Gentile Dogs and Christmas
Are you starting to get ho-hum about Christmas? Does thinking about all the gifts you have to buy, the decorating you have to do, the horrendous traffic, etc., etc., etc. leave you wishing for January to come quickly? Well unless you are Jewish by birth, it might help you to have joy in Christmas if you remember that without Jesus coming to earth and dying for us, we would have forever remained "gentile dogs.” You are aware that that is how Jesus Himself referred to us before the Cross, correct? If you doubt this, check out Matthew 15:26. The truth is that without Christmas, without Jesus -- a Jew, being willing to die for the world -- which we see later in the Book of Acts having included even us lowly gentiles -- we would have been "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).
Picture this: Peter was born a Jew. Jews were taught -- and yes, according to the Bible, that they were God's chosen people. Granted, they were to be a light to the gentiles, but even so, God chose them, not us gentiles. I know that's not very flattering, but there you are. Now on top of the scriptures, unfortunately, had been added what Jesus referred to as "traditions of men," for example that a "good Jew" didn't go into a gentile's home. It just wasn’t done. Obviously, Jesus didn't adhere to that admonition and was soundly criticized as a result. You will notice that Jesus referred to Peter on more than one occasion as "Simon, son of Jonah." (See John 1:42 and John 21:15-17.) I suspect that He did this on purpose and the comparison of Peter to Jonah was apt.
Of course all people can think about when they think of Jonah is the big fish -- actually, most people think of it as a whale. My, how the devil loves to distort the Bible and how we sometimes fall right into his trap. What he would prefer us NOT to see about Jonah is his extreme prejudice for anyone who wasn't Jewish and how God was striking out against that notion, even though the Jews were in fact His chosen ones. If you read “through the lines” in the Book of Jonah, it is clear that Jonah didn't want those gentile dogs, the people of Nineveh, to be saved from their sins. He actually preferred that they go to Hell. After all, they had in fact committed some horrendous sins, many of which were atrocities against the Jews. The Lord, however, has other plans and ends the Book of Jonah by castigating Jonah for being more concerned about a stupid little vine than for sinners - living, breathing human beings who just didn’t know their right hand from their left (see Jonah 4:11.)
While the part about the big fish is really neat as well, the crux of Jonah's story is prejudice -- and God's concern for sinners -- even when they are gentiles like us. In fact, you could say with some accuracy that the Book of Jonah is a foretaste of things to come. Accordingly, Jesus compares Peter to Jonah because He knew Peter had this same prejudice. In fact, we read in the Book of Acts that the sheet had to come down three separate times -- and Peter had to be really hungry -- before he was willing to even consider going against what he had been taught and had latched onto ever since he was a boy. (See Acts 10).
In essence, it was as if Peter was Jonah all over again -- except that Peter apparently got it in the end and I’m not sure that Jonah ever did. I mean, how was Peter going to explain away the fact that right in the middle of his sermon to those low-life gentiles, the Holy Spirit fell? After all, he was only there because he had been compelled by God! It happened and neither Peter nor his fellow Jews could deny it. Peter says: "...Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." (Acts 10:34). In our vernacular it might have been: “Oh, I get it now! The gospel is open to them too.” And because of this, because God truly is NO respecter of persons, you and I have a chance -- an opportunity which very few gentiles enjoyed UNTIL the cross. (Ruth and Rahab, of course, were notable exceptions). Now, we have the privilege -- just by believing -- to become a valuable part of the family of God. No small thing.
Now I know what you're thinking. Ho hum, I've heard all of this before. I told you, satan loves to distort Bible truth and make it seem boring. He very cleverly disguises the truth and meaning of Christmas with harmless (or seemingly harmless) things like Santa Claus, lights, tinsel, gift-giving, overeating, and the like. The fact is, if he can just get us to see Christmas as secular -- if he can just keep us from feeling the incredible joy of it all, he has gained a real victory.
