The Israelites Get It Right

There are many times throughout scripture when the Israelites go down the wrong path in their relationship with God. Over and over, we see them chase after worthless, man-made idols, or allow pagan nations to infiltrate their lives when God wants them to be a holy nation unto Himself. It's almost as if we can learn how not to live when we read about them more than we can learn how to live correctly.

There are instances, though, when they get it right. They do what is pleasing to God and, therefore, give us an example of how we should live our lives in Christ. One of those times is in the book of Nehemiah. Under the leadership of Nehemiah, God's people rebuilt the wall that surrounded the city of Jerusalem. They did this in just 52 days, all while facing threats and mockery from the leaders of surrounding nations. While this is a great testament to their commitment and perseverance to God, their heart for God is shown in Nehemiah 8. They show four attributes in this chapter that should be evident in all our lives...

Reverence

After the wall was built, God's people joined together for a festival (the Festival of Trumpets) to celebrate the new year on the Hebrew calendar. Ezra the priest read from the Book of the Law of Moses "from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law" (Neh. 8:3). Did the Israelites get bored listening to God's Word all morning? Did they get irritated at Ezra for making them late for lunch? No, "they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground" (Neh. 8:6). They showed a reverence for God and His Word that we lack in the Church today.

Repentance

When God's Word was read and explained to the people, they were convicted of their sin, "for the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law" (Neh. 8:9). This is a proper response to their conviction of sin, and was an outward response of their repentant heart collectively. But, this festival was a time of celebrating the new year, and Nehemiah and Ezra encouraged them, "don't mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God" (Neh. 8:9).

Rejoice

Not only should they not mourn or weep, Nehemiah urged them to rejoice in their God, much like we do during times of celebration. "Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh. 8:10).

Revival

Because the Israelites had the proper reverence for God and His Word, showed repentance for their sins, and rejoiced in the Lord, revival took place in their lives. "So the people went away, to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God's words and understood them." (Neh. 8:12). "They were all filled with great joy," and "had not celebrated like this since the days of Joshua son of Nun" (Neh. 8:17).

We, like the Israelites in the book of Nehemiah, are about to celebrate a new year. No matter what has happened in 2011, let us choose to follow their example in 2012 of reverence, repentance, and rejoicing. When we do, we will experience revival in our relationship with Christ!

Solomon's Humility

As the next presidential election for our country draws closer, we will begin to see more and more debates, commercials, and campaign promises from the candidates who think they have what it takes to be the Leader of the Free World. They will emphasize all the reasons why they are the best candidate for the job, while at the same time point out all of the shortcomings of the other candidates. I know this is the way the game of politics is played, but wouldn't it be nice for one of them to show a little humility every once in a while?

That was the question that came to my mind as I read 1 Kings 3, in which Solomon has just taken over as King of Israel from his father, David. Listen to his plea to the Almighty in verses 7-9 as he begins his reign...

"Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn't know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?"

So much is made about Solomon's wisdom, and rightly so. God answered Solomon's prayer for wisdom and gave him a "wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!" (1 Kings 3:12) But, it was Solomon's humble heart that led him to the request for wisdom.

You and I may never be the President of the United States of America, or the President of anything. But, as Christians "we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!' For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:20,21)

Being the ambassador of Almighty God is a responsibility that we should not take lightly. Therefore, let us follow Solomon's example and approach our Heavenly Father, and our role as His ambassador, with humility. "If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom." (James 3:13)

The Mundane of Life

Some days it's just hard to get going. We are in a stretch where the warm, summer days are long gone and yet the excitement and fun of the Christmas holidays seem like they will never get here. Life can seem boring, and instead of living for today, we find ourselves living from big event to big event. There's no doubt that David experienced these boring, mundane days. In fact, it was during these types of days that David had one of the highest points in his life, as well as one of the lowest.

