Birth announcements and promises fulfilled

 

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.  --Isaiah 7:14

How do you feel when you receive a birth announcement in the mail?  Are you overjoyed for the mother-to-be?  Are you amazed at the miracle of birth itself?  Or are you in awe of how the lives of the young parents will be changed?  Perhaps you recall your own experience of pregnancy and childbirth, or maybe you were not able to have children of your own; in either case, the emotions that well up can be overwhelming for some.  For others, they count it all joy when they recall experiencing the baby's first steps or his first words.

We know that Jesus had a very special birth announcement, which came even before He was conceived.  Scripture tells us that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with the news that she would fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, that "a virgin would conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called Immanuel, meaning God with us."  Further, she was told her child would be the Child of Promise as foretold in Genesis 18, during the birth announcement to Abraham and Sarah of their son Isaac.

As we study Scripture, we see that Mary was not the first to receive a prophetic birth announcement prior to conception.  There are in fact seven passages of Scripture where the birth of a son is foretold, and all of them point to Jesus in a particular way.  I want to touch on all of them today, because each announcement came with a promise, and that promise was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

Isaac

Isaac was the original "child of promise."  God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.  In Genesis 15, Abraham looks at his circumstances and starts to get worried.  "Behold," he says in verse 3, "You have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir."  God reiterated the promise of a son in the very next verse: "And the word of the Lord came to him: 'This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir."

A few years later Abraham still had no son.  He was met with a Christophany, an appearance of the pre-incarnate Jesus described as "the Angel of the Lord."  It was Jesus Himself who told Abraham in Genesis 18:10, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son."  When she heard about it, Sarah laughed.  She had reached menopause many years ago, and the thought of having a baby at her age was hilarious.  Abraham had laughed out loud as well, as we see in Genesis 17.

"I will bless her (Sarah), and moreover I will give you a son by her.  I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."  Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?  Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"  And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"   God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac.  I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."  (Genesis 17:16-19).

The name Isaac means "he laughs."  Indeed, we see Abraham literally rolling on the floor laughing when he heard the news.  God tells Abraham that it is true, then gives a promise: "I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him."  That covenant, that promise, was three-fold in nature: the promised land, the promise of descendants, and the promise of blessing and redemption.

We have untold joy and laughter, not because we are descendants of Abraham, but that through Christ we have received the blessings of the promise.  Our inheritance (the "promised land") is heaven; our descendants are those who come to know Christ by our testimony; and our blessing and redemption is through Christ Himself.

Ishmael

We saw this name mentioned in the verses above.  Ishmael was indeed Abraham's first son, but he was not the child of promise.  We see the foretelling of his birth in Genesis 16.  Sarah was jealous of her servant Hagar, because she was pregnant and Sarah was not.  Hagar ran away after Sarah mistreated her.  Hagar then experienced a Christophany of her own, when the Angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ) found her in the wilderness next to a spring of water.

And the Angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.  You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.  He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen." (Genesis 16:11-12)

 "Ishmael" means "God will hear."  The promise was that "he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren"(NKJV).  The ESV translates this phrase "he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen"; in the Amplified Bible it is rendered "he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers".  The Hebrew word pānîm, which is translated "over against" or "in the presence of" or "in defiance of" could be translated "in your face".

When Jesus was on earth, He was always,"up in the business," of the Pharisees and the spiritual leaders--that's why they hated Him enough to put Him to death.  Many times we hear the testimony of how a hardened sinner came to know the Lord.  They will often describe Jesus as being "in their face" or "all up in their business", encouraging them to repent and follow Him.  Acts 2:25 says, "For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken'."

Samson

Let's look now at Judges 13, where the wife of a man named Manoah, was visited by the Angel of the Lord.

Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children.  And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.  Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son.  No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines."  (Judges 13:2-5)

The child was named Samson, which means "like the sun".  Psalm 84:11 says, "For the Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor.  No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly."  We know that Samson did not always walk uprightly, and that his blessing was taken away because of his sin.  But the promise was fulfilled, that he would begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

The promise is fulfilled further through Jesus, who not only saved Israel from the hand of her enemies, but saves the elect from the grip of sin and despair.  The very name Jesus (Hebrew yeshua, derived from the name Joshua) means "Jehovah is Salvation."

Samuel

Hannah was a godly woman who prayed earnestly for a child.

She (Hannah) was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.  And she vowed a vow and said, "O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your servant and remember me and not forget Your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head."  As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.  Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved and her voice was not heard.  (1 Samuel 1:10-13)

Eli was the priest at Shiloh, serving at the Tabernacle of the Lord.  He saw a woman in dire straits, and at first thought she was drunk.  When she explained to him that she was not, he said to her, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to Him."

Samuel means "His name is God" and the promise is that he was the answer to Hannah's prayers.  The  parallel with Jesus is obvious: He is God; He is the answer to our prayers.  Ultimately Jesus is the answer to Hannah's prayers, and to thousands after her who prayed for a Messiah.

Josiah 

Jereboam was an evil king in Israel.  He was the first king of the divided kingdom: Israel in the north, and Judah to the south.  Jerusalem was the center of worship, and it was in the Southern Kingdom.  Jereboam stopped all pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and set up golden calves to worship, one at Behel and one in Dan.  An unnamed prophet foresaw that Jereboam would have a son called Josiah, and that Josiah would tear down the idolatrous altars.

And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel.  Jereboam was standing by the altar to make offerings.  And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, "O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'  And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: 'Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out'."  (1 Kings 13:1-3).

