ResponsiveReiding

Judges 17:1–6 (ESV) There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The book of Judges relates a time in Israel’s history that could well be termed its “Dark Ages.” And chapters 17-20 contain some of the strangest and twisted accounts of aberrant behavior by God’s people to be found in the Bible. It is chilling to see where “God’s People” can go at times. And, there is great insight in these portions into how a society declines.

Chapter 17, focusing on a slice of the life of one man – Micah, shows how this decline starts and progresses.

Note first, he was raised with a light attitude toward sin. It could be dealt with apart from God’s appointed means.

Secondly, he was raised with a twisted value system: His confession of theft is met with no rebuke at all – only “praise” for his honesty at coming clean about it. Sin is traded off against action – totally disregarding that such theft and the cover-up were themselves dishonest.

Thirdly, he was raised with confusion regarding God. His mother dedicates money to “Jehovah” by having an idol fabricated. How self-contradictory can it be?

Fourth, He was rewarded for his “morality” (in confessing his theft) amidst true spiritual bankruptcy that showed itself in the other areas of his life.

Sixth, he was a man of self-made religion. Gets his image, fabricates an ephod, ordains his own son as a priest and creates a shrine.

Seventh, he wants a privatized religion he has ultimate authority over – thus ordaining one of his own sons.

Eighth – He wants to steal as much legitimacy as he can from the real things by “buying” a Levite – while still retaining personal autonomy. (See vss. 7-13)

And then I ask myself, how much is this like so many today? Even among professing Christians?

Oh how greatly we need our Savior Jesus.

More tomorrow.

Genesis 38:6–11 (ESV) 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. 10 And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.

Judah was a real piece of work. This chapter (along with others) does not fail to record that these sons of Israel were not God’s chosen people because of any supposed righteousness of their own. Grace lay behind it all.

But in this short portion of Judah’s chronicle, we find a wonderful example of how twisted our thinking becomes, when we take to making decisions based upon coincidence and the way we “read the signs” – above ordering our lives according to God’s Word.

Judah’s fear, in the aftermath of the death of his two sons – Er and Onan – was that the third brother Shelah would face the same fate. But watch his reasoning. The text is explicit that both Er and Onan were put to death by God because of their own wickedness (vss. 7 & 10). But Judah makes this unwarranted leap of logic that the problem must be their common association with the woman, with Tamar! Judah manifests two tendencies of our own day in vivid colors.

First – Judah looks to blame his son’s deaths on their association with the pagan woman – and not on their own wickedness. It is as though he says “my sons would never have done anything worthy of death if it hadn’t been for her! How many parents today love to turn a blind eye to the sinful tendencies of their own children, and assign their woes to the ungodly influences of others. Each make their own choices for their own reasons. And each bears their own guilt.

But more subtlely and in some ways even more dangerously, is Judah’s way of connecting the dots. He is reading the signs of circumstance and coincidence, and from it, trying to discern the truth behind the tragedy of his son’s demise. Never mind how God looks upon and deals with wickedness, the common denominator in Judah’s eyes is Tamar. “What is it God is trying to tell me? Must be He is telling me Tamar is dangerous.” WRONG! Dead wrong. Twice. Pun intended.

Now let me ask you reader – how are YOU reading the “signs” in your life? What coincidences are you using to make decisions by? How are you trying to interpret various circumstances? How are you connecting the dots? Like Judah? To arrive at the result that reinforces your own opinions? Or are you bringing your decisions to the Bible?

God hasn’t struck you down, so He must be pleased with your sexual immorality? You haven’t been caught so your theft isn’t that bad in His sight? That old girlfriend suddenly reappeared in your life, so it must mean you should leave your wife for her? That guy from college found you on Facebook so that meas God wants you to hook up again? You just drove down a street by the same name as the horse you thought you might bet on?

This kind of utter foolishness will end in tragedy. Beloved – our question ALWAYS must be – “what does God’s Word say” – NOT, does that look like Jesus’ face in my toast?

Genesis 36:1 (ESV) “These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).”

Genesis 36 stands out as a bit of a curiosity. And, it serves to teach us a good lesson.

