I was tripping through some you tube shorts and found an amazing video of young boy about to get a needle.
Needles. Another topic that I loath.
I have confessed my distaste of anything related to eyeballs and my general reluctance to visit the optometrist, as I spoke in an earlier post, but I also am somewhat queasy when it comes to needles.
Yes I know – I am a bit of a weak kneed type of guy, a bit of what we used to call a sissy. (Is that word allowed any more?)
But in my tripping over you tube shorts, I found this kid with an attitude! (see the embed below) Nothing of the standard style attitude of self serving, or reluctance to get the nasty deed done.
Nothing like my own experience.
No – this kid was all over getting this needle. Even though tears fell, he was not delaying the inevitable, nor he was whining about how unfair life was, or trying to find a way to get out of the pinch.
No. Through the tears his attitude was amazing, and it speaks of the power of our outlook on life. Somehow this youngin had been taught that life was for the living, that though some things may hurt, let’s keep pushing forward. Avoidance of difficult things is for those who do not want to live!
Watch this little boy tackle a problem, and tell me you don’t want to face troubles and difficult times with the same energy this youngin’ had.
Super impressive!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
251
GREAT KING ABOVE ALL GODS
Psalm 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
We have considered the simple adjective “Great” in an earlier post, (Names of God – GREAT IS OUR LORD – 249) with it’s varied meanings that may be applied to the subject, our God.
In our post this morning, we find the psalmist describing our God a a great King above all gods. Now when I read that, I confess, the comparison seems to be that of an apple with an orange.
Let me explain.
The psalmist is declaring God as a King, and then comparing this King against all other gods.
Yes it may seem like I am splitting hairs here, but the message is that God is not simply One who is creator and sustainer, but that He is ruler as a King, One who is a Monarch over the believer.
He is not One who is far away, having brought this creation into being, and One who simply provides for His creation, out of a self imposed responsibility, but One who is actively ruling over the people, One who has authority in the Kingdom, One to whom His subjects bow to willingly and out of deep devotion.
Notice the Psalmist speaks of our God as a King above all gods. This speaks to the competition we find in our lives as to the gods we listen to. There truly are other gods, and the Psalmist openly confesses to this tension, this competition that those in the Kingdom must wrestle with.
For the Psalmist though, it is a cut and dry position, a declaration for him that though there are other gods, there are none as high and lofty, none that exercise such a loving and righteous sovereignty over His subjects as the King we worship.
He is God, and He is Great, and He is a Great King. All of these descriptions describe our Savior, and this truth offers no real confusion when we consider how He has stepped into humanity, taken our weakness, proved His love and given righteous guidance as found in His Word.
He is King, a Great King over all other authorities!
May we worship Him in truth today.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.
As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
1 Thessalonians 2:20 For you are our glory and joy.
We have dealt with both the joy and the glory aspects of Paul’s heart regarding this church in a previous discussion. See last weeks posting 1 Thessalonian Bits – 2:19.
For this mornings brief verse, Paul simply wants to summarize his heart towards those he longs to see, Yes it appears as though he has vanished, yet all the more he desires to see them, and to let them know of how circumstances and forces have restrained him.
As a minor add on to the discussion of glory, as we previously mentioned the association of glory with boasting and that boasting in others may be a righteous activity, a unifying energy, and a faith building exercise that not only honors God, but builds up the church.
Of course, self boasting, that type of boasting of which I am expert at, seems to be the problem. Did you know that I am the greatest boaster of them all? Boast boast boast – Look at me!
Not going to go there!
Paul continually boasts of the Lord Jesus and not himself. And Paul is boasting of a tiny little band of folks that may be struggling with the apparent absence of their father in the faith. He is boasting of a small congregation that has turned their lives around in the face of opposition, even in the face of the evil one.
Yes Paul was separated from his loved ones, but he took great pride in his little church.
Struggling little churches are not to be looked down upon. Without velvet or silk pews, fancy hymnals and solid oak pulpits, God can still perform mighty miracles in the lives of the sanctified. Churches that may be vilified by the common man, or the high powered influencer can still produce a light for those who are seeking.
If my reader is in the midst of a struggle, be it personal or body life, remember God is the God of little things. He seeks to change the world through one life at a time, and He has been pretty dang successful so far.
Trust Him in the difficult times, when loneliness, distractions and discouragements seem to pile up. His heart towards the little church just may be the same as the apostles heart to the Thessalonians!
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 74:4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs. Psalm 74:5 They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees. Psalm 74:6 And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers. Psalm 74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground. Psalm 74:8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
Asaph is describing the complete desolation of the sanctuary of God. Not only a desolation of the sanctuary, but the apparent overpowering of the God behind the sanctuary. This is the overarching struggle for Asaph, for his faith in the God of Israel is in a God who parts the water, who delivers nations from bondage, who provides offspring to barren women and wins battles by unconventional means.
How could this desolation be happening? Asaph knows God can do something, but there is no response. It is as if God has abandoned His people. As we spoke of in our last post, Asaph called out for God to run to their rescue. God had abandoned them, and He needed to be reminded of His covenant with His people, for how could the foes find victory if God was still present?
Those foes in the sanctuary had no regard for the importance of the structure, what it represented and what they were doing.
Or did they?
Notice the last verse in our reading this morning. In their effort to subdue those of the land of Israel, the foes knew they needed to cripple the faith of the people. The synagogues (or local meeting places) along with the temple/tabernacle needed to be destroyed for victory over the people.
In order to subdue the people, all the meeting places of the people had to be destroyed. This is and has been the adversaries strategy for eons. Subdue the people, by destroying community, by tearing apart the body of Christ.
Even as the enemy took wild stokes of their axe on the structure of the sanctuary, so today we find an onslaught of attacks on the truth of God, the faith of the believer and the desire of the enemy to keep believers separate from each other.
During my weekday commute, I have been listening to the beatitudes in Matthew. Since it is not a time of study, I have been listening to the passage out of paraphrase called the Message. The passage in chapter 5 speaks of another reason for persecution by the enemies of faith.
Matthew 5:10-12
You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. Not only that – count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens – give a cheer, even! – for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
Not only do our foes know that to “defeat God”, they need to defeat the people of God. They hate the truth, for as they vigorously deny it, they are witness to the undeniability of its reality. Every time we join together in true worship, whether it be in massive congregations or small home studies, the sanctuary of God is revealed to the lost, the truth of the gospel is displayed to the foe, and an illogical hatred erupts in the heart and mind of those opposed to God and His people.
The foes destroying the sanctuary of God in our verses were not haphazard in their strategy of desolation. The battle plan has never been altered for time immemorial. Sure – the specific conditions are different, the faces may be unfamiliar, but the intended results are always the destruction of a unified, cohesive body of Christ, a congregation that is focused on the holy, and that seeks to follow the Truth.
As we seek to follow the truth, opposition will come in some form or another. It is the way of the world, that the god of this world does all he can to “swing the axe” within the sanctuary.
May we be strong believers, seeking to honor God, even as we may be entering a time of contradiction, when it appears God is quiet.
May we be faithful, knowing the heart of God even if He is quiet.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
250
GREAT KING
Malachi 1:14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.
There are a number of issues going on with this passage. As I read it, certain New Testament passages are erupting in my mind.
That Swindler
Who is this cheat, this swindler that Malachi is pointing his finger to?
Although I rarely am reminded of this fact, Malachi is communicating to a very specific group of Israeli people. He is speaking to the priests, those men called by God to represent the people before Him, to receive the offerings God has prescribed for the nation.
This passage begins in verse 16 with the Lord’s direct charge to the priests.
