Passion Week pt 3

Mark 13

While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

Jesus told them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

“But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

“When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. A man on the housetop must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house, and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!

“Pray it won’t happen in winter. For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again. If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.

“Then if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance.

“But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

“Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near—at the door.

“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

“Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son —but only the Father.

“Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.

“It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert. Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming—whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning. Otherwise, when he comes suddenly he might find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert!”
Mark 13:3-37

These passages of Jesus’ teaching on the End Times are very familiar, and yet being reminded that these words were some of His last teachings to His disciples, with the knowledge that He was soon to head to the cross looming over Him, makes these passages feel more significant. If I knew my time was short, I can’t imagine all the things I would desperately want to tell my loved ones, all that last words of wisdom or encouragement I would try to give my children; and here we see Jesus warning His disciples of the trouble that will come. Not really encouraging words, yet important. Because once Jesus has ascended to heaven, he knows that the world will only continue to grow more broken and more hostile to the truth. He told us these things in advance so that we would not lose heart. He elaborates on this in His message to his disciples in the book of John:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful. You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe. I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me. On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. John 14:27-28

“I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or me. But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you will remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. John 16:1-4

I’m sure the disciple were confused and alarmed by what Jesus was telling them before He died, but as the things that He told them would happen began to happen, I’m sure it increased their faith, even in the hardship and suffering, because Jesus had warned them in advance of what was coming.

And so I think of today, more than 2000 years after these words were spoken. As I mentioned, these passages are very familiar, I have always loved studying the End Times, even before I was truly following after Christ. I had no idea what the world would look like when I was in my 30s. I had know idea how far away from God we as a society, and really just humanity as a whole, would be. The things I see and hear today are nothing like what I expected, and the world that I am raising children in is terrifying. Yet, I can have peace, because I know that these things are all part of God’s big picture plan – His eternal plan to redeem and restore the earth.

While I don’t know how much longer He will tarry, I do know that He has promised to return. While we wait we are called to be watchful. I feel like that is all the more important now because false teaching is rampant…and it is deceptive in a way I didn’t expect. When Jesus says that false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect, it all makes so much more sense now; because a lot of false gospels have just enough truth to make them seem legit – and if we are not discerning what the truth is by spending time in the Word of Truth, we can be easily led astray. One of Satan’s best tactics is deception – to twist and distort God’s word and to cast doubt. I see so many people who claim to be Christians, yet they have been so led astray into believing and accepting things that are simply not true. I think this is what makes the world so much more scary for me as a mother – I just want to guard my children from all the confusion and deception that is out there. And I know the task will be all the more difficult as the world continues to become more hostile to Christianity. How do you encourage your sweet babies to trust in the goodness of God when all the world seems to hate those who are His and who are following after Him? These are the things that will keep me up at night, but still there is a peace that passes understanding. Paul writes these encouraging words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1: “So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.”

God is good, even when the world around us is not; and in His goodness He warned us of the things that would happen so that our faith might be strengthened. AMEN!

Passion Week pt 2

When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”

Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we’re afraid of the crowd, because everyone considers John to be a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go work in the vineyard today.’

“He answered, ‘I don’t want to,’ but later he changed his mind and went. Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered, but he didn’t go. Which of the two did his father’s will?”

They said, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away. When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is what the Lord has done
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them. Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because the people regarded him as a prophet.
Matthew 21:23-46

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon those invited to the banquet, but they didn’t want to come. Again, he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: See, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

“But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.

“Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go then to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’ So those servants went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests. When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:1-14

After Jesus enters Jerusalem, He is challenged and questioned by the religious leaders in order that they might find something against Him. As they fail time and time again to trap Him into doing or saying something that would justify their desire to kill Him, He continues to teach them in order that they might have their eyes and ears opened to the truth.

Our community group met a couple of nights ago and shared life maps, which is where we give about a 15 minute telling of our life and testimony. I love hearing how God has worked in the lives of these friends and allowed life circumstances to draw each person to Himself. And whether we grew up in church and walked closely with the LORD our whole life, whether we confessed faith young but never made a decision to truly follow Christ until we were adults, or whether we walked the wide road that leads to destruction and finally came to a point when God opened our eyes and brought us to our knees in repentance – we were each chosen by God to be His children.

