Goodness, I have so much I want to discuss with you today! We are finishing Micah and starting Nahum which means I really should provide you an outline of Nahum. I received an e-mail today with information that just floored me and the first few verses in Micah today are just too cool!
Well, let me start with Micah and we’ll see where we end up.
Micah 4:1-4
“It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”
Not too long ago I spoke with a lost person who claimed that the Nazis were Christians and that as for himself, he had dedicated his life to peace. The Nazi charge is ridiculous on its face. Christians suffered in the concentration camps right along with Jews, Gays and many other groups out of favor with the Nazi regime. As far as his claim regarding peace, I know this individual and he has never lifted one finger to advance the cause of peace. Of course, if he had it would have been a wasted effort. Peace comes after Christ has returned and separated the sheep from the goats. That is not to say that we shouldn’t strive for peace but we must be realistic in our assessment of the likelihood for peace. Human beings are naturally self-centered and it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that an individual has the ability to deny that nature and live peacefully with others.
In fact our reading today says this about the Messiah:
Micah 5:5
“And he shall be their peace.”
What is that old saying?
“No Jesus; no peace. Know Jesus; Know peace.”
It is really that simple. Won’t that day when we beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks, when we sit under our vine and fig trees no fear, be awesome? Oh brothers how I look forward to that day. If you want to dedicate your life to peace, dedicate your life to Christ!
Okay, on to that e-mail I received. The e-mail was a forward of something written by a doctor that had been viewing a DVD sermon preached by Louie Giglio. Louie’s sermon concerned the greatness of God and, at some point, his sermon turned to how God “knitted” our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. The e-mail went on to reveal the amazing biological fact of Laminin; a fact related in Pastor Giglio’s sermon.
Here is what I found about Laminin on Wikipedia:
“Laminins are major proteins in the basal lamina (formerly improperly called “basement membrane”), a protein network foundation for most cells and organs. The laminins are an important and biologically active part of the basal lamina, influencing cell differentiation, migration, adhesion as well as phenotype and survival.”
“The laminins are a family of glycoproteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding in almost every tissue of an organism. They are secreted and incorporated into cell-associated extracellular matrices. Laminin is vital for the maintenance and survival of tissues.”
These descriptions make it clear that Laminin is a “network foundation for most cells and organs”; that they are “the structural scaffolding in almost every tissue of an organism”. Laminin is an essential building block on which all human life is based. It is the rebar of our bodies if you will; the structure, support, and glue that holds the human body together.
What is so amazing about this unifying protein called Laminin? Well you’ll just have to see it
I’ve placed a biological model of this amazing protein below. I also have a link to a Youtube video of Pastor Giglio discussing this protein below but before I go on I need to say I have never heard of pastor Giglio before so please don’t take my mentioning him or my placing part of his sermon here as an endorsement of his theology. I am in no way familiar with his theology.
As you see in the picture below, the protein structure is that of the cross; not an X but a cross. The foundation, the glue that holds each of us together is the cross! At the moment God created man he created salvation! He created you knowing you needed a savior and he showed His love for you in the very foundation of your being! He holds you together! He holds everything together! I’ve told you before that every book of the Bible points to Jesus Christ. Little did I know that every cell in the human body points to Christ! Does this not just blow your mind? Can anyone still doubt the truth of the Gospel? How?
Look at what Paul said in his letter to the Colossians.
Colossians 1:15-17
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Did you get that? In Him all things hold together! What does this protein in the shape of a cross called Laminin do? It holds us together!!! I’ve got to go lay down for a bit!
If you have the time go ahead and view the 7 minute video below of Pastor Giglio’s sermon in which he speaks of Laminin. I really enjoyed his excitement and passion!
Actual Electron Microscope photo of the protein Laminin.
I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to give you the outline of Nahum. Until tomorrow then, remember that you bear the mark of your savior’s love and sacrifice within you. You are His ambassador. Act like it!
We read the books of Jonah and Micah today. Well actually, all of Jonah and half of Micah. I’ll give you an outline of Jonah today and I’ll give you Micah tomorrow. At some point I may have to give you two outlines in one post!
