Sunday, February 26, 2012

The Redeemed Harlot

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. (Hebrews 11:31, NKJV).
Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, (Matthew 1:5, NKJV).

Rahab was a porne [por'-nay], a prostitute who sold her body to others for their base sexual use. She was a pagan in a city of pagans who worshipped blood-thirsty idols demanding child sacrifice.

She is good news for us all. Notice how the writer of Hebrews brilliantly summarizes her importance: By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish…

A Caanannite woman on the lowest rungs of Jericho's society - a liar, a traitor to her earthly sovereign, a whore, and yet beloved by a merciful God - in due time, became a pillar in the genealogy of Jesus, for her son was Boaz, grandfather of King David.

Questions surrounding her behavior abound. Could she have told the truth about the Hebrew spies and still saved them? Why did they go into her house in the first place? Why was she brought before her king for interrogation? Was she routinely watched? Did she have routine connection to the king's court? 

Whatever answers are arrived at for these questions are necessarily speculative. The Bible does not provide any additional details beyond the concise facts presented in the account in Joshua 2.

But the most important question, the one that shatters our own preconceptions of who God uses and why, the one that tells us more about our loving heavenly Father than it does about anything else, is this question: how did she warrant saving?

And the answer to this query is spelled out in great detail in various places in Scripture, and destroys irrevocably every single supposed basis for legalism, Christian moral superiority, and any and all arguments in favor of our own self-righteousness.

Rahab is good news indeed, for, whatever else her life illustrates, the shining beacon of her biography is the unspeakable grace and mercy of our God.

God is not a respecter of the outward person. He looks at the heart. This is a double-edged sword, meaning that it cuts through the white-washed veneer of any public righteousness, and pierces into the thoughts and intents of the hidden heart.

Rahab was saved because she heard about the wonders of God's miraculous dealing with the Children of Israel in the wilderness, and believed. His works had become known throughout Canaan, as had His decree of doom on that people. But she alone responded in faith.

Listen to the momentous words she spoke to the spies:

I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. “Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, “and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:9-13, NKJV).
In His grace and mercy, the Lord made known to her His reality and power, and enabled her heart to be softened to His truth in a way that no other household in that evil city had. All had heard, but only she believed. And somehow she knew that God and His people were the only hope for her pitiful life.

Like all who come to believe, she was at the end of herself and realized the futility of relying on her own resources. It did not matter what sin comprised her life before that moment. It did not matter how deep and long-lived was her guilt. What mattered was her faith in the God of Heaven and earth.

Not only did she seek mercy for herself, but also that the Children of Israel would "spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death."
She risked everything that was in front of her and upon which she had depended her entire life for the merest prospect of a future with God. She decided solely by faith and not by sight, and her desperate courage was rewarded for all posterity.

And God, who is rich in mercy and because of His great love, granted her request and saved her alive.

But He did not stop there. Because He also abounds in grace, He made Rahab one of His own, and set her into the lineage of Messiah, Savior of the World.

Rahab's redemption means that no one is beyond God's forgiveness. Her example should give hope to even the most miserable and dejected and depraved souls; souls considered worthless and hopeless and beyond redemption. There is nothing too hard for God.

Rahab also reminds us that it is not the proud and self-righteous God lifts up and saves, for there were undoubtedly many in that dark city who thought themselves far better than this lowly prostitute. Rather, it is those who, coming to the end of themselves, reach out in humility to the only One who can save.

Let her life be a lesson to us all.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Lesson of Jericho

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. (Hebrews 11:30, NKJV).
In one sentence the writer of Hebrews captures the essence of a bizarre, but instructive, episode of ancient Middle Eastern history.

Jericho was a material and spiritual stronghold of evil. Its massive walls harbored a city rife with occult practices, satanic worship, and horrific child sacrifice. As a fortress, it was considered impregnable. It also stood as the single, most daunting obstacle in the way of Joshua leading the Children of Israel into the Promised Land.

Joshua sent spies into the city. Rahab, the harlot ancestress of Christ, Himself, gave them shelter and was thus rewarded with a promise for her life to be spared.

The plan of attack given to Joshua by God was conspicuous in its lack of military strategy. There were no siege engines and no emphasis on weaponry. By its very nature, it was a test of faith.

Led by the Levitical Priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, the army of Israel was to march silently around the formidable city walls seven times each day for six days. On the 7th day, they were to encircle the city once more, and then give a great shout on Joshua's command. 

When the walls crumbled, the city was to be taken and all its inhabitants slain by the sword, with the exception of Rahab and all whom she brought into her house on the wall.

This was bizarre in so many ways.

