Month: December 2020

Sinning in Any Circumstance (Part Two)

Amos 4:1-13

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord (4:6 NIV).

Last time, we saw that the women of Israel had sinned in wayward lust, in oppressing the poor, and in by being enslaved to alcohol. Next, the prophet Amos pointed out other sins of all the people.

They sinned in their acts of worship (4:4-5). Probably there is no wrong indicated by “leaven” (cf. Leviticus 7:13). By the way, beware of simplistic interpretation that assumes that every occurrence of a symbol or figure of speech must mean the same thing in every context, as this example illustrates. The problem of Israel was their religious pride. They were involved in religious rituals and gloried in them. Contrast Galatians 6:14.

Two actions that demonstrated the waywardness of the people. Bethel, which was the place of “Jacob’s ladder”, but which also had become the place of one of Jeroboam’s golden calves, was their favorite place of religious perversity. Gilgal, which was the place of Israel’s first camp in the Promised Land (cf. Ho 9:15), had become another place of rebellion against the Lord. Past experiences in special places cannot provide grace. God deals with us in the present tense. Is he changing you now?

They sinned in spite of corrective judgments (4:6-11). Notice the recurring refrain or chorus: “yet you have not returned to me”. It is used five times. We might expect judgments to change people. We ought to respond positively to correction, but often we do not. Grace changes people, and not harsh experiences.

The judgments recorded here are just what God said he would do if Israel sinned and departed from him. This is in agreement with the principle asserted in 3:7. Let’s look at these judgments in the light of God’s previously announced threat of judgment (Deuteronomy 28:15ff).

  • Empty stomachs – Deuteronomy 28:53; 2 Kings 8:1
  • Withheld rain – Deuteronomy 11:17; 28:23; 2 Chronicles 7:13
  • Blight and mildew – Deuteronomy 28:22
  • Locusts – Deuteronomy 28:38, 42; 2 Chronicles 7:13
  • Plagues – Deuteronomy 28:22,27-28,35,59-61; 2 Chronicles 7:13

Here are important truths to put to our hearts:

  • What God says, God does. Do not put God to the test.
  • We should look for God’s hand in everyday events. In daily events we should seek God and ask, “Is there something I should be learning?”
  • Every believer is a “snatched one” (4:11; cf. Zechariah 3:2). It is important to keep this in mind to prevent spiritual pride. We are not here because we are better than others, but only because of God’s free and sovereign grace (1 Corinthians 4:7; 15:10).

The verdict announced to them because of their sin (4:12-13).

Israel must face God. There would be no escape (4:12). We must listen to God’s warnings while there is hope (Proverbs 29:1; Isaiah 55:6-7). Compare the situation in Exodus 19:15-16, where they were told to prepare to receive God’s law.

Israel must have a proper concept about the God they would face (4:13). They needed to consider God from what he does. The Lord is Creator, Revealer, and Preserver. They must turn immediately to God in repentance and faith. And they must consider God properly from his name. It proclaims his ability to do what he says. He is the Lord God Almighty. We must properly revere God’s name. It reveals all that he is. He is able to speak and to do.

The serious situation of Israel was that they would not return to the Lord, in spite of all that he had done to correct them. They would not stop and think. We should. God gave Israel harsh judgments, but they refused to repent. Has God done anything like that in our days. What about the Covid-19 pandemic? Yet people have refused to repent and to ask the Sovereign God for mercy. This has been a strong warning from God to whom we must give account. Lord God, give us grace to learn from what you are now doing in our world, so that we will turn toward you!

Grace and peace,
David

Sinning in Any Circumstance (Part One)

Amos 4:1-13

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord (4:6 NIV).

In the previous section (3:7-15), Amos presented three motives for him to speak boldly for God. We ought to remember 1 Corinthians 10:11: These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come (CSB). Although the old covenant laws and rituals in the Old Testament Scriptures have been fulfilled in Christ’s person, word, and work, the Old Testament Scriptures as a whole continue to function as wisdom-instruction for us. So then, we need to listen to what Amos wrote.

We are now in the second section of the book; it is Amos’ second prophetic proclamation. The first has declared the failings of God’s old covenant people. Next, is a long appeal for repentance.

We need to interpret Scripture by Scripture, using one part to understand another. Here we need to know the foundational revelation (the Torah) to understand Amos’ message. 

