Old Testament God of Love

I don’t care for legalism. We will never be good enough to deserve heaven. We can only make it thru the merits of the blood of Jesus. However, God said:

Joh 14:15 - If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Joh 14:21 - He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Joh 15:10 - If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

1Jo 5:2 - By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

1Jo 5:3 - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

2Jo 1:6 - And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Although I can’t keep His commandments by my own power, He will give me the power to overcome. I’ve seen it in my own life and in the lives of others. I look at the law of God and it calls me to a higher standard and I want to be continually growing in grace and becoming more and more like Jesus. His commandments are not grievous. The more I am abiding in Him, the more joy and peace I have and the more I hate it when I break His commandments. And besides, why shouldn’t I want to keep them? Every rule or law in the Bible is summed up in the 10 commandments. All the other rules and regulations just flesh out and give more understanding of what is contained in the tablets of stone.

“Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” – why would I want to have any other gods before Him. He is the only one who can save me, so I want to get rid of anything in my life that is more important than God.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” – wow, this one is powerful, He shows mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments. Notice how love for God is tied up in commandment keeping?

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” – God will punish those who take His name in vain. To me this means so much more than just not cursing, it means even more that if I claim to be a Christian and yet do things that dishonor God, I am taking His name in vain.

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” – this one is actually my favorite. I find it so awesome, that the Creator of the universe wants to spend time with me. I can rest in the assurance of His creative power and His sanctifying power. I can rest in Him. I can rest from trying to work my way to heaven, because “He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him.” (Heb 7:25). That is why I worship on the Sabbath day and keep it holy. I want to spend time with my Creator and my Savior. I don’t want the distractions of the world to separate me from Him. If I’m not willing to spend 24 hours a week in the company of my Lord and Savior, then He certainly isn’t a top priority with me.

If you want to call these legalism, you certainly can, most people find the first 4 commandments legalism while wanting to have the last 6 in place. I don’t find it legalism, I find the first 4 to be a call to make God number one in my life and that is what I’m trying to do. I want to spend an eternity with Him in heaven and if I don’t want to spend time with Him on earth, how in the world will I ever want to spend all that time with Him in the New Earth?

As I’ve mentioned before, I love reading and telling Bible stories. I especially love the Old Testament stories because they show how willing God is to hear and answer prayers and to work mightily for His people. Many people don’t like the God of the Old Testament. They think He is a blood thirsty, angry God. When, in fact, nothing is further from the truth. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, He never changes, He can’t change. But people do the stupidest things and reject Him over and over. That is one of the reasons I love the Old Testament so much. No matter how many times His people rejected Him, worshiped idols, destroyed His temple, did what they wanted, He always answered when they called.

Every Sunday I read at least one book of the Bible, that way I can get thru the whole thing in one year (I read 2 or 3 books if they are small). Today’s book was 1 Chronicles which is kind of a hard book to get thru. There are chapters and chapters of so and so was the son of so and so. Or lists of the priests, or doorkeepers. Names I can’t pronounce and can never remember. But among all those hard things were some amazing little stories.

There were so many today, that it was hard to choose just one to meditate on, which is what I do. But one passage really spoke to me:

1 Chronicles 5:18 The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war. 19 And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. 20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him. 21 And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand. 22 For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.”

I just loved that. Even though these people had rejected God and turned away so many times. Yet here they were, about to go into battle, and they cried out to the Lord and He heard them. Because they trusted in Him He went out and won the battle for them.

To me that is such an amazing promise. No matter what we’ve done, where we’ve been, God will still fight any of our battles for us if we just trust Him enough to ask Him to. He can’t get involved as much as He’d like because He doesn’t have our permission.

One day in Sabbath School we were discussing how hard it would be to be God. One of the students said that it wouldn’t be hard at all, because God can do anything He wants to do. Then I asked her to imagine that she was babysitting her little cousins. She told them not to play in the road, but they insisted on playing there. Suddenly, she sees this huge truck barreling down the road toward them. She can’t get them out of the road or touch them in any way unless she has their permission. So she yells, and cries and warns them, “Look out, get out of the way, a TRUCK IS COMING.” But they ignore her and continue playing. Maybe they think that she’ll break her own rule and get them out of the way. Maybe they just don’t notice the truck. But, they never get out and the truck hits them.

I asked her how she’d feel in that case. She said, “Terrible.” And that’s how God feels every day billions of times a day. He can’t do for us what we don’t allow Him too. He gave us His word in the Bible; He gave us His Son, Jesus. He has sent prophets, He has given His Son to die; He has done everything He can, and yet, most of the world still totally ignores Him.

I think it would be terrible to be God. I just pray every day that I will not ignore His warnings; and every day I thank Him for continuing to try to get my attention and for loving me so much.

He loves you too, and I hope and pray that you will allow Him to get you out of the way of the big truck that is barreling down on all of us.

