April 29, 2016

Numbers 15:32-35

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

The scripture we are considering in Wednesday’s and today’s blogs is Numbers 15:32 through 35:

      Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man
      gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.  And those who found him gathering
      sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.  And
      they put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should
      be done to him.  Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be
      put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the
      camp.”

In these two blogs we are considering the controversial question:  Why would God impose capital punishment on what seems to be a minor offense?  Is the God of the Old Testament different (more severe) than what Jesus presented in the New – the God of love and forgiveness? (See John 3:16; Romans 5:8; I John 4:8).

In Wednesday’s blog we looked at the holiness of God (see Leviticus 19:2; Psalm 99:9; 145:17; Isaiah 6:1-3; 57:15; John 17:11; Acts 3:14; Ephesians 4:30 and many other Scriptures).  His holiness is considered to be His main attribute!  We also looked at mankind’s problem, the seriousness of sin (see Ecclesiastes 7:20; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10, 23 and many other Scriptures).  Sin is missing the mark of God’s holy standard!  And what is His standard?  “…you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).  When we compare God’s holiness to man’s innate sinfulness, it begins to make sense why God imposes such a harsh penalty on those who sin!  What is that penalty?  Ezekiel 18:4 and 20 spell it out:  “The soul who sins shall die.”  Sin results in physical death (see Genesis 2:17).  Although Adam’s body did not immediately die, death came eventually (see Genesis 5:5).  But physical disease, suffering and death were introduced into God’s perfect creation upon man’s fall (see Romans 8:20-22; I Corinthians 15:54-56).  Sin also results in spiritual death, which is separation from God (see Genesis 3:8-10; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:20, 21; Ephesians 2:1).  If that condition is not rectified in this mortal life, such separation will become permanent in hell!  As it says in Psalm 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell…” (see also Matthew 7:23; 25:41; Revelation 21:8).

In the case of the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, this was a direct violation of God’s command in Exodus 20:8 through 10 (the fourth of the Ten Commandments):

      Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor, and
      do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. 
      In it you shall do no work:  you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your
      manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who
      is within your gates.  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the
      earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore
      the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

This is very explicit!  And just before the Israelites caught the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath, God had told them:

      But the person who does anything presumptuously…that one brings
      reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people. 
      Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken His
      commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall
      be upon him.

This man sinned presumptuously against the Lord!  And according to the plain understanding of this Scripture, every one of us who chooses to deliberately sin should be cut off – should die! It is only by God’s mercy and grace that we sinners are not all dead!  He gave Jeremiah these words in Lamentations 3:21 (KJV):  “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning:  great is thy faithfulness.”  What He told the Jews in Malachi 3:6 applies to all of us:  “For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”

But would we take sin seriously if God had treated breaking His law lightly – if He had said, “Oh, it is a small sin.  I won’t punish him for picking up a few sticks on the Sabbath.”  When it comes to disobeying God’s command – falling short of His perfect standard of Matthew 5:48 – is there any sin that is ‘small’ before our utterly holy God?  He made an example of how serious the offense of one man was so we all would take seriously His holiness and our sinfulness – so we all would not be destroyed!

And God did the same thing in the New Testament!  For He is the same holy God and we are still sinners!  We will look at two New Testament examples in the next blog.  And we will also see how God permanently solved the sin problem for us.

April 27, 2016

Numbers 15:32-35

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

My dear wife and I were discussing the events, questions and reasons behind the last four blogs, Protecting The Seed.  That series was based on God giving King Saul the command, “…attack Amalek… kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.” (I Samuel 15:2, 3).  She said, “I don’t understand the severity of the punishment when in the Bible a man was sentenced to die for gathering wood on the Sabbath day.”  I told her, “That would make a good blog, especially following the four I just wrote!”  Here then is Numbers 15:32 through 35 where the incident is described:

      Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man
      gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.  And those who found him gathering
      sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.  And
      they put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should
      be done to him.  Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be
      put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the
      camp.”

So the question again comes up:  “Why is God so severe in what seems to be a minor offense?  Is this a different God in the Old Testament than what Jesus presented in the New? ”  For in the New Testament, God is shown forth as a God of love and forgiveness! (See Mattthew 9:2; Colossians 1:13; I John 4:8).

We have to understand two issues here – the holiness of God and the seriousness of sin!

•      The holiness of God – God is absolutely pure and holy!  “God’s holiness is His most exalted and emphasized attribute, expressing the majesty of his moral nature and character.” (Emory H. Bancroft, Elemental Theology, p. 54).  All the other characteristics of God flow out of His holiness!  So holy is the Lord that this attribute is ascribed to Him some 209 times in the KJV Bible! (concordance search of holy, holiness).  Some of the more outstanding Scriptures are…

      ➔      Levitcus 19:2 – “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”

      ➔      Psalm 99:9 – “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.”

