Blogging thru the Gospels–Day 1

John 1:1–18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

The first chapter of the Gospel of John begins by introducing Jesus Christ. It is a masterful introduction. Whether or not you believe this introduction is a litmus test of your faith.

 

1. The Relationships of Christ (John 1:1–5)

One of the greatest passages in the Bible is the first five verses of the Gospel of John. It shows Christ’s relationship to God, the galaxies and the Gospel. You must get the subject of these five verses correct if your doctrine is to be correct. The time covered in these first five verses is from before time began (creation of the universe) all the way to the victory of Christ on the earth in the future.

A.     His relationship to God.

This relationship is vital to Christ’s identity. First, His designation. “The Word” (John 1:1). Words reveal thoughts. Christ is the great revealer of God’s thoughts (Hebrews 1:1, 2; John 1:18). That is why He speaks of Himself as the “Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 1:11). Alpha and Omega are the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet. The expression “Alpha and Omega” takes in all the letters of the alphabet. Letters make words. Christ is all the words to reveal God. Second, His duration. “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). The beginning refers to the creation. Christ was in existence before the creation. He did not come into being at Bethlehem. The word translated “was” in John 1:1, 2 is in the imperfect tense meaning continuous action in past time. This speaks of the eternality of Christ. He has always existed. Third, His dwelling. “With God” (John 1:1). Jesus did not live with Mary Magdalene as some critics want us to believe, He lived with God. Fourth, His deity. “The Word was God” (John 1:1). You cannot make the fact of the deity of Christ any plainer than this last statement in John 1:1. The deity of Christ is taught absolutely and clearly in the Scriptures. This statement not only teaches it but so does the duration of Christ teach it.

B.     His relationship to the galaxies.

The next significant relationship John gives of Christ is His relationship to creation. It certainly invalidates any evolutionary ideas. First, the extent of the creation. “All things were made by him” (John 1:3). Christ did it all. What power, what genius! To emphasize this truth, John adds it again only in the negative, “And without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). One of the habits of John in his writing is to state a fact in the positive then to follow with a negative (see John 1:20, 3:36, 8:23; I John 1:5 and 4:6). Second, the energy for the creation. “Made” (John 1:3). The word translated “made” means “to be made or created from nothing” (Zodhiates). What enormous power to create the universe out of nothing! Christ did it! Third, the exclusiveness of the creation. “All things were made by him … without him” (John 1:3). There is no room for evolution in this statement. Christ did all the creating. The world of unbelief hates this truth.

C.     His relationship to the Gospel.

The important information for the sinner is this fact about Christ and the Gospel. First, the remedy in Christ. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Death and darkness are the product of sin. But life and light are a product of salvation, and soul salvation is all in Jesus Christ. Second, the radiating of Christ. “The light shineth in darkness” (John 1: 5). This speaks of the Incarnation and the grace of God. Christ came to a world of darkness to shine a light of salvation (John 8:12). Third, the reaction to Christ. “The darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5). The word translated “comprehendeth” has a twofold meaning here. It can speak of (1) rejection, for it can mean not received—Christ was not received well; He was not perceived as essential. It can also speak of (2) rebellion—it can mean to overtake and to conquer. The “not” in this text means Christ will not be conquered or overwhelmed. As an example, Christ will destroy the antichrist by the brightness of His coming (II Thessalonians 2:8).

 

2. The Response to Christ (John 1:10–13, 16)

Christ came into the world to help the world through the work of the Gospel. John records the response to Christ.

A.     The rejection response.

In spite of Who Christ was and what He had done, He still was rejected by many. First, the rejection was inexcusable “He was in the world, and the world was made by him” (John 1:10). In spite of the presence of Christ (“in the world”) and the power of Christ (“the world was made by him”), He was still rejected. Such a rejection was totally inexcusable. Second, the rejection was of ignorance. “The world knew him not” (John 1:10). The world knows many things, education is high in the world’s priorities, yet in all their knowledge they did not know the most important. They did not know Jesus. All the great institutions of learning are condemned by this failure. Third, it was insulting. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). This speaks of the rejection of Christ by the Jews. They rejected Him in spite of privilege. The problems of the Jews today is the result of the rejection of Christ by the nation. Once Christ is received, the Middle East crisis will be over!

B.     The reception response.

Some received Christ, however. First, the position from the reception. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). Receiving Christ results in the greatest blessing one can have, namely, becoming a son of God an expression that speaks of conversion. Receiving Christ puts us into the family of God. We become His children. Second, the people for the reception. “To them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Those who become the children of God gain this blessing not by church membership or baptism or other work but by believing in Christ. He is the way to salvation. One either receives or rejects Christ. Only those who “believe” on Him gain salvation. Third, the process in the reception. “Which were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). This is the first verse of the Gospel of John to speak of salvation as the new birth. The new birth (salvation) is not a result of human heritage (“not of blood”) nor works (“will of flesh”) or by proxy (“will of man”); no preacher or priest can forgive your sins. But one is saved by God (“of God”). Fourth, the product of reception. “Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). All the redeemed have received “grace for grace” which is the piling up of blessing on blessing. It is not grace for works, but grace for grace. Salvation blessings are continually piling up in abundance.

 

3. The Residency of Christ (John 1:14)

This is a great text on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. It speaks of His coming to earth to reside among mankind.

A.     The means of the residency.

“The Word was made flesh” (John 1:14). This is a great mystery but speaks of the duo-nature of Christ. He was very God (“Word”) and very man (“flesh”). He was Deity in human form.

B.     The manifestation of the residency.

“Dwelt among us” (John 1:14). First, the nature of the manifestation. The word translated “dwelt” means to tent or tabernacle. The tabernacle in the wilderness in Moses’ time is a great type of Christ. There are three types of Christ in the first chapter of John. The sanctuary (tabernacle/“dwelt”), the sheep (“lamb”), and the steps (ladder—John 1:51). Second, the necessity of the manifestation. Christ came into the world this first time to reveal God (John 1:18) and to redeem sinful man (I Timothy 1:15).

C.     The meditating on the residency.

“We beheld” (John 1:14). First, the devotion in the meditating. The word translated “beheld” means a continuous contemplation. It is not a casual, curious look but a serious study of and devotion to Christ through diligent beholding. Second, the duty of the meditating. “Beheld.” After God has given us such a marvelous manifestation of Himself in Christ, we have a duty to behold it. Third, the delight of the meditating. “We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). The experience would bring delight.