Malachi 1:6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’
Malachi goes so far as to claim the priest “snort” at the offerings, and claim it is a weariness. Malachi then speaks of this cheat, this swindler, this priest who vows a male sheep of his flock.
That Land Hold up now – Were priests and Levites provided land in the original covenant? I know there is no mention of land in this verse, but where did the priest keep his sheep? Something tells me the Levites were to have no inheritance, no portion of the land of Israel.
Deuteronomy 18:1-2 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the LORD’s food offerings as their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance, as he promised them.
Granted, by the time of Malachi, the Levites and Priest’s may have established a reason to have land in order to “manage” the sheep for offerings, but is that not similar to the Lord’s message in Mark?
Mark 7:9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! Mark 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ Mark 7:11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”‘ (that is, given to God)–
Somehow I think the priest’s conveniently set up a tradition of owning land, but of course, it was a burden they accepted in order to serve God.
That Vow
We have noted that the priest looks down on the offerings, even snorting at them, and then we find he makes a vow. A vow of providing a male of the flock.
An acceptable sacrifice before the Lord is a male of the flock, an unblemished offering before the Lord. Multiple verses in the book of Leviticus, the handbook for the priestly order, speak of offering up an unblemished male.
Is it fair to understand that when the priest vows to offer a male, he is referring to an unblemished male according to the handbook of the priests?
I think this is a safe assumption!
But let us consider the vow for a minute more for making that vow seems to be a problem in my mind. Was it not the priest’s responsibility to offer up the correct sacrifice, so what is going on with this vow? Was it necessary?
As the Lord reminded us in the Beatitudes, those who shout out their acts of righteousness have their reward.
Matthew 6:2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
By making this vow, the priest may have been looking for his reward. But let’s think about that for a moment. What reward did a priest deserve? He was simply performing his religious duties. Do I want a pat on the back if I go to church? Do I look for a hooray if I give a missionary 50 bucks? Am I to expect accolades if I show mercy to one less fortunate?
Luke 17:9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Something is so wrong in this picture!
In Summary
We have a cheating priest, owning contraband land, and offering up left over, unwanted sheep to the Great King. How utterly amazing that the religious leaders of the chosen people had sunk so low.
Malachi was the last prophet to appear before John the Baptist introduces the Great King to Israel. Much of Malachi’s prophetic message decries the state of the priesthood of Israel. Over and over again Malachi represents the Great King as deserving of so much more respect, honor and devotion than He is receiving.
Is it not the same today? It is too easy to relate Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of our modern church!
Prior to the crucifixion, Jesus spoke to one of the ruling religious class, and summarized Malachi’s message to the ruling religious class of his day.
Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
For the laymen in the Body, let us also fear that we are also of the same ilk, providing to the Great King far less than He deserves!
For He is the Great King, the Ruler over all.
May we recognize our own sin before the Lord, our own disregard of the Great King, and humbly ask Him for forgiveness and power to love Him with all our hearts, soul and mind.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Psalm 26:9 Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, Psalm 26:10 in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.
Psalm 26 is a psalm of David, a man who followed after God through struggles, disappointments, persecutions and trials. Even as a young teenager, he knew the Lord and spent many hours communing with the God of Israel while with his sheep.
Considered a nobody by his father, for he was never considered when Samuel requested to see Jesse’s sons, he nevertheless honored his father and trusted the Lord throughout his life. Even during times of persecution, of which produced a psalm as we read this morning, he looked to the Lord and begged for understanding, for the Lord to vindicate him (vs 1), for the Lord to examine him (vs 2), and declared his innocence in comparison to those who sought his life (vs 4-7).
David makes the case for his integrity, and has an open heart for the Lord’s work in his life. The first 7 verses of this psalm are a fantastic example of the Christian life before the Lord. David was so New Testamental!
So it is somewhat shocking that David pleads God not to take away his soul with sinners in verse 9. On top of that plea, he continues with begging that the Lord not gather his life with bloodthirsty men.
What is going on here?
Might it be that he is simply requesting that he not die in the presence of sinners? Maybe.
In the ESV, which is the version I typically use, the term “sweep away” speaks of receiving, removing, collecting and gathering. It isn’t quite clear to me if David is begging to be saved from being gathered with sinners in their judgement/destiny or to be separated from them in the act of death. Or possibly to be separated from them in their sinful actions.
Too many questions, but the verse is admittedly surprising.
Immediately after this plea to God for His protection, David returns to his previous confidence.
Psalm 26:11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. Psalm 26:12 My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.
Maybe I shouldn’t have looked at this verse as I seem to be producing more questions than answers. Thankfully, I know there are readers that follow my blog, and I would reach out to them for suggestions on the passage above.
Until then, I will continue to consider the passage. And I may come back to it if the Lord gives me any clarity. Nevertheless, may the Lord bless you as you travel the pilgrim way today.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
I finally went to the optometrist this Saturday. My glasses had become scratched, and my last checkup was close to two years ago.
It was time.
Now for most folks, a trip to the optometrist is no biggee. A puff of air on the eye, and a few drops in the ocular space, some flashing lights and staring through some fuzzy glass for ten minutes. For most, simply an inconvenience, a necessity to acquire a new set of eye crutches!
But for me, something went wrong in my mind a long time ago. Anything to do with eyeballs simply grosses me out. I get all gurgly inside, and simple leave a group if I think a conversation about eyes will get too graphic. And to think of contacts? No – not even a consideration!
So when I ended up in the optometrist’s chair, I was somewhat preemptively apologetic. Almost immediately, as the doctor came in, I warned her I was not going to be a very good patient, that I was really particular about eyeballs, and that I don’t mean to be difficult, but that is the patient she had.
She looked at me and asked me if I was an engineer.
Pardon me? What makes you ask me that?
She mentioned that many of her patients that are “particular” about their eyes are engineers, and that got me thinking. A subtle characteristic that I didn’t even realize was placing me in that group of humans known as engineers!
As I walk this life, I pray that more and more subtle characteristics of the Lord Jesus may be found in my life. Actions and attitudes that have “rubbed off on me” by being near the Master, things that I don’t even think of.
May it be so!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
FREE SALVATION
Isaiah 45:13 I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the LORD of hosts.
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
We are in Isaiah once again, with the Lord Jesus clearly being seen through the eyes of a redeemed, freely purchased sinner.
Ok – I am getting ahead of myself, but when I see the setting free of exiles, and that freedom from exile is not for price of reward, that simply screams grace grace grace!
Can’t you sense the completely surprising freedom that is spoken of here? Imagine those who had lived under the Babylonian captivity all their lives, for by the time Cyrus came around, the Jews had lived in Babylon near to 70 years. Bondage in a strange land, amongst those of a strange tongue had been their lives, and though there had been prophecies of the captivity only lasting 70 years, the outworking of this freedom may not have been clearly communicated to those under the yoke of their captors.
Yes – the Jews had heard of the prophecies relating to the 70 years of captivity, from Jeremiah, and of that Daniel fellow. Details may have been a bit sketchy, and not much was understood about the one through whom this freedom would come. Maybe a powerful Jewish prophet like Moses would bring the people out of their Egypt. Or better yet, maybe a mighty Jewish king, like David could rally the downtrodden to escape from a world power such as Babylon.
No – not only was the freedom to come completely without cost, but was to be from a completely unexpected instrument in God’s hand.
A heathen king names Cyrus would provide a freedom from exile for the Jewish people, a freedom that would cost them nothing but a willing heart to follow after.
The cost for this freedom was expressed with two words, amplifying the freeness (is that a word?) of the freedom.
