February 25

EXODUS 8
Do you enjoy frog legs? A couple of blocks from my parent’s house, there used to be an Oklahoma-shaped retention pond next to a bunch of OSU apartments. Somehow the retention pond became infested with bullfrogs. It was interesting to take the kids there and let them look at the frogs kicking around in the pond. A friend of mine, who is chronically homeless, went there one day and fished a few of them out with a fishing pole. He loved frog legs. He had a good meal that night. He indicated that he had to be careful about fishing there; OSU security did not like it. Personally I would be more concerned about eating something that lived its entire life in a retention pond. I am not so sure what automotive or landscaping chemicals I might be ingesting from what washed in the pond.
Do you suppose the Egyptians liked frog legs. Well, they certainly received their fill of them! Remember yesterday we talked about how the LORD, will slay our gods in order to increase the glory of His name? Here are three examples of the LORD‘s god-slaying passion. The Egyptians had a frog-god called Heqt or Heket. If he were real, he would be responsible for controlling the frog population for the Egyptians. So, the LORD demonstrates His power over Heket. Isn’t it funny that the court magicians could only add to the number of frogs rather than to reverse what the LORD had done to afflict Heket? Pharaoh promised anything for relief. Now, he is beginning to recognize, to experience, the LORD. So also, are the Egyptians and the Israelites.
Pharaoh hardened his own heart after gaining some relief from the frogs. When he reneged on his promise, the LORD slew the god of the dust, the earth-god, Geb. Some sort of insect, lice, mosquitoes, sand fleas or gnats, rose up out of the ground to terrorize the people. It was at this point that the magicians could neither add to nor relieve the problem. They recognized that this was the ‘finger of God’, the real God, not the convenient thing upon which they daily relied.
You know with all these heaps of dead rotting frogs lying around, one would expect the number of flies to increase. The plague here is swarms. Most translations put in italics after swarms “of flies”. Literally it is a “mixture of noisome beasts.” I think it was their sacred beetle, the scarab. Many scarabs made of gold have been found in the tombs. These were sacred to the sun-god Ra. Do you think the LORD was having fun slaying the false gods? The LORD is making it clear to everyone what He is doing by keeping the plague away from Israel. Pharaoh is beginning to soften. He found the Israelite worship offensive. Maybe he could let Israel go a little ways across the border. But the LORD would accept nothing but the slaying of the gods who vied against Him for the worship of man.
The LORD will accept nothing in our own lives but worship of Himself alone. Indeed, if He is God Almighty, nothing else should be there. Part of our experience of His glory is the slaying of other gods. If we don’t slay the other gods, He will. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 56
David writes two Psalms out of this one experience (see Psalm 34). Obviously it made quite an impact upon him. David had been delivered from the paw of the Lion and the bear. He had defeated the Philistine champion of Gath, Goliath. But to be pursued by one whom you had loyally supported is indeed unsettling. It was so unsettling that David ran to his former enemies for help. What happened to trusting in the Lord? Even the best of us have our moments when we seek fleshly help rather than rely upon the Lord. It didn’t take David long to realize that he had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. But it did re-teach him a lesson. He was forced to re-learn that only God can be trusted.
Now that is one of the essential things about our Lord. He can and must be trusted. Though man can torture me, though he can ridicule me, though he can torture my family, though he can kill me, God can and will keep all that I have committed to Him. He will restore it when He returns. So, I can say with David, “What can man do to me?” Nothing can happen to that which I have committed to Him. I can and will trust Him. He is worth my trust. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOB 25-26
Bildad uses the glory of God to urge Job to repent. He states a few obvious things about God’s glory hoping they will motivate Job to admit his sin and cause him to turn from it. The problem is that in this context, Job’s adverse circumstances are not the judgment as a result of a specific sin that Job has done. How can you change your mind about sin that you have not committed? God does not require a false repentance of us. He does not ask us to sign some blanket confession statement that absolves us of all sin. That is not repentance.