      ➔      Psalm 145:17 (KJV) – “The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.”

      ➔      Isaiah 6:1-3 – “…I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above it stood seraphim….And one cried to another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.”

      ➔      Isaiah 57:15 – “…thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:  ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

      ➔      The Father, Son and Spirit (the Trinity) as revealed in the New Testament are ascribed holiness (see John 17:11; Acts 3:14; Ephesians 4:30).

•      The seriousness of sin – “Sin is any transgression of, or want of conformity to, the revealed will of God, either in condition or conduct.” (Bancroft, p. 188).  Man does not just do wrong against God, but is wrong by his own sinful nature compared to God’s standard!  What is God’s standard?  Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48:  “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  Be as perfect as God – as holy as God!  Who can live up to that?!  No wonder the Bible tells us…

       ➔      Ecclesiastes 7:20 – “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.”

       ➔      Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart [of man] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

       ➔       Romans 3:10, 23 – “There is none righteous, no, not one….for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

By our sinful nature which produces acts of sin against God (commission as well as omission) we are declared enemies of God (see Romans 8:7; Colossians 1:21) and are under His condemnation of death – physical and eternal! (See Genesis 2:17; Isaiah 59:2; Ezekiel 18:4, 20; John 3:36).

What a dilemma!  How could utterly sinful men possibly be reconciled to an utterly holy God?  We will continue this discussion, solving this dilemma, in our next blog on Friday.  And we will apply what we learn to the severity of the judgment that our featured Scripture puts forth.

April 25, 2016

I Samuel 15:2, 3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I Samuel 15:2 and 3 tells us this:

      Thus says the LORD of hosts:  “I will punish Amalek for what he did
      to Israel, how he laid wait for him on the way, when he came up from
      Egypt.  Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
      and do not spare them.  But kill both man and woman, infant and nurs-
      ing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”

A mean God?  Some people think so – to the point of not acknowledging the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New – the God of love as revealed in Jesus Christ!

But let’s get back to the original question posed in this series:  Why did God order King Saul, “Now go and attack Amalek…utterly destroy all…and do not spare them….kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”  What did the Amalekites do to provoke such wrath of God against them?  It is not so much what they did, but who they were that sealed their fate!

It says in Exodus 20:5 (God’s Word to the Nations), part of the Ten Commandments:  “…I, the LORD your God, am a God who does not tolerate rivals.  I punish children for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me.”  Why does God not tolerate rivals?  Because He knows that worshiping Him is the only way of blessing, of a life both eternal and abundant! (See Deuteronomy 11:21; 30:19; John 10:10).  All other choices of gods leads to what Solomon pointed out in Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 (KJV):  “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”  And since Jesus is “…the [only] way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6), God’s love for His creation – especially mankind – and His purpose to redeem that creation through the “…seed…[of] the woman…” (Genesis 3:15), will be protected at all costs!

Back to the Amalekites:

•      Amalek was the grandson of Esau (see Genesis 36:12).  Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, sold his birthright as the firstborn – the birthright included family leadership and spiritual guidance, and a double portion of inheritance – for a bowl of soup! (See Genesis 25:29-34).  Esau, as it were, turned his back on God!  And so the Lord says in Malachi 1:2 and 3, “…I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau….”  Since the children inherit the parents sins to the third and fourth generation, Amalek despised God also!  And Amalek passed that despising trait on to all future generations of the Amalekites!

•      When the Amalekites attacked Israel from behind (see Deuteronomy 25:17, 18), they were acting from their own inner hatred of God!  And He knew that this attack would only be the beginning!  Since Satan controls the Godless, the devil would use the Amalekites again and again if they were not wiped out, to try to stop the Seed, Jesus Christ from fulfilling His redemptive!  This is just what happened (see I Samuel 15:1-9).

•      Approximately 500 years after Saul, and after the Jews of the southern kingdom, Judah, went into captivity to Babylon, Haman, the Agagite rose to be prime minister of the Persian Empire (see Esther 3:1).  Agag was the king of the Amalekites in the time of Saul (see I Samuel 15:8).  Apparently, Agag was not the only one spared of his family, because Haman was this Amalekite’s descendant many generations later!  And Haman tried to wipe out all the Jews in the vast Persian empire! (See Esther 3:13).

•      Five hundred years after that, Herod the Great arose as King of the Jews.  Many trace Herod’s lineage back to the Amalekites through his father who was an Edomite.  According to Josephus, the Jewish historian of the first century, “…Herod…was…an Idumean [Edomite]….” (The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 12, Chap. 8).  Herod tried to destroy Jesus, killing “…all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under…” (Matthew 2:16).  Satan was again trying to halt the Seed and His ministry!

God was Protecting The Seed throughout history at all costs to the ungodly!  If He had not, you and I would never have the opportunity to enter into eternal life and abundant life!

