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God Arrests Saul

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God’s Power for God’s Purpose

God Arrests Saul

Dr. Jim Denison

Acts 9:1-31

On April 17, AD 29, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. The cross was not the end of the story, praise God. On Easter Sunday Jesus rose from the grave, and the rest is history. History we continue today. But so much has changed since then. A car remote is now available to start your car from a quarter-mile away, so the air conditioner will cool the car before you have to drive in the Texas heat. My first car didn’t have an air conditioner. My second car’s air conditioner worked great until it got hot outside. Much has changed.

But much has not. We’re still afraid of death, even more so with the terror alerts which are now part of our national existence. Lincoln Continental has produced a $140,000 Town Car which can stop an AK-47 and block a grenade. BMW has a car which can be hermetically sealed in a gas attack. Full-metal jackets can be put on Cadillac Escalades and Hummer H2s, for $30,000 to $350,000. Breathing masks are common in Hong Kong and Toronto.

Much has not changed. We still want our lives to have meaning, significance, and purpose. But where do we look for them?

Refuse the seduction of secondary success (v. 1)

Let’s consider the wrong answer first. Woodrow Wilson said, “Many men are seduced by secondary success.” A recent business bestseller is titled, Good to Great. Says the author: “Good is the enemy of great.” Good schools prevent great schools; good government prevents great government; good lives prevent great lives. The seduction of secondary success.

I fear that God feels the same way about our society today. Time was when we needed religion to give life meaning and significance. But in the last century, Darwinism taught Americans that we don’t need religion to explain our natural lives and world. Freud taught us that we don’t need religion to explain our emotional and psychological lives. Science and medicine have all the answers, or soon will. So what’s left for church?

Today we use religion to serve us. We use the spiritual to make us feel better about our secular lives, to give us peace, to help us get ahead. To meet our needs, to serve our agenda, to help us find success.

We’re not the first: “Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (v. 1). “Breathing out” means that “murderous threats” were the air he was breathing, the atmosphere in which he was living. Why? Because of “Lord’s disciples,” to his mind a malignant tumor which must be removed from the soul of Judaism. He would be the surgeon who would save his people and their faith from this malice.

So he went to Damascus, 150 miles to the north, walking as far as the distance from here to Waco. He held in his hand “letters,” extradition warrants to bring any Christians he might find in Damascus back to Jerusalem for trial and execution.

This man desperately wanted a life of significance. He could meet with the high priest personally; can you get an appointment with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? He was a member of the Pharisees, the elite corps of Judaism, and a scholar trained by Gamaliel, their finest theologian. But it wasn’t enough. Now he would be known as the man who saved Israel from these malicious Christians. He would do this for God. He would achieve greatness in the eyes of his fellow Pharisees. He was seduced by secondary success, but didn’t know it.

He’s not the last.

Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles has written a fascinating exploration titled The Secular Mind. In it he quotes the poet William Carlos Williams, who knew a woman born in Italy who raised her family in America. She “told me a few weeks ago that it’s become different going to church here than it was when she was in Italy and when she first came here. She used to sit there and talk to God, and try to figure out what he wanted, and try to please him. Now, she says, she mostly thinks about what’s going on in her life, in her kids’ lives, and she asks God to make it better.

“She said to me, ‘It used to be I prayed to God, that I would learn what he wanted from me, and how he wanted me to behave . . . but now I pray to God that he help us with this problem, and the next one—to be a Big Pal of ours! It used to be, when I prayed to God, I was talking to him; now . . . I’m only asking him to help out with things.'”

And so our society comes to church on Easter and other Sundays to keep religious tradition, to be spiritual, to get God’s blessing, to ask God to “help out with things.”

Experience the Easter encounter (vs. 2-9)

Now comes the most famous conversion in Christian history. It was “about noon,” Paul would later say (Acts 26:13). He saw “a light from heaven.” Later he would describe it as “above the brightness of the sun” (Acts 26:13). In other words, a miracle, not a natural phenomenon. It “flashed around him.” The Greek is clear: this happened specifically to Paul. God had his spotlight on him, as he has it on each of us today.

Then Paul “heard a voice”—the Greek means that he heard with understanding. The others heard the sound but did not understand it or see anyone (Acts 9:7). This call was specifically and personally for Paul, as is God’s call for each one of us. No one else can hear God’s will for you. God speaks a “language of the heart” which you alone can understand.

He knew it was God: “Who are you, Lord?” “Lord,” kurios, God and King. Then came the shock that would change his life forever: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” “I am Jesus”—he is alive. His church is his body “whom you are persecuting.” And this “Lord” had a purpose for him: “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (v. 6).

Here is the moment of decision, the crisis of life and soul.

Commentator William Barclay: “There is all of Christianity in what the Risen Christ said to Paul. . . . Up to this moment Paul had been doing what he liked, what he thought best, what his will dictated. From this time forward he would be told what to do. The Christian is a man who has ceased to do what he wants to do and who has begun to do what Christ wants him to do.” (emphasis his).

Remember what the Italian grandmother said: “‘It used to be I prayed to God, that I would learn what he wanted from me, and how he wanted me to behave . . . but now I pray to God that he help us with this problem, and the next one—to be a Big Pal of ours!'” Paul would do what God wanted him to do. God would no longer be a means to his end, but his life a means to God’s. And you know the results.

What will you do with the risen Christ? Religion as a means to your end? Easter worship as a tradition to make you feel good or spiritual? Christianity to help you with your problems, to help your life succeed?

Or will you “go into the city” and do as you are told? Will you make the risen Lord the Lord of your every day? Will you meet him every morning in Bible study and prayer, to get your directions for the day? Will you serve him in witness and ministry? Will you worship him each Sunday and each day?

Will it be God for you, or you for God? The good or the great?

Serve the Easter Lord (vs. 10-31)

Obedience always comes with a price tag. And often our obedience affects others who must pay that price with us.

Oswald Chambers warns: “Stagnation in spiritual life comes when we say we will bear the whole thing ourselves. We cannot. We are so involved in the universal purposes of God that immediately we obey God, others are affected. Are we going to remain loyal in our obedience to God and go through the humiliation of refusing to be independent, or are we going to take the other line and say—I will not cost other people suffering? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but we shall be a grief to our Lord. Whereas if we obey God, He will look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of our obedience. We have simply to obey and to leave all consequences with Him. Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him.”

In this case, Saul’s conversion caused a believer in Damascus named Ananias to risk his life. His name in Hebrew meant “the Lord is gracious,” and here he lived up to it. With ramifications which would echo for all time.

The Lord called him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street (perhaps the only street worthy of such a description in the entire town, as tourists to the city today can attest). Here he was to ask for Saul of Tarsus, who had seen a vision that an Ananias would place hands on him that his sight might be restored (vs. 11-12). Ananias already knew what Saul had come to Damascus to do but had remained in the city anyway, proving himself a man of unusual courage and faith. But even his character was tested by God’s request. Nonetheless, he complied. What would have happened to Christian history if he had not?

Immediately Saul began to preach in the same synagogues he had earlier planned to enlist in his persecution of Christians. But now his message shocked all who heard it: “Jesus is the Son of God” (v. 20). He “baffled” the Jews by “proving” that Jesus is the Christ” (v. 22), the first mention of the apologetic ministry which would characterize so much of his life’s work (cf. Acts 17).

Then came the first of many persecutions to follow, as the apostle escaped the city in a basket, fulfilling the warning of his Lord: “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (v. 16). At the end of the ministry begun in this city, Paul would conclude, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 4:12). With no exceptions.

One more person will pay the price of Saul’s conversion in our text. When he fled Damascus for Jerusalem, the church there was afraid of him and skeptical of his conversion (v. 26). Note that these were the same apostles and believers who had stayed in the city to brave the earlier persecution which Saul and his fellow officials had begun against their movement (Acts 8:1). As with Ananias earlier, even their stalwart faith was tested by this man.

So Barnabas (“Son of Encouragement”) arose, the second to live up to his name for the sake of the future leader of the apostolic movement. He testified personally to Saul’s radical conversion and faithful ministry in Damascus. Given his earlier standing with the community of faith (cf. Acts 4:36-37), his testimony won the day.

So Saul continued his ministry in their city, again sharing the gospel and debating its opponents. Again his brilliance, education, and Spirit-led persuasion won the day. Again the enemy of truth threatened his life. Again he was forced to flee, this time to Caesarea and on to Tarsus. Later Barnabas would find him in his hometown and bring him back to the pages of Luke’s story (Acts 11:25-26).

In the meanwhile, the Father gave peace and rest to his people. Now they have expanded the gospel from Jerusalem to gain footholds in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and beyond. Through the man converted in this chapter, they would soon take Christ to the “ends of the earth.”

Ananias and Barnabas each faced remarkable opportunities to serve God as a means to serving themselves. Each could have stepped into Saul’s role of prominence and prevented his advancement in faith and ministry. Each could have refused God’s call for the sake of their own safety and status. Both chose the eternal great over the temporal good. All of Christendom is in their debt.

Conclusion

This is a good week to examine our motives. Why do you teach? Why do they listen? Why do I preach and write? Why do we pray, study, worship, give, and serve? Are we serving ourselves or our Lord? Are we willing to be used anywhere, for anything, at any time, no matter who knows or cares? Ore are there limits to our obedience? Someone observed, “If you want to learn if you’re a servant, see how you react when you’re treated like one.” Are we serving God, or do we want him to serve us?

NBC reporter David Bloom died in Iraq last April 6 from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 39. The next week, his colleagues paid tribute to his professional success. But there’s more to the story.

Two years earlier, Bloom came to a personal relationship with the risen Christ, and started a very real faith journey. In Iraq, he had been listening each day to Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost For His Highest. That day he heard the reading from April 5, which closes, “Every human being can get through into the presence of God now because of what the Son of Man went through.”

Moments later he climbed out of his tank, took a few steps, and collapsed. His last words were this e-mail he had just composed to his wife Melanie: “Here I am, supposedly at the peak of professional success, but I could, frankly, care less. It’s nothing compared to my relationship with you and the girls and Jesus. I’ll tell you Mel, I am at peace.”

He went from good to great. So can we.

God Before Us

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God Before Us

Psalm 23:1-3

James C. Denison

It has been a strange week in the news. In a village in eastern India, a young girl was married to a stray dog to ward off an evil spirit. The girl is free to get married later in life to a man, without seeking a divorce from her canine spouse. We have no word as to whether the dog is free to seek other companionship as well.

Newcastle University in England has proven that cows which are given names increase their milk yields by up to 500 pints a year. For all of you who are dairy farmers in Dallas, this is a tip worth remembering.

And we learned this week the exciting news that the United Kingdom has reclaimed the world underwater ironing title from Australia. Dozens of divers coordinated their efforts to win this coveted prize. How does underwater ironing work?

The weather has been unusually strange in Dallas this week, from an ice storm on Tuesday to something called “frozen fog” on Thursday morning to 69 degrees on Saturday. It could be worse—more than a million people lost power in Kentucky, and some won’t get it back until the middle of the month.

We live in a fallen, unpredictable world. And now the Arizona Cardinals are in the Super Bowl. What’s next, a World Series for the Rangers?

The one constant, unchanging fact of human existence is the God-shaped emptiness in each of us, the fact that our hearts are restless until they rest in him. In good times and bad, sunshine and ice storms, the created needs the Creator.

We have been working through the promises made by God to Solomon for awakening in the land. Now we turn to the faith experience of Solomon’s father.

David was the greatest king the Jewish nation has ever known, the only person ever described as a “man after God’s own heart,” a man who arguably knew more about personal awakening than anyone. His most famous autobiographical testimony of faith is recorded in Scripture as our Psalm 23.

I began my preaching ministry at Park Cities by exploring this remarkable confession of faith with you. We will return to it for these three weeks, seeking the kind of personal revival and awakening which was David’s experience with God.

How can you know God more intimately today? How can you experience personal awakening this week?

Know your need of God

The most famous poem in the world begins, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (v. 1). If he is our shepherd, we are his sheep. And not just in this passage. Forty-four times in the Bible, God calls us sheep. In fact, “sheep” is the most common metaphor for human beings in all of Scripture.

You need to know that this is not a compliment. Sheep are beautiful animals from a distance, but among the dumbest and most defenseless beings God ever made. Does anyone keep pet sheep? Have you ever seen a sheep in a circus? Sheep are defenseless against every predator. They must be guarded and led every day. The shepherd must live with them and watch them constantly, or they’ll wander into trouble. God is not attempting to increase our self-esteem by calling us sheep.