# posted by Judy Mackie @ 7:34 PM

Job and the Great Controversy

Sabbath, at church, I talked about Job and the way the whole story of the battle between God and Satan play out in his story. There is no where in the Bible where it comes across so plainly just what is involved in this life on earth. We are caught between two forces and we have to choose which one will have control over our lives.

Job was a man who loved God and had chosen to follow Him no matter what happened. God blessed Job with a wonderful family: a wife, seven sons and three daughters. He also blessed him with wealth. Job had 7,000 sheep which would provide him with wool for making cloth; 3,000 camels which he would use to ferry his goods and other merchandise across the desert between what is now Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran; 500 yoke of oxen (meaning he had 1,000 oxen) which could also be used for hauling loads that needed wagons; and 500 female donkeys which would procreate so he could sell them as well as use them in hauling merchandise up in the fertile crescent of what is now Iraq and Iran. Even by today’s standards Job was a millionaire. He had it all.

One day God called a counsel meeting. The Bible doesn’t say how often God calls these meetings, but evidently it is fairly often because two different occasions are mentioned in Job 1 and 2. At this meeting satan came as the representative of the world. As you may know, Adam was made ruler of earth and given dominion over everything on it (see Genesis 1:26-29). When Adam sinned, he gave the dominion of the earth was to satan (see Scriptures below[1]) and he became the prince of the world. Therefore, he represented earth in the heavenly council meetings.

When satan presented himself before God, God asked him where have you come from? Not because God didn’t know, but it is interesting that God always asks questions. He asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you? What have you done?” And He still asks us those questions: where are you? What are you doing there? Where are you going? Where have you come from? He asks us because we have to play a part in our salvation. We must think about what we are doing, where we are going, etc. Until we acknowledge where we are and who we are, we will never feel the need for a Savior. So God asked satan, where have you come from?

How it must have galled satan to have to answer: “From roaming about the earth and walking around on it.” Satan had been the covering cherub, he had stood by the throne of God (see below)[2]; he had walked the streets of gold and worshiped at the throne of God. Now he was reduced to “walking around on the earth.” What a bitter pill he had to swallow and all because he wanted to be “like God” to have the power of God.

So then God draws satan’s attention to one of the few men on earth who still worshiped Him, Job. At that time in earth’s history, very few people still retained the knowledge of the true God, the Creator God. Job followed God and lived his life according to God’s will and turning away from sin. God called him “blameless.” That is certainly an adjective I want God to apply to my life. “Blameless” and I have confidence that He can because Jesus died for my sins; I accept His sacrifice and therefore His blood covers my sins and I am “blameless” in the sight of God. What an amazing promise and assurance. No matter what I’ve done in the past, I can ask Jesus to forgive me and to cleanse me every day and then it is no longer my sin and filthiness that God sees, but Christ’s righteous life that is revealed instead!

Job offered sacrifices for his children every time they got together because he was afraid they might have sinned and forgotten God during their partying, so he offered sacrifices “continually” for the forgiveness of their sins. As long as we live in this world of sin and darkness, we need to continually bring ourselves “a living sacrifice[3]” to the feet of God and ask Him to forgive us for our sins. And the good news is that not only will He forgive, He will cleanse and make us like new![4]

Anyway, satan accused Job of only following God when things were going well. “Look,” he said, “of course, he follows you, you protect him from everything. I can’t get near him. If I had my way with him then he would be just like everyone else and would choose to serve me instead of you.”

So God, said “Okay, you can do whatever you like with Job, just don’t touch him physically.”

And then we see the contrast between life with God and life with satan. Had Adam and Eve not sinned, their lives would have been full of everything that is good and beautiful. Just as Job’s life was full of joy and abundance. But when Adam and Even sinned, they chose to serve satan instead of God and they unleashed untold miseries on our world. Miseries like satan unleashed on Job’s unsuspecting head. If nothing else this story should show how evil satan is and how much he enjoys hurting God’s creatures.

In quick succession not only did satan destroy all of Job’s property, but he also killed all of Job’s children with one windstorm. Leaving Job penniless and childless in less than 24 hours. What a difference a few hours can make. Job woke up in the morning rich beyond our imagination with a loving family around him, and went to bed that night (if he went to bed) utterly bankrupt and with no children. How satan loved to see that. What tortures he loves to inflict on God’s creatures. Whenever I’m tempted to give up on God or blame God for something, I remember that if I give up on God then satan wins, and he is the bad guy. Every bit of misery in this world can be laid at his door. He is responsible, not God. The only reason we have anything good at all in life is because of God’s mercy and His watchcare over us. If it were up to satan we’d all be as miserable as Job.

But the Bible says that “Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head (signs of mourning), and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” (Job 1:20-22).

Wow! I’d love to be able to say that I have never blamed God or sinned when bad things happen in my life. Unfortunately, satan’s biggest lie is to make us disbelieve God. He wants us to believe that God doesn’t care about us and that He doesn’t hear us. When the bad things that SATAN causes fill us with despair, he always makes it seem like God is the one to blame. God is the only one who holds satan back from inflicting even more misery.

