Gen. 1:14-25, Beginning Study of Beginnings (1)

Concerning the beginning of the universe, Francis Schaeffer put the four options like this:

1.    There was nothing, absolutely nothing; now there’s something.

2.    Everything began from an impersonal something.

3.    Everything began from a personal something.

4.    There was always dualism (electromagnetism and gravity; Yin and Yang).

#1 has never been taken seriously, that something came from nothing.  Evolution does not hold to that.  It’s always “nothing” and then from “a state of high density and pressure” there was a big bang.  Evolution belongs to #2.  Outside of what is essentially “new age” or “eastern” religion no one takes #4 seriously either.  #3 is, of course, where the Bible squarely stands. 

Gen. 1:1 says: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Henry Morris made a significant series of observations about this verse and what it says about “man’s false philosophies concerning the origin and meaning of the world”:

·       It refutes atheism, because the universe was created by God.

·       It refutes pantheism, for God is transcendent to that which He created.

·       It refutes polytheism, for one God created all things.

·       It refutes materialism, for matter had a beginning.

·       It refutes dualism, because God was alone when He created.

·       It refutes humanism, because God, not man, is the ultimate reality.

·       It refutes evolutionism, because God created all things.

In reading Gen. 1 look at how God was involved in the origin of all things:

·       God created: 1:1,21,27ab; 2:3-4; 5:1-2ab; 6:7.

·       God said: 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26,29; 2:18.

·       God made: 1:7,16,25,26; 2:4,9,22.

·       God set: 1:17.

·       God blessed: 1:28; 2:3.

·       God gave: 1:29.

·       God formed: 2:7,8,19.

·       God planted: 2:8.

·       God put (appointed): 2:8.

·       God put (caused to rest): 2:15.

·       God commanded: 2:16.

·       God caused: 2:21 (had not caused, 2:5).

·       God ended: 2:2.

·       God rested: 2:2.

Gen. 1:1-13, Dr. Bolton Davidheiser

In the previous post I mentioned my personal journey on the question of Creation and how we are to understand Gen. 1-11.  Before I share some more basic truths that were helpful for me in coming to the truth of the Bible, I want to give thanks for a professor at Biola in the late 1960’s.  I entered Biola as a Sophomore /Junior after 2 years at a California Junior College.  In JC I had taken a very enjoyable Biology class.  We worked our way in class and in labs from single cell animals to frogs and cats.  It was clearly a course based in evolution, but to his credit the teacher didn’t really make a big deal about it. 

I had been raised in a Christian home.  My father was a wonderful pastor-teacher.  I think I assumed the truth of the Bible’s account of creation.  When I heard of the discoveries of science (e.g. some bones found of a millions of years old human) my attitude was to assume both were correct and could be fit together.  At some point I heard a preacher teach on the “Gap Theory” (millions or billions of years fit between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2) and thought it must be right.  That’s probably the way I was thinking when I arrived at Biola. Assuming but not really thinking.

Meanwhile, someone in the Dean’s office decided I need another “science” credit for graduation, so I enrolled in an evening class, somewhat of a “general science” as I remember.  The teacher was Dr. Bolton Davidheiser.  I won’t deny: I was taken by his name.  He sounded like he was someone who should be listened to.  But what really was used by God in my life was something he said in what I remember to be either the first or second class.  I can’t give you an exact quote.  But the gist of it was this: it is completely unnecessary to bring harmony between the pronouncements of “science” and the proclamations of the Bible; the Bible can be trusted in what it says on any subject.  It hit me that I was doing that: uncritically accepting what some scientist said and altering the Bible to make it fit.

I don’t remember much else about the class.  Science was never my strong suit (especially after my high school chemistry lab when I melted the solder in the copper pot because I forgot to put water in it; it collapsed on the Bunsen burner).  What Dr. Davidheiser’s comment did was to tell me that a man of science didn’t have to make excuses for the Bible or deny it’s literal statements.  That was an important junction in my spiritual journey.

Dr. Bolton Davidheiser, PHD.  In a tribute to him, the folks at Answers in Genesis said this:

Dr. Davidheiser … was once an evolutionist.  It was part of the kind of educational upbringing he had, including earning a Ph.D. degree in zoology at Johns Hopkins University (where he was eventually to become a cancer researcher).  By the age of 32, however, Dr. Davidheiser had looked at both sides of the creation/evolution debate, gave up his evolutionary beliefs, and eventually became convinced of a young earth.  Over time, as he wrote and lectured on creation, he became increasingly concerned about Christians who accept compromise views of Genesis.

