Jesus at Nazareth (Part Eight)

Luke 4:28-30

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way (Luke 4:28-30 NIV).

Jesus spoke gracious words (4:22) to the people of his hometown of Nazareth. He read them the Scriptures (4:18-19), announcing the good news of freedom and the Lord’s favor. The hometown folks liked that. But when he spoke to their hearts about their rebellion against God’s ways and the sovereignty of God in the giving of his grace, they didn’t like his message anymore. That is an understatement.

People who are strangers to God and his grace do not like to hear about either for very long. They grow restless, then agitated, and then violent. They willingly forget that the Sovereign God once destroyed a world that was given over to evil (Genesis 6:5-6; 2 Peter 3:6). They refuse to consider that this present world is ready for judgment by God. By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (2 Peter 3:7 CSB).

Let’s consider three outcomes of Jesus’ brief ministry at Nazareth, which includes his refusal to perform signs and wonders for them. We ought to see the last, because his refusal, though according to his Father’s will, definitely stirred them up against him. We need to look at all the scene when we talk about human behavior. Many factors stir everyone. Hopefully, love for God and delight in his grace motivate ours.

First outcome: they were furious and tried to kill Jesus. Though they did not know, and I doubt they cared, their action pictured human hatred for God and the Messiah. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and his Anointed One (Psalm 2:1-2 CSB). They hated the message that God was sovereign in his grace. They hated Jesus, the Prophet who had told them the truth, just as their ancestors had hated the prophets who came before Jesus. Follower of Christ, do not be surprised if the world hates you, because it will.

Second outcome: Jesus escaped from them. Every day during Jesus’ life was scheduled by the sovereign God. This was not the time or place or the way for Jesus to die to save his people. He had much to do for God his Father, many words of life to declare, and apostles to choose and to train to carry God’s message of salvation by grace to the nations. We are not told how Jesus was able to escape through the violent crowd, but he did. Later in Jerusalem, Jesus will escape from an angry crowd after he preached God’s sovereign grace to them (John 8:58-59). God had also protected Elijah and Elisha from harm (2 Kings 1:1-15; 6:8-24). The Lord would later deliver the apostles (Acts 5:17-20) and Peter (Acts 12:1-19). As no bird falls to the ground apart from the will of the Father in heaven, so our lives are safe in God’s hands.

Third outcome: Nazareth, except as part of Jesus’ name (Jesus of Nazareth) disappears from the Biblical narrative. This town gained nothing from its opposition to the Lord. Instead of hatred, they should have fallen on their faces and begged for mercy. But no, they foolishly despised and rejected the God of hope and fell into eternal hopelessness. If you understand, weep!

There are many antichrists in the world today, stirring up hatred against Jesus and his people. They appear to offer hope to people in despair. But the only hope is when people humble themselves, repent, and trust God for his mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Is your only hope for the future in Jesus, the Son of God?Grace and peace,
David

Reconsider

Amos 3:1-6

Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt (Amos 3:1 CSB)

After his opening announcements of judgment on Israel and her neighbors, Amos begins a section of prophetic proclamations. Notice the phrase listen to this message.

The prophet begins this section with a call to remember their relationship with God (3:1-2). The people addressed were the whole people of God, both Israel and Judah (3:1). God speaks to them as to a “family”. The tone is personal, and it is also redemptive, because God brought them out of Egypt (cf. 2:10).

Although Amos primarily addressed Israel, Judah should also hear (and pay attention to) this message from God. We should look at every sermon as being addressed to us. A quick way to develop a wrong attitude in listening to sermons is to prejudge whether you should listen because “you like it” or “it seems like it might help me” rather than “this is the message God has for me from his word”? Why do you listen? Specifically, the people were instructed to hear what the Lord had against them. It should make a person a very attentive listener when he or she hears that the God of the universe has something against him or her!

Amos described the people (3:2a). They were objects of sovereign love. The words “know”, “choose” and “love” are near synonyms in contexts like this (cf. Genesis 4:1; Exodus 33:12-13,17; John 10:13-15,27-28; Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 1:2). They were chosen by God (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). The doctrine of election is very practical. It is sad that many Christians think of it in a controversial way. God has chosen us; therefore, we should choose him and his ways in response.

Therefore, they stood in a special relationship to God. This is true regarding both the old covenant people (Exodus 19:5-6) and the new covenant people (1 Peter 2:9-10).

