God Speaks - Who's Listening? 1 Kings 12-13

May the mumbling commence!

We spent over a week in Proverbs, and one of the things that I remember clearly is the wisdom of listening to and accepting advice.  It seems that this wisdom is elusive not just for you and me but also for the kings of Israel and Judah.  Yes the kingdom of Israel splits into two pieces in 1 Kings 12-13.  Read about how Solomon’s son Rehoboam responded to advice that he sought.

So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:  "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." 

Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away. 

Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked. 

They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." 

But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.  He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?" 

The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-- tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist.  My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'" 

Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days."  The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions."  So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. (1 Kings 12:3-15)

Going to the wise counselors of your father and listening to them are two different things.  But the outcome was what the Lord had ordained.  In fact, when Rehoboam gathered forces to fight Jeroboam, the Lord spoke through a prophet to prevent the brothers of Israel from fighting one another.  This split was of the Lord.  Read about it below:

When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin – a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men – to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam, son of Solomon. 

But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:  "Say to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,  'This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.'" So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered. (1 Kings 12:21-24)

At least the people listened!  And it wasn’t only Rehoboam who had trouble listening to the Lord.  Jeroboam also fell in listening to the Lord.  He feared that the people would leave him to return to Rehoboam, because they were to go to Jerusalem for worship.  Jeroboam also asked for advice in what to do.  We do not know who he asked.  We do not know what the advice was.  We only know what he did, and by his actions we can tell that he didn’t consult the Lord:

 

If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." 

After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."  One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.  And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.

Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. (1 Kings 12:27-31)

Idols and priests for the high places – priests not from the tribe of Levi, Oh my!  How did Jeroboam convince himself that God would condone these things?  In fact, when God did speak through a prophet (who was ironically from Judah), Jeroboam wanted him seized!  Read about it below:

By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.  He cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord: "O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: 'A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'"  That same day the man of God gave a sign: "This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out."   (1 Kings 13:1-3)

God is speaking.  Who is listening? 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out

Who Can Love You as Good as the Great I Am? Eccl 11-12; Ps 73

May the mumbling commence!

“Who do you run to when it all comes down?  Who’s gonna pick you up from the ground?  Who’s gonna wipe away the tears you cry?”  These are some questions from a popular Heart song.  The last couple of chapters of Ecclesiastes and Psalm 73 help to answer these questions.

The ways of God are difficult (perhaps impossible) to know, and they are hard to follow logically or emotionally.  Read a verse from Ecclesiastes 11:

As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things. (Verse 5)

This verse reminds me of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.  What does it mean to know where the wind will blow?  What does it mean to be born anew to be children of the wind, children of the Spirit of God?  It may mean chasing after God’s own heart.  Can we ever predict or understand what the Spirit will ask of us?  No!  That is the joy, wonder and adventure of faith.  I do not know where God will lead me, but I do know that I can fully trust in God to have my eternal best interests in mind.  That is my faith in a nutshell.

Sometimes the going will get troublesome.  I know who I will run to.  I know who will pick my pathetic body up from the ground.  I know who will wipe away the tears I cry.  I want to burst into another song with the psalmist:

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever. (Ps. 73:25-26)

God will await me with open arms when I run to him – no matter how long and how far I have wandered from Him.  God will pick my weary body from the ground – like the anonymous author of “Footprints in the Sand” tells us: in the worst parts of our lives is when God carries us.  God will wipe away the tears I cry.  There will be no more tears in heaven.

There is no one who can love me as good as God.

Read the conclusion to Ecclesiastes:

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. 

Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the whole duty of man. 

For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.  (12:12b-14)

There are countless books out there.  Sometimes, it seems a large portion of those books have made it onto my bookshelves (especially when it comes time to move).  But there is one set of books that I keep coming back to – the canonized books of the Holy Bible.  May God continue to whisper in my ear through Scripture, prayer, fasting, and living in a holy community of God’s children.  May I strive this day to be born anew of the Spirit.  Being born anew is a daily struggle.

Enough mumbling for today…

Peace Out 

From the Dull Axe; Eccl. 7-10

May the mumbling commence!

Look into the future.  What do you see?  Be careful!  Humanity’s future vision is extremely limited.  It’s not good to be a betting man (or woman).  Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but foresight is legally blind.  Read some about this subject of the future from Ecclesiastes 7-10:

Consider what God has done:

            Who can straighten

                        what he has made crooked?

            When times are good, be happy;

                        but when times are bad, consider:

            God has made the one

                        as well as the other.

            Therefore, a man cannot discover

                        anything about his future. (7:13-14)

Oh, great!  I can be happy when times are good; but, when times are bad, I cannot be unhappy and complain.  This thought grates against the wisdom of the US society.  Note this wisdom: “If you do not vote, then you should not complain.”  Complaining is one of our God-given rights!  Not so fast!  Why should we complain?  We cannot discover the future.  Trust in God not our own foresight.  God has our eternal wellbeing in His heart.  Read another passage:

            Since no man knows the future,

                        who can tell him what is to come?

