We are finishing our time in Philippians, considering Philippians 3:7-20 in relation to Conditional Security. There are some very difficult verses within this passage and I make no claim to have come to settled conclusions on any of them.
With this thought, and with some trepidation, I would like to offer my thoughts, and an opportunity for my readers to comment, correct or condemn my simple ruminations.
Let us continue with Philippians 3:17-20 and take a minute to read through this short passage.
Philippians 3
17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Who is Paul talking about when he refers to some group “walking as the enemies of the cross of Christ”?
A couple of things to note.
Paul is writing to a church, and he has just encouraged the church to keep an eye on, and mimic those who walk as he does. Just a few verses before, he mentioned the mature, and those who do not think in a mature manner.
Might he be defining a distinct group within the church again, this time as enemies of Christ. No no – he didn’t say enemies of Christ, he said enemies of the cross of Christ.
There may be no difference, yet he refers to the cross of Christ, a symbol of death and self denial, not the person of the Christ, and then describes the enemies destiny, their idolatry, their shame and their mind set.
Their mind set!
At this point, it is apparent (in my mind) that the Christian has two possible goals, that of the upward call of God, or the lower call of earthly things.
Paul provides a sober description of those who have a different mind set.
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Where is your mind set?
There are two destinies Paul provides. Earthly or heavenly. It is a choice we can make daily as we set our minds aright.
May your mind be on the Christ!
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
LEAVING HOME
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country … Genesis 12:4 So Abram went…
John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
It was necessary for the Lord to leave home, for without His departure from the Father, His work could not be accomplished. In a similar manner, Abraham had to leave his home in order to fulfill his calling of God.
Both had to go through a heart rending time of leaving those they loved for the sake of those they love.
For Abraham, he had to leave his father and mother, brothers and sisters, and all those he grew up with. He left all that he had experienced, all that he had known, for a land promised to him, in a region he had never seen.
True, he was granted the privilege of travelling with a half sister – Sarai, as his wife, and a nephew, by the name of Lot, who was somewhat of a burden, but nevertheless, he wasn’t completely alone. He may have had some of the fathers servants also, but I don’t recall if that is explicitly spoken of. He left his home, but not completely alone.
Jesus was not granted that privilege of having any other to travel with, for He came alone. No one else has ever been so separated from family as He was, and yet He maintained connection with the Father and Spirit continually. This is a mystery in my mind, but His departure from the heavens should not be considered of no burden.
He entered the world of flesh and blood, amongst strangers that were not simply different, but rightly be identified as His enemies. He had no-one to share His heart with, other than the Father Himself, but of those He rubbed shoulders with, they were unable to understand His being, His thoughts, His motivation, His wisdom or His ways. (Much like His disciples today?) Constant confusion, conflict and contradictions by the disciples, seemingly always misunderstanding His message, must have made the isolation Jesus experienced feel even greater.
I have often considered Abraham a fierce hero of the faith, leaving his home to venture out. What a tremendous man of faith, a man of courage, and of patience. He left his home to obey God!
The Savior left His home for us, but how much more of an impact on His being this must have been! We often do not consider the effect this must have had on our Savior. He left His home in order to rescue us, and in the rescuing, He was in a very real sense the loneliest man that ever walked the earth.
Let us be thankful that we have not been called to be alone, for we always have the benefit of those of like faith, and may we be a blessing to those we come in contact with.
Be thankful that He left His home, so we may have a greater home to go to!
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.
98
DESIRE FOR THE BRIDE
Song of Songs 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.
This is our second of three names that includes the term desire, and though the verse uses the object pronoun “me”, it is clear the intent of the verse is describing the beloved’s desire for the bride.
Understanding that the Song of Songs is a picture of Christ and the church, we have a name of God, though veiled, describes the very motivation of His will and actions towards His people.
As believers, we have been rightly taught of the great love He has, of His mercy, of His faithfulness, and of His longsuffering towards us, but it seems in my mind, to have this modifier of “desire” towards His church adds an aspect of His nature that I seemed to have missed.
The term desire is tᵊšûqâ in the Hebrew, and it speaks of a craving, or longing of a man for a woman. One time in the Old Testament, the term is used of the craving of a beast to devour, as in Genesis 4:7, when God describes the desire of the beast of sin to engulf the first murderer.
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.
The craving is not a simple drive to attain a goal, but would I be right in understanding this desire to be all consuming?
For a beast to devour, or for man towards his wife, or a wife to her husband, each of these desires describe a focus, an all consuming longing that obliterates other desires. The heart of the one desiring is totally concentrated on the object/person desired.
This is the desire the Beloved has for His bride, the church.
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.
97
DESIRE OF OUR SOUL
Isaiah 26:8 In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.
For our next three names, each of them declare that God is associated with a “desire”, and the source of the desire is what will produce the difference in our discussion.
