Nehemiah chapter 10 describes what the people decided to do after they had returned to the city of Jerusalem from exile and rebuilt the walls. After a time of rejoicing over the Law being read in the city the people make some promises to God. It is very interesting the things mentioned that they decided to rededicate to the Lord.
First, they promised not to give their daughters and sons to be married to people from other nations. One of the ways that they had fallen away from God is by marrying outside of the nation of Israel. Now that they were repenting of this they were promising that they would dedicate these relationships back to God and be faithful to what God had asked them to do.
Next, they promised to keep the Sabbath rest as holy to God. They said that they would not buy merchandise or grain from neighboring peoples on the Sabbath or any other holy day. They were promising to keep these holy days as an offering to God. They would dedicate these times to God. They would work hard on six days and give to God the Sabbath to honor Him.
Finally, they promised to give to God from the first fruits of their crops and herds. They had gotten out of the practice of setting aside their tithes and offerings to God and now were repentant of this and were dedicating their possessions to God. All of what they had God was to get the best.
So, how does this apply to us? Very simple. If you want to check your dedication to God. If you want to put God first. If you have walked away from God and need to put Him first again. If you would like to continue to grow in your relationship with God then do these three things. Put God first in your Relationships, Time and Money. Where do you spend your time? With who do you spend your time? And how do you spend your money? Are you putting God first in all of these areas? If not, maybe it is time to repent - to make these things right with God.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
revival
Recently at Two Rivers Church we have been looking at the book of Nehemiah. We looked at Nehemiah chapters 1 - 3 on February 1st and chapters 4 - 6 this past Sunday. We will not be continuing through the rest of the book at this time, so as promised I will continue some study and give some thoughts to the rest of Nehemiah here on this blog. As a side note, it has been several months since I last blogged in this space so I hope to get back into the swing of writing here on a weekly basis.
Nehemiah chapter 6 and the first part of chapter 7 describe the finishing of the walls under the leadership of Nehemiah. It only took 52 days to complete the task. Talk about Extreme Makeover Walls Edition. I wonder if they stood out there and all yelled, "Move that bus!" The rest of chapter 7 is filled with a list of those people who had been exiled from Jerusalem and were now returning. This list is essentially the same list found in the book of Ezra.
What happens starting in chapter 8 is amazing. The people asked Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law and he began reading it aloud. Verse 3 says that he read it aloud from daybreak until noon, standing on a wooden platform which was made for this occasion. And here is what is amazing, the people listened and were moved. In essence what happened was a revival. All of these people who had been exiled had forgotten about the things written in the Book of the Law. They had not been practicing their traditions and ceremonies while in exile. So now having come back to Jerusalem, they listened to the words of the Law being spoken aloud by the priest Ezra and they remembered what they had been missing and it changed their hearts. In verse 6 it says that at the reading of the words the people bowed down and began to worship God.
Here are a couple of my thoughts concerning this passage. First, isn't it interesting that revival begins with the reading of the Words of God. It was not the rebuilding of the wall, or even the great return and reunion of these people that drew them back to God, it was the power of the words of God. Second, the natural outcome of this revival was worship. The people heard the words of God and fell down and worshiped Him. Amazing.
May we seek God and His word personally and corporately and may those words change our hearts and draw us back to Him. May we have revival. And may God be worshiped.
Nehemiah chapter 6 and the first part of chapter 7 describe the finishing of the walls under the leadership of Nehemiah. It only took 52 days to complete the task. Talk about Extreme Makeover Walls Edition. I wonder if they stood out there and all yelled, "Move that bus!" The rest of chapter 7 is filled with a list of those people who had been exiled from Jerusalem and were now returning. This list is essentially the same list found in the book of Ezra.
What happens starting in chapter 8 is amazing. The people asked Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law and he began reading it aloud. Verse 3 says that he read it aloud from daybreak until noon, standing on a wooden platform which was made for this occasion. And here is what is amazing, the people listened and were moved. In essence what happened was a revival. All of these people who had been exiled had forgotten about the things written in the Book of the Law. They had not been practicing their traditions and ceremonies while in exile. So now having come back to Jerusalem, they listened to the words of the Law being spoken aloud by the priest Ezra and they remembered what they had been missing and it changed their hearts. In verse 6 it says that at the reading of the words the people bowed down and began to worship God.
Here are a couple of my thoughts concerning this passage. First, isn't it interesting that revival begins with the reading of the Words of God. It was not the rebuilding of the wall, or even the great return and reunion of these people that drew them back to God, it was the power of the words of God. Second, the natural outcome of this revival was worship. The people heard the words of God and fell down and worshiped Him. Amazing.
May we seek God and His word personally and corporately and may those words change our hearts and draw us back to Him. May we have revival. And may God be worshiped.