In subsequent, more conventional battles, neither the Priests, nor the Ark were to be anywhere near the front lines. In subsequent battles, fierce hand-to-hand combat was the rule. In subsequent battles, Israel won or loss depending on how well she fought.

In the Battle of Jericho, God upended all those parameters, replacing them with apparently nonsensical actions from the human perspective.

Nonetheless, Joshua and the Children of Israel obeyed. Each day treading silently in the ominous shadow of the massive barricades.

Logically, militarily, and materially it made no sense, yet on the 7th day, normally the Sabbath observance, the walls of Jericho collapsed, accompanied by the thunderous cries of Israel's army and priests.

Well-meaning, but misdirected scholarly efforts have been undertaken to explain the city's demise in naturalistic terms in an attempt to make this event more palatable to the worldly-minded. Theories ranging from sonic vibrations to coincidental earthquakes have been offered to retain the historical accuracy of the account, while discarding the underlying supernatural theme. 

But the very attempt to do so is an act of unbelief and obscures the foundational truth being conveyed.

What is that truth? It is this: By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. Faith demonstrated by obedience.

A supernatural, omnipotent God, could have destroyed this despicable city in any number of ways that did not entail obedience on the part of His Chosen People. It was the very nature of His counterintuitive battle plan that makes it so compelling and instructive. For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4, NKJV). 

And Israel could have done in this instance what she did in so many other instances before and after. She could have disobeyed, following the dictates of human understanding and rebelling against her God.

The lesson for us today is this: sometimes faithful obedience makes us look ridiculous in the eyes of the world. Sometimes following our God rather than the world makes us conspicuous targets for conflict and ridicule. Sometimes following our God may bring us so far out of our comfort zone that we balk at the very idea.

But if we succumb to the temptation to go the way of the world, rather than the way of God, we miss an opportunity that he provides for us to participate in carrying out His will on this fallen world.

And perhaps, just perhaps, we forfeit a victory that otherwise would have been ours for the taking, had we, by faith, simply obeyed.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Passing Through

By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. (Hebrews 11:29, NKJV).

Have you ever been faced with an obstacle in life that appears insurmountable, yet your very survival depends on overcoming it?

Moses faced many such trials and not just on behalf of himself personally, but on behalf of the estimated 2,000,000 slaves he lead out of Egypt. In fact, at this point in this chronology of Old Testament faith, we switch from "he" to "they" in this verse, signifying that it is now the corporate faith of the Children of Israel in view, rather than that of just one man.

In today's business parlance, the Red Sea was a "show-stopper". It represented a dead end to necessary progress away from Pharaoh's army toward safety in the Wilderness, and there it lay before the fleeing refugees, an impassable harbinger of slaughter and death.

Twice the LORD commanded Moses to stretch out his arm over the Red Sea, once to part the waters for the safe passage of his followers, and once, after they had passed through, to bring the waters back down upon the heads of the pursuing army.

Note that God literally gave Moses a hand in the outcome, enabling him to participate in a miraculous rescue as well as a devastating victory. Pharaoh took lightly the warnings he received about persecuting God's people, and through Moses, he paid a horrendous price.

Also recall that prior to this culminating rout, the Angel of the Lord placed Himself between the Children of Israel and the pursuing army. 

And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. (Exodus 14:19, 20, NKJV).
To His own, the Presence of God is light and safety. To His enemies, it is darkness and chaos.

Now the world looks at this event through the eyes of unbelief and relegates it to the realm of myth or legend or parochial misunderstanding on the part of the participants. The world gets a lot of things dead wrong.

The believing of this account as literal history is itself an opportunity for faith. Consider for one moment the following points of logic.

Defeating the Egyptian army could have been accomplished in any number of supernatural ways far less conspicuously miraculous; illness, confusion, insubordination. The method chosen was clearly meant to be challenging, controversial, and impossible to ignore, both at the time and retrospectively.

It is extremely unlikely that Moses, a central player in the event and a man well-taught in Egyptian culture and geography, could have mistaken the Red Sea for something less formidable. As unlikely as an entire army being foundered and drowned in a shallow body of water capable of being driven apart by a natural wind. 

The description employed of "walls of water on either side", however unbelievable to some, could hardly be mistaken for meaning something other than "walls of water on either side". Surely Moses understood the meaning of a wall, having lived at least 40 years among monumental Egyptian architecture.

So either the account is a complete fabrication (as opposed to a "primitive misinterpretation" of actual events), or it is a factual recounting of an episode inexplicable without the miraculous.

If God exists, as described in Scripture, He is certainly capable of intervening in the natural world in ways designed to draw attention to His existence. If His purpose were to remain inconspicuously backstage, He must be capable of that, as well. Since He has has routinely done both throughout redemptive history, He either exists and is real, or else He is a complete figment of human imagination.