D.     The manner of the residency.

This speaks of the way in which Christ showed Himself to mankind. “Full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). First, the rareness of the manner. “Full of grace and truth.” Grace speaks of warmth, devotion, help, the Gospel. Truth speaks of wisdom, doctrine, holiness, Sinai, law. Man has a tendency to be strong in one or the other. Second, the fullness of the manner. “Full of grace and truth.” Christ had an abundance of both. He was not unbalanced. Third, the essentialness of the manner. “Grace and truth.” We need both. We do not want the apostates’ message that makes the benevolence of God preeminent and the holiness of God incidental, for that will send all to heaven and make heaven an unholy and unpleasant place. But neither do we want the thunderings of Mt. Sinai alone which make the holiness of God eclipse the grace of God, for that takes away any hope and sends all to hell. Gospel is truth and grace. It is truth in that it indicts sinners, but grace in that it invites sinners; it is grace in that it offers pardon, but truth in that it requires Calvary. Truth condemns the sinner; grace commends the Savior. The Psalmist describes the Gospel as a wonderful combination of grace and truth. “Mercy [grace] and truth are met together; righteousness [truth] and peace [grace] have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10).

 

4. The Replacement by Christ (John 1:17)

“The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

What Christ brings is better than the law. The book of Hebrews emphasizes this truth when it speaks of a “better” covenant and “better” promises (Hebrews 8:6).

5. The Revelation by Christ (John 1:18)

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18).

[1]  The word translated “declared” is the key to the fact of the revelation in Christ. This word means to exegete, to make known, open up, reveal. Christ reveals God to us.

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[1]  John G. Butler, Analytical Bible Expositor: John (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2009). 9–13.

Blogging Thru the Gospels - Day 01

Introducing the The Book of Luke - Luke 1:1–4

¹ Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, ² just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, ³ it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

The first few verses of this chapter explain the aim of the book of Luke (which is called the “former treatise” in Acts 1:1).

 

1. The Precedence for the Aim (Luke 1:1,2)

The book of Luke had a precedence for its writing. Luke cites that precedence in the first two verses of the book.

A.     The many in the precedence.

“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us” (Luke 1:1).

The “many” includes more than just the writers of the Gospels in the canon of the Scriptures. “Many” includes those who had written only portions of the record of Christ. Only Matthew and Mark of the four Gospels had written their Gospel accounts before Luke wrote his account. So “many” would hardly be appropriate for a reference to just the first two Gospel writers.

B.     The message in the precedence.

“Those things which are most surely believed among us” (Luke 1:1).

We note two things about the message.

1.      First, the facts of the message.

“Those things.” - This was the Gospel message, the message about Jesus Christ.

2.      Second, the faith in the message.

“Believed among us.” - Luke’s message is not about doubts but about what was believed. We need more messages of this kind today.

3.      • The men in the precedence.

The character of the men who had given the earlier accounts of the work of Christ is given here. First, their witness.

“Which from the beginning were eyewitnesses” (Luke 1:2).

Those who had written the earlier accounts were very qualified to write, for they were writing from a personal experience of witnessing the ministry of Christ.

Second, their work.

 “Ministers of the word” (Luke 1:2).

The early writers had high qualifications to verify their writing.  “Ministers of the word” speaks of high character.  We have many ministers today, but few who are “ministers of the word.”

 

2. The Preparation for the Aim (Luke 1:3)

Luke was the only Gentile to write a book of the Bible, but was well qualified to do so.  A physician (Colossians 4:14), he was a companion of Paul on some of Paul’s missionary travels.

A.     The approval in the preparation.

“It seemed good to me also” (Luke 1:3).

“It seemed good to me” was the inspiration and leading of God to write the Gospel of Luke.  You must have the inspiration and leading of God to adequately serve Him.

B.     The awareness in the preparation.

“Having had perfect [complete] understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1:3).

Luke was not writing out of hearsay. He knew whereof he was writing. He was well acquainted with the record of Christ and, therefore, was most competent to write about it. Preachers need to likewise be well acquainted with the Word of God, so when they get in their pulpits they can declare the Word of God with clarity and certainty.

 

3. The Plan in the Aim (Luke 1:3)

Luke had a definite plan in making this Gospel record.  Note the method in the plan. “To write” (Luke 1:3). Luke’s method of proclaiming the ministry of Jesus Christ was to put it in writing. This was not an oral witness but a written witness.

Note also the manner in the plan. “In order” (Luke 1:3). The meaning of “in order” is to report the events in Christ’s life in consecutive order, that is, in the order in which they occurred. While all of the four Gospels progress in a general sequential order of the life of Christ, Luke is the most accurate in the order of the events. In contrast to Luke, Matthew grouped the events in Christ’s life according to subject.

 

4. The Person in the Aim (Luke 1:3)

“Unto thee … most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3).

Luke wrote his record primarily for one person (cp. Acts 1:1). While the book is for all people to read and study, Luke states at the beginning that he was writing this account to one man just as Paul stated to whom he was writing his epistles.

He mentions the name of the person. “Theophilus” (Luke 1:3). The name means “lover of God” (Zodhiates). Theophilus evidently became what his name means. In like manner, we need Christians who live their name of Christian.

See the nobility of the person. “Most excellent” (Luke 1:3). This title given Theophilus can indicate his character or his rank or both. Using the term “most excellent” is like saying “your Honor” to a judge. It denotes considerable rank. The same word was used for Claudius Lysias in Acts 23:26 and translated “most excellent.” It was used by Paul of Felix and translated “most noble” (Acts 24:3). The same term was used of Festus by Paul and translated “most noble” (Acts 26:25).

 

5. The Purpose in the Aim (Luke 1:4)

Luke states the purpose of his Gospel account right at the beginning of the account.

Luke desires to point out the certainty of instruction.

“That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed” (Luke 1:4).

Luke desires that Theophilus not be in doubt about his spiritual knowledge. If there is anything we need to be certain about it is spiritual truths. Today, if we want to be certain of what we believe, we must study the Word of God. Failure to study the Word leads to uncertainty and unbelief.

He also desires Theophilus to know the confirmation of the instruction.

“…Wherein thou has been instructed” (Luke 1:4).

