purpose and not David’s purpose (strictly speaking), and yet this purpose of God is to be completed in David. This interaction of God’s purpose being fulfilled in David is a truth that David leans on, that he depends on and finds great comfort in.
It is that God is, at the time of writing, fulfilling His purpose in David during trying times. Yes David speaks this way during difficult times, and to remember that is so comforting. For you see, Psalm 57 is a psalm of David as he flees from Saul, the most powerful man in the nation, and his arch enemy. David is on the run, and at times he is but a hairbreadth from being caught by the king.
David knew of God’s ultimate purpose in his life, that he had been anointed to be God’s king over Israel, but the circumstances were yelling something else. By all appearances, Saul would be successful in catching David. The circumstances appeared that he may not make it another day. His enemies were surrounding him, his soul was in the midst of lions, and he was lying down amid fiery beasts! (vs 4)
Is it not reasonable that in the midst of trying times, the saint should look to the purpose of God in our lives, and not our own circumstances, our own condition or situation.
God is the God who fulfills His purpose in the saint. This truth is a great comfort for the saint as we meditate on it.
He has an end goal for us! He has a reason for our lives to be lived. He has an intention for the efforts we expend.
It is good to know that our God is the God who fulfills His purpose!
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
Boaz
Judge
Ruth 3:10 And he said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. Ruth 3:11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
John 8:26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”
When I insert the description of judge, it may be taken two ways.
The first way my reader friend may think of Boaz based on being described as judge is that Boaz was an actual judge in Israel during the time of Ruth. I understand that of the 12 judges in the book of Judges, Boaz isn’t named, but there seems to be a link, a possible connection that a minor judge by the name of Ibzan was one and the same as Boaz. The ancient legends of the Jews certainly link the two, informing us that Ibzan, in his old age, was known as Boaz. This interesting claim has many rabbit trails to fall into, but I shall leave that for another day.
The second way my reader may think of Boaz will be the topic of this morning’s post.
Boaz judged Ruth. Now again there may be an assumption on the part of the reader that I am trying to describe Boaz as one who judged or condemned Ruth. Any quick reading of the book of Ruth certainly argues against that claim. Boaz certainly did not take that position. He actually was her redeemer!
So when I mention Boaz as judge, I suppose I could also use words like discerner, as Boaz was an Israelite who made a proper judgement of Ruth’s character. He did not consider her outside circumstances (foreigner, poverty stricken, widow, childless) as defining elements of who she was, but watched her actions. Note that the verse referred to above speaks of Ruth’s actions of choosing an older man, and not a young man for a possible mate.
Boaz had already considered her faithfulness to Naomi, of Ruth’s long days in the field’s providing for her mother in law, and of her struggles to integrate into her new nation. Boaz had been watching, and now as she connects with Boaz on the threshing floor, Boaz sees her character shine forth again.
She is not allowing her passions to control her life, in that she sought a young man, but in these actions she is showing a submissive spirit to Naomi’s direction, a submissive spirit to the laws of the land, and is willing to become Boaz’s wife. Willing to become Boaz’s wife. This is quite the act of commitment, for it is generally understood that Boaz may have been as elderly as 80 yrs old at this time, and Ruth half that age.
Boaz sees Ruth’s character shining forth, culminating in the actions she takes according to Naomi’s plan for her on the threshing floor with Boaz. Boaz made a correct judgement on Ruth, dismissing the circumstances she lived, and judged Ruth based on the actions she performed.
John 8:16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. John 8:26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”
Boaz was a judge, as our Master also is. Our Judge, in like fashion as Boaz, also does not regard our outward circumstances as determining His opinion of our lives. We know His opinion of His broken creation! He is the ultimate One who judges our lives, knowing what our circumstances are and delivering us out of our bondage and sin.
He is also looking for our actions that prove we seek relationship with Him. Let us show to all that are watching that we are seeking the One who knows us and loves us!
I just got home from a busy week, putting in my regular hours at the office, and then travelled to northwest with my wife to paint the inside of a home.
Of course, as we were cleaning, repairing, and painting this dwelling, we found we were both a bit sensitive to each other’s moods and tempers.
Don’t get me wrong, for when I mention “temper”, many may think I am referring to uncontrolled emotional outbursts of negative passion (how is that for wordsmithing that term “anger”).