The king did have a son and his name was Josiah, just as had been promised.  Josiah did, in fact, kill the false priests and burned their bones on the altars.  Josiah means "whom Jehovah heals."  Part of the ministry of Jesus was that he came healing.  Matthew 11:4-5 says, "And Jesus answered them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them'."  

The son of the Shunamite woman

The prophet Elisha often stayed in the home of a wealthy woman in Shunem.  She would feed him and give him lodging.  Elisha inquired what he could do for her.  She lacked for nothing, except that she had no son, and her husband was old.  He called her and gave her this message: "At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son." (2 Kings 4:16).  This was the prediction of the child's birth by the prophet, which is why it is listed here.

There was no express promise made, but what happened later was telling.  The child went to his father in the field, and complained of terrible headache.  The child was carried home, where he died.  The woman, heartbroken, sent for Elisha.  Elisha came and laid his hands on the child.  Miraculously, the child was raised from the dead.  This whole story is a precursor to the life of Jesus, who was Himself raised from the dead.

John the Baptist

Finally, we come to a story we are perhaps more familiar with.  Zechariah was a priest, serving in the Temple at Jerusalem.  He and his wife Elizabeth were older, and they had no children.  An angel of the Lord appeared to him, and told him he would have a son.  We are not sure whether this was the Angel of the Lord (Christophany) mentioned in the Old Testament, or an unnamed angel serving as the messenger.  Not only did he tell Zachariah that a child would be born, but that his name would be John.

"John" means "Jehovah is a gracious giver".  The promise was that "you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth." (Luke 1:14).  John, of course, was sent as a forerunner of Jesus, to "make straight the path of the Lord."  I don't think it is pressing the issue too much to say that John's predicted birth, like those of Isaac, Ishmael, Samson and the others was a sign and a symbol fulfilled in the birth and life of Jesus.

Jesus brought joy and gladness, and many rejoiced at His birth.  He brings joy and laughter, and establishes a covenant with us.  He gets up in the face of sinners and scoffers.  He saves Israel from her enemies.  He is the answer to our prayers.  He tears down altars and strongholds.  He was raised from the dead.  Every story in the Bible points to Jesus.  He is the fulfillment of all the Scriptures, not just the seven we mentioned.  These are just examples of the fulfillment of the covenant, of the promise of God.

The very soul of God

 

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 power, in love, and purity.  --Reginald Heber (1826).

When a person is shocked or surprised, he may make an exclamation invoking holiness.  According to Wikipedia, the phrase "Holy Cow!" may have been adopted as a means to avoid using obscene or indecent language.  It may have been based on the general awareness of the holiness of cows in some religious traditions like Hinduism.  A similar phrase would be "Holy Moses," referring to the biblical figure so important in Jewish and Christian tradition.  This may have been shortened to "Holy Moly" not only because it rhymes, but also because more conservative religious people thought that invoking Moses or other saints was tantamount to idolatry, or perhaps was disrespectful of the saints whose names were invoked.

Other examples from Catholic tradition include "Holy smoke", referring perhaps to the selection of a new Pope; "Holy mackerel" from the tradition of eating fish on Fridays; and even "Holy mother of God", referring of course to the Virgin Mary.  A more obscure reference is made in the phrase "Holy Toledo", as it refers to the city in Spain which was a center of three competing religions a millennium ago.

In today's study, I want to attempt to gaze at the very soul of God.  When we try to peek behind the curtain to see who God is, we are immediately blinded by the intense light of His holiness.  Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, said, "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?"  Isaiah 6:1-5 says,

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train his His robe filled the temple.  Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet and with two he flew.  And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.  So I said, "Woe is me, for I am undone!  Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

What struck Isaiah immediately upon encountering the holiness of God was his own sinfulness.  R.C. Sproul wrote in The Holiness of God, "God's grace is not infinite.  God is infinite, and God is gracious. We experience the grace of an infinite God, but grace is not infinite. God sets limits to His patience and forbearance.  He warns us over and over again that some day the ax will fall and His judgment will be poured out."

We see this judgment being poured out in our text today, from Judges chapter 10, beginning in verse 6:

Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; and they forsook the Lord and did not serve Him.  So the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon.  From that year they harassed and oppressed the children of Israel for eighteen years--all of the children of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, in Gilead.  Moreover the people of Ammon crossed over the Jordan to fight against Judah also, against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was severely distressed.  (Judges 10: 6-9)

According to Matthew Henry's commentary, it appears as if Israel's chief trade was to import deities from all countries.  "It is hard to say whether it was more impious or impolitic to do this. By introducing these foreign deities, they rendered themselves mean and despicable, for no nation that had any sense of honor changed their gods."  Since Israel had turned their hearts from the one true God, there was no distinction between them and the nations around them.  Idolaters from Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon and Philistia found comfort in the temples that Israel had erected for these false deities.  The foreigners would take root there, and Israel found that strangers would devour their strength.  "If they did it in compliment to the neighboring nations, and to ingratiate themselves with them, justly were they disappointed; for those nations which by their wicked arts they sought to make their friends by the righteous judgments of God became their enemies and oppressors. In quo quis peccat, in eo punitur-Wherein a person offends, therein he shall be punished." (Matthew Henry).

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Moses, Joshua, and Gideon--this God did not become one of the several that Israel worshiped.  Instead, they turned their backs on Him entirely.  "They forsook the Lord," Scripture says, "and did not serve Him at all."  Again from Matthew Henry: "Those that think to serve both God and Mammon will soon come entirely to forsake God, and to serve Mammon only. If God have not all the heart, he will soon have none of it."

