Angels Are Like Us In Some Ways - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 19:1-3a,

"The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 'My lords,' he said, 'please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.' 'No,' they answered, 'we will spend the night in the square.' But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house."

Something I find fascinating here. The two angels that came to Sodom decided they were going to spend the night in the city square. Lot invited them to his home to spend the night, but their response was "no". The text is clear that due to Lot's insistence they relented, Lot "insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house." Even though they were on a mission from God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot changed a part of their plans through his own insistence. They would still destroy the cities because of the wickedness, but it appears Lot was able to change their minds about a secondary issue.

I find it fascinating because my perception of angels hasn't included the notion they can be persuaded or negotiated with. Here in this passage these angels demonstrate they are influenced by the insistence of a man.

This isn't the only part of the story where Lot changed the minds of the angels. As they were leaving town to avoid certain death in the city's destruction, the angels told Lot to head for the mountains, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" Verse 17. Lot's response is, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared." Verses 18-20. One of the angels responds to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." Verses 21-22. As we read later, Lot was afraid and left the small town, Zoar, and went to the mountains anyway.

I'm afraid my stifled understanding of angels has been that of beings that are somewhat automatons. Not entirely, but I've just had a notion that they participated little in making decisions and certainly not of those who could be engaged in negotiation or subject to persuasion.

I'm not suggesting they can be persuaded off task they have received from the Lord, but they have been subject to persuasion in ancillary aspects in this account. In this passage I have to say they look to be a whole lot like us, with the exception, of course, of their dramatic and fearful abilities to carry out the Lord's work. The account provides an astonishing example of what the Lord does through the angels he sends to do his bidding.

Fascinating stuff!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Is Anything Too Hard For The Lord? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 18:10-15,

"Then the Lord said, 'I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.' Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, 'After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?' Then the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh and say, "Will I really have a child, now that I am old?" Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.' Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, 'I did not laugh.' But he said, 'Yes, you did laugh."

Here in this well known passage, Sarah laughs at the thought that she will bear a son in her 90s. Her whole life had been filled with the dishonor of being barren in a patriarchal society. Now the Lord foretells she will have a son in her old age- and she laughs because of her age.

When the Lord confronted Abraham for Sarah laughing at what he said, the Lord made a salient point, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Paul takes up this very issue as that which led to Abraham being declared "righteous" in Romans 4:19-22, "Without weakening in his faith, he [Abraham] faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.'"

Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Abraham was fully persuaded God had power to do what he had promised. Because Abraham was right on this issue, he was credited as righteous. One of the many wonderful aspects of our God is that there is nothing too hard, nothing too difficult, nothing that can stop whatever he sets himself to do! 

Our God is transcendent, all powerful, and sovereign over all!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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We Have An inheritance Waiting For Us - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 17:7-8,

"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."

As the Lord inaugurates the covenant of circumcision with Abraham, he makes this promise to him: the whole land of Canaan will be given Abraham by God as an everlasting possession. It wasn't until some 450 years later that Abraham's offspring began to take possession of the land.

My first impulse in reading this is to recognize the eventual culmination of things in the Mideast. But, something more important for each one of us comes to mind. Jesus Christ has promised us an eternity with him in Paradise.

We read in Hebrews 11:8-16, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own… they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Just as Abraham's offspring inherited the land after his death, so we too have an inheritance waiting for us following our lives here.

Definitely something to get excited about!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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God's Ways And Timings Are Perfect; Ours Sometimes Not - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 16:1-2,

"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, 'The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.' Abram agreed to what Sarai said."

Abram and Sarai were growing old. The Lord promised Abram offspring, more than the stars in the heavens. And yet, they were growing old and Sarai was suffering the humiliation (in that culture) of not bearing any child. How could Abram say that the Lord was blessing him when no child was born to them? So they resorted to the custom of the day in that culture in having Sarai's maidservant step in to bear a child for Abram.

God's promises are always certain, but often his timing is not our timing. Abram and Sarai chose to pursue God's promise by using Hagar.

But God's promise would be fulfilled in Sarai bearing a son for Abram. Abram will be about a hundred years old before Isaac is born to them.

