Considering the Bible

Conditional Security – Exodus 32:31-35

2025-08-07

Exodus 32:31-35

31 So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold.
32 But now, if you will forgive their sin–but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”
33 But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.
34 But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”
35 Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

Chapter 32 starts off real bad.

The children of Israel directed Aaron to take over, to cast a golden calf to worship.

As an aside, for them to build a calf is such a sad commentary on their commitment to religion, for as they had left the country of Egypt, they left behind the worship of Apsis, a sacred bull worshipped by the Egyptians. They built a calf!

The Israel people sinned a great sin in constructing this calf, and then committed even greater sin in the worship of the calf. But in all their efforts to sin against God in the casting of the calf, its apparent their idol was simply a reduced version of the idol of the people they were escaping from. Even in their sin here, they showed their hearts were held by their abusers! Amazing.

The Israeli people sought Aaron to lead them in the idolatrous worship of this calf, in direct disobedience to the very first of the commandments given to the nation by God.

Exodus 20

3 You shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…

The very day of the giving of the commandments, in the midst of the thunder and peals of lightning, with the mountain smoking, the people admittedly confessed their fear. And rightly so, since the mountain was smoking!

Moses informed the people that this display was to instill fear in their hearts, that they may not sin!

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

Then to ensure the people understood the importance of this first commandment, God repeats Himself.

23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

So what do the Israeli people do? They go right ahead and make for themselves gods of gold.

Ok – after that background information, we have some context for our Exodus 32 passage. Verse 33 is the focus of our text for the purpose of our topic today.

32:33 But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.

Now there are a number of ways to understand “my book”, and I keep promising myself that I am going to do a series on this topic. But for now, my understanding is that individual Israelites are being addressed, they currently are in the book of God, and due to sin, God will blot them out.

Is this referring to eternal salvation? National citizenship? Physical life? Too many questions to address in this post, but the principal is put before us.

How may I describe my understanding? Each person in a relationship with God has the opportunity (freedom) to loose this relationship.

One thought that I hope I have developed is that the sin that causing this loss is not some errant thought, or accidental falling into sin, but a deliberate (and constant?) refusal to follow the clear and obvious will of God.

That will of God in this day and time, is to follow after the One who has delivered us from the curse, that has provided us strength to obey, who is patient and loving towards us, and that has become our sacrifice. No longer are we to bow to the idols of this world’s culture, or the idols of the religious devotees surrounding us, but only to follow after the Crucified One.

Will you follow?

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Life of David – 24.04

2025-08-06

David’s Wives Are Captured

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 30:16-20

1 Samuel 30:16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
1 Samuel 30:17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled.
1 Samuel 30:18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.
1 Samuel 30:19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all.
1 Samuel 30:20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

In our last post on David, we found him taking the time to show mercy to a rejected Egyptian. Turns out this Egyptian, this stranger was a slave of the very army that had ravaged Ziklag and taken all of David’s men’s wives, children and livestock. David also lost his two wives!

David showed mercy to this unknown person, exemplifying the character of God residing in him, and of his return to the God of Israel.

In this passage, this Egyptian slave turned out to be the real deal, the one who led David and his men right to the camp of the Amalekites. How coincidental!

Now as a quick reminder, the Amalekites were a real thorn in the side of Israel, for they were the nation group that God had instructed Saul to completely annihilate, and yet Saul hadn’t. Saul eventually succumbed to great suffering due to his treatment of the Amalekites, for he did not obey God in the destruction of this nation when he was commanded to.

Now, David was on the edge of the Amalekite camp, knowing God’s desire for this nation, and of his own motivation to rescue his people. The passage speaks of David striking those in the camp down.

He literally slaughtered them!

David knew what he was doing, for he had practice in the wholesale slaughter of a people in an area. Prior to David’s return to the Lord, he had a practice of decimating small populations. Under King Achish, David would enter a land area, and kill all he encountered to get the spoil of the area and to keep his actions secret!

1 Samuel 27:9 ESV – And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.

Imagine the fervor David had in striking the Amalekites, for they were sworn enemies of Israel, and had kidnapped his loved ones. What he learned in the south of Philistia, he practiced with passion in this instance! He took them on for a full day, fighting through the night, and the following day, after having marched from Philistia to Ziklag and then chasing the Amalekites. Where did this endurance come from?

Four hundred Amalekites fled, but the mission was successful, for the wives and children were rescued with all the livestock. An amazing feat for a man who just a chapter previous was on the edge of mutiny by his men!

It is truly an amazing story and a great tale to reflect on. David took a skill set he developed as he was away from God, the ability to effectively slaughter a people group, and when he returned to God, was able to use this skill set under the hand of God.

For years, David had been trained under the harsh mercy of God, even in his rebellion, and became an tried and true leader, one who was able to do the bidding of the Master. He was now on the precipice of leading the nation of Israel into world domination under the Headship of God!

As we follow God, we may consider some of the skill sets we have acquired to be of no use to the God we serve. Let this thought be banished from our thinking, for our God is not One who only has His servants in sanctuaries, but also in service throughout the nations, as doctors, wives, accountants, bakers and factory workers. He is able to take what we may consider worldly skills and use those skills for those both inside and outside the church.

He is so much bigger than we let on!

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Boaz – Judge

2025-08-05

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Boaz

Husband to an Outsider

Ruth 4:5 Then Boaz said, “The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.”

Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Ruth the Moabite. Throughout the book of Ruth, Ruth is described 7 times as a Moabite. Even when Boaz was negotiating for Naomi’s land, and consequently “acquiring Ruth”, she was described as other than Israeli.

A Moabite.

They were a people that resulted from drunkenness, for both Moab and Ammon were fathered by a drunken Lot, having lain with his own daughters.

This nation was the one that persecuted Israel when they travelled to the promised land, making themselves to be enemies of Israel. They were the people associated with Balak, the king of Amon, bringing Balaam into the story, trying to separate Israel from their God!

They sought to curse Israel!

Moses blocked them from entering the assembly of the Lord. I have understood this blocking of any Moab to be Moses’ way of ensuring no Moab entered into a government position in the nation of Israel. There should be no Moabite in any leadership position within the nation.

They were to be rejected from participating in any civil matter!

Did Boaz realize the damaged goods he was “acquiring” when he chased after this Moabite? How shameful for a honorable Israeli to associate with one of the Moabite race!

Yet he did, and in this action of seeking an outsider he typified the Master, in that Jesus also reached out to those who were His enemies, those who had questionable heritage, those who cursed God and rejected His people.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Jesus chased after damaged goods – sinners – when He chased after you and I.

Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

He chased after “strangers” to the covenant, those who had no connection to God and were outside.

Boaz acquired a wife of questionable national origin, of questionable national prejudice towards God’s people, and of a questionable religious leaning against the God of Israel.

Jesus also took a wife, comprising of strangers, sinners and enemies.

Boaz reflects in a small way the character of God. Jesus blazes out God’s character to the extreme, for He is the brightness of the mercy and grace of God!

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Names of God – GOD WHO ANSWERS BY FIRE – 201

2025-08-04

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

201

GOD WHO ANSWERS BY FIRE

1 Kings 18:24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

We know the story. Elijah takes on the prophets of Baal, and Asherah, a total of 950 prophets that are lined up against him. Image the intimidation, the shear volume of enemy, and yet Elijah stood.

You know, it is an easy thing to say that with God, we are a majority, but when push comes to shove, to live that out in front of a hostile government (Ahab really hated Elijah) and a hateful religious society is truly an amazing feat!

Elijah stood alone, without any support from those in Israel. His perception of the nation at this time was that he was the only one faithful to God. The Lord instructs him later, but God allowed Elijah to live in his perceptions of being alone at this time.

And what type of test was offered by Elijah? A test that puts each prophets life to be dependent on the response of the Gods they trusted in. And beyond that, the fate of the national religious life hung in the balance, depending on the outcome of a miracle.

You know, Elijah could have claimed the inherent truth of the message from God, or of the past miracles performed by God, reminding the nation of God’s guidance and protection over the centuries. But he didn’t at this time. No, it appears Elijah read his crowd, understood the situation, figgered this was a “do or die” situation. Years had passed where he preached and warned, but to no avail.

No it was show time! By that I mean, the people had to have a very real, very personal experience of God. But this experience was not to be like that of Moses, who was able to talk to God face to face, nor like Samuel, where God whispered his name, calling him into the ministry of prophet as a young boy.

