14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
This will be the last post in this passage as we are looking at Paul’s warning for the Corinthians. this passage usually carries with the the present day experience of communion for the modern church in my mind, and that may be directing my thoughts incorrectly. You see, the communion of the Lord in the first century was a meal, a full fledged meal, somewhat like a pot luck in my mind. Food items and wine were brought together to a central home where believers gathered to partake in a meal. The Lord’s supper was not a ceremony as I experience in a modern church, where all are solemn, and the congregation waits for a chip or wafer, and a little cup of grape juice or wine. This is foreign to the record I read in the New Testament.
Against this backdrop, let’s consider Paul’s concern in this passage.
First, Paul identifies believers with Christ through the supper, the intake of a meal. Secondly, Paul identifies Israel with demons through the intake of a meal.
Then Paul seeks to provide a correction to the audiences possible thought that food or demons are the issue of discussion. The food isn’t the issue. The demons aren’t even the issue.
Verse 20, Paul seeks to correct any misunderstandings and focuses into the issue he is warning them about. It is the believers actions that are the topic of concern. Paul speaks of pagans offering up to a demon, and joining in this action is the problem. Paul isn’t concerned about what demon, or how many demons, or the circumstances behind the food that is being up, but that believers are joining these practices. That believers are influenced by the pagan way of worship, by pagan beliefs during worship.
A believers devotion to God is being tested here, and if a Christian chooses to worship as the pagans do, the believers worship does not necessarily change the object of the pagans worship into the true God. It simply shows the believer as having left behind the true God to join in with those who do not know God.
We leave Him for a shared experience with pagans, and this is the action that provokes God to jealousy. How audacious and chilling some of our actions may appear from God’s point of view!
May we conform to the true worship and pull away from the worship that is “popular”, that is accepted by all, that is common and repetitive.
May the Lord continue to teach us.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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.
132
FAITHFUL AND TRUE WITNESS
Revelation 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
In our last post we spoke – hopefully clearly – of the name “Faithful and True”. After a poor effort at explaining the state and standard of God in the previous name of God, I would like to consider this name of God, and how the witness of God should be described as the perfectly trustworthy “Faithful and True” God.
This particular name speaks of God as a witness. An action that He partakes in, and the action of Him as a witness is described by the nature our God has.
He is faithful and He is true. There is not much wiggle room in finding fault with this Witness.
But a witness is one who is a spectator of a crime, or a contest or of a happening that needs to be recounted. To be a witness is to communicate what One has seen.
What had Jesus seen? Consider – to be a faithful and true witness does not require the witness to provide every detail, or every fact, or every incident in a case. It is to provide the record that is required in the court room, and pertaining to the case at hand.
Jesus provided the information we needed. He spoke of what He saw, and He communicated what He saw with the help of the Holy Spirit.
His witness, if you would have it, was the glory of God, and brought the faithfulness and truth of God, the grace and mercy of God into a resounding focal point that will never be outshone.
A short story to help connect with my thoughts.
I was in church this Sunday morning, crying over some song that spoke of the glory of God. The church sang of the sacrifice of Jesus, and I realized once again that the crucifixion was the glory of God!
No bright lights. No shining beams, or radiant glow. No attention seeking blast of energy!
No – the greatest exhibit of the glory of God was that in the darkness of the crucifixion, one lone body hung bleeding, that of a man misunderstood, of a tortured soul that gave all, only to be rejected, ridiculed, and mocked. Even as he hung in that excruciating pain, He forgave his tormentors.
As He became a martyr, He forgave His enemies. He forgave. He actually forgave his enemies in the midst of their celebration of defeating Him.
How can we grasp this? What type of God is this, that takes our punishment and forgives those who, with extreme prejudice, executes Him? How can we understand Him.
He is the faithful and True Martyr, for to be a witness, in the New Testament was to be a martyr.
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.
A few days back I discovered some additional shorts from Dr Leighton, teacher at Soteriology 101.
As I may have spoken of earlier in my posts, I spent many years consumed with the Calvinistic teaching, only to break free because of men like Dr. Flowers, who offer alternative views that make more sense and glorify God, making Him purer, and more loving.
I do hope you will consider the teaching with an open mind.
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.
131
FAITHFUL AND TRUE
Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
For the next two names, we will have a similar situation as we did with #129 Faithful, and #130 Faithful and Just Forgiver
As mentioned in those earlier posts, though these names appear to use the very same words, there is a difference I believe. One speaks of His actions, as the other speaks of His nature.
Let’s consider His name of Faithful and True.
I am going to go out on a limb somewhat and suggest that these two words describe a state and a standard.
First off, to be true is to conform to reality, to be consistent with facts, genuine or real. Although this description is speaking of Jesus as being true, or conforming to reality, how could He not conform to reality?
Yet I think I may be considering this definition of “true” incorrectly. It is not that He conforms to reality, in that He is the the result of forming to a mold or shape. No no no. He is the One who is the maker, and of course, all things made by the Great Creator will smack of conformance to the Maker. All things have the signature of Jesus.
Yet from our perspective, we are looking, not from the creation onward, but from the present back. He is true, for He is the only reality, and all things are merely conforming to His nature of His being. We see the “things”, and associate them with Him. Should we not think “backwards” and consider Him to be the source of all truth, to be “true”, and all things after that are judged in relation to Him?
Yes – that is the correct understanding I would say. The state of Jesus is that He is true. He is the only Truth, given that my reader understands I include the Godhead in my description of Jesus.
With that, I would like to suggest that to be described as “faithful” in the name we are considering, brings to the reader the concept of kept promises, of a promise being made, and at a later time, the fulfillment of that promise. To be shown as faithful requires the passage of time. This is the standard Jesus keeps providing to His people.
His standard of faithfulness is related to His state of being true. Both are related to each other, and when combined in the name we have today, creates a perfect picture of a perfectly trustworthy God.
Jesus is True, and because of this, His word can be trusted. Jesus is Faithful, may be seen by His promises being realized.