Why does God allow this to happen? Job was a good man, he loved and served God, and still God allowed satan to hurt him. Why?

The Bible has an answer for that also. 1 Corinthians 4:9 – “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” We are Exhibit A to angels and to men. To the angels looking on, we are an example of what turning away from God leads to. All they have to do, if they are tempted to sin, is to look at what a horrible place this earth has become and then they can resist, because who would want to live here and leave heaven?

There is another reason God allows suffering to happen. He is testing us, seeing if we will stay true, seeing if we can believe and trust Him no matter what happens in our lives.[5] Even Jesus was tested and satan was given an opportunity to try to shake His faith. Unlike Adam, Jesus stood firm and true and chose to serve and obey God and not take what satan offered.

Job also stood fast. Then came another counsel meeting and this time God gave satan permission to hurt Job physically, but he was not allowed to kill him. Then Job was covered, from head to foot, with horrendous boils. He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, he had to sit in an ash pile and scrap his boils. He was a mess. And to make his agony even more bitter, his wife kept nagging him to forsake God and just die. Just get it over with. She was basically telling him to commit suicide. Just get it over with, death is better than this existence.

Although we often count Mrs. Job as a bad person, just imagine how she felt. She had lost everything also, these trials weren’t just affecting Job, they also affected his wife. Most of us, in that situation, would react the same way. If we don’t have a daily, saving relationship with Jesus Christ, then when troubles come we will give up and throw in the towel, just as Mrs. Job did. But Job’s response was different. He did have a saving relationship with Jesus. He did know in whom his hope rested. His response in Job 13:15 – “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.”

Job was not going to let satan win. He didn’t know of the battle being fought over him, but he did know that to give is to sin was to choose to serve satan, and he chose not to. That is our battle every day, choosing to serve God, not satan, no matter what happens. That is the faith that kept the martyrs strong and peaceful even when they were tied at the stake and burned. It kept the Waldenses going even when they lost their homes and had to live in the wilderness. It will keep us going no matter what happens. Because as Job said: "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth” (Job 19:25).

What amazing grace. God does save, He will stand on the earth again, and He will give us the power to withstand anything, no matter how horrible, if we ask Him. I am so glad that I serve the God of the Universe, the God that made me, that redeemed me, and that is coming back to get me. Praise God, what a hope we have in Jesus.

So the story could end right there, on the note of triumph and victory. I will serve God because He lives and He is my Redeemer. But God, in His grace, allows us to see the end of Job’s story. Not only will Job be resurrected at the coming of Jesus; not only will he inhabit that glorious mansion of gold that Jesus has built him in the New Jerusalem; not only will he live in a new earth where all things are made new and there will be no more sadness or crying; he was also rewarded in this life.

Job 42:10-17 tells us the rest of the story: “The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold. Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold. The LORD blessed the latter {days} of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land no women were found so fair as Job's daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. And Job died, an old man and full of days.”

Job received twice as much as he had before his trial, and he had more children. He lived a long time and died a happy man. He never allowed himself to doubt God’s love and mercy toward him, and God came through. Not only in the end of the story, although that is marvelous, but God sustained Job throughout the trials and gave him grace to endure.

I pray that God is giving you grace to endure and that each day you can see a little clearer just how much He loves you.

# posted by Judy Mackie @ 2:13 PM

This week I’ve been reading 1, 2, 3 John and Jude. I try to read each book thru in every version of the Bible that I have because some versions say things in a manner that really touches a cord. I John 2:28, 29 in the New American Standard version was such a text: “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you knew that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (Righteousness means right doing.)

As I read this text it immediately took me back to Genesis 3:8-13: “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, ad the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Every time I read the story of the Fall I am totally amazed at God’s grace. He knew that Adam and Eve had sinned. They chose to disbelieve God when He said not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because it would be the cause of their death. Instead they chose to believe satan, disguised as a serpent. God could have zapped them right then, or just totally ignored them and left them to their own devices. But instead, He came to the garden, just like He always did because He wanted to spend time with them.

Why does He care? Why does He want to spend time with people who would rather believe a murderer, because that is what satan is. According to Jesus in John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Pretty strong language, and yet most of us choose to believe satan instead of God. (I don’t capitalize the name “satan” because I don’t believe he deserves that much respect).

So here comes God, walking in the garden, wanting to meet with His friends, and instead of running to meet Him they run and hide. And He calls out to them, inviting them to come to meet Him. “Where are you?” That is the same thing He calls out to you and me: “Where are you?” He is at the meeting place, He is ready and waiting to have communion, but where are you, where am I?

