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 23
24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
In our last passage we saw the Ziphites travel to see their king, in order to rat out David. Saul seemed hesitant to trust them, but simply couldn’t miss out on a chance to catch the young rebel, and this opportunity of Saul’s turns out to be one of the very near catches that we will see for David and his men.
But as we spoke of Saul’s spies in our last post, we find David has spies also that are feeding him information. It turns out that spies are influencing both sides of the war, and the information is changing as fast as possible.
Saul hears info from the Ziphites. David hears of Saul coming to the south, and ventures into the wilderness of Moan. Saul hears of David’s shift to the wilderness. It is here that Saul comes closest to actually capturing David, for he is only a hill away from David.
So close.
Until we have another “spy” or informant come to Saul informing him of trouble at home, of the Philistines raiding the home land. But why would this become a concern for Saul, as we know that Keilah, which was part of Saul’s kingdom was merely ignored when the Philistines invaded there. Saul was no where to be found. So why would this instance of the Philistines invading the land catch Saul’s attention, unless of course that it was his own personnel property that needed protection. If so, this fits with the character profile we have seen regarding this king. A selfish man, self centered and constantly grasping for more. A life that is always being pulled apart by his focus on self.
So off he goes from being so close to capturing David, causing further frustration on his part, with more frustration only to fall on this pitiable man.
On David’s part, we shall see this near escape come up often, where he uses all the skill of a master general, and yet is close to capture. He is rescued “at the last minute” by outside circumstances.
How often do we see this last minute escape for David provided by outside circumstances? How often the Lord orchestrates a situation where it appears we will be taken down, only to be rescued by outside influences.
Let’s cut to the chase here, for we know that outside circumstances and influences are orchestrated by God, the timing is of the Lord, and our security, as we follow after Him is in His hands. Close calls, from our standpoint, can be sometimes harrowing experiences, but from God’s point of view, close calls are a part of the orchestra He is leading to bring us closer to Him, to listen for His guidance, and to bring about a thankful spirit in our lives.
Let us thank Him for circumstances and influences that redirect danger from our lives.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you 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
AHASUERUS
REBELLIOUS WIFE
Esther 1:12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him. Esther 1:15 “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” Esther 1:19 If it please the king, let a royal order go out … that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
Ahasuerus, as king of Persia, demanded a wife that would respect him, honor him and obey him. A powerful king with a disrespectful wife was only going to damage the kingdom, and not lift up the name of Ahasuerus.
Though it appears this act of rebellion on the part of Vashti may have been the first rejection of the king’s authority, it was to be dealt with swiftly and without mercy. Ahasuerus was going to deal with her properly and quickly.
God also had a wife that disobeyed, and that was eventually put away after many warnings. Jeremiah 3:8 and Hosea 2:4-5 depicts the divorce of the nation of Israel from Jehovah God. Though restored after the captivity, Jesus warned the nation of the loss of the kingdom in our passage in Matthew.
Both Ahasuerus and God dealt with a rebellious wife, one instantly, and One with great patience and mercy.
Though both God and Ahasuerus were married to rebellious wives, and both put their rebellious wives away, the character of God shines so brighter than this mere Persian King. According to Ahasuerus, Vashti would never see the King again! (See Esther 1:19) No forgiveness, nor any hope of restoration would be offered to Vashti.
In our passage in Matthew, Jesus speaks of the loss of the kingdom. But notice that this loss of kingdom was not a done deal for those who sought out the true King. Even in this tense moment of truth being delivered to the Jewish leadership, Jesus made it clear that there is a solution.
Matthew 21:44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
Per Jesus, as He addressed those who would eventually hang Him from a cross, He spoke of restoration, for a rebellious wife can be restored through humility and brokenness.
Consider the goodness of God in His patience, His mercy and His longing for His people, that after centuries of disobedience, He provided a Savior, a Stone to fall before, to be brought back to the Father.
He is such a different King! So good to know our King!
May the name of Jesus be lifted up today in our lives, by listening humbly and doing as we are led!
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.
136
FAITHFUL WITNESS
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
Jesus Christ the Faithful Witness.
We are in the middle of a series of names that speaks to the faithfulness of God. The predominant form of descriptor is Faithful, as we see here, and as spoken of in a past post (Names of God – FAITHFUL – 129).
To be faithful speaks of God’s nature, not what He does, but who He is. His faithfulness, in our description of God is in regard to the Witness He provides. To be a witness is to be a spectator of some occurrence that needs to be remembered, or recounted for others. A recounting of something that has happened, is actual and reflects reality. A true historical occurrence.
Let’s consider a short passage in the Old Testament that gives us contrast to the Faithful Witness. There are bountiful examples of false witnesses, but the following passage seems fitting for our time together today.
First, a bit of context – Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard. Worthless men were found to bring a charge against an innocent man. Death ensues. Let’s read the short passage and consider what we read.
1 Kings 21:13 And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones.
Two men were found, in order to comply with the sham of “religion keeping” the king wanted to portray. The story was brought that Naboth did bad. Nothing specific, for that would open up the story to questions, or contradictions. Just a blanket statement that Naboth did bad.
Ahab got what he wanted. A useful story to justify killing Naboth, without carrying the guilt of committing murder. Two worthless men were used to cover the King’s sin. And his vineyard was added to his real estate holdings!
These two men, these false witnesses, became a fulcrum for a treacherous King used to kill an innocent man. A man who loved God and resisted a corrupt political power to honor God. Naboth is a great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will address him in our series on Jesus in the Old Testament, but for now, consider the differences between these two worthless men and our Faithful Witness
The faithless witnesses received some payment for the false witness. Being a Faithful Witness cost the Lord His life
The faithless witnesses were used to bring death on a innocent man Being a Faithful witness brought life to dead men.
The faithless witnesses were used by a selfish, greedy man Being a Faithful Witness delivers men from selfishness and greed.
The faithless witnesses are never heard of again. They are not even referred to by name. Being a Faithfull Witness has elevated the name of the Lord to it’s highest status. No name is higher than the name of the Lord.
The faithless witnesses thought they had gained in their deception some status or recognition with the king or queen. Being a Faithfull Witness has elevated Jesus to the highest recognition, with Him being crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
He is our Faithful Witness, the One whose words we can trust, who experienced the crime first hand, (as He was the victim) and has been raised again to tell of (give witness) the victory.
May we tell the story to those we come in contact with, the truth of His resurrection, of the Faithful Witness who delivers us.
He is our Faithful Witness.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
135
FAITHFUL PRIEST
1 Samuel 2:35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.
In our last post, looking at Hebrews 2:17, we saw that God is called our Faithful High Priest. He is described as One who became like us in every way.
In this passage, we see the book of Samuel teaching us of God as a faithful priest.
The writer is speaking of how this priest, this faithful priest, will do according to all that is in the heart of God. In our last post, the emphasis was on our Faithful High Priest becoming like us in every respect.
In this passage, the immediate fulfillment seems to be seen in Samuel, the prophet that brings in the kingdom of Saul. The verse emphasizes the heart of the priest to be that of God’s heart, of faithfulness to the character, nature and person of God.