At this point in our journey together, anger has become a rare commodity between us. As a matter of fact, with my favorite, she has this anger thing seemingly controlled most times, except when a puppy dog had been ignored, a little baby has been mistreated, or a person of weakness has been taken advantage of. She tends to find her anger in these circumstances, and rightly so! (Ephesians 4:26)
But anger isn’t the topic of my post today.
Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
My wifey and I have been together now close to 45 years, and she is the love of my life, but I will tell you that as we travel this life together, I have found that we are becoming more one than two. We tend to be thinking the same thoughts, sometimes at the very same time. We seem top need less words to explain ideas and generally aim at the same targets in both our efforts and plans.
Yet we are two different souls, one of us a bit of a self serving, “I’m important” type of person, while the other exhibits the traits of a listening ear, an understanding heart and a gentle soul. We will leave the identification of each to our readers judgement, but I may drop a hint later to help you identify that self server!
As I mentioned early on in this post, we put in a full week at work and then took on this additional task. The painting of the interior of a home. Ceilings, walls, doors, trim, repair of sheetrock, fan repair, shower cleaning, tub scrubbing etc. etc. Let me just state that when we got to bed, it was with a larger dose of gratefulness than usual!
So all of this is told to provide a background to a telling moment with my favorite. Remember my sweetie does not shy away from seeking justice when someone is wronged, and after completing our self inflicted tasks for the week, we still needed to sort out a (minor) wrong we had experienced. As I sought to iron out this problem with a certain service provider, I tried to tell them my concerns, and I suppose my favorite thought I missed an important fact. She couldn’t resist inserting a fact, and in so doing, I shut down. I stopped my story so she could complete it.
All is well until we are away from anyone who could hear, and I explained why I shut down. All typical fare for my wife and I as we try to speak of things of concern between us. But in this particular instance, after the long hours of the week had wore us down, I expressed my complaint without considering her as the weaker vessel. I expressed it as from my need and not hers! Did I mention a self server above? A bit of a hint there who I was referring to!
Yes, married folk have the privilege of becoming one flesh, and this privilege is a gift of the Lord that we may enter into if we understand our mate as a different soul, a different person, a person who has different needs and perspectives.
We are becoming one flesh, and this joining together has it’s mystery in the church, for we believers are His bride, and as I need to take my wife’s needs into consideration to minister to her, to express my love and commitment to her, I am reminded that my fractured effort to relate to her is but a weak reflection of the Lord and His commitment to the church, and to each believer as they seek to follow Him is a weak.
As we were painting last night, both of us covered in white paint, I let her know that there was no one on earth I would rather be painting with.
I wonder what the Lord’s thoughts are?
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.
202
God Who Comforts the Downcast
2 Corinthians 7:6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
I sometimes have a hard time relating Paul’s experience with my own. After all, for him to speak of being downcast, after considering his experience as an apostle of Christ. Consider his recent battles in verse 5.
7:5 …our bodies had no rest, ….afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within.
A bit later in the letter, he speaks of the many trials he had suffered up to that point. Consider his experience as found in 2 Corinthians 11:24 -28
Five times forty lashes less one Three times beaten with rods. Once stoned Three times shipwrecked A night and a day adrift at sea On frequent journeys Dangers from rivers from robbers from my own people from Gentiles in the city in the wilderness at sea from false brothers in toil and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst often without food in cold and exposure
After all the description of his life experiences above, he tacked on the one that always seems to be the greatest stress for this man of God
…the daily pressure of my anxiety for all the churches.
So when Paul speaks of being downcast, that is of being humbled or depressed in status or position, he is speaking a language I don’t quite understand. His life experience has taken him to internal and external struggles and battles few can imagine. I can’t!
Paul has been taken from a life of the elite Pharisees, suffered as described above, and become a pariah to his own people. The shame and humiliation he experienced in his ministry was a constant and severe (if I may say so) experience he endured to provide us the gospel truths we sometimes flippantly regard.
Yet as he was downcast, He was also comforted. The comfort he experienced was also in such a different league than I can imagine.
But as I go through this thought process, and take you along, I may be doing a great disservice to the God we worship, and the teaching this apostle provided us.