            No man has power over the wind to contain it;

                        so no one has power over the day of his death. (8:7-8a)

Indeed, we have no control over the power of the wind.  Don’t believe me?  Ask those who were at the mercy of a tornado or hurricane, and they will tell you.  Still don’t believe me?  I can tell you how much life will change when you surrender yourself to the call of God’s Spirit.  Ministry in the name of Christ has carried me to places I would have never anticipated… like Americus, Georgia and Hutchinson, Kansas.

If life is so uncertain, then we must carefully train.  Right?  That depends on who our personal trainer is.  Read another passage below:

I have seen something else under the sun:

            The race is not to the swift

                        or the battle to the strong,

            nor does food come to the wise

                        or wealth to the brilliant

                        or favor to the learned

            but time and chance happen to them all. (9:11)

Go ahead:  Try and predict something as trivial as who will win a sporting contest.  All the research and calculations will not guarantee victory.  Lady Luck is at the mercy of chance as well.

So, who do I want as my personal trainer?  My answer is Jesus Christ because there is no one stronger and more skilled than him.  Read one of my favorite verses from Ecclesiastes:

            If the axe is dull

                        and its edge unsharpened,

            more strength is needed

                        but skill will bring success.  (10:10)

                                                                 

This verse is a favorite of mine because I see myself as the axe.  Fortunately, I am in the hands of the strongest and most skilled craftsman – in fact, I am in the hands of my Great Creator.  No one knows better how to use me successfully than my Creator.  Praise the Lord!  Use me, O God.

Enough mumbling for today…

Peace Out

The Three-Fold Cord; Eccl. 3-6

May the mumbling commence!

Today’s reading takes me to the Scripture passage that my wife and I used for our wedding.  Read it below:

            Two are better than one,

                        because they have a good return for their work:

            If one falls down,

                        his friend can help him up.

            But pity the man who falls

                        and has no one to help him up!

            Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

                        But how can one keep warm alone?

            Though one may be overpowered,

                        two can defend themselves.

            A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  (Eccl. 4:9-12)

It was not the intent of my wife and I that you would think that to be complete you need to be married.  Not so!  One cannot be complete without God.  For this reason, we emphasized the last sentence of the passage.  I am a strand, Anita (my wife) is a strand, and the Lord is the third strand.  The true benefit of being complete does not come from marriage to any human.  To be truly complete, one must marry themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.  If this part is missing, then you will quickly find that marriage will not solve any of your problems – in fact, marriage will only add another set of new problems to the mix.  Without Jesus, our lives will be hollow, incomplete.  Read from Ecclesiastes 3:9-14 –

What does the worker gain from his toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on men.  He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end.  I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.  That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God.  I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. 

So, let us bind ourselves to the Lord rather than money or wealth or possessions.  We can take none of these things with us when we die.  There is nothing better for us to do than be content and be joyful.  There is nothing better to do than do good while we live.  In these ways, we will be lead into true reverence for our Great Creator.  Let us bind ourselves to Christ.  Nothing and no one else will complete us!

In honor of Ecclesiastes 6:11 –

            The more the words,

                        the less the meaning,

                        and how does that profit anyone?

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Meaningless or Meaningful? Eccl. 1-2

May the mumbling commence!

And now for something completely different…  Today, we leave behind the teachings of Proverbs to begin our journey into the book of Ecclesiastes.  Talk about a new view point!  While Proverbs seems to have the eternal optimism of youth, Ecclesiastes has the eternal jaded, pessimistic view of the aged.  This “the cup is half empty” viewpoint is apparent even in the first couple of chapters of Ecclesiastes.  The recurring theme is: “everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”  Talk about fatalistic!  Read some passages from the first two chapters:

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.  I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heaven.  What a heavy burden God has laid on men!  I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (1:12-14)

            I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

                        I refused my heart no pleasure.

            My heart took delight in all my work,

                        and this was the reward for all my labor.

            Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

                        and what I had toiled to achieve,

            everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

                        nothing was new under the sun.  (2:10-11)

            The wise man has eyes in his head,

                        while the fool walks in darkness;

            but I came to realize

                        that the same fate overtakes them both.  (2:14)

            “The fate of the fool will overtake me also.

                        What then do I gain by being wise?”

            Then I thought in my heart,

                        “This too is meaningless.”

            For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;

                        in days to come both will be forgotten.

            Like the fool, the wise man too must die! (2:15b-16)

Talk about having the blues!  The wise may accumulate wealth and honor, but even the wise cannot take it with them.  It may go to a fool.  Where is the thought of the inheritance of the children of a wise man?  Did Solomon anticipate the foolishness of the son who would take the throne after his time was over?  It is possible.  Did Solomon fear that his sins would be strengthened in his sons?  It is likely. 