I love the story of Jonah. There are many important issues addressed in this book. I often think of Jonah as representing those that run away from God. While this is true on a superficial level I think he doesn’t simply represent the lost. I think he represents more specifically those who actually have a right relationship with God. The lost can, and do, hear God calling them, and God does use all people to His purposes but Jonah was not a person lacking in a relationship with God. In fact the story we read today demonstrates that Jonah had a rather vibrant relationship with God.
Jonah was a prophet. He had a close enough relationship with God to be able to discern God’s directions. He knew what God wanted him to do; he just didn’t want to do it. In my lifetime I have witnessed several high profile pastors publicly disgraced by disclosure of immoral acts. I find it hard to believe that a man who has committed himself to declare the Word of God would be ignorant of God’s will for their behavior. By committing their immoral behavior they acted as Jonah had; with disobedience.
I can hear some of you now, “Bill, some of these pastors committed adulterous, and sexually perverse acts. How can those acts be equated with what Jonah did?” There we go again with our scale of sinfulness. All sin is disobedience. God does not share our man-made sin scale. He calls the shots and there are no scales. You might also say that Jonah was only disobedient for a short period of time and eventually relented and obeyed. Yes, Jonah repented of his sin and eventually obeyed God. I could argue that these fallen pastors may well have repented as well and faithfully returned to God; such is the power of grace.
I once heard Pastor Roy Fisher say from the pulpit “Delayed obedience is disobedience!” I believe he was quoting the late Adrian Rogers but regardless of the origin of the phrase, truer words are rarely spoken. God asked Jonah to do something and he did not do it. Don’t quibble with me. He attempted to run away from God’s presence, as if that could be done, and God had to discipline Jonah before instructing him once again to go to Nineveh. In between the first and second command to go to Nineveh was a great deal of suffering on the part of Jonah.
That is how it is for you and me my brothers in Christ. Can we really claim to be ignorant of what God is asking of us? How could any of who have been on this journey through the Bible together claim such a thing? We know that everything is God’s and that we are only stewards of that which He has placed in our hands. We know the difference between right and wrong. We know that we are to make disciples of all nations. We know that in everything we do we are to bring glory to God. Any time we fall short of any of this we are being disobedient. In that moment of disobedience we have rejected the Lordship of Jesus Christ and placed ourselves at the head of our own little universe. We know how God responded to Israel and Judah for following after foreign gods. How do you think He would respond to you and your self-proclaimed deity?
I wonder sometimes if we really get that. Do we get that every time we sin, whether we consider it a small sin or a big sin, we have proclaimed ourselves a god? Jonah had to sit for three days in the belly of a great fish, seaweed wrapped around his head, considering the error of his ways. Do you get the significance of Jonah being in the belly of the great fish for 3 days? Jonah says he cried out from the belly of Sheol. Sheol is the Hebrew word for Hell. Jonah equated his 3 days of imprisonment with 3 days of death.
Jesus Christ rose from the grave after 3 days. As Jonah said:
Jonah 2:9
“…Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
Disobedience leads to pain, and for the lost it leads to death. You have accepted Christ but are you obedient? If not, expect to be disciplined. Your salvation is secure for it does indeed belong to the Lord. That does not mean there are no consequences. What is it that God has been instructing you to do? Are you doing it? If not I wonder how things have been going for you. If you haven’t experienced discipline yet you will. If you have or are experiencing discipline the good news is the that obedience brings restoration. Return to God. Obey Him and celebrate the blessing of salvation that only He can bring!
I will close by sharing a little outline of Jonah provided by J. Vernon McGee. I found his lead up to the outline interesting because it mentions Nashville, the city in which I live, back when trains still ran through Union Station down town.
Outline
There are two approaches to the study of the Book of Jonah. The one that is the most popular and is followed by most commentators is to note the striking resemblance between Jonah and Paul. Both Paul and Jonah were missionaries to the Gentiles, both were cast into the sea, both were witnesses to the sailors on board the boat, and both were used to deliver those sailors from death. There are other striking comparisons, which a careful study would reveal. Including his trip to Rome, which I consider to be a missionary journey, there were actually four missionary journeys of the apostle Paul. The four chapters of the Book of Jonah may be divided into four missionary journeys of Jonah. The first journey was into the fish; the second was to the dry land; the third was to Nineveh; and the fourth brought him to the heart of God.
