Taken and Needing Rescuing

Over in Genesis 15:1 - The "these things" speaks of the events of the prior chapter - namely the capture and rescue of Lot and the citizens of Sodom by Abram, as well as the treatment of Abram by the King of Sodom and his treatment of Melchizedek.


The point here being that Lot, in his disobedience, was taken and needed rescuing. God did not protect him and his family. But, once that situation was resolved, God reassures Abram that, in his covenanted relationship with his God, he could rest assured that God would protect and be a shield to Che and his family as He had already promised.

We cannot pass Genesis 15:11 without noting that Abram spent the afternoon waiting for God's good pleasure and in keeping the birds of prey off of the offering set out in preparation for the later sacrifice. The obvious intent here is the offering stay undefiled in preparation for what was coming.

Further, in verse 2, note that the "great" (meaning 'profound') and 'Dreadful' (awe-inspiring or stimulating worship) FOLLOWS the fact that Abram fell deeply asleep. what I mean is that we are not talking about the fact Abram is merely having a frightening dream - it is something far more profound than that. The experience is one that is akin to Isaiah's when he saw the Lord in Isaiah 6. Here, like there, Abram is not seeing a Christophany, a "gentled" appearance of God as we frequently see in the OT. This is the Holy and fearsome God Whose very approach can strike terror into the heart of men.

Job 10:1-2 - A Plea to God

Job 10:1-2 1 “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me.
The great danger of trial is discontent and it's resultant anger.it is what occurs when we dwell on the circumstances of life, the particulars to the exclusion of all else. This is what has happened to Job. The result is that perspective gets skewed, and the further along it proceeds, the further the skew slews...to one side or the other. That skewed perspective drives one to think and say things that, in anchor, more objective context, one would not say or even think. This is surely the case with Job.

Under other circumstances, Job would be able to reason his way through the situation his is in and come to the proper conclusion. But because Job allowed himself to be overcome (and it was a matter of him allowing himself to be overcome - it was a choice he made to yield to his flesh) by the variety things that have intruded themselves into his thus far, his normal perspective has become impossible at this point, and another, ungodly perspective, has thrust itself into the fore, as expressed in verse 2.

Rather than being held accountable by God and answering to Him as His servant; he calls God to account and makes the critical mistake of charging Him with evil and insisting that God had mistreated him and dealt with him unjustly.

3 Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked?
Again, we note the charging of God with evil. Job he calls God to account for the evil that is present in his life, not just implying that God is responsible, but that He is the direct agent of the calamity that has occurred. This is the argument, no, the accusation and expression of temper he makes for the rest of this chapter as well as for a considerable part of the rest of the his own part of the book, at least until God Himself speaks up at the end of the book.

Lot Begins to Pay the Price

Genesis 14:12 12
They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
Here we see Lot (and his family) beginning to pay the price for the decision made earlier to separate from Abraham and go his own way and settle in Sodom. In so doing, he also separated himself from the protection and blessing of Abraham's God. The result is that when these Kings seek to expand their kingdoms, God has no reason, Covenantally, to intervene and protect Lot. Abraham is the object of God's promises here, not Lot, much as that does NOT make sense to and our NT manner of thinking. This is not the NT - it is the OT and functions in a practical sense, in that OT fashion.

Genesis 14:13 
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner.
These were allies of Abram. Just a note to observe that this "escape" could not have been and should NLT be construed to have been by happenstance. In spite of Lot's deliberate and, (evident from later Scripture) persistent disobedience and his increasing slide into depravity though still a believer and, as Hebrews 11 tells us, an example of faith for us, God makes provision to see that he is rescued! How marvelous and merciful a God we serve - who cars for us, despite our faithlessness and sin!

Genesis 14:21-24 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself. ”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich. ’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share. ”
In contrast to Abraham's remarks to Melchizedek, the King of Sodom's remarks to Abraham are surly and rude. For someone who has just been delivered from servitude or worse, he is ungracious and expresses no gratitude. Remembering that God has promised that promised that He will bless those bless Him and curse those curse Him, such behavior is ominous at best!

The Shining Face Of Moses (Part 3)

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)

Verse 31 - “and Moses …talked with them…” - Language and grammar are highly flexible and eloquent things.  particularly the "idiomatic" ones.  An "idiom" is "a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in 'keep tabs on'."  It draws on pictures and graphic ideas that are particular and unique to the culture that the language is taken from.  Such is the case here.  The grammar of this phrase draws a picture for us.  Moses calls the rulers of the congregation to him, and he "talks with them.  The tense and force of the verbs is such that we are meant to see this as an ongoing conversation, one that is active, ongoing, in the midst of happening, incomplete if you will.  The picture drawn for us is meant to create in our minds the picture of Moses actually speaking with the Elders of Israel.  It is not simply a matter of his telling them what happened on the mountain.  He "talked" with them - he explained, communicated, announced, preached, told, whatever was needed to be sure was necessary to see that they understood what God desired for Israel.

That is the task of the leader of God!  It is the task of anyone who has been given by God to see that God's message is communicated to another.  He is:

1. Call them to himself
2. Talk to them and tell, in whatever way is needful, what God desires for them to know in order that they might act as God desires them to act.

Now, we understand that, as those not under Law but under Grace, we communicate a different set of facts.  But, at the root, we are still talking about salvation by grace through faith alone for that has always been the way that God has brought men to Himself.

“Afterward" - There is an translated conjunction here, "and" or "then", that joins the prior verse to verse 32.  The English translators thought it unnecessary to include it.  It is another indicator of temporal sequence.

There is also a little adverbial "appendage" attached to the end of the word "afterward" proper that is not rendered in most English translations.  It is the Hebrew word "ken" and is yet another indicator of sequence, but implies a similarity of fashion or comparison, likewise,  in this case.  The context makes it obvious that the people approached Moses just like the Elders did, and so the English translators did not include it.

"Afterward" itself is an adverb (it modifies the act of the people coming to Moses - when did they come?) It is another direct time reference, with regard to the event directly before what it is attached to and means "then, afterward, later, some time later, i.e., pertaining to a time subsequent to another time, depending on the context of the verse.  It is fairly common, for instance Genesis 18:5 uses it:

5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” 

Note that in some contexts it can have a spacial reference as well, "behind" (Genesis 19:6); or even directional "to the west" (opposite the rising sun - Judges 18:12); and, as a metaphor, it can speak of following someone in a linear motion (1 Sam 12:14).

Verse 32 - "...he gave them as commandments..." is all one word in the Hebrew.  As we have said the original languages in which the Bible is wirtten are very expressive and can give a lot of information that require more than one word in English to express.  The first portion of the verb is what is called a "wav consecutive" that acts as a conjunction at the beginning of the verb.  Tagged on the end of the verb is the particle "em" that functions as an English pronoun, "them" in a sort of a Dative case - "to them".  Further, as a third aspect to the verb, we see once again the form that suggests that we see the verb as "imperfect" or in progress and Moses actually speaking with the people themselves.  The verb itself means "to command, to order, or to instruct, that is to state with force/authority what others must do.  Moses is here functioning in the role of a Prophet once again and performing that role by communicating authoritatively to the people what God had communicated to him on the mountain.

Note that he tells them "all that the Lord had spoken with him".  He left nothing out and he soft-pedaled nothing that God had said to him.  There was no holding back, no qualification of the matter, he gave it to them straight, just as God had communicated it to him.

Once again we must note that this is the task of the man of God.  We are to communicate to the congregation that which God has said.  It is our responsibility to repeat to them what the Word of God has said to us.