Theophilus had evidently been instructed in the Gospel on one of Paul’s missionary journeys. Now Luke would confirm the validity of those instructions. The Gospel of Jesus Christ rests on the best support of all. It has great evidence to prove its claim (cp. Acts 1:3).

Blogging Thru the Gospels – Day 01

Introducing Matthew and Mark

Matthew 1:1

·         Cp. Ruth 4:18–22; 1 Chr. 1:34, 2:1–15; Luke 3:31–34

¹ The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

1. The Preface of the Ancestry (Matthew 1:1)

“The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” - There are other “generations” in the Bible. They speak of history. The first “generations” concerns creation—“These are the generations of the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 2:4). The New Testament also opens with “generations.” It is the last “generations” in the Bible It is the climax of all “generations.” It is the “generations” of Jesus Christ and declares that the theme of the New Testament is Christ. Significantly, Christ is the very first person mentioned in the New Testament. So from the very first verse of the New Testament, the spotlight is on Jesus Christ. While this “generations” refers specifically to the human pedigree of Christ, in principle it also refers to and introduces the earthly history of Jesus Christ on earth.[1]

Jesus Christ is the title most often used of the Savior. Jesus (Gr Iēsous; Heb Yehoshua) is His earthly name, meaning “saviour.” Christos is the Greek translation for “messiah” or “anointed.” Technically: Jesus the Christ.

2. The Purpose of the Ancestry (Matthew 1:1)

Son of David.[2] By tracing Jesus’ ancestry back to King David, through the line of Davidic kings, Matthew connects Jesus with His royal heritage. Despite six centuries of vacancy on the royal throne, the Messiah must be of royal descent. The genealogy here is that of Joseph, Jesus’ legal father, whereas the genealogy of Luke 3:23–38 is that of Mary, His actual parent, showing His blood line back to David. The author’s purpose is to show that the messianic promises made to David’s line are fulfilled in Jesus.

Son of Abraham. He is also the fulfillment of the covenant promises to Abraham, the forefather of the Jews (cf. Gen 12:3; 13:15; 22:18). Since Matthew is writing primarily to Jewish readers, he naturally begins by emphasizing Jesus’ Jewish parentage.

The purpose of this ancestry is to give the royal pedigree of Jesus Christ to prove His claim to the throne of David. It was promised to Abraham that Christ should descend from him (Genesis 12:3; 22:18), and it was promised to David that Christ should descend from him (2 Samuel 7:12; Psalm 132:11). So for Christ to claim to be the Messiah and the inheritor of David’s throne, it must be established that He is the son of Abraham and the son of David. This ancestry does indeed prove that Christ is Whom He claimed to be, namely, the Messiah and King of Israel. This ancestry thus provides a great connecting link to the Old Testament. Though Christ had the pedigree to claim He was the Messiah and King of Israel, He was still rejected by Israel, which is the root cause of their present-day problems. However, had the Israelites in Christ’s day earnestly checked the ancestry of Christ, they would have known, without question, that Jesus Christ was indeed the inheritor of the crown of David. He has the royal pedigree to prove it!

Mark 1:1

·         Cp. Matt. 3:1–11; Luke 3:3–16; John 1:19–34

¹ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

1. The Person for the Herald (Mark 1:1)

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). The message or proclamation, which John the Baptist will give, is the message of the book of Mark. It is about Jesus Christ. The Gospels put the focus on Christ.

A.     The communication about the Person.

“Gospel” (Mark 1:1). The word means good news. Mark is going to write good news about Jesus Christ. And indeed no news is better news for the world than the news about Jesus Christ.

B.     The character of the Person.

“Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). This title depicts Christ in three ways. [3]

First, as Savior. “Jesus” means Savior. Jesus can save us from our sins. And only He can save us.   Second, as Messiah. “Christ.” This means the Anointed One which refers to Israel’s promised Messiah.  Third, as God. “Son of God” expresses the Deity identification of Christ.

Mark does not waste words here about the character identity of Jesus Christ. The threefold identification of Christ is a masterpiece of conciseness. We must be right on the identity of Christ or we have no “gospel” to proclaim.

[1]          John G. Butler, Analytical Bible Expositor: Matthew (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2008). 9–10.

[2]           KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997). 1869.

[3]           John G. Butler, Analytical Bible Expositor: Mark (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2008). 9–10.

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The Real Test (Portrait of an Arrogant King (Part 3)

The Real Test (Portrait of an Arrogant King (Part 3)

     Verse 13 reveals the real leadership test God was giving Saul. Look how the last part reads:

…for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. (13:13)

     The sad news for Saul is, God has looked for a man after His own heart -- and God has found him -- and it’s not you, Saul. You have failed God’s final exam.
     I see at least three questions Saul was asked that day. Here’s one: Let’s ask ourselves how we do with each one.

1.  How do you react when your circumstances grow huge and your resources shrink?

     You can’t help but remember a similar situation with Gideon in Judges 7. Like Saul, Gideon had looked at a huge force across a valley. Gideon’s enemies were the Midianites. But after Gideon had a significant force together, the Lord came and said, “you’ve got too fighting men, Gideon!“ The reason was, if they’d been victorious, Israel would boasted of their great victory.

     God thinned them out -- anyone who was fearful was told to go home. 32,000 troops shrank to 10,000 by that means. But God came again and said, “Gideon, it’s still too many.” So Gideon was told, take them down to the water -- any soldier who bent down to lap water like a dog was sent home. Anyone who dipped a hand in water to drink while still looking alertly around, was kept. Gideon’s force dropped from 10,000 to 300. You can read the rest of the story -- Judges 7 -- but it’s just one more testimony of the Truth Saul never learned. God is your rescuer. He is your national security, your defender, your strength, your hope when the crisis strikes! His people and nation exist by His hand and He will continue to be its defense.