A Humble Confession

Here is where we begin to see the heart of God.  Verse 10 says, "And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord saying, "We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals." Sproul writes:

When we understand the character of God, when we grasp something of His holiness, then we begin to understand the radical character of our sin and hopelessness. Helpless sinners can survive only by grace. Our strength is futile in itself; we are spiritually impotent without the assistance of a merciful God. We may dislike giving our attention to God's wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God's nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace. Even Edwards's sermon on sinners in God's hands was not designed to stress the flames of hell. The resounding accent falls not on the fiery pit but on the hands of the God who holds us and rescues us from it. The hands of God are gracious hands. They alone have the power to rescue us from certain destruction.

The people of Israel found themselves again oppressed and enslaved by pagan peoples.  They realized the double-sin: forsaking God, and serving other gods. They repented from the first, but not necessarily the second when they cried out to God.  In his book Night Driving: Notes From a Prodigal Soul, Chad Bird writes: 

Jeremiah diagnosed our ailment long ago: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).  If our hearts were only deceitful or only desperately sick, that would be tragic enough. But the alliance of the two is deadly.  The Hebrew word for "deceitful" is the same root in the name of that devious patriarch Jacob, whose life is punctuated with grasping, self-serving lies.  The Hebrew word for "desperately sick" is better translated as "beyond remedy" or "incurable."  It describes hearts no merely afflicted with clogged arteries in need of a spiritual stent or two.  There's no plumbing the depths to which our hearts have fallen.  None of us like this unflattering description of ourselves.  We spend most of our lives in an ongoing state of denial about our true condition.  We're like chain-smoking couch potatoes who keep boasting about the marathons we'll run.  The deceitful heart achieves that goal easily.  It is, as John Calvin described it "a perpetual factory of idols."  

A Humbling Message

I remember when Muslim extremists hijacked airplanes on 9/11 and carried out a number of attacks on American soil, Americans cried out to God.  There was a short spike in church attendance, as more Americans cried out to God for help.  Unfortunately this new-found religion was short lived.  Within a few weeks, church attendance settled back into its previous level.

God knows the hearts of men.  His response is therefore reserved.

So the Lord said to the children of Israel, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines?  Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand.  Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods.  Therefore I will deliver you no more.  Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.  (Judges 10:11-14)

 Sproul writes, "Every sin is an act of cosmic treason, a futile attempt to dethrone God in His sovereign authority."  God is perfectly justified in His response.  Time after time He had come to their rescue, and time after time they had forsaken Him and served other gods.  They did not deserve grace now, no matter how sincere their cries.  Chad Bird writes:

To realize the heart of our problem is to also realize the heart of God's solution.  But it's not what we might first imagine.  We might suppose that our Lord, seeing us struggle with false worship and its manifold fruits in our life, pumps strength into our hearts so we fight free of our attachment to lies.  Or that He's like a life coach who teaches us how to rid ourselves of harmful practices so we can begin to live to His glory.  The fatal flaw? Both these views of how God works are only slight amendments of the fiction that we're capable of redeeming our lives no matter how bad things become.  All that's different is we've added "with God's help."  With God's help, we will conquer our obstacles.  With God's help, we will redeem any tragedy our lives become.  God, however, is not here to help us.  He is not our assistant, our coach, or our motivator.  He is here to do for us what we cannot, and will not, do for ourselves.  Part of how He does this is by launching a full-scale assault against the temple of our hearts.

Man's nature is not so much fickle as it is hypocritical.  We turn to God when we need Him most, but when things are going well for us we forget about Him and follow our own desires.  Why should God think our prayers and petitions are sincere if we were not faithful to Him all along?  What's to keep us from falling again into sin and debauchery?  What is the guarantee?  In the Christian world view, Christ is our guarantor, for it was He who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.  Yet how often do we turn our backs on Christ, as well?  This is why true repentance is of paramount importance.

A Humble Submission to God's Justice, and a Humble Plea For His Mercy

"And the children of Israel said to the Lord, 'We have sinned!  Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.'  So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord.  And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel." (Judges 10:15-16, emphasis added).

One of the purest signs of true confession is the admission that our sin deserves punishment.  Until we come to the realization of God's holiness, we cannot begin to fathom the depths of His grace.  Sproul says, "When God's justice falls, we are offended because we think God owes perpetual mercy. We must not take His grace for granted. We must never lose our capacity to be amazed by grace."

Let's take another peek at the soul of God, after putting on the sunshades of grace.  At what point is God's soul ever grieved?  Genesis 6:6 says, "And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart."  Our sin grieves God's heart.  There is no other way to put it.  Our actions are grievous to Him.  And yet He delivers us.

Psalm 106:42-45 says, "Many times He delivered them; but they rebelled in their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.  Nevertheless He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; and for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies."  Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:22-23, "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

Remember the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15?  When he came to himself, the son desired to repent, but he knew that the father had every right to refuse him.  Jesus gave us some insight into the heart of God the Father, as we read in verse 20, "But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."  This is the heart of God, who longs to forgive and welcome us into His holy presence.

Knowing this, we dare not grieve the Holy Spirit, which is described by Jesus as the unforgivable sin.  There will come a time when God's limited mercy will expire.   Jonathan 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."

Repent and believe, and God will rescue you.  Repent now, while there is still time.  

Accountability tactics

 

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.  Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.  --Galatians 6:1

If you work in the corporate world, you are probably familiar with annual reviews.  A manager or supervisor will usually have one-on-one conversations with each individual team member, examining strengths and weaknesses.  Each employee is held accountable to how well they have achieved the goals of the business, and the steps that he or she needs to take to meet those goals.

