Advent 2021, The In-Betweens

 We are all in-between, in expectation, in our daily lives.  Waiting for our to-do list to be-done.  Waiting for break or dinnertime or the early evening window when we can sit with some ease unscripted. We wait for children to sleep or for them to visit. We wait anytime we anticipate future somethings, small something, daily somethings, or grand life transforming somethings. We wait.

Artwork courtesy of Eleanor T. Hawkins

An  eastern perspective encourages living in the moment, not becoming enmeshed in the past or future. I see wisdom in being present, recognizing the gift and value of the now, the today.  However, I would not go so far as to suggest the past or future is lesser or a mirage. Both the Jewish and Christian traditions place emphasis on history, remembering, and anticipating things to come.  I think these are right too.

So, in this season of in-betweens--for me personally, there are a dozen transitions--I look forward to this season of advent, of reconnecting with different ways to anticipate Christ's coming.  The way He came two thousand years ago as a baby, and the way He will come again.

I'm using this devotional I found online here.  

More Reckoning...

 Well, I took the time to trace back when I began this last "cycle" of readings.  Would you believe August of 2019?  I'm thankful for this blog as it provides a record for my mind. It reminds me indisputably of what I've been reading and thinking.  My memory has always been sort of fluid, partially because the "big picture" and the "next question" is more interesting to me than remembering the answers and journey.

Oddly, I do love genealogy which seems to contradict this impulse, and I am fascinated by public and personal history.  Perhaps it's that I can't be bothered to spend too much time thinking about where I've been recently or I would, alas, become overwhelmed or lost in those ruminations.

So to summarize---before this cycle I followed a plan called the Fourfold Gospel.  I finished that in July 2019.  Here's a reference point.  Feb 2018-July 2019  Fourfold Gospel

In August 2019, I began again with Genesis, this new plan.

August 2019-November 2021--Chronological Bible Study, Navigators? 26 months

Feb 2018-July 2019  Fourfold Gospel--study of the gospels integrated chronologically. Length of study: 17 months

Nov 2017-Feb 2018  Grace Church's study on Isaiah, 4 months

June 2017-Nov 2017 Three women's Bible studies via Lifeway: 

Entrusted (2 Timothy)--Beth Moore

We Saved You a Seat--a study of Biblical Friendship--Lisa Jo Baker

All Things New (2 Corinthians)--Kelly Minter

May--June 2016--1st Corinthians

2015---a series of posts of gardening and the Bible combined

TBD...need to go back more!

God Among Us

"I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them."  Revelation 21:3

If you are curious about my studies these days, I haven't lapsed, just lapsed in posting.  At some point I shifted to private journaling and prayer.  This blog is close to that in a way--as it's obscure--just another blog among millions that quietly sit there in the morass of information available online.

But, I'm "checking in" this morning as an effort at continuity.  I'm close to finishing this chronological reading plan that I began at least-- two years ago?  I really need to look it up, but as short as my attention span is these days, I will forgo doing that lest I leave this entry unfinished, lol.

Whatever the length, it's been very good times. I am always trying to cement my understanding of the Bible as I go along.  It's so broad and so deep that it's impossible to encompass it all.  Each time I work through it, I feel that by the time I have finished the current cycle, I am ready to return to all the parts that are farthest back from my soul and memory, to begin the cycle again.

This cycle was full of different ways of ruminating and exploring.  Here are some:

1) My method of note taking and documenting my learning/thoughts took the form of Google slide presentations.  I first began this method when studying and reading through Kings and Chronicles--they always force me to sit up straight and try to organize it all.  The J kings blur.  The relationships between the split kingdoms of the North and South become confusing.  

I enjoy the slides format because it provides the flexibility I need to incorporate images and charts that I find online.  I can interact with the information visually as well as "word wise" which is a huge part of how I learn best.

One happy product of having this document/presentation is that I was then inspired to place the prophets within it, creating a type of comprehensive timeline that helps me to connect their individual ministries with the history.

I've also created a presentation for Revelation which keeps me sane among all of the wild imagery.

2) I've been listening to Jack Abeelen's sermons (Morningstar Christian Chapel, Whittier, CA/Growing Thru Grace ministries)on certain books very intentionally and systematically while reading the texts and commentaries.  In particular, I followed through his series Kings and Chronicles, and also Revelation.  Although this certainly slowed me down, I think it was a good slow down.  Reading the texts, then listening to someone present the texts, meanwhile creating slides that encompass what I am learning definitely had added a fullness to this cycle that is at a much higher level than some of my other cycles.

