Wanting the Solution Without The Answer

“Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?” (Ho 10:2-3 AV)

This passage is directed towards the northern ten tribes of Israel.  In Hosea, they are often referred to by their roots.  Ephraim was one of the two tribes from Joseph and was one of the original ruling tribes in the book of Judges.  When Solomon passed away, Rehoboam took the throne of all twelve, but quickly lost the ten northern tribes as judgment on Solomon’s house.  Jeroboam was given the throne of the ten northern tribes an out of spite, took Ephraim down the road of idolatry.  He did so that his kingdom would not desire the temple in Judah resulting in reunification.  Every king in the history of Israel (Ephraim, Samaria, the northern kingdom) did evil in the sight of the LORD.  The heart of the people was divided because they know they are suffering without a king, but to have a king which would do the right thing means to submit to God.  Revival would take care of the problem of an ungodly king.  What they want is the solution without the answer.

Very few people want to put in the hard work necessary for what they truly desire.  Whether it is good health, a sound family, a career that provides all their needs, etc.  It takes effort.  It takes discipline.  When we talk of spiritual things, it takes faith.  It takes faith to trust God’s way is the best way.  We want what others have.  What we do not want it the needed conformity to the principles divinely appointed to attain such results.  We want the blessings of obedience without being told what to do.  This is our nature.

One of the most profound experiences the LORD gave to me as far as my health goes was when I had a personal trainer given to me as part of a benefit for volunteering as a hospital Chaplin.  They didn’t pay us.  But, the gave us a few perks.  One of them was access to the hospital’s cardio-rehab center.  It was a gym with a whole lot of equipment and monitors.  What we also had was a personal trainer with a medical background.  He did some basic measurements like weight, height, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation.  He then developed a regimen for me to follow.  It was slow.  It was incremental.  The results were also very profound.  It took about a year and a half when I noticed a huge result that I had never had before.  Being a deer hunter, I always recoiled at the reality that I had to drag a dead deer out of the woods.  With the weight of all the equipment one takes into the woods, he is adding an additional one hundred plus pounds to the task.  Prior to my rehabilitation, I couldn’t go one hundred yards before I had to stop and get air.  After the rehab, I was able to drag a deer two miles without stopping or getting winded!  But it took faith in my trainer and discipline of the will.  No matter what we are trying to accomplish in life requires both.  In particular, it starts with faith.  This is where the children of Israel failed.  They wouldn’t have faith in God and His law.  When Christ came, they trusted Rome more than Jesus.  We need to stop envying others or complaining about what we do not have and accept the answer that leads to the solution.

Keep It On

“Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.” (Ho 8:3 AV)

The thing that is good here is the covenant which the God of Israel made with them, and ultimately God Himself.  They cast of that which brought them so much blessing.  The immediate context does not say they cast it off for something else.  Although that is what naturally happened.  The point being made here is even if there wasn’t something else, they would have cast off that which was good anyway.  The result is without the protective covering of the covenant promises, the second half of the verse becomes true.  The enemy shall pursue Israel.  Without the promises made to them, Israel became exposed.  This is a good lesson for all of us who believe we can leave the fellowship of the church, our Bibles, and the traditions and doctrines we have been taught for a life of neutrality.  At a time when an alarming number are leaving the sanctity of the church for a life they believe is neither sacred nor secular, this truth is a must.

What has been good for so long can be taken for granted.  Or, the motive for possessing the good could have been wrong all along.  One observation that is common is when people come to the LORD for the purpose of overcoming some deep vice that is destroying their lives, once the victory is assured and they have what they need, there is less commitment to spiritual things.  The thing that was amazing has now become the thing that is good.  But good is not enough.  We get used to the preaching.  There seems to be less truth learned.  The experiences are less than they used to be.  Every preacher has experienced this.  When he starts a new ministry, people are excited.  Then what was exciting becomes normal.  Then what was normal becomes boring.  The idea here is that what we have is good.  The motive for casting it off may help us not to cast it off again.  But the greater truth here is understanding there is no such thing as treading water.  There is no such thing as putting the car in neutral and sitting there with the air on.  There is no middle ground to be had.