But surely this description doesn’t apply to all of us. Some of us are smarter and more self-sufficient than sheep. But Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” God says that every one of us is a sheep.

We don’t like to admit that we need God. But we can’t have a shepherd until we admit that we need one, that we are sheep. Jesus’ first Beatitude says, “Blessed are those who know their need of God” (Matthew 5:3). Do you believe that you need more of God than you are now experiencing?

Seek his direction

First I admit that I am a sheep in need of a shepherd. Then I seek his direction, trusting that his will is always best for me. That’s easier said than done. Don’t you sometimes worry that if you sold out to God he would make your life different than you want it to be? Less successful or wealthy or happy? Send you as a missionary to Afghanistan?

And yet this Shepherd promises that “I shall not be in want” (v. 1). Why not?

“He makes me to lie down in green pastures” (v. 2a). In the pastures of the Middle East grow poisonous plants which are fatal to the sheep, and other plants whose sharp thorns will stab their soft noses. The shepherd must lead them to pastures where good grass grows.

“He leads me beside quiet waters” (v. 2b). The sheep is a very poor swimmer because of its heavy wool coat. Its body weight multiplies five times when wet, like a man trying to swim while wearing five heavy wool overcoats. Instinctively, the sheep know they cannot swim in swift currents, so they will not drink from a moving stream. They must be led to quiet waters or they will die of thirst.

And he leads me “in paths of righteousness” (v. 3b). There are paths in Palestine which lead off cliffs, and the sheep will walk down them to their deaths. The good paths are called “the paths of righteousness,” and the good shepherd leads his sheep down them.

In every way the shepherd wants the best for his sheep—food, drink, and safety.

Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Do you want to know and do God’s will as much as he wants you to know and do it? The Psalmist prayed, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God” (Psalm 143:10). When last did you ask God to do that? Paul admonishes, “Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:17).

Do you know God’s will for your life today? Do you want to know it? How can you?

Seek God in his word. Ask the Spirit to speak to you from the words of Scripture. Find a promise or principle which applies to your question or problem, and trust it.

The Westminster Confession of Faith is right: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life is either expressly set down in Scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture, unto which nothing at anytime is to be added whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of man.” In other words, God reveals his will in his word.

Seek God in his worship. Pray, spending time alone with your Father. Listen for his voice. Ask his Spirit to speak to your spirit.

Seek God in the wisdom of his people. Counsel with godly men and women, people who submit to the Spirit. Know that God will speak to you practically, intuitively, and rationally.

God promises us, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). Claim his promise and it is yours.

Follow his lead

Admit you need more of God, and seek his direction for your life. Now choose to obey what you know to do. No leader can lead those who won’t follow. Trust what you believe. Do what God says. It is not enough to believe that a pilot is competent—you have to get in the airplane. You cannot know that the plane will land safely until you get on board.

We must follow God before we can know that his will is best for us.

Sheep have very poor eyesight. They cannot see 10 or 15 yards in front of themselves. And they are dumb enough to follow the sheep in front of them off a cliff or into a crevasse.

You cannot trust your eyes or your friends. You and I must trust the leadership of the God who loves us. When we do, we prove that his will is indeed “good, pleasing, and perfect” (Romans 12:2). But only then.

Adam and Eve were told to trust God in refusing the forbidden fruit, lest they “die.” But no one had ever “died” before. They didn’t understand, so they didn’t obey. And the warning came true for us all.

Noah was told to build an Ark when it had never rained. Abraham was told he would be the father of a great nation when he had no children and his wife had no ability to bear them. Moses was told to stand up to Pharaoh with nothing but a shepherd’s staff. David went into battle with Goliath with nothing but a handful of rocks and a sling.

Jesus healed a blind man when he went to the pool to wash. He healed a lame man in the instant that he took up his mat to walk. He healed a man with a withered hand in the moment that the man tried to move it by faith. He sent his Spirit at Pentecost only after his people risked their lives by staying in Jerusalem to pray.

God is still calling his people to trust his will by faith.

He called Bill and Vonette Bright to begin Campus Crusade for Christ on the UCLA campus in 1951, when they were the only employees of the ministry. Campus Crusade now engages over 25,000 staff members in 191 countries of the world.

My friend Walt Wilson was one of Steve Jobs’ first hires when he started Apple. Walt left when Jobs left the first time, and eventually became the head of a multi-billion dollar software company in Silicon Valley. Walt resigned from that position five years ago to begin an Internet evangelism ministry called Global Media Outreach. I’ve been to their world headquarters in San Jose, and met all seven of their staff.

Last year they shared the gospel with more than 17 million people through their 91 websites, with more than three million indicating that they prayed to receive Christ as their Lord. They saw conversions in all 191 countries of the world.

Conclusion

Now God is calling you and me to make him our shepherd. No human is the Good Shepherd, not me or anyone else. Why trust Jesus fully and unconditionally? Why admit that you need a more intimate and passionate relationship with him? Why seek him with all your heart and trust him with all your life?

Jesus’ self-description in John 10 is the best commentary on Psalm 23 in all the Bible.

Listen to your Lord’s words: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:7-10).

How was a shepherd the “gate” for the sheep? After he brought the sheep into the enclosure for the night, he would then lay across the doorway and sleep there, on the ground. That way no thieves could get in and no sheep could wander out. He would die if necessary for his sheep. The Good Shepherd, in fact, did.

Now he wants to lead you to peace, purpose, and joy no matter the circumstances of your fallen world. Those who have trusted him most fully have known his peace most joyfully.

On Friday afternoon we held a memorial service to celebrate the life and faith of Sara Foxworth. Sara battled leukemia for years, suffering through three bouts of stem-cell transplants. Toward the end, her body ravaged and in excruciating pain, she could barely speak to those who came to see her. But in the hardest, darkest hours, there was an amazing peace of God about her.

Sara had for years been one of Jesus’ most devoted, loving, passionate followers. To know her was to know Christ more fully. She was his sheep in every way, and he was her shepherd. When she needed his presence and peace most, she knew them most fully. And now she is home and she is well.

Jesus was her Good Shepherd. Is he yours?

God Beside Us

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God Beside Us

Psalm 23:4

James C. Denison

Before January 15, Chesley Sullenberger III was anything but a household name.

A former Air Force fighter pilot, he is also the founder of Safety Reliability Methods, Inc., a consulting business. According to their website, their mission is “to utilize our expertise to apply the most effective methods to your organization to achieve the highest levels of safety, performance and reliability.”

When Mr. Sullenberger safely landed US Airways Flight 1549 in New York’s Hudson River, I’m guessing his business clientele rose significantly. After the pilot saved the lives of the other 154 passengers, he then walked the length of the aircraft twice to be sure no one was left before disembarking himself.

Audio tapes of his exchange with air traffic controllers were released this week. Listening to them, I was amazed by his calm under pressure. If I ever need “the highest levels of safety, performance and reliability,” I know who to call.

I’ve read that bird strikes cause $600 million in damage to U.S. aircraft every year. You never know when one will strike your engines. It is extremely rare for both engines to be killed by birds, and even more rare for such an event to occur out of range of the airport where an emergency landing is possible.

What seldom happens to airplanes happens every day to souls. There are birds attacking your engines at this very moment. Events and people are conspiring to bring your plane down. If you’re not stepping into the “valley of the shadow of death” today, you will be soon. When that day comes, what good is it to know God as your personal shepherd? What help is personal spiritual awakening then? What does this issue say to our culture in crisis today?

Expect the valley

The most famous verse of the most famous Psalm is this sentence: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (v. 4).

There is a place in Palestine called “the valley of deepest shadows.” It’s a jagged gorge running from Jerusalem towards the Dead Sea, so deep that the sun’s rays never penetrate to its floor. Here wolves and thieves can hide behind nearly every rock, thorn bushes grow up to grab and slash at the sheep, and deep crevasses menace on every side.

This is a perilous place, but there are times when the sheep must go through it. To get to the green grass, quiet water and right paths, sometimes the shepherd has no choice but to lead his sheep through this valley. There is simply no way to the other side.

That’s why David says, “When I walk through the valley.” Not if, but when. Paul told new converts, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Jesus warned us, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33).

While the text doesn’t describe the specific nature of David’s “trouble,” rabbinic tradition identifies the setting of the 23rd Psalm as David’s flight from Absalom.

As you may know, Absalom was one of David’s sons. His sister Tamar was raped by their half-brother Amnon, but David did not punish him. So Absalom took matters into his own hands, arranging a feast at which Amnon was killed in revenge. David then exiled Absalom from the royal court for five years.

Absalom’s anger at David smoldered until it fanned into the flames of open rebellion. He staged a coup against his father, seizing his throne and sending his soldiers to arrest David. The greatest king in Hebrew history was forced to flee his throne and palace, and run from his own son.

The royal group fled Jerusalem to the east, crossing through the Kidron Valley to the region of the Mount of Olives; the Garden of Gethsemane would be located in this area. While fleeing his own son, the Kidron became his “valley of the shadow of death” and the setting for the psalm. Such is rabbinic tradition for this famous hymn of trust.

Imagine that your son wants to steal your throne and even kill you, and that many of your trusted advisors and supporters have joined his rebellion. Now you are retreating in humiliation to an unknown future. Whatever fear you face today, David has a word for you.

Stay near the shepherd

God is willing to walk with us through our deepest valleys, no matter why we are in them. During such days as this the sheep want their shepherd “with” them. Not out in front of them leading, but beside them, protecting.

David makes the “LORD” his Shepherd. “LORD” translates YHWH, the One who was, is, and ever shall be, the ever-present God. Of this Shepherd the King can say, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” David the shepherd knew his subject.

The “rod” was a short club, three feet long, with a heavy weight at one end. The shepherd used it to kill snakes, beat back wolves, and flatten thorn bushes. He threw it over the heads of his sheep to kill a charging wolf. He also used it to drive a wayward sheep back into the fold.

And his “staff” was eight feet long with a crooked end. He used it to keep the sheep together, to guide them, and to pull them back from thorn bushes and rocky crevasses.

His presence with them in the valley, and his rod and staff, “comforted” them. The Hebrew means “to preserve a feeling of security, peace, and joy.” Even as they walk through the valley.

And note this little word, “through.” Not “into”—you go “into” a cave because there’s no way out the other side. “Through,” as you go through a tunnel because it’s open at the other end. They’ll not stay in this valley, so long as they stay with their shepherd. He will protect and comfort them, and lead them through to the other side.

But these sheep must choose to let him. They must choose to stay at his side, to stay under the protection of his rod and staff, to stay in his presence. The staff is only eight feet long. They must stay close to their shepherd. James 4:8 promises that if we draw close to God, he will draw close to us. But the choice is ours.

Here we meet the greatest spiritual issue facing our culture in crisis.

You and I have inherited a Western worldview which sees religion as a means to an end. Make sacrifices to the gods so they will bless your crops or give you children. Go to church for what we can get from it. Pray so we will be blessed; read the Bible so we will find guidance.

The great need of our day is for Spirit-led people who will stay close to the shepherd every day, men and women and young people who will begin the day by submitting it to God. Our Father is looking for people who will be servant leaders in their churches and communities, believers who will not serve God out of their own expertise and experience but people who will pray first, seek God fervently, and do only and always what he wants. Sheep who will stay near their shepherd.

How close are you to your Shepherd today? Did you submit this day to his leading? Do you bring your every problem to his providence? Are you trusting in his staff and rod, or in your ability and strength? How long since you asked God’s help with your work, or family, or problem? The valley of deepest shadows can bring us closer to God, but the choice is ours.

Learn from the valley

So we expect the valley and stay close to the Shepherd. When we do that, hard days can be holy days. The valleys of deepest shadows can be those times when we know God most personally and intimately, if we choose for them to be so.

Richard Foster, the great writer on spirituality, says, “God becomes a reality when he becomes a necessity.”

Mother Teresa said, “You’ll never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you’ve got.”

The summer I spent as a college missionary in East Malaysia was the loneliest of my life. But I grew closer to God during those days than at any time I had ever known. When we’re “so far down we can’t look anywhere but up,” hard days can be holy days.

When we stay near the Shepherd, hard days can be healing days.

Just as water flows best through a ditch or channel or valley, so the blessing and usefulness of God flows best through the valleys carved in our lives by hard times.

Cancer patients make the best encouragers for other cancer patients. Those who have lost children are the best ministers to those who lose children. When my father died the one person whose words helped most was Linda Sharp, whose father and then pregnant older sister had died in the previous six months.

