To know God and make Him known

 

For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.  How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  --Romans 10:13-14

Missionary Loren Cunningham once said that his purpose in life was "to know God and to make Him known."  In contrast, poet Thomas Gray wrote, "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."  In our culture today we see the majority of people willfully ignorant of God's sovereignty, His holiness, and His demand for repentance.  They reject the good news of the Gospel, which says we can be reconciled to God through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, because they do not see a need for atonement and reconciliation with God.

Whether it is a reliance on what Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace," whereby God accepts all people as they are without any changes in behavior, or the rampant self-justification of the World where people feel they are "good enough," people reject the call of God in their lives.  God calls us to true discipleship, and we respond with lip service or by ignoring God altogether.

The same was true in Israel during the ministries of God's prophets Amos and Hosea.

Political intrigue and international conspiracy were substituted for obedience and faith.  Panic gripped the hearts of leaders and confusion characterized the people in the closing, hectic days of a nation which had forgotten God  However, during a good portion of the time covered by the ministry of Amos and Hosea there had been an outward prosperity which gave the people a false sense of security....Briefly, the political conditions during Jereboam's reign were characterized by outward prosperity and evidences of luxury and ease.  Socially, the sins attendant upon wealth and luxury abounded.  Princes, priests, and people showed signs of moral decay.  Family life was at a low ebb.  Religiously, idolatry and apostasy had separated the people from God. With some of them a mere lip service toward the God of their fathers remained, but it was divorced from the practical affairs of life.  The nation as a whole was sadly backslidden.  --K. Owen White, Studies in Hosea: God's Incomparable Love (1957), pages 9-10.

I want us to look at some passages in the book of Hosea that underscore the problem, the consequences, and the solution.

The Problem

Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.  There is not faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.  --Hosea 4:1-2

God's message spoken through the prophet Hosea was that God had a problem with His people.  The nation of Israel had become complacent.  They were not diligently following the Lord their God.  Their zeal for Him had faded, and as a result their knowledge of Him had grown cold.  The further they got from God, the more sin crept into their lives.  What was true of them is certainly true of us today. 

1.  No truth or faithfulness

The first accusation God makes against the people is that there was no faithfulness.  Some Bible translations give the word truth here.  The idea is fidelity; that is, exhibiting a faithful firmness to truth, a stable reliability to faithfulness.  It is exhibited through truth as spoken, truth of testimony and judgment, faithfulness to divine instruction.  It is more than truth as a body of religious knowledge.  It is adhering faithfully to true doctrine.

When people let truth slide, they become less faithful generally.  When you overlook a falsehood, you open the door to heresy.  In other words, it is more difficult to be faithful to God when we allow the Devil's deceitfulness to encroach upon our lives, whether it is in the media we consume, the way we chose to entertain ourselves, or in diversity/equity/inclusion so prevalent in our culture.  

2.  No steadfast love

The Hebrew word here is hesed.  It can mean goodness, kindness, and faithfulness.  It is the way that God deals with His people.  The word is found 248 times in the Old Testament, and is variously translated as Mercy, Kindness, Lovingkindness, Goodness, and Favor.

When we grow distant from God, we no longer have the close association with God's mercy and grace.  Yes, mercy and grace are abundantly available to us, but not when we purposely turn our back on Him, or step outside His express will for our lives.

3.  No knowledge of God

Perhaps the most tragic result of separation from God is not knowing Him.  The less we know Him, the less we know of His grace and mercy, His faithfulness and truth.  John 8:32 famously says, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  Unfortunately, we have forgotten the preceding verse, which gives this condition.  Verse 31 says, "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples."  The opposite is also true: if we do not abide in His word, if we do not actively seek to know Him, then we do not know the truth, and we are held captive in a lie.  We are therefor unwitting, ignorant, and unaware of God's truth.

What is the result?  We see seven symptoms listed in our passage there in verse 2:

A.  Swearing.  That is, to adjure, i.e. (usually in a bad sense) imprecate:—adjure, curse, swear.

B.  Lying. That is, to deceive, lie, fail, grow lean, be disappointing, be untrue, be insufficient, be found liars, belie, deny, dissemble, deal falsely.  It can mean to feign obedience, to act deceptively, and to disappoint or fail.

C. Killing. That is, to murder, slay, or kill, either in a premeditated manner, or accidental.  It can even mean to act as an avenger or assasin.

D. Stealing. That is, to thieve (literally or figuratively); by implication, to deceive, to carry away, to secretly bring, steal (away), or get by stealth.

E. Commit Adultery. That is, to commit adultery; figuratively, to apostatize:—also to participate in idolatrous worship.

F. Break Out. That is, to break out abroad, (make a) breach, break (away, down, forth, in, up), burst out, come (spread) abroad, compel, disperse, grow, increase, open, press, scatter, urge. We often speak of a disease break-out; this may have a similar meaning to the dissemination of sin.

 G. Blood Touches Blood. The ultimate result is bloodshed after bloodshed. In the ancient Hebrew, this is literally “bloody deed touches bloody deed.” “Apparently violent crimes had become so common that one seemed immediately to follow another, as if touching it.” (Wood). It carries a connotation of violence, of one act of bloodshed following another without any interval between (see 2Ki 15:8-16, 25 Mic 7:2 ).

These seven sins show a rapid descent from seeking truth, faithfulness, and steadfast love.  They describe a society that does not know God. 

The Consequences

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to Me.  And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.  --Hosea 4:6

This is a scathing indictment of the priests, whose job it was to impart the knowledge of God to the people. It is also an accusation against certain televangelists and prosperity preachers of today.  God will hold them accountable, not only for preaching a watered-down gospel of cheap grace, but also for leading so many people astray.

