Storms Will Come

To followers of Christ and to those who don't,  "happily ever after" will never happen in this world.  Believing and obeying Christ will bring blessings, but there will also still be pain and hardships as "His will be done."  Case in point.....Paul, author of much of the New Testament.

After his miraculous conversion in Damascus, Paul did not get the girl, run a successful tent-making business, and raise kids that came every Sunday after church for family dinner.  Throughout Acts, Paul finds himself traveling the Roman empire sharing the news of Jesus primarily to gentiles, being pursued and persecuted primarily by his fellow Jews, and spending a great deal of time chained up in prisons.  These were difficult, but very ordinary (non-miraculous) circumstances that God used to spread His unstoppable gospel message.

In Acts 25-26, Paul was arrested for telling Jews about Jesus, accused by the Pharisees (of which Paul once was) of blasphemy, and spared execution since the Roman leadership found that he had committed nothing deserving death.  Paul would have been freed by the Romans if he had not demanded a trial before Caesar for which he was entitled since he was a Roman citizen.  Acts 26: 31-32 And when they had gone out, they began talking to one another saying, "This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment.  And (King) Agrippa said to (Governor) Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."

God had told Paul after his initial beating and arrest that he would be needed in Rome to testify to the truth.  Acts 23:11 But on the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, "Be courageous!  For as you have testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem so you must testify in Rome also."  Using his "Roman citizen" card was Paul's way to get to Rome!  God is sovereign, but man is responsible for putting His plan in action.

Acts 27-28 details the horrendous ship ride/ship wreck.  As my Bible Study Fellowship study of Acts  points out, there were four anchors, all starting with "P" that saved Paul and the crew, and got Paul to Rome.

1.  God was present in the storm.  After setting sail for Rome, the storms swooped in, much cargo was thrown overboard, and God spoke to Paul.  Acts 27:21-25 When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, "Men, you should have followed my advise and not have set sail from Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this damage and loss  And yet now I urge you to keep up with courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.  For this very night an angel of God to whom I belong, whom I also serve came to me, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you all those who are sailing with you.' Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on a certain island."  God may not speak directly to us as we go through our storms, but we have access to His Holy Word, which assures us that....

2.  We are God's possession.  Believers belong to God, and He will guide and protect us through our storm filled human lives.  The price was very high, the blood of Jesus, but believers are bought, paid for, and will always belong to God.  It says so right in Acts 27:23 and is worth repeating....For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong, whom I serve, came to me.

3.  God keeps all of His promises.  As God promised, the ship did eventually ran aground and broke apart, and all 276 people on board did survive. God uses His beloved human possessions to fulfill His promises in ordinary human ways so that His gospel news spreads.  Paul's responsibility was to do his part and make this happen as Luke, who was one of the 276 reports.  Acts 27:27-32  But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.  And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.  Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.  But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's (life) boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers "Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved."  Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away.

Paul didn't get angry with the buffoons trying to jump ship, but continued on with ordinary human encouragement needed to fulfill God's promise.  Acts 27:33-36  Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing.  Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish  Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.

The centurion who was in charge of prisoner Paul also did his human part to fulfill God's promise, perhaps unknowingly.  Acts 27:41-44  But they struck a reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow struck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves.  The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship.  And so it happened that they all were brough safely to land.

4. God has a purpose for all of our storms.  But it is so hard to understand why we must suffer!  Why not just calm the seas for Paul and crew to have a smooth ride to Rome, God?  God strengthened Paul's faith by upholding his promise that all would be saved.  And although a number is not provided, it is not hard to fathom that some of the 274 survivors (Luke was already a believer) came to believe in Paul's God. The way the centurion behaved indicates a convert!  This would not have happened in a "smooth sail".

