Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
Chosen
Isaiah 45:1a Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped.
Luke 9:35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
The very same verse we looked at last week is providing another similarity for us to consider with the shadow King Cyrus when we look to the reality of King Jesus.
Both were chosen.
For the God of heaven to state centuries before the birth of this gentile king that He would grasp this kings hand speaks of His chosing him for the task ahead.
It is good to remember that to be chosen is usually in reference to a particular task or mission. Yes sometimes is may seem to refer to the ultimate destiny of a nation, as it was with Israel, and as some believers may think, it is a designation for some individuals ultimate destiny also.
That is an issue I will not address in this post, as I have discussed it in numerous earlier posts. A short study on the purpose of being chosen.
Chosen To Perform
1 Chronicles 15:2 Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever.
Chosen To Become
Deuteronomy 14:2 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Chosen to Bear Fruit
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Chosen Not Because
For myself, I sometimes confuse the act of being chosen as signifying somehow being worthy of being chosen.
Deuteronomy 7:6 …..The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
The Israelites were not chosen because they were numerous or great when compared with the neighboring nations. As a matter of fact, the smallness, the insignificance of Israel only brought about the strength of the Lord God to be seen. It is a recurring theme, that those chosen for a task are wholly incapable of performing the task, of becoming the person they are called to be, or of bearing fruit on their own.
My I have somewhat stayed from the original topic this morning, but it all applies to Cyrus, for he was chosen to perform a task, he was chosen to become a king, and he was chosen to bear fruit (build a temple) for God.
In his confession of the God of heaven providing all the kingdoms for his reign, he may have also grasped that this choice was not because he was great, but that God provided.
As for the Son of God, His was the original choice by the Father, the only choice that could perform the gargantuan task of salvation, the only choice of the perfect sinless sacrifice and the only choice to bear the fruit of the church, constantly bearing fruit in new and growing believers.
He is the Chosen One!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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.
233
GOD OF HEAVEN
2 Chronicles 36:23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.
There are numerous passages in the Word that provide us our name of God this morning, but I chose this verse out of 2 Chronicles due to my recent studying of Cyrus as a type of Christ. (Jesus in the Old Testament – Cyrus – 01).
Beyond that reason, I find this verse to be comforting for our day, in that it contains a truth that hopefully will settle the heart of the faithful.
As I said, it is difficult times we live in as we see this old world crumble away, with cultural and societal degradation surrounding us, with national leadership being exposed for deeper and deeper corruption, and an ever-growing open hatred of the Christian faith.
The church seems to have entered a type of captivity, accepting the cultures social norms, (shifting as they are), as acceptable norms to conform to. As the ancient Jewish nation experienced their captivity in Babylon, the church – at least in the western world – has also lost touch.
But as we see in this verse, and understanding the background of King Cyrus, we see that the God of heaven is not limited by His location, or that He is only in charge in heaven. King Cyrus, a non-Jew, and an unexpected Savior for the people of Israel, readily admits to the authority and actions of the God of heaven on earth. This pagan king not only admits that the God of heaven provided him his success, giving him “all the kingdoms of the earth”, but that God has given him a charge.
King Cyrus – build the God of heaven a house in Jerusalem.
A charge was given to the King, and an allowance was provided to the people of God. They were granted freedom by this king, and supplied to those who had a heart for God, the very highest gift of the faithful saint, The king would build the temple of the God of heaven, and the people of God could see him do it!
Also, take note that the people of God, though given freedom to return, are a secondary item. By that I mean, they are allowed to get involved if they want, but the King will build the house for the God of heaven whether they choose to get involved or not.
The God of heaven rules over the kingdoms of the earth, and to rescue His people, (or better stated, to provide a salvation to those who seek it), He may rise up a man or woman that is totally unexpected, in order to fulfill His desires. And the people of God can watch the wonder of this saviors work, taking part if they want.
The Greater King, our Living Savior is building a temple for the God of heaven in our day also. Have you been granted freedom? Are you wanting to get involved? The opportunity, the blessing, maybe better yet – the obligation is in front of the saint to get involved in the work.
Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
He is the God of heaven, and He is working on this earth to build His Temple.
Wanna help?
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
A 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 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
Let’s try to remember what Paul is thanking God constantly for in this verse. The previous two verses spoke of how he as thier father figure in faith, spoke to them, that he exhorted them, encouraged them and charged them.
For this he was thankful. Now of course he may be referring to the following message within this verse, but I think his flow of thought goes something like this.
I acted as a father to you, sometimes saying difficult things, challenging you to make life choices, to do hard things! But you realized that though I am a mere man, the message was from God, and it carried great authority!
One reason, I fear, that the church nowadays is quite shallow, is that the message is simply a message of man, and we know it. We do little challenging, rebuking or charging due to the knowledge that the authority is our own.
For the Word of God to be “unleashed”, I understand that in a number of ways.
We are to know the Word enough that when we come to a situation we can unsheathe the Word and make a statement, using the bare Word of God.
I admit that this is easy when it is a time of encouragement, but when the difficult truths have to be expressed, I tend to want to soften the blow, dull the cut, and explain away some of the toughness of the Word.
If I am honest with myself, it is for my own comfort. I will have to face hard difficult truth first! For any truth to be communicated correctly, for the Word to be “unsheathed”, the truth has to go through the vessel, through the messenger. The Word has to be active in the messenger before it can intentionally and effectively be communicated to another.
Not only does the Word have to be acting in the messenger, the Word has to have the priority. Priority over your own thoughts, feelings, sensitivities and concerns. The Word is to be understood as having come from God, through a man. The truth is originating from God, and as we understand this, the Word should become more and more of a priority in our lives.
A final thought as to why I may not speak the Word in difficult situations or as a challenge to others is that I fear I will loose the one I am speaking to. In the culture we live in nowadays, many are easily offended. Feelings are hurt and people shut down, refusing to communicate. Believe me when I tell you that I have experienced decades being outside of a loved ones life, simply because of an offence, and sad to say, it was not due to the gospel. This is wasteful, sinful and so unnecessary!
I consider this as simply a wrong focus if I am honest about it. Consider the teaching of the Lord. He is teaching us
to love one another
to serve those in need
to be meek and lowly for those who are around us
to live in peace with our neighbor, as much as we can
to not place (personal) stumbling blocks before others
and yet not fear the offense of the gospel
I suppose in the end, we all need to prioritize the Word in our lives, accepting and speaking of hard things when necessary. As Paul started out this passage, even the difficult things need to be spoken as a father to his child. He had authority as the great apostle, but he did not describe this interaction with the faithful as a judge to a criminal. Let us remember that the Word is over all of us, we are all under the Word. As those of us who may be maturing, we need to recall this truth. Maturity does not set us up as judges, pouring commands on those “below us”. What a foolish, religious stance!
Difficult truths, as they work in us as believers, will produce a patience, an understanding of others struggles and in my own life personally, recognizing my very deep weakness before Him.
Consider thought that if the Word is creating a hardness in you, an impatience with others, even a disdain for those who haven’t attained to your level of spirituality, consider your position before God.
In the mid nineties, I had a little red Buick and a big ol’ bass box in the trunk, and would listen to “Christian Rock”, cranked to 11.
(What did you say? Huh? Can you say that again, I didn’t hear you….)
I have gotten away from that genre for many reasons, the least of which may be a loss of hearing, but some songs have stuck with me over the decades.
The artist’s I listened to sought to reflect Scriptural teaching for the most part. They ranged from “preaching” pop culture religion to significant theological teaching. As I listened to the lyrics, I found some to be quite challenging.
To be honest, I listened because I could justify the rock beat with “sanctified lyrics”.
Occasionally I will post a song, supply the lyrics and make a comment or two. If you decide to listen to the tune, turn the speaker down unless you are already deaf. Some of the songs tend to have a certain “volume” about them!
This post will consider the song
Secret Trees – by Johnny Q Public
Johnny Q Public was a band put out two albums and found a following, especially after the success of their first album. They only put out two albums, and this particular tune speaks to those who want to judge, but find in the judgement, a self condemnation, reflective of John 8.
Take a listen!
Secret Trees – by Johnny Q Public
You can’t see Specks beyond the trees But I’ll forgive If you forget Throw your first stone You’re a big man, make your stand You’ve done nothing wrong Are you sure, think again ‘Cause I know a secret I know a secret
I know a secret that you think that I don’t know I’m writing in sand Hoping it will remind you All have sinned Let the water wash you clean ‘Cause I know a secret I know a secret I know a secret that you think that I don’t know
Let me know what you think of the lyrics, and of the tunes!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
232
GOD OF GLORY
Psalm 29:3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.
