Herod believed in the Messiah (Matthew 2)

There are so many fascinating themes that are operating simultaneously in Matthew chapter 2 that it can be hard to decide where to focus. This article will center on Herod, the king in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ birth, but I want to bring in a number of players to capture all the richness of the passage.

THE MAGI

To start with, let’s look at the characters who are on-stage in this scene of the biblical play. There are magi (wise men) from the east who come to Jerusalem. “Where is He who is born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him (2:2).” Who were these men? Why did they come such a long way? How did they know that the star signaled “the king of the Jews?” We cannot say for certain, but we can give some educated speculations. These men were probably astrologers and necromancers from Persia or Babylon. Because they were astrologers who studied the stars, about two years ago they had noticed the appearance of a new and unusual star in the night sky. Since they were from Persia or Babylon and were in that part of their culture that would have been familiar with ancient writings, it is possible that these magi were aware of the stories of the Hebrews and of their God, Yahweh. It is possible that may have known some of the Hebrew Scriptures and had heard about a coming Anointed One. They may have heard ancient stories about the prophet Daniel and about his prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, which gave an idea of when this Anointed One, this Messiah would appear. What other explanation would there be for a group of men traveling for up to two years to follow a star? And how else do we explain their words to Herod? These magi were searching for the King of the Jews. These pagan Gentiles saw a new star appear and they connected the dots and decided that nothing was more important than that they find Him who was born King of the Jews. Then, when the magi find the Child, the fall down before Him and worship Him and give Him expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. After worshiping the new King, they return “to their own country by another way (2:12).”

KING HEROD

Next, we meet king Herod. Scripture does not tell us a lot about him, but it does tell us enough. Herod was the king in Jerusalem, and he intended to remain king. His actions reveal that he is cruel, that he is deceptive and cunning, and that he is insecure, which is a particularly unpleasant recipe. He had been in power more than thirty years when the magi arrived. While the magi sought to worship the new King and shower Him with gifts (2:2, 11), Herod saw the child as a rival and as a threat to his reign and immediately sought to kill Him.

It is clear from this account in Matthew 2 that Herod believed both that the Hebrew Scriptures were true and that this new King was the promised Messiah. How do we know that? We know that based on what Herod did. When the magi told Herod about a star and about worshiping a new king, “Herod was troubled (2:3).” He figured out that this new king was the Messiah and he wanted to know where to find Him so he could kill Him. So, believing that this new King was the Messiah, Herod went to the chief priests and scribes and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. He went to the chief priests and the scribes because they knew the Scriptures, and Herod believed the Scriptures would tell him the truth about the Messiah’s birthplace. When they told him about Bethlehem and Micah 5:2, Herod sent the magi there to confirm the prophecy. Then they were to return to him so that Herod could “worship Him,” also.

It is good to pause here and reflect on this. Herod believed that the Scriptures were true and that Jesus, the newborn King, was the long-awaited Messiah. Instead of rejoicing, however, his response was hatred and murder. Herod did not need a Messiah that demanded his worship and that threatened his worldly pleasures and power. Yes, Herod sought to kill the Messiah rather that worship Him. Sadly, that is what many in the world still try to do. Many find out about our glorious Savior who passed through the heavens (Hebrews 4:14) to be born in Bethlehem and to be crucified on a cross and reject Him rather than worship Him.

When Herod’s plot to use the magi as his accomplices in killing this new King fails (2:16), he has all the male children in the area of Bethlehem slaughtered so that he can still succeed in eliminating this messianic threat. Again, his vicious use of the sword does not land on the Messiah, for His parents had fled with Christ to Egypt to escape Herod’s wickedness.

SATAN

            There is another character in this drama who is active behind the scenes, and who will not step on-stage until Chapter 4, and that is Satan. Although Herod is the human agent for the cruelty and the wickedness that is unleashed to kill the Messiah, and while Herod is fully responsible for his wicked acts, behind these acts is the one who is “a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).” Satan is the one who was the first to hate the Messiah, and in Matthew chapter 2, he is the one who is doing everything in his power to destroy Jesus the Messiah. Since that day in the Garden when he was cursed for his deception (Genesis 3:14), Satan has been bent on stopping the Messiah from “bruising his head (Genesis 3:15).” Despite his best efforts, somehow the Messiah has snuck past his defenses and has been born in Bethlehem, exactly as the Scriptures said would happen. “More than that, when He was a ‘sitting duck’ in the manger in Bethlehem, somehow He still eluded us and has now disappeared somewhere into the backwoods of Israel. Well, maybe that’s the last we’ll see of Him. Maybe He’s disappeared for good.” (See Revelation 12:4-6 for more of Satan’s activity against the Messiah.)

SDG                rmb                9/18/2020

A study of the Judgment in Revelation 20:11-15

This originally was going to be a brief blog on this passage from the book of Revelation, but as is often the case with my writing, I ended up being fascinated with the study and so produced a fairly long piece. I hope that you find it instructive and edifying. rmb 9.16.2020

“So, what happens at the Judgment?” My friend had been having a discussion with his wife in preparation for talking to his daughters about the final judgment. He knew that I was working on a book on the end times, so he gave me a call and posed the question.

“Wow, that is a great question! Let me pull together some Scriptures and make some notes and I will call you back.” So, the stage was set.

This post, then, will be an explanation of what happens at the great white throne judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15.

THE TEXT – REVELATION 20:11-15 (NASB)

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

UNDERSTANDING THE PASSAGE

Revelation 20:11

            John sees the great white throne with the LORD seated on the throne. In this awesome scene, all creation flees away, trying to get away from the fury and the wrath of God and of the Lamb (compare to Revelation 6:15-17). There is, however, no place to hide. The business at hand is The Judgment.

Revelation 20:12

            Next, John sees “the dead.” This word “dead” is significant because the meaning goes beyond just those who are not breathing. These are the spiritually dead. John mentions “the dead” four times in two verses to emphasize their spiritual lifelessness. At the great white throne, we see the gathering of all the spiritually dead of all time, awaiting their final judgment. That is the identity of “the dead” whom John sees. Regarding “the dead,” consider these verses from the mouth of Jesus:

  • When our Lord was talking to the Sadducees about the resurrection, Jesus quotes from Exodus when God said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Jesus said, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:31-32).” Jesus is making it clear that these patriarchs, even though physically dead, are spiritually alive.
  • Perhaps more to the point, In Luke 9:60, Jesus calls a man to follow Him, but the man makes the excuse that he needs to bury his father. Jesus said, “Allow the (spiritually) dead to bury their own (physically) dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” It turns out that there are many who, even though physically alive, are spiritually dead.
  • In John 3:18, Jesus says, “He who believes in Him (the Son) is not judged.” That seems straightforward to me.
  • Jesus also taught that those who have believed in Him will not come into judgment. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).” Two truths are taught by this verse. First, the one who believes in Jesus “does not come into judgment.” That seems pretty easy to understand. But second, those who have eternal life through Jesus are no longer among “the dead,” regardless of their physical state. They “have passed from death to life.”
  • A few verses later, Jesus is teaching about the resurrection and says, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice (the voice of the Son of God), and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).” So, we can see that, in the resurrection, the ones who will experience the judgment are “those who committed the evil deeds.”

Next, “books were opened.” What exactly are these books which were opened? It is clear that these books determine the verdict that will come from the throne, for John writes that “the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” These books, then, are the records of all the sins of each one of the dead who are standing before the throne. They will be judged “according to their deeds.” Their deeds are evil (John 3:19-20’ “their deeds are evil”). Their deeds are their sins, and it is on the basis of these deeds, their “works,” that they will be judged. The time for forgiveness is over. There will be no more mercy or compassion. The offer of the gospel is forever taken away. These have come before the great white throne of the Holy One of Israel with nothing but their unrighteousness and their sins. “There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries (Hebrews 10:27).”