It is during these evaluations that decisions are made on whether to reward the employees with pay raises or bonuses.  It can also go the other way; during performance reviews, the manager may inform the employee that he or she is not meeting goals or performing up to standard.  In some cases, steps can be outlined that, if certain business goals or functions are not met, could result in reprimand or even termination.

In Joshua 22:1-6 we see a kind of evaluation of the tribes of Israel, especially those to whom Moses had promised a possession on the east side of the Jordan River.  For context, we can look back to Numbers 22.  Before the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River to enter into the promised land, leaders of two of the tribes looked at the fertile plain they were standing on and said to themselves, "I don't know about Canaan, but this land looks pretty good to us."  They had a great number of flocks and herds, and the fields on the east side of the river (in present day Jordan) were good for grazing.  So they went to Moses and asked to be excused from the rest of the group.  "If we have found favor in your sight," they said in Numbers 32:5, "let this land be given to your servants for our possession.  Do not take us across the Jordan."

Moses promised that they could settle in and possess this land, but that their men of fighting age must go across the river and help drive out the Canaanites.  Only after the whole of Canaan was conquered could they return to their chosen allotment east of the Jordan.  It is in this context that, after the conquest of Canaan, Joshua gave this report.

At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you.  You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God.  And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them.  Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.  Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul."  So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.  --Joshua 22:1-6

So they were given a good performance review by their leader.  They had done all that both Moses and Joshua had asked of them.  Future goals were given as well--to continue to observe the Law of Moses, love God, and obey Him.  It was like the Company president telling the Eastern Division, "Well done.  You have met or exceeded all expectations.  Going forward, let's keep these standards in mind."

Further on in the narrative, the two and a half tribes went back toward their homesteads.  When they got to the Jordan River, they decided to build a memorial.  Joshua 22:10 says, "And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size."

When the other 10 tribes heard about it, they despaired.  Why would our brothers build this huge altar on the boundary of our land unless they were going to use it to offer sacrifices?  First, God had commanded that sacrifices only be made at the Tabernacle, which is located in Shiloh.  Sacrifices made anywhere else are a violation of God's law.  Second, if you intend to make sacrifices somewhere else, it stands to reason that you would be sacrificing to other gods and not to the God of Israel.  That's even worse than the first sin, like ten times worse.  What should we do about it?

The call for civil war

Verse 12 says, "And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them."  Remember, they had just finished a military campaign across the whole region where they were directed by Joshua and by God Himself to take no prisoners.  They were to totally destroy all the idolaters and people in the region who served other gods.  And now they find out that their brothers, their fellow Israelites, may have gone to the other side and started living in idolatry themselves.

God calls us to go to great lengths to keep ourselves pure and to hold our brothers accountable.  "Iron sharpens iron," Proverbs 27:17 says, "and one man sharpens another."  Jesus said, "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.  Pay attention to yourselves!  If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him." (Luke 17:1-3).

In Luke 12, Jesus told a parable about staying faithful, because one day you will be held accountable.  He said it was important to stay ready, for the master could come at any time.  If the master comes in the evening or even in the middle of the night, and finds the servant alert and ready, the servant will be blessed.  "You must also be ready," Jesus said, "for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  Peter then asks if this is a general parable for everyone, or if it was meant especially for the disciples?  Jesus then continues the story, saying that if the master finds his servants faithful, then he will bless them.  But if the servant stops being faithful because the master is delayed, and becomes violent, and gets fat and lazy or even drunk, then "The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him into pieces and put him with the unfaithful." (Luke 12:46).  Jesus goes on to say that the man who knows what to do and disobeys will receive a severe beating, unlike the one who sins but didn't know what was expected.

These are the lengths to which God will go to hold men accountable.  These are also lengths that godly men should attend to hold their brothers accountable.

The call to choose good or evil

Although the men were prepared for war, they sent leaders from each of the ten tribes to speak with the people who had built the altar.  Their argument is reasoned, and based on wisdom and experience.

Have you left the faith?

"And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, "Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, 'What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning this day away from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord?'" (Joshua 22:16)

Examples of unfaithfulness, and the consequences that followed

"Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord?  And if you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel." (Joshua 22:17-18)

We recall that in Peor from the story in Numbers 25 was that, even after Balaam refused to curse the people, the Midianites were able to get some of the people of Israel to intermarry with them, and follow after their gods.  This resulted in 24,000 Israelites dying by the plague.  There was also a rather gruesome account of Phinehas the priest, the grandson of Aaron, driving a spear through an Israelite man and a Midianite worman who were engaging in sexual activity near the altar of God in the Tabernacle.  This was the terrible sin that the leaders of Israel were trying to avoid, because the consequences would involve the whole nation, not just the ones that had turned to other gods.  

"Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel?  And he did not perish alone for his iniquity." (Joshua 22:20).  This refers to the time after Jericho fell, and the fighting men of Israel turned their sights on the much smaller village of Ai.  In a battle they should have won, they instead were chased away.  Not only did they suffer an embarrassing defeat, but 36 men died.  Why?  Because Achan had taken some booty from the ruins of Jericho, things that God had said to destroy.  Achan hid these spoils under his tent, only to confess and suffer capital punishment after the men had been turned back from the first battle of Ai.

Please return to us, even if it requires sacrifice on our part

"But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us.  Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God." (Joshua 22:19).  These leaders pleaded with their brothers to turn their backs on idolatry.  Even if it meant losing their land and possessions east of the Jordan, it was worth it if they repented and turned back to the Lord their God.  The people of Israel were willing to share--that is, divide their own property and possessions with the tribes that they thought had strayed.  This would, of course, mean that their own inheritance would be smaller, but it would be worth it to avoid the greater punishment from the wrath of God.

