Year 3, Day 59: Jeremiah 6

Keeping Evil Rusty

The opening eight verses of Jeremiah are more gloom and destruction.  Once more God sends word to the Hebrew people that they will be destroyed.  Again we can hear this as a counterpoint to the false prophets.  As they declared that the Lord would not bring judgment against Jerusalem, God declares even more fervently that He would.

What is interesting, though, is why.  We’ve spoken earlier about their idolatry.  In fact, we’ve even spoken of their idolatry with respect to calling it infidelity.  Clearly the people are adulterous in their pursuits of other gods.  Of course, the Hebrew people of this time period are not alone in that.

But there is more to God’s anger than just their idolatry.  God is also displeased at their love for evil.  In verse 7 God accuses the Hebrew people of “keeping their evil fresh.”  I think there is a difference here between “being evil” and “keeping your evil fresh.”  On one level, we are all evil.  You can’t show me any good person aside from Jesus Christ.

But on the other hand, there is a difference between understanding our evil nature and keeping that nature fresh.  We might all have evil tendencies within us, but we do not need to continue to find ways to bring them to the fore of our being.  We might all be guilty, but we can also be repentant.  We may have evil within us, but we should strive to keep that evil rusty, not fresh.

Uncircumcised Ears

This is one of my favorite descriptions used in the Bible.  Uncircumcised ears.  We don’t usually think of the ear as the location for circumcision to happen, do we?  But yet, that is indeed what God says here.

So it makes me ask.  What is circumcision?  I mean that as more of a spiritual question than a physical one.  Circumcision is an act of obedience.  It is an act of separation.  It is an act that takes one’s personal private self and gives it in full obedience to God.  {Among more obvious other things, of course.}

So what is God saying?  The Hebrew people did not listen with any intent on having obedience.  They did not listen with any knowledge of how they were called to be separate {or holy} from the world.  They were not willing to give themselves in full obedience to the Lord even externally – much less internally.

Shame

Again in Jeremiah 6 we run across this concept of shame.  Jeremiah 6:15 asks, “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?  So we return to the point found in Jeremiah 3.  The Hebrew people refused to be shamed when they committed abominable acts before the Lord.  They lost their fear of the Lord.  They truly did not feel any inclination for repentance when they acted against the Lord’s ways.

So the Lord will take them away into slavery.  He will drag their young and their old into bondage.  But here’s the somewhat scary part.  Jeremiah will be dragged into slavery, too.  No doubt Jeremiah had some followers and people who still genuinely feared God.  They would be dragged into slavery, too.  Jeremiah and his faithful and repentant friends will go down with the ship, so to speak.  Sometimes when a country goes bad and refuses to humble itself, God will let that country go down into captivity – even the good people among them.

What’s really the scary part?  How many people would read that paragraph above and say, “God could never do that to my country.  He wouldn’t let us go down.”  Yeah.  Now you understand Jeremiah’s issue with the false prophets.  It’s far too easy to believe God would never judge our own country because we don’t want it to happen.  It is far easier to listen to peace and joy rather than true reality.

Bachun

Jeremiah 6:27 is a neat verse.  Literally, it says, “I have made you a siege tower among fortifications of my people, so that you may be aware and assay their ways.”  However, the word for siege tower is rooted in the word for examine – which in a strange militaristic sense makes sense.  Thus, the verse is often translated as “I have made you an examiner …”  Whatever the case, God’s point to Jeremiah is that God has put Jeremiah among the Hebrew people to study them and see their true colors.

I really like the original language of the Hebrew, though.  In many respects, comparing the stubbornness of the Hebrew people to fortifications is a wonderful idea.  The sin and wickedness in their life was locked up tightly.  They would not release it.  So, God makes Jeremiah a siege tower so that Jeremiah can get past the barriers of the Hebrew people and gaze upon the sin that they protect so valuably in their life.

Jeremiah is a bachun.  He is a siege tower.  He can examine into the fortified areas of people’s lives.  He is exactly what we should want for a role model and a spiritual guide.

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Year 3, Day 58: Jeremiah 5

Not Even One?

Jeremiah 5 opens with a bit of a scavenger hunt.  God challenges Jeremiah to run through Jerusalem and see if he can find even one faithful person who treats his fellow Hebrew person as God desires.

At first, this story smacks of the conversation that Abraham has with God just prior to the destruction of Sodom.  There Abraham argues God down to find lower and lower number of faithful people within Sodom.  Eventually, only Lot and his daughters are spared.  {See Genesis 18-19}

This situation with Jeremiah is a little different.  In the story in Genesis, God is bringing divine wrath through a divine means in a very imminent fashion and making a point about Gentiles to Abraham.  God chooses to spare Lot, although we all know that Lot had his own fair share of sins.  In Jeremiah 5, God is still making a point about all people – but mostly about His own people.  All people, Hebrew people alike, are sinful.  Not one person is righteous. 

After all, Jeremiah was in Jerusalem himself.  He could have stopped and said, “Hey, Lord, I’m here!  Am I not even one person?”  But Jeremiah doesn’t.  Jeremiah knows God’s point.  Nobody is righteous.  Jeremiah in the Old Testament and Paul in the New Testament know what the picture looks like from God’s perspective.  “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  {Romans 3:23}

Even Among the Leaders?

