In 2009 I had an English Composition student who was in the Oklahoma National Guard. He sometimes would miss class because of his Guard duties. In one of my discussions with him he told me that he had volunteered for active duty in Afghanistan. I asked him, “Why?” He said, “Because I really want to defend my country.” We have all heard stories of men and women who have done things like that because they love the glory of their country. That young man was rare.
As I think about this chapter, how is it that the Lord could give so many opportunities for a man to get out of serving in the army and Israel would still be able to field an army? Look at the reasons listed which would keep a man out of the army: If he just built a new house, if he just planted a new vineyard, if he just got engaged, if he is afraid, all of these disqualified him from serving in the Lord’s army. Is there really anyone who is not afraid before going into combat? What drives a man to not be afraid? Certainly there are a number of factors that can subdue fear so that a man might not sense it. Adrenaline can do that, but you already have to be in the heat of battle to get the adrenaline. Hate can do that. One can be so overcome with hatred for an enemy that fear is funneled into the hate making the desire to kill, maim or destroy become even stronger. Fear is lost in a surge of hatred. Another thing that can drive a man to not be afraid is a strong sense of invincibility. What could cause a man to have a strong sense of invincibility? What is invincibility? Invincibility is that from of an eternal viewpoint, I know I will be better off eternally than I am now, no matter what happens between now and then.
What would give the men of Israel a sense of invincibility? Would it not be that one understood that in the sight of the Eternal, Infinite, Almighty, All-compassionate God, one is fully loved and accepted, and that He is with me? It has much to do with His glory. My concept of God really does shape my emotions and my sense of security. What good would be a god who is not any of the things I just listed? Then again if I fully understood that He is all those things but was not convinced that I am fully loved and accepted and that He is with me, then what good would that be to me? The glory of Jesus is that the Eternal, Infinite, Almighty, All-compassionate God became flesh like me so that I could become fully loved and accepted to Him. When I become fully loved and accepted to Him, He is always with me. When I fully begin to grasp those things, it begins to give me a sense of invincibility. Wow! I can endure anything!
Even so, I don’t think I will volunteer for Afghanistan, but I will volunteer for service in the Lord’s army! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PROVERBS 15
Clint and I were seniors. We took World Geography (a sophomore level class) because we wanted an easy schedule our last year. Clint liked to talk. We were constantly being corrected by the teacher because of talking. One day I was in an annoying mood, so I kept quietly pestering him. He finally got tired of it and turned around to slug me. I held up my clip board. When he hit it, it went flying. The teacher had looked up at just the right moment to see him do the dastardly deed. She immediately gave him detention, and I got off Scott-free. (Where does that term come from?) Anyway, I felt guilty. . . for about two minutes. We laughed about it later. I haven’t talked with Clint since 1973. I wonder if he ever held it against me. I’ll have to look in the phone book and see if he is still around. It really wasn’t completely just for him to be punished for something that I provoked him into. But then, he was a free moral agent; he could have handled it in another manner, and as he said, “I get detention all the time.” . . .
Most of the time in the human world, there is no one there to view what really happens, so justice is rarely served. Not so with the Lord. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good. Later on in verse 11 it says, “Hell and Destruction are before the LORD; So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.” Our teacher would probably not have seen me pestering Clint, even if she had been watching. The angle of how we were sitting from her location was wrong for her to see from where she was standing. However, if she could have seen our hearts, perhaps I would have been the one in detention, and Clint may have walked away with just a reprimand.
Yes, justice is rarely served in this world, but He keeps watch on the evil and the good, and our hearts are before Him. We cannot hide our evil or our good from Him. One day we will stand before the Lord; He will reveal the thoughts and intentions of our heart as it related to every deed. He will judge with just judgment in our every intention and deed. Now there is a scary thought, but there is one comfort in the midst of that. He removes all our sins and lawless deeds if we repent and believe in Him. When it comes to that point in our trial, there will be missing minutes in the tape because they are under the blood of the Lamb. Justice will have already been served on the cross. Wow! Such mercy! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
P.S. Here is what Ask Yahoo says about the term “scot-free”.
First off, let's set the record straight on the expression itself -- it's actually "scot-free." And contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with Dred Scott or the Scottish. Sceot is the Old English for "a tax." Scot and lot was a medieval municipal tax levied on residents. Someone who managed to avoid paying this medieval tax got off "scot free." Eventually, the word evolved to describe getting away without any kind of punishment, fiscal or otherwise. Kids who fake fevers get out of school scot-free. Cagey adults escape jury duty scot-free. And dogs with remorseful eyes get off scot-free from just about any wrongdoing.