Glory. It is the winning of the Boston marathon, or the receiving of an Oscar. It is often thought of as an ultimate victory, a great display of honor. For those who seek it, it is the attainment of fame and splendor. of an honor amongst their peers.
When it comes to how it is associated with God, we often think of a radiant light, a manifestation of God’s presence, or a recognition of His worth and beauty. He as God is the Only One worthy of glory in the most absolute sense.
For the verse we are considering, David associates the God of Glory with His message, specifically His voice in the world of nature, even a thunderstorm.
David, I would suggest, is watching a great thunderstorm, where the heavens are opening up and unleashing a power that cannot be resisted. Vast areas of the land, and in this case the waters of Israel, may be experiencing high winds, torrents of rain, fire from heaven and thunderous noise shaking the earth.
David is trying to express the might and power of the Lord in relation to the world about him. Throughout this psalm, David speaks of the “voice of the Lord”, and this is the first instance.
Yet I must consider the term glory before I finish this post. /I recall discussing a somewhat surprising association with the term glory with heaviness. (See Names of God – BEAUTIFUL AND GLORIOUS – 49).
I found also, that though the term “glory” not only had a sense of honor and esteem, and a sense of heaviness, (even fatness), associated with it, this term is also linked with suffering.
This particular word we see in this passage comes from the root word כָּבַד kâbad. We find this root word in the following passages, where I have italicized it’s use.
Genesis 18:20 Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave,
Note that the root word we read as glory in the Psalm is translated “grave” in Genesis 18. Some translations use grievous or serious.
Nehemiah 5:18 Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.
Nehemiah rejected the opportunity to enjoy great abundance due to the heavy burden placed on the people that required it.
2 Samuel 13:25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him, but he would not go but gave him his blessing.
David did not want to be burdensome to his son.
1 Samuel 5:11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there.
The term associates directly with suffering in 1 Samuel, where the hand of God was causing an uproar amongst the Philistines.
Psalm 32:4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
But lest we think this suffering is only for those who know not God, we find it used by David when he is under the judging eye of His Master.
All of this is to simply admit that my concept of glory is too weak, too shallow. Bright lights, beauty and honor are the thoughts that typically rise to the mind when we think of glory, but let us not forget that it is a complex thought, a complex idea that has much greater meaning than first considered.
The God of Glory has Himself provided the greatest display of His glory in the man Christ Jesus, as He displayed His patient, kind, meek and loving interaction with those who had ears to hear. His character was a blinding glorious light in a very dark land.
He also displayed His authority, His heaviness amongst some lightweight religious authorities, literally tearing their arguments to pieces without breaking a sweat!
But if you ask me, the greatest display of the God of Glory for all to see was the Man Christ Jesus, bloody and broken, nailed to a cross, exposed to the public as if he were equal to a mere thief, suffering the indignities and insults of sinful man, all to rescue a thankless and hateful people.
He is the God of Glory and though many may look to the cross as simply an instrument of justice, for the believer, that cross provided the greatest display of who the God of Glory truly is!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Psalm 85:4-5 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Restoration.
It is a consistent refrain in the Word, where the people of God, having slipped (or run headlong) into sin, have fallen victim to bondage and captivity. When Israel finally came to it’s senses, the plea to God was always for restoration, for the Lord to rescue the people who knew Him, back to a place of favor before Him.
I am not sure of when this Psalm was written, whether after the captivity of Babylon, or possibly during one of many spiritually low spots previous to the captivity. Either way, it is a telling psalm of the nations knowledge of their standing before their God.
The people of God needed restoration. They called out to the God of their salvation, seeking restoration to their salvation experience. They were a people of covenant, who had broken ties with their God and reaped the result of having no hope! The people of God understood they were experiencing the anger of a holy and righteous God – which if truth be told, is an enviable position to be in.
Now hold on Carl. To be under the judgment of God is an enviable position to be in? Are you smoking crack? Let me repeat my thought. It is an enviable position to rightly understand their position before God. It is that we are in an enviable position if we know the truth of our position before God.
Many in our day think they are in a great standing before God, and yet live a life of utter disregard to the will of God, the Word of God and the Son of God. The folk in this psalm, of whom we read this morning, understood their position before God and reached out the the only One who could restore them.
A short phrase in verse 4 catches my eye, when the psalmist admits that even their best efforts are of no use before the Mighty God. Do you see what I speak of?
put away your indignation toward us
The psalmist is not claiming that they will do better, that the people of God could earn their position back with the Eternal Father, that some action on their part could assuage the anger of God.
He begs God to put away His own anger, the anger that is towards His own people. God only can put away His own anger. Amazing!
Does that not scream of the crucifixion, of the Father smiting the Son, striking Him, crushing Him and placing all the iniquity on the Servant of God. God did put away His own anger. Jesus carried the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:4,5,6
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–every one–to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Is Jesus the restoration provided by God? Is the crucifixion the very solution God has provided for those needing salvation, revival and restoration?
To ignore Him and to turn to religion, or good morals or to be socially acceptable is simply to spit in the face of God. We are stating by our actions of religion, morals or social graces that His solution is not good enough for us! How repugnant it must be in the nostrils of our God for us to abandon His solution for beggarly efforts such as those!
Think about it, for if those in the Old Testament, having the light they had and yet rebelled, knew of the anger of God and the need for His mercy, how much more do we who have come after the resurrection need to turn to Him for our restoration and salvation.
My friend. Jesus truly is the answer to this Psalmist’s request for God putting His anger away. That anger was consumed in the cross, in the death of the Messiah.
It is truly an enviable position to understand your position before God. Can you admit of your weakness, your poverty, your inability before Him? Do you understand the separation between Him and you, the gulf that can’t be crossed by your own efforts?
If you are of this condition, knowing you will have to answer to Him someday, are you seeking to put away God’s anger on your own? Are you trying to be good enough? Are you rejecting the very solution God has provided?
My friend, without a living faith in the One who has consumed the anger of God, having come out of the grave to prove His victory, there is no safety. Without God’s provision, there can be no true restoration, no true salvation, no true life.
Realize your need, understand your position before God. Consider the tremendous gulf between the Holy One and yourself. Understand your true condition before God. Agree with that ol’ hymn ” Amazing Grace”.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!
God reveals not only our dire situation, but also of the complete and full rescue He has provided in His Son Jesus, the Resurrected One.
Run to the One who has put away His own anger!
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
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.
2 Samuel 3:6-11
6 While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” 8 Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog’s head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. 9 God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the LORD has sworn to him, 10 to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” 11 And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.
Rizpah, at my first reading of this text, seemed to be the trigger for Abner to abandon Ish-bosheth. I assumed that Ish-bosheth was becoming overly sensitive to Abner’s personal life, or that he wanted to lord it over Abner, trying to control the man that controlled him.
Let’s back up a bit. Rizpah was the mother of two of Saul’s sons, and effectively Saul’s wife, though specifically described as a concubine in this passage. Her two sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth were of the royal lineage of the house of Saul. This positions Rizpah in a powerful position, and for Abner to be connected with her, only amplifies his position of power within the northern tribes.
We understand Ish-bosheth as a man of a weak temperament, one that was placed into the position of a king by Abner, not that he had taken the throne by force, or even by assumption. It did not appear that Ish-bosheth had any inner motivation to aspire to be king. Abner placed him on the throne.
Now Ish-bosheth is in a sticky wicket. His life is dependent on remaining on the throne, for any successor will need to eliminate him to secure their own kingship. With this unsettling understanding creeping up into Ish-bosheth’s mind, every suspicious action flared into a threat.
Abner and Rizpah? Definite threat in Ish-bosheth’s mind! Was it a real threat? No one knows the mind of Abner, but for Ish-bosheth, this had to be dealt with, which is a surprising show of strength from a man who seemed to be so sheepish. But Ish-bosheth’s accusation became his very downfall! Abner was the power behind the throne, and for Ish-bosheth to slur him, turned out to be worse than the current situation!
Rizpah became a fulcrum that was used to bring Ish-bosheth’s kingdom to it’s knees. Later in the story of David, we shall find Rizpah to be quite the woman of conviction and of commitment to her family, but for now, we see that she was a passive participant in the expansion of David’s kingdom.
Abner also makes note that Ish-bosheth charges him with a fault concerning Rizpah. What might that fault be? It seems Ish-bosheth accused Abner was seeking to acquire the kingdom of Saul through a relation with Rizpah.
And I love how Abner, though seeming to be insulted, claims his own goodness, and uses this charge of Ish-bosheth’s as the reason for his abandoning the very man he set up as king! He speaks of his steadfast love to the house of Saul, even as he intends to abandon Ish-bosheth. He speaks of how he has not given Ish-bosheth into the hands of David, even as he plans to give him up. Abner goes so far as to say he will accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn for him, as though Abner was the key to the will of God.
