1 Corinthians 6 and 7: Sex and the City of God

 1 Corinthians 6-7 – Sex and the City of God

 

It would be good to recap this letter so far.  In the first 4 chapters, Paul explains that the Gospel is the idea that we are sinners: born in natural rebellion, even treason, against our God.  We earn death due to following our own hearts and not the Lord.  However, Jesus came to take that death in our place on the cross, and then he rose from the dead to show that while we still die even in his forgiveness, we will rise from the dead.

 

The Corinthian church believed this, but they were distracted by pleasing their culture.  It seems that unless the Holy Spirit touches a person’s heart, the Gospel will seem unintelligible before then.  That is why some people act like they don’t need Jesus to die for them because they’ve lived a good life.  Or they act like they can achieve enough good works to earn their way to heaven.  Some will even call the crucifixion a divine child abuse because they don’t understand the Trinity, and they don’t understand that we cannot have a relationship with God unless somebody dies for our sins, and nothing else can erase the smallest error.  We cannot repay this gift. 

 

And we cannot add to it by being smarter people, having a more gifted ministry, having better music, or doing signs and wonders.  All people are the same before our Lord.

 

Soon, Paul gets into large discourses about sexuality and marriage.  Gnosticism had an influence in that society.  It saw spirit as good and matter as evil.  A good God to them would not create matter and all that we see.  Some people took this idea and considered the body unimportant, so they had lots of sex in the temple of Aphrodite and ate all the feasts and had all the drugs.  Others saw the body as evil and taught that sex was evil, even in the context of marriage.  Even in the Christian church, the Roman Catholics believed that it was holier to be celibate and forbid marriage and saw sex as a necessary evil to have children.  This is not what God or Paul teaches in the Bible.

 

Paul shows in chapter 6:12-20 that sex outside of marriage reduces sex to a commodity.  If somebody’s body doesn’t desire you anymore, you can move on.  And if that person is a Christian and has sex outside of marriage, the Holy Spirit is linked to that act, thus grieving our Lord.

 

However, in chapter 7, Paul shows that God loves sex, but in the context of marriage.  Marriage is supposed to reflect God’s relationship to the church, one that will never end despite flaws or change.  It’s supposed to be an expression of deepest intimacy.  When intimacy is defined as “knowing and to be known,” a person can have that with anybody, but in marriage, a man and woman who already knew each other spiritually can now know each other physically.  It is only in that context where sex is a gift and not something that somebody takes from somebody else.  In fact, within marriage, sex is an act of worship.

 

So while a single person has more freedom to serve the Lord without consulting her husband, and while celibacy is good while single, not many people are called to celibacy.  If you have that burning desire for sex, then you should seek marriage.  And although Paul says in verse 9 that it is better to marry than to burn with passion, that might be some exaggeration, because you should seek to know that person spiritually and to see if he is a Christian who shares your interests before marrying and knowing him in the flesh.  No true intimacy can occur without the Lord.

 

That is why in a marriage where one person is a Christian and one isn’t, that marriage lacks because Jesus is the glue that binds them together.  However, Paul commands the Christian in that relationship to not divorce unless the nonbeliever leaves because it could lead them to Christ.

 

And how does this tie to the Gospel?  Because while we are still enemies, Christ died for us and will never abandon us no matter how much our minds and bodies wander into sin.  My husband and I will make sure to stay together no matter how much we age and fall apart.  And a single person will find that person who will love them no matter what as he or she patiently waits on the Lord.  And if that person desires intimacy before then, seek it in knowing Christ and his people because, as I said, he ties all his church together as a forever family that time or space will not rip apart.

The Foolishness of the Cross and presenting Biblical Accounts

 

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

When Paul and Sosthenes write to the Corinthian church, the first thing they have to address is the message of Christ and him crucified.  The brethren in that church believed the true Gospel and were saved, but in the course of time, they lost sight of that truth and focused on gifts and powers.  Sosthenes, a rabbi who was beaten up for believing in Jesus, and Paul, a man who used to arrest and have Christians executed for believing until Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus, testify that their whole lives had to change for believing that Jesus died to take the punishment for their sins and then rose from the dead.  The church to whom they write must not start compromising with the world to lessen that message and get distracted by cool gifts and powers.

 

How do we compromise this message today and how can we present Biblical truths to people today without doing so?

 

Let’s use the account of when Eve and Adam ate from the forbidden tree in Genesis 3:1-7.

 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

There is a song that I like, but it presents the message in a way that shows it might see the cross as foolishness like the Greeks.  It shows a God who made a paradise and made man in his image, but suddenly, the people had low self-esteem, and now they are separated from God because they will not realize that they are not mistakes. 

 

It is true that we are made in God’s image, and it is true that he did not make a mistake when he made us.  It is even true that Eve doubted her status as made like God and knowing good and evil when she ate from the tree.  However, it was not mere self-esteem that caused Adam and Eve to be cast from the garden and to eventually die.  In listening to the serpent and eating the fruit, they accused God of lying by saying they would not die, and they betrayed him when they believed that they knew better what it means to be made in God’s image and know good and evil than he did.

 

But the writers of the song that I mentioned present people as already good and only needing to boost their positivity toward themselves.

 

 

Genesis 3:7-13

 

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

 

Other teachers present this account in a way that shows that they see the cross as offensive like the Jews.  Eve could eat from every tree in the garden except one, but she wanted the one tree she could not have.  She was ungrateful for what she had and could not see its beauty.  Later on, however, Jesus went to the wilderness to be tempted.  Satan told him to turn stones into bread to prove that he was God’s Son, but he quoted Scripture and refused to do that.  These teachers unintentionally give the impression that we would be better if we would follow Jesus and be content with what we have.  If we resolve from henceforth to emulate his example, then we can attain self-worth and return to his presence.  We can bypass the cross by being moral.

 

But resolving to follow Jesus from now on will not erase the fact that Adam and Eve betrayed the Lord and cannot undo their actions.  Neither can I undo my grievous sins against my Lord.  Anything I do in my own power is like sewing together fig leaves to cover my nakedness and hide from God.  It won’t work.  Our sins need to be judged, and our future good deeds cannot do that.

 

So what will God do?  Genesis 3:14-24 

 

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring^[a] and hers;
he will crush^[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

²⁰ Adam^[c] named his wife Eve,^[d] because she would become the mother of all the living.

