Given Over

God gives grace and mercy. He makes His sun rise on both the evil and the good. He loves the sinner (thank God), but hates sin. He gave His only begotten Son to propitiate His righteous anger over man's inveterate iniquity and unrighteousness. He is the giver of all good gifts, and His patience and long-suffering are integral to His being.

But God (the two most amazing and terrifying words in existence) will not strive with mankind forever. When His patience is ended, His giving is rescinded, supplanted by His giving over to man what man apart from God desires the most - the illusion of God being out of man's frame of reality entirely.

This takes two major forms, each with many subcategories. The one is the denial of God's existence. The other is the remaking of God in man's own image.

Either path leads over a horrendous cliff, with a slow and excruciating descent downward.

God gives over individuals and nations. It is never pretty.

There are a significant predictions in Scripture about what will happen on the earth when God takes away His restraining influence.

That is not pretty either. In fact, it makes all the human degradation, depravity and destruction that has taken place throughout history pale in comparison.

There is hope for those not yet given over. This hope lies not in what they can become or in any action they can take, but in what He will do in them once they surrender their long war against Him. For there can be no truce as the battle field broadens and becomes increasingly deadly - only surrender or defeat.

Surrender, if done in time, will result in escape when He takes His protective hand away from the earth and allows the entire planet to be given over. 

For us, His children by faith, the signs of the times are prevalent. Keep your eyes peeled on the Middle East, and especially Israel.

And like beloved children on a long journey, sometimes we can't help but ask Him that proverbial and ancient question: "Are we there, yet?"

I'm pretty sure we're getting close.

Two Questions

If there is a God who IS love and is good, why all the pain and horror?

And...

Why are Christians so hateful?

The second question is easy. Hateful Christians are an oxymoron, like wet dry, or sharp dull. Purposeful, premeditated and prolonged acts of hate are indications of worldliness, not Christianity. It doesn't matter that the perpetrator says he or she believes in Christ, he or she is lying. Period. There is no nuance here. No gray area.

Faith in Christ, true faith in Christ, means that you become like Him increasingly each day you are alive and devoted to following Him. Sustained, premeditated hatred and/or unforgiveness is antithetical to a profession of faith. This is not to say that any Christian does this perfectly, but it does mean that if you are incapable of even the thought of forgiving the perceived wrongs done you, or you cannot conceive of loving your enemies, then the Spirit of Christ is not in you.

This is both taught and exemplified by Christ Himself.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48, NKJV).

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14, 15, NKJV).

And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. (Luke 23:33, 34, NKJV).

But that first question, why all the pain and horror? - that is not so easy.

Even if you accept that this life we live is in a fallen world brought about by humanity's rebellion against a good Creator, you still hit the seemingly impenetrable twin brick walls of both God's sovereignty and God's omnipotence.

The first says He has the authority to do whatever He desires, and the second says He has the power.

Why then all the helpless suffering? If He could prevent the horrors of this life (and there are so many, from unspeakable brutality and oppression, to ruthless disease), then why doesn't He? If He can but won't, He's a monster. If He wants to but can't, He's not God.

But the questions go beyond even that. Why does He allow even the possibility of evil to exist?

If you've asked yourselves these or similar questions, you are in good company. Jesus asked these very things immediately prior to His horrendous execution on our behalf.

And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:33-36, NKJV).

Do not let familiarity allow you to regard this account lightly. Contemplate His words, especially His entreaty to Abba [Daddy]… all things are possible for You.

What loving father's heart has not broken when his beloved child cries out in pain and fear for protection and rescue? What father has not wished himself in the child's place to suffer instead whatever affliction the child is undergoing?

So why did the all-powerful Father allow His beloved and perfect Son to suffer on the Cross? Why was that the only way to redeem mankind?

Scripture teaches the answers and it entails understanding and believing the concepts of free will, justice, eternity and faith.

Man created in perfection but gifted with the solemn power of free will, chose to rebel (sin) against God. In doing so, he corrupted everything. Was that free will necessary? Yes, if the desired relationship between God and man was to be voluntary rather than compulsory.

Sin requires judgment. God would not be good if He allowed evil to go unpunished. Think about it. A society which did not punish wrong-doing would soon devolve into savagery and utter chaos. History (and current events) abound with such examples. And more - and worse - is coming.

This first man, Adam, was our representative. This is an important ordination by God, and while it condemns all who are in Adam (his descendants) to death, it is by that same ordination that all can be saved from death.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:12-19, NKJV). 

So justice demanded Adam's death, for the soul that sins must die.

Understand this, what God has made cannot be unmade. It endures forever. This makes at least some sense to our finite and limited human minds when we attempt to contemplate the perfection, infinity and eternality of Deity. And the act of Divine Creation itself takes much less faith in unfathomables than belief in the alternative naturalistic view of origins.

