During the time when Jesus lived on the earth, leprosy was widespread. It was a dreaded disease. The word “leper” can refer to a person suffering from any of several different skin diseases. When someone had leprosy, they were covered with sores all over their bodies. Unlike chicken pox, these sores did not go away. When someone had leprosy, their situation was hopeless because there was no cure at that time. To make matters worse, other people considered them to be unclean and were not allowed to touch them. Many people believed that people who had leprosy got the disease because of some terrible sin they had committed.

Physically, leprosy seems incurable because it reverses the pain process. Most diseases have pain as an early warning that helps in healing. Leprosy is just the opposite. The disease destroys the signal system for pain, leaving the body without its natural protect  ion against self-destruction. A leper is burned, cut, and broken without the warning of pain. Skin falls off, fingers, arms, toes, and legs die and drop away in defiance of the normal process of the body to heal itself. In the absence of pain, the leper loses the hope of healing.

Leprosy is also a hopeless social disease. Because lepers are so grotesque, respectable society labels them as contagious and sends them into exile. It is one thing to be condemned to die, but it is quite another thing to die in isolation. Lepers were to cry out, “Unclean, unclean” wherever they walked. Decent people avoided the contamination of even their shadows. For Israelites, God was worshipped in the community. Being cut off from that community also meant being cut off from God.

The Law of Moses required all such infected individuals to stay away from healthy men and women, but in the passage we heard from Mark’s Gospel, the man approached Jesus. The man clearly believed that Jesus had the power to heal him; he simply did not know if the Lord desired to do so.  If we identify with the leper, we need to ask ourselves what it is in our lives that makes us feel cut off from community and ashamed at the presence of some condition, habit, or secret in our lives.

Here is the early and yet ultimate test of the feelings of Jesus. During His ministry, He will meet the full range of physical needs-blindness, blood disease, epilepsy, palsy, paralysis, and even insanity. But of all these diseases, leprosy is the symbol of hopelessness. A leper is not only considered physically uncurable, but he also suffers under social rejection and spiritual condemnation. Don’t forget, Jesus hears the scum of the earth cry out, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Some ancient manuscripts have the term “being angered” rather than the term “moved with compassion.” If the former reading is correct, then Jesus was probably angry that the work of the devil had enslaved and injured the affected man. That Jesus touched this leper-and theoretically made Himself ritually unclean and exposing Himself to the disease-stood in stark contrast to the rabbis’ treatment of lepers. Jesus was on a collision course with legalistic religion throughout His ministry. The Good News challenges the drudgery of the Old Testament Law. Jesus’ authority challenged the scribes and the Pharisees. His concern for human needs was opposed by the traditions of the church.

When we read that Jesus is moved with compassion, it means that He feels Himself so deeply into the sufferings of the leper that it is just as if He Himself is suffering as a leper. Jesus is not moved with pity-that is too condescending; not with sympathy-that is too superficial; not with empathy-that is too distant. Not just mind for mind, hand for hand, or even heart for heart, but stomach for stomach, blood for blood, gut for gut, Jesus feels His way into the leper’s needs, just like he feels His way into our needs today.

Jesus met all sorts of physical needs during His ministry, but leprosy was a symbol of hopelessness. Jesus matched the most difficult of human needs with the deepest of human feelings. He knew the full range of human emotions because He was human. He responded to His feelings by touching the leper. Jesus let the leper and us know that He will take our place-not only in the risk of physical contamination, but in social contamination as well. By doing this, Jesus shows us what true compassion really means.

Jesus’ compassion had a cost. He had to give up His ministry in the city because the leper told people how he was healed. People had to come to Jesus in the desert, just like Jesus comes to us in the deserts of our lives. The leper’s actions set the edge of legal opposition to Jesus. Conflict now becomes His never-ending and ever-escalating fact of life.

The man disobeyed Jesus’ instructions not to tell anyone about his healing. He was affected emotionally and rejoiced. He followed his own feelings instead of following Jesus’ commands.  Why did Jesus strictly warn the man not to broadcast what He had done? First, Jesus wanted more time to define His messiahship on His terms before people could misinterpret it on their own terms. Second, if the Romans learned that He was the Messiah, it would prematurely end His ministry, and He had much more to do before His time on earth was done.

Just like Jesus took the man’s leprosy, He can take our sin. Sin makes us feel alone. We don’t feel like going to church and hanging out with fellow Christians who can encourage us. As we mature in our Christian faith we realize that this is when we need Christ and Christian fellowship the most.

At some point in our lives, we will ask the same thing the leper asked: “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Each and every one of us will face serious illness. Each and every one of us will go to medical professionals and use the best of medical resources. Each and every one of us will pray and beg, “Jesus, if you will, you have the power to heal. My son, my daughter, my mom, my dad, my friend, me. Please Lord, use your powers to make the medical treatments that I am receiving effective. In your name. Amen.” We will all say that prayer with similar words. We will beg for healing, that God will bless the medical procedures we are receiving.

What else do we hear in this text? At the very heart of the story for today, the Bible says, “Jesus was moved with pity.” When He sees us in our diseases, whether it be cancer, heart attacks, or AIDS, God is always moved with pity. Although the culture might not be moved with pity, God is always moved with pity, because He is a God of healing and compassion. He does not allow disease in any form.

Who has not experienced the effects of the leprosy of sin in our lives? The selfishness of sin cuts a person off from family members and friends when: lies are told; goods argued over; siblings exhibit rivalry; parents play favourites; spouses argue excessively and don’t seek help; success is measured by the size of income; and students cheat in school. Hansen’s disease, which is the medical term for leprosy, is treatable with drugs. Sin and its fragmenting and isolating effects are not so easily eliminated.

Sometimes we may find ourselves in a situation where we are uncomfortable, like when we had chicken pox. But there may come a time in our lives when we find ourselves in a situation that is truly hopeless. When that happens, where can we turn? How do we find hope in a hopeless situation? We can turn to Jesus. When the situation is hopeless, Jesus is our only hope.

Jesus shouted the gospel from the housetops, so that the voice of the gospel would echo through history. Like the healed man, we should shout for all to hear, “The Lord has healed me. The Lord has intervened in my life and made me well.” Mark tells us that each hearer of the Gospel experiences Jesus’ compassion and desire to heal us. What he said to the leper is offered to a sinful world and to each of us as well. As God gives us opportunities, we can extend grace and show compassion with a gentle touch that conveys dignity and value. The simple, healing power of human touch goes a long way to remind hurting people of our care and concern. More important is the fact that they are reminded of Christ’s care, concern, and love for them.

(An audio version of this post can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/episode/mark-1-verses-40-45-jesus-compassion–58623432)

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New Kings James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 1345)
2. “Hope for the Hopeless.” Retrieved from www.Sermons4KIds.com
3. Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament. Part of Wordsearch 12 Bible software package.
4. McKenna, D.L. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 25: Mark (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pp. 52-56)
5. Pastor David McGee, “A Leper No More.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
6. Lisa Samru, “Power of Touch.” Retrieved form donotreply@email.rbc.org
7. “A Healing Touch.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
8. McKenna, D.L., & Ogilvie, L.J., The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 25: Mark (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pp. 52-56)
9. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
10. Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 6^th Sunday (B), February 11, 2024.” Retrieved from firstimpressions@lists.opsouth.org
11. Alyce McKenzie, “Blessed to be a Blessing: Reflections on Mark 1:40-45.” Retrieved from www.patheos,com/about-patheos/alyce-mckenzie
12. Pastor Edward F. Markquart, “Leprosy: Gospel Analysis.” Retrieved from www.sermonsfromseattle.com
13. Pastor Edward F. Markquart, “Leprosy.” Retrieved from www.sermonsfromseattle.com

How can you tell a true prophet from a false prophet? The question was an urgent one for the audience that Deuteronomy 18:15-20 addresses. After Moses, who was the pre-eminent prophet-dies, how will the people know the will of God? They can’t consult sooth-sayers and mediums like the nations around them do, so how would they know who speaks for God? When we stand at the threshold of something new, we know that the path ahead will be both challenging and rewarding. We wonder how it will turn out for us. God’s compassionate response to the people’s complaints is a powerful testimony to the love God holds for His people.