מְחִיר mᵉchîyr
This term is commonly referring to as a price or hire. For Cyrus, this was not a consideration in releasing the Jewish community.
As a contrast, when the Word refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, he made rulers, dividing the land for filthy lucre*.
Daniel 11:39 He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price.
שַׁחַד shachad
This term may refer to a bribe or a present, even in the bribing of kings
1 Kings 15:19 “Let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.”
No bribing, or convincing with filthy lucre* was required for this freedom from exile to occur.
Cyrus was not provided any kickback, leverage, or influence – other than the character appreciation this act added to his stature – in the release of the Jews from his newly acquired kingdom. As a matter of fact, he added his influence to those who remained behind to fund those who ventured out!
Surely, with very little imagination, we can recognize a glimmer of the grace of the Lord Jesus in this heathen king, for Jesus surely rescued us from our captivity, giving us the water of life without price.
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
May we remember the costly salvation we have been offered without price, and be a thankful people!
*BTW – for those younger than I – and I suspect most of my readers are, filthy lucre is an old phrase the KJV used for money, and it is just so appropriate at time to use the old term. As a curiosity, how many of my readers connected with the term prior to reading this footnote? Let me know.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
249
GREAT IS OUR LORD
Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
As we consider the names of God, we see the same modifier describing different aspects or characteristics of our God. Such is the case for our current streak of Names.
Since we began in Post 245 – Great and Awesome Name, we have considered the modifier “Great” included in our descriptions. This should not surprise us, for our God is Great, but what does that mean?
Let’s consider some shades of meaning in relation to the term “Great”.
SIZE The first possible meaning might include the concept of size. You know – the fire was great, as in it was a large fire!
SIZE (in comparison) We sometimes call animals of the same genus “great” to differentiate them from others of like nature. An example might include the “Great Blue Heron”, or the “Great Grey Owl”. Great in this case relates to a comparison amongst the same type of animal
SIZE (numerically) How about the way great is used in relation to quantity? There was a great number of students waiting to go into class.
QUALITY Quality may be described when using great, as in – the cheese was great, better than I had ever tasted!
SUPERIORITY Great may be used in relation to character, to the noble and good life lived by a man or woman. She was a great servant of those in need.
SKILLFUL I have a friend that is adept, very skillful at learning languages. She is a great linguist!
CHIEF OR PRINCIPAL Great is sometimes used when describing the principal or main building on a site. I recently visited a ranch in Texas and had meetings in the “great” house.
ENTHUSIASTIC To be considered great in relation to enthusiasm would describe one who loves a certain topic or activity, and then be described as great. Something like – Frank was a great lover of hotdogs. (He wasn’t passive towards those dogs!)
There may be more shades of meaning I have missed, but to call our God Great may include some or all of these shades of meanings.
Which shade of meaning might you consider your favorite? Is there any shade of meaning that you might consider not applicable to God?
Let me know in the comments.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.
As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
Paul can’t get back to his friends. He has experienced an opposition that is frustrating him, hindering him from returning. It isn’t just the roadblocks that were being put up by the adversary that was the frustration, serious though they be, but the fact that the young church may be thinking he was a “one and done” type of fella, a flash in the pan, a man that comes into a town, disrupts the status quo and then runs away.
We must remember the times Paul lived in. No cell phone, no internet connections, not even a modern type of snail mail. Communication between parties was rare in the ancient world. So while Paul is being directed by God, and Satan is putting up roadblocks, Paul has time to think about the Thessalonians. Think about how they received him and his team, took the side of truth when the powers of deception came to shut them down. He thought of their possible sense of abandonment. And of how special these folks were in the faith.
He needed them to know that though he was not able to make it back, his heart was overjoyed in hearing of them, of remembering their faith and steadfastness. He speaks of them in the most glowing terms, and as such, wants them to know of his love for them.
Hope
We have spoke of hope in previous studies, and of the different uses of the term depending on the context of the discussion. It has been over 5 years ago, when I stumbled over the Greek term for hope and included it in a 16 part series on faith (Faith – Introduction). I provide the link for my new readers.
One somewhat unorthodox way of understanding a word or thought is to consider the antonym, or a word that presents an opposite thought or concept.
For hope, opposing thoughts or emotions would include despair, fear, disbelief and uncertainty. Paul was not entertaining these thoughts toward the Thessalonians. He had great expectancy, and this is the nature of a great leader, a great minister, a great father.
A great father figure presents an expectation to his children, and with encouragement, discipline and guidance, sees his children enter into those very expectations. Paul’s hope was not merely a warm fuzzy, but included an expectation of good things ahead for the church.
Joy
It is not surprising that joy and hope are closely linked together in the believers life. To continue our exercise in antonym offerings, opposing thoughts of joy would include despair, misery, anguish and gloom.
Note that both hope and joy are the very opposite of despair. Ours is not the life of despair. The Christian life is not looking to the troubles and trials of day to day problems, finding and focusing on the hills we need to climb, but realizing we have such a great salvation that roadblocks, frustrations and hinderances, though causing us concerns, are not the focus of our lives.
The focus of our lives is to be about others, and specifically to focus primarily on One other person. He has provided us the joy of the Lord, for in His sacrificial offering, He showed us the drawing power of joy as He endured the cross.
Hebrews 12:2a looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross..
Joy is a powerful motivator, not only in the present but also for the future!
Crown of Boasting
Now this term, at first glance, seems to be out of sync with Paul’s list. Is not boasting linked to pride and pride is one of the seven sinful activities that God hates?
Proverbs 6:16-17 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
That may be an early conclusion but consider the focus of the boasting. In the proverb, Solomon is describing the worthless person, the one who devises wicked plans and sows discord amongst the brothers.
Not so with Paul and the Thessalonians. Two differences for Paul’s use of the term boasting should be considered.
Righteous
Paul’s boasting is related to a people who were not evil. The Thessalonians had become imitators of the Lord (1:6), examples of the faith (1:7), and had turned from idols to the Living God (1:9). A completely different context.
Others
Secondly, Paul was boasting of someone else and not his own accomplishments. There is nothing I like less than to hear someone continually speak of his or her accomplishments. I am of the opinion that any works we perform or seek to accomplish should speak on their own merits. For one to remind others of our accomplishments is offputting.
Although the Lord was specifically speaking of giving in Matthew 6:3, I see a principal that relates to this topic and is applicable throughout our daily lives.
Matthew 6:3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
A similar teaching was provided regarding prayer.
Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
While I am at it, this teaching is also found in relation to fasting.
Matthew 6:18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Keep your deeds between you and God. Boasting or showing off of my achievements provides an instant reward, an instant reward that is fleeting, empty and temporal!
Matthew 6:2 …. that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:5 …that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:16 …they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Paul speaks of the opportunity for believers to boast of other believers, and openly speaks of not commending himself to them
2 Corinthians 5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart.
All of that to say, when Paul speaks of boasting, he is speaking of others, of their faith and the work of God in their lives. To boast of myself is wrong. To boast of others is proper and an expression of love and unity within the church.
It would be wise for us to remember this difference!
Although Paul was not able to come to them as he wanted to, he wanted them to know of his deep love for them, and of a day when One would be coming for them, when the Messiah would have no roadblocks, no frustrations, no impediments in visiting this church. He would arrive in glory and that glory would include the little band of faithful in Thessalonia!
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 74:1 A Maskil of Asaph. O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Psalm 74:2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt. Psalm 74:3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
Before we dig into this psalm, it may be good to recognize that the background to this psalm is somewhat debatable. Does Asaph refer to the times of the tabernacle being overtaken at Shiloh, as the Philistines took the ark and defeated the Israelites? Asaph does speak of Shiloh in a future Psalm, of God’s abandonment of the tabernacle at Shiloh.