In verses 4-5 Jeremiah makes a case that he was only able to go and visit the poor and the street people.  He says to God that perhaps there are some among the leadership who are righteous because maybe they know more or have studied more.  But even there he can find nobody.  All have broken their yoke.  All have abandoned God.  As I said earlier, all have sinned and fallen short.  Wealthy, poor, educated, uneducated, leader, follower, Jew, Gentile … all.

Fed to the Full

As we get to Jeremiah 7-9 I think God makes another incredibly true statement to Jeremiah.  When God fed the people to the full – in other words, when He lavishly gave His blessings upon them – they only turned away faster and farther and harder.  When life is easy, we turn aside to the lusts of our hearts even more quickly!  The more we have, the more we want.  The more we have, the more aware we are of what is just out of our grasp.

False Prophets

As we come to the end of this first section, we revisit a recent topic.  The prophets – the leaders! – in Jerusalem are saying that no disaster will come.  Whether they don’t believe in God or don’t believe that God would do anything bad, they are clearly in the wrong.  God is not a type of Santa Clause who waits in the shadows to hand out gifts and blessings.  No.  God is a God who desperately loves, but He understands that true love is willing to chastise and build up His people through tough love as well.  After all, maturity happens through discipline.  Like much of the modern opinion of God, the prophets of Jerusalem have fallen into the problem of thinking that God is only found in the rainbow.  They miss that God is equally in the storm that comes before the rainbow.

Fear the Lord!

As we move deep into the next section, we hear God pronounce judgment upon His people through the words of Jeremiah.  And it isn’t until we get to verse 22 and 24 that we discover the depth of the problem.  The people no longer fear the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! {Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 9:10}  This piece of advice is so important it is said repeated three times in the Old Testament.  Without the fear of the Lord, everything else in the spiritual life crumbles like a house of cards.  In fact, it is precisely the loss of our ability and desire to fear the Lord that brings about the belief that God is only in the good things.  It is when we stop fearing the Lord that we stop also believing in His judgment and His wrath.  When we stop fearing the Lord we stop being able to properly see the errors of our ways.  We become blind to the guilt we bear before our Lord.  When we stop fearing the Lord life becomes all about how great we are.  Our self-monger comes out and we utterly and completely lose perspective.

One Great Question

After talking about the coming judgment and how much the Hebrew people are deserving of that judgment, Jeremiah leaves the Hebrew people {and us} with one incredible question.  What will you do when the end comes?

The false prophets said, “God won’t judge us.”  We know historically that He did.  We know it was a pretty painful process as they spent 70 years in exile.  They weren’t prepared for the end.  God’s judgment came upon them as a surprise.

We will all stand before God.  We will all stand before the Creator of this world and be accountable for our lives.  Will we believe the false prophets of today who say, “God loves everyone, you don’t have anything to fear!”  Or will we learn from the Hebrew people and take the warning of God’s impending judgment upon all of us and take the time we have now to fashion a relationship with Jesus Christ who can rescue us from the grip of death and the judgment of condemnation?  What will you do when the end comes?

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Year 3, Day 57: Jeremiah 4

Where Do You Plant Your Seeds?

“Break up your fallow ground and do not sow among the thorns,” the Lord says as He calls for repentance.  This is such a cool analogy.  Obviously, the Lord is not giving agricultural advice here.  The Hebrew people knew how to plant crops.  That’s what makes this analogy so powerful.

Because the Hebrew people knew agriculture, they would know the utter futility in sowing seed without breaking up the ground first.  In fact, even in a non-agrarian society like ours we know the difference.  If you walked by my house and you saw me with a packet of zinnia seeds and I was just sprinkling them over top of my lawn, what would you think?  Besides judging my current mental state, I am willing to think that you would consider my efforts fruitless.  It is possible for a zinnia seed to sprout and grow to maturity, but the odds are stacked against it.  No, I must break up the ground, plant the seed an appropriate depth, and then let nature take its course.

God makes the same point about planting seeds of faith.  Why would God plant a seed of faith in the unrepentant heart – or even in an unrepentant nation?  Is it not better to till the soil and break up the fallow nature?  Is it not more effective to find a tilled heart – a repentant one – that is ready to not just receive the seed of faith but also nurture it into maturity?  I love this opening analogy!

The Lion Comes

Jeremiah then predicts the fall of Jerusalem.  Just as Israel fell from an army descending upon it from the north, so shall Jerusalem.  The Babylonians will come and their ferocity will be like that of a lion.  In fact, Babylon is referred to as a “destroyer of nations.”

Then in verse 10 we have a very difficult verse to translate.  It appears as though Jeremiah is accusing God of having deceived the people by telling them that they would be at peace.  This understanding of the verse must be rejected, because God has not said anything about peace!  In fact, if you remember from Isaiah we know that God quite clearly told His people that they would have anything but peace!  God told them quite plainly that they would be overcome.

So what is Jeremiah saying?  I believe this verse is best read as a lament over the false prophets.  The false prophets have been telling the people of Jerusalem that God is not going to take them into captivity.  Thus, when captivity comes those who believed that the false prophets were true prophets will be saying that they were “deceived by God.”  Jeremiah is lamenting that the false message of peace was able to go out from their mouths so boldly and so many people bought into their message.  {For more information on this idea, see Jeremiah 28:1-11.}

Wash Your Hearts

In the next section, we hear Jeremiah talk about the coming Babylonians as a scorching wind as well as a great and turbulent storm.  But in the midst of all of that we hear the plea of the Lord.  The Lord does not want to bring about their destruction.  He wants to bring about their repentance.

