Worship For Today

Friday, April 28, 2017

The Faults of Biblical Heroes - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 5:1,

"The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father's marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright...)"

In Genesis 35:22 we read. "While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it." Reuben, the oldest of the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) had sex with one of the four women that gave birth to the twelve sons that made for the twelve tribes of Israel. That is, he slept with his brothers' - Dan and Naphtali - mother. We would view it as Reuben having slept with this step mother, although the domestic arrangements would have been other than what we are familiar with in our day. Nonetheless, it was a wicked thing to do and cost him his rights in that culture as the firstborn.

From time to time we hear those who mistakenly believe the Bible is a collection of literature that men of power put together to keep the masses under control. An invention to keep thought and discourse under the thumb. As such it was written to inspire total devotion and adherence to its teachings. This is an argument advanced to object to the Scripture's own teaching that the Bible is inspired by God himself, as co-author with the various prophets who produced the sixty-six books that comprise it.

The big gaping hole in that argument, however, is the observation that its heroes are presented to us as anything but models of moral perfection and sinlessness, something you might expect if the Bible was written to influence and dominate the masses.

Abraham, Issac, Jacob, the sons of Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David, Peter... it seems all the heroes of the faith have accounts in the Scriptures that document their weaknesses, their sinfulness, their shortcomings.

Obviously, a work of literature that was intended to manipulate people would not be forthcoming about any weaknesses of those that literature provides as its heroes.

Why does the Bible contain these accounts of the shortcomings of those held up to us as its heroes? It is simply because the Bible is exactly what it claims to be. It is the inspired word of God and provides us what he wants us to know. It accurately describes the people and events it covers.

One of the things we learn from Scripture is that, although faith brings us into God's family, faith does not make us perfect in this life - just read the stories and find out for yourself. Obviously those who hold to the false ideas about the origin of the Bible spend less time reading it as they do telling the rest of us what is wrong with it. Perhaps if they spent a little more time in its pages, they might come around to what the rest of us know to be true.

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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Thursday, April 27, 2017

Always Something New - Not Noticed Before - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 4:17-18,

"One of Mered's wives gave birth to Miriam, Shammai and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa... These were the children of Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah, whom Mered had married."

The opening chapters of Chronicles provides us an historical skeletal outline of the genealogies of some of the people we meet in the pages of Scripture. As such, it can be somewhat daunting, somewhat tedious to read through it.

Jewish tradition identifies Pharaoh's daughter Bithiah (whose name means "daughter of God") in 1 Chronicles 4:17-18, as the very one who rescued baby Moses from the bank of the Nile and raised him as her own. If that be the case, then it certainly adds real interest to the account we find in Exodus 2:1-10. Did Pharaoh's daughter of Exodus 2 marry the Jew, Mered, from the tribe of Judah?

Whether that be the case is something I'm not sure of, but it does point to reality that there is a lot of history that stands behind these names. What took place in the lives of these listed here? What part did they play, if any, in God's grand plan of redemption of all mankind? How many of them will we meet in the resurrection?

This is just a tidbit of something interesting I never noticed before, something that I came across while reading the book through this time. It illustrates a feature I always find: most every time I read through a book of Scripture, no matter the genre or book, I see things I hadn't noticed before.

I'll bet you do too!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Get in the Lord's Way and Get Taken Out - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 3:4-5,

"David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years, and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel."

I note there was one other son born to David and Bathsheba in Jerusalem not listed here, an unnamed boy who died a few days after birth. This was the first child David and Bathsheba had. The death of the baby was a judgment from God for the sins of David when he took Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, and then murdered Uriah in an attempt to avoid the scandal the pregnancy presented. The baby was the result of David's initial adultery with Uriah's wife.

As I say, this first son was taken by the Lord as a judgment of David's sin. In 2 Samuel 12:15-16 we read, "... the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife [Bathsheba] had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground." In verse 18 we read, "On the seventh day the child died."

In the previous chapter, we have the documentation of Judah's offspring, two of which, sons, were taken by the Lord as well, Er and Onan. We are told in Genesis 38 that both were wicked in the sight of the Lord and so he put both of them to death.

What we see here is that the Lord can, and does, at times, take people out - brings about their deaths in what we might consider an untimely fashion. In the case of these three, two were wicked and one had done nothing wrong - his father, David had and the Lord set about to get his attention.

Does this kind of thing still happen? These accounts took place 3 and 4 millennia ago. How about in the church age? Would the Lord do such a thing during this age? Consider the case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. I'll let you look it up - but we see the Lord can and does take people out as he sees fit.

It appears to me that this can be the kind of action the Lord may take when individuals find themselves squarely at odds, or in his way as he pursues the building of his kingdom, his family. He will not allow anyone to stand in his path as he pursues his agenda, and it is not beyond what he may do in order to achieve it.

