Our Jealous God

"Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
(Exodus 34:14)

As humans, we often experience a jealousy that is tainted with an unreasonable and suffocating expression of emotion by another over our self/person. Or, we may be the one who obsesses to a level of madness that grips us like a spell that cannot be broken. We have read about so-called 'love' relationships where a partner says he or she loves the other but it is a selfish, obsessive driving emotion that seeks to control and dominate in such a way that it edges onto or crosses the border of sanity. While we would like to think that this is 'love' at its most passionate expression, it is not. The One who created love says this about what true love is: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)

Too often, this jealous madness that is obsessed with controlling and dominating the other person results in harm to the other and/or to those perceived to be encroaching on the jealous one's turf - a harm that potentially becomes deadly. The song of the jealous is, "if I can't have you no one will." 

I have been in such a relationship. 

My then husband more than once threatened my life at gunpoint and took our children hundreds of miles away as leverage. When a person is victimized to such an extent, you experience your own type of madness; your reasoning becomes warped. You walk in fear and shame - especially when the outbursts and threats become public and/or on your job. I was asked to leave my employment because of the risk to other employees. I felt like less than nothing at that point. While he claimed to be religious, and put on a religious face when attending services or around members of the church, his obsessive jealousy and need for control over me was exhibited behind closed doors. He had no fear of God in his heart. His kidnapping of the children, and unrelenting search to find me after I escaped his terror shattered every aspect of my life, estranged me from my family as I did not want to put them in jeopardy. Yet, ironically, they would distance themselves from me because of the shame I had brought on them, as I became known in all our circles as the one being chased from place to place by a crazed husband.  One day he found a way to contact me because he had won the lottery but, due to state law, had to share it with me as we were still legally married. I bargained with him for the children, telling him to keep the money and let me have the children. He signed them over to me for money. We fled immediately hundreds of miles in the other direction. Jealousy clothed with the label of  "Love" was spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically damaging so much so that only a merciful God could repair what was broken, distorted, and restore my scarred my relationship with Him. He had to teach me to forgive. He had to teach me perfect love.

Jealousy that leads to strong desire to control and manipulate others is a product of our sinful nature that we inherited from Adam. God created humankind in His image; our sin mars that image, damages our personhoods, minds, souls, bodies. Sin destroys relationship with God. Our inherited sin - aided and abetted by the evil one and the moral and spiritual darkness of his evil world system - impairs our ability to perfectly express anger or jealousy. We have no pure starting point within our natural selves to provide the perfect expression of such powerful emotion. Our human anger and jealousy has no righteousness attached to it because it emanates from a place of damage and brokeness. Within our human power, we cannot even love as we ought. Within our natural selves, this lack is a critical and chronic disability that is also self-deceiving - it permeates all we do. Because our natural selves suffer in that way, when we come across a scripture like the Exodus passage quoted above, or Deuteronomy 4:24, or 1 Corinthians 10:22, we are challenged in our sin-shaped hearts and minds to understand this jealousy of God - which is a perfect expression and sovereign right.

To be honest, from a spiritual standpoint, I know for a certainty that God's jealousy is beyond my comprehension. There was a time when that lack of 'sight' was a struggle because I lived by logic. Logic can sometimes get in the way of faith, as I had to learn. Awareness of God those aspects and attributes of God's character that I cannot fully comprehend is a reason to rejoice because why would I want a God I can control and manipulate? No, instead of dampening my faith, I more and more desire for it to be stronger so that even though I cannot comprehend every iota of knowledge about our Almighty God, my growing faith becomes growing trust in Him, gratitude for His perfect jealousy over what belongs to Him. That includes me.

How must we look at this part of God's character from a Biblical viewpoint - how He has revealed Himself in scripture?