All it takes is recognizing the call, the invitation, to repentance and acceptance of God’s gift of salvation. We all come to it in different ways, we all receive the invitation at different points in our lives, but if we have accepted the invitation then we can rest assured that we have been chosen.

There are many who are chosen that have not yet received the invitation. Or perhaps they have received it, but it hasn’t quite yet impacted them how desperately they need it and should accept it. But what I trust to be true about God is that the LORD knows who are His (2 Timothy 2:19).

I think of Jesus’ words in John 10, ““I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd…“The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Later, in John 17, Jesus prays not only for His disciples and those who had already trusted in Him, but also for those who will trust in Him, “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one — I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them.”

Oh what a comfort to know that if we are in Christ, we have been chosen by God. We didn’t get here by accident or because our parents raised us in the faith, we accepted because we were chosen. Everything that happened in our lives was ordained by God to bring us to into His flock. AMEN!

Passion Week pt 1

When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.

So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

“The Lord needs it,” they said. Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it. As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road. Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

Blessed is the King who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heaven!

Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”

As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it, saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”

He went into the temple and began to throw out those who were selling, and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!”

Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill him, but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people were captivated by what they heard.
Luke 19:28-48

Passion Week began yesterday, kicking off with Palm Sunday. Our church encouraged us to follow along with Christ’s final week recorded in the Gospels, so I’m taking a step out of Exodus for a few days. I can’t help but be a little geeked out about how I just finished the Passover story in Exodus and I will now get to read about Jesus’ last days where He fulfilled the feast and became our Passover Lamb.

Yesterday one of our pastors talked about the significance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. The donkey is a humble beast that is often representative of peace. The Jews expected a conquering King Who would ride in on a noble stallion, but instead He came humbly. In Matthew’s account of the triumphal entry, he quotes the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah:

“This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

Tell Daughter Zion,
‘See, your King is coming to you,
gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt,
the foal of a donkey.'”

Our pastor said, “The Prince of Peace came to the City of Peace on a beast of peace to a people who desperately needed peace in order to make a way for them to have eternal peace with God.“

As Jesus looks out over the city, He weeps for the people, because He knows that for many, that which would bring them peace would be hidden from their eyes and that they would reject Him as their long awaited Messiah. Yet God would use even their rejection of His Son for His glory. As Paul writes in Romans 11, “I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!”

The Jews did not recognize the time of their visitation. They had expectations of what they thought the Messiah would be like and when He didn’t fit into their box, they rejected Him. I think of how this even applies to people today. I think, at least in America, people know enough about Christianity to cause them to be fully ignorant of the truth while thinking they fully understand it. They design versions of God, Jesus, religion, and faith that fit their own personal desires and preferences. They have rejected the true God and exchanged Him for a version that suits them. That is why as God’s chosen people we must be watchful and aware of the times we are living in and be discerning of every teaching we hear. Satan is out to deceive the world so that that which can bring us peace might be hidden from our eyes.

A Day will come when Jesus will return. He will not ride in humbly on a donkey, but valiantly on a white stallion. He will come not to bring peace, but to conquer. For those who have already accepted the peace that He gave at His first coming, this day will be one of great rejoicing; but for those who have rejected His gift of salvation at His first visitation, it will be a day of great terror and suffering. We must live in this truth and be on guard and on mission each and every day. AMEN!

Moses’ Song

Exodus 13-15

But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. As for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

…

But the Israelites had walked through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses.
Exodus 14:13-18 & 29-31

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:

I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted;
he has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.

He threw Pharaoh’s chariots
and his army into the sea;
the elite of his officers
were drowned in the Red Sea.
The floods covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.
Lord, your right hand is glorious in power.
Lord, your right hand shattered the enemy.
You overthrew your adversaries
by your great majesty.
You unleashed your burning wrath;
it consumed them like stubble.
The water heaped up at the blast from your nostrils;
the currents stood firm like a dam.
The watery depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
The enemy said:
“I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil.
My desire will be gratified at their expense.
I will draw my sword;
my hand will destroy them.”
But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.