Jacob, as we all know, was sovereignly chosen by God above Esau to be heir as the “firstborn” – as the one through whom the Tribes of Israel would come, and at last the Messiah Himself. Paul appeals to this reality powerfully in Romans 9 – as demonstrating God’s unassailable electing grace: 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Romans 9:11–13 (ESV)

If we learn nothing else from these 43 verses, we can at least gain this – God still took great notice of Esau and His offspring. They do not utterly vanish from the pages of Scripture. It is interesting to see God taking such pains to list the generations of Esau. His promises were no less binding to Esau, though he was not to be the son of promise as Jacob was. His lineage is not disregarded. His offspring are not inconsequential in God’s eyes. Though he would not occupy the place of the “firstborn” – and (to extend the later types) be chosen for adoption – he is not utterly cast off either. God is Lord of all, and His choice of one unto a higher place, is not to be over-construed into total abandonment of all others.

No, the non-elect are not also “saved.” There is not a 3rd category. “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:17 (ESV)

God forbid, that we should ever allow ourselves to disdain the souls of any others also made “in the image of God.” Grace, must never be allowed to cross over into license to despise others.

John 20:10–17 (ESV) 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

Sometimes, asking the right question makes all the difference in the world. The Bible often does not answer the questions we are asking, but steers us toward more important ones. But in this text, what stands out is the question the risen Jesus poses to dear Mary Magdalene.

In essence, Jesus is asking her to ask herself something of supreme importance.

Here she is, left alone after the departure of Peter and John at the Tomb. She has seen the Tomb is empty. She has seen the angels. She has heard their question with her ears, but her heart is still too heavy. For their question too is a good one. If, Jesus was who He said He was; if He has risen as He said He would – why indeed was she weeping? Those facts weren’t informing her at that moment. Only the empty tomb was.

How thick and dull my own heart and mind can be. Confronted with the facts, even with the appearance of angels themselves – still I look only at things though eyes colored only by natural understanding. The supreme and supernatural facts just don’t even seem to faze me.

But then Jesus approaches and speaks. His question is even more piercing than the angel’s. He asks again “why are you weeping?” But He ups the ante immeasurably with His second question – “WHOM are you seeking?” This is THE question. The one that answers all of the rest.

If she were seeking the eternal Son of God, the Lamb of God for sinners slain, the promised Messiah, second member of the Triune Godhead – God robed in human flesh, prophesied to rise again and rule the cosmos – if she were seeking THAT Jesus, then crying is wholly inappropriate. Faith would alter the whole reality altogether. This is EXACTLY what she should expect. He is risen – just as He said.

But, if she were seeking a mere prophet, a miracle-working but enigmatic figure, one whom she loved but did not really understand, a hope, but only if things went the way she and the others imaged they would – then there could be nothing but disappointment, disillusionment, and confused sorrow.

So, in the midst of your grief today – which Jesus are you trusting in? And if He is whom He said He was and proved by His resurrection – then why are we so downhearted, disappointed, faint, weary, troubled and dismayed? Maybe, we’re not sure just whom it is we seek either.

Luke 10:25–28 (ESV) 25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Indeed, this Lawyer’s response here is everything. It is this one thing which every human being is bound to – the Law of Love. The Jews were bound to the Mosaic Law additionally. They were bound to such things as marked them out as God’s chosen people among all the nations of the earth. But there is a law which is binding upon all mankind – not the Mosaic code – but the obligation to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength – and its necessary corollary – to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is what every human being is guilty of having transgressed – even those who did not sin in exactly the same way Adam did – and why death reigned even in those who did not violate the first code – “thou shalt not eat…”

Behind every external code which may be expressed for mankind to obey, Jews or Gentiles – is this – the law of love. Nor is it a law in the same way as any external code is. It is a law of “nature” if you will. It is the image we were originally created in. We were made to bear Christ’s image, who as man, did indeed love the Lord with all His heart, mind, soul and strength (which is why He came and died – lovingly doing the Father’s will) and His neighbor as Himself – dying FOR US! This is what is broken and defiled in us. This is what He is restoring.

And it is on the basis of this that every man will be judged. For our righteousness is found in it. Every sin is but a defect of this love. When we fail to love God rightly, supremely and entirely – we sin. The WAYS we sin are myriad. But every sin shares this – the failure to love God supremely. When we fail to love men rightly – as made in God’s image and for His glory – we sin. THIS – is what makes us “sinners.”