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side^[e] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

First, God lovingly tells them that they did betray them.  He could have had no interaction with them from then on but he initiated a new relationship with them by telling them that they messed up, and their error will reap consequences such as pains in having children, trouble earning food to eat, and death, which God withheld from them that day, though they did die many years later.

Then, in verse 15, God promised Eve that one of her descendants would have his heel bruised, but that he would crush the serpents head.  He would defeat Satan, and that child would be the very man who defied the devil in the wilderness.

 

And then, in verse 21, God killed some animals and made clothes out of their skins so that they would be covered.  In the same way, this child of Eve would die on the cross after living a perfect life so that those who believe in him would be covered in his righteousness and be able to come before God clothed and presentable.

 

And like Eve, I have many wonderful fruit trees that I can eat from and enjoy, but I want to enjoy the one tree that, for reasons known to God, I can no longer have access to for now.  And no amount of thought control can make me desire that tree any less or keep me from asking day after day if I can finally eat from it.  But with a wounded heart, God points me to Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for me on the cross, taking the punishment that I deserve.  And you must look to him to fill that emptiness in your heart that only he can fill.

2 Kings 2, we must carry on

2 Kings 2 tells about when Elijah was taken up to heaven with chariots of fire leaving Elisha behind.  Elisha knew for days that Elijah would leave him on the earth.  For three days, the sons of the prophets told him so.  "I know," he said, "but I will not leave him."  Even when Elijah told him to leave, he would not leave.  But Elijah promised him through the Holy Spirit that if Elisha saw him go up into heaven, then he could have a double portion of Elijah's spirit as he continued as his successor.

I think of the three spiritual giants who have passed away since 2017: RC Sproul, Billy Graham, and Ravi Zacharias.  Those three men have made Jesus's name great in ways unprecedented, and who will carry on their ministries without them.  The good thing in the case of Ligonier is that RC's role was carried on to many men so that people wouldn't look to just one guy for their spiritual nourishment, but to the Lord.

I remember years ago while my mother was sick from the cancer that she died from, she had directed VBS, painted the backdrop for the skits, led music, but she could not do that in 2008 because of her cancer.  I lead the music, and Denise Martin and others put together a background that worked, and it showed that one person's ministry can carry on without them, and sometimes go even better.  Without me looking to and shadowing my mom, I could actually shine on my own in her spirit, even while she was still alive.

The good thing is that Elijah did not have to go through death.  He did leave Elisha behind.  There was a point where Elisha could follow him no further, and as much as it grieved Elisha, he would have to be okay with that.  However, as Elisha was a prototype of Jesus, his ministry would be much better.  Immediately, he goes to a city where the water had been made bitter, and he healed the water.

And then, to show that you don't mess with God's man, and that being a precursor to Jesus means a bit of assassination, some young men seriously taunt Elisha and his bald head.  Elisha calls out to God who sends she bears to maul the guys.  We may wonder what is so bad about mocking someone's bald head, but in that culture, it was a serious insult.  It seriously undermined his ministry.  And God told us all that we would die if we sinned.  If he sends that death immediately, that is his judgment.  I sit and wonder why I'm still alive.  I've had many brushes with death, but God has kept me alive.  And he kept Elisha alive to carry out his ministry on earth.

And we must go on carrying on the ministries of those we loved not for their sakes, but for God who mercifully gives ups breath and wakes us up every morning. 

Proverbs 3:21-27 Safety for my soul

Proverbs 3:21-27

Through the years, you begin to realize that although Christians struggle with sin, catastrophe, and disaster beyond their control, generally the Proverbs prove true.  If you don't let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, then, if nothing else, your soul is protected from the eternal effects of sin.  They aren't what save you.  Jesus saves you.  But Jesus is wisdom and understanding at its fullest.  Never let Jesus out of your sight, and don't follow anything that will lead you away from his Word.

"They will be a garland to grace your neck."  Following Jesus causes you to stand out.  Even without trying, people will know you are a Christian.  And being true Christians who follow the word and eat and drink it every day are what caused me to have my closest friends.  I was drawn to them because they truly care about the Lord and honoring him.  I can face anything knowing that not only Jesus, but they are on my side.

"Then you will walk in safety and your feet will not stumble."  Yes.  I don't live perfectly.  I've made mistakes that have taken me years off course.  But generally, I have avoided diseases and other disasters because I took God's Word seriously.

"When you lie down, you won't be afraid.  When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."  I know for sure, that if I breathe my last breath, I will be in Jesus's presence, and it will be a joyous union.  I can sleep peacefully knowing that.  God has not guaranteed another day of life on this planet.  But if I go home to be with him right now, it will be home, and not in the presence of his anger.  Can you say that?

I also have no fear of the disaster that will overtake the wicked because the Lord keeps my feet from being snared.  In all that, I need to do the first thing and not let Jesus out of my sight.  I can walk on water as long as I keep looking at him and not get spooked by the waves around me.

2 Kings 1, and me being a broken record

2 Kings 1 tells the account of Elijah's last message to Ahab's family and how his sons never learned the lessons taught them much to their judgment.

His son Ahaziah is now king, and he falls through the lattice in his house and gets maimed.  He decides to send messengers to the god of Ekron to see if he will recover.  Elijah intercepts them and says, "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron?"  Because they still flagrantly act like there is no god and go off to find someone who will give them a quick answer, king Ahaziah is going to die.

When the messengers come back to the king, he asks them to describe the man.  He knows immediately that it is Elijah.  He sends fifty men to kill him, but Elijah calls down fire that consumes them.  After the third set of fifty man, the leader trembles before Elijah in repentance.  Elijah comes with them, tells the king the same thing, and later on the king dies.  His brother Jotham takes the throne, and I assume in the later accounts of Elisha, that he is the king mentioned.

After years and years of prophets, God sent Jesus to be the last true prophet.  Hebrews 1:1-2, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe."  After Jesus ascended back in to heaven, his apostles finished up his message as they built the church, and then they died.  Then John, the last apostle, wrote Revelation.  At the end in 22:18-19 he says, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.  And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll."