 

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The Shining Face of Moses (Part 4)

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)

Verse 33 - "he put a veil on his face" - Most miss an obvious truth here.  The purpose of the veil was not to calm the anxiety of the people.  We know this because Moses put on the veil only after the people had come near and after he had finished declaring the law to the people (vv. 31, 32). Rather, as Paul in 2 Cor. 3:13 makes clear, the veil was to keep the Israelites from seeing that the glory was fading away.

According to Paul, this fading glory shows the temporary and inadequate character of the old Mosaic covenant and points to the need for a greater covenant Mediator—Jesus Christ.

When not speaking to the Lord or authoritatively on His behalf to the people, Moses veiled his face. The Apostle Paul advised that the veil prevented the people from seeing a fading glory and related it to the inadequacy of the Old Covenant and the blindness of the Jews in his day.

This physical action pictured the fact that Moses did not have the confidence or boldness of Paul because the Old Covenant was veiled, that is, it was was only an unclear foreshadowing of the coming work of God's Messiah. It was shadowy. It was made up of types, pictures, symbols, and mystery. Moses communicated the glory of the Old Covenant, but with a certain obscurity.

The “veil” here can be seen as representing unbelief. Those Israelites did not grasp the glory of the Old Covenant because of their unbelief. As a result, the meaning of the Old Covenant was obscure to them (cf. Heb. 3:8,  15; 4:7). Paul’s point was that just as the Old Covenant was obscure to the people of Moses’ day, it was still obscure to those who trusted in it as a means of salvation in Paul’s day. The veil of ignorance obscures the meaning of the Old Covenant to the hardened heart (cf. John 5:38).

Without Christ the OT is unintelligible. But when a person comes to Christ, the veil is lifted and his spiritual perception is no longer impaired (Is. 25:6–8). With the veil removed, believers are able to see the glory of God revealed in Christ (John 1:14). They understand that the law was never given to save them, but to lead them to the One who would.

This underscores for us the truth that the NC, the NT is not a replacement for the OC/OT; rather it is the fulfillment of it.  It is the ultimate demonstration of all that God had "merely" foreshadowed in type and picture in the Law.

Verse 34 - “…he would take the veil off…” - Given that the above is so, we can readily understand why Moses took the veil off when in the presence of God.  That picture of the Law, the OC, is not needful for the redeemed when he stands before the Lord.  Between the genuinely saved believer and his God there are no "veils".  There is only reality.  There are no shadows or types.  There is only the real.  And so Moses, when in the presence of his God, removed the veil, for there was no need for it.  There was no unbelief in Moses heart, nothing to keep him from God's presence as there was in the hearts of the people of the congregation.  He was safe in the presence of His God and thus,  off with the veil.

“…he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded…” - The grammar here is very similar to what we saw earlier.  What we want to note is that he continued to do this in what appears to be an ongoing basis.  He went into the presence of God and immediately emerged and communicated what God told him to the people of God.

We want to note also that nowhere, here or elsewhere, are these people called "his people".  They are God's people, the children of Israel, not Moses' people.   Moses understood that, and our leaders today ought to understand that.  My congregation is not "my people", even innocently.  They are God's people.  I must remain constantly, painfully aware that this always the case!

Further, we note that there is also a limitation on Moses here – he spoke all that God had told him, but he also spoke NO MORE!  We see through the rest of the OT Law that the prophet was strictly limited as to what he could say.  False prophesies we dealt with very, very harshly!  It was important that the man of God speak for God and speak accurately, both positively by what he said, and negatively by what he did NOT say.  Would that this were true today!

Safely Abiding in the Presence of God (Part 4)

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 

“In Him" indicates the "repository" for the trust that the one "dwelling in the “secret place of the Most High" will place in his God. "Him", of course, refers back to Yahweh, Elohim, the One true and living God.

“...will I trust" is to rely on, to put confidence in, that is to believe in a person or object to the point of reliance upon. This is not a "surface" or fanciful, casual believing, but rather a full faith and trust that prompts one to exercise the will and act on that faith. 2 Kings 18:5 tells us that Hezekiah exercised faith and:

5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.

It is mostly a later word in the OT. The earliest appearance is in Deuteronomy 28:52, a reference to trusting in the wall of a city. In Judges there are two references to have confidence in or relying on men. (9:6; 20:36).

2 Kings 18:5 is the first Direct reference to having reference to trusting the Lord God, as we have already mentioned. In 2 Kings 18:5-30, the Rabshekah mentions Hezekiah's "trust" in his God six times. It is mentioned again in 2 Kings 19:10. 1 & 2 Chronicles each use it once (5:20 & 32:10).

Isaiah uses the term 14 times in his Book and Jeremiah uses it 15 times in his. In contrast Ezekiel uses it only once, in Ezekiel 33:13. Hosea, Amos, Micah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah all use it once.

Psalms uses the terms by far the most time at 45, most of them in the metaphorical sense of trusting in the Lord God. Job uses it 4 times and Proverbs uses it 10 times.

This is not the first time we have heard the Psalmist proclaim God his shelter. Psalm 18:1–2:

1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 46:1:

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble

Psalm 71:3:

Be my strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.

So this is a relatively common theme throughout the Scripture, and especially in the Psalms. God is a fortress, a rock, a defense for His people and they can trust in Him.

Safely Abiding in the Presence of God (Part 3)

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” ¹ 

“I will say" - To speak or talk usually with a focus on the content to follow, that is, it is most often used as a prelude to offering the content of what the person actually says. It is future, or more properly, imperfect and calls to mind the action itself, in progress.

“The LORD" is a euphemism of Adonai and is the name of the One true and Living God. The focus of the term is two-fold.

1. His sure existence.
2. His relationship to his covenant persons and peoples.

Thus Yahweh was set apart from the gods of the other peoples round about the Israelites. Not that they were any less sure that their gods existed. But that Israel was sure of a self-revealing God who was in Covenant with them and them alone. This was what made them unique among all nations round about. It was this of which the name YAHWEH spoke.

One must ask the question, then, (off topic) how wise was it, how truly reverent of Israel was it refuse to speak this Name and to use Adonai instead? It would seem to me (with humility) that truly honoring God and all that He had done and would do for Israel would require that they use the Name Yahweh and uphold the truth He was a covenant making and upholding God and that His covenant was with them and no other. I understand that the issue of "reverence" and holiness entered in, but I suspect that this became a false matter and that the real issue was that of tradition and bureaucracy and little more.

"He is my refuge..." - A refuge is a place of safety and a place that is free from danger; and figuratively, an extension of a place of refuge or shelter. It is most often used in the non-literal sense. David said that the Lord is the "refuge" for the poor (Psalm 14:6). In the very famous Psalm 46:2, he said

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

In Psalm 62:8 we read:

7 In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock of my strength,
And my refuge, is in God.

Solomon concluded:

26 In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge. (Proverbs 14:26)

Likewise Isaiah knew that...

4 You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
(Isaiah 25:4)

The word was derived from a word referring to a cave or a den, i.e., a physical hole or an overhang for shelter. In fact, the OT uses in that fashion at times. Job 24:8 speaks of being "...huddled around the rock for want of shelter". Psalm 104:18 says that the "...cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers".

Because we have referred specifically to Yahweh, the covenant implied in the use of the Name applies. Hence, the refuge offered is "my" refuge (the author being a member of the covenanted family).

"And", of course, is a coordinating conjunction, or a word that joins two phrases that are usually of the same grammatical status. It joins the two descriptions: "my refuge" and "my fortress"; implying that they are, grammatically at least, equal.