The call for us today

How many of us would be willing to reach out to a fallen brother, to beg him to repent?  More than that, how many of us would be willing to share our own possessions, our own stuff to give a brother or sister a second chance, to entice them to leave all of their stuff and their past behind?  Most telling of all, who among us would be willing to go to war to save the souls of those who have gone astray?

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4:-10, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.  For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!"  Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1-2 says, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.  Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.  Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all at the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.  Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.  Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.  Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play."  We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.  We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.  Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.  Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. --1 Corinthians 10: 1-13

Our story in Joshua 22 has a happy ending.  The tribes with the possession east of the river said they did not intend to make sacrifices on this altar, but that they had built it as a memorial.  They did not want their children to be cut off from Israel, whose own children may someday say, "The promised land is on this side of the river, so you all are cut off."  I think there is also a lesson for us to not fall into temptation, and to hold accountable those who may be tempted to sin.  We may think we are called to fight a crusade for Christ, but in actuality a little conversation could avoid conflict, if it is done in the name of Christ. 

Jesus greater than the Law

 

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen.  --Deuteronomy 18:15

Buddhist philosopher Lau Tsu said, "When the student is ready the teacher appears.  When the student is truly ready, the teacher disappears."  John Kemeny, the Hungarian-American mathematician and computer scientist and educator who co-developed the BASIC computer language said, "It is the greatest achievement of a teacher to enable his students to surpass him."

I am 10 chapters into the book of Joshua, and find myself wondering why Joshua was never considered greater than his mentor, Moses.  Joshua was one of ten spies that Moses had sent into Canaan, but one of only two that came back with a positive report.  In Joshua chapter two, we see that Joshua sent two spies into Jericho to see their vulnerabilities.  It only takes two witnesses in Jewish law, and we all know what happens when we make decisions by committee.

In chapter 3, Joshua led the nation of Israel across the Jordan River, much like Moses had done at the Red Sea.  In my opinion, this was a more miraculous showing of God.  We all remember the Hollywood version, when the walls of water on both sides of the sea allowed just enough room for the people of Moses to cross over six or eight people abreast.  Forty years later, the Jordan River was in flood stage; yet God stopped the flow of the water miles upstream.  Verse 16 says, "The waters coming down from above (that is, from the north) stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down (toward the south) toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off.  And the people passed over opposite Jericho."  Not only did the people of Israel witness this miracle, but so did the people of Jericho, and all the cities between Adam in the north and the Dead Sea in the south.  All those people were witness to God's power, protection, and provision.

We know that Moses saw God face to face; he came into God's presence at multiple places and times from the burning bush to the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai to his death on Mount Nebo overlooking the Jordan River.  In contrast, Joshua met the pre-incarnate Christ.  Joshua 5:13-15 says:

When Jesus was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man was standing before him with His drawn sword in His hand.  And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us, or for our adversaries?"  And He said, "No; but I am the Commander of the army of the Lord.  Now I have come."  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"  And the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy."  And Joshua did so.

In chapter 7, Joshua suffers a setback because of the disobedience of the people.  Like his mentor Moses had done before him, Joshua falls on his face and pleads with God.  "Alas, O Lord God," he prayed, "why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us?" He concludes his plea by crying to God these words: "O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!  For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth.  And what will You do for Your great Name?"

We could go on and on.  Joshua 9 speaks of how Joshua dealt with deception.  In Joshua 10 Joshua held his javelin out over the battlefield (much like Moses had done with his staff before), but God extended the day so that Israel could prevail.  "The sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies." (verse 10).  "There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel." (verse 14).  So the question remains: why was Joshua not held in higher regard than Moses?

The answer is not that Moses came first, or that Joshua was blessed less.  The answer is found in Hebrews 3:3, which says, "For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses--as much more glory as the builder of the house has more honor than the house itself."  Neither Moses nor Joshua was the greatest, because Jesus.

Jesus went through the water to fulfill righteousness

Both Moses and Joshua led the people through the water, one to escape danger and the other to inherit the land that was promised.  But only Jesus went through the water to fulfill righteousness--that is, He was obedient in every way (to the Law of God, as well as to God Himself).  This is underscored in Matthew's account of the baptism of Jesus.  "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased'." (Matthew 3:16-17)

Jesus was not baptized as a sign of repentance, as we are.  He had no sin from which to repent.  Jesus' baptism was profound, as it was witnessed by and affirmed by God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  It was prophetic, as it foretold of his death, burial, and resurrection (this is why I believe in immersion).  It was also promissory, as it signified a promise of God's grace to the elect.  The Reformed tradition holds that baptism is primarily God's promise or offer of grace to the baptized.  Baptism is said to signify union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. The baptized is made one with Christ's person, meaning God the Father treats them the same as he treats Christ. Baptism also unites the baptized with Christ's history, meaning that the person can be said to have died, been buried, and raised again just as Christ was. The baptized person's identity in Christ is based on Christ's action in baptism rather than the person's action. This union also unites Christians to one another.  Through the words of institution used in baptism, Christians are also united to each of the members of the trinity.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted

Moses led the people of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years.  The people were tempted; their hearts were hardened; they witnessed miracles by the hand of God including receiving bread from heaven.  By contrast, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan himself.  Satan used deception, tempting Jesus to turn stones into bread.  Jesus, knowing He was the Bread of Life, quoted Scripture to answer him.  Satan distorted the Law, tempting Jesus to throw himself from a pinnacle so that God would send angels to protect Him.  Jesus responded by saying it is sinful to tempt God.

