A Two-Sided Coin

By God's definition, blessing and curse are two sides of a single coin. The Lord's stringent policies toward his people in ancient times provided for prosperity and security on condition of obedience; however, God specified horrible curses to befall those who would or could not to honor His terms. The blessing is the side of the coin we might prefer to see. God promises:

If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains . . . [and] increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit . . . And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace . . . and none shall make you afraid . . . I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. - from Leviticus 26:3-12 (see the whole passage)

That sounds great, but look what was waiting when God's people fell short:

But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments . . . then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, . . . disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache . . . I will set my face against you . . . Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. - from Leviticus 26:14-17 (whole passage)

Persistent disobedience and disregard for God's standards had a specific and predictable result:

If . . . you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me,

then I will walk contrary to you in fury. - Leviticus 26:27-28

God's law of blessing and curse, or cause and effect, was so deeply ingrained in the Hebrew mind that the teachings and works of Jesus were a complete shock to the Jewish system. The scribes and Pharisees (the religious teachers and authority figures of Jesus' time) were unprepared for the the good news Jesus presented regarding forgiveness and fresh starts. When Jesus forgave a wayward heart, it was an offense to their ideas about God:

. . . [Jesus] was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and . . . they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” - Mark 2:2-5

The authorities were offended that one human being would dare to forgive the wrongs committed by another. Surely judgment was God's job, and justice must be meted out in the form of suffering. Yet that was not the case. To prove His point and further illustrate His authority, Jesus followed up forgiveness with physical healing, and then turned to explain his actions to to His critics:

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” - Mark 2:9-11

This was good news for people who were conditioned to think in terms of cause and effect, action and reaction, blessing and curse, obedience versus discipline -- and the good news was for everyone. Although Jesus was monitored closely by the Jewish authorities, He had wide contact with the general population, spending time in the company of people who had nothing whatsoever to do with religion. When the Jewish teachers asked Jesus why He associated with folks who did not even pretend to keep the rules, He responded this way:

Those who are well have no need of a physician,

but those who are sick. I came not

to call the righteous, but sinners.

- Mark 2:17

Throughout His ministry on earth, Jesus broke all kinds of rules - the religious do's and don'ts were redefined (see Mark 2:23-27). Jesus offered everyone - not just the "good" people - a new way of interacting with God, which superseded the old standard of blessings for complete compliance and curse for disobedience. We are called into this new way of thinking; we are offered unmerited grace and love:

. . . he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, - Titus 3:5

.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

What a blessing to live under Jesus Christ's new system, which allows us to take joy in living by God's standards, not in fear of punishment, but because we know we are loved and forgiven. May the joy of the Lord inspire you today. May the mind of Christ be in you to provide the desire and the ability do things His way.

To see the Old and New Testament passages which inspired this blog see Through the Bible in a Year's February 18th reading.

JUDGMENT AND MERCY

Several seekers (I among them) have been commenting back and forth on Facebook for the better part of two weeks on matters of philosophy and theology. While it is interesting to discuss the meaning of scripture in our world today, there is something else at stake, equally as valuable as deciding who is right and who is wrong. Who wins the debate is only half the picture.

It matters who is right -- don't get me wrong. Jesus cared about that, and we're to follow His example in all things; still, we are NOT to pick and choose in what areas we'll emulate Christ. Yesterday's Old Testament and New Testament readings speak a single message to my heart: we're not to merely to pass judgment between right and wrong, but we must also intercede. Judgment and mercy are two sides to a single coin, as illustrated by the example of Moses.

Moses is the most renowned foreshadowing of the Messiah in history, who spent so much time in the presence of God that his appearance was changed. His face glowed so brightly that he had to put a bag over his head! Moses was also the judge of his people, leading them with a firm hand. His tradition of leadership was passed down through the generations, yet Jesus himself placed no credence in the authority of those who carried on the work of Moses in His day.

In fact, Jesus condemned the expert debaters of his time, the scribes and Pharisees. Those who carried Mosaic authority in the time of Christ wanted only to sit in the seat of judgment, not in mercy. They were unwilling to carry the burden of intercession. Moses was an authority figure and judge over the people of Israel, but he was also a powerful mediator, willing to lay down his life for his people. It was Moses' persistent and urgent petition which saved Israel from the judgment they so richly deserved.