God never wastes a hurt. You may not see how people are watching you in the valley, but they are. And your faithful suffering can be your greatest witness.

And when we stay near the Shepherd, hard days are never the last days.

God gives us this promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

And remember Psalm 30:5: “His anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” This is the promise of God.

God is about a Great Awakening, a national movement of spiritual renewal and revival. He redeems all he allows. He wants to use the financial and military crises of these days to call people to himself. But the process starts with his people. It starts with followers of Jesus who are willing to submit and surrender every day to his Spirit, who are willing to walk with their Shepherd, who follow wherever he leads and do whatever he asks. He’s looking for such sheep in these days, and now he has come to us.

Conclusion

The Lord has called Janet and me to follow him as his Shepherd. He has asked us to join him in a great spiritual movement, and has led us to do something we never imagined. Many of you have expressed your support for Janet and me in this new ministry direction. You have been so very gracious and encouraging as we seek to follow our Shepherd into the pastures and streams and paths that he has for us. We are trying to do what I have been teaching this morning, following the Shepherd wherever he leads.

This is not easy for us. I’ll say more about this next Sunday, but know that we love you and have loved serving God with you. Our sons have grown up here, and you have become our spiritual family in every way. We are grieving the change in our relationship which this call has necessitated.

But here’s our encouragement: We have a Shepherd who loves us, each of us, all of us. “Pastor” comes from pastorem, Latin for “shepherd.” But it’s not really true. There is only one Shepherd of Park Cities Baptist Church. He has been this great church’s Shepherd from 1939 to today, and he will be her Shepherd until the end of time. He will walk with every one of his sheep through every valley they face, every day they live.

Why do you need such a Shepherd today?

God Deals With Us As Gently As He Can

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God Deals With Us As Gently As He Can—

Or As Harshly As He Must

The life and legacy of Moses

Dr. Jim Denison

Exodus 7-10

A group of missionaries was forced to travel through a dangerous part of their region, an area where bandits had been active for weeks. When they camped for the night, some slept while others prayed, then they took turns. The next day they arrived safely at the missionary compound.

A few months later, the leader of the local band of bandits was apprehended and brought to trial. One of the missionaries asked him if he had been active in the area where their group had camped. The criminal said that he and his band had seen the group, and planned to rob them of their belongings and kill them. However, 21 men in armor had stood guard around their camp all night, so that the bandits could not attack.

The next year, that missionary returned to the States on furlough, and told his home church of their group’s divine deliverance. A lady stood and asked the exact date when this miracle had occurred. She then told the missionary that she had become burdened that night for their ministry, and called a prayer meeting at the church. 20 people joined her for prayer.

It has been said that coincidence is when God prefers to remain anonymous. But there are times when he cannot stay behind the scenes if he is to protect and prosper his children. On occasion he must reveal his miraculous power in a way which is seen by all.

In this study, we’ll watch God show his power to the mightiest nation on earth. As we study the first nine plagues, we will marvel at the Creator’s miraculous ability to intervene in the affairs and circumstances of his creation.

Here’s the question we might ponder throughout the study:

Are we Pharaoh or Moses?

Are you walking in obedience to God’s will or disobedience to his word?

Are you in position to receive his benevolent grace, or to experience his disciplinary power?

God deals with us as gently as he can or as harshly as he must. The choice is ours.

What did God do?

First we’ll explore the plagues and their circumstances, so that we might have in mind the actual events as they occurred. Then we’ll ask why the Lord brought these judgments against Pharaoh and his people, and what such events say to our lives and churches.

Water into blood

The first plague turned water into “blood.” Some interpreters suggest that this occurrence was natural in origin and circumstance. We know that red sediment typically washes down from Ethiopia in the annual flooding of the Nile, occurring annually in late summer and early fall. A type of algae known as flagellates comes from the Sudan swamps into the Egyptian rivers as well. And a particular type of red plankton is sometimes seen off the Egyptian coast, and could float into the Nile and other rivers.

The text indicates that the Egyptians “dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river” (Exodus 7:24). If they were using Nile water filtered by the sands along the shore, we can know that the river was not changed into actual blood, since blood cannot be filtered out of water. And we note that the Egyptian magicians were able to duplicate the plague, at least in appearance (v. 22). And so some believe that the “blood” was the writer’s description of the water’s appearance more than its chemical composition.

On the other hand, the first plague affected not just the Nile but streams and canals, ponds and reservoirs, and even wooden buckets and stone jars (v. 19). The latter had likely been filled before the plague occurred, so that a naturalistic explanation for their transformation seems unlikely.

If the first plague turned the water into the appearance of blood, the miracle was that this transformation occurred at the word of Moses through Aaron. It seems more likely to me that the miracle was an actual turning of the water throughout the nation into blood, and that the people “dug along the Nile” to seek water sources other than the river itself. Either way, the first plague was clear proof that God is sovereign over nature.

To the Egyptians, this power was especially significant. One of their two most important deities was Hopi, the god of the Nile. The vessels containing water were probably used for the worship of this god. For the Hebrew God to control the waters of the nation meant that he controlled the god of those waters. The Lord who turned water into wine (John 2) could turn it into blood as well. He is clearly the Lord of the universe.

Frogs

The second plague brought frogs from the Nile into the nation (Exodus 8:1-4). They covered Pharaoh’s palace and the homes of his people. We know that frogs usually arrived en masse in Egypt during the month of September, and that they also fled the Nile when it became contaminated. And so it is not unusual that a large number of frogs would flee the waters as they were contaminated by the first plague.

The miracle of this event was that the frogs came in direct response to the word of God through Moses and Aaron, and that they died in direct response to Moses’ prayer (vs. 12-13). To the Egyptians, this plague would be significant spiritually as well. They identified frogs and toads with the god Hapi and also the goddess Heqt, the deity who helped women in childbirth. The frog was thus a symbol of fertility. The second plague showed the Egyptians that the Hebrew God could touch not only their water, but also their homes and families as well.

Gnats

The third plague used insects called kinnim in the Hebrew (the word occurs only in connection with this plague). These could have been lice, mosquitoes, or ticks. They perhaps bred in fields which were flooded annually by the Nile. This was the first plague which the Egyptian magicians could not appear to repeat (Exodus 8:18).

The gnats further demonstrated the power of the Hebrew God over the Egyptians. He proved that he could control their water, their homes, and now their physical health and condition. There was no place or person safe from his intervention.

Flies

As the waters of the Nile receded, flies typically bred. These could have been a mixture of several different kinds of insects, and could have come to feed on the decaying frogs of the second plague. The Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament done in Egypt, thus with local knowledge of these events) translates the “flies” as kyomuia, the “dog-fly” or gadfly.

These particular insects have a very painful bite. They can also carry anthrax, which would affect the cattle in the fifth plague. Their bite could also have infected the Egyptians with skin anthrax, causing the sixth plague.

Livestock

Egyptian cattle were sent to pasture in the open country from January to April, when grass for feeding was plentiful. They were kept in barns or stalls the other months of the year. The fifth plague came against those livestock which were in the open field and thus susceptible to disease.

The plague could have involved bacillus anthracis, hoof and mouth disease, perhaps contracted from the dead frogs of the second plague. Or it could have resulted from the flies of the fourth plague.

Egyptians worshiped the bull-gods Apis and Mnevis, the cow-god Hathor, and the ram-god Khnum. With the fifth plague, the Hebrew God proved his power over these pagan deities. And he showed that he controlled the Egyptian food supply, and thus their future and security. There was no place in the nation free of his power.

Boils

The sixth plague brought “boils” on the Egyptians. The word is better translated “inflamed areas,” and could refer to the Nile scab still common when the river rises. This could have been a skin rash from the heat as well.

Either way, the Egyptians saw that the Hebrews were not affected. Clearly their God would protect his people and persecute their oppressors.

Hail

The next plague likely occurred in January or February, as it ruined the flax and barley in the fields (v. 31). The miracle was not that hailstones would fall on Egypt, but that they would come with the size and ferocity the nation experienced. And that they would fall as a direct result of Moses’ rod and command (Exodus 9:23). The Hebrew God is clearly Lord of the heavens and the earth.

Locusts

One of the most feared occurrences in the ancient agrarian world was a plague of locusts. A large group could cover 500 miles, and completely hide the sun. They are known to strip a field of its grain in a single day. Such plagues were typical symbols of divine judgment and wrath (cf. Amos 7:1-3; Joel 1:1-7; Revelation 9:1-11).

Darkness

The first of Egypt’s two most important deities was defeated by the first plague, as God took control of the Nile and the waters of the land. The second deity was the sun-god Ra. With the ninth plague, the God of the Hebrews showed his power over this pagan idol as well. The darkness which fell over the land may have originated with a hamsin (literally “the fifty”), a severe wind which blows for 50 days in the spring and often brings sandstorms from the desert.

In this case, the darkness was so severe that the entire nation was without light for three days. But again the Lord protected his people, showing his power and providential care for his children.

Summary

By these nine plagues the Hebrew God showed Pharaoh, his advisors and magicians, and his people that he is the one true Lord. And he showed his own people the providential protection and power which encouraged their faith in him. When the plagues began, Pharaoh and his gods were the acknowledged rulers of the nation. When the ninth ended, there was no question that the God of the Jews was the great and true Lord.

None of these judgments and plagues would have been necessary if Pharaoh had done as the Lord instructed through Moses. God does indeed deal with us as gently as he can or as harshly as he must. But Pharaoh’s heart was “hard.” Let’s learn why.

Why did God do it?

The plagues against Egypt occurred as a direct consequence of Pharaoh’s “hardened heart.” Why was he so unwilling to obey the word and will of God?

Exodus describes the cause of Pharaoh’s “hardened heart” in three ways. First, it attributes this condition to the initiative of God: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you” (Exodus 7:3-4; emphasis mine). Note that “Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country” (Exodus 11:10; emphasis mine).

As a second explanation, the text also states, “Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said” (Exodus 7:13, emphasis mine). And the book also states, “when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said” (Exodus 8:15; emphasis mine); “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go” (Exodus 8:32).

Note Pharaoh’s repetitive changes of heart and mind. For instance, after the plague of hail (Exodus 9:27), Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned and asked Moses to pray for the hail to stop; then “he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts” (v. 34). After the plague of locusts, Pharaoh admitted his sin (Exodus 10:16-17), then “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go” (v. 20).

And after the Passover, “During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites!'” (Exodus 12:31). And he asked, “And also bless me” (v. 32). But later, “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, ‘What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!’ So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him” (Exodus 14:5-6). Did God change Pharaoh’s heart each time?

The ultimate result of Pharaoh’s “hardened heart” was the death of the firstborn son of the nation, and the destruction of the Egyptian army as well: “The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived” (Exodus 14:28). Did the Lord cause Pharaoh to make sinful choices which led to the death of thousands of innocent soldiers and sons? Or were these deaths the tragic consequence of Pharaoh’s own decisions?

Interpretive options

One approach is that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart without his consent or complicity. If this is true, it is explained by the fact that Pharaoh’s spiritual condition led to the Exodus and the Passover, and contributed to the creation of the Jewish nation.

By implication, this approach makes God responsible for the death of every first-born male in Egypt as a means to this Passover. If God was responsible for Pharaoh’s heart-hardening after his own repentance following the plagues of hail and locusts, then he is responsible for the Passover deaths which resulted.

A second approach is that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but with Pharaoh’s own complicity and cooperation. In other words, Pharaoh’s own pride and ego was used further by God for his larger purposes.

As an example of this kind of spiritual occurrence, remember Judas’ decision to betray Jesus. Perhaps he wanted the money offered by the authorities, was angry with Jesus’ refusal to overthrow the Romans, or sought to force him into such military action. Yet Judas’ decision was not entirely his own: “Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus” (Luke 22:3-4).

Satan used Judas’s own sin, and furthered it for his own purposes. Perhaps God did the same with Pharaoh’s prideful heart. If this is true, then the Passover was the result of Pharaoh’s decision as well as God’s, or perhaps instead of God’s.

A third view is that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, without any direct action by the Lord. According to this approach, Jewish theology at the time of the Exodus viewed all that happens as the direct and sovereign work of God, and thus attributed Pharaoh’s spiritual condition to the Lord.

As an example of this kind of theological interpretation, remember David’s decision to take a census of Israel: “the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go and take a census of Israel and of Judah'” (2 Samuel 24:1). God then judged the nation with a plague which killed 70,000 of the people (v. 15). This is difficult to understand if God “incited” David to take the census.