The events in this passage took place at the end of Moses’ life as the Israelites prepared to enter the Promised Land. Moses was the only leader they have ever known, and his impending death put the people in danger. This passage represents Moses’ last words to the people, both present and future. Moses called the people to belief and a life lived according to God’s instructions. Moses told the people to remember what they asked for because God promised to do it. God promised to send someone else like Moses to speak God’s word to all the people. Anyone who did not pay attention was in deep trouble.

The people were afraid to listen directly to the voice of God, so they asked Moses to act as a mediator on their behalf. Moses provided the people of Israel with a way of knowing and understanding the course of human events, a way that was completely different from that of their neighbours. Moses set the standard for every future prophet. However distinguished a future prophet’s role might be in Israel, none would be like Moses until the Mediator of the New Covenant came. That Mediator was Jesus.

The role of a prophet was to settle the unsettled. Prophets, according to the old saying, “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.” Some churches are filled with people who love to speak the truth. They use words as weapons and then walk away from their prophetic work relieved to have “gotten that off my chest” while the congregation sits shell-shocked and uncertain how to proceed. On the other hand, a prophet like Moses speaks the truth in love.

Moses promised that God would raise up a prophet like Moses from among the people. God fulfilled Moses’ promise by sending prophets to reveal God’s will and presence to the people. These prophets who preceded Jesus spoke in God’s name by using the phrase “Thus says the Lord,” but Jesus spoke from His own authority.

The comparison between Moses and Jesus is striking. Moses, in his role as leader of the people and spokesman for God, was instrumental in founding the first kingdom, the kingdom of Israel. Though he was followed by many genuine prophets, none of them compared to him. Jesus also marked the coming of a new kingdom. It was not a political kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of God. Moses mediated the covenant, which was to be the constitution of Israel, whose true king was God. The prophet Jeremiah signaled the end of this age and pointed forward to a new covenant and a new kind of kingdom. These points of the past were fulfilled in Jesus.

The phrase “the Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me” speaks of the coming of the Lord. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy during His earthly ministry, so it was appropriate that Moses appeared with Jesus at the Transfiguration. There are three standard prophetic offices of the Coming One—Prophet, Priest, and King—along with two more expectations: the Sage and the Suffering Servant. Each of these five ideals was a subject of intense interest in the century before the coming of Christ. Texts in the Dead Sea scrolls show how lively the issues were.

When a prophet made a prediction in the name of the Lord and that prediction did not come true, the prophet was stoned to death. The failure of the prophecy demonstrated the false nature of the so-called prophet’s credentials. Since the people were to obey God’s prophet without question, to prophecy falsely was to usurp the place of God. Such an act was a sentence of death to the false prophet. There were a few tests that could be used to determine whether a prophet was speaking the word of God:

1. The true prophet does not seek to be a prophet. No prophet in the Bible wanted to be a prophet, but it was something that they did because they could not avoid God’s call.
2. The true prophet seeks neither self-promotion nor riches. Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian of leprosy by Elisha’s word in 2 Kings 5, but Elisha would not accept any payment or gift.
3. The message had to be given in the name of the Lord. The true prophet speaks God’s Word, not his or her own.
4. The true prophet’s words do not contradict what we already know about God from Scripture.
5. The prophecy must come to pass. Does the prophet lead others to be disciples of Jesus or of themselves? Does his or her preaching lead to repentance and transformation or to complacency and self-absorption?
6. Is the prophecy presumptuous? Does it misuse the Lord’s name?
7. Does the prophet use practices such as sacrificing children, sorcery, omens, witchcraft, the casting of spells, or consulting the dead?

Our humility about having the whole truth and our affirmation of God’s many voices does not eliminate the reality that some revelations are superior to others, some speakers more insightful and transparent to God, and that God may choose to be more present in some people than others.

The characteristic of false prophets is the failure of their predictions to always come true. Sometimes false prophets speak and it happens as they said, but they are representing false gods and trying to turn people from the true God. Other times false prophets are more subtle and identify with the true God but speak lies. If the prophecy was not fulfilled the people would know that the prophet had spoken presumptuously, and that God had not spoken. The people could also be assured that they need not fear the prophet and that the prophet would die for his arrogance.

What if the prediction doesn’t take place immediately? What if the fulfillment is based on the response of a human being? How do we figure it out? The key is to humbly obey God. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:2-3, “proclaim the message, be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itchy ears, they will accumulate for themselves to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.”

Even today, Christians should avoid making predictions about the future because the Bible says in Matthew 24:34-44, “No one knows.” If God’s people focus on mysteries they were never intended to unravel, they will neglect the Master’s ongoing work in this day and time. Those Satan cannot dissuade, he will distract. We can know the truth by avoiding the ways of the world, by listening to and obeying God’s messengers, and by testing the message of God’s prophets.

(An audio version of this message can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/episode/deuteronomy-18-verses-15-20-prophecy–58456393)

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 249)
2. Maxwell, J.C., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 5: Deuteronomy (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 217-219)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Kathryn M. Schifferdecker, “Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:15-20.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
6. Beth L. Tanner, “Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:15-20.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
7. Br. David Vyrhof, “A Prophet Like Moses.” Retrieved from www.ssje.org
8. “A Prophet That is False.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/gloriouslife
9. Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, 4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), January 28, 2024.” Retrieved from firstimpressions@lists.opsouth.org
10. Bruce Epperly, “The Adventurous Lectionary-Epiphany 4-January 28, 2024.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure
11. Barbara Bruneau, “God Pause for Monday, January 22, 2024.” Retrieved from communic@luthersem.edu
12. Dr. Kari Vo, “A Prophet Like Moses.” Retrieved from www.lhm.org
13. Dan Clendenin, “Test the Spirits.” Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net
14. Meg Jenista, “Commentary on Deuteronomy 18:15-20.” Retrieved from https://cepreaching.org/authors/meg-jenista/

(An audio version of this post can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/episode/genesis-15-verses-1-11-17-21-we-can-trust-god–58429879)

In Genesis 15:1-11,17-21, Abram wants to know who God is, and how God can be trusted, especially since there had been a delay between God’s promise of an heir for Abram and its fulfillment. In verse 1, the phrase “Do not be afraid” is heard. This is the first time this phrase has been recorded in the Bible. Fear comes when God’s people take their eyes off of the One who promises and begin to worry about the promise. Because Abram refused great wealth in Genesis 14:21-22 and did not have an heir, He needed to know that God was his shield and exceedingly great reward—his Protector and Provider.

Abram held God responsible for his lack of an heir, but Abram also had a level of faith to even register disappointment that God has not yet done what God said God would do. Questioning God is considered to be the opposite of faith, but it is through his questioning that Abram rises to a higher level of faith. Because of his question, God reinforced the promise using a means of “signing a contract” that was common in that day. Abram expected-and believed-that God would keep His Word, which is why Abram spoke in the way he spoke. The heart of the interaction between God and Abram is faith and trust. If Abram understands God to be righteous, to be one whose word is firm and secure, to be one who will make good on God’s promises, then Abram can believe. The same is true for us. Belief is hard enough when there is a delay between God’s promises and their fulfillment. It would be impossible if the God in whom we believe is not trustworthy, is not righteous.

One way to learn faith is to ask questions. Ignoring them or suppressing them actually deprives us of the opportunity to grow. We may never get an answer to all our questions, but when we allow our questions to come out into the open, we open our hearts to experience the awareness that God really is God, and that we entrust our lives into God’s loving care.

Even though Abram enjoyed a special relationship with God he was not exempt from the circumstances of life, and he was not immune to the reactions common to man. He was so upset by the events that led to his military expedition on behalf of his nephew, Lot, that God had to remind him of some of the great promises upon which their relationship was built. God’s promise that He would be Abram’s shield was appropriate in that it came after Abram showed that he did not want to form an alliance with the king of Sodom. Abram was asked to believe that his shield was a better idea than relying on the support and strength of the kings in the region.

