Elishama: My God will Hear

I'm reading in Num 7.48 today. I like to look up the meaning of Hebrew proper names (fortunately this is easy with the resource The Exhaustive Dictionary of Biblical Names). In this long chapter which essentially repeats the same thing 12 times! (quick truth test: Last time you read through this chapter did you read the first day and skip the next 11 and call it good? I pronounce myself guilty). So in Num 7.48, Elishama the son of Ammihud offered the offering for the tribe of Ephraim.

Elishama means "My God hears." I love that name. I'd like to think that he was named in an answer to prayer. His parents prayed that God would give them a son who could care for them in their old age. God gave them a son, so he was christened "Elishama." Of course I'm not sure that is a true story, but it sounds good doesn't it?

True or not, his parents were communicating something about God by his name. The God they worshipped and served was a God who hears (not like Baal at Mt. Carmel, by the way).

Our God hears. We worship the same God as Elishama's parents do. He hears us. He listens. He is living. He is active. He is concerned for his children. May we have the same faith that Elishama's parents did.

Heed or Drift

The writer of Hebrews (whoever that may be) gives us a warning in Heb 2.1. He says "give...earnest heed to the thing which we have heard." If we do not give heed to what we have heard (that is to the gospel of our salvation), then we will be in danger of drifting away. In other words, if we don't give heed we will drift, or as the KJV puts it: We will "let them slip."

This is a warning that Hebrews repeats over and over. Don't neglect salvation lest you drift away from it and find out that you have left the faith.

Reversal of Fortune

One of the grand themes of the Scriptures is that of reversal of fortune. I came across it again in Ps. 37.35-36 (KJV) this morning. "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree; yet he passed away, and lo, he was not: Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

There is the appearance that the wicked are prospering. Everyone sees it; everyone acknowledges it. He is like a gigantic tree that stands over the landscape and everyone who passes by remarks, "What an incredible tree!"

The day comes when the tree dies; the wicked passes away. Everyone looks for the giant tree, but it no longer exists. There has been a reversal of fortune. The wicked had the appearance of prosperity, but it was only an appearance, only for a time. There will come a day when the wicked will be held responsible for their wickedness. God will be justified.

Live Like You're Dying

Tim McGraw wrote a hit song called, "Live Like You Are Dying," which ironically enough instructed you to, live like you are dying. His philosophy wasn't original, Solomon had come up with that particular truth 3000 years ago. Here's how he put it: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest" (Ecc 9.10, KJV).

At first glance we want to say, "Gee Solomon, could you be any more depressing than that?" Start thinking about it, and his wisdom bursts through. Remember that in God's unfolding revelation, at the time of Solomon, no one knew what lay beyond the grave, it was a mystery.

Solomon is saying in essence, "we do not know what lies beyond the grave, but it will certainly not be like this life. Live this life while you can. Do what God has called you to do with all your might because one thing is for sure, you will not be able to do it after you die. Live in light of the fact that you are headed for the grave;" or, as Tim McGraw wrote, "Live like you are dying," because you surely are.

Reversal of Fortune

A reversal of fortune is one of the prominent themes of the Scriptures. We see it again and again. Joseph, stuck in an Egyptian prison and not having a single advocate in all of the land, suddenly becomes the second most powerful person in the country. Naomi—she who would be renamed Mara, or "bitter"—comes home with no prospects of happiness or wealth, and ends up being the grandmother of David. The Jewish people are doomed by the machinations of Haman, until suddenly it is Haman that is destroyed through the efforts of Mordecai and Esther.

Reversal of fortune is the theme in Ecc 7.12: "Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it will be well with them that fear God, which fear before him." "I know that there will be a reversal of fortune," says Solomon. "Evil will not prevail. It will be well with them that fear God."

The ultimate reversal of fortune was at the crux of history. Christ went to the cross and died for sinners. God the father must turn his back on him. Yet three days later, Christ rises from the dead. He conquers death, and suddenly every man has the possibility of turning from death to life in Christ.

Strength in Dependence

This is exactly what Paul is getting at in 2 Tim 2.1: "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (KJV). "Be strong," says Paul, not in your own strength and effort, but "be strong in grace that is in Christ Jesus."

We cannot give ourself grace any more than we can give ourselves talents and abilities. Grace comes from the Lord Jesus. We are dependent upon him to provide it. If we do not have grace we cannot be strong in it. So our strength then, comes in dependence. This is just the way the Lord wants it. We depend upon him. He gives us strength. We get help. He gets glory.

