January 24

Genesis 25 My oldest brother and I had a pretty good relationship, even though he was nine years older than me and out of the home after my ninth birthday. Absent from our culture is the passing of a family birthright from generation to generation through the oldest son. Hence, we often fail to get the significance of the struggle in this passage. Stan and I never struggled with a birthright, or even inheritance from our parents. Stan went to be with the Lord three months before my father died. Mom is still with us. Stan had no children to whom he could pass an inheritance, so there was no opportunity for any competition there. So what is a family birthright, and why is it that Jacob would want to take it from Esau? Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines a birthright as: A right, privilege, or possession to which a person, especially the firstborn son, was entitled by birth in Bible times. In Israel, as in the rest of the ancient world, the firstborn son enjoyed a favored position. His birthright included a double portion of his father’s assets upon his death (Deut. 21:17). Part of the firstborn’s benefits also were a special blessing from the father (Gen. 27:27) and the privilege of leadership of the family (Gen. 43:33). Abraham was 160 and Isaac 60 when Jacob and Esau were born. Jacob and Esau were 15 when Abraham died. I am convinced that whenever Jacob and Esau were with Grandpa that he told them about the occasions when God had appeared to him and the covenant which God had made with him. Surely, one of the ways Moses knew of this story was the oral or written transmission of it through the intervening 400-500 years. The clear implication of the birthright was that it is not only a double portion of financial wealth but that it is also an inheriting of the covenant which God made with Abraham. Clearly Esau and Jacob are adults in this passage, and Esau was a man of simple physical passions. He had never learned to value a future reward over a present desire even in the physical realm. The text specifically says that he ‘despised his birthright.’ Despised is a pretty strong word. He despised having a double portion of Abraham’s wealth? Certainly he felt the desire of a present need to be greater than future wealth. He despised receiving the privilege of leadership in the covenant which God made with Abraham? It would appear so. When an alcoholic cannot quit drinking because he craves the current effect of inebriation over the long term security of being able to properly do his job, it could be said that the alcoholic despises his job. When a porn addict craves the current thrill of his voyeurism over the effect which abstinence produces in his relationship with God or with his wife or future wife, then it could be said that he despises those relationships. My lust for any sin to the point that I do it, reveals that I despise to some degree my relationship with the Lord. Esau despised the privilege of the covenant and the double portion of future wealth. Does this mean that Jacob did not despise them? Well, he at least liked the double portion of future wealth enough to try to extort it from Esau. Because of his lying and deception, it would seem that the verdict on the spiritual aspect would not be so clear at this point. But why would Esau despise the spiritual aspect? Apparently he had never met the Lord. Apparently he was not impressed with what his grandfather had shared with him. Hmmm. . . We know that the covenant included that in his lineage that in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. We know that that seed is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Esau despised that possibility. No wonder the Lord says, “Jacob I loved but Esau I hated.” Esau despised the glory of the Lord. Jacob eventually learned of the glory of the Lord. He experienced it many times when the Lord appeared to him. No, he did not become perfect. But he eventually chose to seek the glory of the Lord. Do I? Will you? Because of my own sin, I am not quick to condemn Esau, but I would say that he despised the glory of the Lord. How do I keep myself from falling into the same trap? Daily, moment by moment, I must come to the cross and realize that He came in my helpless estate. He shed His blood on my behalf. He rose on my behalf. He calls me to be united with Him, to claim my birthright in Him. He calls me to not trade it for a bowl of stew. The only competition I have is my shallow desire for the stews around me. I have to gaze on His glory to see how much He outshines stew. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Esther 1 What do we do with this book in terms of the glory of God? The name of God or direct reference to God is never used in the Book. The Living Bible uses it once in 4:14, and that is because it is a paraphrase and not a translation. Yet, the hand of God is seen all through the book! I guess it proves that God will accomplish His purpose whether or not He directly receives the glory from humans. Ahaseurus is another name for Xerxes. In Ezra 4:5-7 Ahasuerus is mentioned between Cyrus and Artaxerxes. So perhaps, some of the favor that Ezra and Nehemiah received from the kings of Persia may be attributed to the influence of Esther. If you have ever read the story of the 300 Spartans or seen the movie, he is Persian King against whom the Spartans fought. After defeating the Spartans, Xerxes advanced on Athens and took it. However, the Spartans valiant 3-day fight gave the Athenians time to evacuate and regroup elsewhere before Xerxes’ armies reached the city. Xerxes then committed some military blunders resulting in some Greek victories which cut off his supply lines and forced his army to return to Persia. I once read that Herodotus recorded that Xerxes retreated to find comfort in his harem. That may be a reference to the party referenced to the events here in Esther. There is no secular mention of either Esther or Vashti. Certainly this party is probably part of a PR campaign to shore up support at home when his military campaign had gone awry. The wine was flowing freely implying that there was a great deal of debauchery going on. Vashti may not have been the only queen which Xerxes had. This may have led to Xerxes’ greater willingness to show off this wife’s beauty. Some have suggested that he was asking her to appear naked before his guests. That is a possibility; however, I find that a little difficult to believe. Whatever the