Or might this description of the sanctuary being destroyed be referring to the Babylonian invasion, with the author being of the sons of Asaph.
These questions will not be resolved in this post of course, but the fact that this psalm may refer to one of multiple falls of the sanctuary speaks of the impact of our own selfish behavior in relation to the people of God.
As we ignore (or refuse) to be the church, our enemy will come and seek to destroy, whether it be by outside or inside forces. Worse yet, and for Asaph the focus of this Psalm, is that God Himself pulls away from the sanctuary, allowing the sanctuary to be defiled, destroyed and abandoned, giving our enemy an apparent victory.
The topic of God abandoning His sanctuary, abandoning His people is the struggle Asaph speaks of in this psalm. As with Psalm 73, where Asaph struggled with the ease of the wicked, this psalm also provides us a glimpse into the faith struggle of this great man of God.
Our introductory verses speak of Asaph’s shock, of how God had cast off His people forever. Let us not dull the sharpness of this question. To be cast off is to be spurned, to be forcefully rejected.
David warned his son of this danger!
1 Chronicles 28:9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
This question of being cast off flies in the face of the constant claims of God’s promises for the people of God. Asaph will attempt to remind God of who He is and how He has made claims and promises to the people He has led.
The Sheep of His pasture
This phrase speaks of God’s ownership of His people. Some may relate this phrase to God’s ownership of Israel due to His creative acts, that the nation is His due to the original creation, and they were the chosen people for His purposes.
The concept of creation and purchasing is intertwined in Asaph’s plea to God.
The congregation He purchased
קָנָה qânâh – To purchase, sometimes to create. Moses used this term in relating to the nation being redeemed from Egypt.
Exodus 15:13a “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed.
Eve declared she had “gotten” a man with the help of God using the same term.
Genesis 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
God has created this nation of Israel out of nothing, for what nation has ever begun from a promise to a single barren man? His creation of the nation of Israel truly mimics His creation at the beginning. Out of nothing, God creates all things!
Asaph understands this, and reminds our God of His ownership and purchase of the people He is acting against.
The people He redeemed
גָּאַל gâʼal
Those He redeemed are the people of His inheritance. The redemption spoken of here looks back to the time when they were under bondage, when they had no strength, no freedom, and no hope. After the sanctuary had been destroyed, these redeemed were again experiencing the same condition of bondage and the loss of hope.
Asaph is reminding his God of the redemption He provided and is now effectively lost to His people. How could this happen?
Based on these descriptions of how God has related to the nation, Asaph implores Him to pay attention, to act, to run to their rescue, to come and help. God has obviously been absent, even working actively against the sheep of His pasture. Asaph is asking for His return, His turning back to His people.
The works of God are mysterious, and as the people of God, we understand so little at times. Even as we see through a glass darkly, and at times when the Lord may be teaching very hard lessons, we have the knowledge those of the Old Testament only imagined. Our God, no matter the situations we find ourselves in, know of the Messiah, of His acts of sacrifice, of His showing the love of God to weak, broken and helpless sinners.
We know of His person, for He walked with us, and died for us. He is with us, and we can take comfort in the midst of trials we don’t fully understand. For Asaph, he will continue to struggle with the conditions he is living in, just as we might.
Thankfully, we have the blessing of knowing the One who proved the love of God for us.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
248
GREAT HIGH PRIEST
Hebrews 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Years ago, my son decided to read through the Old Testament, and as he was going through the Pentateuch, he made a comment I will never forget.
“Those priests were butchers!”
From a young man who had spent most of his life preparing food, as he had read the duties of the Priest, he interpreted it as equal to the task of a butcher. I had read the same passages many times and never came away with that impression.
My concept of the priest was flavored more from the ones who interacted with the Messiah in the New Testament. Businessmen, politicians and religious imposters. A dangerous mix for the people of God to be under!
Was the priest intended to be a butcher? Is that the message we should take away from our reading of the Old Testament? Or maybe, the priest was to be a manager of people, one who controlled and manipulated people and goods.
To be a priest entailed many tasks that I do not intend to venture into with this short post, but two items need to be considered as we think of our God as the Great High Priest.
The High Priest in the Old Testament was a prefigure of the Messiah in many ways. For the purpose of brevity and to relate to this post, consider the High Priest before a holy God and before a sinful people.
Before a Holy God
As the priest entered the presence of God, he “carried” the people on his heart. His approach before a holy God was for the people, as he carried a broken, sinful people on his heart, pleading before the Righteous and Holy God for a people who were not worthy, who had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
His “ministry” was of a broken heart for the people he represented.
Exodus 28:30 And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly.
Before Sinful People
His behavior before his people was likewise towards them. It was the prophet that did much of the rebuking, correcting and chastisement in the nation as they rebelled against God, though correction of the people was not out of the priest’s job description. When required, he chastised the people.
But for the faithful Israelite, who came before the priest with an offering, with a lamb, a goat or a pigeon, the priest was of the receiving nature. He was approachable, without rebuke to the one who sacrificed in the right spirit. Proper sacrifice was received gladly, with open arms.
For our time together this morning, consider both of these attributes in the Lord Jesus as our High Priest. Were not sinful broken people on the heart of the Messiah as He faced the judgement of sin in His body on the cross? Though He suffered such horrendous injustice in His service for His people, He has not turned to His people in anger due to this injustice. He is not holding some grudge, or demanding some retribution from His people. He is approachable, with open arms, receiving His people as they come with their own sacrifices of praise and love to Him.
The apostle encourages the people of God to draw near to our High Priest, a High Priest that is able to sympathize with our weakness, having experienced the power of temptation.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus is our true Great High Priest, and all other images in my mind of a butcher and a businessman vanish as I see His arms open up!
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
2 Corinthians 12:21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
Paul is reaching out to his church in Corinth. As you may remember, Corinth was a church that Paul founded and had spent much time there, discipling the faithful, and exhorting them to continue in the faith. Paul spent 18 months with this church, much longer than most of his plants.
Acts 18:11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
While there, he wasn’t acting in the evangelist mode as much as the Bible teacher, and the Corinthians had the blessing of being under Paul’s teaching for an extended period of time!
If he personally knew a people claiming Christ, it was in Corinth, but as he eventually moved on under the leading of God, he heard rumors, stories of the Corinthians acting like little children, bickering and fighting with one another. Acting unChristian.
The reports of this church’s activities included some sin that even the heathen don’t put up with. And yet he designated them as saints, believers.
1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Paul goes so far as to speak of the Corinthians surety in the faith.
1 Corinthians 1:6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you–
But in our verse this morning, we find Paul speaking of mourning. A requirement of mourning over many of those he has declared to be saints.
Mourning is typically associated with death, with grief over the loss of a loved one. While there is hope, mourning is not the word I think of. For Paul to bring this word into the discussion may breach our topic of conditional security, for he has established these as saints, and is now fearing the mourning required at the death of a loved one.
May this mourning be associated with physical death? We know some in the church were judged because of their sin and were taken home early, as we read in 1 Corinthians 11.
1 Corinthians 11:30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
But when Paul speaks of physical death amongst the believers, it is in the context of judgment, without any reference to mourning, sorrow or grief. It is a matter of judgement.
For our verse here, I suggest Paul may be breaching a far greater death, not simply of a saint being judged and taken home early, though still a believer.
