God is not a Man that he should Lie

Reading in Numb 23.19 this morning. John Calvin is pretty good: "Hence, however, a lesson of supreme utility may be extracted, namely, that men are altogether wrong when they form their estimate of God from their own disposition and habits. Still, almost all men labor under this mistake. For how comes it that we are so prone to waver, except because we weigh God’s promises in our own scale? In order, therefore, that we may learn to lift up our minds above the world, whenever the faithfulness and certainty of God’s word are in question, it is well for us to reflect how great the distance is between ourselves and God."

This is so often our mistake. We form our estimation of God and what he does and how he acts by looking at our own actions and attitudes. Indeed the gods of the Ancient Near East cultures (as well as Roman and Greek gods) were like men with the same greed, desires, and attitudes, only they were more powerful and lived longer.

This is not our God. We must understand that there is a great difference between us and God.

He that Hath Seen Me Hath Seen the Father

Christ speaking in John 14.9, a chapter in which the Triune God is stated perhaps more clearly than any other chapter in the Scriptures. Stated, but not explained, the Scriptures leave it a mystery.

Christ's statement is breathtaking here. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." He fully understood the import of his statement. He was, in a few short words, claiming to be equal with God the Father. His resurrection proved it. His disciples believed it. They sacrificed their lives to that particular truth.

I believe it.

Doth the Hawk fly by Thy Wisdom?

God to Job in Job 39.26, KJV. Answer: No. Implication: It is by God's understanding and design that the hawk soars. Man's proclivity is to look only at the construction of the hawk and understand how it soars and what makes it do so. Man never asks why the hawk soars or how it got that way. God says that it got that way because of his understanding, because of his wisdom. Since he created hawks, he would know.

The Great, the Mighty, the Terrible God

KJV actually does a more interesting translation of Neh 9.32 then the ESV does. KJV translates it: Now therefore our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy. On the other hand, the ESV renders it: Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love.

Which is better terrible God or awesome God? The translated Hebrew word is "to fear." It means "to be in fear of," "to shudder at," "to be awed by," "to overawe, or alarm." It is difficult to get an exact correlation from Hebrew to English because we are not supposed to fear God as we would fear danger, for instance. On the other hand if we were to translate it "to reverence" God, I think that is not strong enough, and awesome God is a nice try from the ESV, but I don't think that is strong enough either. Thus the difficulties of biblical translation.

This is the very reason that C. S. Lewis so brilliantly captures the character of God by using a lion in the Narnia Chronicles. The lion is kind and gentle (most of the time) to Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan. When he needs to be the lion is absolutely fear-inducing. He is strong. He is terrible. This sort of gets at the truth of "awesome God" or "terrible God" here in Nehemiah. The minute we start thinking of God as a kindly, old grandfather, is the minute we start to go astray.

As Lucy points out to Mr. Timnus, "He is not a tame lion."

Mr. Timnus responds, "No, but he is good."

Just so.

First Words

The first words of the company of the redeemed in heaven are recorded in Rev 7.10 [as opposed to the first words recorded in heaven in Rev 5.13, but this is all of God's creatures, not the redeemed]. Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb! The first word is salvation (in Greek "the salvation"). Place in the Greek language is important, so the first recorded words out of the mouth of the redeemed in heaven is "salvation." It seems to me that this puts the emphasis on God's greatest work in history, the redemption of his people. To whom does salvation belong? To us? To our ability? To our acute intelligence in recognizing our need for Christ? Not according to the song of the redeemed in heaven. Salvation belongs to God the king, and to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Two Characteristics of God Emphasized in Public Worship

Reading in 2 Chron 7.3, this morning where the people see the glory of the Lord and fire come down on the temple when it is dedicated. They burst out into praise of God. Their praise seems to be a liturgical formula that was used in worship to praise God (2 Chron 5.13). What I find interesting is that the formula emphasizes two characteristics of God: He is good; and, his covenant love (Hebrew: Hesed, a difficult to translate word because there is no comparable equivalent in English) endures forever.

It would seem that following this pattern in our own praise of God might be a good thing.

The Source of True Justice

Is...no surprise here, God. Solomon asks the Lord in Ps 72.1 to give him as the king, God's justice. The NLT puts it Give your love of justice to the king, O God. An apt paraphrase. God loves justice, true justice, because that is his character. He is a loving God. He is a just God. Both characteristics are true of God. Solomon realized that, as God's leader of the people, he needed to have God's sense of justice. Thus his prayer.