The people were going to face fire!

He is the God who answers by fire, and as I read this passage, and think of Elijah’s situation, facing a culture drowning in lies and idolatry, it seems this response speaks to the peoples condition more than simply defining the true God. The miracle certainly defined the true God, but it also communicated a message that was with fire, a message tinged with judgement and anger.

And a message crouched in a miracle. A miracle for an idolatrous people. Centuries later, the Master also faced an idolatrous culture, who fought against God, and referred to signs in relation to their “faith”.

Matthew 12:39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Matthew 16:4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

A sign was provided for that generation, in that the sacrifice on the altar, before their very eyes was consumed (as it were by God), and by a far greater miracle, was raised from the dead.

For both cultures, fire came down on the sacrifice. Though Elijah saturated his sacrifice, dowsing it with water, the fire consumed it all to communicate the “above and beyond” character of God.

He was more than what the people may have expected.

For the Savior, the sign was the resurrection. Though completely sinless and worthy of honor and esteem, Jesus suffered the worst of punishments, in all areas of His life, as the fire of God came down to consume Him into the realms of death.

Elijah’s sacrifice was completely consumed to produce change in a nation for the short term, for they fell into idolatry again. The Messiah’s sacrifice produces life upon life as we look to Him for our daily needs.

He is much more than what we could have expected.

He is the God who answers by fire.

May we bless Him and thank Him always for His never ending care for us!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Proverbial Thoughts on Money / Knowledge

2025-08-03

Thoughts on the topic of money from the book of wisdom

The book of Proverbs has much to say about the topic of money. Very much! So many verses that I have created categories that will help me focus on particular topics related to money, such as worth of money, value of money, effect of money, greed for money and money and the Lord.

In our first post on the topic of money, I had an extended introduction on the intangible assets such as instruction, knowledge, understanding and wisdom that is compared with money in the proverbs, along with a short discussion on each of these intangible assets. I also tried to define the difference between worth and value in the first post. If there is interest in this topic, please see Proverbial Thoughts on Money / Instruction.

Otherwise, our topic in this post is money in relation to knowledge.

2 – Worth of Money

Worth Less than Knowledge

Proverbs 24:4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Which of the assets are worth more to the owner? To answer this question make the assumption that the source or ability to produce something is of far more worth than that which is produced.

This concept was personalized one day in my own life, in a very short conversation with a friend of mine, discussing the best use of our funds and efforts in this life. The discussion came down to how to invest effort and funds in the short term to realize the best return. Now for the sake of context, I was in school for training in the engineering field, while my dear friend was considering an investment in purchasing a small business.

The crux of the argument fell to a short pithy conclusion by my friend, stating that an investment in knowledge would produce greater returns than an investment in a “thing”, though it had inherent value in and of itself.

Though this is merely a worldly example that for my own life has proved true, the principle for this post is that knowledge is worth more than money. With knowledge, money may be earned. Without knowledge, money may be available for a time, but may also be lost quickly. The proverbs are rife with sayings that typify the adage – A fool and his money are soon parted.

Though it is a merely worldly principle, I assume Solomon was providing this proverbs to be extended into all parts of life, especially related to the knowledge of God. Is it not of much more worth to know God and out of that knowledge accumulate rooms full of precious and pleasant (intangible) articles?

Also, to know God, as opposed to simply having rooms of articles is obviously the very plight we have in the modern world. How many have sought, without appealing to the God of all creation, to increase their rooms and have died lonely, sad and heartbroken.

Many may claim they are happy with full rooms and no God, but I suspect, based on, personal experience with those without, that an honest confession of their lives would produce a far different message.

Understanding that knowledge produces articles, and that articles are not produced in the absence of knowledge, provides us the inestimable worth of knowledge when compared with money.

Beyond the base comparison just considered, introduce the benefits of the knowledge of the Most High, producing precious and pleasant (intangible) articles, while also giving opportunity to enjoy precious and pleasant riches in this life.

Money is worth less than knowledge!

Proverbs 20:15 There is gold and abundance of costly stones, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

Solomon goes on to compare costly stones and gold with a precious jewel. This one seems to equate money with knowledge, as they both are described as costly stones or jewels. Is that the intent of Solomon?

The Hebrew word used for jewel in this verse is typically translated as a vessel. The word may be one that is so general, the translators associated this word with the previously mentioned costly stones. This is mere conjecture on my part, yet the verse may speak of the lips of knowledge as a precious vessel. Beyond this possibility, some translations bring into the verse the comparative worth between the two items, namely money (good and costly stones) and knowledge.

Consider.

Proverbs 20:15 (NLT) Wise words are more valuable than much gold and many rubies.

Proverbs 20:15 (NASB) There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But lipsof knowledge are a more precious thing.

Proverbs 20:16 (YLT) Substance, gold, and a multitude of rubies, Yea, a precious vessel, are lips of knowledge.

Note that the Young’s Literal Translation, though difficult to get a flow of message, actually translates jewel as “vessel” while providing the comparison. It is as if Solomon is speaking of substance gold and rubies as something that is available, but how precious are lips of knowledge.

And given the term precious in our verse, this term brings with it the concepts of honor and esteem. This, as we have discussed many times in this blog, was the ultimate goal in the honor/shame based society the Old Testament saint lived in.

With this verse packed with a message that goods are inferior to knowledge, let us remember our priorities in the midst of this culture that speaks otherwise.

To “know” is a source of wealth, and to “know” is a source of honor. Money simply acquires things that will burn up, and at death will be left behind.

Whether in the physical or the spiritual arena of life, knowledge far outweighs the mere possession of things, be they little or be they much.

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 71.04

2025-08-02

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 71 is a psalm written by an aged saint, a man who had walked with the Lord through many trials and triumphs. Some think this psalm represents David’s thoughts as he approaches the grave, as he ages and finds his life coming to a close.

One thing that is obvious in this psalm, that whoever wrote this psalm had an intimate experience with the Word of God. I have heard the claim that in the 24 verses of this psalm, there are up to 25 references, allusions and hints of other psalms within this reflection of an old saint. He has saturated his life with the Word, to the point that even phrasing of the old book comes through this old man’s message.

It is truly a witness of the wisdom to engage in an early and consistent immersion into the Word of God for every saint.

Let’s take a moment to consider

Psalm 71:12 O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
Psalm 71:13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt.

The psalmist has revealed his enemies thoughts in the previous verses, speaking of how God had forsaken him, and that this was the perfect opportunity to strike.

Psalm 71:11 and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”

Remember, this psalmist is a man who is aged, with grey hair and strength that was fading, as with all men who age. If this was David, he was a mighty warrior, and in his old age, had lost capabilities to defend as before. His mental and physical energy, stamina and strength has decreased, and for a warrior, this strikes at the heart of who he was.

With his weakening, and the constant trials he had went through, remaining faithful to God, it appears to be a perfect opportunity for his enemies to strike. After all, those outside of faith do not understand that the trial we as believers go through is a proof of God’s commitment to us, no a denial of His loving concern.

Hebrews 12:6 – 7

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

Truly, those of the world do not understand the life of a believer.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Nevertheless, as the psalmist ages, and his enemies are emboldened, he cries out to God. He cries out to God, and you can almost hear his voice cracking as he begs for God to be near, and then again, but with even greater passion, owning the God he has followed all his life. O my God, make haste to help me!

The psalmist has less strength, the enemies have greater confidence, and who does this aged man of faith turn to? The One he has followed since his birth, the God who has led him through many trials.

I imagine this man to be without resource, without strength, without defense and without support. At the very least he has judged his situation to be dire and immediate. He cries out to his God for immediate help, that God would make haste!

It is true that the more immediate the need, the greater passion I have expressed to the God who is timeless. When I have plenty of time, and things are not crushing down on me, I tend to be somewhat lassiez-faire, somewhat indifferent, but let the pressure build, and then the passion erupts. Often times, in those times of crushing, God has provided his answer and provision, his wisdom and thankfully His peace. Rarely though, when my self imposed deadline for deliverance comes and goes, the Lord is in the midst of it, allowing for a period of instruction, or a realignment of my priorities.

But back to our couple verses!

Our aged man is looking for some answers to his prayers, that his śāṭan (for that is the transliteration of accusers in our verse) would experience shame.