Joshua lived some 40 years after subduing the Canaanites and claiming the land of Promise for the people of God, then he died.  Jesus stayed on earth 40 days after His own death and resurrection before ascending into heaven.  Acts 1:3 says, "He presented Himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God."  His message never changed.

Jesus went to the mountain to proclaim truth, then to another mountain and was transfigured

Just as Moses ascended Sinai with Joshua to commune with God, Jesus ascended a mountain twice in the New Testament, once to preach the Sermon on the Mount, and again to commune with God (as well as Moses and Elisha) and to be transfigured before disciples Peter, James and John.

Moses used the entire book of Deuteronomy to proclaim the Law of God that had been handed down to him on the mountain.  Jesus used an opportunity on a mountain to preach grace to people who had found they could not, on their own, fulfill the Law of Moses.

Moses came down from the mountain after 40 days, and his face glowed.  Scripture says he had to wear a veil in order to keep the people from turning away in fear.  When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John, "His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became dazzling white." (Matthew 17:2).  Of note, both Moses and Elijah had proteges who arguably outshone their mentors.  Both Joshua and Elisha outperformed their mentors, but Jesus outshines them all.  When Jesus was transfigured, whom did God acknowledge?  His words were, "This is my beloved Son.  Hear him."  

Moses and Elijah had very specific messages for their people in their time. Joshua and Elisha built upon the message they had heard from their teachers, and preached to a new generation. Peter, James and John would proclaim Jesus to people in their time and ministries, and would speak to generations to come through their writings.  But the One whom God exalted, whom He commanded to be heard, was Jesus.

Epiphanies past, present, and future

 

"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word."  --Psalm 119:67

The movie "Breakfast At Tiffany's" was released in 1961.  You might remember it was a RomCom (before that term was even coined, I think) and it starred Aubrey Hepburn.  Recently I saw the cartoon shown above that parody's the movie, as it is titled "Breakfast At Epiphany's".  In it, a man is shown at a diner, staring into his plate.  He says, "Oh my goodness!  These doughnuts are making me fat!"

One of the great epiphanies in Scripture is found in the story of the Prodigal Son.  You probably remember the story from Luke chapter 15, starting in verse 11.  A father had two sons, and one of the sons chafed under the father's house rules. The son wanted to go out on his own, away from his father's wisdom and protection.  For awhile, the son was living it up, relying on the riches that his father had provided for him before he left home.  Soon, though, when those provisions dried up, the son found himself in a dead-end job, hungry and alone.

Out of the pigpen of desperation, the son started thinking of how he missed his father's house--the provision, the protection, the promise of a better life.  Humbled, the son returned to the father, hoping to be allowed back as a household servant.  Much to his surprise, the father welcomed him home with open arms.  He was clothed in his father's robe, ate from the father's table, and was given the authority to act in his father's name (this was the significance of the ring mentioned in verse 22--it was probably a signet ring, adorned with the family crest.)

You might say, well, all of this could have been his all along.  If he had not turned his back on the father, if he had not lived in sin on his own, the father would have continued to love him and provide for him and bless him in ways that his sinful eyes could not see until he found himself hungry and alone, treated worse than the pigs he was hired to feed. And you'd be half-right.  The older brother, the one who did stay with the father, was not a paragon of virtue in this parable.

Jesus used this story to answer the Pharisees who had accused Him of hanging out with sinners and tax collectors.  They implied that since Jesus was eating with sinful people, He must have approved of their sins, and maybe even participated in their sinful lifestyles Himself.  One of the great things about the parables of Jesus is that they turn the tables on His accusers.  This particular parable is highly nuanced: not only does it speak to their present state of mind (and give hope to generations who came after), but it also speaks to the history of the Jewish people.

Epiphanies come at just the right time

Theodore Roosevelt is credited with saying, "If you could kick the person in the pants most responsible for your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month."  The entire Torah--the first five books of the Bible, and the only Scripture that the Pharisees recognized--is all about grace.  We think it is the Law, the books of "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not."  It's really the story of God calling His people, His people falling away (e.g. running after false gods), and God restoring them by His grace.  Israel's sons turned their backs on God, and found themselves enslaved in Egypt.  God called Moses to lead them out, but they rebelled and persuaded Aaron to build them an idol in the form of a golden calf, even while Moses was on the mountain getting the Law from God Himself.  God led them up to the border of the promised land, and the people cringed in fear because they thought it was too hard.

In Deuteronomy 30, Moses is about to die, and the nation of Israel is about to cross over into the promised land after having wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.  Under the inspiration of God, Moses predicts that, even though they are following God right now with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, the time will come when they will rebel against God again.  Thankfully when that time did come, when they did fall out of God's presence and turn their backs on His mercy, God would give them an epiphany.  By His grace He would hear their cries when they repent, and restore them to their land when they submitted themselves to His law.

And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey His voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.  If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will take you.  (Deuteronomy 30:1-4)

I think maybe this is one of the Old Testament passages that Jesus had in mind (along with many others) when He told the parable of the prodigal son (remember that it is a layered story, and speaks to many people on many different levels).  He points out that it is God who gives the epiphany.  In Luke, Jesus said the boy remembered how things were in his father's house.  In Deuteronomy Moses said they would "call to mind" the blessings of God before they had been exiled into an foreign land with an alien culture.  When the prodigal son repented, he was welcomed back into the father's house.  When Israel decided to "return to the Lord your God," and "obey His voice...with all your heart and soul," then He would "gather you again from all the peoples" where they had been scattered.  When the prodigal son found himself in hell, he had a heart change.  Ironically, Moses said "if your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven" and have heart change, God would restore them.  I don't think he was talking about heaven as in God's dwelling place; I think he was referring to the heavens as in the night sky, where they had been scattered like the stars, throughout the known universe.