Might Paul be introducing the mourning required in the loss of a believer from the faith? Just a few verses later Paul is asking these folks to check themselves out. They need to examine themselves, test themselves, to see if they pass or fail.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?–unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
Now some may be thinking Paul is writing this to a mixed audience, those who are of the faith and those who are simply watching from outside. Some may think that Paul has two audiences in mind, and this testing is for the self-deluded outsider, the professor and not the possessor of the Christian life. This may make sense, except for the fact I don’t recall him addressing any outsiders throughout this letter.
He continues to address believers, bringing to mind the responsibilities and lifestyle requirements of the believer, sometimes rebuking the believer, and speaking to those who have made claims of new life.
How do you understand his reference to mourning in relation to the saints he was about to visit?
Leave me a comment – I am curious of my readers opinions!
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As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
5 Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth as he was taking his noonday rest. 6 And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, 8 and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The LORD has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.” 9 But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 10 when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” 12 And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
Due to the history of the Beerothites, and the likelihood of these men being mere mercenaries, this action of assassination should not surprise us. These men saw an opportunity, but did not consider David’s history with those killing for his sake and took action. A fatal mistake!
I mentioned the history of the Beerothites in an earlier post, of how this tribe had deceived Joshua and entered into a treaty with the nation of Israel under false pretenses. Now, three centuries later, this tribe provides two mercenaries to perform a treasonous act against their king.
For treason, these two men did not disappoint. Walking into the palace, and stabbing the king in broad daylight is gutsy. To leave the palace with the head of the king is beyond audacious – that is simply foolhardy. Yet they were able to do this act of treason, seemingly without any concern of getting caught. Was it that they were part of the royal guard, or was is that since Abner had been taken out of the picture, they entire security around the king was lax. I will leave that with my reader.
These two game changers, having committed a capital offence head off to the upcoming king, a man they seemingly know little of. Surely they didn’t hear the story of that fellow who presented to David the news of Saul’s death. If that man had killed Saul, as David understood, it could be reasoned it was in war, and bad things happen in war. But that reasoning did not wash with David, for that fellow was put to death for raising his hand against the Lord’s anointed!
These fellows had no excuse. No war, the king was at a weak time, and the army that should protect is the killing machine?
Verse 11 is the key verse, where David lays into these fools.
How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?”
Suffice to say – they died. And David sought to honor Ish-bosheth with entombing him in Abner’s tomb.
Saul had no tomb? What is David doing in laying to rest Ish-bosheth in Abner’s tomb. It is not that Hebron was King Saul’s capital city – that was Gibeah.
If my reader has any possible reasoning for David to provide this specific honor to Ish-bosheth, please let me know in the comments.
Otherwise, this treacherous act of two mercenaries has set the stage for David to rule all of Israel. We will begin to shift in the story of David from watching a man on the run, one who was treated like an enemy by the powers that reigned, to one who ascended to the throne, reigning as God had promised.
Throughout the early years of David, we have seen many instances where David’s life reflected the persecuted life of his Greater Son.
So many similarities to Jesus as He walked among us.
Now as we enter a time where David is enthroned, we will find a man besot with sin, struggling with his own demons, and yet being led by the Father, receiving promises from God and establishing Israel on a path of tremendous world influence, spreading the glory of God throughout the region.
Jesus is also on the throne, ruling over the Kingdom of heaven. His ascension centuries back has become the King of all nations.
Revelation 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
Jesus’ rule continues throughout eternity, and His righteous reign will lead each of us to greater victories as we follow the One who is our Master.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
LOVED BY THE LORD
Isaiah 48:14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
We are in Isaiah again, with a picture of the Messiah coming through loud and clear.
Isaiah is calling the people together for a message that has not been declared. Now a bit of background may be beneficial. Isaiah is decrying the peoples dependance on dumb idols, their idolatry is rampant, and many of the prophecies regarding Cyrus are provided for a generation of God’s nation many years in the future. No idols can do that! When Isaiah speaks of “Who among them”, he is referring to the dumb idols! No idols could predict a future deliverer of Israel centuries ahead of the time.
Not only will the prophecy regarding the release of the Jews from captivity be astounding, but the instrument of release for the Jews will defeat the Chaldeans and perform God’s purpose on the Babylonians.
And the Lord loves him. This instrument of devastation on the Babylonians is loved by the Lord. This instrument of release from the Babylonians, for the people of God is loved by God.
This instrument of devastation and deliverance is a heathen king, a man who God raises up over a century after this prophecy, and we know of this kings name as Cyrus.
In this series on Cyrus we have seen him as the deliverer, the freedom giver, the man who obeys God’s will and much more. But here in Isaiah, we see Isaiah revealing the heart of God towards a heathen king.
Some may think this declaration of love by the Lord is to be reserved only for the anti-type of Cyrus, that is the Lord Jesus, and there may be merit to that, since the Father loves the Son! Yet even if Isaiah provides a sort of limited love of God for Cyrus, it is an amazing declaration for the people of God to hear.
God’s servant, a stranger outside of their camp, outside of their nation is loved by God! Another description of Jesus from the Old Testament, this time describing the relationship of the Son with the Father, through a stranger to the people of God.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
247
GREAT GOD
Daniel 2:45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
Daniel is beckoned before the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzer, after the king experienced a startling dream. He had watched in his night visions as a massive structure was erected before him, made of various metals.
Now this is the first time Daniel is brought before the king, and the task was daunting. Not only interpret a dream, but determine the dream? Recount the contents of the dream the the king.
Very unexpected!
Daniel and his friends prayed, and in Daniels next appearance, he not only interpreted the dream according to truth, but also was able to provide the contents of the dream to the king.
Daniel spoke of “a great God” in his confession before the king, and as this most likely was the first time before the King, Daniel introduced the King of Kings to the king of Babylon in a somewhat generic way. Daniel would be before the king many times, and would have national/worldwide influence before this king. This initial introduction Daniel was somewhat restrained, for he only revealed the contents of a dream. After all, it was only a message to a king regarding his kingdom’s eventual fall.
An additional passage is found in the Old Testament regarding our Great God.
Nehemiah 8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
In this passage, we have another man of God describing our God as great. Ezra was addressing a community of faith, who were ready and willing to hear the Word of God.
The reaction of the people of God was amazing. As Ezra opened the book of the law, the people stood. As he read the book of the law, the people wept. Imagine that! Weeping in the congregation of God’s people, due to the reading of the Book of the Law.
Revival in the congregation was breaking out, for the Word reflected their failure, their sin and their disobedience, yet their hearts were open to the Lord.
One man revealed a dream. One man revived a nation. Both actions were attributed the our Great God.
Paul also speaks of our Great God, providing us clear indication of the identity of the One on the cross.
Titus 2:13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Take note that we have went from the indefinite article “a” in describing God with Daniel – (a Great God), through to the definite article “the” in Ezra’s declaration (the Great God) to Paul’s possessive description of God.
He is our Great God.
Lord Jesus – we look to You, our Great God for a time of revival as in Ezra’s day, a period of open hearts in front of the open Book.
Help us have open hearts to Your ways!
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.
As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 because we wanted to come to you–I, Paul, again and again–but Satan hindered us.
Last time in our study of Thessalonians, we were breaching the subject of the source of Paul’s separation from his young believers. Yes he had mentioned those who displease God and oppose all mankind! He had become specific in identifying the the human instruments of persecution, even calling out the religious Jews persecuting the new believers in Israel, and the Thessalonian countrymen persecuting this tiny church.
Both experienced a similar suffering. From appearances, the actions of those against believers were so similar that it surely represented a single source of hatred. Those performing the persecution seemed to be motivated and directed by a single source, and Paul is not shy in identifying this source.
Satan, the adversary is the source of the persecution, but in this passage, it seems Paul is directing us to a method of the enemy that is unexpected.