     A second question from Saul‘s test paper:

2.  How do you respond when God’s schedule conflicts with yours?

     Through Samuel God simply told Saul, “wait.” Don’t act on your own, don’t make your own decision, don’t jump ahead. Wait for Samuel. You wait for God to show up and for God to work in the way that only God can! Saul held out for most of the prescribed time, but then he caved at the last minute. In the spiritual life, that attitude is hidden arrogance. It’s when Saul -- and we, revert to, “I’m in charge, so I’m going to do what I want to do!“ Saul was arrogant, he was impatient and impulsive and he was in sin.
     The third test question: the most important of all:

3.  How do you respond, when God is all you have?

     We get so used to our resources, and quick-fixes, and tools and abilities and people at our disposal to help us out of tight situations. And those are well and good; but the time comes when God pushes our backs to the wall, he pushes us to the edge of the cliff, especially as leaders -- and He tests us by taking away what we are so used to having and depending on. Suddenly we’re at the brick wall. Maybe it’s when a job evaporates. Or there is simply no money, in spite of good spending habits. Maybe it’s the diagnosis that doesn‘t leave any wiggle room. Or, our spouse gets taken from us. As a leader, maybe, you’ve got a vision of what God wants to do, but you’ve got no partners to help accomplish it. When all the props get kicked out -- the ones we’ve relied so often -- then what? Saul just drove ahead in a very human way -- and the results were catastrophic.
     This test means two battles were brewing that day. See, for God’s leader the real battle isn’t the one with the Philistines, it is the one going on inside him. And it’s that battle and that battle alone which will settle some fundamental issues -- issues like, “who is really in control of all of life? -- Is it God, or is it me?” If you’re a leader at any level, that control issue is the one with which you’ll repeatedly have to wrestle. The other is the faith issue: “in what or in Whom am I trusting?”
     Now don’t think Saul turned in a blank test booklet that day. He had answers to those questions -- but they were the “way wrong” answers! That’s because his answers flowed from a world view and life view which were defective and deficient.

Think with me about Saul’s view of God.
     From our NT perspective we look at Saul offering the sacrifices and don’t quite get it. What’s so seriously wrong. From an OT perspective, Saul operating as if God was not absolutely holy. There was a God-prescribed way and there were God-prescribed people who could offer sacrifices. The king of all people was to understand God and His Law and hold them in reverence. For Saul to take up the offerings was to spurn God’s holiness. Our dumbed-down Americanized view of God has done the same for us -- we’ve treated God has good, but certainly not as holy.
     The way Saul offered the sacrifices also tells us He viewed God as a good-luck charm. Notice, he wasn’t going to God in prayer day by day as the situation would have warranted -- it was out of desperation that God became the accessory his life and leadership needed. It’s sort of like when we start asking God to work when our ideas and attempts have failed, or that we pray only when a situation becomes absolutely critical.
     Saul’s view of God also seems to be Someone to be obeyed if and when circumstances allow it. This was an emergency, a special case, so disregarding righteousness was permissible.
    This is the “I know what God says, but” theory of life and morality and behavior. God is not large to Saul, He’s small. God is not Holy, He overlooks sin. God is not serious, His commands are suggestions.
    Do you understand that your view of God determines how you approach every area of life. It certainly will determine your view of leadership. Because Saul’s view of God was defective, Saul’s view of leadership was also deficient.

• He believed that people’s actions should determine a leader’s course. His army was down to practically nothing, more people were taking off, so Saul simply took things into his own hands.
• He believed waiting on God would bring disaster. He learned that the opposite is true.
• Not waiting for God to transform his view and Israel’s situation that day brought disaster into his life that day. Disaster would mark him for the rest of his life and reign.
• He believed that doing something (even disobeying) was better than doing "nothing" (waiting on God).
• Saul was an activist, obviously. He’d waited long enough. But he hadn’t spent time in God’s presence, had not leadership from God. He’s a model of what it looks like to make up your own mind about your life and future and ask God to bless it.
• He believed God could be manipulated for the leader’s advantage.
• Saul’s greatest error that day was in how he treated God. Life and leadership and battle was all about Saul; he’d missed it completely. He didn’t understand that his relationship with God was the most critical element in his life and reign. He didn’t maintain accountability to God and his lack of leadership was the evidence.

Steps Any Leader or Politician Should Take

     If there is something we could take away from this day of testing in Saul’s life, I think it would be three profound Truths about God that we need to chew on and begin to grasp their ramifications for all we’re about. Both our self-centered culture and a self-oriented Christianity in the Church in America have helped us long deny their validity but they are True none the less and the sooner you grasp them and begin to live accordingly, the sooner you will live life under God and become His brand of leader.
     They are profound but they are quite simple.

Truth one: God is God.
     Doesn’t matter that we have sidelined Him. God has become like the field-goal kicker we call on when we’re in a pinch and we want Him to come save the day. God’s not interested in a bit part in your life, He will be God and King and Lord. Deal with it!

Truth two: God can be trusted.
     It does not matter what your situation and circumstance tell you; it does not matter that every possible wrong thing happen or that death itself comes to stalk you -- God can be trusted, because He is God. Grow in your trust. Learn His Character and determine to grow in your faith, especially if you want to grow in your leadership.

Truth three: God is to be obeyed.
     We have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to a soft squeezable, sweet God who doesn’t worry about sin anymore. Our view of Him has become a harmless sweet gentle God we can call upon from time to time. God requires our faithfulness to Him. The greater one grows in leadership, the higher the degree of accountability to God, not the less.

Saul Rashly Steps In (Portrait of an Arrogant King - Part 2)

Saul Rashly Steps In (Portrait of an Arrogant King (Part 2)

     We read that Samuel made an appointment with Saul: he said, he’ll come to front lines in a week. There, he would do what a prophet or priest of God would normally do -- he would make an offering to God and call on God to be gracious and favorable to His people once more. His presence would remind the little army that was left of God’s great power and ability in spite of their diminished resources.
     6.9 of the 7 appointed days pass -- Samuel hasn’t come!
     Saul rashly steps in -- and orders the materials for the burnt offerings and peace offering be brought to him -- and he offers them up himself. And, like he was on cue, while the smoke of the meat and incense are still in the air, Samuel arrives.
     At this point in the account, we get God’s view of what was going on that day. Look at verse 10:

10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.

     Saul goes out to meet Samuel -- it says, he greeted him. That word greet carried the idea of blessing. God’s blessing on you, Samuel, man of God! It means to bless another, to commend, i.e., speak words invoking divine favor, with the intent that the object will have favorable circumstances or state at a future time. Saul goes and blesses Samuel and he expects Samuel, in light of his actions, to bless him in return. It speaks of a positive verbal exchange for some goodness with the expectation of the same thing in return. It is used in Genesis 1:22 for instance:

22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

     David used it in Psalm 63:4 to speak of worship:

4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.

