What’s in a name? In the Biblical context the name is very important. The name speaks of the attributes of a person. Most Europeans don’t put a whole lot of thought into the meaning of names. I have noticed that Native Americans give, what is from a European perspective, unusual names. I observed in Monday’s News Press that a Native American artist would be lecturing at OSU. His name is Edgar Heap of Birds. Right across the page from that announcement was an obituary of a man about my age. He was given the Native American name Ski-Chne Lugela meaning Little Plays Lightning. Now, I obviously do not understand how the meaning of names plays into the naming of Native American peoples, but I can only surmise that the meaning is significant in some way. ‘Lighting’, was he quick? Was he bright? Was he playful? Then I think about my name, John. I looked it up in Strong’s Guide to Bible Words. The name can be traced back into the Hebrew, and it means Jehovah favored. Now, I’d like to think that I am favored by Jehovah; however, my mother told me that I was named after her father, John Miller.
My daughter Elizabeth asked me what her name meant. The only Elizabeth in the Bible is in the New Testament. She was John the Baptist’s mother, and she was the wife of Zachariah. Being a good Jewish woman, Elisabeth is probably a Greek corruption of the name Elisheba, which means God of the Oath. Zachariah means God Remembers. Put them together and you get God remembers His oath. What an excellent name for the parents of the forerunner of Jesus, the Messiah. God was remembering His oath to Abraham that One of His seed would bless the whole world. I can say to my daughter that she is to be an example to the world of how God keeps his oath.
But, here we are in Genesis with Jacob/Israel. If you remember from 32:28 when Jacob wrestled with God who appeared in the form of a man, the man changed Jacob’s name. Once again God meets with Jacob/Israel at Bethel, where Jacob began this 20+ year journey. Jacob has learned a little about waiting upon the Lord to receive His blessing rather than forcing it to happen. The Lord very strikingly reminds Jacob of His name change. He is no longer Jacob, which means ‘heal catcher.’ By extension it means a supplanter, one who trips others to take advantage of them. That name spoke volumes of Jacob’s life until he wrestled with God. Now God gives him the name, Israel, or he will rule as God. Hmm. . . God gave him the authority of His name.
You know, the Bible speaks a lot about how the Lord exalts His own name and how He expects us to honor His name. Yet, it also speaks of how believers can become children of God. We receive His name. I received my maternal grandfather’s first name and my father’s surname. But those names don’t even compare with the new name that my heavenly Father has given me; it is His name. It is given to me that I might honor Him. At one and the same time it is an awesome privilege and an awesome responsibility. If you know Jesus, He has done the same for you. What glory He permits us to share in. Oh that I might not sully His name! Oh that I might only add to the glory of His name! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 34
Have you ever done something really stupid and then in the middle of it realized, “Oh my, what have I done?” Our 4¾ years in Portland during seminary were very lean years financially. The first six months that we were there, the only furniture that we had was our mattress, our baby’s crib, a desk, a big ugly black box and a really ugly worn out sofa—better than nothing. After a while, I scraped together enough cash to buy a sheet of chip board and some 2x4s. I made a table and a bench out of it. From time to time over the years somebody would give us a piece of their worn out furniture, and we gained what we needed, although most of it was rather seedy looking. By the end of those years I was making a livable wage working part time at UPS and delivering the Wall Street Journal after I was done at UPS. The running joke for Laura and me was, “Someday when we have the money . . . “
I took my first pastorate in Oklahoma along with a pay cut in comparison to what I was making part time at UPS in Oregon. But the prospects were good and I presumed that things would pick up. Needless to say much of the furniture was not worth the cost of moving to Oklahoma. We joined a purchasing club when we moved. The things that the club listed were much less expensive than if purchased at Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club. Then after a couple of months we realized, that was really stupid. We weren’t making enough to buy anything. We paid the membership fee but were never able to take advantage of the membership. After a year, we had purchased nothing. We let the membership lapse. That was a waste of money. Maybe if I had listened to the Lord first, I could have saved the membership fee and used it for something else. The joke continued, “Someday when we have the money. . ."