Bible commentator David Guzik puts it this way: "When God’s people are destroyed and waste away, it isn’t because God has lost either His love or strength. It’s because His people lack… knowledge.

i. It isn’t that God says His people are completely ignorant. They have some knowledge, but not enough. They may have just enough to make them think they know it all.

ii. What kind of knowledge did they lack? In the context, the first answer must be they lack the knowledge of God (Hosea 4:1). They know God some — perhaps a little — but not enough. Perhaps they felt they knew God well enough already.

iii. The second kind of knowledge they lack is the knowledge of God’s Word (you have forgotten the law of your God). They know the Word of God some - perhaps a little - but not enough. Perhaps they felt they knew God’s Word well enough already.

iv. It should not surprise us that there is a connection between knowing God and knowing His Word. Some people think that Bible knowledge is boring and brainy and not necessary for a real walk with God. But God and His Word are vitally connected. Psalm 138:2 says, You have magnified Your word above all Your name. When God sought for a term to express His nature, He calls Himself “The Word” (John 1:1).

v. When we know God for who He really is, it affects our conduct. “Where there is no knowledge of God, no conviction of his omnipresence and omniscience, private offences, such as stealing, adulteries, and so forth, will prevail.” (Clarke)

Hosea goes on to describe punishment for the priests.  Again from the commentary by David Guzik: "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me: Here we see who is responsible for the lack of knowledge among the people of God — the priests who rejected knowledge, the knowledge of God and His Word.

i. Teaching was an important duty of the priests (Deuteronomy 33:10, Ezekiel 44:23, Malachi 2:7). Their neglect of this demonstrates what an important place the minister, the pastor, the preacher has in presenting God and His Word to the people. If he neglects his duty to preach the word (2 Timothy 4:2), then he can’t lead the people into the true knowledge of God, and will lead them into destruction.

ii. I will also forget your children: God will hold the unfaithful minister, pastor, or preacher accountable. They have much to answer for before God.

iii. Priest for Me reminds us that the priest didn’t only serve on behalf of the people, but also on behalf of the LORD. The priest represented the people to God, but also represented — through the preaching of the word — God to the people.

The Solution

"I will return again to My place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face, and in their distress earnestly seek Me."  Come, let us return to the Lord; for He has torn us, that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up. --Hosea 5:15 - 6:1

The original text of Scripture was not divided into chapters and verses. Some of the divisions made in the 16th century were helpful; some, I'm afraid, may have been made in error.  Here is a good example where I believe it was not a good stopping place at the end of chapter 5 leading into chapter 6.  I think the writer intended for the idea to continue.

God wanted the people to earnestly seek Him.  The goal of the judgment that God was meting out on His people was not destruction, but restoration.  Sadly, it is often only in our affliction that we earnestly seek the LORD. Why not seek the LORD now, before affliction forces you to?

God calls us to repentance and faith in Him.  The more we know Him, the more we know His steadfast love, and the more we see His faithfulness.

 

 

 

 

Wanted: Dead And Alive

 

But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." --2 Timothy 2:19

In the world of quantum mechanics, there is a concept known as superposition. In theory, until it is observed, an atomic particle can exist in multiple states simultaneously.  In other words, a radioactive particle can exist in a decayed/dead state and a non-decayed/alive state at the time time.

A man named Schrödinger, who was a contemporary with Einstein, thought up a scenario intended to show the absurdity of applying this concept to observable objects in everyday life.  This example, known as Schrödinger's Cat imagines that a cat is sealed in a box with a device that has a 50/50 chance of releasing a lethal poising.  According to quantum mechanics and superposition, the cat is considered both alive and dead.  The observer will not know which until the box is opened and the actual state is revealed.

I thought of this concept as I was reading my Bible this week.  I came to the story that every child is taught in Sunday School: Daniel and the Lion's Den.  This story is instructive on many layers.  To a third-grader, it is an example of extraordinary faith.  To a high schooler, it is an encouragement to pray continuously, even if it costs you.  To a theologically minded adult, it reveals Daniel as a type or shadow of Christ.

Author James Hamilton wrote this about the parallels between the life of Daniel and the life of Christ:

Daniel, who was righteous, was accused by those jealous of him on a trumped-up charge (Dan. 6:4-13). The king recognized the injustice of Daniel’s condemnation and sought to deliver him (6:14). Nevertheless, Daniel was condemned, given over to certain death; then placed in a pit with a stone laid on the opening and sealed by the king (6:15-17). At daybreak those who lamented the way Daniel was treated came and found that his God had delivered him (6:19-23).

Jesus was also declared innocent (Matt. 27:24; cf. Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22, 41) but accused by those jealous of him (Matt. 27:18) on trumped-up charges (26:59-61; 27:15-19). Pilate recognized the injustice and sought to release Jesus (27:15-19). Nevertheless, Jesus was condemned to death (27:26), and after they crucified him he was put in a new tomb, with a stone rolled over the entrance (27:60), which was later sealed (27:66). At daybreak on the first day of the week those who lamented the way Jesus was treated came and found that God had raised him from the dead (28:1-10).

These points of historical correspondence, and the obvious escalation from Daniel to Jesus, constitute grounds for considering Daniel as a type of Christ.

                  –With the Clouds of Heaven: The Book of Daniel in Biblical Theology, pg. 191

 Just as Pilate found no fault in Jesus (see John 19:4 and Luke 23:4), Darius knew that Daniel was innocent and did not deserve death.  In fact, Daniel is one of the few Bible characters that has no record of sin.  We do not believe he was sinless (see Romans 3:10, 23).  However, the Bible is careful to point out flaws in most of the people mentioned, especially those in prominent positions.  Abraham was a liar.  Moses was a murderer.  David was an adulterer.  Almost every prominent person in Scripture is known by their faults as well as their faith.  But not Daniel.