Abram was childless, but for a man of extraordinary wealth, it was important to avoid dying without a plan for inheritance, which was the ancient culture’s mark of irresponsibility. Abram did what others in his situation would do: he adopted a servant, Eliezer, as his heir. This “quest for a son” underlies Abram’s entire story. Abram was worried that the promise that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him did not mean that he would be the father of a child. He confronted the fact that perhaps God was going to fulfill this promise through the perfectly acceptable practice of regarding a servant of a childless man as an heir. This was not what Abram had in mind and he said so in no uncertain terms. Abram’s faith was not without fear and uncertainty. It was not untouched by reservations and questions. Even though Abram did not see how God could fulfill His gracious promise to him regarding an heir, he trusted the Lord. He looked beyond what he could see to what God could see.

God helped Abram deal with his fears. God stimulated Abram’s faith through His word so that Abram would learn to trust the Lord for all that he (Abram) could not do for himself. God still proclaims His truth through His Word in order that men and women might believe Him and trust Him to be all that they could ever wish for in time and eternity. The promises made by God stimulated Abram’s faith, calmed his fears, and gave him a hope for the future. We should not easily forget that we are also children of Abram if we believe in the same Lord of the promises. In Christ we have much more to go on than Abram ever had.

Verse 6 sets the clear pattern traced throughout the Scriptures: a person is saved only and always by grace through faith, and nothing more. In other words, God applied the results of atonement to those who believed in the Law of Moses in Old Testament times. Those people were, in essence, saved on credit, waiting for that payment for sin to be made. Now that Jesus has made the payment, citizens on this side of Calvary need only look back and trust what Jesus did on the Cross.

God was not only the provider of the covenant with Abram; His character and unchanging presence were its promise. Still, Abram wanted a sign. More important than a sign, however, is an obedient will. Abram went from a present clarity to a future ignorance, from what he had to what he did not have. He went from the known to the unknown, from everything that was familiar to all things strange, He was a stranger in a strange land. Abram realized that everything he does now is for future generations. All of his actions, all of his life, all he would give from that moment on, would not have a lot to do with him, but would have everything to do with the future. Whatever he thought he was going to get out of it for himself-as great and famous as God would make him, and God’s plan of building a great nation through him-all that would be realized long after his death.

God used a familiar ancient custom-a covenant-to solemnly ratify His agreement with Abram. Verses 18-21 offer new details about the covenant God promised Abram in Genesis 12:2-3,7. The Lord gave this land to Abram’s descendants. The specific territory-about 300,000 square miles-covered far more area than the nation of Israel has ever occupied. But in the future kingdom, it will all be theirs.  God keeps His promises and rewards our obedient faith. When God promises to direct our paths, we can be confident that He will carefully lead us.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 20113; pp. 22-23)
2. Briscoe, D.S., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 1: Genesis (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 132-138)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2020; pp. 21-22)
6. Sara M. King, “Commentary on Genesis 15:1-6.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org.
7. The Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm, “Learning Faith.” Retrieved from www.thewakingdreamer.org.

(An audio version of this message can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/episode/1-samuel-3-verses-1-10-listening-for-gods-voice–58277665)

Had the wireless radio been on, they would have known the Titanic was sinking. The radio operator of another ship had tried to relay a message to the radio operator on the Titanic letting him know that they had encountered an ice field. But the Titanic’s radio operator was busy relaying passengers’ messages and rudely told the other radio operator to be quiet. The radio operator on the other ship turned off his radio and went to bed. Ten minutes later, the Titanic struck an iceberg. Their distress signals went largely unanswered because few other ships were listening.

First Samuel 3:1-10 focuses on listening for God and His varied movements within our lives. God always talks to us through insights, encounters, hunches, dreams, bursts of energy and inspirational thoughts. Our calling is to listen to the many voices of God that are often hidden in everyday experience, and then follow God’s guidance. These voices shape our encounters with God in our own unique ways.

This passage comes up regularly in some Sunday School classes where the teacher is urging the children to listen hard for God’s voice in their own lives. If that voice comes, the children are urged to respond as Samuel did in the temple. Samuel lived at a time when prophets rarely spoke to Israel. The passage begins with an interesting statement: “The word of the Lord was rare in those days.” The people did go on with the business of their religion. The Israelites’ hearts were hard, and the Lord knew they would not listen. The lack of a word from God was not so much connected with God’s reluctance to communicate with the people as with the lack of a human instrument to receive and speak the word of the Lord.

Most people don’t think of Samuel as a prophet because they associate the word “prophet” with predicting future events. While that was part of a prophet’s role, his main business was to speak God’s word to the people’s current situation.

Samuel did not yet know the Lord even though he had learned about Him his whole life. Knowing about God is not the same as having a personal relationship with Him. While most people think of the more dramatic revelations of God as normal, most people experience God’s guidance in quite ordinary ways: through positive and negative experiences, while reading Scripture, through the counsel of another, or out of a growing interest.

God’s call to Samuel came with greater intensity each time. This last time He called his name twice—a signal that this was a crucial moment. Other people whom God called by repeating their names include Abraham, Jacob, and Moses.

The most important aspect of Samuel’s call was the provision of Eli to help him interpret the call. Eli is much more tuned into Samuel’s spiritual experience than he was to Samuel’s mother. After all, Eli thought that Samuel’s mother was drunk when she asked God for a son. Eli could not see physically, but he did have good spiritual vision because he perceived that it was the Lord who had called Samuel. Eli told Samuel how to respond. Eli taught Samuel how to listen to God-and if we are going to be people of God, we must also learn how to recognize God’s efforts to speak to us.

Samuel’s call reminds us of the importance of spiritual mentoring. Many of us seek the services of professional spiritual directors, but we have to equip church members, youth leaders, and pastoral staff to be spiritual mentors. The church needs to be a laboratory for spiritual formation. Individual congregations or groups of congregations should offer classes in Christian meditation, prayer, and healing touch.

This passage refers to Eli’s failing eyesight. A priest who can’t see! No wonder the people had not heard anything from God. How could it be otherwise when Israel’s leadership was ineffective and corrupt? When religious leaders, of all people, are blind to sin, of course the word of the Lord will be rare and visions few. Religious leadership ideally combines receptivity and expertise. A capacity to hear and knowledge of what to say are necessary if God’s word is to be heard and visions to appear abundantly.

Servants like Samuel listen to their masters differently than others. Eli’s wise counsel is a good reminder that God can often use us to give better counsel to the children of others than we have been able to give to our own. God often supplies people like Eli at different times when we can’t discern God’s direction for our lives.

When have we missed something important? Not something like a cell phone call, but something deeper. When have we chosen to ignore instead of answering? When should we have done something but have been inactive? When should we have spoken up but have been silent? Most people who speak of their call do not describe a major disruption in their lives. There have been a few experiences like Paul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, but most calls are a slow, quiet awakening to something. It could be a calling to a particular church office, an injustice that needs to be addressed, or a task that needs attention.

God’s call to serve does not guarantee a perfect life. God’s words to Samuel were hard to hear and even harder to tell Eli. In the verses following this passage, we read that Samuel’s first act of his call was to tell God’s word to Eli and that word involved judgment against Eli’s sons. Eli is a good example of how not to be a parent. Contempt, arrogance, and disobedience marked Eli’s sons. Eli dealt with them poorly. These major factors contributed to the bleak spiritual climate during Samuel’s childhood. Like Samuel, Isaiah and Jeremiah, God’s call often involves working to change human systems that are broken, and that can lead us down difficult paths.

Are we ready to hear God’s voice? Don’t answer that question too quickly, because we might hear something that is not what we had in mind. Where are we most likely to hear God’s voice? It could be anywhere, but chances are it will likely be in the church, and that is because the church is the most likely place for getting the help we need in hearing and understanding. Samuel needed Eli’s help, and we need each other’s help today.

We are living in a time when many people seem unable to discern God’s voice from the noise of the world. People are starving to hear God, but they do not have ears to hear. They grew up in religious environments. They go to church every week. They have a head knowledge of God, but they do not recognize God’s voice in their lives. There comes a time when we must recognize God’s voice for ourselves. God does not want us to have a religion; He wants us to have a two-way relationship with Him. Samuel was never the same after His encounter with God, and we will never be the same after we encounter God.