This is a tantamount harm to inflict on an enemy, for our psalmist lived in a shame based society, a culture that defined success and failure though the estimation of a mans honor. Wealth and family were important, but nothing came close to the need for honor in a man’s life. It was the paramount goal of a man to gain honor, in the midst of all other goals.

Note also that this aged saint is praying against the śāṭan of his soul. A few of the more literal word for word translations include this idea.

Psalm 71:13 (NASB) May those who are enemies of my soul be putto shame and consumed;

Psalm 71:13 (ASV) They are ashamed, they are consumed, Who are opposing my soul, They are covered with reproach and blushing, Who are seeking my evil,

He is concerned about the only thing in this world that will last beyond the grave, for he sees this trial coming and understands the situation as an attack on his soul, not as the theft or loss of his wealth, or possibly even the harming of his family, but an attack on his very person. This is, in his cry to God, a critical fight, a fight that will cost him his own soul if he looses it.

Understanding what is at stake, he looks to God, crying out that his adversaries (śāṭan) would be covered with reproach and dishonor. Note that the honor of his enemies is the psalmist’s focus, for this is what is at stake, the highest estimation of a man’s social standing, and this is our psalmist’s desire, that the adversaries fall into disgrace.

And what is worse, (or better, depending on your point of view) is that when he seeks them to be covered, he is speaking of their very plans to backfire on them. To be covered in this verse, is to wrap oneself up, to enwrap. A self inflicted harm. Some act or plan that not only avoids harming the psalmist but falls on the protagonist, the adversary essentially falling into his own trap.

How often we see this in the Word, where the saint stands back, and the very trap the antagonist lays for the saint is the very trap the antagonist suffers. Without a doubt, I think of Esther and Haman as an example of this principle. How utterly satisfying, to not take revenge, and yet see justice!

How critical it is for us as believers that we find our strong refuge in God Himself and not our own strength, our own cunning, our own abilities. In a very real and personal way, as I am entering my sunset years, I need to view this weakening, this loss of ability as one of God’s intended gifts to a receptive believer. May it be so!

I had also hoped, as I aged, that my adversaries may also weaken with me. If this psalm has wakened me to a specific truth, it may be that according to the wisdom of God, my adversaries may not lessen. They may increase in confidence over me, increase in ability compared to my strengths. They may see weakness, well and true, yet I have a strong tower to resort to.

May we all, as we travel through our last years, though we be 18 or 80, have the clarity of mind and desire of heart to cling to the One who gave it all for us.

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Names of God – GOD THE FATHER – 200

2025-08-01

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

200

GOD THE FATHER

John 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.

For on Him God the Father has set His seal.

What is it that Jesus is trying to tell us in this brief statement, as He speaks of God as “God the Father”.

First off, He is not speaking of God His Father, though it be very true, but of God the Father, leaving the ownership of God’s Fatherhood to those who truly want it.

Next, note that we are in the middle of a passage that speaks of Jesus being the Bread of Life. Eventually the Messiah will experience large scale rejection by the crowds due to His teaching in this passage. In this passage, He is answering questions with teaching that cuts to the heart, and in the middle of this teaching, provides encouragement to those who “hang on” to His words.

One way He encourages those listening to remain with Him, is when He speaks of the sealing of His ministry by God the Father. Whether this sealing is understood by the many miracles Jesus provides or the voice from the heavens during His baptism, declaring Jesus to be “God’s beloved Son”, it is of key importance to note that God has provided the church verifiable evidence of the Messiah’s identity.

For the folks during this message, it may have been the miracles, or as I suggest, the baptism of the Messiah.

But Carl, that was for them. What about us?

We have such a more sure proof of sealing, to know that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Messiah promised from of old, for He is the only One who has left His grave!

He is the Risen Messiah,

Remember Paul’s statement in Romans 1:4, where he describes Jesus as
…declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ‘

God the Father is the One who not only sent but sealed our Messiah, giving us verifiable evidence for our faith to rest in. This is good news for the weary soul!

A final reminder.

Though God spoke of Jesus as “His Son”, Jesus spoke of God, in this instance, as God the Father. He did not speak of God as His Father, somehow implying God was His and His alone. God the Father is for all who seek Him and hang on during those times when things get tough, when times are hard and things are confusing, as it must have been for the disciples in this message.

Hang on, for God the Father has sealed His Son!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Isaiah 55:7

2025-07-31

Isaiah 55:7

let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55 is a great chapter, promising the blessing of God on the people of God. It might be argued that this chapter begins with an invitation to all, to every soul on earth, beyond the boundaries of Israel. Take note of the introductory verse of this chapter, and the general invitation provided to everyone.

Isaiah 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Isaiah continues with the plea, supposedly to all, in verse 3.

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Notice the promise of God, how Isaiah records God’s message as in the future with “I will make” an everlasting covenant with those who come to Him.

Of course, in our present time, it seems obvious that this everlasting covenant refers to the New Covenant Jesus initiated at the last supper, and fulfilled upon His death burial and resurrection.

So a quick question for my reader. In verse 5, Isaiah speaks of “you” shall call a nation…

Isaiah 55:5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

Who is “you” in this verse?

Well let’s try to break this verse down. First off, Isaiah uses the word “you” five times in this verse. I will attempt with the easiest identification of “you” in the passage, that being the last, for if this passage speaks of the gospel message and the salvation provided by the Messiah, the only One rightfully described of as glorified is Jesus Himself.

Now for my reader’s consideration, let’s think on the remaining 4 times “you” is recorded in this verse. Might I suggest it be the remnant of Israel, those Israelites who were faithful to the God of Israel? And might the term “nation” refer to gentiles?

Let’s try this substitution. (substitution in italics)

Behold, faithful Israel shall call gentiles that faithful Israel do not know, and gentiles that did not know faithful Israel shall run to faithful Israel, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified the Messiah.

Is this a solution to my quandary as to who Isaiah refers to in this passage? Possibly, and I personally tend to think so, but I will leave it to my readers to consider. Given the previous though, let us move on.

As we enter verse 6 and 7, we find that the Lord is providing a opportunity to be forgiven, to find mercy and pardon. An invitation to all, if Isaiah’s audience remains the same as in verse 1, or Isaiah may be focusing in on the nation of Israel, for he refers to God’s thought’s and way’s (vs 8) and only the nation of Israel has had this privilege granted them. Isaiah may be speaking directly to the nation of the Old Covenant.

Either way, there are some in Isaiah’s audience who are being addressed in verse 6 & 7 that have the option to forsake their ways and thoughts for a better way, by returning to the Lord. By stating that they are to return to the Lord makes me think Isaiah is specifically speaking to Israel, for by using the term “returning”, it implies they had previously left an agreement, abandoned a covenant with God.

And yet, the Lord is seeking them, offering them the gospel message, the opportunity to return to the truth of the Living God. Truly amazing is the mercy and longsuffering of the Lord.

A bit of a long post this morning, and with some caveat’s along the way, but consider the mercy of God to a straying nation, interspersed with a gospel call to all. God is seeking those who know not the truth, and those who have turned from the truth.

No matter which you might be, God is seeking you, even this very moment. He is seeking you through the crucifixion of His Messiah, and the message of the Lord Jesus.

One last exhortation – Do not fall for a generic gospel that does not identify the Lord Jesus as the One and Only Messiah, the One who has been glorified and is glorified, being glorified forever!

He is the Only hope we have, for if God could have provided us salvation without the cruel sacrifice of His Son, He would have done so. But His Son lives, and because of that, we also have that promise!

Praise Him.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below

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Life of David – 24.03

2025-07-30

David’s Wives Are Captured

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 30:11-15

11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink,
12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.
13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.
14 We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
15 And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”

David, on a rescue mission to retrieve (hopefully) the wives and children of his soldiers, and his own loved ones, stops to feed a stranger.

Now get the picture in your head of David and his four hundred men marching on a mission of reclaiming their loved ones. Focused, broken hearted and yet hopeful, David and his army were on mission from God. A mission on which God specifically promised they would overtake those who took their loved ones.

8 And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

So what is the effect of this promise? Were they full of anxious activity, moving about without concern of others, finding every advantage in gaining on the enemy? Were they considering the promise of God as being contingent on marching “double time”, getting to the enemies camp without delay?

It seems not.