Yes, Satan at times uses brute force (spiritually speaking) for his opposition to the gospel, but for Paul in this passage, he speaks of a different attack, a subtle, indirect method Satan uses in fighting against the gospel.
Hindering. To cut into or impede progress by interruption. The specific term Paul uses here is very relatable for the author, as I have spent my life in the design and construction of modes of transportation, being either roadways or railroads. The term to hinder in this passage was used in the first century of impeding people by the “breaking up the road, or by placing an obstacle sharply in the path; hence, metaphorically, of “detaining” a person unnecessarily”.
Now of course any rebuilding of any road I was involved in was not “unnecessary” so I take exception to this description, and the breaking up of any road was for the purpose of increasing safety of access for the public.
Not so for Satan, for we know he is the enemy of our souls. Paul is graphically describing Satan’s method of slowing us down or impeding us in our seeking after God. Paul, in a similar passage in Galatians, speaks of those Judaizers who were throwing up obstacles and “breaking up the road” believers were travelling in following the Lord Jesus.
Galatians 5:7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
Now before I jump to any conclusions, focusing on Satan and his methods, it would be wise to remember that he is only a created being, a rogue spirit that seeks to topple the King of Kings. He is, even from the very beginning, on a fool’s errand, for who can fight against the King. His ways are of eternity, and though He allows hinderances, delays and “broken up roads” that we need to traverse, He is faithful, and all wise.
In Paul’s case, he did not allow any hindering to stop him, but continued to look for ways to visit with his people in Macedonia. He speaks in 1 Corinthians 1:15-16 of his plans to visit that area, and in Acts 20:1-3, Luke describes his journeys through Macedonia strengthening the churches.
For us today, what hinderances are before you? What portion of the way is broken up before you, making progress harder than expected? It is good to remember that the context of Paul’s concerns was the hinderance of both the spread of the gospel and the fellowship of the saints together. Both are critical for the church.
May we find strength in Him as we travel the way of God.
My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 73:27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. Psalm 73:28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Let’s remember the rollercoaster ride Asaph has spiritually taken. Early in the Psalm, he was paying attention to those in Israel who were finding success financially, who were enjoying a comfortable life, who had acquired image and power in the community. It seemed that these folk, that Asaph called “wicked” were doing just fine!
As a matter of fact, not only were they doing fine, it appeared God was allowing unrighteousness to gain a foothold, for those whom Asaph called “wicked” were snubbing their nose at God, ignoring the covenant they belonged to, without any negative impact.
Everything seemed so backwards for Asaph, and for all appearances, so real, so factual, so true, and so easy. No need for morning prayers, or torah reading. Observance of temple rituals could be ignored, and the required sacrifices were put on hold.
The life of the wicked that Asaph observed was the life to choose.
He wanted it, and was entering into the sin of envy, which was bringing him to the doorstep of idolatry. He freely admitted his conflict, and was experiencing an inner battle that was relentless, with the ultimate victor seeming to be the lifestyle of the wicked, with all the trappings of ease, comfort and possessions.
That is until he entered the sanctuary of God and he finally understood the reality instead of a image he perceived of both the wicked and his own life.
In our short passage this morning, Asaph is concluding his findings, and provides a stark difference of the future of both the wicked and the righteous. Earlier he had mentioned how his efforts had all been in vain, useless efforts for success in life.
Psalm 73:13 – All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
He sees things completely different now.
Any efforts Asaph performed in being near to God are no longer considered a burden, a vanity or a problem. He sees that the lifestyle and focus of the wicked is taking them farther and farther away from God. The term Asaph uses regarding the actions of the wicked is an adjective describing a removing, a departure, a going away from. The lifestyle and choices of the wicked are not neutral, and God has not provided any allowance for a wicked lifestyle. The judgement of the wicked’s lifestyle is that it takes the worker away from God.
God is still the center of all, and those chasing the life of the wicked are running far from God. They are becoming remote, and as they are moving away from God, the source of all life, it is obvious the end result is perishing.
No life! God will put an end to the unfaithful!
For Asaph, and for all who have any sense, it is good to be near God. He doesn’t speak of his end, or of his destiny as he did regarding the wicked, but of his current condition of seeking God, of his present blessing. For Asaph, his condition is “good”. The term speaks of wealth, prosperity, favor, goodness and of a better condition. All that Asaph was being lured away from God by the appearances of the wicked were supplied by the very nearness of God.
As we make the Lord our God our refuge from the temptations and lurings of the world and the wicked, we will find a life of reality, the best of life and enjoy satisfying blessings in God alone.
May we be full of the goodness of God in our lives such that we also tell of all the works of God with those we rub shoulders with, even boasting of the goodness of God when compared with the frail, unstable and fearful lifestyle of the wicked.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
246
GREAT AND AWESOME GOD
Daniel 9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
Daniel was a righteous man.
Of all the men in the Old Testament, Daniel shines as a glowing example of a man committed to the God of Israel. To show the status of Daniel in the mind of God, Ezekiel lumps him in with Noah and Job as men of faith, men whose righteousness could not hold back the judgement on Israel.
Ezekiel 14:20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
Daniel was a righteous man.
But we find Daniel starting to pray in this verse, and our verse this morning is the beginning of a prayer to God that dwells on confession, describing rebellion, sin, wickedness, transgression, disobedience, unfaithfulness, shame, iniquity, and the departing from the Lord by the nation now in captivity.
Daniel provides for us a prayer of confession unlike any in the Word, for he was in the midst of conditions directly resulting from centuries of sinful choices by the nation. He was righteous, but he also was carried away in the judgement, carried away to Babylon.
In this passage, Daniel is identifying with the rebellious nation, taking his place with the people who rejected the Lord. He is such a great picture of the Lord Jesus, in that though He was completely sinless, He came and identified with us!
And he begins his prayer by speaking of the Lord as the Great and Awesome God. In calling God this, Daniel continues by giving us further explanation as to why the Lord should be called by this name.
Our Great and Awesome God is faithful. Daniel speaks of God’s faithfulness to those who have rejected His covenant. To those who have departed from Him. To those who have rejected God.
Now, if you haven’t reacted to this “slip” in my earlier description of Daniels’s prayer, I want to draw your attention to my heresy. Daniel does not speak of our Great and Awesome God keeping covenant with sinners, but with those who keep the covenant, those who love God and keep (or obey) His commands.
Daniel, after describing the faithfulness of God the covenant keeping people, then goes on and describes the people of Israel, (including himself) as an undeserving, sinful and rebellious people. The covenant is for those who obey (Daniel comes to mind). No covenant is referred to here for those who reject God.
This is no small omission, for without the covenant, there is no “legal” responsibility on God’s part to act. God has a covenant with those who obey.
This is a big problem is God was only and always committed to the Sinai covenant, but even though the covenant is broken, smashed by those who promised to keep it, the Person of God has a heart, a love for the people that goes beyond the covenant.
The heart of God is a heart of mercy, of forgiveness, and exemplifies the GREAT AND AWESOME GOD we recognize in the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life–is not from the Father but is from the world. 1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
I used to spend hours every night delivering newspapers to over 400 homes in the city of London Ontario. Yes, I was an adult newspaper “boy” and it was a great job for a young married man to have. It provided sufficient funds to care for my young wife, provided ample time to spend with my beautiful wife, and I was readily available as we waited for our first born to enter the world, for I worked for less than four hours each morning! And in those nightly four hours, walking the streets of London, mindlessly following a path that rarely changed, I began a habit of Bible memorization that has been of tremendous benefit to my own spiritual life. To those reading, I encourage this discipline in your walk with the Master, for He often calls to mind a passage from my memory to provide guidance, encouragement and often correction!