Hence, the opportunity for faith.

If the prospect of publicly confessing belief in the miracles of the Bible embarrasses you, then your view of God is small, indeed. And your life and experience is constrained by the limits of your own intellect and understanding.

Your dependence on the world of your senses and mind must ultimately end in utter despair and hopelessness, no matter how grand and lofty your view of the physical universe.

For in the end, you live in a world that has neither meaning nor purpose beyond the faint remnant odor of your few scant years of existence, and then you merely blink out of existence as if you never existed at all.

If that is your conscious choice, then your life is worth no more than the errant ripples on a pond barely disturbed by the random impact of a mote of dust. 

If so, party on, in a desperate search for something unattainable and vaporous, and decry me and those of faith as fools.

As for me and my house?

Give me Jesus, the Light of the World. The Lamb of God. The Giver of Life Everlasting.

Without God, without faith in the God of the Bible, there is no hope or purpose.

He has made His existence unmistakable, written indelibly in the very fabric of space and time, and especially in the historical events recorded in His word.

It takes work to disregard that evidence, and a stubbornness of will and a gritted-teeth dismissal of facts perfectly embodied in the Pharaoh of Egypt… who lost everything in a futile attempt to deny reality.

Do not make the mistake of thinking this life is all there is.

We, like the Children of Israel through the Red Sea, are just passing through.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

The Destroyer

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. (Hebrews 11:28, NKJV).
There is a mistaken perception that the Eternal God is a grandfatherly figure whose bark is worse than His bite. The ancient Egyptians would disagree.

Moses warned Pharaoh that the tenth of the promised plagues would be the worst, but despite the irrefutable proof of the previous nine, Pharaoh took refuge in stubborn (and fatal) denial. Sin and pride made him stupid.

The blood of the Passover Lamb (an undeniable picture of the future sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world) sprinkled on the lentils of the door post was all that stood between a given household and the tragic death of its firstborn during that horrible night of judgment in Egypt.

Following explicit instructions from God, His Angel of Death destroyed every single creature, man and beast, that first opened the womb, unless that household was sheltered under the blood of the sacrifice.

All it took to avoid that result was to have sufficient faith to both hear and obey the word of warning that came prior to the massacre.

The characteristically devastating judgments of God that are chronicled throughout the Old Testament are by no means abrogated by the forgiveness offered in the New.

Make no mistake. He who destroyed the firstborn then because of unbelief, will destroy all those who willfully fail to believe today. It is the same God, with the same righteous wrath against sin, and the same requirement for pardon: faith.

To relegate God to some comfortable image is perhaps worse than outright hostility. To view God through vain human imaginings is to give the creature, rather than the Creator all authority.

God neither bargains nor suffers negotiation. He will only forgive sin through faith in His Son, who took the penalty of our iniquity on Himself that we might live.

Pharaoh heard God's word through Moses again and again, hardening his heart each time until, finally, God hardened his heart against the truth. The fate of his household and of his nation at that point was sealed.

In contrast, Moses instructed his people to obey - to keep the Passover, and to sprinkle the blood of the lamb over their doorposts.

The result of his faithful obedience? Salvation.

The Destroyer did not touch them, but passed over each household covered by the blood in clemency and mercy simply because they believed enough to take the required action.

The same is true today.

Christ's death on the Cross is the once-for-all sacrifice pointed to by the Jewish Passover. It is that sprinkling of His blood that satisfied God's wrath against rebellious mankind, just as the lamb's blood in Moses' time saved the people from judgment.

By faith in that sacrifice we enter into the same protection afforded all those who kept that first Passover.

It is almost certain that some under Moses' authority refused to obey and saw the death of their firstborn, just as it is possible that some Egyptians under Pharaoh's authority complied and escaped the penalty.

But the key point is that nothing else, no other action or strategy, sufficed to effect the inevitable outcome.

It boiled down to this simple equation: believe and obey to live, or be destroyed.

Nothing has changed in the past 3500 years.

Forsaking the World

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27, NKJV).

Unless you allow the Father to set your priorities in this life, you will be tossed about by your flesh, the world, and the enemy of your soul.

Our primal adversaries are a triumvirate of pernicious tormenters whose span of control is remarkably comprehensive.

First there is our flesh, our old nature without Christ (for unbelievers there is no new nature to wage war with the Old Man - so that battle is forfeit before it can begin). Our natural selves are so intertwined with the world that it literally takes a miracle to begin to unravel one from the other. 

It is no accident that if a society or an individual does not have God, they invariably end up worshiping some aspect of the Creation, beginning with themselves.

Then there is the influence of this fallen world itself, the friendship of which is enmity with God by default. The world lies in moral and spiritual darkness. What light exists comes solely from Christ and His children. 