In mercy, beforehand, God also ordained that man, created in His image, unlike other created angelic beings, would have the opportunity for redemption. It would require an unthinkable price, the death of God Himself at the hands of his rebellious creatures. And this redemption could only be appropriated by faith.

[For] without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).

Thus, free will allowed for the existence of sin, justice requires its punishment, and faith in the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ is the only offer of escape from that judgment.

Finally, there is another aspect of eternity that sheds light on these existential questions. The Apostle Paul, that master logician, writes:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:18-22, NKJV).

And in another place he writes:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NKJV).

Do you see the exquisite beauty of the equation? Can you conceive of a more cogent and hopeful explanation for the sometimes hell that is this life?

Yes, there is suffering, but no one is truly innocent.

Yes, God allows the pain to continue, but only because there is a life to come - an eternal life - that will be spent either in His Presence, or apart from Him in torment. And one day, perhaps soon, Christ will return and make all things new.

Does the suffering of "innocents" appear just from our perspective? How can it? We do not know the end from the beginning, only Deity can know that.

But neither does eternal life in glory for those who believe appear just from our perspective.

Does it take faith to accept these things as truth? Of course! And thank God for that, because that is the very (and only thing) about our fallen nature that pleases God.

Do you have a better explanation for these fundamental questions? Because if there is no God, and He has not revealed Himself miraculously in His Word, then you are own your own in a universe that is cold and dark and without purpose.

Then, indeed, even if your life is lived in a century of ease and comfort, what "good" is it? What purpose did it serve, except to feed the endlessly ruthless cycle of birth, death and decay?

And if (God forbid) your insubstantial and ephemeral existence is lived in poverty, degradation, fear and torment, then what other conclusion can be reached then it would have been better never to have been born?

Look, live with your head in the sands of atheism or agnosticism if you want to...

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15, NKJV).

Malchus Mortified

Brother Peter was a torn man. 

After attempting to remove my head with his sword, and succeeding only in slicing through my right ear, and then scattering with the rest of the eleven disciples, he could not fully acquiesce to either the compulsion to flee or to fight. 

His immortal soul (for I now knew he possessed one, as do we all whether we like it or not) was urging him to stay close to the One who was his Master. His flesh desired nothing more than to hide in a cave until his terror had passed. Or to rampage through the gathering of his enemies committing mayhem.

His soul was ascendant for the moment, so like me, he followed the mob of priests, officers and soldiers, but from a distance.

I confess I never liked Annas as High Priest, or as a person for that matter. He is arrogant and his sense of entitlement is exceeded only by his conviction of self-importance. His son-in-law Caiaphas, a product of an arranged marriage, is obviously poured from the same ambitious and self-serving mold. These men are without real morals, hypocrites, and ruthless beyond reckoning; willing to undertake any action to preserve their own self-interests.

Deception, extortion, murder, and any other vile and evil strategy come as naturally to them as decay to a corpse.

I was thus more than a little sympathetic when Peter began his trifold denial of Jesus. After all, when in a pit of vipers it is understandable to tread carefully so as not to receive a fatal bite. And burly, towering Peter was anything but inconspicuous and could hardly remain unnoticed.

Yet, I was also mortified by the fact that it was my cousin who was the last straw in the Apostle's moral and ethical downfall. First the servant girl, Rhoda, then those gathered around the fire against the night's eery coldness, and finally my own relative, all challenged the Galilean's allegiance to this Criminal.

Each time, Peter became more vociferous and emphatic in his betrayal, his panic rising with every confrontation.

He was tested in this way, I have come to believe, precisely because he was hard to ignore, and because he was the only one who had raised sword in defiance of authority. Having taken such a stand, it is hard to fade again into the background. And as the singular victim of his attempted resistance, I was hardly unknown in the High Priest's household.

I was only later informed of the added divine irony of this episode - Peter's equally vociferous and emphatic boasting of loyalty and commitment to the Christ only hours before, even declaring his desire to die rather than deny his Lord.

But Jesus knew what would happen, and loved him anyway.

In all this, I was very thankful that I was not the one in Peter's shoes. What would I have done?

Would I have betrayed the One who had shown me such compassion and miraculously healed me?

Would I have tried to save my own life at the expense of denying Him?

I do not know, but I suspect my courage would have failed me, just as Peter's did during that chaotic and horrible night when Goodness itself was subjected to the rampant evil of mankind - subjected to it in order to defeat it finally on the Cross of Death.

And herein lies my deepest mortification - that we humans are so far fallen that God Himself had to suffer at our hands to redeem us from the curse of our own depravity.

I say this having seen Him, and been touched by Him, the Man who took upon Himself our own flesh and blood in an act of such selfless and humble condescension that no mere human imagination could have conceived of such a plan. 