"...my fortress..." - A fortress is a stronghold, a mountain or rock fortress, namely, a place where one resides as a hiding or defensive position, often occupying a natural land formation in the high inaccessible rock or hill area. David was in a "stronghold" in 1 Samuel 22:4-5. Likewise, after David spared Saul's life in 2 Samuel 24:22 he went home to his "stronghold". It can also be translated "Fortress", a walled construction built for defensive position, and is so translated for instance in 2 Samuel 5:7 where we are told that David "took" the "fortress" of Zion (Jerusalem).

Note that both of these terms (refuge and fortress) are preceded by the Hebrew term "my or me". It is a simple preposition that is in a possessive form.

Scholars suggest that it is possible, grammatically, for both of these phrases, "My refuge and my fortress" to be joined and rephrased as “my secure fortress.” an interesting suggestion.

The Shining Face of Moses (Part 2)

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)

“The skin of his face shone” - "Shone" in verse 30 is to be radiant, to emit light rays, i.e., a shining appearance due to glow of a face that supernaturally beams light.  The basic form of the word can literally mean "with horns"!  We are talking shooting out spikes of light here!  There was a blinding brilliance to Moses face man had never seen since the Garden (and Adam had nothing to compare that with!). 

"They", here, includes Aaron, Moses brother and by the time of Exodus 34, High Priest of Israel.  And they were afraid with good reason! 

"Afraid" is a common Hebrew word meaning to be in a state of feeling great distress, and deep concern of pain or unfavorable circumstance.  It is the word used to describe the state of emotion in Adam and Eve when they hid themselves in the garden after thier din in Genesis 3:10 and Adam gave explanation for their hiding to God:

10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Adam knew that God had commanded that he obey and there would be consequences for disobedience and was "afraid" as a result.

The reaction of fear in this passage suggests previous events leading up to the current experience. It was only when they drew near and conversed without harm were they reassured. 

"Then" is another marker of co-ordinate relationship.  Here indicating another time relationship.  One phrase or action following immediately after the prior to keep the narrative moving.

"Called to them..." is a verb that is used of leader to subordinates or of one who has something to offer to the "offeree".  It means to summon, i.e., call a person(here, a group) to come into one’s presence.  God "called" Moses and Aaron in Exodus 12:31 and told them lead Israel out of Egypt:

31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said.

Moses acts as Israel's leader, their Prophet and calls them back to speak to them all that God has said to Him.  Let's not make the mistake of thinking that this is harsh.  It surely is not.  It is reasonable to see Israel as reluctant to come in to the presence of Moses, and by implication God, once again.  The experience, thus far, has been an awesome one, but it has not been a real positive one (their fault not God's of course.)  If not excused, we can surely see why they might hang back and need to be called to Moses' feet.

Just as a note, "...rulers of the congregation..." seems to refer to the leaders of the tribes of Israel.  That particular English phrase only appears 5 times, twice in Exodus and three times in Joshua.  The phrase "rulers of Israel" appears in Judges 5:9 and seems to refer to the same concept.  2 Kings 10:1 makes reference to the "rulers of Jezreel".  2 Chronicles 29:20 speaks of "rulers of the city" speaking of Jerusalem.  2 Chronicles 35:8 speaks of "...Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God..."  Isaiah 1:10 refers to the "rulers of Sodom" and Micah 3:1 refers to the "rulers of the House of Israel".  Matthew 2:6 refers to the "rulers of Judah" and Matthew 20:25 speaks of the "rulers of the Gentiles".  Mark 5:22, speaking of Jairus, calls him a "ruler of the synagogue".  Luke 14:1 speaks of the Rulers of the Pharasees.  In Acts 4:8 peter address the "rulers of the people and Elders of Israel...".  In Acts 13:15, when preaching at Pisian Anticoh, Paul address the "rulers of the Synagogue".  In Acts 17:6-8,  preaching at Thessalonica, Paul was dragged from Jason's house by the Jews before the "rulers of the city", but was eventually let go.  1 Corinthians 2:6-8 speaks twice of the spiritual "rulers of this age.  Likewise Paul, in Ephesians 6:12 famously speaks of the "rulers of the darkeness of this age". 

There are many "rulers" in the Scriptures.  These seem to the ones Moses selected and put in place in Exodus 18:21–26:

21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”

24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

It is this group that Moses called, summoned to him so that they, in turn could lead their charges to him in what follows.

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Safely Abiding in the Presence of God (Part 2)

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” ¹ 

"Most High" - a title for the true God with a focus on him being supreme, and shows high status. It occurs about 43 times in the English Bible. The point here is to invoke the idea of a ruler and all that this would imply to the ancient mind. Rulership, sovereignty, power, fear in the minds of followers, and the inviolable and unbroachable ability to protect. This is virtually absolute in the human world, how much more so in the realm of God Himself?

The title emphasizes God’s majesty and is parallel to the term Almighty. Together the terms Most High and Shaddai speak of God as a mountain-like majesty, in whose presence there is a “secret place” or a shadow.

"Shall abide" - The word appears 87 times and is from a root meaning to stay the night, to "lodge" or to abide for some extended time. The declension of the verb implies a causative idea, namely that the subject will be "caused to abide." It's form is also "imperfect" and so we are to see this either as future tense or as an incomplete action. It seems unlikely that this is a "pure" future tense, meaning that we dwell in the secret place now and abide later. Rather, we are to see this an an action in progress, incomplete as it were. The one who dwells in the secret place will be abiding, is, according to this verse, to be seen as abiding now, under the shadow of the Almighty.

One might actually view this in the form of a promise. It is surely a declarative statement on David's part, and, as the "Singer of Israel", under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he speaks for God and thus this declarative statement can be taken as being made by God Himself.

These kinds of statements can and should be taken be what they are - statements of God's intention to be, not only to David himself, but to all of His people what He promises. We see this by the generic nature of the verse. It is "He who..." and directed to David particularly.

"Under" is a simple preposition, a marker of position within certain limits, contrasted with being outside an area, even in a three dimensional area. It takes its' specific meaning from the context of the sentence. Here, because we are talking something that casts a "shadow", "under" seems the best and most logical translation.

"...the shadow of the Almighty" - A "shadow" refers to the state of interposing something between an object and a light source, with the associative meanings of protection and refreshment, and a transitory nature. This is the "shadow" referred to in 2 Kings 20:9 that went backward:

Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

As a metaphor it can refer to protection, or formally, shadow, i.e., that which keeps an object safe from harm or danger as a figurative extension of shade which comes between a light source and an object. The imagery is that of the superior extending a strong and mighty appendage so that it interposes itself between the the one in question and some danger or threat, with its' "shadow" thus providing security and protection. In a land where the sun can be oppressive and dangerous, a “shadow” was understood as a metaphor for care and protection.

"The Almighty" - One of the titles in the OT for the true God, as we have noted, with a focus on the power to complete promises of blessing and prosperity. The Hebrew word is used 41 times in the OT, 31 of those times are in the Book of Job; it is used a time or two in just a a book or two elsewhere.

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

¹ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” ¹ 

This is a psalm of trust, does not identify its author, but it is generally thought to be wither David or Moses. The psalm is sufficiently similar to Ps. 90, a psalm of Moses, that it might also be by him. Alternatively, the experiences and ideas of Moses could have been used by an anonymous writer. This poem has a very strong messianic thrust, and God Himself speaks in vv. 14–16 (see also Ps. 12; 60; 75; 87). The development of the psalm is in four main sections: (1) a confession of confidence in the Lord (vv. 1, 2); (2) assurance that those who trust in the Lord need not fear evil (vv. 3–8); (3) promises of God’s protection to the coming One (vv. 9–13); (4) a description of the Lord’s protection of the coming One (vv. 14–16).

Verse 1 - "He who dwells" - The "he" is editorial, not mean to imply males, but rather the whole of humanity.