It is amazing how people to this day, sometimes myself included, look outside of God's word for quick answers to their problems.  We look to people who claim to speak the very words of Jesus or popular novels that portray God in ways more comfortable to the reader.  But let me tell you, God could not have done more to reach down to our level than sending Jesus as a man.  And he has told us everything we need to know for life and salvation in the Bible.  If you have have a question that only God can answer, you need to read the Bible.  He will come back to you when the time is right.  He speaks through the Bible and he often uses other people who also read the Bible to speak through you.  But if he speaks through them, they will probably not tell you that they are giving you the very words of Jesus.  For example, I'm pretty sure God is leading me away from CCS to who knows where, but I'm not going to tell you that God told me that.  And who knows, I may be back with bells and whistles in August.  But if the Bible does not forbid or command something, then I'm free to make my own decision.  Though in my example, I'm basing my conviction based on my own hurts, habits, and hangups and my desire to please God with who I am and to not be in a toxic environment.

Even so, I need to stay in the Bible for my daily bread and my daily steps to take.  I can't go off and consult a horoscope or take a personality test.  And I certainly can't base my decisions on strong feelings that won't go away.  I need to stay in the Word and possibly consult people that I trust who also stay in the Word to pray with me and give me advice.  And that's pretty much why if you tell me God told you to do something, I won't call you a liar, but I will seriously question whether he told you that or not and see if you are mistaken.

There is a God, and he does speak.  He's spoken through his Son and he continues to speak through his Spirit flowing through the living Word.  Rely on that and nobody else.

Proverbs 3 and longings this world won't satisfy

In the past couple of weeks, I spent some time in Proverbs 3:13-20.  The thing about this section is that Solomon personifies wisdom as a lady who comes alongside God in creating and ruling the world, especially in verses 19-20.  And she sounds so much like Jesus that liberal protestants have made this cult around "Sophia", as if the Bible was portraying Jesus in female pronouns.

Let me tell you, the Bible has never portrayed any member of the Trinity in female terms.  Some may argue that the Greek word for Holy Spirit is female, but it's not.  Our God only presents himself in male pronouns and he sent Jesus as a man.

On a side note, this does not really have to do with a conversation I had the other day where I was saying, "God is not a woman".  I more meant that he's not overly emotional and sappy, and that I feel like the Message Bible is.  But it's not a bad leap of logic.

Anyway, wisdom sounds so much like Jesus, however, the it would not be in appropriate to change "wisdom" for Jesus and to change the pronouns to male.

Let's do that starting at verse 13: Blessed are those who find Jesus, who gain understanding of him.  He is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.  He is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare with him.  Long life is in his right hand and in his left hand are riches and honor.  His ways are pleasant ways and his paths lead to peace.  He is a tree of life to those who take hold of him, and those who hold fast to him are blessed.

Sometimes it seems to good to be true.  His ways don't always seem peaceful, and if you follow him, it seems that the world will forsake you, and sometimes, often times, godly people die young.  But we must remember that the Bible's promises are mostly for the life to come in Christ's complete kingdom when he comes back to earth.  In that era, we will live forever and not lack anything.  There will be no holes in our hearts because our Bread of Life is here in the flesh.

It brings to mind the concept from CS Lewis, that if we find that nothing in this world truly satisfies, even the best things, then it could be because we were made for another place.  And it's true.  God has given me a house, a husband, an active church, opportunities to serve him, friends to fellowship with.  None of them are enough.  They weren't meant to be.  They were meant to point to him.  And if I lose sight of him and focus on them, I find he slowly takes them away, and I'm heartbroken again.

I was listening to a lecture by Joel Beeke of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.  He talked about how Joseph of Genesis sent wagons of riches to his father Jacob to show that he is alive and living in Egypt.  What if Jacob saw those riches and said, "I'll just settle here in Canaan and enjoy these gifts."?  No, Jacob wants to go see his son who he thought was dead.  These things in life are supposed to make us long for our Lord who we have never seen.  Sometimes the idea of him gets lost because we have not seen him and I start focusing on this person over here or that house over there.  No, and I have to tell myself this over and over because I forget daily, they are meant to point to Jesus, and only he will satisfy those longings that they don't quite quench.

Why is there evil in the world and why can I say it did not originate with God?

I think I've posted on this before.  I'm sure I'll post on this again.  But because I can't stand for another person to still be lost on this, I will post on this.  Why is there evil in the world and why can I say it did not originate with God?  Ultimately, unless God shows himself to you, I won't change your mind, but if he does, this will help.

1.  I'm not God.  This is a question only he can answer, and from what I see in Scripture, we as creatures do not have the capacity to understand the answer at this moment in time.  We can give guesses like God gave people free will (which I do believe), that we sinned, and now there is evil in the world.  But in the end, and RC Sproul agreed, we will not know the answer as to why God created a world in which Satan could tempt people and that they could betray the Lord and cause undue harm on all creation.

2.  Even if we know the answer, it still won't make our pain less.  It might even make it worse.  When God finally answered Job, he didn't answer his questions.  He simply said, "where were you when I created the world?  Can you do it better?  Can you explain Leviathan and Behemoth?"  It was enough for Job.  When you see him, it will be enough for you.  But Job would not have been satisfied if he had been told that God pointed him out to Satan, and then God gave Satan permission to attack him so that God could prove that Job truly loved God because God is enough apart from what he can do for Job.  He'd be more mad.  I'm baffled at it myself.

3.  Another thing I've gleaned from listening to RC Sproul through the years is that people are made in God's image.  We are copies of God.  And as copies of God, we will never be perfect like the original.  That imperfection is where sin and evil come from.  Again, that doesn't really solve the dilemma, but it explains why evil comes from creatures created by God but not from God himself.

4.  Back to Job, God wanted to show him off.  He wanted to prove the integrity Job had.  Romans 9:21 asks, "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?"  I don't know why evil exists, but I know in the end, that evil is going to make God's elect church shine even brighter and stronger than if it did not exist.  God is creator and wants to show off his creation to those who will not love him.  And if they still do not love him, it will add to their punishment when the end comes.

5.  How can you ask if God originated evil and question his goodness when he sent Jesus to die for our sins after he said we would die if we did sin?  He could have left us to be punished forever, but he gave us a way for that to not happen and we must believe in Jesus to be saved.