Paul's misfortunes that God uses for His purpose continues in Acts. 28.  Acts 28:1-6  When they had been brought safely through then we found out that the island was called Malta.  The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold.  But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand  When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, "Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live."  However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.  Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead  But after they had waited a long time and seen nothing unusual happen to him they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

Paul remained on Malta for three months, healing people both physically and spiritually.  Acts 28:7-10  Now in the neighboring parts of that place were land belonging to the leading man of the island named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days.  And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery  Paul went in to see him and after he prayed he laid his hands on him and healed him.  After this happened the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured,  They also showed us many honors and when we were about to set sail they supplied us with everything we needed.  

Human Paul offered ordinary prayer, God used him to heal miraculously, and Paul made it the rest of the way to Rome without further duress.

God so Loves His Men and Women

Nothing sparks a biblical debate like "the role of women."  Here are a few things I found helpful in this discussion.  Short answer - God made us all different to accomplish His plan.  Some of us are men, some women, some bankers, some dieticians.  If we all recognize our God given talents and responsibilities, God is glorified, and life's blessings are more prevalent and recognizable. 

 In regards to marriage and children, one person can not usually take care of the house, the children, and the income source without there being some stress.  Division of labor issues can be beautifully resolved if the overarch is spouses loving each other like Christ loves them - with compassion, mercy, forgiveness, respect and selflessness.

1.  Helpers are required to make things work perfectly.

In the opening chapters of the bible God distinguished between His plan for man and His plan for woman. Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make him a helper."  In the Hebrew text, "helper" is "ezer".  We see this same word used in Psalms to describe God himself.  Psalms 115: 9-11  Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help (ezer) and their shield.  House of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help (ezer) and their shield.  You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help (ezer) and their shield.  God as our Helper certainly does not mean we are over God, but that we are dependent on Him for helping us succeed.  The same role of "helper" applies in the Genesis text regarding women.  The only thing God declared as "not good" was the man being alone.  To be "good", man would need a woman to help him succeed in accomplishing God's work.

2.  Jesus was without prejudice and elevated the status of women.

Young Mary was the first human entrusted with the news that Jews had been waiting to hear for thousands of years. The long-awaited Messiah was on the way!  Luke 1:30-33  And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

Over these same thousands of years, men treated women as second class citizens. But Jesus loved every human being regardless of race, occupation or gender.  John 11:5  Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 

As part of God's perfect plan, a group of women were the first humans to learn of Jesus' resurrection.  Luke 24:4-7  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in gleaming clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why are you seeking the living One among the dead?  He is not here, He has risen.  Normally the presence of a woman was not even worth noting, but not so when it comes to Jesus.  Luke 24:10  Now these women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.

The disciples did not learn the value of women from their culture, but from Jesus who treated women with the same love and respect He treated men.   Jesus valued female companionship, prayers, service, financial resources, testimony and witness.  He listened to women, while also teaching and ministering to their needs.  This mindset flowed down to all believers as Paul reminds us in Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

3.  Husbands and wives do have different, equally important family roles  

No doubt, God loves males and females equally, but scripture assigns different roles to each so that God's work is done.  The husband is to be the family leader.  1 Corinthians 11:3  But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.  So many trigger words, but lets be clear about what this is and is not saying.  

We are all to obey God first.  Men are to follow God, always striving to be more like Jesus .  If this is not happening and a man is living according to the world, not scripture, the rest of the verse is negated.  By following a husband who is following God, a woman is also following God.  And a woman is to know scripture herself so that she recognizes a Godly man.  

A husband's leadership should NOT be superior, domineering or patronizing, because that is not how God leads us.  As is often read at Christian weddings and pertains to both the bride and the groom, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7  Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.  It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Here is where the problems begin.....Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.  But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. This does not mean, wife, bow down to your husband as if he is a king every time he walks in the door.  Read the very next verse.  Ephesians 5:25 Husband, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.  Christ loved the church with grace, mercy, forgiveness and respect.  Husbands are to cherish their wives and put them first, just like Christ put us all first as he headed to the cross.

How loving and harmonious would our families be if we lived out Colossians 3:18-21?  Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and do not become bitter against them.  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.  Fathers, do not antagonize your children, so that they will not become discouraged.  The key to this all is "fitting to the Lord" and "pleasing to the Lord".  If any family member is not living in accordance with Christ, all are impacted, always in a negative way.