Lord, who is like you among the gods?
Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
revered with praises, performing wonders?
You stretched out your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
With your faithful love,
you will lead the people
you have redeemed;
you will guide them to your holy dwelling
with your strength.

When the peoples hear, they will shudder;
anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.
Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified;
trembling will seize the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan will panic;
terror and dread will fall on them.
They will be as still as a stone
because of your powerful arm
until your people pass by, Lord,
until the people whom you purchased pass by.

You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your possession;
Lord, you have prepared the place
for your dwelling;
Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary.
The Lord will reign forever and ever!
Exodus 15:1-18

With great power and miraculous signs, God brought His people out of Egypt. He defeated Pharaoh and his army and now, not only did the Egyptians know that there was one true God, the faith of Israel was strengthened.

I loved reading through the song of Moses and the prophetic parallels that we can find there for God’s chosen people, His elect. These sections in particular stood out:

The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.

With your faithful love,
you will lead the people
you have redeemed;
you will guide them to your holy dwelling
with your strength.

You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your possession;
Lord, you have prepared the place
for your dwelling;
Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary.
The Lord will reign forever and ever!

These words applied to Israel, but they also apply to those whom the LORD has redeemed! He is our salvation; He will lead us with His faithful love to His holy dwelling – the place He has prepared and established for His people to dwell with Him forever and ever! AMEN!

This song is about exalting the works of God – He is the One who gets the glory He is due! Spurgeon writes, “There is nothing concerning the deeds of Moses and Aaron, or the pride of Pharaoh, or the craftiness of Jannes and Jambres. No, the whole of it is consecrated to the doings of the LORD. Let us trace all the mercies we get to our God, for He has worked all our works in us. He has chosen us, He has redeemed us, He has called us, He has quickened us, He has preserved us, He has sanctified us, and He will perfect us in Christ Jesus. The glory is all the LORD’s.”

In Revelation 15, the seven angels holding the last seven bowls of God’s wrath come out of the sanctuary in heaven. Before the bowls are to be poured out on the earth as God’s final act of judgement, it says that a gathering of people who had won victory over the beast begin singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. God has already saved us from the penalty and bondage of sin, but He will again claim victory once and for all over His enemies. And we who have been saved and redeemed out of the world will cry out, “Sing to the LORD for He is highly exalted! He will reign forever and ever!” AMEN!

A Distinguishing Mark

Exodus 11-12

So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock. Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again. But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Get out, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will get out.” And he went out from Pharaoh’s presence fiercely angry.

The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.
Exodus 11:4-10

“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
…
Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select an animal from the flock according to your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and brush the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood in the basin. None of you may go out the door of his house until morning. When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you.

“Keep this command permanently as a statute for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, you are to observe this ceremony. When your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck the Egyptians, and he spared our homes.’” So the people knelt low and worshiped. Then the Israelites went and did this; they did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
Exodus 12:4-13 & 21-28

This is the week of Passover and I love getting to celebrate this Feast of the LORD knowing that it fully points to Christ and His finished work on the Cross! Just as the blood of an innocent, unblemished lamb caused the angel of death to pass over their home, thus saving them from this final act of God’s judgement; so does the innocent blood of Christ, poured out on the cross save us from the penalty of sin which is death and separation from God. When the angel saw the blood on the lintels and doorposts of God’s people they were saved; and when God sees the precious blood of His Son covering the sin of those who have put their faith in Him, we are saved. He doesn’t look at our works, He doesn’t look at how well we have done at following His rules (though these things have an eternal significance) – all He sees, the distinguishing mark, is the blood of Christ and we are forgiven and redeemed, made righteous because of His righteousness.

We get to live in the in between of Christ’s first advent and His second one. We can rest in the hope we have that our sins have been forgiven and that we have been restored to a right relationship with the LORD. I love chapter 9 of Hebrews which talks about the old and new covenant and the heavenly realities that the sacrificial system represented and how Jesus fulfilled those requirements completely. The author writes, “And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment— so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Jesus is coming back for His people. He will rescue us from this cursed and broken world and bring us to Himself and into the true Promised Land of His eternal Kingdom. I look forward to celebrating Passover this week and remembering all the LORD has done and continues to do so that our sins may be passed over when He sees the blood of Christ. AMEN!

