April 7

LEVITICUS 10
The lure of the train whistle was just too much for us 2nd & 3rd graders. Four of us partners in crime began to leave school grounds; we all decided that it would be great to head down to the railroad tracks and watch the train go by. The highway overpass over the tracks was only 3 or 4 blocks from the school. We arrived just in time to slide down the embankment to see the train go by. Just as it arrived, we looked up to see our teacher’s car pulling off the highway on to the shoulder above. She was livid. “You boys have disobeyed the rule that you must go straight home from school!” Loading us all up in her car, she took us back to the classroom and began to administer the ‘board of education’. I think she had determined beforehand that she would spank us until we cried. She began with the youngest first. He was wailing before she even picked up the board. He received one swat. She saved me for last. To this day I am not sure why. But I was convinced that this was unjust. I didn’t know anything about going straight home. I was not going to cry! Not a wise decision. The board of education met me 13 times before she gave up. I was still convinced the penalty was unjust.
Kids usually never understand rules that are created for their benefit. When she happened to see us heading toward the railroad tracks instead of home, she probably had many images of news articles about boys who were killed or severely disabled because they were playing on the tracks. The penalty she administered had nothing to do with justice; it had everything to do with discipline to teach us to play safely. To this day she remains my favorite teacher. Why? Because I knew she loved us. As an adult, I see that love even more clearly now. Boy, she was strict, but it was strictness born out of love.
Boy, does God seem strict here. He struck Nadab an Abihu dead for offering ‘profane’ fire. Why is He so upset? Get the context. On the previous day, the glory of God had descended upon the tabernacle creating a wonderful experience for the people of Israel. I am convinced that they wanted to experience it again. What is ‘profane’ fire? God had given a specific recipe for incense for the priests to use only in the daily worship. No other recipe could be used. They used a different recipe for incense. Why? They probably thought that they could spice it up a little. They probably thought they had something to add. They probably had seen and smelled this particular incense used in worship in Egypt, and thought it was great. Essentially by offering profane fire, they were saying that they had something to improve the worship of the Most Holy God.
That is a very dangerous playground. You can go there and not get hurt, but it is unlikely. God’s penalty is a penalty born out of love. We need to learn how treat Him as Holy. It is imperative that we learn to treat Him as holy. But death? Well, He is also the author of life. He is able to resurrect them at any time. He probably will resurrect them. Death has no ultimate victory or sting. We needed to learn the lesson from their death about the priority of treating God as holy. I like J. Vernon McGee’s comments on this:
If God struck today as He struck Nadab and Abihu, I think half the church members would be dead. The liberals would be struck for denying the deity of Christ and the forgiveness of His sacrifice for us. Many fundamental church members would be struck down like Ananias and Sapphira for their hypocrisy, their lying to the Holy Spirit. God is dealing in mercy today, giving time for repentance and for men to come to the knowledge of the truth. Otherwise many people would be struck dead.
There is a wonderful lesson for you and for me. When we come to God, we must come on His terms. This is not an arrangement which we can make. We are not making the rules. God is the One who saves and He is the One who says how we shall be saved. Jesus Christ says that no man comes to the Father but by Him.
It is right that my grade school teacher disciplined me so that I might learn to obey rules that were established for my safety. It is to the glory of God that He disciplined Nadab and Abihu that we might learn to respect a holy God! It is part of His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 97
“Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” Why clouds and darkness? Listen to what these other verses say of Him:

Exodus 19:9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
Deuteronomy 4:11 “Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
1 Kings 8:12 Then Solomon spoke: “The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
Psalm 18:11 He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Consider what we read a few weeks ago in Exodus 33:20, “But He said, ‘You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.’” One of the ways that we define God is that He is eternal. Eternality is more than just time. Another word for it might be infinitude. God is infinite in all that He is. So, every attribute that He has is infinite. His love, His hate, His justice, His mercy, His holiness, His compassion, His wrath, His power, His ability to restrain His power, they are all infinite. Obviously we are not infinite; we are finite. How can I, as a finite being, ever fully experience the infinitude of each or any of His attributes? Logically, I cannot! First, the metaphor of darkness must refer to the fact that I can never comprehend, understand or fully know the Infinite One. Second, the metaphor of darkness must refer to the fact that if I, a finite being who has transgressed His law, were to enter into the presence of His infinite justice, I surely would immediately be judged and rendered to nothing. Third, the metaphor of darkness must refer to the fact that if I, a being of finite power, were to step fully into the presence of infinite power, I would immediately be disintegrated (v.5). It would be like me stepping into the middle of a nuclear reaction. Unless He restrained Himself, I would immediately be undone. We could apply this to every attribute. It is no wonder that Isaiah in His midst called out, “So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” He covers Himself in darkness for our protection!
Consider that out of that darkness comes lightnings to light the world (v.4) and light is sown for the righteous (v.11). Consider Psalm 104:1–2 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. How can He surround Himself with darkness and cover Himself with light at the same time? What does the combination of these two metaphors teach us? The darkness is the protection He wraps around Himself so that we may be protected from what He is like. Out of the darkness comes light so that we may understand a little bit about our reality and some of His attributes. When He sends that light, we can see His glory (v.6). Even though we are still in sin, we can see some of His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