So who should stay home with the kids?  I remember my daughter saying that "mom is the boss" because she saw me making all of the daily decisions as I was around the most while dad was at work.  What would be the problem if the roles were reversed and dad stayed home and was the obvious leader of the family?  

Lets go to the bible.  Proverbs 31 is an entire chapter describing a worthy woman.  Proverbs 31: 15-16  And she rises while it is still night and gives food to her household, and portions to her attendants.  She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.  An industrious woman is worthy both at home and making a living in the world.  Then there is Titus 2:3-5  Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.  Bottom line, while it may not be necessary to be strictly a stay-at-home mom, God does place a priority on a woman overseeing her household.

4.  Men "leading" and women "helping" roles are required only for marriage and church leadership.

The two most important things to Jesus here on Earth are His church and our families in that order (see 10 commandments).  This is why He made very clear in the bible that men were to lead both, and women were to nurture both so that both the Church and its families could thrive.  Our jobs, our health, our homeland etc. are also important and should have out attention, but God and family come first.

We have gone over women's family responsibilities.  The only roles women cannot fill in the church are ones that involve teaching or exercising authority over men.  1 Timothy 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.  This is not because our men say so, but because our God, through Paul, says so, and both men and women need to listen to our God.  Women can be worship leaders, youth ministers, children's choir directors, any role that does not exercise authority over man.  

How many eyes are rolling?  Mine have!  At my Presbyterian church in NJ (which allowed female elders by the way) I coordinated our "new member" class.  We always asked people to provide their testimonies if they felt comfortable doing so.  One man tearfully shared that he had his "come to faith" moment listening to the leader in his bible study class.  This leader was our associate pastor - A FEMALE!  I will never say that this is not biblical or wrong as it glorifies God!  God will use what is available to accomplish His Kingdom work.  And in this case you had an open heart listening to a faith filled expert in the bible and the Holy Spirit entered in.

In Acts 18 we learn about Apollos, an educated Jew who knew the Old Testament.  He also believed in Jesus, but knew only about repentance from the baptism of John, and taught nothing about the Holy Spirit and salvation.  Acts 18:26  But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him (Apollos), they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately to him. It is in the bible - God used Priscilla and her husband Aquila to teach a man!  Another instance where God sees an opportunity for a faith-filled woman to introduce the Holy Spirit.

There are no biblical leadership limits for the rest of life!  Ladies be encouraged to lead companies, run for office, open businesses etc.  Just run it like Jesus would!

5.  What men and women tend to value tracks with God's biblical outline.

For years studies have shown that overall, women feel love when they are cherished - cared for, treated tenderly, listened to, and protected.  And men feel love when they are respected - admired, having opinions that are sought and valued, and followed as leaders.  Of course women also want to be respected, and men also want to be cherished, but in general, genders do value each characteristic differently.  

These preferences support God's design and plan for us.  Father's guide children on how to live respectfully in God's eyes.  And mom's mentor children on how to show mercy and grace.  Proverbs 1:8-9  Listen, my son, to your father's instruction, And do not ignore your mother's teaching: For they are a graceful wreath for your head and necklaces for your neck.  Respect and love should be taught by both parents.  But the different genders seem to have different God given expertise.

Men typically would rather admit "you were right" versus confessing "I am wrong."  Remember the Fonz on "Happy Days"?  He was "wwww...rrrrrr....ong" when he made a mistake as it was so hard for him to spit it out!  You can understand tensions in relationships, since women would rather hear "I am sorry", versus "You are right."  "I am sorry" shows mercy.  "You are right" shows respect.

Bottom line....we are all to live our life glorifying God and the blessings will be countless when we do so.  To avoid a chaotic home, income is needed to provide resources, children need to be cared for, and a house needs to be maintained.  God outlined His plan in Scripture, and designed mankind/womankind to help avoid this chaos. Most single parents will tell you doing this all on your own is overwhelming.  

