THE LORD SPOKE (July 5)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Chronicles 31-32

Even a superficial glance at the archaeological record of the Assyrians' military machine will convince you quickly that they were ruthless, very violent, and extremely cruel. It's no wonder that Jonah did more than hesitate when God directed him to go to them with a message of condemnation and judgment. So, when our text says that Sennacherib invaded Judah (II Chron. 32:1) and "intended to make war on Jerusalem" (II Chron. 32:2), it's easy to understand Hezekiah's precarious position. The parallel passage in II Kings supplies several extra details but the basic information is here too.

Sennacherib's total war approach included:

• over-powering military force - 185,000 troops in this case
• a public information campaign to recount previous military exploits that were intended to terrorize the local population (= ancient version of CNN's coverage of news in the Middle East)
• learning Hebrew to get his message out more effectively to the common people
• memorizing verses of Scripture ("every man under his own vine and fig tree") to provide a "biblical basis" for what he planned to do
• learning some Judean doctrine to give a theological twist to his demands (use of "Jehovah" and references to Hezekiah's treatment of the altars and high places)

Hezekiah's actions are very clearly spelled out here too. First, he did everything humanly possible to prepare to meet the threat (II Chron. 32:3-5), including:

• significant work on the water sources to guarantee a steady supply under siege
• extensive repairs and reinforcement of the walls, towers, and other defensive positions
• provision of ample military hardware

Secondly, he went to the Temple and placed everything before the Lord, recognized his own inability to deal with the problem, and asked for God's help (II Kings 19:14-19).

Thirdly, he encouraged the people to trust the Lord (II Chron. 32:6-8) for the outcome

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of the flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.

God did respond decisively through the Prophet Isaiah (II Kings 19:20-34) promising that, under no circumstances, would Sennacherib enter Jerusalem. In fact, He "took care of them on every side" (II Chron. 32:22). Lord Byron said it well in his poem, The Destruction of Sennacherib (1815):

And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

Are you in need of that sort of divine solution to some problem you're facing today? The way forward is laid out clearly here: (1) do everything possible that God has equipped you to do yourself, (2) go to the Lord for His provision, and (3) believe that He will answer your prayer and encourage others to trust Him to do so.


New Testament: I Thessalonians 4

The Thessalonians had a problem. Expecting, as they should, the any-moment-return of the Lord, some of their number had died before it came. This led some others to question what would happen to the dead ones when Christ did come back. Would they miss out on that great event?

Speaking of the dead as “those who fall asleep” (I Thess. 4:13), Paul carefully lays down a chronology of end-time events, in answer to their questions. He concludes that “we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep” (I Thess. 4:15). Sleep is an apt metaphor for the death of a Christian because the certainty of resurrection removes the fear of the unknown. Death is not final. This truth also gives us hope so that we do not grieve like others who do not have this assurance (I Thess. 4:13).

Christ’s teaching on this was not recorded for us in the Gospels but Paul attributes this order of events directly to “the Lord’s own word” (I Thess. 4:15). This must have come either as a direct revelation to Paul himself or as some teaching of Christ that was passed down orally.

First, there will be that moment of the RETURN of Christ. It will be “from heaven”, “in the clouds”, “in the air”. Specifically, it will not be to the earth. That comes later. The souls of believers who have already died will come back with Him (I Thess. 4:14) for the RESURRECTION of their bodies. Then, and not before, those believers who are still alive will be snatched up in the RAPTURE. We will rise to the clouds for that glorious REUNION. The souls and resurrected bodies of the dead in Christ will be reunited. The dead in Christ and we who remain alive until that moment will be reunited. But most importantly, we will all be reunited with our Lord who bought us. The RESULT will be that from that moment we will be with Him forever (I Thess. 4:17).

That is, indeed, cause for encouragement and great comfort. And so “we wait for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13). We do not wait to go through the Tribulation first - how could that be a “blessed hope”? The church is nowhere present in Revelation 6-19. She will be gone by that time, taken up into the presence of the Lord, only to return with Him to rule (Rev. 19:11-21).

THE LORD SPOKE (February 10)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Leviticus 4-5

Did you know that you can sin by doing nothing? Sin does not have to be an active procedure. It can be a passive lack of action. There are sins we commit and there are sins we omit. That is to say, there are things we should do and, by failing to do so, we thereby sin.

Leviticus 5:1 says, “If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible.” This isn’t just an unintentional sin - they’re covered in chapter 4. The four instances of sin covered here in Leviticus 5 all begin with an active verb: “he does not speak up”, “he touches” (2x), and “he thoughtlessly takes an oath”. In all four instances, he knew what he was doing and did it anyway, even if it was done without adequate consideration beforehand.

The point I’d like to make here is that you can sometimes sin by not speaking up. I’ve often sinned by speaking out when I shouldn’t, or in a way I shouldn’t. My problem is rarely that I say too little. O, that we would learn from the saying, “Better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

But, “there is a time to be silent and a time to speak”. So said the wise Solomon (Eccl. 3:7) and so says the Scripture in more than one place. Let us hold our tongue when appropriate but let us speak out firmly and faithfully whenever we ought. The tongue can be an instrument of great good or of great evil. Let us each commit ours to the God of speech that He might use it for His glory only.

A missionary in the orient tells how a 20 year-old man approached a temple, removed his sandals, and bowed before the idol. Drawing a dagger from beneath his shirt, in one quick swipe he cut off his tongue and offered it to the silent, lifeless image. In minutes he lay unconscious in a pool of blood at the feet of the statue. God wants our tongues, not cut off and placed before him, but dedicated to his worship, service and honor.