"Dwells" is to live or stay, i.e., to be in a place for any period of time, usually implying a longer amount of time. It first used of the family of Cain in Genesis 4:16:

16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.

Of course, such a common word has a variety of other applications and meanings, many of them metaphorical and non-literal. The idea is to be in a place (there is not necessarily personal relationship implied in every instance) or be with a person. The thing about this verb is the implication of a long amount of time, commitment or settledness.

As a general statement, the verse states the theme of the whole psalm. Those who draw near to God can have peace in Him, however difficult their circumstances. We'll see that as move through the passage. We should take care to look and see the 4 Names for God given:

• Most High (see Gen. 14:18),

• Almighty (see Gen. 17:1),

• Lord (see Gen. 2:4), and

• God (see Gen. 1:1).

This God is the shelter, or hiding place, and protection (shadow), refuge, and fortress for His own.

The "secret place" is a hiding place, or a covered place. The word means a place of shelter and refuge as a location where one can dwell, implying protection from a danger. It is certain that this is not referring to a literal, physical place. No believer runs to a physical, literal place for safety when the world threatens. To interpret this and other passages like in such a fashion (and some have - hence the retreating of Monks and such) is miss the intent of the verse altogether. It is not David's intent to have us withdraw from society, but rather to have us live in society, safe, but yet bold in the assurance that we live , say by day, in the "secret place" of the Most High God. What better assurance could there be?

David said in Psalm 61:3–4:

3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. 4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.

Of course, we remember the great assurance of Psalm 90:1

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Isaiah assured Israelites that "He will be as a sanctuary..." (Isaiah 8:14a). Ezekiel said much the same thing when he said

"...yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone." (Ezekiel 11:16b).

Elsewhere, David made mention of God's "secret place":

You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion
From the strife of tongues. Psalm 31:20

Note that here we get a little more information about that "secret place - it is wrapped up in His "presence", that is, in our interaction with Him on a personal and direct level.

In Psalm 27:5 David again mentions the "Secret Place":

For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

In Psalm 32:7 he spoke of God Himself as that place:

You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

In Psalm 64:2, without specifically mentioning the "secret place, David conveys the same idea:

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,

Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 36:26 records that God Divinely protected he and Baruch:

And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

Of course, ultimately, all of this points to the fulfilled work of Christ as it safely shelters us in rock that is Christ and His finished work on Calvary. Paul told the Colossians in Colossians 3:3:

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

He is that secret place! The person who trusts in God is the one who lives close to Him.

The Shining Face of Moses

29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them as commandments all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 34 But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. 35 And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him. Exodus 34:29–35 (NKJV)

"Now it was so when..." - This is another of the several types of connecting phrases in the OT that join one part of the narrative to another.  Here it indicates a temporal relationship (and a rather obvious one at that) between the prior section (the giving of the Law to Moses on the mountain of Sinai) and the display of the effect that that  delivery of the Law had on Moses, and subsequently on the people of Israel as they beheld Moses as he came down off the mountain.

"Moses did not know" - It is interesting that the effect of the exposure to the Truth of was so immensely profound on Moses that changed his very physical presence, yet Moses was not personally aware of that effect.  Thus we see, throughout the OT, Moses portrayed as the meekest man ever.

What a wonderful example of the manner of believers.  A genuinely, even profoundly spiritual man, in real and profound contact with God, with one of the most profound and important thing to communicate to His people in the history (past and future), commissioned by God to do a great thing and yet completely UNAWARE of the grand and life-changing effect that this has had on him personally.  He did not come down from the mountain, in his mind, as THE vessel of God to speak to the people.  I can't tell you how very important this is.  Humility is one of the foundational keys to effective leadership and to being to God's people all that He intends One to be.

The world calls on men to be self-assured and to have a healthy self-view.  God, one the other hand calls them to be as Moses was - so completely consumed with Him that they do not even realize how vastly they have been changed by being in His presence.  Better said, because of their humility and meekness, their sense of self forces them to minimize and downplay the tremendous effect that being in the presence of God has had on them.  They do not strut, they do not prance, and they do not put themselves on display.  What they do, is they "do not know".

The verb here is in the "Perfect" form which, generally speaking expresses a past fact.  It means "to find out, namely., to acquire information and does not speak to the means by which that information was acquired.  Moses uses it in Deuteronomy 13:4, for instance:

³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The action of the verb is in the past, along with what made Moses' face shine, his encounter with God.  The verb is negated, hence he "did NOT know." as a result of that encounter.  So consumed was Moses with His communing with God that he was completely unaware of what effect that encounter was having on him! 

That awareness, and this is our point here, extended even past the interview with God itself.  Moses didn't emerge from that encounter and say, "Hey, I'm different, just wait until the I'm with the people - I've got something to say to them!"

Behold" - Here!, There!, Look!, Now! a marker used to liven narrative, change a scene, emphasize an idea, or to call attention to a detail.  In Genesis 6:13 God used the word to call attention to what he was about to do to the world:

13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

These kinds of words are not used haphazardly.  They are used deliberately to underscore something to which God wishes our attention drawn.  In this case - that is two things:

1. Moses face shone like the glory of God
2. The people, including Aaron himself, were afraid to come near him because of it.

More next time…

“Making Up” Christ’s Afflictions

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, (Colossians 1:24)

"Rejoice" is a common Greek word meaning "to be glad or to be delighted.  It is an intense word, some forms used to mean "Greetings!" or perhaps "Hail!" or (in the imperative) "Rejoice!".  This is the word Jesus used when He told his disciples in Matthew 5:11–12:  

“11  Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." 

Paul used this word when he gave his famous counsel in Philippians 4:4: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"  The idea is that of the joy of meeting, the happiness of meeting with a loved acquaintance, family of one's beloved.  "Now" is a frequently used adverb of time - Paul indicating that he is rejoice at this specific time, namely the time (and the events) specified in the following phrases of the verse.

"Sufferings" is a noun,  "Pathhmai" or "misfortune" or "passion".  It is used of both physical sufferings as well as of mental and emotional suffering.  The word is related to the more fundamental noun "Pathos", "to suffer".  That major word means “to suffer,” primarily denotes whatever one suffers or experiences in any way; hence, “an affection of the mind, a passionate desire.” Used by the Greeks of either good or bad desires, it is always used in the NT of the latter, bad or sinful desires.  For instance, in Romans 1:26, Paul says:

"For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature." 

Elsewhere is Colossians he uses the same word to speak of "inordinate affections" (Col. 3:5).  To the Thessalonians  (1 Thess. 4:5) he speaks of the "passion of lust". 

The derivative word, the one used here, has the basic meaning what a person experiences, does not occur in the LXX, and occurs 16 times in the NT. Twice it designates passion experienced as a force, elsewhere the suffering / torment of Christians and of Jesus Christ.

"My", of course, refers to Paul himself. "...for you..." means "on your behalf" or on the behalf of the Colossian believers.  Of course, the specific reference is to his imprisonment under the Romans.  (Acts 28:16, 20)

Lastly, "And" is a simple conjunction that connects this first phrase with the following one.  The idea of this first phrase is that Paul greets these suffering with joy.  These things that normally would be very negative and terrible things, we will see, because of the purpose that they serve for the body of Christ, he greets cheerfully and even with a kind of relish. 

To "fill up" is to complete, to supplement or to fill up.  It can mean to supply as a substitute or balance.  When speaking of a process it speaks of taking one’s turn in filling up a thing. 

The noun "what is lacking" is the noun form of a more widely used verb meaning to be in need, be destitute, or to lack.  The noun form can refer to a deficiency, to that which is behind or a want. 