Time and space will not allow this writer to give example after example of those who once burned brightly for the LORD and decided to cast off that which was good.  They may not be in the depths of their once lost life.  But they are not as blessed as they could be.  Problems with family have crept in.  Problems that would not have been there had they not cast off that which was good.  Children become a challenge and even a disappointment.  Marriages lose their luster.  Retirement has not become what one imagined.  Fear, doubt, anxiety, etc. become the norm.  No, they do not fall back into a life of profanity and vice.  But they are also not as blessed as they could be.  As for me, I will never cast off that which is good.  Never!  The battle is too important.  The heights, although not as high as at the beginning, are more precious once scaled.  That which is good is still good.  Even in the times we may not be able to see how good it really is, it is still good.

Getting a Whiff

“My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.” (Ho 4:12 AV)

We are particularly interested in what this ‘…spirit of whoredoms…’ is.  But a bit of context here might help.  The stocks and staff were a source of divination for the pagan belief system.  The stocks were carved idols that could be manipulated to render a choice.  The staff was a stick that was demarked to distinguish one side from the other.  Bark was stripped from one side while the other was bare.  Or, marking like “God bids” and God Forbids” are marked in one side or the other.  Then the staff was cast and the result was intended to be the answer given by the gods or God.  This is particularly bad in the sense it replaced the voice of God as revealed in the word of God for some mystical experience which could be easily manipulated to guarantee a desired outcome.

This spirit of whoredoms is the motive behind such mysticism.  We know what whoredoms means.  We know to what the term refers in the physical sense.  In the spiritual sense, the LORD uses this term to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him as the seek other gods or influences from which they derive wisdom, their provision and protection, and even their spiritual life.  It is called a whoredom because they are God’s people.  To go after other gods would be to play the whore against the God who brought them out of Egypt.  The spirit here is illuminating.  This word means to perceive an odor or scent.  Think of a pleasant scent that catches the nose but is distant and not readily identifiable.  In the age of candles, oils, etc., this is not hard to image.  The nose is drawn to it because it makes us feel a certain way.  In a very subtle sense, it brings to mind pleasant thoughts and to the heart, pleasant feelings.  Reason and logic are not needed.  All one needs is the experience.  Simply put, the spirit of whoredoms is the desire to experience outside of the word of God and reason, what we perceive to be a spiritual reality.  We call that mysticism.

This influence has been around since the dawn of mankind.  It has never gone away.  Even in the first century church, the Apostle John wrote his first letter in defense of reason found in the word of God against the rising influence of mysticism.  This spirit of whoredoms is the desire to go after a feelings-oriented faith founded in pleasant experiences rather than spiritual growth as provided by study and submission to the word of God.  This spirit of whoredoms doesn’t want any ‘bad vibes’.  All it wants is rainbows and unicorns.  It would rather get advice from a fortune cookie than to spend much needed time in the word of God.  It would rather sway to music than to kneel stationary in prayer.  This spirit of whoredoms looks lovely.  But it will only result in drawing us away from the true God and His truth

Words Worth Fighting Over

“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” (Da 10:13 AV)

Has it ever occurred to anyone why the Devil would go to such great lengths to prohibit Michael the Archangel from coming to Daniel over the interpretation of a vision?  It was such a spiritual battle that Michael could not overcome Satan without the help of another.  We don’t know who that was.  Perhaps Gabriel.  Perhaps Jesus Christ himself.  The curiosity still remains.  Why?  Nothing would have been changed in the life of Daniel of any significance had he simply wrote of the vision with no explanation.  What was it the devil wanted to accomplish by hindering a greater understanding of a prophecy?

We know this is a device of Satan.  Paul referred to this truth when he wrote, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2Co 4:4 AV) Hindering the light of truth is an often-used device of the devil.  We understand the purpose as revealed in our quote.  He doesn’t want people to know the truth of the gospel and receive Christ.  But what of Daniel’s prophecy?  Of what would he be robbing Daniel or his people?  What would be hindered if the Devil was successful?  What would they be missing?  What was so important in that vision that if hidden, would do great damage to the people of God? 