In that brief and violent encounter in the Garden of Gethsemane, I was shown both the depths of Christ's love and the vastness of His power. It was strange beyond anything that words could possibly describe, and it ripped open my heart even as my ear was healed.

I saw Him, and in His kindness, I saw that I was his diametric opposite.

His absolute purity against my defiled and corrupt uncleanness.

His all-encompassing love against my small-minded and vile hatred.

His power against my delusional weakness.

And I was undone.

Never again will I be able to look at myself as other than completely unworthy in the face of His unspeakable worthiness.

In the years since, I have been asked what I thought about Judas in relation to Peter. Both men betrayed their Lord, why was one forgiven and the other condemned to Perdition?

My answer is simple. Peter repented and sought forgiveness. Judas regretted and sought release. Judas wanted his mortification over. Peter wanted his made right, and was humbly willing to do whatever it took.

Judas denied Christ in unbelief. Peter did so out of fear, but then confessed his evil in dust and ashes.

The difference between them is as large as the difference between eternal life and eternal condemnation.

Malchus Mystified

I come from a family of servants. Many of my relatives serve the priesthood, and some even the High Priest himself, sharing my duties.

It has been said that there is nothing more disillusioning than to come to know the personal habits, thoughts, and unguarded words of those in authority whose very role requires holiness.

Not wishing to speak ill of the damned, I will say only this about Annas and Caiaphas, they were not worse than our brutal Roman conquerors.

Nonetheless, I was still mystified.

Temporarily ear-less, I had contemplated the mystery of godliness and God's plan of redemption through His Son, but as I followed the One who healed me, watching Him dragged harshly back into the city and the temple precincts, I began to see the unbridled irrationality of the soldiers' and officers' hatred of this Man. And I was astonished.

What had He done? Many of these same men, despite their high calling, were cynically ambitious, using our ancient religion as a means to personal ends. They were human chameleons and sponges, adapting their outward appearance to their audience at any given time.

When it suited, they were diligently pious. When the circumstance demanded otherwise, their craftiness enabled them to put on various other cloaks of pretense. And the best of them, the most facile deceivers, were also the most dispassionate and cunning beneath the surface. Intense emotion, other than for the benefit of their spectators, was something they rarely displayed.

But here and now, these same men were growling, cursing and spitting like demons. It was night, and only their trusted cohorts and some rabble-rousers were present, and yet they spewed poisonous venom from their hearts and mouths with a depth of evil sincerity that took my feeble breath away.

In turn, one or another high-ranking officer would purposely yank on my Lord's bindings, or shove Him roughly down the hillside, so that He stumbled without benefit of being able to break His fall with His bound hands. And there was a deadly intent behind their actions that went beyond all reason and human sense.

It was their proximity to Jesus that changed them.

Why such hatred?

Unlike many other enemies of our people and faith, this Man had injured no one. While it is true His teachings could be seen as a threat to the established religious authorities, and His popularity a potential cause for disruption, other more threatening and more disrupting criminals guilty of actual violence had been treated, if not humanely, at least not in this debased manner.

Murderers and thieves, even zealots, were demonstrably held in less vile contempt.

Why?

I myself had seen the vituperation and invective belch forth from the usually aloof ruling Sadducees in regard to this Jesus, and was more than a little bemused by it all. 

But this? This went beyond all human explanation.

Having been raised under the tutelage of my masters, philosophical materialists all, who routinely and privately mocked the superstitious thinking of the masses who held belief in angels, miracles, and divine mysteries dear to their uneducated hearts, I, too, was unconvinced that anything beyond what could be seen and heard existed.

But this had all the eery trappings of a supernatural event. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand upright, similar to a rainless summer thunderstorm. And it made my skin crawl with a cold-hot clamminess, as if I were walking across the unclean burial places of the dead.

Looking back, even my description of it here lacks clarity, for in truth, it was not animal hatred being displayed, but something far worse.

Up until this very night, I did not believe in the afterlife, or angels… or demons.

But having encountered this Man, and been healed by Him, I now knew my conception of reality was infantile in its materialistic simplicity. There were things and beings beyond what could be seen with the eye of man.

And they were here, now, turning these soldiers into something unrelenting and immortal in their hatred.

I was shaken to the very core of my soul, for I now understood that I indeed had one, and she was trembling in abject fear.

Then my Healer turned at the silent cry of my despair and I swear He looked right into my heart even in the midst of the murderous crowd.

And my fear was transformed into love and adoration.

I now understood that I was witness to the undisguised enmity between God and rebellious man, augmented on man's part by the unclean spirits of lore and tradition.

This was a culminating battle in the long war against God, and in anticipation of victory, the veil between the worlds had been ripped aside and I was glimpsing the maelstrom of ancient hatred.

I found it difficult to breathe, until I again looked into the eyes of the One who had touched my face, and healed both my body and spirit.