Further, God was “grieved because of the calamity” when the death angel reached Jerusalem, and made him stop (v. 16). Note David’s reaction: “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. what have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family” (v. 17). He thought the sin was his own, not God’s.

When 1 Chronicles was written (perhaps by Ezra) some 400 years after 1 and 2 Samuel, the census was explained differently: “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel” (1 Chronicles 21:1). With the same results, and David’s even more explicit personal responsibility: “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong . . .” (v. 17).

Perhaps the earlier interpretation attributed to God an action which was actually inspired by Satan, though it was permitted by the Lord. The 2 Samuel account is of course correct, as the census was made under the sovereign permission of the Lord. He is still the God of the universe, and permits all that he does not cause. This approach perhaps explains why the Exodus writer attributed Pharaoh’s hardened heart to God and to Pharaoh as well.

The second approach seems the simplest and therefore the best to me. The text records both sides of the sovereignty/free will debate: God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he hardened his own heart. The fact that we cannot easily reconcile these two positions does not make them wrong. Human logic should not be the final factor in determining biblical truth.

Throughout the biblical worldview we find paradox—God is three and yet one, Jesus was fully God and fully man, the Scriptures were divinely inspired but humanly authored. So it is with freedom and God’s sovereignty: he knows and determines the future, yet we have freedom to choose. God chose for Pharaoh’s heart to reject his will so he could bring about the Exodus, yet Pharaoh chose to reject God’s will of his own volition as well. While such an interpretive position will appear contradictory to some, it seems to me the clearest statement of the Exodus narrative.

However we understand Pharaoh’s spiritual heart condition, we can understand easily its consequences and lessons. Through the first nine plagues the Hebrew God proved that he is sovereign over men and their pagan idols. The most powerful man on earth is no match for the Lord of the universe.

We learn also that this God rules nations as well as men. The plagues pit Moses and Aaron against the greatest military power the world had ever seen. And the servants of God were proven victorious.

Conclusion

Let’s close where we began, with the fact that each of us is Moses or Pharaoh. You may face today a person or circumstance which opposes God’s will and word. Or you may yourself stand in such opposition to his providence and plan. If you are dealing with a Pharaoh, know that the same God who defeated the Egyptian power and people stands on your side. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He can still do all that he has ever done. Imitate Moses: give your problem or pain to him in faith. And you will see his hand at work to accomplish all that his will directs.

Conversely, you may be a Pharaoh to someone else. Examine your heart this week. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything which is wrong with God. Write it down, specifically and honestly. Confess all such sin to the Father, and claim his forgiveness and grace (1 John 1:9). Throw away the paper, and walk in the will of God.

It has been said that in every heart there is a crown and a cross. If you are on the cross, Jesus wears the crown. If you wear the crown, Jesus is on the cross. Which is true of your heart today?

God Fights for Israel

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God Fights for Israel

Joshua 10:1-12:24

Dr. Jim Denison

Thesis: We must attack the enemy to win spiritual victory.

Goal: Identify a ministry initiative to attempt.

The scene is one of the most dramatic locations on earth. Standing 1150 feet above sea level, the massive rock outcropping is the largest I’ve ever seen, gray with streaks of metallic brown, flat and imposing. And towering above it is a gigantic cliff, dwarfing the valley below in every direction.

High up on that cliff our tour group could see a cave, the famous “Gates of Hades.” This cave leads to a shaft which bores down through the mountain and this plateau on which it stands, deep into the earth. That shaft is so deep that its bottom has never been found. Even the most sophisticated measuring devices have not been able to determine its absolute depth. I will never forget standing on that rock at Caesarea Philippi, looking up at the Gates of Hades.

As I stared in awe, my mind traveled back to a time when another man stood where I was this day. As he looked around himself he could feel the religious significance of the place.

Just a short distance away stood the brilliant white marble temple built by Herod the Great as an altar to the worship of Caesar, hence the name of the place, “Caesarea.” Beneath his feet was that cavern where the Greeks said Pan, their god of nature, was born. Scattered around the place were fourteen temples to Baal, the Canaanite fertility god, where the Syrians worshiped. Somewhere below was one of the origins of the Jordan River, the holiest river in all the Jewish faith, the water Joshua and the people walked through to inherit the Promised Land. And he thought of his own Jewish traditions and worship.

On this gigantic rock, standing in the midst of temples to every kind of god known to his culture, this man hears a Galilean carpenter ask, “Who do you say that I am?” And this man, standing where I stood, declares, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And he hears the Galilean say, “I will build my church.” Then, pointing to the cave towering above them, dwarfing this small group of peasants gathered below, he claims, “Even the Gates of Hell will not withstand your assault” (Mt 16:13-18).

Many Christians miss the analogy. It is common to think of the church as an ark, built to withstand the floods which surround us. Or a fortress, erected to provide safe haven amidst the attacks of enemy armies from our fallen world. But it is not. The church is an army, created to attack Hell. Commissioned to take the gospel to the world. Called to assault the enemy, wherever we find him.

Retreat is not an option.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president, he faced a nation mired in Great Depression, with world war clouds gathering on the horizon. The economy was in retreat; discouragement was epidemic; some were beginning to question the future of the American experiment with democracy. But the new president, himself crippled by polio, taught us a lesson we’ll remember so long as America lives: we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Had America retreated from her challenges and opportunities, what would have happened to Europe? To us?

In war, initiative is everything. If Joshua and his people had waited at the Jordan River until there was no water to brave, they’d be waiting there still. If they had waited at Jericho and Ai until the residents gave them the keys to their cities, they’d be waiting still. We are called to attack, to initiate, to find ways to take the good news of God’s love to our fallen city and world. And retreat is not an option.

Sitting on a bedside in East Malaysia while on a summer missions tour in 1979, I was asked by veteran missionary Chuck Morris if I would consider a career in missions. My reply: “I’d go if God opened the door.” Chuck pointed his finger at me and said, “No, go unless God closes the door.” It was a prophetic moment.

What ministry will you initiate this week? What will your class do to help someone follow Jesus, because you have taught them the truths of this text? To win the battle, we must engage the enemy. And retreat is not an option.

Pay the price of victory (10:1-15)

The oath Joshua and the leaders of the nation made with the Gibeonites would soon be tested. Our word and integrity will always face adversity. The rain proves the foundation (Matthew 7.24-27). But God is ready to transform and redeem any situation trusted to his care (Romans 8.28).

The Amorite kings in the region learned of Gibeon’s treaty with Joshua, and likely feared that it would be the first of many dominoes to fall. If such a formidable city and army would choose slavery to Israel over armed assault, who might follow their example? Thus their combined strategy against Joshua and his army, a gambit born of desperation (vs. 1-4).

It is ironic that their assault was initiated by the king of “Jerusalem.” The name means “Foundation of Peace,” but it was given to the city centuries after Joshua by King David. In Joshua’s day the city was known as Jebus, “City of the Jebusites” (cf. 2 Samuel 5:6ff). The writer/editor of our text used the name by which the city was known to Jewish history. In time, the “city of peace” would welcome and then crucify the Prince of Peace, that he might bring peace on earth and goodwill to mankind.

When the Amorites united against Gibeon, these slaves of Joshua appealed to their master for help. And God’s general responded by taking immediate initiative, choosing the best men and summoning his entire army for response. The Lord again exhorted him to courage, and promised that their fate had already been determined. They marched the 30 miles from Gilgal west to Gibeon, climbing some 3,000 feet of elevation, completing in one night what had earlier been a three-day journey (9:17). And so they surprised their enemy (v. 9) and won the victory.

Joshua took the initiative. Our spiritual armor has no back side (Eph 6:13-17). In Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian had just begun to wear his new spiritual armor when he saw the fiend Apollyon coming toward him: “The sight of him filled Christian with fear, and he began to wonder what he should do. Should he go back in haste, or stand his ground, going calmly on his way, as if he had no fears? Then it occurred to him that he had no armor for his back, and to turn his back to the enemy would give him the opportunity to pierce his back with darts. He decided to hold his ground and keep straight on his way; that would demonstrate his faith, uphold his principles, and be safer for his person than turning and running away.” Christian chose wisely.

So did Joshua. His drove their foes into the surrounding mountains, where their chariots could not be used. When we rely on our chariots, we fail. When we rely on our Lord and his call to attack, we succeed. As a result, the Israeli army pursued the mightiest foe they had yet faced, all the way back to their cities and homelands. Their enemy’s “confusion” (v. 10) is better translated “terror.” And God sent hailstones which killed more than the swords of the Israelites. The Canaanites, who worshiped deities of nature and the skies, must have thought that their gods were aiding the Israelites or being defeated by their god.

Then Joshua demonstrated a boldness of faith such as the world had never before seen (v. 12). Perhaps he prayed for the sun to “stand still” so his men could fight in extended daylight, or so that nightfall would not enable the enemy’s retreat. Whatever his motivation, God answered his prayer (vs. 13-14).

The Hebrew words can mean that the sun was “stopped in its path,” so that the earth’s rotation was halted. Or they can mean that the sun’s rays were stopped, so that the day was not longer but cooler. Many attempts have been made to reconcile this record of the stopped sun with known astrological data. Options suggested include a solar eclipse, divine reshaping of solar rays, or the darkness produced by the hailstorm mentioned just earlier. Some have noted that no other reference to this phenomenon is to be found in biblical or ancient histories, so that the event may have been optical in nature and confined to Joshua’s army and location.

But all such speculation is irrelevant. If God could stop the flooded Jordan and collapse the walls of Jericho, he could stop the sun as well. Whatever happened must have been miraculous, for “There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!” (v. 14).

This was the third and final great miracle recorded in the book of Joshua. It was “written in the Book of Jashar” as well (v. 13). “Jashar” means “upright” or “righteous,” so that this was the “book of the righteous.” It is referenced one other time in the Bible, when it records the lament of David for Saul and Jonathan upon their deaths (2 Samuel 1:18). Never included in Scripture, it was a source for the biblical writers, and may have been a song book or volume of praises and laments. The “Book of the Wars of the Lord” (Numbers 21.14-15) is another example of such historical records kept by the people.

Joshua marched his army all night, so they could surprise their enemy. He and his men paid an enormous price to initiate this battle, armed with the assurance and power of God. There will always be a price to pay in initiative, preparation, and sacrifice. But the results will be worth their cost.

William Barclay was right: we progress in life in proportion to the fare we are prepared to pay. John Wesley’s life motto is worth our adoption: “Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can.”

Martin Luther preached several times each week, wrote books and taught the Scriptures. By his death, the Reformation he sparked had spread across Europe. He translated the entire Bible, creating the modern German language in so doing. He published more than 400 pamphlets and books, 37 hymns, and 2,300 sermons. He also organized a new church with revised liturgy and a new system of government. He often said, “If I rest, I rust.” And he commented, “If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without three hours daily in prayer.”

Victory will always come at a higher price than defeat. It is easy to lose, but hard to win. We must seize the initiative, and pay any price to win the day. If we will march all night, God will stop the sun all day.

Turn difficulty into destiny (10:16-42)

Standing before the 1936 Democratic National Convention on June 27, 1936, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” Out of the hardships of the Great War and the Great Depression would come the Greatest Generation. All because they were led to turn difficulty into destiny.

In the same way, Israel did not begin this war but she would end it. And Joshua would turn the difficulties presented by the conflict into fulfillment of the nation’s destiny. How can we do the same?

Refuse distractions (vs. 16-19)

Joshua’s army trapped the five kings who had led the attack against the children of Israel. But they refused to be distracted from total victory, imprisoning them in the cave they had used for shelter, until they could deal with them later.

Keep the main thing the main thing. Keep your focus on the purpose before you. When Lee Iacocca was chairman of the Chrysler Corporation and attempting to lead the carmaker out of bankruptcy, he discovered that he had to remind his full-time employees of their vision and purpose every 28 days. Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing. Keep the “right thing” front and center.

Share the rewards (vs. 20-25)

After defeating the retreating armies of their enemy, Joshua’s men then returned to the kings they had imprisoned, and led them captive back to Gilgal and Joshua. This was a moment of remarkable success and significance for Israel’s general. Imagine Hitler and Emperor Hirohito dragged before President Roosevelt. The picture would be engraved on the nation’s imagination still.

This was a unique opportunity for Joshua to claim the glory of the victory he had courageously led his people to achieve. But he refused. Instead, he called the leaders of the various army legions forward. He ordered them to put their feet on the necks of their enemies, an ancient show of conquering power. He honored them. And they honored him.