That is a very good and reliable division of this little book, but it never actually satisfied me, and I have attempted to make an outline of the book without making a comparison with Paul. Very frankly, I had more difficulty outlining the little Book of Jonah than I did the Book of Revelation.
I have another approach to outlining Jonah, and I want to tell you how it came about. Many years ago, I was waiting for the train one night in Nashville, Tennessee. I was returning to seminary, and at that time I was working on outlines for each book of the Bible, for I started early in that type of ministry. But I couldn’t figure out an outline for Jonah. When I got to the Union Station in Nashville, I discovered that the train was late and that I would have to wait thirty minutes to an hour. I did what I’m sure you do whenever you must wait in an airport or railroad station. I walked around for quite awhile before I sat down. I walked by the popcorn machine; I walked by the cigar stand (today they call them gift shops); I walked by the soda pop vendor; and I walked by the restaurant that was there. I just kept walking around, and I came to the railroad timetable. As I was looking at the timetable, it occurred to me that the Book of Jonah could be outlined according to a timetable.
Three important things are to be found on a timetable. The first is the time and place that the train or plane is leaving. Second, there is the destination of the train or plane. Finally, you need to know the time it will arrive at its destination. I go to many places today on speaking engagements, and if I fly, there are three things that are important to know: the time I leave, my destination, and the time of my arrival.
Therefore, if we look at the Book of Jonah as a timetable, this becomes my outline for the book:
LEAVE
DESTINATION
ARRIVE
Chapter 1
Israel (Samaria or Gath-hepher)
Nineveh
Fish
Chapter 2
Fish
Nineveh
Dry Land
Chapter 3
Dry Land
Nineveh
Nineveh
Chapter 4
Nineveh
Gourd Vine
Heart of God
McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Boy, they are starting to come fast and furious aren’t they? A new book of the Bible every day it looks like! Well, I’ll give you an over view of Obadiah since we start him today.
Obadiah
Introduction
The name Obadiah means “servant of Jehovah.” He is one of four prophets about whom we know absolutely nothing except that he wrote prophecy. The other three prophets are Habakkuk, Haggai, and Malachi. These four prophets are cloaked in anonymity. Obadiah is like a ghost writer in that he is there, but we do not know him. He lived up to his name, for he was a servant of Jehovah. A servant boasts of no genealogy neither exploits nor experiences. He doesn’t push himself forward. He has to demonstrate by what he does that he can even claim the place of a servant. So Obadiah is just a prophet who wrote one of the great prophecies of the Scripture.
…The chief difficulty with the prophecy of Obadiah is where to fit it into the history of the nation Israel. There are some who give the date of 887 b.c., which fixes the time during the reign of Jehoram and the bloody Athaliah (see 2 Kings 8:16–26). Dr. Pusey placed it during the reign of Jehoshaphat (see 2 Chron. 17:7). Although the name Obadiah does occur in this passage, it was a common name in that day and probably was not the same Obadiah who wrote this prophecy. Canon Farrar gave the date as 587 b.c., and Dr. Moorehead concurred in this, suggesting that Obadiah was probably a contemporary of Jeremiah’s. The whole question seems to hinge on verse 11: “In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.” Either this was written as prophecy before it happened or it is an historical record of what did happen. The natural interpretation, of course, is to accept it as history rather than prophecy, which places the date of Obadiah’s prophecy around 587 b.c., after the Babylonian captivity and during the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah.
The little kingdom of Edom is the subject of this brief prophecy. Verse 6 is the key verse: “How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!”
Outline
I.Edom—Destruction, vv. 1–16
A. Charge against Edom, vv. 1–9
B. Crime of Edom, vv. 10–14
C. Catastrophe to Edom, vv. 15–16
(Poetic justice [lex talionis]—law of retaliation)
II. Israel—Restoration, vv. 17–21
A. Condition of Israel, v. 17
B. Configuration of the House of Esau, v. 18
C. Consummation of All Things, vv. 19–21
(“And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s”)
McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
We read today of what God had to say through Obadiah about Edom. Edom is the nation that descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother. Remember him from way back in Genesis? He was the guy who got cheated out of his birthright by his conniving little brother. The conniving brother and his descendents would be remembered forever as being the people through whom God revealed Himself and sent His Son; Esau and his descendents are all but forgotten to history.
