Spoken Words vs. God's Word

On Sunday during worship I had some interesting insight, that I thought was worth digging into a bit more.  I was looking at some scripture in Exodus and Genesis, specifically about the Levites, and ran across something that grabbed my attention. 

In Genesis, as Jacob is getting ready to die, he calls his sons together and speaks prophetically over them.  I remember reading the bit about Judah, and Jacob rightly prophesies that Judah will ultimately rule over the other tribes.  Since I was looking at the tribe of the Levites, I thought I would read what Jacob said about them, and these are the verses - Genesis 49:5-7 NIV:

[5] “Simeon and Levi are brothers---their swords are weapons of violence. 

[6] Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. 

[7] Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel."

To say I was surprised would be an understatement.  I was expecting (in my poor memory of these verses) something along the line of what Jacob prophesied over Judah, that Levi would serve God, and was chosen by God for this special honor, or something positive at least.  Instead Simeon and Levi are essentially cursed, and told that they will be dispersed and lose any significance.  Wow, imagine having heard that in the presence of all your brothers!  I am sure they were rocked, they might have been mocked, and from that day forward the people of the tribe of Levi must have felt under a heavy word.  

As I was reflecting on all of this, one of our pastoral team got up and spoke an encouragement to those that had been with family over the holidays, and specifically those that had difficult situations.  As I was listening to him, I was thinking of so many people that I knew who lived under the shackles of harsh or critical words spoken about them, or over them by family members, former teachers, bosses, friends, or whoever.  Often these words become turning points, as they become internalized, and people live the rest of their lives trying to prove those words aren't correct, or they live in agreement and allow themselves to be limited by them, suffering self-esteem issues, even self-hatred.  There are those that I know that spend their lives trying to gain their parents approval, because of harsh or hurtful words that were spoken to them as children.  There are those that experience this afresh when they see family over the holidays.  I imagine that Levi, and all the Levites had a similar experience following this word being spoken over their lives, and relived it over an over again.

However, I must say that this is clearly not the end of the story for the Levites, because God had a different plan, and He had a different word He was going to speak over them.  I think the first indication of change was that Moses was born into tribe of Levi (See Exodus 2:1).  There are several references to Levites  in the story of Exodus, but rather than focus on them I want to look at how God spoke about the Levites in Numbers 3:11-13 NIV:

[11] The Lord also said to Moses, [12] “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, [13] for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.” 

What a completely different word God spoke concerning the Levites!  In fact later, as the promised land was being allotted, the Levites weren't given an inheritance of land, as noted here - Joshua 13:33 NIV: "But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he promised them."

Not only is the tribe of Levi claimed by God, "they are to be mine", He (God) is their inheritance! 

Wow, wow, wow!  What a complete change of destiny!  

This is my great encouragement today!  God's word is the only word we should listen to in our lives, concerning our destiny!  His word is the FINAL word!  He sees our true value, our true purpose, our true destiny.  Our parents, former teachers, bosses, false friends, co-workers, coaches, or whoever has spoken negative words into your life, don't have the final say!  God's word can set you free!  

I am sure that the former words of Jacob, although written in their books of Law, no longer had any weight in the lives of the Levites, after they heard God say He chose them, they were His, and He was theirs!

My prayer today is that the power of any such word, spoken over anyone I know, or who reads this, will be broken by Jesus!  For His words are simple and true.  I love You, I have chosen You and You are mine!

Amen and Amen!

Quarreling With God?

A couple of mornings ago I was reading in Psalm 95 which is an interesting Psalm.  Half of it is praising God for His greatness, and then it shifts and warns the people not to harden their hearts like the Israelites did at Meribah.  Here are the first two verses, then the shift to the second theme - Psalm 95:1-2,8-9 NIV:

[1] "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. [2] Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. 

[8] “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, [9] where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did."