• God's perfect jealousy is based in His holiness. He is Adonai ha'Elohim Hakkadosh - the Lord the Holy One. As sinful humans, we are unable to fully grasp the Holiness of God. It is like asking a person blind from birth to describe the sunrise or sunset, or the colors of the rainbow. -Joshua 24:19; 1 Samuel 2:2
• God's perfect jealousy is based in His justice - no jurist in the flesh can render up decisions in their repertoire of law and principle that can compare to the depths of God's justice. He is Yahweh Tsidkenu - LORD our Righteousness and Elohei Misphat (God of Just/Righteous Law). His law is perfect, His judgments are always right. -Deuteronomy 10:17-19; Isaiah 5:16
• God's perfect jealousy is based in His being El Olam - the Everlasting God. the Ever-Present God Who Dwells in the Eternal Present. He owns time. As owner and Creator of time, God has the sole right to use it as He sees fit. -Psalm 90; Colossians 1:15-17
• God's perfect jealousy is based in His being a Creator God, Elohim, The Hashem - the Great I AM WHO I AM. God owns all that He created, He has invested in us beyond our comprehension. He is our El Shaddai - our All-Sufficient Sustainer God. He has always been the Potter to our being the clay - what say do we have in what He does? -Exodus 3:14; Romans 9:20-22; Psalm 104
• God's perfect jealousy is based in His Almighty Power and Wisdom. There is no God of Power like our God. His Wisdom exceeds all the brightest 'geniuses' ever born all together. In His perfect expression of jealousy for His people, God will execute His wrath against those who desire to harm them.  -Daniel 2:20; Jeremiah 10:6; Revelation 1:7-8; Jeremiah 51:15
• God's perfect jealousy is based in His perfect love - a covenant love (Hesed) that is also sacrificial (Ahavah, Agape).  -Psalm 103:17; John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10  This is not a love that we can grasp because that was destroyed by Adam's sin in us: we cannot grasp it nor express it in our human capacity. We must let the Holy Spirit create within us the love reflective of God.
• Finally (at least on this list instant), God's perfect jealousy is based in His Sovereignty. He owns all things. He controls the heavens and the earth, yet He has given His created beings the freedom to choose between His Sovereignty or theirs. (And we so deceive ourselves into thinking our choice of self-lordship is going to have a different result than it had for a perfect man and woman.) He is the author of all things, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. We cannot live for a moment if God removed all oxygen from us, and yet we presume to know better than He. As Sovereign, God has the right to act, choose, give or take away, create or destroy. This perfect rightness can often ring unfair in a nonbeliever's ear, for he or she has never known a righteous, perfect Creator and Owner; his or her experience and knowledge, or lack thereof, cannot bring him or her to comprehend that kind of Sovereignty that emanates from the love described above. He has the right to set destinies, to save whom He chooses, and allow the hearts of others to harden against Him. This question of Sovereignty has been raised against God for eons, and this challenge is eloquently described in Isaiah 40-44 and elsewhere in God's testimony as recorded in Isaiah. The book opens with a declaration of Sovereignty in chapter 1 of Isaiah where the LORD God describes the wickedness and rebellion of the people against His Lordship, in verses 23-24 He says: "Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause does not come before them. Therefore says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will pour out my wrath on my enemies, and avenge myself on my foes!" God our Sovereign reserves the exclusive, absolute right to be worshiped - on this point there is no gray area. -Psalm 8:1, 9; Daniel 4:2-3; 1 Timothy 6:15; Psalm 24:1-2; Isaiah 66:1; Deuteronomy 5:9; Deuteronomy 10:20; Romans 1:18-25  

The foregoing is but a glimpse into the perfect holiness and righteousness of the Only True God, a perfection that is expressed through a jealousy that we cannot understand, but which acts in agape love - a sacrificial love - for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. He desires the best for His people, and places a guardrail and hedge of jealousy around them. He has vowed to never leave nor forsake them, to not let them be snatched from His hand by the enemy. God's people are His possession because He created them to become His people through the poured-out sacrificial blood of Jesus. (Ephesians 1:6-7; Ephesians 2:12-14)

