Up to this point Pharaoh has hardened his own heart at times. But now the LORD is going to harden it for him in order to produce acts that will reveal to people for all times that He is LORD. The LORD has three more gods to slay. Three more judgment events were coming in order to display that He is truly the only God. The Egyptians trusted in the goddess Isis to protect them from Locusts. Every 17 years there is a locust plague in the area anyway. It was to Isis that they cried out for protection. The locusts came anyway. In this instance it was more severe than they had ever known. They ate all green vegetation. And when Pharaoh asked for relief, God sent a strong wind that blew them all into the Red Sea.
Once again after the relief came the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh. This time the LORD slew the Egyptian sun gods. They had a number of sun gods which they worshipped. Among them were Re, Khepri, Harakhte, Attum, etc. This definitely displayed the greatness of the Lord over their gods. The darkness was so strong that they could feel it. But again the LORD made a distinction. In the houses of the children of Israel, there was light.
Have we experienced the LORD yet? Is His glory increasing? What god is He slaying in my life? What gods is He slaying in the lives of those around me? Is my heart soft enough so that I will recognize His glory? Is yours? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 58
“He is very charming.” What does that mean? It runs in two veins. It is pleasing, pleasant, or it means to have a magical power over something. David refers to his enemies as deaf cobras which do not respond to the charmer. In this context God is the charmer. Snake charming has been a long tradition in the east, middle east and Africa. While in practice it looks like the charmer exhibits some magical power over the snake, in actuality it is all a matter of appearances. But the point of the Psalm is that God seeks to charm us. He desires us to be pleased with Him. In the arms of Jesus there are ten thousand charms. But David’s enemies are not in the least pleased by the Almighty. They are like deaf cobras, He holds no pleasing power over them. Because they do not respond to the pleasing power of our Lord, David invokes the justice of our God over his enemies.
As I think about the charms of our Lord, what are they? He is the Almighty. He is full of loving kindness. He is beautiful. He is patient. He is kind. He is joy. He is peace. He is creative. Should not these charms (pleasant attributes) draw me to Him? Should they not be enough to motivate me to obedience? If I really believed that He is all these things and that He wants me to share with Him in these charms, then shouldn’t that be an overwhelming motivation to seek Him? It should be, but there is something flawed in each of us, so that we do not seek Him. The result is that we need also to learn of His justice. He will bring those who are not repentant to judgment. When our enemies refuse to repent, He will judge. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
JOB 28
Today I am in Cambodia. Cambodia is a good place to purchase precious stones. The central market is just a few blocks from here. I can walk there in 5-10 minutes. There are many precious stone dealers in the central market. They are a good value here. I am not sure why. I am not one who buys and sells in precious stones. But my son likes to make jewelry, so he asked me to purchase a few for him while I am here. It will be costly, but in the long run it will be profitable.
You know, I played in the dirt a lot growing up in Oklahoma, but I never found a precious stone in the dirt. To find precious stones, one must dig in special hard-to-reach places. It is costly, but if one finds them it pays great reward. Finding wisdom is like that. It can be very costly and difficult, but if one finds it, it pays great reward. Job says the fear of the Lord is wisdom. Hmmm. . . I wonder what it cost Job to find the fear of the Lord? I think it cost him his wealth, his children, his health, his wife, his friends and finally, even his own self-worth. Was it worth it? If we fast forward to the end of the book to 42:5,6 we hear Job’s response when God reveals Himself, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.” It was costly, but I believe this statement reveals that when Job experienced the glory of the Lord, he was more than compensated for his loss.
You and I play a lot in the dirt of this world. Like children making treasure of mud. There are real treasures to be found in the fear of the Lord. But you cannot find that treasure in the dirt of the world. It will be costly to look for it. Like Job, it will cost you everything, your wealth, your health, your sons and daughters, your spouse, your friends and even your own self-worth, but oh, in the long run it is infinitely more profitable! You will be exponentially rewarded for your loss in the wealth of His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
MARCH 6:1-29
Our football team in high school had signals that the quarterback could call from the line in order to change the play at the last moment, if he deemed it necessary. Usually the signal was a designated color. So he always called a color from the line as the beginning of the count for the snap. One day he was in jocular mood while in practice. Rather than giving the drab colors such as green or red or blue, he walked to the line and called, ”Chartreuse!” Now, chartreuse may be in the interior decorator’s common vocabulary but it is unexpected as a signal on the football line. It was great comic relief. The team seemed to fall apart with laughter. He had given quite a mixed signal.
Sometimes the glory is filled with mixed signals. His hometown was having a hard time believing that this local boy was really who He claimed to be. After all, He had been around for about 30 years and had never done any of these miracles before. After all, He had brothers and sisters. Yet in spite of the clear miracles done elsewhere and a few sick that He had healed in Nazareth, they refused to believe.
At this point, Jesus sends out the twelve. He empowers them to do the miracles that He had been doing and they do it! Suddenly the glory is multiplied! Where before only Jesus was doing the miracles, now there are 6 pairs of disciples going around healing and preaching. People are being set free all over the Galilean countryside! The Kingdom seems to be growing!
Then John the Baptist is jailed. Not only is he jailed, he is beheaded. Where is the glory? I recall the words of John, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Well, it has happened. You can’t decrease much more than having your head lifted off of your shoulders. But how has He increased? Well there are now 6 pairs of disciples preaching the kingdom! And they are successful!
Sometimes in our lives we get mixed signals concerning the glory. How can the King of Glory allow this to continue? Hang in there! His glory is expanding even in the midst of the mixed signal. Perhaps someday in heaven we will review it and fall apart in laughter as we see the comic relief. Or perhaps we will cry recalling the pain of our fallen brother or sister. But inevitably we will see the glory in a greater way. It may be a mixed signal now, but it won’t be then. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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