With this in mind, I want to recommend an article to you by Dr. Davidheiser.  It concerns the writings of Hugh Ross.  I have had to deal with Dr. Ross in my own ministry, as I have twice been given books by well-meaning Christians who were sure that Ross had shown the way to bring peace between science and Scripture.  Davidheiser’s article is too long to post here so I am going to give you the link.  Possibly you will find it helpful.  The subject is, of course, HUGE!  Can the Bible be counted on to give us truth about the origin of all things?

The ministry of Dr. Hugh Ross exposed (bible.ca)

Ps. 136, Francis Schaeffer on the Historicity of Gen. 1-11

In my own journey of coming to accept the Biblical account of creation and the early ages of humanity (i.e. Gen. 1-11) as true history, the words of Francis Schaeffer in the introduction to his commentary on Gen. 1-11 were full of insight for me.  The book was Genesis in Space and Time, published by Inter Varsity Press in 1972.  Here are three paragraphs to think about.  One thing I found helpful was his use of Psalm 136.

The battle for a Christian understanding of the world is being waged on several fronts.  Not the least of these is biblical study in general, and especially the question of how the opening chapters of the Bible are to be read.  Modern writers commenting on the book of Genesis tend to treat the first eleven chapters as something other than history.  For some this material is simply a Jewish myth, having no more historical validity for modern man than the Epic of Gilgamesh or the stories of Zeus.  For others it forms a pre-scientific vision that no one who respects the results of scholarship can accept.  Still others find the story symbolic but no more.  Some accept the early chapters of Genesis as revelation in regard to an upper-story, religious truth, but consider any sense of truth in regard to history and the cosmos (science) to be lost.

How should these early chapters of Genesis be read?  Are they historical and if so what value does their historicity have?  In dealing with these questions, I wish to point out the tremendous value Genesis 1-11 has for modern man.  In some ways these chapters are the most important ones in the Bible, for they put man in his cosmic setting and show him his peculiar uniqueness.  They explain man’s wonder and yet his flaw.  Without a proper understanding of these chapters we have no answer to the problems of metaphysics, morals or epistemology, and furthermore, the work of Christ becomes one more upper-story ‘religious’ answer.

So Psalm 136 brings us face to face with the biblical concept of creation as a fact of space-time history, for we find here a complete parallel between creation and other points of history: the space-timeness of history at the time of the Jewish captivity in Egypt, of the particular time in which the psalm itself was written and of our own time as we read the psalm today.  The mentality of the whole Scripture, not just of this one psalm, is that creation is as historically real as the history of the Jews and our own present moment of time.  Both the Old and the New Testaments deliberately root themselves back into the early chapters of Genesis, insisting that they are a record of historical events.  What is the hermeneutical principle involved here?  Surely the Bible itself gives it: The early chapters of Genesis are to be viewed completely as history – just as much so, let us say, as records concerning Abraham, David, Solomon or Jesus Christ.

Psalm 92

What tremendous joy we had this morning to find ourselves being led in worship by this Psalm.  We have just gone through a stretch and trial in which we wondered why God was not answering our prayers.  All we knew was that He was our God, and that if we were to know the answer it would come later.

We were more than ready to declare His lovingkindness in the morning, and will not wait until evening to declare His faithfulness.  How great are His works.  He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him!  We have come to a point (not the end but at a most critical moment) when we realized that five of the hardest days of our lives were being overseen by His Sovereign hand, that He was strengthening us all along the way, and was protecting from a potentially hopeless situation.

So this Psalm is very personal.  It is also called “A Song for the Sabbath Day.”  The day of rest is always meant to find us engaged in the work of praise, as Spurgeon said (Treasury of David).  This would be excellent for that day.

·         92:1-4: as noted, it calls us to the most basic element of the universe: it all exists for His praise.  But the praise will come easier when we meditate on His checed, grace for the day; and His emeth, His every word being fulfilled during the day.  In other words, this also teaches us the importance of praise throughout the week, that we might enjoy the Sabbath-rest of faith in all of life.

·         92:5-7: It is a sad reality that the wicked will never know this intimate relationship with God.  It is their choice, but still sad given the reality of God’s love for the world.  They will be destroyed forever, forever separated from this Sabbath God.

·         92:8-9:  The Lord will be proven right, forever.  He will endure while His enemies will perish and the leaders in sin (workers of iniquity) are scattered.