THE GOOD

When Samuel was led by God to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel, he met with what he thought was all of Jesse's sons. When God told him that none of those sons of Jesse were the next king, "Samuel asked, 'Are these all the sons you have?' 'There is still the youngest,' Jesse replied. 'But he's out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.'" (1 Samuel 16:11, emphasis mine) The Hebrew word for "watching" in that sentence is "ro'eh", which means caring for a flock of sheep or similar animals, leading the flock to pasture, giving care to individual sheep, and defending them from predators. I'm no shepherd, and I have no doubt that being a shepherd was and is an incredibly difficult, laborious job. But, I'm also sure that there were times that David got bored in the day-to-day routine of being a shepherd. I mean, he was watching sheep and goats for crying out loud! Yet God didn't anoint him after he slain Goliath, or after he killed thousands of enemies in a mighty battle. It was in David's daily routine of shepherding where God led Samuel to David, and David was anointed king.

THE BAD

It was also in the mundane of life where David committed a terrible sin. "In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent...the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, 'She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.' Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her." (2 Samuel 11:1-4, emphasis mine) Obviously, the sin of David committing adultery with Bathsheba is the part that is focused on the most in the passage. But, the part that caught my attention was that for some reason, David was not with his troops in battle like he should have been. An insert in the NLT notes that "this is the first mention of a leader of Israel staying off the battlefield in a time of war." Scripture doesn't say why David didn't go to war. All we know is that he was not in his normal routine as king. If he had been, he never would have even seen Bathsheba to be tempted to sleep with her. A boring, ho-hum spring day when David got up from his nap turned into disaster.

The point is, God works in these mundane, ho-hum, day-to-day routines of His people all throughout scripture. Moses "was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro," (Exodus 3:1) when God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Simon Peter and Andrew were "throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living" when "Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" (Matthew 4:18,19) There are numerous other examples, too. We can choose to use these days as a chance to grow closer in our relationship with Christ, or they can lull us to sleep spiritually. As the daylight gets shorter, the weather turns colder, and those mundane days get...mundanier?...don't lose hope!

Lamentations 3:21-24 "Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!'"

I Just Can't Wait to be King

I've been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel lately, and I'm learning things about King David that I never knew or even thought of. Of course, everyone knows of his showdown and defeat of Goliath, and I would say that most know he was anointed as king when he was only a young boy. One thing I never gave much thought to the amount of time that David had to wait between being anointed as the next king by Samuel (1 Samuel 16) and when he actually began his reign as king. While we don't know exactly how old David was when he was anointed by Samuel, most commentaries suggest he was a teenager. We do know that "David was thirty years old when he began to reign" (2 Samuel 5:4) over Judah, and seven years later began to reign over all of Israel.

The point is that David had to wait for a number of years on God to fulfill His promise. Not only did he have to wait, he had to endure times when he thought his life would come to an end. Jealousy caused King Saul to hurl a spear at David, "intending to pin him to the wall. But David escaped him twice." (1 Samuel 18:11) In fact, the last 13 chapters of 1 Samuel recount David constantly fleeing and escaping from Saul, living a life of a fugitive. But surely David, a man after God's own heart, would never doubt that God would fulfill His promise of David becoming king, would he? 1 Samuel 27:1 says, "But David kept thinking to himself, 'Someday Saul is going to get me.'" David was human, and when you have spears being thrown at you by the current king, and you are forced to live in caves to escape his desire to kill you, doubts can tend to creep in about God keeping his promise.

Despite any doubts and fears David may have had, he waited on God's timing. Scripture gives numerous examples of this. David actually had Saul's life in his hands on two different occasions (1 Samuel 24 & 26), but both times he refused to kill Saul since Saul was God's anointed king for that time, no matter how sinful his actions were. When Saul was killed in battle, David sincerely mourned his death and killed the man who took credit for ending Saul's life (2 Samuel 1).