The difference it makes when we wait for God's promise, as opposed to rushing ahead on our own, can be stark. When God fulfilled his promise to Abram the result was a people through whom God would speak to the world and through whom Jesus Christ entered the human race and gave his life that we might live.

When Abram and Sarai attempted to fulfill God's promise their way, in their time, it resulted in the birth of Ishmael, whom the Arabs look to as their progenitor. The fallout from their effort is still with us as we look at the problems in the Mideast of our day.

As I read the account, I am struck with the thought that when we wait for God to fulfill his promises it results in that which reflects God himself. When we attempt to fulfill those promises on our own it reflects something else.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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A Standing of Righteousness - Abram Believed the Lord! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 15:6,

"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."

I can't think of a more important verse in all of Scripture for each of us personally. Here we learn that God credits a standing of righteousness to a man! A lost and fallen sinful man, just like me! I would never dare to compare myself to someone of Abraham's stature, but in his shortcomings, I can certainly identify!

The importance of this verse is seen in that it addresses the most significant aspect of my existence. Paul explains that God's crediting of Abraham with a standing of righteousness before himself applies to any one of us! He says, "The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." Romans 4:23-24.

Here we find the door to heaven! Here we find our way back to our Creator! Here we find our great opportunity to commune with the One who brought us into existence! Here we find the way to an eternal life of bliss, with joy in God's presence, with "eternal pleasures" at his right hand! Psalm 16:11.

Abram's example of believing in the Lord is the only way. We read in Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

A righteous standing before God is our access to the dimension of heaven, God's throne, and eternal, abundant and fulfilling life. No more death, crying or pain! No more curse of this world! No more sinful nature I contend with daily! (No more having to lock the doors at night!)

There are many who are attempting to earn their way into heaven by keeping all the dos and don'ts. Unfortunately that is not the way. Jesus Christ has paid for all my sins which provides ground for my standing of righteousness before God the Father and my escape from his just punishment of me. All he asks of me is to embrace him in faith.

"Very truly I [Jesus] tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." John 5:14.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Who Was Melchizedek? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 14:18-20,

"Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.' Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

Melchizedek was "king of Salem", that is, Jerusalem. We are also told he was a "priest of God Most High". He was both a king and a priest. When Abraham returned from defeating a group of kings who had taken his nephew, Lot, we are told Melchizedek brought out bread and wine for Abraham and his men, and then blessed him. The writer of Hebrews points out that in this episode, Melchizedek is to be understood to be greater than Abraham in God's economy of things, Hebrews 7:7, "without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater."

David refers to Melchizedek as he prophesied about the coming Messiah in Psalm 110:4. He says, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.'" From this we understand the Messiah, Jesus Christ, will be both king and priest. The writer of Hebrews, in 7:17, in turn, refers to Psalm 110:4 as he describes the priesthood of Jesus Christ. In this, Melchizedek was a type of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the superiority of Jesus Christ, and his priesthood, to that of the Levitical priesthood of the Old Covenant. In an interesting perspective, as I say, he uses Melchizedek as a type of the Messiah and points out something fascinating:

"Just think how great he [Melchizedek] was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor." Hebrews 7:4-10.

In Hebrews 7:3, we read, "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he [Melchizedek] remains a priest forever." Some have concluded this to mean that Melchizedek had no birth and that he never dies. This is a misunderstanding of what the writer of Hebrews says here. It is a reflection that within the pages of Scripture, Melchizedek's genealogy, his birth and death are not recorded, just as the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, has no genealogy, no birth in eternity past and no eternal death recorded in the pages of Scripture, establishing Melchizedek as a type of Jesus Christ.

Some have suggested that Melchizedek was a "theophany", a presence of God among people. However, that notion is precluded as the writer of Hebrews tells us Melchizedek was a man, Hebrews 7:6. Apparently, God had established a priesthood hundreds of years before Moses and the Levitical priesthood.

My takeaway from this is that the Bible does not tell us everything God has done through the ages.

Back in the days of Melchizedek, God was doing things he has not chosen to talk much about in his word.

As I say, fascinating, isn't it?

What is your perspective on Melchizedek?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.