6.  If this still doesn't satisfy you, where will you go.  I said in my last blog that you can't escape God.  Psalm 139 says that God is both in heaven and in the depths of hell.  You will face him no matter what.  You can either make peace with him through the blood of Jesus and have your question answered when Christ's kingdom is complete and we are free from sin forever, or you will face his anger forever.  But it won't be because God is capricious or heartless or impotent.  It will be because after all the time he gave you to turn to him, you did not take advantage of it and come to love and believe in him.  He wants you to love him and to love him freely.  And he gave you a way to be reconciled to him.  Please, take that way before it is too late!

Psalm 11, God's rule, and heaven and hell

I had memorized Psalm 11, and lo and behold, I found a video from Tim Keller on it on his daily devos during the coronavirus crisis.

Psalm 11 is a good Psalm to consider during this time.  It talks about how the wicked people will discourage God's people and try to shoot from the shadows at them.  If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?  The answer: God is in his temple and on his throne.  He sees everyone on earth.  He examines the righteous and will call the wicked to justice.

I find it both chilling and encouraging.  Keller had three points.

1) Stop trying to rule the world.  We must not be passive, but we have to trust that God knows what he's doing and will either save the wicked, like he did for me, or judge them while saving the righteous, who were all wicked at one time.  I know as a codependent, I want to fix everything.  I want to find something social to do six feet apart and find babysitters for people and suddenly have a job as a music minister, but I have to let God write my story and stop trying to steal the pen.

2) Examine yourself.  Is there something about me that needs to change?  I know I've had more time to pray, fast, write songs, write my Bible studies, and I've had more time with my husband while otherwise, I gad about.  I've had more time to appreciate what I have and what God has given me.

3) Rejoice that the righteous will see his face.  I was once wicked.  I still have vestiges of wicked in me that pop up and I have to beat them down like Whack-a-Mole.  The best way is to meditate on Scripture.

All in all I realize, that if I died and went to heaven and saw all my loved ones that have passed and see the streets of gold, get to go to Disney World every day and have every luxury, but Jesus was not there, then it wouldn't be heaven.  Heaven is not a place or a situation, but a man, Jesus.  Where he is, that is heaven.

Meanwhile, I could be poor, lonely, and homeless and even more unsuccessful than I already am, but I have Jesus, so I already have heaven.

Psalm 139:7-8 says that there is no place I can flee from his Spirit.  Even in the depths of hell, he is there.  What does that tell me?  That contrary to popular belief, hell is not the absence of God, but only the presence of his anger and wrath.  Even if I was there, I would be in heaven because God is there.

And I think that is what will make hell so painful to those God doesn't save.  They will be in the presence of the Ruler that they despised and wanted to escape their whole lives.  Nobody wants to suffer for eternity.  They all want heaven, but not all people want Jesus as their Lord.  And it can't be both ways because Jesus is heaven.  And in God's angry presence, they will suffer but never be truly sorry that they never gave their lives to Jesus because they never received hearts that could see how much better he is than anything.

Which is chilling.  I sit and consider people who have died who I loved but I was not sure if they were saved.  Where are they?  It's not my job to wonder about that because I know that God is in heaven, and where he is, I will no longer cry in ways I can't understand now.

And you know what else, I do believe people can be saved because God placed people in their lives who prayed for their salvation.  He saves people because of the love of other people.

But ultimately, what am I doing to prevent them from being so hard that they never come to know the Lord?  I pray that they will be melted by God's love.

The Death of Ahab

1 Kings 22 tells of how Israel's most wicked king dies.  The Syrians or Arameans are attacking again because he did not obey the Lord in killing Ben-Hadad when Elijah told him that he would defeat them in chapter 20.  And for his disobedience, he would suffer.

Now they are attacking, and King Jehoshaphat of Judah has joined Ahab against him.  All the prophets are telling them to go because they will win.  Jehoshaphat then asks if there is a true prophet of God there.  Ahab says that there is Micaiah, but he's always so negative.  But Jehoshaphat insists on getting him.

For some reason, Micaiah tells Ahab that he will win against the Arameans, but deep down, Ahab knows that's not true.  Okay, then, Micaiah gives a heavenly courtroom scenario where God is telling the angels to put a lying tongue in the favorite prophets to tell Ahab that he will win so that he will get killed.  Ahab knows that God is going to judge him for his years of idolatry and disobedience against God.  He could either listen to the health and wealth preachers who only say good things, or he can listen to the truth and believe in God.

He puts Micaiah in prison and then goes into battle where he gets killed.  Even when he and Jehoshaphat switched clothes, God still knew which guy was which because you can't hide from God.  Either you can repent and be saved and forgiven, or you can die in your sins.  Which will it be?

And it's strange that people who truly love Jesus and are called to tell the truth to people about their sins but paired up with the good news that they can believe in Jesus and be saved are often hated by the world.  RC Sproul told of a man who won a chance to play golf with the president of the United States and Billy Graham.  The guy was so angry because he felt Billy Graham judging him, but in truth, Billy Graham said nothing.  He simply played the game.  But the man felt uncomfortable because of the God that Billy represented.

In the same way at the kitchen where I worked until the COVID-19 crisis, people despised me because of my faith. Yes they may say I'm incompetent, lazy, and bungling, but in truth, it's because they hate the God that I represent.  And I'm not in there beating them over the head with Jesus either.  I'm there doing my job as best I know how.  But they know that I go to the church where we work, teach Sunday School, and hold to conservative values.  So they talk to me like I'm a rabid dog infecting the kitchen.  But if they'd stop, they'd realize that I have problems and sin, too.  We're both separated from a holy God because of sin, but I believe that I can approach God because Jesus died for my sins.  And I believe that Jesus is better than anything I desire, therefore I don't give into my sins and don't want anyone else to do so either.