For our post this morning, we are considering God as the desire of our soul. The term desire brings with it both the negative uncontrolled lusting after a thing, and the positive longing, craving, even hunger after a thing, person, place or memory. Of course in this instance, the desire is related to the person of God, being the very object of the desire.
And yet this isn’t, from my standpoint, simply a desire that is borne out of an emotional need, or a physical want, but of the soul, of the indefinable, yet very core of each persons existence. The soul represents (and is) the person, for the body decays, and our emotions are but a fleeting experience.
The soul, the core of the person has a desire, a longing, a craving that is continually hunting to find a place of rest, that seeks to find shelter and contentment. The soul knows it is estranged from it’s truth, from it’s place of belonging.
Given this undeniable thirst, the soul is constantly seeking out for it’s place of rest, and yet the distractions of the flesh, deceit of the evil one, and discouragements of the world constantly get the soul off track, off the path to find it’s place of rest.
Isaiah is telling us that the name and remembrance of God is to be our desire, and in our finding, our souls will rest from the search!
He is our Desire, and we are to recognize this truth, abandon the deceit, discouragement and distractions all around us and seek Him with all we have.
Let me rephrase this. Might it be better said that if we seek Him, that in the seeking we will gradually and continually avoid the deceit, discouragement and distractions all around us?
Let me know your thoughts!
He is our Desire, and we bring honor to His name and benefit to our soul as we understand this truth!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
We are continuing in Philippians, considering Philippians 3:7-21 in relation to Conditional Security. There are some very difficult verses within this passage and I make no claim to have come to settled conclusions on any of them.
With this thought, and with trepidation, I would like to offer my thoughts and an opportunity for my readers to comment, correct or condemn my simple thoughts.
Let us continue with Philippians 3:12-16. Paul begins the passage using a banker metaphor, as if there were a ledger on his desk and is describing his transactions of what he owned for what he wanted.
Let’s take a minute to read through this short passage with that in mind.
Philippians 3
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
The great apostle Paul speaking of not attaining. The question that rises in my mind is – What are you seeking to attain here Paul? What is the topic here?
The term in Greek is λαμβάνωlambánō, and it helps me understand Paul’s message, for when I see this word I also understand it indicates “to take to oneself, to appropriate to one’s self” as Strong’s dictionary provides. What Paul is speaking of is that which he is not simply knowing intellectually, but is living out in his life.
That which he is chasing is the Christ and that which he is appropriating to himself is the call of God. He freely admits that he has not appropriated it fully into his life, that he has a way to go, that his failures and disappointments in the past, though real, are simply that – in the past.
As mentioned in the last post, this posture Paul takes is the healthy posture of realizing that though his intent is to be fully committed, he has found he has not attained, nor is he perfect. He is not already perfect. Perfect. Who might think this very thing? If Paul couldn’t think it, could any of us? Yet to be perfect in Paul’s mind not not to be flawless, or without any error or problem. The term perfect is found twice in this short passage. In verse 12, Paul is admitting he is not perfect. τελειόωteleióō, in verse 12, speaks of being brought to the end of a goal, to bring to a close or fulfillment. Paul admits he has a way to go.
And yet, he speaks in verse 15 as being perfect. τέλειοςtéleios is translated as perfect in 3:15 and is referring to Paul and other Christians as being “perfect”. To be perfect, at least in this passage might be understood to be mature, or brought to it’s purpose.
So let’s recap.
Paul hasn’t arrived to the point where he is satisfied. Note that the only time he speaks of some relative point of maturity is that when he speaks of himself with others. There is a relative arrival for Paul in relation to those in the church who are also chasing after God.
But verse 15 opens the door to the mixed nature of the church. There are those in the church who are mature, and there are those who are not. Those who do not think like Paul, he seeks that they will enter into maturity with him at some point, that God would reveal his point of view to them. The point of view that he has not arrived! That the mature Christian has not arrived!
This mixture within the church brings about a general topic of a spectrum within the body, of those who are hard pressed to know Him and those who might not care less. Of course this brings to the table the presumption that a Christian can grow cold, can fall back, can for a time, turn from following. I think most would admit to this teaching within the Word. My concern is this lapse of following would provide a temptation to quit, to say “no more” to the Savior and to walk away, not to return.
In our next passage, I think Paul may be hinting that the believers in Philippi are witness to this catastrophe of apostacy in their ranks. Till then, may the Lord be very real to you in your day to day lives.
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
Promises made by God
Genesis 15:5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.
Paul makes much hay out of the singular noun in Genesis 15:5, where the Lord spoke of the seed / offspring of Abraham. (See graphic of Hebrew noun parsing below, from Blue Letter Bible website)
Of course we can interpret it, as I often have when I read this verse, as “all the offspring” or “descendants” (as the NASB translates it) of Abrahams lineage, the millions of men and women who have come into existence due to Abraham’s existence. The seed of Abraham, in this context may be understood, from Abraham’s point of view, as all the children brought into this world through both Hagar and Sarah.