A basic fact of leadership is that we can do anything in life if we don’t care who gets the credit. Lao-Tzu was right: the best leader is the one whose people say, “we did it.” When we lead those entrusted to our influence to spiritual victory, we must share the rewards, distribute the recognition, honor those who are deserving of gratitude. Keith Parks, former president of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, made this his basic rule for leadership: if something goes wrong, I did it. If something goes right, we did it.

One day Jesus will “reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15.25). Then we will share the rewards of our faithfulness for all eternity.

Set the example (vs. 26-27)

Joshua gave his men the privilege of sharing in the victory. But when the time came for the hardest work, the most gruesome task, he fulfilled it himself. By executing the enemy kings personally, he set an example of courage and conviction for his men to follow.

We cannot lead others further than we are willing to go. In leadership, example is not the main thing—it is the only thing. Effective leaders turn difficulty into destiny by doing the difficult thing first. And setting the example themselves.

Here we find a leadership paradox. The most effective time managers are those who do only that which only they can do. If another member of the team can fulfill a task, they should. Conversely, we must give those who follow us an example which inspires their support and mobilizes their commitment.

Finish strong (vs. 28-42)

The success of a military campaign, or a leadership strategy, cannot be determined until the last enemy is defeated. The side which begins well does not always end well. If World War II had ended as it began, I might be writing these words in German. Finishing strong is more than a life motto—it is essential to lasting legacy and success.

So it was with Joshua and the Southern Campaign. Joshua 10 lists the battles in order, each an unqualified success: Makkedah (28), Libnah (29-30), Lachish (whose king Horam was the most powerful in the region, as documented by archaeological discoveries in the area) and Gezer (31-33), Eglon (34-35), Hebron (36-37), and Debir (38-39). And so the entire southern region, from Kadesh Barnea in the south to Gaza in the north, was conquered because “the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel” (v. 42). A chapter which began with the greatest threat Israel had faced in Canaan, ended with the greatest string of consecutive successes in their history.

These words by Teddy Roosevelt are among my favorites:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Stay obedient to God (11:1-23)

C. S. Lewis once likened God’s work in our lives to a man remodeling your house. At first he fixes the things which obviously need fixing—the leaking gutters, the broken gate, the carpet stains. But then he begins work you hadn’t asked him to do—knocking out this wall and putting up that one, adding on a story above the garage, and so on. You don’t understand what he’s doing, or why he’s doing it. But the reason is simple: “You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

Would you let an enemy live in even a single room of your house? Only when every room is under your control, is the house truly yours. So with the lives our Master Carpenter is building through us. He intends us to be the “body of Christ,” his incarnation and presence in our fallen world. Total obedience to his word and will are therefore essential. A single cancer cell can eventually kill us.

The key to the Northern Campaign described in Joshua 11 is found in verse 15: “As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.” His complete obedience to God’s will and leadership made possible the eventual result: “the land had rest from war” (v. 23).

To achieve such stunning success, Israel would face an even more dangerous military situation than in the battle over Gibeon. The kings in the northern territory combined their forces, led by Jabin, king of Hazor. His was the largest and most fortified city in the region. The walled city of Jericho proper occupied only five or six acres of land; excavations at Hazor show that the walled city covered some 30 acres, and the lower city measured 175 acres. The city was mentioned in early Egyptian inscriptions; its location was so strategic that it was later fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9.15). Under the king of Hazor’s leadership, the area consolidated their forces, opposing Israel with “all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore” (v. 4).

Facing such overwhelming opposition, Joshua again needed the assurance of God’s power and provision. And his Lord gave it: this massive army would belong to Israel on the morrow (v. 6). When fear knocks at the door and faith answers, no one is there.

The battle turned at v. 7: “Joshua and his whole army came against them suddenly at the Waters of Merom and attacked them.” The combined enemy forces had been camped at this location, eight miles northwest of the Sea of Galilee. This was the same general area as Caesarea Philippi in the time of Jesus, where our Lord commanded his “troops” to assault the gates of Hades. Perhaps the first Joshua was in the mind of the second Joshua and his followers.

Jabin and his confederates were not expecting this battle. More likely, they assumed that their superior numbers would frighten Joshua into retreat. The last thing they expected was an attack from him against their encamped position. Such initiative and courage is typically the precursor to unexpected success.

For instance, remember the most famous military victory in Texas history. Near the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou, the Mexican general, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, led a force of more than 1,200 men. The Texans, under General Sam Houston, had only about 910 soldiers. Following a long retreat, the Texans took the overconfident Mexicans by surprise on April 21, 1836, and won complete victory in just 18 minutes. Nearly every member of the Mexican army was killed or captured. Santa Anna was himself captured the next day. Nine Texans were killed and 30 wounded. A monument commemorating this battle stands today near Houston, to help us remember the place where our independence was won. All because an army staged an attack when their opponent least expected it.

The results at Merom were similar: “the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel” (v. 8). Joshua’s forces defeated and pursued their enemies. And they captured Hazor, their strongest military threat (10-11; archaeological work has discovered burnings of the city corresponding to Joshua’s time). This was Joshua’s greatest military victory.

And over time, his armies would defeat all their opposition in the northern territory (16-23). The battles in the area continued “for a long time” (v. 18). As NavPress and other commentaries point out, the entire conquest from Jericho to this point occupied some seven years. We know this by noting that Caleb was 78 years of age when the people entered the Promised Land (he was 40 when they began their 38 years of wandering in the wilderness, according to Deuteronomy 2:14 and Joshua 14:7), and had reached the age of 85 at the end of this period of warfare (Joshua 14:10).

After such steadfast obedience to the word and will of God, “Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions” (v. 23a). With this result: “Then the land had rest from war” (v. 23b). Only after Joshua and his men had seized the opportunity and initiative as given to them by God.

President George W. Bush is right: peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice. By obeying fully the leadership of their God, Israel brought such justice and righteousness to the land.

Conclusion

The victories celebrated in this week’s study had their origin long before the days recorded in Joshua 10-11. Years earlier, Moses had led the people to defeat Sihon and Og (12:2-6). This first conquest gave the children of Israel a foothold in the region, a base for their military campaigns across the Jordan and into Canaan. Had they been defeated here, there would have been no more Jewish history.

Then Joshua continued the vision handed to him by Moses, bringing the northern and southern kings and region into Jewish hands. The rest of chapter 12 documents historically the results of these visionary and courageous campaigns.

The upshot is simple: we must seize the initiative in winning the spiritual war which is before us. God is calling each of our members to find our gifts and fulfill our ministry. We will fulfill the Great Commission only when every member becomes a minister. You and I are to lead those under our teaching to take the initiative in taking Christ to our community and beyond.

How?

•Pay the price of spiritual victory, “marching all night” to join the battle and bring glory to the Lord.

•Turn difficulty into destiny. See needs as opportunities. Find a need you can meet, a hurt which can be helped, a problem which can be turned to Christ. A shoe salesman sent to tribal Africa wrote back: “Business a failure. No one wears shoes.” The company sent a second salesman who wrote back instantly: “Send more shoes. No one here has them.”

•Refuse distractions; reward those who fight with you; set the example; finish strong.

•Stay obedient to the will of God, and you will know his victory.

With what lost person will you initiate evangelism this week? What need will you meet? What area of the city will you “attack” next?

I’m no expert on the Chinese alphabet, but I’ve read that the Chinese characters for “crisis” and “opportunity” are the same. I know more about the Greek language of the New Testament. Here we find two words for “time”: “chronis” and “kairos.” “Chronos” describes time as we usually envision it; we get “chronological” from this word and concept. This is time as a line, proceeding along into history.

“Kairos” is an entirely different approach to “time.” It is a “timely moment” or an “idea whose time has come.” It is the opportunity to be seized, the chance that will never return, the risk we must take. “Seize the day” comes from the encouragement of “kairos.” It is wisdom to know when a moment is merely chronos, and when it is kairos.

Are you standing before a kairos opportunity?

The most powerful statement of faith I have ever discovered is a confession written by a young pastor in Zimbabwe, a believer later martyred for his faith. I have quoted it often, and close with it as God’s challenge to us all:

I am part of the “Fellowship of the Unashamed.” I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I’ve stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by his presence, lean by faith, love by patience, live by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, let up, or slow up ’til I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go ’til He comes, give ’til I drop, preach ’til all know, and work ’til He stops.

And when He comes to get His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me—my colors will be clear.

Amen.

God Goes Where He’s Wanted

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God Goes Where He’s Wanted

Luke 1.26-38

James C. Denison

The Golden Compass opened on Friday. Starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (the new James Bond), the movie is a spectacular fantasy on the lines of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia. But unlike the classics by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, The Golden Compass was written by a man who says, “my books are about killing God.”

Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass and son of an Anglican clergyman, long ago left the faith of his father. The Golden Compass is the first volume in a trilogy which ends with the death of God and the “liberation” of humanity. The film downplays the anti-Christian elements of the first book, intending to make enough money to produce the second and third novels with all their explicit anti-Christian content. When the trilogy ends, “God” dies, dissolving into thin air, and we are free to set up a “Republic” of human self-fulfillment on earth.

Unfortunately, Philip Pullman is not the only person who wonders if the Christ of Christmas is who we say he is. If God really came to earth in the flesh, why isn’t the world a better place? There was conflict in the Middle East when Christmas came; there is still today. The global economy was prone to highs followed by “corrections” and recessions; it still is. If God really relocated to our planet, why is life the way it is?

Do you need Christmas to be more than a holiday in your marriage and family? Your health and finances? Your career or school?

Bestselling author Philip Yancy: “As I travel, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God ‘moving’ geographically from the Middle East, to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where he’s wanted.” Let’s see if he’s right, and why the answer matters so much to your life and soul this Advent season.

Who is Gabriel?

Last week you heard from Isaiah, the prophet who predicted the coming of Christmas. Today we’ll hear from the angel sent to announce that the time of Advent had come. His name was Gabriel, which means “God is my warrior.”

He was an “archangel,” or a chief angel. Michael and he are the only angels named in the holy Scriptures, though Jewish tradition named Sariel and Raphael as the other two archangels. Ancient Israelites wrote their four names on the shields of their soldiers in battle. They thought of them primarily as warriors, as God often granted them the power of life and death.

But Gabriel came in peace on that fateful day in Nazareth. On that day God sent him on the strangest of all missions–to go to a peasant teenager in a remote little village and enlist that girl in God’s plan to save the world.

Mary would be in the seventh grade in our society today. Understandably, she was “greatly troubled” by Gabriel’s coming (v. 29). She certainly didn’t understand how she could be the mother of the Messiah and yet a virgin (v. 34).

Now she must decide: would she surrender her life, her body, her family, her future to this strange and confusing word from God? Would you have done it?

You know what she told the archangel: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said” (v. 38). She called herself the Lord’s “servant”–a handmaid or slave girl, one who must do the bidding of her owner and master. “May it be,” she said, an expression of absolute and total submission. She yielded her life completely to God that day. And history would forever be different because she did.

Why Mary?

Now, think of all those God could have chosen to be the mother of his Son–a daughter of the High Priest or member of the Sanhedrin, or one of the families of wealth and influence down south in Judah. Why her? Was it because of how she looked? Her popularity? Her possessions? Her abilities? Why was this peasant girl so “highly favored” (v. 28)? And how did God know she would submit to his will in this way?

She had already surrendered her body to God. She was indeed a “virgin,” as she claimed to be (v. 34). This was a surprising fact in first-century Nazareth.

Their village was constructed on a hillside, with a popular trade route below. This road, which connected Tyre and Sidon with Jerusalem, was crowded with Roman soldiers, Greek merchants, and travelers from around the world. Many of the village girls dressed and acted so as to attract the men traveling along this route, seeing them as their way out of Nazareth to the larger world. But not Mary–she kept herself pure.

She had surrendered her mind to God as well. Remember the song she sang upon meeting her relative Elizabeth after the Messiah had been conceived in her womb (vs. 46-56). It is one of the finest psalms of praise in all God’s word, composed from passages in Exodus, 1 Samuel, Psalms, Isaiah, and Micah. This seventh-grade girl had memorized these parts of the word of God, and used them to worship her Lord and God. She knew the word and will of the Lord, through years of study and devotion. She had surrendered her mind to God.

She would surrender her future to God also. To become pregnant when she was only engaged could cost her everything. Who would believe her story about an angel and a Son of God?