THE BOOK OF LIFE (OF THE LIVING)

            But wait! “Another book was opened, which is the book of life.” John does not talk about this “book of life” here, because the issue at hand is judgment and eternal death, but we need to understand what this “book of life” is. First, there are the “books of the dead,” which doom people to the lake of fire (20:15), but there is also “the book of life” (“of the living,”) which admits people into eternal life. The book of Revelation has already spoken of this “book of the living” twice, in 13:8 and in 17:8, so we will take a brief detour to find out more about this book.

  • Revelation 13:8 takes place as the beast that comes up out of the sea is in power and is persecuting the saints. “8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” TRUTH: This verse makes clear that the names that are in the book of life were written there in eternity past and that they were written in the book of life by the Lord Himself. The inescapable conclusion is that those who were going to have eternal life and who were going to avoid the lake of fire were chosen by God in eternity past. This necessitates the doctrine of election (Ephesians 1:4; etc.).
  • Revelation 17:8 also involves the beast and talks about “those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” The group in view in both these verses is the people “whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” TRUTH: Therefore, the other conclusion from these verses is that, since those in the book of life are known, those who are doomed to the lake of fire are also known from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 20:13

            We find out from this verse where all “the dead” come from. From the previous verse, we know that “the dead, the great and the small,” are standing before the throne, but now we find out that “the dead” come from the sea, and they come from “death and Hades.” This is just another way of saying that all the dead are here. Not one of the dead has been overlooked or has escaped the judgment. Then, once all the dead are gathered, they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. As we have seen earlier, these “deeds” are the sins of the dead who stand before the throne. Their destiny is the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:14

            Death and Hades are irretrievably and inescapably thrown into the lake of fire. Long, long ago, in one of the early scenes of the grand meta-drama, the LORD God had told man that sin would result in death (Genesis 2:17). And so, ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3 death needed to continue to exist because man’s sin continued to exist. Hades is the place where the spiritually dead await the judgment, and so Hades continues to exist until the judgment. But now after the judgment, full payment for all sin has been rendered, either in Christ’s full atonement for all the sins of all true believers in Christ or in the eternal punishment in the lake of fire for all unbelievers. Sin has ceased because there are no longer any sinners. All believers are now glorified and so can no longer sin, and all unbelievers have been thrown into the lake of fire. Death is useless when sin has ceased and Hades has become useless, because all the occupants of Hades have been cast into the lake of fire. Therefore, since they are useless, both death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire.

            The lake of fire is the second death. The first death is when a person dies physically. If that person has believed in Jesus, in the intermediate state they are in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-8; Philippians 1:23; Revelation 6:9-11; etc.) awaiting  the resurrection of the righteous, when they will receive their glorified, resurrection body. Thus, the believer never experiences the second death. (Confirm with John 11:25-26.) This passage, however, is about the unbeliever. In contrast to the believer, in the intermediate state the unbeliever awaits Christ’s return in Hades, and, at the resurrection, they will “come out to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).” Unbelievers will go from their temporary home in Hades to their eternal home of unending conscious punishment in the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:15

            The judgment is made, and the sentence is passed. The book of life, or “the book of the living,” has been examined. This is the book that contains the names of all those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those whose names are in the book of the living are resurrected to eternal life (John 5:29), but there are many whose names are not there. All those whose names are not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire.

APPLICATION

            All you who are now reading this article on the final judgment are still physically alive. You still have time to contemplate the question, “Is my name written in the book of life, or am I headed for the lake of fire?” Hopefully, after reading this article, you are clear on the two, and only two, options.

  • If you have already placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then you will never experience the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6), and you can be sure that your name is in the book of life. In that case, the application would be to rejoice in the faithfulness of our Savior Jesus Christ.
  • If, however, you have not placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; if you have not confessed with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9); if you have never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ so as to be saved (Acts 16:31), then your current destiny is the lake of fire. Your application is to change your destiny! This minute you can change your eternal destiny. This minute you can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him as your personal Lord and Savior. If you do that, “Truly, truly, I (Jesus) say to you, you will not come into judgment, but you have passed from death to life (John 5:24).”

SDG                 rmb                 9/16/2020

Satan: The powerful pawn

The Bible knows him by various names and titles. He is the serpent of old, the devil, the tempter, the adversary, the prince of the power of the air, the god of this age, the red dragon, Satan, star of the morning, son of the dawn, the anointed cherub, the accuser of the brethren, the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning. In his first appearance in the Garden of Eden, he tempted Eve, who gave to Adam, and thus the whole human race was plunged into sin and death. He is, indeed, the most powerful of God’s created beings, and he is entirely opposed to everything holy and righteous and good.

Since Satan is opposed to all holiness and goodness, he is opposed to Jesus Christ and is opposed to Jesus’ church. Satan hates Christ and hates Christ’s church and hates every member of Christ’s church. He is “our adversary, the devil” who “prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).” Make no mistake about it, if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus, the devil is seeking to devour you. His goal is your destruction. He aims to ruin your testimony, to silence your proclamation of the gospel, to cause you shrink back from your faith, and to deny the faith when he threatens you with loss. When you, as a believer, sin, you have fallen prey to his schemes. Satan rejoices in your sin, because in that sin you have listened to Satan rather than trusted and obeyed the Lord. Yes, Satan is certainly a dangerous foe to the believer, and we are wise when we are alert to his temptations and his deceptions and are aware of his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11). The believer should diligently defend his holiness and make sure that the devil does not have easy access to our heart, for he desires to bring about your sudden destruction.

But while Satan is a formidable and dangerous adversary to us, he is merely a created being to the Lord God. Part of the reason that the devil sometimes has a larger-than-life persona for believers is because we insist on viewing him from a human perspective and focusing on how he appears to us. David did not go out to meet Goliath in his own strength, but he went out in the name of the LORD of hosts. “Today the LORD will deliver you into my hands (1 Sam 17:45-46).” For the LORD, Goliath was just an overgrown uncircumcised Philistine, and he would fall dead just like any other man of dust. In the same way, we do not encounter Satan in our own strength. We stand firm against the schemes of the devil because we stand firm clothed in the Lord’s armor (Ephesians 6:11ff). We can have no fear of the devil because Jesus Christ has already crushed him and destroyed him by His finished work on the cross (Genesis 3:15; I John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14-15).

HOW THE LORD VIEWS SATAN

Now let us think about how the Lord God views Satan. First, it is given that the Lord is the sovereign Creator of all things and of all beings. He has created all things for His purpose, and He has ordained all things that will come to pass, from the first events of Genesis 1 to the final events of Revelation. And it is evident that the Lord God created Satan, for Satan is a created being. While understanding the fullness of God’s purposes is beyond human ability (Psalm 131), the Lord has revealed to us many details of His purposes in His Word, the Bible. As we study the pages of the Bible and see what God has revealed to us about Satan, we see that the devil has been created with his unique powers and his wickedness for a specific purpose. The devil is the tempter and the accuser and the liar, and much more, but it is those very qualities that define his area of usefulness. Satan is the Lord’s powerful pawn who spends the vast majority of the divine drama of history in complete obscurity. It is only when his unique “talents” and “abilities” are needed that he is summoned onto the stage to perform his part, to say his lines, and then to exit the stage until “an opportune time (Luke 4:13)” when he is needed again. We must remember that the Lord is the playwright, the director, and the producer of history. He has already written the script, and He has, in eternity past, chosen the cast. In time and space, the Lord created the heavens and the earth, the stage for the drama. “Let there be lights, camera, action!” And history began. But the grand play of human history is not unfolding randomly. No! The drama is unfolding in perfect agreement with the way it was scripted in eternity past by the sovereign Lord of all. And so, Satan does not come and go as he pleases, nor does he ad-lib his lines. Rather, his performance is directed by the Lord and is in perfect agreement with the divine script.

SATAN: THE SUPPORTING ACTOR

When is Satan called on to make an appearance? Satan’s main role is to appear in one of his various forms to tempt someone, so that their obedience will be tested. He also enters the drama at the end of the age when he brings about the great tribulation against the church. Other than some small bit parts here and there, that’s about it. If Satan were a real actor in the world today, he would be starving! There just isn’t a lot of work on the world’s stage for an extremely evil guy like the devil! Let’s quickly examine his major supporting roles in Scripture.