·         92:10-11:  The saints should rejoice in God’s great works as experienced in their lives.  Remember that God exalts the humble because it glorifies Him.  He is strong in our weaknesses, His grace sufficient for these earthen vessels in which we live, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us (2 Cor. 4:7).

·         92:12-15: All of this reflection gives us hope at the end of the Sabbath as we look to what is ahead.  This doesn’t say it will be easy.  It says the righteous will flourish and grow like the stately trees that are only more majestic in the strong winds that will blow.  Even in old age the righteous will bear fruit.

Do you not find these thoughts, and the many more the Spirit has impressed on your heart, to be rich fodder for your “morning and evening” each day, as well as for your day of rest?  It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High!

1 Ki. 13:1-2; 2 Ki. 23:15-20, Lessons from Obscurity: Fulfilled Prophecy

We usually think of prophecy as relating to the Incarnation or perhaps the Messianic Kingdom or other apocalyptic/end time events.  Prophecies fulfilled in the Incarnation tell us a lot.  They speak of the character and reality of God.  Over 50 times Ezekiel says something to the effect, “Then they will know that I am the LORD.”  What it is saying is that when you see these things fulfilled you will know that YAHWEH is the only true God.  The fulfilled prophecies also tell us that God is faithful.  They are a validation of the truth of God’s word.

What does this have to do with “lessons from obscurity.”  Well, sure enough, the OT gives us a great sampling of our great God through 10 fulfilled prophecies you may have never heard about. 

·       Josh. 6:26: After the victory at Jericho, Joshua predicted that when the city was rebuilt the foundation would be laid with the death of the elder son of the builder, and the gate set up with the death of his youngest. Fulfilled: 1 Ki. 16:34.

·       1 Ki. 13:20-22: We studied this one.  The old prophet of Israel predicted the man of God from Judah would die on his way home for defying the word of the LORD.  Fulfilled just hours later: 1 Ki. 13:23-24.

·       1 Ki. 13:2: The same man of God from Judah told Jeroboam that a king named Josiah would destroy the altar of the golden calves at Bethel and burn the bones of the priests.  Fulfilled 325 years later: 2 Ki. 23:15-20.

·       1 Ki. 14:12-13: We studied this also.  Ahijah told King Jeroboam’s wife that their infant child would die when she returned to the palace.  Fulfilled: 1 Ki. 14:17-18.

·       1 Ki. 21:23: Elijah predicted Jezebel would die, not be buried but be eaten by dogs by the wall of Jezreel.  Fulfilled a few years later: 2 Ki. 9:34-37.

·       1 Ki. 22:17,23,28: Micaiah the prophet predicted the death of Ahab that very day.  Fulfilled, that very day: 1 Ki.. 22:34-35.

·       2 Ki. 7:2-3: Elisha predicted that the officer on whose arm the king leaned would see the end of the famine and not taste of it, but would die.  Fulfilled the next day: 2 Ki. 7:17-20.

·       2 Ki. 20:16-18: Isaiah predicted Babylon would be the nation that would carry Judah into captivity.  At the time of the prophecy, Assyria was the major world power.  Prophecy fulfilled 100 years later: 2 Ki. 35.

·       Isa. 44:28: Isaiah predicted by name that Cyrus would make the decree for Israel to return to the land and rebuild the temple.  Fulfilled about 170 years later: Ezra 1:1-4.

·       Jer. 28:15-16: Jeremiah predicted the false prophet Hananiah would die by year's end.  Fulfilled: Jer. 28:17.

·       Jer. 38:14-23: Jeremiah predicted that if King Zedekiah would surrender to the Babylonians his life would be spared.  If he did not surrender, his family would be given over to the Babylonians and he would be taken to Babylon.  Fulfilled: Jer. 39:1-10.  Zedekiah’s predecessor, Jehoiachin, fulfilled the other prophecy.  He surrendered, along with the royal family (2 Ki. 24:12) and was taken to Babylon, and after a time of imprisonment was released to a life of royal comfort (2 Ki. 25:27-30).

2 Sam. 17:1-14, Lessons from Obscurity: Ahithophel

Unlike the “obscure” people we have considered so far, Ahithophel was not a prophet.  He was an advisor for King David, at least for a while.  As 1 Chron. 27:34 says, he was followed by the great Jehoiada the son of Benaiah (okay, you might think he was also obscure but he was a great man), who was followed by Abiathar. 