The vision was of seventy weeks.  In particular, it was the time table of when the LORD was going to come, suffer for Israel, and return again to set up His kingdom.  Although salvation is intimated in this vision because it does reveal Christ would be cut off for His people, the overall theme of the book of Daniel and this vision is the restoration of Israel to the covenant promises of a kingdom led by Christ as given by God the Father.  In short, Daniel’s seventy weeks vision was a vision of hope for the future.  At the time of writing, and the reason Daniel sought greater understanding was his knowledge of Jeremiahs prophecy of seventy years captivity.  Daniel entertained the thought that once these seventy years captivity were ended, the Messiah would come and he would see it.  He was seeking some hope to give the present generation who was suffering in captivity.  The hope was real.  It was simply a bit further down the road than Daniel was contemplating.

The point is this.  The vision was a vision of encouragement in a time of deep distress.  The vision was a vision of hope.  That even though today might be hard, there is a better tomorrow.  That even though the world may be overbearing, the LORD will return.  That even though the body might be failing, there is eternity.  That even though life may be a struggle, there is an eternity of nothing but hope.  The Devil is smart.  If he can convince the people there is no hope, they cease to try.  If they cease to try, the promises die.  Satan went through great lengths to rob the people of God hope.  Don’t let him do that!  God is still on the throne.  Satan may be powerful, but he cannot be compared to the God of all creation.  Not even close!

Get Sick And Tired

“And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” (Da 8:27 AV)

Daniel had just received the vision and interpretation of the Medes and Persians, Alexander the Great and Greece, and the Roman Empire/AntiChrist.  This vision was for the purpose of revealing to Daniel the three remaining kingdoms that would influence and control the land of Palestine.  What is coming in the remaining chapters is details concerning the years prior to the first coming of Christ and just prior to the later coming of Christ.  Its focus will again be the political and military influence over the land of Palestine by the Gentile nations surrounding her.  What is of interest here is Daniel’s reaction to these visions.  His made physically ill.  Not momentarily.  He was sick for several days.  What he saw continued to astonish him for many days.  One wonders why.  If the visions ended with the coming of Christ to set up His kingdom and honor covenants made with Israel, what made him so ill?  If he knows the end from the beginning, why is he moved to such depths?  We can learn a lesson here.

Recently, I have been watching documentary series on different wars.  The first was the American Civil war.  Now I am working my way through the second world war.  I am struck by different emotions that course through my mind and heart.  I am struck with the ridiculousness of war.  I understand the bonds which war creates of those who fight them.  But I often wonder why.  I understand the need to defend one’s self, property, and liberty.  Absolutely.  However, what I am struck with is the evil in which the aggressor will exercise for no other reason than to be aggressive.  In the current series, a Veteran remarks as to the origins of war.  He doesn’t know how or why war starts.  James gives us that answer.  “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” (Ja 4:1)  What struck me even more was a quote from Adolf Hitler himself.  Although I cannot remember the exact quote, he was remarking as to the threat of the United States entering into the war.  He had no respect for us at all.  He saw us as a rag-tag group of amateurs who wouldn’t know how to march, let alone kill.  The remark was a bit more involved than that.  But what really shook me was the callousness of the soul of that man translated into utter destruction for the sake of dominance, control, and thievery.  It truly disturbed my soul.

This is what troubled Daniel so.  The depths of man’s wickedness is hard to behold.  The utter callousness which men can express as they make victims out of other for mere pleasure.  Again, we are seeing this unfold before our eyes.  More and more we see random acts of violence by the most naïve of our nation.  People who should be growing and maturing into productive citizens of our great nation are cruising about for no other reason than to express depraved indifference to others as they beat their victims nearly to death.  If we are unmoved by the condition of our world, then there is no hope.  If we see these images and are not move to a greater depth of compassion to share the only message that can free a man’s soul from the violence which reside within, then there is no hope.  These things must bother us.  They must make us sick.  Sick enough to do something about it.

More Impressive than a Miracle

“Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” (Da 3:28 AV)

For a king who could take their lives, the fact they survived the fire was not nearly as important as their willingness to sacrifice them.  One might even suggest that had the three died, the result might have still been the same.  The lengths we are willing to go through for the glory of God may just be far more effective then that which we think we have accomplished.  Self-sacrifice, or dedication, speaks louder than the details of what we do.  This is the essence of discipleship and the first step thereof.  Deny self.