Genesis 3. The Scene – the fall of mankind. Satan’s role is to tempt the first Adam to test his obedience and his righteousness. Our adversary appears as a “serpent more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made (Genesis 3:1).” His first words create doubt about the word of the LORD God. “Did God actually say?” His next words declare that God lied about the wages of sin, telling Eve instead that she can sin with impunity. “You will not surely die,” even though the LORD God had clearly said that you would (2:17). His final words in this scene suggest that God is not good and that He is keeping good things from Eve and Adam. So, Eve takes of the forbidden fruit and gives to Adam. The results are that the serpent, Satan, is cursed; in the future, the Messiah will come to crush Satan’s head; Adam has failed the obedience test; and Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden and from God’s presence because of their sin.

Why is Satan summoned? One reason is that there are only a few actors to choose from at this point in the drama. Also, Satan is the most evil and the most deceptive of God’s creatures. Satan is the one the LORD calls to test Adam.

 Job 1, 2. The Scene – The wager between God and Satan, with Satan claiming that Job only obeys God because the LORD protects Job. The LORD then allows Satan to test Job to see if Job will continue to obey even when his earthly prosperity and possessions are taken away. So, we see that Satan is summoned “from going to and fro on the earth (1:7)” and is pointed to “My servant Job” so that Job can be tested.

Why is Satan summoned? Satan is summoned because he is the only one powerful enough to ruin Job’s prosperity and to bring about Job’s physical affliction, and who hates God and man enough to bring about Job’s undeserved misery.

Matthew 4:1-11. The Scene – The testing and vindication of the Second Adam. Jesus has just been baptized (Matthew 3:13-17) and, as the first act of His earthly ministry, He is “led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (4:1).” Jesus fasts for forty days and forty nights and then is approached by the tempter (Satan). The tempting of the first Adam should be kept in mind as the tempting of the Second Adam takes place. Satan calls Jesus’ identity into question (“If You are the Son of God . . .”), he tempts Jesus to obey him rather than God (“command these stones to become loaves of bread”), he twists the Word of God using parts of Psalm 91 (remember Genesis 3:1, “Did God really say?”), and he offers Jesus everything He could possibly desire in this world, if Jesus will worship him. Jesus perfectly resists all of Satan’s temptations with the word of God (“it is written”), and then commands Satan to depart (“Begone, Satan!”). which Satan obeys. Thus, the Second Adam conquers Satan and resists all his temptations in the very sphere where the first Adam failed.

Why is Satan summoned? Satan is summoned because it was Satan who caused the fall of the first Adam. Satan needed to be defeated by the perfect Second Adam. It was Satan who caused the ruin of the human race, so Satan needed to be confronted by the Redeemer. It was Satan who caused death to enter the world, so it was fitting that Satan be conquered by the Lord who brought in eternal life. Satan is summoned onto the stage because his crushing defeat in the wilderness proves that the Son of God has also appeared on the stage. Satan, the most evil one, can only be vanquished by the Holy One.

Revelation 12, 13, 16, 20. The Scene – The final rebellion against the Lord and attack against the church before Jesus Christ returns. In this scene, Satan takes the form of a red dragon and is allowed to persecute the church. In chapter 12 the dragon “has come down to you in great wrath (12:12),” “he pursued the woman (the church) who had given birth to the male child (12:13),” and “he became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring (12:17).” Satan is allowed to vent his hatred on the church. In chapter 13, Satan raises up an accomplice, “the beast,” who “is allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them (13:7).” The dragon, along with the beast, and the false prophet, assemble for the battle (16:14). Satan’s final scene is in Revelation 20:8-10 where he gathers the nations for battle. They “surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven, and the devil is thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Why is Satan summoned? Satan is summoned because he is the one uniquely qualified to be the ultimate rebel against the Lord. He is the only one powerful enough to organize and execute this battle against the Lord and His church.

CONCLUSION – THE MAIN POINT

While from our perspective the devil is a powerful and formidable enemy, from the Lord’s perspective Satan is merely a special pawn whom He has created for His use in bringing about His redemptive plan for history. We must remember that Satan is cursed by the LORD God near the beginning of Genesis and then in Revelation 20 is finally thrown into the lake of fire, while we believers are “chosen by the Lord before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)” so that the Lord might “demonstrate the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy whom He prepared beforehand for glory (Romans 9:23).” Therefore, we should have a healthy respect for Satan’s power, we should not fear him because we are protected from him by the Lord of hosts.

SDG                 rmb                 9.13.2020

How will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14-15)

BRITTON BUSINESS SCHOOL CASE STUDY

The sales manager was at a loss as to what to do next. Sales had been flat to slightly declining for almost five years now, despite having a clearly superior product at a more competitive price. True, the product had not been changed or been upgraded for a while, but the existing features and benefits already so far exceeded all the competition that an upgrade should have been unnecessary. That, in combination with a sales price much less than the competing products, made it hard to explain why sales were not steadily increasing.

“Far superior product at a lower price; Why can’t we move the needle on sales?”

He considered the company’s decision to cut marketing. Could that be it? Yes, they spent less than 25% of what the competition spent on marketing, but that could not be the full explanation.

He thought about sales training as a possible answer. “Maybe our salespeople need more training.” But that didn’t make sense, because both his salespeople had been selling the product for at least twenty years. Both knew how to prospect, how to make and convert cold calls, how to show the superior features and benefits of the product. As far as skill at one-on-one sales, the sales manager would put both his salespeople up against anyone in the business.

Then he wondered whether it was the competition. While it was a fact that the competition was well-established in the market, it was also a fact that almost all of their existing customers had at one point in time been using the competitive product and had switched when they heard about our product and what it had to offer. “No, it’s not the competition. It must be something else that I can’t put my finger on. There has to be some reason why we can’t get more market share, especially with more than 50 million potential customers in our territory.” The sales manager decided to call his two salespeople into his office and see if they could brainstorm and come up with an answer.

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

            As business consultants, how would you explain the lack of anticipated sales at this company? What would be your recommendation for the sales manager as to how to increase sales?

            Okay, time’s up. What is your answer? I hope that you said something like, “Get more salespeople out there! If you have a market of 50 million people and TWO SALESPEOPLE, you are desperately understaffed and need to figure out how to let more people know that there is a far superior product available at a lower price. People will not buy the best product in the world, even if it is free, if they don’t know that the product exists.

THE GOSPEL ANALOGY

            In Romans 10:14-15, the apostle Paul lays out four essential steps for any person anywhere to be saved. After declaring that, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13),” Paul then tells how that blessing of salvation takes place, starting with the end and working backwards. So, he asks how they will call on the Lord if they have not believed in the Lord. (Implied answer: They won’t!) Backing up one more step, he asks how they will believe in Jesus if they have never heard the gospel about Jesus. (Implied answer: They won’t!) Finally, he asks the critical question, “And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Implied answer: They won’t!) All these steps are necessary for salvation. No step can be omitted. Therefore, it is necessary for salvation for there to be “a preacher” (see below for a description of what it means to be “a preacher”) to proclaim the gospel message so that an unsaved person will hear the gospel. And it is necessary for salvation for the person who hears the gospel message to believe that message. And it is necessary for salvation for the person who believes the gospel message to call on the name of the Lord in repentance and faith as a response to their believing the gospel message that was preached and heard. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth (a verbal call on the name of the Lord) Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That means that if there is true belief in your heart, it will issue forth in verbal confession from your mouth and then in life and behavior change as sanctification occurs.

WHO IS A PREACHER?

            So, from Scripture we see that a preacher is necessary for salvation because the gospel message must be heralded to the unsaved. But now the question comes up, “Well, who is a preacher?” Various pictures may be conjured up in your mind in answer to this question. The caricature seems to be of some man sweating profusely as he shouts at his hapless congregation. The popularity of this image would suggest that the picture was designed in hell and has resulted in the perishing of many souls as they laughed off “the preacher.” But the biblical word that is used in Romans 10:14-15 is that of a herald, of a person who had been entrusted with a critically important message and was sent out to proclaim exactly that message, even if the herald was killed in carrying out the task. This is the biblical picture. In the Bible, Paul was a preacher (2 Timothy 1:11). John the Baptist was a preacher. Solomon was a Preacher (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Noah was a preacher (2 Peter 2:5). Most significant of all, the Lord Jesus Himself was a Preacher. There is no reason to shrink back from being a preacher based on reputation.