Our God of love, of Might, our Wise and All Knowing God wants our complete devotion - He deserves it! He is jealous for it! When our God Incarnate - the Son of God - walked on this earth, He constantly spoke to and taught such allegiance to God. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." That we can serve only One master; that our God supplies all our needs when we put Him first in our lives. His beloved Sermon on the Mount overflows with admonition of relationship with God and how He would have us live. (Matthew 5-7) The parable of the prodigal recorded in Luke 15:11-32 illustrates God's love for us - that He does not force us into relationship with Him, that He is forgiving beyond our capacity to understand, that He desires our heart worship - our whole lives to be lived in Him and with Him; that to do so brings an inner joy unimaginable. His final earthly hours were filled with prayer and pleadings for all who would believe and obey, whose hearts were to be tied to His and to the Father, who would be one with Him and with the Father. (John 14 to 17) In Matthew 10, we hear Christ's strong implication of God's sovereign right of worship and devotion - His jealousy over His human creation - without using the word jealous. He spoke to the desire of the Father for our worship to be exclusive - not divided among other interests or gods. Christ's very presence as God in human form was to begin the gathering of those whom the Father, in His sovereign will, would set aside for salvation: His coming would set a sword, a plumb line, a line in the sand to separate those who would receive Christ and thus receive the Father and those who would choose to be their own lord or to worship the devil (as noted in scripture above - there are only 2 masters: God and the devil). He would anoint and appoint those that the Father would choose to serve Him and to carry out the work He began. In His last week on earth He foretold that there would come a time when He would, in God's righteous jealousy, His perfect love demonstrated, return for those whom He had chosen, who love Him with all their whole heart, mind, and soul, whose lives are committed to Him and are awaiting His return. That He would make known to all in an astounding set of events and acts His fierce love for those who love Him. (Matthew 24-25) O what a God! Isn't He wonderful! -Isaiah 25:19; Psalm 9:1.

Hallelujah! Praise our Jealous God who loves us with a fierce love of protection, of blessing, of provision of all things good and enduring. Who loves us forever and will never abandon those He loves. Who walks with us and lives in us. May we all cling to Him in this life and rejoice in His glorious and righteous jealousy in the life to come. Amen.

To All the Saints - A Testimony on the Loss of a Loved One

 

In Facebook I follow the “Listeners of God’s Word” group. Granted, like any group of this 'genre', there is a range of beliefs and nonbeliefs. Although I had been following the group for a while, the crush of work and related activity kept me away from FB a lot so I only saw postings infrequently. This summer as work slowed, I ‘happened’ on a recurring post called “Hannah Grace’s Journey”.

While there are often requests for prayers on this FB group’s page, this story was different, not in its content, but more so in its intent. 

Hannah Grace was born prematurely with multiple issues requiring her to stay in NICU. Admittedly, some of the posts were hard to read, but I read anyway because of her parents’ desire to share this journey with other believers, to commune as it were in prayerful fellowship and share stories similar to hers. I was amazed at how the prayers from me flowed so freely for them, and then remembered that I have been praying similarly for 18 months or longer for another family who suffered loss. I was taken by how the Spirit led my words of encouragement. There were days where Hannah Grace was gaining weight, then others when the weight dropped. She was on the respiratory appliances that kept oxygen flowing; she would have fevers although it was difficult sometimes to actually zero-in on the causes. At least a couple of times she was treated for infections. Still, she was growing right before our eyes. Her parents were able to catch a smile once on camera. 

Bless her -- Hannah Grace was tethered in so many places. Yet, there was the blessing for her to experience the feeling of human closeness and of her Mom’s heartbeat when her parents were able to hold her after the doctors and NICU nurses ok’d it. That blessing went both ways. Her care team was right in there with Hannah Grace during her journey. It takes a special type of person to 'minister' in the capacity that NICU staff does. This team was no different. You could almost hear the cheers go up when Hannah Grace turned a corner and started consistently gaining a bit of weight and breathing well, when she went days without any fevers, and/or had a night of peaceful sleep. There were so many prayers and encouraging words being offered for the family to help them with this hour-by-hour journey in Hannah Grace’s life, and for God’s mercy and will for Hannah Grace. Her parents took many photos - the family also included two slightly older siblings. There were countless numbers of 'Facebook family members' for whom those pictures were most welcomed, touching our hearts, and which spiritually brought us into the same 'space' in which Mom and Dad moved to support, honor, pray, and exchange greetings and messages even though many of us lived hundreds of miles away. For me it was a most unique experience, and I tried hard every day to visit with everyone.

