What a mess we make when we turn from seeking to exalt the glory of the Lord to defending our own honor. Abner wanted to turn Ishbosheth over to David because Ishbosheth had insulted him. His motivation was not for national unity. His motivation was to strike a blow against Ishbosheth because his honor had been sullied. David was willing to receive Abner’s subterfuge from Ishbosheth not just for the national unity, but also to clear his honor. He demanded from Ishbosheth his first wife, Ishbosheth’s sister, whom Saul had give in marriage to another man in order to dishonor David. David was clearing his honor. Joab was still carrying a grudge against Abner for killing Asahel. They all had a problem with personal honor.
How could the glory of the Lord have been seen in this situation? As we saw yesterday, if Abner had consulted the Lord first, he could have non-violently handed the kingdom over David. If, if, if. . . The problem was personal honor. The problem was that they were not pursuing the exaltation of the glory of the Lord. His glory is hidden when we pursue our personal honor. O Lord, help me to never seek my honor above Your glory! You must increase and I must decrease! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Psalm 70
There have been a few times in my life when I had to make haste. With the birth of our third child, Laura’s contractions began immediately after I left for work at 10:30 at night. The previous two labors and deliveries were very quick. So, at 11:00 p.m. Laura started calling the office where I worked. The phones were experiencing a technical difficulty. While the phone would ring, the person who picked up the phone at the office could not hear Laura, but she could hear them. Consequently, they kept hanging up on her because they could not hear her. At 2:30 am I clocked out in the office. I heard the phone ring, so I answered it. She heard my voice, but I could not hear hers. So I hung up. I had this sense that she was trying to reach me. I called my next door neighbor to let him know that I was coming by to pick him up from his work to take him home. He said, “John, forget about me. Laura has been trying reach you for 3 hours. She is in labor. You need to get home and get her to the hospital now.” I made haste! What normally would have been a one hour drive (work-home-hospital), took 45 minutes including the time it took to take our two older children next door. We walked into the emergency room doors of the hospital at 3:15. Jesse was born at 3:30. The labor room nurse literally recruited a doctor in the hallway to deliver him. The doctor was putting his glove on and Jesse was crowning during a contraction. He put his gloved hand on Jesse’s head and said, “Don’t push, I’m not ready.” In between contractions he put his other glove on and then said, “Okay, now you can push.” Sometimes we need haste. (In contrast, I was born in ‘54 Ford. Dad went into the hospital to get help. I was born while he was inside. To this day mom claims that he was inside getting a cup of coffee. I am sure that he was making as much haste as possible. It just wasn’t hasty enough.)
There are times when we need the Lord to come in haste to deliver us. During those times, it feels like the phone lines to heaven are dead, and He cannot hear us. We desperately need Him to come and confuse those who seek our harm. We want them to be shamed into turning back. But the phone line is dead. We know that God only allows those things to happen so that His name might be magnified, but it is frustrating to pick up the prayer line and feel like he does not hear. After all, we are the poor and needy ones! Our heart’s cry is, “Make haste, O Lord!” He does make haste. His haste is not always the way we want it, but He does meet our need. I am sure that my haste was not the way Laura wanted it, but we did make it to the hospital on time. Our Lord is always on time but rarely early. From our perspective we want Him to make haste. It is His glory to meet our need in His time. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
Ezekiel 39
In 1967 the nations of Egypt, Jordan and Syria (supported by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria) began arming up for war against Israel. Against incredible odds, Israel knew that it must act pre-emptively and decisively in order to survive. The Israeli victory is legendary as it decimated Egypt’s air force and overcame its ground forces. In six days Israel’s enemies lost 18,000 soldiers compared to Israel’s 700 casualties. It was a stunning defeat for Israel’s enemies and a euphoric victory for Israel. But the underlying enmity between the combatants did not change. Six years later Egypt and Syria caught Israel by surprise in the Yom Kippur War. Syria and Egypt, to some degree or another, had drawn in Algeria, Cuba, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia to support them in their battle. Once again Israel was able to amazingly defend herself. Although she had around 2,800 killed in action, the Arab nations lost somewhere between 8,000 and 18,500 killed in action. Although casualty ratios of 7/180 and 8/18.5 sound pretty lopsided and amazing, they barely compare to the description which Ezekiel gives of the casualties of battle with Gog and Magog.