Yet Paul speaks of one Seed, one Person that will be of the promise. The promise is of the Savior, and though Abraham truly is the father of many nations, this blessing pales in comparison to the blessing of his lineage, the Seed that was in focus here in the Lord’s promise to him.
Jesus Christ is the Seed, the singular Seed that is truly the source of all, for He is the Alpha and Omega, the start and the finish, the One who will have a family greater in number than the stars of the heavens!
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.
96
DESIGNER AND BUILDER
Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
This morning, we have two descriptors of our God, and should rightly have two separate posts for each, yet they are a couplet that deserves to be together in my mind, since my background is heavily influenced by these descriptors.
You see, if you are just beginning to follow my blog, my background is engineering, and for the greater part of my professional life, I have performed design work and then worked with builders to complete the project.
In the handing off of a design to a contractor/builder, I provide him plans that are to communicate the design intended. Out of those plans, the contractor interprets them in largely the same way as intended, if the plans are complete.
But even when the plans produced are complete, questions arise, items that were not considered or anticipated are discussed, and various additional decisions have to be made to maintain standards and yet complete the project.
In all of this explanation, one thing stands out in the development of a project from design to construction. The dangers of communication breakdown.
Not so within the Godhead, for their is no confusion or misunderstanding between the designer and the builder. The project will be completed as imagined, planned and designed, for He has anticipated all concerns, planned for all possibilities and does not have any supply chain issues that would impact his schedule.
He is the designer/builder of the city Abraham was looking for, a city that is exactly as God wishes.
Given this truth, He invites us into this process, accepting our stumbling ways, able to continue the work, even as He trains us in the work.
2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
It is an amazing fact that God is in control, and as we consider all the facets of this existence, we can only wonder at His abilities to manage His creation and our lives, not only for His glory, but also for our good.
He is an amazing Project Manager!
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.
95
DELIVERER
Romans 11:26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
The Deliverer, Jesus is the One who initiates the deliverance, the rescue, the salvation out of our pitiful existence. And yet He has come out of Zion, which originally meant “a parched place”.
Of course, Zion had come to mean the City of David, Jerusalem or even the Temple constructed by Solomon, which was called the dwelling place of God.
Out of a parched place, glory rose. This picture reminds me of another time when Isaiah develops the Saviors arrival in the midst of unexpected times and circumstances.
Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Jesus appeared on time, in location and per direction in the most unlikely manner, out of a parched circumstances, and from a stump the remains of a now dead family tree.
The Deliverer has come out of Zion, a parched place that showed no promise of life. And yet He came, not only to provide life for all, but to banish ungodliness, which is the very definition of life for those who understand the Life He has given us.
To consider to be delivered and yet to wallow in ungodliness is to be self deceived. Consider the purpose of the Deliverer as we consider the Deliverer today.
For He has rose from the grave, the dust of a parched place to provide life and godliness for all who seek Him.
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
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.
We are about to embark on a lengthy passage in Philippians, considering Philippians 3:7-21 in relation to Conditional Security. There are some very difficult verses within this passage and I make no claim to have come to settled conclusions on any of them. With a passage that speaks of gaining Christ through giving something up, to the great apostle Paul “not attaining”, the passage is fraught with opportunities to cause division, confusion or even heresy.
With this thought, and with trepidation, I would like to offer my thoughts and an opportunity for my readers to comment, correct or condemn my simple thoughts.
Let us begin with Philippians 3:7-11. Paul begins the passage using a banker metaphor, as if there were a ledger on his desk and is describing his transactions of what he owned for what he wanted.
Let’s take a minute to read through this short passage with that in mind.
Philippians 3
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
It seems Paul has been at the ledger table for many years, for as we see in verse 7, he refers to the original meeting with Jesus in Damascus, in his face to face with the Savior and his estimation of all his religious efforts and confidence in relation to this One who confronts him. Yes – Paul counted (in the past) all things loss, and then in our very next verse, speaks of his present suffering and loss of all things, counting (present tense) them as rubbish. As an aside, the term rubbish is more colorful than a simple bag of garbage as the term rubbish may imply. The term is σκύβαλονskýbalon, and refers to refuse, such as the excrement of animals, offscouring, rubbish, dregs, anything that is worthless or detestable.
Is there a progression in Paul’s balance sheets? At the beginning, his part of the “trade” was simply “a loss”. This term is a simple description of damage or loss. Not too graphic.
Later he speaks of his part of the trade as excrement, dung, feces. I don’t know about you but I’m seeing a progression here, an estimation of Paul’s part of the trade as being worse than originally estimated.
Does this not exhibit a progression of relationship, in that Paul continues to estimate his “part of the trade” with with the Savior, that he is, less than his first judgement of value to the Master.
