What if my wife said to me, “John, you are so harsh. I wanted to spend some time with other men, and that upset you. What is so wrong with me having dinner with another man, or even having a sleep over with him. Some of the men I meet are so protective. I feel much more secure around them than I do with you. There isn’t anything wrong with me enjoying their riches and their company.” If my wife said that and meant it, I do not think there would be very good odds that our relationship would last long.
Some would say that the God of the Old Testament is harsh. Certainly there are some pretty harsh consequences here. Can you imagine if today we stoned anyone who worshipped other gods? We would be killing a lot of people. What would happen if we followed the other guidelines revealed in this chapter?
Why couldn’t a king multiply horses? Horses were strategic weapons of war. A horse and chariot were the tanks of their day. To multiply horses was tantamount to raising a mighty army. If the king multiplied horses, he would be tempted to put his trust in the army rather than the Lord. What would happen if we applied that concept to our republic? One of the driving forces of our economy is the trust we have placed in our military industrial complex. I still sometimes wonder about our entrance into the Iraq war. Was it really about weapons of mass destruction, or was it to protect western oil interests? If it were not for the far superior military technology of our military, would we still have entered into the war? In whom or what were we trusting when we entered the war? Had we not had a superior military, where would we have place our trust?
Why couldn’t a king multiply wives? The first response to that question is that it is just wrong to have more than one wife, and the king should model a righteous family. While that is true, it does not include the fact that marriage alliances were used to provide national security. When Solomon had 700 wives, I find it difficult to believe that he had a sexual relationship with 700 women. If he visited one per day, it would take him 2 years to make the rounds. So why did He have so many wives? It was another way of providing national security. The marriage alliances provided peace for the country. Seven hundred allies is a very formidable support group. One of Solomon’s main marriage alliances was his marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter. That one alliance secured his southern border, but at what price? She turned his heart away from the Lord. Would God have given him peace without the multiple marriage alliances. Maybe, maybe not, but he would have been less likely to have turned his heart away from the Lord. He lost the privilege of feasting on the glory of the Lord.
Why couldn’t a king multiply silver and gold? When we are rich, it takes great discipline to resist the corruption of trusting in wealth rather than the Lord. Solomon became so rich that silver became devalued. Can you imagine that? You might be saying, “No, I can’t, but I would like the opportunity to try.” Solomon’s riches also were instrumental in turning His heart from the Lord.
The Lord wants my heart. He wants me to enjoy Him as my security. He wants me to rest in Him as my protector. He wants me to value Him as true riches. Why? Simply because He is. To seek anything else is like a wife who seeks other men in addition to her husband. To settle for anything else is to settle for poverty. He wants to give me Himself—that is true riches. How can I but give Him myself? His glory is too awesome! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PROVERBS 12
He lay in the hospital bed with his pain managed by morphine. He had asked for a chaplain. The hospital did not deem a fulltime chaplain as a fiscally responsible investment, so they relied on volunteers. I was a volunteer, so they called me to come in. He was disappointed to find that I was not a Mormon. He was certain that Mormon elders had the power to heal. Both shin bones had been shattered by gunshot wounds. The pain was tremendous and obviously more than physical.
His parents were out of town for a few days and left this 19-year-old in charge. His little brother decided to invite a few friends over for a beer party. Soon people began showing up whom he did not know. Eventually some of those uninvited guests started becoming rowdy. He played the role well as an older brother. He told the uninvited rowdy guests to leave. They left, but unfortunately they were gang members. They were back in less than ten minutes with the entire gang. The gang was spotted through the window as they drove up. The older brother told the others run and hide while he tried to shut and lock the door. Too late. He was able to get to the door in time to try to hold it shut, but he was having trouble locking it. They shot multiple times through the door shattering his shin bones. Their revenge was accomplished. They left him to bleed to death.
In the hospital he waffled between blaming God for letting him get shot and calling out for healing. It has never ceased to amaze me that he blamed God for getting shot. Verse 28 says, “In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.” What did he expect to happen when a bunch of under aged teens got together to drink? Was this a way of righteousness? Did he really expect God to protect him from evil as he walked in unrighteousness? Apparently so! But then that is an easy example for me to point at and say, “Well, you were walking in unrighteousness. God is under no obligation to protect you on that path!” When do I/we ever walk in righteousness so that God is obligated to protect me/us? Just where do we draw the line? What exactly is the pathway of righteousness, and what is life and death?