            But who is a preacher? Think about the preacher’s task. The preacher is a herald sent out to proclaim a message. Now consider Matthew 28:19-20, when Jesus told us to “Go, therefore” in the Great Commission. Jesus was sending every member of His church out to proclaim the gospel to the nations. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says to His first disciples, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Those are herald words. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Again, herald words. Jesus told the parable in Matthew 13, “The sower went out to sow.” We find out that “the sower” sows the Word of God, and it doesn’t take a leap of imagination to see that every believer could be described as a sower. Again, more herald words.

            Who is a preacher? Who is a herald? Who has been sent out by the Lord Jesus Christ to herald His message to perishing men and women so that they might be saved? That is the privileged calling of the preacher. Who wouldn’t want to be called to that task? And what Paul is saying in Romans 10:14 is that you and I have been called as preachers (“heralds”) of the good news so that people will hear and believe and call on the name of the Lord.

            So, whether your audience is few or many, you are the one who has been called by your Lord and Savior to let others know about Jesus and about how they can be delivered from the wrath to come.

            In Matthew 9:38, after seeing the misery of the people who were like sheep without a shepherd, He said, “Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Just as the company in the case study needed more salespeople, so the Lord Jesus is seeking more heralds who will be active in His harvest.

SDG                 rmb                 9.8.2020

More thoughts on Ecclesiastes 11

Back on August 31 I had posted an article about Ecclesiastes 11:1-4, “Casting bread upon the waters.” I have some more thoughts about that may be helpful and encouraging. This post will be not so much a single article but a collection of related thoughts.

The key words that come to mind in Ecclesiastes 11 are risk, stewardship, loss, trust the Lord, wisdom, contentment. The context of Ecclesiastes 11 can easily be adopted to wisdom about investing.

Regarding risk: Is risk different for a Christian? That is, does Christ make a difference in our view of risk? I think that the answer should be an unqualified “yes.” Perceived risk is directly related to trust in the Lord and to stewardship.

Stewardship is a word used mostly by Christians. Stewardship relates to how well my resources (primarily monetary, but they could also be time and talents) are being used for the purposes that Christ would approve.

CHANGED DEFINITIONS

            Since I have become a Christian, I find that even the definition of words related to money have changed. PROSPERITY: Prosperity has been dramatically redefined. Before I was a believer, “prosperity” was an entirely material word. It was about what was going on “under the sun.” More was always better. There was little regard for quality, because what I was measuring was dollars, and there is no “quality” for dollars. It’s about quantity. But now, prosperity is much more about pleasing the Lord. I am prosperous when my life is being lived in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.

            My monetary goals change as I grow as a Christian. Before I was a Christian, it was all and only about greed and about keeping score with dollars. The only goal was wealth and it was easy to keep score: He who dies with the most money wins. It was like Monopoly for adults. Since the objective was clear, the means for achieving the objective were clear and few. My peace, my contentment, my feeling of satisfaction, how well I was serving others, and so on were not considerations that deserved much attention.

            Hoarding money, which would have been a potential strategy for achieving my greed goal, reveals fear and distrust. I hoard money because I am afraid that if I don’t, I will not have enough. A hoarder has no confidence or trust in the giver of the goods. A hoarder feels the need to rely upon themselves.

            Saving money can be either a response to fear or an act of wise stewardship, and it can be difficult to detect the difference. If “saving” continues when there is more than ample resources available (Give us THIS DAY our daily bread), saving has become hoarding and it reveals a low level of trust in the Lord.

            Perhaps the action that shows the most spiritual maturity is an attitude of “godly spending.” Money is simply a conduit for bringing good things to others. It must be remembered that money is only good in its use.

GENEROSITY

            We can be generous with our resources because we have been promised prosperity by the God who sovereignly controls the universe. We can be generous because our trust is in the sovereign Lord, who loves us and has given us His promises. We can be generous because the Lord who controls all things makes a distinction between His people and the rest. The LORD delights in His people, and so His people have an enormous advantage. Because we have placed our faith in Christ, we can have confidence in an uncertain world. Faith in Christ entitles me to embrace the Lord’s precious and magnificent promises.

            The beginning of wisdom is THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

            Progress in wisdom flows from TRUST IN THE LORD.

IT IS SAFER TO TAKE RISKS

Because we have already died (Colossians 3:3), we should have no fear of death.

Jesus says that we can never die (John 11:25-26). Thus, what do we have to lose.

The heroes of the Bible consistently take risks because they trust the LORD. Some of these risks are much more than outrageous. Gideon reduced his army from 30,000 to 300. David went up against Goliath with no sword, no shield, and no armor bearer, yet he was victorious because the LORD was with him. In Exodus 14, the LORD commands Moses to put the people of Israel in the place of maximum risk, then the LORD demolished Pharaoh and the Egyptian army.

In Numbers 14, the children of Israel refused to go into the land from Kadesh-Barnea because they feared the people of Canaan. Thus, they rebelled against the LORD and despised His provision. The consequence was that everyone from that generation fell dead in the wilderness wanderings.

Jeremiah was constantly threatened by his peers and by the kings who reigned while he prophesied, yet Jeremiah did not back down or shrink back. He declared, “The LORD is with me like a Dread Champion (Jeremiah 20:11).” If we have that same God giving us the same promises that He gave Jeremiah, why would we be any less bold than Jeremiah? This applies to our entire lives, including our perception of risk.

Finally, the LORD ALWAYS makes a distinction between His people and the rest. The LORD has promised to do us good. Psalm 1:3 gives us the promise that “everything that he does will prosper,” but if nothing is done, how can the LORD prosper the venture?

SDG                 rmb                 9/4/2020

Why are you doing that? (Romans 10:2-3)

SCENE 1

The squirrels had been in my attic for a while now. I could hear them overhead, running the length of the attic as they played in my insulation. It was driving me crazy. I hated those squirrels. “How are they getting into my attic?” Then one day I was standing in the front yard and saw a squirrel cross the street and head directly toward my house. It climbed up the trunk of a small tree near the house, jumped onto a branch of the tree, which bent under the weight and then sprung back up, catapulting the squirrel onto the roof of my house. “Oh ho! That’s how they are getting onto my roof and into my attic!” So, the next Saturday I was out with my tree saw and started to cut down the tree that the squirrels were using as a catapult. My neighbor wandered over to me and asked,

“Why are you doing that?”

“What do you mean, ‘Why am I doing that?’ I am cutting down this tree because I don’t want squirrels in my attic!” He shook his head and smiled and said, “Cutting down that tree won’t stop squirrels. You know, squirrels can just climb up the brick on the outside of your house and get onto your roof.”

            I began to feel just a tiny bit stupid, realizing that he might be right, but I continued cutting down the tree anyway. “There,” I said, as the small tree sunk to the ground. “That will stop them!” My victory was short-lived, however. About two hours later, I felt chagrined and outmatched as I watched that same squirrel scamper up the corner of my house, using the brick as you or I would use a sidewalk, pop over onto the roof and then disappear into my attic.

            What had just happened? Because of my ignorance of the real nature of the problem, I had employed a strategy that could never get me the results I wanted. I wanted to get rid of the squirrels in my attic, so I cut down the tree. No good. Waste of time. Bad idea.

            Now, other than a little bit of humiliation in the eyes of my neighbor, my blunder had no real consequences. No big deal. Lost a tree and kept the squirrels. Oh, well.

SCENE 2       

For the next scene, we turn to the Bible as Paul is applying the truths of the gospel to his Jewish countrymen in Romans 10. Paul presents a troubling scenario. Paul writes, “For I testify about them (his Jewish brethren), that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge (10:2). For not knowing about God’s righteousness (that is, not knowing about salvation by grace through faith in Jesus the Messiah), and seeking to establish their own (by religious works), they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God (10:3).”