Abner was quite the self righteous pompous blowhard!
And Ish-bosheth had set his future in motion, realizing his days were numbered, and completely controlled by the man who he tried to control.
Abner, as we shall see in the next post, started immediately to work his “magic” in transferring the kingdom over to David. Though full of hypocrisy and pride, Abner was in a very specific way, used of God to bring the kingdom back together again. Of course the country was split in two due primarily to his actions of setting up a competitive kingdom to the north, even as he knew David would be the rightful king!
No matter the situation, Abner sought to find advantage for his own position in life. He was the center of the universe, and all things, and actions needed to surrender to his will.
He is a stunning picture of the one who has not identified with Jesus, who has not accepted “not my will but thine” as a life commitment before God.
Galatians 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Abner knew of God’s promise, yet he sought his own will, even though Abner’s desires used and abused a helpless man that was unlucky enough to be a son of Saul. For the immediate future, Abner was the power broker, the most influential man in the land. Nothing could stop him!
Nothing at all!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
Anointed One
Isaiah 45:1a Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped..
Acts 4:27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
I will admit it, I started looking at Cyrus, thinking that if I found one or two likenesses to the Lord, I will have plunged the depths of the similarities this gentile king had with our Lord. After all, my next subject is Daniel, and I can hardly wait. My attitude, (sad as it was), was to get the gentile king out of the way so I can dig into the life of Daniel and see the Lord in that great saint of old.
Was I wrong! Cyrus is quite surprising as a great Gentile King, but even more so as a typology of Jesus. Although I am reluctant to define the number of similarities I have found so far, suffice to say it is not just one or two. (A hint to my readers – It is less than 100!)
For this post, lets consider the fact that Cyrus was called the anointed of God. Yes, it is true that there were many anointed in the Old Testament, including the kings of Israel and Judah, prophets of Israel, priests of Israel, and many leaders, such as the judges, or different leaders that were within the theocracy of Israel.
But Cyrus stands out amongst these anointed in that he was a dirty Gentile, a foreigner to the covenant and a man that was outside of the regular domain God worked within.
Not only that, but Cyrus was called God’s anointed prior to performing any good deed, or before even sucking breath. Isaiah’s prophecy was given a century prior to the Gentile king arriving on the scene! Not many of the “rank and file” of the anointed in Israel can claim that status.
And yet, even as Cyrus stands out from amongst all those who were of the anointed class in the old theocracy, the True Anointed One is head and shoulders above Cyrus. Though Cyrus was a great and victorious king over all the known world in his day, His anointing may be considered his greatest privilege, a privilege granted by God.
For Jesus, to put it bluntly, to be the Anointed was simply a matter of fact. He is the Anointed, the Only One Who was and is the Anointed One, not due to a privilege granted by God, but because of His Person, of Who He truly is.
There is a difference! He is the Christ, the Anointed One!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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.
231
GOD OF FAITHFULNESS AND WITHOUT INIQUITY
Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
Our God is a God of faithfulness and without iniquity.
It is a common truth that believer’s rely on throughout our walk with Him, and yet when trials come or trouble rise up, our first inclination is to question his faithfulness.
Of course that is simply our rebellion rising up, blaming God for that which might be occurring due to our poor decisions, or maybe simply misunderstanding God’s way in our lives.
As I was reviewing this term for faithfulness, I found it to have a somewhat special meaning. It refers to being steady or firm. A very good example of how this term pictures the steadfastness of God is found in Exodus, when Moses was overseeing Joshua fight the Amalekites.
Exodus 17:12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Moses hands were “faithful” until the going down of the sun. They didn’t move, and were not subject to any weakness that Moses was experiencing.
God is steady, firm and unmoving, and unlike Moses, did not require assistance from others in being so. He is faithful, and His nature of being so is a great comfort to every believer.
But this name of God we are considering this morning is not simply the God of faithfulness , but the God of faithfulness and without iniquity!
Faithful, unmoving, firm, resolute. God is the God of faithfulness. He is the ultimate expression of firmness, of unmoving adherence to His Word and Will. Then Moses adds the “without iniquity” description, as further emphasis on who God is.
May I suggest this double description of God works to bolster the image Moses was trying to get across to the Israelites by describing a positive attribute, and then further describing that attribute by negating any idea of unfaithfulness.
Let me try to explain my thoughts.
If God at any time and for any reason, was not faithful, and because He is known and described as faithful, this act of unfaithfulness would introduce iniquity into our thoughts. At any time, if God was not steady, firm in His nature and promises, iniquity could be claimed to be found in Him.
How preposterous, for it is His nature that defines righteousness, and there is no iniquity to be found in Him. And that is the point!
Moses is doubling up on his description of the faithfulness (firmness, steadiness) of God. No iniquity of unsteadiness, or unfaithfulness may be considered.
Don’t even think it!
Unless of course, you turn your eyes to see the Man on the cross, where a spotless God, firm in His will and in the keeping of His word, accepted iniquity into His own body. The mystery of One who, due to His faithfulness, became sin (iniquity), accepting the just punishment of sin within His own body.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Out God is a God of Faithfulness and Without Iniquity, even as He exercised His faithfulness to His own saving promises. To His own great hurt, that is His own death, He was faithful. No iniquity of His own may be found in Him, even as we see Him hanging on that cross, receiving the just punishment of our iniquity being placed on His sinless Body.
How can we understand such a faithful God, One who is without iniquity, and yet taking on our sin to maintain His faithfulness? It is not for us to understand, but only to bow before Him.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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 2:12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
Let’s remember this is the completion of the previous verse, where Paul describes himself as a father to this group of believers.
1 Thessalonians 2:11 For you know how, like a father with his children,
Paul continues his thoughts on how he has treated these young believers as a father in the faith.
At the risk of beating a dead horse (again), make note of Paul’s emphasis on the individual in each of these actions. He starts his thoughts with “exhorted each one of you“. Now, of course he may be speaking in the manner we are accustomed to when some one gets behind a pulpit, and speaks to mass audiences, saying “I am speaking to each one of you”, but for some reason, I think Paul meant he spoke individually to each one of his children, exhorting them, encouraging them and charging them in a singular, personal way. Every one equally, and constantly, I can’t imagine, but I lean to the thinking that he was involved in their lives in a one on one relationship, short as that was.
Now, leaving behind my minor little rant, lets consider the three ways Paul related to these believers as a father
Exhorted
As a father Paul exhorted (παρακαλέωparakaléō) each one. Note the greek term, where includes “para”, typically speaking of by the side, along side or with. Kaleo is to call out, to call a name, to be called.
Putting it together, this term is a calling of the one spoken to as an invite to be with, an invite to walk together. Paul was not in an ivory tower, telling them to do this or that. He was in the midst of the Christian walk and actively exhorting those who claimed the name of Christ to walk in like manner with him.
Encouraged
As a father Paul encouraged (παραμυθέομαιparamythéomai) them. This word speaks of a range of meanings, from consoling in failure to admonishing from errors, with encouragement being the basis of each. Note again the prefix “para”, emphasizing the togetherness Paul intended, that as a Father he was not standing above them, but with them in the walk of faith.
Charged
As a father Paul charged (μαρτυρέωmartyréō) them. No it does not refer to a fee that he places on each of them for his services. It’s not that kind of charge!
To be “charged”, in Paul’s mind, and in the mind of the Thessalonians, was to be a witness, to speak of what you know, to bear record of the life you live and to openly speak of the One from whom this life originates. You may have noticed, the Greek for this word looks alot like martyr in the English. It has morphed into a word that describes one who dies for his faith, but this is not how it would have been understood in Paul’s day. The term simply meant to give evidence of the life you now live, to give testimony.
Did I hear you ask why the term morphed? Because early believers took the charge seriously, and the local and regional governments couldn’t handle it. Those who testified were put to death, and the link between the action of testifying and the ultimate result – death – has morphed that word into what we know today. To be a martyr used to mean to simply give testimony is now identified as an act of testimony to death!
This is the call Paul speaks of when he describes God calling us “into his own kingdom and glory”. It is not the way of the world, but the way of the cross.
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.
Before we begin this psalm that refers of the true king, pictures the Messiah, and describes the ultimate kingdom, it may be good to mention there is some discussion on the author. Per the ESV, verse 1 seems to speak of this psalm as originating (humanly) from Solomon, David’s son. There is an argument that the psalm was written by David himself (see the last verse) and he wrote it “of Solomon” in his reign, as David looked into the future potential of his son.
Although I am of the opinion David wrote this psalm, no matter how you see this topic, let us delve into this psalm that speaks over and over again of the greater Son of David, the true King of all.
