Personal Thoughts

“He now goes along as He went along in the olden times.”^⁠1 Habakkuk learned.  The NIV reads, “He marches on forever.”^⁠2 And this is what has been apparent to anyone who has learned God in prayer. God does what God did. So, it is evident to all true believers in Christ that God must inevitably deal decisively with a world of evil. Before we decided to wait on God’s response to a nation culturally corrupt, we lived with a self-imposed anxiety. But prayer changes things, changes us and changes our understanding of things.  History is not a repetition of unlearned cruelty of man to man.  History is now a part of prophecy. History is not man with man, alone, but man with God. History since Calvary is the world’s response to the Cross.   

It is a shame that life gets so complicated if we attempt at explanations or if we wish to make the right choices on our own.  Prayer simplifies things because we leave the design of our universe to God.  He planted the Garden of Eden; all we have to do is enjoy the flowers, if we learn how through those endless conversations we should be having with Him. Habakkuk’s world, the terrible things that were happening in Judah, like Isaiah’ Israel, was collapsing in on itself because as John Yoder,^⁠3 in a study of Christian ethics, correctly observed,  “people … use violence in the name of fostering justice.” But, he astutely understood, “[they] are not as strong as they think.” True, but this is unimportant—something we learn about “on our knees.” This is probably another reason why we leave the prayer chamber more at peace than when we entered it.  John Yoder continued pointing out the truth worth learning, “One does not come to that belief by reducing social process to mechanical and statistical models, nor by winning some of one’s battles for the control of one’s corner of the fallen world. One comes to it by sharing the life of those who sing about the resurrection of the slain Lamb.”^⁠4 

Before Calvary, Habakkuk, and Isaiah, had to grasp this truth by prophetic inspiration and trust God, then, that the Savior would someday show up in their world—as we now know He has to die on a Roman cross.  And now we wait again for Him to show up in ours at His second coming.  Everything still is comprehended by faith in prayer.  Nothing has changed for us.

And nothing has changed for God,  He is still marching on!

I have been giving serious thought to the trend in the “free” world^⁠1 to promote LGBTQ as a legally recognized community.^⁠2 Affirmative action^⁠3  acknowledges LGBTQ as a separate and diverse group worthy of equal legal and social recognition.^⁠4 Some colleges have a LGBTQ center on campus and, some, gender-neutral housing.^⁠5 LGBTQ is expanding to include persons who identify as “gender fluid” and “non-binary” as well as an ongoing interest in “gender reassignment” of children. LGBTQ is not LGBTQ; it is LGBTQAI+. The plus sign is the growing edge of social change which now reaches into the Christian Church. LGBTQ is a movement! 

The Church took for granted that the nuclear family, monogamy (one man, one woman), and just 2 genders, were what society was built on. But this simplistic mindset is being debated now even in the courts. We all know persons who are gay or who consider themselves binary. We all know people we love who have transgendered away from their biology.  And some seek acceptance within the Christian Community believing that this is only a personal life choice; and, as far as doctrine or worship go,  should make no difference.

Many innocent—and beloved—persons find themselves in a whirlpool of controversy because—and here is the rub—the Church can not tamper with the traditional definition of family upon which it has been established or it will no longer be the Church we knew. To argue that Christianity can embrace social evolution without being altered by it is deceiving. Acceptance means change and change means that the Church is no longer the Church as it saw itself reflected in the pages of Holy Writ.

The question to ask: Is the nuclear family and the monogamous relationship of one man and one woman biblical?  If not, then, none of this matters. If not, the Church can be part of this social movement and we no longer need to call these once cherished ideals “christian” but only “alternative” life styles.