            So, what I want to do is frame this scenario in terms of the incident with the squirrels in my attic, because these scenes are similar. Let’s say that an observer was talking to one of Paul’s friends, who was a Pharisee.

“I see that you are really zealous about doing religious things. You fast twice a week. You tithe from all that you get. You pray long prayers on the street corners. You always wash your hands before you eat, and you never do any work on the Sabbath. Everyone knows that you give to the poor. I’ve heard you even cast out demons and occasionally do a miracle! But . . . “

“Why are you doing that?”

            The Pharisee replied, “Because I want to be righteous, of course!” The observer sadly shook his head and said, “Doing all these religious works does not make you righteous. In fact, no amount of religious works can EVER make you righteous. Do all your works, but your sin will remain.”

            The Pharisee said, “That’s nonsense! Anyone can see that I am more righteous than you! I know that my religious works please God.”

            Once more, the other man tried to get through. “Actually, in Isaiah 64:6 the prophet says, ‘All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.’ The only way to be righteous is to believe in Jesus the Messiah.”

            For a brief moment it seemed that the Pharisee was considering what had just been said. Did Isaiah really say that thing about the filthy garment? And if he did say that what might that mean for me? Could my Rabbi be wrong? Could I be wrong? Could this guy be right? Then the mental window slammed shut. “I don’t need to be taught by you!” he said. “I will continue to work my works!”

            What had just happened? Because of the Pharisee’s ignorance of the real nature of righteousness, he was employing a strategy that could never get him the results he wanted. He wanted righteousness, but he is trying to obtain his righteousness by his own works. No good. Waste of time. Bad idea.

            But it is right at this point that things radically change. For while my blunder with the squirrels cost me a small tree and a little bit of embarrassment, the Pharisee’s error will cost him an eternity in hell. You see, “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness for all who believe (Romans 10:4).” The only possible way to obtain righteousness before the Holy One, the God of heaven, is to believe in Jesus the Messiah. This is not a preference issue. This is not a question of semantics. This is not an issue where you go at your way and I go at it my way and then we will probably both get there eventually. If the Pharisee does not change his mind and repent and bow the knee to Jesus the Messiah, he will never obtain any righteousness. In fact, he will miss righteousness by an eternity.

SCENE 3

            The final scene is a lunch discussion between me and Jack. Jack is a business associate of mine. We have developed a bit of a friendship and know a little bit about each other. I know that Jack is a Catholic, and we have had a couple of discussions about each other’s religious views. On this occasion, I have steered the conversation in the religious direction again.

            “So, as a Catholic, what sorts of things do you do? In other words, what religious things do Catholics do?”

            “We have talked about this before, Roy, but anyway. We do confession and we do the Mass every Sunday with the Eucharist. We do some ‘our Fathers’ and some ‘hail Marys.’ Some people do the rosary. We pray to various saints. Like that.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“What do you mean, ‘Why am I doing that?’ I am doing these things because I don’t want to go to hell!”

At that moment, I felt like the neighbor who was telling me the truth about squirrels or like the “other guy” who was telling the Pharisee the truth about righteousness. Jack said that he wanted to avoid hell, but he was pursuing a strategy that guaranteed that he would arrive there. He had adopted the Catholic plan which promises that good Catholics will avoid God’s wrath by doing religious things. For Catholics, trying to do your best and obeying the Catholic Church will at least get you into Purgatory. These are the inventions of the Catholic Church that keep people from hearing the truth.

So, I tried to explain to Jack that this was not a preference issue. I tried to tell him that there was no such thing as Purgatory (“Jack, I think you have a hole in your parachute.”) I told him that Jesus died to atone for sin, so there is no longer an ongoing sacrifice needed through the Mass. The priest has no authority to forgive sins or to give you any sort of penance that you can do to remove your sin. But my words fell on hard ground and we basically left the restaurant a tiny bit incensed with one another and probably a little more polarized.

The lesson from this is that we must be clear about what is wisdom and what is absolute truth. With regard to salvation, we must insist that there is no room for compromise or personal preference. When the fireman crashes your door down with an axe, it is not so he can debate with you whether your house is on fire. For everyone of us, our house is on fire, and there is only one way to safety. His name is Jesus.

For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness for all who believe.

Romans 10:4

SDG                 rmb                  9/4/2020

Drive out, destroy, and demolish (Number 33:52-55)

“How is it that a man or a woman who has recently come to faith in Jesus Christ is transformed from a person with filthy habits and cherished sins and wicked ways of thinking into a sanctified believer whom Jesus Christ is not ashamed to call a brother or a sister (Hebrews 2:11)?” For when you initially repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were immediately “seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6),” because spiritually you were as justified as you would ever be. That is, when you “passed from death to life (John 5:24)” at the instant of your salvation, you were 100% fully saved. Through faith in Jesus, you had been declared righteous. You had been acquitted. There was, therefore, then and now, no condemnation (Romans 8:1) for you . . . ever, throughout all eternity. You were no longer under God’s wrath and never would be again. Legally and spiritually, everything had changed forever. BUT morally and in terms of practical holiness, you still had your old filthy habits and cherished sins and wicked ways of thinking. In terms of growing in holiness, your direction had changed 180 degrees, from running toward sin to running toward obedience to God, but your moral location was unchanged. From God’s perspective, you were a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17); the old had gone, the new had come, but from everyone else’s perspective, you were the same old you. So, again I ask, how is it that a disciple of Jesus grows into a holy person who can “let their light shine before men (Matthew 5:16)?”

Now, I am not changing subjects when I turn our attention to Numbers 33: 52-55 and ask, “How can the land of Canaan, that has been polluted by pagan idolatry and pagan immorality, be made suitable for the people of the Holy One, the LORD of Israel?” In this passage, the LORD gives His people Israel direct commands for what they are to do to transform the land of Canaan into a land worthy of the LORD. We will examine these instructions carefully, because what the LORD tells Israel to do literally to “sanctify” the land of Canaan will serve as a model for what we need to do figuratively to sanctify our lives and to grow in practical holiness.

In Numbers 33:52-55, then, the LORD gives the people of Israel a series of commands and then issues a warning.

  • “You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land (52a).” The inhabitants of Canaan will be a constant source of temptation to return to idolatry and to pagan immorality. You must drive out this poison that is leaking into the land or you will fall to these temptations.
  • You shall “destroy all their figured stones (52b).” Figured stones were carvings that reminded them of their pagan gods. The pagans viewed them as cute and harmless, but the LORD viewed them as abominations. Because these figured stones reminded the Canaanites of their cherished gods, the stones must be destroyed.
  • You shall “destroy all their metal images (52c).” Metal images served the same purpose as the figured stones (above) in that these images kept the false gods in their minds and reminded them when it was time to worship. These images and stones kept the people enslaved to these idols. They must be smashed.
  • You shall “demolish all their high places (52d).” The high places were scattered all over the land to provide convenient places for pagan worship. They were like shrines or stone altars. The pagan could get in a short worship session without interrupting the flow of their day. These were to be demolished so that no one could use them again.

Notice that these first four commands called for violent, intentional action. “Forcefully, violently drive out the pagans until there are none left” was the idea. Get rid of them completely. Drive them out like a nest of vipers or like a hive of hornets. Eradicate them! Show no pity or compromise. Destroy their objects of worship and their reminders of their false gods. Smash them! Pulverize them! Leave no trace! Demolish their places of worship. Scrape them clean like you were wiping a dish. There is to be no remnant of these high places because remnants allow for revival and return. Demolish them so that they cannot be found.

  • “You shall take possession of the land (53a).” Now that the pagan residents have been driven out (52a), the void must be filled with the holy people. (Matthew 12:43-45 as a warning passage.) Now the LORD’s people are to move in and fill the land and subdue it (Genesis 1:28). They are to make this land a place where loud and public worship of the LORD fills the land from Dan to Beersheba.

