How's THAT workin' for ya?

Judges 1-5

"How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord's commands."
(2:17)

Disappointed, but not surprised.  It was foretold, after all.

After Joshua died and another generation rose up, they began to forget what God had done for them.  They chased other gods and abandoned their Lord.

Now, a lot of their problem goes way back to when God told their ancestors to drive everyone out of the land when they moved in and took over. 

But they didn't.

They forced some of the Canaanites to work as slaves for them.  Hmmm - pride, greed, power - I wonder...what was their driving force?  All of the above, perhaps?

But THAT was the old generation.  Now, the new generation has the Canaanites living in their land, among them.  Their gods a constant temptation.

So, God began to do exactly as He promised.  When they went into battle - He fought against them.

But even then, God was faithful - even when His people were not.  He took pity on them.  He began to rise up men and women to rescue them.  Judges, to deliver them.

And so a cycle begins:

• The Israelites fall into sin, and usually begin worshipping other gods.
• God gets mad and hands them over to kings.  They stay under that king's rule for years.
• Israel cries out to God after years of oppression.
• God sees their renewed commitment and rises up judges - someone to rescue them.
• There is peace.  Sweet salvation.

 This is repeated SEVEN times throughout the book of Judges - about 350 years.  Boy, God IS patient!  I suppose 350 years for Him is like a breath.   

But, you'd think they would have noticed a pattern after about, oh say, a couple of hundred years...wouldn't ya?

It's too bad Dr. Phil wasn't around back then.  I'm sure he would have asked them - "How's that workin' for ya?" 

God don't play favorites!

Numbers 17-20

"Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice...and the water gushed out.  So all the people and their livestock drank their fill." (20:11)

Moses was supposed to command the rock and instead he struck the rock.  So, after all the times Moses has obeyed God's commands and after all the times he's trusted God, he does one little thing wrong and as a result, God's not going to allow Moses to be the one to lead the people into the promised land.

After reading this passage today, my first thought was, "Wow.  It's no wonder people (including myself, at times) have this image of God, just waiting for us to mess up to He can punish us or withhold blessings from us."

But the more I began to meditate on it, I felt in my heart that God was saying, "Do you want me to start playing favorites, now? How fair would that be?" 

The only fair and just thing for God to do was punish Moses for disobeying.  I had just read and journaled a couple of days ago how a just and holy God does not ignore sin, it has grave consequences and now I was expecting Him to "ignore" Moses' sin because of all the times that he did obey?  If He had ignored Moses sin, then He would be contradicting Himself.

Imagine if we lived in a society that believed in not punishing murderers for crimes they committed because of all the people they didn't kill!  Or if we allowed our children to talk back to us because "most of the time they listen". 

I'll bet God wished He didn't have to punish Moses.  He desires to savor victories with us, He would have loved to see the look on Moses' face as He entered the promise land! To share that moment with the man He chose from the very beginning.  Moses wasn't the only one that missed out....God did too. 

I'm so thankful that I serve an unchanging God.  One who never changes.  He is who He says He is and He does what He says He'll do. 

He doesn't play favorites and like any loving parent, He doesn't love us any less when He disciplines us. 

He's just doing what He's gotta do.

An innocent lamb

Leviticus 1-8

Leviticus.  Even the name makes me yawn.  I opened my bible this morning as though it was my first day working in a lawyer's office and I had to dissect an out-of-date legal document. 

Remembering my journey with Exodus, however, I kept an open mind.

I began reading....

Yup. My initial opinion was pretty much correct.  The book opens with a description (a VERY detailed description) of many different sacrifices.  Burnt offerings, peace offerings, grain offerings, offerings of worship, offings of guilt....

Each offering was accompanied by a very specific ceremony - although very similar to the previous one.  Then, if that wasn't enough, because everyone had a different financial situation, it goes on to explain what to do if your sacrifice is a bull, or if it's only a goat, or just a bird - which again...was usually quite similar. 

Then, hold on to your hat!  There's a review of it all....yay!  I get to read it again. 

Ouch.

Throughout the tediousness of these chapters, though, one verse kept ringing out.

"It was very pleasing to the Lord." 
 - Leviticus 1:17

As awful as it would have been to gain access and maintain fellowship with God through sacrifice...at least they had a tangible way to know they were restoring their fellowship with God and being forgiven. 

As humans I think we have a natural tendency to feel like we have "to do" something in order "to get" something. 

And, I guess we kind of do.  Every new sin, even an unintentional one, demanded that another animal be slain.  When an animal's life was given to pay the penalty of sin, the guilty person was cleansed.  By placing their hands on the head of the animal (which is what they had to do), the worshippers identified with it.  They clearly saw that the animal was dying for their sin as a substitute.