But there is one more reason for the harsh commands such as God telling King Saul to completely annihilate the Amalekites.  For God gave similar instructions many times concerning other pagan nations (See Deuteronomy 2:34; 7:1, 2, 16, 23; 13:15; 20:16, 17; Joshua 6:17; 10:28, 35, 37, 39, 40; 11:20, 21; Jeremiah 12:17; Ezekiel 9:5-7).  God’s people – Israel in the Old Testament and we as Christians today – are called to reflect the personality of the Lord and His glory to the world!  But He warned Israel that if they did not wipe out the pagan nations (the Canaanites who occupied the Promised Land God was giving to the Israelites), they would compromise that reflection to the point of what Paul wrote in Romans 2:24:  “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you…” (see Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 16:27; 36:22).  God’s people are supposed to be a holy people! (See Leviticus 19:2; 20:7, 8; Ephesians 1:4; 5:27; I Peter 1:15, 16).  God knew that close association with the ungodly would corrupt His people, and so also corrupt His image that they were to be showing to the world! (See Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13; Judges 2:3).  As it says in I Corinthians 15:33 (Good New Bible):  “Do not be fooled. ‘Bad companions ruin good character.’ ” (See also Psalm 1:1; Proverbs 4:14, 15; 13:20).

God not only preserved the Seed at all costs, but He preserves the witness of His people to the Seed, Jesus Christ!  It is through that witness that people are drawn to Jesus and are saved!  Anything that will compromise that witness must be taken out of the way!

April 22, 2016

I Samuel 15:2, 3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Again we look at God’s instructions to King Saul in I Samuel 15:2 and 3 concerning the pagan tribe of the Amalekites:

      Thus says the LORD of hosts:  “I will punish Amalek for what he did
      to Israel, how he laid wait for him on the way, when he came up from
      Egypt.  Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
      and do not spare them.  But kill both man and woman, infant and nurs-
      ing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”

Why did God so harshly command Saul to wipe out the Amalekites, killing “…both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey…”?  Some people have real trouble believing in a God who would do such a thing – especially because it seems so distant from what the New Testament says in I John 4:9, “…God is love….”  Why?  Because God is Protecting The Seed of “…the woman…” (Genesis 3:15) – Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Savior of mankind and all creation! (See Romans 8:19-23).

Satan, “The god who rules this world…” (II Corinthians 4:4 – Contemporary English Version), had tried to nullify that prophecy of God’s Son ever since it was first made!  We have briefly examined 14 instances throughout the history of Israel that show us different ways in which the devil has opposed God and tried to block the coming of the promised Seed, Jesus Christ!  But Jesus arrived at just the right time (see Galatians 4:4) and ministered upon this earth in spite of Satan’s attempts to stop Him!  Now let’s look at some of the ways Satan fought against the Lord’s earthly ministry:

•      Luke 4:1-13 – The tempter had won the battle with “…the first man Adam…”        (I Corinthians 15:45), and by that victory had gained Adam’s dominion over all the earth (see Genesis 2:27-29).  He hoped to do the same thing as he tempted “The last Adam…” Jesus! (I Corinthians 15:45).  If the Lord had given in to Satan’s demand, “…if You worship before me…all the kingdoms of the world…and their glory…will be Yours…” (Luke 4:7, 5, 6), then the devil would have stopped cold God’s redemptive work through His Son!  But it is written in I Peter 2:22, He “…committed no sin….”  Jesus constantly won the temptation battle!

•      Luke 4:16-30 – In Nazareth, Jesus proclaimed the purpose and direction of His ministry by reading from Isaiah 61:1 and 2:

      The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach
      the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
      deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
      those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

But He – knowing the hard-heartedness of the Nazarites – challenged their lack of faith!  It says in verses 28 and 29, “…they…were filled with wrath…and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down….”  I have been to Nazareth.  The cliff upon which the city is established is so high, the fall would have killed Jesus for sure!  But it simply says in verse 30, “Then, passing through the midst of them, He went His way.”  Again, the plans of the devil were frustrated!

•      The Jewish leaders were so opposed to Jesus and His challenging ministry, that they sought ways to kill Him!  In a quick concordance search, I counted 26 times in the gospels that mentions their evil plans!  But the Lord was the One in control, not the Jewish leaders, not the Roman government, not Satan!  As Jesus said in John 7:6, “My time is not yet come….”  And when the time for Him to die did come, He boldly stated in John 10:17 and 18:

      I lay down My life, that I may take it again.  No man takes it from Me,
      but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power
      to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father.

Satan experienced defeat after defeat in trying to get rid of the Promised One!