Monday, November 17, 2008
jerub-baal the great man of God
Judges 6
One of the great people of the Old Testament is a guy named Gideon. He is introduced in Judges chapter 6. It seems like whenever the people of God begin to walk away from Him there arises on the scene a person who begins to bring attention to the sin of the people. Throughout the Old Testament this is true and we remember these people as great people of faith. It reminds me of Star Wars and the idea of bringing balance to the force. When the dark side would become too strong, or too aggressive a great Jedi would rise up and fight the dark side and eventually bring balance to the force. Gideon was the Luke Skywalker of his time.
Judges chapter 6 begins this way, "Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord." There seems to be a recurring theme in the Old Testament. God's chosen people regularly or time and time again would do evil. And the most common sort of evil was following other nations into idol worship. In this case the Israelites have followed the surrounding culture into worshiping an idol named BAAL. Because of this disobedience God allows the Midians to oppress the people of Israel and they finally called out to God for help. Gideon was the answer to that call to God. Gideon took some of his servants out and destroyed the altar to BAAL and sacrificed a bull to God on the rubble. And to me here is the interesting part of the story. When the people of the town saw what had happened they were angry and wanted to kill Gideon for this act. They took their anger to the leader of the town named Joash. Joash gave them this argument. "If BAAL is God then let him deal with Gideon." This seemed to appease the people and it led to them calling Gideon Jerub-Baal which means "Let BAAL contend with him."
Throughout the rest of the story of Gideon the Bible continues to call him Jerub-Baal. The nickname stuck. That's what he became known as around town and to the people of Israel. He stood up for God. His name was changed. He wore that name for the rest of his life. It wasn't exactly an endearing name, but he wore it anyway. It represented a life that was counter cultural and he lived it wherever he went. I don't think he had it printed on his license plate or had t-shirts made up, he simply lived out the name and wherever he went people knew by his name that he had stood up to BAAL, he stood for God, and he lived against the current culture of his day.
May we all wear a new name today. May that name be one that stands for our God. May we do so in spite of our culture. May we live it out in the way we go about life. I don't have to say what our new name is do I?
One of the great people of the Old Testament is a guy named Gideon. He is introduced in Judges chapter 6. It seems like whenever the people of God begin to walk away from Him there arises on the scene a person who begins to bring attention to the sin of the people. Throughout the Old Testament this is true and we remember these people as great people of faith. It reminds me of Star Wars and the idea of bringing balance to the force. When the dark side would become too strong, or too aggressive a great Jedi would rise up and fight the dark side and eventually bring balance to the force. Gideon was the Luke Skywalker of his time.
Judges chapter 6 begins this way, "Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord." There seems to be a recurring theme in the Old Testament. God's chosen people regularly or time and time again would do evil. And the most common sort of evil was following other nations into idol worship. In this case the Israelites have followed the surrounding culture into worshiping an idol named BAAL. Because of this disobedience God allows the Midians to oppress the people of Israel and they finally called out to God for help. Gideon was the answer to that call to God. Gideon took some of his servants out and destroyed the altar to BAAL and sacrificed a bull to God on the rubble. And to me here is the interesting part of the story. When the people of the town saw what had happened they were angry and wanted to kill Gideon for this act. They took their anger to the leader of the town named Joash. Joash gave them this argument. "If BAAL is God then let him deal with Gideon." This seemed to appease the people and it led to them calling Gideon Jerub-Baal which means "Let BAAL contend with him."
Throughout the rest of the story of Gideon the Bible continues to call him Jerub-Baal. The nickname stuck. That's what he became known as around town and to the people of Israel. He stood up for God. His name was changed. He wore that name for the rest of his life. It wasn't exactly an endearing name, but he wore it anyway. It represented a life that was counter cultural and he lived it wherever he went. I don't think he had it printed on his license plate or had t-shirts made up, he simply lived out the name and wherever he went people knew by his name that he had stood up to BAAL, he stood for God, and he lived against the current culture of his day.
May we all wear a new name today. May that name be one that stands for our God. May we do so in spite of our culture. May we live it out in the way we go about life. I don't have to say what our new name is do I?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
controversy
Joshua 13 - 24
In these chapters of the book of Joshua the scripture is very specific about what clan inherits each portion of the promised land. The specifics go down to what group would inherit each portion of land and where the boundaries were for each group. Here is preserved a written verification of who gets what. This is important not only for that day, but even for today. There is nowhere in the world where land is fought over more than in this area. Even today there is controversy and war between Israel and the Arabs who live in the region. The Israeli people believe that they are entitled to this land as a part of their inheritance, but the Arab people believe that they were wrongly driven out of the land. The specifics of Joshua should be a help to the people of Israel, but because the disobeyed God and did not drive out everyone from the beginning there is still controversy about this land today.