The Lord asks the Hebrew people to wash their hearts.  This is a wonderfully New Testament concept.  But to be fair, it is also a wonderfully Old Testament concept.  Hosea 6:6, Psalm 51:15-17, Joel 2:13 all speak about God being concerned with the status of our hearts.  Our deeds do not bother God nearly as much as our heart.  This is probably because our actions are a sign of our heart.  Where the heart is, the action will follow.  Thus, God tells the Hebrew people to wash their hearts.  If they would purify their heart, their repentance would assure obedience and God could relent from judgment.

What makes this a wonderful New Testament idea is that we can begin to see the development of baptism here.  Baptism is a sign of repentance – or at least one’s need for repentance.  Literally, God is asking the Hebrew people to wash and repent.  Jeremiah doesn’t realize it, but he is laying one stone in the foundation for the proclamation of John the Baptizer as he proclaims these words.

Anguish

As we look at the last section in Jeremiah 4, do not overlook the “anti-creation” story composed here.  As Jeremiah looks to the captivity, it is an analogy to the undoing of God’s creative work.  The righteous experiment with the Hebrew people is coming to a close.  God will undo this plan and have to start over all again.

Of course, for those of us that know the full story of God’s plan of salvation, this is not bad news at all.  But put yourself in Jeremiah’s shoes.  This is tragic.  It gets no worse than God having to bring judgment upon His own chosen people.

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Year 3, Day 56: Jeremiah 3

Refusal to be Shamed

Jeremiah’s opening section in chapter 3 is again quite blunt.  Jeremiah says it like it is.  The Hebrew people have lusted after other gods.  They’ve turned to nation after nation in a quest for help against the invading Assyrians and the soon to be invading Babylonians.  They have turned everywhere but the Lord, and it shows.

It is this last point where Jeremiah comes out and says, “You have the forehead of a whore.” {If you prefer softer language, you could say harlot or prostitute there.}  This is what is called cultural indoctrination.  People who grow up in a certain culture typically behave in the mannerisms of that culture.  They learn behavior and more often than not refuse to change because it’s “not how it’s done.”

Generational poverty is a great example of this.  People learn how to live off of the system and generations will continue to do so until something – or someone – comes along to change it.  Alcoholism is another case.  Alcoholism is often passed generationally from parent to child to grandchild even though everybody can see the negative side effects of such behavior.  Spousal abuse is yet another example.  Young girls see their mother being abused {and perhaps experience the abuse themselves} and although they know it isn’t right they also wrongly learn to see it as “normal.”  Young men see their fathers being abusive and learn how to do it themselves even though they see the negative effects upon their mother and other children in the house – perhaps even themselves.  In truth, you could make this case for all sin.  How much of the sin in my life is learned behavior from others?  How much has my example contributed to the sin in the lives of others?

This same sociological dynamic in human culture is what Jeremiah is attacking in this opening section.  The Hebrew people try to rely upon one nation {and their gods} for help and the help fails.  They try to rely upon another nation {and their gods} and the help fails.  Rather than learning to quit running from God, they simply go to another nation and another set of gods and try to find something that will work for them.  It’s too hard to change, so they continue the same pattern of behavior in a different direction hoping for different results.  You know what they say about a person who tries the same thing over and over but expects different results each time, right?

The underlying question for me is this: why did the Hebrew people behave this way?  Or perhaps more importantly, why do humans in general behave this way?  To make it really personal, why do I behave this way?  Why do we so readily follow ruts of behavior that are simply no good for us rather than turning to God? 

Look at the end of verse 3.  “You refuse to be shamed.”  We as human beings refuse to admit we’re wrong.  We refuse to admit the sin in the things that we’ve done against God’s will that we’ve also enjoyed.  When we refuse to be shamed, we can never be healed.  When we refuse to see the error in our ways, we will never be able to rightly live in truth.

Stones and Trees

Really quickly, you might be wondering what it is about Jeremiah that he keeps using the word “whore” in connection with stones and trees.  Let me explain that really quickly.  As the Hebrew people chased after foreign gods, those gods typically required altars in “holy places.”  Those holy places were usually on the tops of mountains and hills or in specific natural settings like groves of trees.  A stone altar would be erected to the foreign god.  Wooden poles would be set up to mark the location – perhaps even to carve into the pole a name or an image of the god.

From God’s perspective, when people who profess to follow God chase after other “gods” – whether they be actual gods or things we make into gods like popularity and wealth and power – God sees that as adultery.  Since the Hebrew people (both Judah and Israel) were doing this a lot at the time of Jeremiah, God called it as He saw it.  From God’s perspective, the Hebrew people were prostituting themselves with stone altars and wooden poles meant to be favors to other gods.

The fun question is … with what does God consider that we prostitute ourselves?

Israel vs. Judah

In verse 10 we have an interesting comment.  God says that in all of the chasing after false gods, Israel was more righteous than Judah.  First things first.  This comment is like saying that charcoal gray is more white than black is white.  It’s true.  But it doesn’t mean charcoal gray is anywhere near white.  God is not praising Israel here.  God is slamming Judah.