The people were responsible (3:2b). The relationship demanded responsibility. Many times in the Old Testament Scriptures Israel is warned of her responsibility to obey the Lord. We also are to obey (Hebrews 8:6-8; 12:4-11). The new and better covenant does not lessen our duty to listen to God and to obey. With the assurance of our high standing in God’s family as adult sons, we should have a heightened sense of our duties. What has been called new covenant theology (I prefer “Christ-structured theology”) does not produce lawlessness, but speaks against it at every point!

Next, Amos called God’s people to right thinking (3:3-6). They needed to know that agreement is essential for fellowship. The kind of agreement referred to here is a “pattern of united living”. Knowing God’s worth and will as his chosen bride, we agree to walk with him in his ways. Four actions were required of them in the covenant relationship with the Lord God:

Faithful love – “forsaking all others”
Submission – agreement to follow God’s leadership
Close companionship – essence of marriage
Bear his children – fruitfulness

What destroys fellowship? Sin does! Psalm 66:18; 1 John 1:7

In order to enjoy true fellowship in the church, we must agree around the truth. An engaged couple has to reach agreement on basic issues of family life as they move close to finalizing their union, if their marriage is to be successful. “Unless we agree with God in our end, which is his glory, we cannot walk with him by the way” (Henry).

God has reasons for the announced judgment on his people (3:4-5). These reasons were announced in the preceding section. “The threatenings of the word and providence of God are not bugbears [bogeymen] to frighten children and fools, but are certain inferences from the sin of man and certain presages [predictions] of the judgments of God.” [Henry]

The judgments of God were not the products of chance. People are wise in times of trial, if they reconsider their ways and return to the Lord. Perhaps he will be merciful.

God would be the One bringing this judgment (3:6). The theology of the Bible is neither fatalism nor a reign of chance. God is in control of history. Even the smallest events happen according to his controlling will. The evil spoken of is not moral evil, but it is the evil of disaster. Compare Isaiah 45:7.

How is your relationship with God? Are you walking with him? If you are, you are in agreement with him. Are you?Grace and peace,
David

Jesus at Nazareth (Part Seven)

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:23-27 NIV).

Next, we should listen carefully as Jesus taught the truth of sovereign grace, that the salvation of people depends on the Lord (cf. Jonah 2:9), and not on anything in the individual or in groups of people. Admittedly, this is hard teaching, because we like to assume that “we’re something special”. We see ourselves as basically loveable and that God should do us favors, in spite of the clear teaching of the Scriptures that God does not show partiality. For God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11 ESV). It humbles our proud hearts to hear that salvation, and all benefits we enjoy, are completely from God’s grace. God does not owe us anything; instead, all comes from him and is for his glory. And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:35-36 CSB).

Jesus taught this truth to the people of his hometown of Nazareth by two examples from the narrative of the Old Testament. The Lord Christ has been speaking about prophets not being accepted in their hometown, and these two incidents would have provided the hometown of the two prophets (that is, Israel) enough from their biased viewpoint to reject both Elijah and Elisha. These men were the greatest of the miracle working prophets in Israel’s history. The Lord God did signs and wonders through them to testify that he was again speaking to Israel through the many prophets that would follow them.

God did not send Elijah to help any widow in Israel. Instead, Elijah helped a widow from a nearby nation, a Gentile! We read the Bible too casually, which is the reason we overlook such actions by God. To the people of that time, Israel was God’s favorite people, so he would surely care for them, not a Gentile. The concept was repulsive to their minds.

Jesus doubled down with the next example to make sure they got the point. Israel had many people sorely afflicted with leprosy in Elisha’s time. However, none of them were healed by Elisha or by anyone else. The only one healed was a Syrian, another Gentile, named Naaman, who also happened to be a general in the Syrian army that was oppressing Israel. It was twice as nauseous to people who thought that God owed them care and healings and other goodies. Their hostile reaction in the next paragraph in Luke was easy to predict.

The sovereign God is not in debt to anyone. He is not obligated to give us and our people group nice things. We cannot demand healings or financial bailouts or new cars or fabulous vacation trips or a multitude of other pleasures. Everything good is a gift from God (Acts 14:14-17). Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created (James 1:16-18 NIV).

The people of Nazareth could not demand signs and wonders from the Lord Jesus. Neither can we. God is sovereign, in control of grace, and he gives grace to whomever he chooses to do. Let us humble ourselves before the Lord.