And in the midst of what appeared to be His utter defeat, I saw the glory of ultimate victory, and I was convinced beyond shadow or turning that these events were unfolding just as He purposed.

Malchus Transformed

I had seen miscreants arrested before, especially those in whom the High Priest had taken a special interest.

The rough hemp cords bound tightly around the wrists after the forearms were positioned forcibly behind the offender's back, the noose around the neck, almost strangle-tight, like the draw cord around an ox being led to the slaughter - these things I had seen and become inured to over my years as a Temple servant, particularly under Caiaphas' rule, but only slightly less prevalent with Annas, his father-in-law.

Yet to see this Man treated so, vanquished all other thoughts from my mind. I was asked years later, sometimes by believers, but most often by skeptics, if Yeshua gave me a new ear, or put the old severed one back?

I can honestly say I do not know. As He was led away like a common criminal, my attention was not on me, but on Him. 

If my severed appendage remained on the ground, it would have been crushed into the trampled dirt in very little time. If it had been reattached, rather than made new, as he had done with the eyes of the man born blind, then that is how He had healed me. As I said, I do not know. Nor do I care.

I did not consider these details important at the time, or even now for that matter, because my Savior was being treated like an animal. And even more heart-breaking, Yeshua was being torn from me without consent, and my sudden selfish grief at being so bereft knew no bounds.

Who was this Man to affect me like this in so brief an encounter in such bizarre and unprecedented circumstances?

Was He a magician or sorcerer, as some claimed? Was He a blasphemer possessed by a demon as the Temple authorities accused? Or was He, as His followers declared, the Son and Lamb of God, Messiah, come to save the world from sin?

Some have also asked whether I held Brother Peter in any resentment for trying to decapitate me that night so long ago? In truth, his attempt to separate my head from my body was the best thing to have ever happened to me. It brought me face to face with my King, and Yeshua used it to make me new, as He said.

I could not help but follow the soldiers as they took Him away. 

In doing so, I saw His disciples scatter, and the young man, Mark, run naked into the night, frantically trying to escape capture themselves.

I especially noted the exploits of my assailant, Peter, as he barreled his way inexplicably through the detachment of troops. He was let through almost as if he did not exist.

Not surprisingly, all paid little attention to me, wounded though I had been; the only casualty of that dark night, save the Lord Yeshua, Himself. 

I was after all, largely expendable to all concerned, being a mere servant.

To all, that is, except my Savior, who, even in the midst of His own betrayal and downfall, healed me and showed me His surpassing love.

As I stumbled along behind the crowd, more from emotional shock that physical weakness, I could make very little sense of what had transpired.

One moment I was Malchus, ambitious servant to the High Priest, the next I was someone very different.

Although made whole in body, I was broken in spirit.

One moment I was arrayed with the evil powers that sought His death, the next I was a partaker of His life.

I have come to know this is how an honest encounter with Messiah always proceeds; revealed darkness replaced by His light, human brokenness supplanted by His wholeness, self-deceit and the delusions of the world overwhelmed by His truth.

I entered that Garden of the Olive Press as Malchus, a dead man walking in sin.

I left a new man, infused with His righteousness.

I did not know it, but I was transformed. Nothing would ever be the same again.

Malchus Sliced

Yeshua answered, “I have told you that I AM. Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way!”

These are the last words I heard in my right ear before Brother Peter attempted to cut off my head.

Somehow, although I did not see the sword strike coming in all the confusion, I bowed my head just enough to save my neck, but alas! my ear was sliced cleanly from my face.

They say that time slows when mortality approaches. They are right.

I did not feel the pain at that instant, and fortunately, the blade was sufficiently sharp, and Peter's stroke sufficiently powerful, so that there was no collateral bruising or crushing. For I fear our burly Fisherman would have collapsed my skull with a duller weapon.

As it was, I saw, as if in a dream, my own blood erupt in the air past my eyes, and my fully intact ear fall slowly to the ground. I had not realized how intensely fond of it I was until faced with its loss forevermore.

The sounds of energized and fearful men, of blood-curdling yells, and the growls of soldiers about to do battle were drowned out by the rising tide of bees buzzing deafeningly inside my own skull. I saw a rush of white blurriness, like the blizzards of Mount Hebron, encompass me from both sides, as my knees began to buckle, and the rest of me began to follow my orphaned ear to the trammeled dirt.

Strong arms reached out and caught me as I fell, lowering me gently to the ground.

Through the cacophony of noise both inside and outside my head, I heard the owner of these arms speak in a gently powerful rebuke, as Yeshua said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me? Permit even this.”

And He touched where my ear had been and healed me.

So few and meager words on a wrinkled parchment can not begin to convey this thing that happened to me.

To say that my head cleared and the suddenly erupting agony on the side of my face ceased, is to say nothing at all.

