Sat, 21 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

2 Kings 2:1

¹ Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.

God’s great prophet, Elijah, is about to be taken to heaven in a most dramatic way.

God has a plan for Elijah’s life, and in God’s plan, Elijah’s time on earth is complete. God has nothing more for Elijah to do, and so his time is complete. It is God’s appointed time for Elijah to leave this world.

What do we learn from this?

The end of our days on earth is in God’s hands, and it is a part of God’s time. He will bring our end in His time, according to His purpose. In a very real sense, there are no untimely or premature deaths, for all deaths are at God’s appointed time.

Jesus teaches His disciples not to worry about the coming persecutions, since their lives are in God’s hand:

Matthew 10:29-31

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

If God governs the death of sparrows, and the number of your hairs, He also governs your timing of your death. So don’t worry about the persecutors.

This teaches us why murder, suicide and abortion are sins. In murder, suicide and abortion, we are taking the place of God and determining when a life will end. It was wrong for Elijah to ask to die when he was despairing under the broom tree a few chapters ago. God was not done with him. It was not God’s appointed time for Elijah to leave the world, and Elijah had no right to try to determine when his own end should occur.

Also, we learn that if God leaves us in this world, He has a purpose for us. As long as He spares us, we should be doing our part in the kingdom of God. That part will change with time. It will grow and diminish in accordance with our God given abilities and our circumstances. In many cases, that role will decrease as we get older and become less able to help ourselves. Nevertheless, the shut-in still has a role to play in God’s kingdom. That role might be to pray for others, or even to be the object of the loving acts of mercy of family, friends, and church. We should never despair of our lack of purpose, for as long as we remain, God has a purpose for us.

Where is Christ in this passage?

God has a purpose for each of us, and He has an appointed end to our time on earth. We see the same thing as we read through the gospels and see the many times that people had determined to kill Jesus. But they were unable to kill Him because it was not God’s appointed time.

As Jesus taught His disciples, God is in control of the end of all things, from the death of a sparrow, to the death of His own Son. He has a purpose for all of us, and He has an appointed end for all of us.

Fri, 20 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Psalm 110:1

¹ The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”

In the New Testament, this verse is one of the most quoted Old Testament passages. We hear it quoted by Jesus, by Peter, by Paul, and by the writer to the Hebrews. Clearly it is an important verse to our understanding of scripture.

What do we learn from this?

David wrote this psalm. In it, David tells of Yahweh (the LORD) giving a direct command to Yahweh’s appointed King. God gives the position of power, authority, and honor to His King. He also promises to bring all things into subjection to His King.

The promise is astonishing in its scope. The seat of authority God grants is not in Jerusalem, and the authority of the King is not over the people of Israel. The seat is in heaven, at the right hand of the Father. So the authority is equal to the authority of the Father. God is granting His King authority over all of creation. We could say that in this verse we see the Father giving all authority in heaven and earth to His King.

Where is Christ in this passage?

As the quotations of this verse in the New Testament make clear, Psalm 110 is all about Jesus Christ. He is David’s son that David calls Lord. He is the one who at His ascention has taken up all authority in heaven and earth. He is the one who is greater than David, and greater than the angels. He is the one who is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Jesus Christ is the King over all creation as appointed by the Father.

Thu, 19 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Daniel 4:34-35

³⁴ At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
³⁵ all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”

Nebuchadnezzar, pagan king, conqueror of Judah, destroyer of Jerusalem, and proclaimer of God’s providence.

In this chapter, Nebuchadnezzar is humbled of his pride and ends by declaring that God is in control of all things. He is in charge, and all of history flows according to His will.

What do we learn from this?

God’s providence is controversial. But it isn’t obscure or unclear in scripture. It is clearly proclaimed. God does whatever He wills. He works among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can countermand or question Him.

It is easy to understand why this is a hard doctrine for someone outside the church. They want to think that they are the masters of their own destiny. They are in charge, and they do not want to submit to God. They are in rebellion against Him, and they reject any statement that God is in charge.

What is harder to understand is how people inside the church find this to be a hard doctrine. In His scriptures, God clearly presents Himself as being in charge. That should be a great comfort to His people, not something to fight against or argue about. He is our Father, and He loves us. He is working everything for our salvation and His glory. How can we not trust Him to do what is right and what is best?