Although we are told Judah's first two boys were put to death because they were evil in the eyes of the Lord, this is different than his judgment of sinners for their sins. That comes at his great white-throne judgment when he casts all who refuse his offer of salvation into that fiery lake of burning sulfur, Revelation 21:8. We are all going to die some day, and that day just might arrive sooner than later if we get in the Lord's way.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

The Fascinating Scriptures! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Chronicles 2:3-4,

"The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to him by a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death. Judah's daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and Zerah to Judah. He had five sons in all."

We read the account of Judah, and the sons born to him in Genesis 38. How was it that Judah had the twin sons, Perez and Zerah, born to him by his own daughter-in-law? In Genesis we read that Judah got a wife for his oldest boy, Er. Her name was Tamar. We are told Er was a wicked man so the Lord put him to death.

According to custom, Judah told his next son, Onan to sleep with Tamar to provide an heir to his now dead brother. However, although Onan slept with Tamar, he refused to impregnate her because the boy would be raised as his dead brother's boy and not his. The Lord found this an evil so the Lord put Onan to death as well.

Judah refused to give his last son, Shelah, to Tamar for fear he would wind up dead as well. Tamar, left without a son and no heir for her part of the family, plotted an amazing strategy. She disguised herself as a prostitute and placed herself in Judah's path. He, unknowingly, propositioned her and it resulted in the twins born to him: Perez and Zerah. Tamar now had her family heirs.

Genesis provides a fascinating account - one that is referenced in what may be viewed as a tedious portion of Scripture, the genealogical listing in the beginning of 1 Chronicles. If you haven't read it lately, I highly recommend it.

The Scriptures are anything but boring, or dull, or dry. To think so betrays a lack of exposure to them. Sixty some years of reading all kinds of things (as many do) and nothing I have found can match the color, the richness, the fascination, the evocative impulses that the Scriptures provide. Of course, the greatest contribution the Scriptures provide is the revelation of our Creator who had these things written for our benefit.

Reading the Scriptures is not a chore, but an enchanting delight! No wonder - considering who the author is!

Monday, April 24, 2017

Real People, Real Events - Ruminating in the Word of God

The opening chapters of 1 Chronicles document a skeleton outline of the genealogical lines from Adam to Noah to Abraham and to the tribes of Judah. Included in the listing are some references to lines that go in other directions as well. Not all generations are documented here, but it provides something of a "Cliff Notes" summary of some of the generations.

Here in this first chapter, the text takes us from Adam down to Jacob (Israel). The second chapter picks up on the sons of Jacob that make up the tribes of Israel.

I am reminded that this is not just a list of names. The events and persons described in the Scriptures were real people that lived in real places that experienced the events documented - they actually took place.

For me, personally, what might be considered to be a dry bit of genealogical data, is the reminder that what I read of in the Scriptures is not something that just floated down from heaven without reference to real people and real events, but a factual account of the things of God within the affairs of real people who lived and died - people just as us.

Friday, April 21, 2017

God is a Consuming Fire - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Kings 25:6-7,

"He [King Zedekiah] was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon."

When the Babylonians destroyed Judah, it was the culmination of the Lord's judgment for their spurning him. The Lord had given Judah fair warning that if they did not turn their hearts back to him, they would face his judgment... and face it they did.

Zedekiah was one of the dozen bad kings Judah had and the last that would rule over the southern part of divided Israel. The last thing this last king of Judah saw was his own sons being put to death, and then they put out his eyes. What a memory to carry to his death: his last vision was the slaughter of his sons.

The Lord's judgment against those who reject him is literally horrific and frightening. It is not what the devil and his demonic minions can do that should bring us our greatest fears. It is what the Lord can and will do to all those who fail to place their faith and trust in him in this life.

"... worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" Hebrews 12:28-29.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Should Christians Have a Voice in the Public Square? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Kings 24:14,

"He [Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon] carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left."

We are told in verse 20 that it was due to the Lord's anger against Judah that he "thrust them from his presence." Just as Judah's sister nation (the northern ten tribes of Israel), the Lord brought his judgment due to their corruption of idolatry.

We are told repeatedly that this king or that king of Judah promoted idolatry (with the exception of a few - eight of twenty) and that it led to the Lord's judgment of the nation.

While the "poorest of the people" were left in the land, all others were either put to death or carried off in captivity by the Babylonians, "officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans". We are told ten thousand were taken into exile. In other places we read that even God's prophets suffered in the judgment of both Judah, and at an earlier time, the northern kingdom.

How many were idolators? Was every last man, woman, child that suffered the destruction of Judah an instigator that brought the Lord's judgment? Was there not a single individual that worshiped the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob left in the land? Were there godly people that suffered along with the truly guilty idolators?

If you recall, Elijah thought he was the only godly man left in all Israel. Paul references Elijah's complaint to the Lord in Romans 11:1-6. There Paul points out that the Lord always has a remnant of people - people of faith, people reserved for himself.

Without question there were godly people who suffered along with the wicked when the Lord brought his judgment against Judah.

I recall someone who once told me that since I was a Christian, my voice had no place in the public square in the discussion of abortion. It was wrong of me to "push my religion" on others.

Nothing could be further from the truth! We all have a stake in influencing our nation to godliness!