Raising Samson

Thinking through the implications of Judges 14.4. Samson demanded that his parents get him a Philistine as wife even though God had prohibited intermarriage. This was of the Lord though his parents did not know it.

Though Samson was sinning God would use that sin to bring judgment against the Philistines, meanwhile his parents would suffer the agony of watching him make poor decisions.

1. God might call us to raise a Samson.
2. God might call us to raise an Absalom.
3. God is sovereign even when our kids make poor choices.
4. We will still suffer when we see our kids make poor choices.
5. Thus the importance of resting in the reality of God's providence and control over all of life.

Manoah's Extraordinary Wife

From Judges 13.23 this morning. Manoah's wife is unnamed but the angel appeared to her alone both times. When Manoah thinks they will be killed because they saw the angel of God, she reasons that all of this wouldn't have happened if God was going to kill them. She becomes the mother of Samson an extraordinary but flawed judge.

We learn from her example that:

1. God shows up in unusual places.
2. Reason is important and God-honoring as long as it doesn't usurp faith.
3. Being a faithful mother does not guarantee that one's child will be faithful to God.

Pierced By the Lord

Jeremiah 25.33 today. One of those verses we'd rather not have in the Bible. God's judgment comes down on his own people. Those who are slaughtered by the Babylonian army "shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried."

How foolish we are if we do not take God's judgment seriously. He is righteous. He cannot let sin go unpunished or he would not be.

Be careful of Your Stubborn Heart

Reading in Judges 11.35 this morning where Jepthah says that he cannot take back his vow "For I have opened my mouth to the Lord and I cannot take back my vow." According to Lev 5.4-6, he certainly could have confessed his rash vow.

One can only conclude that he was either 1. Ignorant of this possibility, or 2. Too stubborn to confess that his vow was rash. I am inclined to think it was number 2.

This is an incredible level of stubborness, and a lesson for our own lives. How many times have I been too stubborn to confess a sin? Answer: Many. Beware oh hard-hearted one, lest you end up like Jepthah.

The Danger of Prosperity

Thinking through the implications of Jeremiah 22.21 this morning. I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, "I will not listen." The Hebrew word translated "prosperity" ‏בְּשַׁלְוֹתַ֔יִךְ is one that means "a time of ease or unconcern." So God is saying, "when things were going well for you, I tried to get your attention, but you would not listen." This is the danger of prosperity, the danger of having it too good. When all of our needs are met; when we are not in a crisis, we tend to forget God and rely on ourselves. It's no use damning the people of Judah if we do not bother to search through our own hearts and ask, "Lord, is this me?"

My own heart is prone to wander in prosperity; prone to forget about God, or, as the songwriter put it, Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love. Just so. What can keep us faithful? What can keep us obedient? My own theory is that saturation in the word of God is the first key, because it exposes our heart again and again as the Holy Spirit uses it—it is, after all, sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4.12)—to get at our heart and motives and remind us again and again how essential it is to obey God's word.

Are you saturated in the Word of God? If not, you are treading a thin plank indeed.

The Lord is...

The hope of Israel. The fountain of living water. Our healer. Our Saviour. The focus and end of our praise, all taken from Jeremiah 17.13, 14. One could chew on those truths for a while, couldn't one?

Thoughts on Anxiety, Worry, Concern, Etc.

The daughter of one of my high school teacher's is headed for Papua-New Guinea for 5 weeks to work with missionaries there. Alone. Think her mom is worried about the situation? Yeah, so do I. I got to thinking about worry after she posted a comment about it on her blog. This is how I commented.

If my daughter were headed for PNG for several weeks and I couldn't be in control of the situation, I'd be wrestling with worry too! Of course not being in that situation doesn't stop me from worrying. Give me 30 seconds and an issue and I'll find something to worry about. Seriously.

My view of worrying changed when I read through A. W. Pink's study of the life of Elijah. How could a guy who had just seen God work in one of the most powerful ways in history be running for his life virtually in the next instant? Pink says that God brought this about to keep Elijah humble and dependent (that worked pretty well - "Elijah, what are you doing here?"). In other words, God was responsible for the worry because he wanted to shape Elijah in a way that he couldn't without the worry.

This doesn't mean that we are free to delve into our worries and let them take control of our lives. To me it means that our worries humble us; they give us a chance to demonstrate our dependence on God; they keep us from pride. In this sense then, worries can be God-given and good, they force us to run to our Father again and again and again...and for me again!

Eyewitnesses to the Resurrection

So Peter describes both himself and the rest of the disciples in Acts 2.32. Christ has been gone only about 50 days and central to the testimony and preaching of his followers is that he rose from the dead; that he is not in the grave, but ascended into heaven and will return. Christ's followers will never change their testimony. He has risen; they were eyewitnesses of that fact.