On the other hand, if we can focus our minds:
-- not on the secular
-- not on the responsibilities of these modern "traditions of men"
but on what the Lord wants us to see this Christmas, we will agree with the apostle Paul when he said: “Thanks be to God for His INDESCRIBABLE GIFT!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
So as you prepare your Christmas list, as you anticipate all the hustle and bustle, let the joy of this indescribable gift fill your soul to overflowing, with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Thank God, we've been grafted in!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Shock and Awe
How depressing it is to watch the news these days. We're told to always be on the watch (Luke 21:36) -- so I can't exactly bury my head in the sand as a reaction to all the incredibly disgusting things which are happening in our world. According to recent news, terrorists have been found -- and thankfully caught -- not very far from where I'm sitting as I compose this. The violence is a phenomenon which has never been so imminent in my lifetime -- at least that I KNEW about! Fathers that run over their own daughters? It's like a science fiction novel -- only it is not fictional.
And what about injustice? I'm an attorney, so my clients naturally expect me to bring them justice. Many times I can with God’s help -- but how frustrating it is when I am forced to tell a potential client, "Sorry, I can't help you." For example, when people are hit by an uninsured motorist. The bad guy (we call him or her the "tortfeasor" in the law) almost always gets off with little or no consequences and yet my client is left with huge doctor bills and no one to hold accountable for the fact that -- without a miracle from God -- their lives will never be the same. No one would argue that that's injustice and this scenario is only one example which I see in my law practice.
You could accurately describe many current events with these words: "Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice goes forth perverted." Sound familiar? Yes, but those words were written over 2,500 years ago in another country, thousands of miles away from most of us -- long before the advent of cell phones, automobiles, Tylenol or light bulbs. In fact, if a Hebrew scholar were to translate the Book of Habakkuk into our own vernacular, we would find his situation hauntingly similar to many news stories of today. Only God could have a man write down those things so many years ago, yet now when we read them, the situation is so incredibly similar to our world today.
You might even find yourself identifying with the man named Habakkuk -- a man who wrote what most of us know only as an obscure book in the Old Testament which could not possibly have any relevance to our lives today. Or could it? Actually, it seems to me that this gentlemen was unlike any of the other prophets we read about in the Old Testament. Most of them had a very similar message -- repent or God will judge you. Each of them seemed to have been bringing a message FROM God. But to my mind, Habakkuk's short essay really doesn't fit in with books like Jeremiah, Zephaniah and the like. His purpose wasn't really to PREDICT judgment. Rather, he asked God questions, such as what we've talking about above, i.e., "Why do you tolerate wrong?" and "Where's justice?" Habakkuk ASKED God for judgment and for justice because the sins with which he was surrounded were so rampant and seemingly went unpunished. Do you ever find yourself asking such questions?
So what was God's answer? "Look among the nations and watch. Be amazed and astonished. I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were reported to you." (Hab. 1:5) Not only is God GOING to bring justice. He tells Habakkuk that He's going to use an evil man (Nebuchadnezzar) to do it. This guy was from Babylon -- of course, known as Iraq today -- and you talk about cruelty. When Nebuchadnezzar's men finally did capture Judah's king, Zedekiah, they first murdered his sons and made Zedekiah watch -- then they put out his eyes -- so the last thing Zedekiah would ever see was the murder of his own children. After that, they led him in chains to Babylon.
The kicker here, however, is that when Habakkuk does get his question answered, he doesn't like the answer. He asks God: “Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those MORE RIGHTEOUS then themselves?: (Hab. 1:13)Like us, he felt that God should do things in the way WE think best.
Besides telling Habakkuk, I AM going to bring justice -- I DON'T tolerate wrong -- and even graciously revealing to Habakkuk the people He would use, God also tells Habakkuk how to live in the meantime. In simple words which are repeated no less than 3 times in the New Testament (Galations 3:11 Romans 1:17; and Hebrews 10:38), God tells Habakkuk -- and us -- that the just shall live by their faith (Hab. 2:4) We are simply to trust that God will do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, in the way it should be done. We “live by faith” by accepting God’s words as the truth that they are. We do not doubt His promises or His incredible ability to deal with the horrendous things which are happening before our eyes. We don't wring our hands saying things like: "How in the world are we going to make it through what’s ahead?" We believe that God knows far more than we do -- and that He's got a plan which He will carry out with perfect precision and timing.