As Paul spoke of his ministry in 1 Corinthians 4, he wrote
12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. 14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
Paul did not speak of his ministry in order to shame his people. He is speaking of the various paths each believer has been granted to walk, and that as believers we are not to compare our walk with God with others. This principal of not comparing with one another is somewhat a theme in Paul’s writing to the Corinthians, and I think in the early part of this post, I was slipping into comparing Paul’s experience with mine,(and maybe yours?)
Let us not compare, but consider that the God who comforts the downcast is not only Paul’s God, but as we may experience a humbling, a lowering of position for God’s will, He is also our God who comforts us.
Let’s rejoice in that as periods of humbling come from the hand of God, his hand is covered with a silk glove, a hand that is guided by a comforting heart, comforting His people in the midst of difficulties and trials
He is our God who Comforts the Downcast! May we praise Him in the midst of our trials!
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
Boaz
Husband to an Outsider
Ruth 4:5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.”
Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Ruth the Moabite. Throughout the book of Ruth, Ruth is described 7 times as a Moabite. Even when Boaz was negotiating for Naomi’s land, and consequently “acquiring Ruth”, she was described as other than Israeli.
A Moabite.
They were a people that resulted from drunkenness, for both Moab and Ammon were fathered by a drunken Lot, having lain with his own daughters.
This nation was the one that persecuted Israel when they travelled to the promised land, making themselves to be enemies of Israel. They were the people associated with Balak, the king of Amon, bringing Balaam into the story, trying to separate Israel from their God!
They sought to curse Israel!
Moses blocked them from entering the assembly of the Lord. I have understood this blocking of any Moab to be Moses’ way of ensuring no Moab entered into a government position in the nation of Israel. There should be no Moabite in any leadership position within the nation.
They were to be rejected from participating in any civil matter!
Did Boaz realize the damaged goods he was “acquiring” when he chased after this Moabite? How shameful for a honorable Israeli to associate with one of the Moabite race!
Yet he did, and in this action of seeking an outsider he typified the Master, in that Jesus also reached out to those who were His enemies, those who had questionable heritage, those who cursed God and rejected His people.
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Jesus chased after damaged goods – sinners – when He chased after you and I.
Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
He chased after “strangers” to the covenant, those who had no connection to God and were outside.
Boaz acquired a wife of questionable national origin, of questionable national prejudice towards God’s people, and of a questionable religious leaning against the God of Israel.
Jesus also took a wife, comprising of strangers, sinners and enemies.
Boaz reflects in a small way the character of God. Jesus blazes out God’s character to the extreme, for He is the brightness of the mercy and grace of 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.
201
GOD WHO ANSWERS BY FIRE
1 Kings 18:24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
We know the story. Elijah takes on the prophets of Baal, and Asherah, a total of 950 prophets that are lined up against him. Image the intimidation, the shear volume of enemy, and yet Elijah stood.
You know, it is an easy thing to say that with God, we are a majority, but when push comes to shove, to live that out in front of a hostile government (Ahab really hated Elijah) and a hateful religious society is truly an amazing feat!
Elijah stood alone, without any support from those in Israel. His perception of the nation at this time was that he was the only one faithful to God. The Lord instructs him later, but God allowed Elijah to live in his perceptions of being alone at this time.
And what type of test was offered by Elijah? A test that puts each prophets life to be dependent on the response of the Gods they trusted in. And beyond that, the fate of the national religious life hung in the balance, depending on the outcome of a miracle.
You know, Elijah could have claimed the inherent truth of the message from God, or of the past miracles performed by God, reminding the nation of God’s guidance and protection over the centuries. But he didn’t at this time. No, it appears Elijah read his crowd, understood the situation, figgered this was a “do or die” situation. Years had passed where he preached and warned, but to no avail.
No it was show time! By that I mean, the people had to have a very real, very personal experience of God. But this experience was not to be like that of Moses, who was able to talk to God face to face, nor like Samuel, where God whispered his name, calling him into the ministry of prophet as a young boy.
The people were going to face fire!
He is the God who answers by fire, and as I read this passage, and think of Elijah’s situation, facing a culture drowning in lies and idolatry, it seems this response speaks to the peoples condition more than simply defining the true God. The miracle certainly defined the true God, but it also communicated a message that was with fire, a message tinged with judgement and anger.
And a message crouched in a miracle. A miracle for an idolatrous people. Centuries later, the Master also faced an idolatrous culture, who fought against God, and referred to signs in relation to their “faith”.