Prayer: O Lord, God may I love justice as you do, but, like you, may I mix it with love.

A Politically Incorrect God

I'm reading in Isaiah 34, today. The language and imagery is, shall we say, a little difficult for the modern ear to take: “For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.” (Is 34:5–6 ESV). Do you see what I mean?

God seems not in the least concerned about appearing politically correct, nor for our approbation of his actions. I like this, even though I do not understand it. If we understood everything about God and could pass judgment on all his actions, then we would have a genie for a God. I do not want a genie for a God. I want God to be God, and for him to be God, there will be times when I do not understand his actions, or his words. This is one of those times.

I am happy to worship a God whom I do not fully understand, because the alternative is to either a. create a God in my own image who is politically correct, or b. live in a world with no meaning, not ultimate foundation for morality, and no ultimate purpose. I do not want to live in that world, and do not believe we are in that kind of world.

As Mr. Tumnus said to Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: "He (Aslan) is not a tame lion, but he is good."

Savoring the Sobering News...

...of Psalms 73.26, this morning. My heart and my flesh may (read "will") fail. If there is one thing certain about life, it's that if I live long enough my heart and flesh (Hebrew euphemisms for "body" and "soul") are going to fail. I'll be taken down by old age, illness, or incapacitation. Anyone can see that this is the course of life. Indeed, one might say that old age is one of God's ways of demonstrating to us that we are not God.

However, there is good news. While my body and soul may fail, there is hope for those who follow Christ because God is the strength of my life and my portion forever. John Calvin makes this comment about what it means that God is my portion:

The portion of an individual is a figurative expression, employed in Scripture to denote the condition or lot with which every man is contented. Accordingly, the reason why God is represented as a portion is, because he alone is abundantly sufficient for us, and because in him the perfection of our happiness consists.

I gladly join the Psalmist in claiming that God is my portion, that he is the lot with which I am most completely contended. He is sufficient for me. He is sufficient for you.

Is he sufficient for you?

If You Think that the Lord is Fickle...

...you may want to sit down and think about Ezekiel 24.14 for awhile. It is perhaps the clearest and most exhaustive verse in the Scriptures in which God lays out his character in regards to his word. I am the Lord. I have spoken. It shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back. I will not spare. I will not relent. The fact that the Lord tarries when it comes to judgment is not an indication that he is waffling in regards to doing what he has spoken. It is a demonstration of his grace and mercy. John Piper posted the following tweet that bears on the subject in the past week: 40,399 citizens of Japan are over 100 years old. Twenty more years of grace beyond 4 score and 10 to find life in Christ. This is just the way we ought to look at God's word. It will come to pass, the fact that he tarries in regards to what he has said is not an indication that he won't act, it is an act of grace!

God and Responsibility for "Bad Stuff"

There is a somewhat stunning acceptance of responsibility on the part of God in Ezekiel 5.16,17. He will bring about a lack of food and water for his own people! They will rot away because of their punishment. God brings this upon his people for their unwillingness to follow him and his commands.

This is a sobering truth, but one that we find again and again in the Scriptures. Like a good shepherd, God will keep his people close to him, even if that means he must humble them through difficulty to do so. Staying close to God does not mean that our lives will escape difficulty; it does, however, mean that our difficulties will not come because of our disobedience, and that is a good thing.

Saul Fails (in Sin) Where David Succeeds: Mysterious are the Ways of the Lord

I came across 1 Sam 18.17 this morning in my Bible reading. Saul hates David and wants to kill him, but realizes that he can't just murder him. What to do? Send him out to fight against the Philistines so that perhaps the Philistines will do what Saul himself cannot do. Despite Saul's best efforts, David is not killed.

Contrast this story with 2 Samuel 11.14,15, where David does the exact same thing when he gets Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, pregnant. David, in contrast to Saul, is successful. Uriah is killed in the battle (with a little help from Joab, commander of the army).

In one case, God protected David from the designs of Saul. In the other case God did not protect Uriah from the designs of David. Why the difference?

I have no clue. God could certainly have prevented David from being successful in his attempt to have Uriah killed. He chose not to do so. Events like these are why it is so useless (not to mention foolish) to try and put God into a box and say, "in situation a, God will always do b." In fact, in situation a, God does not always do b. Sometimes he prevents us from enduring the consequences of our sin, and sometimes he allows us to endure the consequences of our sin.