"Afflictions" is "thlipsion" and refers to distress, oppression, or tribulation.  It can refer to the act of trouble or to a "time" of trouble (as in Mark 13:19).  The verb form of the wored means “to press,” “squash,” or “hem in,” then “to be narrow.”  Thlípsis at its' most baisc means “pressure” in the physical sense, for example, medically of the pulse.   Figuratively the verb means “to afflict,” or to “harass” with the nuances “to discomfit,” or “to oppress” or “vex.” Philosophically the group is used for life’s afflictions. 

The form here is not a verb, but is a noun and is plural.  It refers, then, not to the action of afflicting, but to the fact or presence of the affliction itself, here to mor than one of of those "presences" or the the afflictions considered as a whole or as a unit.  The terms are common in the NT (especially in Paul), and are mostly figurative. Both believers and apostles undergo affliction. It is factual (Acts 11:19 etc.) but also unavoidable (Jn. 16:33). Israel is a type in this regard. Paul as an apostle suffers particular affliction (cf. 1 Th. 3:3–4; Acts 20:23; 2 Cor. 1:4–5). 

These sufferings are Christ’s own sufferings, which, as this passage proclaims, are not yet exhausted. The apostle experiences Christ’s own passion as he is given up to death for the church (2 Cor. 4:10–11). In proclaiming the word, he exemplifies it.

It is important to recognize that this affliction is resulting affliction, that is, it is the result of association with Christ.  It is not redemptive.  As we will see, this passage is NOT saying that work of Christ was not complete on Calvary and was left to be fulfilled by His people in their "sufferings" during their lives (or even after in the case of the RC doctrine of purgatory). 

They are "of Christ" in that Christ was beset by the world.  Our afflictions are not His afflictions, they are "like" His.  This is a metaphor.  A metaphor is an indirect comparison.  This is not a one-to-one comparison,  Paul is not telling the Colossians that He, or the Colossians believers are finishing our what Christ began.  He is saying that our afflictions are similar to Christ's afflictions.  We are afflicted in the same fashion as Christ was afflicted.  Actually, Paul specifies what he is saying in the next phrase - we are afflicted for the same REASON - for the sake of His body.

There is nothing redemptive here.  We do not gain righteousness or favor with God or in any way add to the work of Christ that was finished at Calvary.  That is a certainty - for Christ proclaimed at the cross "It is Finished" forever sealing the truth that His work was accomplished, fully accomplished before God.

Are You Content (Part 2)

"Your Father knows that you need these things"¹ - Luke 12:30

We were discussing contentment and the omniscience of God…let’s pick up where we left off…

²God’s omniscience, like His omnipotence and omnipresence, also relates to time. God’s knowledge is absolute in the sense that He is forever aware of all things. God’s intellect is different from ours in that He does not have to “access” information, like a computer might retrieve a file. All knowledge is always directly before God.

The omniscience of God is also a crucial part of God’s promise to bring about justice in the world. For a judge to render a perfectly just verdict he must first know all the facts. No evidence is hidden from the scrutiny of God. All mitigating circumstances are known to Him.

All of this underlies our contentment.  We can be content because God is omniscient and that omniscience is rooted in the other attributes of His character as the operate in complete agreement together.  He knows our needs, all of our personal needs and that knowledge implies that he will act to deal with those needs according to His good leisure and in accordance with His good character and promises.

In Luke 12:30 Jesus said: "For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things."  "Seek after" is a Greek word that means to want, or to seek out in earnest, to desire.  It is a strengthened form of the root word and thus is heightened form of the idea - they are really, desperately seeking out whatever they are desiring.

"And" is a contrasting conjunction and probably should be rendered "but" here instead of and as the idea of the verse is to set one phrase against the other.  The world desperately goes about seeking the things that satisfy BUT your heavenly Father "knows you need these things".  The idea is to comfort and bring ease of mind and contentment as we look at life - God will supply those things.

“…what you want or need is one thing; what you deserve is another.” - An awareness of God's grace and a real understand of our nature as man in relationship to that grace is one of the great keys to contentment.  Nothing irritates me more than to hear "Christian" leaders tell their listeners that they "deserve" blessing.  It happens all the time.  They deserve it, it is theirs to claim, Jesus died to secure some earthly well-being for them, or some other such positive thinking, positive confession nonsense. 

The fact of the matter is that all that we have, we have by means of the grace of God.  The closer we are to that truth, the more we understand of it, the better we grasp it, the more content we'll be.

Genesis 32:10 says "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies." The verb is in the Perfect and is suffixed.  That makes it a sort of "double past" or lends emphasis to the fact that is past tense.  It is singular and first person.  The word means to be trifling, to be unworthy, to be not enough, that is, to be in a state of not meeting a merits test of one sort or another, implying one has applied relatively low status to the unworthy object, in this case, the self.  Jacob says to God that he sees that he is not worthy of the very least of God's mercies...  He says this in light of the fact that he left his homeland with virtually nothing and returns a great company, "two companies" actually!

That humility and that recognition of God's grace is precisely that of which we speak. All men have needs, we are flesh and bone, we have the needs common to those who share our frame.  But to view those as "deserved" or "coming to us" or anything less that being met by the grace and mercy of God is to pervert and misunderstand how and why those things come to us.  Jacob understood this.  Because of this he was well able to be content under all circumstances.  It will not until we share that perception that we will likewise be able to be content as he was.

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[1] This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.

[2]  Some portions of this post are taken from RC Sproul’s wonderful little book “Essential Truths of the Christian Faith”; the article on “Omniscience.

Are You Content?

"“Your Father knows that you need these things” "¹ - Luke 12:30

"You can begin by realizing God’s goodness and believing that He will take care of you since you are one of His children." - Of course, one of the great markers of the difference between a true believer a mere professor of Christianity is what their mind and their prayers dwell upon. The one who is consumed with self and the flesh dwells upon that, the self. They are concerned with those things that affect comfort and convenience. Because of their perspective and their doctrine, they believe God to be primarily concerned with those things as well.

The spiritual man, on the other hand, understands that all is in God's hand and has been since before the world began. Sure, that does not mean that it is of no co concern to him at all - of course it is - but he balances that concern with his knowledge of the nature and power the God he serves. The result is that his mind is less occupied with things and needs than it is with God Himself; with His person and with His Person and attributes. His prayers are not a long list of wants and needs, though those things are surely a part of his supplication. The largest part of his prayer life is worship, adoration and thanksgiving, praise for the great God of heaven Who has done such a great and merciful, gracious thing in his life. This is the key to contentment.

"He knows all things and all your personal needs". - This is the "immediate" part of our wrestling with the contentment issue.  God knows all things in a real and immediate sense.  He has known them from eternity past. 

The word omniscience means “to have all (omni) knowledge (science).” It is a term that is properly applied to God alone. Only a being that is infinite and eternal is capable of knowing everything. The knowledge of a finite creature is always limited by a finite being.

God, being infinite, is able to be aware of all things, to understand all things, and to comprehend all things. He never learns anything or acquires new knowledge. The future as well as the past and present are completely known by Him. He is surprised by nothing.

God’s superior knowledge allows Him to be able to resolve mysteries that baffle us. But that points to a difference of degree in God’s knowledge, not a difference in the kind of logic He uses. Because God is rational, even He cannot reconcile contradictions.

God’s omniscience also grows out of His omnipotence. God is not all-knowing simply because He has applied His superior intellect to a sober study of the universe and all its contents. Rather, God knows all because He created all and He has willed all. As sovereign Ruler over the universe, God controls the universe. Though some theologians have tried to separate the two, it is impossible for God to know all without controlling all, and it is impossible for Him to control all without knowing all. Like all attributes of God, they are codependent, two necessary parts of the whole.