I found this online in a post from Calvary Independent Baptist Church (https://idahobaptist.com/daniel-type-christ-daniel-616-17/): 

Now, let me stretch my parallel to it’s limit, but bear with me, because this is a Biblical truth.  There is a sense in which Daniel was DYING FOR ANOTHER MAN’S SINS. Why was Darius so upset in verse 14? It wasn’t because he had been told that Daniel had broken his law. He was upset and couldn’t sleep because HE had been so stupid that he signed the law in the first place. Daniel didn’t sin when he prayed to his God, and he committed a crime only because of an unjust law. Darius had been overcome by the fawning flattery of his wicked presidents and princes. It doesn’t matter what the source of the temptation, when the sin is committed, it goes on the record of that sinner not to the tempter. Darius sinned, and Daniel was dying for his sin.

Okay, I know what you're thinking.  Daniel did not die.  He survived.  That was the point of the story, right? His faith saved him.  So why am I quoting a blogger who posits that Daniel was condemned to die for another's sin?  

Here's the explanation given by the Idaho Baptist blogger: "For all intents and purposes Daniel died that night. That was the intention of his enemies; that was the expectation of the faithless. That was the purpose and the nature of the lions."

Until Darius removed the seal and the stone, Daniel was simultaneously dead and alive.  Like Schrödinger's Cat, the true state of Daniel could not be confirmed until he was observed alive.  Let's read Daniel 6:20 together.  "As he (Darius) came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish.  The king declared to Daniel, 'O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?'"  In the original language, it denotes that Darius was grieved and afflicted.  I think he was grieved because he expected Daniel to be torn limb from limb.  I believe he was afflicted because, as we noted before, if Daniel had died, it would have been for the sin of Darius.  So the question that he asked, has your God been able to deliver you? was not a hopeful query, but rather one of anguish.  It was as if he were praying to the spirit of Daniel, maybe intermingling the Hebrew concept of Heaven with the Chaldean ideas of a spirit world or some kind of afterlife.

Imagine his joyful surprise when Daniel, very much alive, answered him audibly. Daniel bore witness to the power of God.  Daniel's faith saved him.  Darius came to faith in the living God because of Daniel's faithfulness.  Oh, that we could share our faith in the same way, should the opportunity present itself.

Hebrews 12:1-4 says:

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.  You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. (NKJV)

May our faith, like Daniel, be remembered more than our sin.  May we point to Jesus, just like Daniel did.  May we remain faithful to the point of death, as both Daniel and Jesus did.  It might help us to consider Schrödinger's Cat and apply it to our own lives: we are dead in our sins, yet alive in Christ.  Ephesians 2:5 says that because of God's love and mercy, "Even when we were dead in trespasses, mad us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)."  Romans 6:11 says, "So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

God wants us to be both dead (to sin) and alive (in Christ), not just in heaven but in this life as well.

We need a heart transplant

 

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  --Ezekiel 36:26

Twice in the book of Ezekiel God promised to remove the heart of stone in His people, and replace it with a heart of flesh.  The first example is found in Ezekiel 11:19-20.  It says, "And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

By the time I read the second passage this week in Ezekiel 36:25-27, I knew I wanted to write about it.  I tried desperately to think of hardhearted people that everyone knew, to kind of kick off the discussion.  I am sure you can think of someone in your life that you might describe as hardhearted.  The only universal examples I could think of were fictional characters, like the Grinch or Simon LeGree from Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Then I read a devotional from Andrew Wommack Ministries Australia (see the teaching article at https://www.awmaust.net.au/hardness-of-heart/).

When we think of scriptural examples of a person's heart being hardened, we tend to look at the story of Pharaoh in the Old Testament book of Exodus.  However, there is a New Testament example that often gets overlooked.  In the gospel of Mark, we are told that the disciples' hearts were hardened.  Turn with me to Mark chapter 6, starting in verse 34. 

When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  And He began to teach them many things.  And when it grew late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.  Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."  But He answered them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?"

Jesus knew the condition of their hearts.  When the crowd gathered to hear Him speak, He had compassion on them.  The disciples feigned compassion, but were more concerned about themselves.  Think about it.  Jesus was speaking to the crowds for quite a long time.  He "taught them many things."  The disciples were growing tired and hungry.  "Um, Jesus," they said, "it's getting kind of late.  These people must be getting hungry (I know we are).  Can we, um, break up this Bible study and send these good folks to the nearby towns and villages so they can grab a bite?"

How many times have we been at a church service on Sunday morning when the sermon seems to go on too long?  We look at our watch, and see it's already past noon.  Doesn't the preacher know that all the restaurants fill up by noon?  If he goes on any longer, there'll be a long line.  Or worse, we'll have to go home and start dinner there, and by the time the food's ready we'll all be starving."  We might even suggest to the preacher the next time we see him that he should time his sermons better, for the sake of the children.

Just like the local church pastor knows in his heart that the grumblers are not concerned about children, Jesus knew that that the disciples were not concerned with the people as much as they were concerned with their own interests.  Jesus said, "You know, you're right.  These people must be starving.  Let's find them some food."  The disciples' true feelings were brought to light.  "You mean us?  Feed them? Why, that would cost almost a year's wage!"

You know the rest of the story.  They found a young boy who had packed a small lunch, and Jesus was able to turn it into enough to feed the huge crowd, with basketfulls left over.  The purpose of this miracle was not so much meeting the physical needs of the 5000 as it was to get the disciples to have faith in Jesus.