Now we have seen the prescription for what the people of Israel were to do to transform the land of Canaan into a land suitable for the holy people of the LORD. The transformation required violent, intentional action that would continue until the land had been purged of its former ungodliness.

            This picture of transformation of the physical land gives us a blueprint for how we can transform our spiritual selves and grow in sanctification. First, we see that sanctification requires intentional, “violent” action.

  • The disciple of Jesus must figuratively drive out the former inhabitants of the land. The habits of the “old man” must be driven out, or they will be a constant source of temptation to drag you back into sin. Drive out the default behaviors and the cherished old sins. Drive them out of your mind and replace them with renewed, godly thoughts (Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2).
  • To grow in holiness and to walk worthy of the gospel (Ephesians 4:1), the disciple of Jesus must gather and then destroy all reminders of the idols of the past. Books must be thrown out. Old sinful songs must be erased and deleted. Photographs must go and phone numbers must be deleted. Websites are disconnected. Indulgences and distractions and wastes of time and entertainments that do not edify must be destroyed. This “search and destroy” mission must be ruthless. You desire to have nothing left that will drag you backwards into old sin.
  • Your sanctification will require that you “demolish the former high places.” This means that you go no longer to the places where you formerly went to celebrate your sin. These are your old “places of worship,” either mentally in your mind or physically with your feet.
  • Finally, after you have begun to drive out the former inhabitants, and have begun to destroy the reminders of your former idols, and have started to demolish all the old “shrines” and “altars” where you used to practice your former sins, then you need to move in and “take possession of the land.” What does this look like for the disciple that wants to grow in sanctification? I think this means that you move into your faith with vigor. You embrace the means of grace. You become intimately familiar with your Bible by spending hours reading the words of the living God. You sit under godly teachers and humbly receive the word implanted (James 1:21). You move into a local church and you learn what it means to love other believers who are very different from you. You take possession of serving and of giving and of encouraging and of doing things you don’t necessarily want to do for the benefit of others because that’s a disciple of Jesus does. You take possession of your faith and seek to bear fruit, thirty, sixty, a hundredfold. If you are patient and persistent in these activities of driving out the old inhabitants and destroying the reminders and demolishing the memories of your former sinful ways, and if you will take possession of your faith with vigor and enthusiasm and go deep with the Lord, then you will see the fruit of a transformed life.

SDG                 rmb                 9/2/2020

Casting Bread on Water, Disasters, and Falling Trees (Eccles. 11:1-4)

                A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of mine told me that he was praying about how the Lord might use him in new ventures and had been studying Ecclesiastes 11 for biblical guidance. To help my friend and to see if I learned anything from our pastor’s recent sermon series on Ecclesiastes, I decided to look at the verses of 11:1-4 to see what they mean.

INTRODUCTION

            Can we gain knowledge and wisdom from Ecclesiastes? If so, how can we do that?

            Some would go directly to the verses of Ecclesiastes to find wisdom for practical decisions, but this is not the right approach. Is there wisdom to be found in Ecclesiastes? Unquestionably. Is there practical wisdom to be obtained from Ecclesiastes? Yes, there certainly is. But while there is practical wisdom to be obtained from Ecclesiastes, there is skill required in the obtaining. As we have said before, Qohelet (the Preacher) does not give us direct answers to our questions. The writing in Ecclesiastes is complex and Qohelet’s primary interest is not wise investing nor time management nor how to leave an impressive legacy. Remember, he has already created astonishing wealth and has indulged in sensual pleasures and has built beautiful cities (Ch. 1-2). Those, for him, are irrelevant memories from a hollow past. Those brilliant successes have brought him to the place where he repeats the word, “Vanity.” In fact, not just vanity, but vanity of vanities. As Jesus is the King of kings, the supreme King over any and all other kings, real or imagined (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16), so Qohelet’s experience in life is the supreme vanity below any and all other vanities. His vanity is so empty that it consumes and overwhelms all apparent successes and renders them useless. Now, as an old man looking back at his many years, he is in an urgent search for meaning. Meaning is Qohelet’s primary interest. It is meaning in life that he urgently seeks, and he brings to bear all the wisdom he can muster to uncover that most important of all attainments; namely, an answer to the question, “How can this life have any meaning if it ends in death?” Is there no purpose to life under the sun? Does death have the final say?

            In the paragraph above, I have made the statement that practical wisdom can definitely be obtained from Ecclesiastes. That is, as we read of Qohelet’s search for meaning, we can glean practical wisdom that can guide decisions that we are compelled to make in our own lives. But while the Preacher has advantages over many of us in terms of his experiences, his wisdom, and his abilities, we have an even greater advantage over him. What is that advantage? We have the advantage of knowing that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing (in Him) we may have eternal life in His name (John 20:31).” We have the full written Word of God, the completed written revelation of God’s eternal plan for the world. Because we can know how things turn out, and can know the meaning of life from the lips of Jesus the Messiah Himself, and can know that this life is not all there is, but that there is eternal life available and that we can never die (John 11:25-26), we can know the answers to the great mysteries that troubled Qohelet. So the wisdom that we gain from Ecclesiastes is largely a derived wisdom, a wisdom that answers questions not directly with black and white answers, but a wisdom that gives us a range of acceptable answers or responses which flow from the spring of eternal life that has come to us by our faith in Jesus Christ. That is, having answered the ultimate questions about life and death, about meaning and purpose, about how to have peace and joy and contentment, about how to be reconciled to the holy God against whom we have rebelled and sinned times too many to count and yet to be welcomed to His table as an adopted son or daughter; having answered the ultimate questions through the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can wisely deal with the myriad other questions that bombard us as we walk through this broken and fallen world.

With that as an introduction to this passage, I want to take a look at Ecclesiastes 11:1-4 and draw out the wisdom that is contained there. The wisdom in this section is deep and dredging it up will take some skill, but we will be wiser as a result of having wrestled with the teaching of the Preacher.

11:1 – Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.

            It is not certain whether this verse is to be taken literally or figuratively. I am assuming that it is to be taken literally. So, assuming this verse is to be taken literally, what we have is a man who does something incredibly foolish that should never result in anything but a total loss, yet the man ends up breaking even. Picture this: A man goes to the grocery store and buys a loaf of wheat bread. He then drives up to the lake, walks to the shore, unwraps the loaf of bread, and throws the bread into the lake. Four months later the man drives back to the lake and walks to the same spot by the lake, and there, along the edge of the lake, is every slice of that loaf of wheat bread. So, the man gathers up those soggy slices and puts them back into the bread bag. Net result? Break even! He did something that was totally foolish and still basically broke even.

WHAT IS THE POINT?

Is the point to be reckless and careless with your ventures and investments because we live in a random universe? NO! The point is that no matter how reckless or how careful and wise you are, ultimately you do not know how things will turn out. Life is unpredictable and the future is uncertain, but uncertainty must not lead to paralysis!

But it is key also to notice that in this example, the foolish venture came back break even. The outcome of this foolish venture should have been a total loss, but there was essentially no loss. How can this be? This can be because the universe has a sovereign Lord who determines all outcomes and the Lord blesses those who are His (Psalm 1:3). Some followers of Jesus are wise, and some are not, and some do really foolish things. I know that after praying about major decisions for a long time, I have decided to do things that, in retrospect, were incredibly risky and could not possibly work out unless the Lord was actively involved. And what happened? I basically “Cast my bread upon the waters,” and against all odds, not only “found it after many days,” but found five fresh loaves of bread and a couple of large sacks of wheat! This is because the Lord blesses all His children, not just those who make the “best choices.” Do you love your children only when they make “the right choices?” Of course not! Just so, the Lord delights to bless all His children. “When a man falls, he will not be hurled headlong, for the LORD is the one who holds his hand (Psalm 37:24).”

This is the lesson: Even in an unpredictable world where the future is unknown, the child of God can make decisions with confidence, knowing that the outcome is not ultimately dependent upon their own brilliance and wisdom, but is dependent upon the sovereign God of the universe, who has adopted them into His family. So, be generous and take action.

11:2 – Give portions to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.

