Are You Simon? The Cross of the Christ

Written by

Topical Scripture: Matthew 27:45–54; Mark 15:21

Whom do you trust? Ninety-three percent of Americans say that they and nobody else determine what is and isn’t right in their lives. Eighty-four percent say they would violate the established rules of their religion if they thought those rules were wrong. Apparently, we trust ourselves. However, 91 percent of Americans say they lie regularly. One in five say they can’t make it through a single day without lying.

Who do you trust? You have to trust somebody with your future, your family, your finances, your relationships and dreams and plans. Who will it be?

You expect me to suggest God. But I can’t prove he even exists, or what he’s like. I point to beauty in creation, and you can point to diseases and disasters. I point to good in people, and you can point to scandals and wars. I point to the good churches do, and you can point to church fights.

Who do you trust?

Who was Simon of Cyrene?

The New Testament records that “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross” (Mark 15:21).

This Simon was from Cyrene (Tripoli, Libya today) in northern Africa. No doubt he had traveled from that far off land for Passover, saving for years to come. This would be the highlight of his year, perhaps his life. He brought his sons with him for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Then he was pressed into Roman service. Palestine was an occupied country, so that any Roman soldier could tap a man on the shoulder with the flat of his sword or spear and make him do whatever the soldier wanted. What was it that Rome asked of this unwilling participant?

Well, a man had been condemned to die by crucifixion. The convict was placed in a hollow square of four soldiers. In front marched the soldier with the board stating the man’s crime. They took the longest possible way, so that as many as possible would see and take warning. Then the man was crucified on the crossbeam he had carried to his execution.

But this man could carry the cross no further. The convict began the procession carrying it himself (John 19:17) but had now collapsed under its weight. Why?

He had been arrested the night before, dragged in chains before the Jewish Supreme Court, made to stand trial all night, condemned, and beaten by the Jewish guards. He was then dragged in the morning before Pilate, then to Herod, then back to Pilate. Finally, the Roman governor “had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified” (Mark 15:15).

His flogging must have been especially severe since he could not carry the crossbeam to Calvary and would die in only six hours on the cross.

So, Simon was forced into his place. He saw firsthand what this man had suffered. How did what he saw affect him? We’ll return to his story in a moment.

How did Jesus die?

Jesus’ death is a matter of historical record. Even without the New Testament, we know that he lived and was executed. Thallus the Samaritan, Mara bar Serapion, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger tell the story fully: he was arrested, crucified by Pontius Pilate, and worshiped as the risen Lord by his first followers.

Research has revealed much about the manner of his death.

Victims were typically nailed to the cross through their wrists, as nails through the hands could not support the weight of the victim. For instance, in 1968, archaeologists discovered the remains of one Johanan, a victim of Roman crucifixion during the Jewish uprisings of AD 70. A nail seven inches long was still embedded in his heel bones. Nails had also been driven between the radius and ulna bones in his wrist; the radius was worn smooth by the victim’s pulling himself up to breathe.

If the Romans wanted the person to suffer longer, they could tie the arms to the crossbeam with ropes. They would then nail the hands to the cross, as the ropes would support the body’s weight. Since Jesus was being crucified before Passover, it is likely that the soldiers drove the spikes through his wrists to hasten his death.

Simon carried the cross on which this man died. He likely watched what happened on it. How did what he saw affect him? Again, we’ll return to his story momentarily.

Why did Jesus die?

Why did it happen? Why did Jesus die on the cross? Here’s what God says:

He died to pay the penalty for the sins of humanity: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

God warned Adam and Eve that sin leads to death. The Bible is clear: the soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). James teaches that “sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15). Sin leads to death, from the Garden of Eden to today. So, someone had to die as a result of our sin. Someone had to pay the penalty.

He died to substitute for us: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'”(Galatians 3:13).

And so he died to make possible our salvation: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The Message translates Hebrews 10:14: “It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people.”

Conclusion

Now, what became of Simon of Cyrene, the man who saw it all happen? The man who witnessed Jesus’ scourged and flogged body more closely than any who ever lived? The man who watched his horrific crucifixion firsthand? The man who saw what this One suffered? How does it all connect? And what difference does any of this make?

Mark names him “the father of Alexander and Rufus.” He tells us nothing more about them, indicating that his readers were so familiar with their stories that their names alone were sufficient to identify them. If I were to identify “Rodney” or “Stephen,” you would know them by that name alone though the rest of the world (regrettably) would not.

Now the plot thickens. Mark’s gospel was written first for the church at Rome. In Paul’s letter to the same congregation in Rome he asks, “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too” (Romans 16:13). Early tradition held that this was Simon’s son, a man who went on to be of remarkable significance to the church. And that Simon’s wife became Paul’s “mother,” giving him personal assistance and support in his ministry.

Acts 13:1 later lists prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, among them “Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene.” Simeon is another spelling of Simon; “Niger” means a man of swarthy skin from Africa. Early tradition identified this man as Simon of Cyrene, here with Lucius (also from Cyrene), one of the leaders of the most significant missionary church in Christian world.

So, what happened to the man who carried the cross of Jesus? It would appear that he chose to bear it the rest of his life. He found someone he could trust with his boys, his wife, his future and his eternity. He learned this simple fact: you can trust the One who died for you. You can trust his will for your plans, your possessions, your dreams. You can trust him with your life. And with your eternal life.

Jim Elliott, the missionary martyred by the people he went to serve, wrote in his journal these famous words: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Do you agree?

Expect the Best from God

Written by

Topical Scripture: John 5:1-9

Dr. David Fite went to be with the Lord last August. He was a former missionary to Cuba and a colleague of mine when I served on the faculty of Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth.

Dr. Fite and his father-in-law were both imprisoned in Cuba for preaching the gospel there. They spent forty-two months in prison, where they were often put in solitary confinement or made to stand at attention all day. Dr. Fite’s father-in-law, advanced in years, often fell when standing in the hot Cuban sun. The guards would then hit him.

One day was especially hot. Dr. Fite and his father-in-law stood at attention all through the day; the elderly man never flinched but stood with amazing strength. That night, David asked him how he had done so. His answer: “David, I’m surprised at you. You forgot that my birthday is today! Southern Baptists all over the world were praying for our missionaries. God’s grace was my strength!”

All that God has ever done, he can still do. As we continue our series on Jesus’ healing miracles, we come today to one of the most surprising stories in Scripture. And we will hear Jesus ask us the strange but penetrating question, “Do you want to be healed?”

Listen to his voice

Our story begins: “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews” (John 5:1). He had to go “up,” because Jerusalem sits atop a plateau whose sides must be scaled by pilgrims coming to the Holy City.

He came for a “feast of the Jews,” but which one? The options are Purim in March, Passover in April, Pentecost in May, Tabernacles in October, and Dedication in December. This episode likely occurred during the springtime, as the lame were lying outside in the weather and Jesus referred to the time of harvest earlier (John 4:35). Thus Purim and Passover are the best guesses.

If this feast was Passover, Jesus attended it out of religious obligation. Every Jew within fifteen miles of Jerusalem was legally required to attend Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Our Lord knew the controversy which awaited him, but he came anyway. The healing of a paralyzed man was worth all the trouble it cost him.