Did they learn their lesson?  Apparently not.  In fact, we see in verse 45 that the disciples were again arguing with Jesus.  I don't think I'm taking too many liberties by drawing this conclusion, given what happened next.  Jesus says, "Okay, guys, I'm going to send the crowds home.  I want you to get back into the boat and to across the lake.  I'll meet you in Bethsaida, on the opposite shore."

Like petulant children, they argued.  

"But Lord, how are You getting to the other side? Don't you want us to wait for you?"

"But Lord, we don't want to go without You."

"But Lord, the wind is coming up fast and blowing hard.  Don't you see those whitecaps?"

Jesus heard the "buts" and made them get in the boat anyway.  "Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat." (Mark 6:45).  Their faith still needed work.

You know the rest of this story as well.  The wind was against them.  Under normal circumstances, the trip would have taken a couple of hours.  In this case, they were still out in the middle of the lake six hours later.  Jesus had been spending His time praying, and when He saw them, He had compassion on them, with the same compassion He had shown the hungry crowd of 5000.  

Pay close attention to verse 52.  Jesus got into the boat with them after walking across the water, and the wind stopped completely.  "And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." (Mark 6:52)

Jesus saw their hearts, still made of stone.  Had they learned anything from the feeding of the 5000?  Apparently not.  They argued with Jesus about getting into the boat.  They struggled against the wind for hours on end instead of calling out to Him.  When He did arrive, were they joyful?  No.  They were fearful.  Their hearts were stony.

What does it mean to have a heart of stone?  In an 1862 sermon, Charles Spurgeon said that a hard heart shared these characteristics with stone: it is cold, it is hard, it is dead, it is not easily softened, and utterly senseless.  By it's nature, you can't change a stone to flesh.  You can drill holes in it to fill it with blood, but it won't pump the blood.  You can throw it around, but it will not move itself.  You can lecture to it, but it will not learn.  You can do CPR on it, but it will not come alive.  You don't need to change the nature of your own heart.  You need a heart transplant.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 36 says this about the promises of God:

That God would give them a new heart, a disposition of mind excellent in itself and vastly different from what it was before. God will work an inward change in order to a universal change. Note, All that have an interest in the new covenant, and a title to the new Jerusalem, have a new heart and a new spirit, and these are necessary in order to their walking in newness of life. This is that divine nature which believers are by the promises made partakers of.

That, instead of a heart of stone, insensible and inflexible, unapt to receive any divine impressions and to return any devout affections, God would give a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, that has spiritual senses exercised, conscious to itself of spiritual pains and pleasures, and complying in every thing with the will of God. Note, Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul as the turning of a dead stone into living flesh.

Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow (or stony) ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you."  Jesus explained the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:18-23.  He explained seed that falls on the path as the Gospel that falls on hardened ground where it can't take root.  There is hope for this type of heart, if only the "ground" is worked, dug up and the soil loosened.  What about the stony ground? The "seed" that is "sown" in this heart is choked out by tribulation or persecution.  This person will fall away, no matter what.  There is no hope for him.

We, like the disciples, have hearts that are hardened.  We need a heart transplant.  Only God can do that for us.  Spurgeon quoted this hymn in his study, that I'd like to share here.

Can aught beneath a power divine
The stubborn will subdue?
'Tis thine, eternal Spirit, thine,
To form the heart anew.

To chase the shades of death away
And bid the sinner live!
A beam of heaven, a vital ray,
'Tis thine alone to give.

 

Stand in the gap

 

So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. --Ezekiel 22:30 (NKJV)

Have you ever been asked to fill in for someone at work?  If so, you are familiar with the concept of standing in the gap.  If you ever played organized sports, you know that if a player is injured or not performing up to his potential, a sub will be sent in to take his place.  If you have ever been in the military, you know that when a front-line soldier is killed or wounded, another will be ordered to stand in his place.

The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who stood in the gap for their people and for God's glory.  Abraham stood in the gap for his nephew Lot with regard to Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18).  God used Joseph to save his family from starvation by bringing them to Egypt (Genesis 50:20).  David interceded for God to stop a plague in 2 Samuel 24.  Esther stood up to the king on behalf of her people.  And we will see later that Moses stood before God to intervene on behalf of the people of Israel (Exodus 32).

So what does the Bible mean when it says God is looking for someone to stand in the gap?  How can we accomplish this task?  I believe Scripture teaches that we are called to prepare, to pray, and to preach.

Prepare

Isaiah 40:3 says, "A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God."  This verse is cited in all four Gospels to describe the ministry of John the Baptist.  I believe it can also describe our calling.

Just as a co-worker would not ask you to fill in for her if she did not think you could perform the task, God prepares us for our own calling.  It's not a magical process.  It usually takes some work on our part.  The Bible speaks a lot about building a wall.  Like any construction project, it requires planning and preparation.  The materials must be purchased and delivered to the job site.  The tools must be available.  And the people must be ready, willing, and able to perform the task.

Ezekiel 13 speaks of a time when false prophets were rampant in Israel.  God warns His people that they should have been prepared for this.  Ezekiel 13:5 says, "You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord." (NKJV)  Just like building a fortified wall around a city helps prepare the residents for war, the same preparation should take place on a spiritual level.

Pray

Once preparation has been made, we must make use of the tools God has given us.  One of the most effective tools in our belt is prayer.  James 5:16b says, "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  Prayer has more power than most of us realize.