It's also interesting that as a blogger, sometimes I speak out against things I don't agree with and it prevents me from moving forward in society.  It shows the danger of the internet.  I didn't agree with the Willow Creek Leadership Summit that had speakers there who are both prosperity preachers and non-trinitarian in their theology.  I blogged about it and I saw doors close in my face.  I also don't agree that communion can be held with anything other than bread/crackers or wine/grape juice because Jesus did not consecrate anything else.  It's a sacrilege to do so.  Jesus had many things in his day he could have used to symbolize his body and blood, but he chose bread and wine.  Not lamb, not bitter herbs, not raisin cakes, but only bread and wine.  Maybe they didn't have Coke and PBJs then, but there were equivalents, and he only consecrated bread and wine.  And we must keep this sacrament sacred.  Do not partake of it, until you have the proper materials.  God will understand.  Just don't incorporate things that Jesus did not incorporate.  We come to the Lord on his terms as a privilege that must not be abused.  Will more doors close to me for saying this?  Maybe.  And I will talk about this more when I get around to talking about King Ahaz.

Ahab, Naboth, and God's judgment and mercy

In 1 Kings 20, Ahab sees a field that abuts his royal property that belongs to Naboth.  He wants the field and offers to buy it from him, but Naboth says it is not for sale.  It has been in his family for ages, and he will not sell it.

Ahab pouts at home, and his wife Jezebel says that she will take care of things.  They hold a banquet and invite Naboth.  Then two guys accuse him of blasphemy, and the people stone Naboth.  Then Jezebel takes his property.  Elijah comes and tells him that Ahab will die and that when Jezebel dies, dogs will eat up her body and they won't be able to bury her.  Then Ahab repents and Elijah says this will all happen in his son's time. 

This account reminds me of the incident of David and Bathsheba.  David saw another man's wife, used murder to obtain her, and then Nathan rebuked him, but he genuinely repented.  He still suffered the consequences of his sins, but his repentance was genuine. 

I can't judge Ahab.  Sometimes I think he might have genuinely repented, and sometimes I think he only repented because he was caught.  Even so, God honors repentance and knows the heart.  Perhaps Ahab was reprobate through and through, and perhaps God had mercy on his soul.  Only time will tell. 

This account also reminds me of the incident of Jack the baker in Colorado.  The LGBT crowd want him to bake a cake for a gay wedding.  He says he won't do it but refers them to places that will be glad to bake one.  However, these people want to destroy him and anybody else who will not give in to their libertine agenda.  And even after the US Supreme Court exonerated him at least once if not twice, the people still won't leave him alone.  They will not stop until we let them proceed in their wickedness and get us to help them in the process.  They have time to repent.  And this is not me being judgmental.  You always have a choice in what you do with your feelings and never have to let them decide who you are.  We have an amazing God who offered Jesus do die for our sins and gives us time to repent.  He gives a Holy Spirit who will change you from your natural sins to be more like him, even the ones you love the most. 

And also, is God judging the world through the COVID-19 shutdowns?  I read one article that said that he was.  I couldn't really agree with it.  I read another article that said he does not send disasters to judge, and I couldn't agree with that one either.  The fact is, he does send disasters as judgments, and also there is rampant sickness as a result of the fall of man.  He sends rain and sunshine on the just and the unjust and in the end no one is truly just and good except God.  We all deserve a lot worse than what he gives, but he still sent Jesus to die for our sins.  We should never question his love and mercy because of that alone, but we should all repent lest something worse happen.  I have no fear because my sins have been forgiven and if I should die, I will see his face.  But if you do not know Jesus, then you need to do so before it's too late.  And we should all work for justice and mercy until then!

Thoughts on Genesis 27

About last year, a friend of mine asked me to hold her accountable to memorize Scripture.  So I started doing that again.  Years ago I had been doing that and then stopped for some reason.  I don't remember why, but I had been surfing in different passages.  I had stopped at Genesis 26, Psalm 10, Proverbs 2, and Matthew 5. 

Normally in memorizing Scripture, I'll memorize a passage, but don't rehearse it once I move on to other passages.  But I finished Genesis 27, the long passage where Jacob officially swindles Isaac into giving him the blessing, stealing the chance from Esau.  Rebekah, his mother, conspires in this.  It's a major ordeal that God still used for his glory.  Here are my ideas from it.

1. God wanted to bless Jacob, the younger twin anyway.  Just because Isaac was deadset on disobeying the Lord and blessing his favorite older son, did not mean Jacob and Rebekah had to help God keep his promise.  God would have given Jacob the blessing one way or another.  He did that for Judah even though Jacob liked Joseph the best of all his sons.  He became the ancestor of Jesus.  In fact he did that for Leah, Judah's mother, even though Rachel was Jacob's favorite wife.  In the end Jacob was only claiming what was already his, but he doubted that God would come through for him, and he did a despicable thing to his father in doing so.

2. At the end of the passage, when Rebekah sends Jacob off to her brother in Haran, she says she'll send word to him when Esau is no longer angry and forgets what Jacob did.  Notice, she never sent for him.  Esau kept being angry.  How would you forget something like that?  That is why we should never praise Esau for not retaliating at Jacob when they met again and embraced each other and wept.  That happened because God intervened, not because Esau finally learned to forgive.  Ultimately Esau was like Cain who never followed through on killing his brother.  Unlike Cain, he actually was a better guy than Jacob.  But in God's election, God wanted to bless Jacob, and we see that Esau willingly through away his blessing for a pot of stew, caring nothing for the future of him and his children.

3. No matter who is right or who is wrong, we all sin because we are sinners.  We all need redemption from our flagrant errors.  We cannot come to God on our own initiative.  Our sins need to be covered by the Blessing that God would send through Jacob.  That is Jesus.  Jesus must die for our sins so that we can have peace with God.  And that peace is meant to be shared with others.  Do not throw away eternity for one bowl of stew or one night with somebody or a relationship that you know is wrong.  Love Jesus more than this world and know his invitation is always open until you die or until he returns. 

1 Kings 20

At the end of my last post, I had said that Elijah had anointed Elisha, Hazael, and Jehu and that Hazael would end up killing Ahab.  I got that wrong.

Elijah anointed only Elisha who, decades later, anointed Hazael to be king of Syria and to judge Israel, and Jehu who would annihilate Ahab's descendants.  However, the latter two were not friends to Elijah or even God.  They would not be a good small group to encourage our weary prophet.  But Elisha would succeed him as prophet and be a prototype of Jesus.  He even has the same name. 

But the current king of Syria, in chapter 20 of 1 Kings, Ben-Hadad gathers his army to attack Israel.  They are heavy drinkers, and they taunt Ahab.  However, a prophet comes to Ahab and tells him that he will defeat the army, that God wants him to kill Ben-Hadad.  At some point, however, Ben-Hadad tells his army to surrender in sackcloth and ashes.  Ahab spares the king and his army.

