Samson loved a woman. Sally Jesse Raphael used to say on her late night radio talk show, “It doesn’t matter who you love as long as you love.” Is that correct? Samson, as a deliverer of the people of God, should have loved a woman within the covenant. This Philistine woman never gave even pretense of loving Yahweh. She loved Dagon, the Philistine god. She loved money. When offered a great sum of money to entice Samson to discover the secret of his strength, she had no qualms about misleading him. Because of his love for her, Samson had no qualms about eventually telling her the secret of his strength. I guess he thought that he would always have his strength. Temptation is always like that. He gave in to her pestering. He lost his God-given strength. He should have guarded his heart as to with whom he allowed himself to love.
Having been humiliated by the Philistines, they began to give praise to their god, Dagon. They denigrated the only true God, Yahweh. The Lord is very protective of His glory. Yes, Samson had royally blown it. Yet the Lord is protective of His glory. He answered Samson’s final request. As a result Samson destroyed more Philistines in death than in life. Not only that but it was in the temple of their god Dagon. Hmmm. . . . The Lord seeks to exalt His glory in us. Would it be better to cooperate with Him in life, or let it be accomplished in death? I choose life. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 33
I remember as a kid getting up on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. Frequently I would awake before the station even signed on for the morning. I would turn on the TV and watch the test pattern come on. After the test pattern, came The Star-Spangled Banner with a picture of the flag & the Blue Angels flying in the background. Following the anthem there was a voice over with the words on the screen, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” Years later, when I was of the age where I would rather be awake when the station signed off the air at night, I found that they had the same routine at night. I no longer watch broadcast TV, so I really don’t know if stations even sign on and off the air anymore, and if they do, do they still say, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord?”
May I ask a question which to some the answer should be obvious? Why would a nation whose God is the Lord be blessed? Well, a nation whose God is the Lord, would be blessed because He loves righteousness and justice. A nation, whose God is the Lord, will pursue righteousness and justice in their dealings within themselves and with other nations. That, in and of itself, would result in blessings for the nation. A nation, whose God is the Lord, would realize that He is the Creator of all the earth, and as such, would be good stewards over the land that God has entrusted them. A nation, whose God is the Lord, would realize that any counsel but His would eventually come to nothing. So, that nation would highly prize His counsel before making any decision. A nation, whose God is the Lord, would consider the wisdom of war and plead before God what He wants. That nation would realize that ultimately their deliverance was not in their military strength, but in God. I wonder how it would change our country if our churches would throw ourselves before the throne of God asking for His intervention rather only trusting in our elected officials? Would God show His glory to us if we did that? Hmm. . . Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
EZEKIEL 1
As we topped the hill on the highway, we saw it in the distance. My brother, sister and I were on our way back from a watch night service at a church in another community. It was probably around 1:00 AM. The fire was brilliant in its amber glow. We could tell from the outline of the flames that it was a house. It was at least half a mile off of the highway, so we pulled down the road to see if this was something we might need to report in the next town. (This was long before the age of cell phones.) Pulling up to the house, which sat at least 100 feet off of the dirt road, we could feel the heat emanating from the flames without rolling down our windows. There were no cars around and no sign of any one living there. Wondering what we should do, a car drove up by us. It was a sheriff deputy. We knew then that there was nothing that we could do. To this day, more than 40 years later, the brilliance of the glow and heat of the fire are etched into my mind.
Ezekiel was in exile 900 miles away from home. He was thirty years old, the age at which he should have become active as a priest, but the nation has been forced into exile and he has been carried off as a prisoner. He can no longer perform the functions as a priest for which he was born, but God has a higher plan for him; he shall be a prophet. A prophet must have a clear vision of God. Ezekiel is one of those prophets who had not only one vision, but multiple visions. These visions form the bedrock of the motivation and enablement of his ministry. The majority of today’s passage describe not God Himself but all that surrounds Him. What surrounded him alone was enough to scare the life out of anyone. But for all the verses of description of the beings surrounding God, we have just a few short verses describing the glory of the Lord:
26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.
How could Ezekiel describe the glory of the Lord? It was like glowing metal. His glory shone in brightness like a rainbow against a black storm that has just passed. Fire is always symbolic of purifying justice. In the midst of the black storms of my sinful life, the Lord shows up in His purifying fire searing the awfulness of my black sin. He is just, merciful and gracious all at once. What could Ezekiel do in His presence? He could do nothing but fall on his face, a quivering mess because of what he saw. It was forever etched in his mind. In all the impossible things that Ezekiel would be required to do, he could do it because of what this vision of the glory of the Lord imparted to him. Am I ready to give up on the Lord? If so, then I have never really seen Him, or I have forgotten His awesome glory. One true glimpse of Him and that is all we need! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
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