•      Finally, the devil and his demonic hoard thought they had achieved their long-sought-after purpose – Jesus was nailed to the cross and died a slow and horrible death!  But in I Corinthians 2:6 through 8 Paul writes that the evil “…rulers of this age…[did not know] the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory…for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”  The hidden wisdom?  God vindicated that Jesus died for the sins of the world thereby redeeming all creation (see Romans 8:19-23).  For the Lord rose again from death three days later!  Satan was ultimately defeated, and his fate was sealed!  He would be consigned to “…the lake of fire and brimstone….This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:10, 14).

We will tie all this together in Monday’s blog – how by God’s command to wipe out the Amalekites, including “…man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey…,” He was Protecting The Seed!

April 20, 2016

I Samuel 15:2, 3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

God’s word concerning the Amalekites to King Saul in I Samuel 15:2 and 3 is as follows:

      Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I will punish Amalek for what he did
      to Israel, how he laid wait for him on the way, when he came up from
      Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
      and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nurs-
      ing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”

Why did God tell Saul to so annihilate the Amalekites that there would not even be infant or nursing child left? And this is not the only time God ordered the extinction of people! (See Deuteronomy 2:34; 7:1, 2, 16, 23; 13:15; 20:16, 17; Joshua 6:17; 10:28, 35, 37, 39, 40; 11:20, 21; Jeremiah 12:17; Ezekiel 9:5-7). If “…God is love…,” as it tells us in I John 4:8, is it a different God in the Old Testament – a capricious God who gave such destructive orders? How do we reconcile how He is presented in the New Testament as compared to the Old?

As said in the last blog, Jesus was born into an evil world system controlled by the devil Himself! (See Luke 4:5, 6; II Corinthians 4:4). But the Messiah was promised for centuries before Christ appeared on earth, starting with the Proto Evanelium of Genesis 3:15. Satan has done all in his power to thwart that promise from coming to pass! And we have been looking at some of the ways the devil has tried to do this. Let’s continue from where we left off – the rebellious Israelites who so angered God that He told Moses, “…let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.” But Moses interceded for the nation, and God spared them! Such is the power of godly intercession!

•      In the books of Joshua and Judges the record of Israel’s failings are numerous. It amazes me that God even put up with that nation! But God’s plan of Protecting The Seed to bring forth the redemption of mankind and all creation through Jesus Christ was not to be deterred!

•      The Jews sinned yet again is asking for a king so they could be like the other nations! (See I Samuel 8:5-9). They got Saul as their first king, but then God chose David – from the tribe of Judah. It is from that tribe and from that kingship that Jesus Christ would come and rule forever! (See II Samuel 7:12, 13; Isaiah 9:6, 7). But David sinned grievously! He committed adultery with Bathsheba, then had her husband Uriah murdered to cover us the adultery (see II Samuel 11:1-27). Thank God David was not only a great sinner, but also a great repenter! (See II Samuel 12:13; Psalm 32:1-11; 51:1-19). God even said this of him in Acts 13:22, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” If David had not repented of his sins, the devil would have thwarted God’s plan to bring forth the Seed.

•      Solomon succeeded his father David as king. But Solomon – and several of those of his descendants who ruled after him – turned from following God (see I Kings 11:4-8). One descendant, Jehoiachin (also called Coniah) was cursed by God in Jeremiah 22:24 through 30. In verse 30 God said, “Write this man down as childless…for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.” If Satan has succeeded in his plan to stop the lineage of Christ to David’s throne, Jesus would never reign eternally! But the Lord fulfilled the promise of Jesus’ eternal kingship, not through Solomon descendants, but through another son of David, Nathan! (See Luke 3:23-38 – especially verse 31).

•      The people of the southern kingdom of Judah went into captivity in Babylon for 70 years because of their sin of idolatry! (See II Chronicles 36:11-21). In that captivity, Haman – a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag (see II Samuel 15:8, 9; Esther 3:1), planned to destroy all the Jews in the Persian kingdom! (See Esther 3:8, 9, 13). This would have most likely halted the line of the promised Seed! But God had other plans, and turned the tables upon Haman through Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai. Haman and his ten sons were the ones who was killed! (See Esther 7:9, 10; 9:13, 14).

•      Fast forward five hundred years! “…Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king….” (Matthew 2:1). King Herod, feeling threatened by the magi’s report of One “…born King of the Jews…” (Matthew 2:2), ordered to be “…put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under…” (Matthew 2:16). Herod – a descendant of the Amalekites, and inspired by Satan – tried to rid himself and the world of the King of the Jews! But God intervened! He gave Joseph a dream: “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee into Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” (Matthew 2:13).  Again, God was Protecting The Seed!

The devil could not stop the promised Seed from coming! But in the next blog, we will see how Satan continued to work to destroy Jesus Christ and stop Him from fulfilling His purpose of redemption!