I remembered a bit of the story referred to here, but also thought it would be good to reread, as clearly something significant happened at Meribah.  I was also reminded that this episode in Israel's history was referenced in the Letter to the Hebrews, and I wanted to look at that before going back to Exodus 17, which is where the encounter is described.  Here is the bit titled in my NIV "Warning Against Unbelief" from Hebrews 3:7-13 NIV:

[7] "So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, [8] do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, [9] where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. [10] That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' [11] So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' ” 

[12] See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. [13] But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."

Clearly this was a serious issue in Israel's history, and it appears to have been one of the events that caused Israel to spend 40 years in the wilderness.  Whatever happened there is described as "the rebellion (verse 7, Hebrews), and the author of Hebrews describes this as the sin of unbelief.  With this perspective I turned to Exodus 17, expecting something pretty significant, but I couldn't remember the details exactly.  Here is the total account from Moses - Exodus 17:1-7 NIV:

[1] The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. [2] So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” 

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” 

[3] But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 

[4] Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 

[5] The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. [6] I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. [7] And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

That is the whole story, and I must say I was a bit underwhelmed.  In fact, I found myself somewhat agreeing with the people in the first couple of verses, so I figured there must be a bit more to this story, so I did a bit more reading, trying to understand the context and the significance of this event, for it was referenced a couple different times.  It is important to note that this is before Mount Sinai, before the 10 commandments are given, and before the "Golden Calf" incident.  However it immediately follows the Lord providing Manna every morning, and quail every evening.  

Additionally, they were being led by God who used the pillar of cloud or fire to direct their path. They had not been in the wilderness very long, so the memory of the crossing of the Red Sea should have been fresh in their minds.  God led them specifically to Rephidim, which actually means place of beds, or rest. They were led to camp here and clearly God knew there was no water, and knew that He had promised to feed them morning and night.  The author of Hebrews calls it a time of testing, and the whole set-up was apparently, exactly that, a set-up, where the Lord could determine the state of the hearts of the people, and assess their belief.

Into this context, I started looking at the account.  From the text the conflict seems to happen in verse 2, where we are told they quarreled with Moses. They wanted water, which seems to be a very reasonable request, and they went to Moses, as God's clear representative asking for it.  The original Hebrew word, 'wayyare' here translated quarreled, is used in several other verses in scripture, and most often it is translated "contends with", however in 1  Sam 15 the word i is used to describe an ambush the people of Israel attacked the Amelakites. In other words, it is a serious and possibly one-sided conflict, more like a slaughter than an argument.  The people weren't asking nicely, in fact the possibility of the threat of physical violence could be in the realm of possibility, and they might have had stones in their hands.

When I look at this situation, it seems to me to be an accusation of unmet expectation. Now, there is some reasonableness, water is necessary for life, especially in the desert, but it is the way in which they approached the issue that seems to be the issue.  They didn't ask nicely, they didn't inquire of the Lord, they didn't wait for Him to provide, what was clearly needed and understood, they didn't pray, they demanded water, violently.  

As I was thinking through this situation, several personal situations popped into my mind where I had unmet expectations on the Lord, and I was reminded of my own actions, which could totally be labeled unbelief.  I try diligently to follow the Lord in every major decision, and there have been a few times, where following Him has led me into a difficult situation, or situation that was not what I imagined it would be.  The latter is more common.  

When God speaks into my life I am always believing it will work out for the best, and by best I mean, the best I can imagine, or more specifically "what I would like to happen".  It is probably not actually the best for me, but I am pretty self-focused and often look at my finances as a major indicator of God's provision, and blessing.  I have been led into jobs that ended, jobs where I ended up being laid off, and I remember very clearly turning to God, and saying something like, "Is this what You call provision?"  

Honestly, plenty of the time I am praying and seeking the Lord, and tying my best to humbly wait on Him, but there are times that an underlying accusation rises up, and that is the result of unbelief.  This thought that God has led me here to starve or die of thirst (figuratively), rises up and I find myself agreeing with it.  This is the same sin as the Israelites committed here in Meribah. 

If I wanted to identify these similar thoughts or actions, I could put together a list:

1) I didn't sign up for this God!

2) You clearly don't know what's best for me, so I will choose a different path!