And Adam says to the God who formed in from the dust, and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life; the God who gave him the perfect world to live in; who created his perfect wife; who gave him all things, “I was afraid . . . so I hid myself.” The longer I live the less time I want to spend hiding from God. He came down to earth to search for me. He lived a life of sinless perfection so that His perfect life could cover my imperfect life; He died on the tree, crushed by the guilt of my sins, so that I may be guiltless in His sight; He rose from the dead and now intercedes for me in heaven so that I may have the assurance of eternal life. I don’t want anything to separate me from His great love. Romans 8:31-39: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What an amazing statement. Nothing can separate me from God except my own choice to believe satan and disbelieve God. Just as Adam and Eve’s sin made them feel guilty so that they couldn’t face God, that is what happens when we choose to sin. But God still comes to us and still invites us to come to Him. I believe that the whole course of human history would have been changed had Adam waited for God and run to Him and said, “I have sinned, please forgive me.” The same God who today says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9) would have forgiven Adam’s sin. Adam didn’t have to hide, he just had to trust that his friend and Creator would rescue him.

1 John 2:28 is talking about His second coming, when He comes in the clouds with glory and all the angels with Him. Only this time, those who have chosen to believe satan won’t be hiding in the trees, they’ll be trying to hide beneath the rocks. Revelation 6:12-17 paints a vivid picture of that day and the attitude of those who have refused to come to their friend for forgiveness and cleansing. “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

One of my favorite promises is John 6:16 where Jesus said: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” There is no way Jesus will cast out anyone who comes to Him. After all, He came to Adam in the garden; He left heaven and came to earth the first time; and He will come again the second time because He promised and He has been preparing mansions for us so that we can live with Him for eternity. John 14:1-3: "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to that heavenly home. I certainly don’t want my mansion to be empty. I’m tired of this old world; I’m tired of living in a world controlled by satan; I tired of the evil, sickness, death and all the ways satan finds to torment us body and soul. I’m ready for it to all be over. Every day my prayer is that God will come abide in my heart so that I may be ready to meet Him.

I hope that is your prayer also. Because we have hope that this world is not the end and there is a better world waiting for us. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

# posted by Judy Mackie @ 8:17 PM

Yesterday in my worship I read the book of Joshua and so many things popped into my brain I had to stop and meditate a lot on that book. We have been talking, in the various Bible studies that I’m involved in, about how God can turn any situation into something that will produce good results and give Him glory.

First off, I have to tell you, that I believe we are caught in a war between God and Satan. Satan was an angel in heaven and he rebelled against God. He managed to convince a third of the angels that God was unjust and so they were expelled from heaven. (To read about this see: Isa 14:12-21; Ezekiel 28:1-19; Revelation 12:1-12; Luke 10:18). Adam was originally given dominion over the world (Genesis 1:26), but when he believed Satan’s lies, Satan became the ruler of this world (Job 1:6, 7; 2:1-7; Matthew 4:8-10; John 12:31; 16:11; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12). Christ came to earth and won the battle with Satan, both when He was tempted to sin, and finally, at Calvary, for all time. (Matthew 4:1-11; John 19:30; 12:31; 16:11). The blood of Jesus covers all who believe in Him and accept Him as their Lord and Saviour. He gives the power for victory over sin and finally, eternal life.

I believe that Satan hates God and wants to hurt Him, and since he can’t do battle with God Himself, he hurts the people God created and loves. Bad things happen because of Satan, not God, but God can make even bad things turn out to be a blessing. In Sabbath School this week, one of my students (she’s 12) said that “God can do anything.” But I explained to her that God can’t do anything without permission and therefore it must be really hard for Him to be up there in heaven and unable to do everything He knows He could do and wants to do. It would be like having children whom you love play in the street. You know that they are in danger, so you ask them to come out of the street, but they ignore you. You see a truck coming and you call and beg for them to get out of the way, but they continue to ignore you. You can’t move them out of the way without their permission, so you keep pleading until finally they are hit and killed. I imagine that is just a fraction of what God feels, considering that there are 6 billion people on this earth, most of whom are ignoring His warnings and His pleading to get away from danger.

Hopefully, I’m not getting too preachy, but I had to tell you where I’m coming from if you are to understand the following story. The whole point is that God can turn every situation, no matter how bad, into something positive in the long run.

When the Children of Israel returned to the River Jordan, 40 years after their first approach, it was with a new leader, Joshua. Moses had gone up on the mountain and died because he had hit the rock the second time, instead of speaking to it like he was told to do.

Now they are just a river away from what is considered to be the oldest city in the world, Jericho. According to archaeologist, Bryant Wood: “The mound, or ‘tell’ of Jericho was surrounded by a great earthen rampart, or embankment, with a stone retaining wall at its base. The retaining wall was some 12–15 feet high. On top of that was a mudbrick wall 6 feet thick and about 20–26 feet high. At the crest of the embankment was a similar mudbrick wall whose base was roughly 46 feet above the ground level outside the retaining wall.”

Faced with such an impossible task (humanly speaking), Joshua decided to send in a couple of spies to check out the lay of the land. (This story is found in Joshua 2). Forty years earlier, Moses had sent out 12 spies, but 10 of them had given such a gloomy report that the Israelites rebelled and were sent back into the desert. This time, Joshua decided to play it safe, and secretly sent out only two trusted men.