Now that I'm almost 59 years old, I've lived long enough to have seen God's judgment or at least partial judgment more than once. Every time I've seen it, it seemed to take forever before God acted, but when judgment came, it was swift and sure. It had a great purpose and it was always at the right time.
So why isn't God judging all of the evil stuff right now? Well, perhaps the sin may not have run its course yet. (See Genesis 15:13-16.) God typically gives people chance after chance after chance to repent before He finally judges them -- as He's not willing that any should perish and He's long-suffering to us-ward (2 Peter 3:9) . After all, we can't really criticize Him for that can we, when we consider our own sins and failures!
Or perhaps the answer is that if He told us now why He was waiting on judgment until a certain period of time, that knowledge would keep us from sleeping tonight. But whatever the reasons, we can trust that God does have a plan and does have reasons for everything He does. The truth is that one day we'll look back and say something like: "Oh, I get it now. If He had changed everything when I wanted it, it wouldn't have worked out nearly as well." We can't possibly see what God sees and how perfect His detailed, specific plan really is. And if God deigned to share it with us, guess what? We couldn't understand it anyway because we only have finite minds. It would be like attempting to explain nuclear fission to the satisfaction of a two-year-old. For right now we truly see "through a glass darkly." (1 Corinthians 13:12.)
So the Lord tells Habakkuk: "...[T]he vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fall. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay." (Hab. 2:3). Trust that God knows exactly what He's doing. Wait for it. Trust Him to do the right thing, in the right way, and at the right time. When it happens, it will astonish and amaze you, just as God promised Habakkuk. You will look back and say something like: "I never thought I'd see the day when ..." In truth, God's shock and awe plans are far more shocking and awesome than what our soldiers did in Iraq. They are far more amazing than Hitler's blitzkrieg, Alexander the Great's plundering armies or Rome's murdering legions. Our role is to trust the Lord, wait for His justice to prevail and focus OUR efforts on the calling He has placed into our hearts. Let these words trickle down from your head into your spirit. The just shall live by their faith!
It is a blessing to receive comments, so please do comment, if you have the time. God bless you. Roberta
And what about injustice? I'm an attorney, so my clients naturally expect me to bring them justice. Many times I can with God’s help -- but how frustrating it is when I am forced to tell a potential client, "Sorry, I can't help you." For example, when people are hit by an uninsured motorist. The bad guy (we call him or her the "tortfeasor" in the law) almost always gets off with little or no consequences and yet my client is left with huge doctor bills and no one to hold accountable for the fact that -- without a miracle from God -- their lives will never be the same. No one would argue that that's injustice and this scenario is only one example which I see in my law practice.
You could accurately describe many current events with these words: "Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice goes forth perverted." Sound familiar? Yes, but those words were written over 2,500 years ago in another country, thousands of miles away from most of us -- long before the advent of cell phones, automobiles, Tylenol or light bulbs. In fact, if a Hebrew scholar were to translate the Book of Habakkuk into our own vernacular, we would find his situation hauntingly similar to many news stories of today. Only God could have a man write down those things so many years ago, yet now when we read them, the situation is so incredibly similar to our world today.
You might even find yourself identifying with the man named Habakkuk -- a man who wrote what most of us know only as an obscure book in the Old Testament which could not possibly have any relevance to our lives today. Or could it? Actually, it seems to me that this gentlemen was unlike any of the other prophets we read about in the Old Testament. Most of them had a very similar message -- repent or God will judge you. Each of them seemed to have been bringing a message FROM God. But to my mind, Habakkuk's short essay really doesn't fit in with books like Jeremiah, Zephaniah and the like. His purpose wasn't really to PREDICT judgment. Rather, he asked God questions, such as what we've talking about above, i.e., "Why do you tolerate wrong?" and "Where's justice?" Habakkuk ASKED God for judgment and for justice because the sins with which he was surrounded were so rampant and seemingly went unpunished. Do you ever find yourself asking such questions?