Are the nuclear family and the monogamous relationship central to the Christian Faith?  Like the existence of God (Hebrews 11:6)  in Genesis 1:1, they are “givens.” Fathers, for example, were recognized culturally within oriental society as fundamental.  Children were orphaned when fatherless (Psalm 10:14, 18; Proverbs 23:10;  Lamentations 5:3; Hosea 14:4).  The concept of “family” was defined as the father’s house (Numbers 3:20). The “henotic” relationship (the nuclear family) is sacrosanct because it teaches the Church about our relationship with God. “As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one” (Ephesians 5:31-32). A “wife” and a “woman” in New Testament Greek are the same feminine word.^⁠6  The words “man” and ‘husband” are the same, also.^⁠7 

We have, perhaps, attempted to break the Biblical message away from its cultural moorings, suggesting that family and gender were only grammatical or cultural oddities and not essential to the Faith.  You decide.

How can we keep the message of Scripture pure in a changing world? How shall we embrace the people we love regardless of their life choices and still promote God’s Word upon which our faith and hope rest? Might Joshua 24:15 become a modern metaphor?

“Would you prefer the gods of the [nation] in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”

The arrogance of the Babylonians was unnerving [Habakkuk 1:10-11] The Babylonians attribute their military successes to their own strength as their god. Habakkuk, notwithstanding, is confident and hopeful that God will not permit His people to perish at their hands. The prophet’s argument is that a Babylonian exile is an instrument of God’s judgment and it is not Babylon’s strength that brings victory.

“…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Paul reminds us [Ephesians 6:12].

Written of Mary while Jesus was dying – written by Jeremiah A. Denton, Easter 1969, while in a Vietnam prison.

“Man proposes but God disposes,” the saying goes. [Ezekiel 26:3; Proverbs 16:9; Isaiah 10:5-6; Jeremiah 10:23]. Habakkuk prayed,

“Are You not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction” [1:12].

“We will not die!“

Habakkuk’s hope (and ours) rests on 2 truths:

1. Jehovah is my God, Israel’s God [Song of Solomon 6:3] not because we chose Him but because He chose us. [Psalm 65:4; John 15:16]. John Calvin astutely taught, “Therefore, whoever desires to fight bravely … let him first settle the matter with God himself, and, as it were, confirm and ratify the treaty which God has set before us, namely, that we are his people, and He will be a God to us in return.”¹ The god of the Babylonians is not God! Jehovah is my God! My God is always victorious in battle!
2. God is Holy. “The absolutely Pure One who cannot look upon evil.”² God, because He is Holy, He will mercifully honor His commitment in covenant to judge or punish evil. Jehovah’s name means “the absolutely constant One, who is always the same in word and work³“…from everlasting…” Correction or chastisement might be indeed painful but God administers this unto His own children [Deuteronomy 8:5; Hebrews 12:6]. When David, probably because his faith was weak—unexpectedly and without cause—was in need of serious correction, he pleaded with the prophet, “Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man” [2 Samuel 24:10-14].

When Habakkuk maintains, “we will not die.” he was not pleading with God to spare them, but affirming his faith that God chastises those He has chosen and whom He loves. And chastisement does not kill, it revives and brings us closer to our God.

The Rock of Ages

He is a Rock, “an unchangeable refuge of His people’s trust.”⁴ In Deuteronomy 32 Moses employed this sobriquet, “a Rock,” 4 times⁵.

“Rock of Ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” What profound truth is sung and celebrated here! What an empowerment to faith! What a confirmation of Who God is! If we cannot find the words to pray when, like Habakkuk, we find ourselves in crisis, sing this song! It will speak for you.

[taken from my current work: Isaiah and the Six Woes: A Cautionary Tale of Pity.]

Whether a nation or an individual, the biblical message of Isaiah is the same. And if there is a sequence or order to the 6 woes, it is reasonable to caution, “Stay free from the first woe, the first temptation, and the rest cannot follow.” The first one, greed, covetousness, or avarice is a desire to obtain money above what is needed whether just to hoard it as wealth or to become the quintessential consumer because there are so many expensive toys to buy. Sunday, the Pastor, shared this maxim with his congregation: “Life isn’t about money.” 

