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
Balaam
A Saving Donkey
Numbers 22:23 And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road.
Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up
As we consider Balaam as a picture of the Christ, we cannot think of Balaam without thinking of the donkey he rode. This donkey, in its efforts to keep it’s master Balaam safe, did all it could to avoid certain danger from the Angel of the Lord. It may seem odd to refer to the donkey as an appropriate topic in relation to the Christ, but did not the Master do all He could to keep us from danger, from the Angel of the Lord.
Also, the donkey is quite appropriate to associate with the Master. Though white stallions are often associated with Kings, a careful reading of the Old Testament reveals that when a King rode a donkey, it was due to him coming in peace.
Consider 1 Kings 1:33
And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
or Judges 5:10, when Deborah and Barak spoke of royalty
Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way.
or Judges 10:4, describing the aspirations of Jair the Gieladite
And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.
or Judges 12:14, speaking of Abdon the son of Hillel’s lineage.
He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years.
Though it may seem obvious to associate a donkey as a beast of burden, and find the likeness of the Christ as the Great burden bearer, it may be also appropriate to see the nature and character of peacefulness as a point of similarity in the Messiah.
After all, He came into Jerusalem, as the prophet predicted.
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
For the Prince of Peace entered Jerusalem on a donkey, humble and on a mission of peace
Matthew 21:5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The sad thing is that though the donkey sought to protect Balaam, as the Christ sought to protect and save His people, both the donkey and the Savior received a punishment from the very ones they were caring for.
Yet, as with all pictures of the Christ, the punishment was not equal, for the Messiah suffered, bled and died a horrible death, completely unlike the relatively minor punishment received by the donkey.
The likeness is found in the unjustness of the punishment, and not necessarily the extent, or depth of punishment experienced!
How unjust for the Savior to suffer for me!
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.
181
GOD OF JESHURUN
Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to your help, And through the skies in His majesty.
Jeshurun. The name means upright one, and it is used exclusively of Israel. As you may know, Israel mean God prevails.
Jeshurun is a name provided by God, speaking of her ideal character, the goal she as a nation was to strain for. It is a poetic name, especially as we see Israel fail and fail.
To be called Jeshurun was a reminder of the loving attitude of God Almighty towards His called people.
It is interesting that even when God referred to His people by this term of endearment, reflecting an ideal image of the nation, of a nation that was “upright”, that God would ride the heaven to her help.
This truth is sometimes forgotten when things are good in our lives, when we are seeking to please God, when we are not under conviction of sin or undergoing a learning lesson, but simply walking with Him to the best of our ability and knowledge. Even then, He rides the heavens to our help.
He is not a God that only rescues those in trouble, though for that I am eternally thankful, but He is a God who helps those who are walking properly. He is a God who is always at our side, riding the heavens to provide aid to the upright.
He is a God who is with us always.
Matthew 28:20 … behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
He is the God of Jeshurun.
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 1:7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
Verse 7 speaks of the consequence of the actions described in verse 5 and 6, that the Thessalonians were presented the gospel and became imitators of the men who presented this gospel to them. We addressed the term “imitator” in an earlier posting, but Paul uses another term, somewhat related to imitator.
To be an imitator is to follow one as a model, a reference to finding and following a guide, having a goal to copy in order to become like that person. To imitate is to follow someone in their mannerisms, character, desires, ethics, sufferings and thoughts.
To be an example is to be that which others may imitate. Paul is beginning to teach on the very same principle he instructed Timothy of years later.
2 Timothy 2:2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
Although Paul is speaking to the church as a whole, in that their body life was a fantastic example for other churches to imitate, the process of multiplication in the same in body life as well in personal discipleship. Our lives either impact the church in a positive way, as the Thessalonian church did according to Paul, or our lives impact the church negatively.
One church that did not have the full endorsement of the apostle was the Corinthian church. His non-commendation is expressed throughout the first epistle, but man be clearly noted in chapter 11.
1 Corinthians 11:17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 1 Corinthians 11:22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
Even though the apostle Paul stayed with the Corinthians for much longer than he did with the Thessalonians, his presence and manner of life did not seem to “stick” with the metropolitan Corinthians.
Note that in the epistle/letter to the Corinthians, the internal difficulties were addressed directly with the church. As my momma used to say, “don’t be showing everyone your dirty laundry!” Paul addressed the issues of the Corinthian church, with the Corinthian church. We have the privilege of reading this letter of holy writ, but it seems the intent of Paul was to be direct with the church and not enter into a public discourse “showing everyone the Corinthians dirty laundry”.
Not so with the Thessalonians. Paul spoke of them as examples to the churches in Macedonia and Achaia, (which coincidentally contained a church named Corinth.) These believers molded themselves to be such imitators that they became examples for others to follow. And Paul told everybody!
This is a very high compliment from the apostle to a small church he had not been able to return to. The word was getting out that the Thessalonian’s caught the life Paul exhibited, and the gospel he proclaimed.
The church was alive and was providing proof of that life, in the midst of much affliction!
Might the affliction the Thessalonians accepted be the missing element in the church of Corinth? I will let my reader consider the difference and make up their own mind.
No matter, the Thessalonians were examples, believers who could be watched by other churches as they lived their lives, providing an example to be imitated, as others sought to follow the Lord.
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 69 is a psalm of sorrow, of apparent defeat and deep emotional stress, of a distress in the heart and of being overwhelmed, of a weariness of soul, and of a waiting for an answer from God. It is a psalm that speaks of loneliness, of disappointment and of extended trials.
As we venture through the psalmist’s deep confession, his pain and his sorrow, we will encounter passages that will be referred to in the New Testament, providing a recounting of the sorrow of Jesus.
Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:31 This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. Psalm 69:32 When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. Psalm 69:33 For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
Let’s return to the passage I started to discuss last week, but as you may remember, got a bit distracted from the text by realizing I am more like Michal than David. To say the least, my discovery of a certain aspect of praise certainly took me aside last week, but for this time together, let’s consider more than just one of the words David used for this portion of Psalm 69.
As I read this four verse portion of Psalm 69, I am struck with how New Testamental David sounds in expressing his faith. He speaks of how praise and thanksgiving is greater than the prescribed sacrifices of bulls and oxes. This attitude, in an age dominated and ordained with a sacrificial system that was required by the faithful in order to approach God formally – this is a massive spiritual understanding of the priority of God’s desires.
Note that David refers to the humble seeing “it”. What is it that the humble see?
Is he reaching back to verse 29, speaking of God’s salvation in setting the distraught saint on high? Or might he be thinking of the universal opportunity to approach God based on humility, brokenness, poverty and desire?
Of course, the end result is that the salvation of God set’s the undeserved on high, but I think the humble rejoice in “how” this occurs, from the standpoint of the saint.
First, note that verse 30 speaks of praise, songs, magnification and thanksgiving. These attitudes or characteristics are not restricted from the believer due to their financial class, at least no due to their lack of finances. There is something to be said about how abundance can dull the saints proper stance before God, but we speak of the humble here.
Vere 33 gives more justification to think the humble rejoice in the “how” of approaching God and not specifically the end result of being lifted up. The verse speaks of the needy, and of prisoners, those who have no resources other than their hearts and souls before God.
Yes, the humble rejoice in that they are provided no restrictions in approaching God, that they are not “buying” time with God, but simply expressing a deep need for the Lord, and this is what pleases God, even more than sacrifice!
This is such a freeing concept, a freeing understanding of the type of God we have, that he sets no restrictions to our approaching him in humility and brokenness, and yet I fear we sometimes approach Him in our pride and a wholeness that must nauseate the Master.
As you may know, I got me some grandkids and I love those little rugrats, but when they come to me thinking they are equal, or that they want to manipulate me, or that they can boss ol’ gramps around, that turns my nose up. Don’t get me wrong, I still love them, and I wanna hug em all the time, but a period of repositioning the child in the family has to occur for rightness to occur in the relationship.
But I do have a short story if you don’t mind me sharing, for we had a bunch of my favorite people together for a long weekend. My youngin’s and I were a drivin and singing together, playing old Macdonald, going 75 mph on the highway, when all of a sudden, the group got real quiet. That is a rare situation with four grandkids and grampa, but it happened – no joke! During that interlude, I looked back at one of those youngins, and he simply looked me in the eye, and completely out of the blue, said clear as a bell…
“I love you grandpa”
I can’t communicate the inflection in his voice or the softness of his eyes, the gentle smile on his face or the innocence of the moment, but trust me – at that moment in my life, all was well in my world!
Now, imagine God in a similar circumstance. Since He created us in His image, and though we be a broken and weak reflection of Him, if a simple expression like that melts an ol fella like me, might our simple, humble confession, especially out of the blue, capture God’s attention?