All that to say that this mornings passage was one of the first passages I memorized as a multiple verse challenge.
Early in my faith, I understood that John wrote his epistle to believers in order to encourage them in the agreement they entered into upon initial faith in the Messiah. This agreement was a static, “set in stone” promise of a believers destiny based on an initial faith at a point in time in the past.
Nowadays, I am of the understanding that this salvation we are privileged to enter into is not dependent on a contract of sorts, but on a continuing living faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
For those interested in my findings, I published a series of posts beginning with 1 John – Testing to Know – Introduction. In summary, I am of the opinion John was providing tests for the believer, as the believer seeks to follow the Lord, some tests to check his life against in order to know if he has the Son, which is to have eternal life.
My faith has shifted from depending on a night in February of 1981, when I initially confessed my sin and asked for His salvation. Now, the issue I need to address is my life reflecting the character of Jesus, growing, yet admittedly never attaining the perfection He calls us to. Again, it is not that any believer attains, but that all believers rely on the Son and not on an agreement. We are to trust in the Lord, not an agreement, or covenant, fantastic as it is!
The Lord is full of mercy and plenteous in forgiveness. This re-understanding of salvation magnifies the grace of God towards the one following the Master. Many times I have wandered and His faithful ministry in my life has pulled me back to Him over and over again. The great challenge for the believer is to continue to follow, to be faithful, to continue to believe, to continue to rely on the Savior, to do that which He commands in the midst of trials, temptations disappointments and victories.
As we follow, we slowly, and incrementally become more like Him, which is the point. We are called Christians, for the term actually means little Christs, and was given to us as a derogatory name given by the world to each follower of Christ.
So when we come to our topic verses, this revised understanding presents a challenge that is much more complex than I first thought.
Let me do a real quick study through the verses.
Love
John refers to love three times in verse 15. All three words are of the root word for agape. When referring to the believers relation to the world, the word agapáō a present active imperative, speaking of a continual, ongoing love for the world. This is the verbal form of “agape love”
When referring to the love of the Father, the word is revised to agápē , the same word only this time in the noun form.
It is somewhat surprising that John used the same word relating to both the world and God. After studying the term agape, I have come to understand it as the word that describes a sacrificial love that is bestowed on something or someone out of the character of the giver and not based on the recipient’s actions or efforts.
After a brief review, this use of agape for the world is quite appropriate, for the world certainly does not deserve our love, and if we bestow this sacrificial love onto the world, the sacrifice of our lives, time and talent is just that – sacrificed to a non – worthy recipient.
World
John uses this word bunches! Twenty three times in this short 5 chapters. The kicker is that the word “world” has a broad meaning, for even a cursory review of the passages in John reveal this. Consider.
“World” speaks of the inhabitants of His creation. People.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
“World” speaks of the creation itself – matter space and time.
John 9:32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.
“World” speaks of the mission field for those who are sent by Jesus.
John 17:18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
“World” speaks of followers present with Jesus at the time, and as Jesus prepared for death, He was about to depart from them. It is a temporary location!
John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
And of course our present verses in 1 John, which speak of something believers are not to love.
Now to think. Might John be speaking of people in our passage? No that makes no sense. When he speaks of the world, is he speaking of creation? This doesn’t fit the logic of the passage. Ok, might he be referring to the mission field in our passage? That is silly, for He has sent us out into it.
I think John 13:1 may bring the some clarity to the discussion, for it speaks of a temporary condition, and John goes on to speak of the believer living forever in verse 17.
All of that is good, and helpful (I hope) but is there something more, something a bit more concrete to this reference to the world in John’s thinking?
The term κόσμοςkósmos, translated as world, may also describe an ordered arrangement, an order or government, even a decoration or adornment, an aggregate of goods, pleasures, riches and goods that distract, that appeal, that seduce the believer from God.
In my mind, it speaks of any temptations presented to the believer to pull them away from the Christ, the Son of God. John goes on to describe all that is in the world – fleshly desires, visual desires and a life of pride, as being not from the Father, and by inference, is a competing force in the believers life.
Ok, all that to say the world is temporal, enticing and not of God. How does this relate to the series topic of conditional security? Let’s read John’s summary one more time.
1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Note John uses the word “but”. “But” is a term that speaks of exclusion or of difference. The world is passing away. The desires for / of the world is passing away. These are temporal.
The one doing the will of God lives forever, an statement of eternality. John relates this to obedience, but John is the apostle who continually speaks of faith in his writings.
Here he speaks of ποιέωpoiéō, doing. And for those interested in the tense of poiéō? It also is a present active verb, speaking on continuity, continuing, constancy.
My understanding of depending on a contract entered into with God in February of 1981 for my salvation has taken a hit with studies like this. Now no matter how some may consider my findings, the message of the Word is consistent.
Trust God today. Do what He commands today. Look to Jesus for guidance, strength, direction, knowledge, wisdom today.
Look to Jesus for life today!
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As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
4 Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
Saul’s kingdom was falling, and his son Ish-bosheth would soon be dethroned, even executed. The end was near for the family of Saul, and the northern tribes knew that the recent death of Abner, their only real hope, indicated King David was in the ascendency. Not only was the political situation fragile for the northern tribes, with a king who was frozen in fear, those of the lineage of Saul understood the downfall meant their necks were on the line, and any direct descendent of Saul, a potential king in the line of Saul, would surely be a threat to the incoming power found in the throne of David.
Even a five year old boy presented a potential threat to an incoming power, and this nurse, upon hearing of the death of both Saul and Jonathon, this little boys father, had the foresight to understand the danger Jonathon’s boy was in. Her flight though, fueled by good intentions, was unwarranted, for the King coming was already under a covenant with this boy’s father, a covenant that would provide for Jonathon’s child, protect him and show the type of king David was.
Yet through the concern and fear of the nurse, young Mephibosheth would live his life as a cripple, restricted in his ability to serve in any army, to serve as a strong leader, and become a picture of the regal line of Saul in the future. He was somewhat helpless, due to an accident outside of his control, and we shall see in future passages of the covenant keeping character of the new and coming King of Israel.
David would not only show mercy to Mephibosheth in sparing his life, but also provide him his grandfathers lands, and treat him as a son of the king, inviting him to continually eat at the kings table.
2 Samuel 9:13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
What type of King brings a potential enemy to his table?
What type of King invites a potential threat to live in the very capital city of the nation, the center of political power?
What type of King provides for a cripple, one who is unable to serve, even one who would be considered a burden to take care of?
2 Samuel 9:7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.”
What type of King would return a lost inheritance to a former enemy? David returned to Mephibosheth the lands of his grandfather, a sizable estate, and a house that he had no right to other than through a covenant David made with his father.
David sought to follow the Lord in his kingdom, and in this quick character review of Mephibosheth, a crippled heir of Saul, we see a coming King who was not typical, was not as expected, and who sought to reign in truth and under covenant.
What a King!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
SEEING JESUS IN
Cyrus
Man of God’s Counsel
Isaiah 46:11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
NT Passage
Isaiah is in the middle of a passage that is comparing the idols of Babylon with the One True God. He is providing a prophecy of future events, so that when the prophecy is fulfilled in 150 years, the Jewish nation will have another example of the superiority of their God over any and all idols. The people that would see this prophecy come to reality would be the nation in captivity, a people under the thumb of Babylon, seeing the salvation of God coming from a Gentile king.
To understand the verse we are considering this morning, we need to include the previous verse.
Isaiah 46:10-11
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
God has a purpose for the nation, and His purpose, or counsel, per verse 10 shall be accomplished. God will accomplish His will for the nation, and He becomes very specific in the manner He will do it!