More Next Time…

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[1] This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.

Three Ways to “Help”

"Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly
entertained angels."¹ - Hebrews 13:1-1

In his devotional Strength for Today, for January 14th, MacArthur suggested three ways believers can demonstrate their love for those around them:

“First, you can simply “be there” as a friend to encourage the other person when he is in trouble.” - This is an expression speaking directly of the "brotherly love" that we have been talking about.  It could take many particular forms, depending on the specific person we are talking (the one receiving the help).  As such, we must be sensitive to mould it to the needs of the individual we have in view.  But that does not mean that the meaning of what we are doing changes one whit.  We are still doing the same thing, in essence, as directed by God's Word.  The difference is not one of interpretation, but one of application. 

That is a key thing in our understanding.  That is why we, as conservatives and fundamental, Reformed people "fight" over these things and seek to stand strong for the authority and the inspiration and the other foundational matters concerning the Bible.  Unless the Bible is, indeed, the revealed, spoken Word of God, we are on our own, making it up as we go along.

Maybe that's why it seems like that to so many unredeemed people that are looking on from the bleachers...perhaps if we took a stand, went back and examined just what the Bible says about itself, and were willing to allow it speak for itself and then affirmed what God already said, taking the place He has assigned to us, instead of seeking to be revealers ourselves, we might see a better result!

“…by giving direct help.” - Direct help must follow encouragement, and it must follow encouragement that given Biblically and from a heart that is seeking to serve and glorify God.  Remember, our goal is not ONLY to meet the need of the person we are helping.  That is a significant goal, surely.  But the overarching goal of the glory of God and lifting up the Name of the Lord Jesus must be served here as well.  In fact, that goal must come first, meaning that there will be times when the second goal is sacrificed on the alter of the first!
How hard is that?  It also means that there will be times we will give, when we will do in order to glorify God when we normally would not - because the glory of God is at stake and we are His servants and our well being comes second (third in this case!).  Remember that we tools that God uses to accomplish the task of accomplishing His purposes in the world. 

Some will argue that God will never ask us to give that beyond which we are able.  That is almost certainly NOT true.  All throughout the Bible ask His people to give that which they, at least from their perspective, could never recover.  Sometimes God saw to it that they got it back, sometimes they never did (until glory that is!).  Sacrificial giving is a hallmark of the faith - not just to the Church as an institution - but in secret and in the matter of hospitable, "brotherly love" matters as well.  God and the testimony of the Gospel seeks to be advanced and the "non-verbal means of our conduct among those around us is perhaps THE major witness to the truth what our lips say to those to whom God sends us.

“…through prayer.”. - I have come to believe that the Bible is not so much talking about long and eloquent, wordy prayers as the simple matter of  "remembering" those who around us or who are working for the Lord.  The word used means "mention".  We get our word "mnemonic" from it.  It means to remember or to keep thinking about again and again.  It is in the imperative voice and is, thus a command.  It is not talking about the idea of rote memory, mechanical memorization.  Galatians 2:10 uses the word to talk about "remembering the poor" and Rev. 18:5 uses the word to talk about God remembering the sins of Babylon the great at the time of the end.  Paul says that he "remembers without ceasing" the Thessalonians work on his behalf.  So this is not just recalling a memory verse.  It is remembering and responding, mentioning, doing something as a result. 

In this case, we remember and we pray.  Actually, there is nothing greater that we can do, is there?  Contrary to the colloquial perception of what prayer is, a comforting, but basically useless activity that has for its' aim the benefit of prayer much more than the actual accomplishment of any heavenly intercession.  How sad and again, how directly attributable to the view that the Bible is really a human book and man is really the be all and end all of things and that God is really about seeing to it that he is happy and contented.
it is little wonder that man's view of God and His desire for the world is twisted an skewed today...But there is hope and it is wrapped up in a return to the Bible and a simple commitment to Biblical truth!  If we will be return to reading and believing what God has said and doing what He has commanded - naive as it sounds, He will accomplish His purpose and do what He has set out do in our lives and the lives of those around us.  It really isn't up to us - and thankfully so!

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[1] This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.

It’s Not Up To Us…

"Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly
entertained angels."¹ - Hebrews 13:1-1

“Because we too are human beings, God makes it possible for us to empathize with others who might be enduring hardship”. - Empathy is/should be one of the key component involved in hospitality.  Empathy has been defined by Webster as "the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it.  It is, it claims, the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner and extends to the capacity for for actually acting on this feeling.  It comes from the Greek “empatheia”, literally, a passion, from “empathēs” emotional, from em- + pathos feelings, emotion — more at pathos.  It first appeared in the English language about 1850 or so which is not say that this was the first time that the emotion appeared in the English speaking people!

It is interesting that Hospitality is a universally observed thing in human experience.  It is not a mater that is seen only within the Christian community.   All religious traditions emphasize hospitality.  Even the irreligious recognize the need for empathy and taking in and caring for the stranger and for the needy.  This is not a Christian thing.  The Christian part of the matter is not in the doing of the deed, but in the why of the doing!

The example the writer to Hebrews builds on the concept cited in verse 1, that of brotherly love continuing...Verse three takes it even further when it extends the idea to prisoners.  The "prisoners" in view are not those in prison for crimes against humanity, but those in prison for their faith.  They are those being persecuted, as is made clear in the text.  This is not to say that we ought not be knd to thsose in prison because of criminal activity, but this text does not commission that activity.

“To obtain money to free a fellow believer, some early Christians even sold themselves into slavery.” - The social circumstances were very, very different at the time being addressed in this letter than they are now and we must recognize and acknowledge that as we read it.  It is foolish to try and "reimagine" or reinterpret this text and bring the actual meaning of the text forward to modern circumstances to try and understand it.  Doing so bends it completely out of shape and makes it absolutely un-understandable.  The result will be that end up with some abomination that little resembles what God intended and communicated to the writer of Hebrews.

Sadly, that is what we see in much of the church today.  In our rush to make the Scripture "relevant" to modern audiences, we have forgotten the difference between interpretation and application.  In our rush to seen attractive to those around us and gather an audience, building and not driving away, we have so obscured the meaning of the Bible, and the process by we obtain that meaning, that we can make it mean virtually anything we wish.  Obviously, that makes man the authority and not God in the matter of "revelation" these days - a contradiction of the gravest sorts and sadly one that will be discovered in lives of man until the stand before their Creator at the last day!
The "freedom" here is freedom from chains of persecution, not for some crime committed.  The suffering was the suffering of persecution at the hands of the government, "official" persecutors.  We are, it seems, drawing closer and closer to that kind of persecution today as those in authority express their distaste for faith more and more openly.

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[1] This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.

What Is Hospitality?

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” ¹   Hebrews 13:2

1 Thess. 5:15 - The "all" in this verse is one of those words in the NT that gives Bible teachers fits.  It takes it's meaning from the context around it.  It can mean all of a certain group, or all, universally.  One must look at the surrounding verses to decide what the "all" is that is being spoken of.  Paul has discussed how the pastors are to serve the people and how the people are to respond to the pastors (vv. 12,13). In these verses, he presents how the people are to treat each other in the fellowship of the church. The “unruly,” namely those out of line, must be warned and taught to get back in line. The “fainthearted,” those in fear and doubt, must be encouraged and made bold. The “weak,” those without spiritual and moral strength, must be held up firmly. Patience, forgiveness and acts of goodness must prevail between all the people. 

Now, inherent in all of this counsel is the truth the Pastor (and that is Paul's audience here) is that he is dealing with the visible church.  There is no indication that he is dealing ONLY with those who know Christ.  Timothy is counselled, for instance to do "the work of an evangelist", certainly not something done on folks already believers.  This is a part of what makes dealing with words used like "all" so difficult. 

