John 7

Read John Ch 7

What always strikes me most about this chapter is the confusion of the people about Jesus:

12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

When taken in combination with Ch 6 one sees every possible response to Jesus there is.

1. That of anger and resentment that Jesus doesn't do what we want Him to do; that He doesn't respond to our situation the way we desire but according to what He knows is best for us. (Jn 6:66)
2. Those who are so offended by the truth because it doesn't match what they want to believe that they vehemently, militantly reject Jesus and seek to destroy Him and anything connected with His offensive teaching. They belittle and persecute anyone who suggests they might agree with Him. (Jn 7:1,47-52)
3. Those who go to church and are in some way connected with Jesus (at least in the eyes of men) but who have never really accepted Jesus, nor know Him intimately, and who deny by their actions His claims to be God (Jn 7:3-5). They believe He is a "good man" and nothing more (v12).
4. Those who are intrigued by Jesus's words but aren't sure what to make of Him (Jn 7:25-27). Their initial belief in Jesus is based solely on what little they've seen and heard, but their faith has not yet been tested (Jn 7:31, 40-46)
5. Those who respond with absolute submission, as Peter did: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (Jn 6:68-69)

Where am I, Lord?

John 6

Read John 6

The thing that jumps out of this chapter to me is this:

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

I'm always struck by how confrontational Jesus is. He's not mean or angry, but His words are always so direct. So direct, in fact, that many can't handle it. A bunch of the people in this passage had been there for the miracle of the fishes and loaves. It seems so similar to the American church: we want all the cool stuff but we don't want Jesus. The truth he speaks offends us. These people, who had just eaten the miraculous bread and fish, then chase him down not because they wanted to know the Man who had performed the miracle, but, as Jesus states in v26, because they wanted more bread! And if that weren't enough, when He suggests that He is "the bread of life" and has been sent from God, they demand "perform a miracle to prove it"! The audacity!

Notice also that Jesus doesn't beg these people to come to Him. He doesn't entice them with yet another miracle of fishes and loaves. Yet He also doesn't become enraged and send them all away. He simply reiterates His point: "If you want to live forever - if you want to know the God of Moses - you will listen to Me." Jesus simply repeats the central messge of the Gospel: "Come to me..." The people can't take it.

They came for food. They got the truth. They went away angry.

Amos 2

⁶ The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel
for three crimes, even four,
because they sell a righteous person for silver
and a needy person for a pair of sandals.
⁷ They trample the heads of the poor
on the dust of the ground
and block the path of the needy.
A man and his father have sexual relations
with the same girl,
profaning My holy name.
⁸ They stretch out beside every altar
on garments taken as collateral,
and in the house of their God,
they drink wine obtained through fines.

I must be a natural pessimist. I read words like this - words of judgement against God's own people - and I think of America. Is there not blatent disregard for God's law here? Are the poor and the righteous not victims here. Is there not open, flagrant sexual immorality here?

And yet God seems always to spare and work through a remenant. I see those all the time, with clean hands and pure hearts, faithfully serving the Lord. They are the hope. 

Isaiah 15 & 16

I read these two chapters this morning. Pretty harrowing prophesy. I wonder what possible implication this can have for us today and I'm a little perplexed. I wasn't even sure where Moab was, so I looked it up.
As I read, I had to wonder, "Are we Israel or are we Moab?". In which place does the United States sybolically stand? For a very long time America has been seen as a chosen nation, a "city on a hill" as the puritan John Winthrop put it. I know that in the past America has recieved God's blessing. I know that there have even been long periods of time when America has been fervently Christian, but so have many other nations.
I have to wonder if the words spoken against Moab in Ch 15 and 16 of Isaiah aren't at least a warning to a nation that has become arrogant, proud, and insolent (Isaiah 16:6). Will we forever be the object of God's blessing, or will we someday incure his wrath?
However, even if the latter is true, there is hope. Chapter 15 v5 says "My heart cries out for Moab". Then in Ch 16 is this shadowy but inspiring prophesy:

  ^1(A) Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,from^(B) Sela, by way of the desert,
   to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
²Like fleeing birds,
   like a scattered nest,
so are the daughters of Moab
   at^(C) the fords of the Arnon.
 ³"Give counsel;
   grant justice;
^(D) make your shade like night
   at the height of noon;
shelter the outcasts;
   do not reveal the fugitive;
⁴let^(E) the outcasts of Moab
   sojourn among you;
be a shelter to them^[a]
   from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more,
   and destruction has ceased,
and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, ^5(F) then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
   and on it will sit in faithfulness
   in the tent of David
one who judges and seeks justice
   and is swift to do righteousness."