Back to Ahithophel.  He was an amazing advisor for David.  As 2 Sam. 16:23 says, “the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired of the oracle of God.  So was all the advice of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.”  Wait a minute!  You mean he was also an advisor for Absalom?  Yes,!  And if you read 2 Sam. 15-17, you see it was at the time Absalom rebelled against the rule of his father and took over the kingdom for a short time. 

To finish that part of the story, Ahithophel’s advice was good.  One of Absalom’s early moves was to send for Ahithophel to become part of his conspiracy (2 Sam. 15:12).  As David fled Jerusalem he heard Ahithophel had betrayed him and knew it would be problematic.  So he prayed, “O LORD, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!” (15:31).  After initially following Ahithophel’s advice, Absalom then rejected it (17:1-14).  Ahithophel, knowing that this would result in the failure of the rebellion, took his own life (17:23). 

Why did Ahithophel defect?  Why so bitter against David? In Ahithophel’s plan he would be the one to kill David when the time came (17:2).  It appears to me that it was because of “family” connections.

·       2 Sam. 23:34: Ahithophel had a son named Eliam.

·       2 Sam. 11:3: Eliam had a daughter named Bathsheba.

As far as I can figure it out, it had been about 12 years plus since David had been immoral with Ahithophel’s granddaughter.  From the time of David’s sin …

·       2 Sam. 12:18: The baby died after a week.  So that’s 9 months.

·       13:1-22: Shortly after, David’s son Amnon raped Absalom’s sister Tamar.

·       13:23: Two years later, Absalom killed Amnon.

·       13:38: Absalom fled and spent 3 years in Geshur.

·       14:28: Absalom returned to Jerusalem for 2 years without seeing his father.

·       15:7: After 4 years of recruiting, Absalom attempted the coup d’état. 

Ahithophel undoubtedly believed he was taking a just action in all this.  And certainly, all that happened was part of God’s chastening of David (2 Sam. 12:11-12).  But God had also forgiven David, an act of great mercy by the LORD.  Further, David was still king, and Ahithophel still his advisor.  David himself had embodied this attitude in the way he treated King Saul (cf. 1 Sam. 24:5-7). 

We don’t need to criticize Ahithophel.  But we do need to “criticize” ourselves, so to speak.  We need to look for the “root of bitterness” that might be tucked away in our hearts, a bitterness that will be the ruin of us at a future time.  My “go to” passage on the subject is Rom. 12:17-21, the gist of which is, “overcome evil with good.”  We must remember:

·       Bitterness is a right that is not ours.

·       Bitterness forgets that we have been forgiven by God.

·       Bitterness is overcome by kindness, by love in action.

2 Chr. 28:9-15, Lessons form Obscurity: Prophets of Defeat

This is being posted on Thanksgiving Day in the USA.  You might think we would post something victorious rather than “prophets of defeat.”  Perhaps we will find that we should be thankful for a God who is faithful to warn His servants as well as being a God who prospers us.  Remember the words of the “man of God” in 2 Chron. 25:8: “God has power to help and to overthrow.”  We will consider two questions: why would God overthrow, and how can one avert being overthrown?

I.                  Four prophets of defeat (overthrow).

a.     Why would God overthrow? 

                               i.      1 Ki. 16:1-4,7. Baasha ended the line of Jeroboam, starting a new “dynasty” in Israel.  The new house had the opportunity to go in the right direction but didn’t.  So God sent the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani to predict his overthrow.  “Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made my people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger …”  He had a chance to make a change for the better but chose instead to continue in what led to the overthrow of the previous ruler.

                            ii.      1 Ki. 20:29-43.  God gave Ahab victory over Syria and King Ben-Hadad.  Instead of executing Ben-Hadad he made a treaty with him.  “A certain man of the sons of the prophets” (v35) was sent by God to predict Ahab’s overthrow.  The LORD said, “Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people” (v42).

                         iii.      2 Chron. 25:14-28.  Amaziah, king of Judah, took to himself the gods of an enemy he had defeated.  Again, God sent an unnamed prophet to confront him.  Amaziah refused to listen, threatening to kill him.  The prophet’s final word was, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.?”