Saul had attempted to murder David twice. David had been a faithful servant for years, and Saul was repaying him by trying to kill him. David probably reasoned, “Since I am now Saul’s enemy, maybe I can go to his enemies and they will protect me.” He jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. In the middle of it he realized, “Abimelech wants to kill me just as much as Saul wants to kill me.” Wow! Did David stop to consult the Lord about the wisdom of running off to Abimelech before doing it? I doubt it. But did God abandon him for it? No, He did not abandon David. In the midst of his stupidity, David realized what he had done, and he called out to the Lord.
6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.The Lord taught David firsthand what deliverance was all about.
In further response to this situation David says, “8Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! 9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.” Want, by the way, has the meaning of lack in relation to necessities, not desires beyond necessities. For the next 5-10 years David lived a life of deprivation in relation to desires for comfort, but he never lacked for necessities. He was a young lion and he never went hungry. He knew that his afflictions would be many, but he also trusted that the Lord would deliver him out of it. I have learned that, and I continue to learn it over again. There are many afflictions that will come my way, but the Lord will deliver me out of all of them. The only question is, “Will I consult Him first and obey his answer, or will I follow what I think best first?” I hope I will consult Him and obey. Otherwise, I will continue to do stupid things and compound the problems of my life. But either way, He shows His glory in the way He delivers me. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
JOB 2
This all-loving all-powerful God permits Satan to take his best shot at God’s most loyal subject. That is love? Why? I think it is for the benefit of all creation. How would we know if loving God is worth it unless we are put in the worst of circumstances in order to experience God in the midst of the worst circumstances? When Job’s closest friend sums up the situation and advises him to “curse God and die,” how will he respond? Will he find that the experience of God is worth the adversity? That is indeed the theme of the book. What is Job’s response? “Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?” We are about to find out if it is worth the adversity. The next 40 chapters records the adversity and Job’s struggle with the pain of his detractors and the pain of feeling misused by God. Job is indeed angry with God at times, but in the end when he comes face-to-face with the Almighty, he repents. Hmm. . . I have never suffered to the extent Job suffered. But I have found that in my worst times of feeling abused, that is when the presence of God was the strongest. I don’t want those times of being abused, but I will take them for that increased sense of God’s presence. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
MATTHEW 22:1-22
Weddings are one of the few places where we celebrate in our lives. My wedding was held in my in-law's back yard. We borrowed folding chairs from the funeral home, made fabric flowers, hired a flutist. My father-in-law built a shed in his back yard that was almost the size of a small garage. We put the wedding cake and food table in there. We had a lot of fun. Even though it was outside, everyone still dressed up in their wedding garments.
I can't imagine any of our friends or family having made light of the occasion and ignored it. Yes, I had a lot of family that lived over 1,200 miles away and just could not be there. But they would have been there had it been closer. As it was, I had my parents and two brothers who greatly sacrificed to come because they wanted to be there. Neither can I imagine, given the festive nature, that any of them would have shown up in clothes that would have demonstrated that they did not want to celebrate with me in one of the happiest days of my life. And it was indeed one of the happiest days in my life. Only one exceeds it--the day I met Jesus. Five others rival it--the birth of my children. Nothing else compares, not even graduation from Seminary.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like. . . Jesus uses that several times to compare unseen things with what we know and experience. In this parable God the Father is the King. He is the sovereign. His Son is the Prince, Jesus, heir to the throne. We know from other places in Scripture that the bride is all those who are born again to a living hope, the church, the redeemed. He is molding and making us into something really beautiful such that when He presents us to Himself, the Lord Jesus, as a man, can say, "This is the happiest day of my Life!"
There were those in Jesus' midst who rejected Him as the Prince, the Son of the Great King. They made light of His wedding. Even today there are those in our midst who make light of Him and His wedding. They refuse to either come or prepare themselves for the celebration. They are invited to join in. But they won't. They even join in to try to trap Jesus, thinking that He is not the sovereign One--"Is it lawful to pay taxes?" The Sovereign One answers, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
Our Sovereign One is calling us to Himself. One day we will stand before Him as He presents us all to Himself as His spotless bride. It will be for Him, as a man, the happiest day of His life. There is no question that for us, it will be the happiest day of our lives also. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
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