Many God loving/God fearing husband/wife teams struggle maintaining a balanced home when evils of the world take over - health, loss of job, extra marital affairs.  A husband and wife team, loving and following God in an imperfect world, is the best match to lead a family to glorify God.  When reading scripture, we are provided the recipe for how to glorify God.  How we cut the cookies will vary, but as long as we stick to the recipe, they will be delicious.

Oh Peter!

There are several examples of pre-Holy Spirit disciple Peter as doubtful, impulsive, and scared even as he lived life with Jesus.  

Doubt  Matthew 14:25-32  And in the fourth watch of the night He (Jesus) came to them, walking on the sea.  When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." Peter responded and said to Him, "Lord if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."  And He said "Come!"  And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out saying, "Lord, save me!"  Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"  When Jesus tells us to do something ("Come"), have faith that no matter how scary it seems, He will have us by the hand.

Impulsive  Some impulsive behaviors work out well.  Without even knowing Jesus, Simon (Peter) and Andrew impulsively dropped everything to follow Him.   Matthew 4:18-22   Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers Simon, who was called Peter and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people." 

Other impulsive behaviors don't work out near as well.  Jesus was none to happy when emotional Peter scolded Him as He explained the horrific events that were about to go down.  Jesus was furious and referred to the future rock foundation of the Church as a Satan stumbling block!  Matthew 16:21-23   From that time Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day.  And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying "God forbid it, Lord!  This shall never happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's purposes, but men's."  

Scared  Peter followed Jesus after His arrest.  He was understandably scared for Jesus and for himself due to his known association with Jesus.  Our instincts are to self-protect when threatened, and the future rock crumbled under questioning and denied knowing Jesus three times, just had Jesus had told him he would do.  Matthew 26:69-75  Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a slave woman came to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean"  But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about."  When he had gone out to the gateway, another slave woman saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."  And again he denied it, with an oath: "I do not know the Man.” A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "You really are one of them as well, since even the way you talk gives you away"  Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not now the Man!"  And immediately a rooster crowed  And Peter remembered the statement that Jesus had made:  "Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times"  And he went out and wept. bitterly.

We learn in Acts 2 that the disciples and other believers received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus.  Acts 2:1-4  When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.

Empowered and transformed by this Spirit, Peter was a bold, wise, self-controlled leader with great understanding, love and passion for the Lord.  Later in Acts 2, after Peter's sermon, 3000 repented and were baptized.  Acts 2: 38-41  Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."  And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying "Be saved from this perverse generation!"  So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.  

Peter was hand picked by Jesus to be the leader to build the Church.  In Acts 10 he received the dream about foods no longer being unclean and officially converted the first gentile, Cornelius.  Acts 10:10-15  He (Peter) fell into a trance and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky  A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!"  But Peter said, "By no means, Lord for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean."  Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."  Peter ate with Christian Gentiles, no longer obeying the kosher laws per God's instructions in the trance.  

Jewish laws, including circumcision, were not to be barriers among believers. Gentile Christians were asked to abstain from only 4 pagan worship related things so as to keep Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles unified.

1.  Food polluted by idols.

2.  Sexual Immorality

3.  Meat from strangled animals

4.  Consuming blood

However, when Judaizers, a group of Jewish Christians who insisted that gentiles follow Mosaic Law, arrived in Antioch, Peter refrained from eating in the home of Gentile believers.  This certainly sent a conflicting message, causing the Christian Gentiles to feel unworthy.  Peter was still a flawed, sinful human being even having known and lived with Jesus, been filled with and living with the Holy Spirit, and been identified as the rock on which to build the Christian church.  

Paul corrected Peter in Galatians 2.  Galatians 2:11- 14  But when Cephas (Greek for "Rock" which was Peter) came to Antioch, I (Paul) opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.  For prior to the coming of some men from James (the Judaizers), he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came he began to withdraw and separate himself, fearing those from the circumcision.  The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas (traveling with Paul) was carried away by their hypocrisy.  But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles, and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews"?