Paul was chasing after the Christ, and as he chased, he had to face his own sinfulness. This is not an enjoyable experience, finding that in all his efforts, he became (in his estimation) less and less of value to Him. In summary, I think it is safe to assume that Paul, as he sought Christ, found that in his estimation of his part of the “trade” to become less and less appealing.
Have you found this to be true?
As you have ventured into the Christian life, have you found that sin erupts when least expected, hardness of heart is ever with you, and a disappointment in your faithfulness is somewhat continual? This is a common experience for the one who is seeking after the Lord, for light exposes shadows and darkness. It is difficult to face the truth of our own existence before Him.
Two take aways on this conclusion
As I try to walk this life with the Savior, I find I am easily tripped, often distracted, sometimes discouraged, redirected by lies or simply without the heart to continue. This is a very dangerous place to reside, and I fear there are some who simply give up in a personal dedication to the One who calls us. This condition can easily slip, I would imagine, into not just ignoring the Lord, but eventually rejecting Him.
Although overly simplistic, I fear those who ignore Him, ignore the very heart of the gospel. Distracted or deceived, those who ignore Him have forgotten one simple truth.
He still loves me, even though I see my part of the transaction as less and less valuable in the offering. Yes He still loves me, and that is what will draw us forward through the disappointments and discouragements.
He still loves 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 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.
94
CROWN OF GLORY
Isaiah 28:5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
What is it to be a crown? Is it simply a mass of costly metal, fashioned in a ring to fit on a head, with multiple rare stones dispersed on it?
That is my first thought, but is that the picture intended by the prophet?
So my question should be – What is the message Isaiah is communicating to us by calling the LORD of hosts a crown of glory?
The first thing to notice in the development of this passage is in the previous verses, Isaiah is delivers a woe to the drunkards of Ephraim, and describes them as the crown of pride.
A crown is a statement, representing splendor, dignity, authority and honor. For Isaiah to describe the northern kingdom (Ephraim) in this manner brought shame to the nation. A crown of pride is not to be the outcome of receiving splendor, dignity, authority and honor, as the nation of Israel had centuries before. To be degraded to drunkards is a statement of the utter failure of the northern kingdom, and of their willingness to enter into a shameful existence. They had fallen, and were about to be conquered.
After describing the northern kingdom, Isaiah turns to Judah, and reminds them where their splendor, dignity, authority and honor may be found.
To consider the beginning of Isaiah’s discussion of crowns as discussing the shame of the northern kingdom, and then to describe the Lord using the same term – “crown” speaks volumes.
He is diametrically different than our typical experience, an experience of falling into vices and sin. He is the polar opposite, One who is an ultimate crown, and is described not only as a crown, but a crown of glory. He is a crown that not only represents splendor, dignity, authority and honor, but in Himself is splendor, dignity, authority and honor.
He is our crown of glory, an indescribable blessing for those who seek Him out. He rescues us from shame and provides splendor, dignity, authority and honor.
He 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.
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.
92
CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
Isaiah 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
We have before us our third name of God that describes our Father as a Creator, the Creator of the ends of the earth. We have been introduced to God as the Creator, and as the Creator of Israel, but in this description we find He is speaking to Israel regarding that which they cannot see. The ends of the earth are the furthest distance from Israel, that part of creation that they have never seen, experienced or interacted with.
Yet God has created the ends of the earth, and as such, has a heart for those who have not been seen, experienced or interacted with.
As believers, we tend to be concerned only with our own “world”, our own circle of family, friends and foes, but God is looking to far greater concerns than simply our concerns, valid as they are. His heart is not only for the individual believer, for the body of Christ as an organism and family, but also He is looking to the ends of the earth for their redemption and He will accomplish it.
Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
God has created the ends of the earth, so that they along with us, may worship Him together with 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.
11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
In our last post on this passage I asked if those reading think of this passage as a tough passage? I assumed everyone would agree.
I mentioned that for the purpose of the last post, I wanted to delve into the conditional security topic this particular passage speaks to and that I would not address the difficult phrase of “saved through childbearing” in the previous post
This is a new post and I would like to offer a few thoughts and maybe a possible solution to this difficult passage.
The phrase that sticks in my throat every time I read it is “she will be saved through childbearing”. How to understand this phrase spins my head in loops, for it seems to say that only mothers have the opportunity for salvation, but this is obviously incorrect, for the apostles themselves were believers and not one of them had given birth.
Of course Paul may be speaking only to women in this passage – check the context – but that still knocks out all women who have never given birth. How does that jive?
In my reading about this passage I found that the Greek word for childbearing has the definite article associated with it. That is, it may be referring to “the child” borne into this world. Could Paul be referring to a specific child, the God – man Jesus, that though born through a fallen woman, may provide salvation to not only specific women, but off to all women no matter their condition.