Why was Judah less faithful?  Well, because Israel didn’t try to hide her unfaithfulness.  The Israelites never claimed to be faithful to God.  They abandoned God quickly after Solomon was king and they never looked back.  Judah, on the other hand, claimed to be faithful to God but they seldom were.  Their claim was only a pretense.  Both Israel and Judah were unfaithful.  But Judah lied about it.

Compassion

After all is said and done, we get to see God’s compassionate side.  After all the talk of unfaithfulness, God still wants Israel back.  {And Judah, too, eventually.}  God pleads with them to simply repent.  God knows our complete faithfulness is not possible.  But if we repent, God is willing to look past it!  Honestly, that’s more grace than we give one another.

But God does more than just forgive.  He promises to send shepherds once more to them.  He promises to welcome them, care for them, and protect them.  God’s love is simply astounding.  After all that Israel did to bring about His wrath, God still wants them back.

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Year 3, Day 55: Jeremiah 2

Short-sightedness

The accusation found in verse four is fairly challenging.  “What wrong did your fathers find in Me that they turned away?”  I think this is quite an appropriate question to ask.  I was watching a video last night on Youtube.  The video is done by the 3DM (Three Dimensional Ministries) group.

In the video, some amazing statistics are given.  Here’s the current rate that the “generations” are coming to church.  Builder Generation is 65%.  Boomer Gen is 35%.  Gen X is 15%.  Gen Y is 4%.  {As the video says, the oldest of Gen Y turn 30 this year!  They aren’t just the kids and the teens we think of them as anymore.}

God asks, ‘What did your fathers find so offensive in Me that they turned away?”  Indeed.  I think this question really frames our current culture well.  In cultures past, the typical reasons for people turning away from God were along the lines of laziness or busyness.  I don’t think that’s as accurate anymore.  I think people are turning away from God because they are seeing things that they don’t like.  Our culture itself is separating from a culture of godly virtue.  As that separation happens, people will find godliness more and more distasteful.

After all, it is becoming less and less cool to respect one’s parents.  {Watch any Disney Channel or Nickelodeon lately?}  It is becoming less and less cool to put aside one’s personal agenda and care about someone else’s problem’s more than your own.  {Anyone listen to political pundits lately?}  It is becoming less and less cool to love your neighbor, live hospitably, and buy into a code that requires submission to anyone else.  As our society departs from godliness, godliness will become more and more distasteful.

Defilement

Look at where Israel turned once their agenda went away from God’s agenda.  In Jeremiah 2:7 God says, “You defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.”  Talk about a sharp criticism!  The Hebrew culture separated from godliness and God calls it defilement and abomination.  Do I need to make too many obvious parallels here or can we all just agree that we understand the connection between then and now?

Now look at verse 8.  Where does Jeremiah begin to lay the blame?  The blame rests upon the priests and the religious authorities.  The priests stopped asking, “Where is God in this?”  The people who handled the Law quit teaching it diligently.  The shepherds of the people actively transgressed.  The prophets found their wisdom in other gods.  Talk about an utter failure of a hierarchical religious structure to me.

You see, when the leaders of an organization fail God, the organization itself is doomed to crumble.  Don’t get me wrong.  When I say crumble, I don’t mean “ushered into oblivion.”  I mean crumble.  It will fall apart.  It will be pulled apart.  It will – much like the Hebrew people – be pulled apart and piece by piece sent into captivity.  It probably won’t be utterly destroyed.  But it will crumble into near-meaninglessness.

Sound familiar to anyone?  In a world where pluralism and politically correctness reign, do we not all know the experience of spending too much time on social justice and too little time on an intimate relationship with God?  Do we not all known the experience of a pastor or religious authority or spiritual mentor who quit doing what the Lord our God has called that person to do?  In case you’re curious, that calling is to unapologetically proclaim the Lord and His ways to a world that desperately needs Him.  In our culture, do we not all know the experience of watching Christian public figures vacillating on the fence because their too concerned about hanging with the majority and the popular?

Neither the Hebrew people nor their religious leaders are the only ones in the scope of God’s creation who are guilty of turning God’s calling into an abomination of defilement.

Two Errors

Verse 13 strikes a chord with me.  God’s people have committed two errors.  They have forsaken the living fountain of God’s ways and have hewn their own cisterns.  It’s too hard to live according to God’s ways, so we find short cuts and then justify ourselves and rationalize in how our decision just feels right in the end.  We short cut consequences and leave other people reeling in the wake of our decisions.  As we abandon God and His ways we instead to turn to drink out the waters we have made for ourselves and expect to find refreshment. 

Sigh.  I’ll confess.  I’ve been there.  It’s not refreshing at all.  Only God and His ways bring about true refreshment.  As verse 19 affirms, apostasy and evil are bitter.

We Do It to Ourselves

So we turn to the second half of the chapter.  Our cry goes out, “We’re innocent!  We didn’t turn!”  But we lie.  Has God brought any calamity upon us?  Has God placed the evil in our midst?  Or is it the consequences of our own action and our own desire?  Do we not slay the people in our lives who bring truth because it is easier to believe the lie?  We do it to ourselves.  It is not God who has turned but us who have turned our back on God.