Matthew 12:39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Matthew 16:4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
A sign was provided for that generation, in that the sacrifice on the altar, before their very eyes was consumed (as it were by God), and by a far greater miracle, was raised from the dead.
For both cultures, fire came down on the sacrifice. Though Elijah saturated his sacrifice, dowsing it with water, the fire consumed it all to communicate the “above and beyond” character of God.
He was more than what the people may have expected.
For the Savior, the sign was the resurrection. Though completely sinless and worthy of honor and esteem, Jesus suffered the worst of punishments, in all areas of His life, as the fire of God came down to consume Him into the realms of death.
Elijah’s sacrifice was completely consumed to produce change in a nation for the short term, for they fell into idolatry again. The Messiah’s sacrifice produces life upon life as we look to Him for our daily needs.
He is much more than what we could have expected.
He is the God who answers by fire.
May we bless Him and thank Him always for His never ending care for us!
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 71 is a psalm written by an aged saint, a man who had walked with the Lord through many trials and triumphs. Some think this psalm represents David’s thoughts as he approaches the grave, as he ages and finds his life coming to a close.
One thing that is obvious in this psalm, that whoever wrote this psalm had an intimate experience with the Word of God. I have heard the claim that in the 24 verses of this psalm, there are up to 25 references, allusions and hints of other psalms within this reflection of an old saint. He has saturated his life with the Word, to the point that even phrasing of the old book comes through this old man’s message.
It is truly a witness of the wisdom to engage in an early and consistent immersion into the Word of God for every saint.
Let’s take a moment to consider
Psalm 71:12 O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! Psalm 71:13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.
The psalmist has revealed his enemies thoughts in the previous verses, speaking of how God had forsaken him, and that this was the perfect opportunity to strike.
Psalm 71:11 and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”
Remember, this psalmist is a man who is aged, with grey hair and strength that was fading, as with all men who age. If this was David, he was a mighty warrior, and in his old age, had lost capabilities to defend as before. His mental and physical energy, stamina and strength has decreased, and for a warrior, this strikes at the heart of who he was.
With his weakening, and the constant trials he had went through, remaining faithful to God, it appears to be a perfect opportunity for his enemies to strike. After all, those outside of faith do not understand that the trial we as believers go through is a proof of God’s commitment to us, no a denial of His loving concern.
Hebrews 12:6 – 7
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Truly, those of the world do not understand the life of a believer.
1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Nevertheless, as the psalmist ages, and his enemies are emboldened, he cries out to God. He cries out to God, and you can almost hear his voice cracking as he begs for God to be near, and then again, but with even greater passion, owning the God he has followed all his life. O my God, make haste to help me!
The psalmist has less strength, the enemies have greater confidence, and who does this aged man of faith turn to? The One he has followed since his birth, the God who has led him through many trials.
I imagine this man to be without resource, without strength, without defense and without support. At the very least he has judged his situation to be dire and immediate. He cries out to his God for immediate help, that God would make haste!
It is true that the more immediate the need, the greater passion I have expressed to the God who is timeless. When I have plenty of time, and things are not crushing down on me, I tend to be somewhat lassiez-faire, somewhat indifferent, but let the pressure build, and then the passion erupts. Often times, in those times of crushing, God has provided his answer and provision, his wisdom and thankfully His peace. Rarely though, when my self imposed deadline for deliverance comes and goes, the Lord is in the midst of it, allowing for a period of instruction, or a realignment of my priorities.
But back to our couple verses!
Our aged man is looking for some answers to his prayers, that his śāṭan (for that is the transliteration of accusers in our verse) would experience shame.
This is a tantamount harm to inflict on an enemy, for our psalmist lived in a shame based society, a culture that defined success and failure though the estimation of a mans honor. Wealth and family were important, but nothing came close to the need for honor in a man’s life. It was the paramount goal of a man to gain honor, in the midst of all other goals.
Note also that this aged saint is praying against the śāṭan of his soul. A few of the more literal word for word translations include this idea.
Psalm 71:13 (NASB) May those who are enemies of my soul be putto shame and consumed;
Psalm 71:13 (ASV) They are ashamed, they are consumed, Who are opposing my soul, They are covered with reproach and blushing, Who are seeking my evil,
He is concerned about the only thing in this world that will last beyond the grave, for he sees this trial coming and understands the situation as an attack on his soul, not as the theft or loss of his wealth, or possibly even the harming of his family, but an attack on his very person. This is, in his cry to God, a critical fight, a fight that will cost him his own soul if he looses it.
