Grains of Sand

shoutitforlife.com (Google Images) It was one of those details that I had never noticed before. Hezekiah is king in Judah. Determined to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and to bring his people back to God, he repairs the temple, gives order for the priests and Levites to consecrate themselves and then leads them in consecrating the temple and restoring the worship of God once more (2 Chronicles 29). Chapter 30 describes the next stage of Hezekiah’s spiritual reforms. We know that at this stage of history Israel and Judah are separate nations, often enemies. Israel, the northern kingdom, was prone to idol-worship. While Judah sometimes slipped into the same sin, her kings tended to be more given to following God and maintaining the nation’s connection with Him. Hezekiah’s actions in restoring the worship of God after one of these “slips” is interesting. “ They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrat...

Google Images There is a story in the book of Judges that describes the choosing of a spiritual leader. These were dark days for the Israelites. Everyone did whatever they chose to do. Judges 17 recounts the story of a man by the name of Micah apparently stole or “borrowed” money from his mother. When he confessed that he had stolen it, she gave it back to him and told him to make an idol with it. Micah set up a worship centre in his house, made a few more idols and appointed one of his sons as priest. Apparently that wasn’t sufficient because a wandering Levite came to his home, and when Micah realized that he was a Levite, one of tribe chosen by God to look after the things consecrated to the service of the Lord, Micah figured there was not much better than “the real deal.” The Levite was looking for someplace to live and Micah offered him a job. “ Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food…Then Micah insta...

Google Images The deed had been done.  Jesus had been turned over to the authorities. It is assumed that Judas expected the Lord, when faced with the threat of arrest and execution, to call down those legions of angels, to establish that earthly kingdom. Things didn’t turn out at all as Judas expected them to. Jesus allowed Himself to be taken away and did nothing when the authorities condemned Him to die. Judas was devastated and tried to undo what had been done but it was too late. “‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘For I have betrayed innocent blood.’ ‘What is that to us?’ they replied. ‘That’s your responsibility’” (Matthew 27:4). A little later, Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate was reluctant to condemn Jesus, but according to the law he was the only one who could pronounce the death sentence. He tried to evade the responsibility by giving the people a choice: Free Jesus or free Barabbas, a known criminal. By this time the crowds had been so fired ...

Google Images Most of us loved to be stroked. We appreciate people who agree with our opinions, do what we ask of them, and don’t challenge us. When faced by some real or imaginary threat, we follow the old western model and “circle the wagons” with the “good guys” (the ones who stroke us) gathered around us ready to repel the “bad guys” (the ones who challenge us). It’s not a good plan, certainly not a Biblical one. And in spiritual leaders it’s a heinous crime, an affront to all that Jesus taught. Paul, preaching to the believers in Ephesus, remarked: “ Keep watch over yourselves and all of the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood ” (Acts 20:28, NIV). He then goes on to say that it is the wolves who come in and destroy the sheep, and distort the truth (20:29). But it is Paul’s statement in verse 28 that needs to be etched in the minds and on the hearts of all those who would call themselves ov...

Kids Sunday School Place — Google Images The writer of Chronicles takes three chapters to describe the reign of Rehoboam, who succeeded Solomon as king. He starts out badly. We might think it was a rookie mistake, something a young man without experience might do. But Rehoboam was forty-one when he became king (12:13) so he was no kid when he chose to listen to his buddies instead of the wiseer, older heads who had advised him to be nice to his people if he expected them to serve him. Rehoboam also ended badly, leading his people into idolatry. Though he humbled himself before the Lord and avoided total destruction, his reign was described this way: " He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord " (12:14, NIV). In the middle of the story there is a bright spot, no doubt a part to which the writer refers when he says: " Indeed, there was some good in Judah " in 2 Chronicles 12:12 (NIV). It seems that things in the northern kingdom of Israel we...

Reading: Titus 1 Paul had left Titus with a daunting task.   The older apostle’s “ true son ” in the faith (1:4) had been assigned the job of appointing elders for all the towns that had been reached with the Gospel on the island of Crete. The trouble was, the Cretans didn’t have very good reputations (1:12) and that, unhappily, included some of those who claimed to be believers. The elders that Titus was looking for would be responsible for guiding the young churches and keeping heresy at bay—and it seems there was a lot of that going around that one little island! Choosing men of integrity was vital. The heresy and the hypocrisy would be challenges to Titus both in facing opposition to the Truth and in choosing men who met the standards for church leadership. From among those who had been, as Paul described it, “ liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons, ” Titus had to find men who had been so transformed by the Spirit of God that they were now considered “blameless” by thos...

“ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays, I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, I will shepherd the flock with justice ” —Ezekiel 34:16, NIV. One of the complaints that God had against His people was directed toward those who were the spiritual leaders of the community. They had failed to care for those for whom they were responsible. Their concern had been only for themselves and their own agenda. As a result the flock had gone astray. God pronounced judgment on them and announced that He would personally be their Shepherd and look after them as He had expected that His appointed shepherds would. The sheep themselves would not escape notice for among them were those who needed to be corrected as well. They had also had a hand in leading the others astray. To be the spiritual leaders of God’s people is a fearsome responsibility. Jesus rebuked the spiritual leaders of His day in the strongest terms for lea...

“ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’ ” —Isaiah 30:21, NIV. By itself this verse is a wonderful word of encouragement. But to ignore the its context is like picking the carrots out of the stew and ignoring the rest of the ingredients as well as to miss an important detail in the message. Isaiah speaks to a nation about God’s heart for His people; what God has for them after they come to their senses and after they have suffered the consequences of their rebellion against Him. For those who see the God of the Old Testament as an angry and vindictive One, these verses are a rebuke as well as a lesson about the nature of God. “ Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice, Blessed are all who wait for him! O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he he...

I'm working furiously on the course on the Book of Romans that I will be teaching in the fall. I don't mean to be sloppy but time constraints press upon me and I hurry to get as much done over the summer as I can. I read over my last chapter of work yesterday and wasn't entirely pleased about the flow of the material. Part of me whispered: "Let it go, you don't have time to go back and tweek." Another part of me delivered an entirely different message. I don't doubt the theology part, but how it's explained is a little rough. It'll do. So I quiet that other voice that says it won't do at all. This morning as I was reading in Jeremiah I came to the passage where Jeremiah rebukes the prophets and priests for telling lies, for altering the truth to suit their fancy, for not delivering the message the people really needed to hear but "tickling their ears" with what they wanted to hear. God's prophet doesn't skimp on the details:...

It could be this new opportunity for ministry that made me more sensitive to this blessing that Moses pronounced on the tribe of Levi in Deuteronomy 33. The leader of Israel is coming to the end of his earthly days. He has brought God's people to the edge of the Promised Land. He will not cross over with them. His duty is done and it is time to take that final journey. But before he climbs the mountain to take a long, last look at the fulfillment of God's promise to Israel, he blesses each of the tribes that have been such a joy and a sorrow to him over the many years since he led them out of captivity in Egypt. This is what Moses prays for the tribe of Levi, to the priestly tribe, to the spiritual leaders whose task it is to guide Israel in the ways of God. " About Levi he said: 'Your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored. You tested him at Masah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah. He said of his father and mother, 'I have no regard for them...