We might not understand how the particular circumstances we find ourselves in are working for our good and God’s glory. In fact, we might find that we hate our situation and beg God to grant us relief from the pain we are experiencing. But we can trust God even then. God is in control, and we can trust Him.

Where is Christ in this passage?

When we see the life of Jesus Christ, we see God working everything out to His purpose. All that Jesus did led Him to His crucifixion at Calvary. People attempted to kill Him before that, and the leaders had determined to not kill Him at that Passover. Nevertheless, God was in control, and He brought about His will: Jesus Christ was crucified to pay the price for the sins of His people. It all happened according to His will.

Wed, 18 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

⁹ Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, ¹⁰ for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, ¹¹ and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹² so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Paul tells the church of the Thessalonians that they should love each other, live quietly, mind their own affairs, and work hard for a reason: so that they could live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. Their conduct influences the people around them who are outside their own community of faith.

What do we learn from this?

What we do as a church and how we behave to each other has an impact upon the people around us. When we are not living in accord with God’s commands, we are not properly before the watching world. We are not proclaiming the glory of God and His transforming power when we live lives of dischord and fighting. When we meddle in each other’s affairs, we set a bad example of Christianity to our neighbors. When we are slothful in our work, people look at us and say, those Christians sure are lazy.

Paul urges us to do what we are supposed to do. We are to live the lives we are called to live in scripture. As we obey God’s commands, we are giving God the glory and we are pointing others to Him.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Our desire is to glorify God in our conduct. We want to be able to point others to God. When they ask why we live the way we do, we can then tell them about what God has done for us. Ultimately, we should desire to point people to Jesus Christ and the salvation He provides.

We don’t ever want our personal conduct to detract from the message of the gospel. The gospel is true apart from our sinful lives, and the gospel is the solution to our problem of ongoing sin. But we don’t want our sinful lives to get in the way when we tell others about the salvation that is in Jesus Christ.

Tue, 17 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

1 Kings 20:26-30

²⁶ In the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. ²⁸ And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” ²⁹ And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰ And the rest fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left.

Ben-hadad also fled and entered an inner chamber in the city.

Ahab, an enemy of God, a man who introduced Baal worship to the northern tribes of Israel, and who was complicit in his wife’s murder of the prophets, is here used by God to defeat the Syrians. Why would God preserve Ahab from this foreign enemy? We are told it is because the enemies of Israel still associated Israel with Jehovah. God preserved evil king Ahab and his wicked kingdom because the enemies remembered the true God more than Israel did.

What do we learn from this?

God sometimes does surprising things. He will act to get the glory, and sometimes He uses the most unlikely instruments. He can even use those who are His enemies, those who hate Him.

Ahab will bear the responsibility for how He handles the blessing God has given him. We see in the chapter that God appointed him to bring judgment upon Ben-hadad, and when Ahab failed in that responsibility, God pronounces judgment upon Ahab. Ahab can’t continue in his rebellion against God with impunity, but even so, God can use Ahab as His instrument to teach the surrounding nations that God is in control.

Where is Christ in this passage?

God brings about His will and He does use people who are sinful to do so. The most amazing example of this is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The people who were responsible for killing Jesus were doing evil. They killed the only innocent person who ever lived. But God used their gross sin to bring about the greatest good that has ever happened to humanity: the salvation of all those who come to Him in faith. Our salvation comes to us because God used the greatest act of evil of all time and turned it to good.

Mon, 16 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Psalm 105:1-6

¹ Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
² Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
³ Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
⁴ Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
⁵ Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
⁶ O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

The command is given to praise God, sing to Him, seek Him, and remember all His works.

What do we learn from this?

Remember all that God has done down through the ages, and praise God for it. We should not forget the deeds He has done of old, but remember how He kept His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Remember how He protected and preserved them, and all that He has done on their behalf. Praise Him for it. This should be a regular part of our worship.

We should make known to the people around us what God has done in history, for in doing so, we glorify Him. Our role is to expound to the world that there is a God, and to tell them of what He has done.

Where is Christ in this passage?

This command is given to the offspring of Abraham and the children of Jacob. I’m not Jewish. I am not descended from Abraham and Jacob. Does this command apply to me?