I take comfort in this because even though I have the benefit of the written gospels and most days feel pretty spirit filled, I too am flawed and sinful.  When my Methodist brother married a Catholic in a Catholic church, I was miffed that we were "not good enough" (my words) to take communion since Protestants believe the host (prayed over bread) of the eucharist is a symbol of Jesus' body, whereas Catholic's believe it is His actual body.  Catholics ask non-Catholics to not take communion because of this belief they hold to be sacred.  Like Peter, I needed to be reminded that God's gospel plan requires the free gift of Jesus' grace and nothing else.  Traditions such as what the bread represents is a "nothing else" and should not become divisive among the Church of believers.  I can refrain from taking communion in a Catholic church and love Catholics, and Catholics can understand that I am a believer and love me.

Jesus in the Torah

Seeing Jesus and His impact in the New Testament is super easy since it is all about Him.  In a previous blog, "Jesus is the Bible, " some direct messianic prophecy from the Old Testament was highlighted. Jesus shows up often in the Old Testament, just not by name and often not in human form.

Moses, who delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery as God guided him, wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah.  These five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, are read and studied in weekly portions by Jews on a yearly cycle that starts in the fall after the festival of Sukkot.

Here are a few instances where the future Jesus is alluded to in each of these five books.

1.  Genesis  In a previous post, "The Sacrifice of Isaac", there is a section that compares Isaac and Jesus.  Three highlights: both Isaac and Jesus were conceived under miraculous circumstances; Isaac's halted sacrifice and Jesus' actual sacrifice both took place on Mount Mariah; a lamb substituted for Isaac as a sacrifice, and Jesus was the sacrificial lamb that substituted for us all.  Abraham uttered pretty prophetic words when Isaac asked about a lamb.  Genesis 22:7-8  And he (Isaac) said, "Look there is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"  Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."  

2.  Exodus  Sacrifice and deliverance from evil are the Jesus themes running through Exodus.  Moses was sent by God to demand that Pharoah let the Israelites leave Egypt.  Pharoah refused and God sent 10 plagues (see previous post "The 10 Egyptian Plagues and the Israelites"), number 10 being the death of all firstborn sons.  The Israelites were told to mark their doorposts with the blood of a lamb so that the angel of death would pass over their home and spare their firstborn.

The Passover lamb became a symbol of sacrifice that God told the Israelites to remember and celebrate every year.  And Jesus was the ultimate lamb sacrifice on Passover, over 1780 years later.

Just like Moses delivered the Israelites out of a life of slavery in Egypt and into the Promise Land, Jesus leads us out of the darkness of sin into the light of forgiveness and eternal life.

3.  Leviticus Jesus was not only a sacrificial lamb, but also a scapegoat. Leviticus 16:21-22  Then Aaron (high priest) shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the wrongdoings of the sons of Israel and all their unlawful acts regarding all their sins; and he shall place them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands ready.  Then the goat shall carry on itself all their wrongdoings to an isolated territory; he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

Christ is our atonement for sin. Christ bears our sin, just as the scapegoat bore the sins of the Israelites. Paul reminds us of this in 2 Corinthians 5:21  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  After the sins were laid on the scapegoat, it was driven into the wilderness like an outcast.  Similarly, Jesus was crucified outside of the city.  

The hundreds of rules given by God to the Israelites in Leviticus were not to make things hard, but to make things clear so that they could live holier lives (be more like God).  Likewise, Jesus takes on all sin so that we are free to live more like our sinless Savior.

4.  Numbers  Numbers 19:1-3  Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, "This is the statue of the law which the Lord has commanded saying "Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been mounted.  And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence."  The red heifer would be burned and the ashes available to all Israelites to mix with water and bathe in after handling dead bodies so that they would be deemed "clean".  Numbers 19:9  Now a man who is clean (has not recently handled a dead body) shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

The red heifer was the only animal sacrificed outside the camp.  All other sacrifices were done in the tabernacle/later the temple.  The Israelites had open access to the ashes to cleanse themselves of sin.  They did not need to go through a priest.  