There was a time when God told Moses to step aside, that He'd had enough of the stubborn children of Israel.  God was ready to wipe them all out and start over, making Moses the patriarch.  Moses stood up on behalf of the people and saved their lives.  Psalm 106:23 says, "Therefore He said He would destroy them, and He would have done so had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the gap before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them." (AMP)

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit prays for us.  Romans 8:26 says, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."  Don't ever think of yourself as too weak or too wicked to pray.  Isaiah 59:16 says, "He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him." (ESV)

Not only was the state of God’s people bad, but no one among them took the lead in getting it right. Where was the man who would lead the people in righteousness? He could not be found. Where was the intercessor who would plead God’s case to the people, and the people’s repentance to their God? No intercessor could be found.

God waited and waited for a disobedient Israel to turn to Him. He waited and waited for a man to lead them back to Him, or an intercessor to plead before Him. None arose; so the LORD did it Himself. If a man or an intercessor would have stepped out, it would have saved Israel a lot of calamity. But the fact that no man or no intercessor stepped forward didn’t ruin God’s plan. He waited to work in partnership through a man. He waited to work through an intercessor. But God’s work would still be accomplished if none arose. (David Guzik Study Guide for Isaiah)

You can be the person that God is looking for to intercede for His people.  Your prayers can have a mighty effect.

Preach

Romans 10:14 says, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (ESV)

It is not enough to prepare and to pray.  We must also stand up for God and speak truth to power when necessary. Isaiah 63:5 says, "I looked, but there was no one to help, and I was amazed and appalled that there was no one to uphold truth and right.  So My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath sustained me." (AMP)  You and I may be able to avert the wrath of God against someone just by interceding for them and preaching the word of God to them.

There may come a time when it is too late.  Jeremiah 5:1 says, "Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note!  Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her." (ESV)  If the message is heard and rejected, then the poor sinner has no recourse. Jeremiah 15:1 says, "Then the Lord said to Me, 'Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My heart would not turn toward this people.  Send them out of My sight, and let them go!'" (ESV)

God help us stand in the gap for those who come into our sphere of influence.  Our voice may be weak, our reach may be small, but help us to prepare ourselves, to pray for others, and to preach the word of the Lord.  Let us stand in the gap for a lost and dying world.

Step out of the darkness

 

Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, "The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land."  --Ezekiel 8:12

DISCLAIMER: What we are about to talk about may cause discomfort, distress, and dismay to so-called "righteous people".  It is not for the spiritually immature.  Divine discernment strongly suggested.

Some people in the church today view porn.  There.  I said it.

I'll go even further.  If you have not been at least tempted at some point in your life to view sexually charged images--in movies, print, or internet sites designed to entice you to sin--then you are either a liar or a saint. 

I was reminded of my own past struggle with this issue in my Bible reading this week.  The words that stood out to me from our focal passage today were "in the dark" and "pictures."  This pretty much describes anyone that tries to live a Christian life but is still tempted by adult magazines, adult movies, and adult web sites.

Now, I know that the abominations Ezekiel wrote about in this passage were about idolatry more than pornographic images.  Verse 10 describes the pictures that were etched on the walls.  "And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel."

The idols that Israel had borrowed from other nations included images of snakes and lizards and other unclean animals.  There may have been images of the sun and moon and other celestial beings, as well (i.e. signs of the Zodiac--horoscope, anyone?)  One of the Canaanite deities that Israel had borrowed was Asherah, a fertility goddess.  You can bet that an image of Asherah was included in the images that Ezekiel saw etched on the walls of the elders in their secret rooms.

The Bible makes a close association between sexual sins and idolatry.  1 Corinthians 6:9-11 says:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The Greek word translated here as "sexually immoral" is the term pornos.  When you combine that word with the Greek term graphia, meaning "writing or representation", you get the English word pornography.  While the Bible does not use this specific term, it does condemn sexual immorality.  It also has quite a lot to say about idolatry, which is closely akin to sexual sin.

For example, in the Old Testament account of Asherah worship, there were groves of trees planted to celebrate the fertility of the harvest season.  Some translations use the word "pole" instead of "grove".   Young women would perform sensual dances around these wooden structures.  Some of you might be saying, "We're in the 21st century.  We don't worship idols today."  I submit to you that tonight men all over America will throw dollar bills at nubile women dancing on poles.  Are they not sacrificing to the goddess of fertility?

This type of idolatry of the sensual has permeated our society.  Some men in the church, who have been chosen by God, who have repented of and have been forgiven for all sin, still struggle with sexual immorality.  What do you say to these men?  If you are one of them, how do you overcome it?  Here is something that might help.

Bring it into the light

One of the main problems with sin is that it is done in the dark.  We somehow believe that secrecy hides our activities, so that no one can see it.  If we want to overcome sexual addiction, we need to confess it and bring it into the light. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins one to another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

I found this quote on the website for Carnation Home Cleaning (carnationhomecleaning.com/solar-cleaning)

It turns out there’s really something to the idea of opening the windows and letting a little light in. Not only does sunshine illuminate your home and provide a dose of happiness, but it also disinfects. Just 30–60 minutes is all that’s needed to get the benefits of some old-fashioned solar cleaning. In that time, the sun will kill the bacteria on a number of common household items.

And this isn’t just an old wives’ tale. Science backs up the idea of solar cleaning.

In a 90-day study on the effects on sunlight on bacteria, the University of Oregon found that rooms exposed to sunlight have fewer germs. Their findings showed that sunlit rooms had 50% or less viable bacteria than rooms left in the dark.

And did you know UV is used to clean drinking water? If it’s good enough for that, surely it will work in your home.

If sunlight can kill bacteria and purify drinking water, imagine what Sonlight (that is, the light of God) can do to disinfect your soul.