There was at least one doctor about whom the parents wrote (anonymously) who had told them that they should have let Hannah Grace die 'peacefully' after her birth. But it was Hannah Grace herself who 'booed' that suggestion - she was a little fighter. Her parents are strong believers in Christ who, through His merciful grace, learned a new level of love, a new level of trust and faith that they could not have learned otherwise (see Isaiah 45:3), and had the privilege of sharing with their 'extended family' that journey with her in such a loving, respectful, and generous way, even when their hearts were breaking. Sadly, the doctor and some others could not understand this level of love, not even some professing Christians can. But her Mom and Dad understood as they experienced the revelation contained in the Isaiah passage of treasures hidden – kept in a guarded, protected place -- for those who believe and trust God, Who lavished those treasures on them abundantly. What a most Divine and intimate gift from our Father of all mercies! (2 Corinthians 1:3)

Hannah Grace’s earthly journey lasted 100 days. One hundred amazing, unforgettable days. God carried her home to where there is no pain, no crying, no sadness, but only joy and the fullness of the expression of God’s Love. The grace for which she is named was so evident in this journey; it blessed those who were on the journey with her in ways we will always remember because her life and trials remind us that God is still Sovereign, that He is still in control, and that only He can deliver the reality of His words of promise at Romans 8:28. See the note below, written by Hannah Grace's parents below following her celebration of life.

     “…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Yet, it was good of you to share in my troubles.” Philippians 4:11-14

‘God is still good! Things that go on in our lives do not change the character of God. He is still good. He is still faithful. He is still powerful. He is still able. God is also all knowing. Sometimes the things He allows in our lives do not seem like His kindness and mercy at the time, but we have to hold onto His unchanging character. He is kind. He is merciful. What He allows has a purpose – we may never know that purpose, but we do not have to know the reason as long as we know Him. God is not changed.

‘I have never longed for heaven as much as my heart yearns for it now. God has not finished his purpose for us yet since He has left us here on Earth. I choose to trust He is still writing this journey, and that His plans are both good and for my good.’

Amen.

p.s. the day before I read the news that Hannah Grace had gone to be with the Lord, I learned that a friend also had completed his earthly journey. God is collecting the saints!

 

 

Patient Waiting

Living our Faith

Ours is an ‘instant everything’ culture, where patient waiting is a challenge even for Christians. Psalm 130 and Mark 5 intentionally offer us a stark contrast. 

Stepping into those readings, we first witness the incessant striving of the people – the psalmist cries out to God repeatedly from the depths of his soul; the synagogue leader and the woman with the chronic illness have both been praying for what seems like an eternity for healing. Then we note that the psalmist has learned to wait for the LORD, the Sovereign God, the Living God, in whose hands is all of time. He finds deepening trust and hope in God’s word of promise, and profound grace, mercy and forgiveness. The synagogue leader Jairus in the Mark passage has by career and heredity known of God, prayed to God the regular prayers of his people, however, in this season his prayer life changes. His relationship with Yahweh in this time of waiting on His mercy has grown more personal because of his daughter’s illness (do you think Psalm 130 was a continual prayer for him?). The woman in the Mark passage has endured a devastating illness that her culture and the law exacerbates so that she is forced to live in the shadows, to abandon meaningful relationships, and is bankrupted by medical bills. She awaits God’s healing, doing all the law allows, crying out to Yahweh incessantly for twelve lonely, painful years. God answers both of their prayers in an unexpected, personal way in Jesus. 

At the beginning of Mark 5, Jesus’ healing of a demoniac initiates a groundswell of proclaiming of the Gospel throughout the region by those who witnessed the miraculous healing  – the telling of the good news of God coming to His people. Jairus and the woman hear about what Jesus has done and believe He is the answer God has sent in response to their pleadings. For Jairus his seeking Jesus could mean a loss of job and reputation, but he knows doing nothing could cost him more. His faith pushes him to boldly go to Jesus and fall at his feet, seeking mercy and redemption. The woman knowing that her willful violation of the law could cost her her life, nevertheless walks stealthily in faith for just a touch from Jesus. And look how Jesus uniquely answers each one! 