If God were to speak to us, would we recognize God’s voice? Would we be listening close enough to hear a voice that we might connect with God? Should we even expect God to speak? To hear God’s call, we must be prepared to listen and see rightly. We must follow the truth wherever it leads-even when the truth hurts. We have to listen and speak prophetically. We have to challenge our own assumptions about God and faith so that we can find the sacred in unexpected and even disreputable places.

If we become submissive to God, we will begin to enjoy doing God’s will because the people will be blessed. With the light of God in us, like Samuel, we are called to invade a world in need of healing. We will make a difference in the world because we are called for a major purpose in the time we are living in.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 363)
2. Chafin, K.L., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 8: 1,2 Samuel (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1989; pp. 39-42)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: 2010; pp. 350-351)
6. Beth Tanner, “Commentary on 1 Samuel 3:1-21.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
7. “The Voice.” Retrieved from www.sermonsuite.com
8. “If God is Silent, Ask: Do You Have Ears to Hear?” Retrieve from info@cufi.org
9. Os Hillman, “Hearing God’s Voice.” Retrieved from tgif@maarketplaceleaders.org
10. Raul Ries, “A Submitted Life.” Retrieved from www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/somebody-loves-you-radio-w-raul-ries/
11. “1 Samuel 3:1-20.” Retrieved from communic@luthersem.edu
12. Glenn Packiam, “The Servant Hears.” Retrieved from donotreply@email.rbc.org
13. Debie Thomas, “What Do You See?” Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net

(An audio version of the post is available at https://www.spreaker.com/user/sermonsfrommyheart/galatians-4-verses-4-7-christ-and-the-sl)

A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma’s backyard, he saw her pet duck. On an impulse, he took aim and let it fly. The stone hit the duck, and the duck fell dead.

He panicked and hit the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s do the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck.” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.

Finally, after several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he killed the duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I just wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

The good news of Christmas is linked to Christ’s birth, and Christ’s birth is explained in Galatians 4:4-7. Figuratively speaking, God’s calendar had a day with a big star on it-when the time was right for Christ to be sent forth into this world. Jesus was born when Rome was conquering and ruling the known world. The Roman Empire built roads that connected cities, towns, and military bases. These roads allowed the Gospel of Salvation to be taken all over Europe. Travel was safer than it had been earlier, a mail system was in place, and a common language existed. There was open idolatry, spiritism, and demon worship. The religious establishment was almost completely corrupt. With the absence of war, many people were rediscovering art, literature, and philosophy, and they were asking questions. All of this was part of God’s perfect, divine plan.

It was always God’s plan for Christ to be born, live among us, die for our sins, and rise again. Revelation 13:8 calls Him “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This means that before there was a planet called Earth and a garden called Eden, before there was a couple known as Adam and Eve who ate of the forbidden fruit, God knew that humanity would blow it. He had a plan. His Son would come to earth and be born in a manger, live a perfect life, and die on the cross for the sins of the world.

When the exact religious, cultural, and political conditions demanded by His perfect plan were in place, Jesus came into the world. As a father set the time for the ceremony of his son coming of age and being released from the guardians, managers, and tutors, God sent His Son at the precise moment to bring all believers out from under bondage to the law.

Adoption in Roman society was very different from adoption today. When a flesh and blood son reached the age of maturity, he was “adopted” into his own family. Until that time, he was considered a child, and he was under the tutelage of a household slave. This slave was given the duty of supervising the life and morals of the boy or boys under his care. Boys could not even leave the house without their guardian before arriving at the age of manhood.

The Law of Moses played the role of this trusted servant to protect, discipline, and train the people, but it had one serious flaw. It had to be obeyed perfectly. If someone broke one law, he or she was considered to have broken all of the laws. The Law condemned people and gave them the sentence of death, just like Sally “condemned” Johnny to a form of slavery in the story I told earlier.

Jesus was born under the law so that He could fulfill every claim and demand of the law on our behalf. Like all people, Jesus was obligated to obey God’s Law. Unlike everyone else, He perfectly obeyed the law. His sinless nature made Him the perfect, unblemished sacrifice for sin. He perfectly obeyed God in everything. He fulfilled the moral law in His life and the ceremonial law in His death. Paul proclaimed that God operates in His own time and in His own way. Christ’s birth is the supreme event in God’s plan, the end toward which God has been moving. The love that reigned in God’s heart is behind the love that bled and died on the Cross.

The movement of God to accomplish our redemption is clear to Paul. The deliverance came in the form of Jesus Christ:

1. Jesus came from God and not from among men. He was the Son of God who had come from God to be the Redeemer of the world.
2. In order to be the Redeemer, Jesus entered the earthly scene. He became truly man, experiencing all the onslaughts of evil, all the temptations of the flesh, all the weaknesses of humanity, in order to stand beside us.
3. Jesus became our brother and could offer Himself as our representative. He was a son of Abraham, born under the law and shared the curse which the law imposed. By His crucifixion, He ransomed those under the law and became the Deliverer of all persons everywhere. Deliverance was from servitude of every sort-the bondage in which everyone finds themselves-into freedom as children of God.

In Paul’s day, some 60 million slaves lived in the Roman Empire. When someone bought a slave, the buyer could either own and use the slave or set the slave free. Before we respond in faith to Christ, while still under law, we are like slaves. It doesn’t matter that we are “master of all.” We are “under age” and the inheritance is not yet ours. Until we become of age, we are in bondage. We are in bondage to the present evil age, until that bondage is broken by grace and we are adopted as God’s children.

Even though God has established a great “trust” for us, we are still servants until we respond in faith to His promise. When God purchases or redeems people through Christ, He does so in order to set them free. Because we are not natural children of God, we can become sons and daughters only by divine adoption.

Although a human father cannot give his own nature to an adopted child, God can. The Holy Spirit, whom God places within us at the moment of salvation, confirms us as God’s children and stirs us to cry, “Abba! Father!”. It is the Bible’s greatest argument against legalism.

When we receive Christ, His Spirit takes up residence in the core of our being, giving us an internal power that we never had before and transforming our hearts from hateful and rebellious to loving and obedient. Our hearts control our words and actions.

When a person is saved, the law moves to the side and love moves to the centre. The believer is no longer enslaved to the harsh master of sin but becomes a mature son or daughter of God. The shift in a person’s essence from slave to son with full rights is immediate, although believers often do not understand it until later in their Christian experience.

When we receive a gift or a job promotion, or something good happens in our lives, it changes our behaviour in a positive way. When we have a relationship with Jesus, many things change for the better. We feel different about our time, our money, and our gifts. We realize that our time and money do not belong to us. It’s God’s time, God’s money, and God’s gifts that He is allowing us to be stewards of. We feel different about the Bible. We feel different about other believers, about ministers, and about our own lives. We even feel differently about people who don’t know Jesus yet. God is our Father in Heaven, and He wants to lead us in all of these areas. We can believe Him, we can trust Him, and we can experience His love in every situation. That changes everything.

It is a happy day when we move from slavery to sin and receive the Spirit of the Son of God and begin the free and glad life of sharing intimately with God the Father. We don’t come to Him begging and pleading like wayward derelicts who have to come to the back door for a handout. We come as children of God, knowing that we are welcome. We can accept ourselves, love and be loved, and feel worthwhile to ourselves and others. We are free to love ourselves and others and to know that we are worthwhile.