Agur

A man named Agur is credited with compiling chapter 30 of the Proverbs. Mr. Agur is a self-acclaimed stupid man not to be classed as a scribe because he confessed he knew so little about God. He only knew that his faith was in God [Proverbs 30:5]. Notwithstanding his self-abasement, no wiser prayer were ever prayed, nor ever more relevant: “Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches—Feed me with the food allotted to me” [Proverbs 30:8].

If we believe this and can find purpose in life that does not occupy our time and energy in the sole quest for money, we should find ourselves on a good path to avoiding the other woes.

The Path To Destruction

Paul taught that “avarice is the root of all evil” [1 Timothy 6:10]. Every English translation calls it love which can not be far from what Paul meant since Jesus reminded us that no one is able to make money their master and still claim to love God [Matthew 6:24]. Is it possible to have a romantic attraction to money? I love my wife of 54 years (as of this writing) and I would miss her if she were not here with me.

Market Insecurity

When the market crashed in 2008, due to subprime rates ballooning, I lost a chunk of my investments but I did not miss the money in the same way. Most investments are virtual funds (capital we didn’t need to live on that could be risked) and any increase was just on ledger paper or in a computer’s database. I didn’t miss the loss. But some people did! Their investments were watched like a child playing in a busy street and those investors worried as if a Stock Market crash was the end of life. Some lost retirement money, and some of those were now too old to make it up through further investing. If they were believers in Christ, they hopefully remembered that God is over all aspects of our lives. But should God be jealous of our interest in money?

And what about persons in government? Leadership or government officials that focus more on personal wealth, and not the well-being of the country—and especially the poor—are feeding their own passion for riches which Isaiah warned has God’s undivided attention.

[taken from my current work: Isaiah and the Six Woes: A Cautionary Tale of Pity.]

Therefore, just as fire licks up stubble
and dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will rot
and their flowers wither.
For they have rejected the law of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies;
they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
– Isaiah 5:24 NLT

When Isaiah told us God was angry, he gave Israel’s rejection and contempt as a reason.  The Hebrew actually reads, “The Lord’s nose was hot.” He was snorting, He was about to explode in a furious display of rage. This does not suggest God “lost it.”  Never!  What it does suggest is that He must be feeling something like Jesus did at Lazarus’ tomb when the apostle wrote, “He groaned in the spirit [was deeply moved with anger] and was troubled [agitated].” [John 11:33].  The language  in John’s gospel is not as vivid as Isaiah’s. Jesus was disturbed over their lack of faith. (This, in itself, should be a warning worth noting.)   God was more agitated, more “troubled” because His warnings went unheeded.

In our verse: You can hear the hissing of the flames, as C. H. Keil noted, in the use of Hebrew words with “S’s.” [The Hebrew  ’s’ and ‘sh’ sounds is the ש in Isaiah 5:24: קַשׁ לְשׁוֹן אֵשׁ וַחֲשַׁשׁ Reading from right to left, “stubble tongue of fire chaff”] You can picture the flames lapping like tongues at the young plants turning them to ash.  You can envision the root ball suddenly collapsing, sinking, in the flames (shrinking, shriveling, and then gone) until it, too, is only cinders. All of it returning to the dust from which it came.

And why must God be so furious?  Because He is a mighty and holy God.  Recently in an international prayer meeting one brother in his prayer called God “mighty and holy,” a rather common characterization frequently heard in prayer meetings, but to God’s ears, it has to be pleasing and a delight.  When a believer calls God the might and holy God they trust, when their prayer speaks to their faith in Him, there is no greater praise.

But here Israel who has become self-reliant seeking greedily for all things pleasurable and using lies and bribes to support such a life-style, there is no thought of the holiness of a mighty God. If God were just holy but too impotent to act on it, the nations of the world might never know what He was thinking or “feeling.”⁠ But He is both. His desire for true justice is an aspect of His holiness and He is mighty enough to react in ways men describe as wrathful. A better word might be “jealous” [Exodus 20:5; 34:14]. But regardless the theology, A holy God powerful enough to do something about sin, will not stand back and do nothing!

