Wed, 21 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

2 Chronicles 25:14-16

¹⁴ After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. ¹⁵ Therefore the LORD was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” ¹⁶ But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

Amaziah begins well as king of Judah. We learn in verse two that he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart. But the last phrase is key. He never followed God with his whole heart. Although he did some good things, Amaziah never truly repents of his sins, and as far as we can tell, he is now in hell.

We are told how he decides to go to war, and hires additional troops to assist, but at God’s rebuke through the prophet that he is trusting in men and not in God, Amaziah dismisses the mercernary troops. And God is faithful, granting Amaziah the victory over Edom. A smaller army was no handicap when God has decreed victory. Amaziah was willing to listen to God in this instance.

But instead of learning the lesson of relying upon God, Amaziah takes the captured Edomite gods and begins to worship them. Imagine that! These false gods couldn’t deliver the Edomites from Judah, so why would Amaziah take them for his objects of worship? He had proved them to be worthless and not worthy of worship by his victory over their worshipers.

God sends another prophet to confront Amaziah in his foolishness and sin, but this time, Amaziah refuses to listen to the prophet. God sends to Amaziah, warning him of his disobedience. We see at the beginning of the chapter, he listens and responds to the word of God, but here, in his pride he rejects God’s word.

As the prophet is rebuking him, Amaziah cuts him short and threatens him with death if he continues to call Amaziah to repentance. Amaziah rejects the word of God. We see in the rest of the chapter that Amaziah goes on to be destroyed in his pride and arrogance after rejecting God’s word.

What do we learn from this?

Like He did with Amaziah, God also calls us to repentance of our sins. He presents us with the choice. We can listen to His word, repent of our sins, and turn to Him for salvation. Or we can reject His word and continue in our sin. If, like Amaziah, we reject God and refuse to listen to His word, there is no possibility of salvation for us. If we refuse to listen to God’s word, we can’t be convicted of our sin. We can’t turn to Him in saving faith unless we listen to His call for our repentance.

God will work within us to convict us of our sins and to lead us to repentance. As God is convicting you, repent of your sins, and turn to Him. He will save you as you trust in Him alone for your salvation. But if you reject Him, you, like Amaziah, will be lost in your pride.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Amaziah, in bringing back idols from Edom, did not do anything that was beyond forgiveness. He could have listened to the prophet and repented of his foolish, sinful actions. He could have turned back to God, repenting of his sins. Had he done so, he would have been forgiven. The sin that he committed did not disqualify him from God’s salvation. What disqualified him was his refusal to repent.

Had Amaziah repented of his sins and turned to God, trusting in God’s provision for his salvation, Amaziah would have been saved. The life and death of Jesus Christ would have been applied to him, and he would have been justified. And we too can be saved from our sins by trusting in God’s provision for our salvation: Jesus Christ.

Tue, 20 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

John 10:1-18

¹ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵ A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

There is much we can learn from what Jesus says in this chapter. Jesus says He is the good shepherd who will die for His sheep, speaking of the atonement. He also says He is the door through which His sheep must pass, speaking of how He is the only way to the Father.

But today I’ll take a few minutes to consider Jesus’ statement that I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

What do we learn from this?

Jesus is completely in control of what happens to Him. Though it seems that the Jewish leaders finally get their way and arrange for Jesus to be crucified, even that is under His control.

We see that there are a number of times in the gospels where Jesus says something that so infuriates the people that they decide to kill Him. At the end of this chapter, the Jewish leaders are so angry at Jesus they begin to gather stones to throw at Him in order to kill Him because He said what they take to be blasphemy. But they don’t stone Him. Then, John tells us that they attempt to arrest Him, but are unable. As in all their other attempts to take His life, they can’t do anything to Jesus until He allows them.

Jesus Christ came for a purpose, and the people could do nothing to Him that ran contrary to His intended purpose.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Jesus Christ’s purpose in His first coming was to accomplish the redemption of His people. As the good shepherd, He is going to lay down His life for His sheep. He is going to be the door through which all His sheep will enter into salvation.

In order to win the salvation of His people, He needed to do two things: Earn the perfect righteousness that they lack, and pay the penalty for the sins they have committed. His mission was under His control, and no one could interfere with His purpose. Though there were times when people wanted to kill Him, they could do nothing because it was not the time He had appointed. He was in control of when He would lay down His life and when He would take it up again.

Mon, 19 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Zechariah 6:9-14

⁹ And the word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁰ “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD. ¹³ It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”‘ ¹⁴ And the crown shall be in the temple of the LORD as a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah.