The world is the central realm of material lust and death-inducing gratification, and without the current restraining influence of the Spirit of Christ, literal Hell on earth would result. And be warned - that is coming. 

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7, NKJV). 
In diabolical collaboration with the first two is Satan, who has exponentially increased his impact on modern Western life by brilliantly promulgating the lie that neither he, nor his minions, exist. 

It is interesting to note that this deception has led to a dramatic increase in occult practices and practitioners in the world. Even multi-national Fortune 500 corporations have embedded in their employee training, bizarre thought and meditation rituals originating in ancient pagan religions.

In Moses time, the primary representative of these anti-God forces was the Egyptian Empire, the center of the world. 

To be voluntarily a part of that was to live behind enemy lines and to profess allegiance to the world and the world system, controlled by Satan, in a place where satisfying the lusts of the flesh was the ultimate achievement. 

Much like life in modern societies today.

In forsaking that life and place by faith in the unseen God, Moses provoked the wrath of both the earthly and the spiritual kings of the world - Pharaoh and Satan, and his resulting trials could only be endured by seeing Him who is invisible.
Understand that while in Moses' circumstances this entailed an actual relocation from Egypt into the Wilderness, the essential prerequisite was a forsaking of the world in his mind and heart, with the physical manifestation only possible afterwards.

Today, physically coming out of the world system, without setting up some kind of off-the-grid enclave, is virtually impossible. It is also unnecessary, for we are to be in the world, but not of the world

That is more a matter of the heart and soul than the geological coordinates of the body.

Like all his actions of faith before this, the man Moses operated under the empowerment of belief

His belief in God enabled Him to see the spiritual and eternal reality underpinning all of physical life, and provided him with the means to determine what was most important.

Forsaking what cannot last and does not satisfy for what cannot be destroyed and brings everlasting blessing is the only sane and logical course of action.

Like all men, women and children of faith before and since, he chose to follow the Invisible God because he knew, and believed, the truth.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Greater Riches

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26, NKJV)
Would you voluntarily trade ease, comfort and power for guaranteed affliction?

If so, what would be your motive and rationale?

Part of faith is believing in things not seen. That is an essential component of godly living (no way around it) and contrasts sharply with weighing priorities and choices based only on material and secular considerations. Furthermore, by definition, all sane self-sacrifice (secular or religious) must be based on the logic encapsulated in the formula of the greater good. Otherwise, it is rightfully deemed crazy.

Heroes are heroes and fools are fools precisely because their heroics or foolishness are judged according to these basic human standards.

Moses was no fool.

His parents - his mother, Jochebed, especially, since she was cleverly established as his "nursemaid" in the household of Pharaoh -  clearly imbued him with the knowledge of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so much so that when he became of age, [he] refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.  

His reasoning was simple: forgo ephemeral pleasure now for eternal blessing later. More importantly, it was faith-based.

Faith, not in himself, or the Fates, or man, but in God's promise of redemption through Christ. He may not have known all the details, particularly at this particular decision point, but he knew enough, and believed enough, to choose suffering over pleasure.

For that, he is eternally honored.

Note that we are given hints that his decision was not made grudgingly or fearfully, but willingly and fervently. He did not grit his teeth in resignation, bow his head and walk reluctantly into the flames of persecution. No, he was bold and conspicuous, esteeming the reproach of Christ

Focus on that word, esteeming. In this context, it refers to a subjective judgment of worth - a rational conclusion based on known but not necessarily provable data. It was conscious and volitional, not reflexive or rote, and it involved risk exactly because it could have been wrong. But he did it anyway. Therein lies the quality of Moses' faith.

He took a monumental chance in this life, and for it he was rewarded with 80 years of temporal earthly difficulty, yet not once are we told that he regretted his initial leap of faith. He may have wished at times that his own actions would have been wiser subsequent to his momentous initial choice, but that first step was never in doubt.

One final thought here. Notice what he esteemed so greatly - the reproach of Christ. In comparison to all that Egypt had to offer, even the suffering for Christ's sake was immeasurably better - greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.

This is what Jesus meant when he asked, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Mark 8:36, NKJV). Moses was in a position to do just that, in effect gain the whole world through his position in Pharaoh's household, but by faith, his chose to gain his own soul instead.

Only the eyes of faith can make this distinction and take this action. Heroic acts founded in the world are one thing, self-sacrifice on behalf of others that are seen and known by sight.

Heroism based on faith in Christ is another thing entirely, a thing worthy of greater riches than can be conceived.

Do not be deceived by the bribery offered by the world and the world system. The coin of earthly pleasure is nothing in comparison to the treasures laid up for the faithful in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Fearless Obedience

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. (Hebrews 11:23, NKJV).