His first declaration is that He will call a bird from the east. Now it is not uncommon throughout the Old Testament for a king to be referred to as a bird of prey, but for Cyrus this picture is very appropriate. Not only was Cyrus and his armies known for their swiftness of attack, the standard presented by the armies of Persia before military campaigns was also the golden eagle with outstretched wings, mounted on a long spear. Cyrus literally was depicted as a bird of fowl.
But for the term we refer to in our topic this morning, Cyrus was a man of God’s Counsel, a man who would execute God’s will.
Let us not think that God was in counsel with Cyrus, debating the will of God, even considering the manner of execution of His will with the king. No – Cyrus was not a man of God’s counsel in that manner.
God is describing a king who would be God’s instrument in executing His will, a man that would deliver a salvation to the people of God in the midst of their captivity under the Babylonians.
This passage is an amazing prophecy describing God’s will to be accomplished by a Gentile king for a captive people 150 years before it was to be realized. Once Cyrus released the Jews, protected and provided for them as some went back to Jerusalem and the Temple, presents a vivid shadow of the greater Cyrus, the Lord Jesus.
Was Jesus not a man of God’s counsel, and so much more? He was intimately involved in the plans and deliberations for the release, not only of the Jewish people, but for all mankind from the bondage and captivity of sin and death. He was also described for centuries before His arrival, with multiple prophecies describing our Savior, giving us a full and complete picture of the Messiah, so we might not only understand, but marvel at the way the prophecies combined into a multi faceted picture of the Suffering Servant / Reigning King.
He perfectly fulfilled the will of God, executing the Word of God even as it was communicated to Him moment by moment in His communion with the Father .
He is God’s Counsel for us, the Man who far exceeds the shadow provided for us in Cyrus!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.
The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.
The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.
May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.
245
GREAT AND AWESOME NAME
Psalm 99:3 Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he!
We find our verse this morning in a Psalm that highlights the holiness of God, and for a brief moment, before I opened the full psalm, I assumed the “them” in this verse, referred to the nation of Israel, for they were God’s people and they had been privileged to know of His holiness, His “otherness”, His separated status.
I rattle on about this for it was many years that I understood holiness to be principally referring to the sinlessness of God. Now, I do not want to imply that sinlessness is not included in the term “holy”. I just want to confess that I think it describes a much greater concept than simply a negative about God, that He has no sin.
He is without sin, sinless and apart from sin. But for God to be called holy is to describe God as being different, other than what we understand, righteous in a way we may not fully understand, unless we dwell on Jesus, and the manner in which He lived among us.
Jesus was holy, separated from sinners, as the apostle tells us, but we know He lived amongst the worst of sinners, the “dregs” of society, a friend of sinners.
Hebrews 7:26 ESV – For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
The contrast between our understanding of holiness and how He lived out His holy life often astounds me.
I often think of sin as the Old Testament describes it. If I touch it, it defiles me, and my responsibility is to stay away from all contamination. Haggai describes my understanding in his second chapter
Haggai 2:12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” Haggai 2:13 Then Haggai said, “If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.”
Non Transferable Holiness does not transfer to items. Any item that is holy is alone holy. Whatever it meant to be holy, to be separate, to be consecrated to the temple, or to the priest, or to God, alone was holy.
Isolated Holiness was to be protected by isolation. If a sinful person or item touched a holy item, it became unclean.
For many years, I understood that to be holy was to stay away from sin, and by inference, away from sinners, seeking to keep my life pure by isolation. Fat chance at success with this, for it produced a believer that was ineffective, lonely, self righteous and somewhat angry.
But then I started noticing that Jesus drank with sinners, went to parties, touched lepers and forgave adulterous women, raising them up by their unclean, sinful hand. How could He do that, and remain holy, separate from sinners, as Hebrew speaks?
As a follower, does this example of Jesus’ holy life amongst sinners allow me to go out drinking and partying? For some believers, this may be allowed, but due to my past, my running from God in my youth, my teenage alcoholism and previous drug habits, I knew I had to refrain from certain activities to avoid temptation. Eventually my thinking morphed and I thought my abstinence from those who partook was my holiness. How little I understood!
Everything turned upside down when Jesus arrived, for when a sinful person touched Him, power was transferred from Him to the sinful person. Forgiveness and healing, illumination and understanding flowed from Him. His was a life of non-isolation, of being in the midst of all who welcomed Him, and even amongst those who hated Him. He was simply put – unbelievable!
I realize I have focused on the holiness of God in this post, but so many thoughts were flooding my mind of how Great and Awesome Jesus, in His life amongst us, actually was. His holiness, His “otherness” is so foreign to my standard thinking of God that when I am caught in the conflict between my thinking and His message, I tend to blurt out the praise I have for Him, weak as it is.
May we praise the Great and Awesome name of Jesus, for He is Holy. He is so different from us and He calls us to a holy life, a different life than we are living. A life of change and growth, a life of holiness amongst the hurting and the sinful.
I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.
A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.
As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.
1 Thessalonians 2:17 But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,
Paul, ever the missionary, speaks of his heart for his fellow saints, those who he had been “torn away” from. As you may remember, he did not want to depart, but was forced from their fellowship by those who displease God and oppose all mankind!
Paul uses an interesting term when he speaks of being torn away from his brothers in Christ. It is only used once in the New Testament, but in writings of the same era, it is used in describing the “bereaving of a parent or parents”, or to “be orphaned”. The root meaning is complete separation, to bereave wholly, especially in the sense of the child parent relationships.
Leave it to Paul to tell us in one word the depth of the separation he experienced in relation to these young believers.
This provides us with a startling truth. With the enlivening of the Holy Spirit, complete strangers become as close as natural born brothers, achieve, or better yet have been given, a deep family relationship with those of like faith in the Son. Time is not necessarily required to foster this depth of relationship, for Paul only had at most three weeks with these saints, and he openly speaks as a father to his children.
He had been torn away, and he wants his brothers to know the impact this has had on him, and in our next verse, he designates the source of this pain. But we will wait for the next post to delve into that topic.
For now, Paul has opened his heart regarding the separation they are experiencing, and of his desire and efforts to visit his young church. He let’s them know of his efforts departing and of his eagerness, and great desire to see them again. Surely the young church was beginning to wonder where their missionary was. Was he ever going to return? Heaven forbid, but was he just a fly by night preacher? Suspicions might be running rampant within the small body of believers and Paul wanted to at least inform them of his heart, of his efforts and of the one who was hindering!
For this verse, he speaks of his great desire, his heart to return, but more than simply his emotions, but his efforts to return. He had not simply experienced an emotional drain, but he speaks of an effort, an exertion he has put forth in returning.
You know, it is one thing to say nice things, to speak of emotional longing, to bemoan a separation and speak of a longing, but without making an effort to correct the painful situation, it is but smoke and mirrors, an empty claim that dulls and disappoints the recipients heart. Paul did not want to hurt his children in the faith, by providing nice words, but wanted them to know he had given diligence in returning, that he was laboring to return. This is the message he was speaking when he wrote of his endeavoring to see them. To endeavor is to give diligence, to work at getting something done, to exert effort to attain a goal.
His heart was broken for them, and his love for them prodded him to find a way back. He was eager to see them face to face.
But someone was producing a similar effort in the opposing direction. Someone was resisting his diligence to return to Thessalonica, to a small, persecuted and very young church. Someone wanted them to be separated!
I can’t tell you who, for that is for our next post. Will you return to find out?
Of course you can crack the Word open and find out – as a matter of fact, I would encourage you to!
Considering the Bible 