     All of this is very similar to the sense it is used here. There is almost a cheerful and upbeat sense of its’ use in the passage in view here.
     Notice there’s no word about what he’d just done. It is not clear whether or not Saul realizes the enormity of what he has done or not. It is difficult to see how it would be that could not realize it, but it is clear that somehow, he had entered into the Priest’s realm and taken it upon himself to offer this sacrifice by his own hand and was, even now, in Samuel’s presence, with no twinge of conscience. We must remember that Saul heads into mental illness as his reign progresses…but there is little indication that this is present as of yet. But it is clear that he was not entirely clear in his mind about what he had done.
     Samuel doesn’t bless Saul in return. He just issues a terse question: “What have you done?” Saul, like most of us when we’ve sinned, had some great excuses all ready.

Excuse #1 - The Needs of the People

     The first is in verse 11: the people were scattering from me!! Samuel, I had to do something to get the people to stay focused and loyal and not also run away. Saul sacrificed Righteousness on the altar of fear. He did the expedient to keep people around.

Excuse #2 - What Appropriate to Now

     His second excuse -- You did not come within the appointed time!! Now, just a note -- but in verse 8 we read, he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel. Samuel said he’d be there in seven days. And when did Samuel come? On that seventh day. What Saul saw as urgent dictated something had to happen, even if it was something sinful.

Excuse #3 - The Urgency of the Immediate!

     The third excuse: the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, “now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal.” In reality, if you read the text, you see the Philistines were camped, not advancing. But Saul looks at the situation and interprets it to mean, defeat is imminent and -- he just thought he’d go ahead and see if he could get God to step in and act. We’ll talk more about what’s behind his thinking.
     Saul’s all about shifting blame and responsibility. Like many leaders, he will not admit his rash act and sin. Like a lot of people, he wanted authority but no responsibility. He lusted for power but rejected accountability. He wanted command over the nation, but would not submit to the leadership of God or others. That particular crossroads of character always significantly determines a leader’s success or failure.
     Samuel rejects Saul’s flimsy excuses, then rebukes him for his foolishness.
     Then he pulls back the curtain on what God was doing that day in Saul’s situation -- and shows him what he had not seen because the immediate had so blocked his view of God.

Portrait of an Arrogant King

1 Samuel 13:5-15

 

     Robert Clinton has studied and written a great deal about leadership. Clinton has come to the conclusion that over 70% of leaders don’t finish well. For Christian leaders, he offers six factors that contribute to leadership failure.

• • One is, leaders quit learning and growing. Contentment is a killer.
• • In second place is character weakness.
• • Third leaders stop living according to their convictions.
• • The fourth factor is, they stop living and leading for the sake of the long-term and settle for the short-term.
• • Fifth, they forget their influence and purpose.
• • Finally and most critically, leaders who end poorly lose (or perhaps never had any?) their vibrant relationship with God.

     The Bible gives a study of an OT leader who not only ended poorly, his whole life and rule are a case study in bad leadership. He was Saul, the first king of Israel. We could call this account a “portrait of a politician“. One reason for that is, he lived for his image. When you study the chapters dealing with Saul’s reign you can’t help thinking, this guy was a leader who lived for the “photo-op“. He cared much more about people’s opinion than he did about God’s. Saul also made decisions repeatedly without consulting God.
     He was incurably jealous -- his jealousy gushed from his great self-centeredness. And, Saul disobeyed God without hesitation because of a drive to hold on to power.
     We could go back and start in chapter 8 of 1 Samuel. His account began: the nation came to the aging prophet Samuel and demanded a king -- mostly, because they wanted to be like other nations. And -- to the prophet’s utter amazement -- God granted their request.
     Between that beginning in chapter 8 and where we pick up in chapter 13, Saul was publicly designated as king, by Samuel and by God -- that was in chapters 9 and 10. One of the new king’s first challenges was from the Ammonites, who threatened Jabesh-gilead. God’s Spirit came powerfully on Saul -- he slaughtered a yoke of oxen, and he sent pieces throughout Israel, and threatened he’d do the same to the oxen of anyone who did not come to the defense of their fellow Israelites. That move produced a force of 330,000 troops -- and ended in huge victory for Israel. That’s in chapter 11.
     In chapter 12, Samuel again warns God’s people. Notice up in chapter 12 -- there’s a powerful assurance of God’s continued graciousness toward His people. Look for just a minute at 12, verse 20. They’ve already confessed it was evil to ask for a king. And Samuel says, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside." (1 Samuel 12:20, 21)
     Then comes this powerful promise of God’s grace --

"For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself."

     Then -- with intense seriousness -- Samuel reminded them of a Truth Israel was so prone to forget. It won’t be their king, it won’t be their army which will give them security and deliverance from enemies, it will be their God Who will defend them -- as He’s done again and again in their history.
Saul’s Predicament
     In chapter 13, things get dicey again, for Israel and their new king. We’re going to see, this is a test from God -- it’s an examination over the Truth Samuel just told them.
     Saul’s son Jonathan has attacked a Philistine garrison. And the Philistines reacted -- with a massive build-up of force against Israel. As things continue, the situation goes from bad to worse. Verse 5 reports, the Philistines’ army included 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen. There’s no number of foot soldiers, but we find out, it’s huge.
     Saul again has to summon Israel to war, even though he’s just sent them home. But there’s a problem: the volunteers this time are few and far between -- and when those who do come see the Philistine hordes their numbers start evaporating. The image of their opponents is in verse 5 -- we’re told the forces were like the sand on the seashore -- it would remind you of one of those massive battle forces in Lord of the Rings.

5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.

     So naturally, verse 6, when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people began to hide themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars and in pits. Some put the river between themselves and the battle front. And the few that were left at the end of verse 7, with Saul at Gilgal followed him with trembling.

6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. 

As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. (6-7)

     What a change in circumstances from chapter 11! There we have a great victory - 330,000 troops, the blessing of God…everything Saul and his men did prospered and it resulted in his coronation. Now…

     I’ve never been at a battle front, but I can imagine, no line officer or commanding officer would want either these odds or the morale described here. Saul was looking, on the one hand, at vastly overwhelming odds -- on the other at his little rag-tag group full of depressed morale. Saul becomes a desperate leader. And we discover that God has prepared this circumstance to test him.