He is truly Faithful and True
Praise His Name.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
In our last passage we noted that all that were of the nation of Israel had experienced the salvation of God through the escape out of Egypt, and travels through the wilderness, yet most failed to please God, and were overthrown in the wilderness. Two men of the original people who left Egypt actually made it to the promised land, along with the children born in the wilderness.
In this passage Paul continues to describe the failings of the nation of Israel, specifically idolatry, sexual immorality and grumbling.
Those three actions are brought forward to the first century church as failings of the nascent church in the wilderness. They were overthrown, scattered in the wilderness, as Paul describes in the previous passage, and in this set of verses, he continues to teach of the end result of these three sins. Notice that Paul shifts to describing the end result of these three specific sins as destruction.
Idolatry
Paul refers to Exodus 32 when he writes.
Exodus 32:6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
Check out the context. Moses was on the mountain, receiving the law of God, while Aaron was at the base camp, being manipulated by the people. They demanded gods to worship, and Aaron provided. The result was the old worship of Egypt with the name of God tacked on.
Get the import of this. The people assigned the idol to the god who rescued them out of Israel, and Aaron made a formal announcement – “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord”.
The people wanted it. The leader wanted it. What could go wrong? Given they had the smell of Egyptian idol worship lingering in the camp, they did what came naturally – they ate and drank, then rose up to play.
The eating and drinking describes a sacrificial offering to the idol, of which the idolaters would consume. This feast also speaks of the complete loss of self control in eating, for many students of the word understand this to be a gluttonous feast in front of this idol.
Was it not just a few verses earlier, in chapter 9, that Paul spoke of the importance of self control in the winning of the reward? The link between self control and victory is again shown to us, though through the failure of the people of Israel.
Sexual Immorality
Out of this idolatrous feasting, what little self control left for the people was jettisoned in favor of sexual immorality. Once the dam broke, the flood waters of licentiousness drowned the people. Destruction came into the camp, with twenty three thousand falling in ONE DAY.
Grumbling
Grumbling. When I first realized this sin was grouped with idolatry and sexual sin, it was a bit of a surprise. After all, grumbling seems like a minor sin, a sort of acceptable sin, something “everybody does”.
Consider. To grumble is to murmur, to say anything against something, or someone, in a low tone. Could this have been the beginning of this entire debacle, this release of self constraint, that allowed a people to seek what they wanted instead of what God wanted. To begin to grumble eats away at a thankful heart, allows a rebellious spirit, opens up a spirit of judgement against an authority. It provides a medium to grow a discontented, argumentative and hateful people. To grumble against an authority allows for a law to be created, another way to live, a create a law unto themselves, for the grumbler surely knows better.
My friends, grumbling is a serious sin, and after considering grumbling in light of the first two sins Paul describes, I have a better understanding why these three sins are grouped together. Paul refers to the destruction of some in relation to grumbling. Grumbling is an acid that will eat you up, and tear you down.
Thankfully, we have the promise that temptations such as grumbling can be overtaken by the believer. The way of escape you ask? The way of escape is a humble spirit of reliance on the God we serve, a willingness to accept His leading and not to challenge His wisdom. The way of escape is to be led, or controlled by the Spirit of God, and to endure hard times by His strength and grace. It is not to “get up and play” but to abide in the self control God has provided through a reliance on Him. After all, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
My friends – we are to have a humility of spirit before the Lord, a submissive heart, for we cannot think we have ever arrived, that we know better or that we ever could have thought of a better way.
… let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Take heed my friends.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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
ABRAHAM
CAVE AS A POSSESSION
Genesis 23:17-18 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
Genesis 23:19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 25:8-9 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,
Luke 23:53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
Luke 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
Abraham needed to address the affairs of his home, specifically the death and entombment of his wife Sarah. Being a stranger amongst those he resided, Abraham was literally passing through a land that had been promised to him by God, but had not realized the fulfillment. He needed to secure a place of burial for for his dear wife Sarah. So started the dealing, the negotiation with an Hittite for a patch of land that would eventually become a small area of land his family would be given.
Abraham sought out the cave of Machpelah, a possession of a man named Ephron. Initially Ephron offered it to Abraham as a gift, but wisely Abraham insisted on terms of payment, so all things may be orderly and above board, without any hint of possible impropriety or advantage. This plot of land that received death was the first plot of land in Canaan that was to be the legal possession of the Jewish people. A field with a cave.
Eventually, all of Abraham’s immediate family found their resting place in this cave. Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah laid their heads down in this cave. All entered the cave, and their body stayed in the tomb.
For millennia, the Jewish nation generally followed this practice for the dead, eventually using ossuaries for a space saving option.
Abraham owned the cave. It was the only piece of real estate he owned, other than by the faith he lived in. That faith made no difference to the Hittites though.
Jesus did not own any cave, in the sense of a legal transaction with Joseph of Arimathea. It would have been unnecessary, for He was only occupying it for a short term. But at the risk of being flippant with the story of the resurrection, Jesus owned that cave. He controlled it, He dominated what it stood for. He entered, dominated death, and left it empty, hollow and without force.
Abraham and his family – their bodies experienced the effect of death, and one day, we shall all, by the power of Jesus, own the grave. We shall walk out as He did, only on His power and by His promise.
Yes He owned that grave. May we always have before our eyes that resurrection of the One who left a grave behind!
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.
130
FAITHFUL AND JUST FORGIVER
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This instantly recognizable verse found in 1 John carries with the compound description terms that I didn’t “get” for decades as I read it, over and over again in the midst of my day to day walk with Him.
Now, I see this multiple name of God to be reinforcing each term and emphasizing God’s trustworthiness to depend on Him for His work in our lives.
Let me try to explain. We understand that for God to be described as faithful speaks of His nature, of His core being. Our last blog tried to explain that idea, and I wont’ repeat the thought here.
But when it is combined with the justness of God, God’s willingness to forgive addresses His “just”ness, or righteousness. Righteousness is God’s conformity to His own will, a perfect balancing of the attributes of God. Now this description of conformity to His will is speaking of God Himself. He, in the forgiveness of our sins in response to our confession, is conforming to His own will.
But let us not forget that His will is not only forgiving, but His will is also to judge sin, to rid creation from all that does not conform to His will. So when I come to God confessing my sin, God has two seeming contradictory desires. Forgiveness or judgement.