In these chapters of the book of Joshua the scripture is very specific about what clan inherits each portion of the promised land. The specifics go down to what group would inherit each portion of land and where the boundaries were for each group. Here is preserved a written verification of who gets what. This is important not only for that day, but even for today. There is nowhere in the world where land is fought over more than in this area. Even today there is controversy and war between Israel and the Arabs who live in the region. The Israeli people believe that they are entitled to this land as a part of their inheritance, but the Arab people believe that they were wrongly driven out of the land. The specifics of Joshua should be a help to the people of Israel, but because the disobeyed God and did not drive out everyone from the beginning there is still controversy about this land today.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
mid-life crisis?
Joshua 6-15
I've always had a little trouble with the way the people of God took over the Promised Land. Why did God want them to destroy everything and especially everyone? I've always understood the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, these cities were extremely wicked. So God brought fire down upon them. But was Jericho and Ai and Jerusalem filled with wickedness? Why were they not given a chance to repent? Why weren't they offered a treaty?
This directive given by God is very different than the God of the New Testament. God is Love. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Where is that God in the Old Testament?
I don't think I have it all figured out, but here is my take for now. God is God. He is in control. He did not have a mid-life crisis somewhere before the New Testament was written. He is still the same God. He is still the same today. He was and is still a holy God. He is incapable of sin. He must punish sin. One of the pillars of the Law is that you should have no other gods before God. I believe that God was compelled to destroy those cities because of their idolatry. In the Old Testament dispensation there was no other way. This sin must be punished. Now since Jesus has been in the world there is hope for everyone. God will allow us to live today so that we might choose to accept the gift of His grace. I don't see any other reason why He would be so harsh in the Old Testament time and why He would be so loving now in the New Testament era. Now there is an alternative. He is still the same God, but with more options.
May I ever be aware that God is a holy God. May I ever be aware that God is a loving God.
I've always had a little trouble with the way the people of God took over the Promised Land. Why did God want them to destroy everything and especially everyone? I've always understood the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, these cities were extremely wicked. So God brought fire down upon them. But was Jericho and Ai and Jerusalem filled with wickedness? Why were they not given a chance to repent? Why weren't they offered a treaty?
This directive given by God is very different than the God of the New Testament. God is Love. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Where is that God in the Old Testament?
I don't think I have it all figured out, but here is my take for now. God is God. He is in control. He did not have a mid-life crisis somewhere before the New Testament was written. He is still the same God. He is still the same today. He was and is still a holy God. He is incapable of sin. He must punish sin. One of the pillars of the Law is that you should have no other gods before God. I believe that God was compelled to destroy those cities because of their idolatry. In the Old Testament dispensation there was no other way. This sin must be punished. Now since Jesus has been in the world there is hope for everyone. God will allow us to live today so that we might choose to accept the gift of His grace. I don't see any other reason why He would be so harsh in the Old Testament time and why He would be so loving now in the New Testament era. Now there is an alternative. He is still the same God, but with more options.
May I ever be aware that God is a holy God. May I ever be aware that God is a loving God.
exposed
Joshua 6
Joshua chapter 6 describes how the Israelites took the city of Jericho. For six days the army of the Israelites marched around the city of Jericho in silence. I guess the people of Jericho were either scared to death or pretty smug while watching these unorthodox war tactics. If I had to choose I would say that they were smug. They were sitting behind a huge wall, just watching this army walk around their city. There were no acts of overt aggression. No taunts. Not even a pebble thrown toward their wall. Just once a day they would carry this golden box around the wall. Then on the seventh day they kept walking. Not just once around, but twice, then three times until they were on their seventh time around. Then it happened. The guys around the golden box blow their trumpets and the army shouts. And the precious wall that had been a protection began to crumble. I'll bet there were hundreds of men on the wall watching to get a good view of this odd war tactic. The army gave a shout and the wall began to fall. The people of Jericho were probably not feeling quite so smug as the wall came down. Now they are completely exposed.
There are lists and lists of things that we use to hide behind. For every person it is a little different. For some of us we think that we can stay behind our job, or family, or hobby, but those things don't define who we are to God. We can try to hide behind our intellect, our wit, or our personality, but God knows who we really are. There is no wall that can conceal us from the Living God. The bible speaks of another day when there will be a trumpet blast and a shout. On this day all of our walls will be stripped away. We will see God face to face. We will be fully exposed before him.
May we be honest with God now, not waiting until that day to be exposed. May we live in the open with our God so that we will not be ashamed or frightened to see God face to face on that day.