So They Will Know I Am The LORD

Exodus 7-10

The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.”
Exodus 7:1-5

The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. But if you will not let my people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live. But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”
Exodus 8:20-23

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. For this time I am about to send all my plagues against you, your officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like me on the whole earth. By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth. However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you my power and to make my name known on the whole earth. You are still acting arrogantly against my people by not letting them go. Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Therefore give orders to bring your livestock and all that you have in the field into shelters. Every person and animal that is in the field and not brought inside will die when the hail falls on them.” Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and livestock flee to shelters, but those who didn’t take to heart the Lord’s word left their servants and livestock in the field.
…
Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know the earth belongs to the Lord. But as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the Lord God.”
Exodus 9:13-21 & 29-30

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of mine among them, and so that you may tell your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am the Lord.”
Exodus 10:1-2

Everything God does serves a purpose.

In Job 37, Elihu says,

God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
    he does great things beyond our understanding.
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
    and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
So that everyone he has made may know his work,
    he stops all people from their labor.
The animals take cover;
    they remain in their dens.
The tempest comes out from its chamber,
    the cold from the driving winds.
The breath of God produces ice,
    and the broad waters become frozen.
He loads the clouds with moisture;
    he scatters his lightning through them.
At his direction they swirl around
    over the face of the whole earth
    to do whatever he commands them.
He brings the clouds to punish people,
    or to water his earth and show his love.

I love that last verse. The rain itself can serve as simply watering the earth, to punish, or to show His love. And who you are and where you are and how the rain affects you, can determine your outlook on the rain.

The plagues of Egypt served God’s divine purpose. They were meant to not only bring judgement against a pagan nation and a wicked king who saw himself as a god, but also to reveal the one true God of all the earth. He sought to reveal Himself to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but also to His people who had likely begun to question whether the God of Abraham was a myth.

While God is at work on the world stage, directing the hearts of kings and allowing and causing events that will bring about His ultimate purposes, He is also constantly at work in our own lives. In our house buying process, there were moments of frustration, fear, and hopelessness. It can be easy for me to think that when everything isn’t going perfectly according to my plan, then it must be a sign that this is not God’s plan. But I was reminded during that time, as I read about Joseph and Job, that more often than not, God’s plan involves things that we likely would not choose ourselves. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4 that God’s will for us is our sanctification, and sanctification rarely occurs without some sort of struggle. A friend of mine reminded me of God’s goodness, in that everything that was happening in the process of buying our house was designed by God to draw us closer to Him and to create greater dependency on Him. So that we would know He is the LORD.

So it helps me to see struggles and trials in a different light. Though this perspective may not minimize the frustration or suffering, it allows me to look for the ways I can lean into who I know God to be, to try to recognize the areas of my heart that He may be trying to reveal and sanctify, and to look forward to seeing His faithfulness in the process.

Whether plague or persecution, trial or tribulation, everything God does is to show us and the world that He is the LORD! May we who know this be instruments of reconciliation that help others to recognize this truth! AMEN!

I AM The LORD

Exodus 4-6

Now the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that he had seen their misery, they knelt low and worshiped.
Exodus 4:27-31

Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness.”

But Pharaoh responded, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

They answered, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, or else he may strike us with plague or sword.”

The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you causing the people to neglect their work? Get to your labor!” Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are so numerous, and you would stop them from their labor.”
Exodus 5:1-5

So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have you caused trouble for this people? And why did you ever send me? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has caused trouble for this people, and you haven’t rescued your people at all.”

But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”

Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name ‘the Lord.’ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as aliens. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are forcing to work as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.

“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians and rescue you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.” Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.
Exodus 5:22-6:9

I love this little section as God is assuring Moses that He will indeed bring His people out of Egypt. He reminds Moses, that He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, yet He was not know to them by His name “YHVH/Yahweh/the LORD.”I don’t know that it means that He never allowed them to know Him as YHVH, perhaps He didn’t. He is often referred to instead in Genesis as God or Elohim. But with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God made Himself known on a more intimate level, showing Himself faithful to the inner workings of this specific family. But nearly 400 years after Joseph had died, this family was now a nation – a nation that likely knew of their forefathers, but had forgotten about God. God was about to reveal Himself on a grand, massive scale, not just to Israel, not just to Egypt, but to the surrounding world! The miracles He would perform were unlike the personal acts of faithfulness He performed toward the patriarchs; these miracles would shock the world into recognizing that there is one true God, not made by human hands or finite imagination.

