Revelation

Readings for today: Exodus 33-36

Imagine you are an ancient Israelite. Camping out at the foot of Sinai. You’ve spent generations enslaved in Egypt. All you know about God is what you’ve seen and experienced. Unbridled power over the heavens and the earth. Terrifying plagues. Pillars of fire and cloud. Seas parting. Manna falling. Smoke and fire and thunder and earthquakes emanating from the top of a mountain. Swift and harsh judgment when you crossed this deity. This God is certainly not safe. He is certainly not tame. He is certainly not domesticated to your needs, wants, and desires. You probably have a lot of questions about this God. Can He be trusted? Will He be faithful? Will He keep His promises?

You look to Moses. The man who speaks with this God face to face. The man who seems to know this God intimately. The man who intercedes with this God on your behalf. Moses, tell us about this God. Moses, who is this God? Moses, does this God even have a name? Yes. His name is YHWH. I am who I am. He is "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." (Exodus‬ ‭34:6-7‬) Ahhh. Things are now starting to come into focus. This God is not simply omnipotent. He is benevolent. He is gracious. He is merciful. He is faithful. He is true. He abounds in steadfast love. And though His justice will be meted out over three to four generations, His favor will last forever. This is good news! This is great news! This is the God of Israel! The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Now we see! Now we understand! Now we worship not just in fear but in awe and wonder at all God has done!

As I shared the other day, you have put yourself into the story. You have to put yourself in the sandals of an ancient Israelite. They do not have the benefit we do of looking back post-resurrection. They do not know anything about a Messiah. They haven’t yet seen the Promised Land. The kingdom God will forge under David’s leadership is still generations away. There have been no prophetic warnings. No psalms written. No proverbs issued. They haven’t even been given the Levitical Law. No wonder they struggle. No wonder they rebel. No wonder they complain. They have so little to go on here.

Not so with us. We have the full revelation of God. As the Apostle John says so beautifully, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” (1 John‬ ‭1:1-4‬) John is referring to Jesus, of course. The perfect revelation of God. The perfect icon of God. The perfect image of God. The Word of God made flesh and blood and come to dwell among us. In Him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. In Christ is the wisdom and power of God. In Christ is the joy and peace of God. Christ is the mercy of God. The grace of God. The faithfulness of God. The steadfast love of God. What God first revealed to Moses up on that mountain comes to its fullest expression in a manger in Bethlehem. “And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John‬ ‭1:14‬)

How did Moses respond when God revealed Himself to him? He bowed his face to the ground in worship. How did Israel respond when God revealed Himself to them? They bowed their faces to the ground in worship. How do we respond to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ? We bow our faces to the ground in worship. Friends, we worship a jealous God. A God who cares deeply about receiving the worship He deserves and the worship He demands. How are you living your life today as an act of worship?

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 37-40

The Power of Prayer

Readings for today: Exodus 29-32

Exodus 32 is an incredibly important chapter in the Bible. It speaks to humanity’s rebellious nature. The holiness of God. The power of prayer. The consequences of sin. It is deep and profound and a careful reader will absolutely marvel at what she reads. 

First, humanity’s rebellious nature. We are so impatient. We have such a hard time delaying gratification. When Moses is delayed on top of the mountain - remember there is still fire and smoke coming from the summit - the people decide to take matters into their own hands.  They decide to worship God as they please rather than stay true to what God demands. Aaron, in a display of incredibly weak leadership, plays to the crowd’s desires. He fashions a calf. Builds an altar. Declares a feast unto the Lord. This is not what God wants. Now we do need to remember that this scene is playing out in two different locations. Moses is hearing from God on top of Mt. Sinai. He has yet to return and give the people the law. Aaron is in charge down below, trying to keep the peace. The people honestly have no idea what’s happened to Moses. Perhaps they even fear he is dead. So let’s assume the best. They want to worship God. They want to show their devotion. They want to let God know how much they love Him and are thankful for His deliverance. But their failure to wait. Their failure to worship God as He deserves and as He demands is a critical mistake. (One we still too often unfortunately repeat...)

So the camera zooms up to the top of the mountain where God and Moses are still deep in conversation. The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly...” (Ex. 32:7) God is angry. His righteous wrath is now aroused. The sin of the people has encroached on His holiness. It offends Him deeply. Viscerally. Their sin is a stench to Him. So He tells Moses - this is important - “your” people whom “you” brought up from the land of Egypt have committed a great sin. God is disowning them as he prepares to destroy them and start all over with Moses. “The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. Now leave Me alone, so that My anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” (Ex. ‭32:9-10‬) Essentially, God is saying to Moses, I will wipe them out and make you a new Abraham. I will reset the deck yet again and start over with the one faithful man I can find. 

Moses is quick to respond. And he prays one of the most important prayers in human history. "O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'" And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.” (Ex. ‭32:11-14‬) Moses is quick to remind God whose people He’s really talking about. These are God’s people. They are the people God delivered by His own hand. If God were to destroy them, God’s reputation would suffer. The Egyptians - before whom God has made Himself known - would begin to doubt and question Him. The promise God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would become null and void. This is an incredible prayer of faith. An incredible prayer of trust. Trusting God to stay true to His character. Trusting God to stay faithful to His promises. There is no question in Moses’ mind that God will remain true to Himself so Moses prays in confidence and faith. . 

What are we to make of such a prayer? Is Moses talking God down? Is he talking God off the ledge? Does Moses prayer enact some kind of change in God? Is God the kind of God would could lose control in anger and lash out at His people? These are really important questions to wrestle with as we read. What I believe is happening here is something similar to what took place between Abraham and God when they discussed the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. God is specifically inviting us into a deep relationship with Himself. A relationship where our prayers are real. Where the thoughts and desires and emotions of our hearts are taken seriously by God. God is still free to act as He sees fit. He still destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah after all. But He did rescue Lot and his family so perhaps Abraham’s prayer was answered? Here Moses intercedes on behalf of the people. He steps into the gap God provides and prays in great faith. His prayer thus creates a new situation to which God responds. No longer are we just talking about God’s holiness and the people’s sin. Now we have a man of faith stepping into the gap. A mediator who intercedes. And God honors the intercessor by relenting from the disaster He had prepared. (By the way, the Book of Hebrews picks up this imagery and assigns Jesus the role of eternal intercessor before the Father.)  

Moses’ intercession doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for sin. Moses comes down the mountain. He shatters the tablets at the foot of the mountain. Grounds the calf to dust and makes the people drink it. There is death as the Levites have to kill almost three thousand people before the sinful revelry settles down. And the chapter closes with a plague from the Lord and this promise, “Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.” 

What do we learn from all this? God takes worship seriously. We are to worship Him in the way He demands and the way He deserves. God takes prayer seriously. Intercessory prayer is powerful and effective when it comes from the lips of a righteous man or woman. God takes sin seriously. He will not let us escape the consequences of our actions though He does provide a way - through Jesus - for us to be forgiven and reconciled to Him.  

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 33-36

Finding Ourselves in the Story

Readings for today: Exodus 25-28

So many reading plans start to crash at this part of the journey. Making our way though the latter parts of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers is a real struggle. It’s easy to breeze over the blueprints of the tabernacle. Skim through the thread counts of the priestly garments. Get lost in the weeds of all the laws in Leviticus. And then stop reading altogether once we hit the statistical reports in the Book of Numbers. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years. I get it. The readings start to feel boring. Pointless. Worthless.