Now Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father’s sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses... (Exodus 6:20, NKJV).
Ancient Egypt was a dangerous place for Jewish sons - they were born under a death sentence imposed by an evil Pharaoh who, above all else, wanted to preserve his power and authority from what he perceived as the growing Jewish threat.

For most Jews in most places in the Middle East, being considered a threat is as common as breathing. Fueled by the pit of Hell itself in its proxy war against the God of Israel, Antisemitism is rampant and intensifying on a global scale. The Bible prophesies that it will reach epic proportions in the future, exceeding even the Holocaust of World War II. 

There will come a worldwide, coordinated effort to annihilate the Jewish people, yet again. 

It will ultimately fail, but it will wreak death, devastation and tragedy, and because of it, God will unleash the Day of the Lord Judgments that will kill billions.

You can actually see the stage being set today: increasing incidents of violence and persecution, hidden and overt discrimination and prejudice, subtle and not-so-subtle blame-shifting so that in the end, tiny Israel will be seen as the cause of all the world's ills.

It was the same in Amram's and Jochebed's day. The global empire at that time, Egypt, used Israel as a scapegoat for all its ills. Underneath the persecution was the same demon-inspired hatred and fear. But regardless of the cause, the effect on Jewish slave families living then was constant threat under a government-imposed mandatory "pro-choice" agenda - only it was "pro-choice" after birth, rather than before.

Male Jewish infants were to be put to death by the very midwives responsible for bringing them into the world. When that failed, because the midwives fearlessly obeyed God rather than an evil ruler, Pharaoh decreed further genocide, commanding that the Jews themselves throw their male newborns into the river.

We are not told how many parents complied with the decree. Presumably there were some who, fearing for their lives, obeyed the mandate. But this one couple, Jochebed and Amram, first hid, and then, when that was no longer tenable, carried out a plan that enabled their baby son, Moses, to survive.

Ironically, in doing so they were literally compliant with the law - for they cast their son into the river - but in an ark made of bullrushes, instructing Miriam, the babe's elder sister to follow its course in order to ascertain her brother's fate.

God brought this child to Pharaoh's own daughter, who raised him as a member of the king's household, thus ensuring that the one whom Pharaoh sought to kill, would be the undoing and downfall of the king, his nation, his army and his reign.

Moses was protected by his parents, we are informed, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.
All godly parents, because of the love of God poured out in their hearts, must see their offspring as beautiful. This ultimately is not a reference to outward appearance, but a devout acknowledgement of the Source of all life, especially human life.

Loving, nurturing and training children in the ways of God is, among so many other glorious things, an act of worship that takes precedence over any and all manmade prohibitions or restrictions. It is the purpose of the family, of marriage, and of the God-given inherent bond between parent and child. 

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. (Psalms 127:3, NKJV).
The raising of godly seed is a command from the throne of Heaven itself, and obeying that command - lovingly, responsibly, patiently, fearlessly - is yet another hallmark of faith.

It should then be of no surprise that as our so-called modern and enlightened society moves further and further from God, that it is this area of life and godliness that is particularly under attack.

Large families are mocked and held in contempt.

Avid pro-life advocates are painted as fringe fundamentalists - throwbacks to a primitive and patriarchal age that delighted in enslaving women and abrogating their "rights".

It should be no surprise, as well, that the deliberate and premeditated murder of unborn infants, relabeled as anesthetically and clinically as possible, is now considered one of those inviolable feminine rights, making abortion an institutionalized and legally protected ritual of bloody sacrifice on the altars of convenience and irresponsible promiscuity.

Despite this - because of this - fearless obedience of God's commandments is of even greater importance, since it makes the line of demarcation between good and evil, life and death, love and hate that much more undeniable.

Is is not that obedience earns us God's love. It is that our obedience declares our love for Him in ways that mere words never can. Recall the words of our Lord, Himself:

“...do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28, NKJV).

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The True Test of Faith

By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. (Hebrews 11:22, NKJV)
How fascinating that a man who rose to be regent of an ancient world empire is memorialized here in Hebrews simply because he believed the prophecies concerning Israel's national history long before the exodus from the womb of Egypt took place.

Soon to be gathered to his ancestors at the age of 110, having lived to see his grandchildren's grandchildren, having been responsible, from the human perspective, for the salvation of his people, his spiritual claim to fame is his mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and [giving] instructions concerning his bones!

So unlike any memorial we would imagine, likely focusing on his deeds and decisions, his being betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, his unjust imprisonment, his rise to prominence and power - all things significant from the worldly perspective, but passed over completely by the writer of Hebrews, who, through divine inspiration, distilled this faithful man's life down to his priorities at death.

It is equally fascinating that some 400 years later, Joseph's last words to the Children of Israel were fulfilled.