When we accept our sonship, we realize that we are not alone. We get strength from God and through the shared strength of the Christian community. This strength can work along with our weaknesses as we become vulnerable. In our sonship we become vulnerable to God, open and receptive to the coming of the Spirit. In the confidence of being loved and accepted by God, we can be vulnerable to others, open to the claims of our neighbours, and respond in sensitivity and care.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 1628)
2. Dunnam, M.D., & Ogilvie, L.J.,: T he Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 31: Galatians/Ephesians/Philippians/Colossians/Philemon (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982, pp. 77-83)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. H.B. Charles Jr., “The Good News of the Incarnation.” Retrieved from www.preaching.com/contributors/h-b-charles-jr/
6. Bayless Conley, “Enjoying the Fullness of Your Inheritance.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
7. Pastor David McGee, “Our Relationship Changes Everything.” Retrieved from www.crossthebridge.com
8. Pastor Raul Ries, “God Sent His Son.” Retrieved from www.SomebodyLovesYou.com
9. Dave Wyrtzen, “The Full Rights of an heir.” Retrieved from truthnote@gmail.com
10. Greg Laurie, “It Was Always God’s Plan.” Retrieved from greglaurie@harvestdirect.org
11. Greg Laurie, “It’s Time for Another Jesus Movement.” Retrieved from greglaurie@harvestdirect.org
12. “Living the Freedom Christ Has Given You.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
13. Greg Laurie, “No Time for God?” Retrieved from greglaurie@harvestdirect.org

An audio version of this post can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/user/sermonsfrommyheart/psalm-100-giving-thanks-to-god-the-king

How many of you know what a cornucopia is? It’s also sometimes called a horn of plenty. It is usually filled with many kinds of foods like apples, oranges, grapes, squash, and ears of corn. It is a symbol of an endless supply of food. Today it is usually made from a basket, but many years ago a goat’s horn was hollowed out and filled with food. We usually see it at Thanksgiving because it is a symbol of all the good things that we have to enjoy.

We have a lot to be thankful for. Who should we thank for all that we have? We should give thanks to God. The Bible tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from God. When someone gives us a gift, we say “Thank you.” When do you think we should say “thank you” to God? When do you think we should say “thank you” to God by worshipping Him?

Psalm 100 is a psalm of thanksgiving or giving grateful praise. Praise flows best from a grateful heart. That’s why it’s a good idea to do what the classic “Thanksgiving Hymn” suggests:

Count your many blessings,

Name them one by one.

Count your many blessings,

See what God has done.

Some believe that this psalm was the conclusion of six psalms used in worship when approaching the temple, and therefore sung when at last the congregation entered the temple proper. At times it also accompanied the thank offering. Worshippers would recite, sing, or chant this psalm as part of their praise. Through the psalm we are called into God’s presence based upon the revelation of who He is.

Today is Reign of Christ Sunday, also known as Christ the King Sunday. It is an affirmation that Christ and not our national interest, personal self-interest, or political leaders is to be our ultimate concern. Psalm 100 teaches us how and why to worship God as our King. Psalm 100 celebrates God’s loving presence. We are God’s beloved sheep, protected and nurtured by the good shepherd. Thanksgiving and praise are the only responses to divine providence and care. We can live joyfully because love rules the sun, stars, and humankind.

Worship should never be passive. The whole world is to shout before Him. God looks upon the heart. Beyond the action of the joyful shout, there must be a proper attitude. Thus the psalmist calls us to serve God with gladness.

Why worship God like this? The psalmist answers this question in verse 3:

1. “Know that the Lord, He is God.” In this affirmation the renunciation of all other gods is also implied. Since God is God, He is to be praised for who He is, not simply for what He has done. He is God, and that’s enough.
2. He is the creator. We are not autonomous. We are not self-sufficient. We are the creation and therefore dependent upon Him for everything.
3. Beyond creation stands redemption. Nations are included in this call given to us in Christ. Thus the Gentiles can join in confessing, “We are the sheep of His pasture.” The metaphor of the sheep assumes that God is the shepherd. We are His flock. God is the creator; we are His creations. God is the Father; we are His children. When we remember these basic truths, life goes a lot smoother for everyone. This picture is now fulfilled in Jesus, who presented Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down in His life for the sheep.

The word mercy is inevitably associated with redemption in Christ. Sinners are saved by His mercy. The phrase “His truth endures to all generations” pictures the generations being born and dying, one following after another, while the faithfulness of God remains constant. True biblical praise focuses on who God is. What He does is the result of who He is, but His worshippers often never get past what He does.

In verse 4, the scene shifts to the temple in Jerusalem, God is enthroned as King, living in His palace like any other monarch. Filled with joy, the worshipers ascend the Temple Mount. They come to God’s house with an attitude of gratitude. This is the same attitude we need to have when we come to God’s house. Gratitude now turns to blessing. God is the object of our worship. As He gives us His name, so He calls us by name into a relationship with Him.

Why should we worship God as our King? We are to praise God because He is good. The goodness of God is seen in His moral character and in His benevolence toward us. Second, we are to praise God because His mercy is everlasting. God has bound us to Himself in a covenant or compact that He will never revoke or abandon. In an attitude of gladness and in actions of shouting and singing, we are to come to Him. This is the worship that blesses God. In turn, this worship will bless us as well.

What is it about praise and thanksgiving that brings God and believers so close together? Praise melts our hearts so that we are no longer hardened by sin or disappointment. The Bible teaches that God is near to those who praise Him. While He never requires our praise, He certainly wants it because He knows that praise places us in a position to receive His blessings.

There are four things that every follower of God should aspire to do:

1. Worship God joyfully. God gave us the voices we have, and they are adequate enough instruments to make a joyful noise to Him. Even if we’re not emotional people, when God is with us, and if He is real to us, we will engage Him on some level of worship.
2. Serve God gladly. Spiritual maturity isn’t measured by glorious singing as much as by glad serving. If we are going to serve God at all, we have to do it with joy, not complaining or moaning. God loves a life that is lived cheerfully for Him.
3. Love God intelligently. Contrary to popular belief, our minds matter to God.
4. Thank God consistently. We are to thank Him because of who He is. He is good, merciful, and honest, and He deserves our worship.

If God’s presence makes us joyful, then serving Him should make us happy. Only when one takes no pleasure in God does serving Him seem like a chore and a burden. Gratitude escorts us into God’s presence. We will be amazed at what a little thankfulness with God will do. Showing gratitude reminds us of God’s character and nature. When He does something for us, that action becomes a window into His character.

Gratitude also helps us touch the heart of a merciful Father. Our society is triggered with injustice, but it is deeply disconnected from God’s mercy, so much so that we are in a very dangerous place. If we are not careful, we will enter an era of vigilante Christian justice. If we are not careful, we will lose sight of the cross.

Gratitude opens up God’s voice as His truth enters our spirit. When we touch God through gratitude, His truth fills our hearts, washing and empowering our souls. Gratitude also acts like a weapon against our enemies. When lies seek to steal our peace, move us out from the presence of God, rob us of the nature of our Father, and kill the work of His mercy in our lives, we have to fight back by using the weapon of gratitude.

Regardless of what we are facing, in the midst of all of it, may we remember again that God gives us the opportunity each and every day to give worship and thanks to Him. Every morning He gives us breath is His invitation to come joyfully into His Presence. He reminds us that He alone is God and we belong to Him. He assures us that His plans in our lives are for good, that his love covers us securely, and His faithfulness extends from generation to generation.

The only reason there is any good in the world is because God is the Creator of the world, and He is a good God. His goodness is in the universe. We can’t spell “good” without “God.” If there is no God, then there is no right and wrong or good and bad.

God wants us to think well of Him so that we may submit cheerfully to His authority. When we do so, we can remember the words of this Christmas carol:

Come on ring those bells,

Light the Christmas tree.

Jesus is the King,

Born for you and me.

Thankfulness invites blessing more than anything in the world. When we jump up and down and thank God for something as simple as a good day, we’re going to have more good days.

If we want to be close to God and come into His presence as we have been invited and commanded to do, we must be people of praise. God’s goodness to us is overwhelming. It is beyond our ability to fully comprehend, and no matter how grateful we are, we will never exhaust the list of things for which we are indebted to Him.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 772)
2. Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 14: Psalms 73-150 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1989; pp. 207-210)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010)
5. Ski Heitzig, “How Will You Live the Rest of Your Life?” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
6. Debbie McDaniel, “A Prayer for Thanksgiving Day.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswwalkmail.com
7. Alistair Begg, “Think Highly of Christ.” Retrieved from newsletters@truthforlife.org
8. Rick Warren, “What is God Really Like?” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
9. Dr. Paul Chappell, “The Path to God’s Presence.” Retrieved from daily@dailyintheword.org
10. Bobby Schuller, “Thankful and Blessed.” Retrieved from www.hourofpower.org
11. Michael Youssef, Ph.D.,” The Importance of Praise.” Retrieved from web@ltw.org
12. “Giving Thanks.” Retrieved from infor@keysforkids.org
13. Bruce Epperly, “The Adventurous Lectionary-Christ the King/Kin Sunday-November 26, 2023.” Retrieved from https://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/
14. Dr. Ed Young, “Count Your Blessings.” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org

(An audio version of this sermon can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/user/sermonsfrommyheart/ezra-1-verses-1-11-gods-sovereignty)

Ezra 1:1-11 begins “in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia.” This date should be identified with the first year he had authority over Babylon and Judah in 539 B.C. Cyrus ruled only a small region of the Median Empire (in modern Iran) until 550 B.C. when he took control of the larger empire, later known as the Persian Empire. Under his effective leadership the Median empire expanded in all directions.