April 18, 2016

I Samuel 15:2, 3

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

In I Samuel 15:2 and 3, the prophet Samuel gave the newly-crowned King Saul this message from God:

      Thus says the LORD of hosts:  “I will punish Amalek for what he did
      to Israel, how he laid wait for him on the way, when he came up from
      Egypt.  Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
      and do not spare them.  But kill both man and woman, infant and nurs-
      ing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”

This sounds so cruel!  And it is not the only time God gave His followers such orders! (See Deuteronomy 2:34; 7:1, 2, 16, 23; 13:15; 20:16, 17; Joshua 6:17; 10:28, 35, 37, 39, 40; 11:20, 21; Jeremiah 12:17; Ezekiel 9:5-7).  There are people who reject the God of the Old Testament because He is so severe, judgmental, and angry!  “How could I worship such a God?” they say, “He tells Israel to wipe out the people of Amalek – even innocent babies and little children!”  And if He is related to the God of the New Testament, revealed in Jesus Christ, how do we reconcile the above Scripture to what is written in the New – such as I John 4:8-10:

      …God is love.  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God
      sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 
      In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
      to be the propitiation for our sins.

That first passage sure does not sound like God is love!  So how do we reconcile all this?

The first promise of a Redeemer is called the Proto Evangelium, and is found in Genesis 3:15 (God talking to the serpent):  “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed.  He shall bruise your head, and you shalt bruise His heel.”  The seed of the woman is Jesus Christ!  He is not the seed of the man in the sense that He did not have a human father, but was conceived by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 1:35).  He is the Son of God!

But Jesus was born into the world dominated by the devil!  Satan controls “…all the kingdoms of the world…and their glory…” (Luke 4:5, 6).  As it says in II Corinthians 4:4 (Contemporary English Version):  The devil is “The god who rules this world….”  Hence, ever since the beginning, the devil has fought against the coming of the One who would defeat him and redeem mankind and all creation – buying back “The kingdoms of this world…” which again become “…the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ…” (Revelation 11:15).  And Satan uses people, societies, and nations he controls in his war against God!

How was the Savior to arrive upon this earth?  God was preparing for the event long before His Son’s appearance (see Galatians 4:4, 5).

•      Satan so corrupted the human race that in the time of Noah, God wiped out mankind by the flood! (See Genesis 6:5-7).  That way, the Messiah could not come as a human being.  But God preserved righteous Noah and his family (see Genesis 6:8).

•       He chose one man – Abraham – to father the Jewish race! (See Genesis 12:1-3).  But Satan tried to corrupt Abraham.  He passed his wife Sarah off twice as his sister! (See Genesis 12:11, 12; 20:2; 18:10-14).  This would also have corrupted Sarah also, the mother of the promised Seed, because she would have been claimed by another husband.

•      Isaac was Abraham’s son of promise – and Isaac did the same thing as his father – passing off Rebekah as his sister! (See Genesis 26:6, 7).

•      Jacob was next in line of the promised Seed!  But Jacob stole his brother Esau’s firstborn blessing (see Genesis 27:1-29), and Esau planned to kill him for it! (See Genesis 27:41).  If that had happened, the devil would have stopped God’s promise!

•      Jacob fathered twelve sons – the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel!  But the sons got into all sorts of trouble! (See, for instance, Genesis 34:1-34; 37:1-28).

•      The tribe of Judah, Jacob’s fourth son, was chosen to bring forth the Messiah! (See Genesis 49:10; Numbers 34:17).  But Judah was not the father he should have been.  His two sons, Er and Onan, were so wicked that God killed them! (See Genesis 38:7-10).  Only his third son Shelah survived!  If he had not, it would have ended the Seed line!

•      The children of Israel became slaves in Egypt.  So fearful was Pharaoh of the greatly increasing Israelites that he ordered the murder of all newborn Jewish boys! (See Exodus 1:15-22), again, wiping out the Seed line!  But baby Moses escaped death! (See Exodus 2:1-10).

•      God chose Moses to be the deliverer of Israel from slavery in Egypt! (See Exodus 3:7-10).  But Moses misjudged the Lord’s calling.  He tried to deliver the Israelites through murder, and had to flee for his life! (See Acts 7:23-29).  Moses – the one whom God used to bring Israel out of Egypt, and the type of Christ, the Redeemer – was wanted for murder!

•      Concerning the incidents of the golden calf (see Exodus 32:1-6) and rejection of the Promised Land (see Numbers 13:26-14:10) – the Israelites were so rebellious, it came twice to a point that God told Moses, “…let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them, and I may consume them.  And I will make of you a great nation.” (Exodus 32:10 – see also Numbers 14:12).  If Israel had been destroyed, the promised Seed through Judah could not have arrived!  Moses was of the tribe of Levi.

We have to stop here today.  But remember, God will not let anything happen to the Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ!  His redemptive plan necessitated protecting that Seed at all costs!

