“Do you really think that if there is a God who created this universe that He would care about something as little as we are?” My instinctive answer was, “Of course I do!” In my mind that was a no-brainer. But the question began to seep into my spirit, ever questioning the veracity of my God. Can a God who created billions of galaxies each containing billions of stars really be cognizant of me? I am just one of perhaps 7 billion people currently existing on this little rock. Can He really be aware of my thoughts and desires?
The span of this chapter mentions 60 years of evil kings reigning over Israel. The evil benchmark for each one of them is the sin of Jeroboam. What was so evil about Jeroboam? As you recall, he recast the image of God in order to secure his own kingdom. Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri and Ahab each repeating the same sin. In each Jeroboam was the benchmark they, “Walked in the ways of Jeroboam.” Then Ahab arrives, and we are informed:
As though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel . . . and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, . . . made a wooden (asherah) image. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.Ahab took the concept of God to a new low. He degraded the worship of God from a simple manipulation of the worship of God in order to secure one’s own greatness, to a god who was base and vile as we, to a god who could be incited to grant fertility by our own sexual exploits, to a god who could be manipulated by our own actions. He wasn’t just changing the way to worship god, but he brought the definition of god to a new low. The glory of God was totally maligned. Do we do the same?
Is this God who spoke the universe into existence truly the One we worship? Or is he some reshaping of a god patterned more after our own drives, desires and needs? Do we allow the subtle whispering of the enemy to penetrate our spirits whispering, “Has God really said? You can be like God if…” The God who spoke everything into existence must be infinite to do it. If He is infinite, and He is, then He is able to somehow hear the thoughts and desires of 7 billion people simultaneously and interact with all of them at the same time. If this infinite God is holy and love, then He is infinite in His holiness and love simultaneously. How can I, a little piece of this vast creation, ever truly know this infinite God? I can only know what He chooses to reveal to me. I cannot become infinite in order to truly know Him. That is why he forbids the creation of idols. We could never make something that would adequately represent who He is. To know Him requires that we respond to Him in the way in which He initiates and reveals. That is the problem with Jeroboam and Ahab; it infinitely cheapens the glory of God. He is not just a being who is bigger than us. He is infinite. He is infinite holiness and love. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Psalm 104
Light, what is it? The website Oracle Think Quest Education Foundation defines light as “simply a name for a range of electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye.” But what is electromagnetic radiation? At this point I begin to have difficulty grasping all of the concepts involved. But this I understand, God created the human eye and light. Both were created so that His creation might be able to know and understand the reality around them and to interact with it. While light has many more functions than revealing reality, in relation to the eye, light helps the brain of an organism understand reality. But light has more functions than that. The light from the sun brings life. Without sunlight we would die. It provides heat for our planet. It provides energy so that plants can do photosynthesis to convert light into food. The Psalmist says,
“You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.”Now on the one hand, God’s word is always scientifically accurate, but on the other hand, the main emphasis of a passage is not always the scientific import that the words project but the effect of the image that the words project. What does the image, “You cover Yourself with light as with a garment,” project in your spirit? Well, the first image that I get is brilliant terror. Then the science behind the word sends my mind reeling in several directions. The first is that in His presence, His light, reality is truly found. I live in the darkness of a world that shades reality. What I often think is a true description of my world, I often later find to be skewed by my nature, my worldview and my enemy. All of these are contrary to His marvelous light. The second is that in His presence, His light, energy is created in my exhausted life. His light comes under my wings lifting me up to soar as the eagle. A third is that His light brings me emotional warmth. There is nothing better than basking in the sunlight on a cool day. So too, there is nothing better than basking in the light of His presence in the dinginess of this sinful world.
The Psalmist uses many other images as well, such as clouds and wind. As I write, there is a thunderstorm going on outside. Nothing provokes the image of raw power in me as does an electrical storm. A moment ago a sudden surge of wind swept through the window next to me. An electrical bolt accompanied by a shock of thunder boomed through the neighborhood. Was He riding by on His chariot? Was He walking on the wind? He is certainly an awesome God of power! His angels are ministers of fire. He created the foundations of the Earth! He sets the boundaries of the oceans! He keeps the water cycle, cycling! He keeps the food cycle going! In short He holds life together. Without Him, there is no life! This is His glory! The light of His glory lights up my life. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Hosea 13
Forty years the children of Israel walked in the desert wilderness. Never was there enough water to support their population. Never was there enough grain to store or make bread to feed their population. While they had flocks, surely there was never enough grass to completely keep the herds from dying. Their herds were not large enough to sustain them with meat to eat. Yet in those 40 years, Israel was fed manna from heaven. Their daily bread was provided. Water was provided from the rock, or was healed to be made drinkable. Quail from heaven arrived till it came out their noses. In short their essential needs were miraculously met in the desert by God. He was their savior.
Ephraim, northern Israel, received the more arable land. Their crops grew in abundance. Water was readily available. Their flocks thrived. Their vineyards abounded. But as soon as they split from Judah, they began worshipping idols. Jeroboam introduced two golden calves as a political/religious ploy to keep the northern kingdom from returning south and re-uniting with Judah. From this came the exhortation from the craftsmen to “kiss the calves.” Eventually Baal worship was added, compounding the magnitude of their sin. In the midst of abundance, they increased their sin. It was if they really believed that there could be any savior besides the Lord.
What can be done with this kind of sin? It can only die. The Lord kills it. So, He promises to kill Israel. He lets them trust in the east wind with all its promises, yet yielding life sucking death. But He doesn’t leave them there. He promises to ransom them from the grave and to redeem them from death. Is this not a picture of what He has done with you and I? We worshipped what we thought were images of Him. We kissed the calves. We sought life from the east wind. It had all the promises we desired. In the end it sucked the life out of us. We withered and died. Yet He became flesh and embraced our sin and danced with our death. He rose again on the third day and invites us to join him. He takes us and raises us with Him! To our death He says, “I will be your plagues.” To our grave He says, “I will be your destruction.” Paul recognized this when he quotes the Septuagint form of it in his discourse on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:54&55. Now that is glory indeed! He takes our sin upon Himself, dies in our place and rises victoriously over sin and death! We no can receive His life by embracing His death as ours and His resurrection as ours. All He asks is that we give Him our forfeited life. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 Thessalonians 1
We love the Lord Jesus because He is the living and true God and because He raised us from the dead and because He delivers us from the wrath to come. He is living. He is the source of life. He is life. We make idols when ever we seek to gain fullness of life from anything other than Jesus. Seeking fullness of life elsewhere is like having a pure fountain of 100% water available and yet choosing to drink from the septic tank. What a gross illustration! But we have all done that with life. Jesus is also true. Those things which beckon to us and call us to drink of them to find life might taste sweet at first. But, if we are seeking our fullness in them, the after taste is always foul and bitter. Their promises are false. It is not so with Jesus. He is always delectable and He always keeps His promises! He is true. He raised us from the dead. Drinking from the septic tank of sin brought death to our souls and spirits and will eventually bring death to our bodies. Drinking from Him brought us life! He raised us from the dead with Him when He rose again from the dead! Without Jesus the wrath of God would be dwelling upon us. With Him, God's wrath is removed. One day that wrath will be carried out upon all who have refused to trust Him. Ah! But He has delivered us from the wrath to come. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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