Impurity (uncleanliness) was associated with death and sin.  Purity was associated with life. Like the red heifer, Jesus was sacrificed outside the city.  And like the ability to go to the ashes and get what you need to remove "sin", we can all go to Jesus with our sin.  We do not need an intermediary.

5.  Deuteronomy  This is probably the most well known Jesus reference in the fifth and final book of the Torah.  Deuteronomy 18:18 (God speaking to Moses) "I will raise up for them a prophet from among their countrymen like you , and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them everything that I command him"  Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy.  Like Moses, Jesus spoke God the Father's words with authority, and performed signs and wonders. But Jesus is a greater prophet than Moses.  He is authority in heaven and on earth.  He is God.

Here is another Jesus reference.  Deuteronomy 30:6  (Moses speaking) "Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live."  Circumcision to remove the foreskin was a physical sign of the covenant between God and Abraham, required of all male Israelites on their eighth day of life.  Circumcision of the heart refers to pure love, obedience and dedication to God so that you can live forever.  This is a spiritual circumcision, not done by humans, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, sent by God the Father, as promised by Jesus as He prepared His disciples in His final days on Earth.

Quoting Jesus from Matthew 5:17 "Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law of the Prophets I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill."  

Miracles and Faith

Years ago, my 12 year old daughter bird sat her friend's parakeet, Kiki, for a week.  This bird perched on her shoulder while she did her homework and loved to be handled.  Kiki went home on a Sunday morning, and my daughter immediately began her plea for her own bird.  With a dog, cat, and a water frog, I was not convinced we needed another pet.   Later on that same day, we had friends over for a backyard bar-b-que.  And guess what flew into one of the trees....a parakeet!  I immediately thought three things:

1.  What are the odds of a domesticated parakeet flying into our yard?  And then what are the odds of this happening on the same day the one and only visiting parakeet went home? (At that point we had lived in the house 16 years)?

2.  I needed to get my prayer list to my daughter ASAP!

3.  This had to be divine intervention (aka "a miracle"), and God does have a sense of humor.  There was a bird - escapee or kicked out - who needed a home.  There was a girl within flying distance who so wanted a parakeet.  There was a mom who would see God's hand in this mutually beneficial connection, and make an immediate investment in a bird cage.

Cleveland the parakeet was with us for about three years before he died of apparent natural causes.  He was never as friendly as Kiki, preferring his cage to shoulder time.  But boy could he sing!

God is omnipresent - everywhere all the time. He works both supernaturally via miracles, and through the natural abilities of His creation, including both believing and non-believing people. 

Do we need miracles to have faith?  Jesus performed 37 Gospel recorded miracles, yet most of His contemporaries still did not believe in Him.  Do God's miracles go unnoticed in our busy world?  Or do we deny them, attributing a beautiful, perfect, unexpected result to anything but God?  At best, today Jesus' following might get a bump after a miracle, only to decline when the next bad thing happens. 

In both the Old and the New Testament, we see a downward spike in miracles as God's story is told.

The Hebrews saw a lot of miracles over several months before they left Egypt - the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.  And while wandering the desert for 39+ years, they always had fresh manna in the morning, water, shoes and clothes that never wore out, not to mention the flame of God they followed around.

God's miracles steadily declined once they entered into the promised land.  In their first battle of Jericho there were lots of miracles, culminating in the walls around the city tumbling down for easy defeat.  But God wanted the Israelites to put forth human effort in conquering and inhabiting the land, relying on God for protection and guidance.  When they followed God's commands and were obedient, times were good.  When they didn't proceed as instructed, including worshiping pagan gods, no assistance, or miracles, were provided to bail them out and they found themselves tossed out of the land in exile.

Still in the Old Testament 440 years after the Israelites entered the promised land but well before the exile, obedient and faithful David defeated Goliath using only a small sling shot and a handful of rocks.  His provided armor did not fit, but with David's faith in God and God's protection, the giant was miraculously defeated. 

