Where’s the glory? What a sad chapter. The enemies of the Lord are rejoicing. The people of God are in retreat. The king of Israel is dead. The price of disobedience is quite high. It always involves death, sometimes even for God’s people. But when persistent disobedience is displayed, God’s justice is challenged. The Lord will not tolerate persistent disobedience especially in those who tasted of His heavenly gift. So where is the glory? It is seen in the consistency of God’s justice. After decades of persistent disobedience in Saul, God vindicates His justice. Israel’s first king, picked for his masculine appearance, lies dead and disgraced because he would not truly repent. The Lord had warned him many times. But he would not turn. This is our God. He is just. He will not always put up with our foolishness. That is glory to consider.
There is one glimmer of honor in this passage. The men of Jabesh Gilead put their lives on the line to steal the bodies of Saul and his sons. It wasn’t right that the enemies of the Lord should gloat over death and destruction wreaked upon Saul, his family and Israel. It wasn’t right that Saul should have an honorable burial. Jabesh Gilead was one of Saul’s ancestral homes. Jabesh Gilead had typically remained aloof from battles. Saul’s first act as king was to save Jabesh Gilead from a tyrant. They would not forget his intervention to save them. They travelled all night to steal the bodies off of the wall. They cremated the bodies. This is the only record of the people of Israel cremating someone they wished to honor. It is indicative of an emergency. Then they buried the bones in their own city. Why? Mixed reasons. He was their hero. He was their kinsman. He was the Lord’s anointed. Any one reason was sufficient. I’d like to think it was the last reason. I’d like to think it was because they saw a little of the Glory of God, and for that sole reason they put their lives on the line. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
The mound in the background is ancient Beth Shean. On its ancient walls the Philistines hung Saul’s headless corpse and his sons. The city in the foreground is the Roman city Scythopolis. It experienced a devastating earthquake in the eighth century and was abandoned.
Taken from a hostel in Beth Shean looking east. The Jordan River lies between here and the mountains. Somewhere on the other side of the river once lay the city of Jabesh Gilead, whose valiant men came and took the bodies of Saul and his sons home for a proper burial.
PSALM 67
There is a lot of talk today about God wanting to bless us. It is true that God wants to bless us. He wants to bring blessing to our lives, but there is one crucial ingredient to that blessing that we dare not misunderstand. God wants to bless us in such a way that all the ends of the earth will fear Him. From an eternal perspective what will that blessing look like which will cause the ends of the earth to fear Him? To Bless means to make happy. In what way will our being made happy in God make the nations fear Him? After seeing that blessing, will they fear Him because they want the blessing or because they want Him?
It seems to me from this Psalm that the ultimate blessing is for the face of God to shine upon us. What does that mean? It means that we would have a full relationship with Him where nothing is hidden. Whatever happens in my life so that I can have a full relationship with Him is a blessing. If that means he heals me, then it is a blessing. If that means he temporarily takes my health away, perhaps leading to death, then that is a blessing. If that means giving me wealth for the spread of the gospel, then that is a blessing. If that means taking away wealth for the spread of the gospel, then that is a blessing. As there are no two finger prints that are alike, it will be different for each individual as to what blessing looks like. His desire is a full relationship with Him that leads others to fear Him.
Wow, a full relationship with the creator of the ends of the earth. Hmmm. . . Lord bless me! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
EZEKIEL 36
What a deal! He will take out their old, hard, stony heart and give them a new heart of flesh. They won’t have to do it themselves, and indeed, cannot do it themselves. He will do it not for their sakes. But then, for whose sake will He do it? For His own? Yes. For the nations? Yes. He closes this thought with the refrain which is sown throughout Ezekiel, “Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” That is basically what the Lord wants. He wants us to know that He is the LORD. He wants us to enjoy Him. He wants us to respond to His blessing. Lord, take my cold stony heart and make it soft and hot toward YOU! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 CORINTHIANS 15:29-58
Grasping the glory of Jesus Christ in His victory over death is so key in our experiencing victory in this life. There are different kinds of death. His resurrection is victorious over each. There is physical death, the separation of body an spirit. There is spiritual death, our separation from God. There is eternal death, spiritual death made permanent. But there is a fourth death that Paul mentions here. He says, "I die daily." This is a separation from our human desires in order to attain God's desired righteousness.
Paul was constantly fighting against that which would deter him from attaining God's desire for him--both on a personal level and on a ministry level. He daily was aware that he must separate himself from his earthly desires. In Ephesus he had a 2.5 year successful ministry. He was so successful that the silver smiths were fearful of his continued presence because they were losing money from a drop in idol sales. They forced him out of town. In every town in which he entered, he had similar problems. In between towns he had problems--shipwreck etc. I am sure that he craved a normal life. I suspect that he craved not having to wonder if people were going to pick up stones to kill him. He could have a normal life if he just focused on tent-making, his trade by which he supported himself.
How could he daily overcome those desires to just be normal? He was infected with the glory of Jesus Christ in His resurrection. He knew that every desire that he lay down, that every time he separated himself from that desire, that every time he died, Jesus would one day raise Him up. The glory of the resurrection was more than a neat truth. It was a reality upon which he counted. It was a reality that made hardships palatable because he was trading his desire of comfort for the glory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The glory of the resurrection is not some ethereal thought for people who sequester themselves in a place hidden away from the world. It is the driving force of those who continue on the path of righteousness and ministry because they know that every desire they lay down, every comfort to which they die, every human dream laid aside for Jesus will be raised as something greater, better and victorious. We can count on it because Jesus conquered death! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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