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Year 3, Day 54: Jeremiah 1

Backstory

As quickly as we moved to the New Testament, now we revert back to the Old Testament and pick up the story of another prophet.  {This is the year for reading prophets, so hopefully you like reading them!}  Today we start with the prophet Jeremiah.

Whereas Isaiah prophesied around the reign of King Hezekiah and the Assyrian assault on Jerusalem, Jeremiah prophesied during the reign of Josiah and the Babylonian assault on Jerusalem.  In fact, Jeremiah likely lived to see exile post 586 B.C.  This is a key understanding to remember as we go through this book.  Jeremiah is often called the “weeping prophet” because he is present for the final decline and the need for God to bring Babylon in as a temporary judge over His people.  This means that the end of Isaiah’s prophetic career and the beginning of Jeremiah’s prophetic career was separated by roughly 60 years.

The Famous Verse

I recall the first time I ever remember hearing Jeremiah 1:5.  I must have been 7 or 8 years old at the time.  My mom was having a conversation with someone in our church in Minnesota about abortion and she pulled this verse out to illustrate that God knows us from before we are formed in the womb.  Obviously, I don’t have too many memories from being that young.  But the idea that God knew me from before egg ever met sperm touched me deeply as a child and left quite a substantial imprint even at a young age.  {Mental Note: Take heed to what children hear.  They listen.}

I have always loved this idea.  God knows me prior to conception.  As we read Jeremiah, it almost reads like a love poem.  God was anticipating the birth of Jeremiah to bring Jeremiah’s gifts and talents into the world.  This is such an inspirational idea.  If God felt that way about Jeremiah, who is to say that He doesn’t feel that way about me or you?  Isn’t it really neat to think that God was just waiting to “spring you onto the world?”  Isn’t it inspiring that God may well have been sitting in heaven saying, “I can’t wait to introduce this person to the world and see what they will do with me!”

Yet, it is also a sad verse.  I genuinely believe God feels that way about every person that is born.  I believe God genuinely anticipates every relationship with every person – even the ones that He knows will reject Him.  I can only imagine how God must feel as He genuinely desires to introduce people to this world, only to have them turn their backs upon Him.  Even if He knows it is going to happen, it still has to hurt.

Don’t Underestimate Yourself

So how does Jeremiah respond to such an incredible introduction at the mouth of the Lord?  Jeremiah says, “But, I’m too young!”  “I don’t know what to say!”  “I’m not trained!”  “I’m not mature enough!”  “I haven’t read enough!”  Okay, he doesn’t say all of those things.  I took a little poetic license.  Mea Culpa!

And then the Lord lays down a little smack.  He says, “Jeremiah, shut up.”  No, literally.  He says, “Do not utter.”  God essentially tells Him to shut up and listen.  There is no excuse for when God comes to us with a plan.  {That doesn’t mean we don’t make excuses.  Ever hear of Moses?  Paul made His share of excuses in the beginning.  Peter made excuses at the vision atop Cornelius’ house.  We all make excuses … when there really is no excuse to be made.}

After all, who is Jeremiah to say what God can and cannot do through him?  Ah, you see?  There’s the change in thinking that is required.  Jeremiah is thinking about what Jeremiah can do through Jeremiah.  God is thinking about what God can do through Jeremiah.  So often it is our limited perspective that causes us to have limited results.  Rather than worrying about what we can do, perhaps we should spend more time worrying about what God can do through us.

Set Over the Nations

God tells Jeremiah that Jeremiah is to “pluck up, break down, destroy, overthrow, build, and plant.”  Notice that the first 4 are quite negative.  Only the last 2 are positive.  The work of God’s messenger is not all good news.  Also notice that the tough work comes first.  How many of us can say that our spiritual walk began in ease and only got tougher?  No, our spiritual walk begins with challenge and only when working through the challenge do we see the positive results.  To say this in terms of the New Testament, only after we are crucified with Christ do we know the true building presence of the Holy Spirit.

So there is some bad news for spiritual people out there.  Want to grow?  You’re going to have to pluck up, break down, destroy, and overthrow those pesky bad habits and relationships and addictions and well, you get the idea.  If you want to get to the building up and the planting, you have to go through the tearing down.

But it’s bad news for spiritual mentors, too.  If you want to be a mentor, your’ going to have to follow the example to God sets up here in Jeremiah.  You’re going to have to go through the rough spots and be there to help others tear down before they can build up.

Conclusion

As we close this first chapter, we see that Jeremiah is told by God to dress himself for work.  The time for bringing God’s message is at hand.  Judgment is coming, and when it comes it will be destructive.  But God will protect Jeremiah.  God will make Jeremiah strong.  So long as God is in the Lord and doing the Lord’s work, nothing will be done to Jeremiah outside of the will of God.

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Year 3, Day 53: Philemon

Backstory

The book of Philemon is a book about reconciliation.  Prior to the writing of this book, a Christian slave owner in Colossae named Philemon had a slave named Onesimus.  Onesimus had apparently stolen from Philemon and then run away.  While Paul was in prison, Paul meets Onesimus and Onesimus becomes a Christian.  In fact, their relationship in prison was so strong that Paul calls Onesimus his child {see verse 10}.  What an incredible statement of faith and the bonds that unite spiritual people!