Tear down the idols

When God led Israel to conquer Canaan and the peoples there, His first command was to tear down every idol.  In the same way, if we are to overcome sexual sin, we need to get rid of every pornographic image that we may come into contact with.

Greg Laurie posted this on his devotional page harvest.org on September 20, 2024:

Idols can be many things. But essentially an idol is anyone or anything that takes the place of God in our lives. A lot of things can qualify as an idol in our lives. And it is a true but terrifying fact that a person can attend church every week and still be a full-fledged idolater.

In the Ten Commandments, God tells us that we should have Him as our God and have no other gods before Him.

He said, “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods” (Exodus 20:4–5 NLT).

Jesus echoed this when He said, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37–38 NLT).

Essentially, Jesus was saying that if you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, it will dramatically impact the way that you live.

If we love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, then nothing else can take God’s place in our lives. We won’t be interested in another god any more than someone who just had a delicious dinner of filet mignon would be attracted to roadkill. Our hunger has been met. We’re satisfied.

But when we’re not cultivating a close relationship with God, then it is only a matter of time until someone or something takes His place.

Ever hear the phrase, "Out of sight, out of mind"?  It is much easier to stay sexually pure if we stay away from sexual imagery.  However, that's not enough.  We must also fill the void with spiritual imagery.  Not religious icons or images of saints, but as Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."  Which leads us to our final thought.

Know that God sees us and has not forsaken us

In our opening verse from Ezekiel 8:12 we read that the elders of Israel went into their rooms under cover of darkness, where there were images of idolatry and sexual practice all over the walls, because they said to themselves, "The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken our land."

Matthew Henry the Bible commentator says that this idoltary is based in atheism.  At the very least it is limiting the scope of God's power and His love.  "They think themselves out of God's sight."  Worse still, "They think themselves out of God's care."

"The Lord has forsaken the earth, and looks not after the affairs of it; and then we may as well worship any other god as him." Or, "He has forsaken our land, and left it to be a prey to its enemies; and therefore it is time for us to look out for some other god, to whom to commit the protection of it. Our one God cannot, or will not, deliver us; and therefore let us have many." This was a blasphemous reflection upon God, as if he had forsaken them first, else they would not have forsaken him. Note, Those are ripe indeed for ruin who have arrived at such a pitch of impudence as to lay the blame of their sins upon God himself. (Matthew Henry Commentary on Ezekiel 8)

Friend, if you believe in God, then you must know He is willing and able to save you from idolatrous sexual practices.  Going back to 1 Corinthians 6:11, do not continue to identify with your sin.  You are no longer called a fornicator or a whoremonger (Bible translations of the Greek word pornos.)  Instead, "you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."  

You do not have to continue to live in your sin.  If you confess and bring it into the light, if you remove the temptations from before you, and if you realize that God is for you and has paid the sacrifice for your sin so that you are no longer bound by it, then you can be free.  2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom."  Call your pastor or a Christian friend to help you.  Ignore those judgy people who have more "respectable" sins, and know that God loves all of us the same.

Equipped for God's Calling

 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. --Lamentations 3:22-23

 When I was growing up in a small-town Baptist church, there was an emphasis on evangelism.  One of the tools that we were given was a tract, a small booklet with large letters and bold colors, called "Steps to Peace With God."  Published by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, it went through four easy steps to salvation: God's Plan (peace with God, citing John 3:16), Our Problem (sin separates us from God, citing Romans 3:23), God's Remedy (the cross, citing Romans 6:23), and Our Response (receive Christ, citing John 1:12).

It was short, simple, and to the point.  It was designed to explain salvation to your friends without getting taking up too much time (so they wouldn't lose interest) and without getting too deep theologically (so they wouldn't lose focus).  The "hook" was the opening statement: "God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life."

I go to a men's Bible study at our church most Saturday mornings.  They are studying heroes of the faith in the book of Acts.  The current study is on Stephen, the first Christian martyr in Scripture.  I thought it was interesting that the leader titled the lesson, "What if God's plan for your life isn't so wonderful?"

I have just finished reading the book of Jeremiah in my daily Bible readings, and have just started the sequel written by Jeremiah, the book called Lamentations.  Jeremiah was called "the weeping prophet" because his writings expressed genuine grief over the sin of the people, sins which would lead them into Babylonian exile for the next 70 years.  He was forbidden by God to marry or to bring children into the land because of the wickedness of the people.  He was once thrown into a cistern because of his message of gloom and doom; it took 30 men to pull him out of the mire with ropes and rags under his arms so that he wouldn't starve.  

Was this God's plan for Jeremiah?  Was this his calling?

As I was doing my daily Bible readings this week in the book of Jeremiah, God repeatedly brought to mind 2 Peter 1:3, that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.  What, I thought, was the connection between the life of Jeremiah and this passage in 2 Peter?  Then I started reading Lamentations, and I got to one of my favorite verses, Lamentations 3:22-23.  It started to make sense to me.  God's endless mercy is evidence of His love; His faithfulness is shown by the mercies that are new every morning.  This uplifting testimony was written by Jeremiah the "weeping prophet", who expressed deep grief and sorrow for the sinfulness of God's people and the impending destruction of Judah.

Hymn writer Reginald Heber wrote these words in the early 1800s:

Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.

Jeremiah tried to show God's glory to the people in Judah, but their eyes were blinded because of their sin.  He tried desperately to get his countrymen to repent, to turn from their sins and to obey God, to no avail.  How discouraged Jeremiah must have been!  Like Stephen, Jeremiah spoke the truth, and although Jeremiah was not martyred for his message, it must have broken his heart every time he spoke God's truth and it fell on deaf ears.