Seventy years earlier Israel was conquered by the Babylonians and the people were taken into slavery. Politically, a powerful nation conquered a weaker nation. The prophets and pious Jews interpreted the disaster from a different perspective. The people were unfaithful to God and God gave them over to their enemies. Isaiah interpreted this as a consequence of Israel’s failure to keep the faith.

Cyrus waited for several years before moving against Babylon, which is in modern Iraq. In 539 B.C., life in Babylon was so terrible and the king of Babylon was so intensely hated that when Cyrus entered the city to capture it, no one opposed him. From that point onward, the Persian Empire included all of what we now know as Syria and Israel, in addition to Iran.

Rather than tyrannize his subjects as the Babylonian rulers had done, Cyrus sought good for the people under his reign. Considering the inhabitants of Babylon Cyrus said, “I brought relief to their dilapidated housing, putting an end to their complaints.” Moreover, Cyrus sought to reestablish religions devasted by Babylon, and he highly regarded sacred cities such as Jerusalem (which, however, Cyrus did not mention by name).

In 539 BC, after 70 years in Babylon, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem. It must have seemed impossible to the faithful that God would first use a pagan king to punish the people and then use another pagan king to save them and restore them to their homeland.

King Cyrus’ decree that the Jews should rebuild the temple fulfilled the prophecies from the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah. Although Ezra does not say why Cyrus released the captives to their homeland, the prophet Daniel served in Cyrus’ court. Perhaps Daniel influenced the king’s decision. Throughout the Book of Ezra, God not only stirred others to act favourably toward Israel, but He prompted and encouraged Israel’s leaders. Here, He moved their spirits to go and build the temple in Jerusalem and surrounded them with support.

Why did Cyrus allow the Jews to return to Israel? He may have done so to rally popular support for his regime, but it is interesting to note what he wrote about his respect for the gods: “May all the gods whom I have resettled in their sacred cities ask daily…for a long life for me and may they recommend me (to him); …to my lord…” Cyrus seems to have believed that by returning idols to former locations he had in fact returned the gods themselves. In other words, he sought to gain divine favour by restoring indigenous religions and peoples, just like churches that ran residential schools are trying to restore relationships with indigenous peoples throughout the world today.

Cyrus’ actions were part of prophecies  by the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah. In Jeremiah 25:11-12, Jeremiah prophesied the downfall of Jerusalem and the restoration of Judah: “And this whole land {Judah} shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, says the Lord.”

Rather than comprehensively listing all 5,400 articles of gold and silver, verses 9-11 catalog only the most valuable articles that were brought back from Babylon. The articles of the house of the Lord included the priestly hardware taken from the temple by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar. God preserved these items from destruction during the exile and provided for their return to the Israelites.

In Ezra 1:2-4, Cyrus ordered the rebuilding of Jerusalem and allowed displaced Judeans to return there. In addition, he encouraged those Jews who did not return to offer financial support to those who did. These aspects of the decree fit precisely with what we already know about Cyrus from his own memoirs.

The decree makes Cyrus sound as if he were a “closet Jew.” We know that he recognized every regional god and their limited authority. Unlike Ezra and Nehemiah, he did not affirm the ultimate sovereignty of the one true God, the Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nevertheless, this one God chose and used Cyrus to accomplish His purposes. Through Cyrus, the Persian “messiah,” God began to restore Judah.

Who is in charge here? Who is in charge of the world? Ezra 1 answers these questions simply and repeatedly: God is in charge. Ezra 1:1-11 illustrates God’s sovereignty over His people-indeed, over all peoples, and over all of human history. It provokes us to reflect on the scope, security, and scandal of God’s sovereignty. God is described as having the power to move a king who himself claimed to be “king of the world, great king,…king of the four rims (of the earth).” God also moved in the spirits of the Jews who decided to return to Jerusalem. Finally, Ezra and Nehemiah implied that the Lord brought the people up from Babylon to Judah, just like He brought the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

Just as God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to act on behalf of His people, so also can He act in the hearts of those in authority over us to act for our benefit. He is sovereign, and He acts in response to prayer. God not only moves the spirits of unbelievers such as Cyrus to act in certain ways, but He also moves the spirits of His people to particular actions. To walk in the Spirit is to obey the initial promptings of the Spirit.

God holds sway over all of human history. Human hearts and political processes also stand under the sovereign rule of God. God’s reign is not limited to His own people-He can raise up even a foreign king to fulfill His prophecies. God’s sovereignty does not obliterate human freedom and responsibility. Human beings can and do act contrary to God’s will and will be held accountable for their wrong choices. As we take the fullness of God’s sovereignty seriously, our ways of thinking and acting will change. We will begin to see our secular jobs and spiritual turf as places where God’s standards still apply. We will also think differently about national affairs, such as prayer in schools, poverty, racism, health care, and education. God’s rule extends to every aspect of life, so we can feel secure.

If God is sovereign over everything, then why are things so bad? Why does God allow bad things to happen, especially to good people? Why does God not act when things are bad? Scripture does not solve the problem of God’s inaction or soothe the scandal of God’s sovereignty. In fact, rather than downplaying this scandal, the Bible teaches us to live in the tension by confessing God’s sovereignty in a world full of pain. The Scriptures encourage us to wrestle with God, to cry out in our frustration.

We live in an increasingly heathen and hostile world, and we are seeing governments take steps to limit religious freedom and to promote perversion. The problem is real, but it is not a problem we can fix by going on protest marches or voting. As Christians we have a responsibility to be good citizens of the world, and to be involved in the process by which decisions are made. The ultimate power-the power no human ruler or government can resist-is the power of God. When we face issues, our first response should be to seek His face.

When we struggle with God’s slowness to deliver us, we need to worship Him, to proclaim who He is, and to remember His grace in times past. We join our broken world in groaning while we wait for God to set all things right again. We know that in the meantime, regardless of how dire our situation is, in the words of Romans 8:39, nothing in all the universe “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 606)
2. Roberts, M. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol 11: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1993; pp. 38-51)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Dr. Paul Chappell, “The King’s Heart.” Retrieved from daily@dailyintheword.org
6. Jude Siciliano, O.P., “First Impressions, 29^th Sunday (A), October 22, 2023.” Retrieved from firstimpressions@lists.opsouth.org

(An audio version of this sermon can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/user/sermonsfrommyheart/exodus-33-verses-12-23-the-presence-of-g)

The events in Exodus 33:12-23 occurred just after Moses discovered that while he was talking with God on Mount Sinai, the Israelites built a golden calf and were worshipping it. They wanted a god that they could see in person. They did not want a god that was with them in spirit. When Moses saw what they did, he became so angry that he broke the two tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments.

What happened to Moses? He forgot three very important things:

1. The promise of God’s presence.
2. God’s plan for His life.
3. God’s power to deliver whatever Moses and the people needed.

When we become angry or depressed, we should remember that God is with us. He has unique plans and purposes for our lives, and He has the power to provide everything we need to fulfill those plans and purposes.

When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what happened, he recognized that the spiritual foundation of the people and the leadership of Aaron were not grounded enough for Moses to have an extended absence. God’s presence had left the people. Having God’s presence return was the only way they could proceed and have success.

In response to the golden calf, God decided not to be with the Israelites. He planned on sending an angel to accompany them. He did not want to go with them because He might consume them with His wrath. Moses pleaded with God to change His mind. Moses understood that without God’s presence they would not be a people set apart from other nations, so why travel any further? Moses’ favoured standing before God comes out in the positive response to his intercession. God told Moses that He would be present among them because He was pleased with them.