Understanding what is at stake, he looks to God, crying out that his adversaries (śāṭan) would be covered with reproach and dishonor. Note that the honor of his enemies is the psalmist’s focus, for this is what is at stake, the highest estimation of a man’s social standing, and this is our psalmist’s desire, that the adversaries fall into disgrace.
And what is worse, (or better, depending on your point of view) is that when he seeks them to be covered, he is speaking of their very plans to backfire on them. To be covered in this verse, is to wrap oneself up, to enwrap. A self inflicted harm. Some act or plan that not only avoids harming the psalmist but falls on the protagonist, the adversary essentially falling into his own trap.
How often we see this in the Word, where the saint stands back, and the very trap the antagonist lays for the saint is the very trap the antagonist suffers. Without a doubt, I think of Esther and Haman as an example of this principle. How utterly satisfying, to not take revenge, and yet see justice!
How critical it is for us as believers that we find our strong refuge in God Himself and not our own strength, our own cunning, our own abilities. In a very real and personal way, as I am entering my sunset years, I need to view this weakening, this loss of ability as one of God’s intended gifts to a receptive believer. May it be so!
I had also hoped, as I aged, that my adversaries may also weaken with me. If this psalm has wakened me to a specific truth, it may be that according to the wisdom of God, my adversaries may not lessen. They may increase in confidence over me, increase in ability compared to my strengths. They may see weakness, well and true, yet I have a strong tower to resort to.
May we all, as we travel through our last years, though we be 18 or 80, have the clarity of mind and desire of heart to cling to the One who gave it all 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.
200
GOD THE FATHER
John 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.
For on Him God the Father has set His seal.
What is it that Jesus is trying to tell us in this brief statement, as He speaks of God as “God the Father”.
First off, He is not speaking of God His Father, though it be very true, but of God the Father, leaving the ownership of God’s Fatherhood to those who truly want it.
Next, note that we are in the middle of a passage that speaks of Jesus being the Bread of Life. Eventually the Messiah will experience large scale rejection by the crowds due to His teaching in this passage. In this passage, He is answering questions with teaching that cuts to the heart, and in the middle of this teaching, provides encouragement to those who “hang on” to His words.
One way He encourages those listening to remain with Him, is when He speaks of the sealing of His ministry by God the Father. Whether this sealing is understood by the many miracles Jesus provides or the voice from the heavens during His baptism, declaring Jesus to be “God’s beloved Son”, it is of key importance to note that God has provided the church verifiable evidence of the Messiah’s identity.
For the folks during this message, it may have been the miracles, or as I suggest, the baptism of the Messiah.
But Carl, that was for them. What about us?
We have such a more sure proof of sealing, to know that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Messiah promised from of old, for He is the only One who has left His grave!
He is the Risen Messiah,
Remember Paul’s statement in Romans 1:4, where he describes Jesus as …declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ‘
God the Father is the One who not only sent but sealed our Messiah, giving us verifiable evidence for our faith to rest in. This is good news for the weary soul!
A final reminder.
Though God spoke of Jesus as “His Son”, Jesus spoke of God, in this instance, as God the Father. He did not speak of God as His Father, somehow implying God was His and His alone. God the Father is for all who seek Him and hang on during those times when things get tough, when times are hard and things are confusing, as it must have been for the disciples in this message.
Hang on, for God the Father has sealed His Son!
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
Boaz
Provider
Ruth 2:14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.
John 21:12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
Let’s remember that at this point in the story, Ruth is a beggar, a foreigner associated with Naomi, having come to Israel due to very bad circumstances back home and an initial faith in the God of Israel. This faith in Israel’s God had not, at this time of the story, granted her great wealth and health, but simply the lowly work of gleaning the fields after the reapers had taken their haul for Boaz.
Granted, Boaz had learned of her relation to Naomi, of her desire to be with her mother in law, even to the point of leaving her homeland. He knew of Ruth’s continued care for her.
It wasn’t long before Boaz had taken upon himself to provide Ruth, not only the freedom to glean, (which by accounts of Leviticus 19:9-10, she could claim by law), but also the privilege of sharing a meal with Boaz and his reapers.
