Chapter 2 - The First Rejection of the King (Part 2 of 6)

God Wants His People to be Different

God wants a holy people. A people set apart unto Himself. A people who live differently from those around them. Distinctly different. The Apostle Paul understood this, when he so eloquently stated in Romans 12:1-2 (ASV): 

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. And be not fashioned according to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Paul understood sacrifice. He knew that in this New Testament era, with Jesus being the “once and for all sacrifice for sin” (cf. Hebrews 10:1-18) and using this imagery of sacrifice, his readers would understand too. They were to be “living sacrifices.” This change of heart and mind would be seen as an act of “service.” That word (latreian in the Greek) can also be translated “worship.” For in God’s Kingdom, service and worship flow from the same heart and look very similar. It is sometimes referred to as “sacred service,” and is illustrated in the service a priest renders in the Temple before God. The imagery is clear. We, as a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), are to present our bodies as “living sacrifices” unto Holy God. That is our act of worship. That is our service unto Him.

Set apart unto God. Different from those around us. Holy.

These “living sacrifices” of the New Covenant are to be like the sacrifices of the Old Covenant in concept. They are not to conform to the patterns of this world. They are not to look like their pagan counterparts. They are not to act like them, smell like them, nor have any blemishes. The “living sacrifice”—i.e., our very lives—are to be wholly unlike the pagan ritual sacrifices of their pagan neighbors. Hence, Paul’s admonition to no longer conform to how the world operates.

Instead, his readers in—of all places, Rome—were to have their minds renewed. In other words, they had to unlearn how they had been taught to live as “good little Roman citizens,” and instead, they had to relearn or renew their minds with God’s Kingdom way of living. Why? So they could begin to understand what God’s will for mankind has always been throughout the Old and New Covenants.

Know Thy Enemy

The Accuser, on the other hand, has been working feverishly to muddy these waters since the Garden in Genesis 3. Every chance he gets, he lures and tempts us to be like our pagan counterparts. He entices us to act and behave contrary to the teaching and instructions of God, the torah. And to complete his masterful plan, Satan encourages our pagan counterparts to be a little “Christ-like,” a little “godly,” to be “good people” in the process. Satan knows it’s hard to believe you need a savior when you think you aren’t spiritually sick, like the rich, young ruler and the teachers of the law believed (Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 2:13-17; Luke 5:27-32). So, he works incessantly to corrupt the Christian, getting him or her away from a life of holiness (qadosh¹) while convincing the pagan he or she can be qadosh without a deep, rich, sacrificial relationship with God.

So now, the theological stage has been set.

We know what God wants of us. A life of qadosh, set apart and consecrated for Him.

We also know what Satan has been planning and implementing since Genesis 3. Attack God by any means necessary. Cause confusion, invite disruption, and discredit the people of God in the eyes of our pagan counterparts.

It’s been a back and forth, spiritual battle since Genesis 3 and within the life of the nation of Israel for centuries. However, in one monumental scene, the tide changed, and it was not for the better 

Rejection #1

Setting the Historical Stage for 1 Samuel 8

The year is circa 1020 B.C., and the Israelites are the only “theocracy” (literally means “ruled by God”) in existence. God has given them The Law of Moses (The Torah).  They know how He wants them to live. They know how He wants them to live. They’ve known it since Moses came down from Mount Sinai, which would have been almost three hundred years by this time in their history. Yet, they aren’t satisfied with the arrangement. Having God as their “king” and being required to follow all of His “instructions and teachings,” the torah, quickly became tiresome.

This is hard for us to understand today. For it was the Israelites who cried out to God because of their cruel Egyptian masters. They begged Him to rescue them (Exodus 2:23). God heard them and sent a deliverer named Moses. Moses eventually led the entire nation from Egypt, and through divine intervention on their behalf, God answered their prayers. He rescued them and wiped out their pursuers in the Red Sea (Exodus 13:17-14:31).

Even a casual observer, watching all of this unfold, would have concluded that because of these miraculous events, the Israelites should have easily obeyed God forever. God displayed His power right in front of them, exposing all the gods of Egypt, including Pharaoh himself (for the pharaohs were believed to be divine too) for what they truly were—powerless frauds. Thus, God fulfilled His own words in Exodus 12:12: “I’ll pass through land of Egypt that night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I’ll execute judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD” (emphasis added).²

Refreshingly, the text in Exodus 12 says the Israelites were given explicit instructions on how to prepare for this catastrophic event and avoid being lumped in with their Egyptian oppressors. However, they could not deviate one iota, or the plague of the firstborn would fall upon their homes as well. And in verse 27, it says they obeyed God precisely and worshiped Him.

This entire scene was a “glimpse” of how it was supposed to be—for then, for all the time in-between then and now, and even for the future. It was exactly what God wanted from His people in those days and what He wants from us now. Obey His commands, every day, even in the midst of something as horrible as persecution, and He will take care of His children, sometimes in miraculous ways of His own choosing. And as a result of His actions, they should worship Him and Him alone, regardless of their situation.³

This entire Exodus concept is so important to understand as we inch closer to the context of 1 Samuel 8. For as we will see, it was this longing to revert back to a life similar to their pagan neighbors that became the defining issue. This “heart of betrayal” started in the desert while receiving the gracious gift of manna each morning. And as Paul admonished the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, he doesn’t want us to be ignorant and make the same mistakes.

