September 25

2 SAMUEL 21
“So what you are saying is that you think it is unjust for one person to voluntarily pay the just penalty of a crime which another person has committed?” I asked that question of my problems of philosophy professor as a sophomore in college. His answer was, “Absolutely.” I then knew why he was an agnostic. If one holds that tenant as true, nothing about the Gospel could make any sense. Substitution is not allowed.
Where is the glory of the Lord in all of this killing? It began with Saul as he sought to commit genocide against the Gibeonites, Why would Saul seek this in light of his lack of willingness to kill all of the Amalekites? It was because of Saul’s bloodthirsty act that the Lord sent a famine into Israel, long after Saul was dead. David is now king, and probably old. Why did God wait so long to send a famine that was a discipline for something Saul did? I cannot fully understand this passage, yet I feel like two things must be pointed out both of which run contrary to the cherished American mindset.

1) There is no statute of limitations with the justice of God.
2) God holds people corporately responsible for the sins of their leaders. It was the people of Israel who suffered a three year famine for the sins of Saul as king.

It is a kind of justice that we as Americans just don’t understand.
The next question which I have is, “Was David’s remedy according to God’s desire?” Elsewhere we are told by God that children should not be put to death for the sins of their fathers. Matthew Henry argues that this was an exceptional case and therefore did not fall under that command. I am not convinced. But this I know, God accepted the act and broke the famine. But could there have been another method by which God justly forgave the nation for the sin(s) of Saul? Is there another method by which the sons of Adam may be forgiven the sin of Adam? Certainly God’s method for forgiving the sins of the of sons of Adam was that His own Son became a son of Adam, the second Adam. As such He died in our place. Is that just? Man would say, “No.” At least my philosophy prof would say, “No.” God would say, “Yes!” Not only would He say that it is just, but He would also say, “I will die for you. I will be your substitute.” I cannot answer all the questions, but I believe that He died and rose in my place. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 86
Look at this list of the glories of the Lord!

He is merciful (3, 5, 13, 15).
He makes us glad (4).
He is good and ready to forgive (5).
He listens to our prayers & supplications (6).
He answers us (7).
There is no one like Him (8, 10).
He does great and wondrous things (10).
He is truth (11, 15).
He delivers me (13).
He is full of compassion and longsuffering (15).
He helps and comforts (17).

With a resume like that, why are we so slow to praise Him in spirit and truth? David hits on the answer in verse 11. He pleads with the Lord to “unite” his heart to praise His name. Now wait a minute! This is the man whom God describes as a man after His own heart. This man has a problem with a divided heart. Oh there is hope for me!
I am so fractured. I know how wonderful the Lord is, but my heart is deceitful. It seeks to tell me not to trust Him with every detail of my life. It sees the appearance of the things that the system of this world offers. It hears the lure of the enemy whispering that the world’s system really will not kill me. I hear him saying that the world’s system can really make me wise. My heart hears the old nature whispering that the world’s system is pleasant and it will make me wise. Yet that list of what God is like tells me that the world, the enemy and my old nature are all liars! Oh God, unless You unite my heart, I am undone! Unite my heart that I might praise Your name! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

DANIEL 7
As I write this, the madness in the Middle East is increasing. There are so many enemies and weird alliances that it spins the head trying to keep track of it all. The violence increases. People are being beheaded. Particularly in Syria, not to mention many other countries of the world, Christians are being driven from their homes, imprisoned or enslaved, if not killed, for simply trusting in Jesus. The saints of the Most High are indeed being persecuted. It is simply madness.
Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C. A series of weaker kings followed him until his son-in-law Nabonidus was able to obtain the throne through some intrigue in 556 B.C. He apparently was prone to madness as was Nebuchadnezzar. Leaving Babylon at about 550 B.C. for Arabia, he left Belshazzar behind as co-regent. During the time from Nebuchadnezzar’s death until the death of Belshazzar, Daniel took a lesser (if any at all) role in the government. Perhaps it gave him more time to focus on seeking the Lord. It was during the first year of Belshazzar (about 12 years after Nebuchadnezzar’s death) that Daniel receives this vision.
Being carried off into exile, Daniel knew firsthand the destruction of God’s people. As a young man, God had given Daniel the wisdom to interpret the terrifying dream given to the madman/ruler Nebuchadnezzar. The terror of the dream left Nebuchadnezzar a temporary insomniac. Now in his solitude as an older man (around 70), God places a similar dream/vision in Daniel’s mind. Daniel found the beasts of the dream/vision equally terrifying, but he simply pondered the troubling sight. The dreams so accurately depicted the coming history that some liberal theologians claimed that the Book of Daniel could not have been written by Daniel, for they are too accurate and must have been written after many of the events of history had already transpired.
The Lion represented Babylon; the bear represented the Medo-Persian empire; the leopard represented the Greek empire; the dreadful beast represented the Roman empire. The dreadful beast disintegrates and yet reforms having ten horns where one horn uproots three to rule them all. Most commentators would say that we are living in that stage of world history between the disintegration of the Roman Empire and its reforming under the ten horns and one horn.
Had the dream ended there, it would have been most terrifying indeed. But Daniel also sees the Ancient of Days and One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. Clearly Jesus was claiming to be this Son of Man when He gave testimony when on trial before the High Priests as recorded in Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69. At that point the Sanhedrin decided that His confession warranted ending of the trial. They did not think that Jesus could be the Son of Man as described in Daniel’s vision. In their reasoning, Jesus had sealed His own fate by blasphemously claiming to be the Son of Man, the Messiah.
Who is this Person? Well as Daniel puts it:

14Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. 27Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’

Jesus is the One who will take the madness of this world and destroy it. He will come and rule. He will set up His Kingdom which will not pass away. It will be obvious. It will be sudden. It will not need a human army. It will belong to His people alone. All people of every nation will then serve Him. The madness of this earth will be ended by His rule. Now that is glory! Let us hasten His coming by speaking His glory to others. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

GALATIANS 4
Sometimes I wonder if God has a watch. I mean really, He never meets my time schedule. Maybe next Christmas I should send Him a good Rolex. But then, that would only be revealing my own creatureliness. God is never late. He is never early either. He performs his acts in time at the perfect time. He is infinite. His infinitude covers all His attributes. That’s part of the meaning of eternal. Time is His creation. He exists in time and out of time. He does everything perfectly at the proper time. A Rolex is a waste to Him.
So it is—Jesus came at the perfect time, the fullness of time. As a man, Jesus exists in time. As God, Jesus does everything at the proper time. He was born at the proper time. When it had been demonstrated to all creation that man could not even understand what is right, then God sent the Law. When it had been demonstrated to all creation that man could not do what was right even when he was told what was right, then God disciplined the nation to whom He gave the law. When God had prophesied to that Nation about their coming destruction and their redemption through the Messiah He brought them back into the land. When the Mediterranean world had a common language because of Alexander, He brought the Romans. When the Mediterranean had a stable transportation system, brought by the Romans, Jesus was born. It was the perfect time. He became our near kinsman, human yet divine, able to die yet sinless. He bought our redemption with His own blood. He set us free from sin and death. And the world would hear of it.
Unfortunately I am often impatient with His time table. Yet my impatience has no effect on His perfect timing. He times things perfectly to enable me to avail myself of the liberty that He offers. Remembering His glory in relation to time helps me to cope with my own impatience. That is why we must focus on His glory and share it with others. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john