In the Old Testament, the high priest and the king were two different offices that could never be held by the same person. By God’s command, the rightful kings were all descendants of David. God had promised that He would not take the kingdom away from the descendends of David. David was from the tribe of Judah. By God’s command, the high priest was a descendant of Aaron, and therefore was from the tribe of Levi.

But here we see God command Zechariah to crown the high priest, and to declare that he shall sit and rule on his throne.

What do we learn from this?

God here speaks of Joshua the high priest in messianic terms, in essence uniting the role of high priest and king. He calls him the Branch, a term used to describe the coming messiah:

Jeremiah 23:5

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

Joshua was not the messiah, but in his role of being high priest during the time of rebuilding the temple after the Babylonian captivity, God uses Joshua to reveal more about the coming messiah.

Where is Christ in this passage?

As the Messiah (God’s anointed one), Jesus Christ combines the role of high priest and king in the one person. He is the Branch prefigured by Joshua, the high priest. He is the Son of David, and so is the rightful king. And He is high priest, not from the line of Aaron, but in the order of Melchizedek.

Sun, 18 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Revelation 9:1-12

¹ And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. ² He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. ³ Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶ And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

⁷ In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, ⁸ their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; ⁹ they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. ¹¹ They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

¹² The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

In these chapters of Revelation, we see that God is judging the earth for the rebellion of the people. In the previous chapter, we saw God send four angels to bring great suffering. In today’s chapter, we see the next two angels.

At the end of the chapter, we see that the people didn’t learn the lesson they should have learned from the visitation of the destroying angels:

Revelation 9:20-21

²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

What do we learn from this?

Whenever there is a great tragedy like the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, or the recent hurricanes that devastated the Gulf coast, you will hear people in the media ask theologians, “Where was God when this happened? Why would He allow such a thing?” Unfortunately, many Evangelicals will give the bad answer that God didn’t cause or allow these disasters. He has given up control of such things, but He is there to help us in these times of difficulty.

But we see a completely different story in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. God is completely in control. We need to realize that even when bad things are happening around us, God is in control.

Here we see God sends the angels with the destruction, and the events He causes on the earth have a purpose. The suffering that He causes is both punitive and (in a sense) redemptive. The suffering due to the angels in our text is deserved punishment because of the sins of the people, but we learn something about this for ourselves. Since we have all sinned, we all deserve eternal damnation. Therefore due to our own sins, there is no calamity that can happen to us on earth that we don’t deserve. On the contrary, God deals with us far more graciously than we deserve as we spend most of our days in comfort and pleasure. We have no right to shake our fist at God and demand to know how He could allow such things to happen to us, when due to our sin we have rebelled against Him. As sinners, we don’t deserve anything better than to suffer.

In addition to being punitive, the suffering God brings is also redemptive, in the sense that suffering is an opportunity for people to repent and turn to God. It is an opportunity to consider our own lives, and how we have offended God. Not all suffering is a direct result of our own personal sin. Nevertheless, God still uses it to drive us to Him. Therefore, we should use the difficulties that come into our lives as times to hear God calling us to repent of our sins and flee to Him.

To bring this punitive and redemptive suffering, in our text listed above, God releases the demons and gives them limited rein to bring the suffering. The demons are limited in the scope of the suffering they can inflict (they can only torment those without the mark of God’s protection), in the amount of the suffering they can inflict (they are not allowed to kill), and in the length of the suffering they can inflict (they can only torment for five months). God maintains tight control, even when giving people over to the torment of demons.

As we see from this text, the events that happen on earth are not outside God’s control, as asserted by some mistaken Evangelicals. Rather, they are under His control and serve His purposes.

Where is Christ in this passage?

We see in the case of the fifth angel, there is distinction between those who are to suffer, and those who are spared. The demons were kept from harming those who were marked by the seal of God upon their foreheads. This is not always the case in the situations we face on earth. In many tragedies, there isn’t a distinction between those who belong to God and those who don’t. The rising flood engulfs the home of the believer and the non-believer. But in this case, God chooses to make the distinction, like on the night of the Passover, as the angel of death passed over the homes of the Israelites that were marked by the blood of the lamb.

So what does it mean to have the seal of God upon their foreheads?