That is the type of God we serve. An active God that is alive and relatable. He is a loving God.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
180
GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
Ezra 5:11 And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.
Ezra is a teaching scribe, provided by God to the nation after being in Babylon for 70 years. Those brave enough to leave the nation that took them captive, experienced challenges beyond our imagination, but with leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah, were able to surmount those challenges.
The challenge the nation was confronting in this portion of Scripture is the neighboring governors of nearby provinces, impacting the Jews desire to rebuild the temple. These neighboring powers, (Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai) sent a letter to Darius, the king of Persian, the ultimate power of the region, questioning the legality of the Jews efforts.
The situation smacks of sucking up to the powers that be, in order to find some advantage. (A bit like my little grandkids when they go tattle on their brother to mommy).
Nevertheless, this was another challenge to the Jews that may cause a work stoppage. A letter was crafted by the Jews, describing their efforts and their authority to perform the work. In this letter, that Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai sent off to Darius, the Jews declare they are the servants of the God of heaven and earth.
Interestingly, Darius, as king of Persia, and ruling over the largest empire the world had ever known at the time, was very tolerant of other religions. He, himself seemed to be monotheistic, that is, he only spoke of one God, speaking only of the religion of Zoroaster.
For the Jews to refer to the God of heaven and earth, as apposed the the God of Israel, had two intents, if I understand the motivation for speaking to Darius in such a way.
To refer to God as the God of Israel, may introduce an element of superiority of the Jews over the Persian king. This communication may have been chosen in order to maintain good relations with the Persian king while they have his favor.
The second reason the Jews may have referred to God as the God of heaven and earth is that Darius spoke of one god, Ahura Mazda, the supreme god of the Persians. Though the identification of the supreme God differed between the Persians and the Jewish nation, both agreed there was a power over them that was supreme.
The Jews reminded Darius, (along with Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai), of this truth. Even the king of Persia had to answer to someone, and the Jews communicated this truth to find common ground between them. Very diplomatic!
He is the God of Heaven and Earth. He reigns over all inhabitants of this creation, making all responsible to Him, whether you were a recently released people or the reigning King of Persia.
We are all under Him, the God of Heaven and Earth. Thankfully, we can know Him, as He has entered our existence, bled and died, was raised for our salvation and rules over us.
There is no longer any need to speak in general terms to identify the God of Heaven and Earth. The God of Heaven and Earth is Jesus.
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 10:32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, Matthew 10:33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Two words pop up in this short passage. Acknowledge and deny. I behoves me to look into each and try to find out what is going in in the two verses above. A parallel passage may be found in Luke 12:8-9.
Acknowledge
To acknowledge something or someone is to confess or agree with that person or topic. The Greek word is ὁμολογέω homologéō. (Strong’s number G3670). It is a compound word made up of two base Greek words.
ὁμοῦ homoû, (Strongs G3674) meaning the same, or as an adverb, at the same place or time, together
λόγος lógos, (Strongs G3056). Strongs definition includes the following
…something said (including the thought); by implication, a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive.
To acknowledge is to agree with a person on his teaching, to admit (before men, as the passage clearly teaches) that you agree, confess and openly declare agreement (before men) with the teaching of the Rabbi.
The term is somewhat defined by the negative at times. To acknowledge is to concede, or not to deny, not to refuse. There may be an element of grudgingly admitting defeat to the truth of the message in this term.
Alternatively, the term allows the meaning of declaring openly, speaking out freely and to profess one’s self the worshipper of the Rabbi, to praise and celebrate the Rabbi in His teaching and life.
As you can see, it has a broad base of meaning to the hearer, and allows for some variation within those confessing as to the inner motivation.
Have you always, and without exception been joyous and exuberant in your confession of the Lord before men? I imagine it is the desired method of confession, that is to openly and with great joy agree with the Savior in His teaching. Yet I know from personal experience, I have at times (and in fear) provided a confession that appeared reluctant, almost grudgingly. I admit, from my point of view, this is the worst type of confession before men, but according to my little study, I find it is an acceptable confession before men.
Does my reader have a similar experience? Let me ask you a question.
In your imagination, which type of confession communicates dedication to God better?
When things are great in our lives, with no outward resistance being experienced, confession is relatively easy. On the other hand, when the enemy is attacking, difficulties pile up, situations are dark and we may have lost that inner confidence, but we confess anyway, simply because we know the truth, is this a confession that will be rejected?
Something to consider!
DEny
To deny is to reject. May I suggest that to deny is to understand a position or a persons message and after having understood it, to reject the person or the message. Jesus is not speaking of those who have never heard His message. That group of people are not being dealt with in this passage.
The Greek word is ἀρνέομαι arnéomai, Strongs G720, and includes the idea on contradiction, of refusing or rejecting a teaching, of disowning a person. To deny is to reject or renounce a person or teaching.
To deny is interestingly enough used in relation to the teachings of Christ and of our own desires.
The passage above speaks of denying the Christ and His teachings. Jesus also speaks of denial in relation to our own desires in Luke 9, and to take up a life of suffering in order to follow Him.
Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
In summary, Jesus is providing us the opportunity to know how He represents us before the Father. He is providing us the knowledge of His communication to the Father of our reaction to His teaching and person.
Jesus is providing us the opportunity to know how He represents us before the Father.
Note one additional difference between Acknowledge and deny in this set of verses.
The Greek word for “acknowledge” in verse 32 is a future active indicative* verb. Jesus is stating that anyone who actively (of his own power and volition) acknowledges Him before men (after He makes this statement) will be acknowledged by Jesus before God.
The Greek word of “deny” in verse 33 is an aorist middle subjunctive* Understanding each of these descriptions of the verb is beyond my depth. I will only refer my reader to the difference, and imply that since it is aorist, there is no time defined, that the verb being in middle voice, speaks of the one denying as being involved (possibly with other’s influencing the denial), and as subjunctive, it speaks of possibility or potentiality, depending on circumstances.
Was Jesus speaking to those who, at the time of His message were actively confessing, acknowledging and agreeing with Him? Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew is describing and preparing the apostles for their mission to the lost sheep of Israel. Those hearing this message were, to all appearances, the most committed of His followers.
Jesus warns these followers of the potential of denial.
Paul speak the same later on in his message to Timothy.
2 Timothy 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
To deny is an option for the believer.
What a far better choice we have, as we agree with the Master, willingly comply with what we know of His message, fully agree with Him and openly confess Him before men. If we do this, Jesus has told us of how He will communicate with the Father.
Perty good news if you tell me!
*I am not, and will never claim to be any level of Greek scholar, but simply depend solely on the work of learned men and women of the past who have provided such great tools as the Strong’s Concordance, in combination with the interlinear provided by Blue Letter Bible website. Any corrections or assistance in understanding the above from a formally taught linguist will be happily received.
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
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”.
Occassionaly 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.
Walking Evil – by X-Sinner
Lyric were as follows
You don’t know me; I’m not what you see, Call me satan, invader of your dreams, All your nightmares are my creation, my specialty, Going to get you, can’t resist, you are my slave.
You’re full of lies, (you’re full of lies) You think you’re so wise, You’re walking evil, that’s your disguise.
Broken promise; why keep it just for you? Shameless master – I control what you do, Got your future in the palm of my hand, You can’t change it, you don’t even understand.
You’re full of lies, (you’re full of lies) You think you’re so wise, You’re walking evil, that’s your disguise.
Whoa, Walking evil.
Sacred servants sacrifice in the dark of night, Helpless children scream in fear, to my delight, Soul destruction, blinding eyes with godly power, Fooling mankind, making dull the light of truth.
You’re full of lies, (you’re full of lies) You think you’re so wise, You’re walking evil, that’s your disguise.
Walking evil, Walking evil, (evil) You don’t run my life.
These guys sound very much like AC/DC. Take a listen!
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
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
Balaam
Third Temptation
Numbers 31:16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor
Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
At this point in the narrative, Balak and Balaam are together, with Balak still needing that cursing. He really, really needs that cursing, and yet Balaam is constant in his claim that what the Lord speaks, he will speak.
Balaam gives a number of oracles, or prophecies in chapters 23 & 24 that are worthy of review, and the result is that Balak comes away from this time with Balaam, being cursed himself!
It looks like Balaam, on the surface survived the testing and moved on. Yes, he certainly said the right things!
Except, it appears that Moses brings up a time where Balaam provide some counsel to Balak. He rightly did not and could not curse the people of God as a prophet, but as a counsellor to Balak, Balaam was able to provide Balak’s needs.
Numbers 31:16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.
After all of Balaam’s “faithfulness” in speaking, in the manner of a prophet, it seems Balaam takes the king aside, and counsels him with some “free” advise.
I can hear ol’ Balaam even now.