Do judges take bribes today? Is it possible for a judiciary, in a collective sense, to be so corrupt as to  get God’s attention and incur His displeasure? The prophet has outlined for us the 6 steps of degradation that describe a nation devolving into chaos. For the believer there is always hope because there is faith [Hebrews 11:1], and there is faith because God is “holy and mighty.” If this is the end time, and we have reason to believe it is, Isaiah in poetic verse reassures us that God knows and He is on His way [Luke 21:28].

According to the Mishnah, Rabbinical teachings on the Torah, the Passover meal was eaten with a “hin” (10 pints) of red wine. [see Rev. Dr. Edersheim. “The Temple, Its Ministry and Services, as They were at the Time of Jesus Christ.” revised. Fleming H. Revell Company, London: unknown) page 204.]

“Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed.” – 1 Corinthians 5:7

A “Hin” of  Wine

Although wine was not part of the original Exodus it was part of the celebration in Jesus’ day and spoke of “His blood.”

In the same way He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” [NASB20 1 Corinthians 11:25]

4 Cups

The wine mixed with water was poured into four (4) cups drunk at different times during the Passover meal. Why four?  Well, it’s complicated—as they say. It depends on which Rabbi you ask, but I know of no Biblical significance. Nonetheless, Jesus would have honored the rabbinic tradition since He and His disciples were accustomed to it and scripture does not challenge it.

1. After the first cup, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. [Luke 22:17; John 13:5].(Edersheim . page 205)
2. Jesus would have sung Psalm 113:1-9 & Psalm 114:1-8 before drinking the second cup (Edersheim . page 207)
3. “The cup of blessing” was third. (see 1 Corinthians 11:24) (Edersheim . page 209)
4. The fourth cup was drunk singing the second portion of the “Hallel,” (Psalm 115:1 – 118:29) (Edersheim . page 210)

Any Interest?

Interesting fact: The adult human male contains between 1.2 and 1.5 gallons of blood (A man weighing >=150 pounds or approx. 10% blood by weight. If a “hin” is 10 pints of wine and the wine represents our Savior’s blood, this suggests His weight at the time of the Cross was a little over 156 lbs. This is realistic since the average Jewish man was about 5’6″ tall and Jesus Himself was under great stress during the final year of His life before His death.

Was it significant, then, when the soldier struck the spear into the Savior’s side [John 19:34] and blood and water came out? Most assuredly! As the song writer penned, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” His death by the shedding of His blood was important in the plan of God for our salvation [Luke 22:20].

He didn’t just shed His life’s blood from the crown of thorns on His head or from the flesh laid open by the lash.  When the spear struck, Jesus in a most literal and complete sense, gave His all for our salvation.

[on Psalm 51:13 when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.“]

David is impassioned about helping others find the magnanimity of a divine love and wisdom that alone can rescue them whose remorse is burdening their future, pulling them back into their past, and taking away from them the joy of Lord in the present. David will introduce them to his God, Who alone resolves the misery of a self-inflicted punishment.

David has learned much about God’s approach to healing the soul who is hopelessly desperate to find help from a guilt or a misery that badger-like has attached itself to their life. When he thought God would punish him severely, God forgave him outright. Like the good Samaritan who poured in the oil and wine,¹ salvation is a welcomed experience. When David thought God would strike him, God draped His great arm around him and whispered “Be still” to his soul!

Sinners will “turn back to You” David envisioned. And why not!? There is no healing like God’s when He removes the agony of sin and the sin, too! When He strengths us and gives us a steadfastness, a resolve, to overcome temptations. David is teaching repentance, the sole guiding principle, back to God for those who cannot find the way. Had David known the song, Love Lifted Me,² he probably would have gone about humming and singing its message.

Love lifted me!
Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!

A Christian Idea

As Paul instructed the Galatian believers:

“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” [Galatians 6:1-2].