True repentance can only come as a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. He said, “of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” Had Job not been trusting in God? Was he therefore, experiencing the judgment of God? Not in this instance. What would be the standard of righteousness, by which he would be called to change his mind? When Jesus was on the earth, the standard of righteousness was visible. It was embodied in His own life. We could have simply called upon Him when there was any question. But He does not dwell upon the earth in physical form. How can we know what righteousness is? Only the Spirit of God can bring conviction as His word is spoken or read through us. That is why faith comes by hearing of the word. Then when the Spirit brings conviction of sin and righteousness, judgment becomes obvious to the sinner under conviction. If then the sinner will change his mind concerning sin, then he can receive the fullness of God’s forgiveness. He can choose to embrace Jesus fully for the forgiveness of sins and the enablement to live in righteousness.
While Job did not have this complete New Testament understanding of repentance and faith, He did trust God for the forgiveness of his sin and the power to live a godly life. He was not suffering because of specific sin that he had committed. He was suffering because he was born in and participated in a fallen world. As the most righteous man on the face of this world, he was participating in a cosmic struggle to see if the glory of God was worth suffering for. Satan had challenged God on the value of God’s glory to Job. And how does Job respond:
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?
We cannot completely understand His power, but we can change our minds about our sin and choose to obey Him. It then becomes His power to change our sinful lives. Do I understand that? Not completely. But what I do understand of Him, I will cling to Him and let His power flow through me. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MARK 5:1-21
When I lived in Norman, my back yard bordered a graveyard. Was it significant that when we first moved in, the previous resident had hung garlic in the rafters of the garage, which was the closest building to the graveyard? I guess I’ll never know, but I will always wonder. I took the garlic down. Sometimes people have a preoccupation with death, particularly when the powers of darkness hold sway over their lives.
The area Mark calls the country of the Gadarenes or Gerasenes is on the far eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. “No towns or villages exist along the lake’s narrow eastern shore because cliffs several thousand feet high rise up from near the water’s edge. The steep cliffs are less pronounced the farther south one proceeds toward Gadara, situated on the heights several thousand feet above the Jordan Valley” [1] The cliffs are riddled with caves which made them very useful for tombs, especially since the rough terrain made it difficult to live there. It was a Gentile area, hence the heard of swine.
As the Lord embarks from the lake and up the steep terrain to find the nearest town, He and the disciples are met by the demoniac coming out of the tombs. This man was more than the village idiot. He was strong enough to break iron bonds. He was preoccupied with death, living in the tombs. He would cut himself with stones. (It is interesting that as our culture increases its flight away from Christianity that the number of young people who are into cutting is rising.) He was tormented constantly by the unclean spirits. He came out to meet Jesus. The demons recognized Jesus and knew who He was. They knew His power. They knew His glory. They begged to remain in the region. But Jesus had come to set men free. He had come to set this one man free. He came to serve this one man. The King of Glory came for this one man. He released the man.
The multitude of demons rushed into a herd of swine (unclean animals according to Old Testament Law). The pigs would rather be dead than inhabited by demons. (It is interesting that humans would rather be inhabited by demons.) They rushed off the cliffs and perished in the sea. Now two thousand pigs in today’s economy could easily be worth $250,000.00. This was a significant loss of income for the local people. Hearing of their loss, they came out to see what happened. They found the man clothed, in his right mind and talking with Jesus. The witnesses informed the residents of what they saw. The residents pleaded with Jesus to leave. Why? Their initial concern was more related to their income than the fact that the village embarrassment had been set free. Their income was more important than the Glory. If He stayed around, they might lose more pigs. Alas it appeared that Jesus and the 12 had come all this way for just the one man. But that is part of the glory of Jesus. He will sometimes move heaven and earth to set free just one person, who cries out to Him in truth.
But the story doesn’t end here. The former demoniac wants to come with Jesus. Who can blame him? But Jesus would not permit it. He made him stay and tell the others what the Lord had done for him. In Mark 7:31-37 Jesus returns to the area. This time he has an astonishing ministry among the residents. I believe this former demoniac prepared the way.
Today as the use of drugs has risen and interest in eastern religions has risen, so also segments of our culture have seen a corresponding rise in preoccupation with death and cutting oneself. Listening to Dawson McAlister Live, I have come to realize that there are a number of young people out there that are bound in cutting themselves.
There is One whose glory will set them free, if they could but see it. Jesus does it with a word. He breaks the bonds of those imprisoned in the strongest chains and sets them free. How we need to speak His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John