“You know king Balak, if you draw the Israelites away from worshipping God with some wild Moabite women, God may not take too kindly to that. Just saying…”
Effective advice, for after the proclamation of Balaam’s oracles, that speak of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah in chapters 23 & 24, immediately we see the Israelites whoring with the daughters of Moab, worshipping Baal at Peor. The result? The anger of the Lord lashes out, killing many of the Israelites!
Balaam’s third temptation may not have been a specific temptation, at least that I can find, but simply a response to the original thought of “a house full of gold and silver”. Balak’s blank check just couldn’t be resisted.
So Balaam provided some counsel!
Numbers 25:3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. Numbers 25:4 And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” Numbers 25:9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
Balak, for all his efforts, and through all the frustrations he had with Balaam, was able to find success in weakening those people he feared. Twenty four thousand dead, and Balak didn’t have to raise a spear!
Balaam is such a mixed bag. He spoke right, seemed to have the ear of God, and yet caused such devastation to the people of God.
Balaam decided to worship things. He found ways to avoid the conditions God set down for him, and when all was said and done, when all the prophecies were spoken, and when Balak was fully frustrated with Balaam, only then would Balaam let the cat out of the bag, and provide Balak counsel. The prophecies certainly were not satisfying Balak, and when any hope of funds transferring hands seemed to be slipping away, Balaam stepped up for Balak. So disappointing!
For the Lord’s last temptation, He was offered all the glory of the kingdoms of the world. The “house full of gold” that Jesus was tempted with far outshone that which Balaam could have imagined.
But the end result was so different. For the Lord, He sought no “out”, no looking for loopholes in the will of God, no adjustments in who (or what) to worship, no distraction from who He would serve. He resisted to the end! He was not simply avoiding sin, He was seeking God with everything He had.
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.
179
God my Rock
Psalm 42:9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
The psalmist is all alone. At least that is his experience, if not his reality. He is mourning, with an enemy actively attacking him, causing him trials and taking away any semblance of peace in his life.
He is not is a whining attitude, complaining about God, as if folr some reason God is at fault. No no no. During the first few verses of this psalm, he speaks of his desire to know God.
Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
He also speaks of the faithfulness of God.
Psalm 42:8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
By the time we arrive at verse 9, we may think he is claiming God has forgotten him. How can he say that when just the verse prior, he speaks of God commanding His steadfast love towards him?
It is a familiar place for the believer to admit, even confess the greatness of God, of His faithfulness and constancy, of His continual care for the saint. Yet there is the admission that some of the trial the believer may be going through is directly from the One who cares.
Consider verse 7, where he speaks of God’s waterfalls, God’s breakers and God’s waves going over him.
Psalm 42:7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
This saint is confessing what seems to be conflicting truths! On top of these two truths, that of God’s faithfulness, and the God has provided a trial for the saint, we find he reminds himself of the truth that God is His protection.
God is his rock. Now when he speaks of God as his rock, he is not referring to a stone that could be picked up, a trinket of rock that may be thought of as a souvenir.
When he speaks of God the rock, he is speaking of a massive rocky outcrop, a craggy place providing areas of protection for the saint. The term also describes a lofty, high location, defined by cliffs with deep depressions. One passage speaks of the rock as a place where judgement was unleashed on the enemies of Israel.
2 Chronicles 25:12 The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces.
For the majority of passages in the Old Testament, this term “rock” often describes a stronghold, a place of refuge, a place of security and perspective. Perspective, for the rock provides a different viewpoint, a place that is not on the level ground of our existence, but elevated, above our trials and temptations, a place where we may understand God’s perspective on a matter.
Is this not the Psalmist’s witness, even as he corrects his own soul?
Psalm 42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
Psalm 42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Yes, our saint is in inner turmoil, with external forces buffeting him and internal conflicts raging. But when he resorts to the Rock, he gains a perspective, he gains a security, as a stronghold can afford one in a battle. He resorts to God his Rock, and finds a safe place, providing clarity for his situation.
God is our Rock.
Flee to Him if you are embattled and confused.
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 1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
Our verse today speaks of the response of a portion of the Thessalonian populace had to the love of God becoming evident to them.
The result of a rag tag group of men, tent makers and such, entering into a synagogue and speaking of a Rabbi that rose from the dead. The began to imitate them.
To imitate. The Greek used in this verse (and the following) is μιμητής mimētḗs. In only one of the six times the apostles used this exhortation, was the subject of imitation only God.
1 Corinthians 4:16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 1 Thessalonians 2:14 ESV – For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, Hebrews 6:12 ESV – so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Five of the six times saints were directed to imitate, the subject were saints or apostles. This is illuminating, for we often hear the battle cry “I only follow Jesus”, or “I only trust and follow God”. The Word is rife with commands, exhortations and instruction that we are to follow God and not man, and yet we see the apostles exhort believers, or at least describe believers as those who imitate, or follow them.
This is quite audacious.
Should we expect the same today? Are there men and women that follow so closely that we could (or should) see them as worthy of following in their shadows, imitate a lifestyle that would honor God.
That is a big question, and one that I believe Paul provides additional guidance on for the modern saint.
Let’s track with what Paul is saying.
They followed / imitated Paul in much affliction. These folks didn’t see a man teaching on the “Best Life Now” and then decided they wanted immediate gratification, or a man teaching they had influence over God, that they could demand things from an all powerful God to splurge on they own self interests.
They followed in the midst of affliction.
Now, the term affliction is a very interesting word. When I first tripped over this word in my studies years back, I couldn’t help but speak it out load. θλῖψις thlîpsis. It is a rare word to have the “thl” sound, and I couldn’t help myself from saying out loud as I walked about. But enough of my idiosyncracies!
Thlîpsis speaks of pressure. Oppression, affliction, tribulation, distress, straits and of a pressing together.
It is a force outside of our lives that is causing discomfort, pain and stress. It is not stress. Let me, for a short moment, try to explain the difference, from a strictly physical point of view.
Consider an inanimate object, sitting on a table. At one point, a large mass is laid on this object. This mass is a foreign object that is affecting the object. The effect of this mass on the object is the pressure we speak of. The reaction of the object to this mass is what we define as stress (or strain, but that is another topic). Stress may be developed as a reaction of the object to the mass being applied to the object.
Say the object is a brick and the mass is a feather. Internal within the brick a very minor stress is developed. Let’s go the opposite extreme for the sake of ridiculousness. Say the object is a marshmallow, and the mass is a concrete block. After massive deformation, and due to no internal strength in the marshmallow, we can conclude that the internal strength of the marshmallow is insignificant. Deformation was the reaction to the pressure applied to the marshmallow, giving us evidence of the internal strength of the marshmallow.
So let’s recap. These folks followed Paul, in the midst of pressure, showing evidence of an internal strength that was able to withstand being “deformed” back to their previous lifestyle. The pressure may have become quite intense, but the strength within the believers was equal to the task.
My question to you, my dear reader, is what was that inner strength? The passage speaks of the inner strength, and I would suggest Paul makes it clearly evident of the inner strength these folks relied upon.
Note that Paul speaks of these believers receiving affliction, accepting pressure with the joy of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t describe their internal strength as being a moral fortitude, a righteous anger, or a holy determination. The strength these folks had received was joy. Joy of the Holy Spirit.
These believers seem to have resisted the forces being applied to their lives by the joy of the Holy Spirit. Make no mistake, the forces applied to these believers intended to deform these new believers into a “shape” they desired, a shape that was comfortable and malleable, usable for those who did not believe.
The joy of the Holy Spirit provided these men and women the strength to resist the deformation the world wanted!
Now, back to the big question about who to imitate.
Do you know someone in your life who is following in the midst of affliction, expressing the sacrificial love of God, even to those who despise and hate him or her. They may be doing something right, and he may be a great example to imitate.
Those who tickle your ears with promises of prosperity, success, health and wealth. They may be the ones who demand your loyalty, but it may be wise to consider why you should follow them as opposed to any other false teacher.
It seems we as believers have two choices. Either we follow those who provide (empty) promises or those who warn of earthly pressures.
Which preacher appeals to you?
What message are you looking for?
Where do you find inner strength?
What pressure are you experiencing, in which the joy of the Holy Spirit is providing strength to resist deformation?
Or have you listened to that popular message, allowing deformation as an acceptable reaction to trials or troubles?
Nehemiah 8:10 …And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 69 is a psalm of sorrow, of apparent defeat and deep emotional stress, of a distress in the heart and of being overwhelmed, of a weariness of soul, and of a waiting for an answer from God. It is a psalm that speaks of loneliness, of disappointment and of extended trials.
As we venture through the psalmist’s deep confession, his pain and his sorrow, we will encounter passages that will be referred to in the New Testament, providing a recounting of the sorrow of Jesus.
Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:31 This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. Psalm 69:32 When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. Psalm 69:33 For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
As you know, I love to try to understand the words we read in our English Bible with the original meanings that men and women have researched. They have provided for us a treasure of knowledge in the work of lexicons and dictionaries of the New and Old Testament.
This morning, as I was just beginning to dig into this passage, I reviewed the word “praise” in the first verse, reading through the Strong’s definition.
Let me share with you what I found.
Did you notice what I noticed? See the reference to “foolish”? Strong’s dictionary defines this word to include the meaning of to be clamorously foolish, even to rave! “Clamorously” refers to that which attracts attention. Something is wrong here. To praise is not to make a fool of myself, is it?
I had to check another source. Let’s consider Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon. The fourth paragraph speaks the same.
The idea of praise in the Old Testament has an element of boasting (which I get) but, which surprised me, a boasting to the extent of appearing foolish.
Why is this such a concern Carl?
A short confession may help my reader understand.
I am an introvert. Give me 8 – 12 hours of study, and I will walk away content and happy. Occasional bursts of emotion, though they may erupt in my heart and soul are “handled” until I can explain myself logically, or at least methodically. Does not the Scripture teach me that the Spirit Himself guides us into a life of self control? Am I not justified in “controlling” my praise to God, in bringing honor to Him while retaining my own?
How is a believer to reconcile this apparent tension. A self controlled believer or a boasting, clamorous fool. Is this a necessary conflict in my thinking? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?
My friends – I think I have described a man above who seeks to protect his reputation to the detriment of the glory of God. I am the embodiment of a crusty old believer (I think of it as “mature”) that appears to have little or no joy. If God shows forth His greatness to a ol’ fool such as I, should I control that? Should I damp down that joy?
I can’t help thinking of a passage that has always somewhat bothered me.
2 Samuel 6:16 ESV – As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart. 2 Samuel 6:20 …Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” 2 Samuel 6:21 …David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD–and I will celebrate before the LORD.
Am I to act as Michal, or as David? Now that is disheartening! I know which of these characters I reflect. I am the controlled, contained, concerned Michal.
2 Samuel 6:22 will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.”
David expressed his concern over Michal’s complaint by throwing his own honor (in her sight) under the bus for the sake of the Lord’s honor. Remember David was King of Israel, and he had risked it all for this position. Yet his concern over any honor he may loose was nonexistent.
David was led of the Spirit to worship God and openly show his love for God.
Regarding the self control I resort to when this topic of praise comes up, I am seeing that I have controlled the One who is to control me. Yes, He will, as I depend on Him, provide the strength to resist sinful behavior, providing a self control that honors Him. But any of this self control I exercise, that is any controlling of my heart expression when it comes to God’s glory and His goodness is simply a dampening, an extinguishing of Spirit led praise to God.
Paul saw me coming when he repeatedly wrote of this possibility in the believer
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.
For a brief moment this morning, join me is a prayer that as believers, we (I) would allow the goodness, the greatness, and the glory of the Lord to be expressed in our lives, even in a foolish way, a clamorous way, but only in a way that honors Him. That we (I) would show our love and amazement of the One on the throne, who hung on a cruel cross for us, clearly boasting as the Spirit leads, of His goodness and love for us, willing to sacrifice our own ego, self esteem, pride and reputation to the gutter for the sake of His honor being seen, even for a moment.
How this works out in our lives is up to the One who is over us. May we trust Him enough to follow even in this!
May His name be honored, and mine forgotten.
I fear I have departed from the text this morning, but this has been an unexpected illumination on my part. I will come back to Psalm 69:30-33 in our next posting.
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.
178
GOD MOST HIGH
Genesis 14:19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
This name of God has been addressed once previously, but the passage considered translated the as “the Most High God”, and it was addressed very early in our study, at the 6th posting. The post may be found at Names of God – EL ELYON (THE MOST HIGH GOD) – 6.
Although this is the same name in the Hebrew, the translators have decided to rearrange the terms, and given me an opportunity to consider the name God Most High.
The passage finds us with Abram after his victory over the kings in the Valley of Siddim. After the battle of the nine kings, where Chedorlaomer, and three of his allies crushed five smaller kings, he looted the area, picking up a certain fellow named Lot. This was definitely not an acceptable condition for Abram, so with 318 trained servants, he ran a night mission and rescued his nephew Lot.
Abraham actually didn’t simply sneak into the camp and steal Lot away under cover of darkness, but the passage speaks of Abraham pursuing the 4 kings as far as Dan, defeating them.
Get that? An old shepherd with 318 servants, trained though they be, attacked a coalition force of 4 armies, successful armies that were on their victory march back to their home country. Not only did Abraham have the hutzpah to attack, he found victory over this marauding force, rescuing Lot, recovering Lot’s possessions, along with the women and people of Sodom.
A fantastic story of a man rescuing his nephew, a nephew that took the best area to settle in, that seemed to have a selfish streak, and that is remembered only in relation to his uncle.
A tremendous foreshadowing of Another who left everything behind to save a selfish man!
After this testing and restoration of the family, a mysterious man shows up by the name of Melchizedek. I personally believe this was the Lord Jesus in a pre incarnate visit with His saint.
Upon this meeting, Abraham was in the presence of the Master, with Melchizedek blessing Abraham. Note the blessing carefully.
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High”
Ok, let’s think about this. Who was blessing Abram?
Melchizedek?
Melchizedek spoke the words, and therefore the blessing was by Melchizedek
God Most High?
Yet Melchizedek stated the blessing on Abram was by God Most High.
Seems to be obvious to me that Melchizedek, as God Most High was blessing Abram.
Jesus is God Most High!
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.
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
The beatitudes. The longest sermon the Lord provided for His people. Yes, it may be a compilation of Jesus teachings, given over a period of days, but that does not detract the sheer power of the message delivered.
Our verse, Matthew 5:22 is found in a portion of the sermon addressing anger. The question being addressed is – How is a believer to understand anger in his life?
There are some well meaning believers that consider this passage to be applicable to the future, to the saints who will exist in some future kingdom. As such, this passage supposedly does not apply to the church age believer. I know of these teachings because I was drawn to them, believed this slant and taught others of it. It is an outgrowth of a dispensational thought process and it was a comfortable way of thinking.
A comfortable way of thinking since this passage is a very challenging portion of Scripture if we allow it to be applicable to the current age. After many years of hanging on to a teaching that I currently reject, that strips the Word of much instruction for the modern believer, and causes much confusion, I began to consider that this passage Jesus gave His followers while He was on earth were for His followers while He was on earth.
Nevertheless, Jesus is instructing those who want to know of His teaching, what He expects of those who follow Him, and occasionally provides the results of not obeying His Word.
Such is the case in this passage. He builds in intensity of judgement, based on three acts escalating acts of anger.
Angry with his brother = liable to judgement
Insults his brother = liable to the council
Calls his brother fool = liable to the hell of fire (Gehenna)
His teaching is a correction of the Pharisees, in that they allowed anger to be resident in the faithful adherent, teaching that physical murder is where sin is found. Anger seemed to be allowed, but not under the Lordship of Christ.
A bit of a sidebar. Note that the Lord speaks of anger in relation to a brother. This is critical, for we know that the overarching message to the follower of Christ is to love the brethren, to care for them, to carry their burdens if called upon.
Yet there is a place for anger in the believers life. I fear I may be going down a bit of a rabbit trail mentioning this, but I do want to make clear that Jesus is addressing interpersonal relationships within the body of people we eventually call the church. There are situations where anger is called for, but this post is not addressing that topic. Maybe another day!
Let us move on to the reason for considering this passage. What is the outcome of anger being resident in the believers life, the one who is following the Savior?
It is not good!
According to Jesus, being angry with a brother is equal in judgement to that of physical murder! The first mention of anger Jesus addresses is equal to the sin of murder, and the worst judgement the Pharisees spoke of. Both murder and anger with a brother are described as being “liable to judgement”.
Jesus continues His teaching that a believers act of insulting a brother would result in being liable to the council. I don’t understand this to be yanked in front of the Sanhedrin, other than Jesus saying it to provide context. This judgement may be before a council that had not been convened as yet, or that was convened, but without physical location. It may be the very council of God, setting judgement for the believer in his life.
Matthew 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
A careless word certainly would include insulting a brother! To give account speaks of our defense, but we know we have no real defense before the holy and righteous God, sitting on the throne. Our only defense is the Lamb of God, slain for our sins. Yet we must remember that our actions have consequences, even as we live in the abundant forgiveness of the Lord.
For the last phrase, Jesus mentions Gehenna fire. As you know if you have been following Considering the Bible, I am not convinced this reference is to what is commonly thought of as hell, or the lake of fire. For those who may be interested in my current thoughts, I would direct you to Perishing in Eternal Torment. I readily admit that I am unsure of the exact fate of the lost, other than it will not (at least immediately) be with the Living Savior.
