What doest thou here?

photo: http://www.tonycooke.org

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.  And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? (1Kings 19:11-13 KJV)

Introduction

The question the Lord put to Elijah speaks to me. Elijah had, in the previous couple of weeks leading up to this moment, been used of God to defeat over 400 prophets of Baal but now had fled to Mt. Horeb in fear due to the threats of the wicked queen Jezebel. James said that Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. Too many times we let the devil and this world get us cornered in a cave.  It is so easy to get in the cave and the roaring wind, shaking of the earth, and fires in our lives seem to drown out all else.

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Pocket Fuzz

Introduction

Parts of this story from my childhood will likely be a shared experience for many of you: my grandfather always wanted to give us something when we came to visit him.  We would usually get a quarter, it meant a little more back then, and a firm pat on the head.  I remember one time my father and an uncle visited at the same time; with five grandchildren at one time this put the quarter payout in jeopardy.  As far as I was concerned the US Mint for quarters was in my grandfather’s pocket so I wasn’t worried.  Things started as usual; my grandfather put his hand into that left trouser pocket and pulled out… pocket fuzz.

 

And They Rose Up to Play…

I Corinthians 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

This Sunday morning, referred to as the Lord’s day in Revelation 1:10, will unfortunately be a time when many who call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ forsake His altar and instead, like the children of Israel at the base of Sinai, will rise up to worship the golden calf gods of this world ie. the beach, the lake, the ball field. They will, like Paul says here, rise up to play.

Would to God they showed as much devotion to the one they have been known to call ‘Lord’.  Many Christians have supposed in this day and age, possibly due to the humanistic style of gospel preaching and teaching, that their happiness is paramount in God’s eyes and that, as long as they ‘love’ the Lord, they can do what makes them happy.  Faithfulness in their intentions rather than actions is considered sufficient.  They suppose that being faithful to God’s house is not as important as being faithful to tell others they love the Lord and His church.  Many have supposed that being a faithful servant or bearing the disciple’s cross is archaic and no longer required of the modern American Christian.  Why is this?  Why, my friends, would you suppose that when we have scriptural evidence to the contrary?  Take Luke’s gospel for instance:

 

Communion with God – Exodus

Introduction

The Tabernacle in the Wilderness has been the source of much study on my part but there is a special person in my life, my uncle, who expanded my knowledge, not only on this subject, but many of God’s wonders contained in scripture.  This article would not be possible without his help.  My uncle is home with Jesus now and I miss him.  I’d like to dedicate this article to my uncle for all his words of wisdom.

This will be a technical dive into the construction of the Tabernacle; please bear with me, we need this information for the practical application later on.

 

Have You Died Yet?

Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

The modern social gospel being promoted across the land in many churches today speaks of a religion that has no costs, brings no change, and seems to give all glory to the wrong party… us.  In fact, to hear most Christians discuss styles of worship, contemporary or traditional, you would think that worship itself was for the sole benefit of man.  The humanism that has crept into the contemporary sermons, has led many a lost soul to believe that they need only to believe and they have their ticket punched for glory.  Most then fall well short of what the apostle Paul called the ‘new creature in Christ Jesus’.

Why is this so?  It goes all the way back to the Old Testament.  Many of our gospel songs speak of crossing the Jordan River as though it was the passage from life on earth to life in eternity in heaven.  This is flawed because unlike Canaan, Heaven doesn’t have enemies to be destroyed.  Rather, the crossing of the Jordan River in the book of Joshua more aptly typifies our passage from the death of sin to the newness of life in Christ Jesus.

 

That’s Not Fair – 1 Samuel 18 – 24

Introduction

In Gal 6:9 and also in 2 Thes 3:13 we are told not to be weary in well doing.  Generally speaking we understand this, but, when we suffer for doing the right thing we don’t like it.  Let’s go ahead and say it…”That’s not fair”.

Usually when we have given of ourselves for the gain of others the last thing on earth we expect is to suffer for it.  It is these times when we think “Why does God allow this?”  Let me share with you the early years of David, son of Jesse.  During our fast forward through those early years I will be using “TNF” which stands for “That’s not fair”.  When you see “TNF” take a moment to think of David’s plight and how he handled it.  Get your bibles out and follow along.