Verse 2 continues the narrative: “Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.” John used the present tense, “there is in Jerusalem . . .”, even though he wrote these words long after the Roman destruction of the city in AD 70. He wanted us to experience the reality of this miracle as if it occurred in our time, for it still can.

The Sheep Gate was one of the entrances through the walls of the city of Jerusalem. It had been rebuilt by Eliashib the High Priest and his fellow priests during the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:1), more than four centuries earlier. It was likely the entrance through which sheep and lambs were brought from the neighboring fields to the Temple for sacrifice. Through this gate the Lamb of God came to heal a crippled man, as one day he would die for the spiritual healing of our crippled world.

Here lay a “pool” (this word is found only here in the New Testament). It was surrounded by “five covered colonnades.” These colonnades were covered porches called stoa where people gathered (the “Stoics” are named for the fact that they began by meeting on porches like these). The pool in question was trapezoidal in form, 165–220 feet wide by 315 feet long, divided by a central partition. There were colonnades on four sides of this partition, and one on it. Stairways in the corners permitted descent into the pools.

The Crusaders built a church over this pool, with a crypt framed like the five porches and an opening in the floor which descended to the water. This structure is known as the Church of St. Anne; its remains stand today on the northwest corner of Jerusalem near the gate by the sheep market. I’ve seen it, as do most tourists to Jerusalem. The pool was called Bethesda in Aramaic, a term meaning “House of Mercy.” Jesus fulfilled its name this day.

Beside this pool “a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed” (John 5:3). This was likely not a winter scene, given their exposure to the weather. They were “paralyzed,” withered, atrophied. Why were they there?

Verse 7 supplies the answer: “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.” There is a subterranean spring beneath the pool which bubbles up occasionally, stirring its waters. The popular belief was that the first person who entered the water after it was stirred would be healed.

And so later copies of the Greek New Testament supplied this explanation, continuing verse 3: “and they waited for the moving of the waters.” Then a fourth verse: “From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.” The earliest and most reliable manuscripts of the New Testament do not contain these words, so biblical scholars are certain they should be omitted from the text. They appeared in the manuscripts used by the translators of the King James Version, which is why these words were included in that version. But no modern translation of the Bible includes them in its text.

Now we meet the suffering man Jesus came to heal: “One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5). The length of his incapacity proves the fact that it was medically incurable. Jesus did not provide him a medical solution but a miraculous healing.

So, “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (v. 6). Unlike the healing of the nobleman’s son, this miracle was initiated by Jesus himself. The crippled man could not come to Jesus physically, and did not know to ask Jesus to come to him. So Jesus met him at the point of his great need.

But first he asked what seems to us a strange question: “Do you want to get well?” What crippled person wouldn’t want to be healed?

However, Jesus “learned that he had been in this condition for a long time.” This man has spent his adult life and perhaps longer in this condition. He may have become accustomed to living on the donations of others. He may not want to return to the responsibility of an earned income and work to perform. Jesus will only work in our lives with our permission. He always limits himself to our free will.

Where do you need his healing, helping touch today? Jesus knows your pain. In fact, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). Jesus is calling to us in our suffering, for he shares it with us. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, he is with us (Psalm 23:4). He promised that he would never leave or forsake us (Matthew 28:20). He hurts as we hurt, and calls to us in the pain of our lives.

But some of us feel that we are beyond his help, that our sins have exempted us from his grace. The world would have said the same of this invalid. In Jesus’ day, popular theology taught that physical illness was proof of spiritual judgment. A person with a physical birth defect, as may have been the case with this man, was under the justice and judgment of God (cf. the disciples’ question of Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2). And those who experienced suffering for other reasons were judged to be sinners as well.

No self-respecting rabbi would have stopped for this man, but Jesus did. Perhaps you think no one cares about you or your pain today. If we knew your secrets we would reject you; if the world knew your problems, it would turn on you. But not Jesus. He initiated this miracle, as he will yours. He went to this man, as he will come to you. He stands ready to meet us where we need him most.

But we must listen. The Psalmist invites us to “be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). We must set aside our own furious activity, the crush of the calendar and the press of the day’s demands and listen to his voice.

One of the most life-transforming essays I have ever read is Mike Yaconelli’s Lost and Found: My Soul. This late, well-known Christian columnist related a time years ago when he retreated to be alone with God, with this result: “It only took a few hours of silence before I began to hear my soul speaking. It only took being alone for a short period of time for me to discover that I wasn’t alone. God had been trying to shout over the noisiness of my life, and I couldn’t hear Him. But in the stillness and solitude, His whispers shouted from my soul, ‘Michael, I am here. I have been calling you. I have been loving you, but you haven’t been listening. Can you hear me, Michael? I love you. I have always loved you. And I have been waiting for you to hear Me say that to you. But you have been so busy trying to prove to yourself that you are loved that you have not heard Me.”

Yaconelli then testifies: “I heard Him, and my slumbering soul was filled with the joy of the prodigal son. My soul was awakened by a loving Father who had been looking and waiting for me.” As he waits for us.

To feel the touch of Jesus, first listen to his voice.

Trust his heart

The invalid replied to Jesus’ question, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me” (v. 7). He wanted to be well but could not be on his own. He needed help and sought it from our Lord.

Notice how little he asked of Jesus. He believed that he would be healed if he could be the first one into the pool after the spring stirred its waters. And so he wanted the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, simply to carry him a few feet into the water. Jesus stood ready to heal his body, and the man instead asked him to help him get wet.

Are we so different? Do we ask for all God can do, or merely what we need for the present moment? Do we limit God’s power in our lives by our lack of faith in his power?

We might object that the crippled man didn’t know who Jesus really was. True, and this ignorance is his defense. But we have no such argument. When we give our need to Jesus, we must trust his heart and expect his best. For that is what he waits to give to us.

Our Lord said to the invalid, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (v. 8). He called the man to do something he had not done for thirty-eight years. He did not carry the man to the water—he healed him so he could walk there himself. He did not offer him a temporary cure or help for the symptoms of his disease—he worked a miracle which would banish this disease from his life forever. He told him to pick up his “mat,” the light pallet on which he had begged for so long.

And he told the invalid to “walk.” He has not moved the muscles of his legs for thirty-eight years. Even if a physician were to cure the cause of his paralysis, perhaps a rupture in the spine or nerves, his muscles would be so atrophied that years of physical rehabilitation would be required by him. But not by Jesus. He did for the man far more than the man asked of him.

Now the divine-human partnership emerges again. Jesus healed the man, but the invalid had to get up with the power given him by God. Jesus restored his body but told him to carry his own mat. Jesus cured his limbs but required the man to use them himself. And when he did, “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked” (v. 9a).

When we trust our problem into Jesus’ hands, we must always expect the best from him. He will always do as we ask, or something better. We often misunderstand his ways or timing and feel that he will not hear or help us. But he is giving us what is best for us, whether we know it at the moment or not.

Years ago, I was using a razor blade to scrape paint from a window one Saturday morning when one of our small boys happened by. Attracted by the shiny “toy” in my hand, he wanted to play with it and was not happy that I wouldn’t give him what he asked. But of course, no amount of begging or anger would have persuaded me to give him what he wanted.

When we stand with our Father in glory, we’ll see how many times he met our needs and answered our prayers with what we asked. And how often he gave us even more.

Where do you need his touch? Listen to his voice, and then trust his best. As the song says, when you can’t see his hand, trust his heart.