But perhaps that’s because we read the Bible selfishly. Perhaps it’s because we read with a desire to “get something out of it” rather than read ourselves into it. Perhaps it’s because we project our own experiences and biases and cultural understandings back onto the text which makes it feel so foreign and strange. We look at all this detail and we can’t understand it. We wonder why God’s so concerned about the furnishings of the sanctuary or what His people eat or what they wear. We struggle to grasp the significance of all the offerings the people bring and why God demands such things in the first place. We start to wonder if the God of the Old Testament truly is capricious and arbitrary and not worthy to be trusted.

This is why it is so important to pay attention to verses like Exodus 25:22. “There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.” It’s important to stop. Ponder. Pray over verses like this that we will find sprinkled throughout the text. It reminds us that everything God does has a purpose. And that purpose is to make it possible for His people to be in relationship with Him. Take a step back for just a minute. The omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent God of the universe is under no obligation to interact with His people. God could just as easily washed His hands of this whole human mess when Adam and Eve first sinned in the garden. He has a universe to run. Surely He has better things He could be doing with His time? And yet, He chooses to love us. He chooses to reveal Himself to us. He chooses to meet with us. Dwell with us. Live in covenantal relationship with us. It’s astounding!

Sin causes us to forget our place. We are not the center of the universe. So in order to read the Bible for all its worth, we have to set aside our natural, sinful inclination to make it all about us. These books were not written so that we could get something out of them. Some nugget of wisdom or inspiration to put on a coffee cup or post on Twitter. The Bible was written to describe the history of God’s interactions with the people He had chosen from among the nations of the earth. This is their story. This is their history. And we only “get something out of it” if we seek first to immerse ourselves in it.

What does that look like? Here we have to exercise our imaginations. Imagine being a young Israelite child. Each night before bed you see the scars on your father’s back from the whips he endured in Egypt. Your mother, now in her late twenties, looks ancient because of the physical, psychological, and sexual trauma she’s endured. Your older siblings tell you very real horror stories of what life was like when you and your family were slaves. Each day is a struggle for survival. You barely have enough to eat. Barely have enough to drink. Your legs are tired from the miles you’ve walked. Your back hurts from the burdens you’ve carried. And now you find yourself at the foot of Mt. Sinai. The summit surrounded by smoke and fire. The ground shakes occasionally. Thunder rolls. Some of the older people tell you it’s the voice of God. You’ve seen His power firsthand. The plagues. The pillar of fire. The parting of the Red Sea. But you don’t know this God. You’ve never met this God. You have idea if you can trust this God. All you know is that He seems to be on your side…for now.

How would you learn more about this God? How would learn to love this God? How would you learn to worship this God? Only if He chose to teach you. Only if He chose to reveal Himself to you. Only if He chose to dwell with you. So Moses and Aaron start to give you instructions on how to build a sanctuary. A place for God to dwell. You start to meet with this God. You learn to recognize His voice. You learn to follow His will. A relationship begins to form. You feel loved. Protected. Cared for. Watched over. Then Moses and Aaron start to issue laws that will govern your collective life together. A national identity begins to take shape. You realize you are part of something bigger than yourself. Part of a not only a family and a clan and a tribe but a nation that God Himself has chosen out of all the nations of the earth. And as your heart fills with gratitude and love for all God has done for you and your people, you begin to bring Him offerings. Silver and gold and the finest animals of your flock. Not because you have to but because you want to return back to Him the best of what He’s given to you.

As you read over the next several days and weeks, keep pushing yourself to become part of the story. Don’t just read for information. Don’t even read for inspiration. Read with a desire to find yourself in the story. Read with a desire to come alongside and experience life with our spiritual fathers and mothers. Read with a desire to understand what life must have been like for them as they were learning all about this new God. And as you walk in their sandals a bit, trust God to reveal Himself to you in new and fresh ways.

Divine Rhythms

Readings for today: Exodus 22-24

One of the few things everyone seems to agree on these days is the growing mental health crisis in America. So much is made of the levels of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions that erode our quality of life and seem to present insurmountable barriers to human flourishing. Sadly, too many turn to pharmaceuticals for answers. Opioids. Psychotropics. Pot. Now let me be quick to say I am not against taking medication to correct chemical imbalances. I myself have been taking a pill every day since I was about 23 to correct my thyroid condition. So I get it on some level. However, it is clear to many that we are an over-medicated society. We seem unwilling to make the kind of lifestyle changes necessary to protect our physical, mental, and emotional health. One of the main areas we see this is in our addiction to work.

"Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.” ‭‭(Exodus‬ ‭23:12‬)

Imagine you are an Israelite. You’ve just been set free from slavery. From an existence where you were forced to endure a life of hard labor. Seven days a week. Four weeks a month. 52 weeks a year. Never a day off. Never allowed to rest. Never allowed to take a break and a breath and just relax. This is the only life you’ve know and it is the only life your ancestors have known for generations. It would be tempting to assume this is just how life is. You’re born. You work. You die. But God has a different plan for His people. He doesn’t view His people primarily as cogs in a machine or tools to be used or commodities to be used up but as creatures made in His image. As such, they literally have hardwired into their DNA a divine rhythm. A way of life modeled after the life of God. God works six days and rests. Human beings work six days and then rest. On a very practical level this is what it means to follow God.

Most psychologists will tell you the root of our mental health crisis begins with our lack of sleep. Human beings are biologically designed to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Furthermore, we are not robots. We were not made to work 24/7. We must get rest. We must take a break. We need downtime. When we don’t get these things, we end up anxious and afraid. We end up depressed and struggling with despair. Left unchecked, we engage in self-harm and entertain thoughts of suicide.

What solution does God offer us in the midst of our addiction to work and busyness? Sabbath. Rest. One day a week where we refrain the work we do the other six days. A break. A day dedicated to worship and rest and restorative practices. A day devoted to recovery. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally from the toil and trials of the rest of the week. What does it look like? Depends on the person. Jesus said, “Sabbath is made for man not man for the Sabbath.” In other words, Sabbath is a gift. It is given to us to use for our own benefit. As such, it will look different for every person.

God is passionate about us keeping a Sabbath because God is passionate about the health of His people. He longs for us to experience rest. Relaxation. Peace. Hope Joy. These are the fruits of a Sabbath lifestyle. So take a moment and examine your life. Do you take one day out of every seven to rest? To relax? To refrain from the activities you do the other six days? Do you intentionally set aside time for worship? For yourself? For those activities that fill your soul? How are you seeking to maintain the divine rhythm hardwired into your soul?

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 25-28

Forming a People

Readings for today: Exodus 19-21

Today’s reading represents a hinge point in the Book of Exodus. We move from sweeping epic to Israelite case law and it’s easy to start to skip over this part. I remember my eyes glazing over during this section the first several times I read through the Bible in a year. However, if we slow down and read carefully, some wonderful truths are revealed. 

First, a look at the big picture. Israel arrives at Mt. Sinai as a rag-tag group of folks with no national identity or charter. The only reason they’ve made it this far is due to the miraculous intervention of God. He saved them. He defeated the Egyptians. He fed them. He watered them. He has met every need. His goal is to get them to Sinai in one piece where He will begin to teach them what it means to be His people. Once they are at Mt. Sinai, God comes down to meet them face to face. The revelation of God is so intense, the mountain shakes and burns. The people’s hearts melt and they tremble in fear. God’s holiness is so fierce that the people must be protected from it lest they die. Then God speaks. He writes the Ten Commandments with His own finger on tablets of stone. He dictates His laws to Moses and in doing so, he shapes a nation.