Thought of the Week:

With this understanding, you can see how and why God grows angry and wearisome with humans all throughout Scripture. He moves mountains, manipulates kingly despots, even stops the natural order of things, like the sun from moving in the heat of the day (Joshua 10:12-14), all in an effort to make His love manifest among His chosen people. Yet, despite His efforts, like Hosea’s wife Gomer, His chosen people run away from Him and into the arms of idols, sin, and self.

All God wants is for His people to reciprocate His love, by living solely for Him. To recognize how much He has done for us and live accordingly.  

In our own power, this reciprocation process is not possible (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9; Philippians 3:12-14). That’s why there are so many “religions of men” out there. Each one tries to accomplish this feat of reciprocation but realizes it cannot. Therefore, it creates a god that looks and acts more like human beings. Once that step is completed, then creating the “religion” that takes its cues from the nature and attributes of that god becomes easy. Why? Because the “god” likes what the worshippers like—sin. Thus, the “religions of men” can focus on anything deemed important by that group of “men,” which could be anything from abiding by harsh religious rules to make one seem holy (the Pharisees and teachers of the Law are examples of this) to downright diabolical perversions (the orgies and use of temple prostitutes in so many pagan religions are examples of this). 

In contrast, worshipping Holy God is completely the opposite. The worshipper cannot worship the God of the Bible in sinful ways. The worshipper’s ways must acquiesce to God’s ways (Ezekiel 18:25-32; Isaiah 55:8). And when worshippers try to change God’s ways to fit their sinful ways, that’s when things go awry. That’s when the world points fingers at the followers of God, noting all the contradictions they see (and rightfully so). However, when the worshippers of God follow His commands, Jesus said that’s when those in the world, who see our good deeds, will praise God, even though they aren’t followers (Matthew 5:14-16).  

In other words, they will see how different we are, how set apart we are, how holy we are. That, my friend, will then get them to wondering if what Jesus said was true. Instead of stumbling blocks to salvation, our lives may very well become stepping stones to eternity for some.

What kind of stones have you and I been today? Over the last week? The last month?

NEXT WEEK:

We’ll continue to follow the nation Israel and her relationship to God leading up to a monumental moment in 1 Samuel 8.

Endnotes

1. 1. Benner, Jeff A. “Holy.” Ancient Hebrew Research Center. No Date. Web. 20 April 2019. https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/definition/holy.htm; See also Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. “6918.” Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon. (Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody, Mass., 1979), p. 872.

2. Ramm, Bernard L. His Way Out. (Regal Books Division, G/L Publications; Glendale, CA., 1974, pp. 60-71).

3. Theologians call this event of the Exodus a “type.” “Typology” is a theological construct which describes how an Old Testament person, place, thing, or event, which was considered significant in the Old Testament, is referenced in the New Testament as a “picture” of something spiritually deeper and more meaningful in reference to the work of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. It must be further understood that “types” are only types when the New Testament makes reference to it, basing the statement on something from Old Testament times. In other words, if the New Testament doesn’t reference a person, place, thing, or event as a “type,” then it was not intended to be one. Otherwise, people looking for such things make every word in the Bible fanciful, and everything becomes a “type,” and that is when irrational, erroneous teachings and downright heresies are spawned.

Other examples that illustrate types used in the New Testament are:

·       Melchizedek is referred in the book of Hebrews as a type for Jesus as the perfect high priest (7:1-28).

·       In chapter 9 of Hebrews, the tabernacle and the functions of the priests were a type and precursor to the redeeming work of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

·       The Apostle Paul references the Israelites’ wandering in the desert as a type (1 Corinthians 10:1-6).

·       Paul also uses the situation between Hagar and Sarah as a type for salvation, even referencing a passage in Isaiah 54:1 to help bolster his argument (Galatians 4:21-31).

In Exodus 12, we have people—folks who claimed to be God’s chosen people, I might add—crying out because of their oppression at the hands of sinful men. They were saved from their bondage by the blood of a lamb or goat that was without defect (Exodus 12:3-5). This “salvation by the blood of a lamb” happened again in the person of Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God (cf. Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 1:29; Hebrews 9:11-28). In this case, instead of just an earthly, physical rescue of the people of Israel from the hands of their Egyptian taskmasters, this Old Testament event was a “type” or, we could say, a “foreshadowing” of a saving event that has eternal ramifications, too, as Jesus became the “once and for all” sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:1-10; Jude 3).

In these passages and others like them, the Exodus event resonates into a new “picture” of how a person or a people can be held captive and forced to do the will of the captors until someone saves them from their bondage. In a spiritual sense, all of us are held captive by sin and its enticing ways before we are saved. Some of us even want to go back to sin at times after we became saved, like the people of Israel when they looked back toward Egypt and desired again the “leeks and onions by the Nile” (Numbers 11:4-7). Some of us miss the allure and excitement of sin. Some of us miss the “comfort” sin promises to provide. We, instead, desire to return to our own “Egypt,” the place where we lived spiritually before we were saved from sin’s oppression, and thus despise God’s salvation and the freedom it brings all at the same time. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said those “who put their hands to the plow and then look back” are not fit for God’s Kingdom (Luke 9:62). We must be careful. Looking back and desiring the very thing from which we were saved is grounds for non-admittance into God’s Kingdom.

Pictures courtesy of  Pixabay and the following photographers/artists:

"Adam, Eve and Serpent" by Jeffjacobs1990

"Scroll/Torah" by falco

"Moses and red sea" by Jeffjacobs1990

"Praise in field" by 4653867

Chapter 2 - The First Rejection of the King (Part 1 of 6)

Every revolution needs a cause.