Grace and peace,
David

Israel’s Folly of Rejecting God (Part Two)

Amos 2:6-16

This is what the Lord says:“For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent” (Amos 2:6a NIV).

Israel sinned by despising God’s grace (2:9-12). Think of the grace that they looked down on. God had protected them (2:9). The Amorite tribe was one nation among many of the Canaanite peoples. Though they were skilled and strong warriors, the Lord easily defeated all of them for his people. The Lord had provided for them (2:10; cf. Psalm 78:9ff). Many times God called his people Israel to remember what he did for them in their release from Egyptian bondage. In the same way the church is to recall and reflect on Christ’s greater Exodus. As a song has said, “Lead me to the cross, where we first met; draw me to my knees so that we can talk.”

Even more, God had spoken to them. The means was prophecy (2:11-12). Yet Israel did not want to hear these men whom God had sent to them. The same thing happens today. Many church goers do not want to hear God’s word; most want it diluted to a formless, powerless slop of mushy words. Faithful ministers are blessings from the Lord to his people. See Ephesians 4; 1 Corinthians 12. We should pray that God would continue to call men to preach his word.

Some ideas about the terrible nature of the sin of despising God’s grace: When a person despises God and his grace, the God who alone can help them, his or her case is truly desperate. People are in a dangerous condition when they reject, suppress, or even merely ignore God’s message to them (2 Corinthians 5:20). We should be careful to remember the mercies that God has given to us. This was important for Israel (Deuteronomy 8:2, 18; 15:15; 24:18, 22), and it remains important for the church (Luke 22:19).

What were the consequences of Israel’s sins (2:13-16)? How awesome their judgment was! (2:13) God would crush them. This finally fell on them when they rejected Jesus the Messiah. Their house was left to them desolate (Matthew 23:38). Human strength would completely fail as a means of escape (2:14-16).

However, praise the Lord, hope continues! There is one who was crushed for us, in order that we might not be crushed (Isaiah 53:5). Seek the Lord while he may be found.Grace and peace,
David

Israel’s Folly of Rejecting God (Part One)

Amos 2:6-16

This is what the Lord says:“For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent” (Amos 2:6a NIV).

In the previous section (1:3-2:5), we learned of God’s judgment on the nations surrounding Israel. All except Judah were Gentile nations, and God called them to account on the basis of what they should have known about God. But Judah was judged according to God’s law.

As we read these verses, we must remember that it is God who is speaking through his prophet. The covenant Lord spoke against the covenant breaking of his people. Relationships bring with them responsibilities. Yet the nature of the human heart is to think only of the benefits that we get from a relationship with another, especially being related to God. In this context God announces judgment on his people (2:6), and as he does so, he calls them to account for their failures in this covenant relationship.

Amos began with Israel’s sin of breaking God’s law (2:6-8). Notice that the same opening form was used in the address to Israel as in the address to the surrounding nations.

First, we have an examination of the general ways they sinned.

They were guilty of greed and materialism (2:6). God would have us live contented with his gifts and to give thanks for them. Greed shows a basic discontent with God’s providence, which leads to a life of pursuing the things of this world.
They were guilty of sexual immorality (2:7b). God’s visible people ought to have been demonstrating a different way of life from the surrounding Gentile nations. The tragedy of the contemporary church is how it grovels in the same cesspool of sexual immorality that the world is in.
They were guilty of oppression and the perversion of justice (2:7a, 8a). Servants of the righteous Lord ought to value justice highly, yet Israel had a different attitude.
They were guilty of religious corruption (2:8b). This sin is to be traced back to the sin of Jeroboam I, and from him back to the Golden Calf (Exodus 32).

They might have been religious, but it was a religion far from what God intended—showing love for God and love for one’s neighbors. Love is the greatest thing in religion; without it everything else is useless (1 Cor 13:13).

Israel was judged according to the standard of the law for these sins (cf. Romans 2:12). Amos exposed their breaking of the law covenant. Although they had already departed from the Lord, they were still responsible to be faithful to him and the covenant. A desire to want to live our own way does not absolve God’s people from the obligation to believe his word and to follow him.

They sold the righteous for silver, etc.; that is, they sold them into slavery (2:6; cf. Deuteronomy 16:18-19). “Those who will wrong their consciences for anything will come at length to do it for next to nothing” (Henry). Let us hear and remember! People in bondage to sin will eventually want to enslave others. This is a growing evil in our time.