Jesus said, "The scribes and Pharisees sit [in judgment] on Moses' seat . . . They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to carry them . . . " (see Matthew 23:2-12 for context). The distinguishing mark of the modern believer is a consistent walk of love, humility, and service, without which judging what is "right" won't make a dime's worth of difference to those around us.

We who would honor Christ are to follow the full example of Moses as judge and intercessor; we can't allow empty arguments to turn us into cold-hearted hypocrites. The Lord Jesus puts us all in our place when he says:

. . . you are all brothers [and sisters]. . .

you have one instructor, the Christ.

The greatest among you shall be your servant.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,

and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

- from Matthew 23:8-12

God is Up to My Misgivings

I wholeheartedly believe the Bible, and trust God completely. With my heart I believe, but my mind doubts. The most shameful misgivings raise their ugly heads just when I'm trying to say pretty prayers. I'd like to ignore them, but the Bible says I’m to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in me. I can’t give an answer to others if I don’t have answers myself, so I have to trust God to answer the questions I hate to ask.

Today's Old Testament reading, (Exodus 31-33)about the giving of the first set of commandments, and the golden calf, brought some of those old, nagging questions to the mind. Moses did a lot of things right, so much so that he is typecast in scripture as a foreshadowing of Jesus, or a “type” of Christ. He interceded for his people in spite of his bitter disappointment after they completely disregarded God in the short forty days Moses was out of their sight, meeting with God.

Indeed, God intended to destroy the stiff-necked, stubborn people of Israel, who were quick to turn from His ways. God planned to spare only Moses, making of him a new nation, but Moses eloquently pleaded with God to spare the people, and God heeded Moses' prayer. It is because of his willingness to stand between his people and their certain destruction that Moses is known in history as a forshadowing of Christ, himself.

Moses did a lot right, yet all his good deeds did not guarantee him admittance to the promised land he had journeyed a lifetime to reach. After a forty-year pilgrimage through the desert, Moses himself was denied access because of a seemingly minor infraction, an act of careless disobedience: Moses struck a rock when instructed to speak to it. As a result, he died on the far side of the river, within sight of Canaan, never setting foot on the good land God had promised.

Why couldn’t God have forgiven Moses the small offense, knowing that Moses was only human? Why can’t God forgive all of us our offenses, since He loves us in spite of our wrongdoings? Why do we need Jesus , and what about Him? If Jesus had made one little mistake, would it have been all over for our Savior? If that had happened, could omnipotent God not have produced another Messiah to take over?

As to why Moses suffered dire repercussions for a “minor” infraction – well, what is minor? That depends on what the definition of is is, doesn’t it? Where is the line we cross that changes a minor, forgivable offense to major trouble? God does not deal in degrees; if God pardoned the most minor offense, then the next-least harmful offenses would move into the position of “minor” to be pardoned, until there was no longer any difference between right and wrong, and no point in trying to define it. The result would be chaos, raging injustice, and unending misery for all of us.

Regarding the question of why there could be only one shot at making the Messiah, it is because Jesus was an authentic human being, not a superman. Being a person is a first-hand, first-time experience, hence facing the unknown without prior experience is intrinsic to the human condition. If God were to inseminate another virgin and make Himself human a second time, it would no longer be His first experience, and His authenticity would be lost.

Christ’s authenticity is fundamental because a big part of my hope and trust in Jesus is in knowing that He was human in every way (including his inexperience, i.e. starting out as an infant, going through childhood, facing awkward teenage phase, right on down the line), and yet He did not make a misstep during His entire lifetime. He has the power to help me make right choices because He did it himself. Jesus faced the same struggles and temptations I do, and has offered His own mind to help me face the hard choices.

Here’s another question that has plagued me: what about the short, thirty-three year lifespan or our Lord? Could Jesus have lived a sinless life until the age of ninety, or even seventy-five? Maybe that one is a moot point. Consider the account of Christ’s agony the night before the crucifixion. The gospels record that Jesus sweated blood as He mentally prepared himself to shoulder the cross. This phenomenon has been recorded in medicine as a sign of unspeakable suffering – the kind that takes years off of a person’s life. The Lord not likely have lived to a “ripe, old age.”

My questions don’t seem so scary now that they are on paper and out in the open. Do you have questions you can hardly stand to ask? Are there thoughts in your head that prevent you from trusting Jesus with your life? Maybe it is time to ask God about your own distracting doubts. To trust Him is to talk to Him and pour out your doubts before Him, even if you are ashamed or embarrassed of your thoughts.