     That’s an odd and counter-intuitive thing, isn’t? Think of the situation a moment. Not as a whole, but in its specifics. Saul was not the only one that was involved in this terrible situation. There were thousands of others! As we look at this event, we must also recognize that many died and were crippled and wounded. There were many wives made windows, many children left without fathers. Towns were destroyed, and the land was gravely marred; animals killed or left needing to be put down. Animosities between the two peoples upheld or were fed. All of this, with virtually all of those involved kept in the dark. Most of those who did the fighting and participated in the battles knew nothing of what was going on and would know nothing as it had nothing to do with them. Theirs was simply to obey those whom God had placed in authority over them.

     No, all of this was used by God as a test for King Saul.

     Those who dabble in the "is or is this not fair" dilemma; are stuck with a real problem here. After all, from their point of view, who is God to manipulate and use people's lives like that? What right does "he have" to cause that kind of suffering and that kind of horror just to pursue His goals?

     Their failing is in their inability to see that God is not Being of the same kind as we are. That is, He is not a created being and thus is not under the authority and the rulership of another. This is hateful to the unredeemed. They despise being under God's authority. They desire to be an authority unto themselves.

     This is what is demonstrated in Saul’s life at this point. He taps his foot impatiently waiting for Samuel to come, his impatience and his rage growing, and at the last moment he can't wait any longer! We see the result in the rest of this section tommorow!

No Stopping Diving Wrath - 1 Samuel 12:25

22 For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” (1 Samuel 12:22–25)

    It hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. This shows the election of Israel as God’s special people. The word used here (Heb ˓am) corresponds to the New Testament word (Gr λαος) which is used so often to show the sustained relationship of the church to God as His people. The Septuagint has, “The Lord has graciously taken you to himself as his people.” It is in this light that Samuel pledges to pray for the people of the Lord and promises the continued prophetic function of teaching them the good and right way.

    But this great blessing carries with great responsibility. That responsibility had been brought home time and again to Israel, from the time of Abraham (and before) forward. God chastened and judged again and again in His people's lives. This would be no different. In fact, with the increasing knowledge that was growing in the life of the nation, came an increase in their responsibility and, hence an increase in the judgment that followed when they fell into sin.
    The final sentence Samuel spoke to an all-Israelite assembly is perhaps the most ominous of his career. In eight words (Hebrew) it summarizes the judgments of the Torah and foresees the ultimate futility of Israel’s experiment with kingship.

“If you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away” (v. 25).

    The verbal phrase translated in the NIV as “persist in doing evil” (lit., “if bringing about evil you should do evil”) is an emphatic one, meant to heighten the emotional intensity of the prophet’s warning. The message is a pointed one, and strikes at the heart of Israel’s problem. The nation’s real threat was not external, that is, one that could be faced and defeated by a king who would go out and lead Israel in battle (cf. 8:20). Rather it was internal and spiritual. The malignant faith condition that caused Israel to demand a king in preference to restoring a relationship with God was what would ultimately cause the nation to “be swept away” (v. 25; a form of sāpâ). No king, however mighty, could stop the tide of divine judgment that would roll against Israel in the day of the Lord’s wrath.

Must We Reconcile The Bible With Science?

When I was in college, there was a great debate on just "how" God created the earth. Some maintained that the days described in the chapter could have been ages long each, and thus account for the apparent age of the earth observed scientifically these days.

Others suggested that there had been a creation and that this first creation was ruined by the sin and subsequent casting from heaven of Satan. They postulate a "gap" between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2. Still other theorize that we basically evolved from the state God created us in to the state we are in now. A variation on this is the idea that God oversaw the evolution process and "helped" man over the different "thresh-holds" that would prevent his further development.

Of course, there are other theories that I have not mentioned here. I simply wish to point out that there are many approaches to the concept of "God created the heavens and the earth".

I am no learned man of science. I don't have the in-depth knowledge necessary to properly evaluate the "scientific-ness" of these theories. I can only comment on what I do know about. None of those creation theories satisfies the plain sense of the chapter! The Scripture was written to be understood. It is clear and it speaks plainly to the reader.

The Reformers called this the "Perspicuity" of the Bible. The normal and plain sense of a passage is probably the correct one. This is not to say that there aren't figures and/or difficult to understand things in the Bible, there certainly are! But, on the whole, I believe the Bible is clear and plain in what it tells us. What chapter one tells us is that God created the world in six days. It mentions morning and evening for each day. It appears that these six days were concurrent and to proclaim them not to be is to bring a presupposition to the text that is not there naturally.

It is always safest to allow the passage to say what it says and to work on our adjusting our understanding accordingly! It can be disastrous to do the reverse! One might think this all a minor, unimportant detail, but I would disagree. The moment we begin to view the Scripture through any lens but the lens of the teaching of God's Spirit we stand in danger of repeating mistakes made by those who have abandoned God's Word and its standards.

Certainly, there are many well-meaning scholars, pastors and other students of the Bible who are caught up in this ... accommodation; but it is a mistake, one that will lead to grave consequences as time wears on. Why is it significant that we believe that God created the world in 6 literal, concurrent days? Because our minds are to be subject to the plain sense of Scripture! Why "couldn't it be this way or that way?". Because that denies that the Scripture is not sufficient to teach truth concerning all that it touches.

If the content of the Bible is not enough for us to understand the acts of God as revealed to us in its pages, then we are at a loss to know if we understand it at all? What other parts may need the enlightening presence of science? How can I trust what it says anywhere if I need more than what is written to understand any of it?

Some will say that I am overstating my case. I think not. The sufficiency of the Scripture is a key doctrine, essential if we are to confidently call men and women to repentance and redemption by the blood of Christ.

This is especially true of the doctrine of creation, wherein there is much confusion and false teaching among unbelievers. If the matter is clouded yet more by we who profess to know the truth, then that makes the road to Christianity needlessly hindered and places barriers unnecessary and even damaging.

Let's keep in mind the sufficiency of Scriptural Revelation and the significance of these "small" issues in the larger picture!

And Their Hearts Melted Within Them…

1 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

Reports of God’s supernaturally opening a crossing struck fear into the Canaanites. The miracle was all the more incredible and shocking since God performed it when the Jordan was swollen to flood height (3:15). To the people in the Land, this miracle was a powerful demonstration proving that God is mighty (4:24). This came on top of reports about the Red Sea miracle Rahab had said that this was an amazing thing to those in the area (understandably!). God’s drying up the waters of the Jordan caused the inhabitants of Canaan to fear Israel greatly. Such reactions of fear or opposition were common as Israel entered the land (see 9:1–4; 10:1–2; 11:1–5).