We saw Esau back in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. Did you know he is also mentioned in the last book of the Old Testament?
Malachi 1:2-4
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.’ ”
Why would God love Jacob but hate Esau? Now realize that God is not saying he hated the individual Esau. He is saying He hated the nation the descendants of Esau became. Here in Obadiah we learn why God hated Esau.
Obadiah 1:3
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
Why did God hate the descendants of Esau? What was their great sin? Their sin was pride! Is that all? They basically disappear from history because of pride? Brothers, I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, God doesn’t have a scale of sin with one being worse than the other. It seems to me, however, that if He did pride, would be at the top of the list. It is at the heart of all sin really; a desire to be god, to focus on one’s self, to call your own shots.
Look at just a few examples of what the Bible has to say about pride.
Psalm 31:23
“Love the Lord, all you his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.”
Proverbs 8:13
“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
Proverbs 16:18
“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
God hates pride and Edom is evidently eaten up with pride. God hates Edom.
Proverbs 6:16-19
“There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.”
“Haughty eyes” is another way of saying “proud look”. Pride is more of a problem than most of us realize. Brothers, have you anything you can be proud of? I hope not. Each of us deserves painful, eternal separation from God. There is no good thing in any of us but the love of Christ. The only good thing in us comes from God. We can take pride in nothing. Jesus did not come as a prideful conqueror. He came as a humble servant. He gave glory to the Father. We are to be like Christ. We are to have the mind of Christ. Let us cast aside our pride and put on the humble mind of Christ.
The Cave of Hira where Muhammad was "squeezed" by the angel Gabriel.
Amos was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He was what we might call in America a “back-woods preacher”. He came from Tekoa. Tekoa actually means “a camping ground”. It has never been anything more than a “whistle-stop” even to this day. Amos was a herdsman from some pretty rough territory whom God told to prophecy to His people. If you ever think you don’t have what it takes to stand up and declare the Word of God then you are not reading scripture very carefully. Amos was no slick, silver tongued, Madison Avenue type; nor was the Apostle Peter and any number of faithful Godly men for that matter. All that is required to be used by God to His purpose is right relationship with Him and obedience.
I want to share one little verse that jumped out at me and then jump to the end of today’s reading.
Amos 5:4
“For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;”
There is what God has been saying to us throughout the Bible and throughout history; “Seek me and live”. This is not a onetime deal either. You don’t seek Him, find Him, and then go your own way again. You have to seek Him every day. Jesus is on the move. He is marching through the hearts and minds of men and women all over the globe. That is why He says “If any man wishes to come after me let him deny Himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)” Daily we must seek Him. Daily we must put aside what we want so we can focus on where He is. We must not look to the left or to the right but keep our eyes steadfastly focused on Jesus who leads the way.
So, I get to Amos 5:26 and this is what I read:
Amos 5:26
“You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves,”
“Kiyyun” is the Babylonian name for Saturn. As we know, many Jews started
The Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The focus of the annual pilgrimage and home of the sacred meteor.
following foreign gods and this had God pretty ticked off. This Kiyyun was one of those foreign gods. What made me stop was the hyphenated word “star-god”. It made me stop because of something I had read years ago about the Islamic faith. One of the Five Pillars of Islam is the “Hajj” a requirement to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in your lifetime. The Hajj occurs every year from the 8th to the 12th day of the last month of the Islamic calendar. The pilgrimage to Mecca actually is a trip to a cube-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia called the “Kaaba”. Muslims believe that this building, a temple of sorts, was first erected by Adam and Eve at the site where a meteor came to rest. It is further believed that Ibrahim, Abraham to you and me, rebuilt the building generations later.
The Black Stone; the subject of great veneration at the heart of Islam.