Amos started his appeal by presenting the varied situations in which Israel continued in sin (4:1-11). In this post we observe that they sinned in a time of prosperity (4:1-3).

Amos pointed out the sin of the women. God does not worry about being politically correct. In a sexist or racist society, like America, people worry about speaking against the sins of any group. But God is not sexist or racist. He does not play favorites (Acts 10:34-35), and he feels free to address all people in their sins (Titus 1:12f), regardless of the possibility of offending cultural sensitivities. Evil people like to hide their corruption and perversities under the cloak of blaming others for “hate speech”. As we shall see later in Amos, God commands us to hate evil. 

The true and living God is not anti-female. The Lord created the man and the woman in his own image (Genesis 1:27). To be a woman is not to be a second class human. Women should be treated with respect and honor, as men also should. God wants women to enjoy their femininity and to maximize its potential. However, he has also made women responsible and accountable to him, just as men are. With that in mind, look at the language Amos used to stir the women of Israel to repentance.

  • Amos compared them to fattened cows. (Bashan was a lush, green area.) We should be careful not to turn God’s gifts into a means to satisfy our sinful lusts. This is too easily done!
  • Amos exposed their oppression of the poor. Contrast 1 Timothy 5:10. God gives us wealth so that we can help others.
  • Amos pointed out the danger of being enslaved by strong drink. The book of Proverbs contains warnings about drunkenness and alcohol abuse (cf. 20:1; 23:20-21; 23:29-35). This is a great danger to women (and men) in our troubled times. You cannot cure isolation, domestic abuse, and economic loss by drinking your way out of it. Alcohol is not a solution, and it can greatly complicate the serious situation that many find themselves in at this hour. I plead with you, knowing the evil it has brought in my own family’s history. If you are getting caught in the trap of “seeking to drown your sorrows”, get help today!

To strengthen his exposure of the spiritual condition of the women of Israel, Amos presented a contrast with the Holy God (4:2). If you want to know what you really are like, compare yourself to God (Isaiah 6:1-7). Exposure to God’s holy character will bring your glaring deficiencies to light.

A concluding thought about possible interpretations of “with hooks… with fishhooks” (4:2a).Perhaps it was an illustration—people being caught like fish. But the Assyrians really used “hooks” in their campaigns of terror. We have examples from archaeology. They were evil people. Israel experienced their wrath, instead of turning back to the living God. May we listen and return to the Lord!

Grace and peace,

David

God’s Purposes at Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (1:21 NIV).

Christmas is a time for wish lists, whether others give you theirs or you ask what they would like, or others request them from you, or you happily volunteer yours lists to them. We all have items on our lists that we would like to have. Yes, that includes you! We all have plans and purposes that we would like to see happen. By the way, how did your plans turn out this year? Truthfully, this year was nothing like I had hoped for last December. I praise the Lord for the many gracious blessings that he poured out through Christ. But there were many items that I never put on my yearly planner—but God did.

God is the Greatest Planner. The Sovereign, Holy, and Wise God always plans what is best for his glory and for the good of his chosen people. But we do not always see life the way that the Lord of all views it. The history of the first Christmas is a clear example of this difference in evaluation. While a long acquaintance with the story of the birth of Jesus Christ might produce a kind of sentimental charm, it is not the way we would have written the story. A quick reading of the first seventeen verses of Matthew one might leave us with the impression that we have been set up for a glitzy, exciting dramatic account. For in these verses we read of great men, like Abraham and David, and of great events like the exile to Babylon and how God stuck with his people in the long years after that event, since there was still a long line of people who were heirs of the promises made to Abraham and David. Now certainly, God will send the Messiah in regal splendor to crush the oppressors of his people, in order that they might live happily ever after. But if we listen to the story written in God’s word, we can learn much about God’s purposes.

God’s purpose was to send a Savior to save his people from sin (1:18-21). At first glance the way to God’s goal seems very strange.

Joseph, who was a descendant of Abraham and David, is overwhelmed by circumstances that seem to be contrary to God’s law. Joseph was pledged to be married to Mary, whom he esteemed as a good and godly woman. But unexpectedly, she tells him that she is with child, by the creative power of the Holy Spirit. Now Joseph, like any man would be, is rather suspicious and incredulous. After all, all humans are born through the union of a man with a woman, aren’t we? Therefore, he decides to break their engagement, which in that culture required him to divorce her, since an engagement to marry was binding. All Joseph’s dreams for a happy life seem to be crushed.