No matter, for as the Lord speaks of Gehenna, He communicates clearly that any believer who degrades a brother, calling him a fool, is liable for the fires of gehenna.
Ok, we should make every effort to understand what the people Jesus was teaching would associate with when He uses this word. Did they have, as a general teaching in their culture and religion, a concept of Dante’s inferno, with pitchforks, darkness, fire, demons, eternal suffering and torture already in their consciences? Was that a common thought in the first century?
I would suggest that Jesus’ audience more likely associated the term Gehenna with a garbage dump on the east side of the City of Jerusalem. A waste pit, the repository of the garbage generated by the city, constantly being consumed by the fires that were continually burning.
A very vivid picture for Jesus to refer to.
As a believer, if we are angry with our brother, we are liable (destined?) for the waste pit. A stark message from the Savior, that anger has no place in the believer’s life, and that if anger is resident in the believers life, it escalates and consumes the believer until he has wasted his life, destined for a waste pit.
Would Jesus’ audience have understood the Savior as such? Should we?
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.
1 Samuel 27:
10 When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” 11 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12 And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”
In our last post, we found that David may have slipped into a bit of senseless murdering and thieving, a bit of abuse and treachery on a people to the south of the land of Philistia.
There may have been a justified reason David unleashed such seemingly harsh, murderous treatment on those of the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. There may have been motivation that could be found in the Word of God. David may have been basing his actions on God’s written commands. (Come on Carl – that is too much!) For those not following this series, consider Life of David – 21.03.
I naturally want to see David as an image of the Christ, a man who did all things right and was never struggling with his fallen nature. The previous passage may be describing such a case, that he was a man struggling, or it may be he was acting according to known revelation of God’s will. That is for the reader to consider.
Our passage this time may not provide us that luxury of affording the future King of Israel, the man after God’s heart, the warrior for Yahweh, a pass in regards to following the will of God.
In this passage, David simply deceives the one who was protecting him. Although he actually went into the regions south of Ziklag, killing all and taking booty, he tells Achish, the king of Gath that he had actually killed those of his own nation.
Note that twice this passage speaks of David killing every man and woman.
1 Samuel 27:9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive…
1 Samuel 27:11 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath….
Now in verse 11, we find that David had an ulterior motive for killing every soul in every encampment, town and village he visited. He was ruthless to save his own skin. He would not allow anyone to possibly speak to Achish about his actions.
1 Samuel 27:11 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’”
He may have been performing the will of God in annihilating the “inhabitants of the land from of old” (vs 8), but it seems he may have also had alternate motives. Mixed motives that seemed to allow him to openly deceive the king he asked refuge from. Deception of the king who provided him and his army an entire city to settle in.
Somehow, I can’t seem to find a good light for David to stand in with this passage. He is looking bad – really bad in this tale. A murderous warrior, completely decimating towns and villages, deceiving his protector, and waiting for his competition to keel over and die.
Some say that the believers life is to be stellar, without blame, and without fault. Surely this is the call of God for each believer, the goal of each believer’s life without exception. Yet we see in David a life that has some very dark spots. At times like this, we see failure, shame and sin in a hero of the Old Testament.
We must remember that David was a sinner, and in this passage he gives ample proof of that state of being. But we also must remember that David was a saint, for he eventually got right, lived properly before God under the known will of God, and died a man who sought the Lord.
For us today we must not let a life of sin keep us from the Father of Jesus. We all need to face our sinful heart we live with, confess this before the Lord, and ask for strength to resist our evil desires.
But before I close, I would like to stress that our motivation is critical though. We can not simply resist. We can not resist those evil desires without the Lord’s strength and Word. We are completely without strength in resisting our own dark heart. The emphasis of our lives is that we are to actively seek the Lord, begging for His mercy and strength, wholly relying on His ability to protect us in the midst of our trial.
After all, it is all about Him, and not us.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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
Balaam
Second Temptation
Numbers 22:18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more.
Matthew 4:7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
In our first consideration of Balaam as a type or picture of the Lord, we find him resisting the initial offering of the king of Moab, fighting off the temptation, and successfully sending the Moabite servants back to Balak.
But Balak, like all tempters, is not to give up easily. He needs Balaam’s “talent” and sends more important folks to discuss with Balaam.
Let’s read the passage and consider how Balaam performs in this second tempation.
Numbers 22:15 Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. Numbers 22:16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, Numbers 22:17 for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’” Numbers 22:18 But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more. Numbers 22:19 So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” Numbers 22:20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” Numbers 22:21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.
Now before we get into this passage, lets remember this is the temptation that includes Balaam’s donkey chit chatting with him. Although super interesting, this portion of the passage will not be dealt with in this posting.
second Temptation
In this second temptation, Balak offers Balaam great honor and a blank check. He is not simply providing the diviner’s fees as in the last temptation. No no no. Balak offered him an incredible, though generic, offer.
Numbers 22:17 ….whatever you say to me I will do
Balaam, if anything in this passage, is not subtle. He pontificates on his ability to resist – I would suggest this is a great weakness – even as the offer of a blank check is provided.
Numbers 22:18 …”Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more”.
Balaam’s response is awesome. Sounds really good, but I wonder. Why mention gold and silver unless it was on his mind? Could he not have simply said no, that Israel was blessed, and that God was in charge, that God was the One who determined Israel’s future?
Balaam begins to show his inner man, his desire for wealth and power in this temptation. The covering is dropping and his nature becomes a bit more evident than in the first temptation.
Yes Balaam rejected the temptation, but he also seemed to introduce an opportunity for the men of Moab to provide greater motivation for Balaam next time.
You know, I am wondering. Did Balaam actually resist the temptation here? As I read a bit further, and see that God becomes angry with Balaam, I have to ask myself – What is going on? Lets review the passage and check out verse 20 through 22 for some clues.
Numbers 22:20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” Numbers 22:21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. Numbers 22:22 But God’s anger was kindled because he went, …
What is it that Balaam did, per the passage above, that might have kindled the anger of the Lord?
You see, Balaam eventually ventured off to Moab with these fellas, but I don’t see where the men came to call on him. Notice in verse 20, that tiny word “if”. Notice that God placed a condition on Balaam’s release to venture off, but it seems Balaam, in his desire for houses full of gold, may have made an assumption he shouldn’t have. He simply rose and went.
God told Balaam to rise. Balaam rose in the morning.
God told Balaam to go with the princes of Moab. Balaam went with the men.
The only thing Balaam didn’t do was to wait for the men to come get him. The silence of the passage referring to the men coming to Balaam is deafening. Balaam simply wanted to go and he simply went.
If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny, for Balaam used that “if” word in response to God’s restricting him while travelling
Numbers 22:34 ESV – Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.”
Again, Balaam did not simply bow to the Lord, admit his sin and turn back. Was there something in the circumstances that allowed Balaam to think his sin in travelling, without fulfilling the condition God set, was acceptable? Maybe he was simply looking for an opportunity to continue on his way, hoping for the allowance of God in his mission.
In summary, he refused the offer of the Moabites in verse 18, but told the men to stick around. Maybe God may change His mind, maybe he could work this situation. After that night, and knowing the condition God set, Balaam simply started travelling with the emissaries. Now he is asking if….
Numbers 22:34 … if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.”
It turns out God did allow Balaam to venture into the lions den, into Moab and to face the tempter himself, Balak, the king of Moab.
Balaam, by his speech and teaching to the Moabites is looking relatively good. He is speaking of God’s blessing on Israel, and the refusal of cursing upon Israel. Yet he seems to be exhibiting the character traits of a self willed, greedy man.
Jesus, though, did not succumb to His second temptation, nor provide any long winded reasoning or excuse, but simply quoted God’s word. He exhibited the willingness to allow suffering to enter His life, and to not test God, but to be subject to the will of God.
Balaam sought the worlds riches, while Jesus rebuked His tempter. Note that this second temptation of the Messiah speaks of God’s blank check to the Messiah, of His care for the Messiah, of the angels at God’s beck and call for the sake of the Messiah.
Such commitment from the Father to the Son, and to think that that care was relinquished for our sake. Of course, the Father’s eye watched over the Son in every trial and terror, until the last, where the Son willingly suffered for our sakes.
He gave up this promise for us. He gave up all for us. He is so unlike Balaam. He is so unlike us.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
177
GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH
1 Timothy 3:16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
I have a friend down south who stated this passage was his very favorite verse of the entire Bible.
The entire Bible.
That is some claim, and he certainly used it in many contexts, but his favorite context was when we were evangelizing on the streets, in the winter, while the temps were -20 to -30 degrees, on Tuesday nights.