April 15, 2016

James 4:7-10

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

“Scat Cat!” is a phrase that some people might use – those who are not especially fond of cats!  My wife is a compassionate and loving person.  But she is not a lover of animals!  She tolerates them!  For one thing, she is allergic to animal hair and dandruff.  I like to say that I am the only animal she allows in the house!  I grew up on a dairy farm and we always had barn cats around to control the rodent population.  We three Norton boys most often had a favorite cat among the two or three dozen that roamed the barn and fields.

Satan is a kind of cat, according to I Peter 5:8:  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  They say a lion will not roar when he is hunting his prey.  He silently and stealthily stalks his target.  But when he has caught and killed his prey, he will roar his victory, announcing to all his kill!

I was attacked once by an African lion!  I worked for a man who kept wild animals as a hobby and for a private zoo.  He specialized in large felines – lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs and such.  He had one African lion named Barney whom he had raised from birth as a house pet.  Barney was less than a year old and weighed about 150 pounds.  He was a big playful kitten!  If you knelt down on one knee, Barney would run and jump with his front paws on your shoulders, nuzzling your hair and wanting to play.

One summer day with permission, I took a friend, Herm, to see the collection of animals in large cages on the lawn in front of the house.  He marveled at the fifteen or so big cats on display.  I then told Herm to follow me into the house, that I wanted to show him one more thing.  I opened the door to the large basement family room – about 30 feet by 50 feet – and dropped to one knee.  Barney saw me from across the room.  He took three leaps and was on me, nuzzling and wanting to play!  All I heard behind me was Herm yelling!  He told me later, “I knew he had you and I was next!”  It was one of Herm’s favorite stories for years!

It is no game to be pounced upon by the roaring lion, Satan!  But we have authority over him according to James 4:7 through 10:

      …submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to
      God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and
      purify your hearts, you double- minded.  Lament and mourn and weep! 
      Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.  Humble
      yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Now you cannot just resist the devil in your own power!  He is much stronger than you!  Before he fell into pride and sin, Satan was known as Lucifer (see Isaiah 12:14).  Originally he may have been the most powerful angel God ever created! (See Ezekiel 28:11-19).  But when he sinned, He lost none of his beauty or power, just his goodness!  His purpose ever since is only “…to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” (John 10:10).  He is a liar and murderer (see John 8:44), and his ultimate goal is to overthrow God and take His place! (See Isaiah 14:14; II Thessalonians 2:4).

Notice that before we resist the devil, we are to submit to God ! (verse 7).  This is where verse 8 of our featured Scripture comes in.  In order to draw near to God, we are to do four things:

•      “Cleans your hands, you sinners….”  This phrase encompasses our outward actions.  We are all sinners (see Romans 3:10, 23), and we need to alter how our life is lived out!  But to change our outward actions we need to…

•      “…purify your hearts, you double-minded.”  Jesus tell us in Matthew 12:34, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 15:19).  The Lord could easily have said, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…the feet walk, the hands move – all outward actions of life come from the heart!”  And being double-minded – that is, believers too often saying they want God’s ways, but preferring their own ways – we too often go with our ways instead of His!  But if we purify our hearts, our actions will show that we have truly drawn near to God !

•      “Lament and mourn and weep!  Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.”  Are we to have a gloomy outlook on life, and our actions express that outlook?  No!  But there are times to mourn and weep!  Do we mourn and weep over the sin we see in our lives and in the lives of others?  Do our tears flow over the lost condition of family, friends and neighbors who are not saved, who are on their way to eternal hell?  Do we lament over the sins of our nation and world?  Are we heart-sick when we hear of Christians being persecuted and even slaughtered by ISIS and other radical groups?  I think this is what James has in mind.

•      “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord….”  If we are not concerned with sin and offenses against God in our own lives and in the lives of others, it is an issue of pride that stands in our way!  For pride (selfishness) lies at the root of all sin!  We must humbly come to God and let Him deal with us!

In doing these four things, we will be drawing near to God !  And when we are living in His presence and power, we can say, “Begone, Satan! Go from us, evil lion!”  In other words, “Scat cat! ” (I do not say it in a light way).  And he will flee from you!

April 13, 2016

Romans 13:11-14

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

It’s been a month now since it started this year.  I love Daylight Savings Time!  It means not just that we have an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day, but it also signals that Spring is just around the corner! But I also like the term, Daylight Savings Time, as it applies to Romans 13:11 through 14:

      And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out
      of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed.  The
      night is far spent, the day is at hand.  Therefore let us cast off the works
      of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.  Let us walk honestly,
      as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and
      lewdness, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
      make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Darkness is often associated in the Bible with wrongdoing, evil, and God’s judgment:

•      Proverbs 2:10-15 – “…wisdom…will…deliver you from the ways of evil, from…those who leave the path of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked….”