One additional aspect of this phrase that seemed to help me swallow some of this passage is that some translations translate the term saved, as preserved, and may refer to not only to specific women, but also to the preservation of the dignity and character womankind began with.
Hopefully I have not caused any deeper confusion, but in my looking at this passage last week, I found myself digging, and wanted to provide some of my preliminary thoughts.
Your thoughts (preliminary or other) are always welcomed.
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
Father of Many Nations
Genesis 17:5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Abram began his walk with God in obedience to the call of God, given the promise of being a blessing, and eventually being provided the promise of a land for his children. He would become a great nation, but as it is with the Lord, Abraham would not simply be the father of a nation, but the father of many nations.
It is commonly thought, that Abraham has lineage in many of the eastern nations surrounding Israel, but even greater is his status of being the father of three of the largest religions in the world.
Of course he is a founder of the Jewish faith, and by extension a father in the Christian faith. Many in the faith of Islam consider Abraham a father of their faith, though through Ishmael.
Gen 17:5 speaks of Abraham as being the father of many nations, and that can be understood in various ways, whether it be through geopolitical nations, or groups of people that are of a nation without land, but by faith.
Abraham was a father of many nations! Our God is the Father of all, no distinction of differences, no “us and them”. He is not the Father is all the nations, although is a sense He is, but in our thoughts for today, He is the Father of all.
Of all.
I don’t understand it, but that is alright, for He is the One in charge and not I.
May His name be praised, ab all who have breath.
Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
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.
93
CREATOR OF THE HEAVENS
Isaiah 42:5 Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
This name of God is our last name for us to consider that includes the concept of creation. Earlier we have considered “Creator”, “Creator of Israel” and “Creator of the ends of the earth”.
With this name, we find we are hearkening back to the first concept, that of creating out of nothing. He is the Creator of the heavens, that which was described in the very first verse of Genesis.
The heavens. What most modern believers may think of as space, with all the galaxies, planets and stars flung into it. For the ancient Hebrews, their concept of the heavens may have been that of the firmament, the sky with the clouds. How they considered the sun and stars relative to the sky is an unknown for myself.
Nevertheless, God created all that is above us, an expanse that neither the Hebrew nor we can understand. It is not only physically above us, but it is greater than our imaginations, unfathomable in our understanding.
Yet He created it, a reflection of His eternality, His all mighty power, His unknowable wisdom and His abundant “over the top” provision for His people.
He is the Creator of the heavens, and they speak of His glory.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
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.
91
CREATOR OF ISRAEL
Isaiah 43:15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”
In our last post, we considered God as Creator. He who created out of nothing, or as the ancients used to say “ex nihilo”. Our passage this morning speaks of God as Creator, using the same Hebrew word as in Gen 1:1, but in a different sense.
God created Israel, the nation now in captivity in Babylon. He is reminding the people who have been dragged off into captivity that He is their Creator. The nation would not exist with His active work in the world.
Consider the patient work performed in the creation of the nation. The calling of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the expansion of this dysfunctional family, the rescue of Israel from Egypt though the plagues, the exodus through the Sinai of a thankless people, the giving of the law, the invasion and domination of the land of Canaan, the provisions of judges to provide leadership, the rejection of His authority in demanding a king, the calling and equipping of prophets to warn the nation, and finally, at this point in their history, the humbling of the nation by a cruel Babylon.
God created Israel through many processes and was calling on them to recall their past, in that He is their Creator.
Only a few lines later, Isaiah draws their attention the the current activities of God, in that He is doing a new thing. His creative powers, in that of the nation of Israel in not finished. Babylon will not have the final word. God is actively working and doing a new thing in the history of Israel.
He will make a road in the wilderness (v 19), a path back to the land they have been carried away from. Their story wasn’t over yet, and if truth be told, the Way they would be provided would be greater than all their hopes and wishes.
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.
11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Is this a tough passage? Everyone says YES!
This is a difficult passage that creates more questions than answers. My intent isn’t to solve the mystery of what it means to be “saved through childbearing”, but to bring the last clause into focus.
This is an example of the topic of salvation being contingent upon continuance, by our perseverance, persistence and determination to practice our faith, love and holiness, with self control. This begs the question of our source of strength for only through our connection with the Savior, can we continue through His strength. Yet we are to follow, look to Him, seek His help, pray for His strength, ask for His wisdom and in every way we know, lean on Him for our every need.
Yet as I walk through these passages that speak of conditional security, I can see where this topic may foster an attitude of superiority, of a pride in persevering, of thinking haughty inner thoughts due to continuing in a religious life, of comparing your “living” faith with others who may be struggling.
My brothers and sisters, this is antithetical to true Christian life and exhibits a self reliance, a leaning on the strength of your own will. This pride of perseverance is the very sour air that turns so many away from the faith, and rightly so.