Another nameless prophet tells a man to strike him.  The man refuses, so the prophet says that a lion will eat him for not striking him.  That happens.  Another man listens to the prophet and wounds him.  Ahab notices him, and when the prophet removes his headband, he recognizes him.  The prophet says that Ahab will die because he spared the Syrian king that God wanted to die. 

Because God's prophets anoint kings of Israel and Syria, it shows that God rules over all nations, whether the nations know it or not.  Both northern Israel and Syria worshiped false gods, but Israel was God's chosen people, so he gave them as many chances to repent, even sending Elijah and Elisha before he finally sends them into exile to Assyria later on.  God is patient, not wanting anybody to perish in their sins.  And he wants all nations to know their proper God.  In the end, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess him as Lord.

The account of the man who would not strike the prophet is another grim example of God judging people immediately when people are used to him giving mercy.  It is a grave thing to disobey our Lord, but we do it daily in his face like he will never hold us to account.  And sometimes, God holds people to account right away, like the man who did not strike the prophet.  God sent a lion to eat him.  God keeps his word, even when we don't like it.  And God used the wounded prophet to show Ahab that he still did not obey God even when he said he would defeat Syria.  He nearly won, but then spared the king and his army.  Soon, Ahab will die.  But not before the next chapter which recounts his most wicked deed.

God gives us a long time to repent of our sins and turn to Jesus.  The reason Ahab lived so long in his wickedness is that God was ready to replace him with Jesus.  Jesus could die for his sins and Ahab could live a new life of devotion to God.  He proved himself real over and over in the fire called down from heaven and in the lion eating the man who would not strike the prophet.  And he still hasn't sent Jesus back even the the world grows more depraved and bloodthirsty.  He wants us all to repent of our sins and turn to Jesus.  He will not wait forever.

Elijah's big showdown and the aftermath

1 Kings chapters 18-19 continue Elijah's story and his ministry against Ahab's idolatry.  He had a refreshing three years living with a widow in Zarephath.  The Lord took care of them while famine raged in northern Israel.  Now, it was time to go on the offensive.  Elijah had to face Ahab.

On the way, he meets Obadiah, an official of Ahab who had secretly hid 700 prophets in caves to protect them from Ahab.  It shows that even when wicked people take over a country, God still rules over them and has his followers in strange places carrying out his will.  He meets with Elijah who tells him to tell Ahab that he is here.  Obadiah fears for his life, but Elijah assures him that God will protect him.

Then, we have the famous showdown between Elijah and Baal's prophets.  They set up altars, and whoever's God answers with fire is the real god.  Baal's prophets slash themselves and cry out to him all day long.  Elijah taunts them saying that perhaps Baal is asleep or he went to the bathroom.  Finally, it's Elijah's turn, and God answers immediately.  It is very obvious that Elijah won because by himself, he had enough power to kill all of Baal's prophets down by the river.

Then queen Jezebel hears about this and threatens to kill Elijah.  He runs away to mount Horeb and wants to kill himself.  It shows that when we succeed in brave things, we still get tired and anxious, ready to give up.  God graciously gave him a timeout with food, sleep and a good pep talk.  He said to stop navel-gazing and go anoint three men.

Notice, two of these three men are not friends of God.  One is Hazael.  He will assassinate the king of Syria, replace him, and kill king Ahab in battle.  God is going to judge Ahab for his continued Baal worship even after the pyrotechnics he saw on Mount Carmel.  The next is Jehu who will kill Jezebel and all of Ahab's descendants including the king of Judah because king Jehoshaphat unwisely gave his son in marriage to on of his daughters.  Then, Jehu will end Baal worship but still continue using the golden calves. 

Finally, he anoints Elisha.  Elisha will succeed Elijah.  Another version of his name is Elishua.  It is the same name as Joshua/Jesus.  Just like Joshua succeeded Moses and led Israel into the promised land and conquered the inhabitants there, and just like John the Baptist gave way to Jesus who is our messiah and will make it possible for us to enter God's kingdom and he will defeat all God's enemies who never repent, Elisha will succeed Elijah.  Northern Israel had become so bankrupt of any true religion that God graciously gave them this ministry to usher them back into the true worship still going on in Jerusalem.  Elisha's ministry reach out to gentiles such as Naaman, bringing them to worship the true God.  And he healed people and at one point even multiplied bread to a crowd.  He was not the Messiah, and one day God did judge the north who never returned to God's true worship.  But he gave them one last chance.

If we are discouraged by our enemies even when we do the best to show them God's love, we have to look to God.  We cannot find encouragement from people who found peace without knowing Christ because there is no true peace.  Their hope is only for this world.  We must look to people like William Cowper, Charles Spurgeon, or Martin Luther who suffered great depression but still clung to the hope of our Lord even in their darkest nights of the soul.  In many cases, their anxiety was not healed.  Even Cowper died doubting God's love.  But God's eternal love carried them all the way home and it can do that for you, too.

Kings: Ahab and Elijah - when following God is lonely

1 Kings 16:29 tells of the beginning of Ahab's reign.  Thus far, he was the most openly wicked king of Israel.  Before him, kings would set up golden calves and say they were worshiping the true God through them.  They weren't.  God's second commandment expressly says not to worship him with images.  But northern Israel was geographically cut off from the true temple and true Christian education. 

Ahab did not even pretend to worship the true God.  He set up a temple for Baal in the capital that he set up in Samaria.  He married Jezebel of Tyre, the center of Baal worship.  And they persecuted anyone who spoke out against them.  Does the world punish people who speak out against the popular gods of our day?  Doesn't the worst strife come from within people who call themselves God's people?

This brings on the ministry of Elijah in chapter 17.  Since Baal was the fertility god, and his followers thought they could get him to send rain if they could influence him and Asherah to have sex by also having sex, Elijah told them that God would not send rain for the next three years unless Elijah asked him to.  This would show that all their religion was based on licentiousness that had no effect.  Their rebellion was in vain.  And since Elijah was speaking against what they really loved, their passions, he lived in exile while God fed him through ravens.