In every uprising throughout all of human history, it boiled down to one overarching question:

Who's running the show?                                           

Was it a king? A queen? An emperor? A Caesar? A tribal chief? A czar? A prime minister? A president? A body of officials, elected or otherwise, like a Sanhedrin, a Roman Senate, a tribal council, an English Parliament, or an American Congress? No matter who the people group, no matter where the line was drawn on a map to mark their borders, no matter what the color of their skin happened to be, no matter how rich or poor the constituents were, it always flared into that one, singular question.

Who’s running the show?   

It’s a matter of power. It’s a matter of autonomy. Ultimately, even though many people groups don’t see it as such because of what they believe, it’s a matter of sovereignty.

Whoever runs the show rules.   

We see it all the time in modern political debate. One group thinks their system of belief should reign supreme over all opposing systems of belief. Therefore, they take action.

Sometimes, it’s through peaceful means, like town hall meetings, debates, peaceful demonstrations, or thoughtful expositions on the subject, posted online or written in newspapers or books. All of this discourse typically results in a vote on those issues, with the majority vote coming out on top, if it’s a democratic society of which we speak.

In other instances, this transitional process occurs through means that are not so peaceful, like boisterous demonstrations and riots that typically become destructive to both property and life. It becomes a bullying tactic, really. A form of intimidation designed to get others to agree…or else further destruction and harm is promised.   

In the more blunt-force cases, the changes come by sheer military force in the form of a coup, a revolution, or an invasion.  

If those not in power don’t like who is running the show at that moment in history, then they cast their votes, organize their riots, start their wars or invade other countries for the purpose of changing the who. All of this chaos and turmoil rises to the surface like an erupting volcano in an effort to establish a new individual or group who ultimately promises to be a better alternative in the minds of those perpetuating the revolutionary ideals. 

Despite God’s efforts to establish a group of people who would be above all this strife by being holy, set apart, and different from the other groups around them, unfortunately, the same can be said of the nation Israel.

And it all started in 1 Samuel 8, which we will cover in this “chapter.”

Being Different as God is Different

The Law of Moses, also known as the Torah (later to be also called the Septuagint by Gentile believers who translated it into Greek), spelled out how God’s chosen people were to live their lives in the midst of the sin, chaos, and turmoil, which not only swirled around them in the form of rivaling beliefs and marauding nations, but also infiltrated (infected?) their very own people time and time again.

When we hear the word “law” today, we automatically think of rules, procedures, and protocols; all things that tell us what we can and cannot do without suffering some kind of penalty for breaking said “law.” These “laws” are put in place for many reasons. Some are for the safety of the people they are designed to protect, for example. Others are for the prosperity of persons within that group. Still others are simply designed to keep the group civil and prevent anarchy from tearing it apart.

However, the meaning of the word translated “law” in the Old Testament has a different meaning and emphasis from what we understand the word to mean. Yes, there is the punitive aspect to it, if said “laws” are broken, but as God’s Word always does, it takes a positive approach to the task at hand (cf. Matthew 7:12). The emphasis is on the willingness of the worshiper to cultivate a heart of obedience out of an attitude of love towards God as opposed to walking on egg shells, waiting for the “Man Upstairs” to reign lightning bolts from the heavens.

Another way to think about it can be borrowed from the world of science. There are “laws” in science which have nothing to do with punishment. For example, the “Law of Gravity” dictates that a certain force is at work within a celestial body, like Earth and its moon. These “forces” or “powers” work within the planet and moon, acting upon everything on them, including humans.

These “laws” bring understanding to forces that act around us, upon us, and sometimes even in us, like the Law of Entropy, which says that energy is always reducing and deteriorating. Our human bodies are prime examples of this law. They are created and begin to deteriorate from the moment of birth. Yes, we “grow” in size, but we “age” as we do until the newborn is old and frail. Everything else follows this pattern, from the tiniest plant to the universe itself. As Christians, we believe this is the result of sin, and God will one day recreate the heavens and the Earth, setting things back into the picture of what He intended from the beginning (see Revelation 21-22), where moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-21), and where the Law of Entropy will finally be abolished.

The “Law” of God works in this way as well. And can I say, it works more powerfully this way than simply “a line in the sand” to bring punishment, if crossed.

The word torah actually means “direction, instruction, law.”² Interestingly, this word finds its root in a Hebrew verb that means “to flow or through something.” It is likened to the “flowing” of an arrow as it sails through the air to hit its target, or to the “flowing” of one’s finger as a person points the way to a lost traveler, or to a teacher whose finger points to the necessary knowledge needed for the pupil to be successful. For example, in Proverbs 1:8, the word “torah” is translated in several versions as a “father’s instruction” and a “mother’s teaching.” In other versions, it is translated as a “father’s instruction” and the “law of your mother.”³

Therefore, we could say the Torah “directed” or “instructed” the Israelites as to what being “set apart” was supposed to look like in a daily, monthly, and yearly existence. It was to flow through them and from them. This understanding helps us to better appreciate the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 6, when he told the Israelites to take the torah of God and “Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and your gates” (vv. 7-9; NRSV). These instructions and teachings were to point the way, no matter what the Israelite was doing at the time. These instructions and teachings were to be handled this way because the Israelite was to do what verses 5-6 said to do also (which is a prerequisite, by the way), “You shall love the LORD your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart” (NRSV).

The torah was designed to help the sojourner—while “shooting his arrows”—hit the mark, hit the target, every time. If a Jew did not obey the torah, then it was said that “he spiritually missed the mark,” which always had physical and spiritual consequences (and sometimes eternal ones as well!).