The first rule of holes: when you are in one, stop digging

There are some things we should know about God.  First, He is holy and righteous.  We, unfortunately, are not.  Second, we see that He is merciful and gracious.  Again, unlike us in our sinful nature.  Third, we know that God is faithful.

A lot of people overlook the first and foremost attribute of God, His holiness.  God cannot abide sin.  He casts out the sinner; He allows us to suffer the consequences of our sin.  If we miss this, we miss the point of the gospel.  We like to think of God as merciful and gracious, because we like to be treated with mercy and grace.  There are people who say, "How could God allow people (whom He loves) to be cast into hell?" They do not recognize the great price that God paid to bring us into grace and mercy.

Lamentations 3:23 describes God as faithful. "Great is thy faithfulness," it says.  How do we know that God is faithful?  Because of what was said in Lamentations 3:22---"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning."  He has provided a way out.  He paid the ultimate price for our sin, if we could only see it and accept it.  Moses alludes to this later in this same sermon in Deuteronomy 30.

For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.  It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will ascend  to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?"  Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?"  But the word is very near to you.  It is in your mouth and in your heart, so you can do it.  (Deuteronomy 30: 11-14)

If the man in the cartoon, the one who said "This doughnut is making me fat"--if he had shrugged his shoulders and taken another bite, would it have been a true epiphany?  No!  Only if he put the fattening food down and pushed away from the table--only then would it have been a true epiphany. 

Epiphanies should always precede repentance.

This, my friends, is the message of the Gospel.  God is separated from man because of His holiness and our sin.  We cannot become sinless.  It is impossible.  Therefore God has made provision for us, by His great sacrifice, so that we can come to Him as we are and be clothed in His righteousness. Only then can we sit at His table.  It is His provision that we rely on, not ourselves.  "For by grace are you saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves--it is the gift of God.  Not of works, lest any man should boast."  We don't have to make a pilgrimage to some foreign land to encounter this sacrifice.  We don't have to crawl on our hands and knees through broken glass up the steps of some cathedral to know God's grace.  God has brought it to our doorstep.  It is called the blood of Jesus.  Romans 10:6-10 says this:

But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say?  "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

You may not feel close to God at all at this point in your life.  You may have gone your own way for years, only to find yourself at the end of your rope.  I pray that God will open your eyes, that the light will come on in your mind.  When you have that moment, that epiphany, God's light will shine on you. At this point you will have an epiphany of eternal proportions.  Moses finishes his sermon with these words from Deuteronomy 30:19.  "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live." 

John 2:12-13 says, " 'Yet even now,' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.'  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster."  Like the father in the prodigal son story, God is waiting for you to turn to him.  He will meet you where you are, not to leave you there, but to redeem you, to change your heart.

Wholehearted devotion

 

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." --Psalm 51:10 and 17

I was watching an episode of Moonlighting, a sitcom that ran from 1985 to 1989 and starred Bruce Willis.  If you are familiar with the series, you know that a lot of dialogue is two people speaking over one another.  In this particular episode, two underlings, employees of the Blue Moon Detective Agency, were trying to impress their boss (the Bruce Willis character), and were talking over one another.  Willis held up his hand, and the chatter stopped.

"What's the rule?" Willis said, sounding like a grade school teacher.

The two men hung their heads in shame, and said in unison, "No talking over each other."

"And what are we supposed to do?" Willis said, again in his teacher voice.

"Raise our hands if we have something to say," the men replied.

It was a cute scene, one that my wife (who was an elementary school teacher for years) could identify with.  I thought of that scene this week when I was reading through Deuteronomy chapter 10.  Often, I can hear God using His teacher voice when He is speaking through the Scriptures.  And if we humble yourselves, and stop trying to speak over Him, we will become like little children and soak in the lesson.

What's the rule?

Picking up in Deuteronomy chapter 10, verses 12 and 13, we kind of hear God using the Socratic method in His teaching.  The difference is that when He asks a question, He immediately supplies the answer.

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God required of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding today for your good?

This same question is found in Micah 6:8, which says, "He has told you, O man, what is good: and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly before your God?"

God is giving the people instruction for living through the words of Moses.  "What does God require?"  How many times have we asked God to show us His will in certain situations?  When Moses poses the question, he gently prods the people.  It is as if he was saying, "Come on, you know."  Fear God.  Walk in His ways.  Love Him completely.  Serve Him exclusively, joyfully, and zealously.  Realize that the consequences of following His statutes are for our good.  It will result in justice, kindness, and humility.

And why do we behave this way?

God is holy

Deuteronomy 10:14 says, "Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it."  In short, God is greater than we are, and He deserves our obedience.  1 Kings 8:27 says, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built?"

Nehemiah 9:6 says, "You are the Lord, You alone.  You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships You."  Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein."

God is great, and His greatness exceeds our capacity to comprehend Him.  Nevertheless, He desires communion with us.

He chose us

Deuteronomy 10:15 says, "Yet the Lord set His heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day."  In Isaiah 66:1-2 we see these words: 

Thus says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you should build for me, and what is the place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord.  But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word.

In the same way that God chose Israel out of all of the nations of the earth to be blessed in the Old Testament, we also see that He has chosen His Church, His elect, throughout the New Testament.  In John 15:16, Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you."

In 2 Timothy 2:10 Paul said, "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."  1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 says, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you (emphasis added)."

He chose us to praise Him.  He chose us to serve Him.  He chose us to share the Gospel message with the whole world.  Given this awesome and terrifying commission, how then should we respond?

The heart of the matter.