They trampled on the heads of the poor (2:7a); contrast Leviticus 25:35-43; Deuteronomy 15:7-11. God’s standard is equal justice. It would have been just as wrong to pervert justice in favor of the poor. But as a general rule, the poor suffer more from injustice in court than the rich.

Father and son used the same girl (2:7b). This probably refers to the sin of incest (Leviticus 18:6-17) rather than the sin of temple prostitution. God’s standard of permissible sexual relations narrowed from before the law to under the law, and now is even more restricted (ex: a believer may only marry a believer). Involvement in this sin profaned God’s name.

They misused garments taken in pledge (2:8). Compare their conduct with what God’s law required (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:10-13). To misuse these garments by sleeping on them by an altar to a false god (a supposed way to get a revelation from that false god) aggravated the crime.

They made the Nazirites drink wine (2:12). Consider what God required of the Nazirite during the time of his vow (Numbers 6:1-14). It was another way of corrupting another person’s devotion to his or her God. The true guilt of sin prompts a person to want to lead others away from the Lord.

All of this demonstrated that Israel was far from God, as were her neighbors. Wherever Amos looked he saw departure from the true and living God. He had a hard assignment from the Lord to minister for God in that religious and moral climate. But Amos was faithful! May God grant us grace to continue to walk faithfully with him.

Grace and peace,
David

The Judging of Israel’s Neighbors

Amos 1:3-2:5

As we start to look at this long section, we need to remember the main purpose of the message of Amos. He was sent to minister God’s Word to Israel. Notice the phrase “concerning Israel” in verse one. Was Amos using this section to gain a hearing among the people of the northern kingdom? That is a possible explanation. People like to hear someone else’s sin exposed and denounced, which is one reason that tabloid journalism is so popular. However, it might be that he was “circling in on them” as a bird of prey might do.

Each of the judgments against Israel’s neighbors is presented according to a set formula.

All open with the phrase “this is what the Lord says,” and some close with the reinforcing phrase “says the [Sovereign] Lord.”
All contain the phrase “for three sins… even for four….” This seems to be a Semitic expression to stress that the sins of these nations were great. “Is judgment coming on them for just three sins? No, it is coming for much more than that!”
All contain a phrase that says something like “I will send fire… that will consume the fortresses….”
All present the judgment as coming from the Lord. Israel’s neighbors will not be overcome by some chance or random calamities but by the act of God, regardless of the intermediate agent that he uses.

To help us understand this section, we need to answer three questions.

Who were these people groups?

Their location: they surrounded the northern kingdom of Israel. Tyre was northwest of Israel and Damascus (Aram) northeast. Gaza and the other Philistines were southwest. Edom was to the southeast, with Moab and then Ammon north of Edom on Israel’s east, and Judah was directly south of Israel.
Their descent: the Arameans, people of Tyre, and the Philistines were all Gentiles. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s older brother, while the Moabites and Ammonites were descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. The people of Judah and Israel were descendants of Jacob.

What were the sins of these nations? First, let us consider the sins of the Gentile people groups mentioned.

They were guilty of a lack of compassion. They sent some of Israel into captivity and slavery (1:6, 9). Selling them to Edom was especially wicked, because Edom was Israel’s ancient and incorrigible enemy. They were filled with uncontrolled anger and a lack of pity (1:11). In both of these they showed themselves to be most ungodly. God expects people everywhere to reflect his glory as self-controlled and merciful and compassionate.
They were guilty of treaty breaking (1:9). Loyalty and honesty are very important to the God of truth and faithfulness.
They were guilty of cruelty. They “threshed” Israel (1:3). A threshing sledge had “sharp iron teeth attached to rollers which passed over the sheaves to thresh the grain and to crush and shred the straw” (Laetsch). You can have a nightmare thinking about the pain and death this would cause as people when thrown under the threshing sledges. They ripped open Israel’s pregnant women (1:13). Compare 2 Kings 8:12; Hosea 13:16. As bad as this sin is, it is aggravated by its motive: greed for territory. God examines the motives of the human heart. Both of these demonstrate the perversity of the human heart (Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-22; Romans 1:31).
They dishonored the dead (2:1), turning their bodies into simple materials. Since we are made in the image of God, humans are to be treated with respect. Notice that Gentiles against Gentiles committed this last sin. God takes notice of what nations do and judges them for it.