Conclusion

When we pray, God gives us what we ask or something better. Where do you need his touch? Where is a paralytic lying on a mat in your life? Get alone and still with the Father, so that you can hear him call to you by grace. Trust his heart, believing that he will give you what you are praying for unless he can give you even greater blessing. Seek spiritual health, not just temporal happiness. And join God at work, adding your hands to his, touching the spiritual, emotional, and physical paralytics who lie at your side. Believe that he can use you for great Kingdom work, and he will.

I have seen God do things in Cuba that we seldom see him do in America. Why is this?

I was discussing this question with a longtime missionary friend. She pointed out the obvious but often overlooked answer: the Cubans know they need Jesus. They know they need his power, his presence, his encouragement and joy. So they pray with passion and expectation, and God answers.

Mother Teresa was right: “You’ll never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

Following God into an Uncertain Future

Written by

Topical Scripture: Joshua 1:1–9

The coronavirus pandemic presents us with challenges unprecedented in a century. Not since the 1918 flu pandemic have we faced a disease with such a global impact on every dimension of our lives.

As we move into these uncharted days, it is vital that we follow the One who knows where we need to go. He sees the future better than we can see the present. If we will follow him, we will discover that his will never leads where his grace cannot sustain.

To help us, I’d like us to spend the next several weeks with the book of Joshua. Here the Lord met his people on the edge of the Promised Land and led them where they needed to go. These principles are in God’s word because they will do the same for us.

We’ll begin today with two steps that will enable us to hear our Lord’s voice and follow his will. As we study them, let me ask you to identify your greatest concern about the future.

Faith does not mean that we do not face fears. It means that we know where to face with our fears.

Let’s learn how to face our Father together.

Listen for the call of God (vv. 1–5)

Alexander the Great led his armies by the strength of his single focus and indomitable will. After his death, his generals met to plan their future. To their dismay, they discovered that they had marched off their maps. They were in an unknown location, facing an unknown future. They were not the first, or the last.

Listen in the hard places

So it was for Israel as the book of Joshua opened. Moses had died. This was easily the most traumatic event in the young life of the nation of Israel. He had been the “servant of the Lord” (v. 1), an exalted title given only to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Caleb to this point in Jewish history (Joshua would be added to the list at the end of his life and work; cf. 24:29). Now their mentor, guide, and hero was gone and the future was uncertain at best.

The book of Joshua connects its narrative directly to this crisis. Its first word, translated “after” in the ESV, is “and” in the Hebrew. The narrative continues directly from the end of Deuteronomy and the death of Moses. Perhaps the thirty days of mourning for Moses after his death had now ended (Deuteronomy 34:8). But the crisis facing the nation had not.

It has been calculated that the typical adult faces six crises in their life. Not just the routine problems of daily living, but major issues such as death, divorce, and serious disease. If a person graduates from adolescence without trusting personally in Christ, they are typically open to the gospel only during such times of crises. It is then that Christians who have built relationship with the person can show God’s love in theirs.

It is also in such periods of crisis that we can hear the Lord most clearly. He speaks far more than we are willing to stop and listen. But when we know that we need his word and help, that we have come to the end of our own wisdom, we will listen for his voice with desperation and faith. And we will always hear him speak.

So, whatever your circumstances may be, ask God to use them to bring his word to your heart. And he will.

Expect God to speak to you

In the immediate context of Moses’ death, “the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant . . .” (v. 1b). Joyce Huggett wrote a marvelous book titled The Joy of Listening to God. She’s right—whenever we are still enough to hear God’s Spirit speak to us, the result is joy. Whenever we are yielded to the truth of Scripture, to the words of a sermon or Bible study, to the truth contained in a worship song, to the truth of God revealed through human agents and means, there is joy.

So it was for Joshua, even in the crisis of the moment. So it will be for you. But you must expect God to speak to you, if only you will listen. You must tune the frequency of your spirit to his voice.

Seek his will for the now

God does not reveal himself in five-year strategies. You and I have inherited the Western worldview, with its linear philosophy of history. We like to think of history as a line on a page, progressing logically toward some conclusion. But God knows that this day is the only day which exists. His will is first and foremost for the here and now. He speaks to us in the present, about the present.

Joshua needed to know the next step to take. He didn’t need a long-range plan, but a present-tense guide. Not a map, but a flashlight. God gave him exactly what he needed to know, for the moment he needed to know it.

God gave him the who: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people” (v. 2a). Not just the leaders of the tribes. Not just the army. Not just the priests. Not just some part of the population. The entire nation intended by God to live west of the Jordan River was now involved in the call and purpose of God.

He gave Joshua the where: “into the land that I am giving” (v. 2b). The Jordan is typically only eighty to one hundred feet wide, and not deep. I have baptized several groups there over the years and had no difficulty wading out into the middle of the slow-moving current. But when the spring rains come, the river can flood its larger bed. Where Joshua and his people would be crossing, the river would be more than a mile wide and a raging torrent.

They didn’t know what the Lord already knew—that they would face an insurmountable obstacle which he would lead them across miraculously. We are called to follow God today and leave tomorrow in his hands. He already knows every step he intends us to take.

Next the Lord gave Joshua the what: they would go “into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel” (v. 2c). God had earlier promised this land to Abraham for his descendants (Genesis 15:18–19) and had renewed his promise to and through Moses (Deuteronomy 11:24–25). Now he would bring it to fulfillment.

Our text continues: “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory” (vv. 3–4). The Hebrew tense indicates that the land was already theirs, though it remained to be taken. It already belonged to God, and thus to his heirs. They just had to go and claim it.

God did not give Joshua the long-term plan, but only the immediate next step to take. This is always how we will hear his call. We must be close enough to hear his voice when he calls to us. We are to be faithful to the last word we heard from the Lord. Only then can we hear the next.

Trust his provision for his purpose

God promised them: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you” (v. 5). To “forsake” meant to abandon, to turn loose of. Imagine a mountain climbing guide, holding the lifeline for a climber who has lost his grip on the mountain. This is precisely our condition spiritually. But our Father will never turn loose of our rope. He will always hold us up until we have climbed to his full purpose and will.

Have you heard the call of God for your life and work? Expect God to speak to you, if only you will listen for his voice. Seek his will for the now, the next step you are to take into his purpose. Trust him to provide for every step of that pilgrimage. Sign a blank check to him. Give him your unconditional commitment to his purpose, whatever it might be.

And you will know what you are to do next in the plan of God for your life.

Choose courageous obedience (vv. 6–9)

The next words Joshua heard from God were a direct command: “Be strong and courageous” (v. 6a). “Be strong” translates a Hebrew word which means to be bound strongly together, to be put together well. To be “courageous” meant to be firm-footed, to take a strong stand, the opposite of shaking or quaking knees.

Why would Joshua need such courage? Because “you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them” (v. 6b). Even Moses did not fulfill this purpose. Their greatest leaders had not brought them to this place of victory. Now Joshua would lead a nation numbering in the millions into hostile territory inhabited by some of the most wicked cultures known to human history. Indeed, he would attempt something so great it was doomed to fail unless God was in it.

What is the secret to such courage? Faithful obedience: “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go” (v. 7).

Obedience was and is the prerequisite for divine power and protection. Such obedience would position them to receive the power and provision God intended to give.