In each case, the king involved had a lesson from history and did not learn.  They saw God overthrowing others, but then repeated the sins that brought about the overthrow.  In each case the message came at a time when each felt secure; yet they allowed a cancer to exist that resulted in their downfall.

b.    2 Chron. 28:9-15.  How can one avert being overthrown?  Pekah, the king in Israel, defeated Judah and King Ahaz and took 200,000 Judeans captive to Israel to be slaves.  God had used Pekah (who was not a righteous king) to judge Ahaz (who was incredibly evil).  But taking their brethren from Judah to be slaves went too far.  So God sent a prophet, Oded, who told Pekah, “return the captives, whom you have taken captive from your brethren, for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you” (v11).  Pekah and the people of Israel repented and returned the Judeans to their homes with honor.

The prophet Habakkuk prayed to the LORD, “in wrath remember mercy!”  (Hab. 3:2).  It’s amazing to me how the LORD was merciful to some pretty evil kings.  Without any more detail than what we saw in Pekah, the key was that those evil kings responded to the word of the LORD.  There’s a lesson to learn from obscure men of God.  Let us be thankful for our God of wrath and mercy.

1 Ki. 20:13-29, Lessons from Obscurity: Prophets of Victory

V.                  Three Prophets of Victory.

We are involved in “the good fight” (1 Tim. 1:18; 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7).  It is a battle for the mind, for truth and obedience (2 Cor. 10:3-5).  It is a battle for self-control (1 Cor. 9:26-27; 1 Pt. 2:11; Jas. 4:1).  It is a battle to control our response to circumstances and for inner courage (2 Cor. 7:5), a battle for endurance and for a clear conscience (1 Tim. 1:18-19; Hb. 10:32).  It is a battle for the control of the Holy Spirit rather than the flesh (Gal. 5:16-18).  Why should God help us rather than overthrow us?  Here are three OT answers to that question.  Interestingly enough, the first two promise victory to King Ahab, the third to Jehoshaphat of Judah.  They happened around the same time as these kings ruled concurrently.

a.     Unnamed prophets to Ahab, 1 Ki. 20:13-29. 

You might expect God to overthrow Ahab.  After all, he was in God’s opinion the most evil of kings (1 Ki. 16:30).  But God desired to proclaim His glory to two ungodly kingdoms.  The King of Syria picked a fight with Ahab, and set up camp near Samaria.  A prophet appeared to Ahab, giving him instructions as to how to fight the battle and promising him victory.  The reason for this was, “Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD” (20:13).

After that victory, the Syrians convinced themselves that their loss was because “their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they.”  So the Syrians returned to fight again, and again, an unnamed prophet appeared to Ahab, again promising victory.  The reason this time was, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’” 

b.    Jahaziel to Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 20:1-30. 

This is one of the truly powerful stories in Scripture.  Jehoshaphat and Judah were confronted by a great multitude of people from Moab and Ammon.  The king was afraid and sought the LORD, proclaiming a fast throughout Judah.  The king prayed a marvelous prayer (20:6-12; read it and be encouraged), ending with, “We have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”  In response, the LORD sent Jahaziel to ease their fears and to assure them of God’s victory.  “You will not need to fight in this battle.  Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!”

The battle we are in as Christians is one of immense importance.  God’s reputation is at stake.  Let us continue earnestly in prayer and faithful obedience.  The victory is won on our knees.

2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, Lessons from Obscurity: Unholy Alliances

IV.                  Four prophets on Unholy Alliances.

What is an unholy alliance today?  2 Cor. 6:14-16 speaks to this issue.  It is being yoked with unbelievers, a bond that is always “unequal.”  We live for the glory of God and all our decisions need to exemplify this.  Unbelievers live for their own glory and their lifestyles will exemplify this.  If we are in agreements with unbelievers we are committing ourselves to follow their choices on occasion.  That is simply the nature of an agreement or covenant or contract.  We live in this world (1 Cor. 5:9-13), but we are not to live according to this world.

Here are 4 illustrations of prophets who spoke to this issue in Judah.  In Judah the issue was making alliances with other nations, nations that did not worship the God of Israel.  In each of these cases the king was considered a “good” king.  I hope you will read the stories.

·       Hanani to Asa, 2 Chron. 16:2-3,7-9,10-12.  After God had delivered Asa from the army of Ethiopia (cf. the previous post), there were many years of peace.  Then the King of Israel came up against Judah.  Asa hired soldiers from Syria to deal with the matter.  The prophet reminded Asa of how God had helped in the past, and then said, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.”  Asa put Hanani in prison over this.  But the LORD afflicted Asa with a terrible disease until the day of his death.

·       Jehu to Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. 19:1-3.  Jehoshaphat had allied himself with Ahab, King of Israel.  At the time when they went to war together and Ahab was killed, Jehoshaphat returned to Jerusalem and was met by Jehu, saying, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?  Therefore, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.”