So while Pharaoh was certainly full of self-assuredness and arrogance as he questioned “Who is the LORD?” and emphatically stated “I do not know Him”, I must give him some grace. Because it had been hundreds of years since God had acted in a way that anyone might notice. This is why we can view the coming plagues as an act of His mercy, as well as judgment. God never acts justly without also extending grace. His judgments are a call to attention to recognize not only His existence, but His power, His sovereignty, and His glory. Many Egyptians would turn from their idols and gods and follow after the one true God, but many would remain stubborn in their hardness of heart and reject God. Pharaoh was one of those people.

I think of Jesus, Who came after another 400 years of a seemingly absentee God. Once again God’s people were under the rule of another pagan nation. But Jesus breaks through the silence, performing miracles that only One with true power and glory could do. He proved Himself to be God, He revealed Himself to those who did not know or who had perhaps forgotten, and then He performed the ultimate miracle – becoming a perfect sacrifice for our sin and raising Himself from the dead so that we can be fully reconciled to God! Many people turned from their godless lives and followed after the one true God, but many would remain stubborn in their hardness of heart and reject Him.

Now here we are, 2000 plus years after the Resurrection. Though God has clearly been at work fulfilling His purposes through the world, some might say that He has been silent. Uninvolved. Distant. Many people say in their hearts, “Who is the LORD? I do not know Him.” And they go on living their lives separated from the God Who loved them so much that He put on flesh to redeem and reconcile them. Or perhaps they have crafted in their own minds a version of God that they would like to know, one who fits into their life and doesn’t act in ways that they disapprove of.

But here’s the thing. There is coming a time, and I believe we are close to it, when God will again make Himself known throughout the earth. He will act in mighty, glorious ways that no one will be able to ignore or deny. In His judgements, He will extend grace to those whose hearts will be softened and who will finally cry out in repentance to the God that they have rejected for so long. But others will remain hard in their hearts, they will continue to be filled will arrogance and self-assuredness and they will shake their fists at God.

As we move closer to God’s final act, our mission as His chosen people has not changed. We must help to tell others about the Good News – that there IS a God; He has revealed Himself throughout history and in scripture; that though we are sinners separated from Him, He came to die in our place so that we might live with Him forever in a perfect, sinless, unbroken world with our Creator; that ALL He asks of us is to trust in Him. May we lean in to those who have hardened their hearts toward this good, gracious God so that they too can be brought into our family of faith. AMEN!

I Have Come Down To Rescue Them

Exodus 2-3

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God knew.
Exodus 2:23-25

Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. So Moses thought, “I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning up?”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

“Do not come closer,” he said. “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he continued, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings, and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. So because the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

He answered, “I will certainly be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain.”

Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

“Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

“However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand. But when I stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles that I will perform in it, after that, he will let you go. And I will give these people such favor with the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry, and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Exodus 3:1-22

Again and again throughout Scripture, I keep seeing the sovereignty of God and His intimate and intricate involvement in the lives of those who are His. I’m loving reading the bible chronologically, because you start to see patterns and you catch things that perhaps you might miss were you to read them in a random order. When God tells Moses that He will not only lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but that they will also take with them the wealth of the Egyptians, God is referring back to a promise that He made to Abraham in Genesis 15: “Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed. However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.'” It did not take God by surprise that the Israelites eventually were made into slaves in Egypt, nor did He forget about them, and then suddenly realized He needed to act when they began crying out for deliverance. I wrote about this in a post several years ago. All of this was a part of God’s plan.

A podcaster I listen to often says that when you see God doing one thing, you can be sure there are a million different things you don’t see. I don’t know why 400 years was the preordained number of years God had determined for Abraham’s descendants to be in captivity, but it was. And the fact that it happened proves that God was faithful to His word. Going back to my last entry, God had to make His people anxious to come out of Egypt in order to deliver them out, draw them to Himself, and lead them to the Promised Land. God is a God who rescues us – from sin, from the world, from ourselves.