Ironically (or maybe not), a common Greek word used to describe the act of committing sin is ἁμαρτάνω (hámártanō), and it means “to fail to attain or maintain a set standard; to miss the mark.”⁴ This failure can be viewed legally and spiritually. It means the act of doing actual, moral wrong to others, to oneself, or among others. It is considered to be violating God’s Will in the process. Hence, missing the mark. It is the process of shooting the arrow, “flowing” it through the air, and having it miss the bullseye altogether.⁵

Some of the laws listed within the pages of the Torah make perfect sense. Countries and nations throughout history, even today, have adopted those laws as their own, such as “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13), and “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Other instructions, such as how to handle items covered with mold and mildew (Leviticus 13:47-59; 14:33-57) made perfect sense when it came to health and sanitation issues, and you see similar guidelines and laws in force today for the sake of public health.⁶

However, there are some laws within the Torah that, when read by twenty-first century eyes, cause us to wrinkle our brow and wonder, “That’s an odd law to just toss in there.” For example, take the one found in Exodus 23:19: “You shall not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” Why would God have Moses jot this one down in the middle of the section about the three annual feasts and how they are to be celebrated (the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering)? This culinary prohibition is also mentioned in Deuteronomy 14:21 and comes on the heels of a conversation about what it considered to be clean and unclean food.

So, what’s God got against this practice?

It was a pagan practice, and not just a gastric one, mind you, but more importantly, it was a practice of worship in pagan, religious culture. Some cultures viewed it as a way to satisfy their gods and bring blessing upon the growth of upcoming crops and livestock, using a young animal that has potential to be so much more. A symbol of sacrifice.

When you view this practice through the eyes of God, which is the lens of the Torah in this Old Testament case, the reason becomes crystal clear. If you performed this specific practice in an act of worship toward the God of Israel, as an Israelite, it would look, act, and smell like a pagan act of worship. Thus, the Israelites would closely resemble their pagan counterparts. Why is this bad? Because they would no longer be “holy as God is holy.” They would no longer be “set apart.” They would no longer be “consecrated, “sacred,” or “different.”

They would be like the others around them.

The enemy—known as Satan, the accuser, the serpent, the dragon—has perpetrated these revolutionary architypes since the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. No matter how Satan implemented them during the days of the Old Testament, no matter how he does it now during the Church age, their purposes was always the same:

·       Attack the Sovereignty of God – Can God really tell us what to do? (v. 1)

·       Attack the Character of God – God’s didn’t tell you the entire truth! (v. 4)

·       Attack the Word of God – Because of the two above, can you really believe all of God’s Word? (v. 5)

·       Attack the Concept of Holiness and being Set Apart – If God can’t tell us what to do all the time, and if He’s holding some things back from us so He can ‘run the show,’ and if His Word is just a bunch of rules to help keep Him in His position of power, then why bother following these rules, making ourselves miserable in the process? There is so much more to life than God’s rules. There is fun and enjoyment and pleasure to be had, but God wants to keep much of it to Himself. (v. 6)

In a very effectual manner, using the same lies he perpetrated in Genesis 3, Satan made the acts of sin, the idolatrous habits of neighboring cultures, and the cursed ideals of other people groups the apple of Israel’s eye. He corrupted their thinking with half-truths that attacked the sovereignty of God, the character of God, the Word of God, and God’s desire for His creationary pièce de résistance—mankind—to be holy as He is holy.

And by the way, this attack strategy has worked pretty well against the Church of Jesus Christ in the days of the New Testament too.

Satan’s battle has always been with God and to destroy anything associated with God. That includes us.

Ultimately, it’s about who runs the show. And who rules while running it. And Satan wants it more than anybody else.

Thought for the Week:

Believers often speak of how they “walk the walk and talk the talk.” Churches love using bumper sticker slogans like this to convey biblical truths. Some other examples of these bumper sticker theologies are: “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven,” “God is my Co-pilot,” and “Honk, if you love Jesus.” Do these slogans make us different from our “pagan” counterparts? Do they convey a “set apart” lifestyle? Have you ever really examined the theology behind trite sayings like these? Especially in light of God and how He views His Word?

In contrast, Daniel and his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were among seventy or so Hebrew teenagers captured and taken to Babylon from the noble families of Judah. They were taught how live like a Babylonian and how to think like a Babylonian as part of Nebuchadnezzar’s overall plan of forever changing the Israelites (which was a common practice by conquering kings).

Later in their lives, as grown men, they endured the transition of Babylon and its overthrow by the Medes and the Persians. Yet, in each instance, when the chips were down, only four of those seventy Hebrews stood on the solid rock of God and His Word (which completely jives with what Jesus teaches about how many travel the narrow road and the broad road, doesn’t it? Four young men versus sixty-six or so others?).

In chapter 1 of Daniel, all four were confronted with the issue of eating the king’s food which had been sacrificed to idols. In chapter 3, the three companions of Daniel were faced with a monumental decision. “Do we bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol like all the others? Or do we refuse to do so?” In chapter 6, Daniel chose to continue to pray to God after a decree had been given by King Darius, making it illegal. These four men, teenagers in chapter 1 who eventually become men by chapters 3-6, were different from the other Hebrew captives. They were different from the Babylonians around them as well. They were “set apart” unto God and God alone, and their stories are miraculous, to say the least.

Bumper sticker theology wasn’t enough for Daniel and the others. For them, to be counted as one of God’s chosen people, His laws had to be followed above all else. Just being forgiven wasn’t enough. Having God as their co-pilot would have been a ludicrous thought. However, they did walk the walk…right into the fiery furnace and the lion’s den. They talked the talk, too, by sharing God’s Word with the King of Babylon and all of his advisors. So much so, that centuries later, some wise men from that region of the world showed up in Jerusalem, asking where they could find the King of the Jews (See Matthew 2).