There is no denying that Samuel was a stellar prophet, yet the passage speaks of a faithful priest, and there is little evidence that Samuel was considered to be a priest. His stated office was that of prophet.
No – this passage speaks of our Faithful Priest in the Lord Jesus, in that He followed after God’s way not only in His actions, but by His heart and mind! He is the eternally anointed Faithful Priest of God.
With both these verses we see the Faithful Priest both parties need, for the Priest is essentially a mediator between two parties that have differences.
He is God’s Faithful Priest!
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.
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 23
19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? 20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” 21 And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. 22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
David was not everyone’s favorite rebel.
Recently he vanquished the Philistines as they were battling the city of Keilah. Finding victory, David and his men were then subjected to a faithless city, having to run before the Keilahites offered him up to Saul.
To be fair, this account of the Keilahites may have a slightly different interpretation than I have offered, since it seems that once the Lord revealed to David the Keilahites intentions to save themselves from Saul’s fighting machine, David willingly ran. Possibly to save the Keilahites of the suffering their king would being on them.
The Ziphites are not so guiltless. They seem to have a desire to assist King Saul, unlike the Keilahites, who may have only given up David in self preservation, if David hadn’t left.
No, the Ziphites sought out Saul at Gibeah, a town approximately 25 miles to the north of Jerusalem. They left their homes, and travelled to see the king with information of David’s whereabouts. Not simply a general location, but a very specific camp David was residing at, in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon.
David was on a specific hill. At first I imagined this “hill” to be mountainous, but it seems the Hebrew word for hill in this instance means hill, somewhat lower than a mountain. This information Saul was provided was very specific!
What good spy’s Saul has here! And they were willingly offering to Saul their full cooperation! What good citizens!
Saul provides the blessing of God on these good and faithful Ziphites. What? He doesn’t understand the blessing of God, nor is he in a position spiritually to pass a blessing on. And for the Ziphites – being blessed for being a traitor to God’s appointed King? Something is terribly wrong with this picture!
And though Saul “blesses” the Ziphites, he will not venture out until the information is verified. It is like he was saying – I don’t quite trust you Ziphites – Go make sure and then come back. Get more specific data.
Is Saul moving from a reactionary attack, based on shear hatred of David, to a more strategic, fact based plan to kill David at this time? Or is it that the Ziphites were known to be untrustworthy?
It seems the Ziphites were not necessarily untrustworthy, but merely seeking to gain the king’s favor. Seeking an earthly king’s pleasure against the Word of God leads to terrible betrayals, and huge treachery.
No- the Ziphites used their political faithfulness to a madman, to work against a movement of God. And we shall see in future passages that this behavior is confirmed in the Ziphites, for this is not the only time they offer up David to the king. We find that they show up on Saul’s doorstep again in chapter 26.
It also turns out that Saul was not as “strategic” as I may have suggested, for, in our next passage, it turns out that Saul couldn’t resist heading south to the region the Ziphites described, before gaining confirmation of David’s whereabouts.
It seemed Saul was about to capture David. Saul’s network of spies was about to deliver David into his hands, and Saul would finally have the peace he sought!
This passage reminds me of times when I seek to accomplish something, in order to find some sense of worth, or to justify a decision I had made, or to have a sense of completion. I may, in a sense be seeking a type of peace in these decisions. I tend to drive people, (as a hangover from work) and need to adjust my focus to people and not tasks.
An alternate view of this passage is that Saul sought to hurt someone. The Ziphites sought to hurt someone. They found a type of fellowship in this desire. They may have felt a bond of some type. Hard as it may be to believe, this may also become a trap for a believer, letting a group dynamic influence a just decision.
Consider your associations and test to see if the goals of the organization are just and right. If there is some uncertainty, or if those you associate with are working against God, it may be time to consider if you should remain? Is it simply a bond that started out right, in pursuit of God, but is now actively working against God?
This takes wisdom from God and clear spiritual discernment, but the Lord is able to teach each of us as we seek Him.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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
ABIATHAR
SURVIVOR
1 Samuel 22:20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
A bit of context for this man named Abiathar.
In the days of David, very early in David’s wilderness years, Saul had one of his spies inform him of David’s whereabouts in the city of Nob. Now, Nob was a city of priests, and though David did stop by to get supplies and a weapon, he moved on to the Philistine nation to continue getting away from what was becoming a very dangerous situation.
By now, Saul had not fully exposed himself as one who would pursue David to the end, but his manic behavior was becoming more evident and David realized the threat. As he escaped from Saul’s court, he stopped off at Nob, requesting assistance from Ahimelech the priest.
As mentioned, a spy informed Saul, and Saul ventured down to Nob to find David. Without David’s presence available, Saul determined Ahimelech was actively working against him, by providing David assistance. Off with his head, and kill the whole city of Nob. All the rest of the priests, the wives, families, all the livestock.
Even though David was not in the city, the city suffered terribly. Saul knew he had lost David, but his frustration and fear of loosing the kingdom drove him to this incredible massacre.
Yet he missed one person. One sole solitary priest escaped the wrath of a crazy, power hungry, fearful man that wielded his power against innocent people.
This massacre foreshadowed another massacre by a crazy, power hungry fearful man named of Herod. Jesus, as with Abiathar, escaped the clutches of a madman intent on killing to protect his kingdom.
Abiathar escaped to the future King David, and though Abiathar was a faithful man to David, his last days are marked with a wrong choice in following Adonijah. Eventually Abiathar was deposed from his priestly duties and narrowly escaped death at the hands of Solomon. (1 Kings 2:26-27)
Thankfully, we are not to follow Abiathar, but the One who will never make a wrong choice, who, though He escaped the threat of Herod, submitted Himself to the power of the Roman government and Jewish hierarchy, in order to provide us a not only a faithful High Priest, but the wisest of Kings to follow after.
He is good and He is good all the time!
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.
134
FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
This post, along with our next post, refers to God as a Priest. Given the familiarity of this particular verse seems to have dulled my shock that should arise in my thinking, for priests were mediators between man and deity. For the author of Hebrews to speak of God as a priest is most peculiar.
How can the One who is to be appeased be the One who is appeasing the Deity? This is simply confusing to me, that God, who is spoken of as representing man before God, has taken on this ministry. Though He created us, how can He represent us before the Almighty?
Most of this mystery – not all grant you – is removed in the first phrase the author provides us. This priest was made like His brothers in every respect. He is not representing us before the Great I Am as a theoretical priest, having heard of our situation and is doing the best He can. He has become one of us, experiencing the trials and joys of life, the friction and disappointment of relationships, the frustration of relying on those who may not meet expectations.
He has experienced all of our temptations and trials, and in joining with us in our pilgrimage through this life, can provide a priestly service on our behalf, morally perfect and yet understanding of our situation.
It is through His walk on this earth that He became our Faithfull High Priest, One that could represent us before the Father, pleading our case with the power of a resurrected life and a proven righteousness that the Father has recognized through the resurrection.