case, his main intent was to display this wife’s beauty to all his guests. Given the context, it was a request that Vashti obviously found repugnant. She refused to obey. The king is now placed in a very precarious position. In the midst of trying to rebuild his domestic support through throwing this party, one of his own wives is now in public rebellion. His advisors warn him. It is no longer a family matter. It is also a matter of State. As beautiful as she is, Vashti is removed as queen in order to hold up the authority of all husbands in the Persian kingdom and to shore up support for Xerxes. So, what do we see of the glory of God in this passage? God uses even the immorality of men to force events which will accomplish His plan. Within the book of Esther, he uses the king’s own immorality to put someone in his life who will cause him to want to protect the people of God. Outside of the book of Esther, Esther probably had a little influence over the life of Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, the king who gave the command to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So, when the immoral lifestyle of others begins to affect the circumstances of my life, then I can start looking for how God wants to use those circumstances as part of His plan. He has a plan, but I must join Him in it! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Psalm 24 I never cease to wonder at the raw beauty of the earth around me. Even in this sun burned Oklahoma summer where the drought has turned the rolling hills into a light brown death, there is a certain beauty as I view the prairies streaked with fences, dotted with cattle and hopelessly resisting drought and red cedar invasion. The drought reminds me that there is something wrong with planet earth, but the land still cries out for its Creator. I just returned from a quick visit to the east coast. What a contrast! Its moisture releases a verdant carpet across the land. The ocean roars of the beauty of its Creator. But even in its outlandish beauty, there is something that belies that something has gone wrong with the creation. The Creator is somehow missing in some way. Who can enter into His presence? The psalmist informs us of who may enter the Creator’s presence, he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully. Woops, that just eliminated the entire human race. We are imprisoned in a beautiful death capsule. We live in a world that is full of the beauty of the Creator but devoid of His manifest presence. It is almost as if we live in a gated community surrounded by bars designed to keep Him out, and we are slowly dying as only His presence is what make life worth living. Living in a world bursting with His beauty, He is not fully here. It has created a famine for Him. We languish for Him. The gates have sought to keep Him out. It could lead one to despair if one believed that the gates would sustain His assault upon them. But while our sin would seek to bind the gates to keep out the rightful King, He created the gates to declare His presence. Jesus has come to deal a death blow to death. The Creator has come to once again open the gates for the glory of His presence. He has come to declare the eternal beauty of His name. We call and command the gates to open wide and receive their Master. You see, people are the gates. People who have rebelled and died are being transformed from sin ridden vermin to holy, clean saints! It is all done by the Creator God/Man who died and rose again in our place. As we are cleansed by His blood, we can lift up our heads and receive Him as our conquering King! As He comes, He pours new life upon our drought-sucked lives. He rips out the life impaling thorns and thistles in the remaining verdant areas of our lives. He is, after all, the King of Glory. He is coming down to dwell in our midst. Who may ascend? Those with clean hands. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Matthew 15:21-39 Have you ever had an experience at a store where you were not satisfied with the service that you were receiving? Did you ask for someone higher up in authority? I have. Sometimes the one in higher authority can help. Sometimes they cannot or will not. I once subscribed to a long distance phone company that I felt dealt dishonestly with me. We had an exchange student come to live with us. Of course we allowed him to call home to Mexico. Within a few short weeks, we had run up a bill of over $800.00. When I received the first bill, I promptly called the company. I received no satisfactory explanation from the customer service representative. So, I asked for someone in authority over them. Still I received no satisfactory answer. I exhausted their chain of command and was told that I just had to pay the bill. My father-in-law suggested that I contact the FCC. I did. Finally after about six months of waiting, the FCC forced them to refund about $600.00. But I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see that money again. I finally received some compassionate treatment, forced by someone in higher authority. This woman with a cruelly demon-possessed daughter needed some one to deliver her daughter. She, a non-Israelite, knew that Jesus had the power to deliver her daughter. She begged Jesus to deliver her daughter. Jesus remained silent. It was a teaching point. The disciples (those in lesser authority) were frustrated with her insistence on asking for her daughter's deliverance. Finally, the teaching point was made, the woman's faith revealed and Jesus exercised His authority, the girl was delivered. He had compassion upon her. She did not have to appeal to a higher authority. Jesus is that authority and He is compassionate. Again He shows His compassion. He healed the mute, the maimed, the lame and the blind. Having received His compassion, they did what? They glorified the God of Israel. Three days He was with them in the wilderness healing and teaching them. Four thousand men plus women and children were there. By this time the food supplies, which had been brought with them, had dwindled to nothing. He told the disciples, "I have compassion on the multitude. . . I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." Because of His compassion, He multiplied seven loaves and a few little fish to feed them all. Now that's glory! Do you ever wonder if He will have compassion on you? He will. If you don't wonder, others do. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John * *