May we find the King of the Jews as well. May we follow Him. And may we bow down and worship as they did, with our lives presented as our gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Romans 12:1-2). In doing this, we will set ourselves apart from all the others around us. For He rules. He runs the show. And He does it so we can experience life everlasting in His presence.

NEXT WEEK:

We will continue to inch closer to the first recorded rejection of God by His people Israel.

Endnotes 

¹ We are seeing all of this unfold before our very eyes, by the way. Just turn on the news. Checkout the latest, trending feed on social media. We’ve been witnessing this struggle for power for years, via terrorist activity, wars in various paces, etc., but it’s really been at the top of the headlines since the year 2020. And ironically, since the year that literally speaks of a clear kind of vision, 20/20, nothing has become more woven in the fabric of this current generation than this struggle for power all over the world.

 

² Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. “8451.” Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon. (Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody, Mass., 1979), p. 435.

 

³ Benner, Jeff A. “What is Torah?” Ancient Hebrew Research Center. No Date. Web. 16 June 2020. < https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-words/what-is-torah.htm>

 

⁴ Green, Jay P., Sr. “264.” The New Englishman’s Greek Concordance and Lexicon. (Hendrickson Publishers; Peabody, Mass., 1982), p. 37.

 

⁵ “264. Hamartanó” Bible Hub.com. No Date. Web. 16 June 2020. <https://biblehub.com/greek/264.htm>

 

⁶ If you wish to read a captivating book on this subject and more, see McMillen, S. I. None of These Diseases: A physician testifies that health, happiness, and longer life can be yours if you follow the teachings of the Bible. (Fleming H. Revell; Old Tappan, NJ., 1984, Revised).

 Pictures courtesy of  Pixabay and the following photographers/artists:

"Soldiers" by Defence - Imagery

"Hebrew Scripture" by RobertC

"Archer" by Paul Barlow

Chapter 1 - Be Holy As I Am Holy (Part 4 of 4)

Last week, we touched on the passage in Revelation 3:14-20 (NRSV). We noted how Jesus stood outside the door of this church, asking to be allowed inside.

To refresh our memories, here are those words Jesus wrote to the Church in Laodicea: 

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation: I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you, and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so you can see. 

I reprove and discipline those I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.

The believers in Laodicea were told to repent of their religious beliefs, of all things, or Jesus would disown them.

The imagery He uses is quite descriptive. When you spit or spew something out of your mouth, you want it out of your body. You do not want to swallow it and have it remain inside of you. Doesn’t matter what it is. The act speaks for itself. To be spit out of Jesus’s mouth is to be expelled from the body of Christ. To be something that is spit, spewed, even vomited out of the mouth is an extremely apt and vivid picture of how this kind of lukewarm, religious living listed here is viewed through the eyes of the Almighty.

The Laodicean Christians, who lived in an economic mecca in their day, instead were to buy “gold” from Jesus, the kind refined by fire, thus making it pure. In other words, they were to invest their lives in Him instead of the stock market or savings accounts. Then, they would experience what being “rich” truly means.

Living in a manufacturing hub for clothes in that day, the Laodicean believers were told to buy white clothes instead, signifying purity of heart, and adorn themselves accordingly so they could cover their spiritual nakedness. The picture is clear. They were to wrap themselves with God’s standard of holiness, follow in His ways, and they would never be spiritually naked again. If they continued to wear their own clothes of self-righteousness, claiming they would suffice, their spiritual nakedness would be exposed for all to see. Those of us living today can identify with this awkward and embarrassing imagery. Most people are self-conscious and ashamed when seen naked by others who were never intended to do so.

The Laodicean Christians lived in an area known for its eye balm, too, which had healing properties.¹ Yet, Jesus told them that their beliefs of being wealthy and not having any needs were actually the words of spiritually blind people. They needed a spiritual salve to heal their eyes so they could see how utterly destitute they were without God and His holiness.

Spiritually poor. Spiritually naked. Spiritually pitiful and wretched. Spiritually blind. These believers were all of the above, and for people who thought they were rich and had arrived spiritually, this must have been a horrifying message to receive.

Still, there was one more thing they were to do. They were told to open the door and let Jesus inside. Isn’t that one of the most ironic pictures in scripture? Jesus knocking on the door of a church, of all places, asking to be allowed to come inside and reign as King?

I wonder how many “Laodicean churches” we have in America today, and around the world, for that matter, who think they have arrived spiritually, embracing so many things that are ungodly—little personal kingdoms that run diametrically opposed to God’s Kingdom that are instead “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked”? I wonder how many churches have Jesus knocking on their doors at this very moment, asking for them to repent of their ways and allow Him inside?

You see, there is only God and His holiness.

Only God and His Kingdom.

You either have it all or you don’t.

There is no in-between. A “little dab” will not do. There are no sampler platters on God’s menu where you can enjoy a taste of everything but not get too filled up on any one thing. God doesn’t hire people to work just forty hours a week. Jesus said you are either for Him or against Him (cf. Luke 11:23). You are either “all-in” or “all-out” (Luke 9:23-26). This also applies to believing in His Word. You believe it all, as written, or you don’t. You can’t pick and choose.

Part-time believers need not apply.