God has marked as His own all those who have come to Him in faith, trusting only in His Son, Jesus Christ for their salvation. They have repented of their sins, and are trusting in the Person and work of Jesus Christ to save them from all their sins. As they come to Him in faith, they are justified (declared to be in right standing with God based upon the work of Jesus applied to them) and adopted into His family. They are then legally His children and are marked as His own. He protects them because Jesus Christ has saved them. Sometimes, but not always, that protection is seen here on earth.

But ultimately there is a great distinction between the believer and the non-believer in the realm of suffering. Although often they will suffer together here on earth, in eternity, the non-believer will suffer the torments of hell while the believer will enjoy the felicity of heaven. Because believers belong to God, through Jesus Christ they are accepted into eternal joy. Their sins are paid for in Jesus Christ, and they have His righteousness applied to them, and so are acceptable to God. But the non-believers are still in their sins and must pay the penalty for those sins for all eternity.

Sat, 17 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

2 Chronicles 20:1-30

¹ After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. ² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). ³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, ⁶ and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. ⁷ Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? ⁸ And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ⁹ ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you–for your name is in this house–and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ ¹⁰ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy– ¹¹ behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

¹³ Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴ And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. ¹⁵ And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. ¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. ¹⁷ You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.”

¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. ¹⁹ And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” ²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

“Give thanks to the LORD,
for his steadfast love endures forever.”

²² And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. ²³ For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. ²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. ²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the LORD. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. ²⁷ Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the LORD. ²⁹ And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

Jehoshaphat is a godly king of Judah who seeks to please God. He isn’t perfect, as his disastrous alliance with wicked king Ahab proves. But we see that when he is confronted by an enemy, he cries out to God, and God delivers him.

What do we learn from this?

This is an amazingly encouraging passage. When confronted by an invading army, Jehoshaphat was afraid. He saw the danger. He knew he was responsible for the safety of the people, and he was afraid he could not successfully defend them.

When faced with a situation that was out of his control, and when he was gripped by fear, what did Jehoshaphat do? He prayed. He brought his fears and concerns to God, claiming the promises of scripture to invoke God’s aid as he laid the situation before God. That is good counsel for us as well. When we are hopeless and dismayed, pray.

And God graciously responded. He promised that as the people acted in faithful obedience by going out to confront the enemy, God would fight for them and they would give them the victory without them even having to fight. He would be their salvation, and they would witness it without their having to faith at all.

Imagine what the Israelites thought as they marched out from behind the relative safety of the walls of Jerusalem to fight this enemy that caused them so much fear. They were making themselves vulnerable to their enemy. When the people hear that Jehoshaphat’s battle plan is to have the priests march in front of the army, singing praises, how must they have felt? What kind of a plan is that? Shouldn’t we set some kind of ambush, or seek the high ground for an advantage? No. Our plan is to follow the singing priests to our enemy.

Despite their fears, the people obeyed, and trusted in God’s protection and provision. The marched out to the sound of the praises of God. And God met their very great need. He provided a great victory without them ever having to lift a sword. The did lift their voices in praise, but they didn’t have to lift a weapon. The enemies of God’s people turned on each other and destroyed themselves.

The first thing we learn from this is that we must bring our cares and concerns to God. Nothing is too big or too small to bring to Him in prayer. If it is bothering us, we should bring it to Him.

Secondly, we see that the victory is from God. Nothing can stop Him from accomplishing His purpose. And if He so chooses, God doesn’t even need us to fight the battle at all. He sometimes will win the victory without ever having us fight. He doesn’t always choose to have us win, and we usually have to fight. But when He chooses, he doesn’t even need us to do anything at all to accomplish His purposes.

Finally, we see the destructive power of infighting. The enemies of Israel destroyed themselves by their own internal fighting. They never got to their goal of attacking Israel because they were so busy (and so good) at attacking each other. They expended on themselves all the energy they were planning to use against their enemy, and so they consumed themselves. This can be true of the church as well. How many congregations have no impact on the world around them because they are so busy fighting battles against themselves? If all we can do is fight each other, all we will accomplish is to destroy ourselves.

Where is Christ in this passage?

What a picture this is of the salvation God has given over sin. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, unable to save ourselves. Into our hopeless situation, God tells us to have hope because the battle is not yours but God’s. He will earn for us the salvation we can not earn for ourselves. God the Father sent Jesus Christ the Son to come to earth to fight the battle for us. And on Calvary, we can see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf as Jesus Christ earns the salvation of all those who come to Him in faith.