Can't you feel the woman’s fear, then divine joy, as Jesus restores her publicly, Jesus who has seen and known her true value to the Father and by grace and in mercy forgives and redeems her life? Can't you feel Jairus’ complex emotions as he hears his daughter has died, but is immediately reassured by the same Jesus who redeemed the woman known throughout the community as a lost cause? Can't you feel your heart pound as you walk into his house where his dear child is laid out in death until that same Jesus calls her back to life right before your eyes? 

Had both Jairus and the woman not waited in faith, would they have experienced these outcomes? As the psalmist explains, their waiting was purposeful. The waiting on the God of all Creation, the anticipation that He would act based on His word, was an opportunity for each of them to grow in faith and trust. They could see with eyes of faith God’s answer was certain in Christ, and found not just physical restoration, but a divine revelation of God himself and an eternal blessing. What blessings have we missed because of impatience? What if we see waiting as an opportunity to trust our Sovereign God, to let Him use our seasons of waiting to uniquely act in our lives to push our faith forward?

Are we Growing in Christ?

Are We Growing in Christ? Special Bible Study beginning June 13.

--A Follow-up to Tuesday, May 9 Bible Study (and May 7 sermon!)--

Dear Friends,

A recent Bible study had Daniel 9 as a basis for its discussion. The passage reminded us not only of the importance of prayer, but the kind of prayer God will hear. As we fleshed out those principles, we were reminded of the key avenues or means of grace that God works through for growing up His children ‘in Christ’, that is, to enable us to be transformed to be more like Christ in attitude, perspective, and behavior (in another Bible study we learned that this process is called    ‘sanctification’). We are informed by God the Holy Spirit in Paul’s letter to the Romans at    chapter 12, verses 1-2 (NRSV) concerning that will of God: 
   
“1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your    bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.    2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,    so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and    perfect.” [also see 1 Peter 2:5, Romans 8:9-11, and Ephesians 1:3,4 and 2:10]    

It was reiterated to the Bible study group what these key avenues or means of grace are that God uses in growing His children (these are not necessarily listed in order of primacy):    
1. Prayer    
2. Bible study    
3. Worship    
4. Stewardship    
5. Service    

During the Bible study, we were invited to do as ‘homework’ finding scriptural    passages that inform us and instruct us concerning each of these means of grace.  We are called by God to grow up and grow into Christ, as noted in Acts 2:37-47, where the passage outlines principles for growing the Church and growing individually ‘in Christ’. 

We were invited to a special study on these means of grace via a different approach from how we studied them before. To stimulate our thinking on these things, here are some optional questions for each item as we search for Biblical support for each item. A study Bible, a Bible concordance or index,    biblegateway.com, biblestudytools.com, and similar resources, may prove helping in finding answers . To frame one’s mind and heart for this activity, why not pray for guidance to find what God desires for us personally, and as a Church.    

#1 – Prayer. What is prayer? Why do we pray? (people often ask this question when they    reason that since God knows everything why should I pray?) What kind of prayer pleases God?    (The answers can be found in the Bible)    

#2 – Bible Study. A former bishop in the church noted that there was a    significant level of Bible illiteracy within the church community. During Sunday morning comments a while back, it was also related that during a particular youth retreat a few years, youth were not able to differentiate the Bible from a prayer book.  Indeed, in many churches, persons do not bring a personal Bible to church services to follow the Bible readings, notate, or follow along in a sermon. Others opine that the Bible is either too hard to understand, or outdated-- not relevant for today. Each of the fundamental points of the issues raised herein, of being Biblically literate/illiterate, knowing what the Bible is, and the authority and    relevance of the Bible – are described within the pages of the Bible. What priority does Bible study hold in our lives? Why should a person who identifies him/ herself as a Christian study the Bible? What can happen if a person chooses not to study or rely upon the Bible, or even rejects its absolute truth? Answers are in the Bible.    

#3. Worship. ‘Worship’ is viewed many different ways – but, how does God view worship? What is worship according to God, and what is the worship that God desires? What worship will    God not accept? All of these can be answered in the Bible.    