Psalm 72:15 Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! Psalm 72:16 May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! Psalm 72:17 May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!
This portion of the psalm speaks of the abundance of the Kingdom, prosperity flowing throughout the Kingdom with the focus rightly so on the King Himself. The poor and needy that was previously spoken of in the previous post is under King Jesus, offering up gifts of gold to the King.
I take the subject of these verses to be the King, and specifically King Jesus prophetically. As throughout this psalm, so much is provided to correspond with the Son in His reign that it over shadows the possible immediate intent of David’s desire for His own son Solomon’s earthy reign.
Gold is given to the King, not silver or some inferior metal, but only the finest of materials.
The fields are so heavy with grain, when the wind blows, the grain acts as the cedars of Lebanon, the cedars of Lebanon that were so famous. The agricultural prosperity spoken of here describes the waving action of the grains to not be unlike the wind whipping through the massive cedars of Lebanon. A picture in my mind of oversized grain stalks so large that as they move in the wind, a cracking occurs as with the cedars in their movements.
This picture of prosperity is incredible, but the psalmist goes further. He speak of the waving action of this grain to be on the tops of the mountains. Not the valleys, where all the lush rich earth is, but on the top on mountain tops, where the rain and wind typically erode the good soil and create a barren area. No successful farmer sought out the top of mountains or hills for farming, yet under the King, even the top of hills or mountains brought forth abundance.
And yet when I sat down this morning, my focus was not on the prosperity of the land, great as it is under the King, but on the King Himself, as David describes Him, for he speaks of the King living, or as he starts this portion out as – Long may he live. Let’s take a moment to consider.
Live
Live is the translation of the Hebrew word חָיָהchâyâh, to live or preserve, even quicken recover or retore to life. This term may simply refer to life, to the standard meaning we all accept, but it also was used of the restoration of life. Consider the following passages where we find it being used.
2 Kings 13:21 And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
Job 14:14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
Isa 26:14 They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.
1Kings 17:22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.
Ezekiel, as he is questioning the Lord in the famous chapter on dead bones, uses this term multiple times to describe life coming back onto the carcasses he sees.
Even the apostate king of Israel, most likely Jehoram, knew of God’s ability to raise up from the dead.
2 Kings 5:7 And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”
Again and again in the Old Testament, this term is used revivification, of quickening, of restoration.
Is David speaking of the resurrection of the King, of the eternal life that He accomplished for mankind at His resurrection? How could a believer not see David’s claim here describing the greatest feat of Jesus, and of his continual “long living of the King”, describing the Kingdom ruled by Him who lives forever!
But there is more. (Man this passage is great!) He not only speaks of the length of the Kings life, but of the Kings continuance. To describe the Kings continuance is not specifically speaking of the length of His reign but more so the manner of the Kingdom’s increase!
Increase
Increase is the translation of the Hebrew word נוּןnûwn, to propagate, or increase. The term is only used once in the Old Testament, and it has the meaning of to propagate by shoots, to multiply, as many plants do by shoots!
The increase of the King’s fame, and of His Kingdom is described as the propagation of His life in the same manner that a plant does through shoots.
Can anyone hear the Lord speaking of this increase in John 15, where we are the branches and He is the Vine. Without Him, we can do nothing. Consider the message the Lord is sharing with His disciples in this. In Him, we propagate out the Kingdom.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
David may be describing in one word a concept the Lord expanded on with His disciples! Though a grain of wheat was buried, the life that exploded out of that burial produced the greatest fruit imaginable. All increase through each believers connection with the King, the natural propagation of life through the shoots finding their life in the root!
John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
All of the previous actions, the life from the dead and the propagation, or increase of His fame has the fallout of blessing on the people, and that all nations are blessed.
Again, as I have been studying in the Old Testament, I have come to see the many times the nations are included into the plan of God, that from the very beginning, all of creation was to experience the blessing of God.
Here again, the promise of God to Abraham echoes, speaking of the nations being blessed through Abraham.
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
In Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed, and we know that the complete fulfillment of this blessing is found in and only through Abrahams Greatest Son, King Jesus who truly lives forever, escaping the grave and reigning as His Kingdom continually expands, increasing His fame throughout the world.
What a great piece of Scripture! May the Lord increase His fame in each of our lives, so that we reflect it to those we rub shoulders with each and every day.
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.
230
GOD OF YOUR FATHERS
Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
It was decades ago when my wife and I were in training for missionary work, hoping to reach unreached people groups to a far off land the Lord wanted us to go to.
Those were exciting days, and as Canadians in a US school, we lived by faith, and saw the Lord provide in many mighty and awesome ways.
He is truly a good God.
During those times, I listened to stories of missionaries that had ventured into perilous areas, breaking barriers with people groups who had never heard of the Master, living amongst them, learning their language and culture, waiting for the day to communicate the gospel to a people who had never met the God of Resurrection.
One particular missionary team, after spending years in tribe, eventually were able to share the gospel, finding much fruit in the tribe. Many came to know the Lord, and a vibrant small body of believers began growing weekly.
Exciting stuff.
During church services, these missionaries would introduce hymns, (translated into the tribes mother tongue), giving the young believers a chance to praise God with the classic hymns such as Amazing Grace, It is Well with My Soul and such.
One such hymn that could not be introduced immediately was the classic “God of our Fathers”, a hymn written in 1876 by Daniel C. Roberts. The hymn speaks of the blessing of a people that have history with the God of Creation, and since this particular people group had just come to faith, it just didn’t make sense to add it to their hymnology.
This story is provided to my reader to simply remind us of the rich blessing we have as a people group, of a history with the Living God. God has led our fathers, whether we speak of those directly related to us in our immediate family, to those who have been instrumental in shaping our Christian culture, or the very Patriarchs of the Old Testament, that led the way in understanding the Lord’s ways.
You know, in a way, these new converts could have sung this song in truth, for in following Jesus, we all, as the Body of Christ know the God of our Fathers, those who came before us in the faith.
It is such a blessing to live in a historically Christian culture, but I fear we are slipping away from a full and living faith in the God of our Fathers. May we live our days in a thankful and expressive way, sharing the truth of the gospel in any way possible, seeking to allow those who follow us to sing this song also.
May the God of our Fathers be praised!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” Luke 23:40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? Luke 23:42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
It was a Friday morning, just as I was pulling in to get a tank of gas for my little Prius. Waiting in the left turn lane to cross over into the convenience store down the road, I heard the narrator speak the words above.
A thief speaking theological truth at a time when the Master’s own followers were full of doubt, and the religious leaders of Israel were “cleansing the land” of a heretic!
Everything was upside down!
It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.
Now I realize there are many factors that may play into the scenario with the thief on the cross, such as his imminent death, his utter lack of options, his shameful position on the cross and a realization of what his life had become.
None of these conditions had been pressed upon the religious leaders of the nation, and for the disciples, they were experiencing such a drop in expectation, such a freefall of their previous hope, that their distraction from the kingdom can be somewhat understood.
But given all those factors that differed between these three groups, it is amazing that those who had been schooled in the ancient Scriptures had missed the mark so badly, yet a thief, a man assumed to have consumed his life with disregard and deciding to rebuff the law, running with outlaws, recognized a King, even though on a cross.
Catch his words again.
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He wasn’t asking if there would be a kingdom, or it’s timing, or the extent of it, or it’s composition, who would sit beside Him or for how long it would last. In his question, he confessed to the truth of the Kingdom, that it would be Jesus’ Kingdom, and that Jesus would own the Kingdom.
This man confessed to a truth no-one was accepting. The religious leaders had rejected the possibility, and the disciples had their expectations dashed. This lone man, in full display of all present, not only confessed to the Kingship of Jesus, but requested to be remembered when Jesus entered it.
This one man, repentant of his life choices, was willing to confess to Jesus of His righteousness, even as Jesus (from all appearances) was a guilty heretic the religious leaders sought to defame and destroy.
What a paradox! The religious elite destroying the Witness, while a humbled thief received His message.
Is it not the way of the Kingdom though, that the very things that seem upside down are the very things we should pay attention to? This very condition exists even in our day for the believer, for the seeming success of the world will be defeated, even as the Lord’s resurrection defeated the efforts of the religious elite. That which appears to be dominant over the church will be overthrown by that which appears defeated and discouraged.
The key in all of this paradox in life is who Jesus is.
Who is Jesus for you? Are you a religiously trained person, and yet deny His Kingship? Or are you humbled by life, willing to admit of uour sin and wasted life, and desire to look to Him as the King, though reviled even in our day?
Do you see yourself as the powerful leader or the helpless thief?
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
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.
2 Samuel 3:2-5
2 And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3 and his second, Chileab, of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; 4 and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David’s wife. These were born to David in Hebron.