To say that the restored sense of hearing on my right side was as if I was hearing the very first sounds of Creation, is as empty of the real meaning as anything else my paltry mind can think to write.

But this I do know - when my Savior touched me to heal me, without my asking or even being aware that He could, I felt the unapproachable light of His life, and the vastness of His love and my soul was overwhelmed with the enrapturing glory of His Presence.

In that timeless moment, I wanted nothing more, or else, than to remain with Him, and to know His life. I was changed instantly and forever.

Again words fail me. You must forgive this mere servant's lack of training and education, since I am both unworthy of such a show of His love, and incapable of conveying the depths of its meaning to me.

How can I describe what it was to be close to the Source of all things, and to feel the power of His divine love focused solely upon me, as if I were the only other being in existence?

Me, who was an eager member of the very mob that sought to kill Him, thinking to advance my career in the Temple by my demonstration of loyalty and my eagerness to obey.

At the moment of this encounter my eyes, as well as my severed ear, were healed and I saw myself for the evil sinner I have been since birth, despite my outward show of piety and religious zeal. And often because of those very things.

He said nothing to me, but only looked at me for a moment more with an understanding so profound and a knowledge so deep that that I have no doubt that He saw all I was, and had been, and ever would be.

I wanted to crawl into a cave and die, to hide my face in the most abject shame and despair.

Until He inclined His head ever so slightly, as if to say, I know all this and love you anyway. Old things have passed. I make all things new.

Then He allowed Himself to be wrenched roughly away from me, and the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Yeshua and bound Him. And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year.

Malchus Flattened

"I AM!"

The voice was loud in a way that went beyond sound, into the realm of primal physical force.

It blew us backward and knocked us all to the ground like a sudden invisible storm off the Galil.

The clatter of shields and bucklers and the startled cries of officers, soldiers and priests briefly filled the night only erratically lit from the floundering torches.

Our cohort had approached Gethsemane boldly, confident that we would finally be able to rid the city of this blasphemous rabble-rouser.

But now we were flattened on the ground like the early rain beetles trampled under the farmer's foot.

Then He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” And they said, “Yeshua of Nazareth.”

Why did He ask that second time? Why did the officers respond?

In all the years since, I have guessed but still do not know for sure.

That we were supposed to arrest Him in fulfillment of His plan from before the foundation of the world is clear. That He would submit voluntarily to all that would follow in glorious and unfathomable collaboration with the Father is also clear.

But why the second question? Didn't the first establish His identity forever afterward, recorded in the holy writings for all eternity?

Didn't His display of divine power testify that He could have destroyed us all right there, in the twinkling of an eye, by a mere thought or word, and that His subsequent acquiescence to the forthcoming horrors prove infallibly that His surrender was, above all else, according to His devotion to His Father?

Destroy us? Indeed, He could have destroyed the whole city, the world, the very Heavens with the word of His mouth!

I, Malchus, have come to believe that His asking that second time was a wondrous display of mercy in the midst of inconceivable power.

He asked again to give us all - those arrayed against Him in hatred, violence and unbelief - a second chance to acknowledge who He was, and thereby be saved from our condemnation.

And it was that second question that did me in, and transformed me from a servant of the human High Priest, to a devoted follower of the Great High Priest.

“Whom are you seeking?” infiltrated my befuddled brain like a sonorous Temple chorus intoning the Hallel. It undid me more than being flattened to the ground.

“Yeshua of Nazareth.” It was an officer of the Guard who spoke the answer first, and loudest. It was he who would later slap this Yeshua across the face during His interrogation by Annas, my former human master.

God Is Salvation is what His name meant. I knew that, being a good and devout Jew. And I had heard the rumors and mutterings that this Man's followers thought He came from above, that He Himself had said as much, and that His works proved it.

Some even thought He was the very Son of God, a concept and declaration of utter blasphemy.

But His answer, I AM, the very name of the Eternal One Who Shall Not Be Named, was either confession of this same blasphemy… or something else.

And suddenly, like an irresistible wave of the Great Sea, the import of His second question carried me along, compelling me to know, truly, who was this Yeshua of Nazareth we were seeking to arrest and kill.

I NEEDED to know, and I sought to move closer to Him in the ensuing advance of the cohort to determine as much as I could NOW! The compulsion was inescapable.

In my heart I knew my approach was fraught with danger and the wordless possibility of great reward.

I scrambled frantically toward my destiny in the clamor and chaos of that dark and momentous night.

To my utter astonishment, I was able to come near to the One whom I sought, as if a path through the melee was miraculously opened up for my passage alone.

But my encounter was not without cost.

The Bastard General Judge

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34, NKJV).

The time of Judges was one of the lowest points of ancient Jewish history, when every man did what was right in his own eyes.

It is instructive for us today in many ways, not the least of which is the expedient desire for a human savior to cure our societal ills.