New Testament: Mark 13

Like Peter, James, John, and Andrew (vs. 4), we too would love to know when the prophecies will be fulfilled. “When will these things happen?” is still our question also.

Without giving a calendar date, Jesus did give some very clear indicators as to when these things would happen:

• vs. 7 - “when you hear of wars and rumors of wars” (followed by “earthquakes in various places and famines”)
• vs. 11 - “whenever you are arrested and brought to trial” (preceded by “handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues”)
• vs. 14 - “when you see the abomination that causes desolation standing in the Temple”
• vs. 26 - “at that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory”
• vs. 29 - “when you see these things happening, you know that it is near”

Jesus is talking about His return to rule (what we call the Revelation), not His return to gather the Church (known as the Rapture). Before that event - the catching-up of New Testament saints - there are no prophetic events waiting to be fulfilled. It could happen at any moment. While some of the subsequent prophetic events could be in place prior to the Rapture, there is no prophesied event that must take place first. On the other hand, the Rapture will initiate a series of events that will culminate in the coming of the King to set up His earthly kingdom (see Revelation 19:11-18). For that sequence we have many details revealed in Scripture.

That was, in fact, the question the disciples were asking. They wanted to know when the end would come, i.e. when the kingdom would be established. Before that happens there are some clear and definable events that will take place. Does knowing that help? Probably not. In fact, it can be a hindrance if it results in any kind of complacency or wait-and-see attitude. Instead, we’re commanded to “keep watch” (vs. 35-36).

Luke’s parallel passage says, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Are you looking up?

THE LORD SPOKE (November 8)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Ezekiel 11-12

proverb - “a brief popular epigram or maxim” (Webster)

The great value of a proverb is that it can focus an enormous amount of truth in a short, memorable, pithy statement. But a proverb can also lead away from truth. Because it often portrays “conventional wisdom”, it can be responsible for confirming wrong thinking. It may express the notion that “everybody knows” something when, in fact, what they “know” isn’t really true. Everybody may think so, but they’re wrong! The proverb becomes guilty of enforcing untruth. (Sometimes we recognize this and call it an “old wives’ tale”.)

Such was the case in the days of Ezekiel when people were blindly repeating two proverbs probably circulated by false prophets (see Ezekiel 13) who were leading them astray:

• The days go by and every vision comes to nothing. (Ezek. 12:22)
• The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future. (Ezek. 12:27)

Peter left us with a warning about such talk which in itself became something of a proverb: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness. (II Pet. 3:8-9).

Peter goes on to speak of how the day of the Lord would approach like “a thief in the night” (II Pet. 3:10; c.f. Lk. 12:39). A thief comes suddenly and unexpectedly. The fulfillment of prophecy will have those characteristics too. Even John’s words when he was given the revelation of Jesus Christ and future events has been wrongly understood: “The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave [John] to show his servants what must soon take place.” (Rev. 1:1). That was two thousand years ago and it hasn’t yet taken place. Is that an error? No, the sense of the Greek terms used is that, once begun, it will take place quickly. One thing will follow quickly on the heals of the last.

You must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?” (II Peter 3:3-4).

Ezekiel’s words had immediate value and application. They were a wake-up call to the Israelites to recognize where their sin was leading them. Judgment was near. But salvation and restoration was also at hand. The timetable could have been immediate. But his words also had a longer range effect. It’s like a telescope. As you pull out each sleeve of the instrument, you’re amazed at how much was packaged inside and how much better you can see through the extended length. So too prophecy. It’s not a matter of multiple fulfillments but more that of a progressive fulfillment in God’s sovereignty and greater plan.

Have you grown weary of waiting? Or are you having doubts about the Lord’s return? Don’t! The nay-sayers have been active since Ezekiel’s day but “we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” (II Peter 1:19).


Psalms 105-106

When we think of the Abrahamic Covenant, our first thoughts are probably in the direction of the promised Messiah. After all, we have Paul’s words to the Galatians concerning the phrase, “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed”, which he calls “the gospel announced in advance” (Gal. 3:8). The Messiah would be a physical descendant of Abraham - his “Seed” (Gal. 3:16,19) - and quite literally the embodiment of the promise.

But here in Psalm 105 the Covenant is expounded in some great detail and there is no overt mention of the Messiah. True, it does speak of Joseph, who is a type of the Messiah. Just as God sent Joseph to bring the people out of slavery in Egypt (Ps. 105:17f), so the Messiah would be sent to free us from bondage to sin.

Twice, however, in this psalm the emphasis is on something else. When God remembers His covenant with Abraham, He thinks immediately in terms of land. The Promised Land is the primary emphasis in Psalm 105:8-11 when the covenant is remembered. Notice carefully that this promise is through Abraham to Isaac to Jacob. And notice also that it is “forever”, “for a thousand generations”, and it is “everlasting”. God emphatically says, “I will give you the land of Canaan.”

Again, near the end of the psalm, when God remembers His covenant - here called a “holy promise” - it says “he gave them the lands of the nations” (Ps. 105:42-45, esp. vs. 44a). The Abrahamic Covenant is a promise of the Land to Israel.

That is not to say that we are wrong to relate it to the Messiah for that aspect is developed elsewhere, particularly in the New Testament. But it is wrong for us to forget the land aspect when we think of the Abrahamic Covenant. If God does not fulfill that part of His promise to Israel, how can we be sure that He will fulfill any other part?

Faith is just believing
What God says, He will do.
He will never fail us;
His promises are true.

If we but receive Him,
His children we become.
Faith is just believing
This wondrous thing is done.