The laws God issues are revelatory in nature. They are similar and yet critically different than the laws of the nations around them. Almost all societies, even ancient ones, have laws prohibiting murder, stealing, etc. Old Testament law is unique, however, in that it protects women, children, and families. It restricts revenge by instituting the principle of lex talionis - otherwise known as “an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth” - thus making justice proportional. Furthermore, it makes slavery a voluntary arrangement. Available for those who cannot pay their debts. Freedom was a guarantee unless the slave himself chose otherwise. Protections were built in to prevent abuse and slave trading was punishable by death. “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.” (Ex. 21:16) These are massive advances in human rights and set the nation of Israel apart from the other nations around them. 

This is exactly God’s point, by the way. Remember, in “Abraham” all the nations of the earth would be blessed. It will be through Abraham and his descendents (now starting to “outnumber” the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore) that the world will come to know Yahweh is God. Pharaoh’s already learned this lesson the hard way. Other nations now have the opportunity to learn from Israel. To model their own national life and laws after the Law of God. In giving Israel His Law, God is setting them up to serve as a light to the nations. An example to the Gentiles. He wants the nations of the earth to see what life looks like in His Kingdom. When Israel is faithful to the Law, the nations will flock to her. She will experience blessing and peace and prosperity. When she disobeys the Law, she will be judged and punished thereby continuing to serve God’s purposes as He makes an example of them in His wrath. The point of it all is that God is now in relationship with Israel and Israel with God. She is bound to Him through His saving grace and He will never let her go. 

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 22-24

Walk by Faith

Readings for today: Exodus 14-18

Christians are called to walk by faith and not by sight. But what does this mean? For Israel, it meant taking a literal journey through the wilderness. It meant placing their lives literally in the hands of God.

They are camped at the shores of the Red Sea. Celebrating their newfound freedom. But then they hear the warhorns of the Egyptians. They see the dust from the chariots rising on the horizon. They feel the ground rumble beneath their feet. They cry out in fear. In anguish, they look to Moses who points them to the salvation of God. “Fear not! Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today! For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see them again. The Lord will fight for you and you only have to be silent.” Trembling, Israel takes their first steps at the water’s edge only to watch it miraculously divide in front of them. They move through on dry ground. Once on the other side, they watch in awe as God brings the sea back together, consuming the Egyptian host. Moses and Miriam record one of the oldest songs of praise in the Bible.

They begin their journey to the Promised Land but quickly run out of water. They are parched. They are thirsty. They are afraid of dying. When they finally find water, it is bitter and poisoned and makes them sick. Again, they cry out in fear. They look to Moses who points them to the salvation of God. He throws a log into the well and the water became sweet. Not only that but he leads them to a place called Elim where the water is plentiful. An oasis in the desert.

They set out yet again. Into the wilderness. Into the desert. Food is scarce. They are hungry. Their stomachs are empty. They afraid of dying. They cry out in fear. They look to Moses and Aaron who point them again to the salvation of God. Manna will rain from heaven on a daily basis. God will provide for His people. God teaching His people to walk by faith and not by sight. “In the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord…” They wake up. Quail covered the camp. A fine, flake-like substance covered the ground. They gather. They eat their full. It is an effort they must repeat each day as God teaches them to rely on His daily bread.

What does this look like in your life? As I think back over the years, I can see where God was at work teaching me to walk by faith. I have experienced success and failure. I have been to the top of the mountain and in the darkest of valleys. I have seen pain and suffering. I have experienced hurt and heartbreak. I have been afraid. I have cried out to the Lord. Every time He has come through. Not always in the way I wanted. Not always in the way I thought best. Not always according to my plan. But always with enough to get me to the next step. Walking by faith in this world is not about never having a need. It’s not about the fulfillment of all our desires. It’s not about us living in health and wealth and abundance. It is about learning to rely on God each and every day. Trusting Him for every step in the journey. Believing Him even when things seem bleak and circumstances dire. God is with us. God is teaching us to depend on Him. Open your hands. Open your hearts. Listen to Him. Learn from Him.

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 19-21

Does God Harden Hearts?

Readings for today: Exodus 10-13

Today we have to grapple with one the deepest mysteries in all of Scripture. God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Before we even get started, let’s acknowledge the obvious. We hate this truth. It runs counter to everything we’ve been raised to believe about free will, everyone getting a choice, God loving everyone, etc. It calls into question God’s justice. God’s righteousness. How could a righteous God harden someone’s heart to the point where they are kept from saving faith? And yet, if we are courageous enough to take the text at face value, we are left with no other conclusion. 

“Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants...” (Ex. 10:1)

“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.” (Ex. 10:20)

“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.” (Ex. 10:27)

“Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.” (Ex. 11:10)

God is relentless with this man. He will not let him repent. He will not let him escape judgment. He will not let him give in until his nation lies in ruins. God will not let up until there is no doubt who is God and who is not. Now this is hard for us. This is a different side to God that we aren’t used to. A God who reigns over the affairs of humanity. A God who rules over the universe with a firm hand. A God who is to be feared as much as loved.  So again, the question is pressed...how could a righteous God harden someone’s heart to the point where they are kept from saving faith? 

The key is how we define righteousness. Do we define it from a human perspective? Or a Biblical one? According to Scripture, God’s highest aim is NOT the salvation of His people. As important as this is, it is merely the means God chooses to achieve a higher end. What is that “higher end?” The full display of God’s power and glory and majesty and sovereignty over all creation. God’s greatest aim is to fill the earth with His glory. His grand design calls for all creation to honor His great name. This is the purpose for which we were created and it is clearly revealed in the Exodus narrative. 

“But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them." (‭‭Ex. ‭7:3-5‬)‬

“Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord." (Ex. 10:1-2)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt." (Ex. 11:9)

And the Apostle Paul affirms God’s purposes when he looked back on the Exodus story. “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." (Rom. ‭9:17‬)

The point is clear. God will make His name known. And He chooses to make His name known through “vessels of mercy” (His people) and “vessels of wrath” (not His people).  And lest we think this somehow compromises God’s justice or righteousness or goodness or it just isn’t fair; we have to remember our condition before God. All of us are dead in our trespasses. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. All of us deserve death and the torments of hell forever. We are in NO position - broken, sinful, and rebellious as we are - to pass judgment on God. God is free to choose to use whom He wills in whatever way He wills and this in no way compromises His integrity. 

So what does this mean for us? Does it mean we should be scared of God? Does it mean we are at the mercy of a God who is arbitrary and capricious? Not at all. In Jesus Christ, God has provided the perfect Passover Lamb! He Himself has become the sacrifice that saves! He blood delivers us from the angel of death! And because we have no idea whom God has chosen, we should go forth and gladly, even boldly, share this good news with the world! 

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 14-18

Deliverer

Readings for today: Exodus 5-9

“I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”(Exodus‬ ‭6:6-8‬)

I remember sitting in a seminary classroom listening to a professor discount the Exodus. He decried it as a mythological story. An event that never took place. At least not in the way it’s told by the Bible. Instead, he suggested all kinds of replacement theories of his own. Each one more strange than the next. He argued it was a propaganda piece designed to give a group of people an identity. He argued the original Hebrews were a migrant, nomadic people who needed to give themselves political justification for settling down. He argued the Exodus never happened as a mass event but a series of migrations over time. All this sounded well and good until one student raised their hand and asked, “How can we describe God as deliverer if He never actually delivered anyone?” Silence. The professor began to stutter and stumble but the damage was done. His lofty arguments brought low by the simple, profound truth that propaganda pieces simply do not have the staying power he suggested. The fact that Israel has been telling and re-telling this story for centuries is strong evidence for it’s historical veracity. Furthermore, the fact that so many marginalized and oppressed people have found inspiration and hope in this story suggests it must have a basis in truth. And perhaps most damningly, how in the world can we honestly believe in God as deliverer if He never actually acted within human history to deliver His people?