If we are to be effective in anything we do for God, He must be in the midst of it. Unless God’s power is seen among us, we will be just another person who has religion. Unless we show His life to others, they will see only good behaviour that is easily counterfeited by moral people. Moving out in presumption will end in failure and frustration.

Moses was in the business of nation-building. He wanted to create a nation that was guided by divine principles, but in the wilderness, he had no clarity about where he was going. He wanted God’s assurance that that He (God) would be with the people on their journey to the promised land.

Moses came to a point of boldness. God answered his petitions. God relented of His anger against His people. He renewed His covenant with the people to take them to the Promised Land, and to also go with them. Moses was at a new place. All along, he was willing to go on the promise God gave him at the burning bush. Something had happened. The people worshipping the golden calf, God’s anger against them, and God’s refusal to allow Moses to make atonement created a new situation. Moses felt that he needed to know more of what God was like if he was going to continue to lead people who sinned.

Moses saw God’s astounding acts during the Exodus, but now he wanted to see more-God’s glory. God granted this bold request, passing His goodness before Moses and proclaiming His own name-the expression of His character. The Lord speaks of His manner as being gracious and showing compassion, words Paul used in Romans 9:15-18.

Sometimes people put unreasonable expectations on God. We expect things that He never promised and then get frustrated when we don’t have them right now. God does not give us everything that we want. He gives us what we need. God knew that Moses’ request reflected a real need. The people did need His presence for their mission, so God said He would do it. He provided for their needs.

God revealed His glory to Moses, but it is more than we as humans can handle. We have to shield our eyes, minds, and spirits in the presence of God, just like we have to shield our eyes when we look at an eclipse. We can only see part of God. We can’t limit God’s revelation to what we have experienced. God is more than we can contain or understand.

Although God did go with the Israelites, and He does go with His people today, He is still holy, separate from us and unapproachable. He is holy and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Jesus provided us with a mediator between us and God.  When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn in two. We are welcome into God’s presence, any day and at any time. The barrier of sin is down. No more curtain.

God’s presence does give us rest, but there are times when His presence disturbs us. It can reveal our sinfulness. It reveals our failure to be who God wants us to be. How often in prayer are we visited by the presence of God and find ourselves keenly aware of our failure in discipleship?

There were limits to what Moses would see, for no one can look upon the Lord and live. God placed Moses in a cleft in the rock, and He then caused His glory to pass by. The glory of God refers to the sheer weight of the reality of His presence. It means seeing God without veiling. Seeing His face would be more glory than even Moses could handle. The presence of God would come near Moses in spatial terms.

God is not limited, but we are. No one could know all about God-not even Moses. God is Spirit-with no physical features whatsoever-so the use of the imagery of His face and His back is simply a means to help humans understand what cannot be understood otherwise. Moses’ passing view of the Lord’s back was still more than ever had been seen-until Jesus, in whom the transcendent God was revealed in human flesh. Even though God has revealed Himself fully in Jesus, there is the sense in which God remains hidden.

Moses’ glimpse of God answers the question of the ages: Who is God, and what is God like? It was left for Jesus to become the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and bounding in goodness in truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression for sin. It was left for Jesus to become the Incarnation of these words so people might forever believe that what God said He was, He was.

Moses got more than a glimpse. He had heard God’s word, and in the depth of his soul, he knew what the apostle John knew centuries later after being taught by Christ: God is love. We will never know all God is, and whenever some fresh insight and meaning comes to us, like they did for Moses on the mountainside, hopefully we will bow our heads in humility and awe and worship.

As children of God, we have received His unmerited and unending favour. As we get to know Him better through such things as prayer, fasting, and study of His Word, He extends us even more favour. God consistently reveals Himself as a God of grace and compassion-something that greatly comforts us during difficult times or when we make mistakes. This is a promise we can always count on.

The holiness of God is God’s inward character of perfect goodness. One of the primary meanings of the tabernacle is its reflection of a holy God, a God set apart, unique, utterly unstained by the sin of the world. God specified rules of cleanliness for those who worshipped there because in every possible way people were to be clean, set apart, holy as they entered the place where the holy God actually lived. As perfect goodness, God’s purpose is to produce that goodness in us. He takes sides against sin, against all badness, against all evil, against our not being that holy people He called us to be.

God wants to us see Him with spiritual eyes. He wants us to fix our eyes on Him so that our decisions and choices may be pleasing in His sight. We have already found grace because we know Jesus, but we also need to live a life that is pleasing in His sight.

God wants to meet with us and go with us into the unknown. God created us in His own image because He wanted a relationship with us from the beginning. If we look throughout the Bible, we see that God’s desire has always been to dwell with His people. God draws His people to a deeper closeness with Him.

Life is full of choices and all the decisions we have to make. Which way do I go, when do I go, how do I get there? There is one question that we need to keep in mind: Do we go by ourselves or with God? Jesus said to the disciples in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always.” He is in every move we make, and He sent the Holy Spirit to help us make the right decisions. We can either listen to Him or ignore Him.

We are encouraged to be like Moses. No matter how much of Jesus we have already experienced, we are encouraged to live from a place of wanting more. When we elevate our desire for His glorious presence above everything else, everything we are concerned about will find a new source of inspiration and power in Him.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 118)
2. Dunnam, M.D., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 2: Exodus (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 340-347)
3. Stanley, C.F: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. “In Your Sight.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
6. Pete Briscoe, “The God Paradox.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
7. Pete Briscoe, “Your Perfect Provision, NOW.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
8. Max Lucado, “No More Curtain.” Retrieved from www.maxlucado.com
9. Mike Slay, “Loving God.” Retrieved from noreply@ailbe.org.
10. Dr. Ed Young, “Anger and Depression.” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org.
11. Os Hillman, “Unless the Lord Goes With Us.” Retrieved from tgif@markeetplaceleaders.org
12. Jill Southern, “Knowing the Presence of God.” Retrieved from  info@seedsofthekingdom.net
13. Ron Scurfield, “If You Don’t Come With Me I’m Not Going.” Retrieved from info@seedsofthekingdom.net
14. Bruce Epperly, “The Adventurous Lectionary-Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost-October 22, 2023.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/author/BruceEpperly/

Have you ever noticed that sometimes people have short memories? We see a good example of this in Exodus 16:2-15. Gone from Egypt for only a month, the people accused Moses and Aaron of deliberately leading them into the wilderness to kill them. They forgot the parting of the Red Sea. They had struck their timbrels and sung their lyrics of praise there in their triumph over Pharoah as they looked back and saw his army drowned on the seashore-but now, they were hungry. They could not believe that God could satisfy their hunger even after He delivered them from the hands of death. The need for bread in this early stage of the journey out of Egypt provides both God and God’s people with an opportunity to understand and trust each other.

The lack of faith has a short memory, and discontent changes our perspective. The Israelites longed for the good food they enjoyed in Egypt. They could remember the security of food, shelter, and clothing, but they conveniently forgot one thing-the affliction of slavery. They complained all the time, their faith was shallow, their trust was superficial, they were selfish, their stomachs prevailed over their minds and hearts.

We are the same. How many of us long for “the good old days?” How many of us often claim that things were better in the past? Most of you know that I have recently moved to a new apartment. I still think about my old apartment. While I moved out of my mother’s house several years ago, I often remember what things were like when I lived there. The present often seems worse than the past. We often romanticize “the good old days” and think of them as better than now, especially in the church. When churches deal with declining membership and people’s apathy towards the Christian faith, they often think back to when everyone just went to church because it was “what you did.” We assume that this was better. Maybe it was better, maybe not. The main reason why we romanticize the past is that we know we can get through the past whereas the present and future are still undecided.

It’s easy to blame our problems on others like the Hebrews blamed their hunger on Moses and Aaron. That’s the same thing we do whenever we grumble and complain. This is a picture of human nature. When the Hebrews were in Egypt, they longed for freedom and were willing to give up everything to get it. When they were free, they were ready to face oppression if it meant that their stomachs would be filled. They must have been shocked when God led them with a cloud by day and a fire by night. They might have even trembled in their souls. Here the heart of God was revealed. It came in the sweet gentleness of God. In order that they would know that He is the Lord, He performed the miracle of manna.