But the Lord gives Joseph a new dream. It is a dream that involves his heartache. That is often the way the Sovereign Lord of all chooses to work in us and through us. He uses our tragedies to mold his triumphs. This displays his glory and honor in a greater way. He takes what is bitter and makes it sweet. The Lord’s angel verifies the story that Mary has told him. She is expecting because of the Holy Spirit’s power working in her. The Lord tells him to replace his fears with confident action.

God’s message about Mary’s child will be the foundation of a better hope for Joseph and for all God’s people. The Lord makes Joseph a participant in the story. In faith, he is to take Mary as his wife. He must rely on the Lord’s word to do this, for he has no other way of knowing if her account of her pregnancy is true. And in faith Joseph is to name her child Jesus, which means “the Lord saves”. Joseph must replace his fears with a faith that works.

The important point lies in the significance of the name “Jesus”. The son born of the Virgin will be the Savior of his people. But this salvation is not a physical deliverance. Instead, Jesus will rescue his people from their sins—from guilt and condemnation and from the power and finally the presence of sin, which is ruinous and damning.

Here is what Jesus does: When he saves people, he meets their true and basic needs. He saves us from our past, in our present, and for a glorious and joyful future with God forever. The question is, “Has Jesus saved you?” Right now, you may have the best Christmas present that you will ever receive—salvation by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

God’s purpose was also to be with his people (1:22-25). This purpose had been declared seven hundred years earlier through Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 7:14).

Matthew clearly teaches us that Isaiah’s words were significant far beyond the time and setting to which he originally spoke. The wicked King Ahaz had rejected the sign that the Lord offered through Isaiah. So the Lord gave a sign to all Israel. Now the time had come for its fulfillment. Here is an important idea in Matthew and the New Testament Scriptures: promise and fulfillment. 

Matthew by the direction of the Holy Spirit applies the words of Isaiah to what happened to Mary. A virgin gave birth to a son. How could this be? It took the power of God. Every hope we have rests on the power of God. Can God do what is otherwise impossible? Yes, God can! 

Through the virgin birth, God the Son came to be with his people. Here we encounter what is beyond human comprehension. We can know the fact that the Messiah or Anointed One is both God and man. But how can this be? The Bible never presents a full explanation, but instead presents many facts of Christ’s true deity and true humanity. The Son of Mary is also God over all. This is a mystery (1 Timothy 3:16), and the best response is to worship.

What we must notice and lay hold of is that God did this to be present with his people. This is a great idea of Christmas: God with us. God has a purpose to be with his people forever (Revelation 21:3). God is not far away; he has come near through Jesus the Messiah. The Lord the Son took the form of a servant to save his people and in the process to have an earned lordship over all humanity, because of his obedience to the Father’s will (Philippians 2:5-11). In doing this he makes us citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, where we will be with him forever (Philippians 3:20-21).

As we look forward to being with the Lord forever, free from sin and rejoicing in the glory of God Almighty, we can know that the Lord is still with us, as Jesus the Messiah promised (Matthew 28:18-20). Here is something for you and me as we journey through this world. Life might not work out according to our plans. But all will work out according to God’s plan, because he has planned to be with you and me forever. Believer in Christ, remember this in the days ahead. Everything is all right when the Lord of Glory is with you!

Grace and peace,
David

A Miraculous Catch of Fish (Part One)

Luke 5:4-11

When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink (5:6-7 CSB).

The fishermen had heard Jesus teach (5:1-3). Next, it was time to see him act. As you compare the other Gospels, you see that this was not the first time these men were acquainted with Jesus. Neither was it the first time they had heard him teach and seen him do miraculous signs. They had had personal conversations with Jesus. They knew him, but now they were to know him more. Relationships grow gradually. Jesus knew this was the time to call them to the next level.