So, in the grand scheme of things, what can a man really accomplish?  Indeed, with this point of view, everything does seem meaningless.  Try and get pleasure from your life’s work.  To do so is to receive the greatest gift God has to offer toiling humanity.

I give thanks for the work of God through Jesus Christ.  Though we cannot accomplish anything of worth on our own, we can accept the even greater gift of the Holy Spirit.  With the Holy Spirit, the meaningless becomes meaningful.  God is the great Overcomer.  All our hope lies in God.  And this hope will never die.

Being a pawn for God has more meaning than all human occupations combined.  Work through us we pray…

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Proverbial Post 11; Proverbs 31

May the mumbling commence!

Well, the last chapter of Proverbs (Chapter 30) came a day late in the chronological Bible that I am reading (at least in my view).  Yesterday, my wife and I celebrated seven years of wedded bliss.  I truly believe that I’ve been living in a dream world for these last seven years.  Sometimes, I fear that I will wake up alone someday.  I do not know what I would do without my wife.  She makes me a better person, a better Christian, and a better minister.  We sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17).

Anita (my wife) is not sure she likes the description of the wife of noble character from Proverbs 31.  Does being a wife of noble character mean getting little sleep?  Early to rise (Verse 15) and late to bed (Verse 18) is this wife.  Sometimes near sleepless nights are necessary, but they are not the rule.  I know that Anita has had short nights because of ministry and because of her role as mother and wife and daughter.

Anita may deny it, but I think she fits the bill of Proverbs 31 better than she thinks.  I saw it in the way she worked so hard this past week – preparing a sermon and being there for me and our son Micah (early in the morning when she is not at her best).  Read some verses from chapter 31:

            A wife of noble character who can find?

                        She is worth far more than rubies.

            Her husband has full confidence in her

                        and lacks nothing of value.

            She brings good not harm,

                        all the days of her life. (Verses 10-12)

            She watches over the affairs of her household

                        and does not eat the bread of idleness.

            Her children arise and call her blessed;

                        her husband also, and he praises her:

            Many women do noble things,

                        but you surpass them all.”

            Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

                        but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

            Give her the reward she has earned,

                        and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.  (Verses 27-31)

I have found her – a wife of noble character.  I praise you, Anita.  You surpass all other women in my life.  Yes, even my mother.  (Sorry, Mom I love you.  It is a near tie!)  I have full confidence in my wife.  I love her.  I praise the Lord that He has put her in my life.

Happy Anniversary, DEAR.

Enough mumbling for today…

Peace Out

Proverbial Post 10; Proverbs 25-27

May the mumbling commence!

Honesty is the best policy.  But, it’s a hard policy to follow when you are speaking to those you love and to yourself.  Honesty hurts, but it is the kind of hurt that leads to healing.  It’s the honesty policy spoken of in Proverbs 28-30.  Read some verses from chapter 28:

            He who conceals his sins does not prosper,

                        but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Verse 13)

            He who robs his father or mother

                        and says, “It’s not wrong” –

                        he is partner to him who destroys. (Verse 24)

Concealing sin or even denying that it happened or that what was done was even sin results in destruction – of relationships, of people, and of property.  When we call sin a sin and when we confess the sin, it opens wounds to be cleansed so that they can heal without further damage or infection.

Sometimes the infection of concealing and denying sin results in blindness to the true view of the world through the eyes of the Lord.  As Proverbs 29: 18 states, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.”  Sometimes the infection results in pride.  Read about pride in Proverbs 29: 23, “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.”

And there are other ways that hidden sin affects us and others.  Read about them from some verses of chapter 30:

            There are those who curse their fathers

                        and do not bless their mothers;

            those who are pure in their own eyes

                        and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

            those whose eyes are haughty,

                        whose glances are so disdainful;

those whose teeth are swords

those whose jaws are set with knives

to devour the poor from the earth,

            the needy from among mankind. (Verses 11-14)

If you have played the fool and exalted yourself,

            or if you have planned evil,

            clap your hand over your mouth!

For as churning the milk produces butter,

            and as twisting the nose produces blood,

            so stirring up anger produces strife. (Verses 32-33)

Hidden sin often leads to denied sin.  Denied sin leads to going to the wrong source to cleanse our wounds.  We will think that we are clean; we will not realize our filth.  It will affect our relationships with others.  We will see their sins clearly and be haughty.  We will be haughty because we deny our own sinfulness.  In fact, we will distain others.  We may begin to convince ourselves that we have a unique relationship with God.

We will exalt ourselves and fall into evil.  We will even plan evil and deny its base nature.  Anger will be stirred up and strife will result…

No, it is much better to confess our sins, open the wounds, and allow the Great Physician to heal us without any infections.  Then, we will be truly clean.  Let’s be honest with ourselves and honest with the ones that we love.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out