            My understanding of this verse is that, according to wisdom, it is better to diversify your investments, because that way you are more likely to avoid disasters. This wisdom is well-known to anyone who has talked to a financial counselor. (It is not, however, good advice from a marriage counselor!) Virtually everyone who gives you advice about investments will tell you to diversify your portfolio. And I think this is what Qohelet is telling us here as well.

Then the question comes up, “So, in this case, does the disciple of Jesus basically do the same thing that everyone else does?” Let’s think about that before we answer. Looking carefully at the words of this verse, we see first that the Preacher tells us to divide our portions “to seven, or even to eight.” I think there is some significance in the fact that seven is the perfect number and he tells us to give to seven or to even more than seven, just in case. So, there is probably at least some significance in the numbers.

I think there is more significance, however, in the fact that he uses the word “disaster.” “You know not what disaster may happen on earth.” Qohelet says we diversify because we do not know which one of our ventures will perform disastrously. To paraphrase, “If you spread the risk out to seven or even eight places, then the disaster will not hurt you as much.” By using the word disaster, Qohelet acknowledges that we live in a world where disasters take place and sometimes, they affect us. Since the fall of man in Genesis 3, the door to natural and financial disasters has been thrown open, and it is presumptuous for the disciple of Jesus to ignore this fact or to pursue ventures as if everything would always turn out well. It is entirely possible that my ventures will not turn out well. Does the Lord delight to bless His children? He does. Is the Lord obligated to bless His children? He is not. Do we know the Lord’s timing, as to when He will bring disasters on the earth? We do not. Do we know the Lord’s divine purposes in all that He ordains, including when He allows disasters on His children (Job 1:13-19)? We do not. And since these things are not known to us, we act by faith and invest or act generously and confidently, but with the wisdom that a broader investment base provides use with less risk. “Putting all your eggs in one basket” is foolish because it presumes upon the Lord and expects Him to bless the one venture we choose, and because it refuses to acknowledge that we are in a world fallen because of our sin, a world in which disasters are ultimately one of the consequences of sin.

This is the lesson: Diversify your investments and your portfolio because we live in a world where disasters occur, and they occur to disciples of Jesus. Diversify with the knowledge that disasters are one of the consequences of sin and are one of the means that the Lord uses to sovereignly bring about His purposes in the world. Diversify generously and with confidence, knowing that the Lord whom you serve, delights in you and will never leave you or forsake. In other words, the action of investment appears similar to the action of the rest, but the attitude of the investment is entirely different.

11:3 – If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place that the tree falls, there it will lie.

            Qohelet now takes us to pictures of clouds with rain and falling trees, but his mindset has not changed. That is, he is still telling us why believers in Jesus can live generously and confidently in this unpredictable world. This is because in a world where many things are unknown and therefore potentially threatening, some things are certain.

We should understand this verse in terms of the certainty of God’s revealed will. If God has revealed His will to us, we can be certain that will come to pass. In an uncertain and risky world, there is certainty in God’s revealed will.

There are two ways that God reveals His will to us. The first way that God reveals His will to us is by declaring truth in His Word. The Bible contains God’s revealed will for mankind. The Bible contains only truth, so that, when we read the words of Scripture, we can be confident that we have read what will surely be. Qohelet illustrates this principle with a simple example. To paraphrase: “When the clouds are full of rain, then rain is going to fall on the earth.” Our experience in life has shown us that this is a true, although not very significant statement. The Bible tells us, “The soul that sins will die (Ezekiel 18:4).” The fact that this is contained in God’s holy Word declares to us that this is a true and extremely significant statement. But as rain falls from clouds is true, so whatever is written in God’s revealed will, the Bible, is true. We can have confidence in the Bible in an uncertain world, because God has revealed His will to us in His Word, and in His Word God has declared that we who believe in Jesus have been chosen before the foundation of the world and will receive a crown of righteousness in heaven. As surely as it is God’s will to drop rain from clouds full of rain, so it is His will to bring us to heaven.

But God also reveals His will by giving us history. The example is of a fallen tree. Before the tree falls, you may speculate, “Which way does God desire to drop that tree?” Before it falls, you do not know God’s will about the tree, but once it falls, all doubt is removed. It was God’s will to drop that tree exactly where it fell, and nothing will change that. God has revealed His will. In the same way, there are many things about the future that we do not know, that God has not revealed. We could be anxious about that and worry about that, but there is no reason for worry. God already knows exactly what the outcome will be for whatever it is that you are concerned about. He has already determined the outcome; he has just not told you. So, the outcome is certain, it is just not certain to you. This means that we can take the outcome of a venture off our plate. “O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty, nor do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me (Psalm 131).”

This is the lesson: Whether God has revealed His will about something, or that something is still part of God’s secret will, God already knows all outcomes. Therefore, the child of God can be generous and confident even in risky ventures, even when the outcome remains completely unknown, because the believer relates as “Abba, Father” to the God who does know and ordain all outcomes.

11:4 – He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

            The meaning of this verse is straightforward: If you look around for an excuse not to take risks, on excuse will always be readily available. What causes us to look for excuses? Fear of risk or threat. The idea is that it is less risky to do nothing than to take a course of action that could lead to loss. But is that true? In Matthew 13, the sower went out to sow. He did not check the weather report before he went. In Matthew 25:14-30, the master gave the servants talents and expected them to do business with them. The servant who did nothing was called “wicked and slothful” and was cast into the outer darkness. In Luke 19:12-27, the nobleman’s servants were commanded to “engage in business until I come (19:13).” The one who did nothing was condemned with his own words. Paul took many risks, yet he could say after less than twenty years of risky ministry, “from Jerusalem and round to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” and now there is no more work for me in this region. Is it safer to do nothing than to risk for the kingdom of God and the King? A thousand times no!

            One last thought: Fear of loss implies that we have something to lose, but the disciple of Jesus Christ has nothing to lose. According to Colossians 3:3, we have already died, so we cannot lose our life. According to John 11:25-26, we can never die, so threats of death should have little effect. According to Philippians 3:20, our citizenship is already in heaven, so we cannot lose our country. The more we consider it, the more we see that we have nothing to lose. We can “spend and be expended” for Christ (2 Cor. 12:15), because there is nothing to lose.

            This is the lesson: Take risks for the glory of God and scatter your seed broadly. Be generous and confident in whatever venture the LORD gives you to do and “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Ecclesiastes 9:10).”

SDG rmb 8/31/2020

Celebrate Repentance (Colossians 3:5)

The other day I did a Google Search to find all the Celebrate Repentance groups there are in Charlotte, NC. Surprisingly, even in a city of Charlotte’s size, I did not find a single one. That meant that if such a group were going to exist, someone like me would need to start it.

Of course, this is a fictional organization. Celebrate Repentance as an organization does not exist, but I think that it should. And so, I began conceiving of what this group would look like. Although there are many passages in Scripture that speak about repentance, there are two that would be foundational to my group:

Luke 13:3, 5 and Colossians 3:5

LUKE 13:3, 5 – THE CALL IS TO REPENT OR PERISH

Jesus spoke with some people who supposed that a sudden, tragic end to life occurred only to those people who were rebellious and really wicked. In other words, “Of course the bad guys get punished. They deserved it, but the rest of us are okay.” Jesus used that occasion to speak about the universal sinfulness of man and the universal need for repentance. “I tell you unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3).” To make sure that these people did not ignore His warning and imagine, instead, that He was speaking only in hyperbole, Jesus gave another story and restated His warning: “I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (13:5).” Jesus made a big deal out of repentance, so Celebrate Repentance would make a big deal out of repentance.

COLOSSIANS 3:5 – THE CALL TO PUT OUR SINS TO DEATH

In Colossians, Paul is writing to Gentile Christians who have recently been delivered from the pagan world of idolatry and immorality (“the domain of darkness” – Colossians 1:13) and been “transferred into the kingdom of His beloved Son (1:13).” To make sure that these disciples show the fruit of repentance and begin to display holiness, Paul gives them direct instruction: “Therefore, put to death the members which are upon the earth: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (Colossians 3:5).” Paul made a big deal about disciples of Jesus putting sin to death, so Celebrate Repentance would make a big deal out of putting sin to death.