Across the Jordan and into the crowded city, went the two spies, trying to look inconspicuous as they mingled with the guests of the inn, listening to the fear and dread in the voices of all around them as they all talked about the Israelites and the coming invasion. People streamed in from all over the countryside, seeking safety behind the walls of Jericho. They knew the stories of God’s mighty deliverance of the Israelites; they knew of all the battles won thru the power of God; and they knew that their land had been given to the Israelites by God. How they could defend themselves, they didn’t know, so they gathered together to strategize and to build their courage thru alcohol.

As the spies listened, they realized that the battle was almost won, since all battles are first won or lost in the mind. As far as those in Jericho were concerned, they were lost and they knew it. How could they fight against the God of heaven?

Sometime during their sojourn in Jericho, the king was told that there were spies at the inn. Who told the king? Why weren’t the spies arrested and taken before the king? Only God knows the whole story, but I believe that the old devil had a hand in their exposure. What a blow that would be to the Israelites if the king of Jericho could capture the spies and parade them before the camp of Israel, maybe even threaten to kill them if they didn’t back off. How would the Israelites be able to depend on their God if He couldn’t even keep two men safe? What a coup for satan. He could send those pesky people of God scurrying back to the desert, and this time, they would never come back and Caanan would be out of reach for God forever. Satan would win!

But, no matter what satan does to cause problems, even if he seems to be ahead for a while, God is never taken by surprise. When news of the presence of the spies had reached Rahab she seized her chance, and acted. Quickly she led them up to the roof of the building and hid them under the stalks of flax laid out to dry for rope making. When the soldiers asked where the spies were, she lied and told them they had left and urged them to hurry out of the city after them. Another great thing about our God is that He accepts people where they are in life. Thou shalt not lie, is the commandment, but Rahab did the best she could given her background and her circumstances. She didn’t know the God of Israel, but she had faith in Him because of what she had heard about Him. So God “winked” at her lie and accepted her into His family based on her limited knowledge of Him. We truly serve a God of mercy, grace, and justice, don’t we?

Before the spies left they made a deal with Rahab. Everyone who was in her house when Jericho fell would be saved, anyone who didn’t believe her and come into the house would die. And so she let them down, over the wall and told them to hide in a cave for three days until the search party gave up, and then cross over Jordan back to their camp.

And so the spies made it back to camp with their report of the fear and trepidation felt by the inhabitants of the land. “We can win,” they told the people, “the hearts of the inhabitants of Caanan are melting with fear. The battle is ours.” No gloomy report this time, no explaining how high and thick the walls were and how impossible it would be to topple them; no explanation of the food and water within those might walls that would hold off an army for years. The only thing they told about was that God was on the lips of all the people and that He would give them the victory.

The Israelites were ready to go, they weren’t going to turn back this time. First though, they had to cross the Jordan which was at flood stage. How would they do that? There were no bridges, no boats, no way across. But God said, “Walk into the Jordan” and they did. They took that step of faith, got their feet in the water, and the water stood straight up and they crossed over on dry ground.

Can’t you just imagine that the walls of Jericho were crowded with people gawking at the miraculous sight? Why most of the them didn’t just leave the city and give themselves up to Israel is a sad commentary on the human psyche. They knew that they were as good as dead, but they still wouldn’t surrender to the God of Israel, the God who could part the waters and dry the ground of a river, the God who could feed millions in a desert, the God who had sent Abraham all those years ago to tell the Caananites about Him and give them an opportunity to repent. But they refused to live. I wonder how many people I know will choose to die rather than to surrender to God who can give life?

After the Israelites marched around the city 13 times (1x per day for 6 days; then 7 times around the 7^th day) and the walls fell down, Rahab and everyone in her house were rescued. Everyone who believed, lived. God doesn’t care about the lifestyle a person has had; He doesn’t care about the nationality or race of a person; He doesn’t care about anything except whether that person has thrown him or herself on His mercy. For all who do that He will never turn away.

Rahab married an Israelite, Salmon, who was probably one of the spies. She became the great-grandmother of David, himself an ancestor of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Isn’t God good? I’m sure that satan thought that by getting the spies either arrested or cutting their trip short it would cause confusion and dismay. Instead, God used that seemingly bad circumstance to effect the salvation of Rahab and her whole family. He even arranged it so that she could become an ancestress of His Son.

Whenever things are going wrong in my life, I remember that “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). No matter what garbage satan throws at us, God can still turn the bad things into good things if we let Him.

My prayer for you is that you will be able to see the good things of God no matter what happens.

# posted by Judy Mackie @ 6:48 PM

Cain and Abel

Today I was reading the story of Cain and Abel. Don’t you find it amazing and sad the choice that Cain made? Imagine it, every day they came to the gate of the Garden of Eden to worship. They could see the angel standing there with its glittering sword guarding the way to the Tree of Life. How they must have longed for the right to enter into that beautiful garden, made especially for mankind. Can you imagine coming to those gates every day and seeing, right there before your eyes, proof that God had created the world, proof that Adam and Eve were exiled because of sin? How could you doubt God when all you had to do was look past an angel and see the proof of what you had been taught.

