THE LORD SPOKE (June 14)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: I Chronicles 12-13

Some started coming to David already at Ziklag. He'd fled the murderous presence of Saul and found temporary safety among the Philistines. The first twenty-three who came were from Saul's own tribe (I Chron. 12:2-7) and he could ill afford to lose them. The next eleven (Gadites) came all the way from Transjordan (I Chron. 12:8-15). Another handful followed from Benjamin and Judah (I Chron. 12:16) with seven more from Manasseh (I Chron. 12:19). Day by day the number grew until David had a great army of loyal followers who recognized God's hand upon him and wanted to be a part of his success (I Chron. 12:18,22).

The numbers thereafter swelled greatly. Taken at face value, they rose to over 300,800. Given the ambiguous nature of the Hebrew word aleph, meaning "one thousand" or "chieftain" (modern Hebrew aluf = "general"), those numbers could be significantly lower but still they comprised a vast "army of God" (I Chron. 12:22). A glance at the qualities they brought to the job would be enough to excite any leader. Eisenhower on D-Day didn't have any more to work with than David did here:

• military prowess and skill in weaponry (I Chron. 12:3,8,15,18,21,24,25,33,35,36)
• brave as lions (I Chron. 12:8)
• fast as gazelles (I Chron. 12:8)
• worth one hundred to one - some more! (I Chron. 12:14)
• spiritually attuned (I Chron. 12:18,26)
• loyal (I Chron. 12:18,29)
• well-informed (I Chron. 12:32)
• well-armed (I Chron. 12:24,34,37)
• united in their thinking (I Chron. 12:38)
• well-provisioned (I Chron. 12:39-40)
• happy (I Chron. 12:40)

David's heart is revealed in what follows. He welcomes the rest of the Israelites to join and specifically invites the priests and Levites. With their spiritual leadership and his own desire to determine God's will (I Chron. 13:2), he leads the people in making the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the very presence of God, central in the life of the nation once again (I Chron. 13:3f).

This band of brothers was knit together and found, as they did in the days of Nehemiah, that "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh. 8:10). It made them unstoppable. How's your joy today? Do you need once again to make God's presence the main thing driving your life?


New Testament: Galatians 3

Promise ➔ Law ➔ Faith

Abraham received the Promise. For it to take effect, all he had to do was believe. Since it was a unilateral covenant, there was nothing he should do or could do to ratify it. God flat-out promised him that He would bring it about. This promise is identified as “the gospel announced in advance” (Gal. 3:8) and it involved the Christ, the Messiah. He would be the fulfillment of the Promise and its Guarantor. And here comes the big surprise - all those who believe are Abraham’s children so that this promise extends to all the nations of the earth. Through the Promised Seed, the Messiah, the promise that was made to Abraham reaches all the way to me, a Gentile.

Promise ➔ Law ➔ Faith

So why was the Law necessary? Why was it inserted 430 years later (Gal. 3:17)? At this point, Paul gives us three answers to exactly this question: (1) It establishes the fact that justification must be by faith, not works, since it is impossible “to do everything written in the Book of the Law” (Gal. 3:10-11). (2) It was added to (specifically, did not replace!) the promise in order to reveal sin (Gal. 3:22). (3) It acts as a teacher (Greek = paidagogos; actually, more like “baby-sitter” than “professor”) to bring us to the knowledge of Christ (Gal. 3:24). Take note: the Law was in effect “until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come” (Gal. 3:19).

Promise ➔ Law ➔ Faith

Faith was operative from the start for “without faith it is impossible to please God”. Paul chides the Galatians for thinking they could attain the goal by human effort (Gal. 3:2-5). Just as Abraham believed God, so they must approach God by faith. In fact, Gentiles too may be justified by faith (Gal. 3:8). There is no other way!

THE LORD SPOKE (March 08)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Numbers 30-31

Of some people it might be said, “Their promise and $5 would get you a cup of coffee anywhere.” In other words, their word isn’t worth much. “Giving your word” just doesn’t always mean what it used to. In fact, a lot of the vocabulary in this area has become antiquated and increasingly rare in our usage. For example, consider terms like:

plight = “a solemnly given pledge” (Today it has come to mean “a difficult situation”.)

troth = “loyal or pledged faithfulness” (If someone heard it today they’d probably start looking for the place where the pigs feed.”

Even some words that might still be more common have lost a lot of their original force; like these, for instance, which are rarely used as verbs any more:

warrant = “to declare or maintain with certainty, to assure a person of the truth of what is said”

covenant = “to promise, pledge, or enter into a contract”

Yet other words just don’t seem to carry the same force they once did:

vouch = not just to attest but to give a guarantee

pledge = not merely the promise of a donation, but an affiance (you’ll probably have to look that one up too)

oath = not a curse, but “a solemn attestation of the truth or inviolability of one’s words”

vow = not some silly statement to protect your dignity but a firm commitment that you’ll follow through and make good on your promise

swear = not cuss words but to give your word of honor

Men have always told lies. Since the Garden of Eden truthfulness, or the lack thereof, has been a chief issue for us. But it does seem that we’re seeing an increasing erosion of truth in our day. Numbers 30 was included in Scripture because it deals with “regulations of the Lord...concerning relationships” (Num. 30:16).

How is your word of honor?


New Testament: Luke 23

Now we’ve made a movie about it (actually, several). But when it happened for real, God shut out the lights so no one could see the final agony of His Son.

It was not about the sixth hour and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. (Lk. 23:44)

It was the darkest moment of history. The Devil’s victory was complete. Or so it seemed. Jesus had been on the cross for three hours, since 9:00am. He was beaten and bloodied beyond recognition; so weak that He’d been unable to carry the cross the last little distance (Lk. 23:26). Right to His dying moment, He’d been dealing with other people and their hurts - the women in the crowd (Lk. 23:27-31) and two criminals next to Him (Lk. 23:39-43).

Now, for three hours it had been dark, from 12:00 to 3:00pm. Surprisingly, He was able to muster up enough strength to speak in “a loud voice” (Lk. 23:46) so that all could hear and know that His life was not being taken from Him. He spoke so all could hear and realize that He was giving His life: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Even a pagan soldier, finding himself far from home and in an awkward enforcement situation that had little to do with any form of recognizable legality, was able to see the difference here. He’d probably witnessed many crucifixions. All three synoptic Gospels mention him and his statement that this must surely be “the Son of God”, but only Luke adds that he “praised God” when he did so (Lk. 23:47). There was believing faith here!

Once the darkness began to lift, only a few stayed behind to watch the still body. Most had already drifted away. If anyone had any hope left it wasn’t very apparent. Another silent friend got permission to take the body down and a handful of faithful women made sure it was placed in the rock-hewn tomb, making careful note of the location so they could come back later. Then in the last moments before the tired sun went down that day and the Sabbath began, they collected and chopped some aromatic spices to be ready for Sunday. In the meantime, a member of the Sanhedrin slipped in to do his part (Jn. 19:39). Nicodemus carried in 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes.

That dark day was actually the hinge point of all history! Our redemption was accomplished by the death of the Lamb of God. He was the only one and this was the only way that could bring about salvation for hopeless humanity.

Once He said, “It is finished!” the only thing left was for the Son to come up on a new day. And that He did!