A good quote I stole from another Blogger  http://amdg44.blogspot.com/ I happened to find when I hit the "Next Blog" button:

"A great quote from St. Ignatius Loyola, courtesy of Sam Sawyer, SJ:
 

"There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely to His hands, and let themselves be formed by his Grace. A thick and shapeless tree trunk would never believe that it could become a statue, admired as a miracle of sculpture...and would never consent to submit itself to the chisel of the sculptor who, as St. Augustine says, sees by his genius what he can make of it. Many people who, we see, now scarcely live as Christians, do not understand that they could become saints, if they would let themselves be formed by the grace of God, if they did not ruin His plans by resisting the work which He wants to do....""

Sound Familiar??

Isaiah 3

¹⁶The LORD said:^(V) Because^(W) the daughters of Zion are haughty
   and walk with outstretched necks,
   glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
   ^(X) tinkling with their feet,
¹⁷therefore the Lord^(Y) will strike with a scab
   the heads of^(Z) the daughters of Zion,
   and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

 ¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away^(AA) the finery of the anklets, the^(AB) headbands, and the^(AC) crescents; ¹⁹the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; ²⁰the^(AD) headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; ²¹the signet rings and^(AE) nose rings; ²²the^(AF) festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; ²³the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
 ²⁴Instead of^(AG) perfume there will be rottenness;
   and instead of a^(AH) belt, a rope;
and instead of^(AI) well-set hair,^(AJ) baldness;
   and instead of a rich robe, a^(AK) skirt of sackcloth;
   and^(AL) branding instead of beauty.
²⁵Your men shall fall by the sword
   and your mighty men in battle.
²⁶And^(AM) her gates shall lament and mourn;
   empty, she shall^(AN) sit on the ground.

I'm not sure of the history surrounding the times in the life of Isaiah, but I know he's my very favorite prophet of the Bible. I know he was a prophet for the reign of at least four kings mentioned in the very outset of Ch 1 and that was probably a long time. His writing is bold but poetic in its prose. I am always especially moved by the prophesies of Christ in Isaiah.

As I was reading this passage this morning, I couldn't help but notice how similar the situation Isaiah describes is to our own situation in America. Between questionable wars that have stretched for near ten years and an absolutely ruinous financial situation, our nation is sure to be brought to its knees in the near future. We live in a country where the culture is to buy anything you want right now, whether you have the money or not. Credit is so readily available people in the mid-2000s could get credit to buy houses they couldn't afford to pay the interest on. Just like those women mentioned in the passage, we're covered up in all kinds of fine things. Our government does a good job setting the example with a 13 trillion dollar deficit, too.

I'm not sure this is an altogether bad thing, though. Hard times usually bring people to their knees. And in that there is hope. I believe the end of this passage is really in Ch 4:

 ^1(A) And seven women^(B) shall take hold of^(C) one man in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach."

Jesus, let us be called by Your Name.

Calling All Ezras

Nehemiah 8

¹And all the people gathered as one man into the square before^(A) the Water Gate. And they told^(B) Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. ²So Ezra the priest^(C) brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard,^(D) on the first day of the seventh month. ^3(E) And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose.

⁸They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly,^[b] and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

⁹And Nehemiah, who was^(L) the governor, and Ezra^(M) the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people,^(N) "This day is holy to the LORD your God;^(O) do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.

Summer went so fast. School's almost ready to start again. Crazy.

I heard Chuck Swindoll talking on the radio about a week ago in his overview of the Bible about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. He called Ezra a true worshipper. Being a guy who leads worship at church from time to time, that intrigued me. I read Ezra, then I read Nehemiah. This passage jumped out at me. Not-so-ironically, this passage appeared again in a book I was reading yesterday about what else...worship. I've been absolutely struck by the profound simplicity of this passage - how simple the act of reading from the Law was and how profoundly the Spirit of God grabbed hold of the hearts of the people.

I mean think about it. Imagine a guy standing up and reading from the Bible for four or five hours. It says everyone was listening attentively and that by the time he was done, they were all weeping. If you ask me that's nothing short of a miracle. Of course, this is in the days before iPods, smartphones, and Facebook. Now it's hard for us to sit still for 45min. of preaching, let alone to set aside 5 minutes for private Bible study and prayer. Is this why we're struggling as a Body of Christ? Is this why the spiritual drought continues?

Ezra, where are you?