Every time they killed one of those innocent little lambs, how heartbreaking it must have been, remembering that God had not made any creature to die, but had intended that all creatures live forever in peace and harmony. Adam and Eve must have cried buckets of tears when that first lamb died, killed by God Himself (He obviously killed a lamb because He dressed Adam and Eve in animal skins, and showed them the sacrificial system that pointed to the Lamb of God who would die because of their sin). I know that I would cry buckets of tears now and I’ve seen lots of dead animals and people. They had never seen anything die, and that lamb had trusted them. It had played with them. They had named it, and now, because of them it had to die. Blood had to be shed. What an in-your-face reminder that sin brings death and that blood must be shed to atone for sin.

Can you image how hard it was for Adam to live for 930 years and seeing so much death; seeing his son killed; seeing his grandchildren reject God and all the while knowing that his sin was what started the whole thing. I believe that every time he pulled a weed from the garden he thought about his Garden home where there were no weeds; every time he cut himself on a thorn he must have longed to be back in Eden.

Then we have Cain and Abel. Raised the same way, by the same parents. Worshiping right there at the Garden gate. Able to see angels and admire the perfect Garden God planted specifically for His creation. But yet, and this always amazes me, Cain rejected the blood as the only way to salvation. He brought an offering of the fruit of the ground. Not that there was anything wrong with offering the best he had to God. But the sacrifice was to be a lamb, blood must be shed to symbolize Jesus’ sacrifice and the overwhelming love that God the Father had toward His creation that He would give up His Son to suffer and die for ungrateful human beings. And Cain was ungrateful. He determined that he would get salvation on his terms, in his own way. He would earn it. Unfortunately, most people since that time have rejected the blood of Jesus and tried to work their way to heaven. But, just like Cain, their sacrifice will not be accepted. Only by accepting Jesus as the only way to be saved will heaven be won. Yes, God calls us to keep His law; yes, He expects us to overcome sin and live holy lives; but He doesn’t expect us to do that on our own. He wants us to acknowledge that we are sinners, in need of a Savior; and beyond that, that He is Lord and we need to let Him live His life thru us. That is the joy of Christian service and Christian living. That is what Abel found and Cain rejected.

It is interesting that God always asks questions. He asked Adam and Eve: “Where are you?” Then He asked: “Why are you hiding?” He asked Cain: “Why is your countenance fallen? Where is your brother?”

God always gives us a chance to confess our sins and to repent from them and cast ourselves on His mercy. He is so ready to forgive. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

And yet, most of the time, like Adam, Eve ad Cain, we are sorry we got caught, but we really aren’t sorry for the sin. Cain didn’t like the penalty he had to pay for his sin, but he didn’t ask God to forgive him. Just like Cain, most of us would commit the same sin all over again if we have the chance. God said He would cleanse us from all sin. Most of us want the forgiveness part, but not the cleansing part. The cleansing means changing and making God our Lord, and we want to be in control. We have the delusion that we are captains of our own fate, when nothing is further from the truth. We are either on God’s side or on Satan’s side. There is no side where we are in control.

Praise God that if we allow Him to, He will come in and take control and cleanse us from all the sins and filthiness that separate us from Him. We can be victorious in His power and thru His grace. May that grace find you today and strengthen you as you fight the good fight of faith.

# posted by Judy Mackie @ 7:48 PM

This week, in my worship, I read the story of king Abijah. I’ve read it before, of course, but it really struck a cord this time, so I thought I’d share it today.

King Abijah was king Solomon’s grandson. You might recall that Solomon turned away from God, married hundreds of women, set up altars to idols, even allowed his wives to offer his children as sacrifices to idols. All in all, what had started so wonderfully for the wisest man in history, became a tale of what happens when we turn away from God. Solomon did turn back to God in his old age, but his children had already been badly influenced and his son, Rehoboam, who became the 4^th king of Israel went even farther into sin than his father. Therefore, God “tore away” ten tribes of Israel and gave them to Jeroboam and left Rehoboam and the house of David with just two tribes which became known as “Judah”. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were at war from then until Rehoboam died, at which time, his son, Abijah, became king over Judah.

Now, even tho God had given Jeroboam his kingdom, Jeroboam was afraid that if the Israelites went to Jerusalem for worship services three times a year as they were required to do, that they would want to join back in with Judah. So, Jeroboam committed a great sin against God and established a counterfeit temple in Samaria and set up golden calves for the people to worship. It wasn’t long before Israel had almost completely turned away from God.

As we read in 2 Chronicles 12, Abijah and Jeroboam went to war. Abijah with 400,000 men and Jeroboam with 800,000 men. It looked like it was curtains for Judah. After all, they were outnumbered 2 to 1 and Jeroboam had another advantage of experience. But, like his great-grandfather, David, Abijah chose to trust in God to save Judah. He knew that there was no earthly way that his much smaller army could defeat the Israelite army, so he did something that may appear strange, he preached a sermon.