Oh, and one last note on this topic: Calling your body of believers a “church” or yourself a “Christian” doesn’t always mean you are a “card-carrying member.” Five of the churches in Asia Minor who received letters from Jesus (Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea) were in dire straits and in jeopardy of being told, “Depart from me, I never knew you,” if they didn’t repent. Only two of the seven churches in Asia Minor received kudos (Smyrna and Philadelphia), and interestingly, they were smaller churches. Therefore, when it comes to narrow roads and broad roads, these “numbers” referenced in Revelation 2-3 (five churches on the broad road and two churches on the narrow road), interestingly enough, align with what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7:13-14 more than the polls we often see today concerning how many people claim to be Christians.

This distinction is not a case of “haves” versus “have nots,” or “winners” versus “losers.” In God’s eyes, it is a distinction between those who have already “offered their bodies as living sacrifices, which is holy and pleasing to God” (cf. Romans 12:1-2), and those who have not…yet. For God is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). In order to do so, however, the man or woman must bow before the holy God of the Bible and pledge allegiance solely to Him (cf. Exodus 20:3-11). God does not bow before men and women. Although men and women attempt, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, to bend the knee of God’s Word at the footstool of worldly thrones and deficient, worldly belief systems, passage after passage of scripture depicts a different story.

A Holy story. God’s story. A story of Holiness.

One of being “set apart.” One of being “different.” One of true Kingdom living 

Holiness in Today’s Climate

In today’s contentious climate, it is my further hope that readers of this blog series will set aside their “cause” long enough to really listen to what God says in His Word about such topics. That they will lay down their wallets, debit cards, GoFundMe accounts, and Change.org petitions until they have read the last blog post. When scripture references are made, it is my hope they will stop and actually go to God’s Word and read the passages for themselves, then come back to this blog. I hope they will do the same with the endnotes as well.

For I believe that if anybody comes at this subject of God, His Creation, His holiness, and Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, with an earnest and sincere desire to “be holy as God is holy,” then there will be some serious soul searching conducted by the Holy Spirit. Good soul searching. Godly soul searching. Jesus commands us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), and when you do, the pruning process of His branch-clipping hand will go to work. It is never painless, but it is so 
needed for us to be fully connected to The Vine and begin our trip down the narrow road (John 15:1-17).

So, please, strip yourself of the labels. Strip yourself of the causes. Strip yourself of the petitions, the boycotts, and the revolutionary ideals. Listen to the words of scripture as we view them through the eyes of God, to be open to what God is revealing in His Word. For the days are getting darker. The Bible says that when people finally exhaust God’s gracious intent, He gives them over to a “depraved mind” (Romans 1:28). We are seeing living proof of this every day, as more and more decisions by lawmakers and occurrences on the nightly news do not make any sense (cf. Romans 1:18-32; 1 Timothy 6:3-12). “Common sense” isn’t common anymore. Illogical arguments are touted as logical progressions of thought. Troubling and destructive actions on the part of large groups are applauded as necessary movements. The world is setting itself ablaze with hate and malice disguised as tolerance, solidarity, enlightenment, inclusivity, progressivism, and freedom.

When examined under a logical microscope, however, tolerance is really intolerance with whom we do not agree. Enlightenment is really intellectual assimilation or destruction of opposing ideas and beliefs. Inclusivity is really exclusivity of certain undesirables for the “greater good” of those in positions of power. Progressivism is really a regression of morals and standards under the guise of evolutionary, societal, and technological advancement. And freedom—whether it be political or religious—is really bondage to sin when it is divorced from the Bible and what God’s Word teaches about true freedom. And all of these banners are held high and waved in God’s face, mocking Him and His Word.

What the world needs is not a bunch of “Christians who actually live what they say they believe.” How many times have you heard that phrase tossed out on a Sunday morning? Unfortunately, that was the issue with the Laodicean Church, and that’s been the issue with the modern-day Church of the last fifty years or so.

What the world needs are Christians who believe correctly, according to God’s view of Scripture, and then live it. And I mean, truly live it. In a “set apart,” “different,” “consecrated,” exquisitely biblical manner we rarely see today but is clearly spelled out in scripture. To truly be the light on a hill and the salt of life that has been missing for years. 

This is why very few people outside the Church praise Him these days (Matthew 5:14-16; cf. Daniel 6:16, 23-27). That’s why more and more supposed believers are walking away from the “easy believe-ism” they spiritually ingested all those years ago. They were given a false gospel message about how they could expand their own kingdoms, enjoy their own kingdoms, live peaceably in their own kingdoms, so long as they had their “fire insurance” and God’s love. Even they see the hopelessness and duality in that message now.

And unfortunately, that’s on us. Those who claim to be believers in Jesus. The Church.

This is why it is time for His Church to start viewing His Kingdom the way He does—through His eyes. For the kingdom of heaven is upon us 

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).

 

Thought for the Week:

Do you know anyone who has left the church? Walked away from “organized religion”? Blamed the Church for misleading them? Could it be that this has occurred because we have not been faithful with the scriptures? Could it be that we have allowed culture to infiltrate God’s Word more than we care to admit?

For example, Jesus came into the world at just the right time (Galatians 4:4). He was born, lived with an earthly mother and adopting father, and launched his ministry at the age of thirty. During this entire time, he lived under the rule of Rome. Yet, never once did Jesus espouse revolutionary ideals. As a matter of fact, He denounced such actions more than once (Matthew 22:16-21; 26:51-53; Mark 14:47; Luke 22:49-51; John 18:10-11; 33-36). Never once did He run a campaign to become an earthly king. Quite the contrary, actually (John 6:14-15).