3) I have been waiting on You for the fulfillment of this promise, but You have never fulfilled it so I am going to make it happen!

4) If you don't do this for me, I am going to walk away!

5) If You loved me...

6) I am done with this... church... job ... marriage (anything entered into while following the Lord).

I could go on and on, but I think for me this list will suffice.  The truth is there has been, and continues to be, a bit of unbelief in my life.  I don't want to wait on God (He would have surely provided water in time to save them).  I don't believe His plan is the best for me, because difficulty and struggle clearly can't be good for me (tongue firmly in my cheek on that statement).  I am too self-focused and selfish to look at the bigger picture, and I believe my own thoughts and expectations more than I believe His word and promises.  Ouch, that last one really hit home. 

So, what am I to do?  

I believe the answer can be found in Heb 3: 12-13.  I need to turn towards God, this requires repentance (literally turning my mind and heart), seek His forgiveness, and daily encourage myself, and the Body, that God is faithful, good, loving, merciful and compassionate!  

He knows my situation!  

He has a plan!  

His plan is perfect!  

I need to wait on the Lord, and put the stone  of accusation down.  

I need to believe that He will lead me and guide me. 

I need to trust Him!

I need to believe Him!

I need to do exactly what He tells me to do, nothing more, and nothing less!

I need to ask for more faith! 

God does totally get it!  He understands my situation better than I do, and He is faithful!  He is faithful to lead me, even when I choose wrongly.  He is faithful to continue to love me and direct me, even when I don't trust Him.  He is faithful to forgive me when I take matters into my own hands.  He has already taken upon Himself any punishment my actions would have earned under the Law, so I don't need to fear His punishment.  I can turn towards Him, and enter His rest, immediately!  

I certainly don't deserve this love, or faithfulness on God's part, but that is  what the Gospel is all about!  None of us deserves any goodness, faithfulness or provision, and yet God in His unbelievable mercy and love, extends the offer to us all!   

Lord, help me to recognize any area where my heart is hardened and help me turn towards You.  Forgive me for any and all unbelief that still exists in my heart and mind!  Help me to believe!  Help me to trust!  Help me to wait on Your perfect plan!

Amen!

New Revelation: Layers Of Additional Meanings

 

Last night we had a time of worship at our church.  It was a lovely time, and in the midst of it, the Lord was encouraging me in some of the some of my recent reflections to embrace fully a changed mind.  I felt Him gently drawing me back to look fully upon Him, taking my eyes off those distracting things.  As I was working through some of that I was reminded of the Story of the wayward son, found in Luke 15: 11-32.  This is one of my favorite stories and as I was rereading it I had a couple of thoughts that were completely new to me, and I believe they were just the tiniest bit of new revelation (at least to me).  I love when the Lord opens my eyes to something new, seeing a new layer of potential meaning.  It is almost like a rose just continuing to open, revealing additional layers of beauty.

Jesus was telling this parable to a mixed crowd of His followers and Tax Collectors, sinners and Pharisees ( See Luke 15:1-3), and it was the third Parable we have recorded from that day.  Any He begins the story about a wealthy Father who has two sons, and he details the failings and wanderings of the younger son, but also includes the reaction of the older son, when the younger finally comes home, and the father celebrates.  I wanted to share those verses and look at a few thoughts - Luke 15:25-32 NIV:

[25] “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. [26] So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. [27] 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 

[28] “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. [29] But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 

[31] “ 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. [32] But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' ”

What I heard last night were some additional levels to this story, that I hadn't thought of previously.  When Jesus speaks, there is usually more than one perspective, and usually deeper meanings as well as the most obvious.  