So what is the secret to such obedience? Constant communion: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it” (v. 8a).

“Meditate” in the Hebrew describes a low murmuring sound made by a person contemplating something. We will not simply read the words and leave them on the page, but we will bring them into our hearts and lives.

When you read the word of God, first read its words aloud. Then use all your senses. Imagine yourself in this setting—how it feels to your skin and how it smells, tastes, sounds, and looks. Experience these words fully and sensually. Then ask the Lord for one thing you should do differently because you have spent this time with him in his word. Write down that idea or fact; read it over through the day; ask the Lord to apply it to your unconscious thoughts as well as your intentional decisions.

When you “meditate” on the word of God “day and night,” the result will be “so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (v. 8b). As we commune with God in his truth, we find his help in practicing the faithful obedience which creates courageous strength.

Last, what is the secret to such constant communion? Trusting the presence of God: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (v. 9).

He is “the Lord your God.” Martin Luther believed that the most important single word in the 23rd Psalm is found in its first clause: “The Lord is my shepherd.” Not just the shepherd or even our shepherd, but my shepherd.

Likewise, the Lord is your God. You can go no place that is exempt from his providence and presence. If you will trust him to be present in your life in this and every moment, you can then practice his presence through communion in his word. When you commune with him in his word, you have his guidance to practice faithful obedience. And as you are obedient to his word and will, you will have his strong courage to fulfill that purpose.

As we will see across these weeks, Joshua experienced precisely such strength and courage. He would lead the people to the great military conquest which would create their nation. He would establish them in their Promised Land and make of their roving tribes a permanent and mighty people.

His God will do no less with us.

Conclusion

When this pivotal chapter opened, we found Joshua and the people still mourning the death of their beloved hero and leader. Their future was uncertain in the extreme. Their leadership was unclear, their direction undetermined.

When the chapter ends, the people are one. Joshua is their strong and courageous leader. The people are unified and resolved to follow him into their future. And they will find that future to be as bright as the promises of God.

In these uncertain times, your culture needs Joshua-type Christians today. As we face medical fears and financial challenges, the people you know want to know if you will follow the Lord with your personal obedience and faithful commitment.

They cannot be expected to go further with God than we are willing to lead them. If the people you influence were as close to the Father as you are this moment, would this be a good thing?

Perhaps this text could be as pivotal to your soul as it was for Joshua. The choice is yours.

Freedom is Never Free

Written by

Topical Scripture: Judges 2:6-16

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. Independence Day is always a deeply moving experience for me. I love the flags on display, the parades, the concerts. Each year our nation looks to our birth with gratitude, so we can look to our future with commitment.

And we remember that freedom is never free.

Edward Gibbon explained the fall of the Roman Empire this way: “In the end, they wanted security more than they wanted freedom.” It has been noted that “following the path of least resistance is what makes rivers and men crooked.”

By contrast, Andrew Jackson observed that “one man with courage makes a majority.”

As we continue our exploration of Judges, we come today to a time when one man made a majority that saved his nation. On the Sunday before America’s Independence Day, it seems appropriate that we remember such courage and its value for our nation. And that we choose it wherever we need the power of God today.

Prepare as though everything depended on you

I once heard a preacher describe his work this way: prepare as though everything depended on you, then preach as though everything depended on God. First, we’ll explore Gideon’s preparations, and learn their practical lessons for us. Then we’ll discuss God’s response, and the ways he still works today.

As the story begins, “The Lord said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands” (Judges 7:2). When was the last time a general faced this problem? Imagine a pastor saying to his staff, “We have too much money for our programs this year.” Or a mission leader saying to missionaries, “We have too many people for that mission field.” Yet that is precisely what God said to what must have been an astounded Gideon.

Remember the size of their foe: “The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore” (v. 12). No wonder the place where the Hebrew army camped came to be known as the spring of “Harod” (v. 1), a word which means “timidity” in Hebrew.

Camels were the desert tanks of the ancient world. Bands of marauders on camelback were too fast and strong for foot soldiers; such an advantage was the main reason the Midianites had become so oppressive over Israel (cf. Judges 6:3–5). Picture a vast army filling an entire valley, its tanks as numerous as sand on a seashore, and you’ll get a sense of Gideon’s problem. Any wise general would want all the men he could muster in attacking such a foe.

But the outcome of the battle was not in question, for God had already promised, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together” (Judg. 6:16). In question was whether his people would learn something significant from the victory they were about to gain. Whether they would return to their pattern of sin and its tragic consequences or learn to trust in the one true Lord once and for all. Whether they would follow Gideon or follow God.

The Lord’s motive was clear: he would work “in order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her” (Judges 7:2b). God will not share his glory. To allow us to trust in anyone but him would be to encourage idolatry. His glory is always to our good.

So he instructed Gideon to reduce the size of his army in two ways. First, he was to release any of the men who “trembles with fear” (v. 3), reducing the 32,000-member force to 10,000. Such fear would discourage the rest of the army: “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his brothers will not become disheartened too” (Deuteronomy 20:8). And such numbers would take the glory from God.

But still the army was sufficient to believe that it won the victory in its own strength, so the Lord required a second test. He led them to the spring of Harod; those who “lapped with their hands to their mouths” were to stay, while those who knelt at the water and drank with their mouths were dismissed (Judges 7:6). The former were more ready for battle, with one hand at their sword. The latter were on their hands and knees, easy victims for attack. This second reduction left Gideon with three hundred soldiers, who picked up the provisions and trumpets of the others (v. 8).

I stood at this very spot the last time I was in Israel. The area is unprotected and susceptible to assault. The very act of leading an army, already reduced by 66 percent, to this unsafe place where they could be reduced by another 97 percent, was implausible in the extreme.

From Gideon’s example we learn to listen to God before we act for him. His ways are not our ways, nor are his thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8).

And we learn to be obedient with today and trust God for tomorrow. Nothing of Gideon’s preparations made any military sense. To dismiss 22,000 fearful soldiers was bad enough, but to release 9,700 men who were ready to fight to the death was to commit battlefield suicide. But if Gideon had not obeyed the Lord’s direction, God would not have given him the victory.

Obedience is always the key to understanding. We stand up to Pharaoh before God defeats his armies. We step into the Jordan River before God stops its flood. We march around Jericho before it falls. We trust God in the lion’s den before he stops the lion’s mouth. We praise him before the fiery furnace and meet him in its flames. We must get out of the boat before we can walk on the water to Jesus.

Who are your Midianites? What battles are you facing this week? Have you listened to God? Have you obeyed God? If so, you’re ready to fight on his side. And he hasn’t lost a battle yet.

Fight as though all depended on God

Now Gideon and his tiny army were ready for battle. They were outnumbered beyond belief. But they had the high ground at the hill of Moreh, so that “the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley” (Judges 7:8). And they were prepared to attack “at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard” (v. 19). The Jews divided in the night into three “watches”: sunset to 10 p.m., 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., and 2 a.m. to sunrise. So, the Midianite army would have just gone to sleep when the battle began. The strategic advantage was Gideon’s.

These decisions did not cause the rout of the Midianite armies, however. A crucial strategy was giving each of the three hundred men a trumpet to blow and an empty jar with torches inside to hold (v. 16). The “trumpet” they used was a ram’s horn, a very loud instrument (cf. Exodus 19:13, where a single horn was loud enough to signal to the entire Hebrew nation that it was safe to approach Mt. Sinai).