ISAIAH 4
Many people have trouble with Isaiah because he moves so fluidly between judgment and restoration. In my mind that is what really establishes the unity of the book of Isaiah. It is his style. It is the way the Lord communicated using Isaiah’s personality. He constantly presented judgment for the cleansing of sin followed by the comfort given to a cleansed and restored people. Verse one of chapter four really belongs with the judgment of the previous passage. But as the Lord burns away the sin of the nation in judgment, He brings back the beauty of the nation in restoration. The Branch of verse two speaks of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some interpret it as the fruitfulness of the land under the Messiah. Others interpret it as fruitfulness of the nation under the Messiah. Others, like myself, view the Branch as the Messiah. This term seems to also be applied to Messiah in Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; and Zechariah 3:8; 6:12.
This Messiah, our Jesus, shall come upon the heels of judgment. When He cleanses His people, He sets up a canopy, a tabernacle, a place for dwelling in fellowship with His people. That is the beauty of our Jesus. He loves us too fiercely to permit us to live in sin. He orients everything so that we will be holy, even as He is holy. When we are clean as He is clean, then He opens to us the pleasures of fellowship with Him. Do you want to see Him in His beauty? It will require some burning. He is a consuming fire and burns away those things that are displeasing to Him, but the result is the sweet privilege of communion with Him. Communion with Him is the sweet fruit of the earth. It is excellent and appealing. It is what our hearts long for. It is that for which we were created. Oh Lord, burn the chaff out of my life so that I may continually walk in the glory of Your presence! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

LUKE 9:18-36
We were quite a distance away, and the deer were standing stone still. From our car they looked like statues. We were on the grounds of Woolaroc Museum, the former estate of Frank Philips, founder of Philips 66. Others insisted that they were statues. I insisted they were alive. "How do you know they are alive?" they asked.
"The deer flick their tails every once in a while," was my reply.
"We are too far away to see its tail flick," they insisted.
"It is flicking its tail. There it just did it again," I said. I really could see it flicking its tail when no one else could see it.
"No, they are just statues. Let's drive on." As we started to drive away, the deer decided it was time to move on and they walked off.
Of course, "I told you so," slipped out of my mouth.
The glory of God is so immense that when we get far enough away to be able to see the whole, we cannot see the detail. In the awesome splendor of the whole, He looks like a statue. In today's passage we get a glimpse at the whole. Peter rightly has seen the revelation from heaven that Jesus is the Christ of God. Jesus immediately begins warning about the crucifixion and our responsibility to join Him on the cross. Then He gives the promise of seeing Him in His glory. Peter, James and John accompany Him to the mountain where He is transfigured before their eyes into the glory that He will have in the kingdom. What an awesome sight that must have been! We all long to see such a sight. Then the voice of the Father boomed out of Heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!"
What we often miss when we view the glory of Jesus is that this is a living breathing process. It is not a statue captured in time at a museum for us to behold. Part of the glory is that we are called to share in His glory. Imagine that! We are called to share in His glory! But it is a living breathing process. As the glory of Jesus is unwrapped, if we look closely at the detail we see the flickering of His suffering as He marched toward the cross. Without a cross there is no glory for us. He had to go to the cross in order to redeem us. It was a living breathing process that was full of fun, enjoyment, pain and suffering but in the end, glory. If we are to share in His glory, then we will take up the same cross. It is a living breathing process that is full of fun, enjoyment, pain and suffering but in the end, glory. The suffering proves that we are alive and not statues on God's lawn. The suffering is a flicking of a tail. Are we willing to lay down our rights for others to follow Him on the cross. That is a hard question. He was willing. He did it for us. It is hard to see from a distance. But He did it. So also, can we. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John