He became our Faithfull High Priest in His death and resurrection, having become like us.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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.
133
FAITHFUL CREATOR
1 Peter 4:19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Peter is speaking in verses previous of how judgement must fall on all of us, and he refers to the church experiencing judgement first. As the nature of judgement is to be of trials, difficulties and pain, many in the church may recoil at this idea, that a loving God would allow His people to suffer. And for Peter to teach that His people to suffer first is over the top.
Many may cry out in that suffering naturally, and faith will be tested. Questions of God’s nature and character may become the rhythm of the saint’s prayers and complaints.
Why me O Lord? Why bring me into this world only for suffering? Why why why?
Job questioned his very existence in the midst of suffering.
Job 3:11-13 “Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
Jeremiah called out, questioning the reason for his continual trials through his life.
Jeremiah 20:18 Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?
All saint’s, to varying degrees, come to question God’s intent, or reason for their existence as Jeremiah and Job. Peter, knowing this, ministers to the Body of Christ in his teaching on pain and suffering by referring to our God as the Faithful Creator. God is not a “one time” Creator, as the deist’s believed, that created everything and then walked away to let it run on it’s own.
God is a Faithful Creator, in that He was there at the beginning, has been faithful throughout all of creation and has created each one of us out of a nature of being faithful. We are not stranded without a Savior in our sufferings, and though He may be quiet at times, Peter assures us of His continual faithfulness.
We are a people that need that message to reside deep in our soul, for as hard times may come, to know the Lord as a faithful Creator will be a rock for our lives.
He is a faithful Creator!
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.
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 23:15-29 15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” 18 And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
In the verse previous to 15, the author tells us that David was in the strongholds and mountains of the wilderness, due to Saul seeking him everyday. David was the subject of constant harassment, constant stress, constant pressure, from a king he had served faithfully. Yet the die had been set and Saul was determined in his actions. Saulnwas settled in his mind that David had to die, and in the past passages we have seen Saul abuse his wife, his daughters and his son in the pursuit of killing David. No one was safe until David was dead
Now the circumstances of how Jonathon, the son of David’s mortal enemy came to visit him is a mystery. David may have made the appointment with Jonathon, providing Jonathon his exact whereabouts. Yet this was an opportunity for this information to be leaked to Saul, for the transmission of this data to somehow find it’s way to the King.
And the danger was not only on David’s part, for if Saul, in his murderous tirade, knew Jonathon visited with David, it might be the end of Jonathon.
But the meeting was set and the two men were able to discuss David’s circumstances. For some unknown reason, only Jonathon’s message has been preserved for us. Three messages come to David from the lips of Jonathon.
Do not fear
Jonathon spoke words of peace on David, ensuring David that Saul shall not find him. Was this simply words of hope, words that were meant to encourage. Surely. But were these words of surety, or an absolute promise, as if a Word from God?
I don’t understand that Jonathon was a prophet, but at the very least, he may have uttered these words as a repetition of the promise of God to David years earlier. Jonathon made this conclusion of escaping Saul’s hand due to the promise of David ascending to the throne of Israel, which Jonathon rightly reminds David of his future.
You shall be king
David shall be king, and to be king over all Israel. This was the promise of God that ensured both men that David would escape the hand of Saul. And then Jonathon says “I shall be next to you”.
I don’t recall any portion of the promise of God stating this, nor of David providing this promise. So what was Jonathon talking about? Was he thinking of a co-regency, where he would be equal to David in the kingdom?
When Jonathon speaks of being “next” to David, Jonathon may be implying a rank of second in the kingdom, for the Hebrew word מִשְׁנֶה mishneh, sometimes speaks of being second in rank. Might Jonathon be suggesting his desire of a position of power to David? Possibly, yet I want to think that Jonathon was of a purer heart, and simply be referring to his informal, personal support for, and friendship to David in his future reign.
Saul knows this
This is such a sad statement! Saul knew David would ascend to the throne, and yet he toiled against the will of God, against his own benefit, against the good of his own nation, and against his own families existence!
Consider Saul waking up to the realization of David’s supremacy, and humbly coming to him in front of the nation of Israel, bowing the knee and giving up his position of power to David. What would be Saul’s legacy? How many benefits would shower down on Saul for this act of humility?
Knowing the truth and fighting against it is foolish. Yet to agree with the truth takes humility, a washing away of pride and arrogance, the giving up of advantage and power, of losing reputation and starting over.
Truly there are many forms of loss when we are agreeing with the truth. Confession of sin and repentance may cost us much, even our very way of life.
And what do we get out of it?
The foundation of agreeing with the truth is that we are conforming to reality. We are no longer living in a fantasy world, a would of smoke and mirrors, of deceit, cheating, backstabbing and conspiracy. We are no longer looking over our shoulder, but have joy, purpose and a life to live, not a death to fear.
Saul may have been too far gone by this time in his life. I have no idea, nor do I suppose any but God knew of Saul’s opportunity to repent at that time. Sadly we know he did not repent, that his last years were spent fighting against the truth.
If you have been fighting against a truth the Lord has spoke to you about, quit fighting.
Don’t be a Saul.
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.
132
FAITHFUL AND TRUE WITNESS
Revelation 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
In our last post we spoke – hopefully clearly – of the name “Faithful and True”. After a poor effort at explaining the state and standard of God in the previous name of God, I would like to consider this name of God, and how the witness of God should be described as the perfectly trustworthy “Faithful and True” God.
This particular name speaks of God as a witness. An action that He partakes in, and the action of Him as a witness is described by the nature our God has.
He is faithful and He is true. There is not much wiggle room in finding fault with this Witness.
But a witness is one who is a spectator of a crime, or a contest or of a happening that needs to be recounted. To be a witness is to communicate what One has seen.
What had Jesus seen? Consider – to be a faithful and true witness does not require the witness to provide every detail, or every fact, or every incident in a case. It is to provide the record that is required in the court room, and pertaining to the case at hand.
Jesus provided the information we needed. He spoke of what He saw, and He communicated what He saw with the help of the Holy Spirit.
His witness, if you would have it, was the glory of God, and brought the faithfulness and truth of God, the grace and mercy of God into a resounding focal point that will never be outshone.
A short story to help connect with my thoughts.
I was in church this Sunday morning, crying over some song that spoke of the glory of God. The church sang of the sacrifice of Jesus, and I realized once again that the crucifixion was the glory of God!
No bright lights. No shining beams, or radiant glow. No attention seeking blast of energy!
No – the greatest exhibit of the glory of God was that in the darkness of the crucifixion, one lone body hung bleeding, that of a man misunderstood, of a tortured soul that gave all, only to be rejected, ridiculed, and mocked. Even as he hung in that excruciating pain, He forgave his tormentors.
As He became a martyr, He forgave His enemies. He forgave. He actually forgave his enemies in the midst of their celebration of defeating Him.
How can we grasp this? What type of God is this, that takes our punishment and forgives those who, with extreme prejudice, executes Him? How can we understand Him.
