History repeats itself . . .

1 Kings 20; Psalm 106; Daniel 2; 1 Thessalonians 3

History does repeat itself. As I read the Old Testament along with the NT, I see patterns in the way God deals with His people and in the way we respond to Him. Some of it is wonderful, such as salvation from bondage in Egypt. It is a picture of redemption through faith. The people cried out in their misery and God heard them. He demanded nothing from them except to follow the one He sent to take them out of slavery and into freedom. How like the Gospel!

Later, God gave laws to show His people how to live as His distinctive children. Some of these laws were about worship and sacrifices which would later change when Jesus came, yet all of God’s laws defined them as different. They were no longer in bondage but free to choose and to show their faith in God by how they lived. Unfortunately, they struggled with that. Psalm 106 outlines some of what happened:

While they left Egypt with joy and a lot of loot, they soon “rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea, yet (God) saved them for his name’s sake that he might make known his mighty power. He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy . . . then they believed his words and sang his praise.”

It didn’t last long. The rest of the psalm highlights the problems, but also the grace and mercy of God. “But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel” and put God to the test. Later, some were jealous of their leader but God destroyed those rebels.

Then they made a calf and “worshiped metal image” exchanging the glory of God for the image of an ox. They forgot God who had saved them and He was going to destroy them had not Moses interceded for them. Once they were in the land God promised them, they “despised the pleasant land” and had “no faith in his promise” but instead complained and did not obey Him. They provoked His anger with their behavior and he sent a plague. All would have died but a godly man interceded and the plague stopped. Their behavior angered Moses who lost his temper and spoke rashly — to his regret.

When in their land, they were supposed to destroy all that went against them but they didn’t do that. The “mixed with the nations and learned to do as they did.” They served their idols, sacrificed their children, and idolatry made them unclean. “Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity.” (Psalm 106:43)

Pay attention to the daily news and change the names . . . history does repeat itself. Rebellion against God and against living godly lives still happens. The pattern in my own spiritual life has stumbled at times just like the pattern displayed over the centuries outlined in this psalm. What happens next? Was this the end? Did God lose patience and give up? Is that His pattern? Not at all!

Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress when he heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord! (Psalm 106:44–48)

Even before Jesus came to give His own life and enabled the people of God to live like people of God, the Lord remembered His covenant made long before, a covenant of love and promised blessing. He kept it in Christ, and He keeps it each time His followers mess up and each time I mess up. Salvation is of the Lord and I rejoice. I could never save myself by obedience but I can be obedient because God saved me and keeps on saving me.

APPLY: Never give up. Do not live like I’m part of this pagan world but live as a child of God should live — trusting Jesus with everything and about everything — doing what He tells me to do because I want Him to be glorified.

Godly Living isn’t Popular (October 16, 2020)

 

1 Kings 19; Psalm 105; Daniel 1; 1 Thessalonians 2

One of the big questions asks, “What is the purpose of my life?” This is framed in various ways that boil down to “Why am I here?” or for Christians, “What does God want me to do?”

In the OT, the answer came in the Ten Commandments plus the other laws that God gave to His people. While many assume that these were laws defining how they could be saved from sin, this is not the case. Those laws were to define them as God’s covenant people. They were to live differently than the pagans who did not know God and had no relationship with Him.

The NT says the same thing. Those who believe God and are His people through faith in Jesus Christ are to be distinct, living according to the will of God rather than running their lives apart from Him. God’s Word defines the Christian life as well as the life of those who trusted God before Christ came. The difference is that all discovered that they could not fully obey the laws of God. Our sinfulness trips us up and we fall short of His high standards. We need Jesus who became sin for us that we could have His righteousness and be declared just by God.

An OT example of this is Daniel. He was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and chosen for special duties. He and his friends were fed food and wine daily from the king’s table but this food did not conform to the requirements of God’s Laws. It was prepared by Gentiles rendering it unclean. It may have included items forbidden by the Law. It had also been sacrificed and offered to pagan gods before it was offered to the king. God’s people were forbidden to eat anything sacrificed to pagan gods.

The wine was also a problem. The OT forbade “strong drink” so God’s people diluted wine with water, up to 10 parts of water to 1 part of wine but not so the Babylonians. This made both the food and drink forbidden and since Daniel wanted to please God, he resolved that even though he was in a culture that did not follow God’s laws, he would consider himself under the His Law. He requested a trial diet of vegetables (a word that could include grains) and it resulted in him and his friend appearing healthier than those who were on the king’s diet. Not only does this show how God honors those who trust and obey Him, it indicates how living according to the Word of the Lord means living distinctively, not like the rest of those around us.

A NT example is the church at Thessalonica. Paul was thankful for these Christians and expressed how his life and their lives were different and made a difference:

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last! (1 Thessalonians 2:9–16)

Paul lived a blameless life that affected these who believed in Christ. They received God’s Word and followed the godly examples of others. Yet it is important to realize that this life is not always popular! Daniel eventually suffered and nearly died because he followed the will of God. Many Christians experience ridicule, persecution of various forms, and even death because we are living for Christ and not ourselves. As verse 6 says, obedience to God means not seeking glory from people but living so God is glorified.

APPLY: So far, most of the opposition I face is from Satan and his cohorts who have tried all sorts of ways to stop me from prayer and ruin my determination to be a godly person. I’m thankful that the Lord is my refuge and protection, and that He can overcome all that comes against me. I need to remember the courage of Daniel and that godly living does not mean popularity: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)