He is the Saving Strength

Reading in Ps 28.8, "The Lord is their strength and he is the saving strength of his anointed" (KJV). I like the way the KJV translates this. The ESV is pretty good as well: The Lord is the strength of his people, he is the saving refuge of his anointed."

Saving refuge. Saving strength. Both describe God's power equally well. We have nothing to fear from the enemies of God because God, by his power, will prevail over them.

This is such an easy concept in theory, why do we struggle so much with it in practice? Most likely because we cannot see the spiritual realm very well. We are prone to rely too much on what we see, and not enough on God's promises.

God Directs, Man Directs?

Paul makes an interesting comment here (2 Thess 3.5). He doesn't say "Make sure to direct your hearts into the love of God," although he certainly could have. He in essence says, "May the Lord direct your hearts…"

I think there is a sense in which we make the effort to direct our heart to the love of God, and God directs our hearts to do the same thing.

Condemnation or Consolation

Such a strong contrast Paul makes in the space of just a few verses in 2 Thessalonians 2. The contrast is between condemnation or eternal consolation. In 2 Thess 2.8 he writes: "In order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Those who take pleasure in unrighteousness; those who reject the gospel will be condemned, Paul says. Straightforward and blunt. Indeed, the KJV translates this: "That they all might be damned who believe not the truth." Ouch. No political correctness in Paul's words there. Yet this truth ought to be the driving force of our motivation to share the gospel with blood earnestness. These are weighty matters; matters of eternal and lasting consequences.

Just a few short verses later, Paul contrasts condemnation with the hope of those who have been covered by Christ's righteousness. "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace" (2 Thess 2.16).

The contrast could not be more stark. Condemnation or eternal consolation through God's grace established by Christ at the cross. Which will it be for you condemnation or consolation?

Vengeance

Startling wording from Paul in 1 Thess 1.8,9. What awaits those who "know not God" and who do not "obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" is "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power." This is not politically correct wording, with which Paul was not in the least concerned. Rather he was concerned about communicating the truth just because he understood the reality of "everlasting destruction."

That No Man...Defraud his Brother

According to BDAG the word translated "defraud" in the KJV (1 Thess 4.6) means: To take advantage of, outwit, exploit, cheat. While the context is of sexual sin, and it certainly has application to that, the broader application is to any number of things. For instance, selling your brother something that you know is worth much less than you sell it, like it is broken and you know it, but he does not. Cheating is similar, an example might be buying something from him that you know is much more valuable than what he is charging, but he doesn't know it.

He who Avenges Blood

This is a revelation of God's character that we don't often mention, but the psalmists (David here) are not so reticent to point it out. "When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: He forgetteth not the cry of the humble" (Ps. 9.12, KJV). Vengeance for innocent blood is God's responsibility, and here we are promised that he will carry out his responsibilities. This is why as Christians we do not seek vengeance. Indeed we are called to love our enemies. God, who is the perfect judge, will carry out vengeance for innocent blood.

Here we find the beautiful thing. The same God who is a God of vengeance, is the one who sent his only son, Jesus, so that we who are guilty—we who ought to receive God's vengeance—can be delivered from it. This is why, while a man breathes, there is always hope that he will come to his senses and follow Christ.

Safety Belongs to the Lord

"The horse is prepared against the day of battle," writes Solomon, "but safety is of the Lord" (Prov 21.31, KJV). The ESV translates it: "but victory belongs to the Lord." The Hebrew word can mean "salvation, rescue, deliverance," so it can mean either of the two translations, or more likely, both.

God's providence, as worked out in the Scriptures, is responsible for both victory and safety. This does not mean that we do not prepare, that we just sit back and expect God to win the victory with us doing nothing, "the horse is prepared against the day of battle." It means that ultimate victory and safety in any situation is firmly in the hands of God and of his providential care and conduct of history.

Here is what the New American Commentary says about these verses. "Verse 31 gives a concrete example, from a military setting, of what v. 30 describes abstractly. Readying a horse for battle is the application of technical skills in pursuit of a goal (in this case, military victory). Just as a trained, prepared army can be defeated if God wills it, so also all efforts at success in life (the goal of wisdom) without God are vain. The text does not demean practical skills (e.g., horsemanship), for that also is part of wisdom; but it says that all knowledge is hollow without God."