From these two foundational passages there emerge two basic questions that would define the content for the local Celebrate Repentance chapter:

  1. What does it mean for the disciple of Jesus to REPENT?
  2. How doe the disciple of Jesus PUT SIN TO DEATH?

I anticipate that there would be two groups of people attending these meetings of Celebrate Repentance. One group wants to vanquish their indwelling sin and to cut it out of their life like a malignant cancer, and the other group wants to learn some new tools to better cope with their indwelling sin and to find some fellow travelers who could join them in their coping journey. These two groups are separated by a wide chasm, although they seem the same in outward appearance. What is it, then, that distinguishes a person from being a member of one group or the other?

A member of “the vanquish group” has mentally brought a scalpel to the meeting, and they are willing to use it. They have identified their sin and they have sharpened their dagger, but up till now, they have not learned how to use the dagger effectively enough to kill their foe. It seems that every time they think the quarry is in their sights, it somehow dodges the bullet. In fact, the reason they have come to the Celebrate Repentance meeting is to learn how to wield the dagger with skill so that the sin is put to death. A member of this “vanquish group” hates their sin and has come ready for war.

By contrast, a member of “the coping group” has brought no scalpel and no dagger to the meeting. They may have identified their indwelling sin, but they have no current plan or desire to kill that sin. While they do not like the effects the sin is having on their life and they are a little ashamed that they haven’t gotten rid of it yet, they have not resolved to kill the sin and to do violence to it. They do not hate the sin; truth be known, there are times when they still enjoy the sin, even though they know they should not.

“The vanquish group” will find fellow warriors in the Celebrate Repentance group who are willing to give them ammunition and tactics for putting sin to death. The “coping group” will probably decide that they need to find another group that “knows more about grace” and allows them to continue in their sin as they continue to “struggle” with their sin.

Celebrate Repentance would indeed be a celebration of the freedom that we have in Christ to live as conquerors (Romans 8:37). Repentance is the weapon that appropriates for us the freedom that Christ bought for us on the cross. “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed (John 8:36).” We were slaves of sin, but now we are slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18), and Celebrate Repentance would give you the comrades and the tactics to trample sin underfoot and to rejoice in the holiness we were meant to have (1 Peter 1:16).

What do you think of this idea of Celebrate Repentance?

SDG                 rmb                 8/28/2020

Jacob was left alone (Genesis 32:24)

Jacob took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone.

The Lord of the universe dwells in unapproachable light surrounded by many angels, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy!” (Revelation 5)!” Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29), sitting on a throne of fiery flames and burning fire, a stream of fire coming out before Him (Daniel 7:9-10). His eyes are too pure to look upon evil (Habakkuk 1:13) and He has a settled holy hatred of all sin. Why, then, would this thrice holy God ever have pity on us and pursue us to rescue us? And if He did, how could mere man ever bear an encounter with the living God without being consumed?

            We, the ruined ones, live among myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands of other ruined sinners. Crammed into this crowded planet, we wander down the wide way leading to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). We grope along the wall like the blind, growling and moaning as we go (Isaiah 59:9). Foolish and disobedient to the Lord, we, as slaves of passions and pleasures, pass our days being hated by others and hating one another (Titus 3:3). This is the picture the Bible paints for unsaved man, the natural man. It is not a pretty picture and it is not a picture with any hope.

THE LORD CONDESCENDS TO US

Yet here is one of the many mysteries of the Bible, for despite the fact that the LORD is a consuming fire and cannot be seen by mortal eyes because of His holiness, and despite the fact that all mankind has been ruined by sin and each of us is under God’s righteous wrath (Romans 1:18; John 3:17-18, 36), the Bible is full of encounters between the Lord of the universe and ordinary human beings. It seems impossible, but the Holy One, who is surrounded in heaven by myriads of angels, condescends to earth to meet with a single sinful human being, such that the human is not consumed, but is blessed and has their life changed. There is no way that mortal man can find or approach God, so God seeks out His chosen ones and brings them home (Luke 19:10). And in the Bible, these encounters are all one on one. The holy God condescends to meet with a single human being and arranges the circumstances so that the human is alone. It is just God and a single human.

JACOB AT THE JABBOK

In this post, I want to talk about the Lord’s encounter with Jacob in Genesis 32, because this encounter is staged to create a feeling of drama and awe and foreboding. Jacob has returned to Canaan from Paddan-Aram and is now defenseless against his brother Esau. Messengers have sent word to Jacob that the brother he tricked and enraged many years ago is now coming to meet him with four hundred men. In response, Jacob prays to the God he barely knows, asking Him to deliver him from his brother Esau, asking the LORD to protect his wives and his children. Jacob the deceiver has now become Jacob the man of prayer. Throughout his life, Jacob has tricked and cheated and deceived those around him. He tricked and cheated his brother Esau, not once but twice, stealing his birthright and then stealing his blessing. Jacob tricked and deceived Laban, stealing his flocks and running away with Laban’s daughters and grandchildren. By his conniving, Jacob has become two camps (32:10), but now it appears that Esau will have his revenge and will destroy all that Jacob holds dear. Jacob has no more tricks; he wants no more tricks. “Enough of tricks and conniving and deception! O LORD, I need You! I need Your help! You said, ‘I will surely do you good (32:12).’ I ask that You fulfill Your word.” Then Jacob sends his flocks and herds in droves as gifts to his brother Esau. “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me. Perhaps he will accept me (32:20).” So the present passed on ahead of him, and he stayed that night in the camp (21). The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok (22). He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else he had (23).

And Jacob was left alone (24a).

Alone. Jacob was left alone. Alone with his fears. Alone with his thoughts. Alone with his regrets. Alone. But he was not alone for long. “And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day (24b).” There at the ford of the Jabbok in the middle of the night, a humbled and fearful Jacob wrestles with “a man.” These two are alone in the wilderness. There is no one to witness their striving. And all night they wrestle to see who will prevail. Who is this “man” with whom Jacob wrestles? Where did he come from? How did he know that Jacob was here? What does he want from Jacob, since Jacob has already sent everything he has over the Jabbok to safety? At last “the man” tells Jacob to let him go, “but Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me (26).’” Who is this man? Then the man renames Jacob, calling him Israel, “for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed (28).” Jacob asked the man, “Please tell me your name,” but the man refuses. But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him (29). Who is this man who renames Jacob but refuses to tell his name? So Jacob called the name of that place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered (30).”

            The LORD had arranged this wrestling match at the Jabbok. Jacob is alone and is fearful and humbled. God condescends to Jacob, not only meeting him but wrestling with him all night. Instead of consuming Jacob in His wrath and overwhelming him with His unbearable glory, God takes on the appearance of a man and wrestles with Jacob. Of course, at any instant, God could have destroyed Jacob, but that was not the goal. Jacob needed this night to wrestle with God and with his own fears. Jacob needed to strive to a place of surrender. In eternity past, God had chosen Jacob as one of His own, and now He has arranged the details of this night to claim His prize. During this night God allows Jacob to wrestle himself into surrender. Jacob prevails, yet he leaves the encounter surrendered and limping on his hip. Jacob is allowed to prevail, but God has won His man. Before this night of striving beside the Jabbok, this second-born son of Isaac carried the name “he cheats,” but now God Himself has renamed him “he strives with God.” All alone, the human has an encounter with the living God and lives, emerging from the encounter blessed and changed.

            Our God is a God who ordains the events of history, of time and space so that He can encounter His people and bring them to Himself. He arranged the events of the night by the Jabbok so that He could wrestle with Jacob and break his resistance. We see this over and over again in the Bible. Not only Jacob, but also Gideon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Joshua, Hagar, and Elijah all have one on one encounters with God that define their lives and change them forever. And not only in the Bible, but our God does this with us as well. Not every believer, but many believers can testify to their own “night by the Jabbok when they wrestled with a man.” We emerge from these life-changing encounters humbled and blessed and “limping on our hip.” Somehow, we have encountered God face to face and our life has been delivered.

SDG                 rmb                 8/26/2020