Boaz provided her bread / parched grain and wine/vinegar to dip into, exactly what his workers were able to partake of. Gleaners were not typically associated with the owner and his laborers. It was enough that they were able to retrieve foodstuff from the fields without harassment.
But for Ruth, she was provided the honor and privilege of sitting with the king of the field, and his workers. She was provided a meal sufficient to her needs and more, for she had some left over.
Does not Jesus provide those He loves the opportunity to gather around a meal? Is there not many that have taken the faith of the Israel’s God and had their provisions met?
Jesus provides His people the opportunity to join, to partake and to sit with those others in the kingdom.
And like Boaz in his provision to Ruth, Jesus provides those who were mere beggars more than is sufficient.
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.
199
GOD THE LORD
Joshua 22:22 “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today
A little context for this verse may be helpful.
Moses has passed, and Joshua is in charge, bringing the Israelites into the promised land. In an earlier decision between Moses and the Ruebenites, the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh, these tribes were able to claim the land to the east of the Jordan as thier portion of the promised land, but were to assist in the domination of the land for the other tribes. At the completion of the battles and the possession of the land of Canaan by the Israelites, Joshua allowed them to return to thier portion across the river.
This separation from the main nation by a geographical marker, such as a river, brought about a concern related to national and religious unity of this new country.
It also provided an opportunity to build an altar, a really big altar.
Joshua 22:10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.
Right away, it appears this nation is splintering, breaking apart in the most fundamental way, for this altar would develop it’s own commitments, thinking, devotions and divisions.
Yes divisions, for the remaining tribes saw this and gathered together to make war against them.
Joshua 22:12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.
Did I mentioned the breach of faith that the remining tribes considered this altar to represent? Yes this was a dangerous situation between brothers, bring to remembrance the days of Peor. Idolatry was rebuked harshly by the Lord in those days, and many had died!
AS we venture through this passage, we find this altar was not an altar of burnt offering or of sacrifice, but an altar of witness. Remember this river concern I mentioned earlier? The 2 1/2 tribes on the east of the river understood that the river separated them from the rest and they didn’t want this to occur. They sought a way to minimize the impact of the river, and with this desire to maintain unity, they built an altar of witness.
In the midst of this retelling of their times, the 2 1/2 tribes set up an altar and gave verbal ascent to the God they wanted to continue following. In this plea before their brothers, they called on the name of God the Lord twice, in order to maintain unity amongst their brothers, in spite of geographical distances and obstacles, seeking to reduce divisions amongst the next generation.
Should we not consider those across “the river” those who, along with us, claim the name of God the Lord? Geographical barriers or obstacles are not meant to provide an opportunity for division, but the chance to reinforce our unity in the Living God, that is God the Lord.
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 71 is a psalm written by an aged saint, a man who had walked with the Lord through many trials and triumphs. Some think this psalm represents David’s thoughts as he approaches the grave, as he ages and finds his life coming to a close.
One thing that is obvious in this psalm, that whoever wrote this psalm had an intimate experience with the Word of God. I have heard the claim that in the 24 verses of this psalm, there are up to 25 references, allusions and hints of other psalms within this reflection of an old saint. He has saturated his life with the Word, to the point that even phrasing of the old book comes through this old man’s message.
It is truly a witness of the wisdom to engage in an early and consistent immersion into the Word of God for every saint.
Let’s take a moment to consider
Psalm 71:7 I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. Psalm 71:8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. Psalm 71:9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. Psalm 71:10 For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together Psalm 71:11 and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”
Our aged psalmist continues, describing himself as a portent. That is a word not much used in our modern parlance, and I had to look it up, for which I am grateful.
This particular word speaks of the psalmist as a wonder, a sign or miracle, even a token of a future event. Even as his enemies brought trouble and trial into our psalmist’s life, his commitment to God, and the allowance of suffering he experienced in the midst of his trust in God, surely amazed his tormentors.
How so even today, that as the believer may be experiencing trials or troubles, his attitude of trust and his demeanor of praise to God must surely stump the wicked.