Thankfully, the overwhelming testimony of history stands against those who would seek to diminish this story. Just the fact that the Jewish people still exist when so many other tribal people groups disappeared should stand for something. After all, Israel was never a powerful empire like Egypt. Never attained cultural hegemony like Greece. Never exerted a powerful military presence like Rome or Babylon or Persia. At best, even under King Solomon, she remained a regional power, taking advantage of the lulls between the much greater empires that surrounded them. Secondly, arguing from the “silence” of the archaeological record has never been persuasive. Those who decry the lack of evidence in the Sinai peninsula for a mass migration of people have to acknowledge the difficulty of uncovering evidence that is over 3,000 years old. After all, they are finding military equipment in Sinai from the 1973 Yom Kippur War buried in over 52 feet of sand! Thirdly, it is important to read the Bible honestly. The author of the Exodus is clearly writing from the perspective of a Jew. As such, he had no interest in presenting an unbiased account. This doesn’t make the story any less true but it does mean we have to read critically, lest we miss the overarching point. God is God.. Pharaoh is not. God is sovereign even over the greatest empires on the earth. God does what He wills. When He wills. For the primary purpose of promoting His own glory. Some would say this makes God an narcissist. Quite the contrary. It’s part and parcel of what makes Him God.

The truly incredible part of the story to me is not even the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. It’s the fact that God chooses to reveal Himself at all. If there is a God who stands outside time and space. A God who creates and rules over all He has made. An omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient Being who exists eternally in perfect relationship within Himself. Then He has no need of me. No need of us. No need of a people to call His own. This God has no need to enter history. No need to reveal Himself. He is not beholden to us. He doesn’t owe us a thing. But what the Exodus makes clear is that this God desires a relationship with us. He makes Himself known to us. Not only that but He makes Himself known to us in a particular way. He is deliverer. He is redeemer. He is savior.

As seminal an event as the Exodus is for the people of Israel, it is but a foreshadowing of the “Exodus” that will take place on the cross. As Jesus hangs between heaven and earth, all of the “plagues” God stored up against the sin of humankind are poured out Him. He cries out in anguish. He thirsts. He suffers. He is in tremendous pain. He feels the lash of the whip. He endures the harsh words of the taskmaster. By becoming sin for us, Christ delivers us. He rescues us. He breaks the power of sin and death and rescues us from spiritual slavery to the devil. In short, He sets us free. This, friends, is how God chooses to make Himself known to the world. As a God who delivers! A God who redeems! A God who saves! May you place your trust in Him today!

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 10-13

Extraordinary Power of Ordinary People

Readings for today: Exodus 1-4

“Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” (Exodus‬ ‭1:8‬) One of the darkest chapters in Israel’s history begins with these ominous words. A new Pharaoh has risen. One who did not know Joseph. One who had forgotten what God had done for Egypt through Joseph. One who saw Joseph’s descendents as a threat to his power. One can understand his trepidation. A foreign people living on the eastern edge of the Nile delta who have multiplied exceedingly over the generations and grown strong. They worship a strange god you do not know. They have strange customs you do not follow. They speak a foreign language you do not understand. It is easy to understand the source of this new Pharaoh’s fear. 

So he takes action. He enslaves them. Subjects them to abuse, harsh treatment, and a lifetime of hard labor. But the more they oppressed the Israelites, the more numerous and powerful they became. Anxious about the potential of an uprising, Pharaoh calls for draconian population control. He orders the midwives to kill every male child that is born. In this way, he hopes to reduce their numbers to a more manageable size. But the midwives courageously defy the king. Denying themselves, they save the male children from death. It’s an incredible act of faith. 

Shiprah and Puah. Their names are important. Two ordinary women engaged in an ordinary profession. There is nothing remarkable about them. Nothing special or unique. They have no biblical training. No seminary degree. They come from no special lineage and carry no family name. We do not know their tribe or their background. We simply know their names. Their occupation. And the one thing that does set them apart...their fear of God. These two women pave the way for Israel’s deliverer, Moses, to be born. They make it possible for God’s salvation to come. Through their act of selfless obedience, they create the conditions for what will become the seminal event in Judaism. The Exodus. Without them, there is no Charleton Heston. :-) No Ten Commandments. No Moses. Without them, there is no parting of the Red Sea or journey to the Promised Land. Without them, the Hebrews eventually die out. Cease to exist. The covenant God made with Abraham would be broken and all of salvation history go defunct. All because two women decided to obey God and perform their professional duties faithfully under threat of death. 

Do you think about your profession in this way? Do you connect what you do with what you believe? Is God on your radar screen as you go about your day to day activities? It’s amazing how often God uses the ordinary and mundane to accomplish His purposes. In my experience, it is not the pastors and church leaders who move the dial of the Kingdom but the faithful man or woman who often goes unnoticed. They spend their days working at their job. Caring for their families. Praying and studying the Bible. And eternity moves at the sound of their voice. The wheel of God’s salvation history turns by their hand. It’s truly amazing. What could God do with an accountant? A truck driver? A fast food worker? A sanitation engineer? What could God do with a doctor? A lawyer? A university professor? What could God do with a teacher? A mother? A father? A friend? The answer is...everything. Anything. God uses those who are available and humble and willing. Does that describe you? 

Fear of the Lord

Readings for today: Job 40:6-42:17, Psalms 29

I am often asked about the “fear of the Lord.” After all, the Bible says it is the key to wisdom. The key to understanding. The key to a life well-lived before God. But what does it look like? Are we supposed to tremble in terror before God? Are we supposed to pass out in fear? Does it relate to reverence? Awe? Humility? What does it look like to fear the Lord? I think Job gives us the perfect picture.

“Then Job answered the Lord and said: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job‬ ‭42:1-6‬)

God is God and we are not. This is the fundamental truth of our existence. Who are we to question God? Who are we to challenge God? Who are we to doubt God? We are the clay. He is the potter. We are the instruments. He is the maestro. We are the tools. He is the craftsman. Thankfully, because God is gracious and merciful, He condescends to speak with us. Meet with us. Reveal Himself to us. He certainly doesn’t have to. He is not bound to. He is under no compulsion except that which He sets for Himself. He is not effected by any force outside His own will. He is perfectly free to do whatever He pleases and the good news is this…it pleases Him to dwell with us! It pleases Him to be in relationship with us! It pleases Him to give His life for us!

What a glorious truth! This same God who spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. The same God who confronted Job to answer the most profound questions of creation. The same God who allowed Job to suffer so much. This same God suffers even more for us. Jesus willingly lets go of the wealth and riches of heaven. He empties Himself of His divine knowledge and wisdom. He gives up His glory and honor as the only begotten Son of God. He gives the full measure of His devotion on the cross where He suffers and dies the most horrific death imaginable. All to save. All to deliver. All to rescue those He loves so much.

In the face of such love, all we can do is repent. Fall on our knees before Him in awe and wonder. Gaze at the Son as He suffers for our sins. Feel our hearts filled to overflowing with gratitude for this great gift. Sing praises to His great name. Lift up our lives before Him as living sacrifices. Offer all that we are and all that we have to Him as an act of worship. Truly we have uttered words too wonderful for us! Spoken of things which we did not understand! Seen things which we had no right to see and experienced things we did not deserve! All praise be to Jesus! King of kings! Lord of lords! God of gods! Beloved of my soul!