To say that I have an example from my own personal history would not be accurate.  Very rarely are we called upon to this great depth.  Nor can I say that this level of dedication is my normal state of mind and heart.  If we are all honest, we would have to conclude that it takes a special person with monumental faith and integrity to be willing to jump in a pit of fire for the sake of God’s name.  But, the principle is still the same.  Dedication says a lot.  Dedication has more fruit plucked from its branches than all the methods we implore today.  We devise newer and better methods of reaching the lost when what they are really looking for are those whoa are willing to go the distance for that which they claim to believe.  There is no magic phrase.  There is no ultimate program.  There is no new-fangled wall-street sales pitch that will win the world for Christ.  What has been and always will be effective is the saints of God willing to suffer in the name of Christ that others might come to know Him.

The greatest Christian to ever live was not won by the three steps to soul-winning.  He was not won by constant harassment into the kingdom.  The greatest Christian to ever live came to Christ in part because he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen.  He saw the dedication of the church’s first martyr and realized the people whom he was persecuting had something worth dying for.  Now, programs are not necessarily wrong in and of themselves.  We need a plan.  We need structure.  We need direction.  We need goals.  But all those cannot take the place of dedication.  An unbending belief that God is real and He desires all to come to Him is what will ultimately win the lost.  The miracles are often explained away by some extraordinary event of science.  But see a man or woman willing to hazard their lives for what they believe in; there is no explanation for that!  What are we willing to go through that will advance the faith of others?  What are we willing to risk that others may see Christ in us?  Do we play it safe?  Or, do we get out there and hazard our lives for something we say we deeply believe?

Permanent Inheritance

“But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them. Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.” (Eze 46:17-18 AV)

There were very few circumstances where upon a family of a tribe might loose their inheritance.  The laws for inheritance were extremely strict and binding.  Outside of a sin which would cut one off, e.g. sexual perversion or blasphemy, the land stayed in the tribe and family.  The inheritance never went out of the tribe.  Ever!  If a daughter inherited the land because there was no male heir, she had to marry within her tribe so the land did not go to another tribe.  In our passage above, the hypothetical is the land was passed on to a servant rather than a male heir.  The reason for which is not named, nor is it important.  If the son had not committed a transgression worthy of being cut off from the promises of Israel, the land is to remain in the family.  The servant may work that land up to the year of jubilee.  Then the land was to revert back to the son’s control.  There was nothing the son could do to permanently disqualify himself from the possession of his inheritance.  Particularly a decision that may be the result of mere displeasure on the father’s part. 

What a picture of the eternally secure saint!  Let’s face it.  We disappoint the LORD all the time.  We go to him daily seeking forgiveness for our failures.  He forgives those failures.  He may punish us for our actions.  But one thing He never will do.  He will never severe our inheritance of heaven.  That is secure.  That has been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.  There is not turning back.  We have been born into the family of God and just like the Old Testament son, once born, twice secure.  The inheritance is based upon his existence as a son.  He was born into it.  On the day we accepted Christ, we were born again into the family of God.

Over time, we have lost the meaning of permanent inheritance.  My time in the south opened my eyes to the old ways of doing things.  It was not uncommon to see extended families living with a few short yards from one another on the same plat of land that was handed down to them.  Every once in a while, one could find a cornerstone or waymark with the family name chiseled into its aged face with the date wherein the family took possession.  What is even more common is for a piece of land to be referred to by the name of the original family who owned it.  I hunted one such farm.  Even the newest owners still referred to it by the original name.  No matter how many times it changed hands, it was still known by that name.  What is even more significant is that even if there was a falling out, the name still stood.  Such was the case of another farm.  The original family owner and the newest owner had a falling out.  But both still referred to the farm by the name of the original family who owned it.

Some things are permanent and can never be lost.  Such is the case of our eternal home in heaven.  Even in the midst of times of disobedience, God does not change our permanent address.  It will always be the same.  There is a waymark there.  A cornerstone bearing our new name.  One that was etched in eternity past by the foreknowledge of God and made perfect by our surrender to His grace.  This will never change.  This can never be lost.  And, the LORD will never take it back.