It is of note that this short, seemingly insignificant passage has in it a listing of some of David’s greatest challenges, battles that many may feel he was unsuccessful in. A listing a future sons, some that cost him much pain!
Let’s take a few moments to consider each of these men.
Amnon
Amon was David’s firstborn, and as such was destined for the throne. He was born while David was King of Judah, and was always living in an environment of privilege and entitlement.
The attitude David had towards Amnon is somewhat disturbing, for though he had an emotional love towards the young man, it seems he was reluctant to discipline him. His actions belied him, and in support of this general attitude towards Amnon, a variant reading in the dead sea scrolls provides a commentary to David’s anger towards Amnon raping his daughter.
2 Samuel 13:21 When King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
Dead Sea Scrolls add – But he did not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn.
Remember what is going on here! Amnon raped David’s daughter, and then rejected her, dumping even greater shame on Tamar after the crime. She was an Israelite princess! David’s daughter. What was going on in his head?
This was the beginning of the fruits of rebellion that took over David’s household. Soon, it would spread, and the devastation would be greater than he could have expected!
Chileab
Chileab, an unknown character to myself is relatively quiet in relation to the family of David. Born of Abigail, the former wife of Nabal, Chileab’s name means “like his father” and may reflect the emphasis David intended, to distance his child from Abigail’s former husband. Hebrew mythology and tradition speak of Chileab highly, even suggesting he was a righteous and holy man. Otherwise, the Scriptures are relatively quiet concerning him other than he also went by the name Daniel.
1 Chronicles 3:1 These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite,
Absalom
Absalom will be the subject of many studies in future posts covering chapters 14 through 17. Suffice to say, Absalom was a man would exercises revenge on Amnon, and exercised a treachery on his own father, seeking to take the kingdom.
And he had hair!
Adonijah
Earlier we spoke of David’s attitude to discipline in relation to Amnon. Again, the Word describes David’s attitude towards his son Adonijah in relation to discipline.
1 Kings 1:6 His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.
This general truth speaks volumes to the permissive parenting so prevalent in todays world. Please understand I am not advocating any type of parental abuse for that also is a reaction that is ungodly. But discipline is a requirement in parenting, especially in the very young years. We are to parent the child, not be his friend!
Nevertheless, Adonijah also was a son who rejected his father’s rule, though in this case, it was in relation to his fathers wishes for Solomon to be on the throne.
He was cunning and gathered an army to frustrate his fathers wishes and steal the kingdom away. Even after his defeat, he sought to scheme away the kingdom by requesting David’s nurse as a wife. Solomon saw this as a continuing threat and dealt with his half brother!
Shephatiah
Shephatiah is another son of David that does not show up in the Biblical narrative other than in the genealogies of David. What is interesting, at least in my mind, is that another man was called Shephatiah, a Haruphite that joined David in Ziklag, while he was on the run. He became one of David’s mighty men. Coincidence or was there a relationship in David’s mind between this mighty man and David’s wishes for his fifth son?
1 Chronicles 12:5 Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite;
Ithream
Ithream is Davids sixth son, and again is mentioned only in two genealogies within the Old Testament. He was of the offspring of the great king David, and his name speaks of “profit of the people” or “excellence of the people” This may reflect the coming abundance of the nation that was becoming evident as David’s rule grew in influence and power.
Ithream otherwise was a man that does not appear to be influential in the kingdom.
In many of these son’s of David, there appears to be a general disregard for discipline and a fallout of rebellion by the young men. Much, if not all of these difficult situations may be the result of David’s preoccupation with kingdom affairs, with his own understanding of the duties of a father, or simply his having no flesh and blood example to live by.
Remember Samuel as a father figure? He also struggled with his own sons, seeing them rebel and be consumed by the anger of the Lord due to rebellion. Of course, we could say the same for Samuel, as his example Eli also had rebellious sons.
How critical for today’s men of God to have godly examples to follow in fathering the next generation! May those who are in the position of fathering children take heart, for the calling is high, and it’s success or failure is consequential.
May God have mercy on us fathers, and give us strength to relate to those who look to us as examples to live by!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Caleb
Lived in Obscurity
Joshua 14:10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.
Luke 2:51, 52 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Hear what Caleb says in this verse. The Lord has kept him alive. What does this imply?
I think it is difficult to peg the age of an old man in the Old Testament. Looking at the ages given to us from before the flood, we have men lasting almost a millennium. Incredible.
Immediately after the flood, it appears life spans began to decrease, and by the time we get to Moses and Caleb, it appears a 120 year old man, as Moses was, may have been an anomaly.
For Caleb, at the time of this passage, he was 85 years old, an old man in his autumn years, hoping his 401(k) will get him through his remaining years. – Just kidding – I think he was way too savvy of an investor to only depend on the markets. I think he had real estate in mind! And at 85, he was going to claim it.
Now don’t get me wrong in describing Caleb here as one who was focused on monetary security. That is not the image I have of this man. He was a man who had been given a promise decades earlier, and was convinced it was time to chase the promise.
But in between the promise and the potential realization, he lived in obscurity, a “regular” saint, patiently waiting on the Lord as his youthful stamina slowly seeped out of his body. From a stout man, willing to take on the people of the land, he had now become a man of wisdom, realizing his life was in the hand of the Lord, his very existence dependent on the One who promised him a patch of ground.
But let us take a moment to consider forty-five years of waiting. More than half his life, burdened down by the decisions of those he lived with, those who made faithless decisions, impacting a faithful man who was ready decades ago.
And for forty-five years we hear nothing of Caleb. He lived in obscurity, possibly even ostracized by some of his neighbors, for he was that one that was so confident, that made them all look so bad.
Forty-five years of toiling amongst those who dragged him back from victory. Forty-five years of living amongst those who constantly rebelled against his God. Forty-five years of having a nation of negative influence constantly rub up against his spirit.
Jesus also was in obscurity, living amongst a people He had come to serve and to save.
Yes – there were flashes of fame with his birth, but only amongst some shepherds and a few foreigners. Yes, it is true that He shook up the religious leaders when he was 12 years old. But let us remember who we are dealing with. This is God in the flesh, and He is content to live in obscurity, content to be amongst those whose actions and attitudes will drive Him onto the cross.
Obscurity.
It is a way of describing a life of being unknown, a life not recognized for the value found in the man. Caleb lived in obscurity, and his faithfulness to God certainly was honed into focus during that time. God was his focus, for no one else seemed too concerned.
For the Lord, His obscurity must have provided an enormous influence in His later years, as He had much time with His Father, much time contemplating the Word and much time understanding His mission.
His obscurity provided Him opportunity to focus on the Only True God, to know His Father while walking amongst His subjects.
Obscurity, in this world that chases fame and fortune, is a true blessing many consider a curse. If you are in a place where you have faded into relative obscurity, take a page from the life of Caleb, and remember who your God is. Better yet, look to the Messiah, for in His obscurity He deepened His relationship with the Father, and that obscurity, though highly undeserved was of great use to the Son.
In His obscurity, He followed after the True God! He recognized the value of God and honed in on His relationship with His Father during this time. For though many thought nothing of Him, letting Him live in obscurity, He recognized the ultimate value of His God, and truly is the Only One worth knowing!
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.
229
GOD OF THE HEBREWS
Exodus 3:18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’
Funny how things work out sometimes. In my original compilation of the Names of God, I ordered them out alphabetically, not thinking of the how ordering the names may impact how I write about them.
Such is the case with our topic today. Our previous passage spoke of the “God of the whole earth” and I sought to make much of the fact that our God is not some local deity, restricted to a region or people.
And now we have a Name of God that seems to do that very thing, describing God as the God of the Hebrews. Is this a contradiction? A conflict? Mixed messaging?
I think not. Let’s consider the context.
Moses is before the Pharoah, the King of Egypt, king of a land with many gods, gods who would very soon fall victim to the True God. Each of the plagues addressed the specific influence of a false god Egypt worshipped. To define God as the One that would dominate over these false gods, Moses couldn’t simply say God. To do so would allow the Pharoah to mentally place the True God as simply one of the many in the pantheon of god’s they worshipped. And that would not do!
Moses was not restricting the God of whole earth when he called God the God of the Hebrews. He was not limiting God, but simply identifying Him as being other than those who would fall in submission to the false gods.
One true God. All other gods will soon be identified as false.
As for the term “Hebrew” we can all agree it was an early designation of the Israeli people. Some associate it as a name of those who had descended from Eber, harkening back to the tenth chapter for Genesis, where Moses calls out Eber as a descendant of Shem, in direct lineage of Abraham.