Readings for tomorrow: Exodus 1-4

God Speaks

Readings for today: Job 37-40:1-5, Psalms 19

So this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for...God finally showing up! God finally speaking. God finally defending His actions, explaining things, letting us in on what He’s been thinking.  Except that’s not what happens. Instead, we are given these words in Job 40:2, “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it." I remember being frustrated the first time I read them. Even a bit angry with God. But over the years I have come to a deeper understanding of who God is and who I am before Him. Literally, I am nothing. I am a sinner. I live in a constant state of rebellion against God and His ways. I am corrupt. Conceived in iniquity as Psalm 51 so eloquently puts it. I am totally depraved. Even my best thoughts and actions on my best day are poisoned by pride and selfishness. That is who I am without Christ. That is my natural state of being. That is how I was born into this world. Furthermore, even now that I am in Christ. Redeemed. Beloved. Given a new heart and new spirit. I am still finite. I am still dust and ashes. I cannot fathom why the sun rises each morning or the flowers bud each spring much less probe the mysteries of God’s purposes. They remain unsearchable for me. Unfathomable. Beyond my limited understanding. 

This is how God answers Job. There is no reason for Job’s suffering. Not that he can understand. Not in this moment. Not while he’s suffering and in pain. Not while he’s demanding in his pride an audience before God. Not while he’s upset and angry. Job must be humbled. He must come to an understanding of who he is and who he’s addressing. "Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further." (Job 40:4-5) This is what I love about Job. This is what makes Job righteous and blameless in God’s sight.  This is ultimately why God will affirm His servant Job and judge Job’s friends. Job is repentant. Job is humble. Job is contrite.  When God finally answers him out of the whirlwind, Job responds with reverence, fear, and awe. The only appropriate response when we come before the Lord. He gets on his knees. He bows his head. He closes his mouth. He covers his eyes. He is finished speaking. There are no more words to say. God is present. God is here. 

God is God and we are not. That’s the essence of the message of the Book of Job and it’s a tough one to swallow. The reality is we all like to pretend we are gods. Masters of our own universe. Captains of our own destiny. We like to pretend that we are in control when in fact we are not. God is moving in ways we cannot see or understand. He is doing things above and beyond us. He is working all things for His glory in the world. He has His purposes. We are simply His instruments. Beloved? Yes. Cherished? Yes. Esteemed? Yes. But our relationship with God comes with responsibilities. Our adoption into God’s family as His sons and daughters comes with a certain set of expectations. Though we are heirs to all things in Christ, we are not Christ. Though the Father has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, we are not to assume this makes us into gods ourselves. Humility and repentance are the key to a well-lived life before God and Job shows us the way. 

Readings for tomorrow: Job 40:6-42:17, Psalms 29

Redemptive Suffering

Readings for today: Job 33-36

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter‬ ‭1:6-7‬)

“For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews‬ ‭12:10-11‬)

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭1:8-9‬)

There is such a thing as redemptive suffering. Suffering with a purpose. We may not always see that purpose and, in fact, it is often only revealed upon reflection after the fact. But that doesn’t mean all suffering is meaningless. Or all suffering is bad. Or all suffering is to be avoided. Clearly, the first century believers suffered. 10 of the 12 Apostles would be tortured and executed in excruciating ways for their faith. (Judas committed suicide and John, though he suffered, died of old age.) Throughout the first three centuries of the church’s existence, Christians were burned as torches in Nero’s garden. Thrown to the lions for sport in the arena. In certain regions of the Empire, they were systematically rounded up and killed. This was not only true back then but remains true in certain places around the world today. According to Christianity Today, it is estimated that over 70 million Christians have been martyred since the time of Jesus. They suffered and died in places all over the earth. Ottomon Turkey. Nazi Germany. Soviet Russia. Communist China and North Korea. Uganda. Sudan. Mexico. Columbia. And the suffering continues. I have seen it firsthand in Ethiopia and have spoken to eye witnesses in South Sudan, Djibouti, and Somalia. 

The introduction of Elihu to the narrative represents a turning point in Job. At first glance, Elihu just seems to be piling on. Repeating the same old tired arguments of Job’s friends. But a careful reading of the text reveals a significant shift. Elihu bursts on the scene declaring his anger at both Job and his three friends. (Job 32:1-5) He believes he has something new to offer that has not yet been said. So what is it that Elihu brings to the table? It is the idea that God does allow the righteous to suffer in order to purify and to save. Perhaps the key passage is Job 33:12-30...

“Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you contend against him, saying, 'He will answer none of man's words'? For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings...Remember, they had no Bible. No written records. So the Word of God would come to them in visions and dreams. Why? To punish? To judge? To wound? To destroy? No...So that God may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. This is deeply significant as it adds a new layer of meaning to the story. God does allow suffering but it’s for our good. He uses suffering to purge the pride from us. The pride Job himself suffers from. Yes, Job is a righteous man. Yes, Job is a blameless man. But Job is also a sinful man. Though he has a heart after God, he is not perfect and God will use his suffering (as we will see at the end of the book) to cleanse the depths of Job’s soul. 

God not only warns us in dreams and visions and through His Word, he also uses our physical pain for our good and for His glory. "Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones, so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food. His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death.” If we follow the logic of Job’s friends - whom Elihu rebukes strongly - we would conclude that those who suffer deserve it. They should go down to death. But that’s not where Elihu lands. His God is not a harsh judge but a faithful, loving Father who delivers His children ultimately from their pain and suffering. “If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom; let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor'; then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says: 'I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.' "Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.” The key phrase being that last sentence. It is God who does all these things for man in order to bring his soul back from the pit, lighted with the light of life. 

This understanding squares with what Christians have said throughout the centuries. Martyrs facing their death without fear. Those who suffer enduring for the sake of something greater.  They understand God is at work even in the middle of their pain. They understand suffering to be part of this broken, ruined, created order. Ultimately, they embrace suffering as part of following Christ who Himself suffered on behalf of all humanity. Viewed from this angle, suffering is hard but good. God using it to bring about His will and His glory while also continuing to sanctify and purify own hearts in the midst of it all. The reality is Job needs to be humbled and indeed will be humbled before the Lord of Hosts. We need to be humbled as well. This is one of the most important lessons from the Book of Job for all of us.

Readings for tomorrow: Job 37-40:1-5, Psalms 19

Wisdom

Readings for today: Job 25-28

Our world is filled with knowledge. We have so much knowledge we literally do not know what to do with it. So much information coming at us from every angle. The average person is inundated with well over a hundred emails every day. Not to mention texts. Phone calls. Social media interactions. A single issue of the New York Times contains more information than a person a hundred or so years ago might have learned in an entire year. The news is relentless. The fake news endless. Technology ubiquitous. We cannot escape. We cannot rest. And what has all this knowledge gained us? Rising rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Rising rates of fear, violence, and hate. All this in a world that is demonstrably improving with each passing year. Why? What are we missing? What is the source of our persistent discontent?

Wisdom. Wisdom is the key. We simply do not know the path to wisdom or we refuse to take it. Today’s reading from the Book of Job is on point. "Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore…Man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.” ‭‭(Job‬ ‭28:1-2, 9-13‬) Human beings are capable of great things. We literally move mountains. We climb to the highest mountains. We delve in the deeps of the earth. We’ve learned to fly. We’ve explored the depths of the oceans. We know how to do so very much. But for all our strength and power and knowledge and ability, we have yet to find the path to wisdom. We didn’t find it on the mountaintops. We searched for it in vain in the trenches of the seas. Despite our vast wealth we could not find a vender who sold it.