He is the faithful and True Martyr, for to be a witness, in the New Testament was to be a martyr.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
131
FAITHFUL AND TRUE
Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
For the next two names, we will have a similar situation as we did with #129 Faithful, and #130 Faithful and Just Forgiver
As mentioned in those earlier posts, though these names appear to use the very same words, there is a difference I believe. One speaks of His actions, as the other speaks of His nature.
Let’s consider His name of Faithful and True.
I am going to go out on a limb somewhat and suggest that these two words describe a state and a standard.
First off, to be true is to conform to reality, to be consistent with facts, genuine or real. Although this description is speaking of Jesus as being true, or conforming to reality, how could He not conform to reality?
Yet I think I may be considering this definition of “true” incorrectly. It is not that He conforms to reality, in that He is the the result of forming to a mold or shape. No no no. He is the One who is the maker, and of course, all things made by the Great Creator will smack of conformance to the Maker. All things have the signature of Jesus.
Yet from our perspective, we are looking, not from the creation onward, but from the present back. He is true, for He is the only reality, and all things are merely conforming to His nature of His being. We see the “things”, and associate them with Him. Should we not think “backwards” and consider Him to be the source of all truth, to be “true”, and all things after that are judged in relation to Him?
Yes – that is the correct understanding I would say. The state of Jesus is that He is true. He is the only Truth, given that my reader understands I include the Godhead in my description of Jesus.
With that, I would like to suggest that to be described as “faithful” in the name we are considering, brings to the reader the concept of kept promises, of a promise being made, and at a later time, the fulfillment of that promise. To be shown as faithful requires the passage of time. This is the standard Jesus keeps providing to His people.
His standard of faithfulness is related to His state of being true. Both are related to each other, and when combined in the name we have today, creates a perfect picture of a perfectly trustworthy God.
Jesus is True, and because of this, His word can be trusted. Jesus is Faithful, may be seen by His promises being realized.
He is truly Faithful and True
Praise His Name.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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 23:6-14
6 When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.” 13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
Let’s remember the immediate context of this story. David had just travelled to Keilah and delivered the people of the city of Keilah from the Philistines. David, the rebel, the enemy of the state, the one whom Saul wants to kill, entered deeper into Saul’s territory in order to save some of Saul’s people.
Where was Saul in all of this internal strife?
He was amassing the people of Israel to go to war, to go down to Keilah and capture David. Nothing in this passage speaks of Saul’s desire to rescue the city from the Philistine threat. No – Saul was obsessed with David and the apparent threat David was to the throne of Israel.
Who cares about the people of Israel? Surely not Saul, for he had to protect his own position within the country, to protect his own power over the people. I could imagine Saul justifying his actions by stating it was for the greater good, or some such malarky that we hear by our leaders even today. Simply a selfish act by a selfish man, thinking only of himself.
Yet, Saul, when word got out that David was in Keilah, assumed that the Lord had delivered David into his hands. There was some truth, at least in appearance, for the Lord had told David to go fight the Philistines in Keilah.
Saul was interpreting the actions of God to favor his own circumstances. This is a very common trap that we all do.
We see God doing something with someone, and we tend to interpret it in relation to our situation, to favor our circumstance, to supply a justification for some action we want to take, or to simply align the action with something we are doing at the time.
We all do it.
It is so easy to interpret an action of God and come to some conclusion that is incorrect. God called David to Keilah, into the territory of Saul. Saul interpreted this action as revealing God’s will to Saul to support his sinful actions. In reality, God calling David to Keilah was a judgement on Saul, showing the current king as being ineffective, and unconcerned for his own people God had called him to protect.
Saul thought God was smiling on him. Not so.
So often as I read through these passages, I get a sense that Saul is completely blind to the work of God, rejecting the big picture and only having one focus. Himself.
But that is not the only selfish actor in this passage.
David and his 400 men travelled to Keilah, fought the Philistines, won a mighty victory and rescued the city from devastation. But news gets around, and Saul hears that David is in Keilah. Hot diggity dog – Saul starts rounding up an army to come get him.
What a perfect opportunity to allow this newly minted army of David to continue fighting against Saul! David’s band of men are probably high on the victory and full of adrenaline, peaking on the team work that has begun to develop under David’s leadership. Surely God is calling Saul into this trap!
Well – not surely, for David did not jump to a selfish conclusion, one that might conceivable stop this constant hunt of Saul for his head. David decided to pray and get the bigger picture.
Consider the situation. Keilah was about to be destroyed by the Philistines. David came to the rescue. Keilah was again about to be destroyed, this time by their own king, unless they gave up David.
It was a common tactic to force the surrender of a person in the city to avoid a battle. David knew this was a tactic that might be used, but he again didn’t jump to conclusions, only asking the Lord if the people he just saved would abandon him.
Amazing picture of the gospel here, in that the savior of the people would be turned against by the people he came to save. David’s life is full of situations where the Savior can be clearly seen.
Nevertheless, the Lord informed David of the intent of the people, and prior to the eruption of a conflict at the gates of Keilah, David again saved the city and its population.
He ran.
He swallowed his pride and ran into the wilderness of Zin. Consider the mighty warrior David, turning tail after a victory provided by the hand of the Lord. How utterly confusing (in appearance) is the man of God who listens to God!
Yet if you read the passage carefully, you will notice that his army had not only experienced some real time fighting on the battle field, but that the army actually increased in size! A 50% increase, from 400 men to 600 men.
David is accruing men, a movement of God is happening and David goes deeper into the wilderness, deeper south to Ziph, a rugged place that afforded no comforts or ease of life. But the training of a young shepherd boy was continuing in developing a man of God, a man who would be king, yet through much suffering. Did I mention that Jesus can be seen in the shepherd boy if we take the time to look?
Surely David looked to Jesus for guidance and leadership, and from this looking, became more like Him every day.
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.
Look to the Savior. Take your time and look!
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
ABRAHAM
CAVE AS A POSSESSION
Genesis 23:17-18 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
Genesis 23:19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 25:8-9 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,
Luke 23:53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
Luke 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
Abraham needed to address the affairs of his home, specifically the death and entombment of his wife Sarah. Being a stranger amongst those he resided, Abraham was literally passing through a land that had been promised to him by God, but had not realized the fulfillment. He needed to secure a place of burial for for his dear wife Sarah. So started the dealing, the negotiation with an Hittite for a patch of land that would eventually become a small area of land his family would be given.
Abraham sought out the cave of Machpelah, a possession of a man named Ephron. Initially Ephron offered it to Abraham as a gift, but wisely Abraham insisted on terms of payment, so all things may be orderly and above board, without any hint of possible impropriety or advantage. This plot of land that received death was the first plot of land in Canaan that was to be the legal possession of the Jewish people. A field with a cave.
Eventually, all of Abraham’s immediate family found their resting place in this cave. Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah laid their heads down in this cave. All entered the cave, and their body stayed in the tomb.
For millennia, the Jewish nation generally followed this practice for the dead, eventually using ossuaries for a space saving option.