#4. Stewardship. Many churches schedule ‘stewardship seasons’ to encourage persons’  financial support for the church or to learn about tithing. Yet, how does God view stewardship, that is, what does He say stewardship is? The answer is in the Bible.    

#5. Service. In many churches, there is a perception of great challenge for and/or reluctance on the part of many churchgoers to become persons with a ‘servant’s heart’ – some are convinced that service is only for ‘certain people’ in the church, or that one must be personally asked by a religious professional or by clergy to be a servant or take on a service role. Believers who are ‘in Christ’ are called by the Lord to serve. Yet, what does it mean to be a servant of Christ? What might service look like within a church fellowship setting like St. Christopher’s (or elsewhere),  that is, in what roles might lay persons serve to support the church and the community surrounding the place of worship? How does this coincide with the spiritual gifts that believers receive when they are saved, or does it? Are Christians only required to serve ‘at church’?  Answers to these questions can be found in the Bible.    

Conclusion. The Gospel of John, chapter 10, identifies Christ as the Great Shepherd. He says His sheep hear His voice. He further says that He came so that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. A shepherd leads by voice, words and by action. The sheep respond to the voice and to the words and action. Christ’s words have life in them. He is reaching out to us to follow Him. How will we respond to that call? And what happens after we come to Him, after we accept His call to us to be His followers and for Him to be our Lord?  Namely, what is God’s will for you and for all of us called by Him, what does He call us to be  and to do? The answer is in the Bible! That is what it looks like to ‘grow in Christ’.    (2 Peter 3)

"For the LORD (EloHim, Yahweh) is a Jealous God" part 2

The Israelites had now experienced a great time of growth and prosperity and had gained considerable victories in the land to which God had brought them. They were living large. Their 'modern times' were in full swing! Modern housing - they no longer had to live in tents. A marketplace close to their settlements, social activity and times of celebration.  The 'latest' in fashionable clothing, meaningful work - this was living! There were still Canaanites living nearby who for some reason did not get removed from the land - some were kind of nice and kept their properties up and sometimes you would come across a marketplace that the Canaanites owned or visited. They looked different from the Israelites in some respects, and dressed and lived differently. They definitely worshiped differently ... 

A people of promise. God in His grace and providence had anointed/ordained a man named Abraham, who could trace his origins to the family of Shem, son of Noah. Because of his demonstrated faith and the grace of God, God promised Abraham that his descendants would become as numerous as the stars and the grains of sand. The people who would first be identified with this promise was the nation of Israel, descending from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As the Genesis record continues to show, the people of Jacob moved from Canaan during the famine to Egypt when one of Jacob's (aka Israel's) youngest sons had been elevated to the governor and second in command of the region and who administered the plenty that God had provided for that purpose in His providence. After 400 years in Egypt, according to God's divine timing, He redeemed the people from the bondage of slavery for the purpose of bringing them to a place where they could worship Him according to His determination outlined in the 10 commandments and laws that He would give the people to guide them to true blessings as He restored them to the land of their forefather Israel. 

The people of Israel did eventually occupy the land - God assigned areas for each tribe according to His will for them. (It is interesting who was given the northern region and who was given the southern region.) God did give them victory over those interlopers who had claimed the land for themselves and warred against God's purpose. However - and this is important to know - not all of the Canaanites were driven out, due in part to the unfaithfulness and disobedience of the Israelites to carry out God's command to drive the wicked from their midst.

Additionally, the Israelites, after re-inhabiting the land - were straightforwardly instructed not to intermingle with the people of the land - primarily because they were pagans who did not worship the true God, the Savior of Israel. The peoples of Canaan were not ignorant of who this God was, which is why God allowed for the proselyte (a converted Canaanite; also called stranger in some Bible translations) to become part of the blessing and not be annihilated with those rejecting God. (compare Romans 1:18-23; Exodus 12:9; 1 Chronicles 22:1-3; 2 Chronicles 2:16-18; 2 Chronicles 30:24-26; Ezekiel 14:6-8) 

Years would pass, and the initial generations of Israelites returning to the land would pass away. Judges 2 indicates that eventually generations were born who did not know the God of Israel, i.e., folks had turned to the pagan gods of their neighbors. Why would they do that - after all these were the people, or at least their grandparents and great grandparents were the people whom God had brought from captivity in Egypt after miraculous signs were performed to demonstrate God's glory and sovereignty. They and their parents and grandparents had witnessed God's saving hand against their enemies. They had witnessed and enjoyed the blessings of abundance in a land God had given to them. (compare Psalm 77-80) Why, then, would they turn their backs on God?