Except for one fact, one truth, one action that the Savior performed that allowed God to be just, and the justifier of all those who have faith in Jesus
Romans 3:26 … to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (emphasis mine)
Now, when I come to God with my sins, it is not only an emotional response from God that provides my ongoing forgiveness. Though true, for us to understand that forgiveness would rest in a subjective knowledge of the love of God. It may even degrade in our thinking to a “feeling”, of how God looks at us, how He is generally good and that due to that we have forgiveness.
If I understand our salvation, this is not how God communicates to us. He is committed to our forgiveness, not only in His nature – He is love – but also due to the covenant, the agreement we can read about and believe, that God has acted in real time, provided historical data for us to consider and believe, provided His Son and suffered, dying on a cross and raising again to prove His nature.
This is an objective truth that we can return to daily not having to depend on our feelings, but on the justifying and forgiving truth of our Savior and Father in heaven.
He is faithful and just. And He wants us to rest in his covenant of grace.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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.
129
FAITHFUL
1 Thessalonians 5:24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Our next ten names of God will include the core thought of faith, faithful and faithfulness.
Ten names that emphasize not our faithfulness, weak and inconsistent as it may be, but of how faithful our eternal and all powerful God is.
Now within the next ten passages, one of the names of God is Faithfulness. I will be addressing the difference in these names in that post, but for this post I would like to consider what it means to be faithful in relation to the person of God.
To be faithful speaks of the Lord’s nature. He is faithful. It is His nature to be trustworthy, to be reliable, to be One we can count on. He is not One who speaks glowing promises and then forgets them, or decides something else later. We may think He means something, and when provides, we are surprised, but I fear that is simply a matter of our not paying attention to His words, His message.
Or better yet. The realization of His promise was provided to us and in the provision, looking back at the promise, was much much more than we considered when we originally “thought” we understood the promise.
Such is the case in the provision of the promise of a Savior. The promises of the Savior in the Old Testament did not fully describe the incredible realization of Jesus.
When Paul speaks of God being faithful in our verse of choice for this topic, he speaks of God “doing it”. He will keep His promise. Paul can claim this because it is the nature of God to fulfill His word.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He can surely sanctify and keep us blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Let’s continue with our passage in 1 Corinthians, remembering Paul has just written of self control for the believer. In our passage today, Paul brings up the history of Israel in the wilderness for us to consider.
Not a great example of victory!
1 Corinthians 10:1-5
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Paul just spoke of his own danger of being disqualified due to a lack of self control. We saw in our last passage, that he also warns the believers that disqualification was a very real danger to the “rank and file” believer. (See Conditional Security – 2 Corinthians 13:5-9).
In the very next passage, in chapter 10, Paul emphasizes this very truth by reaching back into the history of Israel, of their deliverance from Egypt and guidance into the promised land.
In this passage I would like to draw your attention to the qualifiers in the passage. When I speak of qualifiers in this passage, I am thinking of qualifiers of quantity, or a description of the amount of subject being described. The two that are obvious for our study are…
ALL
“All” typically speaks of the totality of the subject matter, a 100% factor, implying in this instance entirely everyone in the group.
I know there is a faction within the Body that considers “all” to not be describing “all” but a subset of “all”, as in “all” the chosen, or “all” the predestined. Don’t you just love quote marks! It is as if those who are not in the all, may never be in the all, and are not to be considered of the all.
Alright – A bit of a rant on my part. Your forgiveness is requested. I will leave that discussion for another time, but in this instance, when Paul speaks of all, he is referring to all the Israelites, the entire nation. It seems obvious.
all under the cloud
all passed through the sea
all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea
all ate the same spiritual food
all drank the same spiritual drink.
For they (all) drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
(italicized added for completeness of thought)
The entire nation is represented as having went through each of the above actions. To go through these actions was to establish those that would become the nation of Israel. It is also of benefit to note that though some of these actions were experienced, or entered into by the tribes of Israel in one day, some actions, such as eating and drinking of the spiritual food and drink, occurred much later in their experience. Paul may be referring to a continual action in the last two actions.
MOST
Most is our second qualifier of quantity. Unlike “all”, most speaks of a majority, or of the greatest in quantity, but falls short of including all.
As Paul uses this term, it is shocking that he refers to most as having failed to please God.
An instance that comes to mind is the sending out of the twelve spies. Ten of the spies did not please God! That is an 83% rate of failure in pleasing God.
Another instance that occurs to me is the provision of quails due to the grumbling of the people, and the resultant death of many with a very great plague
Numbers 11:33 While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague.
One more instance will suffice. Consider Israel and the serpents.
Numbers 21:5-6 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
As an aside, the people spoke of God’s manna as “worthless food”. How thankless, how insulting to God, the supplier and sustainer of the people, to reject the bread of life. Yet this is the history Paul brings to mind.
When Paul speaks of most that were in the wilderness, he speaks of all but two. The only two who made it through from Egypt to the promised land was Joshua and Caleb. Two men who left Egypt that did not fail to please God. The remaining fathers who saw the mighty works of God lay strewn in the desert. Paul says they were overthrown in the wilderness. This is the very same term Moses uses in Number 14:13
Numbers 14:16 ‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he haskilled them (overthrown them) in the wilderness.’
How incredible to consider this warning. The Lord was not able, because the people would not submit, and were doomed to the wilderness.
Earlier I mentioned a percentage of 83%. Let us not consider the percentage of those who ultimately failed to please God in the wilderness, for it is truly a sad tale! Yet Paul speaks of it as a reminder of the challenge before us.
If there is something going on in that you are struggling with in the Lord’s will, take heart and understand the Lord is seeking the best for you. But let this warning be understood.
Rebellion against Him and refusal of His will will not go well for any of us! Submit to Him and seek to please Him. Humble yourself and admit your error before Him. Consider the Bread of Life as worthy and not worthless.
After the Lord spoke of the overthrow of the people, He reminded those listening.