 

Those Old Sunday School Lessons

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Introduction

Recently I concluded a series of classes entitled “Old Sunday School Lessons”.  I rolled out those old time favorites like David and Goliath, Joseph & the Coat of Many Colors, Moses and the Red Sea and quite a few others.  My overall theme was faith with each lesson focusing on faith in God or having faith in His promises.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with a quote… “Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” In context this was given in reference to those who stop learning and or growing as an individual.  Isn’t it a sad thought to consider that many can remember those old Sunday School lessons but have lost their passion for God’s word as they entered adulthood.  They might be young adults, middle aged or even senior adults but their spiritual awareness is the equivalent of an elementary education.

 

“They feared the LORD, and served their own gods…”

In II Kings 17 we have the record of the ten northern tribes of Israel being carried away captive by Shalmaneser king of Assyria.  It was the Assyrian way to remove a majority of the conquered people and to place Assyrian colonists in the lands they conquered.  When the colonists in this case moved into the land, bad things began to happen to them as the Lord sent lions among them to devour them because they didn’t fear Him.  So the king of Assyria sent one of the priests of Israel back to the land to teach them how they should fear God.  This was basically the blind leading the blind however since when the Israelites had lived there they didn’t live right either.  Before being led away into captivity, the northern tribes had become very idolatrous.  Now this priest has gone back to teach the heathen how to fear God…  Well this passage goes on to indicate that they learned how to ‘fear’ God but they continued to serve their own gods.  The men from Babylon worshiped Succothbenoth, the men of Cuth worshiped Nergal, the men of Hamath served Ashima, the Avites served Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.  This last thing was particularly troubling.  Their worship involved human sacrifice of their own children in order to have a hope of higher status among society ie. “the pride of life”.

“Well what has this got to do with us today?” you might say… My friend here in America we who call ourselves Christians are like these Assyrians.

 

The Wise Still Seek Him

Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Matthew sets forth an historical account of the visit of the wise men here in chapter two.  Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the king, or Herod the Great.  Herod was the son of Antipater, an Idumean or Edomite.  In other words, Herod was a descendant of Esau and since he was elected king of Judaea in 40-39 B.C. by the Roman senate most orthodox Jews didn’t consider him Jewish.  In fact, he was a very cruel king who by this time had exiled his first wife Doris and killed his second wife Miriamne I due to his jealousy.  He had also killed Miriamne’s mother Alexandra and his two sons by Miriamne I for suspected treason.  He also ended up five days before his own painful death, killing his firstborn son Antipater II.  He was considered by this time to be very suspicious and paranoid by this time of anything that might be a threat against his rule.

 

In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. (Genesis 22:14)

It is Christmas again and we are busy trying to buy those gifts and filling our event calendars with family and church fellowship gatherings.  But we as Christians need to remember that Jesus truly is the reason for the season.  Christ came to Bethlehem to die for the sins of whosoever will.  As I was pondering that thought, I began thinking of one of the first references to the coming and sacrifice of Jesus in Genesis 22.  Abraham was told to carry Isaac to the ‘land of Moriah’ to a mountain ‘I will tell thee of’…  Isaac was likely in his thirties as his mother dies soon after in the next chapter at the age of 127 and she bore Isaac at age 90.  So Isaac, like Christ, goes willingly at the behest of his father to the place of sacrifice.  And, like Christ, he carries the wood that he would be bound to to that place of sacrifice.  By the way, this is Abraham’s fifth altar.  Five is the number of Grace in God’s Word.

It is at the point of Abraham being fully surrendered to God’s will with his knife in the air, that Jesus, in His pre-incarnate state (a theophany), appears and stops the sacrifice from occurring. Jesus says to Abraham, “…now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me .” This is a powerful glimpse at the wonderful plan of God. In I Chronicles 21, God sends His angel to judge Israel with pestilence for the sin of David in numbering the people. He stops the angel from destroying Jerusalem when David repents of this sin at a spot called the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. Gad the seer tells David to build an altar on that spot and offer up a burnt offering. Just a few chapters forward in II Chronicles 3:1 we see “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.” Did you see that? The threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite is in Mount Moriah.