Further, the "all" in a context like this one (5:5) is plural and is likely a reference to the church at large and not a reference to any singular believer either personally or in concept.  Paul is saying that Timothy is have the good of himself and the whole church in his mind when he ministers, and not any single believer; good advice to say the least.

“…includes even your enemies.” - This is surely true.  In order to follow after the example of Christ, we must be willing to show hospitality to those who hate us.  Christ surely did!  If the NT shows us anything it shows us that!  He came among those who despised Him and He showed them "hospitaility" and brought them God's love - that is what we are to do as well!

“…because our actions may even influence someone toward salvation.” - Of course, a second goal is to bring believers, wayward believers to the place of exercising a stronger and more vibrant experience of their faith in their Lord.  One's walk with Christ and witness is not limited to the unredeemed, and we must remember that.  Living out our lives, representing our Lord Jesus Christ MUST bear in mind the effect that it will have on these two groups and how God would us in drawing them to Himself.

“…we can never know how significant…” - Ideally, "helpful ought not be a consideration, from the point of view that we ought to be willing to be as helpful to all as possibly can be at any time.  Of course, that is almost never the case, but since we are talking about ideals here, let's go ahead and talk about the ideal!  What we wnat to see here, and what is manifest elsewhere in the the Bible is that we want to be careful to remember that many times (and the recorded illustrations in the Bible are just that - illustrations that lead us to consider that God does things in our lives as well. 

Think of that truth, as the writer to Hebrews calls us to do!  There are times when, for the sake of blessing, or for the sake of testing, God sends angels among men!  As conservatives, we tend to reject the very idea of the miraculous, at least in the "Charismatic" kind of way.  Ye the Bible makes it clear that God often does just these kind of things.

“…the third was the Lord Himself.” - I've often wondered if this, as it did in the OT,  does not occassionally happen.  The only reason I can think of for it not to be that it was so in the OT for a specific reason - to point to the coming Messiah and direct men and their thoughts to His coming ministry.  That purpose cannot, naturally, be accomplished should God visit men today.  That is not to say that God could not or would visit men literally, but His purpose would surely need to be very different, though we would argue that it would need to be every bit as real and definate (and as demonstrable to all men).

Matt. 25:40 - This the key to understanding the concept of "hospitality".   This specifically refers, in particular to other disciples. Some would apply this to national Israel; others to needy people in general. But here Christ is specifically commending “those on His right” (v. 34) for the way they received His emissaries.  This is a similar passage to Matthew 18:15 that does not speak of actual little children either.  

4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

This too speaks not of literal children, but children in the sense described in vv. 3, 4 (those who have humbled themselves like children), i.e., true believers.  So what is in view were Christ’s disciples (10:42; 12:48, 49; 18:14), not the poor and needy in general. The judgment of the nations depends on how they respond to Christians and to the gospel (10:40–42), not only because it is through the testimony of Christians that the Gentiles can hear and believe (Rom. 10:14), but also because Christ identifies with His people. Their suffering is His suffering, and compassion shown to them is compassion shown to Him.

It is interesting to note that the three groups are referred to in vv. 31–46: sheep, goats, and My brethren. At the very least, thus we must conclude that these “brethren” are believers in Jesus Christ.  There is no way that this verse it talking about children.

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[1]  This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.

We Must Love The Brethren

“Let love of the brethren continue.” ¹   Hebrews 13:1

“The importance of brotherly love extends well beyond the walls of your local church”.  -  One might surely argue that the real significance of brotherly love does demonstrate itself until one is beyond the walls of the local assembly and outside of the "official" confines and definitions of the institutional church.  A real argument can and should be made that if bortherly love does not control and color, really color one's behavior; making a discernable difference in our conduct and behavior toward the brethren, then something is dreadfully wrong in our lives.

“John 13:35”  -  With the citation here, we are given an evidence of the presence of Salvation.  We must be careful, however, not to understand this to say that unless this love is present that salvation is NOT present.  It surely does argue that the absence of love for the brethren would make an argument that salvation is cast in doubt.  Christ is saying that love of the brethren is characteristic of believers that are walking in obedience to God.  But what this passage is saying is that the love of the brethren present in our lives tells those around us that we ARE believers, NOT vice-versa as some may argue.  "Love" in this passage is not the brotherly love mentioned elsewhere, but is "agaph" or pure Christian love, of the type that God demonstrates toward us and that we are commanded to show toward Christ.  What is significant here is that love for others here is the distinguishing characteristic, not of salvation, but of discipleship.

It is interesting to think for a moment about the "new" aspect of this commandment.  There is nothing new about the command to love, since Lev. 19:18 teaches to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The new element is the change from “neighbor” to “one another” and the change from “as yourself” to “as I have loved you.” Christian love has Christ’s sacrificial love as its model, and the community of believers as the primary (though by no means exclusive) place in which it is expressed.  It is a far more difficult task - thank God that we have a far greater provision enabling us to do so in the Spirit of God!

“…the measuring stick by which the world can determine if our Christian profession is genuine.”  -  As believers, we know that we will be subject to intense scrutiny and careful evaluation.  Further, we know that this evaluation will come, Biblically, from a hostile point of view, as these are unsaved people and they, by nature are haters of God and all He stands for.  Whether that comes out in active opposition or passive aggression, it is there none-the-less.  The Bible tells us that it will be so and we are both forewarned and forearmed.
Because this is true, we must assume at least two things.  First, that it is a normal thing, a natural thing, a part of the created order.  You and I, as redeemed people stood in exactly the same position when unredeemed. 

Secondly, because it is that normal and expect thing; God has  called and enabled us to stand and be prepared for a proper witness to the lost in the face of that hostility.  A part of that witness is that the unsaved watch how we love and treat each other.

“…what a delight it is…”  -  That same delight, only to a greater degree is experienced by our Heavenly Father as we love one another.  The idea that we can give God pleasure or delight is a profound and magnificent one!  We know that God is unchangeable.  We know further that He needs nothing from man, He is lacking nothing and requires no input from man to make Him complete or fulfill Him.

Yet, it is true that His people can make Him glad.  We can bring Him joy and we can cause Him to rejoice.  What an immensely gratifying concept that is first of all, and what a tremendously sobering idea it is secondly. 

What a joy to God's children to bring Him pleasure.  With all that He has done for us, with all that has provided for us and all of that in the face of our fallen humanness - our natural response must be one of great joy and gratitude!

But, in light of the nature of God, of His holiness and righteous nature, of His great purity, especially in contrast to our own lack of those qualities, how sobering it is that we are enabled to approach Him! This is the God of the universe, the holy one of universe, the One Who holds heaven and earth in His hands, and we can stand in His presence and make offering to Him and do those things that bring Him pleasure!  What a joy!  Among those things is loving the brethren. 

“Ps. 133:1”  -  "Behold" is a marker used to liven narrative, to draw attention to what is being said and call attention to some detail.  "Good" is a moral reference speaking of the moral opposite of evil.  It can be translated anywhere from good, to generous, to festive, to beautiful, to pleasing, all of which have the mentioned moral overtones as opposed to evil.  It is morally good, not not just experientially good.  "Pleasant" is an adjective that speaks of the quality of being favorable or acceptable.  It could also, in some contexts speak of something that is beautiful or attractive when it speaks of the appearance of an object.  "Dwell together" is a combination of a verb (an infinitive) meaning "to live"and a noun referring to a state of oneness or unity.