We live in a world awash in desire. A world enslaved to feelings and emotions. A world adrift in an ocean of chaos. How else to explain heartbreaking insanity that passes for truth these days? We reject any kind of sexual boundaries and are shocked when it leads to abuse, objectification, disease, and violence. We reject our bodies and are shocked when it leads to depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. We selfishly exploit the resources of the earth and are shocked when it leads to pollution and sickness and war. We refuse to repent over past oppressions and are shocked when it leads to racial conflict. We refuse to restrain our greed and are shocked when it leads to class warfare on a social and political stage. Our unwillingness and inability to follow the ways of Jesus leads us into all kinds of pain and suffering and heartache which we then turn around and try to pin on God. We are fools.

Only God knows the path to wisdom. Only God knows how to take all of our knowledge and order it in such a way that it leads to blessing and human flourishing. “From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.' "God understands the way to it, and he knows its place…and he said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” (Job‬ ‭28:20-23, 28‬) Fear the Lord. Submit to His ways. Surrender to His will. Let Him guide and direct your steps. This is the path to wisdom. God’s promise to those who would follow Him is that He will lead us to green pastures and beside still waters. To places of peace where our souls will be restored. Job understands we cannot find these places on our own. We cannot get to these places in our own strength. Our knowledge is simply not enough. We must let God take us by the hand. We must trust God with our lives and our future. We must have faith that He knows best.

Readings for tomorrow: Job 29-32

Refining Fire

Readings for today: Job 22-24

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold…But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.” ‭‭(Job‬ ‭23:8-10, 13-14‬)

How many of us love to quote the verse from Jeremiah 29? About the plans the Lord has for us? Plans for blessing and hope and a future? I love those words. I love those promises. But what we too often fail to consider is the path we have to take to get there. The path to God’s blessing is often filled with pain. Often filled with suffering. Often filled with struggle and heartbreak. It is lonely at times. It is rocky and steep and exhausting. Why? Because God’s blessings cannot come to us until we are empty. Until we have come to the end of ourselves. Until we have finally and fully and completely surrendered our stubborn wills to His will. How does this happen? There is only one way attested by Scripture. We must go through the refiner’s fire.

There are many ways to read Job. Most of the time, we read it from Job’s perspective. We feel his anguish and pain. We take his side. We question God’s judgment and justice alongside him. But do we ever stop to ponder the accusation of the enemy and whether or not it may be true? Does Job fear God for no reason? Is Job’s faith the result of the blessings in his life? Is it dependent on good things happening to him? Will it survive poverty, deprivation, tragedy, trauma, grief, sickness, and despair? There is really only one way to find out. Job must walk what may Christians down through the ages have called the “dark night of the soul.” A period of testing so great that it takes us to end of our own strength. The end of our own desires. The end of our own faith. It takes us into the darkness. Into the unknown. Into the silence. It is a terrifying journey but one we must take if we are to truly test our faith and find out if it is real.

Many know the name Andrew Brunson. Andrew is an EPC pastor and missionary to Turkey for over twenty years. A few years ago, he was picked up off the street and put in prison. He became the pawn in a political showdown. He was kept in solitary confinement. Denied access to those he loved. Held in miserable conditions. Tried in kangaroo courts. It was a terrifying experience for him. This past summer he shared his experiences with us at a national meeting. He talked about feeling the utter absence of God in his suffering. He talked about getting angry with God. Feeling let down by God. Abandoned by God. As he shared, my first thoughts went to Job. This is how he must have felt! When Andrew descended to the point of deepest despair. Contemplating suicide in his cell. He found himself crying out one name over and over again. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. And from that moment, his faith began to be restored.

Each of us has to endure the refiner’s fire. The details will look different. My dark night of the soul looks nothing like Andrew’s and little like Job’s. It involves the loss of a child. The implosion of a ministry. Almost losing my family. Coming face to face with my deepest fears and anxieties. In the darkness and silence of those experiences where I too felt the absence of God, I found myself saying over and over again on some level…Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. And my life has never been the same.

God will complete what He appoints for me. What a terrifying and comforting promise! Come what may. Come hell or high water. Through sacrifice and suffering. On the heights of great mountains and in the depths of deep valleys. God will carry me through. I will become what He has ordained me to become. I will be conformed to the image of His Son. This is what He does for Job. This is what He’s doing for Andrew. This is what He’s done for me and will do for all those who seek Him.

My Redeemer

Readings for today: Job 18-21

In the midst of his terrible suffering, Job holds fast to three fundamental convictions...

1. God is sovereign. 

2. God is good and just. 

3. Job is faithful.  

These convictions give him the strength to resist his friends when they offer their simplistic, superficial, and ultimately heretical explanations. They also give him the courage to stand before the judgment seat of God, trusting the Lord for vindication. We see this reflected in what are perhaps the most famous verses in the Book of Job, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job‬ ‭19:25-27‬) Job, of course, has no idea who Jesus is. The life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God will not be revealed for many centuries. But Job does have faith. He looks forward, as do all the Old Testament saints, to a future yet to be revealed, trusting in a God who will make all things right and all things new. 

Job’s suffering resists all logic. It resists any and all attempts to make sense out of it. It resists the formulaic notions we have about cause and effect. Blessing and curse. Health and wealth. It forces us to grapple with the hard truth that the righteous do suffer. The unrighteous do prosper. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to evil people. There is no rhyme or reason to these things. Time and chance happen to us all as the writer of Ecclesiastes once wrote. The world we live in is broken. Utterly. Completely. It is a world enslaved to the power of Sin. A world ruled by the tyrannical fear of Death. If things happen to go well for us in this world, it is not because we are good or because we earned it.  It is far more likely that it is random chance. This is why we cannot set our hearts on the things of this earth but on things above.  

A friend of mine recently watched a show where the Book of Job was featured. The conclusion of the character who was wrestling with the text was that ultimately all Job received in the end was new children and a case of PTSD. That’s actually a common interpretation of the text both in our culture today and in many churches. Like Job’s friends, it’s a far too simplistic approach to the text. It betrays our unwillingness to really sit and take the time to “hear” Job. To marvel at his courageous faith. To wonder at his steadfast, some may call it stubborn, refusal to let go of the goodness and justice and sovereignty of God.  Why doesn’t Job ever throw in the towel?  Why doesn’t Job do what his wife suggested at the beginning? Why doesn’t Job curse God and die like so many have throughout the centuries and like so many do today? Because Job believes. Job has faith. He knows his Redeemer lives! He knows he will meet God face to face after he dies! He trusts God to be faithful!  Trusts God to be sure! Trusts God to be true!  Trusts God to be good!  And though it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God, Job ultimately trusts God for his vindication. 

Readings for tomorrow: Job 22-24

Resurrection Hope

Readings for today: Job 14-17

The hope of a Christian is resurrection. Our physical bodies rising from the ground. A life after death. Even more, a life after life after death. A day that dawns when our souls indwell our bodies once more and God raises us imperishable and indestructible once and for all. Without this hope, death wins. Without this hope, it is tough to endure the struggles of this world. Without this hope, we despair if we’re completely honest. And this is where Job finds himself this morning.

“But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.” ‭‭(Job‬ ‭14:10-12‬)

“My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me…My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart….If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, if I say to the pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My mother,' or 'My sister,' where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?" (Job‬ ‭17:1, 11, 13-16‬)

The Bible is written as a progressive revelation. God doesn’t reveal everything about Himself and His plan on the first page. As God’s people interact with God over time, they learn. They grow in their understanding of who He is and what He’s about. They also come to an understanding of who they are and what they are about. Resurrection is a later development in Jewish theology. It doesn’t truly come to it’s fullest expression until the “intertestamental“ period or the period between the Old and New Testaments. The apocryphal books of the Maccabees bear witness to a growing belief by the Jews as they face severe persecution under the pagan Antiochus Ephiphanes that if Yahweh chooses not to rescue them in this life, it’s because He is planning to rescue them in a life to come.