Clearly in the context of the crowd He was addressing, at first pass, the younger son represents the repentant sinners and tax collectors, those that were turning from "evil" lives to follow Him,.  The older son represented the Pharisees, those that followed the Law.  If you will, we could even go so far as saying the younger son represents the soon to be revealed New Covenant and the Gospel of Grace, the older son represents the Covenant of the Law.  While that was always a bit of an undeveloped thought for me, last night I saw it much clearer.  We could even go so far as to say the younger son represents the Gentiles, and the Older son represents the Jews.  Jesus is clearly the greatest prophet to have ever lived, and I believe He was laying the foundation for what would later be revealed and fulfilled through His sacrifice, and the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

One other thing that passed my mind was that we could possibly say that older and younger sons represent the angelic hosts and humans.  The spirit of the older son would, in this case, clearly be representing the fallen angels, for their rebellion and hatred towards God's other image bearers, man and woman.  I had never ever thought of that parallel, but I think its possible something is there worth reflecting upon. 

Additionally, another nuance I saw was the story being applied to the church today, and the new believers representing the younger son, the older son representing those that have embraced a bit of a religious spirit that has somehow convinced them that they have earned some right to payment (having things their way), or control from the Father.  In this case, the answer of the older son, "this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes" reveals an unforgiveness of the younger brother, even possibly a belief that he is tainted, or somehow is bringing his former sinful ways, or the fruit of them, back to the Father's house.  One could say that the older son feels the younger son doesn't deserve to be celebrated, and certainly not in charge of anything, until he demonstrates that his life is cleaned up, and earns the right to it.  I have unfortunately seen this attitude alive and well in the church, and even at times have had similar thoughts.  Lord forgive me!

One last thought on the older son, I also felt like he represents those of us who have judged the Lord for things not working out the way we wanted them to.  He represents those of us who have followed the Lord to the best of our ability, working and being obedient, and seeing others prosper, or be blessed, and wondering why God hasn't produced what we wanted or expected.  Ouch, that one certainly hits close to home for me.

In all of these nuances, I feel the Father's answer to the older son is an invitation to change the way he views Him, and to change the way he thinks about his situation.  The Father is celebrating the repentance (changing his thinking and actions) of the younger son, and I am sure He would celebrate the repentance of the older son as well!  The Father clearly understood the older son, and actually did the exact same thing that He did for the younger son, he went to him.  The Father's answer of intimacy "you are always with me" and promise of blessing and provision, "and everything I have is yours" have always been true, but he wants the older son to see that once again!  He is inviting the older son (those of us that are embracing this way of thinking) to lay down his offence, embrace the truth and change the way he thinks of the Father, and of his brother, who has already repented.

Oh, that we could learn to imitate the Father, celebrating the return of the lost, remember that we, too, were once lost, and embrace the invitation to intimacy and promise of blessings available to us!  Lord, help us to represent Your heart to all we meet, sinner or fellow brother or sister in this Your family.  Help us to lay down our wrong judgments, our wrong ways of thinking, and embrace Love, mercy and the Gospel of Grace.

Amen and Amen!

Living a Fragrant Life

This early morning I am reflecting on some verses from Paul's letter to the Ephesians 5:1-4 NASB:

[1] "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; [2] and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 

[3] But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; [4] and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks."

My first thoughts in reading these verses this morning is that they seem polar opposites, and I think that one of the points Paul is developing here.  As I look at the relative importance of the two sets of verses, I believe our focus should be on the first two verses rather than the second two verses.  So often though, it seems we hear much more about the second set of verses, and the following few verses that I have not included here.  

My thinking is that if we are imitating Christ Jesus, and representing the Father, as His sons and daughters, and walking in love, then much of what we are warned against in verses three and four should be minimal issues.   However, a bit later on, Paul ascribes the actions in verses three and four as idolatry, and I think He is dead right.  We don't like to think of ourselves as idol worshippers, but I am guessing that anyone from this ancient time, if viewing our lives, would see idolatry alive and well in our culture.  We have phones on us, staring at them constantly, we have games we play, movies and TV shows we "must" watch, we live our lives connected to social media, and all these seem to be taking the place of God and His Word in our lives.  We chase after money, luxuries, and want what we want, often not thinking about the lowly or needy, or how we could sever the Lord with our finances. We have become so busy chasing busyness and things, that we no longer have time or attention for God.  Its hard to imitate someone we don't hang out with regularly.