Of course I imagine if there were no “distractions”, I am sure David and his men would continue on the hunt for those they were after, but at one point, they found a stranger, an Egyptian. They stopped their pursuit for the sake of a single poor man, dying in the way.

They could have dropped off a portion of sustenance to the man and continued on their march, but David and his men stopped and showed kindness to this stranger.

They gave him bread.
They gave him water
They gave him figs
They gave him raisins

It seems that this act of kindness and generosity was not dependent on retrieving information from the starved man, since he had not informed the group of his identity, or of his past until after the food had been provided.

Yes, it seems David had come back to the Lord and was walking in the steps of kindness and generosity, simply out of obedience to his God.

And out of this obedience, God provided information that strengthened David and his army. God provided to David a treasure trove of information that would eventually enable him to find the Amalekites straightway, even to their very camp, having been given information from this stranger.

Two great lessons can be found in this passage.

a Loss of Anxiety

God’s promise, if received and accepted by the believer, does not produce anxiety but a confidence in seeing it come about. Yes, we are involved in cooperating with the Lord in working out the plan He has, but He is the One who provides, guides and gives us the freedom to show mercy to others in the midst of a mission.

the time for mercy

Let us not forget that in the midst of the big picture, in the midst of large projects or missions, we as believers are never to consider showing mercy as an act of rebellion to God.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

To take time to show mercy in the midst of an important project, possibly a time sensitive project, or even a mission provided by God Himself, will not find God’s displeasure.

He seems to find joy in the midst of us providing mercy to others.

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Boaz – 06

2025-07-29

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Boaz

Provider

Ruth 2:14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.

John 21:12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

Let’s remember that at this point in the story, Ruth is a beggar, a foreigner associated with Naomi, having come to Israel due to very bad circumstances back home and an initial faith in the God of Israel. This faith in Israel’s God had not, at this time of the story, granted her great wealth and health, but simply the lowly work of gleaning the fields after the reapers had taken their haul for Boaz.

Granted, Boaz had learned of her relation to Naomi, of her desire to be with her mother in law, even to the point of leaving her homeland. He knew of Ruth’s continued care for her.

It wasn’t long before Boaz had taken upon himself to provide Ruth, not only the freedom to glean, (which by accounts of Leviticus 19:9-10, she could claim by law), but also the privilege of sharing a meal with Boaz and his reapers.

Boaz provided her bread / parched grain and wine/vinegar to dip into, exactly what his workers were able to partake of. Gleaners were not typically associated with the owner and his laborers. It was enough that they were able to retrieve foodstuff from the fields without harassment.

But for Ruth, she was provided the honor and privilege of sitting with the king of the field, and his workers. She was provided a meal sufficient to her needs and more, for she had some left over.

Does not Jesus provide those He loves the opportunity to gather around a meal? Is there not many that have taken the faith of the Israel’s God and had their provisions met?

Jesus provides His people the opportunity to join, to partake and to sit with those others in the kingdom.

And like Boaz in his provision to Ruth, Jesus provides those who were mere beggars more than is sufficient.

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Names of God – GOD THE LORD – 199

2025-07-28

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

199

GOD THE LORD

Joshua 22:22 “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today

A little context for this verse may be helpful.

Moses has passed, and Joshua is in charge, bringing the Israelites into the promised land. In an earlier decision between Moses and the Ruebenites, the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh, these tribes were able to claim the land to the east of the Jordan as thier portion of the promised land, but were to assist in the domination of the land for the other tribes. At the completion of the battles and the possession of the land of Canaan by the Israelites, Joshua allowed them to return to thier portion across the river.

This separation from the main nation by a geographical marker, such as a river, brought about a concern related to national and religious unity of this new country.

It also provided an opportunity to build an altar, a really big altar.

Joshua 22:10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.

Right away, it appears this nation is splintering, breaking apart in the most fundamental way, for this altar would develop it’s own commitments, thinking, devotions and divisions.

Yes divisions, for the remaining tribes saw this and gathered together to make war against them.

Joshua 22:12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

Did I mentioned the breach of faith that the remining tribes considered this altar to represent? Yes this was a dangerous situation between brothers, bring to remembrance the days of Peor. Idolatry was rebuked harshly by the Lord in those days, and many had died!

AS we venture through this passage, we find this altar was not an altar of burnt offering or of sacrifice, but an altar of witness. Remember this river concern I mentioned earlier? The 2 1/2 tribes on the east of the river understood that the river separated them from the rest and they didn’t want this to occur. They sought a way to minimize the impact of the river, and with this desire to maintain unity, they built an altar of witness.

In the midst of this retelling of their times, the 2 1/2 tribes set up an altar and gave verbal ascent to the God they wanted to continue following. In this plea before their brothers, they called on the name of God the Lord twice, in order to maintain unity amongst their brothers, in spite of geographical distances and obstacles, seeking to reduce divisions amongst the next generation.

Should we not consider those across “the river” those who, along with us, claim the name of God the Lord? Geographical barriers or obstacles are not meant to provide an opportunity for division, but the chance to reinforce our unity in the Living God, that is God the Lord.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Proverbial Thoughts on Money / Instruction

2025-07-27

Thoughts on the topic of money from the book of wisdom

The book of Proverbs has much to say about the topic of money. Very much! So many verses that I have created categories that will help me focus on particular topics related to money, such as worth of money, value of money, effect of money, greed for money and money and the Lord.

Let’s dive into the wisdom of Proverbs for a few moments.

As we venture through the topic of money, we are going to find it compared to many other concepts. As Proverbs is a book of wisdom, we can be sure money and wisdom will be compared. But before wisdom, there are additional concepts that generally come before the attainment of wisdom. These will be considered below, in this order, but I would like to take a few moments to define our terms, or at least to remember how they relate to one another.

Instruction
- Instruction is related to correction, discipline and even chastisement. Although we generally think of instruction as the passing of facts from one fact container (the ol brain) to another fact container, instruction in the Proverbs speaks more of life learning, of correction, of life mistakes and error. It is primarily related to the moral arena of life and not merely the accumulation of data, such as the speed of light or the density of 3/4″ aggregate base material!
Knowledge
- Knowledge is the accumulation of facts to build a hopefully correct world view. It is a foundation for the person to build upon, to accumulate data and to store this data for use at later times and circumstances.
Understanding
- Remember when we considered knowledge, as the accumulation of facts, we spoke of data being retained for later use. There is a lot of data that can be accumulated, but with understanding, we will the ability to “winnow out” useless, or incorrect facts we have gathered. Understanding is also the ability to interpret correctly the facts we have gained through knowledge and instruction.
Wisdom
- Wisdom is the queen of all these concepts in my understanding, as I have gained knowledge over the years through life lessons (see instruction above!)

Now after such an extended introduction to some basic principles of the book of Proverbs, let’s take a moment and consider money in our first category.

Worth

One more clarification before we begin regarding my understanding of worth and value.

Worth is what I am willing to exchange in order to attain a certain commodity. But there is a bit more to it than that.

As an example, if I ever found an orange colored elephant with pink tusks, I would pay $150,949.99 (not a penny more!) to own it, not necessarily because it has any inherent worth, but because an outer influence, such as a culture or society would assign this dollar amount due to it’s rarity, or some other factor.

When I speak of worth in the context of our study in Proverbs, it will typically be related to a discussion on a transactional relationship, comparing two items or things. I would like to note that this is not the same, strictly speaking, as the topic of value.

Value

Value often speaks of the importance of a commodity, of an internal judgement, and can be related to personal attachment to an object. My father’s watch is more valuable (priceless) to me than to some stranger on the street. Value is somewhat abstract. Two strangers viewing my fathers watch may assign the same worth ($10?) whereas my judgement of it’s value may be priceless, much higher than the strangers judgement of value.

Now, after such a long introduction, let us consider the topic of money in the Book of Proverbs.

1 – Worth of Money

Worth Less than Instruction

Proverbs 8:10 Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold

First off, we must consider what this teacher is asking of his student. He is speaking of instruction, of lessons to be learned that may be difficult, that may cause pain, chastisement, embarrassment and shame.

Instruction instead of silver? Can we not hear the teacher speaking of the deceptiveness of riches, even in this initial verse we are considering?

Instruction instead of silver? Not with silver, as if the two desires can exist at the same time. My assumption in this verse is that there is a choice here, and that the student has the freedom to prioritize in his life the acquisition of wealth or the acquisition of instruction.