•      Isaiah 29:15 – “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark; they say, ‘Who sees us?’ and ‘Who knows us?’ ”

•      Zechariah 1:14, 15 – “The great day of the Lord [His judgment] is near…a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness….”

•      Ephesians 5:11 – “…have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done…in secret.”

But there are wonderful Bible truths that tell us how Jesus, “…the light of the world…” (John 8:12; 9:5) has delivered us from the darkness of sin into the light of His righteous presence!

•      John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

•      John 12:46 – “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”

•      Acts 26:15-18 (from Paul’s defense before King Agrippa, explaining the Lord’s commission to him on the Damascus Road) – “…I now send you…to…the Gentiles…to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God….”

•      Colossians 1:13 – “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

•      I Thessalonians 5:4-9 – “…you…are not in darkness….You are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.  For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.  But let us who are of the day be sober….For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ….”

•      I Peter 2:9 – “…proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light….”

All the above happens when we are saved – from darkness to light in so many ways! Then is it not…

      …high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than
      when we believed…[?]  The night is far spent, the day is at hand.  Therefore
      let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 
      Let us walk honestly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not
      in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy.  But put on the
      Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

As Paul wrote in II Corinthians 6:2, “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

April 11, 2016

Psalm 135:15-18

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Notice – for the first time I have not capitalized a word in the title of a blog.  That’s because it is actually a play on words – from a phrase used in James 3:9 (the 1965 Bible is Basic English).  Actually, this is the only version that I found this exact phrase in – the only one of the 17 translations of the Bible I have in my e-Sword program I purchased and loaded into my computer.  By the way, I have found e-Sword to be one of the best Bible study programs around!  There is a free download available, but it is pretty basic.  I sent in a donation and received a CD which gives me greater resources at my disposal.

But back to James 3:9.  Speaking of the tongue, James writes, “With it we give praise to our Lord and Father; and with it we put a curse on men who are made in God’s image.”  For the blog title, I changed in God’s image to In gods’ Image!  Why?  Because of what is written in Psalm 135:15 through 18:

      The idols of the nations [the heathen in KJV] are silver and gold, the work
      of men’s hands.  They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have,
      but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; nor is there any
      breath in their mouths.  Those who make them are like them; so is every-
      one who trusts in them.

I remember a TV movie years ago about a man who is shown the afterlife.  What he sees is not heaven, nor is it hell.  It is a place where people become what they have pursued in their earthly existence.  In one scene, a woman made of fragile glass is carried in on a chair.  Why fragile glass?  Her focus in on earth was diamonds!  Another man is made of paper, for as a mortal he sought the almighty dollar!  The theme of that movie was that you become what you worship!

In 1846 James Barr Walker authored a book entitled The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation, by an American Citizen.  On page 17 he writes:

      Two facts, then, are philosophically and historically true: First, Man is a
      religious animal, and will worship something, as a superior being. Second,
      By worshipping he becomes assimilated to the moral character of the object
      which he worships.

The psalmist says the same thing! (See also Psalm 115:4-8).  We become like the gods we worship!  This is why I did not capitalize the second word in the title – gods’.  As Paul tells us in I Corinthians 8:5, “…there are many gods and many lords….”  There are physical idols of wood, stone and metal who are called gods.  There are habits and practices that can become like gods in our lives.  There are unseen spirits who are called gods.  Even Satan is called “…the god of this age…” in II Corinthians 4:4, because the devil has dominion and authority over the societies of this world! (See Luke 4:6-7).

The problem is, as the psalmist says and James Barr Walker writes, we become like that which we worship!  God designed us that way!  Paul continues in I Corinthians 8 after his statement that “…there are many gods and many lords….”  In verse 6 he says, “…yet for us there is only one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”  He is telling us to focus only on God through Jesus Christ, because we are to be like Him!  The following scriptures lay out this plan of God in more detail:

•      Romans 8:29 – “For whom He [God] foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son [Jesus Christ], that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”  God predestinates His children to be like Christ!

•      Being Conformed to His image is a process – shown in II Corinthians 3:18:  “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  The transformation happens by degrees (a process) and these degrees of the process are referred to as glory in the above Scripture.  The apostle might have written “…from glory to glory to glory to glory…” – referring to the day-by-day process of our transformation as the Holy Spirit works in us to make us more and more like Jesus! (See also I Corinthians 15:49, 50).

•      This transformation is completed, according to I John 3:2, when we see our Lord Jesus face to face – “…when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Since we are designed that way by our Creator, if we focus on a false god or gods, we will become more and more like them!  As it says in Psalm 135:18, “Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.”  The problem, as the psalmist points out in verses 16 and 17, is that false gods are lifeless – “They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; nor is there any breath in their mouths.”  Compare this to Jesus who is “…the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6).  And He is the One who came so we “…may have life, and that…[we] may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).