Numbers 14:18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’
He is good. Trust Him. Seek to please him is all the ways you know of.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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
ABRAHAM
SOJOURNER
Genesis 21:34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
Matthew 8:20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Temporary. Nothing permanent, nor fixed. No forwarding address, and certainly nothing to return to. Abraham was a man who lived a life of temporariness, of no constant residence or place to call home, other than his temporary tents, living a nomadic life. Moving about a land he had no “rights” to in the view of those he lived amongst.
He lived amongst the Philistines, seeking to maintain a peace with those he lived amongst. He sought to recover a well that Abimelech’s servants took from Abraham, Abraham offerd sheep and oxen to Abimelech, negotiating a covenant with the king of the Philistines. Abraham gave Abimelech a gift, though the claim was that Abraham had been wronged, not Abimelech.
After this one sided covenant with Abimilech, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of the Everlasting God.
You see, Abraham sought a permanent place, a permanent home, and that home was the Everlasting God. The sheep and oxen provided to Abimelech was of no consequence to Abraham, for they did not represent that which he held onto as permanent. He was merely passing through.
Jesus also, as the ultimate sojourner, did not even own sheep or oxen to offer to His offenders. No – nothing of personal ownership was offered by the Lord Jesus. Golly, he didn’t even have a place to rest His head. It was His body that was the offering, and His life on earth was surely the tantamount example of sojourning, living the life of a man on pilgrimage.
Jesus’ offering of His body was the sacrifice He provided to initiate a covenant with the Abimelechs of the world. Those who are takers and not givers.
Are we not all takers? Do we not take advantage of situations we find ourselves in? Consider identifying with Abimelech in the story we have of Abraham. Can you also see yourself as the one opposite the Lord in the negotiations? As the one who is facing Jesus, as He offers much much more than sheep of oxen?
He was the ultimate sojourner, with no worldy wealth, no property, no livestock, no goods to bargain with, except for His own body, and the extreme passion He exercised to cut a covenant with us.
May His name be lifted up!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
128
FACE OF GOD
Genesis 33:10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.
A little context may help in this passage we are considering today.
Jacob ripped his brother Esau off. He connived his birthright from him and stole the blessing from him. Out of these actions, a family was torn apart, with Esau expressing a fury equal to the crimes committed against him.
Jacob was going to die at the hand of Esau.
Genesis 27:41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Did he not deserve this retribution? Was Jacob not the supplanter, the deceiver, the self seeking conniving little cheat that was a destroyer of a family.
Fast forward two decades, with Jacob hearing Esau’s threat of death in his memory, knowing that he had completely wronged his brother, and caused much pain for the family.
And a message from God, speaking of Esau coming to meet him with 400 men.
400 men did not bode well in Jacob’s mind, certainly reminding him of this death sentence hanging over his head. Judgement was on it’s way for Jacob and Judgements name was Esau! But Jacob was the ever wiley man, separating his family into camps, hoping some would survive. He truly was a man who lacked courage. But he did know who to call on in times of trouble.
In Jacob’s trouble, he called out to God, wrestling with God all night. In the end, Jacob came away a new man, with a new name.
Genesis 32:30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
Jacobs life had been delivered, even though he saw the face of God. Prior to encountering Esau, Jacob’s life was on the line before the Lord, and the Lord delivered Jacob from himself. The life changing event of Jacob’s life!
Jacob endured the night of struggle and came away a new man. A new man that was about to meet his brother. A brother with thoughts of killing on his mind – or so Jacob thought. Yet Esau initiated the response of love, of embrace, of weeping.
Genesis 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Jacob refers to Esau as the face of God. He had just experienced seeing the face of God that night, and he described Esau’s lavish forgiveness, love, care and brokenness as that of the face of God.
Esau provides us a witness of what Jacob experienced in that night of wrestling. He was wrestling with One who would be broken for him, that provided forgiveness, undeserved love, mercy and relationship. A clearing of a painful conscience, and a healing of brotherhood.
Esau. A man who threatened death upon his own brother, yet looked beyond justice and to his heart. To healing and not to hurting. To love and not lashing out.
What a picture of our God, and a description of the Face of God for us to live under.
When you think of the Face of God, remember the context of forgiveness, love, weeping and reunion.
Jesus is the Face of God!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
A few days back I discovered some additional shorts from Dr Leighton, teacher at Soteriology 101.
As I may have spoken of earlier in my posts, I spent many years consumed with the Calvinistic teaching, only to break free because of men like Dr. Flowers, who offer alternative views that make more sense and glorify God, making Him purer, and more loving.
I do hope you will consider the teaching with an open mind.
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.
127
EYE OF THE LORD
Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
The psalter has been reminiscing of the exodus and of Gods power exhibited in the overthrow of the the Egyptian army. Prior to our description of God as the eye of the Lord, the psalter speaks of warriors and horses.
Psalm 33:16-17 – The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Might he be thinking of the Egyptian army being vanquished by the Red Sea. Of course the conclusion after considering the Egyptian army is that the strength of men is a vain strength, a false confidence. Though the power nation of the time, their strength was consumed in a matter of seconds.
Exodus 15:4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
God has exhibited His care and power over the small and great nations through His wisdom. This is a wonderful truth, and yet the psalter starts our verse with “Behold”.
Though God is active in the national affairs of mighty nations, that is not all there is to God. God is also resting His eye, His attention on the one who fears Him. This is not an aggregate of thousands or tens of thousands that gather as a nation, but refers to an individual, a lone person, a solitaire and single person that is of the right spirit, that is humble, fearing the Lord.
Behold the Eye of the Lord is on the individual. The solitaire man, woman or child, that fears Him and trusts in His mercy.
As I grow older in the Lord, I realize I have so little to offer Him, such an insignificant servant. One who had great dreams and aspired to much. Missionary work in far flung nations, self sacrifice for the poorest of the poor. So proud. So full of myself.
And yet my life is a “common” life, that of a husband and father who gets up every morning to go to work and comes home at night to help out around the house, watch my grandbabies occasionally and then fall asleep, only to repeat again the next day.
Yet the Eye of the Lord has been my ever present protection and guide. He is the One who works in the insignificant, amongst the common man who fears the Lord. He is the One who exhibits mercy to us, and as I get older, I see His steadfast love in the day to day experiences of His protection, guidance and comfort.