“And Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, Jeroboam, and all Israel.” Then he proceeded to trace the history of the conflict between Israel and Judah. He reminded his hearers that God had promised David that his descendant’s would always sit on the throne of Judah because of His covenant with David. He traced the rebellion of Jeroboam that caused the split in the kingdom, and reminded his hearers that Jeroboam had set up a false worship and that God couldn’t defend and help anyone who turned away from Him.

Abijah continued by pointing out that Judah continued to worship God in the temple at Jerusalem and that sacrifices were continually offered to God morning and evening as God had commanded. He ended his speech by saying: “And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarms against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers; for you shall not prosper.” (2 Chronicles 13:12)

It is interesting to note Abijah’s claim to God’s protection because if you read in 1 Kings 15:1-8, his heart was not “perfect” toward God as David’s had been and he continued in the sins of Rehoboam and Solomon. But God is so merciful and gracious that He hears and answers sinners who call upon Him and trust Him. Which is a good thing because we are all sinners and have come WAY short of the glory of God, and yet He still hears and forgives. I love stories like this that remind me of the long-suffering God who loves His children. Children that He created in the first place, and then paid an enormous price, the gift of His Son, to redeem us after we intentionally sinned and wandered away from Him. What an awesome God!

Anyway, as Abijah went out to war, Jeroboam split his forces and surrounded the forces of Judah. For all intents and purposes the war was over. Judah was annihilated and Jeroboam would be king over a united Israel and Judah. But the men of Judah didn’t let this seeming reversal bother them. “And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried to the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.” (2 Chronicles 13:14).

Isn’t that a wonderful way to live life? When it looks like there is no hope, we can still call out to God and blow the trumpets, figuratively, as we go out to fight the enemy in the power of God. Even when our own choices have put us in the precarious position that we are in, we still have a helper, if we choose to allow Him to lead.

Note the rest of the story: ”Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. Thus the children of Israel were brought under at the time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephraim with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord struck him, ad he died.” (2 Chronicles 13:15-20).

I like that story. Notice that “The Children of Judah prevailed, because the relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.” I am so glad that I can rely on the Lord God to come thru for me. I know that I’ll still have to face the enemy which are the trials and temptations that come every day. But God will give the victory to all who trust in Him. He has promised that we can overcome all the sin in our lives if we rely on Him. He has promised to save us and see us thru. He promises to give peace in the midst of storms; He promises to give courage to face the foe; He promises to give wisdom to know how to fight. What great an marvelous promises we have to rely on and what a pity it is that we so seldom draw on the power that is totally available to us.

# posted by Judy Mackie @ 3:35 PM

Lot

Today I’ve been thinking a about the story of Lot. We have a lot of “Christians” in this world who claim to be Christians but want to have no standards, no restrictions of any kind. I’ve come to the conclusion that standards and restrictions are part of God’s plan and He gives them to us for our protection. For example, take the issue of drinking. Many “Christians” claim that there is a Biblical basis in favor of drinking. After all, say they, Jesus drank wine; Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine to help his stomach; etc. But on the other hand, Solomon, the wisest man says that “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.” Proverbs 20:1; “Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly.” Proverbs 23:31; etc.

Two things to understand is that the “wine” that Jesus and the disciples drank and that the Bible speaks of as a blessing was “new wine,” unfermented grape juice; and that Paul was counseling Timothy to drink a little for medicinal reasons, not social drinking. It has long been understood that Christians avoid drinking alcohol, and yet that is a “standard” that many people find obsolete and

Anyway, while I was pondering both points of view, I was reminded that the Bible uses stories to make a point and the story of Lot (also Noah, David, Herod, Artaxerxes, etc) are there to show us why God says “Don’t touch, don’t drink, don’t go,” etc. They are there for our admonition and as a warning for us to stay away from harmful things.

So, today’s story of grace is the story of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. You can read about him in Genesis 11-13 and 19.

Lot evidently was a man of faith because he left Ur of the Chaldees with his uncle Abraham and set out to the Promised Land of Canaan. He had nothing but faith to assure him that there would be a home for him there. But he packed up his family and followed along with Abraham. For several years they traveled and lived together, but finally their flocks and herds became too great to support both of them together so Abraham offered Lot the first choice of where to live.

And the Bible says: “Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere--{this was} before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.” Genesis 13:10-12.

Lot made several mistakes that day. He let greed and the desire for an easy, comfortable life lure him into the most wicked section of Canaan, the valley of Sodom and Gomorrah. It says it was like the garden of the Lord, in other words, like the Garden of Eden. It must have been extremely lovely and exciting. People came from all over to trade in these cities. Everything a person could want was right there. Entertainment, shopping, schools, jobs, etc. So Lot chose to move his family to the valley.