Such was Jephthah, despised as an illegitimate son of a harlot, then sought after as a general in the existential battle between Israel and the Ammonites, their God-given oppressors at that time.

In his last desperate battle, after the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him, Jephthah made a solemn vow to his God - a bargain for victory. If the Lord would deliver his enemies into his hands, then in return, he  would give, as a burnt offering, whatever came out of his house when he returned home.

Jephthah was an imperfect man of faith, as are we all, but he was a man of faith. Despite his outcast status, he knew who was Lord, and knew who controlled the destiny of men, families and nations.

Victory after victory was afforded to him, and he survived the political and national contentions against him to become Judge of virtually lawless Israel. And when he came home after all of the battles, having made a vow, his only child, a beloved daughter, emerged from his house to greet him in triumph. If he were to keep his vow to the Lord, she was to become the burnt offering.

He cried out in despair, informing his child of all that was breaking his heart. And she, out of filial devotion and abounding love, encouraged him to fulfill the vow regardless of the cost to her personally.

This is where God gives to those who choose to rebel against Him the opportunity to twist Scripture to justify their own hatred and to undermine the faith of others. For they decry this vow of sacrifice, and point to it, along with the other severe divine judgments of the Old Testament, as evidence of a bloodthirsty mythical sky god, no different from the other primitive and malicious deities of mankind's pagan past.

How can any intelligent and thinking being worship and serve such a devil, they ask incredulously, who requires that a man sacrifice his own daughter? And this is precisely where such rebels fall into a trap of their own making.

First, God required of Jephthah no vow at all. It was a voluntary act of worship on his part, a crass bargain perhaps, but indicative of where his faith resided - in the God of Israel.

Second, while it is often used of actual sacrifice, the term burnt offering had a more fundamental meaning, and what was most often done to carry it out - the killing and burning of an animal - became synonymous with that underlying meaning. To give a burnt offering was to consecrate something wholly to the Lord for His use and purpose.

If what had emerged from Jephthah's door that morning was a clean animal, it is likely it would have been killed and burned to ashes, with nothing being left for man's use, unlike the other blood offerings, portions of which which were given to the priests and supplicants for food.

But since it was a human who emerged, fulfilling the vow meant that he or she would live a life wholly devoted to the Lord, as Samuel would later in history, and as Samson was supposed to have done earlier. 

Any other interpretation would require us to conclude that Jephthah was insane (clearly his success as a general and politician makes that unlikely), and that his God condoned and required human sacrifice - something expressly considered an abomination by God Himself throughout the Old Testament. 

And it was the practice of child sacrifice that was the primary cause of the horrendous judgments visited upon the land of Canaan by God through the Children of Israel.

That this life, rather than death, of consecration was what took place becomes even more evident by Jephthah's daughter's last request - that she be allowed to go away with her friends to the mountains to bewail her virginity. And that during all her life, memorialized in Israel precisely because of these circumstances, she knew no man.

Her father's vow, which she faithfully upheld, required her to remain celibate and childless. For his part, Jephthah would have no other descendants, and his line would die with him, both considered extravagant prices to pay in Israel at that time.

That he kept his word even to his own hurt illustrates the depth of Jephthah's faith. That his daughter cooperated as well, illustrated his impact as a father. That he knew who controlled the destiny of Israel, illustrated his belief in God.

These are why he is hailed here in Hebrews. But there is more.

Jephthah's story is often purposefully misinterpreted to bolster the argument that if God exists, He is unconscionably cruel and hypocritical. This, in conjunction with the genocidal judgments God imposed on certain ancient people groups, is presented as reason enough to justify atheism (no God) or humanism (man is god) or some form of paganism (gods of the imagination).

But these are just manifestations of the same anthropocentric rebellion that took place in the Garden.

Did God enact the severest of judgments on those who purposefully and willfully rebelled against Him? Yes, but only after generations of long-suffering and offers of repentance. And more pertinent for our consideration - He will do so again.

Did God command Israel to put to the sword every inhabitant of some ancient city-states in its conquest of the Promised Land? Yes, but never without first extending His mercy prior to the eventual outpouring of His wrath.

Does this make Him any less worthy of our obedience, worship and devotion? Only if your view of Him is filtered through your own fallenness, and you presume to have a greater understanding of justice and righteousness than the divine Author of both.

If God is who and what He reveals Himself to be in the whole counsel of His inspired Word, then He knows the end from the beginning. He sees all the outcomes of every possible future. He transcends our finite view of time, cause, and effect.

Acting on His complete and infallible knowledge, do you suppose it unthinkable that He would destroy the inhabitants of an evil stronghold before their depravity comes to full fruition? Do you suppose He might use as the instrument of His judgment a people whom He had chosen to be His own special witness, to instruct them in unmistakable terms of His holiness and power?