Today the Kaaba is surrounded by a mosque and not only are non-believers not allowed inside the mosque, they are not allowed in the city of Mecca. Once a pilgrim has made it to the Kaaba he walks seven times around the cube in a counter clock-wise direction. The meteor called “The Black Stone” is mounted on a corner of the Kaaba and each of the seven times a pilgrim passes the stone they point to it. Back when there weren’t as many pilgrims to contend with, people would kiss the stone as they passed just as Muhammad had. Today the crowds are far too big to allow such an intimate interaction with the stone.
Now it is important to note that this stone was worshipped prior to the development of Islam. In fact the Kaaba itself was a temple long before Islam existed and housed many “gods”. One of those gods was named Allah. Each Arab tribe had its own collection of gods. This “Allah” god was often considered the “chief” god of a tribe. Muhammad, it is said, was an orphan and at one point raised by a Christian Bishop. Whether that is true or not, he clearly had a strong understanding of the monotheistic faith of Jews and Christians. Muhammad’s people were tribal nomads. They had no real sense of unity as a people. The Jews and the Christians were advanced and power groups compared to the Arabs of that day, and Muhammad clearly saw the advantages of the unity one could forge from belief in one god.
Muhammad synthesized a belief system that pooled all of the various tribal gods into one god named Allah. He borrowed heavily Judaic and Christian theology in creating his new faith which is why you can see many similar attributes shared by these faiths. As I read up on this I was reminded of the Mormon faith. Muhammad claimed that one day the angel Gabriel appeared to him and ordered him to read a text that he could not read. I read portions of his wife’s description of this encounter and it is terrifying. He referred to this being as Allah and only later, after conference with a Christian cousin, called this being Gabriel. His wife claims that three times Muhammad was “squeezed” and ordered to read a text that he could not read. You can go here to read about this frightening experience:
Her account of this incident reminds me more of Satan than God, and Muhammad was clearly traumatized by the event, if her words are to be believed. I mentioned the Mormon faith because it too was founded by a man claiming a special angelic revelation of text that only he could read. It seems everyone wants to get into the act!
At any rate, have you ever noticed the symbol most associated with Islam? It is a crescent and star “logo” if you will. Now to be fair, Islam, like Judaism, does not allow for symbols to represent God, but still they have this symbol that they place on their flags and mosques. Now I am not a Muslim and cannot claim to know their faith to any great degree. I have read the ranting of crazy Imams that completely twist the Christian faith out of all recognizable shape and I realize I could be guilty of doing the same thing here. Do me a favor, please do not run to Muslims and suppose to tell them you know their faith better than they do. That would be insulting and in no way make them receptive to hearing the Gospel.
With that said, I see some things here in their own telling of their history that I find rather interesting. They kiss and/or point to a piece of a star that has fallen from heaven. They turn and pray five times a day toward this little chunk of star. The only symbol recognized around the world as representing Islam contains a crescent and star. Earlier this year we read in the Bible of the “Day Star” that was so beautiful but rebelled against God and fell from heaven. This “Day Star” was named Lucifer, aka Satan.
Isn’t it interesting that Islamic history has a meteor, a piece of fallen star, that comes to earth and directs Adam and Eve to build an alter? We know that Satan fell to earth, was in the Garden of Eden, and encouraged Adam and Eve to join him in his rebellion against God. The temple they allegedly built housed many of the very gods that the Israelites foolishly pursued. They pursued these gods because they were gods they thought they could control. They were gods made by their own hands that did not demand that they be righteous.
Today I hear people say that they cannot believe in a God that would allow suffering in the world. They also say that if they do more good than bad they will get to go to heaven. They have created their own religions to suit their own purposes and all such religions belong to Satan. He wants you to join him in his rebellion. Israel and Judah joined him and even though they were God’s chosen people He punished them for their disobedience.
Punishment is coming for all. The man-made gods that populate this earth will do you no good. There is only one true God. He loves you and wishes you to be saved from the punishment you deserve, but you will have to submit to His authority, accept the atoning sacrifice of His only begotten Son, and follow Him alone. Look here at what God says to Israel in response to their following after foreign gods.