There were three different times in Jeremiah's ministry when people came to him specifically asking for God's guidance.  When the message from God was not what they wanted to hear, these people went their own way, continuing in their disobedience.  Not only that, but they persecuted Jeremiah for not being more positive and upbeat.  Talk about shooting the messenger. 

Pashhur the Priest

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Machiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maasieah, saying, "Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us."  Then Jeremiah said to them: "Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are beseiging you outside the walls.  And I will bring them together into the midst of this city.  I Myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.'"  (Jeremiah 21:3-5)

The people had heard of the power of God.  They knew the story of God delivering them through Moses at the Red Sea.  They had heard of God fighting through Joshua to secure the land of Israel for their forefathers.  Every story that they brought to mind was when God had intervened for the benefit of His people.  They were looking for a similar message from Jeremiah: tell us, O man of God, how God will use His power to deliver us.

Unfortunately, God's message was not one of deliverance this time.  The word that came to Jeremiah was not that God would fight for them; it was quite the opposite--that because of their sinful hearts, God would fight against them.

How often do we hear the world misrepresent the nature of God? "God is love," they might say, "so why is there suffering, or famine, or war?"  They presume that if God loved as they think of love, that He would always work for good.  In his famous sermon called Sinners In The Hand Of An Angry God Johnathan Edwards said, "The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.”

Jeremiah even gave them an out.  

And to the people you shall say: "Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.  He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war.  For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire."  (Jeremiah 21: 8-10)

What was the priest's response?  "Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin gate of the house of the Lord." (Jeremiah 20:2)  Jeremiah then condemned Pashhur, saying the Lord did not call his name Pashhur (which means "Freedom"--ironic, isn't it, that a man named Freedom would beat and imprison the prophet of God.)  Instead, God called him "Terror on Every Side". 

When word got back to the king what Jeremiah had said, Zedekiah had Jeremiah thrown in prison (32:3) and then tried to sneak out of the city under cover of darkness (39:4) before being captured by the Babylonians, who killed Zedekiah's sons in front of him, then gouged out his eyes so that the death of his children was the last image he would see.  If only he had listened to Jeremiah, Zedekiah could have been spared.  The Babylonians would have taken him and all of Judah into exile, sure, but he would have been allowed to live in the court of the king of Babylon and eat from his table.

Hananiah the Horrible Liar

A brief word here may be in order.  Jewish literature is not always in chronological order.  You may have noticed in the example above that the account of Pashhur beating Jeremiah (chapter 20) came before the account of the prophecy of Jeremiah that earned him the beating (chapter 21).  This may have something to do with the accounts first being passed down orally, from one generation to another, before being written down on a scroll.  Imagine a grandfather telling the story of Jeremiah 20 to his grandchildren.  "Then there was the time that Jeremiah was beaten and put in the stocks."  A child might interrupt, "But grandpa, why was Jeremiah beaten?"  The old man might reply, "Well, let me tell you: King Zedekiah sent Pashhur the priest to ask if God might deliver them, and Jeremiah said no.  That was not what they wanted to hear."

A more concrete example of the book of Jeremiah being written in thematic rather than chronological order would be the story of the false prophet Hananiah, found in chapter 28.

In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Axxur, the prophet from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.  Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon.  I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, declares the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." (Jeremiah 28: 1-4)

Now, we know that Zedekiah had already been identified as king of Judah back in chapter 20 and 21.  The point Jeremiah was making was that Hananiah was a false prophet.

And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie.  Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth.  This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.'"  In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died." (Jeremiah 28:15-17) 

Johanan and Jezaniah call Jeremiah a Liar

Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaniah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the Lord your God for us, for all this remnant--because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us--that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing we should do."  Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard your.  Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and whatever the Lord answers I will tell you.  I will keep nothing back from you." Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the Lord your God sends you to us.  Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God." (Jeremiah 42: 1-6)

Notice the use of pronouns here.  The men come to Jeremiah, and ask him to pray "to the Lord your God."  Jeremiah puts it back on them: don't you mean the Lord your God?  I can see them shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other before awkwardly admitting, "Yes, you're right, the Lord our God."

Except they had no intention of following God's instructions.  Jeremiah prayed for 10 days (verse 7) and came back with this word from God: stay put.  "If you will remain in this land," he told them, "then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plan you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you." (verse 10).  He tells them not to fear the king of Babylon, "for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand." (verse 11).  He goes on to tell them not to go to Egypt, because if they do, the sword will follow you there, as the king of Babylon will also take Egypt into exile.

During the ten days that Jeremiah was praying, the men must have been planning to go to Egypt, because they did not accept Jeremiah's message to them.  In fact, Johanan said to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie.  The Lord our God did not send you to say, 'Do not go to Egypt to live there'." (42:3)  How often do we ask God to validate our own plans, instead of waiting to know God's plan?  Ten days must have seemed like an eternity for them.  It is also ironic that this was the message that Pashhur and Zedekiah were looking for earlier--if God had told them to stay put, that the king of Babylon would let them stay in Judah, they would have been overjoyed, and they would not have beaten Jeremiah or put him in prison.

Jeremiah was always true to the word of God, whatever the consequences.  He knew that God was faithful, that His mercies were new every morning.  He also knew what the Apostle Peter would write centuries later: 

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.  For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10-11)

 Jeremiah was true to his calling, despite his circumstance and in spite of the consequences.  He knew that his only hope was in obedience to God.  As Jonathan Edwards said in the sermon quoted earlier, “What are we, that we should think to stand before Him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?”  God is sovereign, and if He wants us to walk with Him in suffering, we know our reward is great.