The fact that the entire original army of 32,000 needed only three hundred trumpets indicates the strength of their sound. An opposing army hearing such a loud blast, right on their camp, would obviously assume a much larger force than Gideon’s army possessed.

Like the trumpets, the torches were carried only by a small number of troops in a conventional army. They made it difficult for the soldier to wield a sword or shield and exposed his position to enemy attack. Nighttime hand-to-hand battles were more effectively waged in the darkness as well. A large number of torches would be counterproductive to the army’s success.

What torches the army required were kept in clay jars, so they would remain lit but their flames low; in this way the army could creep up in the night undetected. When they broke the jars, the sudden flames surrounding the Midianite camp would be a second indication of a massive army on their perimeter.

Note that the Hebrew army held their torches in their left hands and their trumpets in their right hands (v. 20a). They had no sword or shield in hand when they began their battle, only the sword of their mouths: “they shouted, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon'” (v. 20b). Gideon’s army was reduced by 99 percent, and those who remained for the battle were completely unarmed. Has any army ever waged a more unconventional battle?

What was the result? The entire Midianite army was routed. They had no time to light their own torches and were too far from Gideon’s to see those around them. And so, they attacked each other in the night, probably assuming that the Hebrews had run into their camp and were at their side (v. 22). Not to mention a likely stampede on the part of the frightened, massive camel herd.

Those who escaped the camp slaughter fled into the Jordan valley, where they could have retreated to the south, crossed the river, and regrouped. So “Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites” (v. 23). These tribes were located in the area of the battle and could join in the military pursuit. Clearly an army of 300 could not defeat the Midianite forces in open terrain, but the reassembled Israelite battle forces were sufficient to the task.

Still the Midianites had a lead on their pursuers, so Gideon sent messenger to the hill country of Ephraim to the south, calling them into the battle (v. 24). Ephraimite soldiers got to the Jordan ahead of the Midianites and cut off their retreat. When the fleeing Midianite soldiers got to the place they thought would be safe, they found themselves opposed by an army which now possessed the numbers to defeat them (v. 25).

Meanwhile, Gideon and his army of three hundred were not finished with their unlikely victory. They crossed the Jordan further north, pursuing the Midianites who had fled that way (Judges 8:4). They found the remaining enemy force of 15,000 men, fell upon the unsuspecting army, routed them and killed their kings (vv. 10–12, 21).

What was the final military tally? The Midianites lost more than 135,000 men (Judges 8:10), defeated by an army which began their assault with 300 in number. The Midianite threat against Israel was destroyed, finally and forever. All because one man was willing to prepare as God directed and fight as God empowered. And God was glorified by one of the most stunning, unlikely victories in military history.

Conclusion

What army has you outnumbered today? Where are your class members fighting against long odds? Have you been defeated by temptation, discouraged by hardship, or isolated by loneliness?

Listen to God and do as he says. Make your preparations to be used by his Spirit and for his glory. Then step into the battle, trusting him to keep his promises. Whatever he has said, he will do. Wherever he has called you, he will go before you.

A torch and trumpet in the hand of a soldier of God will defeat an army of swords and shields, every time. “One man with courage makes a majority.”

Just be sure you’re the one.

Jesus is Still the Great Physician

Written by

Topical Scripture: John 5:1–9

The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, continues to dominate the news. The death toll stands at fifty-six this morning, with confirmed cases now in Washington State, California, and Chicago. Sixty-three Americans are being monitored for the illness. Chinese officials have enacted travel restrictions affecting nearly sixty million people, roughly the population of California and Texas, combined.

You may not be worried about the Wuhan virus, but there is something in your life that you wish God would change, or heal, or remove. I have prayed for years for God to heal my back, for instance, but so far, he has not done so.

How do we trust God when his timing is not ours?

As we continue watching Jesus change lives through his unique power and love, today we’ll meet someone who was sick for thirty-eight years before he was healed by our Lord. We’ll learn from him to trust the timing of God even when his timing makes no sense to us.

It’s been well said: God is seldom on time, but he is never late.

Seek his help

Our story begins: “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem” (John 5:1). What follows is a miracle story found nowhere else in Scripture.

Jesus had to go “up,” because Jerusalem sits atop a plateau whose sides must be scaled by pilgrims coming to the Holy City. He came for a “feast of the Jews,” but which one? The options are Purim in March, Passover in April, Pentecost in May, Tabernacles in October, and Dedication in December. This episode likely occurred during the springtime, as the lame were lying outside in the weather and Jesus referred to the time of harvest earlier (John 4:35). Thus Purim and Passover are the best guesses.

Verse 2 continues the narrative: “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.” John used the present tense, “there is in Jerusalem . . .,” even though he wrote these words long after the Roman destruction of the city in AD 70. He wanted us to experience the reality of this miracle as if it occurred in our time, for it still can.

The Sheep Gate was one of the entrances through the walls of the city of Jerusalem. It had been rebuilt by Eliashib the High Priest and his fellow priests during the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:1), more than four hundred years earlier. It was likely the entrance through which sheep and lambs were brought from the neighboring fields to the Temple for sacrifice. Through this gate the Lamb of God came to heal a crippled man, as one day he would die for the spiritual healing of our crippled world.

Here lay a “pool” (this word is found only here in the New Testament). It was surrounded by “five roofed colonnades.” These colonnades were covered porches called stoa where people gathered (the “Stoics” are named for the fact that they began by meeting on porches like these). The pool in question was trapezoidal in form, 165–220 feet wide by 315 feet long, divided by a central partition. There were colonnades on four sides of this partition, and one on it. Stairways in the corners permitted descent into the pools.

The Crusaders built a church near this pool, with a crypt framed like the five porches and an opening in the floor which descended to the water. This structure is known as the Church of St. Anne; it stands today on the northwest corner of Jerusalem near the gate by the sheep market. I’ve visited it many times over the years. The pool was called Bethesda in Aramaic, a term meaning “House of Mercy.” Jesus fulfilled its name this day.

Beside this pool “lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed” (v. 3). Why were they there?

Verse 7 supplies the answer: “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up.” There is a subterranean spring beneath the pool which bubbles up occasionally, stirring its waters. The popular belief was that the first person who entered the water after it was stirred would be healed.

We meet the suffering man Jesus came to heal in verse 5: “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.” The length of his incapacity proves the fact that it was medically incurable. Jesus did not provide him a medical solution but a miraculous healing.

So, “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’” (v. 6). The crippled man could not come to Jesus physically and did not know to ask Jesus to come to him. So Jesus met him at the point of his great need.

But first he asked what seems to us a strange question: “Do you want to be healed?” What crippled person wouldn’t want to be healed?

However, this man had been in this condition for “a long time.” He has spent his adult life and perhaps longer in this condition. He may have become accustomed to living on the donations of others. He may not want to return to the responsibility of an earned income and work to perform.

Jesus will only work in our lives with our permission. He always limits himself to our free will.

Where do you need his healing, helping touch today? Jesus knows your pain. In fact, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). Jesus is calling to us in our suffering, for he shares it with us. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, he is with us (Psalm 23:4). He promised that he would never leave or forsake us (Matthew 28:20). He hurts as we hurt and calls to us in the pain of our lives.