We desperately need to admit our weakness, our poverty, our neediness, our inabilities. Not only to ourselves, which is the first (and hardest?) step, but also to our family, our friends, our fellow workers, and dare I say it – even our enemies.
But alas, this requires great wisdom, and a true humility, where we don’t necessarily think lowly of ourselves, but that we don’t think of our selves at all. – What a blessing to be in that state!
Truly, to walk with the Lord is impossible without Him. It is just too deep, too broad, too high and too wide, for our feeble minds and weak hearts to fathom.
May we seek Him, and in the seeking find the strength He provides to humbly admit our weaknesses.
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
Altar Builder
Genesis 12:7 So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. Genesis 12:8 And there he built an altar to the LORD Genesis 13:18 there he built an altar to the LORD. Genesis 22:9 Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Hebrews 8:3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.
Early on in the Word, any place could be an altar, and Abraham in his travels built many altars. I often think of altars as places of quietness, calmness and peace. For those in the Old Testament, this might not be such an accurate picture, for the word altar, in the Old Testament can literally be translated as “a place of slaughter”.
I may have mentioned this in a previous blog, but my son took it upon himself to read through the Bible in a month, and in the reading, as he got through Leviticus, he made the following statement. Dang – those priest’s in the temple were more like butchers than religious priests today!
Sharp boy, that son of mine! He saw that the altar was a place of slaughter, blood and death. The slaughter of any animal has got to be a violent, possibly noisy endeavor, not to mention the gushing of blood, the experience of a life ending and the impact on the conscious of the one sacrificing.
The New Testament is no different, for it also refers to a place of slaughter. I am not convinced that the Altar was any less bloody during times of sacrifice, or that the practice was “sanitized” much from early times. To sacrifice an animal would be the forcing of one’s will upon a helpless victim, an animal with no choice.
Consider Jesus, who was not only the sacrifice, but the High Priest of the New Covenant. He officiated over His own sacrifice, and was the One who orchestrated the time, place and extent of His sacrifice.
He is the ultimate altar builder, and as such has eliminated the blood letting for His worshippers. There is no altar for the believer, no place to sacrifice an animal to appease God. This is an ultimate insult to consider this as being an acceptable approach to God. Our altar is Him, and our approach to the altar is to be in a state of humility, teachableness and with a thankful spirit.
Abraham was a shadow, but Jesus is the reality. Look to the Only Sacrifice offered up for your life!
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.
90
CREATOR
Romans 1:25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
When we think of creating a piece of art, making a machine, or writing a poem, we think we are creating something, that may have never been in existence before. Well – that may be true in some instances, but we should stop short of thinking we are creating in the same manner as God created.
We “create” out of a plethora of materials.
If we are making a piece of art, whether a painting, sculpture or a book, then all the material and subjects we broach in the art is found in the originally created world. We are merely recreating, or rearranging already existing thoughts feelings and ideas.
Similarly with the making of a machine. Whether that machine is a tractor, or a computer, the original machine is made from ideas and truths available to the one searching specific processes or methods already established and ready to be found in the originally created world.
In the writing of a poem or story, we are taking truths or observations and communicating these truths or observations in a hopefully unique way.
But in all these human creations, we can not claim that we are creating in the same way as God created the world we live in. For when we speak of God creating, He creates out of nothing.
He did not have any one previous to him to provide guidance in creation, or methods of creating, or materials to create out of. He did not have any materials to manipulate in order to create something new. He had nothing to work with, and by a simple spoken word, emptiness, what many call space, was created.
Space was created. Time was created. Material was created.
In the beginning (time), God created the heavens (space) and the earth (materials).
We have been made, created in the image of God, and yet though we are broken, we do mimic God in our creative efforts. But there are limitations to our mimicking, for He has provided us not only the materials and time to create from, but the space to perform all our necessary work.
He has established all things. We are simply trying to understand His creation, and in a small way create systems or things that may be of benefit for those around us.
There is a massive difference between our creating and His creating, and due to that huge distinction, He is truly the only actual Creator.
May His name be praised.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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.
89
COVER OF YOUR PRESENCE
Psalm 31:20 In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
Decades ago, when I was courting my wife, we ended up in a little donut shop in my neighborhood, all alone with just the cashier behind the counter. It was a quiet area, and we were enjoying each others company (and a donut of course!) when it multiple groups of people entered the restaurant. Two young men, a couple on a date, some fellas from the bowling alley, three teenagers. It just seemed that the store was inundated with customers for no apparent reason.
After the crowds entered and we had finished our donut, we got up to leave and as we walked away, we both described a feeling of “apartness” or of being separate from “the masses”. It was a very identifiable experience that we both shared in, and though I am surely not implying those who entered the shop were of any malicious intent towards us, I think the experience is a parallel to David’s description of the Lord’s covering.
Other translations speak of “shelter of your presence” (NLT) or the “secret place of Your presence” (NKJV), even the “protection of Your presence” (CSB).
