How does your garden grow?

 

A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.  --English proverb

Spring is here.  Yesterday my wife and I fired up the lawnmower for the first time this season.  Soon, we may clean out the flower boxes, and take a hoe to the flower beds around our house.  We may even plant some new flowers, or try our hand at growing vegetables.

We don't normally have time or patience to have a beautiful garden.  We haven't had much luck growing our own vegetables, either; it is too time consuming and labor intensive.  We are grateful for neighbors who are able to grow beautiful flower gardens, and for farmers who are able to successfully grow vegetables.

Many of the people that Jesus came in contact with were farmers.  There was a greater connection to the land in the hills of Judea than we see in our cities today.  That's why many of the parables of Jesus dealt with sowing and growing, with feed and seed, with bearing good and bad fruit.  We see this clearly in two passages in Matthew chapter 13.  I would like for us to take a closer look at them today.

The first is called the Parable of the Sower, found in verses 3 through 9.

A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, were they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched.  And since they had no root, they withered away.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears, let him hear.  --Matthew 13:3b-9

The first and best commentary we read on the meaning of this parable is from Jesus Himself.  The disciples asked Him to explain.  In His explanation, Jesus discusses four types of soil, which can be said to describe the hearts of those who hear the Word.

Stay off the beaten path

"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.  This is what was sown along the path." (Matthew 13:19).  Sadly, this describes most of the world today.  Matthew 7:13 says, "Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy (some manuscripts read "For the way is wide and easy") that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many."

In his commentary entitled Four Sowings and One Ripening, Alexander MacLaren wrote, "It represents the case of men whose insensibility to the word is caused by outward things having made a thoroughfare of their natures, and trodden them into incapacity to receive the message of Christ's love."  The external pressures of daily life, pleasure seeking, and even false religion have made the heart unreceptive to the Gospel.  

This verse does not only apply to the atheist and the pagan.  It can also describe a Christian whose heart has become hardened by the world.  Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you."  Sometimes God may have to plow up our lives to make us more receptive to His word.  This process of turning over the topsoil on our lives could be painful, but the results might make us more fruitful.

On an emotional level

"As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for awhile, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away." (Matthew 13:20-21).  When the topsoil is shallow, barely covering the bedrock beneath, there is no room for growth as there is no root.

We all know people whose shallow personality will allow them to latch on to any new teaching.  They seem to embrace the message of the day, but under the light of scrutiny the message dies.  MacLaren writes, "The persons meant are those of excitable temperament, whose feelings lie on the surface, and can be got at without first passing through the understanding or the conscience. Such people are easily played on by the epidemic influence of any prevalent enthusiasm or emotion, as every revival of religion shows."

True repentance is met with sorrow, not joy.  2 Corinthians 7:9-10 says, "And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (Berean Standard Bible)

Don't choke when life gets in the way

"As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."  (Matthew 13:22).   By faith Peter was able to walk on the waves (see Matthew 14:22-33), but when he saw the wind he began to sink.  Many people who sincerely believe the word and follow Christ are ineffective in their walk because of the cares of the world.

The man has strong roots, but no fruit.  MacLaren writes, "This man is, as James calls him, a 'double-minded man.' He is trying to grow both corn and thorn on the same soil. He has some religion, but not enough to make thorough work of it. He is endeavouring to ride on two horses at once. Religion says 'either—or'; he is trying 'both—and.' The human heart has only a limited amount of love and trust to give, and Christ must have it all. It has enough for one—that is, for Him; but not enough for two,—that is, for Him and the world."

As soon as Jesus explained the Parable of the Sower, He immediately told another parable to drive home the point.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.  And the servants of the master of the house said to him, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?" He said to them, "An enemy has done this." So the servants said to him, "Then do you want us to go and gather them?" But he said, "No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn'."  --Matthew 13:24-30

The second parable expands upon the first.  Jesus first speaks of the heart of man being receptive to the word of God, but being ineffective because of the nature of the "soil", that is, the internal man.  Then He zooms out with His divine camera, showing the entire field being infiltrated from external enemies who sow the weeds of distraction and discouragement.  It is the same weed--the same cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches--but this time it is introduced into the life of the poor Christian from sources outside of himself.

MacLaren writes, "He very likely does not know that the seed is choked, and that he has become unfruitful. But he is a stunted, useless Christian, with all the sap and nourishment of his soul given to his worldly position, and his religion is a poor pining growth, with blanched leaves and abortive fruit. How much of Christ's field is filled with plants of that sort!"  Whether the weeds are sown by our own wickedness or by the Devil and his demons, the effect is the same: stunted growth and diminished fruit.

The best case scenario

"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in on case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Matthew 13:23).  What makes the soil "good"?  It is loose soil, perhaps plowed.  It has depth, with the rocks removed, i.e. the heart softened, the stone rolled away.  And a concerted effort is made to remove weeds, as described as the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.  No quarter is given to workers of iniquity who would plant doubts or raise roadblocks.