In other words, Jesus came at a time when overthrowing the Roman Empire and reestablishing the Nation Israel in all its glory would have been well received. Many would have come to Jesus’s side and “fought the good fight.” However, He told Pilate His Kingdom was not of this world. Jesus wasn’t saying His Kingdom had not arrived yet, or was some “other-worldly” dimension in the “sweet by-and-by.” His Kingdom was present. It was at hand. It simply was much different from the kingdoms and empires which Pilate was accustomed to serving. Jesus’s Kingdom was set apart. And His subjects are to live their lives according to His Manifesto alone.

Is Jesus your King? Are you in His Kingdom? Are you living for His Kingdom alone, abiding by His Kingdom principles?

If no, why not?

If yes, how do you know for certain?

NEXT WEEK:

We will begin Chapter 2, and look at how God’s Word establishes God, and then Jesus, as the one and only King to be worshipped and adored.

Endnotes

¹ All the material concerning commerce in the days of the Laodicean church was taken from Tenney, Merrill C., General Editor. The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible: Volume 3 H-L. (Regency Reference Library; Grand Rapids, MI, 1976), pp. 877-879.

 Pictures courtesy of  Pixabay, Pexels, William Holman Hunt and the following photographers/artists:

"Beggar" - Pixabay by wikiImages

"Heaven/Hell sign" - PIxabay by Gerd Altmann"

"Open Bible" - Pexels by John Mark Smith

"Riot Fire" - Pixabay by Hubert de The'

Chapter 1 - Be Holy As I Am Holy (Part 3 of 4)

 

“Set Apart” = “Different”

Besides being “consecrated,” as we learned last week, to be “set apart” also means to be “different.” Not in a crazy, color-your-hair-bright-orange-with-piercings-all-over-your-face kind of different. Not in a loud, theatrical, “I did it my way,” manner, Frank Sinatra-style. Not in a “This is me!” (So, you better accept me as I am) kind of different we hear portrayed in today’s music and values. These examples of individuality running rampant in modern culture are displays of how those antithetical to God set themselves apart. This was the sin of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They loved to pray while being seen (Matthew 6:5). They loved to give with great fanfare (Matthew 6:1). They loved to tell others what to do while not practicing what they preached (Matt. 23:2-3).

Yet, God’s desire is completely the opposite. Jesus said we should pray in private and not prattle on (Matthew 6:6-8). Our giving should be done “secretly,” in a way that brings no attention to itself (Matthew 6:2-4). Instead, we should be humble and live like a slave being obedient to his or her master (Matthew 6:8-15). This is such a stark contrast to what the religious leaders of Jesus’s day taught.

Being “set apart” by God and thus considered “holy” in His eyes denotes a life committed to mirroring His Word in everyday living. In other words, to “be holy as God is holy,” we must be set apart unto Him and Him alone. Not unto ourselves. Not unto our spouses. Not unto our children. Not unto our relatives nor our friends. Not unto our colleagues. Not unto our fans, businesses, nor jobs. Not unto our political affiliations, our sociological beliefs, nor financial establishments. Not unto our country. Not even unto our religious beliefs, our pastors, or places of worship. Not unto anything else or anybody else but God, as a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus was very clear about this (cf. Matthew 10:37-39; Luke 14:26-27; John 12:25-26). The New Testament writers were as well (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:13-2:3; 1 John 2:15-17). No one or no thing can be loved equally with or more so than God. To do so is to commit idolatry.¹

The Challenge of This Series

As we move forward, studying the Creation Account and the Sermon on the Mount, we will be examining each and every passage through the eyes of the Almighty as we examine His Word. Through His command of what it means to be “holy,” “set apart,” “different,” “consecrated.”  

This means we will have to tackle some tough subjects. We’ll have to navigate some rough waters. Those Christians who consider themselves liberals, progressives, or conservatives in today’s contentious political climate will, at times, probably wish to clobber me with their “Woke” fist-pumping gestures, their “Rooseveltian” bully pulpits, and their MAGA hats. Those who champion capitalism over socialism will wish to paint me as a “bleeding-heart liberal.” Those who champion socialism over capitalism will wish to label me a “Wall Streeter” trying to flaunt my “white privilege.” Those who use social media and other media outlets to propagate their views on social issues like immigration, healthcare, war, poverty, homosexuality, and so forth, will probably get their undergarments twisted really tight too.

But it is my hope and prayer that they will take off their political, theological, social, historical, and economic hats while reading this blog, if they possibly can.

That is my challenge to the reader.

I say “challenge” because readers will find it much more difficult than they think. We say we are objective in our views, that we are critical thinkers, and some may even go so far as to say they accept all viewpoints so long as everyone can lend a hand in teaching “the world to sing in perfect harmony,” so they can “stand hand-in-hand” and hear it “echo through the hills for peace throughout the land.”² That’s what love is all about, right? Buying the world a “Coke” and being accepting of everyone? If the Beatles thought that all we needed was love, who’s to argue with that?

As we will see, though, this Pollyannaish, utopian view of how life on this planet should be is quite different from what God demands. It is causing the world, as we speak, to ready itself to be set ablaze.
It seems everyone is sitting on a powder keg these days, and some folks act as if they are powder kegs! The hostility, the venomous remarks, and the inhumane actions we see all over the world are a testimony to how weak and false the “All You Need is Love” refrain really is. The world has been teaching this particular doctrine of demons for decades throughout our universities, colleges, and sadly, even many of our seminaries, and yet the aftermath of such falsehoods is evident all around us. “All You Need Is Love” is nothing more than an empty promise apart from Almighty God and His holy standards. 