·       Eliezer to Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. 20:35-37.  Later, Jehoshaphat again allied himself with the King of Israel, who was Ahaziah.  The matter did not go well, and Eliezer met him and said, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” 

·       A man of God to Amaziah, 2 Chron. 25:5-13.  Amaziah went to war against Edom and, in addition to the army of Judah, he hired 100,000 solders of Israel.  An unnamed prophet made the issue very clear: “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel – not with any of the children of Ephraim.”  He also reminded Amaziah that if God was against him, it wouldn’t matter how big his army was.  Amaziah sent the Israelites home, forfeiting the money he had paid, and God gave him a great victory.

The eternal principle is always this: God will be glorified in all the earth!  If we join with the people who reject God, God will honor Himself.  It is quite likely that God’s “problem” is more with those who profess His name but do not trust Him than with those who deny His name.  Judgment begins at the house of God!

2 Chr. 12:1-11, Lessons from Obscurity: Law of the Harvest

Let’s meet three obscure prophets.  The stories are in 2 Chronicles.  Each speaks to a king of Judah.  Each has a message that is based in “the law of the harvest.” 

III.                  Three prophets on the Law of the Harvest.

a.     Shemiah, 2 Chron. 11:2-4; 12:1-11.

Shemiah prophesied in the reign of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, at the time the kingdom was divided.  When the 10 tribes rebelled, Rehoboam gathered his army to go and force the tribes to submit.  Shemiah told Judah not to fight because the division was God’s doing.  Rehoboam obeyed the word.

But then Rehoboam turned against the LORD (12:1) so that the LORD sent the Egyptians to punish Israel (12:2-4).  Shishak took the cities of Judah that Solomon and Rehoboam had fortified, and then came to Jerusalem.  The message of Shishak was, “Thus says the LORD: ‘You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’”  The people humbled themselves (12:6) so that the LORD lessened the judgment through the Egyptians (12:7).  God’s words are interesting and important to hear: “Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations.”

b.    Azariah, 2 Chron. 15:1-17.

Azariah the son of Oded prophesied in the reign of Asa.  Asa was a good king, and God gave him and his army a great victory against a million-man army from Ethiopia (14:9-15).  As they returned from the battle Azariah met them with these encouraging words from the LORD: “The LORD is with you while you are with Him.  If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”  These “law of the harvest” words were in sync with God’s covenant with David.  God had told him that as long as his sons sought Him He would bless them.  If they turned from Him He would chasten them (2 Sam. 7:12-16).

c.     Zechariah, 2 Chron. 24:20-22.

Zechariah prophesied in the reign of Joash.  Joash was the king who, as an infant, had been saved from Queen Athaliah who tried to destroy all the Davidic line.  Joash was raised by a priest, Jehoiada, and Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada.  Joash ruled in righteousness as long as Jehoiada was alive.  But after he died, Joash turned against the LORD, who sent Zechariah to confront him and the people.  The response was that they killed Zechariah.  The message of the prophet was, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper?  Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.’”

“The Law of the Harvest” is not just God’s standard of judgment for the Davidic kings.  It actually goes back to God’s covenant with Noah after the flood (Gen. 9:5-6).  “Retribution” is, of course, fundamental to the Law of Moses, in which God and Israel agreed: if Israel obeyed God, God would bless her; if Israel disobeyed, God’s curse would be upon her (Deut. 11:26-28).  But we need to know that this law is simply God’s righteous judgment.  Jesus proclaimed it (Matt. 10:32-33) and Paul applied it to the judgment of all men (Rom. 2:5-11).  God “will render to each one according to his deeds … For there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:6,11).

Let us learn from these kings.  Rehoboam turned from righteousness after God had established him in his kingdom.  Joash turned from the LORD after his loving mentor had died.  Asa responded in righteousness to God’s great deliverance.  There is no “backlog” of points, gained during good times, to carry us through times of sin.  If we abandon or forsake God, we cannot point to the past.  The present is the issue.

Psalm 91

This anonymous Psalm, ascribed by some to Moses who wrote the previous Hymn, has attracted a great following.  It promises protection and deliverance to those who walk deeply with God.  But it does not give the saint a free pass with respect to the difficulties of life.  It promises deliverance (v3), including from Satan, the fowler who seeks to ensnare.  It promises God’s truth to be a covering for the pilgrim (v4).  He will not need to be afraid (v5-6).  He will not experience the evil that comes upon the wicked (v7-8).  He will be protected and encouraged in the face of life’s difficulties (v10-13).  But it also says that God will be with him in trouble (v15). 