We are watching our world descend back into the pit of cruelty from which the revivals of the Reformation and the First Great Awakening lifted it out of for a time. Only a knowledge of God’s glory in Christ can stop this descent.

Second, notice the sins of Judah, the southern kingdom.

They rejected God’s law, both as God’s standard of instruction and in its particular commands. Notice that they are the only surrounding nation judged by this standard. This rejection included their heart attitude and their actions. Not to practice God’s message is to despise it in some way.
They followed false teaching. Every person is responsible for the teaching that they listen to (Mk 4:24-25). They allowed their hearts to be led astray (2:4).

What leads people astray today? Many wrong ideas about the purpose of life, like materialism, hedonism, addiction and substance abuse, and false religions.

How were these nations judged?

They were judged impartially. God gave no special respect to any group (Acts 10:34). God did not vary from the standard that he had revealed to that group. Each was judged according to what God had made known, whether through creation, the conscience or through the Scriptures.
They were judged inescapably. Consider what happened to Aram or Syria (2 Kings 16:9).
They were judged by the Lord. The Sovereign God acts in history to rule his creation, including the nations of mankind. Notice the number of times that God says, “I will….” The fate of Tyre, its complete destruction in part by Nebuchadnezzar and then totally by Alexander, is one proof of God’s action. Observe how many times God said, “I will not turn back my wrath.”

This is the message that we need to tell our neighbors (Romans 1:18). You have to start the “Romans road” in the right place. God does judge people (Hebrews 9:27). All people only have hope when they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace,
David

The Shepherd’s Message (Part 2)

Amos 1:1-2

The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders from Tekoa—what he saw regarding Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. He said: The Lord roars from Zion and makes his voice heard from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers (CSB).

Next, let’s think about the tone of the prophecy (1:2). Amos speaks as one through whom the Lord was speaking. He is God’s spokesman. “This is what the Lord says.” Amos declares the authority for the message. He speaks the words of God. This is different from the current style of many pastors and Bible teachers, who specialize in cute stories, make fantastic predictions, or speak about political issues from either a conservative or liberal point of view. The voice of the Lord is disregarded, downplayed, and even disputed. We need men like Amos who will boldly declare God’s words to people.

The manner in which God speaks is startling. The Lord roars (cf. Amos 3:9). People want a “feel-good” kind of message in worship services. They want to be pleased, not contradicted. They desire comfort and dislike becoming upset. They like politicians that tell them, “We can fix this to your liking.” They hate preachers of truth that tell them, “Our case is desperate! We need the living God to act for us. Let’s return to the Lord.” This is a warning before judgment, like a lion would give when he is about to strike (cf. Isaiah 5:29). It is very natural for a shepherd like Amos to use this illustration to warn of serious danger. The true God is roaring today. We need ears to hear his roar.

The Lord speaks from Zion, the place of the temple, where God chose to reveal himself (Exodus 25:21-22; Numbers 7:89; cf. 1 Kings 8). The Lord speaks from the place of his choosing. That place was Jerusalem, not Samaria, in Amos’ day. That would have been an unpopular message to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel. Jerusalem is the place of revelation by God. Samaria or Babylon or Athens were places of human opinions, religion, and philosophy. God speaks from the Zion or Jerusalem that is above, not from the political centers or academic institutions that are below. Please ask yourself: “Do I depend more on the wisdom of human ‘experts’ than on the Word of God?”

The reaction that God’s roaring word causes in his creation. God has power over the universe he has made. God acts in history. Even the most remote places (represented by Carmel—the mountains) can’t escape when the Lord extends his hand. The fertile pastures also would be dried up. This judgment would hit hard, producing hunger and poverty.

See how dependent the creature is upon God. He can make our pastures dry up! But even if all others are thirsty, God can satisfy our thirst. On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:37-39 CSB).

Grace and peace,
David

The Shepherd’s Message (Part 1)

Amos 1:1-2

Amos is a very neglected book of the Bible. However, our neglect does not detract from its value. All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable (2 Tm 3:16). Amos is a strong message to unrepentant sinners, yet it contains a message of hope at its end. In some ways we might compare Amos to John the Baptist.