Would this not be merciful rather than vengeful? To preempt the evil society's continued existence, rather than to await either its continued destruction of others, or its own ultimate self-destruction?

Look, God, if He is God, would not only be justified in this, but remiss if He did otherwise.

And it is extremely telling that those who most vociferously argue against the existence of a good God, using the judgments in the Old Testament to bolster their suppositions, are often the very same individuals who argue that man is the only authority.

Man, who is finite and fallible. Man who is short-sighted and self-centered. Man who imagines himself the arbiter of right and wrong while not even being fully cognizant of his own motives, desires and intents.

Does God eventually exact divine vengeance on evil? Yes.

Does He have that right? Without doubt.

Does it matter what we, his fallen creatures, think or feel about that right? 

Not. At. All.

Jephthah, for all his dents, scrapes, and imperfections, got it right. He knew who God was and what He required. And even if we view his vow as a rash act, he stood by his word, because he believed that God is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligent seek Him.

Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:7-11, NKJV).

Sin and Stupidity; Faith and Sacrifice

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34, NKJV).

Samson brings to mind the Old Testament equivalent of a modern, egotistical athlete, rock star, or Hollywood celebrity. Someone who has fallen under the spell of his or her own public relations propaganda, or love-struck fan base.

He was a braggart, a hedonist, a strong man, and an idiot.

His nemesis was neither the Philistines, nor Delilah the porn star. It was his own conviction of self-worth and entitlement.

As such, there was nothing unique about this Judge of Israel except his physical power.

He began well, with all kinds of advantages, spiraled quickly into self-destruction during adulthood, and ultimately ended up a humiliated slave in Phillistinian captivity, a victim of his own lust and hubris.

Samson was a self-made "tool" in the most derogatory sense. He thought he could handle anything, and his delusional self-confidence resulted in monumental stupidity. It is impossible to read the account of his ridiculous exploits in Judges without thinking, "Seriously? He fell for that, again?"

Yet, he is honored here in Hebrews as a champion of faith, despite his egregious, larger-than-life failures. And that, like all of Hebrews, is very good news for all of us, who, at times in our own lives, mimic to some degree this man's incredible failures of wisdom.

The key to his entrance into the Hall of Faith is this: despite himself, he ended well.

His life, filled with sin and failure, stupidity and pride, did not, on the very threshold of death, overcome what proved to be even stronger than his supernatural physique: his faith in the God of Israel.

In the end, he believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

He brought the idolatrous, satanic temple of the Philistines down upon their own heads in an act of glorious self-sacrifice that he had been prepared for since birth as a Nazirite. In a very real sense, it was something only Samson could accomplish.

Cruelly blinded, hopelessly chained, humiliated in utter defeat, he dedicated himself one last time to his God and fulfilled the divine purpose of his life - defeating the oppressors of Israel.

His butchered hair symbolized his cutting himself off through sin from his only source of strength - his God - and resulted in his ignominious capture.

His unshorn locks represented the renewal of his unshackled faith, even while held in inescapable captivity in his enemy's most formidable stronghold.

By faith, his enslavement became freedom; his death life; his humiliation victory.

That's what faith does. It turns the world on its head. It takes the offscourings of this life - the weak, the ignoble, the foolish, the ridiculous - and transforms us into the heroic.

That's why the Gospel of Christ is the greatest gift God could possibly bestow to His fallen creatures, for it is through simple, child-like faith, not works of bravery or valor or might, that we are granted entrance into His Kingdom.

Ironically, and in keeping with God's documented desire to upset the world's apple cart, it is often the weakest and most unexpected among us that He enables to perform His greatest works - by faith and through faith.

Remember that the next time you see Goliath on the horizon, or you feel the crushing weight of this sinful world on your head, and take heart. Your God is with you.

The Lesson of Barak

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34, NKJV).

Although slightly earlier in the time of the Judges of Israel than Gideon, and rather than a judge himself, Barak was a commander in her army under Deborah, the prophetess (Judges 4-5). It was she who was Judge over the nation at this time.

For once again, the people had done evil in the sight of the Lord and had come under oppression from their enemies (a depressing pattern). Thus Jabin, King of Canaan, and his general, Sisera, ravaged Israel for 20 years. Then the nation cried out to the LORD for a Deliverer, and Barak was risen up.

Yet he would do nothing without Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, and was not willing to follow her directives from the Lord without her being present.

This may seem that he was less than courageous and obedient, but can we make that conclusion? Barak is here in Hebrews 11 as an example of the Old Testament faithful, so, although he forfeit personal glory by insisting the prophetess accompany him, he was nonetheless victorious over the enemy.

Of that time it says: When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the LORD! (Judges 5:2, NKJV). 

So this we know, Barak was a leader who, by faith, sought out the prophetess of God, and with her, delivered the people.