And once again – the manifestations of that sin are countless. But behind each and every particular manifestation – is the defective love we were created to live in. The failure to bear His image – the image of the God who “is love” (1 John 4:16). “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) No hoops to jump through. No ceremonies to carry out. No high duties to accomplish. Take care that a full and right and consuming passion for God rules our hearts and minds – and all the rest will be accomplished by default. Fail at this, and nothing we do is worth a thing.

To love Him. To have Him as our highest prize, our chief delight, our deepest desire, our sweetest notion, our most lovely vision. To find Him more beautiful than anything. To see in Him every excellence, and to be compelled to look only at Him to the exclusion of all others. To want to know Him, be with Him, hear the music of His voice, feel His touch and smell the holy fragrance of His presence. To count knowing His heart and mind more precious than anything which can capture our imaginations or desires here. To find Him so pleasing, that nothing else can satisfy. This is to love Him in but the barest terms. Oh to study to love Him with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength. This, is to cease from sin.

Luke 2:25–32 (ESV) 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

What is Israel’s great claim to fame? What is their “glory”?

Not the Temple.

Not the Law.

Not the Exodus.

Not Moses

Not the Covenant.

It is Christ.

He was born of them – to them.

Let no man glory in anything save this – Jesus Christ, and Him alone.

What is your glory?

When you think of yourself, what is your claim to fame?

Career?

Family?

Philanthropy?

Something you’ve created, invented, done, patented, accomplished or participated in?

Maybe it is a talent you have, your intelligence, some character trait, physical beauty, strength or athleticism.

The capacity to sail, work with your hands, hunt, garden, sew, cook, make money, remain youthful in age, your children, grandchildren, or some honor conferred by men?

That you are admired, thought of certain ways in certain circles?

Some image you retain of yourself in your own mind?

Jeremiah 9:23–24 (ESV) 23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Is knowing Him in the Cross YOUR greatest glory? Or is it something else?

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the passing of Dr. James Montgomery Boice. A true solider of the cross, who even though I was only able to meet once, has had a profound impact on my own life and ministry.

Back when we were just trying to get conferences on Reformed Theology going in this area, Dr. Boice not only agreed to come (a promise he could not keep due to his health – he was diagnosed very shortly after) – but said to me – “Rochester! That’s only about 5 hours away, you wouldn’t even need to get me a plane, I could drive.” He was so excited to come. And had absolutely no sense of how generous that was, nor impactful his willingness remains to be to me.

I wrote this at the the time of his passing – and bring it back out. It is good to remember those who have blessed us.

The Gentle Warrior sleeps at last

Now shed this mortal coil

And wakes, anew in Christ’s blest arms

Full finished this life’s toil

And there, he bows, before the Throne

Of Christ he loved so dear

And marvels at the angels’ songs

He’s yearned so long to hear

In waves of glorious rapture swells

Convulsed with boundless joy

He weeps and sings and worships there

At beauty unalloyed

The vision of His God unveiled

Fills every livened sense

The Holiness of God now seen

Ecstatic reverence

The mind filled more than ever dreamed

Divinities laid bare

Transcending all he’d loved and spoke

His all – His Christ is there!

No shadows found in any room

No darkness anywhere

He flies from each new wonder, then

To more beyond compare

“He’s greater still!, He’s greater still!”

Is all his lips can say

As each unfolding moment brings

Him more of Heaven’s Day

In this his soul is now employed

Imbibing Heaven’s store

Till all who fell asleep in Him

Shall rise to die no more

The Gentle Warrior sleeps till then

His battles fought and won

In sweet repose upon the breast

Of Christ, the Blessed Son

In Loving memory of Dr. James Montgomery Boice, Who went home to be with His glorious God and King on June 15, 2000

James 1:1–4 (ESV) “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

The more time I spend in the book of James, the more convicted I am, AND, the more encouraged I am. And these opening lines are ones I come back to virtually every day. Why? Because I’m a runner.

I don’t like conflict. I prefer the path of least resistance. While the word “challenge” seems to energize some – it almost always evokes feelings of doubt, fear and defeat in me. Challenges, are only opportunities to fail – not to succeed. Maybe you’re somewhat like me.

This is why passages like this one are so important to people like me. The jury is still out on who originated the saying: “When the going get tough, the tough get going” (Joseph P. Kennedy or Knute Rockne) but when I hear it – I say internally “Yeah, when the going gets rough, I get going, IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!” And that response is deadly, especially when it comes to spiritual growth. For it is only in remaining “steadfast” – keeping on the path and in a forward motion WHEN IT IS TOUGH – that finds us at last where we want to be. No one ever arrived at a destination they stopped moving toward.