The point is this:  Be careful what you make as your gods!  For you will end up like them!  I choose Jesus!

April 8, 2016

I Peter 1:6-9

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

This is the second installment from I Peter 1:3-9 – the last four verses:

      In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you
      have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith,
      being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by
      fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus
      Christ, whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see
      Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
      receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls.

In the last blog we saw how we have “…a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (I Peter 1:3), the hope of heaven, and the fact that we “…are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (I Peter 1:4 and 5).  But now we learn in our featured Scripture that the Christians to whom Peter is writing are “…grieved by various trials [and]…tested by fire…” (I Peter 1:6 and 7).

What trials of fire might these followers of Jesus Christ have been experiencing?  First let’s identify these recipients of Peter’s epistle.  Peter writes in I Peter 1:2, “To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Capadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”  These provinces named are in Asia Minor.  Why were these disciples so widely dispersed?  The pilgrims of the Dispersion were most likely Jews, although some scholars identify them as Gentiles because of such references in I Peter as 1:14 & 18; 2:9 & 10; and 4:3 & 4.  But, indeed, they were Christians, and suspicion, rumors, and persecution against them were growing!

Peter was writing from Rome, where he ministered about 25 years before his martyrdom.  In I Peter 5:13 (International Standard Version), the apostle closes his epistle with this:  “Your sister church in Babylon, chosen along with you, sends you greetings….”  But few think he was in the Babylon of Mesopotamia.  It is far more likely Peter was in Rome (see Revelation 14:8; 17:5, 6, 18).  The traditional date of Peter’s martyrdom is AD 67.  But I found a very convincing argument for an earlier date at https://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/PETEMART.HTM.  In this article, written by epigraphologist and archeologist Margherita Guarducci, she sets the date of Peter’s death in AD 64, on October 13.  Tradition has it Peter was crucified in Rome, upside down, because he did not feel worthy to die in the same position as his Lord!  This early date is less than three months after the great fire that destroyed up to 70 percent of the city of Rome!

Many people thought the current and unpopular emperor, Nero, had himself started the fire – to prepare space to build a more glorious Rome.  Nero, in turn, blamed the Christians, who were already under growing suspicion for spreading anti-empire ideas.  Christians did indeed serve another King – Jesus Christ!  Some pagans even thought the believers practiced cannibalism, since they regularly partook “…of the body and blood of the Lord.” (I Corinthians 11:27 – see also John 6:51-56).

I Peter is thought to have been written just before this early date, in AD 63 or 64.  “…the fiery trial which is to try you…,” (I Peter 4:12) may very well be the unrest that was building against Christians, and that culminated in horrific persecution after the fire and in the last part of AD 64.  This continued off and on for the next two and a half centuries!  Some have dated the first half of the epistle at just before the fire, and the last half just after (based on comparing I Peter 1:6 and 7 – the approaching trial – with I Peter 4:12 – the trial now upon them).

But how is it that these persecuted believers could “…rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory…” (I Peter 1:8)?  Peter points out several reasons – the first three explained in Wednesday’s blog:

•      I Peter 1:3 – We are “…begotten…again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead….”  Jesus suffered even unto death!  But the resurrection was His victory – and it is also ours!

•      I Peter 1:4 – “…to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you….”  Something so much better is coming than what this old world can offer!  As Paul wrote in Romans 8:18:  “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

•      I Peter 1:5 – We “…are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  And God’s ‘keeping power’ is mighty! (See John 10:27-31).

The second four are found in today’s featured Scripture:

•      I Peter 1:7 – “…the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory….”  Faith grows by trials and testings! (See Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4).  And the goal of that growth is that we are to be becoming more and more like Jesus Christ! (See Romans 8:29; II Corinthians 3:18).

•      I Peter 1:7 – “…at the revelation of Jesus Christ….”  Jesus is coming again, and He will then reward those who have been faithful to Him! (See Matthew 16:27; 25:34-40; I Corinthians 3:11-14; II Timothy 4:8; James 1:12; Revelation 22:12).

•      I Peter 1:8 – “…Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.”  Why do we love Him?  Because “…He first loved us.” (I John 4:19 – see also Romans 5:8; I John 3:16).

•      I Peter 5:8 – “…believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory….”  Only God could give us such joy and glory as we go through trials! (See Deuteronomy 33:25; II Corinthians 12:9, 10).  I believe this is part of what Jesus promised when He said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

•      I Peter 5:9 – “…receiving the end of your faith — the salvation of your souls.”  This is the goal we must keep in mind! (See Hebrews 12:1-3).  And, as Paul said in I Corinthians 2:9 (quoting Isaiah 64:4):  “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

All this is the secret to inexpressible joy, even in the midst of severe trials!