Amos 4:12
“Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
We finish Hosea today and move into Joel. In fact we start and finish Joel today. Because of this I will keep this post focused on Joel. Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom Israel. We now flip back to the Southern Kingdom of Judah to whom Joel prophesied. It is believed that Joel was a contemporary of Elijah and Elisha, making him one of the earlier prophets.
Joel begins with a description of the effects of a locust plague. Locusts can be extremely devastating. They multiply at an incredible rate and eat everything in their path. A swarm of locust that crossed the Red Sea back in 1899 was estimated to cover 2,000 square miles! When a swarm like that moves through there is nothing left; all plant life is gone or at the very least dead. A swarm of locust is almost like a cancer upon the land, growing and voraciously eating everything in site until the body, or in this case the land, is nothing but a rotting corpse.
Joel begins with this imagery because his theme is “the Day of the Lord” and he is equating the devastation of a plague of locust to the devastation to be seen in the Day of the Lord. When I think of what is left after a mighty swarm of locusts has passed through I think of the emptiness of the horizon. No life, no green thing to be seen; all is death and devastation. Friends, that is the devastation of being separated from God. Life is hopeless and empty; there is no green thing, just death and darkness.
The following verse, however, reminded me of the state of many of our churches today. I fear that far too many Christians lead the life of a lost person; they view all that is in their possession as their own, and they desire more. One who has truly turned over their life to Christ views all that is in their possession as God’s, and they desire to be good stewards of all that God has placed into their keep. God has said that those who are faithful in a little will be given much so we know that reward comes from this way of viewing God’s blessings. The problem with viewing God’s blessings as our own resources is that we misappropriate those blessings and therefore miss out on even greater blessings.
Listen to the following verses:
Joel 1:13
“Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”
I view these verses as a minister of the church mourning over the misappropriation of God’s resources. I heard of a preacher once who stood before the congregation and with anguish in his voice stated that he had some horrific news for the congregation. He had looked at the church books and realized that funds were missing. This was not an insignificant amount of money either. Thousands upon thousands of dollars were missing. He informed the congregation that he must unmask the culprit who was responsible for this theft from God. You’ll never believe who was responsible for this crime. It was a majority of the members of the church. The church members weren’t tithing! You saw that coming didn’t you?
I understand why many people today feel like they can’t tithe. The economy has been hard on everyone let alone the devastation experienced by the unemployed. Of course, if you are unemployed you really don’t have income with which to tithe. The fact of the matter, however, is that most of us haven’t been tithing for years. We live in an extremely materialistic world and many people view as necessity things that are really just luxuries. Many that qualify as poor in America today wear designer shoes and carry cell phones. Food, clothing, and shelter are necessities; cable television, cell phones, and computers are luxuries. Many of us also don’t want to wait until we have earned or saved enough to pay for the luxuries of life so we borrow heavily to obtain them and then feel the stress of living from paycheck to paycheck. We think we are barely getting by when in fact we are simply being poor stewards of God’s blessings.
In many ways we have become our own locusts eating up the blessings of God in an attempt to feed an insatiable hunger. I just got back from a visit to my mother-in-laws house and her guest bathroom has wall paper with various quotes printed on it. It is pretty handy if you forget to bring reading material with you to the bathroom. I’ve spent many a moment reading and pondering those quotable quotes. One of those quotes says this, “It is not he with little who is poor, but he who wants more.” We have a voracious appetite for stuff; so much so that we spend all of the resources God gives us in feeding our stuff habit. When it comes time to bring God’s offerings to His house of worship we have nothing left.
This is a problem. It is not simply a problem for the church; it is a problem for the individual. Christians were bought at a price. We surrendered our lives to Christ. We own nothing; it all belongs to God. The issue of skipping the tithe is an issue of poor stewardship and disobedience. We have elevated our desire for stuff above obedience to God and acknowledgment of His Lordship. This is idolatry; you know, that sin for which the Bible says we are to be stoned? Idolatry violates the very first commandment, “You shall have no other God before Me.” This isn’t a little problem for the individual Christian; it is a huge problem for the individual Christian. The only cure here is to reject the luxurious standards of the secular world and accept the role of trustworthy servant of He who owns it all.