Fri, 16 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

John 6:60-71

⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? ⁶² Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵ And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹ and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” ⁷¹ He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Jesus is growing in popularity. At the beginning of this chapter, He feeds the five thousand. Imagine the excitement in the crowd as they realize what is happening around them. They are witnessing a miracle before their very eyes. As the excitement grows, the people of the crowd decide to make Jesus king by force. If Jesus can spontaneously create food for them, He can successfully overthrow the despised Roman occupiers. He certainly won’t have trouble with the logistics of feeding the army they will need to raise to battle the Romans, and if He can create food, He probably has some other interesting things up His sleeves to use against their dreaded enemy.

But instead of capitalizing on His growing popularity, Jesus withdraws from the crowd and continues to preach difficult things. He tells the people that He is the bread of life, and that they must eat of Him to have eternal life. He tells them that He has come from the Father to save those whom the Father has elected. He continues to say things that seem calculated to drive people away. Because He continues to preach these hard things, the people are offended, and whereas the chapter starts with the crowd of followers growing, it ends with many disciples leaving Him. He squandered the capital of good will He had been building up, and now He is loosing followers, all because He wasn’t more circumspect in what He said.

What do we learn from this?

Jesus certainly doesn’t subscribe to the notion that in evangelism we should draw a large crowd by any means possible and then slip them the gospel message. In fact, He keeps preaching the truth knowing it is offensive to many and will drive them away. His concern is not to build a following, but to make disciples. As we consider how we present the gospel, we certainly should not go out of our way to intentionally be offensive. But we should never tone down the fundamentally offensive nature of the gospel because of fear that it will drive people away.

The doctrine that Jesus taught, particularly the doctrine that God is sovereign in salvation, is offensive to people. They don’t like to be told that God is the one who chooses whom He will save and that we are not the ones who save ourselves by our choice. Many disciples turned back and stopped following Jesus when He told them this truth. It is not more popular today.

There is a great comfort in understanding what Jesus was teaching, because if God is sovereign in bringing you to salvation, He is also sovereign in keeping you saved. This doctrine frees us from the tyranny of trying to be good enough to keep our salvation, and enables us to enjoy obeying God out of gratitude for what He has done rather than out of fear of losing our salvation.

We don’t choose our doctrine based upon how popular it is, but based upon if it is true. We should desire to believe what God has proclaimed in His Scriptures, not whatever we personally like best, nor what we think will attract the biggest crowd. Truth is not a popularity contest.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Jesus Christ is the one who tells us these things. And like Peter, as others turn away from the hard things taught by Jesus our response should be , “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Thu, 15 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Zechariah 2:1-5

¹ And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! ² Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” ³ And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵ And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

Zechariah’s ministry was during the return from the Babylonian captivity. He was used by God to encourage the people who had returned to Jerusalem in those difficult early years, and in his vision related in chapter 2, Zechariah tells them of God’s protection of his people.

In those days, people relied upon the walls of the local city for protection from enemies. Most likely, this was written before Nehemiah had returned and led the people in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, so the people were quite aware of the insecurity of having no wall. They didn’t have a wall yet. But in Zechariah’s vision, God promises a day when there will be no need for a physical wall. God promises to protect His people as a wall of fire all around them.

What do we learn from this?

We all need security. We need homes for shelter from the weather. We need the government to protect us from those who would be lawless and harm us and our property. We need insurance for our cars to protect us from financial liability in case of an accident. We need life insurance to meet the needs of our relatives if we should die during our wage earning years. We wear seatbelts when we drive our cars. In these ways and in many more, we seek to protect ourselves from that which would harm us. These are all natural and it is right for us to do so. We should reasonably seek to limit the risks we take. And so, Nehemiah would soon return to Jerusalem to lead them in rebuilding the wall. We should work to increase our security.

But in our efforts to gain security, we need to realize that ultimately, our protection is from God. We have no security that He does not provide. As the Psalmist tells us:

Psalm 127:1

Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.

Zechariah looks forward to the promise of God Himself dwelling among His people, and protecting them.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this promise. In Zechariah 2:10 we see: Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. The Lord came in the person of Jesus Christ, and has now ascended to heaven and is ruling over all. And now that the title of Jerusalem is inherited by the church, we see that He is now indwelling His church. He protects her and is the glory in the midst of His church. He is the wall of fire around His church, protecting her and keeping her against all enemies who would destroy her.

Wed, 14 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Revelation 5

¹ Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, ⁴ and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵ And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” ¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” ¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

In John’s vision, he now sees the scene in heaven where no one can open the new covenant except the Lion of the tribe of Judah who is also the Lamb who was slain. As He takes the covenant, we see a progression of the worship.