Oh to recall that His eye, the Eye of the Lord is upon those who trust the Christ. May we fear Him and to depend on His mercy for more in our lives!
For He truly is the One who is good.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
I am somewhat surprised that in our trek through passages that address the conditional security of the believer, we are just now considering 2 Corinthians 9 & 10. It may be that as a lengthy passage I felt overwhelmed in approaching it, or that it hits a few sensitive spots that need to be addressed in my own walk with the Lord. What ever the issue, let us not be fearful of the truth.
Paul begins this passage with a picture of an athlete, a runner whose goal is to run and win a race. The connecting theme between the runner and the believer is the exercise of self control in all things. He is looking to provoke the believers into exercising self control for the sake of obtaining a prize.
Yet this passage has somewhat bothered me, in that it conjures up in my mind a competitive spirit between believers. Is Paul seeking to pit believer against believer in this passage. Only one can win! Run (against your brother) to win.
But I don’t think Paul intends to communicate that believers are running against each other, but that they all need to exercise self control, as those of the world do. The world competes for a leaf that fades, and in the midst of that effort, may employ methods that are less than of the highest morals in order to get an edge.
Not so with Paul’s audience. Paul is comparing their goals with our goals – not of beating our competition – i.e. other believers, but of attaining to a reward, an eternal reward. The act of self control is similar in both competitors fields, but for the believer, the motivation is for an eternal goal, an eternal crown.
As it is with those who seek a leafy crown, some believers fall away, some are taken out of commission (go home seemingly early), and some are disqualified. And in this passage Paul is considering the threat of disqualification for himself!
Disqualified
It is the term that I couldn’t explain away when I was a young believer, so I often skipped over the verse, or connected the passage with rewards – which made some sense since Paul speaks of rewards just a verse earlier. Yet to be disqualified may mean more than simply the loss of rewards.
Disqualified is the translation of the Greek term ἀδόκιμος adókimos, and has the sense of being unapproved, rejected, worthless, a castaway, a reprobate. Harsh words.
I ask my reader to consider that if an athlete is rejected from the games, being considered not worthy of entering future competition (worthless to the judges), any rewards he may think are coming to him will also be lost. His loss is not only the rewards, but also his reputation, his name, his career, his livelihood, his very life focus that he had committed to for years.
Disqualification is a brutal set back, a judgement that one may never recover from. Remember, Paul is speaking of his own disqualification in this passage. Yes the great apostle Paul did no consider himself beyond this possibility.
Later on, he speaks of disqualification regarding those in the Corinthian church, using the very same word. (See Conditional Security – 2 Corinthians 13:5-9) There didn’t seem to be any believer that were immune to this danger! Every believer, from the apostle Paul to the young girl who served the saints a drink of water. All believers were in this potential danger of being disqualified!
However you see this passage, whether it be of service or of salvation, it is a dire warning to us all to heed the word of the Lord in keeping his ways, his commandments, his principles.
Breaking His law of love may bring about disqualification. No believer wants that, and certainly the Lord seeks to avoid this judgement on a believer. May we never give reason for this to be an issue before our Redeemer.
May we all seek Him, and His ways in our lives, for His glory and our benefit!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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
ABRAHAM
INTERCEDES FOR OTHERS
Genesis 18:23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Luke 6:12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. Luke 22:45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,
Abraham had a family member in trouble.
At the beginning of Genesis 18, three “men” stood in front of Abraham. Abraham begged them to stay for refreshment, even a meal, and it turns out these men spoke of Abraham’s future child by his wife Sarah. We have in this story the laughter of Sarah’s disbelief, and the timing of their son’s birth foretold. It was about to become real within twelve months!
Although it appears the “men” had come to discuss Abraham’s future children, they were also on their way to a city called Sodom. As Abraham assisted them on their journey, God revealed to Abraham that the “men” were on their way to judge if destruction was to fall on the City of Sodom – where Lot and his family lived.
Abraham stood still, eventually drawing near to the LORD and then began to reason with God. He actually pleaded using the very nature of God against Him. You are not unjust! What if there are 50 righteous men. Will you kill them along with the unrighteous? What about 40? 30? 20? 10?
Abraham knew his God and advocated for those in a city He may not know. Except for Lot, Lot’s wife, their three daughters and their husbands, and hopefully, two righteous slaves. If Lot’s family was considered righteous, we have the ten Abraham may have been fighting for if we have 2 additional righteous slaves. We don’t know, yet he interceded for the city, and risked the anger of the Lord in his efforts.
It turns out only four survived the judgement. Yet Abraham’s interceding was effective, for it moved the heart and will of God to allow for Abraham’s desires to be realized. Abraham interceded, and God agreed. Even though ten were not found, God rescued four. God was righteous in that no righteous soul died in that conflagration. How utterly shocking that God’s righteous nature, that Abraham argued with God about, was realized in the saving of four souls, far less than the ten Abraham prayed for!
Jesus, in His intercession, prayed for His disciples, and of those who believed through their word, and finally that the world would know that God had sent Him. Abraham sought his own will, that is, the safety of some in Sodom by the removal of judgement and destruction. Jesus sought the Father’s will, not His own will, and joined into that will of God through a judgement undeserved, to deliver all those whom He prayed for.
Billions of souls later, He is still interceding for us.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
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.
126
EXALTED
Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.
I have been a believer for over four decades, and I remember the first time I simply considered God as being exalted.
Exalted, to be inaccessibly high, to be beyond and above, to be out of reach. As I considered His stature, His position only seemed to get greater and farther away, to be so out of reach, and yet He was with me, teaching me and stretching my understanding.
I was out late that night, walking my route with no one around, all the homes quiet, and not a dog barking for miles. Quiet. No traffic in that section of London that night. I just so happened to come to a pedestrian crossing, dang it if I still can picture it in my mind, with an old brick house converted to a corner store on my left, broken sidewalk below my feet, the curbing missing and the pavement cracked. It was, I tend to remember, a starless night with just an old street light giving some sight for me.