Again, going back to verses one and two, we are encouraged to walk in love, a love that is representative of the way Jesus loved us.  He was constantly interacting with people, calling them to their greater purpose, inviting them to follow Him. Sure, His invitation often included a command to walk away from sin, but it was always in reference to gaining something far greater!  We have been invited into the very family of God, as His beloved children.  He has demonstrated His love for us, and continues to pour forth that love upon us daily.  If we could live rooted and grounded in that love, and walk throughout our days, actively loving those around us, I daresay we wouldn't have much time to worship our busyness, social media, and material idols. 

Paul is essentially espousing a replacement of one type of life-style with a different one.  He is encouraging the Ephesians to recognize which character traits and behaviors belong to which focus, either imitating God, or embracing the world. The greater the contrast between them the easier it is to see where we are aligned, and which ones we are pursuing ourselves.  As in all life-style changes, often the battle is won in the moment by moment decisions and thoughts throughout the day.  If we can begin our day spending time with the Lord, looking for ways we can imitate Him, and walking in love, we can at least start this day heading in His direction.  If we can then bring an awareness of Him and trying to imitate Him into our day, consciously choosing to turn towards Him again and again, we will find our lives becoming fragrant to Him.  

I am encouraged this morning to look closely at my life and my actions throughout the day, to see which direction I am tending towards.  I want make sure that if I find myself, throughout the day, turning away from focusing on the Lord, that I stop and turn back towards Him!. I want to choose to walk in love, to work at imitating my Lord in thought and in deed. I want my life to have a sweet aroma to my Lord!  I want my life to draw others towards Him, that they would see the effects of living in a relationship of love with Him, and desire that for themselves.  I want the Lord to be more important than anything else in this life, the only one I worship.

Amen and Amen! 

Jesus: Alive, Well and Reigning

This morning I have been reading a bit of Paul's second letter to Timothy and one of the things Paul wrote got me thinking.  Here are the verses - 2 Timothy 2:8-10 NIV:

[8] "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, [9] for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. [10] Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory."

As I read verse 8, I thought to myself, "that is an interesting way to sum up the Gospel."  I guess if someone were to ask me to sum up the Gospel, I would definitely not include descended from David, at least in my first thoughts.  

This got me thinking about the  faith subjects that I think about most often, and it led me to the conclusion that I often am focused on the ministry of Jesus, rather than His Crucifixion and Resurrection, which is really the turning point of history.  I believe Paul includes the reference to David, as a way of framing, and founding this amazing plan of God in the Word and history of the Jews.   He believes that is important, as without that understanding we don't have the proper context for Jesus' life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension and established Kingdom.  

Paul was so confident in this Gospel that He preached it unto his death.   He  endured much that he might faithfully bear witness to Jesus, and instruct "the elect" in everything, continuing to encourage them to hold fast to this Gospel.  His perseverance was much more than a life-style, it was a loyalty and dedication to Jesus, His savior, the Messiah, the Risen One!  His Gospel was lived out daily, and defended ardently, because it was embodied in Jesus Christ, now Risen and alive. 

As I think over this, I realize that for me, I too often find myself relating to the historical Jesus, that which is provided to us in Gospel accounts, rather than to the alive and Risen Jesus, who is alive, every bit as much today as He was in Paul's day.  I worship Him, and pray to Him and interact daily with Him, but if I were to be asked to describe Him, or think about Him, I tend to defer to that which is written in the Word, rather than speaking of Him as I know Him in my life today. 

This morning, I find myself encouraged to change the way I think about Jesus throughout the day.  I am encouraged to look to Him as He is, alive and well and interacting today!  I am encouraged to embrace this changed thought pattern to learn to think of Jesus alive and active today, first and foremost.  Lord, help me to change, to revise, to renew my minds defaults and see you as You are, alive and well, resurrected and reigning!

Note: the picture is me today, as I post this, as a reminder that Jesus is just as alive, He is just as present, He is not a historical figure only. 

Amen!