...and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. (Joshua 2:9)

For the Canaanites, the events of the preceding days were a horror story. They had been terrified enough by seeing the Israelite hordes—some two million strong—spread out along the eastern bank of the Jordan. It was obvious that the Jews intended to invade the western lands. But the water was at flood stage. The people could not cross. There seemed to be time to get ready. Suddenly the waters ceased flowing, the people crossed over, and a battle was imminent. The suddenness of the crossing terrified everyone.

The people of Canaan had counted on the Jordan’s acting as a barrier against invasion of their land by the Israelites. Although this would seem to be the best time for Israel to strike, important spiritual matters (circumcision and the Passover) had to come first. This verse forms a transition between the Jordan crossing in chs. 3; 4 and the adversaries to be encountered later in chs. 6–12.

Word of this crossing of the Jordan spread like wildfire among the Canaanite nations, causing their hearts to ‘melt’ within them. We might say that Israel’s conquest of Canaan began before a single arrow was shot or a single spear thrown. The Lord of Israel prepared the way for conquest and assured its success by causing Canaanite hearts to be smitten with this debilitating fear. What can we learn from this?

1. The importance of knowing God

This passage is here to tell us about God. In our best moments, we have never come anywhere near an adequate understanding of the greatness of the God we serve. We are quick to forget that knowledge when we do remember it! He is great in power, overriding the laws of nature. He is great in grace, doing for his people that which they could not do for themselves. He is worthy of our worship and our obedience. To say that it is imperative for us to remember and KEEP ON remembering it is an understatement is silly. Rather we ought to say it in the other direction! It is imperative that we both know Him and that keep that knowledge in the front of our minds!

2. The importance of honoring God’s appointed leaders

The Lord magnified Joshua in the eyes of the people. He wanted the people to honor Joshua and to follow him. People these days feel very free to complain about their leaders and to criticize them, not realizing that we honour God as we honour the leaders he has appointed and we attack God when we attack them. Likewise, they feel free to shop around for whatever leader they like, putting they, and their own preferences and hence their own authority and perception of God ahead of God and His voice speaking through His leader. Now, it is certainly true that there comes time for godly people to leave churches from time to time. But those times are virtually ALWAYS over matters of doctrine and NOT over matters of preference. In all other matters we are to honor our leaders and submit to them.

3. The importance of letting children know

Throughout the Bible, the Lord puts great emphasis on godly parents instructing their children in his ways. The Israelites were to teach their children as they walked along, when they lay down and when they arose (Deut. 6:6–7). The prophet Malachi tells us that the Lord desires ‘godly offspring’ from his people (Mal. 2:15). This does not happen by accident. It requires diligent effort on the part of Christian parents, grandparents, and others. We are always but one generation away from paganism!

If OT Israel teaches one thing (of course they teach us many things) they teach us how very, very quickly any people (any family) can slide downward into ungodly and hence into the judgement of God. Obedience is not a national affair, it is individual. It is not something a nation, a church or a family can do for each other. It something that each person MUST do for themselves. This passage says that the fear of God came upon ALL the countryside. It wasn't the national leaders fearing while the people wandered around happily in ignorance. God calls all men to submit and to obey - or He will judge and call each man to account before Him.

4. The importance of Remembering

If it seems that we do not have much in common with the Israelites crossing the Jordan, we need to think again. The same God who did mighty and wonderful things for those people has done even more for us. All of God’s people have been saved with a glorious and mighty salvation. The Lord has taken all of us out of the dominion of Satan and has placed us in his own family. He has forgiven us of our sins, and he will finally bring us all home to eternal glory. He has done all of this in and through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember that this is the God who set up the memorial in the midst of the Jordan. The God who has done these things for us has also given us a way in which to remember them. He knows how we are constantly inclined to forget! The Lord’s Supper is the memorial that God has appointed. As we come to his table, we are reminded of our sinful condition and how helpless we were to do anything about it (more helpless than the Israelites were before the swollen Jordan!).

We are also reminded that the Lord Jesus did for us everything that was needed. He lived the life we have not lived, obeying God in every respect. He died the death that we deserve to die, receiving on the cross the full measure of the wrath of God. As we come to his table, we remember how much we owe, and as we realize how much we owe, we are more resolved to live for the glory of our God.

We should note also that at the end of the first main section of the Book of Joshua, the Israelites stand well-prepared for their first major encounter with the Canaanites whose land they were to inherit. They were well prepared because

1. God was very much with them,
2. Because he had given them a leader who was already in process of becoming a worthy successor to Moses,
3. Because the entire nation was taking care to obey God’s commands to the letter (from Joshua and the priests on down to the people), and
4. Because they were careful to sanctify themselves properly before engaging the Canaanites.

Moses Had to Die First

“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. (Joshua 1:2-3 2)

It just makes perfect sense that Moses had to die before God's people could enter the promised land. Moses was the vessel through whom God gave His Law. The purpose of that Law was neither to bring saving righteousness nor to bring the blessings of that righteousness.

Rather, it was to do quite the opposite. It was to show man the absolute holiness of the Triune God. It was always God's intention that, in seeing the Law, man would be forced to see his own nature. Confronted with his nature, and his own inability to fulfill the law and thus be acceptable to God, man will then turn to God's mercy offered by grace for another solution.

Further God knew and told Moses, and through Moses, the people of God that they would never live up to his wall. The apostle John, in the introduction to his Gospel, told us that this was true. In verse 16 and 17 of chapter 1, he said that

"... of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace. For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

There is a contrast there. Moses gave the Law, but grace and truth, the only means by which anyone can actually GET INTO God's presence and emerge, comes by another means.

That means, John says specifically, and the Old Testament tells us in type, was the person and actions of Jesus Christ, God's Only Begotten Son. What the Law could not do, what the Law, in fact, was not ever designed to do, and what men had no desire to do because of their fallen nature, Christ came and did for them. He walked perfectly and acceptably before His Father, and then He laid down His life a sacrifice for sins.