So what was God's answer? "Look among the nations and watch. Be amazed and astonished. I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were reported to you." (Hab. 1:5) Not only is God GOING to bring justice. He tells Habakkuk that He's going to use an evil man (Nebuchadnezzar) to do it. This guy was from Babylon -- of course, known as Iraq today -- and you talk about cruelty. When Nebuchadnezzar's men finally did capture Judah's king, Zedekiah, they first murdered his sons and made Zedekiah watch -- then they put out his eyes -- so the last thing Zedekiah would ever see was the murder of his own children. After that, they led him in chains to Babylon.
The kicker here, however, is that when Habakkuk does get his question answered, he doesn't like the answer. He asks God: “Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those MORE RIGHTEOUS then themselves?: (Hab. 1:13)Like us, he felt that God should do things in the way WE think best.
Besides telling Habakkuk, I AM going to bring justice -- I DON'T tolerate wrong -- and even graciously revealing to Habakkuk the people He would use, God also tells Habakkuk how to live in the meantime. In simple words which are repeated no less than 3 times in the New Testament (Galations 3:11 Romans 1:17; and Hebrews 10:38), God tells Habakkuk -- and us -- that the just shall live by their faith (Hab. 2:4) We are simply to trust that God will do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, in the way it should be done. We “live by faith” by accepting God’s words as the truth that they are. We do not doubt His promises or His incredible ability to deal with the horrendous things which are happening before our eyes. We don't wring our hands saying things like: "How in the world are we going to make it through what’s ahead?" We believe that God knows far more than we do -- and that He's got a plan which He will carry out with perfect precision and timing.
Now that I'm almost 59 years old, I've lived long enough to have seen God's judgment or at least partial judgment more than once. Every time I've seen it, it seemed to take forever before God acted, but when judgment came, it was swift and sure. It had a great purpose and it was always at the right time.
So why isn't God judging all of the evil stuff right now? Well, perhaps the sin may not have run its course yet. (See Genesis 15:13-16.) God typically gives people chance after chance after chance to repent before He finally judges them -- as He's not willing that any should perish and He's long-suffering to us-ward (2 Peter 3:9) . After all, we can't really criticize Him for that can we, when we consider our own sins and failures!
Or perhaps the answer is that if He told us now why He was waiting on judgment until a certain period of time, that knowledge would keep us from sleeping tonight. But whatever the reasons, we can trust that God does have a plan and does have reasons for everything He does. The truth is that one day we'll look back and say something like: "Oh, I get it now. If He had changed everything when I wanted it, it wouldn't have worked out nearly as well." We can't possibly see what God sees and how perfect His detailed, specific plan really is. And if God deigned to share it with us, guess what? We couldn't understand it anyway because we only have finite minds. It would be like attempting to explain nuclear fission to the satisfaction of a two-year-old. For right now we truly see "through a glass darkly." (1 Corinthians 13:12.)
So the Lord tells Habakkuk: "...[T]he vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fall. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay." (Hab. 2:3). Trust that God knows exactly what He's doing. Wait for it. Trust Him to do the right thing, in the right way, and at the right time. When it happens, it will astonish and amaze you, just as God promised Habakkuk. You will look back and say something like: "I never thought I'd see the day when ..." In truth, God's shock and awe plans are far more shocking and awesome than what our soldiers did in Iraq. They are far more amazing than Hitler's blitzkrieg, Alexander the Great's plundering armies or Rome's murdering legions. Our role is to trust the Lord, wait for His justice to prevail and focus OUR efforts on the calling He has placed into our hearts. Let these words trickle down from your head into your spirit. The just shall live by their faith!
It is a blessing to receive comments, so please do comment, if you have the time. God bless you. Roberta
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)