"Good" and "Pleasant" are preceded by what's called an "adverbial interrogative".  It is a marker of a question.  In this case, the question is a rhetorical one - that is, answer is not intended to not elicit an actual response from the reader - the answer is suggested by the very act of asking.  The answer to the question is that it is immeasurably good and immeasurably pleasant!  Actually - there is no real answer!  The question is intended to stimulate thought more than a real answer.

“God is both pleased and glorified…”  -  If we could summarize the goal of the Christian life in a few words - these would be the words!  Please Him and glorify Him!  This ought to be our aim an the focus of our lives - the loci of all that we do.

“If you do not have such commitment, it is fair to question your relationship to God (1 John 3:17).”  -  As we have said, it is not so much that this is that which MUST be present or we are not born again, as it is that which give evidence that the Spirit is at work in us.  The verse that is cited gives some insight  into just what we mean here.  1 John 3:17 (NKJV)

17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

The brother in view is one who has the ability to meet need first of all.  Secondly, the verse tells us that he perceives a brother in need and deliberately "shuts up" his heart from him.  The verb is in the subjunctive which, in this context would suggest such a deliberate action, a choice on his part.  We're not talking about someone who simply overlooks need or is not actively seeking for n eeds to meet.  This is someone who is calloused and deliberately uncaring.  It is this person that John says in whom "the love of God" does not "abide".

The "Love of God' is much the same as we have discussed before.  "How does" is another adverbial adverbial interogative, a different word, but with the same effect.  It asks the question "how" or "in what fashion".  "Abide" in the Greek word for staying or remaining.  It is in the present indicative and gives the picture of something already present (namely, the love of God) that won't stay.   The point here is that there is real question as to whether it was ever really present!  Refusing to help a fellow believer when you can, John reasons, reveals that you don’t really love him. And if you don’t love him, God’s love can’t be in your heart, which proves that you don’t belong to Him.

1 John 3:18-19:  18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

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[1]  This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.

Fervently & Continually!

“Let love of the brethren continue.”¹ - Hebrews 13:1

“22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, - Your "soul" is, for Peter, your inner self, the immaterial part of man. Peter, as well as the rest of the Bible authors, makes no formal difference between the soul and the spirit of man. They are simply aspect of his immaterial side.

He says those to whom he was writing "have purified your souls in obeying the truth...". "Purify" speaks of being ritually or ceremonially cleansed, a reference to the OT rituals conducted in the Temple, now fulfilled in Christ. Now that those who are in Christ have believed they are "purified once and for all. The word implies the moral virtue that was attached to the worthy OT offering.

It is a participle, picturing the verbs action but putting in the place of a noun in the sentence. They are "the purified ones". It is worth noting that it Perfect tense as well as plural also. Peter is speaking their entire group, not intending that anyone be able to separate themselve and make themselves an exception. Further, as always, we are reminded careful, that the basis of all of this is the past, in the Work of Christ, finished once and for all and, more directly, the outworking of that accomplishment in their lives - their love for each other.

They "Obeyed the Truth through the Spirit". This, of course is a reference to salvation by grace and to all that followed. The "Truth" is athe Truth of the Gospel as revealed in the Word of God and the Spirit is the Holy Spirit of God. What is interesting here (not the only interesting thing surely!) is that we have "purified ourselves" in a "sincere love of the brethren".

Sincere means genuine or without hypocrisy. Romans 12:9: Paul uses it when he tells us to "let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.". In 2 Corinthians 6:5-6 Paul uses the word: "...⁵ in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; ⁶ by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,..." He uses it in 1Ti 1:5 & 2Ti 1:5 to refer to a "sincere faith". James uses the word in James the word in James 3:17 to speak of a "Wisdom that is from above" and then goes on describe its' characteristics.

"Love of the brethren" is the noun form of the word of which we have been speaking, here in its noun form. Early Greek used this word to speak of love for an actual blood brother or sister, no small indicator of just what kind of tie we are talking about when we see it applied to the Christian fellowship. It is not a mere acknowlegement of logical or organizational tie. It is a real and intimate tie that has deep and personal, essential meaning.

Sadly, this is where many believers fall short. We allow these ties to fall down. We allow the love for the brethren to cool and fall into almost mere aquaintence levels. This is not what God intended and is not the way the Church was designed to work - there is little wondeer that it has fallen into disrepair!

This is borne out, by the way, by the word "fervently" at the end of verse 22 in 1 Peter 1. The most common translation of this word is "continuously" or "without ceasing". Though it is not a word that is used often, it is used a couple times, This is the word that used in Acts 12:5 as the Church prayed for Peter's release from prison in Acts 12:5. It is used in Acts 22:44 (translated "earnestly") when Jesus was praying the Garden. the Septuagint uses it to translate Jonah 3:8: "But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from ^fthe violence that is in his hands.".

Peter sums up with the reason why all of this is so: "Having been born again..." As with so much in the Christian life, all of this is rooted in the truth, the fact that we are, first of all, believers. That fundamental fact MUST have implications, and one of those must be that our behavior is altered - in this case, it is our behavior toward one another - we must love one another fervently, continually!

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[1] This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.

Growing or Shriveling?

“Let love of the brethren continue.”¹ - Hebrews 13:1

“Love of other believers…” - "Love" is the famous Biblical word "Philadelphos" meaning love for a fellow believer, and speaks of the nature of the love; formally, a brotherly love or brotherly kindness. It is a combination of two different Greek words, Philos (Love) and Adelphos (brother), hence the translation. It speaks more the nature of the affection that one has to other believers than it does to one for whom one has affection. It is in the nominative case as the subject of the sentence.

As such, we must take care how we translate it and take care not to split this into two parts. This is not "love of the brethren", it is "brotherly love". That may seem like a small difference, but it is a significant one and, more importantly, it is a Biblical one. It does not speak to who we love, but to the way in which we love the ones we do love!

“…a natural outflow of the Christian life…” - By this we mean that this kind/degree of loving of other believers is a natural expression of being a Christian. We have said before, and the Bible is very clear, that Christians live and behave as Christians. This is, the Bible proclaims, inescapable. All believers demonstrate the truth of the presence and reality of Christianity in their lives. There is no such thing as a believer that gives no evidence of the presence of that salvation. One of the evidences of that salvation is love for the brethren and that evidence, the writer to Hebrews says, ought to continue!

“…it became very natural and exciting to love other Christians and to want to be around them.” - This is one of the truly sad things in the Church today - we have lost the lustre and joy of our fascination with each other. We no longer really like being with each other. We come to church for a number of reasons, but in many ways, we'd really rather be at home! It is almost as if church is a bother to us. That joy was wonderful, but it faded over the years.

“…must be nurtured or it will not grow…” - By "Nurtured" we mean not only that it must be kept up, but that it must be worked on and increased so that it matures and grows as with any other part of our Christian life. No part of our relationship with God can remain static.We be both seeking and submitting to He and to His Word on a continuing basis or, as MacArthur clear reminds us we will not only not grow, we not grow, we regress, or shrivel!

“…it may actually shrivel.” - The danger of losing or falling back from loving the brethren is a very real danger. The fervency with which we love the Church when we come to Christ is an amzing thing, and by church, I don't mean the institution or the organic church as a whole, I mean the people of the church. When we are young in the Lord we love each other as young lovers do, we almost can't get enough of each other. But as time goes by, if we allow it, that love cools, an the danger is that we drift apart and we occupy ourselves with other things that are of interest to us, to oursleves, and not to the entire group at large. Thus that love cools and we fall away. Oh, we are not enemies by any means, at least, we ought not be! But neither are we the intnse lovers of each other in the sense that Hebrews 13:1 says we ought to be!

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[1] This year I am often using MacArthur’s devotional “Strength for Today” as a starting point for my comments. Quotes from MacArthur’s Devotional are in boldface.