3)After encountering the Bible Project videos repeatedly, I've started to listen to/watch Tim Mackie's take on much of this literature too, especially his series related to prophetic literature and the book of Revelation (Day of the Lord series,  How to read Apocalyptic Literature).  Not surprisingly, I admire and am helped by the visual nature of his Bible Project videos, but I am also intrigued by his perspective and approach which seems to aspire to bridge university, academic, historical understandings and research with an authentic faith in Jesus. His understanding is different, less literal often, and approaches the texts as literature too--something I've long missed and longed for in this current culture of "pick a favorite bible verse to pull out" and "it's all about me" application sermons.

So yeah, that's where I've been and what I've been up to.  

God's word continues to deepen and tunnel inside me.  It's like an ever unfolding puzzle that circles back around, the end is the beginning, the beginning is the end, full of great wisdom, bizarre events and truths, and I am now at peace that I will never reconcile or understand them all. 

There's much more to think through and write, but, at the risk of not finishing this and getting lost, I'll leave it for another day.  I'm not sure where my studies will take me next as I draw towards the end of Revelation.

The verse above inspired me to post today because I find it everything I need, everything we need.  Someday, God will be with us again.  In a sense, He is, through the Holy Spirit, but I long for the day when He will be among us all and this sense of separation and confusion will dissipate. 

In a way, it reminds me of losing my father at age 30.  The day he died, I remember being awestruck--couldn't fathom how I would live out another 30 or 40 or even 50 years of my life without him.  He was such a source of dependability, love, fandom, for me.  I don't know that I've had a better cheerleader and have had so many more soul eroding critics. 

It helps me to know I will be with my earthly father again someday.  And even better, we will all be in the presence of our Father, FATHER, the great I AM.  Here there will be no more questions, no more to-do lists, just hanging out, like a great family Thanksgiving party.  

Chapter I--Bavinck paraphrase/summary--Wonderful Works of God

Man's Highest Good

"God and God alone is man's highest good." 

We are made different from all other creatures, which may enjoy "visible and sensuous things," but don't seek anything beyond this. Because we were created in God's image, even though we have experienced the fall, there are fragments of God's original design and beauty in us that speak to our sense of guilt and past glory.  They draw us toward Him and a future Heaven.  Because we are made for more, we are never fully satisfied with the physical but have yet to attain the full eternal and spiritual. We are caught between for now.

Our minds have a sense of will and reason beyond the immediate and concrete. Our heart is the seat of our being, and we should strive to keep it pure because all things flow out of it.  As the heart pumps blood, our spiritual heart pumps spiritual things.

The world is made in such a way that no kingdom will perfect it. It cycles through attempts at order, but cannot fulfill the promise.

1 Corinthians 15 from Hosea

Mind blown this morning--how did I never know that Paul's reference to death and sting went back to Hosea?

Hos 13:14  Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Shall I redeem them from death? O death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes [because of their failure to repent]. [1Co_15:55] 

Son of Man

Son of Man- I've puzzled over this phrase for many years now. When Jesus uses it, is he saying he fully human?  Or is he declaring a distinct and special relationship?  What does he intend?  

My father-in-law, a skeptic, once wielded this phrase as a way of asserting that Jesus was no different than the rest of us.  "But we are all sons of men," he concluded as if the term had been abused.  I knew it couldn't be that straightforward, but that I couldn't articulate why it wasn't.  

This morning while beginning Ezekiel, I came across this distinction in the Believer's Bible Commentary:

"The Lord commissioned Ezekiel, whom He calls "son of man." This important expression occurs ninety times in Ezekiel. Taylor explains the usage:

The first words that God addresses to Ezekiel appropriately put the prophet in his rightful place before the majesty which he has been seeing in his vision. The phrase son of man is a Hebraism which emphasizes Ezekiel's insignificance or mere humanity. "Son of" indicates "partaking of the nature of" and so when combined with 'adãm, "man," it means nothing more than "human being." In the plural it is a common phrase for "mankind".

By the time of Daniel (Dan_7:13-14) this title had taken on near messianic implications, and in the first century it had become a term for the Messiah:

Our Lord's use of the title seems to have taken advantage of the ambiguity between the simple and the technical meanings, so that in one sense He could not be accused of making any overt claim to Messiahship, while in the other sense He did not debar those with the requisite spiritual insight from accepting the fuller significance of His person." 

-Believer's Bible Commentary

It turns out that the book of Ezekiel is the mother of this term's influence.  According to Wikipedia, it's used 107 times in the Hebrew Bible, 93 times of which are in Ezekiel. This article also concludes it is used in one of three ways:

A) as a form of address

B) to contrast the lowly status of humanity against the permanence and exalted dignity of God and the angels

C) as a future figure whose coming will signal the end of history and the time of God's judgement

All this to say that my father-in-law was partially right.  It is a common form of address, but it also took on greater significance with the prophets. When Jesus referred to himself as "the son of man," it was not in the generic sense of humanity, but in the context of a later days figure.