Consider his encouraging words to the Philippians : [my free interpretation/translation. David’s heart in ecclesiastical terms},

“If there is, therefore, any opportunity to encourage³ another in Christ, if any opportunity to lovingly persuade⁴ another struggling with discouragement, if there is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit by your common experience or fellowship⁵ to use you who have overcome to help another overcome, if the compassion⁶ Jesus knew that sent Him to Calvary is in you as His disciple, if any empathy,⁷ confirm my praise of you by your being united with the Savior in your concern⁸ for one another” [Philippians 2:1-2].

If this is indeed David’s heart—and I think so—his remorse over all he did to Uriah is now well along on a healing path. David discovered in a prayer of repentance that  only God can deliver us from ourselves!

We live in a kind-of “bubble” in which we sense our reality through a materialism, what we can see, feel, taste, etc. Living inside this natural sphere, all thing are considered knowable. But we are not seeing the larger picture; there is an outside, a spiritual realm. Our science is dependent on our natural senses and a kind-of circular logic. We have come to accept all things as foreseeable—not because we understand them but—because all things are explainable in a language we invented to explain them!

However, we remain wonderstruck at the absolute beauty of the world we live in but not because we are any closer to the underlining “how” of it—unless we believe in God. Birth and death, for example, remain the biggest mysteries of all; we do not cease to marvel in awe at the miracle of life itself but we can only theorize its inception. We cannot reproduce it. And if you think of it, so is the inevitability of death (That’s why “time” is so important in calculating everything discoverable; it tracks ultimate growth, movement, and decay).

But outside there is an eternity not reachable by the tools of our science and ignoring it will not make it go away or any less significant to our reality.  Angels are outside this bubble! Try explaining to them how a baby is conceived! Physical death, time, and many other aspects of our “knowledge” we call inevitable, angels remained flummoxed by. Our science has no meaning to them—only what God does on our behalf makes any sense to them.

The Archangel Michael wears a Roman military cloak and cuirass in this 17th-century depiction by Guido Reni.

One of the biggest mysteries for them is Calvary. “The law … was given through angels,” Stephen explained [Acts 7:53]. But that was “law” not “grace” Sadly for them, they don’t know “forgiveness” and “reconciliation.” Angels mediated the law given to Moses and proffered to Israel. This made perfect sense to them since the law was in reality the very profile of divine love—of the God they knew and served. Why this love would necessitate Christ’s incarnation and death was not clear; so, for this understanding, they would need our faithfulness in serving the God they served.

It was revealed to [the prophets] … things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. – 1 Peter 1:12

We are truly on display before them. “We have been made a spectacle to angels,” Paul agreed [1 Corinthians 4:9]. And we probably confuse them all too often when we “sin.” Paul, for example, urged Timothy as a pastor not to have favorites within his ministry. Angels don’t know what favoritism is.

I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions …do nothing out of favoritism. – 1 Timothy 5:21

Furthermore, they probably speak a different language [I Corinthians 13: 1]. Our varied theological interpretations of our faith add to their confusion [1 Corinthians 11:10]. They have existed exclusively to serve God [Job 1:6].

“Angels [are] ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.”

The writer to the Hebrews penned these inspired words [Hebrews 1:14 ] and these angels do a better job of it than we realize [Psalm 91:11].

We are living the mystery of our salvation. It is, indeed, a mystery to the ten of thousands of angels commissioned from the Throne of God to oversee His work in us.  It behooves us to faithfully live it. If we need another reason? …for their sakes.

<= Schutzengel (English: “Guardian Angel”) by Bernhard Plockhorst depicts a guardian angel watching over two children.

Have we raised a generation that has lost the ability to say: “thank you”? Is this an absurd question? Are we simply negligent in recognizing the value of being thankful? Or, perhaps, this is an extreme feeling difficult to voice. Like saying “I love you” or “I’m sorry” perhaps most people find it difficult to form the words. Take a look at Paul’s encouraging directive to the church at Philippi.