And he escaped to Zarephath where a widow and her son took him in.  He asked her to give him the last of her bread, and as long as he lived with her, her jar did not run out of oil, and she always had bread to eat.  And when her son suddenly died, Elijah revived him.

Does following the Lord make you lonely?  In the state of Georgia, almost everyone thinks that they are Christian, but do they actually follow the Lord?  I came to Christ when I was about 11, and I was very lonely through high school because the people who started out as my friends wanted to follow the world and belong with the popular crowd.  I decided that following the Lord was more important.

Later on, I found my kind of people, but mostly I must be content with loneliness.  I'll quote someone, and if she reads this, she'll know I'm quoting her: "There's Christian, and then there's really Christian."  Really Christian is lonely.  But those who follow the Lord will find him sustaining them with ravens.  And those who stand up for those who follow him will find their oil not running out and their hearts satisfied.  And I simply need to believe that God listens to me when I pray and is for me and not against me.  And I praise God every day for those who stand by me and back me up, providing a visible sign of God's love for me.  And I pray that God will keep them strong, too.

Kings: Baasha, Elah, Zimri, and Omri

1 Kings 15:33-16:7 describe the 24-year reign of Baasha king of Israel.  He had deposed the dynasty of Jeroboam.  The Lord said he would as a judgment on him setting up golden calves to rival the temple in Jerusalem.  Baasha came along and killed his son Nadab, and then he did the same things.  So Jehu son of Hanani came and said that his dynasty would end.

Elah, his son, is described from 16:8-14.  He reigned only two years.  His official Zimri plotted against him and assassinated him.  Then he became king for 7 days.  His reign is described from 16:15-20.  Omri became the commander of the army and set a seige to the city of his palace.  Zimri set his own palace on fire and died, and Omri became king.

In history, Omri set up northern Israel as a world power such as it became known as Omri-land.  In the Bible, he only gets a blip in verses 21-28.  He's more known as being the father of the most notorious evil king of Israel, Ahab. 

Northern Israel was formed as a judgment on Solomon beginning to follow false gods.  Then the northern kings immediately set up false images and said the people could worship the true God through them, which goes against God's commandment against setting up graven images.  And each dynasty was eliminated for doing things only to be followed by another king who did the same things and only made it worse. 

Meanwhile, in the southern kingdom of Judah, they had kings who followed God but also compromised with false forms of worship. 

But each time, God kept his promise.  In the south, he kept David's dynasty going until it became so wicked that he kept his other promise of sending them into exile.  In the north, he kept his promise and send them into exile as none of the kings followed God. 

And as we see leader after leader fail to correct wrongs in society such as abortion and sex trafficking, we may see the same judgments on our countries.  But I sure hope that the only true King, Jesus, comes back before things get worse.  He kept his promises in the BC days.  He will keep his promise to us to send him back to complete his kingdom and end evil and death for all time.  And if you do not come to believe and follow him, then you will be swept away in his judgment, the one we all deserve had it not been for his grace in saving the people of his Church. 

King Nadab - true v. false worship and the irony of God's justice

In 1 Kings 15:25-32, we have the account of King Nadab of the northern kingdom of Israel.  He is Jeroboam's son.  Since Jeroboam apostatized from the true worship of the true God by setting up golden calves to rival the temple in Jerusalem, prophets told him that his dynasty would end. 

Under his son Nadab, the dynasty did end.  Baasha killed Nadab after two years and became the next king of Israel. 

It's interesting that Jeroboam's son bears the same name as a son of Aaron who also was killed instantly when he offered strange fire at the altar in a way that was opposed to what Yahweh commanded.  Both Nadabs prove true the classic Reformed interpretation of God's second commandment to not make graven images to try to worship him.  The classic reformed view is that if a kind of worship is not commanded by God in Scripture, if it has not positive precedent in the Old or New Testaments, then it is to be forbidden. 

God commanded Aaron's sons to offer sacrifices through a kind of fire.  Nadab and Abihu offered a different kind of fire and were killed instantly.  God does not kill other people on the spot who offer a strange kind of worship other than what God commanded, but we must beware that we are not worshiping God the way that the pagans worship their gods. 

The second Nadab is the son of the man who said Israel could worship the true God through images of calves, much like Aaron did when Moses was on Sinai.  God specifically commanded not to worship him through images. 

But here is the irony.  God used Baasha to kill Nadab and end Jeroboam's dynasty, and then Baasha did the same things.  It is up to God to bring judgment by whoever he wants whenever he wants, or to have mercy and save the people from their sins.  But I still can't help thinking why.  Why would God use someone to punish someone else when they do the same things?

Even today, we see political divisions arguing for life when each side demeans life.  Trump says that unborn lives are sacred, and I wholeheartedly agree and that's why I voted for him.  At the same time, foreign families are living in cages at the border.  Then again, the people that speak against having immigrants living in cages at the border are doing nothing about it.  They are only wasting time trying to impeach Trump.  Meanwhile, I vote knowing I can't do anything about the unborn or the immigrants.  I want to find ways to protect all life from conception to natural death.  And I want people to come into the country legally but not be treated as animals while they await legal process. 

I can do nothing but pray and await God to sort things out in his time.  And I also am a hypocrite and don't want to be.  Only by the grace of God go I. 

But ultimately God will bring justice to all people, and he will have mercy by bringing that justice onto Jesus instead of those he saves.  He has mercy on whom he will have mercy.  And both his mercy and justice make no sense at times.

King Asa

1 Kings 15 starting at verse 9 tells of a righteous king of Judah named Asa.  If Abijam, his father, really did repent of his ways and become Abijah, then Asa would have been influenced by that.  He was the first king since Solomon to work at clearing his country of Baal and Asherah worship.  He even removed his grandmother from being queen mother.  He made many reforms.  There's this odd story in the passage where Asa went to war against King Baasha of Israel.  He took treasure from the temple, gave some to the king of Aram to betray Baasha and help defeat him, and the king of Aram did so.  This shows great compromise on Asa's part.

Which should not surprise me when I read 2 Chronicles 14-16 that at this point afterward, Asa would not listen to God's prophets and when he got a serious disease in his feet, he would not trust God but only doctors.  And then he died leaving Jehoshaphat as king, a good but compromised man.