No-one left their warm homes during the winter, especially on a Tuesday night (for some unknown reason), and we were occasionally asked in as a gesture of kindness. Sometimes the invite was due to curiosity, for we clearly represented ourselves immediately as Christian believers sharing the gospel of Christ.
Prior to knocking, we would always decide which of us would speak, and which of us would pray, and as this one night I will speak of progressed, my brother took this verse and shared a mystery with a young family.
He spoke of God being in the flesh. He really labored on this phrase, for he sought to make Jesus understood for who He is, and not some generic, run of the mill Rabbi, or teacher, or prophet. He labored in making the point that Jesus was not simply a good man, but that He was God in the flesh.
Now if you spend just a moment considering this phrase, hopefully you will come to the same conclusion Paul suggested as he began this verse..
This truth, that Jesus was (and is) God in the flesh is a great mystery. How could God be “in the flesh”?
Sometimes in the New Testament, to be “in the flesh” is synonymous with living in the sinful nature, or to be fleshly, earthy and natural. Surely this is not the message Paul is giving out, for he speaks of the Messiah as being vindicated by the Spirit, that He was the worthy Lamb of God.
So what is Paul getting at? What is so mysterious?
The mystery, at least in this verse, is that Paul is speaking of how God saves sinners, that is, God saves sinners through the Christ, that God’s Messiah was not just a very good man, but that He was God in the flesh, in a human body.
That really is a mind blowing truth.
Now, for context, a mystery for those of the first century, referred to something that had been hidden, that had not been understood, or even considered, but that was now a known truth.
So let me try to summarize.
God’s method of saving lost souls is through His taking on of human flesh, with all the limitations, pains, weakness, fears, pressures and trials of the human experience.
God’s method of saving lost souls is through Jesus, accepting the condition of humanity forever, and dying to bring us to God.
Jesus is God manifest in the flesh!
That night, a friendly family who invited us in for some warmth, were given a mystery, a message revealed that is truly magnificent, and after 30 years, still rings in my ears.
He is God manifest in the flesh!
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 1:5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
In our last posting, I intentionally did not address the last sentence in the verse, since I anticipate it to carry a message worthy of it’s own consideration.
1 Thessalonians 1:5B …You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
At first glance, Paul seems to divert from his message of the Thessalonians new life, by speaking of his teams behavior among them.
I am not convinced this is a diversion, for he will refer to his witness among them a number of times in the letter, giving weight to the importance of the saint having not only a verbal message, but a life witness that speaks the same.
In our very next verse, Paul speaks of the impact of his physical witness, of his actions, and not simply agreeing to facts, precious as they are.
1 Thessalonians 1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord….
Notice that Paul spoke of imitation, not simply agreeing with him and his team. It wasn’t as if they had a debate and some in the audience gave mental assent to the argument provided. They imitated the apostle and those of his team. This implies very strongly that these folks had watched the apostolic team in their actions, had interacted with them in their decision making process, had watched them work and toil as they stayed in the city, and had been rejected by the populace.
Next chapter, Paul again speaks of sharing his life with them, and not simply his mental and spiritual understanding of the mysteries of God. He emphasizes his life with them.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.
Paul again raises the topic of the importance of sharing the lives of the team with those they ministered to. Paul and his team were living out the gospel message, and the motivation of love was driving them to an open expression of life to the Thessalonians.
To be painfully honest, I can not imagine this environment was a typical church service type of situation, where Paul got up in front of the audience, provided a monologue of doctrine, and then went home until Wednesday night prayer meeting. In my mind’s eye, I can imagine a dialogue type of environment, where Paul spoke of personal experiences of the truth of the gospel directing his actions, with the resultant impacts, successes and disappointments being shared with those in his presence. He was with them, and seemingly an open book for them to read!
1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.
Paul pleads with the Thessalonians to remember their witness amongst them, that they walk as the apostle and his team walked, (not just thought as the apostles team thought), and to continue to please God.
This witness of Paul, in combination with the preaching of the Word, impacted these Thessalonians to the point where they repented of their ways, turned to Christ and pleased God.
Remember, Paul was amongst them for less than 21 days, and they saw enough to be convinced of the message, turning from idols and growing into Christians.
Truly amazing!
Who was your “Paul”? Did you have someone you could watch live the Christian life? Someone who did more than provide a message, a critical message, but also backed that message up with their own life, a sacrifice for others?
How about your life? Is it reflective of the Master, and is there enough there to make a difference in someone else, someone who has just heard and believed the good news of Jesus?
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 69 is a psalm of sorrow, of apparent defeat and deep emotional stress, of a distress in the heart and of being overwhelmed, of a weariness of soul, and of a waiting for an answer from God. It is a psalm that speaks of loneliness, of disappointment and of extended trials.
As we venture through the psalmist’s deep confession, his pain and his sorrow, we will encounter passages that will be referred to in the New Testament, providing a recounting of the sorrow of Jesus.
Let’s read a single solitary verse of this revealing psalm.
Psalm 69:29 But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
In our previous passage, we attempted to understand some very difficult portions of this psalm. Condemnation of the enemy, blotting out those men from the book of life, adding punishment upon punishment upon his enemies.
Tough stuff to read, and even tougher to understand. In the midst of those prayers, I still am not convinced of the motivation of the saint writing such difficult verses. Was it that the psalmist wished such harsh judgement to fall on the enemy, or that he expected such harsh judgement to fall on the enemy.
There is a difference! But I will leave that to my reader friend.
Let us consider the psalmist as he turns a corner in his mind, as he speaks clearly of his condition, and of his response to God in the midst of his own condition.
Afflicted
For us modern believers, to be afflicted usually has the meaning of a persecution, of a trial to be endured, or of a persistent suffering. For the Hebrew saint, to be afflicted focuses on poverty, a depression of mind or circumstances, humility and weakness. A state of being that exemplified a lowly state, a state of being needy.
David was at his lowest in this psalm, and yet the surrounding of his enemies may not be the reason he is lamenting this affliction he speaks of. At this point in the psalm, he may have caught sight of his own spiritual poverty. More on this in our next definition.
Personally, I will admit that whenever I venture off into judgy-judge land, where my opinion is the law, and I freely condemn anyone who thinks or does otherwise, I eventually wake up from my stupor to realize how impotent and weak I am, how I have only reflected my own weakness onto others and then judged them to feel better about myself.
It was years ago, I was reading a small book on judgement, and a phrase out of that book has worked itself into my mind. The saint can do two things. Judge others (by that I mean condemn others) or Love others. What the Psalmist went through in the previous verses may have exposed his poverty, weakness and need to himself, and because of this, brought about this realization of his own heart.
As I said above, the previous passage is tough, and my understanding of the psalmist surely needs guidance.
In Pain
Previously, I mentioned that after all the judging the psalmist may have entered into – that is, if the Psalm reflects his wishes as opposed to his expectations – he may have “woke up” and realized he is, at his core, one and the same as those he judged. In this very verse, he may be in the middle of catching sight of his own spiritual poverty (affliction) and pain.
For the Hebrew reader, this word “pain” brought to mind physical and/or mental pain, and is associated with sorrow and grieving. Again, this may be a stretch for some, but I think he may be speaking of his own condition before God, a confession of his own heart.
How deep is the darkness, that when we lash out, we find that after, if we are honest, we must recognize that which we condemned, is that which we take part in, that which we might even love. It is these times when the honest saint will break, when tears are welcomed, when the pain is experienced, and we freely admit to a Holy and Righteous God that we are not worthy to be His subjects, nor could be. It is those times when the darkness of our own desires and experience is revealed, it is at those times that the light of the gospel is utterly, painfully blinding!
He is the Lord who provides light in darkness.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
For that, we should be ever so thankful. When light shines out of darkness, it is inevitable that hidden things will be revealed. When hidden things are revealed, this will cause, for the honest saint, a self realization of utter poverty, combined with a deep sorrow towards the Lord.
If you are experiencing some self reflection that is difficult to handle, look to the source of light, not your own heart. He is the light. He is our salvation. He will lift us up, though we are lowly, poor and destitute. And when light shines in darkness, affliction and pain can be experienced. It is this repentance we need to agree to in order to maintain and grow in our life in Christ.
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.
176
GOD AT HAND
Jeremiah 23:23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?
I used to go to a church where the general attitude was that the sanctuary was a bit holier than the hallway leading up to it. I bought into that for years, mostly out of well meaning peer pressure.
I can hear myself telling my kids that they need to be quiet, not run around, or chase their friends in the sanctuary. Of course this was appropriate during the church service, but even when I went in that area after church, or before prayer meeting, I naturally spoke softer, tried to sin less, and generally figgered God was watching, even in the room.