A Different Kind of Love

When you read God’s Word, examining it through His eyes, there are no labels to affix to your lapel. There are no hats to wear. There are no flags to wave. There are no banners to hang. There are no sides to join. It’s not a matter or right versus wrong. It’s not an argument of correct theology versus errant theology. It’s not a battle of white versus black, male versus female, rich versus poor, West versus East, hate versus love. It’s not “a war of ideals for the soul of a nation,” whichever your nation happens to be.

There is only God and His holiness.

There is only God and His Kingdom.

You are either a resident or not.

You either choose to live in His kingdom by His laws, or you choose to reject it all and live outside His Kingdom by whichever laws you deem correct.

All those other things we believe to be so important, like right theological thinking for sanity’s sake, social justice for society’s sake, political means for freedom’s sake, and the rest, are not the heart of Kingdom living. They are actually mantras fed to us by the evil one, mixing just enough truth with falsehood to make those who rally the troops children of hell, and those who believe those teachers doubly so (cf. Matthew 23:15; John 8:42-47).

There are only those who are “set apart” unto God, and those who are not. There’s no middle ground. This was the message of Jesus to the Church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-20 (NRSV): 

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 

The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation: I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you, and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so you can see.

I reprove and discipline those I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.

Did you notice? Jesus was talking to a group of people who referred to themselves as a church. A body of believers. One that met in Laodicea, which was located in the region of Asia Minor, known today as the country of Turkey. They were called Christians. Or at least, that’s what they believed. However, their religious understanding of God’s Word, of being disciples of Jesus, and of being members of the Kingdom of Heaven were called out and challenged by Jesus Himself.

Did you also notice how similar their ideas of religious accomplishment and life in Christ mirror the church in America today? So many of us view ourselves as rich. We clamor to acquire wealth. Set up our nest eggs. Fatten our savings accounts.

Be the kind of believer who doesn’t have to ask anyone for anything because we’ve followed the American dream. We’ve pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps. We strive to attain financial freedom. We fight for political freedom. We are willing to die for religious freedom.

Yet, as we’ve learned in the year 2020 and after, all it takes is one global pandemic of questionable virulence, compared to other historical pandemics like the Black Plague, the Justinian Plague, or the Spanish Flu, to bring all of that “planning” to a screeching halt.

Thought for the Week:

English artist William Holman Hunt, originator of one of the most famous Christian paintings ever, The

Light of the World, captured the image of Jesus, standing at the door of the Church in Laodicea, holding a lantern and knocking. Jesus not only stands at the door of a Church, of all places, holding the light of truth, but He is knocking and requesting to be allowed inside the one body of people who should have already allowed Him in as the one true Prophet, Priest, and King.

This picture is a perfect example of how we as modern-day “believers” have it backwards, just like the Laodiceans. When we live for our little kingdoms, whatever those kingdoms may be, the King of Heaven is not present. It gets forced out because, as Jesus said, we can’t serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). Our little kingdoms—whether they be family, finances, friends, business, social causes, you name it—cannot usurp God’s Kingdom and its demands.

If Jesus, who is Emanuel (“God with us”), knocks and asks to enter, then we must toss our little kingdoms to the curb like yesterday’s garbage and embrace His Kingdom alone.

Otherwise, Jesus said He would spit us out of His mouth.

Lukewarm living is never a good thing in God’s economy.

NEXT WEEK:

We will continue to examine lukewarm, Laodicean living and how that fits in today’s culture.

 

Endnotes

¹  In a very common kind of story in today’s Christianity, we learn about people, both famous people (and those not-so-much as well), who change their theology to accommodate the sin of friends and family. In other words, they do not “hate their fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, etc.,” like Jesus commanded in Matthew 10:32-39 and elsewhere. Instead, they change God’s Word and who He is to “make room in the kingdom” for their loved ones, their beloved causes, or their treasured beliefs by changing God’s Word to fit the current, cultural norms.

    Thus, by their very act, they make an idol of the loved one, the cause, or the alien belief as well as an idol of the culture, loving those people and things more than God and His Word. They try to change God and His Word to make it fit into their new “family dynamic,” their newfound “allegiance,” or their “heartfelt cause,” rather than demand that the loved one and the culture repent. For such examples of this phenomenon, see the following articles:

  -> In this particular article, a daughter and how she feels about her sin means more than God and His Word: https://www.christiantoday.com/article/jen.hatmaker.reveals.her.daughter.is.gay/135119.htm

  -> In this particular article, embracing and affirming a vocal, anti-God, anti-Christ movement that vows to fight racism with reverse-racism is more important than the truth of God’s Word: https://faithandheritage.com/2017/10/john-piper-praises-lecrae-for-leaving-evangelicalism-and-embracing-black-liberation-theology/

  -> In this particular article, the concepts of country, religious liberty, and freedom are held in higher esteem than God’s Word: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/american-christianity-is-alas-political/

 

2   “Mad Men Finale: The Real Story Behind the Coke Jingle that Became a Billboard Hit.” Billboard.com. 18 May 2015. Web. 14 June 2020:  https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6568774/mad-men-finale-buy-the-world-a-coke-song

 

 Pictures courtesy of  Pixabay and the following photographers/artists:

"Tattooed Woman" by pendleburyannette

"Pharisee" by CCXpistiavos

"Holy Bible" by Pexels"

"Hats" by hans braxmeier

"World on Fire" by Myriams Fotos

"Man on Money" by mohamad Hassan

"The Light of the World" by William Holman Hunt