The world may not think this part of obeying God is part of a "wonderful plan" promised in 1970s gospel tracts.  Thankfully, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has changed the wording in the booklets.  They now say, "God loves you, and wants you to experience His peace and life."  So many worldly minded people say, "I just want to live my life," meaning live without interference from any authority, much less from God or the Church.  Little do they know that they cannot live their life in a vacuum.  One day they will stand before God.  When that day comes, what will their answer be?

I, for one, would like to hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  Those are the words Jeremiah heard when he went on to glory.  It made all his preaching, all his persecution, all his perseverance worth it in the end.

He loved me to death

 

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to the the propitiation for our sins.  --1 John 4:10

How can we describe the love of God?  It's hard to describe in the current age of cheap grace.  We grew up reciting John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..." but our attention span is so short that we stop reading before we get to the part about "whosoever believes in Him."  The part that sticks in our mind is that God loves the whole world.  That means He loves everyone, right? Meanwhile the world has redefined the word "love" to mean universal tolerance and acceptance no matter what.  Hey, we're all sinners, right? Christ died for the sins of the world, right?  So we can keep on sinning, right?

We never talk about what God hates. 

• Psalm 5:5 says God hates the workers of iniquity.
• Psalm 11:5 says God hates the wicked.
• Proverbs 15:8 says God hates the sacrifices of the wicked.
• Proverbs 15:9 says God hates the ways of the wicked.
• Proverbs 15:26 says God hates the thoughts of the wicked.

So who are the wicked?  Honestly, that's you.  It's me.  It's everybody on earth.  No matter how hard we try to be good and righteous, we still have wicked thoughts, we still go our wicked ways, we are all workers of iniquity, sacrificing ourselves to wickedness.  That's why God provided a sacrifice for us, to be a "propitiation", meaning to appease God's wrath.

With that in mind, let's look at the sacrifice God made for us.  Let's start in Genesis chapter 15.  The word of the Lord came to Abram, and Abram believed the word, "and He (God) counted it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6).  Later in that same chapter, Abram asked for some assurance of God's love, some proof that His promise would be fulfilled.  I want us to watch carefully God's response.

He (God) said to him (Abraham), "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."  And he brought Him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other.  --Genesis 15:9-10

In response, God did something incredible: He cut a covenant with Abraham. Now, cutting a covenant was an ancient ritual in which someone quite literally cut a series of animal carcasses in half and then walked through the midst of them, as if to say, “May what happened to these beasts befall me as well, should I ever break my faithfulness to you.”  We see an example of this in Jeremiah 34:18, which says, "And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts."

See, a covenant is not a contract. It’s much more open-ended than that. A covenant is a promise of faithful relationship, no matter what.  But what are we to do? In our humanity, we are sinful, wicked, worthy of death in this covenant relationship with God.

Let's look further in Genesis 15.  I think we'll see something pretty amazing.  Here we have the word of God in a physical form on one side, and on the other side we have Abraham, a believer whose only righteousness was his faith.  If Abraham had walked between the two halves, he would be bound by the covenant.  When he sinned, the covenant would be broken.  He would be doomed to become like the animals who laid dead before him.  Verse 12 says, "As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram.  And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him."  A few verses later in verse 17 we see this: "When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces."

It isn't Abram that walks between the carcasses, it's God.  God was ritually promising Abram that should He renege on His promise, He would deserve to be severed in two as well.  Here's a quote from fellow-blogger on this passage:

But in the story of Abraham’s covenant, it isn’t Abraham who walks between the beasts, is it? Abraham doesn’t say, “May I be killed if I break my promises to God.” No! Amazingly, it is the Spirit of God who passes through the bisected animals. God cuts the covenant, not Abraham. In the midst of a darkness most terrible, the fire of God appears and proclaims, not in words but in deed, “I will be with you. I will be faithful to you. And I will keep every single one of My promises to you, and yet more than these, even if it kills Me.” God here promises, brothers and sisters, to be faithful to us even unto death—not simply our death, but His own. Faithful to this covenant, faithful to this relationship, even if it kills Him. Faithful to us, even if we kill Him.

Imagine the Source of All Being, the One True God Most High, who created and sustains all things in the entirety of existence, proclaiming aloud, “I love this silly old man whom I have made so much that I will lay down everything I am and everything I have just to love him, to abide with him, to be faithful to him forever.” It’s insane. When we talk about being heirs of Abraham, my brothers and sisters, this is what we’re talking about. Not the bloodlines of Isaac and Ishmael, but a promise so powerful that the very Author of Life would lay down His own Life out of love for us. (https://rdgstout.blogspot.com/2016/02/cutting-covenant.html)

When I was in college I wrote some pretty bad poetry trying to express in words the love that God has for us.  Thinking of an old Southern expression, "I just love him/her to death!" I wrote these words:

Jesus I love You, my Savior and Friend.
You loved me to death, but that wasn't the end;
The same power that raised You still conquers sin.
And Jesus I love you again and again.

The musical group Glad wrote it much better:

And this is Love
Not that I have first loved You
And this is Love
That You have first loved me
And You give up Your life
One perfect sacrifice
And this is Love
That You have first loved me

You did not wait for me
To make myself a worthy man
You did not wait for me
To make a good and righteous stand
For there was nothing I could do
In sin I had died
Yet Your love conquered death
And raised me to Your side

Like the story in Genesis, the Gospel of John also talks about the Word of God made manifest in the flesh. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:4-5)  Like the torch that pierced the darkness in Genesis 15, passing through death to seal the covenant with the man who would later be called Abraham, Jesus was the light of life that passed through death to seal the covenant of love to all who believe.  We deserve death and hell, but like Abraham, when we believe, our faith is counted as His righteousness.

Now that's what I call love.