That made sense to me.   But why couldn't God just forgive them if they asked?  He's God - he can do anything he wants.  I forgive people all the time, I don't make them kill something for me.  (I might make them buy me lunch though...)  I mean, He can see our heart.  He knows if we are sincere.

So why can't He forgive us just simply because we ask? 

I found the answer in my "Quest" bible, NIV version.  There was a footnote that said,

"A just and holy God does not ignore sin, it has grave consequences. However, God mercifully allowed a substitute to take the place of the sinner.  The substitute could suffer the consequences of sin, so the sinner would not have to die."

"God required such a gruesome payment because He did not want people to ignore the seriousness of sin.  Anything less than blood would have devalued forgiveness in the eyes of the people."

"When a person heard the cries of an innocent lamb, saw it's blood spilled on the alter and smelled the smoke of it's burning flesh, he or she would be struck with a sobering thought:  I deserved to die for my sin; that sheep died in my place."

Once again, as I devour a "boring ol' testament book", I'm awakened to the truth and goodness of the gospel in the New Testament - when Jesus comes! 

God made it very clear that Jesus came to be to be the final sacrifice.  We don't have "to do" anything but accept His gift, His innocent lamb. 

Who's fault is it anyway?

Genesis 1 - 9


Isn't it typical that Adam blamed everyone BUT himself when he was caught sinning? But the woman you gave me made me do it!"

Was he blaming the woman for giving him the apple or was he blaming God for giving him the woman? Perhaps both? (...and YES, I realize Eve did her own share of blaming too!)

It's funny how we hear the same ol' story from our children!
"But Mom, if you hadn't put that plant there, I wouldn't have knocked it over!", or my favorite, "It's my brothers fault I hit him...he was bugging me!"
Ah, silly children. ...and then we grow up into mature adults who would never blame anyone for mistakes we make...right?


Really though, I don't know why we even bother to make excuses. God knows why we did it. He knew were were going to sin before we did! He's probably just like we are with our children, shaking our head saying, "Just clean it up and try to not do it again, OK?" Sheesh.


You know, I really don't think it matters to God so much why we sin but that we acknowledge it for what it is and ask for forgiveness when it does happen. Ideally, we go even one step further and try to resist it in the first place. God gave us the power to do so! He's given us authority over the enemy!!


"Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy..." - Luke 10:19


So..I have power over the enemy - after letting that truth sink in for a moment I come to a realization. Shoot! Does that mean I can't even blame satan? But how in the world does God expect me to resist temptation?


After digging a little, I found instruction.


"Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." - James 4:7


"Run from anything that stimulates youthful desires. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts" 2 - Tim 2:22


It's awesome for me to understand that I have a Father that doesn't just command me to resist temptation but He gives me instruction on how to do it! Even when I do mess up (and that's often) He forgives me over and over again - so patiently.


I wonder, how many people see God as someone "up there watching, just waiting for me to mess up so he can punish me? Disappointed in me...once again..."


Nothing could be further from the truth!


When our children are learning to walk and they fall down (over and over again) we don't shake our head, call them a screw up, start planning on how we are going to punish them this time and walk away! We don't say, "I can't believe they fell down again! I'm done with them! They will NEVER learn how to walk!!"


No, we help them up and we lovingly send them on their way again. At times, we even hold their hand for as long as they need us too.


Why would I expect anything different from my heavenly Father?


Something that surprised me (and caused me look at my sin in a whole different way) in Genesis, Chapter 6 was when God said that He was sorry He even made mankind and that their wickedness "broke His heart".
Wow. God's heart breaks. MY thoughts and actions break God's heart. The creator of the universe. He, who made the tiny little legs on a centipede and commands the sun to rise, is grieved when I sin.


It's humbling to know that God loves me that much. There are so many times I disregard His love by sinning (on purpose) because I know he will forgive me. Isn't that taking advantage of God?


"Yeah, I'm gossiping but God knows my heart. He knows I would never hurt any one's feelings on purpose. I'm only doing it to be funny or fit in."


"I'm just going to download this one movie, God knows I'm broke. I'll buy a membership on payday and that will make up for it."


"God knew how frustrated when I used that language. He forgives me."
He does forgive....but it still grieves Him. There's not a lot I can do for God. He doesn't "need" anything from little ol' me. How then, can I prove to Him that I love Him? I can obey.


I heard a quote the other day and I love it....


"We don't obey God so he will love us. We do it to show we love Him."