Yet even more so, consider Jesus, the Son of God, suffering under the hand of God, coming to die for sins, not of His own, for He was the sinless One, but for those who hated Him and His Father. What a sign, or a mystery for not only the lost to grapple with, but also the saints, for this act of grace truly is beyond reason, beyond logic, beyond the earthly thinking we are saturated with daily. Sacrifice for the enemy? Love those those who hate?
But let us not miss that for the psalmist, and by extension for the Lord Jesus, that they found their strong refuge in God, the One who is over all and in all. The psalmist did not look to his inner strength, his strong personality, or his cunning abilities, but outside of himself, to the Father above.
In his past, he had exhibited his faith in the trials of his life, and his detractors have been mystified. Though he has a past record of faithfulness, he does not sit on his laurels and coast though the last days of his existence. He continues to seek God, asking not to be cast off, not to be forsaken. He is not a saint that assumes all is well, but he has a passion to continue with God, to seek mercy from God, to continue to seek the will of God and to hang on, even as those around him claim God has forsaken him.
Even as Jesus was providing a full and final salvation for the worst of His enemies, they claimed God had forsaken Him. For the Sinless One to be considered forsaken by those who hated Him must have been hurtful beyond my thoughts.
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
But note the passage above, that this claim of those who hated Him actually became a truth Jesus suffered though, for the Lord turned away from the Lamb of God, forsaking His only Son. How brutal, how extreme, how utterly painful without comparison.
This claim of being forsaken by God is a common attack on those who trust God. How powerful for the enemy to make this claim to the faithful follower for it is of the deepest cut to the believers heart. Such a claim may cause the believer self doubt, which in itself may be beneficial, for we, as we age, tend to trust ourselves too much, due to our past walk with Him.
This claim may be allowed by God Himself to provide us a check, a test for our own faith, to give us opportunity to consider who we are trusting as we grow older. Some of us may have wealth we trust, or skills we trust, or relationships we trust.
A short period of self assessment may be of benefit if, and only if, we end up before the throne of Heaven again, confessing our need and admitting our weakness.
We have a promise that God will never forsake the believer, and for that we can be so thankful. We need to check our hearts to see that we have not forsaken Him, the One who was forsaken for our sakes.
May His name be praised and lifted up, and may we follow in His steps more faithfully.
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.
198
GOD OUR SAVIOR
1 Timothy 2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
This verse needs context.
1 Timothy 2:1-4
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
When Paul refers to God our Savior in this passage, some teach that it is expressed in the midst of a discussion on public prayer. After all, Timothy is a leader in the church, and Paul seems to be directing him regarding the priority (first of all) of reaching out to God on behalf of those in civil leadership and high positions during a church service.
In my mind this is not a debatable issue, and as we come together to worship God our Savior, it is appropriate to pray for those who have governmental authority of their people.
Yet this instruction is for the general Christian populace also and not only to a Christian leader in a congregation. By that I mean, that believers may and should pray for their leaders even if they do not experience this exhortation in a formal setting in a church service.
But consider the larger context for a moment. Paul is speaking of God our Savior. It is assumed, and for good reason, the people Paul is thinking of when he speaks of “our” Savior is the Christians in the Body. God is their Savior.
No debate about that at all. He is the Savior of the saved.
But consider that the passage speaks of governmental authorities, of a peaceful life for the believer, and then Paul described God’s desire for all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. In the flow of the context this seems a bit unexpected, other than Paul wants to communicate something other than my assumption.
Ok, so God desires all to be saved. God desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Could God our Savior be Paul’s way of describing our God who not only is the God of the saved at the time of writing, but that in some mysterious manner, in some future condition or situation, God would become God the Savior of all?
Oh for this to be the case. That all of creation would be reconciled to the Living God and to each other!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, this teaching of Universal Reconciliation has more Biblical support than I first considered. Of course I considered this teaching to be heresy previously, hopeful dreams of those not schooled in the Bible, so I never dug into the topic until the last few years of my study.
If some of my readers have an interest in some of the Bible passages considered in this vein of topic, Considering the Bible has a number of posts that my be referred to, specifically the series “Book Look – Jesus Undefeated”, a ten part series of posts, or “Book Look – Heavens Doors”, a thirteen part series of posts on this topic.
Nevertheless, barring all controversy, God is our Savior and for that we can be thankful. He did not “farm out the task” of saving our souls to any third party contractor or assign the task to some heavenly being, but HE himself took on the task.