The Lord is up to the task of dealing with everything that concerns us, especially our doubts. and will respond with love and mercy even if your questions aren't as easy to answer as mine. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to unravel the things that don't make sense; sometimes a question may be so enormous that the answer won't come until we see God face to face. It is worth asking the One who knows the answers, in any case. May your prayers be honest today, even if they're not pretty!

. . . now we see indistinctly,

as in a mirror, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then I will know fully,
as I am fully known.

- 1 Corinthians 13: 12

SET APART

Followers of Jesus are set apart from others, just as the people of Israel were set apart from the general population of Egypt. Through Moses, God delivers a message to the Pharaoh of Egypt (see it here in context), letting him know that although the plague would strike all of Egypt, the property and persons of Israel would be spared:

Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. - Exodus 8:23

The phrase, "put a division," is footnoted to mean also, "set redemption." We can also look at it this way:

Thus I will set redemption between my people and your people.

What a dividing line: redemption!

It reminds me of what I heard on the radio today that helped me understand what it means to be set apart by God, chosen for redemption. The teacher described adopting his dog from a shelter. He went to the pound with a specific purpose in mind, to rescue one animal, to set him apart from his fate to be euthanized.

It's like that for me - God rescued me when I was in a cage and due to be put down. Do I feel special? You bet! Am I chosen? Yes! Do I feel better than anybody else? Well, no. We are ALL chosen for adoption, picked out for rescue by the Father. God wants to set a division between us and the destruction that awaits at the hands of a merciless enemy, if we are willing.

I'm my mother's natural child, but on my father's side, I'm adopted, so the adoption analogy means a lot to me. Still, I never really thought of how adoption was the dividing line for me, between my before and after. My dad didn't have to give me his name. I could have grown up as a step-child, but my father went out of his way to change my situation.

How wonderful to think of the way God sets us apart when we take Him up on his invitation to make us his own children? His intention is to put a stark dividing line between before and after, between destruction and restoration, between night and day, just as John describes Jesus' promise to any and all:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name . . . - John 1:12

May we be more and more aware of what it means to be set apart, with redemption as the dividing line. May we be more and more aware of how crucial it is that we be willing to help others across that line. Who do you and I know, who needs to be clearly set apart on the receiving side of redemption?

POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD

There was life-and-death accountability for the prophet Ezekiel regarding the words he spoke - and a heavy penalty for the words he failed to speak. God says:

If I [God] say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you [the prophet Ezekiel] give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Ezekiel 3:18

God goes on to reiterate the prophet's responsibility in the verses that follow. I can't help but ask, if God already spoke to the wicked, saying that they should surely die, why would it make any difference for the prophet to repeat that message? If the "wicked" didn't listen to God Himself, why would they hear the prophet any better? And why should Ezekiel be responsible for the destruction of the "wicked" if for one reason or another the prophet kept silent?

The theme is repeated in chapter 33, where God uses the analogy of a watchman in a guard tower. The watchman is responsible to blow a trumpet in warning if he sees danger approaching:

. . . if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. from Ezekiel 33:6

In our society, polite folks leave others to their own choices when it comes to right and wrong, and we call it friendship. How does the truth of the Bible sit with you in that regard? Are we responsible, as Ezekiel was, to speak a warning when we see a friend go astray? Are you and I under the same penalty as Ezekiel if for one reason or another we keep silent?

For me the idea that I'm responsible to "call 'em as I see 'em" is hard to swallow! It is far more pleasant, when I'm out to coffee with a friend or just having a casual conversation on the phone, to simply say what the other person wants to hear, offering "positive affirmation" of the friend's choices or moral position. Though I may abstain from condoning, I certainly don't want to make waves by raising questions or objections. I choose instead to hold my tongue. After all, I don't want to be rude, do I?

God surely doesn't call me to speak doom and gloom to friends and loved ones, does He? You are surely not called to predict fire and brimstone, are you? After all, God's ultimate intentions are clear:

. . . "As I live," declares the Lord God, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back . . ." from Ezek. 33:11

And yet, even God's good intentions have to be verbally expressed if they are to be known. So, where do we fit in? Does it fall in the lap of those who see truth to speak it out? In this day and age, how are we to balance the extreme example of Ezekiel's truth-speaking responsibility with the apparent moderation of the commandment to "judge not lest you be judged?" Only God's own Spirit in you can give you grace to balance truth with love and acceptance, but at the very least, the message of the book of Ezekiel brings to light the awesome power of the spoken word.