Resurrection was a matter of debate even in the 1st century. It was a particular point of tension between the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Sadducees didn’t believe in resurrection which is why they are “Sad U See.” :-) The Pharisees, on the other hand, held to a robust belief in the resurrection of God’s people. When Jesus rose from the dead, it sent shock waves through the Jewish community. The empty tomb and the post-resurrection appearances combined to launch a new Jewish sect called Christianity. Unlike the Sadducees, Christians believed in the resurrection from the dead. Unlike the Pharisees, Christians believed Jesus was the “first-fruits” of the resurrection to come and those who followed Him were filled with His resurrection power.

Why does this matter? What difference does it make? Well, if you don’t believe in the resurrection, it makes suffering unbearable. Useless. Pointless. If we are just atoms and dust then there is no meaning or purpose to life. Not really. There is no such thing as good or evil. Not really. Such ideas are merely cultural constructs that carry no eternal weight. The Sadducees didn’t believe in resurrection so they became the primary collaborators with Rome. Active participants in the oppression of their own people. The Pharisees did believe in the resurrection so they did everything they could to keep the Law of God and remain ritually pure. They were some of Rome’s fiercest critics and refused to compromise lest they put their eternal fate in jeopardy. Christians knew the resurrection was real and therefore willingly laid down their lives for the sake of the poor and marginalized and sick and dying. They understood this life was but a shadow of the life to come and didn’t hold onto the things of this world. They freely gave away all their wealth. Freely shared all they had. Freely gave of themselves.

The reading from Job today presses the question…where do we find hope? Is it in this life? Or the next? Do our lives reflect a deep and abiding trust in God to redeem? To rescue? To save? How tightly do we hold onto our health and wealth and reputation? Do we see these things for the temporary realities that they are and dare we live for eternal rewards?

Readings for tomorrow: Job 18-21

The Power of Listening

Readings for today: Job 10-13

Job’s friends were doing so well. Word gets out about all Job has suffered and they come running. They grieve with him. They weep with him. They sit with him in the dust and ashes of his tragic life. For seven days, they silently keep vigil. For seven days, their presence is a comfort. For seven days, they faithfully love and care for their dear friend. Then they open their mouths…

What is it about us that makes us so prone to rush to judgment? To refuse to hear someone out? To listen to their story in full? What is it about us that feels the need to jump in? Cut people off? Interrupt? I remember when my wife first met my family. One of the first things that struck her was how often we interrupted each other. Arguing was our love language. Three strong-willed brothers going at it all the time, pontificating on every subject imaginable. Most of it was hot air, of course. We were clueless. Ignorant. Foolish. Even when we were correct, it didn’t matter, because our goal was to be right. To win the argument. To pump our own tires and make ourselves feel good.

I think about my brothers when I read the Book of Job. When I hear the arguments Job’s friends make in response to Job’s heartbreaking cries. They are more interested in correcting his theology than comforting his soul. They are more interested in defending God than demonstrating love. They feel compelled to justify Job’s suffering as if getting to the root cause will ease his pain. I see it all the time. In the midst of great tragedy or crisis, so many people want to know why? Why did this happen? Why now? Why me? Why didn’t God protect me or those I love? When I was young and foolish, I tried to answer these questions. I would sit with grieving families thinking my theological answers would bring them peace. Thankfully, I learned quickly from my mistakes. The better approach was simply to listen. To put my arms around them. To simply sit in the ashes and resist the temptation to offer explanations.

Regardless of what people say, the question they really are asking is where is God? Is He with me in the midst of my pain? Is He here with me at the bedside of the one I love? Is He in the room? Does He hear my cries? Does He weep with me? The central truth of Christianity is this…God is with us. Jesus is Emmanuel. We are never alone. God traveled the vast reaches of our universe to be with us. He left heaven and came to earth to become one of us. He entered human history. Became flesh and blood and moved into our neighborhood. All so that we would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are loved.

Friends, you are blessed. You have access to a truth Job could only long for. You have Jesus. He is with you in your pain. He is with you in your heartache. He is with you in your grief. He is with you in suffering. He’s not here to blame. He’s not here to condemn. He’s not here to put the burden on you or remind you of the consequences of your actions. He is here to hold you. He is here to comfort you. He is here to offer you grace.

Readings for tomorrow: Job 14-17

Reading the Bible Relationally

Readings for today: Job 6-9

“Christianity isn’t about rules, it’s about a relationship.” I cannot tell you how many times I’ve said those words. And I believe them with all my heart. However, it wasn’t until I started reading the Bible “relationally” that I really began to grasp the depth of what I was trying to say. One of the real issues we have - and I struggled with it for years myself - when we read the Bible is we tend to approach it from a moralistic perspective. We describe it as a “manual for life” or “God’s playbook” or a roadmap to get your “best life now.” We make the false assumption - down deep - that if we just follow what it says, God will love us. God will be proud of us. God will bless us. The result is we flatten the text. We make it two-dimensional. We become the worst kind of literalists. Instead of reading the Bible for all its worth. Plunging into its emotional depths. Climbing the heights of its majestic poetry and prose. Exploring all the nooks and crannies of every genre. We take and dissect it in a lab. We atomize it and reduce it to its component parts. We rob it of its mystery and glory. This is true for conservatives and progressives alike. They weaponize the text against one another. Proof-texting one another to death. Performing all sorts of exegetical gymnastics to make the text say what they want it to say. God must be shaking His head.

Job - more than any other book - shows us the best way to read the Bible. Job spends his whole life worshipping God. He is blameless before the Lord. He is scrupulous in his behavior. He is as upright a man as they come. He even makes sacrifices on behalf of his children just in case they stumble and fall. Through it all, Job is building a deep and abiding relationship with God that will hold up under the harshest of tests. Job’s life is upended in ways many of us cannot even fathom. The loss of all his children and grandchildren. The loss of all his wealth and power and privilege. The loss of his health and well-being. (By the way, this book puts a stake in the heart of prosperity preaching!) Job loses everything. His own wife encourages him to curse God and die.

But Job understands something his wife and all his friends do not. He has a relationship with God. A real relationship. An authentic relationship. The kind of relationship where one can say anything. The kind of relationship where one can question and doubt and struggle and wish to die. Job trusts God with the rawest of emotions. Job trusts God with his anger and fear. Job trusts God enough to question his justice and demand an account. Like Abraham before him and Moses after him, Job understands what God wants is not a rule-follower so much as a friend. Someone to speak with face to face. Someone to walk with in the Garden in the cool of the day just as He once did with Adam.

Friends, God’s love forms the foundation of our relationship with Him. God’s faithfulness makes our relationship secure. God holds us in the palm of His hands and He promises nothing can separate us from His love. God sealed this promise with Abraham when He walked through the halves of the animals to establish the covenant. God stayed true to this promise when He sent His own Son to die on a cross. He will never, ever let us go!

Because God’s love is so fierce and loyal and true, we can be ourselves with Him. Our truest and most authentic selves. We can share anything with Him. We can get mad at Him. We can weep with Him. We can crawl into His lap when we are afraid. We can run to Him after we fall. We can come to Him when we sin. We can be demanding and spoiled and proud and foolish and God will never stop loving us. Never stop embracing us. Never cut off His relationship with us.

We will not always understand why things happen the way they do. We will not always know the reasons why God allows bad things to happen to good people and good things to happen to bad people. We do not need to try to justify God or defend God or speak for God like Job’s friends. He is perfectly capable of doing those things on His own! Our responsibility is to follow Job’s example. Be real. Be honest. Be authentic before the Lord and then ultimately trust and surrender and submit to His sovereign will.