“Do all things without complaining and disputing,” Philippians 2:14 NKJV

And he added this:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:4, 7-8 NKJV

Admittedly, angry thoughts and words have led to splintered families, churches, and nations. Without self-awareness those who support such outrage fail to connect the dots; they do not discover that their anger has consequences. They do not understand that at the beginning of every war or divorce or separation there are “words” intended to hurt and accuse. And there is a notable absence of gratitude for the good things that have been a part of each of these relations.

The antonym of gratitude is not regret or sorrow. It is an angry, bitter, hateful spirit. And this spirit thrives on the notion of entitlement. Entitlement means you owe me something I need. And since want and need no longer are distinguishable, it is unreasonable and unfair to deny me what I want. On this logic all the outrage is justified. In this environment a little gratitude might go a long way to bring feuding factions to the bargaining table.

It seems incredulous to assume all this because of a lack of gratitude, but that is exactly what we are postulating. Being thankful for the simple benefits of life is devoid of rage, complaining, grumbling, yelling out, “unfair”! These are two feelings that cannot thrive together in the same heart.

Craig D. Lounsbrough wisely observed, “Fairness is not something to which we are entitled. Rather, it is something for which we hope.”

Paul recognizing this went further to say that being grateful, especially in prayer toward God, leads to peace on many levels. It is a peace that soothes our anxious spirits; it is also a peace that mends relations and unites us. The power of a “thank you” spoken honestly, spoken spontaneously, from a heart overflowing with gratitude, can heal a nation if enough people mean it.

I have been making an attempt at a weekly blog but a lot depends on my mood. My current mood, as I noted last week, is “contemplative.” That’s probably why I have taken a peaceful and meditative interest in Paul’s letter to the body of believers at Philippi. As an institution, all remembrance of them disappeared from the annals of church history by the second century. But for Paul, as a Roman prisoner, the faces in this tiny congregation became a cherished memory that often reminded him that his life was never without meaning. He called them “beloved and his joy and crown” [Philippians 4:1]. Only the believers in Philippi and Thessalonica received such commendation. And Paul thought this of “all” the Philippians. No fewer than eleven times he spoke inclusively of every believer in this congregation as if his heart would not let him forget any of them. “Every time I recall the fellowship we shared,” (if I might translate freely) he noted, “I am overcome with joyous appreciation to the Lord for bringing us together. I pray for each of you often asking our Lord to meet every need you have” [Philippians 1:3-4].

The church at Philippi was never ensnared by the heresies and twisted, compromised, religious thinking of the day. Unlike the churches at Rome or Galatia or Ephesus or, indeed, Corinth, the Philippians were from the first day to the present (Paul’s own words, Philippians 1:5) fellow laborers in the gospel message. And Paul knew with absolute assurance God’s work among them would flourish [Philippians 1:6].

Then Paul’s pen must have hesitated because Philippians 1:7 can have two meanings according to the grammar: Did he write, “I have you in my heart” or “You have me in your heart”? Why not both meanings! He added, “this is the absolute truth, and I know I’m right, And I see it this way about each and every one of you!”

River Anghista near the site of Philippi

You see, this shared passion for Christ, shared joy in their common salvation, and a shared interest in Christ’s sufferings through persecution, was a shared defense of and confirmation of the reality that is in serving Christ. Paul was never alone because he had been to Philippi and gone to the banks of the River Anghista to pray [Acts 16:13].

I could go on, playing the commentator of this warm recollection of what Paul’s service to the Savior was always all about. But I will let you study it for yourself. Paul didn’t know if his imprisonment would end in release [Philippians 2:24] or martyrdom [Philippians 2:17] but either way, his heart was rejoicing.

And what about my mood? I, too, have sweet abiding memories of what God did to which I bore joyful witness and of which now I sit in quiet meditation—of how good God is, indeed.

Truly, God is good [Psalm 73:1].