Yes, it does apply to me. I am a child of Abraham, and if you have come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, so are you.

Galatians 3:1-7

¹ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain–if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith– ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷ Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The sons of Abraham are those who are of the faith of Abraham, by trusting in the God of Abraham. Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ is a descendant of Abraham and therefore is called to sing God’s praises.

Sun, 15 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Ezekiel 48:30-35

³⁰ “These shall be the exits of the city: On the north side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, ³¹ three gates, the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi, the gates of the city being named after the tribes of Israel. ³² On the east side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. ³³ On the south side, which is to be 4,500 cubits by measure, three gates, the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. ³⁴ On the west side, which is to be 4,500 cubits, three gates, the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. ³⁵ The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The LORD is there.”

We have come to the end of the book of Ezekiel. The last eight chapters are an extended tour of the restored Jerusalem. In this final chapter, Ezekiel is told the allotment of the land to the twelve tribes, and here in the very last verses of the book, he is told about the gates of Jerusalem for each of the twelve tribes.

The people of Israel were fractured from the time of Solomon’s death, with Judah and Benjamin (and Levi) holding to the kingship of David’s line, and the rest of the tribes forming the northern kingdom of Israel following their own kings. The northern tribes of Israel were carried into captivity about a hundred years before Judah was taken to Babylon. So none of the tribes of Israel remain. They have all been taken captive and are no more.

Yet, here we have Ezekiel seeing a vision of the restored land of Israel, and all the twelve tribes are represented.

What do we learn from this?

God’s promise remains. He will save a remnant of His people out of their captivity. They are lost in their sin and have no hope of return to the promised land. But yet here we see that God is telling His people that they will return, and all twelve tribes will be there. None will be missing.

All of God’s people will be saved. Not one will be lost. We don’t know who they all are at this point, but God knows them. He will work everything so that His people come to Him. His people will come to Him in faith. They will all be present when we gather together at the end of time. Not one will be missing.

As His people gather, God will be present in them. The book ends with the name of the city: The LORD is there. God is present with His people, His church. He is there, in their midst.

Every time we gather together to worship, God is there with us. He is present in our worship. He is there as we praise Him. He is there as we sing His word and as we pray. He is there as His word is preached.

Does that make any difference to you as you think about gathering to worship? Does it make worship more than just an empty ritual for you? Realize that God is there and that you are worshiping Him.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Jesus Christ has promised that

” … where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

He is with us when we gather together in His name.

Sat, 14 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Colossians 4:2-4

² Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. ³ At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison– ⁴ that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Paul is winding up his letter to the church at Colossae. One of his last instructions to them is for them to be steadfast in their prayer, and specifically to pray for him. Paul asks them to pray that he would have an open door to bring the word of God to people around him.

What do we learn from this?

Christians pray. I’ve been in many prayer meetings, and I’ve heard a lot of pray requests in my life. Most of them deal with physical problems. It is completely legitimate for us to pray for the physical needs of people. I don’t want to appear to say that we should not pray for people’s physical needs. But something is wrong if that is all we pray about.

I’m sure that Paul had physical needs. If nothing else, Paul is in prison and is facing trial for his life. He could have asked them to pray that he would be freed. But instead, Paul asks them to pray that he would have openings for the gospel.

Paul’s concern was for the lost around him. He desired that people would come to salvation, and so he was always seeking ways to bring them the gospel. So Paul’s great desire was to have people pray for God to grant him additional openings to bring the gospel.

We should pray for God to open the door for our spiritual leaders to bring the gospel to the lost. We want God to create the divine appointments where He brings people who are ready for the gospel into contact with those who are seeking to share the gospel.

But we should also desire that God would use us to bring the gospel to others as well. Evangelism is not limited to the professional clergy. We lay people should also pray that God would give each one of us opportunities to share the gospel with the people around us. We pray for our pastors to be able to evangelize, but we should also pray for ourselves and other members of the congregation.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Paul wanted chances to declare the mystery of Christ. He wanted people to come to trust in Jesus Christ only for salvation. He wanted them to know about their own sin, their guilt before God, and what Jesus Christ did to save sinners. He wanted to tell people how Jesus Christ lived the perfect life, and died to pay the price for the sins of all who come to Him in faith.

That was Paul’s great desire: the salvation of the people around him. Is that your desire as well?