My adjusting of my actions due to being in the sanctuary is something similar to what Jeremiah is speaking of with the Jewish folk of his time. Many of the prophets, those lying prophets, who were contemporary to Jeremiah, spoke of God being more influential in the Temple, that the Temple was the center of God’s influence and the farther from the Temple, the farther from God. Convenient for these prophets if they could control where the influence might be found! And maybe set up shop, or a little knickknack stand. But I digress!
Jeremiah needed to fix this thinking!
Jeremiah agrees with the teaching of God being at hand, but he expands the idea to describe a God who is afar off, a God who is not restricted to a temple, or a sanctuary.
As a God at hand, those of us in the New Testament church realize even this description has been expanded, redefined and deepened. For God is not only a God at hand, who is with us in our trials and tribulations, in our joys and victories, but for us modern believers, He is a God who is within us, always ministering to our concerns, our hopes, our needs, and our fears.
He is a God at Hand, and for that we are thankful, and yet He is so much more. Thank you Jesus!
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.
Proverbs 21:16 One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead.
As we read the proverbs, we have to remember that they describe general truths of life. A good example may be found in Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Many parents, when their child seems to wander from the faith, run to this verse and find some comfort. Two thoughts give me pause though.
Proverbs 22:6 does not speak of faith but of lifestyle. Yes I know those two things can be synonymous, but not necessarily so. The second thing to notice is that Solomon does not instruct us with what we want him to say, such as my mashed up verse 6.
Train up a child in the way he should go; and though he departs from the faith for a season, never going to church, or even praying, I promise he will return to the very denomination he left when he gets older.
See the difference? Solomon speaks of the child never departing. We think he is telling us the child will return.
My point is that the proverbs should be read carefully, and we should not try to extract an absolute truth from a proverb. They are general truths. Solomon speaks of the child not departing if he/she has been trained properly, but we all know godly families who have a son or daughter who has rebelled and walked away.
The proverbs provide general truths.
Now, back to our topic verse, and to consider what Solomon is trying to generally tell us. I think there are two items worthy to consider in this verse.
1. – TO WANDER
First off, consider that the one spoken of here is “wandering from the way of good sense”, or “strays from common sense” (NLT).
The Hebrew verb תָּעָה tâʻâh, is typically translated “wander” in this verse. The one passage I found above, translating it as “stray” is rare. To wander or to stray, speaks of an undisciplined life, a life that may not have a goal in sight, or that the life goal has been lost, ignored, or even forgotten.
When the topic of wandering comes to mind, I always think of my days trapping beaver and muskrat with Reynald in northern Canada. He definitely had a goal as we trudged through that field to the beaver dam, but I seemed to wander! If interested, check out Let Me Tell You a Story – Plowing
To wander implies no goal, or a forgotten goal. Might Peter be speaking to the same topic?
2 Peter 1:9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
2 – TO WANDER FROM
Yes I know my first point included wandering, but let me explain.
This soul who is wandering in Solomon’s mind is wandering from something. Solomon is not stating that this soul is one who is currently in the assembly of the dead, but that he has his origin in the “way of good sense”. He wanders, not from a neutral position, or even from within an immoral, sinful position, but from the way of good sense.
Does this verse speak directly of the absolute truth of the conditional security for the Christian believer? No. I don’t think so. It is a general truth. A truth that may apply to one who wanders.
As we have looked at passages in the Conditional Security series, it has become evident (at least to me) that walking away from God is a common thread in the Word, that there is danger in sliding away, and that we need to pay attention, not wander, from the Savior and His will for our lives.
Paul warns the early church of an apostacy from sound teaching, and this counsel is appropriate for us in the modern church.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 2 Timothy 4:4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Teachers in the church are not immune to this wandering, sometimes swerving from the truth and into vanities.
1 Timothy 1:6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 1 Timothy 1:7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
Finally, though speaking specifically of widows, the truth is still presented, that after some wandering from, there is the next step of straying after.
1 Timothy 5:15 For some have already strayed after Satan.
My friend, there is only One Savior and He is the way, the good path. Let us not be the one who “wanders from the way of good sense”.
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.
1 Samuel 27:
8 Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
First thing to consider is who in tarnation are the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. Let’s consider their regions first.
As you can see, these three areas seem to be easy pickings for David, since he can make a day trip into one of these areas, do some slaughtering, indiscriminate killing of men, women and children, and then head back to the comfort of his home in Ziklag. No that is incorrect. It wasn’t indiscriminate killing. It was the entire population of any town that fell under David’s eye.
Forget about the location – that seems so unimportant when we read of the slaughter David took part in. What is going on with this man after God’s own heart?
Is there something I am missing in this scenario?
As David was being pursued by Saul, he wrote of his thirst for God in Psalm 63.
Psalm 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Next thing we read, he has escaped Saul’s clutches, moves to Philistine, and appears to become a senseless cut throat murderer, thieving things and killing everyone?
As my wife says – Make that make sense!
Could there be some justification in David’s actions? Let’s head back into the Pentateuch, the book of Deuteronomy, and consider the first couple of verses of chapter 7.
Deuteronomy 7:1 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
To “devote them to complete destruction” is synonymous to eradicate, eliminate, devote, destroy utterly, completely destroy, dedicate for destruction, exterminate. There is no easy, or palatable way of saying this. God was telling the Israelites to completely remove from the land those who were living there by death!
The Lord did not shy away from this command, but once more directed the Israelites to a mission of complete annihilation of those in the land.
Deuteronomy 20:16 ESV – But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, Deuteronomy 20:17 ESV – but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded,
The author of 1 Samuel speaks of these people as inhabitants of the land from of old.
8 Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt.
Might this phrase be added by the author as a nod to the old mission, where Israel was to take out these inhabitants?
Now we all know that the mission had not been completed, that though Joshua completed taking all the promised land, (Check out Joshua 11:23), this did not mean that the command of God in Deuteronomy 7 and 20 had been accomplished. Joshua conquered the people of the land. They were not to remain alive. Some survived.
So along comes David, and he is in a hard place. He is a warrior, not a farmer or a business man, and warriors go to war, fight in battles, lead men to victory. Sitting in Ziklag may not have been a favorable situation for David. But what if he though he could work a favorable outcome for his future kingdom right under the nose of his enemy. Was he not destined to take Israel that next step in obedience to God, completing God’s command? Maybe his motivation was zealousness for the Lord, that he sought to honor God by devoting some of the people in the regions south of him. After all, what is a warrior to do?
What thinkest the reader? Is this a potential motivation for David? Could we see this as simply the working out of an opportunity David saw to work out the command of God in Deuternomony?
Or had David simply become a cut throat rebel, killing and stealing to satisfy his need of action? Had he simply turned into a mercenary, a vicious one at that, killing every living soul in whatever town he entered?
What ever my reader may suppose, when we get to our next passage, where King Achish starts asking about the spoils he is bringing back, David slips from being a man of truth to a man who slips into deception. This slipping for David eventually leads to a situation that requires the salvation of the Lord, for no other than God can help this poor man.
I don’t know about you, but this passage is difficult to comprehend, no matter how you look at it.
However we see this portion of the Word, it is best to remember that every saint – even David – has periods where they are placed in hard spots, difficult circumstances that require very difficult decisions to be made. For David, I can not tell in this passage if his motivations were for the glory of God, or for his own self gratification and escape.
I am very glad that we have One Judge, One Master, who knows our weakness, who knows our struggles, who ministers to us in the midst of seeming failure.
He is God, and He takes care of saints, though they may act like a sinner occasionally.
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
Balaam
First Temptation
Numbers 22:13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”
Matthew 4:4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Balaam was a non Israelite prophet that is reknown as a man with an evil (greedy) eye, of a prophet who forsook the way of righteousness, and that loved the wages of unrighteousness. His greatest failing was that of providing Balak cousel to cripple Israel though committing fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Revelation 2:14.
Peter also has some very harsh things to say about this man.
In all of Balaam’s moral failings and apostacy, he remains a type of Christ in a number of surprising ways.
In Numbers 22 & 23, we find a prophet of God by the name of Balaam being approached by the king of Moab. It seems the people of Israel were causing Balak, the king of Moab some concerns as they camped in the plains of Moab. That Moabite king needed to take care of those Israelites before they became to powerful. The entire nation was in dread of the Israelites! What could be done?
The Israelites had dominated the Amorites, and the Moabites realized they needed an alternative approach. Enter the prophet Balaam, a non Israeli who was known as a prophet of God, and that Balak hoped he could hire for service.
Three times Balak tempted Balaam to curse the nation of Israel. Three temptations, three refusals. In the final temptation, Balak took Balaam to a high place to look down on Israel and curse them. Each time Balaam blessed them. (sort of)
First temptation
Numbers 22:6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” Numbers 22:12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” Numbers 22:13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”
The portion of Scripture I want to draw your attention to is the response Balaam has for Balak. Balaam was not allowed to go anywhere with the servants of Balak, for God directed him to stay back. The message Balaam provided the men of Moab was directly from God.