As a part of his conversion, Onesimus knows he must go back to Philemon and repair that relationship.  Paul writes this letter to help Philemon believe that Onesimus’ professed change is real.  Many scholars think that Paul wrote this letter about the same time as Paul wrote the letter we know as Colossians.  If this is true, then it is likely that Onesimus himself is the messenger of both letters - yet another reason to view Paul as a very open and accepting church leader.  Paul allows a converted runaway slave to carry such an important duty in the church.

Opening

Paul is slightly manipulative here {As all good church leaders are, for the record}.  Paul addresses the letter from himself and Timothy.  It is to Philemon.  Now there are three people involved.  He also addresses it to Apphia and Archippus.  Now there are five people involved.  The circle of accountability is growing.  Philemon – as a Christian – now has peer pressure to make sure he does the right thing in the eyes of the Lord.

Oh yeah, just in case, Paul also addresses it to the church that is meeting in Philemon’s very own house.  Now, Philemon is being held accountable by all of those people who see him as a spiritual authority in their life.  Paul is no fool.  Onesimus has wronged Philemon and everyone knows it.  According to the ways of the world, Philemon will have every right to take out judgment upon Onesimus.  But as he is in the right from the world’s perspective, it means that Philemon may need some help in forgiving Onesimus and in doing the right thing in the eyes of the Lord from here on forward.  {Don’t miss all of the “you might choose to do the right thing” language in verses 12-16, either.}

Interesting fact about humanity, isn’t that?  When we are in the right in the eyes of the world it actually becomes harder for us to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  When the world is on our side, it becomes easier to push the higher calling of God to the back burner.  Who would’ve thought we could ever get that understanding from something as simple as the way Paul includes addressees to this letter?

Prisoner

One more thing before we leave this opening.  Notice how Paul talks about himself.  Paul talks about himself as a prisoner.  Paul normally opens his letters by calling himself an “apostle.”  Here, Paul breaks from his tradition.  Here, Paul reminds Philemon that he is in chains.

Paul continues to be a bit manipulative {and good for him!}.  Paul’s message to Philemon is subtle but true.  Often those who are doing the work of the Lord find themselves subject to and under judgment by those who order their life with the ways of the world.  Philemon has every right to put Onesimus in chains and exact revenge based on what Onesimus has done to him.  But if Philemon chooses that path, Paul has already told Philemon who is the more spiritual being.  When you side with the world, you typically aren’t siding with God.

Thanksgiving

After such an intense opening – and Philemon would have understood the opening – Paul now softens his tone.  He gives thanks for Philemon.  He reminds Philemon that they are brothers serving the same Lord and they are praying for each other.

Assumed Responsibility

As Paul writes this letter about forgiveness, Paul does something absolutely incredible.  Paul assumes Onesimus’ financial burden.  In fact, Paul reminds Philemon that Philemon has a debt to him.  As Paul has not enacted upon Philemon’s debt to him, so should Philemon consider Onesimus’ similar debt.  This is really a powerful statement on so many levels.

I find two parallels in the New Testament.  First – and most obvious – is a comparison to Jesus’ death on the cross.  Jesus assumed our debt and paid it in full.  Jesus has not asked us to repay that debt to Him.  He just did it.  Second, I am reminded of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18:21-35.  There we have a story about a slave who is forgiven from a debt but that same save doesn’t forgive another slave who owes a debt to him.  The situation between Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus is very much a real life application to Jesus’ parable in Matthew.

Further Accountability

Finally, Paul asks Philemon to prepare a guest room.  Guess who is coming to Colossae as soon as he gets out of prison?  In other words, guess who is coming to make sure that Philemon’s spiritual leadership is still in line with the Lord’s teaching?

We all need to be held accountable – perhaps leaders even more than non-leaders.  Those with the most pressure and the most responsibility need the most accountability to ensure that the right decisions are made and that there is proper follow-through.  Paul is simply ensuring that the body of Christ continues to act and grow as the body of Christ should.

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Year 3, Day 52: Titus 2-3

Community

This second chapter in Titus focuses on the roles of people within the community.  Elders who are men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, sound in love, and sound in steadfastness.  Elder men need to know what is going on and what is best for a community.  They need to know their faith and live it out.  They need to be an excellent role model for those who will come after them.

Elders who are women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to wine, teachers of what is good, responsible for training the young women to love their husbands and children, self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands.  Notice the particular emphasis that Paul gives to teaching and training.  Paul knows what we should all know.  It is mothers and grandmothers who are particularly skilled in passing along family values.

Young men are to likewise be self-controlled.  They are to have speech that is undefiled.  In other words, they need to practice what they see in the older men and women.  They are not to give their opponents any reason to be able to condemn them or their manner of teaching.

Bondservants and slaves are to be respectful to their masters.  They are to give the masters no reason to consider them argumentative or troublesome.  They are not to steal from those who have more.

What is this really all about?  Community.  It may be a little idyllic and we might not be able to live up to this standard all the time.  But it is all about the standard.  These are the principles that make up the foundation of community.  Young people see the examples of others around them and they begin to grow up.  They mature.  They give up their childish ways and their worldly passions and begin to think about others.  As they think about others, they begin to teach and influence the people around them. 