The Lord has all things under his control. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:11 NIV). Think for a moment. Why did Peter and his friends have a frustrating night of catching no fish (5:5a)? It was because the Lord kept the fish away from their nets. Jesus set up the events for this revelation of his power to them. In order to follow Jesus as his “Sent Ones” (Apostles), these men needed to learn that they could depend fully on the Lord for all their needs. They also needed to learn that they were not in charge of their lives. They had caught many fish on Lake Galilee previously, but not the night before Jesus taught from Peter’s boat. As we continue to live through the current pandemic, we ought to learn these lessons as well. I am not in charge; I can depend on the Lord. 

Peter, after working all night, had heard Jesus teach the word of God. Next, Jesus gave a direct message to Peter. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (5:4 CSB). Jesus ordered Peter to act contrary to his own professional wisdom. The longtime fisherman knew that night was the best time to fish. He also knew that he had just experienced a completely unproductive fishing trip. He was tired and had already put his tools (his nets) away (5:2). It would have been easy to refuse. But Peter did not. We need many with his attitude today. Human “wisdom” has ruined the western church during the last fifty years. Entertainment and “attractional” methods have not produced true conversions or godliness. It is time during this pandemic to abandon what human wisdom has prescribed and to return to what the Lord Jesus Christ commands.

What happened next is a miraculous sign. In other words, Jesus continued to teach them, not by words, but by a supernatural act. Let’s focus there for a moment. The Bible records many supernatural acts by God. Here, the Son of God performs one. You can always know that a person has departed from the faith when they deny the reality of miracles. Notice that Peter and his friends did not ask for a miraculous sign, though it is all right for people to pray for God to act directly in our world. But the point is that they did not look for or expect what the Lord Jesus did. It was a sovereign act by the Lord, stepping into their world, speaking to them through an action that they would understand was an act of God himself.

Are we ready for God to come and show his almighty power among us, to us, and through us? Peter and his friends needed to know what God can do. Beware of falling into the “Can God Syndrome”! They spoke against God; they said, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:19-20 NIV)

In these dark days, we must walk by faith in the true and living God! Abandon your doubts. Renew your confidence in the God who can!

Grace and peace,
David

Messiah, the Lord

Luke 2:11

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord (NIV).

Jesus is the Messiah, or what most Christians are used to saying, the Christ. Both Messiah and Christ mean “the Anointed One”. Jesus is the Chosen One of God (Luke 23:35). He is the One sent to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

He is also the Lord.

Much of Christmas thinking is wrapped around the idea that Jesus was born as a very human baby, wrapped in strips of cloth, and laid in a manger by his virgin mother Mary. All that is correct certainly, but it is insufficient, if that is as far as one’ thoughts go. We read our granddaughter the children’s book The Bible in Picture for Little Eyes (the old edition with realistic pictures), and it talks much about how Jesus came as a baby. It also stresses that Jesus is God’s Son. That is good.

It is also good to know that he is the Savior. God the Father sent his one and only Son to save or rescue us from the guilt, pollution, and penalty that we fully deserve. We lived in rebellion against God and were liable for eternal punishment. But thanks be to God, in his amazing mercy he provided an Almighty Deliverer for us.

All that Jesus is able to do for us is possible because he is the Lord. He is the great I Am, the Creator and Controller of all things, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. This is what we have trouble thinking through with our small brains. The Chosen Savior, God’s Prophet, Priest, and King; yes, we know that. But to comprehend that the little baby in the manger, the firstborn son of a young Jewish woman is also the Firstborn over everything (Colossians 1:15), that makes us pause and wonder.

The Lord blessed my wife and I with three children. How I remember holding each of the three infants on my forearm with their heads safely cradled in the palm of my hand. They were so tiny, yet very real people! Now think of Joseph holding Mary’s newborn son in the same way. Yes, that is easy to imagine. But that newly arrived infant is also the Lord. Listen to what the prophet Isaiah said of the Lord. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? (Isaiah 40:12 ESV) The Lord is so immense that he has measured the universe with the span of his hand! Yet he was at the same time a very small baby! The fragile human frame that Joseph supported with his forearm and hand at the same exact moment was holding the universe together. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word (Hebrews 1:3a CSB; cf. Colossians 1:17).

Jesus, Messiah and Savior, is also the Lord of glory! Meditate on this awe-inspiring reality as you walk through the tattered remnants of the year 2020. Focus on him as you long for hope for your future. Jesus Messiah is the Lord of all!

By the way, he is also the Lord of your life. 

Grace and peace,
David