Well, I’ve hit 1,000 words already and I haven’t discussed much of Joel have I? I’m afraid it won’t get a whole lot better.
Joel 2:1
“Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,”
What does God keep telling us in His Holy Word? He tells us that judgment is coming. Why does He keep telling us this? Because He wishes all who are willing to be saved. As I have said before in this blog, I have always been fascinated by end time prophecy though I have been a poor student of prophecy. Many of us think in terms of “Armageddon” as some future event that we are unlikely to experience in our lifetime. Armageddon is indeed a specific occurrence prophesied by the Bible, but I think we make a mistake in thinking of it as some far off event. I don’t mean to say that Armageddon is about to happen in a literal sense at this point in time in world history; it might happen at any time but I have not specific evidence it is eminent.
For me, Armageddon is that moment I stand before my maker. That is the time of judgment for me. Thankfully Jesus Christ will recognize me and step forward and say “Father, he is mine.” I’d love to hear after that “well done my good and faithful servant”, but if I don’t, do you know what other word I look forward to hearing? “Next!” My day of judgment, your day of judgment, could be today; it could be tomorrow; it could be another 50 years from now. Be that as it may, that day will come.
Joel 2:13
“and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
What a poignant phrase. God does not desire our crocodile tears. In Old Testament times a good Jew would show his mourning for loss by tearing his garments, placing ash on his head and walking around with a sad face and the occasional wail. The thing is, we can walk around looking like we are sorry for our trespasses while never really making a change. God does not desire the show, He desires the change. He doesn’t want us to rend our garments; He wants us to rend our heart. He wants us to truly mourn our sinful ways. It is only with true regret that we can come before God, confess our sins, and submit our lives to Christ. Once we have done this, God’s Holy Spirit will come to live within our hearts and mend that torn and sorrowful heart. No truly sorrowful heart means no salvation.
Joel 2:25
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,”
Here is the good news guys; when we rend our hearts and turn to God in obedience, He will restore what our locust-like lifestyle has wrought. While I have experienced times of discipline, my life has consistently been enriched year after year and I can point to the time when I started tithing as a beginning point for a wave of blessings. I don’t mean to say financial blessings, though God has certainly blessed me in that sense, I mean in the truly valuable currency of spiritual blessings. I no longer desire more. I desire to be faithful in what God has placed in my care and that desire makes all the difference in the world.
The end is coming for all of us. When that day comes I pray that we all will hear “Well done my good and faithful servant!”
Why is it that when things are good we forget about God? Have you ever noticed that you look to God most when things are going badly? As I read today’s verses I started copying and pasting the verses that stood out to me. The first was this:
Hosea 8:5
“…How long will they be incapable of innocence?”
Incapable of innocence; isn’t that something? No matter how hard we try we are “incapable of innocence”. A truer statement has rarely been uttered.
When things are good we go our own way as if we are god of our own existence. Unfortunately we reap what we sow and the result of our own “godhood” is disaster.
Hosea 8:7
“For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”
A life separated from God is a miserable existence. We cannot go our own way, refusing to follow God’s direction and expect things to go well.
Hosea 9:17
“My God will reject them because they have not listened to him; they shall be wanderers among the nations.”
I got to chapter 10 of Hosea and saw more clearly this concept of wandering further from God as our blessings increase.
Hosea 10:1-2
“Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their pillars.”
God has blessed me greatly and He has satisfied me. From a worldly point of view there is so much more I could desire but if the cost is further separation from God then you can keep those blessings. What is the cure for a false heart?
Hosea 10:12
“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.”
As I got to chapter 11 of Hosea, however, I started to tear up. Here is such a moving expression of God’s love for His children. With all the deceitful, disobedient, disrespectful behavior of His children He still loves them. Here is the lament of a father whose children refuse to be in right relationship with him.
Hosea 11:1-4
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.”
Don’t be fooled; every good thing in your life came from God. He has been with you every step of the way and it is to Him and Him alone that you owe love, respect, obedience, and worship. We should love Him because He first loved us. Let us not give credit for the blessings in our life to any other than God. Let us not allow our blessings to cause us to wander further from the presence of our Heavenly Father.
He Holds All Things Together
Colossians 1:15-17