The whole Bible is God’s love letter, detailing His masterful rescue plan to redeem and restore mankind to a right relationship with Him. Everything He has done, is doing, and will do is serving His purpose to rescue us from the penalty of death that we all deserve. Jesus Himself came down to rescue us, and He makes this clear in John 6: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

I find such a comfort in knowing that He is constantly at work, even when I can’t see it and in ways that are beyond my comprehension. It’s easy to get caught up in the troubles and trials and distractions of this world, but more and more I am seeing why we are told to fix our eyes on the eternal rather than the temporal. God is always good and He is always at work! AMEN!

Anxious To Leave Egypt

Exodus 1

Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation eventually died. But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.

A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are. Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. They worked the Israelites ruthlessly and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah— “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”

The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”

So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous. Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”
Exodus 1:6-22

I love that I am back in Exodus right as Passover is approaching! This first chapter has never really stuck out to me quite like it has today. And I think the commentary from Charles Spurgeon just made it all the more relevant:

The land of Goshen was fruitful and the Israelites had been greatly favored by the Egyptian king. The mass of them, therefore, had little thought of ever leaving that country. They resolved that they would settle there permanently. In fact, though God would not have it so, they became Egyptians as much as they could. They were part of the Egyptian nation, and they began to forget their separate origin. In all probability, if they had been left to themselves, they would have melted and been absorbed into the Egyptian race and lost their identity as God’s special people. To a large degree, they began to adopt the superstitions, idolatries, and iniquities of Egypt. And these things clung to them in later years. Yet all the while, God was resolved to bring them out of that evil connection. They must be a separated people. They could not be Egyptians nor live permanently like Egyptians, for Jehovah had chosen them for Himself, and He meant to make an abiding difference between them and Egypt. The first thing to be done with the Israelites was to cause them to be anxious to come out of Egypt, for it is not God’s way to make people His servants, except so far as they willingly yield themselves to Him. He never violates the human will, though He constantly and effectually influences it. God would not have the people dragged out of Egypt or driven out in chains against their own glad consent. He must bring them out in such a way that they would be willing to come out, so that they would march forth with joy and delight, being thoroughly weary and and sick of all Egypt and, therefore, rejoicing to get away from it. How was this to be done? It was accomplished by a new king who did not know Joseph and his eminent services.

I’ve read his words multiple times and I just keep thinking about where we are today as Christians. Back when COVID first became an issue and we were told to quarantine I began thinking about how this was such a gracious gift from God, almost like a trial run of what things could be like if the church was forced to stop gathering in large numbers. Since then, though here in Texas we have been blessed with far more freedoms and fewer restrictions than other states, the world has become more hostile to the idea of the church being able to continue meeting together. John MacArthur’s church in California has been in constant legal battles to be able to remain open and has done so against the orders of the governor. A pastor in Canada is currently being held in prison for refusing to stop his church’s in person services where the Gospel was being preached. And now, with the new legislation for “equality” possibly being voted for in the Senate, churches may face even more restrictions and violations of our religious freedoms and liberties that we have enjoyed since the founding of our country.

And yet, I truly believe that God is using all these things to make us anxious to come out of Egypt. We often forget that this is not our home and we can spend so much time trying to acquire things to make ourselves comfortable here. Our pastor said something convicting today when speaking about prayer – that often our prayers are small-minded and not about eternal things. The less of an eternal focus we have, the more likely we are to focus on the temporal things, and when we do that we begin to look a lot more like “Egyptians” rather than God’s holy, chosen people.

So I think about all the things that are happening in the world, the things that frustrate, scare, infuriate, and create anxiety in my heart about the future. I can either choose to dwell on them and allow them to create more feelings of anger and anxiety or I can allow them to loosen my grip on this world and cling to the Father, the One Who’s plans and purposes have been established since eternity past and Who is working all things out for the good of those who love Him. It reminds me of what the author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 11, “These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

I’m excited to be in Exodus. To read the account of how God miraculously saved His people from the oppression and slavery of Egypt and drew them out into the wilderness to teach them, instruct them, and sanctify them to be His holy, set apart people so that He could bring them into the Promised Land. This truly is the picture of the Gospel, as Christ saved us from being slaves to sin through the blood of His sacrifice, and draws us out to Him to wander this earthly wilderness – trusting Him and being sanctified through Him – so that we may be presented to Him a Bride without blemish or spot.