Both His active and passive obedience qualified Him as the perfect Lamb of God which then served to satisfy God's wrath against the sins of a depraved people. It is that gift that we celebrated Christmas. That just would not have been possible if Moses had not died. No one would have been able to enter the promised land if Moses had not died (and I speak metaphorically here) because the Law could not get anyone there. At least not the law with Joshua at the helm. Only the Law as fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Will Prosper You...When!

Deuteronomy 30:8-10 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

"you will again obey the voice of the Lord." We need to remember that all of this comes after the coming of Israel's Messiah. With a new heart under the New Covenant, Israel would obey all the commandments of the Lord. This would result in the Lord’s blessing, which would bring greater prosperity than Israel had ever previously experienced. Here is a renewed enforcement of the indispensable fruit of salvation and another echo of the constant theme of this book.

Remember that the intention of the law is not to bring righteousness, but to show the sinfulness of man and to direct man to their need for Christ (Israel's Messiah). The only kind of righteousness the wall was never intended to bring was a practical righteousness that brought practical blessing. The kind of righteousness that brings redemption was never the capacity of the Law. It was always God's intent that the Law simply bring man to his knees and direct them to Himself.

At this point, we must note that the fact that this was not accomplished in the Old Testament is not a failing of the Law, but rather a failing of Old Testament Israel as a nation. It is certainly true that there were indeed individuals, many of them, who were redeemed throughout Israel's Old Testament history. However, as a nation , Israel turned to the Law for their redemption and did not learn the lesson from the Law that God intended.

Their obedience was short-lived, it came in spurts, and God was constantly having to send "judges" to both chasten, and call them back to that obedience. This was not a surprise to God, and should not have been a surprise to Israel! He made it clear to them from the very beginning that this was to be their experience, after all righteousness was not the purpose of the Law. After all, we know that the Scriptures say: ...the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17).

Let us remember this principle, for it applies, not only to the issue of how a man becomes a believer, accomplishing his redemption, but also to how one pleases his God in all things as a believer! This is a matter that deserves far more consideration in the long run!

The God Who Cannot Be Seen

Genesis 1:1

   Of course, we would be considered remiss if we did not pause and consider the obvious truth that the Scripture begins and ends with the presence of God, doing and accomplishing His purpose.

   The existence of God is an assumed matter in the Scripture. Nowhere does the Scripture undertake to categorically "prove" the existence of the True and Living God. Quite a large number of philosophers and theologians have undertaken the task over the centuries and have succeeded, to a point, in demonstrating the probability (though not the absolute certainty) that God is Who the Bible claims He is.

   They use a number of logical, philosophical, and theological arguments to accomplish this. They argue many very valid points and, in my view, those arguments establish the existence of a personal God far beyond any reasonable doubt.

   However, we must realize that the aim of the Scriptures is to call men to believe what they cannot see. The familiar words of Hebrews 11:6 remind us: "... without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." I believe that God could have given more than adequate proof of His existence. He could have designed us and the world in such a fashion as to prove categorically His existence to the most skeptical of observers. Yet we are left with the truth that He did not so do.

   This is not to say that there is not abundant "evidence" that God does, indeed, exist that is available to the unredeemed. Romans 1:19-20 declares "... that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse". These "proofs" are both clearly seen and understood Paul says, by the combination of exposure to the presence of Creation and the "showing" of them by God Himself to each person. When coupled with true faith, this evidence is sufficient, more than sufficient really, to convince the heart of God's existence. Apart from true faith, the evidence of God's existence is, to the unredeemed, not convincing at all! In fact, Romans goes on to say that they universally reject that knowledge and persist in their sin, "holding the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18).

   No one can convince and unbeliever of the existence of God. Evidences can be shown and they are useful for removing barriers that would obscure the truth of the Gospel, but only up to a point. Ultimately, as with the Scriptures assumption here in Genesis One, the existence of God must be embraced by faith, despite the lack of empirical and categorical evidence. Again we note that this is non-rational, but rather is the way God intended it to be. those who would please Him must believe that He is!

A New Hearing From God

9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune- tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this. 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen (Deuteronomy 18:9-15 )

    The issue at hand in these verses is not so much the matter of divination per se, so much as it is how one hear and discern the voice of God. With any people this matter is critical. But with Israel it would be crucial. In their new land they would be surrounded with people that would be consumed with the occult; believing that God speaks personally and individually, through signs and wonders, etc.; the main matter being that the source of revelation was entirely subjective. This was not to be the case with Israel. Their interaction with God was rooted in an objective reality, that is, in a real encounter with a God Who actually spoke to them in time and space; as Francis Schaeffer said, "A God Who is there."

     The nations that were around Israel in the land relied upon their intuition upon which to interact with "god" as they perceived him. "They worshiped god as they understood him". Surely, they pursued Him with zeal, cutting themselves, passing their children through the fire, and using other such zealous pursuits. But because these practices were coupled with a lack of genuine knowledge they had "a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." (Romans 10:2-3).

    God speaks in no uncertain terms here. He is very clear as to his feelings about the practices of those who were in and around the land that He was giving to the Israelites. The religious practices of those people were unacceptable to him. Those "abominable practices"

• ...Onw who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,
• ...Anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer
• ...A charmer or a medium, A necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,
• ...Fortune-tellers and diviners of the future

    All of those had to do with inquiry of the "world beyond". God desired Israel to rely upon his revelation, given through his vessel, the prophet of God, for information concerning those matters. That's why this section is followed immediately by an endorsement of Moses as the prophet of God.

    Notice that this section also uses words like "abomination" to underscore the seriousness of what He is saying. This is no small matter! These are matters that God takes very very seriously. He spoke of the idols and practices of Egypt in the same fashion! And we know what he did to them! Israel certainly didn't want their God to have to take similar action with regard to them.

     Note that God tells them that He has "not allow them to do this". There are many who insists on their "right" to approach God in whatever fashion they desire to approach him. This is only another expression of Cain's desire to approach God in the fashion in which he desires to approach Him. And God reacts no better than he reacted to Cain. Men do not have the right to approach God in whatever fashion they desire to approach. It is God who sets the terms upon which man may approach at all! Men are beset by sin; they are soiled, and God in his grace, has provided a way for them to approach. That avenue is by means of the Lord Jesus Christ and his precious gift of grace on Calvary's mountain. There is no other way that is acceptable to God.