His second mistake was in separating himself from Abraham. It is very dangerous to try to get close to the world and separate from those of the faith. Without that encouragement it is much harder to be a Christian. And the Bible says Lot “moved his tents as far as Sodom.” Maybe he convinced himself that he would be a missionary to the valley people. But instead of converting them, he soon was living in the midst of them.

The kings of the valley decided that they would no longer pay tribute to their overlords, so they rebelled and the overlords came and overthrew the cities, including Sodom. They took everyone in the cities captive and carried off all of their belongings. When Abraham heard what had happened to his family he went after them and defeated the overlords and returned all the people and their possessions. What a marvelous story of God’s grace toward us. Even when we make wrong choices and turn our back on Him, He still loves us enough to go after us and fight for us. He sets us free from that enemy, Satan, who wants to keep us enslaved to him. God wants us to be free to choose to love Him and serve Him because we love Him. Satan hates us and wants to keep us enslaved by whatever means he can.

But we are slow to learn our lessons. Just as Lot went back to Sodom to live, so we frequently put ourselves right back in the exact situation that led to our captivity in the first place. Every day I’m awed by God’s love that He still keeps reaching out to such ungrateful, stupid creatures as we are. You’d think that He’d get really tired of constantly trying to rescue us and of us constantly putting ourselves in danger, but He says that “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.” Isaiah 59:1. I’m so grateful that He is always listening for me to cry “Help” and He is always ready and willing to answer. What an amazing God we have!

More time passes and Sodom and Gomorrah get more and more wicked, and still Lot stays there. He probably got used to what happened and never even noticed anymore. His daughters married men from the city and so more and more he was tied to the place. Just as the longer we stay in sin the harder it is to get out.

Finally the cities of the valley had become so wicked that God could no longer allow them to continue to exist. Jesus Himself came down, with two angels, to investigate the situation. This tells us not that God doesn’t know everything that happens, but that He always, personally performs an investigation before He acts. Another place we see this is in the story of the Tower of Babel when God came down to see what they were doing. Again, I love this aspect of God. What compassion He has on His creatures, to come down and personally conduct an investigation!

Jesus told Abraham that He had come to investigate the wickedness of the city and that it was going to be destroyed. Abraham pleaded with Him to save the cities if there were (finally) ten righteous people in them. He probably thought that was the least there could be because Lot and his wife still had two daughters at home and surely some of his other children would still be faithful; and after all, Lot had been in Sodom for some time and maybe there were people who had been converted because of his witness. But as we know, there weren’t ten righteous in the city. Only four made it out. Again, that tells me that it is much easier to be conformed to the world than to get the world to conform to faith. It is easier to pull someone down than to pull someone up. God told us “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14. And yet, we humans think that we know better than God. But just like Lot, unbelievers have a much bigger influence on us than we do on them.

The angels told Lot to leave, but he was very hesitant. His children wouldn’t leave and he just didn’t want to leave all he had acquired. Finally the angels grabbed hold of the four of them and took them out of the city with the warning to not look back. But Lot’s wife looked back. Her heart was still in the city with her children and her possessions, and she became a pillar of salt. I wonder how many of us lose our families and our lives because we still cling to the old life even after we’ve been taken out of it. We still look back with longing for the “good old days.” Which were actually the “bad old days” that lead to death. Again, we are stupid creatures!

Lot and his two daughters escaped to the mountains. They must have lived there for a while because the daughters decided that they’d never have a chance to marry, so they came up with a scheme. Get Dad drunk and have children with him. Evidently it wasn’t hard to get Lot drunk and so the deed was done. He impregnated both of his daughters and became the father of Ammon and Moab, both of whom became nations that would later be enemies of Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites.

What a sad way for a man of faith to end up. Drunk and committing a heinous sin against God and against his family! And yet, God still had mercy on Lot. He allowed his sons to become great nations that played a part in Biblical history for hundreds of years. And yet, 2 Peter 2:7 calls Lot “righteous” even after all that. What a gracious, long-suffering God we serve.

Lot put himself in harm’s way, over and over. He ended his story in the Old Testament drunk, again putting himself in danger of sinning. And yet God still forgave him and called him “righteous” after all that. But wouldn’t his life have been much happier had he been careful to do what we would consider “standards” to help him avoid temptation? Had he not pitched his tent toward Sodom he would not have lost his wife, his home, his possessions, and his children. Had he not indulged in alcohol he would not have been remembered for his incestuous relationship with his daughters.

Such little things to be so dangerous! And yet I hear “Christians” all the time whine that they should be able to drink “a little wine;” they should be able to go where they want, eat what they want, watch what they want, marry whom they want, do what they want. They seem to resent the fact that God has standards and that He has articulated these standards to protect us and keep us from having to go thru many things that we could avoid if we followed His commands.

Just keep holding on to God because He is faithful and He will give you the strength and courage to keep going. His grace is always available for us to draw on! Praise the Lord for that, because without His help we are in a hopeless condition, aren’t we?

Labels: Lot grace abraham

# posted by Judy Mackie @ 4:58 PM