Fri, 13 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

1 Kings 16:1-14

¹ And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, ³ behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴ Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. ⁷ Moreover, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it.

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. ⁹ But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, ¹⁰ Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

¹¹ When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. ¹² Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³ for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

God declares His judgment against the house of Baasha. He has used Baasha to judge and supplant the house of Jeroboam. But Baasha has followed in the way of the house of Jeroboam, and therefore Baasha will also be judged.

Baasha’s whole reign is comprised in a few verses. He disobeyed God and is swept away, and God’s prophecy is fulfilled in the second year of Baasha’s reign. God brings punishment upon the king who ignored God’s word.

God uses people to accomplish His purposes in the world. Baasha filled that role by bringing God’s judgment upon the house of Jeroboam. Baasha was God’s instrument, but that does not exempt him from being under God’s judgment for his own disobedience. God uses people, but those people must be careful themselves, or they will find themselves under God’s judgment.

What do we learn from this?

I can’t assume that because I once was used by God, I am set with Him forever and need not concern myself about obedience. Just because I once said a prayer, or signed a card, or walked the isle doesn’t mean I am given a free pass for the rest of my life. I might have been baptized or made a public profession of faith, but that means nothing if I am leading a life of complete disobedience today.

What I’ve done in the past means nothing if I am in rebellion against God. If I am hardened to His conviction for the sin in my life, I am in a very dangerous position. If God can not speak to my sin and draw me to repentance today, regardless of what has happened in the past, in all likelihood I was never saved in the first place.

Confessing your sins and repenting of them is not a one time deal. For the Christian, it is a lifelong process. We will be confessing our sins up to the time we are glorified in death or at Jesus Christ’s return. Until then, we must never rest on our laurels, but continue to renew our repentance daily, committing ourselves to live lives of obedience.

Where is Christ in this passage?

The salvation that we have in Jesus Christ is a permanent salvation. He has earned for us eternal life. Just as the name implies, this life will never end. God will not take it away from us once we possess it. Hence the name: eternal life.

Eternal life isn’t the result of our obedience. It is the free gift of God’s grace bestowed to all who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. We can’t earn it by our good works, nor can we forfeit it by our sins after it has been granted. If we have been adopted as God’s children, we will never be un-adopted.

But, if we are saved, if we do have eternal life, if we are part of God’s family, that will show up in tangible ways. One thing that is true to all of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation: they will feel the guilt of their sin and will (eventually) repent of it. They can not remain hardened in their rebellion against God forever. The true Christian might fall away for a season, but he will return. God has begun a work in him, and God will bring it to completion, for the work of Jesus Christ to grant the true Christian eternal life will not fail. They will repent and turn back to the God who has won their salvation.

The point of today’s meditation is that while we are in active and open rebellion against God, we are in a dangerous place. If we can spurn God’s conviction for our sins, we have no reason to believe that we have ever truly trusted in Him in the first place. We have no grounds for thinking that Jesus Christ’s atonement has anything to do with us. There is no reason we should think that we have been adopted by God, or that we are part of His family. We should consider carefully if we are in the faith at all.

We are not to trust in what we’ve done in the past. Nor are we to trust in what we are doing now. We are to repent of our sins and trust in the work of Jesus Christ only. For it is in His work on our behalf that we find salvation, and not anywhere else.

Thu, 12 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Psalm 100

¹ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
² Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

³ Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

⁵ For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

The fact that God is our creator is not something that is inconsequential. It isn’t a side issue that we can take or leave. We are not our own. We are not the products of random chance, nor are we masters of our own destiny. We haven’t brought ourselves into existence. Scripture tells us that God is our creator and as a consequence, He owns us. We are His by right, since He made us.

What do we learn from this?

Everything that we have and all that we are comes to us from God. We are not our own, but we belong to God who has created us. Because of that, we must be concerned about what God wants from us. We owe Him praise and thanks as well as obedience.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Everyone belongs to God by right of His having created us. But beyond that, some belong to Him in another way. Some are His by redemption. Jesus Christ has bought them back from the penalty of sin. Therefore they are belong to Him. They are His people, and the sheep of his pasture in a way more than all others. All those who have come to God through faith in Jesus Christ are are doubly His own: by creation and redemption.