The Grace of God

This process of maturing is actually an analogy to salvation.  Salvation has come to us even when we don’t deserve it – just like the wisdom of the elders comes to us when we are young and impulsive and don’t deserve it.  The salvation of God trains us to renounce ungodly passions – just like the example of the elders in the community around us teaches us to renounce ungodliness.  In fact, even the wait for eternal life is not unlike the process that we all endure while waiting for our opportunity to become wise.

The truth is that Jesus Christ came and died for us.  None of us appreciate it at the beginning. We don’t even understand it at the beginning.  But we grow into a deeper faith with God.  We learn from His example.  The process of becoming a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong process that we don’t earn.  It is handed to us, like wisdom, as a prize we do not earn.

Life in Christ

In chapter 3 we hear again the call to live life according to our calling from God.  However, here in this chapter we can see that there are consequences to living in faith.  We will come upon those who do not desire to live in peace.  There will be those who like nothing more than controversies.  There are people who like to complain and make matters worse. 

There are people who want to make faith about something else besides Jesus and the cross.  As Paul says: genealogies, controversies, dissensions, and quarrels about the Law.  In Paul’s day they wanted to argue that if you weren’t Jewish you couldn’t have a relationship with God.  They wanted to argue that if you didn’t obey the Law, you couldn’t be saved.  They just simply wanted to argue.

The same is true today.  There are people that make the case that you have to be a certain age before you can truly believe.  There are people that assert you must be baptized a certain way or else you can’t be saved.  There are even some people who believe that you must be a particular denomination or you can’t be saved.  These are all controversies that we bring upon ourselves.  The truth is that there is only one way to a relationship with God: through the cross of Jesus.  The rest is simply our humbleness and obedience to Him according to His calling for us.

In Closing

As Paul concludes this letter, he genuinely asks Titus to come to Nicopolis.  Titus has been away from Paul, and Paul genuinely desires to reconnect.  This is true spirituality.  Disciples in Christ understand that for the sake of doing the work of the Lord it is important to occasionally be apart from one another.  However, genuine disciples of Jesus Christ look forward to being reunited in the faith as well.

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Year 3, Day 51: Titus 1

Historical Background

Titus was a letter written by Paul to one of his disciples, Titus.  Many historians believe that this letter to Titus was written while Titus was on a mission in Crete (See Titus 1:5, 12).  It is important to note that Titus was a Gentile.  It is also important to note that Titus seemed to do really well in ministry and enjoyed a high degree of success wherever he went to proclaim God’s good news.  This letter was written to Titus largely to encourage him as he stood against false teaching that was creeping into the church.

Family

I’ve always snickered at how Paul begins his letters.  It’s almost as if he knew that people would be reading them for centuries after he wrote them.  I snicker because this letter is to Titus.  Titus is one of Paul’s prized disciples.  If Paul had confidence in anyone’s ability to know God, it would be Titus.  Yet, Paul doesn’t miss the opportunity to talk about God’s character.  Paul knows we always need to remember who God is and for what God stands.

Yet as I read this opening, there is something that really makes me lean back in my recliner and appreciate Paul’s writing.  When Paul describes Titus, he uses a really special word.  The word in the Greek language is “gnesios” (γνήσιος).  Many Bibles translate that word as “true” in Titus 1:4.  But I prefer the translation given when the word appears elsewhere in the Bible: “genuine.” (See 2 Corinthians 8:8 or Philipians 2:20).

Here’s what I’m getting at.  Paul calls Titus a genuine child in a common faith.  That right there is about as honest of a statement of the confidence Paul has in the discipleship of Titus.  Titus is a genuine child.  This verse proves one of my favorite thoughts that I’ve discovered in Bible over the last two years: Blood may be thicker than water, but genuine spirituality is thicker than blood.  If you really want to connect with someone, then share a faith with them rather than DNA.

As a pastor, I really love this passage on a deeper level, too.  Part of my calling is to do as Paul does here: make children.  No, I’m not talking in some cultist biological sense.   {That was supposed to be funny, I hope it didn’t offend anyone.}  God has called me to make spiritual children.  God has called me to seek out those who are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and make disciples.  In fact, God has called all of us to do this! 

I love the way Paul describes Titus.  There is such an element of shared spiritual discipleship in such few words.

Presbyteros

The title of this section might look familiar.  No doubt you’ve heard of the denomination “Presbyterian.”  That comes from the Greek word “presbyteros” (πρεσβύτερος).  In English, it means “elder.”  Well, technically it means “a person of authority in socio-religious concerns.”

Titus’ job in Crete was to appoint elders.  But why does the church in Crete need elders?  Why do any of us need elders?

The reason we needed elders is because there are always people who are sowing false teaching.  There are people coming in and disrupting the Christian community.  There are people coming in and teaching that salvation depended on a bunch of things – not just the cross of Christ!  The Cretans needed elders to help guide them, teach them, and mold them.  The Cretans needed elders to help protect them and preserve their growing faith.  We all need elders for that very same reason!

Truth in Fruit

The question becomes: how does one pick an elder?  How does one know whether or not someone else is genuine in their faith?  How does one know whether or not another person really and truly is capable of shepherding another person through life?