Jesus gave the sense and application of this Psalm when Satan himself quoted 91:11-12 in one of the temptations (Matt. 4:5-7).  He refused to test God by requiring God, so to speak, to deliver Him from falling.  In another passage Jesus noted those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matt. 10:28).  Every saint in Scripture faced tribulation, beginning with our Lord and each of His Apostles.  This Psalm does not indicate we will have no trouble; it promises rather perfect protection for the soul regardless of the trouble.

To put ourselves intentionally in danger would actually deny the very condition for this Psalm that is seen at the start (91:1-2) and again in the middle (91:9).  That is where we need to spend time in meditation.  God, by His truth, will be the refuge for the one who dwells in the secret place of the most High.

·         To dwell is to sit down, to remain, or to stay somewhere.  It does not speak of a short visit or merely passing by.  We take the name of the place where we dwell.  Those who dwell in Israel are Israelites.  Those who dwell in God’s holy habitation are holy ones or saints (Deut. 26:15).  Under the New Covenant it is to abide in Christ (John 15).  And yet at the same time it is for Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3:17).  It is to answer the knock on the hearts door and to welcome the Savior for deep fellowship (Rev. 3:20).

·         The secret place is the place where nothing Satanic or evil or destructive to the soul can ever enter.  It is God’s tabernacle (Psalm 27:5).  Christ was in that place in Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal.  He bids us enter into the same place to find help (Heb. 4:16).   How can this be when we are on this earth, so far from our eternal home?  It is because …

·         Our dwelling place is God Himself (91:9; 90:1).  As 91:2 says: I will say of the Lord … my refuge and my fortress!  This is not magical nor mystical.  It is frequent and deep fellowship with God through prayer and His word.  To pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) is to be at home in the secret place.  It is nothing between my soul and the Savior; the ongoing experience of His forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9).  It is the presentation of our bodies as living sacrifices, our only reasonable worship (Rom. 12:1).

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

1 Ki 11:29-39 Lessons from Obscurity: Jeroboam’s Prophets

II.                  Three prophets for Jeroboam.

a.     Scripture: 1 Ki. 11:29-39; 13; 14:1-18.

b.    Situation:

In Israel it was always essential that the king be subject to the prophet.  This was the means by which YAHWEH ruled Israel.  King Saul had Samuel, until he rejected the word of the prophet.  David had Nathaniel and Gad.  The Northern Kingdom also had prophets who claimed to speak for God.  Among them were Elijah and Elisha, two prophets that were not obscure.  The first king of Israel, Jeroboam, had a prophet who spoke for the LORD.  His name was Ahijah. 

                                                 i.      First Ahijah, 1 Ki. 11:29-39. 

The first time the LORD sent Ahijah to Jeroboam was during the reign of Solomon.  Because of Solomon’s idolatry the LORD determined to take ten tribes away from the Davidic King, thus creating the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  Ahijah informed Jeroboam that he would be that first king, speaking through a graphic illustration, something common with the prophets (11:29-31).  Because Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, the latter fled to Egypt until the death of Solomon, and then returned in the rebellion against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son.  Abijah’s words to Jeroboam were significant.  Speaking for the LORD, he said, “if you heed all that I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in My sight … as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you” (11:38).  That’s a pretty amazing promise.

                                              ii.      Two more prophets, 1 Ki. 13.

In establishing his kingdom Jeroboam chose to create a new religion to keep the loyalties of his subjects from returning to the temple in Jerusalem.  It is likely that his time in Egypt was significant in his choice of two golden calves set up in Bethel and Dan.  Remember that Israel, at Mt. Sinai, after 400 years in Egypt, also turned to this form of idolatry.  In other words, Jeroboam did not keep God’s words.

So God sent another prophet, simply called “a man of God” (13:1).  He prophesied that a Davidic king named Josiah would destroy the altar of idolatry in Bethel.  God confirmed the message by afflicting Jeroboam with leprosy when he attempted to arrest the prophet, and then by curing him at the prophet’s command.

God also confirmed the message through yet another prophet, who lived in Israel.  By deceitfulness, this prophet brought about the disobedience of “the man of God.”  God had told the “man of God” that he would die if he did not return to Judah immediately after preaching against Jeroboam’s idolatry.  But the man disobeyed.  True to his own word, he was killed by a lion on the way home. 