Joshua chapter 6 describes how the Israelites took the city of Jericho. For six days the army of the Israelites marched around the city of Jericho in silence. I guess the people of Jericho were either scared to death or pretty smug while watching these unorthodox war tactics. If I had to choose I would say that they were smug. They were sitting behind a huge wall, just watching this army walk around their city. There were no acts of overt aggression. No taunts. Not even a pebble thrown toward their wall. Just once a day they would carry this golden box around the wall. Then on the seventh day they kept walking. Not just once around, but twice, then three times until they were on their seventh time around. Then it happened. The guys around the golden box blow their trumpets and the army shouts. And the precious wall that had been a protection began to crumble. I'll bet there were hundreds of men on the wall watching to get a good view of this odd war tactic. The army gave a shout and the wall began to fall. The people of Jericho were probably not feeling quite so smug as the wall came down. Now they are completely exposed.
There are lists and lists of things that we use to hide behind. For every person it is a little different. For some of us we think that we can stay behind our job, or family, or hobby, but those things don't define who we are to God. We can try to hide behind our intellect, our wit, or our personality, but God knows who we really are. There is no wall that can conceal us from the Living God. The bible speaks of another day when there will be a trumpet blast and a shout. On this day all of our walls will be stripped away. We will see God face to face. We will be fully exposed before him.
May we be honest with God now, not waiting until that day to be exposed. May we live in the open with our God so that we will not be ashamed or frightened to see God face to face on that day.
Monday, September 22, 2008
just passing through
Deuteronomy 29
As Moses winds down his address to the people of Israel chapter 29 talks a lot about the covenants. Several times in verses 9-14 Moses references "entering into a covenant" with God. For a Jewish person this imagery was literal. This was the method of those who made covenants: they would set up a demarcation on one side and a demarcation on the other side and those entering into the covenant would "pass through" between the partitions. Jeremiah 34:18 references this "passing through" in connection with a broken covenant in which the leaders of Judah, the priests, officials and people of the land passed between the parts of a slaughtered calf. Moses addresses the people of Israel standing before him and warned them about the covenant that they were about to enter into with God.
You see in just a few days God would part the Jordan river and the Israelites would pass through the Jordan in the same way that they had passed through the Red Sea as they had escaped Egypt. God had kept his promise that he established when they "passed through" the Red Sea and he would keep this covenant which he would establish when they "passed through" the Jordan River.
Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1 Corinthians 11)
The new covenant is established with Jesus sacrifice. Jesus sacrifice is validated at the resurrection. Romans 6 says that at baptism we are united with Christ's death, burial and resurrection. When you split the water and "pass through" you are entering into a covenant with God. One established by Jesus death, burial and resurrection. An agreement, a new covenant entered into by faith.
Back to Deuteronomy chapter 29. Verses 23 and following describe what happens to those who abandon the covenant; "The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur - nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger."
Sounds like another place that is described as one of torture, one of burning sulfur, a lake of fire. And who will experience this place? Those who abandon the new covenant.
May we be faithful and not abandon the new covenant which was established by God through Jesus death, burial and resurrection and into which we enter into when we pass through the waters of baptism.
As Moses winds down his address to the people of Israel chapter 29 talks a lot about the covenants. Several times in verses 9-14 Moses references "entering into a covenant" with God. For a Jewish person this imagery was literal. This was the method of those who made covenants: they would set up a demarcation on one side and a demarcation on the other side and those entering into the covenant would "pass through" between the partitions. Jeremiah 34:18 references this "passing through" in connection with a broken covenant in which the leaders of Judah, the priests, officials and people of the land passed between the parts of a slaughtered calf. Moses addresses the people of Israel standing before him and warned them about the covenant that they were about to enter into with God.
You see in just a few days God would part the Jordan river and the Israelites would pass through the Jordan in the same way that they had passed through the Red Sea as they had escaped Egypt. God had kept his promise that he established when they "passed through" the Red Sea and he would keep this covenant which he would establish when they "passed through" the Jordan River.
Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1 Corinthians 11)
The new covenant is established with Jesus sacrifice. Jesus sacrifice is validated at the resurrection. Romans 6 says that at baptism we are united with Christ's death, burial and resurrection. When you split the water and "pass through" you are entering into a covenant with God. One established by Jesus death, burial and resurrection. An agreement, a new covenant entered into by faith.
Back to Deuteronomy chapter 29. Verses 23 and following describe what happens to those who abandon the covenant; "The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur - nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger."
Sounds like another place that is described as one of torture, one of burning sulfur, a lake of fire. And who will experience this place? Those who abandon the new covenant.
May we be faithful and not abandon the new covenant which was established by God through Jesus death, burial and resurrection and into which we enter into when we pass through the waters of baptism.
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