Make no mistake about our little experience. I am not claiming we were under any attack from anyone, but only that the experience of being separate, of experiencing being apart from others is my intent.
David speaks of this covering, of this protection as being God’s presence, which is a most audacious thing to say, for David must surely understand the presence of God is only in the Temple. Just as the believer may understand the presence of God may only be found in a church building.
David also brings this description to our attention due to the fact that he is under attack by the plots of men, and is the recipient of the strife of tongues. David was under attack, and yet he knew of God’s protection, of God’s active work in hiding him in plain sight.
It is a truly mysterious and glorious God that we serve. May we understand His many ways of working in our lives and be a thankful people.
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.
7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
John is coming to a close in the book of Revelation and enters into his description of the new heaven and the new earth. As he describes this new creation, and especially the provision of the water of life to those who conquer, he veers off and starts talking of some who do not conquer. The ones who are cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars will enter the second death.
But John – you are sending this book to the seven churches. Are you not concerned that some of the believers might see themselves in these descriptions. These are believers that will read this message and they may not realize you intend this for unbelievers.
That is the rub in this passage. Those in the church who may read this, if they are not hardened beyond repentance, will see this as a warning and return to the truth. John is actually evangelizing the saved, and is not providing a warning for those in the church to use when they are talking to the lost.
As a matter of fact, it occurs to me that many times when the apostles spoke to the lost, their emphasis was the risen Lord, and not the destination of those who may believe. In other words, it is rare when an apostle uses hell to “scare them into heaven”. If my reader has a portion of Scripture that I have missed, please provide, but the apostles emphasis was His resurrection and not our destination.
Nevertheless, this passage speaks of the believer who has apostatized, who has decided to walk away from the Savior, who has hardened their heart and stopped their ears, rejecting the leading of the Father.
The new heaven and the new earth is for those believers who have continued with the Savior through thick and thin, who have followed and kept the faith, not merely as a doctrine, but as a practice in their lives.
My friend – our lives are to be lives of repentance and faith, of realizing we are weak and that we need His strength, of understanding that we naturally fall, tend to wander and close our eyes to the light.
He is good. May we seek to follow, and by His strength and mercy, conquer.
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
Offspring Benefits
Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Hebrews 10:34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Abraham as an 75 year old old man left his home, his land and his family, based on the message God provided him, that is a command to leave his home, family and country, in order to make him a great nation, give him a great name, and make him a blessing to all.
In the initial promise, it may safely be assumed that Abraham would have children, but the initial communication from the Lord did not specifically define any land that they would possess. Yes, the Lord told him that He should go to the land He would show him, but not until Abraham had committed, leaving family and friends behind, did the Lord mention the land as a possession of his offspring.
Abraham was on the move without a specific promise of a land as a benefit for his offspring, as a possession for his seed. Not until they came into the land of Canaan, did the Lord provide the promise of the land for his children.
He had the promise of a benefit for his children. Turns out it took centuries for the promise to be fulfilled, but a promise is not dependent on time, for a promise given 2,000 years is as valid as a promise given yesterday. For the promise is dependent on the promise maker, and our promise maker is faithful.
As Abraham, Jesus was provided promises of benefit for His offspring, a possession that is an abiding possession, based in the One who led the way. It is not a piece of real estate, but a real peace with God, and of God, a state of love and joy that far exceeds any benefit Abraham’s offspring was promised.
God the Father made promises to our “Abraham”, and by His faithful acts, and through the faithfulness of God, our possession is secure, and is waiting for us to enter into, to enjoy and to walk in.
May we find greater and greater joy in realizing the faithfulness of our God and His many mercies
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.
88
COVENANT FOR THE PEOPLE
Isaiah 42:6 “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,
Many times, in our self centered viewing of the Word, we do not see the Lord Jesus when God speaks of His Servant, as we see in this passage. Many may think this passage is referring to the nation of Israel, and reconfirming their mission to the gentiles, their calling.
The message was relevant for the nation at the time, for they were going into difficult times and needed to be reassured of their status before God. This is surely a blessing that Isaiah provides for the nation, yet if we consider the Christ centered message of the Word, it is obvious that the Lord is referring to Jesus in this passage.
Other passages refer to Him as a light to the nations, and as a Righteous Branch, or a Righteous Servant, but this post is going to consider Him as “a covenant for the people”.
To be a covenant is to be a pledge, or an alliance, even a treaty. Jesus has been given us as a treaty, a peace offering, a unilateral pledge of peace, if we will simply understand and trust Him.
I would like to emphasize that the Lord gave Jesus as a peace treaty, not as a negotiation or as a threatening offering, but that He gave Jesus. A gift.
Secondly, who did the Lord give Jesus, the covenant, the treaty to? The people. The people, in this verse are not active, but are the recipients of the peace treaty.