What Might Have Been Changes What Will Be

“Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.” (Eze 43:10-11 AV)

This is kind of puzzling in that a building is uses as the means to bring the people of God to repentance.  Even more than that.  It is the blue prints and pattern of a building that cannot be presently built upon the temple mount.  This building is future.  If this building is to be built at all, then the dimensions of the temple mount must change.  This puzzled me.  How can the pattern of a future temple work to the repentance of God’s people?  In verse ten, there is an ‘if’ ‘then’ statement.  If the initial patter of the house moves them to shame, then show them the details.  Show them the function of the temple and not just the outside dimensions and layout. Reading on, one would see that indeed, shame did come.  Ezekiel was able to show them more and more the function of this planned temple.  Again, why?  Why would this revelation work to the shame of a people that never truly appreciated the law to begin with?  Why?

Sometimes, getting a glimpse of what could have been will work to the repentance of the heart.  We may never attain what we could have, but knowing what we’ve missed works to a change of heart to lose less than we might lose. A few years back, I took up the guitar again.  For the second time in my life I played with others.  We played hymns and old-fashioned blue grass style hymns.  It was a bit of fun.  As I watched others, it motivated me to try different things.  So, I bought a mandolin and began to pluck away with it.  Listening to masters play the instrument, this didn’t dissuade me.  It inspired me.  A thought that comes to mind every now and again is a bit of remorse in that if I would have taken up this instrument forty or so years ago, who knows what I might have been able to do today.  That only encourages me to try harder to at least accomplish all that I can today because I wasted so much or yesterday’s opportunities.

The Bible tells us not to compare ourselves against ourselves because that is not wise.  This is true.  Looking at others and assuming that we could have attained what they attained is every single thing is simply not true.  We all live different lives with a different set of circumstances.  Our comparison should not be against others. Our comparison should be against the person of Jesus Christ.  Absolute perfection is our standard.  No one here meets that standard. But Jesus does.  When studying of our Savior, it should inspire us to be what we can be today.  Seeing the standard of absolute perfection, there should be remorse over lost opportunities, failed choices, and rejection of reasonable expectations.  This temple was the blueprint of perfection.  It was what God intended for Israel all along.  Seeing what they lost, they strove harder to keep from loosing more.  That is the point of the plans.  That is the point of God’s word.  To keep us from loosing more.

Hope Lives Because God Lives

“Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.” (Eze 37:11 AV)

In our passage, Ezekiel has a vision of a valley of dried bones.  This vison ends in the LORD resurrecting and animating the dry bones of those who had died of the house of Israel.  Most in battle or the captivity of Babylon.  The question to Ezekiel in verse two was whether Ezekiel believed the dry bones could live again.  Ezekiel’s answer was in and of themselves, no.  But God can do anything He sets His mind to.  The LORD then rebuilds the dry bones into living people, breathing the breath of life back into them, so they stand erect as living human souls.  Our verse above compares the condition of the dry bones to the spiritual condition of the people of Israel.

It is a dangerous place to be when one loses all hope.  This is the condition of Israel.  Remember this:  simply because we lose hope does not mean that all hope is lost.  Losing hope is an emotional condition.  It is not a physical condition.  Whether we feel hope or not, it does not change what is.  Hope remains as long as God does.  He is the only one who can remove hope.  A few years back, I was in a situation that seemed, on the face of it, and impossible one.  I was hunting and walking up a very steep grade.  My calf muscles in my left leg blew out.  It felt like I had been shot.  No kidding.  It felt like someone took a hockey stick and whacked me in the back of the leg as hard as they could.  I felt a pop.  Down on my knees I went.  Trying to get back up, I knew I was in trouble.  Stuck about two-thirds of a ravine and no way to contact my hunting partner, the situation could become rather dire.  I had tracked a deer that I shot and he had no idea where I was.  This situation could become rather hopeless really quick.  At the time, I knew nothing about this type of injury.  Thoughts went through my mind.  Would I be paralyzed for the rest of my life?  Would I get out of the wilderness before the coyotes, feral dogs, or rattlers find me before a person would?