We need to remember the time of the message of Amos. It was given in the old covenant era, and he speaks faithfully to the people in conformity with the terms of that covenant. Compare Exodus 19:3-6; Deuteronomy 7:9-11; 28:1-68. Yet the book of Amos is highly relevant to us, because it tells of the judgment of God, the failure of people, the grace of God, and the difficulty of the task confronting God’s faithful servants.

Let’s begin with the setting of the prophecy (1:1). What do we know about the human writer?

His occupation—Amos was a shepherd, like Moses and David. He was not from the “schools of the prophets”, but he came from outside the usual religious institutions. He may have been rich or poor; we are not told much about him. He was already busy; God uses people who are in motion. One thing is clear: he knew God and his message. We should accept or reject ministers on the basis of the correctness of the message they teach and the godliness of the way they live (1 Timothy 4:16). Other matters are far less important.
His home—Amos was from Tekoa of Judah, which was six miles southeast of Bethlehem and eleven miles from Jerusalem. However, God sent him to minister to the northern kingdom of Israel.

And what of the time and character of the time of his ministry? Here are some general facts about the time in which Amos lived. Jeroboam II was king of the northern tribes (2 Kings 14:23-29). He was an evil leader, but was used by the Lord to help his people. Wicked people can be used by the Lord to help the children of light. Uzziah reigned in the southern kingdom (2 Chronicles 26:5-15). He followed the Lord and greatly strengthened the kingdom of Judah. Yet, he became arrogant, and was punished by the Lord.

Thus it was a time of power and prosperity for the kingdoms in general, but not for all the people, as we shall see, God willing. It was also a time of indulgence, idolatry, immorality, and injustice. (Sounds like twenty-first century America, huh?) Israel had a form of godliness, but denied its power (2 Timothy 3:5). For God’s old covenant people, it was like an Indian summer before the final descent into winter.

Specifically, this prophetic message was given two years before the earthquake (cf. Zechariah 14:5). This was a notable event, spoken of long afterward. Catastrophes alone do not produce repentance, but anger against God. Americans as a whole have not turned to God after six months of the Covid-19 pandemic. People are not seeking God. Churches have only a fraction of people attending that they had last year. Christianity is considered irrelevant by most. Christians are powerless, when we should be people of hope. Pray for grace, not judgment if you are truly concerned about our land. It is time for every Christian to seek the Lord and repent.

Amos was one of the first of the writing prophets. He was a contemporary of Jonah and Hosea. Like we stated previously, he ministered to the northern kingdom, which followed the heresies of Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:26-33). They had forgotten God and replaced his worship with outright idolatry at this point (Hosea 13).

God did not send Amos on an easy mission. The Lord can put his faithful in tough situations, but in such circumstances the light looks brighter against the darkness. We do not minister in colonial America or during the post World War II boom. We are in different times. But tough times bring their own opportunities to serve God.

Grace and peace,
David

Study of Psalm 124 (Part One)

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.

What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat: What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger. The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us. Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives (124:1-5 NLT).

Psalm 124 is the fifth of the Songs of Ascent. They were composed for people going to Jerusalem for the three required feasts during the old covenant. As the heading indicates, David wrote this song. His love for the true and living God overflowed to help the worship of God’s covenant people. In our time, people have mainly lost their ability to sing. People will listen to others perform music, but they lack desire to sing. We have become passive in our emotional expressions. It should not surprise us to see people emotionally manipulated by those who produce music. David wrote to improve and enhance the worship of the Lord by his people.

His song has structure; it pushes its participants to move through the muck and mire of their experience to the Lord God. But it does not do this in a balanced way. This might upset the analytic or clinical mind that likes everything in neat orderly packages. But David writes about life, which is anything except neat and orderly, and he writes about God who reveals himself as greater than the wild messes of our lives.

The psalm can be outlined in this way:

Presence of the Lord during trials (124:1-5)
Protection by the Lord (124:6-7)
Praise to the Lord (124:8)

So then we see that David lets us linger in our problems for over half the psalm before he reminds us of how God has rescued us, which in turn he develops into a call to worship.

Let’s speak plainly. None of us want to slowly review our trials. We want them way behind us in the rear view mirror. After I recovered from a heart attack, I wanted to get on with my life as quickly as I could. I was very thankful for how God preserved my life, but once rescued, it was time for other things. Then I had to have bypass surgery a year later, followed by another time of recovery, and more desire to move on. A couple years later, I did move on, but not as I expected! My point is simply that we want to get out of painful and unpleasant situations and get on with whatever. David did not do that. He wanted the pilgrims on the path to remember where they had been and what the Lord had done for them.

