THE LORD SPOKE (April 07)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Judges 3-4

Does God teach warfare? That’s what it says in Judges 3:2a. David said the same thing: “Praise be to the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” (Ps. 144:1).

It’s pretty hard to escape that truth when you read through the conquest narrative or the battles of Israel in other parts of Scripture. Of course, there is the question of a “just war” and that’s not an easy one today. But the point is that war per se is not wrong. In part, it’s the natural outcome, yea necessity, of an accurate theology of man and sin. Because man is a sinner by nature, human government and warfare are a necessity. A position that says that all warfare is wrong fails to recognize depravity and man’s bent toward sin. Evil is a reality in our world and, at the government level, the only way to respond to violence is with violence.

That is not the case at the personal level. Jesus’ teaching (see, for example, Mat. 5:38-45) directs us to meet violence with a more passive resistance. Is that an oxymoron? Passive resistance? At the personal level we are to turn away wrath, to not respond in anger, to resist the temptation to fight fire with fire. But not so with human government. The very purpose of government is “to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 13:4). Government “bears the sword” for this purpose. The “sword” is an instrument of death and destruction - it’s not a spanking stick.

Yes, God has ordained just war as a means of governing human society. The prophet Joel had to call the people of his day to war with these words:

The LORD has spoken. Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. (Joel 3:8-10)

But both Isaiah (Isa. 2:3-5) and Micah, contemporary prophets, spoke of a day that is still to come:

Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. (Mic 4:2-5)

New Testament: Acts 8

Philip was the right man in the right place at the right time. Being led by the Spirit, his ministry began in Samaria. Some biblical manuscripts have a definite article in Acts 8:5, making it “the city of Samaria”. Whether the town or the region is intended, this faithful deacon from Jerusalem (Acts 6:5) saw his ministry spread as he faithfully “proclaimed the Christ”.

What does that mean? Why is the definite article there? We’re told in Acts 8:12 that “to proclaim the Christ” is to “preach the good news of the kingdom of God”. It means to explain and demonstrate from Scripture that the Messiah has come and that He has destroyed the kingdom of darkness. His kingdom involves a relationship with God and a participation in His program. This constitutes the good news of salvation - to know Him.

Notice that one of the results was that Peter and John (and others?) also began “preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages” (Acts 8:25). They hadn’t been doing that previously. But now the church in Jerusalem assumed the responsibility of giving some direction to what was happening in Samaria.

Meanwhile, God moves Philip in another direction. An angel of the Lord directs him toward Gaza and on the way another opportunity arises. Philip’s response is instructive to us because it demonstrates several important characteristics of a good evangelist:

1. sensitivity - he was listening for and prepared to respond to God’s direction (vs. 26)
2. availability - “he started out” (vs. 27-29); no hesitation, no arguments, no self-defense; he just did it and kept doing it
3. initiative - he ran to the challenge and looked for the right opportunity (vs. 30)
4. tactfulness - he measured his approach and he scratched where it itched; he gauged his words to the needs he saw (vs. 30-33)
5. preciseness - refusing all the potential rabbit trails, he kept on track and stuck with the message of Scripture (vs. 34-35)
6. decisiveness - when the moment came, he pressed it home and sought a decision (vs. 36-38)

And again, by the Spirit’s direction, he was on the move. First to Azotus and then to Caesarea (Acts 8:40), Philip spread the joy of knowing God. Back in Samaria “there was great joy in that city” (Acts 8:8) and the Ethiopian “went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). In fact, we’re frequently told that a new believer “was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God” (Acts 16:34).

Wasn’t that true for you? So, spread the joy!