Proverbs 23:23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

The teacher is directing his student to buy truth and keep it. He defines truth as wisdom, instruction and understanding. To focus on instruction in this passage provides us further direction as to the worth of money. The teacher does not specifically refer to silver, gold or wealth in this verse, but he uses terms that would draw the “money” student into this verse.

To buy and sell is the bread and butter of the one intending to focus on wealth, and yet the teacher speaks of the intangibles, concepts that for many, seem to have little worth.

Our teacher corrects this thinking, and provides the student the ability to chose the best, that concept which is to be considered worth more than simple bucks and pennies!

Proverbs 13:18 Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored.

A final verse to consider, for though the teacher speaks of the positive benefits of gaining instruction, to reject this choice does provide the alternate outcome of poverty and disgrace.

But Carl, there are many in this world that have attained truckloads of gold, and yet rejected the choice of gaining instruction. Living lives of utter debasement, they continue on in their choice of gaining nickels and dimes, all the while rejecting any instruction for their lives, any correction or discipline.

Time will prove that “poverty and disgrace will come to him who ignores instruction”. For some, that time has not come.

Consider how you relate to instruction and wealth. When difficulties come, do you tend to ignore them, to pass them off to others, to paper them over with money, or do you consider them as times worth experiencing, learning from and gaining experience from?

Difficult thoughts for myself. May you be blessed in considering the trials of instruction.

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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.

Psalms for Psome – Ps 71.03

2025-07-26

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 71 is a psalm written by an aged saint, a man who had walked with the Lord through many trials and triumphs. Some think this psalm represents David’s thoughts as he approaches the grave, as he ages and finds his life coming to a close.

One thing that is obvious in this psalm, that whoever wrote this psalm had an intimate experience with the Word of God. I have heard the claim that in the 24 verses of this psalm, there are up to 25 references, allusions and hints of other psalms within this reflection of an old saint. He has saturated his life with the Word, to the point that even phrasing of the old book comes through this old man’s message.

It is truly a witness of the wisdom to engage in an early and consistent immersion into the Word of God for every saint.

Let’s take a moment to consider

Psalm 71:7 I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge.
Psalm 71:8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day.
Psalm 71:9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.
Psalm 71:10 For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together
Psalm 71:11 and say, “God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.”

Our aged psalmist continues, describing himself as a portent. That is a word not much used in our modern parlance, and I had to look it up, for which I am grateful.

This particular word speaks of the psalmist as a wonder, a sign or miracle, even a token of a future event. Even as his enemies brought trouble and trial into our psalmist’s life, his commitment to God, and the allowance of suffering he experienced in the midst of his trust in God, surely amazed his tormentors.

How so even today, that as the believer may be experiencing trials or troubles, his attitude of trust and his demeanor of praise to God must surely stump the wicked.

Yet even more so, consider Jesus, the Son of God, suffering under the hand of God, coming to die for sins, not of His own, for He was the sinless One, but for those who hated Him and His Father. What a sign, or a mystery for not only the lost to grapple with, but also the saints, for this act of grace truly is beyond reason, beyond logic, beyond the earthly thinking we are saturated with daily. Sacrifice for the enemy? Love those those who hate?

But let us not miss that for the psalmist, and by extension for the Lord Jesus, that they found their strong refuge in God, the One who is over all and in all. The psalmist did not look to his inner strength, his strong personality, or his cunning abilities, but outside of himself, to the Father above.

In his past, he had exhibited his faith in the trials of his life, and his detractors have been mystified. Though he has a past record of faithfulness, he does not sit on his laurels and coast though the last days of his existence. He continues to seek God, asking not to be cast off, not to be forsaken. He is not a saint that assumes all is well, but he has a passion to continue with God, to seek mercy from God, to continue to seek the will of God and to hang on, even as those around him claim God has forsaken him.

Even as Jesus was providing a full and final salvation for the worst of His enemies, they claimed God had forsaken Him. For the Sinless One to be considered forsaken by those who hated Him must have been hurtful beyond my thoughts.

Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But note the passage above, that this claim of those who hated Him actually became a truth Jesus suffered though, for the Lord turned away from the Lamb of God, forsaking His only Son. How brutal, how extreme, how utterly painful without comparison.

This claim of being forsaken by God is a common attack on those who trust God. How powerful for the enemy to make this claim to the faithful follower for it is of the deepest cut to the believers heart. Such a claim may cause the believer self doubt, which in itself may be beneficial, for we, as we age, tend to trust ourselves too much, due to our past walk with Him.

This claim may be allowed by God Himself to provide us a check, a test for our own faith, to give us opportunity to consider who we are trusting as we grow older. Some of us may have wealth we trust, or skills we trust, or relationships we trust.

A short period of self assessment may be of benefit if, and only if, we end up before the throne of Heaven again, confessing our need and admitting our weakness.

We have a promise that God will never forsake the believer, and for that we can be so thankful. We need to check our hearts to see that we have not forsaken Him, the One who was forsaken for our sakes.

May His name be praised and lifted up, and may we follow in His steps more faithfully.

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Names of God – GOD OUR SAVIOR – 198

2025-07-25

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

198

GOD OUR SAVIOR

1 Timothy 2:3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,

This verse needs context.

1 Timothy 2:1-4

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

When Paul refers to God our Savior in this passage, some teach that it is expressed in the midst of a discussion on public prayer. After all, Timothy is a leader in the church, and Paul seems to be directing him regarding the priority (first of all) of reaching out to God on behalf of those in civil leadership and high positions during a church service.

In my mind this is not a debatable issue, and as we come together to worship God our Savior, it is appropriate to pray for those who have governmental authority of their people.

Yet this instruction is for the general Christian populace also and not only to a Christian leader in a congregation. By that I mean, that believers may and should pray for their leaders even if they do not experience this exhortation in a formal setting in a church service.

But consider the larger context for a moment. Paul is speaking of God our Savior. It is assumed, and for good reason, the people Paul is thinking of when he speaks of “our” Savior is the Christians in the Body. God is their Savior.

No debate about that at all. He is the Savior of the saved.

But consider that the passage speaks of governmental authorities, of a peaceful life for the believer, and then Paul described God’s desire for all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. In the flow of the context this seems a bit unexpected, other than Paul wants to communicate something other than my assumption.

Ok, so God desires all to be saved. God desires all to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Could God our Savior be Paul’s way of describing our God who not only is the God of the saved at the time of writing, but that in some mysterious manner, in some future condition or situation, God would become God the Savior of all?

Oh for this to be the case. That all of creation would be reconciled to the Living God and to each other!

As I have mentioned in previous posts, this teaching of Universal Reconciliation has more Biblical support than I first considered. Of course I considered this teaching to be heresy previously, hopeful dreams of those not schooled in the Bible, so I never dug into the topic until the last few years of my study.

If some of my readers have an interest in some of the Bible passages considered in this vein of topic, Considering the Bible has a number of posts that my be referred to, specifically the series “Book Look – Jesus Undefeated”, a ten part series of posts, or “Book Look – Heavens Doors”, a thirteen part series of posts on this topic.

Nevertheless, barring all controversy, God is our Savior and for that we can be thankful. He did not “farm out the task” of saving our souls to any third party contractor or assign the task to some heavenly being, but HE himself took on the task.

He is God our Savior! May we be the people of God who reflect His desires!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Let’s Talk about FRANK

2025-07-24

For the purpose of this post, I am going to replace an Old Testament character’s name with Frank. FRANK was a simple fella, belonging to a well to do family, but ol’ FRANK had some dramatic situations in his life. As we read though a couple of his stories, try to exercise balanced discernment in the quesitons I offer.

Now let’s consider the life of FRANK.

Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon FRANK, and FRANK will prophesy with some Bible thumpers and be turned into another man. When FRANK turned his back to leave his friend, God gave FRANK another heart. A group of Bible thumpers met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon FRANK, and FRANK prophesied among them.

Young FRANK

Now if this story was told in your congregation by a credible, reliable witness, would your judgement be that FRANK had an honest experience with God, even that Frank had come to know the Lord, and was delivered from his life of sin? Is that a conclusion you might come to?

Go ahead and say it – I couldn’t hear you!