What happened?  Was he man that God saved from his sins but who still became more sinful in his old age through senility?  Was he not truly a follower of God after all?  Nobody but God can say for sure, but God still used him to clear Judah of idolatry.  God can use anybody.  But since Judah and Israel were once one nation, he should never have looked to help from a pagan king in his war against the north.  And instead of repenting and turning from his ways when confronted by the prophet Hanani, he put him in prison. 

It is like in recent days when Joshua Harris defected from the faith.  God used him in many ways to get the church thinking about how best to be pure and faithful to the Lord with our bodies (though he proposed a legalistic way that doesn't really work for our culture), but then he must not have truly followed the Lord or else he wouldn't have defected.  Perhaps he'll return, and perhaps God still saved Asa despite himself.  Doesn't he do the same for me and you?

All the same, true followers of the Lord may backslide, but it won't be permanent, and the Holy Spirit will bring them back to the church in this life.  I hope we can say the same for Asa.

Abijah v. Abijam and staying accountable to true worship

1 Kings 15 introduces us to Abijah, Rehoboam's son and successor to David's throne.  The NIV calls him Abijah to match his story in 2 Chronicles 13.  The ESV calls him Abijam.  Abijah means "my father is YHWH", and Abijam means "my father is the sea."

The 1 Kings account shows a wicked king who followed after the idolatry of his father, and the name Abijam would more reflect the pagan leanings of Rehoboam and his son.  The 2 Chronicles account gives a story of a man who was attacked by Jeroboam but rebuked him and all of northern Israel for turning away from the worship of the true God and setting up golden calves and pretending to worship him.  So which man do we have?  Do we have Abijah who loved God's glory or do we have Abijam who fooled around with idols?

Since both accounts are in the Bible, and the Bible is all true, then both accounts are true somehow, but I'm not sure how.

Just like the Bible shows a Rehoboam who was foolish in his young days and caused the kingdom to split, but then humbled himself when a prophet told him to stop attacking the north, but then still had constant warfare with the north, the inspired Scriptures also show a much compromised Abijah.  Maybe he grew up in a compromised religion where he could worship God one day but then play with the world on other days.  Perhaps when he was older and could no longer take the constant warfare with Jeroboam, he came to his senses and rebuked the other king for his apostasy, much like the thief on the cross who repented and rebuked the other thief for mocking our Savior as he was dying.

In the end, I don't know completely how the two accounts jive, but they do somehow.  Much like how God doesn't always make sense in my life, but I know he's good and that he loves me.  One thing is true.  Judah still had the worship of the true God, and Israel abandoned him but pretended that they still worshiped him.  And that accountability of worshiping God on his terms kept the southern kings on David's throne no matter how much their hearts strayed.  In the same way, we must stay with the God of the Scriptures who sent Jesus to die for our sins.  Our hearts will naturally stray from the path, but if we have the accountability of reading the Bible every day and going to church every week, especially when we don't feel like it, the Holy Spirit will be faithful to guide us back to the right way of worship and living.

Rehoboam concludes: Mixed testimonies

When we are first introduced to Rehoboam, he succeeds his father Solomon to the throne and then the kingdom divides into northern Israel (Ephraim) and southern Judah.  Rehoboam rules the south and tries to wage war against the north to reunite, but a prophet tells him to stop, and he does.  It seems that Rehoboam humbled himself.

However, in the conclusion to his reign in 1 Kings 14, it says that he had constant war with Jeroboam.  Perhaps his repentance was a false repentance, and he had to keep up with the north.  Jeroboam in the north set up golden calves to compete with the temple in Jerusalem in the south.  Then maybe Rehoboam decided that it would be a good idea to set up Asherah poles and sacred stones to bring them back to the south.  Neither king followed the true God who set him up on their thrones.  So God sent Pharaoh Shishak from Egypt who plundered the temple's treasures, and Rehoboam replaced the gold shields with bronze ones and set up guards.

However 2 Chronicles 12:12 says that the southern king did humble himself and that there were true worshipers of God in Judah.  The Lord did not destroy him and kept his line going.

If God had not saved me, my heart would be just as wayward.  It is anyway from time to time.  I go days and years without a spot, and then I make a huge error and either I or somebody else gets the consequences to it, and I have to repent and rethink God's plan for me.  But I rest on God's mercy given through Jesus's blood, and I realize I need to let him work and stop thinking.  But I can't shut down my brain.  I'm setting up my own versions of Asherah poles and golden calves, and I need to stop and obey the Lord.

And then, I see a nation that never truly followed God following him even less, and I have to sit with the faithful ones and call out sin where I see it, but am powerless to turn the tide of depravity all around me.  Lord help us all.  Send Christ soon before things get worse.

Abijah and Ahijah

Chapter 14 of 1 Kings starts with Jeroboam and ends with a recap of Rehoboam.  Jeroboam's son, Abijah, gets ill, and he sends his queen out in disguise to Ahijah the prophet to ask about Abijah.  The king did not want the prophet who made him king to know that he had sent his wife.

But when she approached the door of Ahijah's house, he said, "Why is the king's wife in disguise?"  He told her that he made Jeroboam king, but Jeroboam has done nothing but betray the Lord with his false idols and golden calves.  He tells her that when she gets home, her son will die and that his dynasty will end.  The passage also says that Jeroboam's son actually followed the true Lord.

When we consider Abijah and That Guy who got eaten by the lion in the previous passage, we wonder why God took them away from this earth so soon.  There are no truly good people on earth except for Jesus, but there are people God redeemed from their sins who do follow him to the best of their ability although not perfectly.  Why did God take the one good son of this treacherous king away so young, and why did he have That Guy killed so soon when he committed the one sin of eating with someone before he got home?  Also, why did my faithful mother die of cancer at age 50 and why did the thirteen-year-old son of one of our pastors get killed in a car wreck many years ago?

It's like God has mercy on some of his faithful people by taking them home at a young age.  They don't have to live to see further corruption in our society, and they are taken before they can be corrupted themselves.  Although we who are still living grieve them, they are happy in the arms of Jesus and will never cry again.

Meanwhile, the wicked people live on and on, and unless God rescues them from themselves, this is the only heaven they will know.  In the end, it is much better for the faithful ones who live short, but impactful lives on earth, then for the ones who live long but only waste their potential.

I will finish with Rehoboam in the next post.