God made a promise to Israel.  These covenants were and are unconditional.  Nothing will change the promises God has made.  No matter how Israel may have felt of their present condition, it will change.  God is too gracious a God for it not to change.  The only cure for hopelessness is faith.  Reasoning will not help because there will always be an excuse to be hopeless.  Only faith can bring us out of the emotional pit of which we have fallen.  Eventually, the LORD helped me get out of that ravine.  He gave me wisdom and brought to memory some lessons I had learned in Boy Scouts.  The LORD gave me patience to do what I could do, one little bit at a time.  Nothing outside of an eternity in hell is as bad as it may seem.  Not when God is in control.  Just remember two truths.  First, He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Second, He will perfect that which concerneth you.  Upon these two promises rests all of life’s troubles!  There is hope because the God of all hope is eternal!

Grace After Chastisement

“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Eze 36:25-26 AV)

The prophets have a pattern.  The majority of their message is indeed on the subject of judgment.  Whether it is judgment to Israel or judgment to her neighbors, fair warning is given that repentance might be the result.  If not, then judgment comes.  However, in the case of Israel, the message of judgment is balanced out with the promise of restoration.  There is practical wisdom in this.  God does not balance out judgment with grace for mere emotion’s sake.  The is a greater motive for this.

Labor was one of the means of punishment which my father doled out.  It could be cleaning out the garage.  Or, perhaps straightening the basement.  Sometimes, it was washing walls or packing insultation.  Don’t ask!  In any event, there was a duration assigned to it.  An hour; a half day; a week, etc.  Once the time requirement was met, we were free to resume our plans.  As long as we didn’t fall into temptation again, we were free from the fear of punishment.  Sometimes, at the time of sentence, my father would promise something far better after the completion of the task.  An evening casting rods.  A few hours at the driving range.  Maybe a trip to the mall.  Or, our favorite in the north, a trip to the hills for sledding.  The promise of future grace worked to enduring present punishment.  Knowing the punishment has a set duration and intensity that ends with grace made the punishment go a whole lot easier and faster.

It is important to remember that God must deal with our disobedience.  He would be an irresponsible Father if He did not.  But also remember that with punishment comes grace.  The punishment will end.  The sun will shine again.  We deserve far more than God brings to us.  Our sin deserves banishment.  Yet, God in His love and mercy, continues to show grace that we might be reconciled to Him.  So, endure the hard times.  They are designed to make you a better person.  Put up with, and learn from the troubles of life caused by our choices.  They only serve to change who and what we are.  However, as the burden grows heavy, remember the burden will eventually be lifted.  God will show grace again.  That grace will be greater than any He has shown before.

Comfort in Failure?

“Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD.” (Eze 32:31 AV)

The context here is a bit confusing in the sense that we think we cannot relate.  Pharaoh, upon his own death is comforted in that fact that his nation, as well as other oppressors of Israel are in the same boat as he is.  That is, a devil’s hell for all of eternity.  For some odd reason, it brings a hater of God great comfort to see that he is not the only one who is suffering.  It brings him great comfort in knowing that even those whom he led are suffering for following him.  John Gill puts it best when he writes, “…when Pharaoh is brought to the grave, and into the state of the dead, he shall look about him, and see who lie by him; and he shall behold the above mentioned kings of Assyria, Persia, Idumea, and the princes of Tyre and Zidon, and all their mighty armies, generals and soldiers, in the same condition with himself; and this shall be some solace to him in his own death, and at the loss of so great a kingdom, such numerous subjects, and a vast army, that others as rich, as powerful as himself, lie in the same low and miserable condition; though such comfort as this must be poor comfort indeed! and yet this is all the comfort wicked men have in hell, that they have company with them there…”

Believe it or not, I have seen this in marriages and even in churches.  If one party cannot control the relationship, they will make sure the other cannot either.  The other night, my wife and I were watching a show that had a similar theme.  A scientist had invented the ultimate doomsday weapon.  A weapon of mutually assured destruction.  It was designed to automatically engage if normal weaponry failed to deter counter attacks.  It was designed to wipe out all human life on the planet.  If one cannot rule, then no one will.  The verse above is after the fact.  It is the only feeling left after total rebellion fails.  The heart above is the heart of a completely helpless rebel.  Knowing there is no satisfaction from victory in rebellion, the only solace is that all others who failed share in the same fate.  I have seen churches die both a quick and slow death because they cannot agree on authority.  One party tries to control the other and the other is so embittered they destroy the church on the way out the door.  I have seen this in marriages.  A struggle of the will that only results in the destruction of both.