I understand the argument that this description may be appropriate in describing a man being called into service and not necessarily salvation. That is possible, but is it an absolute?

By that I mean, this experience of FRANK, if it had happened in the Old Testament, say in the days before King David, might it be construed as being simply a call to service. If that is a correct understanding, the principle of conditionality is still demonstrated. Continued service that is conditional upon some decisions or acts of the believer or servant is possibly the intent of this story.

Possibly.

On the other hand, if this was a true to life salvation experience, FRANK has become a vessel of the Spirit of the Lord, and has shown proof of his new life in the prophecies he has uttered.

Your decision on how to understand FRANKS situation is left to your judgement. You can leave me a comment if you please.

Older FRANK

Time passes, and life happens. Difficult decisions are made and complications arise. It comes about that FRANK experiences the loss of the Spirit of God in his life.

Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from FRANK, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.

At this point, how would you describe FRANK’s condition? Backslidden? Possibly. Temporary situation? Possibly.

No matter how we slice it, FRANK’s condition is troubling, yes a very troubling situation!

Elderly Frank

OK, so for years now, FRANK has been without the Spirit, no longer experiencing the comforting presence of God, but increasing being controlled by anger, depression, rage, jealousy and fear.

Is there any hope for FRANK? This is another time you can chime in with your thoughts!

It turns out that an old friend comes by to talk with FRANK, and is known as a reliable witness for FRANK. This friend informs him that FRANK has not merely lost the Spirit of God as a comforter and guide, but that the Lord God has become his enemy!

And a Bible thumper said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you FRANK and become your enemy?

This transformation from a young FRANK to our elderly FRANK is shocking, and of course by now, it is impossible to not recognize FRANK as King Saul. It was a fairly obvious dupe on my part, for I am sure that many recognized the story. Hopefully it helped to remove a bit of prejudice we may have against poor ol’ Saul in our general opinion of his life.

Nevertheless, how do you understand the life of Saul? Did he merely loose the opportunity to serve the Lord, or was he a believer that apostatized, willfully walking away from the mercy of God?

I look forward to your thoughts. And try to be earnest with me. (But don’t be FRANK!)

For those who would like to refer to the Bible passages not butchered by my edits, the following verses were referred to.

Young FRANK
- 1 Samuel 10:6, 9-10
Older FRANK
- 1 Samuel 16:14
Elderly FRANK
- 1 Samuel 28:16

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Life of David – 24.02

2025-07-23

David’s Wives Are Captured

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 30:7-10

7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8 And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

Let’s consider the last time our record of David’s life spoke of him calling on the Lord. I am simply thinking of the record we have in 1 Samuel.

Let’s see now.

The last time we see David asking God for guidance was in 1 Samuel 23. He was centered on God during this period of his life, constantly seeking God’s guidance. Forgive me for presenting almost the entire chapter, but it is good to see David’s utter reliance on God at this early time in his flight from Saul, and his rescue of Keilah from the Philistines. Consider.

1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”
2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”

But that isn’t enough. He needs God again.

4 Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

Now he needs help because of Saul, his very own father in law and the king of Israel. Oh Lord – is Saul coming? Do I need to prepare?

9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
10 Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.
11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.”

Ok, David has rescued Keilah, finds out that Saul is on the hunt and now needs to know where the Keilahites stand? Will they surrender David to Saul?

12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.”
13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.
14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

What a flurry of prayer, seeking God in many matters, and so many answers, and note that some answers included more information than was originally requested for.

The Lord is good to His people.

Then nothing. After 1 Samuel 23, nothing until todays passage. I have not found any verses or passages that speak of David praying or inquiring of the Lord after this time.

Now of course I do not want to make a point out of a vacuum, but might it be that after “David strengthened himself in the Lord”, that strengthening was in actuality his returning to a position of weakness, of admitting his need for the Lord. Could it be that to be strengthened in the Lord was his returning to a dependance on the Lord, of seeking guidance from the Lord.

Ok – Big picture here, and some conjecture on my part, but might it be that in strengthening himself in the Lord, David found the ultimate strength through humility, weakness, confession and admission of sin?

We may think the expression “strengthening himself in the Lord” as describing a man who was already a strong, vibrant leader, and simply adding to his strength by reaching out to God.

We may think that. We may think that but we may simply be thinking wrongly. Can we not hear the apostle Paul screaming over the din, that to be strong is to be weak.

2 Corinthians 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

To be strengthened in the Lord is to be weakened in self. As mentioned in an earlier post, David is now ready to be king, and in that readiness, he seeks God for guidance. Let’s reread the passage in today’s post, watching David find his strength.

1 Samuel 30:8 And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
1 Samuel 30:9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.

David set out in obedience, after he inquired!

As an aside, it seems this was the start of a more consistent seeking of the Lord’s guidance by David. Consider the following passages, that we will address in the coming posts as they occur.

2 Samuel 2:1 After this David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.”
2 Samuel 2:2 So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

2 Samuel 5:17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
2 Samuel 5:18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
2 Samuel 5:19 And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”

2 Samuel 5:22 And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
2 Samuel 5:23 And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
2 Samuel 5:24 ESV – And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”
2 Samuel 5:25 ESV – And David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.

2 Samuel 21:1 ESV – Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.

David, the man after God’s own heart was back. And was he going to get things done! Things were going to change, and it was through his willingness to seek the Lord, to ask of the Lord, to admit he didn’t have all the answers, to confess he was in the way, and that God needed to direct him.

My friend, if you are in the middle of a drought, a period when the Lord seems far away, a period where you find relying on yourself to be sufficient, take heart in the experience of David.

David was a mercenary, a lying thief that killed men women and children to keep his secrets from others. I imagine him to be in heaviness of thought, justifying his actions and struggling at night with his conscience. He was in bad shape!

Yet he found strength by an admission of weakness and sin. He found the Lord to be a faithful and loving God, a God who accepts sinners, a God who is ready to lead when we get out of the way.

David found his God, and remembered that He is a really awesome God. A God who answers sinners in their contrition and confession.

May we find strength in Him.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Boaz – 05

2025-07-22

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Boaz

Acts of Kindness

Ruth 2:8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.
Ruth 2:9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.”

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Boaz provided an act of kindness to a new woman in the field and in doing so reflected, in a minor way, the kindness of out God.

But for a bit of background, consider the following.

Boaz was a man who followed the Word of God, instructing landowners to allow those suffering poverty in Israel to glean from the edges and corners of a field reapers had not harvested.

Leviticus 19:9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.
Leviticus 19:10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

The kindness of Boaz is not seen in his obedience to Leviticus 19, for Boaz was a godly man, a God fearing Israelite, who sought to honor God in this act of obedience. In allowing the poor and destitute the opportunity to glean at the edges of the field, that which is left behind by the reapers, provided the poor not only food, but a level of honor in working in gathering sustenance for their family.

But I digress.

Our topic is an act of kindness that Boaz exercised to Ruth.

There was a time when Boaz came to his field to greet his reapers, and he noticed a new woman in the field. Was it merely due to Ruth being a new gleaner, or was it that something stirred in Boaz when he saw her. At this point in the story, it is unknown, but Boaz acted with kindness. Once he understood her circumstances, that she accompanied Naomi back from Moab, and that she had been in the fields most of the day, he determined to find ways to protect and provide for her.

I mentioned an act of kindness, but it is obvious that Boaz acted towards Ruth with kindness in many ways. How might we see these acts of kindness?

She was not to attend to any other field (for Boaz would instruct his reapers to drop extra for her)
She was not to leave the company of the other women in the field.
No man was to touch her!
She was permitted to drink from the men’s water.

As mentioned, Boaz may have had early interest in this foreign lady, this lady committed to Naomi, and for that kindness, she was thankful.

Ruth 2:10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
Ruth 2:13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.”

Boaz’s acts of kindness reflects in a small way “the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”

But in reality there is a huge difference, for Boaz was kind to a grateful and faithful lady, whereas the Most High, as He sought us and died for us, provided His lavish kindness to the ungrateful and evil.

His kindness far exceeds our understanding, and for that we are grateful, and desire to follow after Him, being transformed as He lives in us!

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Names of God – GOD ON HIGH – 197

2025-07-21

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

197

GOD ON HIGH

Micah 6:6 “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Micah is asking the question of the Israelites? What does God want from us? How can we appease God to avoid His wrath?