She was willing to give up her parents and family, to be abandoned by them. To give up Joseph, the man who would be her husband for life. To give up her future and even her life, for she might be stoned to death as an adulteress (cf. Deuteronomy 22.23ff.). As long as she and the child lived people would question her morals. And yet she was willing to do the Lord’s bidding, to surrender her future and all her ambitions to God.

And she would surrender life itself to his will.

She would stand helpless and watch her boy die with nails in his hands and feet, a spear in his side, and those nails would pierce her own soul and that spear her own heart. Any of you who are mothers can understand the sacrifice she made.

She would gather with her son’s disciples at Pentecost and receive his Holy Spirit. She would serve this child as her Lord, all the rest of her days on earth, and now in heaven with him.

She said on this day, “I am the Lord’s servant.” Indeed she was, and indeed she would be.

Whose servant are you?

Now Gabriel has come to us in God’s word today. This text was preserved in Scripture, not for Mary’s sake but for ours. She already knew everything we have learned today. God’s Spirit inspired these words so that we could apply their truth to our lives this morning.

If Gabriel could speak to you and me today, what would he say? In a word, God goes where he’s wanted. He goes where he is welcomed and invited. His Kingdom comes where his will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). He is King where we are his servants. He goes where he is Lord. We cannot serve God and serve ourselves. We must always choose.

Mary could not have it both ways. She could not serve both God and her own ambitions. She could not be the virgin mother of the Messiah and still marry Joseph as though nothing unusual were happening. She could not raise the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and be just another family. She had to decide which she would serve: God or her own dreams. She could not have both.

But we always think that we can. Adam and Eve thought they could eat the fruit and still walk with God. David thought he could have both Bathsheba and God’s favor. Solomon thought he could worship both his wives’ gods and his father’s. The kings after them thought they could serve their own military ambitions and still have the protection of God. Each time they were wrong. You cannot serve God and yourself.

The one will always serve the other. You will either use God to serve yourself, or your life to serve God.

Some of us are here today for what we might get from God. We want God to bless us, to help us, to guide us. We want God’s favor for our lives, our ambitions and dreams, or our problems and pain. We may not realize it, but we’re using God for ourselves.

Others of us are here today for what we will give God. We want to bless God, to serve him, to please him. We want to use our time, our abilities and opportunities, our money to accomplish his purpose with our lives, whatever that may be.

Some of us are like Mary; others of us are not.

Here’s the surprise: God can actually bless the one surrendered to him far more than the one using him. God didn’t need Mary so much as Mary needed God. The Lord would have found someone else if Mary had refused to belong to him, but she would have missed the eternal fulfillment which was the result of her obedience. It is the same with us today.

The person who uses God and the person who is used by God will both have challenges, problems, setbacks. Mary endured her share of pain in life, to be sure. But through it all she had a sense of God’s purpose and direction which made her life meaningful and joyous. When her life was done there were no regrets. She would do it all over again.

Conclusion

Now God wants Gabriel to ask you what he asked Mary: will you surrender your life to him? Will you give to him your body, your mind, your future, your money, your relationships, your life? When last did you say what Mary said: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you will”?

I make you this promise: not one of us has any idea what God will do with our lives when they are totally his.

Who among us would have thought God could do so much with a seventh-grade girl? That she would be the mother of the Son of God, the human instrument of the divine incarnation? That she would become the most famous woman in all of human history, and the most venerated?

Was it because of her appearance? Her possessions? Her popularity or performance? No–it was because of this simple fact: God goes where he is wanted. And he always gives the best to those who leave the choice with him.

The ten largest churches in the world are in South Korea, Chili, Nigeria, El Salvador, Columbia, Argentina, South Korea, Nigeria, and the last two in India. None are in America. Why have they become so significant? Because they want God. South Korea had not a single born-again Christian at the turn of the 20th Century. Then came the bloody, debilitating Korean conflict which ravaged the peninsula. Out of its devastation grew the Yoido Full Gospel Church, with more than a million worshippers each week. It is the same with the other churches on the list. None are in prosperous places–all are in cities and societies which know they need God. And God goes where he’s wanted.

I’ve just returned from my sixth trip to Cuba. Each time it is the same: people standing outside the packed church, listening through open windows. Pastors riding six to ten hours on the back of trucks to spend a week in intensive seminary training, many of them living on $30 a month. Their children get the worst military assignments; their families get the worst jobs; they are constantly watched and harassed by their government and society. But the joy of Jesus in their lives makes it clear that Christmas has come to their souls. All because God goes where he’s wanted.

Do you want God this morning?

God Has a Dream

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Topical Scripture: Judges 13:1-7

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Lately, the heavens have been especially eloquent.

In recent days, the moon and Venus have been the brightest objects in the nighttime sky. Though they are millions of miles apart, they seemed to nearly touch each other.

By the end of July, Mars will come closer to Earth than at any time between 2003 and 2035. On Sunday, the night sky will feature (from left to right) Venus, the star Spica, the planet Jupiter, the moon, the planet Saturn, and the planet Mars.

When we look at the sky, we are reminded of the omnipotence of our Creator and the finitude of our lives. And yet, our God loves us so much he considered our eternal lives worth the death of his Son. Even while ruling the entire universe, he still has a “good and acceptable and perfect” will for each of us (Romans 12:2).

Is his goal for your life the same as your goal for your life?

Years ago, I found this wise saying: “If you don’t have a goal, you’ll never reach it.” What’s your empowering life goal? Do you have a defining, catalytic purpose for your present and future? A “north on the compass” which guides your steps?

God has a dream for your life and work, your ministry and responsibilities. He wants you to know his dream and invites you to partner with him in fulfilling it. Let’s learn how.

Expect sin to lead to judgment (Judges 13:1)

The Judges cycle continues: “Again the Israelites did evil the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years” (Judges 13:1 (NIV)).

Who were the Philistines? Why did God use them to bring judgment against his people?

The Philistines were a sea people who migrated to the Mediterranean cost, settling from Joppa to south of the Gaza area. As this Maritime Plain was extremely fruitful, its inhabitants developed into a very significant nation and military power.

They originated on the island of Caphtor (Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4), a location usually identified with Crete. Some scholars identify them as Indo-Europeans. According to Egyptian depictions, they were tall and Hellenic in appearance. They invaded Egypt during the time of Rameses III (1195-64 BC), but were repelled. They eventually came to southwest Canaan, where they settled.

Their chief god was Dagon (Judges 16:23). He was thought to be the father of Baal, the god of weather and rain. Dagon was represented as half-man, half-fish (dag means “fish” in Hebrew). Since the people lived on the coast and prospered by fishing, he was seen as the deity they had to honor in order to prosper.

Because of their expertise with iron works (cf. 1 Samuel 13:19–22), their armies would prove to be Israel’s most consistent and formidable adversary during the period of the Judges and into the reign of David (1 Samuel 17–18). They were still a problem for Uzziah and Hezekiah, three centuries later (2 Chronicles 26:3–7).

For forty years before Samson’s birth, the people suffered under their oppression (v. 1). This was the longest period of foreign occupation in the book of Judges. And it reminds us of the human propensity to return to sin again and again.

Scripture warns us, “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). Yet we see this pattern again and again in Judges: the people sin and face punishment, then repent.

And we see it in our lives as well. Here’s the reason: according to Jesus, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). That’s why we must turn to God immediately, seeking his forgiving grace (1 John 1:9) and asking him to break the chains of sin that enslave us.

If we don’t, we may change our behavior, but we will not and cannot change our nature.

Only Jesus can give us a new heart. Only he can make us a new person. That’s why time with him is our best antidote to temptation. Charles Spurgeon: “We know of no cure for the love of evil in a Christian like abundant intercourse with the Lord Jesus. Dwell much with Him, and it is impossible for you to be at peace with sin.”

Are you dwelling “much with him”?

Expect God to work in surprising ways (Judges 13:2–5)

God wants to deliver his people from themselves and from their enemies. But he works in ways we seldom would anticipate or expect. If we limit his answers to our prayers to what we want him to do, we frustrate his providence and miss his omnipotence.

God’s story of redemption begins with a man named Manoah and his unnamed wife. He was “of the tribe of the Danites,” which had originally been assigned the coastal plain where the Philistines now lived (Joshua 19:40–48). When this territory “was lost to them” (v. 47), they moved to a region further north.

However, some apparently remained behind in their original land. Samson was descended from such a brave family.

Here was the tragedy that made his birth so surprising: His mother “was sterile and remained childless” (Judges 13:2). This was an unspeakable tragedy for a woman of their day. They did not understand the various reasons why a couple may not be able to conceive or know of medical options for such a problem.

So it was for Sarah (Genesis 11:30; 16:1); Rebekah (Genesis 25:21); Hannah (1 Samuel 1:2); and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:31). Many naively and unkindly attributed this painful condition to the judgment of God.

But not God: “The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, ‘You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son'” (Judges 13:3). God knows our individual need and specific problem far better than we do. Our prayer does not provide information he did not know, for “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8).

God’s dream for this faithful couple was simple: “Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazarite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines” (vv. 4–6).

What was a Nazarite?

“Nazarite” translates the Hebrew word for “separated” or “dedicated.” Numbers 6 provides the requirements for those who would live in this unusual status: they were to abstain from anything that comes from the grapevine, never shave their hair, and refuse to touch any dead body. By these actions they would be set apart from normal life, both in activity and appearance, to be used completely by the Lord for his purposes.

Such vows were typically temporary in duration, with requirements to be fulfilled when their commitment was completed (Numbers 6:13-20). But Samson was to be “a Nazarite of God from birth until the day of his death” (Judges 13:7). Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15) were similarly dedicated to God for their entire lifetimes.

Why were Samson’s parents specifically ordered to eat nothing unclean? The Mosaic law was specific regarding kosher dietary laws. All of Israel was to heed these restrictions. Clearly many did not, for this couple was specifically called to such obedience. They could transgress no command of God’s word concerning their diet and, by extension, their lifestyles. They were to set an example for their son, as we are for our children today.

Note that God’s command to Samson’s mother is clear indication that life begins at conception. If Samson would not become a Nazarite until he was born, why would it matter what his mother ate during her pregnancy? We understand the health benefits of such a diet today, but they had no such conception. This mother was asked to keep a Nazarite diet for the sake of her unborn son, because he “shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb” (v. 5).

Here’s the point for us: God can use people the world has abandoned to fulfill a purpose the world would not imagine. He used a barren woman to conceive a future deliverer of the nation. Her faithful obedience to his word and will led to the birth of one of the most remarkable men in all of Scripture.

Embrace God’s dream as yours

As a result of her obedience, “the woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Maheneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol” (vv. 24–25). “Samson” means “sun” or “brightness,” a hopeful prediction for their son’s future.

God has a similar dream for you today. Some evolutionists say that life began as a chance coincidence, with no particular plan or purpose at all. Existentialists say that this life is all there is, and life is chaos. Postmodernists say that truth is relative, and there is no overriding purpose to life.

Jackson Pollock’s most famous “drip painting,” titled “No. 5,” sold for $140 million. Mark Rothko’s most famous painting, titled “Orange, Red, Yellow,” sold for $86.9 million. Neither convey objective truth. Both ask you to decide what the paintings mean to you.

By contrast, God claims, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). Even though they were enslaved in Babylon, with no hope and no future.

God dreamed that Noah would save the human race. He dreamed that the childless Abraham would be the father of the Messiah. He dreamed that the shepherd Moses would give his laws to the world. He dreamed that the young shepherd boy David would be king of his people.

He dreamed that the fishermen Peter, James, and John would lead his global church. He dreamed that the persecuting Saul of Tarsus would take his word across the Empire. He dreamed that the imprisoned John would write his Revelation. And so it was.

Conclusion

God has a dream for you. For every day there is a dream. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, how healthy and prosperous you are or aren’t. If God had a dream of greatness for an unborn boy, he has dreams for you.

How can you know it?

First, choose his dream. Decide that you will do what he wants you to do. Decide that his purpose is your best purpose.

C. S. Lewis: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite you is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Second, ask to know his purpose. He will make his dream known to you if you want to know it. But he will give only what you will receive.

Jesus promised us: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8). However, we have not because we ask not (James 4:2).

Third, listen for his purpose. Your Father will speak to you intuitively, his Spirit with your spirit, if you will listen to his word and world. If you will take time to be still and know he is God (Psalm 46:10). If you will give his Spirit space to speak to your heart.