But some of us feel that we are beyond his help, that our sins have exempted us from his grace. The world would have said the same of this invalid.

In Jesus’ day, popular theology taught that physical illness was proof of spiritual judgment. A person with a physical birth defect, as may have been the case with this man, was under the justice and judgment of God (cf. the disciples’ question of Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” John 9:2). And those who experienced suffering for other reasons were judged to be sinners as well.

No self-respecting rabbi would have stopped for this man, but Jesus did. Perhaps you think no one cares about you or your pain today. If we knew your secrets, we would reject you; if the world knew your problems, it would turn on you. But not Jesus. He initiated this miracle, as he will yours. He went to this man, as he will come to you. He stands ready to meet us where we need him most.

Scripture says, “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2). To feel the touch of Jesus, seek his help.

Trust his heart

The invalid replied to Jesus’ question, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me” (v. 7). He wanted to be well but could not accomplish this on his own.

Notice how little he asked of Jesus. He believed that he would be healed if he could be the first one into the pool after the spring stirred its waters. And so, he wanted the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, simply to carry him a few feet into the water. Jesus stood ready to heal his body, and the man instead asked him to help him get wet.

Are we so different? Do you come to worship to hear a “good sermon” and music, or to meet the Lord of the universe? Am I speaking these words to give you my wisdom or God’s? To explain the text or lead you to the One who inspired it and wants to repeat its miraculous power in our lives today?

We might object that the crippled man didn’t know who Jesus really was. True, and this ignorance is his defense. But we have no such argument. When we give our need to Jesus, we must trust his heart and expect his best. For that is what he waits to give to us.

Our Lord said to the invalid, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk” (v. 8). He called the man to do something he had not done for thirty-eight years. He did not carry the man to the water—he healed him so he could walk there himself. He did not offer him a temporary cure or help for the symptoms of his disease—he worked a miracle which would banish this disease from his life forever. He told him to pick up his “mat,” the light pallet on which he had begged for so long.

And he told the invalid to “walk.” He has not moved the muscles of his legs for thirty-eight years. Even if a physician were to cure the cause of his paralysis, perhaps a rupture in the spine or nerves, his muscles would be so atrophied that years of physical rehabilitation would be required by him. But not by Jesus. He did for the man far more than the man asked of him.

Now the divine-human partnership emerges. Jesus healed the man, but the invalid had to get up with the power given him by God. Jesus restored his body but told him to carry his own mat. Jesus cured his limbs but required the man to use them himself. And when he did, “At once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked” (v. 9).

When we trust our problem into Jesus’ hands, we must always expect the best from him. He will always do as we ask, or something better. We often misunderstand his ways and feel that he will not hear or help us. But he is giving us what is best for us, whether we know it at the moment or not.

Many years ago, I was using a razor blade to scrape paint from a window one Saturday morning when one of our small boys happened by. Attracted by the shiny “toy” in my hand, he wanted to play with it and was not happy that I wouldn’t give him what he asked. But of course, no amount of begging or anger would have persuaded me to give him what he wanted.

When we stand with our Father in glory, we’ll see how many times he met our needs and answered our prayers with what we asked. And how often he gave us even more.

Where do you need his touch? Seek his help, then trust his heart.

Wait for his best

Let’s consider one last fact. This man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, likely lying beside this pool for all this time. Jesus had been coming to Jerusalem since he was twelve and was now in his early thirties. Thus, there had been two decades when the Son of God probably passed by this man in his infirmity.

Why did Jesus wait so long to heal this man? Why now?

Here we learn that God’s timing is seldom our own. He tells us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). We see the parade through a hole in the fence; he sees it from the grandstand. He has a plan we cannot fathom which is relevant to the entire universe for all of eternity. And he works this plan in ways that are best, though we seldom understand that fact at the time.

When Joseph was languishing in Potiphar’s prison, he could not know that God was orchestrating events that would bring him into Pharaoh’s palace. When Paul was imprisoned in Philippi, he could not know that God would send an earthquake that would lead to the jailer’s conversion. When John was exiled on Patmos, he could not know that the risen Christ would meet him there and give him the Revelation.

Where does it seem to you that Jesus is passing you by? That he knows your need but has not met it? That his timing is not yours?

The simple fact of Scripture and providence is that God does what we ask or whatever is best. And when his timing is not ours, there are reasons we cannot understand but can trust.

Conclusion

What infirmity has found you? Would you seek Jesus’ help, trust his heart, and wait on his timing?

Charles Spurgeon was the greatest preacher of his generation, but he was no stranger to pain. He battled a burning kidney inflammation called Bright’s Disease as well as rheumatism and neuritis. And he suffered from depression for many years.

Here was his response: “All our infirmities, whatever they are, are just opportunities for God to display his gracious work in us.”

It’s been stated, “The sun never quits shining. Sometimes, clouds just get in the way.”

What clouds would you trust to the Son today?

Right and Wrong Ways to Know God’s Will

Written by

Topical Scripture: Judges 6

You know the world is changing when the World Health Organization proposes adding “gaming disorder” to its manual of disease classifications. According to the manual, “Gaming disorder is characterized by a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior.” Symptoms include a lack of control over gaming; giving gaming preference over other life interests and daily activities; and continuation or escalation of gaming despite negative consequences.

We live in a culture that is changing more rapidly than ever before. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the most common question I’ve been asked in four decades of ministry is, “How can I know God’s will for my life?” Some people ask this question with regard to a specific decision they are facing, others as they seek their general direction and life purpose.

In our series from the Book of Judges, we come today to a man who desperately needed to know how to answer this question. His story is in Scripture as an example for us today. From Gideon we will learn what to do and what not to do. Both lessons are vital.

Believe in God’s love

Our story is set in one of the most dangerous periods in Jewish history. It begins, as so often in Judges, with the nation’s sin: “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 6:1a). As a result, “for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites” (v. 1b).

Who were these oppressors? Why were they so dangerous?

Midian was the fourth son of Abraham by his second wife (or concubine) Keturah (Genesis 25:2). His descendants intermingled with the Ishmaelites (Genesis 37:25), living as nomads in the desert east of the Dead Sea and the Sinai Peninsula (modern-day Saudi Arabia).

In our text, the Midianites aligned with “Amalekites and other eastern people” (Judges 6:3) to attack Israel. They amassed large herds of camels, making them much quicker than the foot soldiers of Israel (v. 5b). When the harvest was ripe, they would appear “like swarms of locusts” (v. 5a) and steal the sheep, cattle, donkeys, and crops of the Jews (v. 4).

The Israelites were forced to hide from them in mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds (v. 2). They could not defeat their enemy or live like this much longer. So, they finally “cried out to the Lord for help” (v. 6), repenting of their sin and turning to God.

Who or what are the Midianites and Amalekites in your life? Where are you facing challenges and struggles? They may be the result of your sins, or they may be the result of living in a fallen world.

Either way, know that God still loves you. He knows your pain (Hebrews 4:15) and cares about your suffering. You can still call out to him for help. It’s never too soon to give up on God.

Go where God sends

The Lord’s revealed will for their need came in a surprising way.

He sent his angel to Gideon, son of Joash the Abiezrite, while he was “threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites” (Judges 6:11). Wheat was typically threshed in an open area where the wind could carry away the chaff, while grapes were crushed into wine in an enclosed area where they would be more protected from the elements.