Yes, I remember that night forty years ago – the freedom, the loss of worry and fretting, the inner joy that was almost unbearable, and the holy fear of maintaining His presence. He cracked the door for me that night, gave me a glimpse, be it ever so small, that has remained with my memory ever since. All the surroundings became an anchor for my mind to remember such a privilege.
He is high. No matter the height you image He may dwell in, you, and I have not understood it correctly. He is very high, exalted above all and everything.
That night my only response to Him was praise. No prayer, no requests, no sharing of my burdens or concerns, no formulaic prayers. As a matter of fact I had no concerns, or burdens, or needs. I could only praise Him out of the mystery He is, out of the exalted position (weekly as I understood it) He dwells in.
He is Exalted
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.
125
EXACT IMPRINT
Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
This is somewhat of a daunting name for myself as I have always associated this name with an imprint, or a stamp. Not sure where I got that idea, and I am not trying to assign error with this understanding. It is just that it doesn’t seem to connect with me. Maybe I am being too literal – Remember I tend to be too literal at times – but to associate Jesus as the imprint of God’s nature doesn’t tell me anything very specific. And I tend to associate it with a physical form that creates an imprint or stamp, and we all know that is not the message Hebrews is trying to communicate.
So I am left with a bit of a dilemma. How shall I try to write on something I don’t get? Of course – some may say that hasn’t stopped me before with most of my previous posts. That may be true!
Nevertheless, when all else fails, I started to study the phrase and looked initially at Strong’s dictionary. What a wonderful tool for the layman to take advantage of.
What I found was that the phrase “exact imprint” in the Greek New Testament is χαρακτήρ, transliterated as “charaktḗr” Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the similarity of this transliterated word to our English word “character”.
This was an amazing find for me, for if I read this passage with this substitution, we get the following…
He is the radiance of the glory of God
and the character of his nature.
He is the character of God’s nature. Wow – That helps me so much.
In my mind there are numerous passages that speak of the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ, for which I am so thankful. This one passage, though strong on this topic based on my previous understanding, has now “landed” in my understanding. I get it – at least I get it better than before, and will be one of those passages that I will return to in discussions with saint or sinner.
He is the Character – the Exact Imprint – of God’s nature! Think of that for a moment – the suffering Savior has revealed not only the heart of God, but His exact nature.
May we praise Him for who He is!
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.
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
It’s all a matter of degree. How often do I have to forgive? Do I really need to do it again? I forgave him three times already and he isn’t learning his lesson. Why keep forgiving him?
Let me submit to my gentle reader that that is the wrong way to look at the Christian life. Or at least the wrong mental stance when it comes to hearing His word for us.
We are not to consider our Christian lives as a grudging obedience of a number of commands. A life of laws pushing us around. The principles God provides us sometimes feel risky in obeying them, can take us out of our comfort zone, can actually be unfair! But we need to realize that His ways are given to us for our own good.
Let’s take a look at this parable and consider it’s implications. I have looked at this parable in a previous post that may be of interest to my reader. Find it at Parable Surprises – Unmerciful Servant
We have three subjects in this parable, with the unmerciful servant being the man to watch. He has a freaking huge debt with the King, and the King, rightly so, requires payment. A payment he can’t provide. He begs for time to pay it all back – which sounds good, but this debt was beyond that cure! Time wasn’t going to solve this problem!
So the King had two options. Sell the servant, his wife, his children and all that he had!
Or forgive him of all debt. Release the servant, and his entire family, of his debt obligation. Free him of his responsibility to the King, and allow him to continue living with his family, and to continue with his possessions.
Grasp this action, this ridiculously gracious and undeserved action this servant received. This was not per the legal code of the day, for the servant was responsible by law for the repayment. This servant was granted his life back, and the lives of his family!
But this act of grace, of forgiveness, of unbounded mercy did not translate into this servants life. There was something wrong with this servant! Something terribly wrong! For as soon as he could, he started calling in debts from those who were his equal, his fellow servants. And for paltry amounts, the sort of amount that is petty in comparison.
The parable also implies the servant was quick to find this debtor, and when confronted him, actually began to choke him, demanding payment. Now of course, he had every right to demand payment by law, but give me a break – what is wrong with this fellow?
The surprise in all of this parable is the King’s reaction. Yes he had freely provided forgiveness to the servant, but upon hearing of the flagrant disregard to responding this this act of grace, called the servant back to his throne.
‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
Remember this is the king speaking. His grace, mercy and forgiveness is being rescinded based on the servants actions!
And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
This passage shook my core when I first quit ignoring it’s principle message. We, as believers, who know of the unfathomable forgiveness granted to us in the cross of Christ, should want to forgive everyone, should have had a life experience that draws us to forgiving others.
For believers to hold resentment, refuse to forgive, to nurse a grudge or maintain hateful attitudes towards our own brothers and sisters should alarm our souls to the danger we are living in.
At the very least, holding back forgiveness may simply reveal a lack of understanding the grace provided us. An unforgiving heart and it’s resulting actions, based on this passage should warn us that our forgiveness may be rescinded some day.
For those who have never experienced the forgiveness of God, you may not think forgiveness is a blessing to the forgiver. Please understand to forgive another is a blessing that we enter into, finding freedom to live the life God intended for us.
God is good, and He rejoices to forgive.
Luke 15:7 … I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents ….
If we are believers, and have the life of God in our lives, we will experience the same joy.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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
ABRAHAM
COVENANT KEEPER
Genesis 17:9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
Mark 14:24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Abraham, when confronted with God in the 17th chapter of Genesis, is introduced into a covenant with God. The very first verse of the chapter has God describing Himself as “God Almighty”, and that Abraham was to walk before Him blameless.
Note that Abraham was to walk before God blamelessly in order that God may make a covenant with Abraham. This covenant was a bilateral covenant, one in which both parties to the covenant had responsibilities.
We have addressed the blessing God was offering to Abraham in previous posts, but in this post we want to emphasize Abraham’s responsibility before God.
This covenant, this bilateral covenant was intended to include an everlasting possession, a promised land, and God was intended to be their God (v9).