Harsh Words for "Shepherds"

Harsh words for the shepherds in Jer 10.21, but then, everywhere in the Scriptures those who lead God's people are held to a higher standard. Here they are described as "stupid." The Hebrew word is ‏ ּ֙ורֲעְבִנ‎and means to be stupid, or in Syriac, "uncultivated." It's use in the OT always implies stupidity, not mentally, but is connected with those who do not believe in God, or those who do not do what he says. So the shepherds whose main job is to inquire of the Lord and explain to the people what God expects of them, do not do it. Because they do not inquire of the Lord, they have not prospered.

This is a sobering thought for anyone who aspires to be a shepherd, and for any man who heads a family because God calls him to be a shepherd of his household. High responsibility which we should accept gladly. May we (men) be good shepherds of our households and inquire of the Lord.

Irony or Obvious Command?

Reading through Matt 23.1-3 this morning. Is Christ' s command to practice and observe whatever they [scribes and Pharisees] tell you, an instance of a clear command delineating the difference between what they say [good] and what they do [bad]? I think I side with those who think that Christ is using biting irony here (Expositor's Bible Commentary for one), because Christ does emphasize whatever they tell you, then he proceeds to condemn all that they do. The Pharisees and scribes lived not only according to the Torah (Gen - Deut), but also according to the oral traditions which Christ condemns over and over.

Tom Constable describes the passage this way: Assuming the consistency of Jesus’ teaching we should understand His words here as ironical. This interpretation allows the Greek aorist verb ekathisan (“to sit,” v. 2) to have its natural force. This view also explains the chiasm in verses 2–4 in which the first two statements constitute irony and the second two give non-ironical advice.

A The leaders presumed to take on Moses’ teaching authority. v. 2

B Do what they say. v. 3a (irony)

B’ Do not do what they do v. 3b (non-irony)

A’ Their teaching merely binds people v. 4

Worshipping the Creator Rather than the Creation

In Psalm 148.13 this morning. I take the Psalmist to mean that the name of the Lord is exalted above every name to the point where it is the only name exalted. The reason for this is then stated his majesty is above earth and heaven. His majesty is above earth and heaven because he created them. This is why it is so foolish to worship the sun, moon, stars, or man (like the modern world). There is something far greater than creation in the universe, the creator of the universe.

This agrees completely with Paul: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Rom 1:20-23 ESV)

Praise Bubbling Forth

Into Psalm 147.1 this morning. For the people of the Lord it is good to sing praises to our God. The Psalmist does not say why it is good because he does not need to; the point is self-explanatory. He just says that giving praises is fitting and pleasant. We give praise to God because we cannot help ourselves, God created us to praise and so out it comes much like a fountain that is constantly overflowing.

C. S. Lewis gets the point correct - I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.

Exalting God To Eternity...and Beyond

This is the stated purpose of David in Ps 145.1. Forever and ever was just that—for as long as David could imagine—his aim, purpose, goal, and delight was to magnify, exalt, lift up, and make high, you, my God and King. David's aim and desire ought to be our goal and desire since we love, serve, and worship the same God.

The Curse of Riches

Isn't that what Christ is implying in Matt 19.23? Nothing is impossible with God—we will definitely see rich people in heaven—however, riches shield one to some extent from the difficulties of life which so often lead one to trust Christ for salvation. Thus what seems to be a great blessing (wealth) might turn out to be a curse. We in the West have great wealth. We are spiritually poor.

Mother Teresa agrees with me. Mary Poplin comments about this issue in her fantastic book Finding Calcutta: "Mother told me how people in the West are poor. In fact, she considered us the poorest of the poor spiritually because our physical comfort makes us believe we do not need God and our busyness makes us ignore him."

Greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven

Greatness in the kingdom of heaven is inextricably linked with humility (Matt 18.4)

Becoming What We Pursue

Thinking through the implications of Jer 2.5 this morning. Pursuing worthlessness leads to becoming worthless. A strong statement from the Scriptures. Israel, in the process of pursuing worthless things, had become what it pursued. This is a forthright message to us that we will value the most what we pursue the hardest. Will we pursue God and his glory, or be content to pursue the creation rather than the creator?

Sovereign Over All Things in All Places

From Ps 135.6. A pretty clear statement on God's sovereignty over all things. He does whatever he pleases wherever he pleases. Heaven, earth, seas, and all deeps indicate that his will extends to every place in the known or imagineable universe. He does not need to ask anyone for permission to act; he does not seek any approbation for what he does. He will act whether we understand what he is doing or not, and he always takes responsibility for his actions, without shame or trying to hide it. I find this remarkable and profound.

Growing Slowly, Permeating All

My summation of Matt 13.33. The lesson of this parable is essentially the same as the parable that immediately precedes it. The kingdom of heaven will grow slowly and permeate the world and affect all that it touches. Like leaven, its effect will be obvious when it is mixed into the world.

What does this mean for us? Chiefly, I believe it means patience. If we do not see the gospel taking root in lives immediately, we turn to this parable for hope. The gospel's effects, like leaven, are many times not obvious.