He will speak to you pragmatically through your circumstances, open and closed doors, opportunities for service which he clearly blesses. He will speak to you rationally, as you read his word and apply its truth to your life. Learn your spiritual gifts and find effective ways to use them. Love God with all your mind (Matthew 22:37), reasoning together with your Creator (Isaiah 1:18).

God wants you to know his dream, more than you may want to know it. When last did you ask God to reveal his dream and will for your life and day, and listen to his response?

Amy Carmichael:

Strength of my heart, I need not fail,

Not mine to fear but to obey;

With such a Leader, who could quail?

Thou art as Thou wert yesterday!

Strength of my heart, I rest in Thee,

Fulfill Thy purposes through me.

Will you make her prayer yours today?

God Has Dream for You

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God Has a Dream for You

Genesis 37:3-11

Dr. Jim Denison

William Ernest Henley was born in Gloucester, England, in 1849, and was crippled since childhood. His most famous poem captures the spirit which drove him past his challenges:

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul.

Henley captures the spirit of our age. We can do anything if we try harder, get up earlier, stay up later, work longer hours, pay the price. God helps those who help themselves; fortune smiles on hard work; luck is the residue of design; and so on.

Has that been your experience? Have you found no obstacle insurmountable, no problem impossible? Or are you like the rest of us—discouraged by struggles which won’t go away, weighted down with burdens you can’t unload, followed into worship today by worries which tug at your soul all morning long?

“Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more” (Genesis 37:3). Do you have a dream today?

Do you have a dream?

We live in a world which is hard on dreams. 2,000 dead in Iraq, and the number is climbing. Another hurricane in Florida, the earthquake in Pakistan, spreading bird flu, the AIDS epidemic. A Supreme Court nominee withdrawn as political tensions escalate. We live in a state that has to vote whether or not a marriage is a man and a woman. Others have already decided that it’s not.

The pessimist Martin Heidegger seems right most days: you’re an actor on a stage, with no script, director, or audience. Courage is to face life as it is. I don’t look around and see much purpose to our world. Wars and rumors of war; nations rise and fall; we cure polio and face AIDS; we get the Internet and internet pornography. Nothing seems to change much. When Joseph has a dream, you can count on his brothers to quash it. Some of us don’t believe much in dreams.

Others of us used to have a dream for our lives, but now we’re not so sure. Maybe you thought you had a great vision or empowering purpose for your life, but things haven’t worked out the way you thought they would. Life has discouraged you, thrown you into a cistern and sold you to the Ishmaelites. People you thought would understand, don’t. Things you thought would have happened by now, haven’t.

So you’ve pretty well given up on such idealism, and you’ve settled for making the best of life as you’ve found it. You’re getting along from day to day, task to task. Your life has ups and downs, joys and sorrows. But there’s no overarching vision or inspiring purpose. You wouldn’t say you have a dream this morning. Or that life really offers such. Dreams are for 17-year-old shepherd boys. But you’re past all that now.

If you don’t have a dream for your life, or have given up on one, I have a word from God for you today.

Where did Joseph get his dream?

“Joseph had a dream,” the Bible says. Not, he “discovered” a dream or he “defined” a dream, but he “had” a dream. Passive. Something he received. Something given to him from somewhere else.

What was his dream? “Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf” (v. 7).

In the ancient world, people didn’t bow to acknowledge applause or indicate passing respect. “Bowing down” was a sign of great veneration and submission. Standing before the Lord, “Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence” (Josh. 5:14). The Psalmist calls, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalm 95:6). Joseph dreamed that his brothers would do that before him one day.

Then he had a second dream: “Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me” (Genesis 37:9). In Joseph’s world, the heavenly bodies represented rulers. In this case, the sun was his father; the moon, his mother; the eleven stars, his other brothers. And all of them would bow down in submission before him.

What audacity! What egotism and pride! In the ancient world it just wasn’t done, the parents and older brothers bowing down before the younger. Except that everything Joseph dreamed came to pass:

“Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground” (Genesis 42:6).

“They bowed low to pay him honor” (Genesis 43:28).

After his father’s death, “His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. ‘We are your slaves,’ they said” (Genesis 50:18).

Joseph must have developed a remarkable strategic plan to bring his dreams to pass. Listen to it:

He was thrown in a cistern, a dry hole dug to catch rainwater, by his brothers. He was then sold as a slave to a passing band of Ishmaelites from the east. They in turn took him to Egypt, where they sold him as a slave to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard (Genesis 37:36).

Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. When he refused, she accused him of assaulting her and he was thrown into prison. There he met two men who had their own dreams. God gave him the ability to interpret their dreams; one was restored to his position as Pharaoh’s cupbearer, and the other executed, both as Joseph had predicted. The cupbearer promptly forgot about Joseph.

Two years later, Pharaoh had his own dreams, which none of his advisers could understand. The cupbearer finally remembered Joseph and recommended him to Pharaoh, who had him freed from his prison cell and brought to the palace. Joseph interpreted the dreams to predict seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. He was put in charge of the entire land, to prepare for the famine to come.

And so his brothers and his father made their way to Egypt, to get food he had stored. And so his brothers bowed before him. 20 years passed from the time “Joseph had a dream” to the time when it was fulfilled. And none of it by him.

Where do you suppose Joseph got his dream? Does God have a dream for you?

Does God have a dream for you?

The Jews were enslaved in Babylon, 900 miles from their homeland. Their temple was destroyed, their cities in ruins. Yet God could say, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). At the time, no one could see an end to the Babylonian Empire. But in just a few years, Cyrus and his Persians destroyed Babylon and fulfilled the dream of God.

Paul and his shipmates were lost at sea; “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned” (Acts 27:20). Then, “Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said…‘I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you”’” (vs. 21, 22-24). At the time, no one could see an end to the storm or hope for their lives. But the next morning they found Malta and fulfilled the dream of God.

John was exiled on the ancient Alcatraz called Patmos. He had no hope of seeing his beloved church again. But then “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day; and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet” (Revelation 1:10). At the time, he could see no way of continuing his ministry for his Lord. But then Jesus appeared to him, and gave him the Revelation.

God has a dream for your life. He has a purpose, a vision, a direction which will give you significance and hope. He has a dream which he will bless. You may be enslaved in Egypt, or shipwrecked on Malta, or imprisoned on Patmos. You may see nothing in your life and world which causes you to have a dream.

But that’s just the point. God’s dream is not defined by how your brothers view you or your culture defines you. It’s not dependent on anything you can see or understand in human terms, or it’s not God’s dream. It’s God restoring a little bit of Eden. It’s a dream of ruling the world when you’re about to be thrown into a cistern. It’s a dream which God alone can give and God alone can fulfill. My friend John Haggai insists that we “attempt something for God so great that it is doomed to fail unless God be in it.” That’s God’s dream.

Conclusion

As we continue to walk with Joseph, we’ll learn how to make that dream a reality. This is a five-part sermon. In coming weeks we’ll discover how to have the faith, courage, discernment, and plan to fulfill the dream God blesses. For now, let me encourage you to believe that Joseph’s story includes you. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, how healthy or prosperous you are or aren’t. If God gave you another day of life, there’s a reason. There’s a purpose. He has a dream for you, “plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

This week, would you ask God to help you know his dream for you? Would you make time to let him answer that question? Would you start right now?

Here’s our key verse for the Joseph series: “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). He’s looking for someone to bless, someone to whom he can give his dream. He’s looking at you right now. Are you looking at him?

God Has No Grandchildren

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Topical Scripture: Judges 2:6-16

A young Malian who immigrated to France will be made a French citizen and has been offered a job by the Paris fire brigade. This after he saved a child dangling from a balcony.

Mamoudou Gassama climbed up four floors of the apartment building in seconds and rescued the child. He has been called a “real-life Spiderman.”

If only such heroes could save us spiritually.

Human nature doesn’t change. The sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is still mine. I want to “be as god” (Genesis 3:5). I want to be president of my own universe. I follow God with failing steps and fall down as often as I stand tall. Your story is much the same.

This pattern of sin comes clear early in the history of the Hebrew people. They have no sooner entered their Promised Land than they begin a downward spiral into immorality which stifles their souls and corrupts their nation. We can find the same pattern in our lives and culture. But the God of grace is as ready to heal and restore us as he was ready to help them.

Where do you need his forgiving love?

Failing to transmit the faith (Judges 2:6–7, 10)

Things start well in the Book of Judges. Joshua dismisses the people from the national gathering which heard his final address, “each to his own inheritance” (Judges 2:6). Throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who outlived him and saw the great works of God, the nation continued to follow the Lord (v. 7).

However, “Another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel” (v. 10). No one told them. No one instructed the next generation in that which the last generation had learned from and about God. The faith is always one generation from extinction, and the worst nearly came to pass here.

It is vital that parents teach the faith to their children. In fact, we who are privileged to be parents have no greater responsibility under God.

We don’t have to adopt Freudian principles to understand that children typically relate to God as they relate to their parents. If our children see us follow Christ at church but not at home, they learn that faith is only for the church building. If they hear us speak in one tone to people but another way behind their backs, they learn that faith is only for public show. If the only time they hear us pray or watch us read Scripture is at church, they learn that prayer and Scripture are only for Sunday.

God’s command is clear: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6–9). These were the most public ways they could display the word of God.

The prophet’s edict is still God’s intention for us: “Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation” (Joel 1:3).

Genetic engineering is much in the news. The idea that parents can one day determine the sex, hair and eye color, abilities and capabilities of their unborn children is exciting to some and abhorrent to most of us. It is very troubling to me as well.

But while I don’t believe in genetic engineering, I believe very strongly in “spiritual engineering.” We must do all we can to help our families and friends follow Jesus, to mentor them in the Christian faith, to encourage and influence them for Christ. Eternity is at stake.

In what way will the next generation be strong in the faith because of you and those you’ll teach this week?

Spiraling downward (Judges 2:11–19)

The baton has fallen to the ground, and it will never be carried as well again in the Book of Judges. The next verses provide an umbrella under which the narrative across the following chapters fits tragically well. The pattern is clear:

  • The people rejected God as their Lord and are worshiping other gods.
  • The Lord responded with divine retribution which led to military defeat and “great distress” (v. 15).
  • The people “groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them” (v. 18), so that God had compassion on them.
  • He “raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of these raiders” (v. 16).

This downward slide would continue throughout the Book of Judges, as the conclusion of the book makes clear: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges 21:25).

Now let’s examine this pattern in more detail, for it is still the basic sin pattern in our lives today.

We reject God as Lord

“The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them” (vs. 11–12a).

Who were these other gods, among them the “Baals” and “Ashtoreths” (v. 13)?

“Baal” was the Canaanite word for “master” or “lord.” The name described one of the chief male deities of Canaanite religion. He was seen as lord of the weather and storms, so that his voice was heard in the thunder, his spear was the lightning bolt, and his steed the storms.

The Canaanites worshiped Baal in a variety of ways, usually on hilltops called “high places” (so they could be as close to him as possible). They sacrificed animals (and sometimes children) and performed sexual dances on his behalf.

The wife of Baal was Ashtoreth. She was seen as the evening star and the goddess of war and fertility. She was worshiped through temple prostitution (involving both men and women). Sacred pillars (perhaps phallic symbols) were placed near the temples of Baal as altars to her. The Greeks worshiped her as Aphrodite, the Romans as Venus.

These deities were enticing to the Israelites as they entered the land of Canaan, for several reasons.

First, the connection of deity with locality was an accepted fact of ancient religion. The Jews were the first people in human history to worship one God and to believe that he was the Lord of the entire universe. Every other ancient people associated individual deities with specific places or functions. Such localized worship was the popular thing to do.

Second, the need to prosper agriculturally was vital for the people as they entered the land. Just as the Pilgrims learned how to farm in the New World from the Indians who already inhabited the land, so these Jews needed to learn how to survive in this new country. If the Canaanites worshiped Baal as a means to their crops’ success, such a practice would be enticing to the Hebrews as well. Religion would serve their quest for prosperity and success.

Third, the sexuality inherent in Canaanite worship would appeal to the Hebrews. They had long been warned against adultery and licentiousness. Now they were surrounded by people who had made sexual pleasure a basic part of their worship. Such lustful religion would appeal to people across ancient history (note the temple prostitutes in Ephesus and Corinth during the apostolic era of the Church).

Popularity, prosperity, and pleasure—are these not still attractive today?