JEREMIAH 10
Tornadoes have been abundant lately. ‘Fraidy holes’ (tornado shelters) are abundant in Oklahoma. Last night a thunderstorm swept through. I lay in bed and enjoyed the thunder and lightning. At times I wondered if a tornado was coming. I never heard the CD siren so I wasn’t too worried about heading to my safe room. There is something exciting about the raw power in weather that produces tornadoes. I know they cause great grief when they hit homes and kill people. These horrible tragedies happen frequently in Oklahoma. Nevertheless, I revel in the power of the storm. It reminds me of the greatness of our God. I rest in the fact that my days are numbered by Him. If I am walking in obedience, I won’t exit this world until He is ready for me to exit. He can control the path of the tornado. I just need to obey Him and use the wisdom He gave me. The storms remind me that
The LORD is the true God;Ultimately they remind me that there is only One whom I should worship.
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
Jeremiah informs us of the process that the people of his day had used to make idols. Asherah poles were common idols of the people of Judah in Jeremiah’s day, and this is probably a description of their formation. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary says this:
The goddess Asherah (1 Kin. 15:13; 2 Chr. 15:16; Asherahs, Judg. 3:7) was portrayed as the wife of El (or sometimes Baal) in Canaanite mythology. Asherah was a favorite deity of women. Some of the wives of David and Solomon worshiped her (1 Kin. 15:13), as Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, also probably did (1 Kin. 16:31–33). King Asa suppressed the worship of Asherah (1 Kin. 15:13), and King Josiah destroyed “the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven” (2 Kin. 23:4). Recently discovered inscriptions at Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet el-Kom seem to indicate that the goddess Asherah was sometimes worshiped as if she were the wife of the Lord Himself—a pagan abomination of the worst possible sort.
The word asherah also refers to a wooden pole, or cult pillar, that stood at Canaanite places of worship—perhaps the trunk of a tree with the branches chopped off—and associated with the worship of the goddess Asherah.
The pole itself was a phallus symbol, and served as a means of invoking the gods to grant fertility and hence wealth. At the peak of its use, great immorality was associated with the worship practices. Jeremiah juxtaposes his description of God’s creative power (including rain storms) to the futile construction of idols. It shows the utter futility of worshiping other gods. At first reading the chapter might seem interesting reading but too far removed from us to be of value. But think about it. The worship of Asherah was to increase fertility-human, animal and vegetable. In an agrarian society fertility was wealth. In a post-industrial society we still worship wealth, but fertility is considered a threat to our wealth. So with what have we replaced the worship of Asherah? Maybe it is or financial portfolios. Maybe it is the use of our time as we see fit. Maybe it is our personal health. Maybe it is a certain relationship. When the stock market trembles and loses value, do you suppose that God is once again juxtaposing His power with our idol? When He places us in situations where our time is sucked from us, do you suppose that God is once again juxtaposing His power with our idol? When God permits our health to crumble, do you suppose that He is juxtaposing His power with our idol? When our personal relationships collapse in a shambles, do you suppose that He is juxtaposing His power with our idol?
O LORD, I know my way is not in myself; it is not in me to direct my own steps. O LORD, correct me, but with justice; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing. Blow down my idols, but protect me in the midst of the tornado! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
ACTS 2:1-21
Having established that it is His glory to fill and empower His people with His Holy Spirit, the Lord now does exactly that. This is a first time event. So, the Lord had planned long ago this event. Indeed, the prophet Joel had spoken of it (Joel 2:28-32) more than 850 years before it happened. The Lord brought accompanying signs, a sound from heaven, the appearance of a divided tongue of fire over each one filled, the ability to speak human languages they had never learned. It is possible (but not necessary) that there was a blood moon that had occurred on the Passover when Jesus was crucified. The events caused the people of Jerusalem to question what was going on. Peter pointed right to the word of God (what the prophet Joel had predicted) to explain the event. He was bringing out the fact that this is God's doing. When God does something, it brings glory to Him, and those through whom He performs it always point to Him. He wants to fill us with His Spirit, not to glorify the person whom he fills or to glorify the Holy Spirit, but to glorify Himself. He wants to fill you and me to glorify Himself through powerful witness of Himself.
Indeed our King is a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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