He is God our Savior! May we be the people of God who reflect His desires!
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
Boaz
Acts of Kindness
Ruth 2:8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Ruth 2:9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”
Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Boaz provided an act of kindness to a new woman in the field and in doing so reflected, in a minor way, the kindness of out God.
But for a bit of background, consider the following.
Boaz was a man who followed the Word of God, instructing landowners to allow those suffering poverty in Israel to glean from the edges and corners of a field reapers had not harvested.
Leviticus 19:9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. Leviticus 19:10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.
The kindness of Boaz is not seen in his obedience to Leviticus 19, for Boaz was a godly man, a God fearing Israelite, who sought to honor God in this act of obedience. In allowing the poor and destitute the opportunity to glean at the edges of the field, that which is left behind by the reapers, provided the poor not only food, but a level of honor in working in gathering sustenance for their family.
But I digress.
Our topic is an act of kindness that Boaz exercised to Ruth.
There was a time when Boaz came to his field to greet his reapers, and he noticed a new woman in the field. Was it merely due to Ruth being a new gleaner, or was it that something stirred in Boaz when he saw her. At this point in the story, it is unknown, but Boaz acted with kindness. Once he understood her circumstances, that she accompanied Naomi back from Moab, and that she had been in the fields most of the day, he determined to find ways to protect and provide for her.
I mentioned an act of kindness, but it is obvious that Boaz acted towards Ruth with kindness in many ways. How might we see these acts of kindness?
She was not to attend to any other field (for Boaz would instruct his reapers to drop extra for her)
She was not to leave the company of the other women in the field.
No man was to touch her!
She was permitted to drink from the men’s water.
As mentioned, Boaz may have had early interest in this foreign lady, this lady committed to Naomi, and for that kindness, she was thankful.
Ruth 2:10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” Ruth 2:13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”
Boaz’s acts of kindness reflects in a small way “the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”
But in reality there is a huge difference, for Boaz was kind to a grateful and faithful lady, whereas the Most High, as He sought us and died for us, provided His lavish kindness to the ungrateful and evil.
His kindness far exceeds our understanding, and for that we are grateful, and desire to follow after Him, being transformed as He lives in 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.
197
GOD ON HIGH
Micah 6:6 “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Micah is asking the question of the Israelites? What does God want from us? How can we appease God to avoid His wrath?
Chapter 6 starts out with a complaint from the Lord, an indictment of the Lord, against His people, contending with Israel.
Micah 6:2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.
The Israeli’s are a thankless people, and many scholars think this passage relates to Balak’s discussion with Balaam. You remember Balak, that king of Moab, as described in verse 5. It seems verse 6-7 is recorded by Micah as Balak’s introductory request to Balaam.
To think that Micah is using a heathen king’s question as a response to the Lord’s indictment against Israel is a bit surprising, but the topic of today’s verse is that he referred to God as God on High.
Get that?
The heathen king Balak referred to God as God on High. Now Micah is using this discussion, this question from a heathen God to instruct the people of God, a people who had forgotten God and were thankless to God.
Of course Balak’s request extended to and absurb logic, for he suggested the need for the sacrifice of human flesh to satisfy God on High. How utterly disgusting for those of us who have come to know of our God, and of His saving grace, His holy standards, and His ultimate sacrifice for each of our lives.
How could this God we know accept a disgusting sacrifice as child sacrifice, yet Balak, understanding God as an ultimate God, a God very lofty and on High, logically may require the ultimate, most costly sacrifice.
Logic can take a person to dangerous places!
This is not the God of the Bible, for our God does not require the death of any, for the Word declares He finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked. How much more does He seek safety for the innocent, and for those seeking His face. No – He seeks to save, to restore, to enrich and to guide.
The only death He has required is the death of His Son for the sake of His enemies. How can we understand such a God, a God who sacrifices for His subjects, dies for His creation, suffers for His people. And we forget Him in our actions and attitudes.
In conclusion, what “sacrifice” are we to give to the God on High? Balaam, as I understand, responded accordingly to Balak’s extreme, somewhat logical question in Micah 6:8.
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
When the believer understands the God we worship is the God on High, the lofty, supreme God, and that His desire is that we humbly walk with Him, this truth is life changing.
Has it changed your life?
The God on High requires something from you. Consider.
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.
Considering the Bible 