First the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders sing the new song in verses nine and ten. Then John sees and hears many angels respond with their praise in verse twelve. And then every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them join in the praise in verse thirteen.

What do we learn from this?

The praise of God is growing. It begins with a few, but as it progresses, more and more join in, until at the end, there is no one who will not take part in His worship.

All of history is building to the point where every creature in heaven and earth will bow before God in praise. We don’t see it now, but God’s praise is growing. And, as Paul tells us, the day will come when everyone, everywhere will submit to God in praise:

Philippians 2:8-11

⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Where is Christ in this passage?

The culmination of history is the worship of Jesus Christ as every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. He is the the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and sits upon the throne of David. But He also is the Lamb who was slain for the salvation of His people. And therefore as a result of Him humbling Himself for the salvation of His people, everyone everywhere will worship Him.

Tue, 13 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

2 Chronicles 14:9-15

⁹ Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. ¹⁰ And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹ And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” ¹² So the LORD defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. ¹³ Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the LORD and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil. ¹⁴ And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the LORD was upon them. They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them. ¹⁵ And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

In chapter 14 of 2 Chronicles, the Chronicler tells us of good king Asa, and how God blessed him as he sought to be pleasing to God. But as we often see in the scriptures, God’s blessing doesn’t mean an exemption from suffering, and so we see the Ethiopian’s come against Judah with a million man army.

What do we learn from this?

Asa realizes that he is no match for the army that is coming against his nation. He realizes that he can’t fight them and expect to win in his own strength. And so Asa throws himself upon the mercy of God. After committing himself to God’s mercy, he then procedes to do everything he can, and Asa leads his greatly outnumbered army out to war. God honors Asa and grants him a surprising victory over the enemy.

We are commanded to commit ourselves into God’s care. That is what Asa did. He saw the futility of the battle in his own strength, and so he entrusted himself to God. We need to seek God in our daily activities, especially when we run into times of great difficulty. Our hardships should drive us to God, and to seek His mercy upon our lives. He might not give us exactly what we ask, but He has promised to grant peace to His people in their difficulties as they bring them to Him in faith.

Where is Christ in this passage?

As we consider Asa in his hopeless situation, facing an overwhelming army and realizing that he doesn’t have the resources to withstand it, we realize there are parallels to what we face as Christians. Not to overly spiritualize it, but we all face an insurmountable opponent in sin and death. We have all sinned and we all face God’s punishment in our lives. We can’t do anything about it in our own strength. But God has provided Jesus Christ as our substitute, and as we come to Him in faith, trusting in Jesus Christ, His provision for paying the penalty of our sin, we are met by God’s mercy and are saved from our own sin by God’s power.

But the salvation we find in Jesus Christ is only found as we come to Him in faith, trusting in what He has done for us.

Mon, 12 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

John 2:13-17

¹³ The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ¹⁵ And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

John tells us that at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus cleanses the temple.

The priests were running a market in the courts of the temple. Money-changers were there to exchange whatever kind of money the people had for the appropriate coin for the temple tax. The priests apparently were offering the temple tax coin at an exchange rate that was quite favorable to themselves.

People would travel great distances to offer sacrifices at the temple, and ostensibly as a service, the priests would offer animals for sale at the temple so that distant travelers would not have to bring an animal with them. Since the priests had to certify that any animal brought for sacrifice was acceptable, this apparently had also become a money making racket as they could refuse to accept any but animals from their market, for sale at a generous markup.

We are speculating that the priests were extorting money from those who came to worship, as the scriptures don’t explicitly tell us that was what was going on as they converted the courts of the temple into a market place. But we see that Jesus was very angry about what the priests had done to the temple courts.

What do we learn from this?

Jesus is very concerned about anything that distracts His people from their appointed worship. As the people gathered to bring their sacrifices to God, the priests saw it as a money-making opportunity. In doing so, they disrupted those who come to worship, and made a travesty of their sacrifice. Imagine how it changed their attitude toward worship as the people were being fleeced by the priests.

We must guard our worship against anything that distracts us from our focus upon God and the worship due to Him. The service should include a focus upon God and His word, and all distractions from that should be removed.

Where is Christ in this passage?

When Jesus suddenly appeared in the temple to purify it, He was fulfilling (at least partially — some people believe this will only be fully fulfilled at the second coming) Malachi’s prophecy from chapter three:

Malachi 3:1-4

¹ “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. ² But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.