In what ways are you tempted to Baalism today? Human nature doesn’t change. Anything which tempted our parents will also tempt us. Popularity and peer pressure are just as powerful for us as for the ancient Israelites; our desire to succeed can easily corrupt our faith commitments; lust and pleasure can entice us away from obedience to our Father and his word.

Whenever we back down from an unpopular stand for our Lord, or compromise to get ahead, or yield to sinful pleasure, we continue the sin cycle which Judges condemns. Do you have business with God today?

We incur divine wrath

The sin of the Hebrews “provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths” (Judges 2:12–13). With this response: “In his anger against Israel the Lord handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress” (vv. 14–15).

God is Lord of our circumstances and times. He permits or even causes suffering in our lives when such pain leads to greater good.

We see this pattern across the word of God. Joseph went through Potiphar and prison on his way to Pharaoh and humble service to the Lord. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness until he was ready to put the Lord’s will before his own. The people spent another forty years in wilderness wanderings until they were ready to enter the Promised Land.

Scripture states: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). This famous verse does not say that all things are good, but that God will use all things for good. He never wastes a hurt. He is able to redeem any pain which we will give to him.

Our Father deals with us as gently as he can or as harshly as he must. God can and will use people, circumstances, and events to draw us back to himself. Is there a place in your life where the Lord has withdrawn his blessing so as to draw you closer to humility and dependence on his strength?

We repent

The people “groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them” (Judges 2:18). And God had pity on his people and intervened with compassion.

It is a tragic fact of human nature that we typically turn to God only when we must. We want to be in charge of our own lives and destinies; “I did it my way” is the theme song of our culture. We must often get so far down that we can look nowhere but up. But when we do, God hears us.

God wants us to come to him in repentance for our sins: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). In fact, he is overjoyed when we make this decision: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7).

Such repentance is the necessary condition to grace. Not because our sorrow earns God’s favor, but because it positions us to receive what God’s grace intends to give. We often think that we must feel badly enough for long enough that our pain merits God’s favor. But his salvation is given only by his grace (Ephesians 2:8–9); our response is gratitude, repentance, and commitment.

God heals and forgives

When we return to God, he responds to us in grace. At this point in Hebrew history, he provided a “judge” who would lead them out of oppression to freedom and prosperity: “Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived, for the Lord had compassion on them” (Judges 2:18).

These “judges” were more than legal arbitrators. They were military leaders, redeemers, and liberators. Each was an instrument in the hands of God, intended to call the nation not to themselves but to the God they served. Through them the Lord provided liberation and protection for his repentant people.

Now through the Lord Jesus, the supreme liberator of mankind, he offers the same compassion today.

Conclusion

Are popularity, prosperity, and pleasure temptations in our culture? In your life? If we put them before God, we incur his wrath as a means to our repentance. But if we choose to repent, God heals and forgives.

Where do you need his grace today? Has the ancient sin cycle surfaced in your life? What business do you have with your Father this week?

Many years ago, in the pioneer days of aviation, a pilot was in the air when he heard a noise which he recognized as the gnawing of a rat. For all he knew the rat could be gnawing through a vital cable or control of the plane. It was a very serious situation. At first the pilot did not know what to do. He was more than two hours from the next landing strip, and two hours gone from the field where he had taken off.

Then he remembered that a rat is a rodent. It was not made for the heights; it was made to live on the ground and under the ground. And so, the pilot began to climb. He went up a thousand feet, then another and another until he was over 20,000 feet up. The gnawing ceased. The rat was dead. It could not survive the atmosphere of those heights. More than two hours later the pilot brought the plane safely to the landing field and found the dead rat.

Sin is a rodent. It cannot live in the secret place of the Most High God. It cannot breathe in the atmosphere of prayer and trust and Scripture and worship. It dies when we take it to the Lord.

This is the promise of God.

God in the Mirror

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God in the Mirror

Genesis 50:15-21

Dr. Jim Denison

Our church is finishing our annual staff evaluations. In that light, a friend recently sent me some actual quotes taken from Federal Government employee performance evaluations. These should make us all feel better:

•Since my last report, this employee has reached rock-bottom and has started to dig.

•I would not allow this employee to breed.

•Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming.

•He’s got two brain cells–one is lost and the other is out looking for it.

•If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he’s the other one.

•This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.

Evaluations are stressors for us all, because there is something innate to the human condition which wants to succeed, to advance, to be promoted and praised. But this all-too-human desire can have its down sides.

Perhaps you saw the recent Time cover story on ambition. The article surveys high school students more pressured to succeed than ever before, and the rising levels of stress and physical symptoms which result.

Heart attacks, ulcers, and depression are at epidemic levels in our country. Yet we praise ambition and self-driven motivation as the keys to success. Does God?

Be humble as Joseph

Remember the dream which started Joseph’s story: “We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it” (Genesis 37:7). If that wasn’t enough, “Listen, I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me” (v. 9).

I’m not sure why he even needed to share them with his family. And their jealous response doesn’t offer much evidence for humility on his part. Is it possible that he had to go to the pit and the prison before God could trust him in the palace?

Fortunately, the story of Joseph’s character development doesn’t end here. Being thrown in a cistern by your brothers and then sold to a wandering band of Ishmaelites and then to Pharaoh’s chief executioner can do much to promote humility.

So it is that he refused Potiphar’s wife with the statement, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).

When Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker became Joseph’s fellow prisoners and he learned they had dreams they could not interpret. He knew something about dreams and their meaning. But rather than brag on his abilities, he responded, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams” (Genesis 40:8). And they did, and he interpreted them correctly with God’s help.

Then Pharaoh had dreams he could not interpret, and Joseph was summoned to his palace. Now is his opportunity to show Pharaoh what he can do, fulfilling his personal dreams of honor and authority. Imagine that you’re a writer given a chance opportunity to pitch your best book idea to the chief editor of the largest publishing firm in the world.

Or you’re a singer with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win American Idol, today. Or you’re a software engineer who finds herself sitting at a dinner next to Bill Gates, or a law school graduate introduced to Chief Justice Roberts. What do you do?

Pharaoh says to Joseph, “I had a dream and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it” (Genesis. 41:15). Quiet on the set; a drum rolls in the background; the action stops. Then Joseph replies, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (v. 16). And he did.

Later Joseph revealed himself to his terrified brothers and said, “God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt” (Genesis 45:7-8).

Finally Jacob died, and now the brothers are afraid for their lives again. Perhaps Joseph has been kind to them for his father’s sake, but now nothing stands in the way of his vengeance.

Once again they fulfill his dream: “We are your slaves” (Genesis 50:18). Who is your worst enemy, or fiercest competitor, or strongest antagonist? Imagine that person falling before you with the same admission. How do you respond?

Listen to Joseph: “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (vs. 19-20). And so he did.

Seek God’s glory

Do you detect a pattern? Joseph gives God the glory for his ability to interpret dreams, and for the circumstances which have fulfilled his own. And God uses him far beyond anything Joseph or his brothers could have imagined 20 years earlier. Joseph will live for God’s glory, and God will use and bless Joseph. Here’s the sermon in a sentence: God uses most fully those who give the glory to him. Joseph is Exhibit A.

Here’s Exhibit B. Moses led God’s people out of Pharaoh’s Egypt and to the edge of the Promised Land. But not into it.

When the people who had passed through the Red Sea later complained that they needed water, God instructed Moses to speak to the rock so that water would come forth for the nation. But Moses said to the gathered nation, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then he “raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank” (Numbers 20:10-11).

With this result: “the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them'” (v. 12). His desire to get the glory for himself kept him from the glorious Promised Land of God.

Could it be that ambition and ego are keeping some of us from the Promised Land of God’s dream for our lives?

Consider a command especially appropriate to the weekend after Thanksgiving: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:10).

“Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength” (1 Chronicles 16:28). When? At church in worship? On the sanctified ground of 3939 Northwest Parkway?

“Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

God says that we are “the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise” (Israel 43:21).

Paul reminds us, “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20). God uses most fully those who give the glory to him.

Why seek God’s glory?

Now, does this strike you as divine egotism?

Domitian, the Roman emperor at the time of the Revelation, required all his subjects to address him as “Lord and God.” We shudder at such pride.

When Muhammad Ali was in his prime, he boarded an airplane and sat down. The flight attendant asked him to buckle his seatbelt, to which he replied, “Superman don’t need no seat belt.” The attendant smiled and said, “Superman don’t need no airplane, either.” Ali buckled his seat belt.

Why does God require that we live for his glory alone? That we seek to glorify him with all we do, every moment that we live? Why is glorifying God the one indispensable element in fulfilling his dream for our lives? Let’s do some theological thinking for a moment.

Fact #1: God is not an egotist who needs our affirmation. Most of us need encouragement to feel good about ourselves and what we do; he doesn’t. Most of us live with deep-seated feelings of inferiority which we mask by seeking power and popularity; God doesn’t.

Fact #2: God cannot glorify anyone but himself without committing idolatry. Neither can we. By definition, God is “that, than which nothing greater can be conceived” (St Anselm of Canterbury). If we glorify anyone before this God, we make that person an idol. Including ourselves. Especially ourselves.

Fact #3: such idolatry is the central disease of the human condition. Adam and Eve were tempted to “be like God,” and the human race fell into sin as a result (Genesis 3:5). Cain’s jealousy toward Abel led to the first murder. David’s prideful lust led to his adultery. Solomon’s idolatry led to his nation’s civil war. The religious authorities’ jealousy of Jesus’ popularity led to his crucifixion.

Fact #4: glorifying God is the only antidote to human idolatry. The only way I can be preserved today from self-serving pride in teaching this message is to do it for God’s glory alone. The only way you can be saved from self-serving pride in your religion today, or in your performance, popularity and possessions tomorrow, is to use them for God’s glory alone. In all you do, with every moment you live, with every breath you take, you will serve the God in heaven or the god in the mirror. One or the other, always.

You may have seen reports about the dreaded Northern Snakehead, a voracious predator dubbed the “Frankenfish.” It can breathe out of water and wiggle across land. It eats other fish, frogs, and even birds and mammals. It has now made its way into the Great Lakes, and threatens the ecosystems there.

There’s a Frankenfish living in my house, waiting to devour everything in its path. Ready to destroy all that God has made. I see him every morning in my mirror. So do you, in yours.

Conclusion

So, will we emulate Joseph today? Will we seek God’s glory and thus fulfill his highest dreams for our lives? Ask this simple question, all day long: how will this glorify God? This thought, word, action, decision; this television show, movie, Internet site; this message and day and ministry. J. I. Packer was right: it is impossible at one and the same time to convince you that I am a great preacher and that Jesus is a great Savior. I must choose. And so must you.

When did you last glorify God? When will you next? Could it be that the only person standing between you and God’s dream for your life, is the god in your mirror?

I agree with historians who consider Charles Spurgeon the greatest Baptist preacher and pastor in our history. He began writing a magazine at age 12, and published his first book, 295 pages in length, at the age of 15. He began his pastoral career at age 17, and soon was preaching to crowds of 10,000 (in the days before amplification).

His London church grew to be the largest Baptist congregation in the world. He began a college for preachers, an orphanage, a home for aged women, and 63 other institutions and ministries. He began 40 missions in various parts of London. He wrote a monthly magazine, a seven-volume commentary on the Psalms, and 140 other books. He wrote 500 letters a week.

His books are in such wide publication that they have made him the most published author in human history.

What is the secret to such a man as this? I am convinced it is found in this anecdote, a story I share often at ordination services. In Spurgeon’s time London’s streetlights burned gas but still had to be lit individually. It is to this practice that Spurgeon refers in the following note:

Coming one Thursday in the late autumn from an engagement beyond Dulwich, my way led up to the top of the Herne Hill ridge. I came along the level out of which rises the steep hill I had to ascend.

While I was on the lower ground, riding in a hansom cab, I saw a light before me, and when I came near the hill, I marked that light gradually go up the hill, leaving a train of stars behind it. This line of new-born stars remained in the form of one lamp, and then another and another. It reached from the foot of the hill to its summit.

I did not see the lamplighter. I do not know his name, nor his age, nor his residence; but I saw the lights which he had kindled, and these remained when he himself had gone his way.

As I rode I thought to myself, “How earnestly do I wish that my life may be spent in lighting one soul after another with the sacred flame of eternal life! I would myself be as much as possible unseen while at my work, and would vanish into eternal brilliance above when my work is done” (Arnold Dallimore, Spurgeon: A New Biography [Carlyle, Pennsylvania: Banner of Truth Trust, 1984] 162.

Amen?