A gift to the people. A treaty, or an alliance offered to the people, without stipulation or caveat.
This verse is a clear expression of grace toward the people, toward those who were in covenant (the Jewish nation) and to those outside of the covenant – the Gentile nations. You may want to restrict “the people” in this verse to only those under the Mosaic covenant, and you have the freedom to do so, but as we enter the New Testament, we know that the covenant is for “the people”, for those who have blood in their veins and breath in their lungs.
And with this breath, we can praise the Lord for His tremendous Gift of Grace in Jesus!
Let everything that has breath praise 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 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.
87
CORNERSTONE
Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Jesus is referring to Psalm 118:22 when He speaks of the cornerstone being rejected by the builders.
This is a stinging prophecy Jesus is applying to the first century Jewish leadership. Although He speaks of Psalm 118, He also could have brought Isaiah 28:16 to the attention of the leadership.
Isaiah 28:16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
Of course this passage doesn’t speak of rejection. May I suggest, this is the emphasis of Jesus using Psalm 118 when addressing those who were seeking His death.
Not only was it their responsibility not recognizing the Messiah, and that in rejecting the chief cornerstone, they rejected the very stone the building relies on, but Jesus also declares the Lord is in the midst of this.
God will use the wrath of man, the rejection of these leaders, to do a marvelous thing, a supernatural salvation, in front of their very eyes.
He is the cornerstone, the key to the church, the first of all stones to be laid, the sure foundation and the only One to provide the salvation promised.
As Psalm 118:24, the very next verse in the Great Hallel, states
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
The day the Lord takes the rejected stone, and makes Him the cornerstone – this is the day that we are to rejoice in.
The day of salvation, of His work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.
The Lord’s doing is truly marvelous! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
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!
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Revelation 2:18-26 18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,
This is a difficult passage! My first question is …
Who is the subject of this rebuke?
I am going to add my understanding to the verses on this passage below, to try to make sense of the intended audience, and then from that exercise, make some conclusions. Hopefully it brings some clarity and not confusion!
20 But I have this against you (Thyatirian Church Body), that you (Thyatirian Church Body) tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants (Thyatirian Church Individuals) to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her (Jezebel) time to repent, but she (Jezebel) refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her (Jezebel) onto a sickbed, and those (Thyratirian Church Individuals) who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they (Thyatirian Church Indiviuals) repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children (Jezebel’s followers) dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you (Thyatirian Church Individuals) according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira (Thyatirian Church Individuals), who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.
As I have went through this passage trying to identify who Jesus is specifically calling out to, my issue becomes two fold. Is he speaking to the body of believers, or to individuals within the body?
Body
Is he talking to the church as a body alone, and as the church body, speaking of their survival as a witness in the city of Thyatira?
This approach is the way I approached the passage in my days when I clung to the OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved) teaching. I referred to verse 22 as a passage that spoke of a Great Tribulation coming upon the church in the end days, and was able to save my OSAS thinking, delegating those who follow this Jezebel to a small group within a church – not believers – in the last few years prior to eternity.
As you may know, this is not my thinking now, for why would the Lord speak to the first century church in Thyatira of a small group of people 2,000 years in the future?
Individuals
Or is he talking to the church, addressing individuals within the church, informing them that as they follow Jezebel, they are not following Him?
This makes more sense, though it is scarier for the individual if you are following the prophetess Jezebel. Those in verse 22 are responsible to repent of Jezebels works, responsible to change their thinking, their faith and their allegiance to this prophetess.
Note that verse 23 speaks of Jezebel’s children. May I suggest that those, in the church, who have fully given over to her teaching, are now classified as Jezebel’s children.
The very next verse, Jesus continues with .. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, (helping me understand that the audience is still the church in Thyatira) … this verse connects these children of Jezebel as a some part of the church of Thyatira. And the judgement upon these children is final!
Jesus will strike these children dead.
I find it interesting to say the least that a few translations refer to this death as a plague or pestilence.
‘And I will kill her children with plague, NASB
‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, LSB
‘I will strike her followers with a deadly disease, NET
‘And I will kill her children (followers) with pestilence [thoroughly annihilating them], AMP
No matter how you understand this last phrase, it surely is not associated with those who are actively seeking and following after the Savior.
If you are listening to any teacher that advocates any other god than the True God, a teacher that is alluring you away from Jesus and towards a spiritually adulterous faith, advocating sexual immorality in the believers life, and providing “grace” to eat foods sacrificed to idols – telling me of Jezebel’s advocating participation in idol worship, this is dangerous.
No matter how you understand this passage, whether you are simply loosing out on rewards (OSAS thinking) or walking towards death, take the Lord’s warning seriously, test your teacher’s doctrine and way of life, compare those you follow with the Word of God.
If those you follow are not of the Word, immediately run as far as you can from them. Cling to the Word and trust in the Savior only.
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