In early June of 2010 I was taking a friend to a court appearance in OKC. We left in the middle of a rain storm that was to set a record for greatest amount of rainfall in a 24 hour period in OKC. Some areas of OKC received up to 12 inches in one morning. The highways were an embroiled mess with all the backups caused by flooded side streets. Thinking we would be late for court, we searched alternative routes to get to the state court room. I took an exit off of the interstate for Grand Avenue only to come over a hill and look down the slope to see a river of water flowing over the street. Out in the middle of the water was the top of car. The rest of the car was underwater. We turned around and found a different direction. We eventually made it to court-late. Judges do not put up with tardiness. We were relieved to find out that it did not matter. The judge had the same problem we had. We actually arrived before he did. It is amazing what a sudden rainstorm can do to bring traffic to a standstill.
In today’s passage we read Deborah’s poetic song concerning God’s deliverance of them in battle. It is here that we learn of the dire straits that people of Israel were in. Apparently Shamgar and Jael were contemporaries. At any rate they had one thing in common. During their times, the Canaanite kings had oppressed the non-Canaanites so much that open trade on the highways was depressed. Probably to travel could well mean the loss of ones goods as the Canaanites had the power to take what they wanted. With their iron chariots they ruled the flat lands through which the highways led. Even Israel’s relatives, the Kenites, descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, had made peace with the Canaanites. Villages in the valley had dried up. It was no longer safe to live there.
But God delivered. He made the rains come during the time of the battle. It came in such volume in both the plain and the mountains that it seemed the mountains were gushing forth water. The water immobilized the chariots of Sisera. Suddenly, the odds changed. Without the chariots, the Canaanites had no technological advantage, and the Israelites had the emotional/motivational advantage, and the leaders served willingly. Deborah sees these advantages as from the hand of the Lord in keeping with her prophecy to Barak that the Lord would deliver. Where once the horses of the chariots trampled the soldiers and people of Israel, now the Kishon River pounded and overflowed the armies of Sisera. Perhaps iron chariots were left stranded in midstream of the flash flood. Like the hooves of a horse, the river pounded the Canaanite soldiers into submission. It remained for the Israelite soldiers to only mop up, (pardon the pun). And mop up they did, not a single Canaanite soldier remained. But their leader escaped on foot. He fled to the home of the Kenites, with whom he thought he had peace. Why didn’t Heber dispatch Sisera? Why didn’t Heber receive Sisera? We are not really told, but it was his wife, Jael, who brought an end to the conflict. Like a pin to a pincushion, she nailed his head to the ground. She received the glory for the final blow to the enemy, just as Deborah had prophesied.
So, she sings, “Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But let those who love Him be like the sun when it comes out in full strength.” There is the glory of the Lord seen! It is seen when His people will hide themselves in His provision. Barak was the son of Abinoam. Abinoam means, “my father is delight.” He will use the destroying flash flood to cause His people to bask in the delight of His sunshine. That is the glory of our God! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 21
John Piper said it best years ago, “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.” That thought rings through this Psalm. Do I come to God because He gives me good things? Well, to be honest yes. I like the good things He gives me. But is that the only reason I come to Him? That is what the book of Job is all about. It is a test to see if Job would still come to God if he were stripped of everything good thing that God could give him. Job grudgingly passes the test. He declares, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” What is it about God that we could do that? The Psalmist puts it this way, “You have made him (the king) exceedingly glad with Your presence.” If God allowed Satan to take away my house, my money, my animals, my children, my grandchildren, my health and even my wife, would I still be content with just His presence?
The few times that I have had a strong sense of the manifest presence of God have led me to trust that, “Yes His presence alone is enough.” Interestingly enough, the two times that I have felt the manifest presence of God the strongest were both times when I was under attack. They were times when the world would say, “You are not receiving the goodness of God.” Yet, I would not trade the reversal of the sense of His presence for a reversal of those adverse circumstances. He is good especially in adverse circumstance. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
JEREMIAH 47
Gaza is under attack right now. Hamas had been lobbing a lot of missiles into Israel. Each time that Hamas lobbed a missile, Israel retaliated with an air strike. Finally, Israel has had enough. She is pounding the snot out of Gaza. Maybe this is one of those things that leads to the escalation of the final conflict, or it is just another round of Gaza getting the snot knocked out of her. It is interesting that as this is going on, Biblical Archeological Review has an article this month on how the dig at Ashkelon is going. Ashkelon has also been destroyed and rebuilt so many times. It is a long ancient history of destruction and rebuilding. Lest I be misunderstood, today’s destruction is not necessarily related to the prophecy of Jeremiah 47. The prophecy has been fulfilled. It is past. It continues in ruins for us to observe and learn from its destruction.
The Philistine city areas of Gaza and Ashkelon were ancient enemies of Israel. Jeremiah pronounces their just judgment for their history of defying the Lord. An eight-hundred-year history of opposition is now finally avenged. Indeed, the Lord is longsuffering. “O you, sword of the Lord, how long until you are quiet? , , , How can it be quiet seeing the Lord has given it a charge?” Clearly this passage proclaims the justice and faithfulness of the Lord. Clearly, Lord, You are longsuffering! But do not let me presume upon Your longsuffering such that I should, by my own imaginations, think that I will escape your judgments. You are faithful! I can only escape your judgments as I die with your Son upon the cross and am raised to walk in newness of life with Him! Keep me from self deception so that I may sow the crucified life and reap the life of the Spirit! O Longsuffering One, how I need Your Spirit! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
ACTS 23:16-35
Life is full of the mundane and occasionally intrigues. Certainly Paul's life was. Do you ever stop to think that the Lord sometimes controls even the intrigue going on around us? The Council leaders had plotted to kill Paul. They had already done it with Jesus, James the brother of John, and had tried it with Peter, but the Lord foiled it. Now, they are trying it with Paul. But as we saw yesterday, the Lord was not done with Paul yet. He still had an appointment to keep with Caesar. How was Paul going to get from a Jerusalem prison to Rome? And once in Rome, how would he ever get an audience with Caesar? This intrigue sets in motion a series of events the gets Paul a free boat ride to Caesar. God uses Paul's nephew to unveil the plot. Paul's sister did not come--probably because it would have been too obvious. Perhaps she did not even know about the plot. The Scripture says the commander took the boy by the hand and went aside. That tells me he was fairly young, probably not teen-aged years yet--at least, I wouldn't take a teen-aged boy by the hand. But the boy comes by himself and gives a fairly eloquent report. The Scripture calls him a young man. He must have had his bar mitzvah already. He was probably around 12. Was Paul's sister's son a believer? Or was he just looking after his family? Since Paul had been quite influential before he met Jesus, it is quite likely that his sister was married to someone of an influential rank. Perhaps her husband sat on the council, or at least still had friends or acquaintances who sat on the council. Whatever the case may be, the Lord used his enemies to get Paul a ticket to see Caesar. Not first class accommodations but, they will do. This is kind of mundane. Yet, our Lord works in it. If we look, He is working in the mundane around us. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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