We live in a society of instant gratification. The idea of waiting on anything is so far removed from my generation. We get fidgety waiting a few minutes in the fast food line, or we complain that our high-speed internet is too slow, and heaven forbid we wait a few days to buy the newest iPad or video game...people spend the night in front of the store so they can be the first one to buy it OMG RIGHT NOW!!! This is what God tells us through David in Psalm 27:14, "Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord." It is not always easy to wait patiently on God. It takes bravery, and it takes courage. Maybe we're not promised an earthly kingdom as David was, but one day we will be with the King of Kings in His eternal kingdom. On a side note, what can we do to help us as we wait on God? David gives us a practical answer in that same Psalm. "My heart has heard you say, 'Come and talk with me.' And my heart responds, 'Lord, I am coming.'" (Psalm 27:8)

Thoughts on The Ten Commandments

There doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about the Ten Commandments these days. Maybe because it's laid out in Exodus and Deuteronomy and, quite frankly, Christians don't study the Old Testament as we should. I know I am guilty of that. Anyway, I was reading Deuteronomy 5 where Moses is reminding the Israelites of God's commandments before they go into the Promised Land, and here are some thoughts I had on a few of those commands....

Deut. 5:6 - "I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery."

It seems like God is ALWAYS reminding His people about this. How does this relate to us in 2011? Read the last part of verse 6 again. Egypt was a place of slavery for the Israelites. Just as the Israelites needed to be constantly reminded of their freedom from slavery, so too must we as Christians need to be constantly reminded of our freedom from slavery...slavery from sin. I also think it's important to note that God says this before He gives the commandments to his people. Unless we recognize that we are free from the bonds of sin's slavery, we cannot fully live out God's commandments in His Word.

Deut. 5:9,10 - "I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected - even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands."

This comes with the commandment to "not make for yourself an idol of any kind...". Certainly, the Israelites had been guilty of making idols (See Exodus 32). If not destroyed, these idols could easily be passed down for generations to come. So it is with sin. One generation's sin can easily become the next generation's sin if it is not dealt with and repented of. I love verses 9 and 10 because God's mercy and grace shine through. Although the consequences of one generation's sin can be felt for a time, the obedience and love toward God of one generation can be felt for years on end. If you have grown up in a Christian family, I encourage you to thank those who have raised you for their love and obedience to God. We can all see examples in our own lives of how Deuteronomy 5:9,10 has come to fruition.

Deut. 5:11 - "You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God."

Personally, my heart has become so indifferent to this commandment. Not because I go around using the Lord's name in vain all day, although I am guilty of that at times. But it seems that whether I am just flipping through channels, surfing the web, or going to the movies, I am hearing the misuse of God's name more and more. It has been a slow infiltration where I have become o.k. with hearing certain words that should greatly offend me. I remember in middle school when I began hearing words that were offensive, and it shocked me and bothered me. I would fight mentally to not think about those words during the day. I need to return to that place of innocence, where I am offended at the misuse of God's name. But I don't think this commandment is all about avoidance of "bad words", but about being proactive in speaking praise to God. One question I have heard asked before is one I think we should ask ourselves, "What are words that you use to describe God that you would not use for anything or anyone else?"

Deut. 5:17,18,19 - "You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal."

In Matthew 5, Jesus basically says that if you hate in your heart, lust after another, or covet someone else's possessions, it is just as if you are committing murder, adultery, and stealing. It is good to be reminded of this, as we all are susceptible to comparing ourselves with others who have done worse things than us. "At least I'm not a murderer. At least I haven't committed adultery. At least I don't steal from others," we tell ourselves. If we really were honest with ourselves, how often must we be in violation of these commandments if we were to apply Jesus' words in Matthew 5.

Jacob's Model Prayer

In Genesis 32, Jacob, the son of Isaac, offers a prayer to God that is a good model for Christians to follow. The prayer comes as he is preparing to face his brother, Esau, for the first time since Jacob deceitfully stole Esau's birthright (Genesis 27). Jacob was apprehensive about meeting Esau, and the fear grows when his "messengers returned to Jacob and reported, 'We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you - with an army of 400 men!" (Gen. 32:6) After this news, Jacob prays the following prayer. I have broken it down into five sections.

Genesis 32:9 "O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac."