In the case of our rebellion against God, God cannot be destroyed.  He cannot lose.  This is just not a possibility.  He is an immovable object.  He is absolute.  What is really sad is the reality all those who try will have only one comfort for the rest of eternity.  At least they didn’t fail alone.  What a feeling.  How truly pitiful.  “I am a loser.  But at least I am not the only one.”  That is the only comfort those who reject God will have for all of eternity as they share the torments of a devil’s hell.  For the saint who believes he or she can bargain with God, you cannot.  God wins every time.  When you come to the end of yourself you can think one of two things.  Like the prodigal, you can either return to the LORD, or you can find comfort in the company of the swine.  The choice is yours.

Eradicated Irritation

“And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” (Eze 28:24 AV)

The last dozen or so chapters of Ezekiel, the LORD has pronounced judgement upon those neighbors of Israel that rejoiced when the LORD brought chastisement upon them.  They took advantage of a weakened Israel at the time of God’s dealing with them.  They goaded them.  They mocked them.  They were the ones who enticed Israel into wickedness, then backed away to laugh at their calamity.   Well, there will come a time when God will deal with them.  There will come a time when influences like this no longer exist.  There will come a time when the LORD returns, and through Israel, will reign over all her neighbors.  No more will there be an annoying prickling brier in the form of a neighbor whose joy comes from causing irritation, pain, and even death.  No more of it!

Being a hunter, irritation is a way of life.  One of those irritations is seeds that stick to one’s clothing.  My bestest hunting partner, outside of my son, shared with me his lease that was infested with such plants.  One of those plants, velvetleaf ticktrefoil, had a seed that stuck to everything.  As the name indicates, the leaves and seed pods have a velvety surface to them.  As long as the seeds were fresh and green, they were soft enough where they did not cause irritation.  But once they dried out, the became a serious issue.  They literally got everywhere.  As anyone in similar circumstances knows, they are quite a chore to clean from one’s clothes.  At first, they do not stick too hardily.  Picking them off in their green condition isn’t too challenging.  Once they dry, it is a different story altogether.  What a picture of the principle mentioned above.

When the saint walks among the world, he is constantly attacked by annoying little temptations that at first, do not seem all that irritating.  They have a velvety surface and if we were not looking for them, probably wouldn’t even notice them.  That is the way it is with the velvetleaf.  Not until we get home and look at how covered we were, did we realize how infested we were.  If we allow those seemingly harmless and pesky little influences to stick around, they become dry, irritating, and harder to remove.  The nation of Israel was not careful to rid themselves of the influence of the world.  It takes regular discipline to remain free.  We can do nothing about the fact we are forced to live among a wicked world.  We can do little to be free from total influence from it.  But we can do something about removing.  The verse above promises there will be a time when those little annoying and pesky temptations are a thing of the past.  They will be removed.  Permanently!  For the saint, upon the rapture of the church of the death of the saint.  We have a guaranteed time of freedom.  No more!  For Israel, the reign of Christ will once and for all free them from the velvet covered temptations that turn to an irritation.  What a day that will be!  Glory!

Not Your Friend

“Those that be near, and those that be far from thee, shall mock thee, which art infamous and much vexed.” (Eze 22:5 AV)

Those that cause the saint to fall, mocking them as a result, never mock themselves for the same behavior.  Israel and Judah went after the life style of their pagan neighbors.  They took up their idols and their vices.  When the consequences of their sin came upon them, the tempters ridiculed the righteous for their fall.  Even though they were guilty of the same.  The saint must realize Romans 1:32 is still true.  Misery loves company.  The thing is, there is more enjoyment of the wicked when the righteous fall than there is when they fall.