Gideon was a laborer, working as a field hand. He was hiding from Israel’s enemies in fear. Such was not the resume we would expect for a “mighty warrior” of God (v. 12b).

The angel assured Gideon that “the Lord is with you” (v. 12a). The frustrated Israelite immediately protested that God’s presence should not have allowed them to fall into the hands of the Midianites (v. 13). Rather than speculate as to the reasons for their suffering, the angel offered the practical next step of God: “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (v. 14).

There is an entire theology of God’s will in this one verse.

Lesson one: God’s direction is always more practical than speculative. We want to know why something happened—our Lord is usually more interested in showing us what to do when it does occur. Rather than providing a full philosophical theodicy for their suffering, he provides a practical solution in Gideon’s leadership.

Lesson two: God has prepared us for whatever he calls us to do. Gideon was to “go in the strength you have,” not waiting until he acquired greater physical prowess or military might. The Lord has already made you ready for the next step you are to take, or he would not call you to take it. If you are to share Christ with a difficult neighbor or give a greater sacrifice of your time and money, or follow God into a new vocation, he has already prepared you for the will he now reveals. You have the strength you need for the task at hand.

Lesson three: His will is always for what comes next. He was to “save Israel out of Midian’s hand,” because that was the problem before them. We want a five-year plan, but no one in Scripture is given such advance notice. Today is the only day there is. God’s will is first and foremost for this present moment and the faithfulness it requires of us. Obedience, more than knowledge, is the issue.

Lesson four: God’s will never leads where his grace cannot sustain. He was “sending” Gideon in his will, provision, and power. He would go before him and prepare the way; he would sustain Gideon and his people in their battles; he would use them for his glory and their good. When Gideon protested that he was the weakest member of the weakest family in the weakest clan of Israel (v. 15), God repeated his assurance, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together” (v. 16).

Trust where God leads

But such assurance was not enough for Gideon. So, he placed a wool fleece on the threshing floor where he was at work (v. 37). He asked God to make the fleece wet with dew and the ground dry, and his request was answered (vv. 37–38). Then he asked that the fleece be dry while the ground was wet (the greater miracle, as fleece would absorb much more dew than the ground), and again it was so (vv. 39–40). And Gideon had his assurance and was ready to lead the armies of Israel into battle.

God’s willingness to meet Gideon’s conditions demonstrates his grace. He takes us where we are and leads us where we need to go. His incarnational love comes into our condition and accommodates his holiness to our fallenness. But the fact that he was willing to give Gideon such signs is not clear proof that he intends us to ask for them today.

Gideon’s method of determining God’s will has come down through history as “putting out the fleece.” Countless believers have followed his example by constructing circumstantial tests for knowing God’s direction.

For instance, I have known of pastors who would go to a church only if a specific percentage of the congregation voted to call them, believing that such a number would show them whether it was God’s will for them to accept the call or not. I have heard of churches which decide that they will move forward with capital projects only if a certain percentage of the needed funds are pledged in a given time period, as indication of God’s will in the matter.

Either decision could be pragmatic; I would not pastor a church if the large majority did not want to call me, or move forward with a building project if a sizeable percentage of the needed funds were not pledged. But for some, the specific number itself is an indication of God’s will. One pastor I know refused a church’s call because he had set a “fleece” of 90 percent and received 88 percent instead.

I would caution you against using the “fleece” method as the biblical way of knowing God’s will, for several reasons.

First, Gideon’s fleece is described in the Bible, not prescribed in Scripture. No verse of God’s word asks us to seek God’s will in this way. The fact that Gideon used this practice does not mandate it for us. David’s sin with Bathsheba is described accurately, but certainly not prescribed for us today.

Second, Gideon is not the best moral character in Scripture to follow. When the people of Peniel would not help him in battle, he pulled down their tower and killed all the men of the town (Judges 8:17). Then he took gold from the people and formed an ephod (a priestly garment) as an idol for the people to worship (vv. 24–27). He had many wives, and at least one concubine as well (vv. 30–31). Nowhere does the Bible lift him up as an example for us to follow in seeking the Lord’s direction for our lives.

Third, a circumstantial “fleece” must be interpreted carefully. Satan can move people to act, as with Judas’s betrayal of Jesus (John 13:27). People can misuse their freedom to act in ways which contradict God’s word and will, as the Hebrews did in our text. And events can be understood in different ways. Jesus’ miracles caused many in the crowds to believe in him, but some to attribute his powers to Beelzebub (Luke 11:14–15).

Conclusion

Let me say it again: God’s will never leads where his grace cannot sustain. Whatever your challenges, know that your Father loves you. Choose to go where he sends and trust where he leads.

He may reveal his will through Scripture, circumstances, other people, or by speaking to you intuitively. But if you are willing to go anywhere and do anything, when you need to know his will, you will. The question is not one of knowledge, but obedience.

God has a plan for Adam and Eve—where and what to live. A plan for Noah—how to build his ark, right down to the exact specifications and building materials he should use. A plan for Abraham, including where he should live, how old he would be when he had his son, and even that son’s name. A plan for Joseph, using his slavery and imprisonment to save the entire nation. A plan for Moses, encompassing the very words he should say to Pharaoh. A plan for Joshua, showing him where and how to take the land. A plan for David and Solomon, for their kingdom and the temple they would build for him. A plan for Daniel, even in the lion’s den.

Jesus had plans for his first disciples—plans they could not have begun to understand. He had a plan for Saul of Tarsus as he left to persecute the Christians in Damascus. He had a plan for John on Patmos.

Now God has a plan for your life.

In what way is your Lord calling you to be a Gideon for today? Identify your Midianites, and the reason they are persecuting you. If sin is causing your suffering, admit it and claim your Father’s forgiving grace. Then seek his direction for your next step. Surrender to his will before he reveals it, refusing to be conformed to the world’s mold, being transformed daily by your communion with him. And you will know his “good, pleasing, and perfect” will (Romans 12:2).

Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits, and made this prayer theirs:

Teach us, Lord, to serve you as you deserve,

To give and not to count the cost,

To fight and not to heed the wounds,

To toil and not to seek for rest,

To labor and not to ask any reward,

Save that of knowing that we do your will.

Amen.

The Best Definition of Success

Written by

Topical Scripture: Judges 4:1-24

Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, thought there should be an annual day to honor fathers. She went to local churches, shopkeepers, and government officials with her idea. She was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. President Nixon made the day a permanent national holiday in 1972.

Father’s Day is now that annual holiday when you try to find gifts that your father doesn’t have but would want. Another tie is probably not on the list.

You might consider a wi-fi coffeemaker, which your father can program through an app on his smartphone. Or rent him a day in a classic car (I would choose the 1974 Ford Bronco for $225). Or give him a day at car racing school.

As we think about gifts for fathers, let’s also consider what our heavenly Father wants fathers to give their children. There are two commitments we can make to God that will directly influence our families and our culture. Each of them is vital to the health of our souls as well. Together, they define a life a life well-lived.

As we continue our series in Judges, this week we come to a woman who changed the world. We will learn from her example how fathers and the rest of us can do the same.

Risk your present to the God of the future

Last week’s sin pattern persists in this week’s study: the judge dies, and the people return to their sins (Judges 4:1). God must bring judgment and punishment; this time he “sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor” (Judges 4:2).