The glad thing for the Christian is – we have God’s inviolable promise that one day – we WILL arrive. No matter how little progress we seem to make. Just staying on the path, is the key. Just trusting His Word. Believing his promises. Resting in His character. Remaining – steadfast. Keeping the eye fixed upon Heaven, no matter what else happens or doesn’t happen.

Years ago, the Imperials had a song with these lyrics:

He didn’t bring us this far, to leave us.

He didn’t teach us to swim, to let us drown.

He didn’t build His home in us, to move away.

He didn’t lift us up, to let us down.

They aren’t Scripture – but they’re true.

In the words of George Herbert Walker Bush – “stay the course”. Not for earthly pursuits – but for the one, all consuming heavenly one. You are His. He will not let you go. Let steadfastness have its perfect work. That one day, you may fully bear the image of our precious Redeemer.

Proverbs 11:12 (ESV) “Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.”

It is true that we live in a day of “Political Correctness.” As a result we’ve become a most thin-skinned people. Almost anything and everything offends someone somehow. It seems virtually impossible to avoid it. Being thin-skinned and easily offended is a topic for another day. It is its own problem.

That said, there is something of truth about this present trend. Our text strikes accurately at what the culture is addressing instinctively but errantly due to sin. The “belittling” of others is a serious problem. Not just in the culture, but also in the Church.

Treating others with disrespect, in a belittling fashion, so as to treat them with scorn and as though they have little worth isn’t Godly. It is sin. This, does not mean that our freedom in Christ to live in respect for others converts instantly into an inability to disagree or determine that some things really are wrong, while others are correct. Scripture indicates nothing of the kind. Open dialog where truth is upheld and untruth exposed, is a necessary facet of God-given society. As Christians, we are to be heralds of the truth. We are to be speaking truth to our generation and as stewards of it, passing it on to the generations which follow.

What it does mean is – that Christians are not to be so lacking either in intellectual acuity, as to be unable to dialog sensibly on issues, nor so devoid of an informing awareness of others having been made in the image of God, that we retreat to invective, scorn, ridicule and disrespect in our dialog.

This is one thing in the public sector, but it is altogether worse in the Church and in the home. How often it is done when parents belittle their children, or one another. When they make fun of them, or make them look foolish or worthless in the eyes of others. Instructors need to be especially careful here with students. Wives when speaking to one another about their husbands, and husbands when speaking to others about their wives. Children not exposing their parents to scorn among their friends and parents not ripping dignity from their children either privately or publicly.

And perhaps we need to be reminded that our politicians are not be treated this way either. Peter helps us remember that even in defending the Gospel, are to do so “with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15) Or that Paul admonishes us to “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.” ( 2 Timothy 2:23–25)

Lord, give us wisdom and grace – so that we do not fail to speak the truth – but to do so in love.

Luke 1:5–7 (ESV) “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.”

Christians need to be careful not think in terms of God dealing with us in a tit-for-tat paradigm. This small section of seemingly unimportant historical information is not to be quickly overlooked.

Simply because Zechariah and Elizabeth had remained devoid of the blessing of children prior to this time – we are not to conclude they were somehow living in disobedience or sin. Nor are we to conclude that God was somehow unjustly withholding. The text tells us just the opposite. Sometimes, we can be serving in the most upright way, and yet God in His love and wisdom may withhold some proper, normal or perceived good. Ours, is to rest in Him. This is a word most especially meant to comfort those who may have long desired a spouse, children of their own, or perhaps even a particular field of service.

Many under such circumstances can be led to think that there must be some sort of sin or defect which prevents their having such blessings. And, while the question is good in that examining our hearts for unrepentant sin is always a useful exercise – nevertheless, one can torture their own soul needlessly if they have concluded this “must” be the case.

Instead, let us learn to trust our Lord’s providential appointments. Given a life ordinarily lived uprightly before Him, He does not withhold His good things from us – excepting to grant us some other blessing in His infinite wisdom and loving heart – which only eternity will reveal to have been greater than that we sought in our fallen wisdom. Trust Him believed – trust Him.

Those in Christ must remember we are dealt with as beloved children, not mere citizens of our Lord’s Kingdom. Citizens we are – but more, we are His own! He will not treat us poorly. He cannot. He is God.