And the sign of the covenant? Circumcision. It was to be a sign. A sign of faithfulness to the covenant. The child was to be circumcised, an act of obedience of the parents, an indication of the parent’s hope for the child and the intention of the child to walk blameless before God. The sign of circumcision that would forever identify a man as being God’s. A sign that no one saw, for it was a private, hidden sign. A sign between God and the follower.
This sign of circumcision, in this instance indicates intention; intention of the parents to lead and for the child to follow, to be blameless before God.
Centuries later, a child was born, and though He was circumcised, and the parents sought to lead Him into a life of blamelessness before God, there was to be a revolutionary, unexpected, “outrageous” fulfillment of another covenant, forever linked to this Child.
Not only was Jesus blameless before men and God, but fully righteous (there is a difference!), and without sin. His acts, thoughts and desires only reflected a complete and utter obedience to the Father above.
Yes, He was circumcised but that was a shadow of an ancient covenant that His parents rightly observed. His covenant was to be greater, as the shedding of blood is greater than the shedding of a portion of skin as a baby. A self sacrifice that would initiate the greatest covenant offered to fallen man, a death that would produce life.
He initiated the covenant, He is Lord of the covenant, and has kept His covenant with His people.
His covenant is offered to all, and to enter this covenant, it is only to look to Him, to see Who He really is, and to follow. To believe He is the One, and to leave your sin behind.
Will you enter the covenant? He has poured out His blood for the many, and the many could include you.
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.
124
EVERLASTING KING
Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
This name of God is our last in our mini series of “everlasting” names. It seems fitting that the Word has 7 names of God that speak in one way or another of His everlasting being.
Our last name of God is the Everlasting King, and since the listing has been alphabetical, I would not want to imply this is the least of all the names!
As Jeremiah spoke this name, He was in the midst of geopolitical upheaval that few have lived through. In the midst of this upheaval, Jeremiah speaks to a core reason for the upheaval. Idolatry.
By bending the knee to any other that the true God, brings conflict and enmity between men, and is the cause of pain throughout our history. Jeremiah mocks the very thought of idolatry, having known the True God and seeing this behavior form the view point of God.
The passage has Jeremiah speak of the vanity of idols, the uselessness of referring to an idol. Although idols can be beautiful, and intimidating, and pervasive, does not establish idols as true.
Jeremiah speaks of idols as being decorated with costly coverings, and the formation of the idol requiring great skill, yet they are simply a chunk of wood, an inanimate object that cannot speak, and that has no sentient existence.
Yet in our day, this truth is still valid, for how many idols are available for us to grovel at? Every thing created by man has the “idolatry factor” included in its existence.
I suppose the complexity of idols has grown exponentially, from a wooden block to technical marvels. Massive computers that “forecast” the future weather, or mechanical robots that are beginning to “think”. But complexity, or the increased skill set of the one creating the machine does not make the idol of greater value
The visual beauty of idols may have also greatly increased, grabbing our eyes and attention. Tremendous visual displays are everywhere, overloading our senses, providing messages for us to consider, seeking to convert the believer from God. We are in the midst of a land full of messages glaring at us through computers, billboards and most effectively the cell phone. This inundation of false beliefs delivered through visual beauty does not make the idol of greater value.
The fact that all the nations bow down to an idol, that everyone else is giving attention to an idol, whatever idol they choose, does not make the idol of greater value.
Idols, per Jeremiahs message, are pure vanity, of no value.
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.
A few days back I discovered some additional shorts from Dr Leighton, teacher at Soteriology 101.
As I may have spoken of earlier in my posts, I spent many years consumed with the Calvinistic teaching, only to break free because of men like Dr. Flowers, who offer alternative views that make more sense and glorify God, making Him purer, and more loving.
I do hope you will consider the teaching with an open mind.
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.
123
EVERLASTING FATHER
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
My brother-in-law once asked me if Jesus is our Father? What? Why would you even think that?
It turns out that he was asking a very good question, a question challenged me when he referred to the above verse to justify his request.
Although there are ways to address this seeming problem while referring to the Trinity as One God, that the characteristic of Fatherhood is consistent through each of the persons of the Trinity. Although it is common to refer to the Father as the One who sent Jesus the Son on mission to the earth, each of the persons in the Trinity may be thought of as Fatherly.
One additional viewpoint is that the term “Everlasting Father” speaks of Jesus as the author, or source of eternity. The phrase may be expressed as father of eternity if I understand it correctly.
No matter how you understand this name as it relates to the Savior, we have a passage that speaks of the Fatherhood of our God, and as a believer who lost his father early in his life, I have not typically thought of our God in this way. This speaks of my spiritual poverty, for to consider the Creator/Redeemer as my Father provides a life changing perspective on God.
So many impacts of relating to God as my Father come to mind, but for this post, the approachableness of God bears on my thoughts. To think that the One who has been offended by my sin, rejected by my attitudes and actions, and occasionally ignored in my thinking has His arms open to me, His door always open, and His heart ready to hear of my repentance and love to Him is a truly amazing truth.
And as a father, I have come to know the joy of my own children coming to me for advice, of their reaching out for help or guidance, of their sharing a joy or trial with me.
Is it correct to think we bring joy to the Everlasting Father when we come to Him with our burdens, our concerns, our request for guidance? As a child years back, I would think this would only be a burden for my father, but now I realize to be a father is to look for these times when your children come to you.
He is the Everlasting Father, and He waits for us to reach out, to ask for forgiveness, to seek guidance or to simply be with Him.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
First off, let’s assume the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God. There is a teaching in the church that would differentiate the two. Since Matthew was teaching to a Jewish audience in his gospel, he respected their sensibilities and referred to the kingdom as “of heaven” and not as “of God”, where a strict Jew may find unnecessary offence. (There would be plenty of necessary offence as the Jew read his gospel!)
Find the following comparison of passages, speaking of the same story, yet using different terms associated with kingdom, that may help illuminate those who struggle with this.