What is very clear from both stories is that God is ultimately just in both of them. Saul is eventually punished for his wickedness by losing not only the kingdom, but his life as well (along with the life of the rest of his household). David's child dies after it has lived for a week, and God's punishment on him is very severe.

May we take a lesson from the stories of Saul and David's sin. God will not allow sin to go unpunished, and in his grace he sometimes (but not always) prevents us from succeeding in our sin. He is, however, always a righteous judge.

On Not Assuming God's Goodness

Psalms 31.19 has a precious promise, but we must not miss the careful prescription that is included. Oh how abundant is your goodness! Ah. Here is great news. God's goodness is like a spring that keeps bubbling up from who knows where that fills up it's cistern and then overflows and runs over the sides and down to the ground creating a brook. It just keeps coming and coming forever.

But. His goodness is abundant for those who fear you. This is what we must not miss. God's goodness is abundant with qualification—towards those who fear him. We must not expect God's goodness to overflow if we don't fear him, but this is exactly what we often do. We presume upon God's goodness even when our heart is far from him, and then are baffled that we don't receive it.

Is your life miserable? God's goodness is a spring waiting to fill up your life so that you cannot contain it, but it certainly won't, if you do not fear, reverence, honor, and glorify him.

Created By Power, Wisdom, and Understanding

The Scriptures are remarkably consistent in their claims concerning how the world was created. Jeremiah 51.15 agrees with John 1.1-3. The universe was made by the power of God. As he spoke it came into being. This is a theological description of origins, not a science textbook, so the mechanics of the world coming into being are only described in the vaguest way. The reason for this is that the Scriptures' emphasize who created the world, not how it was created.

The world was created by God's power, wisdom, and understanding and this is self-evident by simply looking at what is around us. This is exactly Paul's argument in Romans 1.20. It is a measure of how deep God's wisdom is, how great his power is, and how rich his understanding, that the deeper we delve into the mystery of nature, the more complex it becomes. Our God is great!

The Lord Will Hear Us...

...else we have no hope. The essential message of Psalms 28.1. David cries out to the Lord that the Lord would not be deaf to him. Why? Because that is all he has. If the Lord does not hear David, who will hear him?

Just so for us. We have one place to go for help in trouble, to the Lord our God. If he will not hear us, then we are without hope. This is why God is our only rock. If God is silent, then we are hopeless, just like those who go down to the pit. Hear us, O Lord, when we cry out.

The immutable Jehovah is our rock, the immovable foundation of all our hopes and our refuge in time of trouble: we are fixed in our determination to flee to him as our stronghold in every hour of danger. It will be in vain to call to the rocks in the day of judgment, but our rock attends to our cries. Charles Spurgeon

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!

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.

God and...

While Christ uses the example of God and money in Matt 6.24, when he says "No one can serve two masters," the principle stated obviously applies to all things. You cannot serve God and...anything. In the life of faith it is never God and [insert anything] it is always God alone, God first, last, and always. Christ gives the warning here because he understands that we are prone to make our lives "God and..."

Plumbing the Depths of God's Mighty Deeds

I believe what the Psalmist is getting at in Psalms 106.2, is that it is impossible to plumb the depths of God by declaring all of his deeds or proclaiming all his praise. Which song writer penned the words, "In vain the first-born seraph tries to plumb the depths of love divine?" Just so, says the Psalmist. We will never get to the end of God's praises. Never exhaust the declaration of his mighty works.

He says this not to discourage us; he writes it to spur us on to more and more praise because we can never get to the end of it, and he wants us to understand the limitless depths of God's power and character.

As always, Spurgeon is great: Those who praise the Lord have an infinite subject, a subject which will not be exhausted throughout eternity by the most enlarged intellects, nay, nor by the whole multitude of the redeemed, though no man can number them.

Assignment for Old People...and Young!

Thinking through the implication of Psalms 92.14,15, this morning. There is a message that we are to be proclaiming when we are old, namely that God is upright; that God is my rock; and that there is no unrighteousness in him. Steve and Bonnie Opper, stuck in severe difficulty to which God has assigned them, are doing that incredibly well! Of course it is an assignment, not only for the aged, it is something every Christian should be declaring.

Steve: God has assigned this difficult task to us, particularly for Bonnie. He takes great care to make sure the assignment is the exact amount; measured and controlled.