Jacob begins the prayer by stating a name(s) of God. Jesus does this also in Matthew 6:9 when teaching us to pray, "Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy." God had been faithful to Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob was now trusting that God would be faithful to him. We, too, should call God's names back to him. Doing it at the beginning of our prayers immediately puts our hearts and minds in a place of humility and thankfulness.

Genesis 32:9 "O Lord, you told me, 'Return to your own land and to your relatives.' And you promised me, 'I will treat you kindly.'"

Jacob reminded God of the commands and the promises He had made. Esau and his 400 men were coming with bad intentions, or so Jacob feared. Jacob was standing on God's promise to treat him kindly. Psalm 119:49, 50 says "Remember your promise to me; it is my only hope. Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles." How incredible it is that God takes joy in hearing us recite His promises back to him in prayer, and claim it in times of trouble.

Genesis 32:10 "I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps!"

Jacob recognized that all of his blessings and possessions had been given to him by God. We, too, should recognize that God gives us every good thing in our lives, and we should be quick to tell Him that in prayer. One verse I find myself praying often is Acts 17:25, "He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need." In praying that simple verse, it is my way of recognizing that all I have, even each breath I take, is given to me by God.

Genesis 32:11 "O Lord, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children."

After recognizing who God is, and remembering his promises to us, as well as all He has given to us by His grace, we can humbly take our requests to Him. I love how specific and descriptive Jacob is with his request. He was fearful for his life and the lives of his family. Philippians 4:6,7 says "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace." The God of the Universe wants us to present our requests to him, big or small, and we can because of Christ Jesus.

Genesis 32:12 "But you promised me, 'I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sand along the seashore - too many to count.'"

To me, the key word in this verse is "But". Jacob could have let his fearful emotions takeover and win the battle. "But", as he did earlier in the prayer, he remembered God's promise to him. We often let our feelings determine what is true or not true in our lives. Instead, we should stand on God's word, as Jacob did, no matter what our feelings tell us.

In the end, Esau was not coming to get revenge on his brother at all, but embraced Jacob and made peace with him. Jacob's prayer is one that we all can follow as we "come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most" (Hebrews 4:16).

The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1 "At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words."

My first thought as I read this was, "Wow, how cool would it be for everyone today to speak the same language! To be able to immediately understand someone from a foreign country, for there to be no barriers in communication." A quick Google search reveals that the Ethnologue suggests there are currently 6,909 recognized languages in our world, a far cry from the times of Genesis.

Genesis 11:4 "Then they said, 'Come, let's build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world."

While everyone speaking the same language seems like it would be an incredible world to live in, sinful humanity uses it as an opportunity to fulfill their selfish desires. The phrase "this will make us famous" is literally translated "let us make a name for ourselves". "The tower builders sought fame through idolatrous ambition. The tower was a human attempt to ascend to God's realm (NLT insert)." This really shouldn't come as a surprise. If left up to us and our sinful flesh, we will choose self every time. I mean, if we were to be honest, how many "towers of babel" are in our world today, literally and figuratively? How many "towers of babel" are in my life? In your life?

Genesis 11:5-7 "But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 'Look!' he said. 'The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!' Come, let's go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won't be able to understand each other." God, in His mercy and grace, would not let sinful humanity continue in their own sin. God's judgement on humanity had already occurred through the flood, and He promised never to destroy the earth like that again (Genesis 9:15). But, he does scatter all the people by causing them to speak different languages, therefore, allowing for God's favor to be shown to Abram and the nation of Israel in the chapters to come.

Speaking of Abram, the main thing I took away from this passage is the contrast in the tower builders, who sought fame for themselves, and Abram in Genesis 12:2. God said "I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others." Abram humbly obeyed God when He told Abram to leave his country and his family, and go to a land that God would lead him to. Bottom line: Am I seeking fame for myself? Am I building "towers" in my life (money, popularity, recognition, entertainment, etc.) to pursue my own selfish desires, or am I humbly obeying Christ and letting him lead me to where he wants me to go? My purpose, as was Abram's, and as is all Christian's, is to be a blessing to others, all the while bringing glory and fame to Christ.