A woman in authority over the nation was a rare occurrence. When it happened, it mostly did not go well, as with Jezebel, wife of evil King Ahab of Israel, and Maacah, queen mother of Abijam, evil King of Judah.

But Deborah was different. She was both Judge and prophetess, and heard directly from the LORD, as did Samuel after her.

Barak insisted on partnering with her, and by so doing we see a glimpse into his mind. I believe he sought her because, by faith, he sought the Lord, and Barak recognized Deborah was the LORD's designated representative. He believed she spoke for God, and through her, he wanted God with him in his exploits… even if it cost him glory and pride.

Deborah sent for Barak and commanded him to go to war with Jabin and Sisera.  And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!” So she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. (Judges 4:8, 9, NKJV).

Would Sisera have been delivered into the hand of a woman, Jael, who killed the mighty general with a tent peg through his skull, had Barak not made his obedience conditional? The Scripture does not say.

But it does say that Barak led the army in successful battle time and again after this, and he made certain to honor both Deborah and Jael in song for their part in throwing off the Canaanite oppression.

By faith, he had no problem NOT being the center of attention. By faith, he did not balk at being subordinate to a woman. By faith he went against the tide of culture and tradition and sought out both the direction and presence of this woman of God.

What does this ancient example teach us today?

It shows us that God will use even the quirky and reluctant obedience of a single man to bring about His purposes.

It illustrates that faithfulness and renown do not always go hand in hand.

It demonstrates that sometimes the faith of one man needs a kick in the pants by a faithful woman.

And it teaches that once that first step of faith is taken, great victories can be won.

So then, thank God for the lesson of Barak, who perhaps faltered at the start of his race, but finished well - better, in fact, than many others who let God's success go to their heads.

The Lesson of Gideon

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34, NKJV).

The chronology of faith in Hebrews 11 continues its crescendoing march through human history and arrives at the time of the Judges in ancient Israel, a time when anarchy and aimless evil prevailed, a time book-ended by this characterization: In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6, 21:25 NKJV).

Sounds a lot like the world today.

Gideon is famous for ram's horns and lamps, fleeces and fierceness, and Midianite mayhem, but he started his career as a young man hiding in a cistern threshing his grain in secret so the bullies (the Midianite and Amalekite oppressors) wouldn't kick him to the ground and steal it - for oppression by its enemies was what God allowed to happen to Israel when the nation turned away from Him (Judges 6-8).

This man was also another example of this fact: God looks at the heart and sees us from the perspective of what He knows we will become, and not what we are at a given point in time. For those who believe in Him, that is a very good thing, for in us He sees His beloved Son. For those who will not believe, that is a death sentence that could be carried out summarily and without warning.

His view of Gideon in hiding? And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12, NKJV).

Make no mistake, God unapologetically uses people for His purposes, and has done so throughout human history regardless of what we might think about it. He uses some for evil and some for good. In everything He implacably advances His will, for that is inherently part of His unequalled an unassailable sovereignty. He has that power, and there is nothing in Heaven or earth that can obstruct His plans.

Imagine if He were not who He has revealed Himself in Scripture to be: long-suffering, slow to anger, merciful, gracious, forgiving, and the embodiment of love. Imagine if He had that kind of power and were like us!

Humans who reject Him, either through outright unbelief, covert rebellion, or ridiculously imposing upon Him their own paltry conceptions of divine nature, question His right to perform His will and carryout His purposes, but that is a little like standing on the shore and shaking your fist at a crashing tidal wave.

God does not seek your approval. He seeks your faith. To even begin to understand His nature necessarily results in both love and fear, for our God is a consuming fire.

Gideon, doubted the visitation by the Angel of the Lord, and proposed several tests to determine its validity. You might think this unbelievably presumptuous, and God unbelievably and uncharacteristically indulgent in granting him these tests, but I think that would be two mistaken conclusions.

Remember, God sees the heart. While we can only guess at someone else's (and often even our own) true motives, God does not guess. He knows. That is why Jesus, who is God With Us, would often appear to respond inconsistently to those He encountered. For instance, He rebuked Martha, but wept with her sister Mary, both of whom said the very same thing: Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.

Gideon doubted himself, I think, and not his God. He wanted to make certain that he was not imagining things. He was, in fact, following Paul's and John's later commands to test all things, hold fast what is good, and to not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.

Motive is the determinant of intents and actions, that which distinguishes true good from true evil. God knows our motives perfectly, and sees us not only for who we are, but for who we will become if we live a life of faith.

That is the lesson of Gideon. With all his imperfections and doubts, with all his human failings, in the end he was a man of faith, and because of that, he had the privilege of being used by God.

For weak, sinful and frail creatures such as ourselves, that is the highest goal of earthly life.

It cannot be attained by effort, but by faith alone, in God alone.