And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” (Exodus 13:19, NKJV).
This emphasizes what should be the priorities of human life from a spiritual perspective. It is not what we may or may not accomplish from the world's perspective, but what we have believed about our God in such a way throughout our life so that even imminent death does not shake that faith.

Death is the ultimate egalitarian. Every soul ever alive has faced it (with only two notable exceptions - Enoch and Elijah) in accordance with God's decree of judgment in The Garden. It matters not at all how rich and famous, or poor and anonymous, Death stalks and will capture us all (unless the Lord returns in our lifetime). 

It is an implacable enemy that strips away all pretense and hypocrisy and lays bare who we really are underneath all the frosting.

What you believe at the moment of death is what you really believe, the bare naked conviction of your soul, void of all guile and self-deception.

It is the true test of faith.

No sane man can die a successful liar. Each of us will enter into that realm with the sum total of what we have believed about our existence and purpose emblazoned on our very beings.

Death is intensely personal and quintessentially private no matter how many may die at any given moment of time, or how outwardly sensational the event.

And we will either enter death in true unbelief, despite whatever we may have promoted about ourselves when alive, or in true belief, however inconspicuous our faith may have appeared.

This is only fair.

In life, gifts, opportunities, advantages, disadvantages, handicaps, challenges, health, abilities and circumstances vary greatly from person to person. And while it is true that to whom much is given much is required, it is at the moment of the realization of death, however fleeting or prolonged, that the field of judgment is leveled.

Determine then what you choose to believe now, while time is yours to either squander or dispose of diligently.

Determine what is important to your essential being now - do not wait, for you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

Set aside the unimportant and worldly, for in the end, it is only your relationship with your Maker that matters.

Settle that, and all else will fall into place according to His will.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

In the End

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. (Hebrews 11:21, NKJV).
Like his father before him, Jacob earns a mention here in Hebrews 11, literally at the very end of his life.

In studying Jacob's biography, comprising a significant portion of the last half of Genesis' 50 chapters, it is easy to conclude that he was devious, opportunistic, mercenary, and ambitious - just like most of us.

But be careful in your analysis, for God Himself has voiced nary a criticism of this man, and the events of his earthly sojourn illustrate perfectly the chronic struggle of a child of God wanting simultaneously to both take control, and surrender control, of his life.

In the end, he surrendered, blessing Joseph's younger son, rather than the elder, crossing his arms to lay the hand of benediction on the Chosen One. 

Perhaps in doing so deliberately, and without guile, he understood what would have been his own fate with Isaac, had he not conspired with Rebekah, his mother, to steal the blessing that God had ordained from the womb would be his regardless of his own feeble and injurious scheming.

And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh. (Genesis 48:13, 14, 17, 20, NKJV).
Jacob's personal struggle with his God is perhaps best exemplified by his wrestling with the Angel of God (purposely capitalized to indicate that this was that Personage who spoke for God, as God, in the Old Testament - in my view a manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity prior to the Incarnation - technically known as a Christophany).

In that wrestling match, lasting for hours, Jacob prevailed only when He surrendered.

Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:24-30, NKJV).
Jacob, like many of us throughout our lives here on this planet, wanted to retain control of all his circumstances despite knowing better. 

It is the classic tragic flaw of Fallen Man, and each time Jacob's own will was victorious, personal and/or familial disaster ensued, from being duped by his wife's relatives (much as he had deceived his own father), to his life-long enmity with Esau, to raising 11 rebellious sons, to losing his beloved Joseph for years due to fraternal treachery. 

What  glaring lessons for us, who, with a far more comprehensive view of God's purposes in redemption through the entirety of His Word, repeatedly fail to heed the many warnings embodied in Jacob's checkered life.

But in the end, he understood, finally, that God is sovereign and all-powerful, and intensely committed to guiding the lives of His children according to His perfect will.

In the end, Israel understood that by surrendering, he became more than a conquerer through Him who loved him.

That he learned this lesson is shown by his final prophetic words to his sons, and two grandsons, ultimately setting aside pathetic human wisdom for divine guidance.

And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. (Genesis 49:33, NKJV).
Look, God's will for each one of us will be carried out. We can either cooperate, or kicking and screaming, be dragged along like a spoiled child.

The right choice takes no brains at all - just a heart that knows and loves God, and a will that, despite repeated struggle, purposes to obey the Eternal King as a good and faithful servant.

Thankfully (and perilously), he rewards (and judges) intent as well as result.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Even a Cup of Water in My Name

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. (Hebrews 11:20, NKJV).
This single sentence is all that Isaac warrants in this Hall of Faith chapter, but that, in and of itself says volumes about God's grace.