At this point in the story, Balaam is looking better than average, and has rejected the temptation of the king of Moab. The tempters Balak had sent had the fees of divination in their possession to assist Balaam in making a positive decision, yet he stood strong.
Numbers 22:7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message.
Jesus, as He was tempted by the Adversary to change a rock into food, also rejected a self serving temptation, but note the difference.
Balaam only referred to himself, of God’s refusal to allow him to go with them. Nothing about the reason for not going, or that Israel was blessed unconditionally. Just that he can’t go. Nothing regarding the reason for this denial of service.
Not so with Jesus. His rejection of temptation provided no “out” for the tempter, no opportunity to find a crack to leverage for the next temptation.
Jesus referred to the written Word of God in rebuking the devil. Balaam, on the other hand, provided a message to Balak, the tempter, couched in terms of refusal, as if Balaam wanted to go, but had to stay back. He also provided a somewhat modified message of God from the message he received.
This difference provides insight for our own victory over temptation. Jesus did not mince words about His rejection of the temptation, but referred to the spoken and written Word of God. Balaam, though victorious over the temptation, seemed to be destined to allow some wiggle room.
Thankfully this was not the attitude of our Savior!
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.
175
GOD ALMIGHTY
Genesis 35:11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.
Granted this name of God is essentially the same Hebrew word construction, but with the English equivalent name being reordered, I simply couldn’t resist considering it one more time.
In our passage this morning, God appears to Jacob, renaming him Israel, and speaking to this newly named saint that he was to be fruitful, that he was to multiply his seed throughout the land. Not only was Israel to have abundant offspring, this offspring would become a nation, with other nations splitting off from the core. To top it off, kings would be produced through Israel’s family.
Let’s remember that Jacob was a shepherd, a man who worked with his hands, and schemed with his mind. Was he not a man of the fields, using a stone for a pillow, and watching over his sheep?
He was a man who had done some nasty things to those closest to him, and had lost contact with his family due to his selfish decisions. Had he not been on the run from a brother who had committed to killing him?
Now the Lord shows up and tells him he is of royal lineage, that his family will become a nation. Of course, as he grew up under his father Isaac, he must have heard of the promises given to Abraham, and he had been personally visited by God. This word from God should not have surprised him. God is faithful, but Jacob had not been a stellar fella!
Nevertheless, God was present and He identified as God Almighty. Not as the God who had great ability, or that He was stronger than most, but that He was almighty. He had all might, and His resources could not be depleted.
Consider that when you sense you have asked for too much from God, or that you are too much of a burden on God, or that your situation is too difficult to solve for God.
Jacob, by this time had advanced in years, had raised a family, had renewed his relationship with his only brother, and was about to visit his father Isaac for the last time. The command to be fruitful was given to the patriarch Israel as a reminder to continue to grow, to advance, to increase in size and impact upon the world. He would be the father of a nation that would be led, and rescued by God, and that would produce the Savior.
He is God Almighty, and for one elderly man who had stumbled through life with dubious decisions and poor lifestyle choices, God was still on the throne and able to perform great and mighty, dare I say Almighty things.
For He is God Almighty.
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 1:5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
In our last verse we spoke of the election of the Thessalonians, and of my refocused understanding of that particular verse. As a reminder, it is all about the love of God, not the choosing of us, whatever that may mean to my reader.
It is the love of God that is so importance for us to remember!
In verse 5, Paul will remind the saints of Thessalonica why he makes such a claim as in verse 5.
Why Can Paul Say this
Paul made a bold claim in verse 5, speaking of God choosing the Thessalonians, and more importantly of the love of God these saints (and all saints!) have possessed in their lives.
He now enters into a short passage that provides for us the reason he makes such a claim of their lives being the recipients of the love of God.
Word
Paul, with his team came into the town of Thessalonica, with a message. That message was delivered verbally, to all the people hearing them, through a teaching that all in the audience heard. Yet for these called out people, for these chosen folks, that message became a message of life. They recognized truth and it became a message to be trusted.
Think of that. Vibrations from the apostles throat entered into the audience’s ears, a series of ideas were offered to those who listened, and some of those listening acknowledged the truth of the message.
The word, or the message delivered to these folks became a fact that they accepted. It was not merely a claim that was developed and offered without consideration, but the message became factual for them, and for those who accepted it, it was the foundational factual truth of the life they now lived in.
Now some may say that their choice simply became the Thessalonian’s truth, as the common argument in todays culture. You know how those who reject the gospel will excuse their position. “If it works for you that is great”, or “everyone has their personal truth.”
Absolute truth exists. The grave is empty. Those who recognize this truth make it their truth, but not in the manner of denigrating this message to a personal preference. The gospel is factual, and these people recognized it and “joined the party!”
Power
For the message came to these people, and they recognized the truth of a resurrected man who is God Almighty. Upon this realization, the power of God was unleashed in their lives. The facts became energized. The message and the power were delivered simultaneously.
It is very interesting that the word “power” in this Greek term δύναμις dýnamis speaks of inherent power, power that resides in itself, that the nature of the gospel exerts authority, the message has power resident within it.
Paul is speaking of the Word being accepted by the hearer, and at the same time of the power resident in the message impacting the audience.
As you may know, I sometimes chase rabbits, but for this post I will simply offer a thought experiment. Did the power resident in the gospel impact those who rejected it? We know it did with the saints!
Holy Spirit
Here is the person of the message and the power.
A short witness of my history regarding the Spirit of God. Many years ago, as I was struggling with understanding the message of the charismatic movement, a dear brother once quipped that the Holy Spirit is the silent member of the Trinity. By saying this he was referring to the relative number of time the Word of God speaks of the Holy Spirit being referred to in the Word. He did not intend to communicate, as far as I understood, that the Holy Spirit did not communicate to God’s people. It was just that the communication the Spirit of God provided was to glorify Jesus, not Himself.
Consider
John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
As I have sought to understand and follow Jesus, many distractions and tripping opportunities have been provided to me. When the Spirit of God reminds me of Jesus and His life, His teaching, His authority, His resurrection, His glory and His love, I am confident in the message is from the Spirit of God. There are many who seek a following, both man and spirit, but it is the Spirit of God that provides the life and teaching of Jesus in a living way to believers as they seek to honor God.
It is truly an amazing life to live, a life that is not dependent on me being good, but on listening and accepting the truth of His goodness, and out of a heart of thankfulness and wonder worshipping such a great Messiah.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
He will change us as we look to Him!
It is a common understanding that what/who we worship is what type of people we eventually become. For the believer, the Spirit of God provides us the day to day message of the Messiah, of His worthiness and His ministry in our lives. To worship the Living God is to become more and more like Him in His loving, self sacrificing nature, of His commitment to truth, for He is the Truth, and of His resurrecting power that is the core of our faith.
Much Assurance
Assurance. First off, may I suggest that assurance and security are two different concepts.
Security, specifically eternal security in relation to our faith is a topic that I have discussed on this blog numerous times since 2019. For a sampling of passages I have addressed, consider Conditional Security – Passage List.
Regarding assurance, may I suggest that assurance in a continuing work of the Spirit. February 19th of 1981, as I bowed my knee and confessed my sin, The Spirit of God provided me assurance of salvation by the Risen Lord. Surety of salvation was real, to the point I was willing to enter a building on fire to help someone if trapped. (If I haven’t told the story, and any are interested, let me know.)
As I have faltered and failed through my walk with Him, my assurance ebbed and flowed also. As I focused on my own abilities, needs, wants and desires, I found my assurance waned also. As I refocused on the Messiah, and centered on Him, I found my assurance being reestablished based on His abilities and not my own.
Assurance is an obedience issue. On the other hand, security, (that is eternal security), may sometimes become for the believer a crutch to depend on, understanding that the initial faith in the Messiah is a binding contract between God and the “believer”. Eternal Security may even an opportunity to avoid the Word of the Savior, thinking that refusal of obeying will only cost a crown in heaven and not the entrance to it.
My friend, if you are of the persuasion of the OSAS teaching, that is of the Once Saved Always Saved thinking, be sure you test it, as the apostle directs us later in this letter.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.
Do not, as I have in my previous experience, depend a select number of verses without considering the opposing view. Be diligent in your study, and face difficult passages that will challenge your current thinking. Our faith is a life of repentance, not only in moral issues, but also in our understanding of the ways of God.
Nevertheless, in each of our understandings of the message of the gospel, we are to look to Him for all things, encourage those we come in contact with, and exhort those who are claiming a faith they are not living.
He is the One we are to look to and it is from the Spirit of God that we will receive the direction we so desperately need to honor the Father!
Considering the Bible 