Jesus defined life in his High Priestly prayer in John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. Life is knowledge of the Holy One, not about the Holy One, but ‘of’ the Holy One. That is why in the pathway of righteousness there is no death. But wait a minute; the one common element to all humans is that we all die. That would imply that there are none who are righteous. Might it also imply that there are none who know God? Hmmm. . . . So the task of Jesus was to bring us into the pathway of righteousness so that we might know Him and God the Father. The implication of that is that I am just as culpable as the young man who had been shot, and that I need someone to put me back on the pathway of righteousness. Hmmm. . . Well that is certainly what Jesus is seeking to do with me and with you. Sometimes he lets our path of unrighteousness follow its course yielding a great deal of pain. The pain is supposed to function to cause us to choose Him over our sin. When our pain level cannot be managed even with morphine, will I cooperate? Will You? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
JEREMIAH 7
Recently I have been going to the Spudnut shop to do my Meditations on the Glory. I seem to get less interruptions there. Today a young lady waited upon me. She was wearing wrist band that says, “Life TV Church.” So, I asked her, “Why do you like Life TV Church?” She was so excited to answer that question. She immediately answered, “The message. And it is so non-traditional!” I have a passion that people walk with Jesus, not so much that they talk about their church but that they talk about Him. (Although, Jesus has a passion for the church, so if we have a passion for Jesus, we will have a passion for His church.) But what is the church? I cannot help but question, “Is Jesus’ concept of the church for which He gave Himself one of sitting in front of a projected image of an excellent teacher and participating in excellent live worship,?” But I guess I have to also question, “Is what I subject the people in the congregation of which God has appointed me pastor any more church than Life TV?” The obvious answer would be, “I would hope so; otherwise, I should move the congregation to become more like Life TV.” But my point is not to get sidetracked into the differences between Life TV and my congregation, but rather to illustrate that we all have a lot of different ideas about what it means to be part of the people of God and Jeremiah 7 clearly addresses some of those ideas.
What does the Lord mean when He says through Jeremiah, “4Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’?” The people of Jeremiah’s day loved to attend temple. However, the observance of God’s commands at the temple had no effect upon their lives outside the temple. God is just. He expects His people to live justly. God is merciful; He expects His people to live mercifully. God is faithful to us; He expects His people to remain faithful to Him. God is true; He expects His people to remain true to Him and each other. The end result of their going to temple had no change upon their behavior in everyday life. Going to ‘temple’ or ‘church’ is not primarily about the liturgy. (All churches have liturgy. It is just that some are more organized than others.) Liturgy is performed at a building, but church is about the meaning of the liturgy, the Power behind the liturgy and the Person that drives the liturgy. The people of Jeremiah’s day used the temple as a cloak to practice their immorality. The liturgy was no longer about Yahweh, empowered by Yahweh or driven by Yahweh. It was about them, empowered by them and driven by them.
So what had the temple become? It had become a den of thieves (v.11). It is no accident that this is part of what Jesus quoted when He drove out the money changers. What else did He quote? He quoted Isaiah 56:7, “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Church is not a building. It is the people of God. When we come together in a building, it is for prayer. It is for relationship with Him corporately. When it is about Him, empowered by Him and driven by Him, we become what He desires. We are in relationship with Him, we fulfill the function for which He created us. His glory is magnified abundantly. If that is not happening, we are not much less than a den of thieves. Jeremiah goes on to explain what happens to those who remain in “den of thieves” mode, and it is not pretty. But, that reveals His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
P.S. Maybe on my next visit I will ask the girl what she thinks of Jesus, probably a more appropriate question.
JOHN 20
Peace is an elusive thing. On an international level we have found that to be true. Those of you who know your history remember that World War I was to be the war to end all wars. That was a cruel misconception. It only fueled WWII. Then came Korea, Vietnam and so on and so forth. There are constant conflicts worldwide. We are in Iraq because we felt it necessary to protect ourselves from terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. Now, we wonder if we can ever get out again.
Peace on an interpersonal level is also an elusive thing. Divorce is so common now that many don’t even bother to marry. It has become an assumption that “incompatibility” will eventually become a problem. Peace even in the church seems to be a problem. Many denominations are fighting within themselves over issues that ought to be givens. Many churches are fighting within themselves over issues that ought not to be. Churches are increasingly getting rid of their pastors. Many are fighting personally against God and don’t even realize it.
Some years ago I was doing a 40-day fast. On the 26th day I began to experience a panic attack. You know the sensation that you get when someone scares you? That flush that seems to come from the gut and shoots up through your head? Your heart begins to race, and you have an intense desire to run but don’t know where to run to? Well, that was happening to me; only, it wouldn’t stop. I thought I was going nuts. I immediately ceased the fast. But it took me months to get over it. I had a few more attacks in the coming weeks. I only recently have discovered that it wasn’t the fasting alone that caused the problem. I was getting a cold and had taken some pseudoephedrine hydrochloride to help overcome the symptoms—in my weakened fasting state the pseudoephedrine is what triggered the attack. I had no peace for months. Personal peace is a problem. Sometimes our biggest enemy is ourselves.
When Jesus rose from the dead, to what did He rise? One disciple had betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver. When the time of prayer came, the disciples all fell asleep. All of the disciples had run in terror to hide when push came to shove. One disciple publicly denied even knowing Him. The masses had called for His crucifixion. His own Father forsook Him on the cross. Another disciple refused to believe the testimony of others of His resurrection. All of the disciples refused to obey His pre-crucifixion command to go to Galilee to meet Him there. I don’t know about you, but if I were Jesus, I’d be a lot disgruntled. Yet, He was not.
Three times after His resurrection, He communicates peace to His followers. Once He communicated peace to the fearful disciples as they huddled in the upper room, hiding from possible arrest and execution by the religious leaders. Suddenly, He stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Once it had settled in that this was not an apparition but Jesus Himself, He told them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also sent you.” Thomas missed that meeting. Jesus appeared to them again when Thomas was with them and said, “Peace to you!” That is the glory of Jesus! He is always working to bring us to peace with God, peace within our own psyche and peace with each other, even though we do not believe Him.
Are you lacking peace today? The glory of Jesus is that He has worked and is working to bring that peace to you and eventually to the world. Indeed our King is a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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