Isaac led a life mixed with worldliness. In his old age he became obsessed with food, and it was a weakness used by Rebekah and Jacob to deceive him into giving Jacob, rather than Esau, the blessing of the birthright.

In his later years, blind and weak, he became convinced that his life would soon end, but he was sorely mistaken, as he lived for quite a few years subsequent to his supposed revelation.

Where his father Abraham dotted the landscape of his life's sojourn with altars to God, Isaac dug wells to increase his livestock.

And yet, at the end of his life he surrendered to God's will by not revoking Jacob's ill-begotten blessing, for he understood that Jacob was the Chosen One.

Don't get me wrong. I make no judgments regarding Isaac's heart, but note only that his outward expressions of worship and devotion were less than his father's before him.

Nonetheless, and this is the key point, his faithfulness, rather than his failing, was still honored here in Hebrews.

I believe that is how God sees us all in respect to us being in Christ.

Not that he is unaware of our weaknesses, imperfections and backsliding, but that He chooses to emphasize our obedience and spiritual successes rather than our fleshly failures.

So intent is He to regain our fellowship - not for His good, but for ours - that He sent His Son to atone for our sin, and to be clothed in His righteousness in place of our own filthily garments of iniquity.

The same can be seen in surveying the ancient books of Hebrew history in the Old Testament, especially when contrasting 1st and 2nd Kings, with 1st and 2nd Chronicles, all covering the same chronological period.

Kings is written from the fleshly viewpoint and contains and emphasizes all the acts of these fallen human rulers of Israel and Judah as viewed from the wordily perspective.

Chronicles focuses more on the spiritual aspects of their reigns. Indeed, some of Judah's Kings especially, though soundly criticized in Kings, have only the positives recounted in Chronicles.

That is God's way with His children - merciful and gracious because, and this is vitally important to understand, Jesus bore all our judgment on His Cross. His death and resurrection have washed us clean.

This was possible both before and after His coming, since Golgotha was guaranteed before the foundation of the world. It is, and always has been, the single pivotal point of universal history.

Jesus taught as well that even a cup of water rendered to someone in His name is worthy of great reward in Heaven.

Do you see the incredible magnanimity and beneficence here? All He asks is our faith, but that is what He asks. Intellectual assent will not complete the transaction, nor will merely believing that He exists.

It is believing Him in Himself - His word, His character, His divine attributes, His love, grace and mercy - that is required.

Not that temporal obedience is immaterial or insignificant, for we lose peace and blessing in this life by living in the flesh.

But thankfully, He chooses to see much deeper than that - straight into the heart, and is able through His Son's sacrificial death in our place, to be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Isaac is proof of that, as are most of us.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Mount Moriah Faith

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. (Hebrews 11:17-19, NKJV).

After a lifetime of walking with God against all odds and worldly pressures, Abraham was instructed by God to do the unthinkable: sacrifice his believed son Isaac. 

We know from the Old Testament account in Genesis 22, that he immediately obeyed and began the three day journey from the plains to Mount Moriah, the very site where the Temple would be built some thousand years in the future.

This was markedly different from Abraham's response to God's first command years before, that he go out from his father and his father's people into the wilderness. He delayed acting on that one for quite some time.

But to this horrific command, he responded immediately.

So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (Genesis 22:3, NKJV).

Isaac was likely in his early thirties at this point in time (a remarkable picture of Christ at His death). He was the human fulfillment of that promise God had made declaring that Sarah shall have a son, despite being barren well into her 70's.

We are given only a hint of Abraham's thinking at the time. 

And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5, NKJV).
But here in Hebrews, we are given a succinct summary of his reasoning, for he [concluded] that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

The richness in this historical event is amazing to contemplate.

Mount Moriah was in the vicinity of the very place where God would indeed offer up His only begotten Son 2000 years later, without any last-second reprieve. This, too, is hinted at in Genesis 22.

And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22:14, NKJV).
What would be provided? The sacrifice of God's Son to take away the sin of the world.
And as a partial reward for Abraham's monumental act of faith, God declared that Messiah would be his descendant in the flesh.

Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son-- “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18, NKJV).
Note as well here, and in Genesis, the Lord's emphasis on Isaac being the only son, although his older half-brother, Ishmael, was alive and well. For Isaac, we learn throughout the New Testament, was the son of the promise, in contrast to Ishmael, the son of the flesh - the willful result of Abraham taking things into his own hands in accord with Sarah's worldly advice.

It is difficult to contemplate ever obeying such a command to sacrifice one's own child, but in reality, it was never God's intention to have Abraham complete the task. 

We know that whatever else Abraham surmised, he believed God's promise, and therefore concluded that if Isaac died, he would have to be resurrected, else God would be proved a liar. So well did Abraham know His Lord that he knew that outcome would never occur.