                                           iii.      Second Ahijah, 1 Ki. 14:1-18

At that time, Abijah, the young son of Jeroboam, became sick.  Jeroboam sent his wife in disguise to go to Ahijah and ask if the child would live.  It is interesting that Jeroboam knew who to go to in order to inquire of the LORD.  Ahijah’s answer was that the child would die, which provided a third confirmation of God’s displeasure with Jeroboam. 

There are many things for us to think about, including …

·       The issue in serving God is faithfulness, not response.  The prophet has done his work by speaking God’s word, regardless of the response to that message.

·       Courage, meaning that we are strengthened in the inner man by the Holy Spirit, is essential in speaking the word of God, especially when confronting sin.

·       Repentance must be real.  Jeroboam seemed to soften after he was cured of the leprosy.  But he did not change; he did not turn to God in obedience.

·       Even today, the government must not be permitted to have power over the gospel preaching of the Church.  I do not mean we must have laws protecting the Church.  We mean the Church must maintain the ability to speak truth to the nation and the community.  There must be a separation between the government and the Church so that the Church can perform her prophetic ministry.

1 Samuel 2:27-36, Lessons from Obscurity

The other day my wife mentioned that she didn’t care as much for the somewhat “disjointed” posts that have occupied the blog.  She prefers verse-by-verse through a book or some other “series.”  I have to agree, since the calling I have had from the Lord as a pastor has been to teach verse-by-verse one book at a time.  Doing things on a “topical” basis leaves too much responsibility on me to be seeking the Lord’s leading, as opposed to preaching on my “hobby-horse topics” or teaching the easy passages and skipping over the hard stuff.

So … here’s a “combination.”  Several years ago, early in my ministry, I preached several OT sermons on the topic, “Lessons from Obscurity.”  “Obscurity” is, of course, a subjective term.  What I meant by the term was to refer to some prophets and other figures that most people had never heard of.  With some of them, we don’t even have their names given to us.  What it meant was, of course, that they were obscure to me.  Maybe you, for some reason, are quite familiar with these men and their ministries.  Here is the introductory paragraph I wrote for this series:

If you are one who grew up in Sunday School and a church where the Bible was taught, and if your parents made a regular habit of reading the Bible, you are undoubtedly familiar with people like Gideon and Joshua, David, Daniel, the Apostle Paul and many other "well-known" figures from the stories of the Bible.  But how about Ahijah? or Shemiah or Hanani?  Ever hear of these men? or have any idea why they were included in the Bible?  This booklet is a tool to help us learn from what we may consider to be "obscure people".  All are prophets except for Ahithophel.  All have something to say to us today.  It's our prayer that we will listen as God speaks to us through them.

Let us begin this short journey.

I.                  An unnamed man of God.

a.     Scripture: 1 Sam. 2:27-36.

b.    Situation: 1 Sam. 2:12-17,22-25; 3:13-14

What was needed was a prophet who could reprove the man God chose to be High Priest.  The priest, Eli, also had a prophetic role in that he was to call the people to repentance.  That’s why his first response to Hannah’s praying (silently, but with her lips moving) was to reprove her for being drunk like all the other worshipers (1:13-14).  He reproved the righteous woman, but his own sons he did not reprove (2:12-17).  Eli knew about the despicable behavior of his sons, who were supposed to be helping in the ministry of the tabernacle at Shiloh (2:22-25).  He reproved them with words, but what was needed was decisive action.  They needed to be removed from their positions of authority.  “His sons made themselves vile, and he (Eli) did not restrain them” (3:13).  God had chosen Aaron as High Priest, with his sons to follow.  The position had been passed down to Eli, but it was going to stop there, and another son of Aaron would become high priest (2:30).  Eli was from the line of Ithamar (Aaron’s 4^th son, after the first two died in the wilderness).  The priesthood was to be returned to the line of Eleazer, the 3^rd son.

c.     The lesson: 1 Sam. 2:29-30,35.

Eli had not learned the lesson that Aaron had learned in the wilderness.  When Aaron’s two sons died, offering “strange fire” before the LORD (Lev. 10), Aaron was not permitted to morn their loss.  “And Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the LORD spoke, saying: “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.”’ So Aaron held his peace” (Lev. 10:3).  The one who is close to God must be one “who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind” (1 Sam. 2:35).  That applies to the priests and Levites in the OT, and to the believers under the New Covenant, all of whom are priests (Rev. 1:6; 1 Peter 2:5).