Abraham owned the cave. It was the only piece of real estate he owned, other than by the faith he lived in. That faith made no difference to the Hittites though.
Jesus did not own any cave, in the sense of a legal transaction with Joseph of Arimathea. It would have been unnecessary, for He was only occupying it for a short term. But at the risk of being flippant with the story of the resurrection, Jesus owned that cave. He controlled it, He dominated what it stood for. He entered, dominated death, and left it empty, hollow and without force.
Abraham and his family – their bodies experienced the effect of death, and one day, we shall all, by the power of Jesus, own the grave. We shall walk out as He did, only on His power and by His promise.
Yes He owned that grave. May we always have before our eyes that resurrection of the One who left a grave behind!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
130
FAITHFUL AND JUST FORGIVER
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This instantly recognizable verse found in 1 John carries with the compound description terms that I didn’t “get” for decades as I read it, over and over again in the midst of my day to day walk with Him.
Now, I see this multiple name of God to be reinforcing each term and emphasizing God’s trustworthiness to depend on Him for His work in our lives.
Let me try to explain. We understand that for God to be described as faithful speaks of His nature, of His core being. Our last blog tried to explain that idea, and I wont’ repeat the thought here.
But when it is combined with the justness of God, God’s willingness to forgive addresses His “just”ness, or righteousness. Righteousness is God’s conformity to His own will, a perfect balancing of the attributes of God. Now this description of conformity to His will is speaking of God Himself. He, in the forgiveness of our sins in response to our confession, is conforming to His own will.
But let us not forget that His will is not only forgiving, but His will is also to judge sin, to rid creation from all that does not conform to His will. So when I come to God confessing my sin, God has two seeming contradictory desires. Forgiveness or judgement.
Except for one fact, one truth, one action that the Savior performed that allowed God to be just, and the justifier of all those who have faith in Jesus
Romans 3:26 … to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (emphasis mine)
Now, when I come to God with my sins, it is not only an emotional response from God that provides my ongoing forgiveness. Though true, for us to understand that forgiveness would rest in a subjective knowledge of the love of God. It may even degrade in our thinking to a “feeling”, of how God looks at us, how He is generally good and that due to that we have forgiveness.
If I understand our salvation, this is not how God communicates to us. He is committed to our forgiveness, not only in His nature – He is love – but also due to the covenant, the agreement we can read about and believe, that God has acted in real time, provided historical data for us to consider and believe, provided His Son and suffered, dying on a cross and raising again to prove His nature.
This is an objective truth that we can return to daily not having to depend on our feelings, but on the justifying and forgiving truth of our Savior and Father in heaven.
He is faithful and just. And He wants us to rest in his covenant of grace.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
129
FAITHFUL
1 Thessalonians 5:24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Our next ten names of God will include the core thought of faith, faithful and faithfulness.
Ten names that emphasize not our faithfulness, weak and inconsistent as it may be, but of how faithful our eternal and all powerful God is.
Now within the next ten passages, one of the names of God is Faithfulness. I will be addressing the difference in these names in that post, but for this post I would like to consider what it means to be faithful in relation to the person of God.
To be faithful speaks of the Lord’s nature. He is faithful. It is His nature to be trustworthy, to be reliable, to be One we can count on. He is not One who speaks glowing promises and then forgets them, or decides something else later. We may think He means something, and when provides, we are surprised, but I fear that is simply a matter of our not paying attention to His words, His message.
Or better yet. The realization of His promise was provided to us and in the provision, looking back at the promise, was much much more than we considered when we originally “thought” we understood the promise.
Such is the case in the provision of the promise of a Savior. The promises of the Savior in the Old Testament did not fully describe the incredible realization of Jesus.
When Paul speaks of God being faithful in our verse of choice for this topic, he speaks of God “doing it”. He will keep His promise. Paul can claim this because it is the nature of God to fulfill His word.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He can surely sanctify and keep us blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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.
Let’s recap David’s history for a moment.
He is on the run from King Saul, having fled to the city of Gath in the country of the Philistines. On his way to Gath, he stops and visits with Ahimelech at Nob, the city of priests. David speaks a story to Ahimelech to get some food and weapons due to being on a “secret” mission from the King. When he gets to Gath, he feigns madness in front of the Philistine King, and is rejected. Without a place to hide from King Saul. he heads back towards Israel, to a cave near Adullam where David seemed to find a sense of security.
It was at this cave that David accrued a ragtag army of men, totaling approx. 400, and where Abiathar, a priest from the city of Nob informed David of the massacre of the priests and the inhabitants of the city of Nob. David commits to protecting the one priest that escaped Nob.
At this point in David’s story, he is starting to look more like a leader and not a runaway. David’s character is challenged again in our passage today. Let’s take a moment to read it.
1 Samuel 23:1-14 1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
Directly south, approximately 2-3 miles of the cave of Adullum, is a small city named Keilah. I have provided a small map below to give my reader a feel for it’s location in relation to Adullam, and of Gath, in the upper left.
Our passage speaks of Keilah being attacked by the Philistines, and most likely Philistines of the city of Gath, where David had recently showed up, would be the aggressors.
And some unknown group told David of a fight in Keilah, of the Philistines attacking a city of Israel.
Did David sit by and think it was King Saul’s responsibility? Saul was the king. Surely Saul would take care of the city of Keilah. Surely leaving the relative safety of Adullam would be foolish for David. Why leave a safe fortress, only to potentially meet up with King Saul. who wanted to kill him, and King Achish, of Gath, who considers him mad!
What to do? Whatever to do? Hold back. Stay in Adullam to protect those who are with him? Ignore the plight of the city? Assign responsibility to King Saul? Options. Choices. Decisions decision decisions.
Therefore David inquired of the Lord…
David actually approached the Lord twice in this passage, and at first I considered this repetition of request to be an act of disbelief. But after reading the passage a bit more, I am starting to consider the second request to be fueled by the concerns of his men.
David’s first prayer
A simple prayer.
Shall I go down and attach these Philistines?
No mention of Saul in this prayer, no mention of King Saul’s responsibility to the inhabitants of Keilah, and no request for safety from Saul in this prayer. Saul seems to be a non entity in David’s prayer.
David is informed to “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah”
Seems to be clear direction from the Lord. Attack and save!
Yet in the preparation for the future battle, his men express their concern, the state of fear they were experiencing, even without entering into any battle. Lets remember these men, who would eventually become some of David’s mighty men, had just come together, had no fighting experience that we know of, and had “fled” to David due to their generally needy circumstances.
1 Samuel 22:2 speaks of David’s men as those who were in distress, in debt, and bitter in soul. Not the valiant men we hear of later in David’s career. These men came to David for escape, for a relief from troubles. Even in Adullam, they knew that being associated with David was not the safest situation. Yet they found solace in being under his leadership.
But it seems their period of relative safety was coming to an end! David realized the circumstance, and I think he approached the Lord a second time for the sake of his men.
David’s second prayer
David’s second prayer is not recorded for us, but the Lord’s answer is.
“Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
Notice that the Lord’s answer addresses the deliverance of David’s army. God will give the Philistines into your hand. This directly addresses the concerns of David’s men. Nothing about saving Keilah. Nothing about taking any of the spoils of war. Simply that God would deliver them.
These men would become mighty men of valor, and as the last verse of our passage tells us, David and his men struck the Philistines with a great blow. A victory for David with men who were fearful, but had the assurance of God’s presence.
Consider those we are around, those we love and care for, those that we rub shoulders with daily.
Some we know may be fearful to obey God. We need to encourage the fearful with a message tailored to their fear, from the Word of God. Let us not seek to draw believers into walking with God through greed or logic, or lies. Note that God addressed these men’s fear by providing His promise of victory, not of gaining possessions by winning a battle. Collecting booty from war would come later, as these men grew into a faith depending on God.
Some may simply want to rest under the leadership of a godly man. This was a real need for these men as they came under David’s leadership, but it wasn’t to be without action. Rest and action are not diametrically opposed. They needed rest, but true rest came out of an active following of David, of venturing out in spite of fear.
For myself, I have had to swallow much fear this last few years, and found God to be an ever present help. If I were to detail some of these fears, they may seem insignificant to some. That simply speaks to my weakness, and my need of strength.
As I face fears, I have found a simple passage or verse from a current Scripture reading to be invaluable, to lift my spirits, to embolden me in my specific fear of the day. And as I face the fear, He doesn’t seem to remove it as much as provide the strength to overcome it.
These men overcame their fear, vanquished the mighty Philistines, became heroes to the city of Keilah, found reward in gaining some livestock, and started to actively follow after David and His God on an adventure that is remembered by millions three millennium later.
How is fear working out in your life? Is it fueling you to trust or to cower. Remember, true overcoming is based on God’s message to you, and we can receive His message in the Word of God as we read and understand His will for us.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
ABRAHAM
SOJOURNER
Genesis 21:34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
Matthew 8:20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Temporary. Nothing permanent, nor fixed. No forwarding address, and certainly nothing to return to. Abraham was a man who lived a life of temporariness, of no constant residence or place to call home, other than his temporary tents, living a nomadic life. Moving about a land he had no “rights” to in the view of those he lived amongst.
He lived amongst the Philistines, seeking to maintain a peace with those he lived amongst. He sought to recover a well that Abimelech’s servants took from Abraham, Abraham offerd sheep and oxen to Abimelech, negotiating a covenant with the king of the Philistines. Abraham gave Abimelech a gift, though the claim was that Abraham had been wronged, not Abimelech.
After this one sided covenant with Abimilech, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of the Everlasting God.
You see, Abraham sought a permanent place, a permanent home, and that home was the Everlasting God. The sheep and oxen provided to Abimelech was of no consequence to Abraham, for they did not represent that which he held onto as permanent. He was merely passing through.
Jesus also, as the ultimate sojourner, did not even own sheep or oxen to offer to His offenders. No – nothing of personal ownership was offered by the Lord Jesus. Golly, he didn’t even have a place to rest His head. It was His body that was the offering, and His life on earth was surely the tantamount example of sojourning, living the life of a man on pilgrimage.
Jesus’ offering of His body was the sacrifice He provided to initiate a covenant with the Abimelechs of the world. Those who are takers and not givers.
Are we not all takers? Do we not take advantage of situations we find ourselves in? Consider identifying with Abimelech in the story we have of Abraham. Can you also see yourself as the one opposite the Lord in the negotiations? As the one who is facing Jesus, as He offers much much more than sheep of oxen?
He was the ultimate sojourner, with no worldy wealth, no property, no livestock, no goods to bargain with, except for His own body, and the extreme passion He exercised to cut a covenant with us.
May His name be lifted up!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
128
FACE OF GOD
Genesis 33:10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.
A little context may help in this passage we are considering today.
Jacob ripped his brother Esau off. He connived his birthright from him and stole the blessing from him. Out of these actions, a family was torn apart, with Esau expressing a fury equal to the crimes committed against him.
Jacob was going to die at the hand of Esau.
Genesis 27:41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
Did he not deserve this retribution? Was Jacob not the supplanter, the deceiver, the self seeking conniving little cheat that was a destroyer of a family.
Fast forward two decades, with Jacob hearing Esau’s threat of death in his memory, knowing that he had completely wronged his brother, and caused much pain for the family.
And a message from God, speaking of Esau coming to meet him with 400 men.
400 men did not bode well in Jacob’s mind, certainly reminding him of this death sentence hanging over his head. Judgement was on it’s way for Jacob and Judgements name was Esau! But Jacob was the ever wiley man, separating his family into camps, hoping some would survive. He truly was a man who lacked courage. But he did know who to call on in times of trouble.
In Jacob’s trouble, he called out to God, wrestling with God all night. In the end, Jacob came away a new man, with a new name.
Genesis 32:30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
Jacobs life had been delivered, even though he saw the face of God. Prior to encountering Esau, Jacob’s life was on the line before the Lord, and the Lord delivered Jacob from himself. The life changing event of Jacob’s life!
Jacob endured the night of struggle and came away a new man. A new man that was about to meet his brother. A brother with thoughts of killing on his mind – or so Jacob thought. Yet Esau initiated the response of love, of embrace, of weeping.
Genesis 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Jacob refers to Esau as the face of God. He had just experienced seeing the face of God that night, and he described Esau’s lavish forgiveness, love, care and brokenness as that of the face of God.
Esau provides us a witness of what Jacob experienced in that night of wrestling. He was wrestling with One who would be broken for him, that provided forgiveness, undeserved love, mercy and relationship. A clearing of a painful conscience, and a healing of brotherhood.
Esau. A man who threatened death upon his own brother, yet looked beyond justice and to his heart. To healing and not to hurting. To love and not lashing out.
What a picture of our God, and a description of the Face of God for us to live under.
When you think of the Face of God, remember the context of forgiveness, love, weeping and reunion.
Jesus is the Face of God!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
127
EYE OF THE LORD
Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,
The psalter has been reminiscing of the exodus and of Gods power exhibited in the overthrow of the the Egyptian army. Prior to our description of God as the eye of the Lord, the psalter speaks of warriors and horses.
Psalm 33:16-17 – The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Might he be thinking of the Egyptian army being vanquished by the Red Sea. Of course the conclusion after considering the Egyptian army is that the strength of men is a vain strength, a false confidence. Though the power nation of the time, their strength was consumed in a matter of seconds.
Exodus 15:4 “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
God has exhibited His care and power over the small and great nations through His wisdom. This is a wonderful truth, and yet the psalter starts our verse with “Behold”.
Though God is active in the national affairs of mighty nations, that is not all there is to God. God is also resting His eye, His attention on the one who fears Him. This is not an aggregate of thousands or tens of thousands that gather as a nation, but refers to an individual, a lone person, a solitaire and single person that is of the right spirit, that is humble, fearing the Lord.
Behold the Eye of the Lord is on the individual. The solitaire man, woman or child, that fears Him and trusts in His mercy.