Deuteronomy 10:16 says, "Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn."  We all know that circumcision was a sign given to the Jews to show that they were set apart, obedient to the will of God.  But God didn't just want an outward sign of obedience.  Circumcision was not intended to be a duty, something to check off on some divine list.  God desires a heart change.

Ezekiel 36:26 says, "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 I will give you a heart of flesh."  He wants to take away our hardened hearts, and give us hearts that are softened by His Spirit.  Softer hearts are more concerned with other people than ourselves.  Softer hearts are more vulnerable, more prone to being broken; but isn't that what sacrifice is all about?  Can you see God's heart in the sacrifice He made for us?  Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?"

Psalm 9:1 says, "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds."  Psalm 19:14 says, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."  Joel 2:12-13 says, "Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster."

In Matthew 5:8, Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."  In Luke 6:45, Jesus said, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasures produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."  We who are saved have an innate desire to please Him, to do good in His name.  It all starts with a new heart.

Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."  We must follow Him and serve Him wholeheartedly.

Forget Me Not

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.  --Psalm 103:1-4

The flower in the image above is called a "Forget-Me-Not".  Traditionally, this flower represents remembrance.  It also carries several other meanings, including true love, devotion, and royalty.  All of these themes are brought out in our study today.

In the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses preaches a sermon to the people.  He calls them to be faithful; when they fall away, he calls them to seek forgiveness; and at all times he urges them not to forget.

Be Faithful

Moses begins by reminding the people of the faithfulness of God.  He urges them, in turn, to remain faithful to God.  Let's pick up his discourse in verse 5:

See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commended me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.  Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear of all these statutes, will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."  For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon Him?  And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:5-8).

When Moses spoke these words, the people had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  All of the people who had escaped Egypt had died, except for Moses, Joshua, and Caleb.  They did not see first-hand how God had split the Red Sea.  They had heard their fathers speak of it.  Yet this generation had experienced God leading them in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  They did have a first-hand experience of God going before them and striking fear in their enemies across the Jordan, because of military victories they had won in the trans-Jordan areas. 

Many years later, in 2 Samuel 7:23, David says, "And who is like Your people Israel, the on nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be His people, making Himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before Your people, whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, a nation and it's gods?"  David remained faithful generations after God led Moses to deliver Israel out of Egypt.  He still believed.

Jesus alludes to this kind of faithfulness when He appeared to Thomas in John 20.  Thomas saw Jesus' resurrected body, and he believed.  Jesus said in verse 29, "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Sometimes people cannot see beyond their own circumstances.  Even then, even in times of trouble, we are to remain faithful.  Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."  Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."  Psalm 145:18 says, "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth."

James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."  To those who would fall away because of trouble, 2 Peter 2:21 says, "For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them."  Be faithful, my friend.  God is with you, even in the dark times.

Ask Forgiveness

Moses knew that the people would not always remain faithful.  He recognized that human nature often leads men astray.  He continues his sermon emphasizing the dangers of idolatry.  However, knowing the hearts of men, he prophetically predicted Israel's predicament when they would turn from the one true God and begin to worship idols from other countries and cultures.

Even so, Moses knew the nature of God:  He is faithful, and He is forgiving.  So when the people did eventually find themselves estranged from God and wrapped up in idolatry, Moses advised them to seek God's forgiveness.

But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.  When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey His voice.  For the Lord your God is a merciful God.  He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them. (Deut 4:30-33)

Generations later, after God sent the people of Israel into exile for their idolatry, He raised up Nehemiah.  In the book that bears his name, chapter 1, verses 8 and 9 ,Nehemiah prayed, "Remember the word that You commanded Moses, saying 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to Me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make My Name dwell there'."

Isaiah 55:6-7 says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."  Jeremiah 29:13-14 says, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore you fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the  places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

2 Chronicles 30:9 says, "For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land.  For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away His face from you if you return to Him." Nehemiah 9:31 says, "Nevertheless, in Your great mercies You did not make an end of them or forsake them, for You are a great and merciful God."

God even shows mercy to people other than the nation of Israel.  Jonah 4:2 "And he prayed to the Lord and said, 'O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster."  I think that the story of Jonah is a type and shadow of the message of the Messiah being open to the Gentiles.  Paul said in Philippians 1:6, "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."  The work of Christ was to bring all men to the Father.  We are tasked with continuing the work of Christ in the world.  We may be discouraged, but we remember that 1 Chronicles 28:20  says, "Then David said to Solomon his son, 'Be strong and courageous and do it.  Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you.  He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished'."

Do Not Forget

Got is faithful, and He calls us to faithfulness, even if we have fallen.  We have a great legacy in Scripture, evidence of God working in days past.  If we remember His works, we will not be discouraged or fall into despair. Moses continues his sermon in Deuteronomy 4:33-39

Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?  Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?  To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.  Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might discipline you. And on earth He let you see His great fire and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.  And because He loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with His own presence, by His great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

Jeremiah 32:21 says, "You brought Your  people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm, and with great terror."  Isaiah 45:5, 18, and 22 says, "I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip  you, though you do no know me...For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (He established it; He did not create it empty, He formed it to be inhabited!); 'I am the Lord, and there is no other'....'Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!  For I am God, and there is no other'."

Isaiah 46:9 says, "Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me."  Jesus preached the same message.  Mark 12:32 says, "And the scribe said to Him, "You are right, Teacher.  You have truly said that He is one, and there is no other besides Him."

This Spring, as you plant your flower gardens, remember the significance of the Forget-Me-Not flower.  It is a remembrance, yes.  But it also denotes our true love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as well as our devotion, and His royalty.