A tradition of the Jewish people was that Eber refused to take part in the building of the Tower of Babel, and by refusing to take part in this act of rebellion, retained the original language of Adam. Possible? You decide, but Eber was a consequential figure in the Old Testament and his name is associated with God in our verse today.
One other interesting tidbit about Eber (or Hebrew) is that the term עִבְרִי ʻIbrîy may be translated as “one from beyond” or “one that crosses over”
It is fitting that this name is associated with the One who “came from beyond” to rescue us, that He “crossed over” into our world to take on our sin, to take on our helplessness and to rescue us, even in like manner as He rescued the Israelites from a dominant, powerful and abusive enemy.
He is the God of the Hebrews, for He is the God who has crossed over to mankind, becoming the God-man. A truly amazing truth that He has completed!
May we honor the God of the Hebrews, knowing He is so much more than the gods we come into contact with in our daily lives!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
A 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 2:11 For you know how, like a father with his children,
Sadly this verse breaks a thought continued in the next verse, but it does provide an opportunity to set up the next post. Let’s consider Paul as he speaks of being “like a father”.
It may be a difficult discussion regarding what a father is, for I realize the disintegration of the nuclear family has been painful and destructive in the last two to three generations. On top of that, the vagaries of life sometimes touches families without warning. Such was my case, for as a young boy, my father was taken from the family by way of a traffic accident.
For myself, becoming a believer before a family man afforded me the opportunity to know the grace of God, and to begin to understand God’s loving care for His children. Although I was a poor reflection of this love to my children, I am thankful for the beautiful children he granted my wife and I.
Now, back to the passage.
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but this verse directs me again to the primary topic of individual relationships with those in Thessalonica. Paul expressed a deep commitment to the success of individuals within the church, of his desire to see his offspring live in peace with each other, successful and secure in the Lord.
As a father, I do not think of my children as a conglomeration of persons, as a unit to address, or to be thought of. Each is their own person, wonderful in their differences. As a family man I greatly desire for unity within the family, but that desire is not to force any type of uniformity, nor does not reduce the individuality of each. It is very special to see each work together with their siblings to bring about good for the whole. I think this may be a glimpse of what Paul sought for within local congregations, for the honor of the Lord.
Nevertheless, let us consider two aspects of what it means to be a father, at least from Paul’s previous teaching found in verse 9.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
To Work Hard
The few memories of my father have left me with a bigger than life image of a man that was in control, that knew his place in life, that loved his wife, and that worked hard, very hard! I wish I knew him better, but the few memories I have are very special to me, and provided some foundation for my own family.
Paul also worked hard, for in a verse before he spoke of his labor and toil, working night and day. To be a father is to provide for his loved ones by sacrificing his time and desires for the sake of his wife and children. Long hours, diligent effort and dying to your own wants is required to be a good and loving father.
To prioritize the family above himself is the way of a father’s life. Paul lived out the life of a father for his children in the faith!
Don’t Take
Another aspect of fathering in relation to the previous verse could be described as “not taking”.
The previous verse where Paul talks of not being a burden to his loved ones makes me think of a father’s place in the life of his children.
As a father, I do not seek to receive from my children. It is not my goal nor desire as a father to find resources I can “tap into” from those I love. They are my responsibility not my resource! They are those I love, not those I look to for gain. This is the attitude that Paul was expressing earlier, and I find it is a fitting reminder of the life of a father.
We shall find in the following verses, Paul speaks as a father that exhorts, encourages and charges his children to walk properly.
In our next post, we shall consider those three characteristics of a good father.
For our verse today, and that we have read up to so far in this letter, Paul has given us two characteristics of the life of a father.
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.
Before we begin this psalm that refers of the true king, pictures the Messiah, and describes the ultimate kingdom, it may be good to mention there is some discussion on the author. Per the ESV, verse 1 seems to speak of this psalm as originating (humanly) from Solomon, David’s son. There is an argument that the psalm was written by David himself (see the last verse) and he wrote it “of Solomon” in his reign, as David looked into the future potential of his son.
Although I am of the opinion David wrote this psalm, no matter how you see this topic, let us delve into this psalm that speaks over and over again of the greater Son of David, the true King of all.
Psalm 72:12 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. Psalm 72:13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. Psalm 72:14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.
How different the True King is from those who lead nations in this age.
Of course the True King is all powerful, always present, ever faithful and continually offering deliverance and salvation, both in the absolute sense, and in the daily general sense. He is the Savior of our souls, the provider of life and the One who delivers us from ourselves, the world and the accuser!
Yet in this passage, is David speaking of the day to day needs those in the kingdom have, that the King Himself will be the One who is available when they need help? Notice David goes so far as describing the King as responding when the needy calls.
You know, I have sons, and I think they are awesome and powerful, and capable and greater than any other “average” man, but for David to say this about Solomon is more than simple fatherly bias, more than mere hyperbole about the capabilities of Solomon.
As I have postulated throughout this psalm, David is speaking of the True King, the One who has unlimited resources, that has His ear bent to those who call on Him. This King that David describes is not like those who lead in this world, taking our resources only to distribute a pittance back, consuming the resources taken by law and then incapable (or unwilling) to properly respond to the truly needy. The leaders of this world are severely limited in their abilities (and desires) to actually perform the tasks David speak of in this passage.
I speak only of the physical in this regard, and surely David speaks of the needy in a much broader and deeper way. His focus, as believers will agree, is most assuredly not simply the feeding of our bellies, or the defense of a nation.
This King is described as One who takes care of the needy. David uses this term multiple times in this short passage. As a a matter of fact, this term has come up before in verse 4. It seems to be a common refrain, that this King looks to the needy, the poor, the weak, and to them that have no helper.
This begs a question.
Is my relation to the king directly linked to my understanding of my need? If I am constantly telling myself that I can handle a problem, that I have the strength to get through a problem, that I am self sufficient, is that the same as saying the King is not needed, that I am rejecting His authority over my life?
Ok – so that is not just a question, but the topic got away on me! I would humbly suggest that if we seek to know the King better, we would reject any assumption that we are capable on our own to solve our problems.
For heavens sake, we are the problem!
Needy
Let’s spend a moment considering the term “needy”.
To be needy is to be destitute. The Hebrew word is אֶבְיוֹןʼebyôwn, and it describes a beggar, a poor man, one who is destitute. Now where have I heard teaching about being destitute before?
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus used the Greek word πτωχόςptōchós, translated as poor, in this verse. It also means destitute, helpless, powerless, to be a pauper, even acting as a cringing beggar. He did not mince words here and sought to make a point of those who would be blessed in His Kingdom.
Thoroughly beggarly, poor, needy souls, who know their condition before the Lord, willing to accept the condition of their souls will be ministered to by the King Himself!
How diametrically opposed to the kingdoms of this world!
Admit your poverty before the True King, and look to the Him, for He is the One who has His ear bent to hear the needy!
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.
228
GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH
Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
I will never forget the day I discovered the Hebrew word for earth. That word alone ignited a change in my thinking that I completely was unprepared for.
You see, when the Old Testament prophets used the Hebrew term אֶרֶץʼerets, I did not know that it is sometimes translated as land, as in “the promised land”, and sometimes translated as ground or soil, as in the material that makes up the earth, and sometimes translated as earth, referring to the planet we reside on, as it is here in our verse.
To make matters worse, (at least for me), the same nebulousness occurs in the New Testament. But that will be for another day, for I want to focus simply on how this impacts the name of our God in this passage.
Isaiah is declaring to all who will listen of the restoration of Israel in this passage. He is looking down the corridors of time to a time when barrenness would no longer be associated with Israel. Let’s read the introductory verse to this amazing prophecy of Isaiah.
Isaiah 54:1 “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the LORD.
He speaks of the barren one having more children (meaning greater honor in ancient Israel) than the married one.
What in tarnation is Isaiah talking about? Who is the baren one? Who is the desolate one? Who is the married one? I am so confused!
Thankfully the apostle Paul provides apostolic teaching in Galatians 4:27, referring to this verse in his discussion of the church in relation to Old Covenant Israel.
Galatians 4:27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”
Paul continues with his discussion in Galatians, defining those in the New Testament Church, as being the subject of this prophecy.
Galatians 4:28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
Thank you Paul, for I was so unsure of where Isaiah was going with this verse, but in New Testament understanding, when Isaiah speaks of “enlarging the place of your tent”, he is speaking of the expansion of the church.
If I follow you Paul, when Isaiah speaks of expanding to the right and to the left, he is referring to the impact of the gospel beyond the restricted borders of the nation of Israel. When Isaiah writes of the barren one inheriting the nations, he is describing the influence of God on all nations, the complete unleashing of the truth of God throughout the earth.