What is still difficult to fully comprehend is this father's willingness to kill his son by his own hand, as an act of worship to his God.

It is true that ancient civilizations routinely practiced human sacrifice, and it was prevalent even in Israel during the times when wicked kings ruled - even after God repeatedly made known His abhorrence of such practices.

It is also true that we in the West today routinely practice child sacrifice -  more than 56,000,000 elective abortions have coldly taken place in the past 40 years.

Yet there is still something both uniquely terrifying - and awe-inspiring - about this episode, for we know it was instigated by God Himself, as a determined prefigurement of His own unthinkable sacrifice.

For Abraham, it was a monumental test of faith.

Abraham passed. 

God knew he would, before the foundation of the world, but that takes nothing away from Abraham's unexpected heroism.

And it casts a very different light on the entirety of Abraham's life up to that moment, when his knife was poised over his son's chest, only to be commanded to do him no harm at the last possible instant.

So, are you going through a monumental test of faith in your life right now? Some trial that leaves you flattened and weak, unable to contemplate continuing to walk through it for even another moment, let alone another hour or day?

There are so many things that serve as opportunities for monumental faith in this fallen world, fraught as it is with loss and pain, and the most important part of persevering through these tests is your trust in God's love for you. And in His character, grace, mercy and strength.

Abraham succeeded because he believed God.
He did not just believe in God (even demons admit to that), but he believed fully what God had said, and in His revealed intentions for himself and his family.

In some sense, whatever he faced, Abraham knew deep down in his heart that it was only a test. That, in essence, is what all life in this world is - a test of faith.

If we approach life with that perspective, it means we are trusting in God's ultimate promises for all of us who are Abraham's descendants by faith.

It means that we know this world is not our home.

It means that, like Job, our hearts declare, though He slay me, I will trust in Him.

This kind of faith is the diametric opposite of fear - it is courage of the highest order.

This kind of faith is what enables us to endure to the end.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

A Heavenly Country

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16, NKJV).
What is the hallmark of saving faith? Enduring to the end, or as Hebrews 11:13 puts it, dying in faith. You are not saved because you endure, but your endurance proves your salvation.

Dying in faith, by definition, means not having received the promises, and in turn, raises the question: what promises?

There are many; eternal life in the New Heaven and New Earth, living in the radiant and ever-satisfying Presence of God, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more death, no more sin, and no more Curse. 

Each one of these could be expounded upon in page and after page, but the point the writer is making here is that the heroes of the faith prior to Christ did not even have the benefit of knowing that Christ had come, let alone the full redemption of those yet-future eternal promises. 

But they went to their graves in faith anyway, having seen [the promises] afar off [being] assured of them, [embracing] them and [confessing] that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Do you see the fourfold glory in that statement? Their belief in God and His Word was likened to being able to see His promises beyond the horizon, convinced beyond doubt that these would be fulfilled, holding fast to them more tightly than upon life itself, and, in doing so, declaring that this world was not their home.

Other than faith in God, there is no explanation for living life that way; no other reason. And by living life that way they proclaimed their trust in God in unmistakable and irrevocable terms. In effect, they were exiling themselves from this world in order to seek a [new and better] homeland.

The proof that their faith was real is that they didn't even [call] to mind that country from which they had come out, because had they done so, they would have had opportunity to return. To go back was literally unthinkable
Each and every moment, believers then (and now) chose to live by faith, resisting any temptation to turn away from God and back to the world. Through His grace, they understood the futility of earthly life without Him, and preferred death to apostasy.

Like Moses, and the other faithful before and after them, their focus was on things above, that heavenly country, the place where He has prepared a city for them.

It is that desire for Heaven that motivated them to live as children of God on earth. It was that desire for Heaven that enabled God to be unashamed to be called their God.

Have you heard or read the saying that someone can be so heavenly minded as to be no earthly good? This is exactly wrong - the very opposite of what is the case.

It is the desire for Heaven, the focus upon Heaven, that empowers a Christian to be like Christ, now.

It is the desire for Heaven that enables a Christian to hold lightly to the things of this life, and yearn for the permanence, beauty, security and glory of the life to come.

While it is true that there can be many pleasant and satisfying aspects of life on this planet here and now, these are mere shadows of the reality of eternal life; whispers, tastes, and fleeting glimpses of the unspeakable reality of that heavenly country.

And God looks upon anticipation of that homeland as a testimony of faith, and is pleased - for without faith it is impossible to please Him.

We are no longer of this world. Jesus has transformed us.

We are strangers, pilgrims, sojourners and ambassadors, but not permanent citizens here.

Our task is simply to live a life of faith and obedience as witnesses of the grace, love and mercy of God.