Roughly 1000 years after King David, Jesus (in human form) also often used earthly materials to accomplish God's will.  His first miracle involved turning earthly water into exceptionally good wine.  John 2:7-10  Jesus said to them (the servants), "Fill the waterpots with water."  So they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." And they took it to him.  Now when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwater called the groom, and said to him, "every man serves the good wine first, and when the guests are drunk then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."  Earthly materials were used again later in John when Jesus healed a man who had been blind since birth.  Johns 9:6-7  He (Jesus) spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his (blind man's) eyes, and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam".  So he left and washed, and came back seeing.  

Like the Old Testament, the number of miracles decreased in the New Testament as the years passed.  Only Jesus' 12 apostles (minus Judas plus Matthias) and convert Paul had miraculous healing abilities similar to what we saw with Jesus.  They healed the sick and the lame, and Peter and Paul even brought life back to the dead.  Filled with the Holy Spirit, they were given miraculous healing powers not for their glory, but to spread the good news of Jesus.  But the leaders of the churches they started did not have the same healing powers.  Faith in Jesus is what brought salvation, and that is what the churches shared.

God promises blessings from obedience.  These blessings may seem miraculous (a homeless parakeet finding my daughter), or mundane (my ability to afford a $40 bird cage for the aforementioned parakeet).  We should count on this obedience/blessing correlation since God promised it.  Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (Moses speaking) "Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that the Lord your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth.  And all these blessings will come to you and reach you if you obey the Lord your God."  

We are to follow God, not demanding nor counting on miracles.  Faith that is dependent on proof via a new miracle is not a fully developed faith since it relies on additional proof of love/blessing.  God's greatest miracle is beautifully explained in John 3:16  (Jesus talking) "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.  We do not need more miracles.  To receive the ultimate blessing, we just need to believe in the miracle of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith = Trust + Obedience > Fear

When I talk to people about faith I often hear things like:  If there is a God, how come He does not make His presence unmistakably known?   Or if God would just show me a miracle that only He could do, then I would believe. 

The Israelites had God in their presence in the cloud by day/fire by night leading the tabernacle. They also witnessed first hand several miracles: parting of the Red Sea, mana from heaven, even an overwhelming amount of falling quail. And they still had fears, doubts and obedience issues.  They did not consider themselves soldiers ready for battle for land promised to some relative hundreds of years ago (Abram).   They were farmers who had been slaves only a year before.  Their fear was real and overwhelming, and their faith in God as their promised protector sometimes wavered.

By Numbers 10, 613 rules from God had been made clear, the tabernacle had been built, the priests had been ordained, the trumpets had been made and the people of Israel were ready to move from Sinai, where they had been for almost a year after their dramatic exit from Egypt, towards the land promised to Abraham 430 years before.

Following the cloud/fire of the Lord, the Israelites traveled three days of an expected 11 day journey.  As is human tendency, eyes were taken off the Lord and the complaining began.  Perhaps this complaining was masking the real concerns settling in – doubt and fear over what awaited them. Numbers 11:1  Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the ears of the Lord; and the Lord heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp.  Were those on the outskirts non-Israelites who had made the journey out of Egypt, not exactly pagans, but not convinced of the wisdom of the God of Abraham?  But we should not let the Israelites off the hook since nowhere in the biblical text do we see anticipation or excitement on anyone’s part about being a week away from the land of milk and honey.

Now in the wilderness of Paran, the Israelites complained about the mana, the lack of meat, and life being so much better as slaves in Egypt.  Numbers 11:4-6 Now the rabble who were among them had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?  We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melon, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our appetite is gone.  There is nothing at all to look at except this manna!”

Even faithful stand-outs Miriam and Aaron joined the negative chorus, complaining about brother Moses marrying a Cushite (non-Israelite). Perhaps they did take issue with Moses marrying outside the faith, but they also seemed to have a problem with his prophet elevation over themselves.  Number 12:1 and they said, “Is it a fact that the Lord has spoken only through Moses?  Has He not spoken through us as well?”