Hazor was situated in the northern region of the Promised Land, in the area inhabited by the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun (v. 6; Joshua 19:32-39). Joshua had earlier exterminated its residents; it was the only city in that region which he destroyed by fire (Joshua 11:11–13). Later the Jabin Dynasty recovered power and restored the city. Solomon would later make it a fortified city and raise a levy to pay for the project (1 Kings 9:15). Its precise location is still disputed today, and several sites are suggested by archaeologists.

The commander of Jabin’s army was named Sisera (not a Canaanite name; perhaps he was a mercenary from a nearby nation). He commanded “nine hundred iron chariots,” perhaps a broad military coalition rather than the forces of a single city. Such an army is known to history; Pharaoh Thutmose III boasted of capturing 924 chariots at the battle of Megiddo in the fifteenth century BC.

These iron chariots gave Sisera and his soldiers complete advantage over the agrarian Hebrews. They could not outrun a chariot or defeat its protected driver in battle. So Sisera “cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years” until “they cried to the Lord for help” (Judges 4:3).

The only judge who was a prophet

His answer came in an unusual form: “Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time” (v. 4). Her name means “Bee.” She is the only judge to be identified as a “prophet,” but not the only woman in the Bible with this ministry. Miriam (Exodus 15:20) was before her, and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14), Anna (Luke 2:36), and Philip’s “four daughters who prophesied” (Acts 21:9) would follow after her.

A “prophet” or “prophetess” was less a foreteller of the future and more a forthteller of God’s word. The spiritual gift of “prophecy” and office of “prophet” can be linked to the ministry of preaching today (cf. Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Romans 12:6). In our text, Deborah functioned as one who gave God’s word to his people.

She was also “leading Israel” as a judge during this time: “She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided” (Judges 4:5). Other judges took their places of authority in the city gate; she held court under a palm tree. Her location was considerably south of Hazor, which may explain the fact that she was able to lead Israel from her palm tree while they were being oppressed by Jabin’s army to the north.

Deborah could have preserved her position and security, but her countrymen in the northern tribes were being oppressed and God had compassion on them. He used his prophetess to give his word to “Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali” (v. 6a). He lived in the region directly affected by Sisera and was apparently a likely choice to lead a rebellion against his oppression.

Deborah’s word came directly from God: “Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor” (v. 6b). This was a mighty army for the time. They were to hide atop Mount Tabor, 1843 feet above sea level, situated at the border between the tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphtali and thus accessible to all.

God would then “lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands” (v. 7). The heavy, iron-clad chariots would perhaps founder in the plain along the Kishon, especially if heavy rains came (cf. Judges 5:4 (NIV), where “the clouds poured down water”). Sisera would think he was chasing his adversaries into a dead-end, but the defeat would be his.

All Barak was called to do was obey and the victory would be his, but he refused to lead the army’s rebellion unless Deborah went with him (Judges 4:8). So, she spoke prophetically again: “Very well, I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will hand Sisera over to a woman” (v. 9).

Barak and Deborah led their army up the mountain and down into battle against Sisera, and “the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword” (v. 15). Barak pursued Sisera’s army back to their general’s home of Harosheth Haggoyim, and all fell by the sword (v. 16).

Lessons learned from a prophet of God

From this part of our story we learn two important facts. One: God will use anyone who will follow him by obedient faith. Neither Deborah nor Barak did anything to earn their selection as leaders of God’s people.

It was the same for Abraham, the father of their nation: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you'” (Genesis 12:1). There is absolutely no indication that this future father to more than half of the world’s religious population did anything to earn this call on his life. He didn’t graduate from Harvard Law on his way to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Neither Abram, Deborah, or Barak had resumes, lists of achievements, merit with God.

Such is the pattern of Scripture. Noah saved the human race, then planted a vineyard and got drunk; Moses ran from Egyptian authorities for forty years before returning to free his people from them; Bathsheba overshadows Goliath on David’s resume; Peter denied Christ before he preached him; Saul murdered Christians before he taught them.

God uses the usable. He does not call the equipped—he equips the called. If God could call Deborah and Barak, what’s to keep him from calling you?

A second fact emerges from this part of our narrative: Obedience is the key to victory with God. If Barak and Deborah had been unwilling to climb Mount Tabor, they could not have ridden down its elevation to victory over Sisera. If they had not done what God said, when he said it, how he said it, they would have lost the battle.

Armies must follow their leaders if they are to be successful. Athletes must obey their coaches if they are to improve. Students must follow their teachers’ direction if they are to learn. We must follow God if he is to lead us.

Mother Teresa was opening an orphanage in New York City, and a press conference broke out. One reporter shouted the question, “How will you measure the success of this work?” The tiny nun turned to the camera, smiled, and said, “I don’t believe our Lord ever spoke of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love.” Success is obedience with God.

Risk your present to God’s future, and you’ll have his victory.

Risk your future to the God of the present (Judges 4:17–24)

The battle was over, the forces of Deborah and Barak victorious. But Sisera was still on the run. And he knew where to go to hide.

“Heber the Kenite” had moved from his ancestral home in the southern part of Canaan to the northern area, to alight himself with Jabin king of Hazor (vv. 11, 17). “Kenite” means metalworker, perhaps indicating that Heber was an engineer partly responsible for creating the king’s fleet of iron chariots.

Sisera knew where Heber lived, and assumed he would be given safe haven. He found Heber’s wife at the foot of the tent. Jael (her name meant “Mountain Goat”) welcomed him inside. In their culture, only her father or husband would be permitted inside her tent, so the forces of Deborah and Barak would not think to look there for the general. She gave him goat’s milk for his thirst, enticing him to nap.

She then took the only implements available to her, a tent peg and hammer, and used them to kill the mighty general. In this way Deborah’s prophecy came to pass: the Lord handed Sisera over to a woman (v. 9). And the greatest enemy Israel knew was destroyed by the wife of one of their greatest traitors.

Jael is truly an unsung hero of Scripture. Her part in the story reminds us that God will use all who will be used, and that obedience is the key to success. What tent peg and hammer has he put into your hand this week?

This courageous woman could have acted to protect her security and relationship with her husband. She could have allowed Sisera to escape, and none would have blamed her. She risked her marriage and family, with no promise of material provision. She could have lost her home and even her life if her husband caught her in the act of killing Sisera. She trusted her future to the God of the present. And he continues to make her name great today.

What about the future most worries you today? Where is God leading you on an uncertain path? Where are you challenged to trust him with the results of your obedience? If you are faithful in tithes and offerings, will your financial needs be met? If you are willing to share your faith, will your friend still be your friend? If you are faithful to use your gifts for ministry, will you have time for your family and career?

Jael trusted her present to the God of the future and invites us to join her today. Remember: all of God there is, is in this moment.

Conclusion

If we trust our present to the God of the future, and our future to the God of the present, we position ourselves to be used by our Lord in transformative ways. Fathers can give their children no greater blessing. Children can pay their fathers no higher honor.

God will use anyone who will be used. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

Think about it: the wealthiest man in Dallas is no more important to God than his gardener. Name the last five Nobel Peace Prize winners, or the Super Bowl champions of two years ago, or the World Series champions last year, or the monarch of Great Britain before Queen Elizabeth II. Every one of us can change the world. But only if we seek his will and surrender to his voice. Only if we measure success by obedience.

Do you?