Paul tells us how.  You look at their fruit.  Yes, it’s an imperfect science.  Yes, people can snowball you and make you believe that they are someone they really aren’t.  We are all sinners, after all.  But in general, you look at their fruit.  If they are abiding by God’s Word and accomplishing God’s will, they will probably be able to help you do the same.  But if you look at someone who isn’t abiding by God’s Word and accomplishing God’s will, then there is little likelihood that they will be able to be an elder for you, too.

Paul’s closing verse within this chapter is powerful.  Those that we are to watch out for are these: “they profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”  I am reminded of an incredible quote in a similar tone from Brennan Manning.  It goes like this: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Friends, pick elders.  We desperately need elders from God to help guide us in this life.  But even more importantly, pick good elders.  Paul was Titus’ “presbyteros.”  I think Titus picked well. 

Who’s yours? 

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Year 3, Day 50: Isaiah 66

Putting Me in My Place

The opening verses of this final chapter begin by putting mankind in our place.  The whole of the heavens is God’s dwelling place.  The earth is merely His footstool.  So what of this little building that we might erect and consider it the perfect dwelling for God?  It is really nothing but a little bump on His footstool.  {Yeah, I’m not going to lie to you here.  I feel pretty small, now.}

Does God need a magnificent construction out of the stuff that He Himself brought into existence?  Not likely.  Verse 2 tells us what it is that God actually does appreciate.  God appreciates the one who is humble and contrite in spirit.  God appreciates the one who actually knows enough to tremble at the word of the Lord.  This gives all the more reason to make sure to feel small after reading verse 1.

The Truth About Sacrifices

Verses 3-6 can be easily misconstrued.  At first glance, it seems as if God is saying that offering up a sacrifice of an ox or grain is like killing or abusing creation.  If this is how we read it, it naturally leads to the question, “Why would God tell His people to do it in the first place?”  After all, the idea of sacrifice and obedience is one of the main themes of the Pentateuch.

However, there is a different way to read these words.  God isn’t saying the act of giving a sacrifice is like killing.  God is saying that the people who are offering up those sacrifices are no different than those who are killing.  You see, God isn’t comparing act to act.  God is comparing person to person.

Anyone can bring a sacrifice to God.  Anyone can give of themselves and make a display before God.  Since anyone can do it, God isn’t really into the displays.  God is into what is at the heart of a person.  God cares about the nature of our being.  If I am an angry and bitter person and bring an offering to the Lord while being angry and bitter, what good is my offering?  If I am being swept away in sin yet I make a good “show” of myself publically in church, what good is the show?

This is really the point behind Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:21-24.  It’s not that offerings and sacrifices are bad at all.  But the offering and the sacrifice of a person whose heart is unchanged is of absolutely no use.  It is never our sacrifices that make us right with God.  What God desires is the rending of our heart.  {See Joel 2:13, Hosea 6:6, Psalm 51:15-17}  When our sacrifices are a true response of the change in our heart then our sacrifices are good.  But without the change of heart, our sacrifices are really quite pointless.  That’s the point of Isaiah 66:3-6.

Future Promise

Now we turn to the conclusion of the book of Isaiah.  We’ve heard the point of being humbled before God.  We’ve also see the potential results.  We’re left with a simple challenge to the future.  God promises that the land will “give birth.”  There will be a remnant.  There will be a people who turn to God.  Out of the pain of childbirth (exile) the Lord will bring a faithful remnant.  The choice on the table is whether or not to be a part of that remnant.

God Himself says that the time is coming to gather all the nations together.  The nations will gather, and the Lord will set Himself as a sign among them.  Out of those who come among Him the Lord will send people into the whole world to proclaim His glory.  Disciples will be made.  Followers will come.  From among the nations priests and Levites will be chosen.

What a cool ending to this book – especially in light of the coming of Jesus.  We do know that the nations came to Jerusalem.  The Persians allowed Jerusalem to be rebuilt.  Greece came after the Persians.  Then Rome came.  The Lord did set a sign among the known world in His Son.  Disciples were made and they were sent out.  Gentiles have become priests.  In fact, all those in Christ are priests established to serve God!

Reading this passage is not done in the perspective of if it happens.  This passage is a read in the perspective that it is happening as we speak.  We don’t have to look for it to come; we merely have to examine ourselves and join in the movement of God’s hand that has already come.  Do we or do we not desire to humble ourselves before God and obey Him?

In case you need help answering, Isaiah leaves us with a pretty important end to this chapter.  “You shall go out and look upon the bodies of those who have rebelled against me.  Their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched.  They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”  That’s a pretty bleak ending to a book of such promise.

To make sure we understand Isaiah, let’s remember the context in which He writes.  The Assyrians have been turned back only by the hand of God.  God has told him that the Babylonians will come and there will be no stopping them.  He knows that only a small faithful remnant will return from that exile.  It is as though Isaiah is seeing the vast stretch of humanity before Him and realizing just how few people will genuinely turn to the Lord.  He sees how few people will have what it takes to be obedient.  He wants to make sure that the people who care to hear about the consequences can genuinely know the consequences.  He wants to put the truth in everyone’s face.  He does just that.

As we end Isaiah, the question needs to be asked.  For what am I living?  Am I a part of the remnant?  Am I a part of the faithful?  Shall I live with God or shall I experience a fire that shall not be quenched?  Is there any more important question in the world than this?

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