Look at the power of Ezekiel's voice in chapter 27, where he's ordered to speak to a jumble of dry, human bones. Granted, this passage describes a prophetic vision, as opposed to physical reality, but what a powerful picture it paints for for us today. There is a good reason the bones came clacking together in response to the prophet's verbal command, and there is good reason the restored bodies didn't receive the breath of life until the prophet was urged to speak again.

The message is this: there is power in our spoken words -- a power and responsibility that cannot be ignored or denied. One of my favorite snippets from Scripture describes God as the One " . . .who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist." This is the God we serve, the One who created us in his own image and gives us His authority - and more than authority, the life-or-death obligation - to speak truth and life in Jesus' name.

In many ways I could feel sympathy for Ezekiel, who must have looked like a raving lunatic in his time! He certainly did not live in comfort, convenience, and complacency as many Christians (even prophets and preachers) do today. In between his prophetic utterances, the poor guy was struck entirely mute! Still, at times of missed opportunity, I could almost wish life were as cut and dried for me as it was for Ezekiel.

I'll stop short of wishing to be struck mute, but I do pray that God will make me uncomfortably aware that speaking truth (and crossing boundaries of politeness or political correctness) is not merely an option for me, but an obligation. I hope you'll make it your prayer, too, that the Lord will stop our mouths from affirming and encouraging friends who are in the wrong. May He bring truth from our lips, and may He bring life to dead hearts! I pray God will make us accutely aware of the power of our spoken words today.

THE ONE IN CHARGE

God is in control -- of course we know that, but it is nice to be reminded today. Jesus "upholds the universe by the word of his power," and He will not let us out of his sight now or ever. The Bible says it is a done deal: the Lord Jesus took the highest seat of power long ago when "he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

It is possible to keep politics in perspective when I remember:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. - Hebrews 1:1-4

Another good lesson from today's reading is that God cares about individuals. There was one foreign advisor who tried to talk sense into the king of Judah in a time of crisis, counseling Zedekiah to save the prophet Jeremiah, whom he had doomed to death. This lonely foreigner, Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, was remembered when the dust settled. He had a message waiting for him from God:

I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall - from Jeremiah 39:17-18

God cares about individuals, and helps each one who trusts in Him. This one person did the little bit he coul, and as a result was remembered and looked after by the Lord of the universe. Even earlier in history, there's another example of God looking out for his people. When the nation of Israel was to be delivered from captivity in Egypt, God used a pagan ruler -- not by causing him to yield, but by his stubborn resistance -- to show God's awesome power.

After seeing all the signs and wonders God performed by the hand of Moses, what kind of a lunatic would NOT have let God's people go? Yet time and again, Pharaoh reneged. The Bible says God hardened that leader's heart -- to the ultimate advantage of God's people. Let's remember today and in the days to come, that God is the one in charge. Whether through our elected officials or in spite of them, God will do according to His good purpose for us.

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

Jesus loves ME, this I know . . . and every day I see it anew as my own personal miracle.

Jesus loves you and me. To think that the Creator of the universe, all-knowing and all-powerful, eternal and enormous, would "so love the world" is not a big hurdle for me. But to think that such a God would notice me -- let alone look with compassion on me as an individual, and would care to answer my prayers -- it astounds me every time I think of it. It's true! God speaks to individuals when He says:

". . . the mountains may depart and the hills be removed,

but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,"

says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

- Isaiah 54:10, ESV

Wasn't God speaking to the Hebrew people through the prophet Isaiah? God reassures me as an individual in the vast and varied sea of humanity, just as He reassures you. It's as if he points right at you in the crowd of faces and says, "yes! I mean YOU!" God goes on to say through the prophet:

. . . and "my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples." The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts . . .

declares, "I will gather yet others . . . " - from Isaiah 56:7

It is your own personal shout-out when God says:

For thus says the One

who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

"I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him

who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite"

- Isaiah 57:15

I want to be more and more that person God singles out, an individual with a contrite and lowly heart. Though He is enormous and inhabits all eternity, he dwells indeed with the lowly, and it is a blessing to be convinced of the reality of his presence and power on a daily basis. I pray that you will be intensely aware today of the simple truth, "Jesus loves me, this I know!"