Who is this Gog and Magog, Rosh, Meshech and Tubal? Obviously from the text they are nations from the far north which hate Israel and are bent on her destruction. Throughout history many attempts have been to identify the nations. Some have suggested Antiochus Epiphanes, who reigned around 400 years after this vision, but his defeat in no way matches the utter destruction described by Ezekiel. The popular thought in the mid and late 20th century was that those places should be identified with modern day Russia. It was a tempting idea, particularly for Americans during the cold war, but the linguistic and geographical situations don’t seem to match up. A current popular thought is that they are a league of Islamic countries. One thing is certain, these nations are bent on Israel’s destruction, and one day they will be completely destroyed in a valley east of “the sea.” If the sea is the Mediterranean, then the likely candidate for the valley is the Valley of Jezreel also known as the Plain of Esdraelon, but most popularly known in America as the valley of Har Megiddo or Armageddon. If the sea is Galilee or the Dead Sea, then the valley could be one of many to the east of them. But I think that trying to be specific with the details really detracts from the main point of the passage.
What is the point? God will one day bring a sudden and decisive end to the enemies of His people. It will appear to the world that Israel will be on the verge of annihilation by her enemies. At that time God will wade in and save Israel. The destruction of the enemies will be so sudden and complete that all, especially Israel, will know that God has accomplished it. It will bring great glory to God for its completeness. From that day forward all the nations of the earth will know that He is Lord! The sudden and unexpected victories of Israel in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War will pale in comparison to the sudden and utter victory over Gog and his compatriots. It will take seven years to find and bury the dead from the Gog war. I remember the wonder that filled the nation after the Six-Day War and after the Yom Kippur War. The wonder at the end of the Gog War will be greater because the odds of survival will be so much more horrible, and the destruction of evil will be so much more complete.
It is the glory of Jesus that He loves to wade into the battle fray at the point when everything seems hopeless. The point of Ezekiel in relation to me right now is all about the glory of Jesus. Whenever I feel hopeless, or that things could never get worse, I need to stop and focus on the glory of Jesus. Yes I may be about to lose all my wealth, health and even my very life, but this I know, “In eternity I will be a victor because of Him.” I am able to rejoice in Him because I am a victor. I can bury the dead knowing that I am a victor in Him! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
2 Corinthians 2
According to brainyquotes.com, Vince Lombardi once said, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing!" If we are speaking of the conflict between holiness and unholiness, righteousness and unrighteousness, love and hate, faithfulness and unfaithfulness, then he was right. The tragic thing is that I occasionally am unfaithful, I hate someone or act in an unholy or unrighteous manner. It would appear at those times that I have lost the battle. The Corinthian church had disciplined someone, possibly the man in 1 Cor. 5:1. Paul now urges the church to receive back the disciplined man. The man's open sin would have appeared to be a defeat. But Jesus always gathers His rebellious children back to Himself. Like a triumphant general leading His soldiers in a parade through His city, dragging His captive enemies behind, He ALWAYS leads us in triumph.
Don't get it wrong. We are the triumphant soldiers, even though we may have acted unrighteously. He liberates us. The captive procession is the unrighteous acts and attitudes from which He has liberated us. That's a good fragrance, the fragrance of triumph.
Last night I was reading The Practice of His Presence by Brother Lawrence, when a fragrant perfume wafted by. I don't know where the fragrance came from. But this verse came to mind. Lo and behold, this morning I am reading the verse. He is our victory, and it smells good! Those who don't know Him find it detestable. But we, who have been set free, find it ever fragrant. He is victorious, and that is a fragrant perfume. All our putrid, rotting, awful sin has been or will be removed from us. It has been replaced with the fragrance of His righteousness. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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