What child has not been enticed into foolish behavior by a companion?  They are caught by the authority all the while their companion seemed to escape the trap of justice.  The one who was once a good friend is not off on the sidelines, laughing at the calamity he or she has caused.  I remember when one of my brothers was taken into custody and brought to our father for reckless actions.  His good friend enticed my brother to stand on a train trestle, throwing snowballs as cars that would pass under.  One of those cars was a police patrol car.  Bad move.  My brother’s friend realized what happened and took off.  My brother froze.  He stood there and was taken by the police.  His friend was relieved that he got away and teased my brother for being slow.  It was not my brother’s idea.  But he followed.  In doing so, he got caught while his tempter got off scot-free.

It goes without saying that a man’s reputation, or in this case, the saint’s testimony is all that he really has.  All the material things of life will pass with the using.  But what he has and can control within the bounds of his own will is his testimony.  The friends that we think we have may not be friends at all.  If we think they will be there to support us when things go bad, we have another thing coming.  They will not be there with hearts of compassion, understanding, and relief.  They will be there to laugh at us that we are ignorant or foolish as they.  The name and testimony of the saints of God an His Church is so important.  We are not perfect.  We will fail.  It is part of being human.  We have the sin nature to battle and we often loose.  But we do not have to lose in front of an audience.  Especially those who led us that way as a form of entertainment.

More Than A Day of Rest

“Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.” (Eze 20:12 AV)

The Sabbath was intended to be more than a day of rest.  When the LORD rested in the seventh day, it was for the purpose of fellowship with Adam and Eve.  It was for the purpose of walking in the cool of the day in the midst of the garden.  It was a time when man was separated from all other creation to a relationship that he alone could have with the Creator.  It wasn’t just a day of rest.  It was a day of identification.  It was a day of relationship.  It was a day of worship.  We have lost this over the years.  With our goal-oriented mentality, we have structured our worship services to accomplish a goal.  It went from goal oriented to rote practice.  Our service structure never varies.  We are too concerned with imposing on the attention span of our audience rather than our attitude and spirit during our services.  Something has changed and it is not for the better.

God gave the Sabbath to Israel as a sign that verified the covenant between He and them.  That covenant, simply stated, made God their God and Israel His people.  The Sabbath was the sign.  How is that?  How can a day be a sign of a covenant?  How can gathering together be the indication that God has made a promise?  What do the two have in common?  What is the connection?

A certain youth camp that ran a four-week camp would intermix the children from their different groups to make new groups.  They would break up the children from a particular church and place them with other children.  The idea was to build relationships.  They were given colored shirts to indicate their team identification.  They would spend their time together as a team.  They would sleep in the same cabins.  They would compete as a team.  How, an interesting thing happened on a particular day.  It was Pastor’s day.  It was the day their Youth Pastor or Senior Pastor came for a day to visit with his sheep.  When he did, the team identifications were all forgotten.  All the team building was put on hold.  No longer were they a member of the green team or orange team.  They were a member of a family with a shepherd who loved them.  No team cheers.  No team competition.  Just a day to spend with someone whose relationship was based on love rather than on goals or objectives.  It was a day to come apart from other relationships and identifications and enjoy the one that mattered the most.

The LORD saved me in the early eighties.  It was different back then.  Our worship services were always Spirit filled.  No one watched the clock.  Our services lasted two hours.  Something that would be considered anathema today.  I remember distinctly how much music there was.  We sang and sang.  At least six congregational hymns, if not more.  Every aspect of the service had special music in between.  The service opened with the choir.  What a way to open a service.  Then there was a congregational.  Then the opening prayer.  Then another congregational.  Then a special.  Then the announcements.  Another hymn.  The offering with a special.  The choir.  A hymn and greeting.  Another special.  A hymn.  A special.  Then the preaching.  The preaching lasted an hour.  It was equal or greater in length than all the music.  We were not in a rush to go home.  We had no more important place to be.  We were there because we were not in the world.  It was not just praising God for who and what He is.  It was more than that.  It was who we were as a people.  We need to get back to this!  We need to see the Sabbath as our declaration to the world, to ourselves, and to God that we belong to Him!