As I grow older in the Lord, I realize I have so little to offer Him, such an insignificant servant. One who had great dreams and aspired to much. Missionary work in far flung nations, self sacrifice for the poorest of the poor. So proud. So full of myself.
And yet my life is a “common” life, that of a husband and father who gets up every morning to go to work and comes home at night to help out around the house, watch my grandbabies occasionally and then fall asleep, only to repeat again the next day.
Yet the Eye of the Lord has been my ever present protection and guide. He is the One who works in the insignificant, amongst the common man who fears the Lord. He is the One who exhibits mercy to us, and as I get older, I see His steadfast love in the day to day experiences of His protection, guidance and comfort.
Oh to recall that His eye, the Eye of the Lord is upon those who trust the Christ. May we fear Him and to depend on His mercy for more in our lives!
For He truly is the One who is good.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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 22:20-23
20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD. 22 And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. 23 Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”
One priest escaped the slaughter of our earlier passage. If you will remember, Saul had all the priests, their family, those who lived in the city of Nob, along with all the livestock put to the sword.
One priest escaped that we know of. Abiathar, a priest who followed after David in his fleeing from Saul, saw David rise to power and was faithful to David throughout most of his reign. That is until Adonijah swept Abiathar away from David, but that is for a later time to consider.
In this passage, Abiathar is seen delivering the news to David the news of the slaughter of the priests, and of those in Nob.
David admits to this priest that he knew of the danger of Doeg, and that his actions of deception to Ahimelech caused his death. And the death of those in the city.
As a thought experiment, for just a moment, what if David had told Ahimelech the truth?
Possibility #1 Siding with Saul
Ahimelech could have decided to be faithful to Saul, and either reject David’s plea for assistance, or try to capture David for the sake of the king. Surely David was not in fear of physical capture from the priest. That seems unlikely.
Might Ahimelech have informed Saul after David left, helping the king in his quest for David? Possibly, but David would be in no more danger than he was as he entered Nob. Sure, Saul may know of the time and place David was at a certain time, but David would surely find alternate safehavens to venture to.
Saul would have no reason to kill the priest. The city of Nob would have remained a peaceful place for the priests of God and their families.
The strife between Saul and David had not yet reached Ahimelech. He was limited in his ability to make an informed decision. Out of David’s decision to deceive, Ahimelech and the entire city of Nob was sacrificed on the altar of a madman’s dreams.
So what if David had provided the priest the truth of the situation?
Possibility #2 – Siding with David
If David had trusted the priest, sat him down and explained the situation, Ahimelech may have sided with David, providing him the sword, the prayers and the food. Ahimelech would have had the knowledge to decide what to do, especially in view of Doeg being witness to this interaction.
Might Ahimelech joined David at this time? Hard to say, but it would have been Ahimelech’s choice and not David’s.
Might Ahimelech have had some early warning of the danger of Saul’s request for his appearance? Surely this would provide Ahimelech some warning. Might Ahimelech have had the freedom to attach himself to David at this point, and found a new king, a sane king, though not formally in power, but under the blessing of God?
As I said, this is simply a thought experiment, but it does allow us to see that deception has consequences, that the hiding of information can have dire results.
Hundreds had been slain. One man was with David. A priest, whom David took responsibility for.
It may seem that in this passage, David almost flippantly admits his sin and moves on. The psalms speak a far different matter. Psalms 52, 64, 109 and 140 all have reference to our passage in 1 Samuel 22, and the death of those in the city of Nob. I have currently posted on Psalms 52 and 64 as I work my way through the psalms. For your convenience, the following are links to previous related posts of David’s prayers and heart after the massacre of Nob.
David carried this result of his deception for the rest of his life. Out of this catastrophe, David was surely trained unto righteousness through this memory of this tragedy.
Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
The Lord has mysterious ways, and in the midst of horrible circumstances, that may have been assisted by ourselves, we can look to the forgiveness of the One who loves us, the Lord Jesus, and of His continuing love and guidance to us for His will and our good.
May His name be praised.
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
ABRAHAM
INTERCEDES FOR OTHERS
Genesis 18:23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Luke 6:12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. Luke 22:45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,
Abraham had a family member in trouble.
At the beginning of Genesis 18, three “men” stood in front of Abraham. Abraham begged them to stay for refreshment, even a meal, and it turns out these men spoke of Abraham’s future child by his wife Sarah. We have in this story the laughter of Sarah’s disbelief, and the timing of their son’s birth foretold. It was about to become real within twelve months!
Although it appears the “men” had come to discuss Abraham’s future children, they were also on their way to a city called Sodom. As Abraham assisted them on their journey, God revealed to Abraham that the “men” were on their way to judge if destruction was to fall on the City of Sodom – where Lot and his family lived.
Abraham stood still, eventually drawing near to the LORD and then began to reason with God. He actually pleaded using the very nature of God against Him. You are not unjust! What if there are 50 righteous men. Will you kill them along with the unrighteous? What about 40? 30? 20? 10?
Abraham knew his God and advocated for those in a city He may not know. Except for Lot, Lot’s wife, their three daughters and their husbands, and hopefully, two righteous slaves. If Lot’s family was considered righteous, we have the ten Abraham may have been fighting for if we have 2 additional righteous slaves. We don’t know, yet he interceded for the city, and risked the anger of the Lord in his efforts.
It turns out only four survived the judgement. Yet Abraham’s interceding was effective, for it moved the heart and will of God to allow for Abraham’s desires to be realized. Abraham interceded, and God agreed. Even though ten were not found, God rescued four. God was righteous in that no righteous soul died in that conflagration. How utterly shocking that God’s righteous nature, that Abraham argued with God about, was realized in the saving of four souls, far less than the ten Abraham prayed for!
Jesus, in His intercession, prayed for His disciples, and of those who believed through their word, and finally that the world would know that God had sent Him. Abraham sought his own will, that is, the safety of some in Sodom by the removal of judgement and destruction. Jesus sought the Father’s will, not His own will, and joined into that will of God through a judgement undeserved, to deliver all those whom He prayed for.
Billions of souls later, He is still interceding for us.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
126
EXALTED
Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.
I have been a believer for over four decades, and I remember the first time I simply considered God as being exalted.
Exalted, to be inaccessibly high, to be beyond and above, to be out of reach. As I considered His stature, His position only seemed to get greater and farther away, to be so out of reach, and yet He was with me, teaching me and stretching my understanding.
I was out late that night, walking my route with no one around, all the homes quiet, and not a dog barking for miles. Quiet. No traffic in that section of London that night. I just so happened to come to a pedestrian crossing, dang it if I still can picture it in my mind, with an old brick house converted to a corner store on my left, broken sidewalk below my feet, the curbing missing and the pavement cracked. It was, I tend to remember, a starless night with just an old street light giving some sight for me.
Yes, I remember that night forty years ago – the freedom, the loss of worry and fretting, the inner joy that was almost unbearable, and the holy fear of maintaining His presence. He cracked the door for me that night, gave me a glimpse, be it ever so small, that has remained with my memory ever since. All the surroundings became an anchor for my mind to remember such a privilege.