Chapter 6 starts out with a complaint from the Lord, an indictment of the Lord, against His people, contending with Israel.

Micah 6:2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.

The Israeli’s are a thankless people, and many scholars think this passage relates to Balak’s discussion with Balaam. You remember Balak, that king of Moab, as described in verse 5. It seems verse 6-7 is recorded by Micah as Balak’s introductory request to Balaam.

To think that Micah is using a heathen king’s question as a response to the Lord’s indictment against Israel is a bit surprising, but the topic of today’s verse is that he referred to God as God on High.

Get that?

The heathen king Balak referred to God as God on High. Now Micah is using this discussion, this question from a heathen God to instruct the people of God, a people who had forgotten God and were thankless to God.

Of course Balak’s request extended to and absurb logic, for he suggested the need for the sacrifice of human flesh to satisfy God on High. How utterly disgusting for those of us who have come to know of our God, and of His saving grace, His holy standards, and His ultimate sacrifice for each of our lives.

How could this God we know accept a disgusting sacrifice as child sacrifice, yet Balak, understanding God as an ultimate God, a God very lofty and on High, logically may require the ultimate, most costly sacrifice.

Logic can take a person to dangerous places!

This is not the God of the Bible, for our God does not require the death of any, for the Word declares He finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked. How much more does He seek safety for the innocent, and for those seeking His face. No – He seeks to save, to restore, to enrich and to guide.

The only death He has required is the death of His Son for the sake of His enemies. How can we understand such a God, a God who sacrifices for His subjects, dies for His creation, suffers for His people. And we forget Him in our actions and attitudes.

In conclusion, what “sacrifice” are we to give to the God on High? Balaam, as I understand, responded accordingly to Balak’s extreme, somewhat logical question in Micah 6:8.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

When the believer understands the God we worship is the God on High, the lofty, supreme God, and that His desire is that we humbly walk with Him, this truth is life changing.

Has it changed your life?

The God on High requires something from you. Consider.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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1 Thessalonian Bits – 2:2-B

2025-07-20

A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 2:2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.

Last post we spoke of the ongoing attempt of some amongst the Thessalonians regarding the character assassination of Paul, and how this may lead to the weakening, even the loss of faith for those who were so strongly converted and were such a bright light of witness in the region. Paul spoke of his initial entrance into their lives and that his coming was not without results.

In our last post, we considered the recent suffering Paul endured prior to his arrival in town. Paul sought to remind the Thessalonians of his history, as a defense against his detractors who were seeking to spread malicious statements of the apostle, in order to pull church adherents away from his teaching.

In our second post on this verse, let’s move on from Paul’s history of suffering in Philippi, and consider his time amongst the Thessalonians. He has some pointed items to remind them of!

Much Conflict

He speaks of his past suffering, and then has the Thessalonians recall their city’s response. Conflict. Contention. Fighting. Struggle.

The Thessalonian city authorities did not take kindly to Paul and his team entering their city and “upsetting the apple cart”. Thessalonica seems to be of the same general opinion as Philippi, with a similar response of resistance to the gospel that he suffered so recently.

By this time in Paul’s life, he could see the handwriting on the wall. More suffering, upheaval, conflict.

By this time, Paul should have tempered his message, guarding his communication to those most offended by the cross.

Though the Philippi experience was about to erupt in Paul’s face again in this little city, he did not hold back. The fear of suffering did not hold on to Paul’s heart or mind, but he spoke boldly.

Let’s remember that Paul’s detractors, those seeking to pull the Thessalonians from Paul’s teaching, are claiming he has impure motives for the church, that he is a liar and cheat, one who is seeking his own advancement.

Consider this claim of evil deception on the part of Paul, as he speaks of his history with both Philippi and Thessalonica.

Liars lie for self advancement.

What personal advancement did Paul gain, other than broken ribs, lacerations, severe bruising, continual pain, and walking away from public humiliation?

Liars lie to escape suffering.

Again, he endured suffering, even to the point of willing to take the suffering though it was inflicted illegally. Consider Paul’s possible motivation for accepting the beating – See Conditional Security – Philippians 1:3-11

Liars lie to gain a reward.

What reward has Paul received? Where is the gain?

Liars lie out of fear.

Here, we refer to Paul’s manner of speaking in the very passage we are in today. He spoke boldly. Freely. He spoke without considering the past or the possible outcome of his message on his own person.

This witness the Thessalonians heard and saw, for he spoke his message freely and continually though the city rose up against him. The Thessalonians knew this and needed to be reminded of his manner of life.

To speak freely is a rare commodity in today’s world. The atmosphere of restricting speech is choking the church. and I for one admit to succumbing to this environment of fear.

Let us look to the Lord for the boldness we need. A boldness that only comes from the Lord. For Paul clearly states that his boldness was “in our God”.

May God have mercy on our souls for being so timid, and may we ask Him for strength in the midst of our trials that may come!

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Let Me Tell You a Story – 2,000

2025-07-19

A short post this morning.

I would like to thanks all who have subscribed to my scrawling, those who read my muddled thoughts, of those who try to understand the goodness of God with me, and all those who take the time to comment on a post, or send me a question.

This post will be my two thousandth post, and little did I know that by getting the feedback I have received, you (and the mercy of God) have drew me along in this adventure of Considering the Bible.

As I mentioned, my wandering style is cut short today, for I simply and only want to thank those who interact and encourage me in this adventure.

Thankyou.

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

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Names of God – GOD OF OUR FATHERS – 196

2025-07-18

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.

196

GOD OF OUR FATHERS

Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.

In our most recent posts, we have considered each of the previous names in the verse above on an individual basis, each time relating to one of the patriarchal fathers.

In our post this morning, we find Peter grouping the three names of God associated with the patriarchs of Israel, a common grouping together, and defining this group of names as the God of our Fathers.

This is Peter’s second sermon, and it is the result of the miracle of a healing cripple at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. The people saw him walking, the cripple man that is, and were filled with wonder and amazement.

Peter takes advantage of the situation and starts to teach. He speaks to “men of Israel”, as verse 12 tells us, and proceeds to speak of how they delivered Jesus to the government, denied Jesus in front of Pilate, (though Pilate he sought a way to release Him), and how they killed the Author of Life.

Acts 3:15 and you killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

They killed Him.

Peter pulls no punches. And to make things worse, (if that is possible), he speaks of how God, the God of their Fathers, regarded this One they killed. The God of their Fathers glorified his Servant Jesus.

They killed Him.

Of course, Peter is referring to the resurrection, for that act alone is the pinnacle of God’s opinion of who Jesus is. But before this declaration of God’s attitude of Jesus, the God of their Fathers spoke audibly to witnesses of His Servant. It is not as though the Men of Israel had not been given witness of God’s opinion of Jesus.

They killed Him.

Not only had God, the God of their Fathers provided verbal witness of His pleasure in Jesus, the many miracles He performed amongst the Men of Israel spoke of His union with the God of their Fathers.

They killed Him.

Jesus gave witness of His union with the God of their Fathers in His teaching, explaining over and over again of how He was One with God, the God of their Fathers, of how He was the chosen One, the Messiah, and of parables providing truths that gave ample witness of the truth of His Person.

They killed Him.

These Men of Israel surely had watched the city in an uproar during the triumphal entry, been part of the whipped up crowd calling for His death, witnessed the crucifixion and then heard rumors of an empty grave. Rumors that could easily have been verified, and that was spreading through the city like wildfire.

These Men of Israel had Fathers who knew this God, patriarchs that knew of the God they spoke of, of the God who was being worshipped even now by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but these Men of Israel did not know God.

They killed Him.

But the God of their Fathers would not give up, and provided opportunity for these Men of Israel to know the God of their Fathers, the God who is the God of the Living and not of the dead. Peter was reminding them that He is the God of resurrection, for when the reference to God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob is used, it is always associated with resurrection.

Jesus was raised from the dead and was seen by many. His resurrection is the proof of His Messiahship, proof of His saving power, and proof that He is the God of their Fathers.

God provided this witness of the Servant of God, the God of their Fathers, raised up from death, to the Men of Israel who killed Him.

Acts 3:26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

The Men of Israel could know the God of their Fathers. Even though they took part in such a heinous crime, the God of their Fathers was providing them an opportunity to know the God of their Fathers.