Like many psalms, it is unclear what troubles David and Israel faced. Perhaps he pointed to the early years of his reign. He could truthfully say it was a time when people attacked us. Benjamin and the other ten tribes refused to bow to David’s God-given kingship, and a mini civil war lasted for about seven years. That was bad enough, but there were also problems from the Philistines, Israel’s archenemy for many years during the leadership of Samson, Samuel, and Saul. David inherited those enemies when he became king, and he had his own hand in stirring the pot, when he supposedly defected to the Philistines and then was kicked out by them when they went to fight Saul. When the Philistines heard that David was king over all Israel and not merely the tribe of Judah, they decided that they must strike hard against David and Israel (2 Samuel 5). It was a dangerous time for David and his people. He had to flee to his stronghold to get into a defensible position. (God expects us to use our common sense.) Then David rightly asked God what to do. (God expects us to pray. He wants us to welcome him into our problems.) And in two different ways, God gave David and Israel victory over their enemies.

So in this Song of Ascent, David reminded the worshipers of the crisis they had passed through. What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat: What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? By repetition, he helps Israel recall the dangers they had been in. During what dangers you’ve faced have you experienced that God was on your side? Remember the following great word. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31 NIV)

Grace and peace,
David

Jesus at Nazareth (Part Six)

Luke 4:16-30

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian” (4:23-27 NIV).

Words, especially spoken words, are not always clear in their meaning, when you see the latter in written form. Words that seem to be a simple statement of fact might actually convey other meanings. It appears that this is what Jesus discerned in his hearers in Nazareth. The hometown crowd had remarked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” (4:22). Taken out of context, the words could be taken as admiration for the skill that a carpenter’s son had acquired in teaching God’s word. But they had a context in which Jesus had declared that he was the fulfillment of Scripture. For this reason, Jesus saw them as a challenge to his claim to be God’s Anointed One. This provided him with an opportunity to tell them more about the grace of God.

Jesus detected that his hearers were not interested in him as a teacher of God’s word but as a miracle worker. Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” They had heard that Jesus could preach, but they were more interested in his ability to do signs and wonders in his hometown. Shouldn’t Jesus heal people that he had known from childhood? Where was his concern for his longtime neighbors?

They failed to consider the plan of God.

People share this failing. We suppose that God ought to do things that are “nice” for people. If the Lord did signs, wonders, and miracles in Capernaum, then “obviously” the Lord should do the same thing in Nazareth. Otherwise, the Lord is “not being fair”. It is like God “owes it” to us, to do nice things to people, at least to people we like. If we can concoct a reason why God owes special treatment to us, we do not hesitate to put such reasons into how we look at the world.

We are not told if anyone responded to Jesus’ remark. Perhaps they were caught off-guard and didn’t know what to say. Regardless, the Lord Jesus followed up with a statement that would make them feel more uncomfortable. “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” We might assume otherwise, because there are enough signs on the outskirts of towns that boast about it being the home of somebody known for their accomplishments. However, Jesus spoke about prophets.

While people might be interested to listen to someone from their hometown preach God’s word out of simple curiosity, they do not want to be confronted by the word from that preacher. It goes something like this, “Oh you’re little David. I remember you when you were a boy. I recall all the stuff you used to do.” And so they dismiss the hometown preacher with indifferent words and by the snarky tone in which they say them. Jesus never did anything wrong in his hometown, and they still rejected him.

However, Jesus never walked away from teaching opportunities. God his Father had sent him to preach and teach the word (Mark 1:38), and our Lord seized such occasions, even at the risk of a hostile reaction. His theme would answer their unspoken demand for “fair treatment”. He would boldly proclaim God’s sovereign grace. He would review God’s plan of action.

Next time in this passage, we will consider what Jesus told them. However, now is the time to ask ourselves, to examine ourselves about this matter of “fair treatment”. Do we suppose that God is obligated to give to us what he gives to others? Clearly, if we really expect God to do that, we will be constantly disappointed. And deeply frustrated, and even worse, conducting a silent war with God. My friend, don’t fight that war. Don’t live in anger against God. The Lord God requires us to walk humbly before him (Micah 6:8), and humility only prospers in an atmosphere of trust. So then, have faith in God and his wise and righteous ways.

Grace and peace,
David