All of this future honor, replacing the shame of captivity will occur due to the Lord Himself. The gospel of the resurrected Jesus is the message, and the power of the Spirit of God has multiplied the people of God, fulfilling the expansion Isaiah spoke of when he wrote that the “place of your tent” will cover the whole earth.
Now I get it! Isaiah saw it, knew it and taught it. Paul saw it, knew it and taught it!
He is the God of the whole erets! There is no opportunity for any confusion in the term erets in this verse. Isaiah may have used erets in this verse, but the intended message is that the whole erets will be impacted, the totality of the erets will be reached with the message of God.
Yes – He is the God of the whole erets, the God of all of creation, having exploded out of the land (erets) of Israel with the message of His resurrected Son, impacting all and every part of the created erets!
Let there not be any mistaken assumption on the readers part that God is some local deity restricted to a small patch of land far, far away from most of us.
He is the God of the whole earth!
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.
Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
For this verse, I am not going to enter into any discussion on who the elect are. This topic is not the intent of the post, but the fact that those who have been chosen, who ever they may be, may be led astray.
Two things to consider.
First thing, is the “if” part of our argument? That is, is Jesus saying that the deception will be able to deceive everyone, and that it will be amazing none of the elect fall? The elect couldn’t be lead astray?
I suppose this approach is interpreting Jesus as saying
– so as to lead astray, if possible (but it’s not possible), even the elect.
Or is He saying that some of the elect may be lead astray, if the deception is strong enough and the elect are not prepared? Is the possibility of being led astray resident in the elects ability to resist the deception?
I suppose this approach is interpreting Jesus as saying –
-so as to lead astray, if possible (depending on the elect), even the elect.
In this passage, I do not have a clear understanding. I tend to think of the first option, and it provides great comfort. We find the very same phrase used when Jesus prayed to the Father in the garden.
Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (italics mine)
We know it was not possible for the cup to pass, yet in the humanity of the Son, He expressed a possibility before the Father. Is this the same intent in our passage. The unknown expressed but not to be realized?
I would appreciate your thoughts on this topic.
Secondly, is it right to consider being “lead astray” to be equal with falling away from the faith?
Did Jesus use the term σκανδαλίζωskandalízō, to trip and fall in this verse? Or was it ἀφίστημιaphístēmi, meaning to make stand off, cause to withdraw, or to remove? Maybe the word He used was what I initially suspected – ἀποστασίαapostasía, meaning a falling away, defection, apostasy.
None of those words were used in this verse.
To be led astray in the Greek is πλανάωplanáō, and it means to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way.
It seems this term speaks of the one leading someone astray as opposed to the one being lead away. It focuses on the deceiver and not the deceived. I suppose this also brings into the discussion that to be deceived may not specifically indicate a loss of life.
The text is not as clear as I had hoped, and that is alright. It is a text that demands a bit of humility, a bit of willingness to consider, a bit of thought.
For those who have spent a few minutes with me in this text and have additional thoughts, I would appreciate your comments.
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
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.
2 Samuel 3:1 1 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
We discussed this civil war erupting in the previous post, with Abner and Joab butting heads, and blood flowing from both armies. Even in the battle that followed the mutual kilkings of ten soldiers from both armies, it became apparent for the casual observer that the seeds of weakness were fully displayed in the northern kingdom.
Scripture simply states the fact. The house of Saul would continue but grow weaker each day. Saul’s kingdom had reached it pinnacle and was now crumbling before it’s very leadership, due to the foolishness and sin of a madman posing as the king.
Yes, Saul’s kingdom, led by Ish-boseth (at least in name) was doomed to disappear. But it wasn’t immediate. The last battle indicated the trajectory of the kingdom, and for those with sense, it seemed obvious the kingdom would succumb to the forces of David, but as it is with many in power, they will allow for much pain and suffering in order to maintain power in the face of imminent failure.
Why is that? Why can we not see the facts of a matter, admit we have no promising future, that hanging on to current circumstances and conditions, though painful for some, will only drag out the inevitable outcome. For Ish-boseth, David was inevitable. David had the promise of God, he had the experience of a ruthless fighter, he had the love of the people and he had an experienced devoted army, filled with skilled fighters, willing to follow God’s leading. What did Ish-boseth have? He had a name, and was thrust into this position by Abner. He had no experience in leadership, was not expected to take the throne – everyone expected Jonathon to succeed Saul!
Ish-boseth had a name, and he had Abner.
As for his name, Ish-boseth actually translates to “man of shame”. What would possess Saul to call his son this? How could this be understood?
1 Chronicles 8:33 may give us a hint as to what is going on with his name.
1 Chronicles 8:33 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal;
Ish-bosheth was also called Eshbaal according to the chronicler. This is somewhat enlightening, for as you can see, his name included the term Baal, a god of fertility, weather, rain, wind, lightning, seasons, war, sailors. He was a common god the Israelites fell prostrate to in their denial of the true God, and it seems that Saul was in full blown idol worship by the time Ish-bosheth came around. Eshbaal is understood to mean “man of baal, and it seems Saul had committed his son to idol worship even from the womb.
Now tell me – What chance does the “man of baal” have against King David, a man after God’s heart, a man tested and tried by the living God, approved for the throne and on course to take it.
Nevertheless, for the one with sense, it is obvious that Ish-bosheth should just abdicate. Is should be obvious there was no hope. But this is not the nature of one who is inexperienced, self seeking, power hungry and without the wisdom available from the God of heaven. He would hang on out of pride, letting others suffer, dragging out the inevitable. And then die
His life was a picture of inevitable failure and eventual death. The king was on the path, and Ish-bosheth was in the way.
A wise man might have at least gotten out of the way of the coming king. But he didn’t.
Let Ish-bosheth provide counsel to the one who may only see disappointments, grueling hopelessness and inevitable death in his future. Fighting against the King is a fools errand, and will impact those you love and care for.
A wise man today would certainly bow to the King, admit his weakness and confess his rebellion.
Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Surely the King is coming. Don’t let your pride sweep you away from the blessing of knowing the Risen Monarch – King Jesus.
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.
For the past few years, my wife and I have prayed over and asked for guidance from the Lord on major decisions as we developed a plan of actions for our remaining years. This “plan” we developed required, at least in my mind, two actions to occur within a couple weeks of each other. We had some control of the timing, but in the end, the specific timing would rely completely on the hand of God.
Yes, I am sure we had (most likely) prayed that we wanted His will and not ours. Yes, we surely (most likely) were willing to accept His will. Yet when I got the call, having the first action completed, and the second still in progress, I was not ready for the disappointment.
Our timeline would not go as we had planned. Many situations played into this, including one of the actors in this plan loosing her employment, and another the inability to get a prompt answer from a government type committee, but all of that needs to be brought into focus. The Lord has His hand in the mix, and that night as my wife lovingly cooked me some cheesy eggs, I finally found a peace about the situation. It is the Lord’s will at this time!
Is it fixed? Not at all! Is there a way out? Maybe, and we are pursuing alternate plans, but in the midst of it all, it is good to know the Lord and His caring guidance in all of this.
This willingness to allow the Lord’s will to actively be accepted is a lesson I have not been especially good at learning.
It was a few years ago, when one of my five children had been picked up by customs officials, and sent to immigration detention within our city, that we prayed for His power to save. We spent countless hours begging the Lord to provide His deliverance from this prison time for my daughter. Yes, my daughter was dropped into a federal prison, waiting for determination of deportation.
Hours of begging, negotiating and pleading with God in prayer for her release. Buckets of tears flowed again over the injustice we were experiencing in our lives, for this is the third child who has experienced this crisis in our lives.
It was a testing that I would wish on no one.
What is my point in telling this second story? I remember well the couch I was kneeling at in prayer, when I finally gave my daughter up to Him, releasing her to His will. If the Lord wanted her to be away from us, may the Lord’s will be accomplished.
My friends, I would like to tell you my daughter showed up on my doorstep that morning, but that was not the outcome. After two court appearances, my daughter was asked to stay behind. The judge was like a machine with all the other subjects, spitting out decisions rapid fire, sealing the fate of many. When it came to her, the judge cleared the room, leaving only my wife and I with her. He proceeded to upbraid the injustice that had occurred in this incarceration, and declared her to be freed immediately.
She was coming home!
By sharing both of these stories, I would like to encourage all who are in the midst of disappointment and disillusionment to give up your self imposed expectations, to lay down the struggle and submit to the obvious, immediate will of God in your life. Disappointments, I have found, are often an indicator of a wrong focus in my life, of setting up expectations that I depended on instead of on the Lord.
Regarding the plans above, I realize I was depending on my timeline. In my heart, our plans were set in stone, and God was to act as our magic genie, providing His power to supply our wants. How could a believer think this way?