He is high. No matter the height you image He may dwell in, you, and I have not understood it correctly. He is very high, exalted above all and everything.
That night my only response to Him was praise. No prayer, no requests, no sharing of my burdens or concerns, no formulaic prayers. As a matter of fact I had no concerns, or burdens, or needs. I could only praise Him out of the mystery He is, out of the exalted position (weekly as I understood it) He dwells in.
He is Exalted
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
125
EXACT IMPRINT
Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
This is somewhat of a daunting name for myself as I have always associated this name with an imprint, or a stamp. Not sure where I got that idea, and I am not trying to assign error with this understanding. It is just that it doesn’t seem to connect with me. Maybe I am being too literal – Remember I tend to be too literal at times – but to associate Jesus as the imprint of God’s nature doesn’t tell me anything very specific. And I tend to associate it with a physical form that creates an imprint or stamp, and we all know that is not the message Hebrews is trying to communicate.
So I am left with a bit of a dilemma. How shall I try to write on something I don’t get? Of course – some may say that hasn’t stopped me before with most of my previous posts. That may be true!
Nevertheless, when all else fails, I started to study the phrase and looked initially at Strong’s dictionary. What a wonderful tool for the layman to take advantage of.
What I found was that the phrase “exact imprint” in the Greek New Testament is χαρακτήρ, transliterated as “charaktḗr” Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the similarity of this transliterated word to our English word “character”.
This was an amazing find for me, for if I read this passage with this substitution, we get the following…
He is the radiance of the glory of God
and the character of his nature.
He is the character of God’s nature. Wow – That helps me so much.
In my mind there are numerous passages that speak of the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ, for which I am so thankful. This one passage, though strong on this topic based on my previous understanding, has now “landed” in my understanding. I get it – at least I get it better than before, and will be one of those passages that I will return to in discussions with saint or sinner.
He is the Character – the Exact Imprint – of God’s nature! Think of that for a moment – the suffering Savior has revealed not only the heart of God, but His exact nature.
May we praise Him for who He is!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
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 22:11-19
11 Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob, and all of them came to the king. 12 And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” 13 And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” 14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? 15 Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” 16 And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” 17 And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.
Nob was a small, peaceful city of priests, approx. 2 miles northeast of Jerusalem and 3 miles southeast of the capital of Gibeah, where Saul reigned under a tamarisk tree.
In our earlier passage, Doeg had revealed to Saul where David had been, and Saul was like a dog on the hunt. Get Ahimelech! And not just Ahimelech, but all of his house, even all of the priests of the city. Bring them to me!
As Ahimelech, and the priests of Nob arrived in front of Saul, in response to the kings demand, Saul, dwelling in his paranoia, makes ridiculous claims of the priest’s motivations. He exposed his baseless suspicions, claiming the priest of God had intended to subvert the king. Saul claimed that Ahimelech’s assistance was the impetus for David to rise up against the king.
Get a hold of what Saul said to Ahimelech once more.
“Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him,so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?”
Ahimelech, in Saul’s twisted thinking was the reason David was in rebellion. Have I mentioned that Saul is full blown nuts yet?
Ahimelech simply answered the king with true words, asking Saul to remember the type of man David was. David was a faithful servant, Saul’s son in law and captain over Saul’s bodyguard. Each of these known facts justified Ahimelech’s assistance to David, in support of King Saul. Ahimelech, based on David’s responses to him, understood that David was on mission for the king.
Saul’s claim that David was the arch enemy of king Saul must have come as a complete shock to Ahimelech. Can you imagine being a man after God’s will, quietly serving the community, seeking to honor the king, and then being confronted with treason?
But there was more.
Ahimelech must die. His crime? Living in Saul’s imagination as an enemy of the state, by giving aid to Saul’s son in law. Incredible!
Even as Saul gave the order to strike down Ahimelech’s household, the servants of Saul refused. This simple act of resistance may have opened the door for later retaliation, making the servants appear to take David’s side. At least in Saul’s mind it may have appeared so. That is what happens to a mind who is consumed with paranoia. Everyone is out to get you. In Saul’s mind, even his servants may have appeared to conspire against him, though in reality, they were only respecting the service of the priests.
Enter Doeg again. In our last post I suggested Doeg may have had a sense of loyalty to his men in providing David’s actions to Saul, that he may have had some positive motive. That may have been a stretch, for Doeg turns out to be a willing accomplice to this crime, a mass murderer, killing 85 priests.
85 priests! This is horrendous. Why 85 priests? Saul commanded Doeg to kill the priests. Not only Ahimelech, as if he had done anything deserving of death, but his family, his peers, all those who wore the linen ephod.
Did I say 85 died that day. Read on, for the blood letting continued on to the city of Nob. This was a blood thirst that was sustained through travelling 3 miles to the south east of Gibeah. To continue the killing only emphasizes the hysterical fever Doeg and his men were experiencing!
I can’t find any record of the number of people in the city of Nob during this time, it must have been in the hundreds. What shock for those left behind, to see wild and crazed men enter the village, bloody and with swords being used on the population. Hundreds were faced with the sword falling on them. Men and women brutally murdered, with the assailants still not satisfied. Children and infants slain, as if they posed a threat, or that they had personally assisted David. Livestock joined in as victims of Doeg and his men. Nob must have been a bloody ghost town when Doeg finished.
In all of this we see what paranoia can lead to, what an insecure and unstable man can cause by suspicious thoughts and wild accusations. Truth had no part in this encounter – Saul was seeing red and would not listen to reason.
It is amazing the unabashed brutality of Saul in this instance. A king, turning on his own people, living in a peaceful city, in service to God. And yet, was it not this same king, earlier in his reign, who was commanded by God to show no mercy to the enemy of his nation? Was he not to strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have?
1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Saul showed mercy in this instance with Amalek, in direct disobedience to the Word of God,
1 Samuel 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
How amazing the difference in Saul’s actions here. In our current passage, we see Saul murdering his very own people, men and women who served God. Killing men, women, children and infants, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
This disobedience in relation to Amalek brought about the loss of Saul’s kingdom and raised up a man after God’s own heart, a man that Saul would commit to hating. David lived “rent free” in Saul’s mind, letting his twisted imagination eat away at any common sense or compassion.
In all of this mass murder, David was on the run, likely with his 400 men. This early decision to visit Nob must have haunted David, for he eventually accepted that his visit to Nob brought Ahimelech, and his family and friends into the target sights of a fanatical king.
A very heavy burden for a man who loved God. A very real message to David. This king Saul was serious as a heart attack. David was being chased by a man fully committed to taking him out. And David trusted God, entering into the very mouth of the lion, looking to God for direction.
David is an incredible example of courage to obey the will of God, and is a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus, in that even as Jesus knew of His end game, He set his face as a flint to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Jesus would not be protected as David was, from the insane leadership that was hunting Him down, but He followed God’s guidance into danger, succumbing to torture and death out of love for His Father.
And love for us.
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Considering the Bible 