Luke 17:1-2 says, "And he said to his disciples, 'Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin'."   MacLaren writes, "The result of that reception into the depths of the spirit is that he 'verily beareth fruit.' The man who receives the word is identified with the plant that springs from the seed which he receives. The life of a Christian is the result of the growth in him of a supernatural seed. He bears fruit, yet the fruit comes not from him, but from the seed sown. 'I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' Fruitfulness is the aim of the sower, and the test of the reception of the seed. If there is not fruit, manifestly there has been no real understanding of the word."

How can we apply this to our lives?  I mentioned in the beginning that many of my neighbors have prettier flower gardens than I do.  They spend more time tending to the soil, pulling weeds and keeping critters away.  I have bird feeders in my garden, which attract both birds and squirrels.  When the demon squirrels are done, there is more birdseed on the ground than in the feeders.  If left unattended, the seed that falls from the feeders sprout into weeds in my garden.  If I wanted to make my garden more beautiful, I would pull the weeds, and remove the feeders so that the squirrels would not spread bad seed among my flowers.  In the same way, if I want my life to bear more fruit and be more attractive to the unsaved, then I would feed exclusively on the Word of God; I would remove any impediments to growth that may choke out the Word; and I would not allow outside influences to introduce foreign seed into my garden.

Faith in the Savior: The sermon preached by the thief on the cross

 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."  --Isaiah 52:7

Alistair Begg has an interesting sermon, imagining the thief on the cross at the Pearly Gates, being interviewed by the angel in charge of admission.

Think about the thief on the cross. What an immense… I can’t wait to find that fellow one day to ask him, “How did that shake out for you? Because you were cussing the guy out with your friend. You’d never been in a Bible study. You’d never got baptized. You didn’t know a thing about church membership. And yet—and yet, you made it! You made it! How did you make it?”

That’s what the angel must have said—you know, like, “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“Well, ’cause I don’t know.”

“Well, you know… Excuse me. Let me get my supervisor.”

They go get the supervisor angel: “So, we’ve just a few questions for you. First of all, are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith?”

The guy says, “I’ve never heard of it in my life.”

“And what about… Let’s just go to the doctrine of Scripture immediately.”

This guy’s just staring.

And eventually, in frustration, he says, “On what basis are you here?”

And he said, “The man on the middle cross said I can come.”

Now Pastor Begg may have been going for a laugh here, but I take exception to the idea that one minute this guy was hanging on a cross enduring torture and deriding Jesus, taunting and cursing Him, and the next proclaiming Him as the Messiah.  

Yes, I know that Matthew and Mark both report that both of the criminals crucified on either side of Jesus taunted Him with curses and slander.  But Luke makes a distinction between one criminal and the other.

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!"  But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds; this this Man has done nothing wrong."  And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into Your kingdom."  And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."  --Luke 23:40-43

Now, there are a lot of things about this story that we don't know.  For example, we don't know if Matthew and Mark were speaking in generalities, or whether they stood on the outskirts of the crowd and did not hear the private conversation between Jesus and those closest to Him.  

For his part, Luke was not mentioned among the disciples.  We do not know if he was present at the crucifixion, or if he had sources who saw it first-hand and told him about it later.  We also know that Luke was the only one that wrote about the soldiers casting lots for Jesus's clothing.  He was the one Gospel writer who noted Jesus's words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing."

So when Luke records that there was a difference of opinion between the two thieves, we can trust his testimony.  Some may cite this as an apparent contradiction in the scriptural texts, but it is easily explained by each Gospel writer having a different point of view.  It is actually evidence of the veracity of Scripture that four different people wrote from their own experience under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

But back to the penitent thief.  We do not know at what point he placed his faith in Jesus.  We don't know what experiences he had between his arrest and his execution, or what experience he had with Jesus leading up to this scene.  What we do know is that with his dying words, the unnamed thief preached a powerful sermon.  He touched on some serious doctrinal truths.

The Fear of God

The man castigated his compatriot for railing against Jesus, advising him that the fear of God meant respecting His Son.  Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."  At some point God gave this man understanding, as he recognized that even in death, he was in the presence of the Holy One.  Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus, made a similar confession in John 6:69 when he said, "And we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God."

The Curse of Sin

The man pointed out that he, and the one two crosses down, were facing justice for their crimes.  They were properly condemned for crimes against humanity.  In a broader sense, all sin separates us from God.  Paul wrote, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23).  None of us is immune to sin: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23).  Sin brings condemnation.  Jesus did not.  He said in John 3:17, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."

Jesus is Our Atonement

The man's confession of sin's curse and the fear of God led him to have faith in Jesus.  Jesus is our only hope of avoiding death and hell.  Paul wrote: 

We are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.  This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.  It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  --Romans 3:24-26

By God's grace, this man believed that Jesus was the justifier, the One who by His own death would be the propitiation for our sins, and by His sacrifice would become our atonement.  In other words, Jesus was this man's only hope of salvation.

Anticipatory Delight: The Crowd's Misguided Expectation Of The Triumphal Entry

 

This is the day which Yahweh has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Oh Yahweh, save!  Oh Yahweh, succeed!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh; we have blessed you from the house of Yahweh.  --Psalm 118:24-26 (Legacy Standard Bible)

When I was in college, especially after studying Elizabethan and Shakespearean literature, my classmates and I would often speak in pleonasms.  A pleonasm is a term for the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning, either as a fault of style or for emphasis.  For example, when we were told that we should not end a sentence with a preposition, we would say, "It is a situation up with which I will not put!"  This phrase is generally attributed to Churchill, although it is likely misappropriated.