To those reading, who come from a family where faith was evident, from parents or grandparents that walked with the Living God, it is incumbent in your own life to know the God who raised up Jesus.

To depend on being related to those who came before you, who knew the Living God themselves, can turn out to be very very dangerous!

Each person on their own has to face God for the sins they have committed and for the sinful stance they take against God. The faith of other people is of no help.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.

Jesus is the One, the God of their Fathers, the God of our Fathers, the forgiving God, who forgave those who killed Him, who is reaching out even now to you.

Do not depend on other peoples faith. He needs to the the God of our hearts and lives today.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – Hosea 14:4

2025-07-17

Hosea 14:4

I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

Hosea has lived out the drama of a faithless wife in front of the nation, a drama that Israel and God had experienced in their covenant relationship, a relationship that needs to be based on obedience and trust, but fell into drama and pain, due to the treachery of a unfaithful wife, a woman who would not submit to her man.

She was a loose woman before Hosea married her, as was Israel.

She was a faithless wife after Hosea married her, as was Israel.

She suffered due to her decisions, as will Israel.

And yet God says He will heal her.

Honestly, I expected that God would speak of forgiveness toward Israel, especially as the first few verses of Hosea speaks of their need of repentance and return to Him. But He speaks of healing.

If forgiveness was referred to, in my minds eye, I see a Judge who has found a way to righteously release the criminal – as in the gospel message and the crime being paid for by the Guiltless One.

But Hosea doesn’t speak of forgiveness, at least not in this passage referring to apostacy. He speaks of healing. Now when healing is brought into the conversation, it implies a relationship of doctor / patient, and of a diseased condition. That is somewhat shocking, for that implies a condition in which Israel may not be culpable.

No one “blames” me if I have Covid 19. I don’t link a disease with my will or actions stemming from it. Granted some disease may be associated with bad decisions, but the point is that God is in the healing business in this passage.

And to be clear, this disease is not some simple Covid 19, a relatively minor infection that is essentially harmless. This disease is the disease of sin in and through the heart of the victim, a spiritual sickness that leads to death, that is carried by each and every one of us, that pulls us down, that pulls us away, that draws us to the worst and not the best, that harms us and eventually kills us.

God will heal this disease, this apostacy, this sickness rampant through the nation. It will take time, and the death of the Only One, but the healing will and has come. But for those individuals who rejected Hosea’s plea to return to the Lord, it seems that the disease would continue in it’s natural course of destruction.

This passage speaks to me of the many faceted mercies of God, that in His sacrifice for us, He dealt with the willful sin of the rebel, and healed the helpless victim of a killing disease.

Apostacy existed in the Old Testament. The rot of sin had gotten hold of the nation and both Jeremiah and Hosea spoke of this condition as the nation teetered into the chasm of captivity. The reality of apostacy became evident as the pleas for repentance were at first ignored, then rejected, and finally deaf to any message from the Lord.

Don’t reject the call of God on your life, even in those day to day circumstances when God’s Word speaks loudly in the mundane, the ordinary, the “boring” acts of obedience we as the Bride of Christ can do to show our love to Him.

As I have heard often, the closer the walk, the better the life!

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Life of David – 24.01

2025-07-16

David’s Wives Are Captured

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 30:1-6
1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire
2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.
3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.
5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Let’s remember the situation, the recent history coming up to this raid on Ziklag, David’s city in southern Philistia.

David left Israel, running from King Saul who was hunting him down. He approached Achish, a king of the Philistines and somehow found favor in the kings sight. Eventually Achish gave the town of Ziklag to David and his men to settle in, and as they settled, David and his men began the raids of the southern towns.

Now as we know from recent reading, David did not play gentle with these towns he raided. Killed everyone in sight, so that no one would know of his activities. For Achish, David spoke of raiding the towns of Israel, which surely pleased Achish. Anything to weaken those Israeli’s!

Yet David was raiding, thieving and killing everyone in the southern towns he invaded, towns that were south of Philistia, but not Israeli.

The activities were brutal, relentless, and covered over with the silence of the victims.

Through the Amalekites, the nation that was to be destroyed by the Israeli’s back in Saul’s reign, David suffered the loss of his city, his family and his outpost.

But note the severe mercy of the Lord in verse 2.

(the Amalekites) had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire
2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.

Though David also raided towns to the south, when the Amalekites attacked his city, they provided mercy to that city by NOT killing one soul. David killed every soul. For David to enter your town meant certain death. He could not allow his lies to be exposed. He was as an angel of death if he visited your city!

The Amalekites, though the sworn enemy of God, acted more righteously than the future king of Israel. David killed women and children. The Amalekites simply took them all away.

The world is upside down!

Not only had David lost his family, but due to David’s decision to take his army to the Philistine’s area, all of Ziklag was defenseless, and his entire army lost all their loved ones.

The town was lost, families were ripped apart, the army had just travelled 3 long days to get home, only to be shocked with the destruction of their homes, their city and their families. At this time, no one knew of the condition of their families, it is not as though the Amalekites left a note behind telling them all is well with the women and little ones! For all the men of David knew, the families were suffering a fate worse than death, even to the point of death! Not knowing surely was the worst situation to be in.

David was on the very edge! He was facing a mutiny, a rising up of those who had resorted to him, who had suffered much by following him, and had been faithful to him though associated with the enemy of the state.

But now it was time for a stoning! The time of weeping was over, the time for anger was rising up!

Imagine the state of David. He knows he has been out of favor with God, that he has many enemies, and that he is walking a tightrope in relation to the king of the Philistines. Saul is never going to give up, and he has just lost his family, and all of his soldiers families.

Now he was going to die! By the hand of his own! All the promises were to be snuffed out, by the lifting of a stone over his life. And why go on? He has done enough damage, so much has gone wrong.

But he strengthened himself in the Lord!

At his lowest point in life, after all the running and hiding, after joining the enemy of Israel, and then being rejected by them, after seeing his town burnt to the ground. after having his family taken from him, after his own sought to end his life, he had One resource, One person he could turn to.

But he strengthened himself in the Lord!

I had previously noticed this verse a few times, as I read the Old Testament in the past, but never considered the absolute utter lowness of David’s condition at the time of this strengthening. He had lost it all, and was again at the edge of the grave, looking down and waiting for the hammer to fall.

But he strengthened himself in the Lord!

He was strong in himself before, but the humbling actions of the Lord in a believer’s life can be a severe mercy. David was full of himself, the crafty man who could deceive kings, who could lead men, who could destroy whole towns. But the end had come. In the middle of a burned out town, without any of his loved ones and amongst a furious crowd, he was now at his lowpoint.

But he strengthened himself in the Lord!

Why would the Lord consider such a wretch?

He had become of no use, a man who had turned his back on the law of God, who led others to do likewise, and had placed his family in danger.

Why would the Lord consider such a wretch?

Because David was finally at a point where God would become his all in all, where David’s self strength had been worn out, drained, and seen for what it is.

David was ready to become King!

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Boaz – 04

2025-07-15

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Boaz

Redeemer of All

Ruth 4:9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon.
Ruth 4:10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”

Ephesians 3:6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

The last two posts spoke of Boaz as the Kinsmen Redeemer, and we have considered the likeness of Jesus in Boaz as he performed righteous acts to redeem, and secondly, the motivation he was spurred on by to redeem, to redeem that Moabite lady.

For this short post, let us consider those whom Boaz redeemed.

First off, there was Naomi, a pureblood, fully committed Jewish woman. Though she was away from the land for a period, she remained and was recognized as Jewish by blood and by faith.

Secondly, Ruth was a foreigner, a “dirty” Moabitess, a stranger that was outside the covenant of God and behind the wall of ordinances the faithful were privileged to

In Boaz’s actions, he redeemed both a Jew and a Gentile.

In Jesus, we have the One who perfectly brought the two together into one family, both Jew and Gentile throughout the the world. A completely new kingdom including both Jew and Gentile, a new family with Jesus as the Head of the church.

Though this is a very short post, the truth of Jesus bringing two together as He has should remind us that God is in the business of inclusion under His King.

May we as the church live out the joining together of two groups into one family under Him.

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2 – Worth of Money

Worth Less than Knowledge

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a Loss of Anxiety

the time for mercy

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Worth

Value

1 – Worth of Money

Worth Less than Instruction

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Young FRANK

Older FRANK

Elderly Frank

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Much Conflict

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