For the same reasons essentially that Adam and Eve, and us today, do so. To satisfy our own desires for dominance, self-rule and worship. To feel good and enjoy the fleeting pleasures disobedience gives. 

But our God is a Jealous God who will not tolerate forever the wandering away of His chosen people. (compare Exodus 20:4-6; 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:23-25; 5:9; 6:15; Joshua 24:18-20) His perfect Jealousy, born of a sovereign right to command obedience and worship, is not to be toyed with. As in the example of the wayward child in Part 1 of this blog, God knows what is best for His created beings, despite what the lust of our hearts tell us. He has the right to chastise His people and set up the necessary guardrails to protect them and command their exclusive worship. He has provided the means and instrument to restore His people - which He provides at great cost. He has redeemed or purchased His people at great cost, in His grace and providence. HE HAS THE SOVEREIGN RIGHT and is worthy above all things to be praised and worshiped. 

We, too, are the people of the promise through the seed of Abraham - in the person of Jesus Christ. We thus need to recall that the reason that God had faithful men record the accounts of His chosen people, of His salvation plan and process, is for us, for those who would follow those generations. (compare 1 Corinthians 10:1-11) We, too, are chosen people in a 'promised land' - a place of relationship with God where we are to worship Him exclusively. God's holy Word, His record of the actions and consequences of His people in past days, are for our benefit so that we can discern and make choices in line with God's will for our lives through a careful review and consultation of those accounts. (compare 1 Corinthians 10:12-15; Psalm 119:66; Proverbs 1:1-2; 2:3-9; Philippians 1:9; Hebrews 5:13-14) Will we be enticed by or lured to the practices and culture of the world? Yes. Will we be tempted to think like the world? Yes. Jesus tells us that in His Gospels and we are warned about it in the letter of Revelation. We are still flesh, therefore, our divine 'war' is with those fleshly desires to subdue them by following the Holy Spirit's direction in our lives. Is it easy? No, nor was it easy to live in the culture and sensual environments in which God's people in the past lived. They, too, were tempted with sexual immorality, greed, and idolatry and many succumbed, just as many of God's people fall to those desires today, and become subjected to God's correction. We must take care to seek God's will in all things, or suffer the same consequences suffered by those in the past who chose to go their own way. 

For our God is still a Jealous God, who is jealous for the people whom He chooses! Let us 'work out our salvation', i.e., follow the course God has set for us with all determination, with fear and with trembling, as before a Great and Loving God, who has our best in mind at all times. (Philippians 2:12-13)

"For the LORD (EloHim, Yahweh) your God is a Jealous God..."

Can you ever remember a time when your mother warned you about taking a certain course of action? "Don't go over there to play, there are bad weeds there!" But, so-and-so was playing over there last week and nothing happened to him, you said to yourself. So off you go to play in the weeds. Only a few hours later you are itching and scratching your legs because there was poison ivy mixed in with the weeds. "If only you had obeyed me," your mom later says, "you wouldn't have to suffer like this." And she puts gobs of stuff on your legs to help reduce the itching. Or, "don't go across the street to so-and-so's house - there's something funny going on over there/I haven't met the parents yet." But so-and-so goes to your school and you played with him or her at recess. He/she is o.k. Your mom just doesn't know him/her like you do. So off you go across the street and play with so-and-so. You have had fun. Your mom wasn't right this time! You keep on going over there and playing with so-and-so in the yard and all is great. One day it starts to rain just as you all were getting your game on and so-and-so says come on - dash into my house so that we don't get wet. You hesitate for a second because you hear your mother's words in your head, but then again, you're getting soaked and it is easier to go into his/her house than go way across the street to your house. When you get inside, it is kind of dark, and smells of funny smoke. Some guy is chillin' in a chair looking at TV and when he hears you all running into the house, yells some very pithy foul language at the two of you for making noise. Your friend does say bad words from time to time, but you have never heard anyone say what the guy said, nor the threats he made to you if you made any more noise. He looks like the kind of person who would do what he says. You tell your friend that you've got to go home and, um, do your homework (you just make up anything at that moment), and run out of the house and when the door slams you can hear the guy cussing. 