Ask anyone in the camp and probably many would say “yes, we are ready for the Promise Land”, but God knew their hearts and He knew this generation was never going to appreciate, let alone succeed, in the land promised to their ancestors.  Battles would need to be fought and total trust in the Lord was imperative.  This group was not the right group for that.  The people were swamped with quail meat and a plague, and Mariam, who spoke out against Moses first, was cursed temporarily with leprosy.

Cue the 12 spies.

God knew where this was all going, and it was time for the people to learn their self chosen fate that their negative attitudes foretold.   Numbers 13:1-3 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send out men for yourself to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.”  So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.

The Lord sent them, knowing that 10 out of 12 would support a bad report.  Numbers 13:32-33 So they brought a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature.  We also saw the Nephilim there and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”  The reconnaissance mission was God’s order, but the recommendation not to proceed was all spy.  God did not tell this undeserving nation to not enter Canaan, this undeserving nation made that decision themselves.

Knowing what we know now, we can "Monday morning quarter" back the Israelites. How could they ignore the presence and miracles of God?  But those wandering in the wilderness did not have widespread written language, the entire Old Testament or the upcoming New Testament to make "trusting and obeying the Lord" decisions.  We have His Word and have seen prophecy fulfilled and promises kept.  And yet we doubt.

From the beginning, trusting and doing what God says have been faith strengtheners.  If He says "Its time to go to the land of Canaan." It's time!  And the enemy walls will come a tumbling down! (Joshua leading the Israelites into Jericho, a lesson to dissect another time).  

I cannot provide one example in my life where I bounced an idea off biblical text, made the decision supported by the text, and later thought it was a bad decision.  On the complete other hand, I can give you countless examples of bad decisions that went against biblical text.  Keep reading the bible, keep studying, keep praying.  It makes trusting and obeying possible.

 

 

 

 

Jesus Plants, Humans Harvest

John 12:23-24  But Jesus answered them by saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."  If we want to be more like Jesus, we too must choose to die to our worldly ways.  This may sound hard, boring, and perhaps painful.  But when we are glorifying God, the Holy Spirit gives us new life and power and we are happier and more complete than ever!  We long for God and heaven more than the goodies of this world.  How do we get to this point?  Invite that Holy Spirit in - He will show you.

The story in Acts 5:40-42 blows my mind! They (the Pharisees) followed his advice (Gamaliel, who put forth the theory that the Jesus believers might be just a fad and would disperse once His followers started dying); and after calling the apostles in, they (the Pharisees) flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.  So they (the apostles) went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.  And every day, in the temple, and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus as the Christ.  Well that flogging backfired!  Jesus' apostles seemed to gain self-relevance and felt honored when flogged just like their Messiah Jesus had been.  When people see believers persevere and thrive in times of suffering they know something special is going on.  And that something special is belief and confidence in Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus "plants" by changing hearts and putting those changed hearts in the paths of others.  Jesus used an outcast Samarian woman who came to the well during the off period to avoid stares and gossip as she was unmarried and living with a man, who was not one of her previous five husbands.  But Jesus saw her and gave her grace.  And this woman, who no one, not even herself, could see any value in, began the harvest process.  People listened to her, invited Jesus into their homes, and believed He was the Savior of the world. John 4: 39-41  Now from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all the things that I have done," So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe,  for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world."  

More Jesus seeds were harvested in Samaria five years later despite more persecution.  Acts 8: 1-8  Now Saul (before his miraculous conversion and name change to Paul) approved of putting Stephen to death.  And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.  Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him.  But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would drag away men and women and put them in prison.  Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places, preaching the word.  Philip (a deacon, not the apostle)  went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them.  The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.  For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed or limped on crutches were healed.  So there was much rejoicing in the city.  Believers fled Jerusalem because of the danger, but they did not stop sharing the Word when they arrived in their new destinations.  Samaria remembered Jesus' visit and the woman at the well's conversion (the seeds), and were ready to receive the Holy Spirit and be healed by Philip (the harvest).

We may sometimes plant, we may sometimes water, and we may sometimes harvest.  God sees the big picture and knows where and when to send us to do his work to make disciples of Jesus.