Regarding my daughter, I realize I had elevated family above Him, and He graciously taught this ol’ fool, providing her back to us.
In all of life, even in the disappointments, we are called to give thanks. Let me tell you, I have found it impossible to truly give thanks as I struggled with missed expectations from God. The key is to submit to the will of God. It is our calling.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
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GOD OF THE SPIRITS OF ALL FLESH
Numbers 16:22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”
Let’s get some background to this name of God.
Numbers 16 is the chapter describing Korah’s rebellion against Moses in the wilderness. It was a sizable rebellion, where Korah had assembled 250 chiefs of the congregation (vs2), and brought a complaint against God’s man!
Now remember, at this time, Moses has been established as the prophet of God to lead the twelve tribes out of Egypt and into the promised land. We all know of the miracles in front of Pharoah, and that the tribes had experienced, not only in Egypt, but as they fled their captors.
And what was Korah’s complaint? His complaint is as follows
Numbers 16:3 …“You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
A common attempt to divide by a false prophet.
Korah’s argument? Since the entire nation was holy, (in theory, but not necessarily in practice), it is obviously unnecessary for one man to lead. Do not all the people know God, making your leadership unnecessary Moses? You only seek leadership because you want to exalt yourself!
So many contradictions and falsehoods in this claim, but the groundswell of opinion was growing on Korah’s side. A few verses later, (vs 13) Dathan and Abiram refused to respond to Moses, claiming Moses was exalting himself.
Something had to be done, or Korah would cause much damage, even the destruction of the mission of Moses!
It is interesting to note that Korah stood in the place of honor prior to his rebellion. Not only was Korah a close relative of Moses, but he was the head of the Kohathites, of the order of the Levites, charged with the solemn duty of transporting the things of the tent of meeting. (Numbers 4:15).
He had honor and prestige, yet it wasn’t enough. He led one of the most effective rebellions against Moses in the wilderness, and is famous for the eventual judgement that fell on him and his family.
And this is where Moses and Aaron fell on their face and called on the God of the spirits of all flesh? The prayer centered on personal responsibility, of how one man’s sin would not consume the relatively innocent caught up in the frenzied message of a man gone mad.
The prayer identified God as the God who knew each individual, who would account for each one’s actions, and that would separate those of rebellion from those of simple foolishness. Those of the congregation, who had blindly followed Korah in the rebellion, got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, prior to the coming destruction.
The Lord showed up that day, directing His prophet to separate the fools from the rebels, and after the separation, proved AGAIN that Moses was His representative.
Moses spoke of the fate of these rebels, and the Lord opened the earth immediately after Moses informed the congregation of their fate. A direct and immediate demonstration of Moses as the undisputed leader of the nation!
God is the God of the spirits of all flesh, and He knows each of us. If this passage speaks of any truth, it speaks of how the Lord knows of the rebellion in His people, and of those who are simply foolish enough to listen to them. It also speaks of the Lord able to “clean house” when He deems necessary. He is not One who shies away from protecting those who are on His side!
As the God of the spirits of all flesh, we are to stand in awe of the One who knows each of us, but not only that incredible truth. He knows of my rebellion, of my turning from Him at times of weakness, of my listening to the wrong message and wandering off.
He is the God of the spirit of my flesh, and as that, I need to be committed to His Man, His Prophet, His Chosen Leader. I need to be committed to the Son, who has led the way, all the way to the cross and through the grave.
May we all seek to renew our commitment to our Greater Moses, rejecting the message of all the Korah’s in the church!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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 2:10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.
In our last post I made hay by speaking of the personal interaction Paul had with these believers, poking at the “foolishness” of his method of ministry, or at least my understanding of his ministry amongst the faithful.
His connection with those who believed his message was relied upon for a character judgement on his own life. He appealed to their memory of his interaction with them. He spoke of the tireless effort he put out, to make time for them, and to not be a burden.
What a minister! What an attitude!
In this verse, he appeals again to them as witnesses of his character, and appeals to God Himself, of his manner of life amongst them.
Now it is one thing to appeal to a man’s memory, but a quantum leap to appeal to God as a witness of his character. This is not a light thing for the apostle to do, for it brings his audience to a point of acceptance or rejection of the claim. In rejecting this claim Paul is making is to reject God’s witness, and to call God a liar.
Of course it may be claimed that Paul is simply telling stories, but note the wisdom of the Apostle. First he appeals to their memory, and then seals it completely as truth by appealing to God. Those believers remembered Paul and his manner of life and would mentally agree to his character description but when the witness of God is included, it caused any middle ground that might be argued to be abandoned. Either Paul was what he said he was, or he wasn’t. No middle ground!
He describes his conduct with three terms.
Holy
I have written on holiness previously (Share His Holiness), and am always challenged by the topic, not only of the call of God for my own life, but also as to my understanding of this word.
To be holy has many implications, some of which are to be physically pure, morally blameless, or religiously consecrated. All that is theologically true, but a brother once provided me a picture of how holiness and ice cream are related. Check out Names of God – JEHOVAH MEKODDISHKEM (THE LORD WHO SANCTIFIES YOU) – 13.
To make the point, to be holy is to be completely devoted to God by God Himself. He owns us, and has made this ownership known to all of creation.
We are to strive for holiness, for right living and moral purity, but it is so encouraging to realize He has “licked us” first. (If you didn’t check the link out above, you many not get that last statement, but trust me – it makes sense for my puny mind!)
Righteous
To be righteous, is to obey a standard. The Lord has provided a standard in the Old Testament, that of the Ten Commandments. This law was the standard to judge all righteousness, and of course we know from New Testament teaching that the law could not produce righteousness, it simply defined the standard.
And we miserably failed at every attempt.
Some may think I am over the top in my statement, saying we miserably failed at every attempt. For your sake, I would challenge you to take one of the commandments – not all ten – just choose one, and keep it perfectly, every minute of the day, with no “let up”, continually obeying not only the written command, but the spirit of the law given, to have a pure motive in honoring that one command, to follow after it with all your passion and effort.
Let me know how long you last. I am truly interested!
But I digress.
We have a standard today, which is far greater than the written law of God. It is the life of Jesus, His perfect character, His loving kindness, His sacrificial acts. The standard we have is a life lived perfectly righteous in conformity to the command of God and the Fathers instantaneous will as He followed His Abba-Father.
Remember, we all judge righteousness according to an accepted standard. Many use the culture we live in as a standard, and judge themselves better than the average. Might I say – that is a very very low bar to be judged by.
Some may take on a religious standard, even claiming to follow the ten commandments. If so, we can end up in two conditions.
Complete failure mode constantly.
That is if we are honest with ourselves – remember that test above? Try it! Come on – it is good to know experientially how utterly weak and helpless we are.
Self delusion.
If we are not honest with ourselves, we may claim a righteousness, feel superior, and yet are only fooling ourselves. That self righteous stench permeates everyone’s nose but own own!
The only standard that is the righteousness of God is the man Christ Jesus, and He is our only hope. I say no more.
Blameless
Is to be blameless synonymous with being perfectly sinless?
Let us consider what it means to be blameless. I propose that it does not mean perfect sinlessness!
To be blameless is to keep short accounts. Let me explain with a silly story.
I entered my Sunday School class early one morning, and Fred was already there. He approached me for a friendly handshake, but instead of receiving that gesture of friendship, it got in my head to give him a punch in the gut. He went down hard! I am to blame for this violent action.
(Remember this is a story to illustrate a truth and not a retelling of an actual occurrence! I would never punch Fred – He is so much bigger than I!)
I am to blame for this action, but if a few hours pass, or better yet, a few moments pass, and I come to my senses, realizing I am to blame, that I have no justification for my action, and that I will not make excuses, but simply and humbly request forgiveness from Fred, I have at that point become blameless. I have sought to repair my relationship with Fred!
If he receives my request for forgiveness or not, when I in truth admit my fault and request forgiveness, I can no longer justifiably be “blamed” for that action. Even if Fred harbors an unforgiving spirit, my desire to be right with him provides me the covering of blamelessness!
Now of course this concept may be abused, deceiving ourselves as we may not truly seek forgiveness, or use this concept to perform an evil, with this as a “backup” plan. This simply reveals our wicked heart, and any thought of righteousness must be abandoned!
I have run on too long for my reader, but these concepts, these truths Paul speaks of as being his manner of life are truly humbling, especially in that he called for both his friends and God to witness to his life.
To be holy. To live righteously. To be blameless, (especially by not punching poor old Fred) This is the call of God on each of our lives.
It is a high calling, much higher than I first expected as I entered the faith. May we all have the humility to seek Him for strength to live as He pleases.
Considering the Bible 