Scary stuff.

Well, the above may not have exactly been your experience. But I can almost guarantee that you, someone of your acquaintance, or even someone in your group of siblings or extended family have had something kind of close to that. I can think back to some of my childhood and adolescent years when I wanted to be independent of my mother's judgment and rules. I thought that some of them were kind of out there, or that she couldn't understand how things were 'nowadays'. So when I finally began to take the Bible seriously, I couldn't believe how much I could see real life in it and episodes that mirrored some of the things that happened to me! The stories and principles were like right now, instead of old timey stories for bedtime. I saw those little scenes of a wise and experienced person giving sound advice so that people could have victory and success in their lives, and saw it being played out over and over and over again in the lives of the people who lived in the nation of Israel. And over, and over again even when the God who made all the universe, who could see into every nano-molecule, gives warning after warning about the consequences of certain behaviors and activity, the children of Israel dis it, and wind up getting in big trouble. Each and every time - it might vary in the amount of time each time the problems start due to disobedience, but they always come. And each time, the disobedience impacts not just the ones doing the disobeying, but also their children and grandchildren. [Exodus 20:3-7; Deuteronomy 4:1-40; 6:1-19]  

So how did these 'Bible people', these Israelites, get started? We all know the story about the Exodus from Egypt, with Pharoah and the 10 plagues and all of that, but how many of you know the backstory - the story behind the story? Why was a nation of Jews living in, of all places, Egypt? Why did God have such an interest in them? Was He God only of the Jews? Why would God tell the Israelites to move out of Egypt - the only place they've known for all of their lives, and go mostly on foot into a land a few hundred miles away that they have never lived in, and then to war against the folks who were living there so as to make it their home? (some people today will call what happened a kind of genocide and call God a murderer) So, is God guilty of wrongdoing? Why would this God, this Yahweh, have the Israelites traipse through the desert and wilderness for years instead of going directly to the land of Canaan? Who were the Canaanites and where did they come from? Why did God want them destroyed?

These are hard questions - especially for those of us who do not know the true God, His character, and especially his sovereignty. We seldom get a full picture of the LORD God -  EloHim, Yahweh - in every Sunday corporate worship experience, but we get enough sometimes to be curious about who He really is and why He made the statement above? Like your parents - and moms are usually the more vociferous when it comes to household rules - He has a right to direct our lives and provide boundaries and guardrails to help protect us and to enable us to thrive. He wants all of our worship, that is, our obedience (which is the foundation for worshiping God). He is still a Jealous God, i.e., He rightly deserves every creature's worship, obedience, service - He does not want to share with idols or other so-called gods. And yet, like the youths pictured above, we do it - ignore God anyway when it looks like we can't get our 'play on'. And then we have to suffer the consequences.

As the story behind the story unfolds and we get answers to the above questions, we'll get to see why this is so and what was going on those thousands of years ago that still impact our daily lives and serves as warnings still for us today.

Tease for next time... 

The Israelites had now experienced a great time of growth and prosperity and had gained considerable victories in the land to which God had brought them. They were living large. Their 'modern times' were in full swing! Modern housing - they no longer had to live in tents. A marketplace close to their settlements, social activity and times of celebration. The 'latest' in fashionable clothing, meaningful work - this was living! There were still Canaanites living nearby who for some reason did not get removed from the land - some were kind of nice and kept their properties up and sometimes you would come across a marketplace that the Canaanites owned or visited. They looked different from the Israelites in some respects, and dressed and lived differently. They definitely worshiped differently ...