Kingdom of Heaven – Kingdom of God Matthew 11:11-12 – Luke 7:28 Matthew 13:11 – Mark 4:11 Matthew 13:11 – Luke 8:10 Matthew 13:24 – Mark 4:26 Matthew 13:31 – Mark 4:30 Matthew 13:31 – Luke 13:18 Matthew 13:33 – Luke 13:20 Matthew 18:3 – Mark 10:14 Matthew 18:3 – Luke 18:16 Matthew 22:2 – Luke 13:29
Oh, but you say, this message was for those who would experience the physical, re-establishment of Israel as the Messiah’s nation to rule over. Kingdom speech, whether using “of God” or “of the kingdom” referred to the nation of Israel realizing the promises of God in the Old Testament, of becoming the nation that would have as it’s King He who would subdue the world, every nation bring subservient to the King and His nation.
This was a manner of thought I lived in for a period of my Christian life, and thought the body of Christ was a distinctly different group under God, as if God had two families. I shied away from passages when an apostle referred to the Body of Christ as the Kingdom, or simply overlooked the implication. Yet the apostles did not mind referring to the church as the Kingdom.
Starting in Acts, and searching for kingdom references until Revelation, we have 31 passages. Granted there are a couple in Revelation that refers to the kingdom of this world, but suffice to say, the early church had no problem with the church being referred to as a kingdom.
With all my previous arguments for not considering this passage in Matthew for my own standing before God, but as only for an ancient people, let us try to understand the principle message and the application for us today.
In the culture of the day, a wedding took the form of three stages. The first being the engagement, in which two fathers would make an agreement concerning their children. The next stage was a betrothal, where the children, now of marrying age, would make a formal mutual promise to each other. The last stage, the actual marriage ceremony, would occur approx. twelve months after the betrothal. Not necessarily exactly twelve months, as the custom allowed for the bridegroom to come unexpectantly. Jesus picks up this cultural norm to apply to His coming to get His bride, the church.
And as the bridegroom would arrive, as he travelled to the brides home, the virgins of the wedding party would meet him and return to the place of marriage with the bridegroom. It seems in this parable, the ten virgins had been given a possible time of the bridegrooms appearance, and headed to the meeting place to wait. And as we know from the parable, five of these virgins knew the bridegroom was coming that night. Or were they were just lazy? Certainly they were foolish!
At the risk of boring my reader with my past beliefs, the very teaching I followed, that allowed me to disregard a passage as this for my own life, produced this same condition in my heart. I would never say it out load, but I knew Jesus was coming back soon, and I planned accordingly. Short term plans, just getting by, ignoring long term problems that might arise from my short term thinking. Sound familiar?
Jesus is coming back, and He may be coming back before you are done reading this post. But He may be coming back in 10,000 years. My planning, as it was for these virgins, must be for the worst case scenario, where the bridegroom may “be delayed”.
Another application of this passage is that we are not to rely on others for that with which we are responsible. I can’t rely on my wife’s faith to be credited to my life. I can’t assume my child’s faith will somehow bring me into good standing with God. I need my own oil, and I need my own oil now. Assuming I have enough oil to make it may be fatal. And for the foolish virgins, it turned out to be fatal, for the very purpose of their life at the time was to be at the marriage feast.
They were refused! They were refused because they were not ready for an extended period of waiting.
Have you been waiting for years for the Lord’s return? Possibly decades? Personally, I have been granted the privilege of knowing the Lord for 43 years now, and have went through many times of discouragement, disappointment and disillusionment. As I look back, He has always been there for me, showing grace, forgiveness and guidance. In those years, He has provided encouragement as I look to Him, as I seek Him out, as I consider (and sometimes reject) popular teaching if the Bible teaches differently.
He will be coming back on His schedule, whether it be today or in the year 2924. No one knows, but we have the blessing of knowing Him today, preparing for His return as we look to Him, as we ask for His guidance, blessing and strength.
God is good, and we need to be prepared daily for a long term faithful walk with Him. Short term thinking may cause you discouragement, disappointment and disillusionment that will war against your soul.
God is good, and we can trust Him, for He is good, all the time, even until 2925. (And beyond)
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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
ABRAHAM
FRUITFUL
Genesis 17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
Hebrews 6:14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”
Earlier on in Genesis, the Lord spoke to Abram of the many offspring He would produce through Abram. We reviewed this topic in Genesis 15:5 a couple of weeks ago. See Jesus in the Old Testament – Abraham – 13 if of interest.
Although this occurrence seems to be of a similar massage as before in Genesis 15, the message is slightly different, in that God comes to Abram speaking of fruitfulness. In the middle of this message of fruitfulness, God informed Abram of two things.
Abram would now be Abraham.
God was to establish a covenant with Abraham. A covenant of circumcision to be obeyed.
So my ears perk up – How does fruitfulness and circumcision relate to each other?
Let’s take a moment and consider some passages that may shed some light on the idea of circumcision, and see if it connects with fruitfulness.
When God initiated the command of circumcision, it was directedly related to the obedience of the believer to the Word of God. Notice two verses that directly speak of the covenant of circumcision and obedience linked together.
Genesis 17:9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
As mentioned in earlier post, Abram would have many offspring, speaking to the quantity of children he could claim as from his loins. But I wonder – Is there such a thing as an offspring that is not fruitful?
To be fruitful, as we find through the witness of the Word, speaks of obedience. Fruitfulness is the result of obedience. Many reading may know of believers, all in various states of fruitfulness. Some even may not be exhibiting any fruit in their lives, and yet they are offspring.
Where are you going with this Carl?
I am suggesting that there is a difference between the quantity of children and the quality of children. Consider Isaac – he had two sons (quantity), but one son was of a different quality, experienced a different fruitfulness, compared to the other.
In Genesis 15, Abram was addressing his lack of any children when speaking to God, that he only had a servant to pass down to. God said he would have many physical children.
In this passage, I would suggest that out of the many, many offspring of Abraham, some would be fruitful, obedient offspring.
Abraham, to be sure, was exceedingly fruitful. Joseph was exceedingly fruitful. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, the prophets, faithful priests. All fruitful.
Yet there was One who is the epic topic of this verse. He is the ever fruitful, ever blessed One who, through life eternal would continually produce fruit to God, even through us, if we listen and obey.
He is the Fruitful One
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 