Another phrase we loved to use was this:  "I have been looking forward to it with the greatest of anticipatory delight."  Although this might be a phrase most appropriate for, say, a child looking forward to Christmas, we did not use it in that way.  Due to the pedantic nature of the phrase, it was usually spoken satirically.  We would often express this idea sarcastically in the week leading up to final exams.

"Anticipatory delight" is the act of looking forward to something pleasant or exciting, like a vacation, a special event, or a new opportunity.  However, many times the anticipation can be even more enjoyable than the event itself.  This is described by the German word Vorfreude.

I think this spirit of anticipation was surging through the crowd at the event that we call the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  Churches all over the world will feature sermons about this tomorrow, as the beginning of Holy Week is generally called "Palm Sunday."  

All four gospels give an account of Jesus coming into Jerusalem for the final time in His life.  Even though He arrived on the back of a donkey (not a white stallion, as would befit a conquering king), He was met with a crowd of people welcoming Him as the savior of Israel.  They waved palm branches, which symbolized a victorious leader or conquering hero.  Perhaps they thought that He would throw off Roman oppression.  

They shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David" and "Hosanna in the highest."  The word hosanna is a Greek word of Hebrew origin, meaning "Lord, save!"  Perhaps it was a transliteration of a Hebrew word used by Jews in the Roman culture.

Hosanna: in the Hebrew, means "save, we pray." The word seems to have become an utterance of praise rather than of prayer, though originally, probably, a cry for help. The people's cry at the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mat 21:9, 15; Mar 11:9, 10; Jhn 12:13) was taken from Ps. 118, which was recited at the Feast of Tabernacles in the great Hallel (Psalms 113 to 118) in responses with the priest, accompanied by the waving of palm and willow branches. "The last day of the feast" was called "the great Hosanna;" the boughs also were called "hosannas." (Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words)

As I looked at various translations of Psalm 118:24, I discovered that the majority of them agree with the ESV: "Save us, we pray O Lord!  O Lord we pray, give us success."  The word success is variously translated "prosper us" or "give us prosperity."  This may, in fact, be the sentiment of the crowd that day.  

Many of them may have been in the group of 5000 that Jesus fed with five loaves and two small fish.  If Jesus was their king, they must have thought, then all of their physical needs would be met.  Others may have thought Him to be a political figure.  If Jesus would just give them independence from their Roman oppressors, then they could be more successful.  Even if Jesus was not a political figure or a benevolent ruler, His celebrity would bring them notoriety, status, or recognition among their peers.

Most of them would be sorely disappointed.

For them, the delightful anticipation of Jesus' triumphal entry was greater than the actual event.  Vorfreude indeed.  Jesus would not ascend to the throne of a third-rate middle eastern region.  He would not overthrow Roman oppression.  He would not "live happily ever after" or give them prosperity due to their proximity.

Instead, He would die for them.  He would become the sacrificial atonement for their sins, and not for theirs only, but for the sins of the entire world.  He would be the Lamb of God, who takes away our sin (see John 1:29).

Out of 59 Bible translations, only two give an alternate meaning to Psalm 118:24.  One of them is quoted above: "O Yahweh, save! O Yahweh, succeed!"  The other is the Young's Literal Translation (YLT), which says, "I beseech Thee, O Jehovah, save, I pray Thee, I beseech Thee, O Jehovah, prosper, I pray Thee."  Instead of asking God to prosper us, to make us successful, the meaning here could be a prayer that God succeed in His will, that His plan would prosper.  It could be a cry for help, for mercy, for rescue.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares 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."  Perhaps if we thought less of our own interests and success and more of God's prosperity, we might be more attuned to His will, His work, His way.  We might also be more humble.

In my daily Bible reading, I am working quickly through the minor prophets.  This morning I read from the book of Micah.

But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.  Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. --Micah 7:7-8

Jesus said in John 16:33, "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart: I have overcome the world."  Jesus promised peace, not prosperity.  In this world there will be trouble, trials, and tribulation for us.  Our minds should not take notice of these things.  Instead we should focus on God's love.  

Micah 7:18 says, "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance?  He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love."  One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Lamentations 3:22-23, which says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." 

God is faithful.  How do we know? Because of His great mercy, which is new every morning.  We deserve His wrath.  That is our default position.  It is only by His grace and mercy that we are not consumed.  When we realize this truth, we do not follow the crowd seeking fortune, fame, or freedom from oppression.  Instead we stand secure in Him, knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain (see 1 Corinthians 15:58).

One final thought.  Although we are not promised success in our every endeavor in this life, we do delight in our anticipation of our heavenly home.  One day we will be given our reward, and we will cast our crowns at the feet of Jesus.  

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. --Philippians 3:7-11

As long as we draw breath, our purpose is to know God and glorify Him, to seek His success.  The fact that it may not look like we think success should look like will not distract us from our duty.  God is sovereign, and we are His servants.

 

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.