It’s easy to criticize the Israelites for their lack of faith, but how often do we react in the same way when faced with problems in life? Too often we do what they did: argue and grumble. In reality, the problem is that we don’t trust God. Although God has never promised to remove obstacles from our path. He has promised to be with us through whatever we encounter in life.

For them to survive without food from any natural source required the Lord to do only what He could do: for five days each week, He delivered daily portions of bread from heaven for each individual; on the sixth day, there was a double provision; and on the seventh, there was none. What anyone needs to get through the “wilderness” of their lives is not available except from God Himself.

Moses showed that that peoples’ complaints, leveled at their human leaders, were actually against the Lord. This is true anytime a child of God complains. The people had experienced the word of the Lord and had been under the word of the Lord; now they were to experience the wonder of the Lord. The revelation of His glory in the cloud was designed to instill confidence and to compel faithfulness.

The meal of quail was a miracle, but the manna was the greater surprise. The word manna comes from the question the Hebrews people asked that first morning: “What is it?”  Manna would be their food for the next 40 years, until the new generation entered the Promised Land. The amount of food the Lord provided was staggering: one day’s “delivery” for more than 2 million people for nearly 40 years!

The manna became a test. It was delivered daily, and only enough for the day’s needs could be gathered. Any that was left over became full of worms. The only exception was the day before the Sabbath, when enough could be gathered for two days. The lesson here is that God’s provisions are fresh every day. Jesus said the same thing when He taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Of course the people did not obey, and their lack of obedience tested the patience of both Moses and God. Their disobedience was not only stubbornness: they did not know God enough to trust God. This problem was foreshadowed by their song pf praise when the Egyptian army drowned. They acknowledged that the Lord is a God like no other, but they did not fully understand who the Lord is, or what God is able to do. Even if they remembered that God is their deliverer, they have not yet experienced again and again that God is also their provider.

The manna as a test teaches us about habitual dependence. God could have provided it once and given the Israelites everything they needed for their wilderness wandering, but He didn’t. He gave them only enough for the day. Every demand God makes of us is a test of faith. When God asks us to do something that stretches us, we have to decide: Are we going to trust a gut feeling that says it’s just too much for us to handle, or are we going to trust what God says is the right thing to do? God often asks us to do the impossible so we’re forced to depend on Him.

There are some things that can’t be stored up for tomorrow. Yesterday’s manna can’t be used as food for today. It can’t be hoarded. It is there in the morning, and we can use it until evening, but tomorrow we’ll have to gather it again. There is no laying in of a supply, then sleeping late the rest of the week. Some things are a daily affair. When we come to Christian experience, yesterday’s manna won’t keep. Faith can’t coast. It’s a daily thing.

The manna speaks God’s eternal word. The God who sent manna sends our daily bread and we are dependent upon Him. That daily bread can’t be stored up and hoarded. It is fresh every morning, but equally deep in the meaning of this truth is the explanation Jesus gave in His wilderness hunger in Matthew 4:4: “It is written ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.’”

The manna from heaven is a vivid picture of Jesus Christ, who is “the bread that came down from heaven.”

1. The sweetness. Manna was sweet to the taste. It was described in Numbers 16:31 as wafers with honey. Jesus Christ is sweet.
2. The life. Manna was essential for life. If the people did not eat it, they would die. Jesus is essential to life. There is no life apart from Him.
3. The longing. Manna whetted the appetite for more. It was designed to satisfy and sustain until the people arrived in the Promised Land, that long awaited land that flowed with milk and honey. Jesus is sweet and wonderful, but knowing Christ in this life just whets the appetite for what lies ahead.

God wants to give us good gifts, but He does so in order to be better known and loved. When we begin to desire the gifts more than the giver of the gift, it may be time for us to be led out into the barren terrain of the wilderness. The character of God’s people is hammered out on the anvil of this fierce landscape.

God often tests us by giving us specific instructions to follow. He wants to know whether we’ll obey Him in faith, or just do things the way we always have. We need to remember that because the Lord has our best in mind, He is always trustworthy.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013, pp. 95-96)
2. Dunnam, M., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 2: Exodus (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 175-189)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010)
6. Callie Plunket-Brewton, “Commentary on Exodus 16:2-15.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
7. Sara M. Koenig, “Commentary on Exodus 16:2-4,9-15.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
8. Rick Warren, “When God Tests You, He’s Stretching You.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
9. Dr. David Jeremiah, “New Year’s Resolutions-Resolve to Complain Less.” Retrieved from www.DavidJeremiah.org
10. Pastor Jeff Schreve, “Got Manna?” Retrieved from www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/fromhisheart/

In 1 Kings 3:16-28, we see an illustration of the supernatural wisdom with which King Solomon was blessed. In Israel, the king was the ultimate “judge” of the land, and any citizen, even the basest prostitute, could petition him for a verdict.

Solomon carefully lived by God’s rules at the start of his reign, and God gave him success. Solomon asked God for wisdom, and with it, God gave him economic prosperity and fame. God expects everyone to use their gifts to do His will. When they do, everyone else benefits.

Two prostitutes who were roommates approached him with a delicate and complicated legal problem: namely, the true identity of a newborn baby. Both women claimed the baby as theirs. One woman accused the other of intentionally switching her dead baby for the live one, and the other countered that the first woman was lying and that the living baby belonged to the second woman.

In ordering his servants to cut the child in two, he knew the liar would not object, but out of maternal compassion the real mother would. Solomon, now tested, solved the dispute by appealing to maternal instincts and human compassion, knowing that the real mother would rather give her child to another than watch him die. The people’s response to Solomon’s judgment further proved that wisdom of God was on Solomon; this was an unusual, supernaturally supplied gift. The people feared Solomon because he operated with the wisdom of God, and they knew that they could not fool him or make false accusations against someone.

There is a similar situation in our modern democracy. Democracy is a give-and-take enterprise. Every eligible citizen has a vote and a voice, but none of us get everything we want in any given contest. In all our disagreements, we must be mindful to know what we might forfeit with wanton hostility. Winning our claims at the cost of losing democracy is a loss for everyone-because democracy gives even the losers a chance to live to fight another day.

Solomon had confidence in the wisdom bestowed upon him by God. He must have known no other power could enable him to make better decisions than by his using God’s gift. He was truly blessed to be wise. Solomon was probably the second wisest person to ever walk the face of the earth-the wisest person being Jesus. The wisdom that can only come from God is a tremendous thing to possess. Sometimes it is hard to make the right choice. Godly wisdom directs us in the way God desires. There are many gifts one can receive from God. Wisdom is definitely one that will help guide our way through life.

It’s apparent when we meet someone who possess wisdom. They are quick to listen, and when they speak, it’s with words of truth that can only come from being in tune with God. We should follow Solomon’s example and simply ask God for the gift of wisdom. The Bible says He gives it to anyone who asks without judgment. If we ask for wisdom, we will be counted among the wise.

Wisdom is necessary as we decide what’s fair and moral, right and wrong. If we truly value wisdom, we can ask God for a discerning heart, like Solomon did. God may answer our request by helping us balance our needs and desires with the interests of others. He may also help us weigh short-term benefits against long-term (sometimes eternal) gains so we can honour Him in how we live. Our God is not only a perfectly wise judge, but He is also a personal counselor who is willing to give us godly wisdom in great amounts.

There is a lesson here for all relationships. We must not let our love for someone else stifle that person’s life and spiritual growth by holding that person too close to ourselves. Genuine love is willing to give up the beloved. Acting in love often requires self-sacrifice. As one of my former girlfriends once told me, true love means caring for someone else more than you care for yourself. If we strive to be free of impure motives in our dealings with others, we will honour God and receive the reward of His pleasure.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p.446)
2. Dilday, R., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 9:1,2 Kings (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 65-67)
3. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
4. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010)
5. Kenneth Samuel, “Keep the Child Alive.” Retrieved from dailydevotional@ucc.org
6. Jennifer Benson Schuldt, “Wisdom’s Source.” Retrieved from donotreply@email.rbc.org
7. “Jane Austen Devotional.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com