The only reason Job was able to endure the test is because he spent his whole life building his relationship with God. He spent his whole life in worship. He cultivated an awareness of God in his everyday. He intentionally walked with God on a daily basis. How does this look in your life? In what ways are you intentionally walking with God? Are you spending time with Him everyday? Do you gather with His people every week? Do you have a small group you can be real and honest with about your sin? Do you find ways to serve? A relationship with God is built the same way all relationships are built. Time and intentionality. If you haven’t already, begin making time for God today!

Readings for tomorrow: Job 10-13

The Problem of Pain

Readings for today: Job 1-5

Where is God in the midst of suffering? Why does He allow it? Is He complicit in it? Is there a point to it all? These questions are universal. Every single human being from every culture in every time and place has asked them. And all of the religions of the earth have attempted answers. The pagan witch doctors I’ve met in Ethiopia believe suffering happens because we displease the gods. We fail to make the right sacrifices. Fail to say the right magical incantations. Fail to humble ourselves before the right gods at the right times in the right ways. So they grow angry and they punish. The gods of the fields withhold their crops. The gods of the weather withhold the rain. The gods of the earth shake the very ground. On the flip side are my Buddhist friends for whom suffering is more of an illusion. A sign we are too tied to the cravings of this world. The way we deal with suffering is meditation which leads to a nirvana-like state that places us beyond suffering altogether. So how do Christians handle suffering? 

The Book of Job is one, long extended answer to this important question and it forces us to confront some uncomfortable truths. First, God is sovereign. The Book of Job ultimately is not about Job. All agree Job is righteous. All resonate with Job’s suffering. All feel Job’s pain. He is us. We are him. Everyone who has experienced deep suffering in their lives can identify with this man. But the Book of Job makes it clear that Job’s suffering is not the primary point of the story but rather how his suffering points us to the greater reality of God. It forces us to grapple with God’s nature and character. It implicitly and intentionally raises fundamental questions like is God sovereign? And if He is, can He be trusted? Job’s life is indeed marked by incredible sorrow and pain. He loses everything he has seemingly overnight. All that he has worked his entire life for is gone in an instant. Including his precious children. It’s a brutal scene that plays itself out to this day all over the world. Tragedies strike. Natural disasters hit. Lives are lost and livelihoods go up in smoke. So what are we to make of these things? We certainly struggle to make any sense of them in this world so what Job does is give us a glimpse beyond the dimensions of this life into the dimensions of heaven where a scene is playing out that brings us face to face with the sovereignty of God. 

Satan appears before God’s throne. He has come from walking to and fro on the earth. Destruction and devastation in his wake. We catch a glimpse here into this fallen angel’s pride and arrogance. The very fact that God doesn’t obliterate him where he stands is itself stunning. But God has a greater end in mind. A greater purpose. He is going to use humankind (as He always does) to demonstrate His glory and power and victory over Satan and sin and death.  So He baits Satan by asking him about Job. Satan takes the bait hook, line and sinker. God, in His majestic sovereignty, allows Satan to go after Job but always within limits. “Behold all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” “Behold, he is in your hand. Only do not take his life.” And Satan plays his part with gusto. Relentlessly taking away all that Job has. Relentlessly attacking Job’s health and well-being. Job’s suffering is so great, his own wife tells him to “curse God and die.” His three closest friends don’t even recognize him. And yet in all these things, Job did not sin.  

What we will learn throughout this book is that what Job treasures most - even amidst his anguish and pain and suffering and anger and questions and doubts and fears - is God Himself. More than his possessions. More than his children. More than his marriage. More than his health. Job treasures God. Job worships God. As John Piper writes, in the suffering of Job, “the superior worth of God becomes evident to all.” What God cares most about is His own glory and our primary role as human beings - creatures made in God’s own image - is to bring Him glory and declare His praises in this world and the next. And lest we think we are simply caught up in some divine ego trip, let’s remember God is not like us. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. He is infinite and we are finite and He sees things from His perspective that we simply cannot know or ever understand. 

So where does that leave us? At the mercy of a cold and uncaring God who will strike at us at a whim? No. God loves us. Deeply. Dearly. Completely. And we bring Him great joy when we remain steadfast in our faith amidst our suffering. We bring Him great glory when we praise Him amidst our pain. Imagine the scene in heaven when Job utters his cry of victory, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Imagine the utter shame of Satan as he stands before Lord and the throngs of heaven join Job in his declaration of praise! Imagine his horror as all his evil plans come to naught in the face of true faith! Satan has been defeated! 

Now fast forward several centuries. Imagine the same scene playing out before God as Satan comes to test His Son. Imagine the Father giving His Son over into Satan’s hands. This time without limits. This time no holds barred. Imagine Satan’s delight in the Garden as the Son begs for another way. Imagine Satan’s joy as he watches the Son suffer on the Cross. And then imagine Satan’s horror as the Son cries out, “It is finished! Into your hands I commit my spirit!” The cry of victorious faith coming at the point of death! Satan is defeated! This time once and for all! As Tim Keller has put it, Jesus is the greater Job who takes on our suffering in order to bring ultimate glory to the Father. And the Father vindicates the Son by raising Him from the dead just He will vindicate Job by restoring all he has and more. 

Where you are you struggling today? What suffering have you had to endure in your life? How are you clinging to faith in the midst of it all? Would your perspective change if you saw your life as a trophy through which God displays His glory and grace? Do you believe God is sovereign over your pain? Do you believe God can be trusted even when you suffer? 

Readings for tomorrow: Job 6-9

A Fresh Start

Readings for today: Genesis 47-50

Life has consequences. We all have to face them. We cannot escape them. Yes, there is forgiveness with the Lord. Yes, God’s grace is greater than all our sin. Yes, we are accepted and loved unconditionally. But none of that means we escape justice. None of that means we escape the consequences for our actions.  

Jacob appears before Pharaoh and when asked to describe his life, he remarks, "The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” A lifetime of scheming and manipulating have come back to haunt Jacob in his later years. Yes, he’s been forgiven. Yes, God is with him. Yes, God loves him but life has taken a toll. 

Jacob’s sons appear before him on his deathbed to receive their blessing.  Reuben loses his preeminence as the firstborn because he slept with his father’s concubine. Simeon and Levi lose their opportunity to lead the family because of their unrestrained violence against Shechem. Authority now passes to Judah who has repented of his actions against Joseph so long ago. After Jacob dies and they return from his funeral, the brothers still live in fear of what Joseph might do and once again beg for forgiveness. Again, they are forgiven. Again, God is with them. Again, God loves them but their actions have consequences. On some level, there will always be fear. Always be shame over what they have done. 

The same is true for us. We live our lives before God. Whether we realize it or not, He is always there. And His grace is amazing. His love is unconditional. He mercy knows no end. He loves us for who we are in the midst of all of our imperfections. But sin still has consequences. Our choices impact not only ourselves but those around us. The decisions we make often result in brokenness and pain. The actions we take, the emotions we express, the words we say do have an impact for good or for evil.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending those things haven’t happened. Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. No, biblical forgiveness means choosing to no longer hold a person’s sinful choices against them. It’s an intentional decision to look past the pain, past the heartbreak, past the brokenness into the future. To take a step back and see what God is doing in the midst of it all. This is what Joseph offers his brothers. A fresh start. Not a clean slate. A fresh start. 

Where do you need a fresh start today? Who do you need to forgive? Who in your life is suffering from the consequences of their sinful actions and how can you come alongside them? When you look in the mirror what do you see? Does the pain and shame from your past threaten to overwhelm? Perhaps the person you need to forgive is yourself?