Perhaps the wilderness is about the get a bit more scary in the coming months and years. But the One Who is leading us through it is faithful, and He WILL bring us to our eternal home! LORD, make me anxious to leave Egypt and cause my heart to long for more of You! AMEN!

The LORD Speaks

Job 38-42

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said:

Who is this who obscures my counsel
with ignorant words?
Get ready to answer me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform me.
Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Job 38:1-7

The Lord answered Job:

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who argues with God give an answer.

Then Job answered the Lord:

I am so insignificant. How can I answer you?
I place my hand over my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not reply;
twice, but now I can add nothing.

Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

Get ready to answer me like a man;
When I question you, you will inform me.
Would you really challenge my justice?
Would you declare me guilty to justify yourself?
Do you have an arm like God’s?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?
Adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
and clothe yourself with honor and glory.
Pour out your raging anger;
look on every proud person and humiliate him.
Look on every proud person and humble him;
trample the wicked where they stand.
Hide them together in the dust;
imprison them in the grave.
Then I will confess to you
that your own right hand can deliver you.
Job 40:1-14

No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;
who then can stand against me?
Who confronted me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
Job 41:10-11

Then Job replied to the Lord:

I know that you can do anything
and no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?”
Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,
things too wondrous for me to know.
You said, “Listen now, and I will speak.
When I question you, you will inform me.”
I had heard reports about you,
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them;
I am dust and ashes.

After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
Job 42:1-9

I finished up Job today and I honestly enjoyed it more than I thought I would. After a lengthy debate between Job and his friends, the LORD steps in and silences everyone. “Where were you when I established the earth?” That question alone should have been enough, yet God goes on to further reveal the majestic power, wisdom, sovereignty and glory that is His alone.

I think Job struck a cord with me so much in this season because we are living in a time so full of deception, confusion, and complete disregard for truth that has been accepted for millennia. I keep hearing the words of Paul in my head, “For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever…And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right…Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”

After the LORD has confronted Job, he is unable to give any reply other than to admit that he was wrong. He humbly responds, “Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wondrous for me to know.” As humans, we often applaud our ability to reason and acquire knowledge and understanding; yet the One Who created us and everything in the heavens above and the earth below will ALWAYS have more understanding and wisdom than our finite minds could hold.

Spurgeon writes, “Jehovah had spoken; Job had trembled. The Lord had revealed himself; Job had seen him. Truly, God did but display the skirts of his robe and unveil a part of his ways. But in that was so much ineffable glory that Job laid his hand on his mouth in silent consent to the claims of the Everlasting One. God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind concerning the greatness of his power, the wonders of his workings, the splendor of his skill, the infinity of his wisdom...Whatever Job might be or might not be, he was a firm believer in his God and in every word the LORD was pleased to speak. He held even to discouraging words with desperate tenacity and even learned to find honey in words that roared like lions against him. So, when he is humbled in the dust, he recollects that God had summoned him to approach. And although to his fears that bidding may have sounded like a challenge, to his faith it becomes an encouragement…It is altogether wrong to allow our sense of folly or sin to drive us away from God. But it is altogether right when our humiliation draws us to the LORD and our conscious need drives us to the throne of grace. The more foolish and sinful we are the more urgent is our need to come to God, Who alone can make us clean and instruct us in the way of heavenly wisdom.

Job says, “I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them; I am dust and ashes.” How fortunate to come to this realization on this side of eternity. Sadly, so many will go through this life, hearing reports about God, and rejecting Him…until that Day when every eye will see and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the Jesus Christ is LORD. In that moment it will be too late for them to acknowledge that they are in fact dust and ashes before their Creator. All our human wisdom, all our finite understanding, all our feeble attempts to put God into a box will be laid bare and we will see Him for who He truly is. May we live such lives of integrity and faithfulness that others come to know the LORD in their own lives. AMEN!