In defense of my father-in-law, he grew up understanding Christianity through the distorted lens of ignorant Southern tradition; his parents in their later years were part of the PTL movement and working class. Marginal literacy can be a barrier too.  My father in law's desire to seek more understanding was a step in the right direction, though he came away with another partial understanding.

I acknowledge that all of our knowledge of God and the scriptures is incomplete.  We are mid story. Regardless, the scriptures deserve our best crack at understanding each day. I believe it's through this wrestling that we grow in our understanding and help others to grow in their understanding too

Habakkuk

The prophecy of Habakkuk is a brief three chapters. Between the foreign names and nations, weathering the  message of doom, it's easy to mentally check out and blow through this book.  Just being honest.  

The prophets are not the easy ride of a narrative--within the chapters you have present situations, future predictions, visions, curses, messages from God, restoration, and poetry.  It's not a genre I readily gravitate towards or feel solid in my understanding of.  

To me it feels like hiking a ridgeline in our North Carolina mountains once the trees come out.  You are high up, but you don't always get the views. You spend a lot of time hiking through tall trees with the forest floor as your backdrop.  Occasionally, the trees permit a view--that's it--they permit it.  And then the view is a notable break, a highlight among the terrain.

The prophets can be like that for me--reading, scanning, thinking, oops--what was that chapter about exactly? Re-read, rethink, then a line pops out. Here are some:

"The paths God takes are older than the oldest mountains and hills." Habakkuk 3:6 MSG

This reminds me of the father's comment in Karen Blixen's "Babette's Feast, "God's paths run across the sea and the snowy mountains, where man's eye sees no track."

God's ways are unfathomable but relentless, aged and sure.

"Counting on GOD's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer."  Habakkuk 3:19  

Here I think of the comfort of God's rule--both now and in the future.  To trust in that rule, feel the weight and surety of it, leaves us, as an integral part of His greater plan, in great freedom of spirit.  I think of our rat terrier leaping in the mountains when I read "run like a deer"--it's joyful to her, her native habitat, more familiar to her than the confines of our four walls and central heat.  She's made to leap in the woods. We are made to run in the freedom of God.

Another thing I appreciate about Habakkuk is that he teaches the value of waiting and questioning. To me, I can wait---I can do it--but there is a comfort in being able to converse, to question, to think aloud about the purpose of waiting:

"What's God going to say to my questions? I'm braced for the worst. I'll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon. I'll wait to see what God says, how he'll answer my complaint." Habakkuk 2:1 MSG

To feel that one can be honest about the reality of waiting is huge because that's what we are all experiencing to one degree of another. We wait in this world. We wait in our lives. It all feels pregnant with possibility and treasure, but we never quite get there. When we turn each corner of life, it seems there is just more waiting ahead.  I can wait with Habakkuk on God, but can we be free to question and to acknowledge the bus has not come yet?

"It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on its way. It will come right on time." -Habakkuk 2:3 MSG

And when the bus seems late, feels late, whether it is misperception of my mind or misreading of the schedule, it helps me to be able to move in that, express that.  And when Habakkuk affirms that it's all on schedule---not early, not late, not forgotten, not haphazard, that I am in the right place, right space, in the exact right sequence, I can rest too.

There is this sense of inevitability, of unfolding, in Habakkuk that feels like sense of rest in Psalm 23 when David says he will lie down in green pastures.  For me, the resolution of the questions, of the misunderstanding of man, of the seeming injustice of this present creation, feels glorious.  While the greedy and manipulative people and nations of this earth struggle to achieve, God "makes sure nothing comes of that but ashes (Habakkuk 2:13).  But there is no delay.  It seems like a delay--it feels like His plan is being undermined, but He is active:

"Meanwhile the earth fills up with awareness of GOD's glory as the waters cover the sea." -Habakkuk 2:14 MSG

We are urged to listen at the end of Chapter 2:

 "But oh! GOD is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone—a holy silence. Listen!" Habakkuk 2:20 MSG

The Message's translation here is so interesting. It suggests that Habakkuk's is subjective, wholly shaped by God:

"The problem as God gave Habakkuk to see it..." Habakkuk 1:1

Habakkuk begins with a complaint against God, a cry.

Hab 1:2  GOD, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, "Help! Murder! Police!" before you come to the rescue? 

Hab 1:3  Why do you force me to look at evil, stare trouble in the face day after day?

This feels very familiar to our world's mindset:

 "They call strength their god." Habakkuk 1:11 MSG

There is a sense of present frustration in the first chapter of Habakkuk that I can fully relate to.  Why allow the wicked their season? Why the silence?  Why the wait?  As a person of faith in a world where faith is relativized and treated like a self-help delusion, it's easy to feel like we are these fish floating in the ocean without direction:

"You're treating men and women as so many fish in the ocean, Swimming without direction, swimming but not getting anywhere." Habakkuk 1:14

There is this extended image that Babylon is poaching the fish out of God's waters, and they are helpless to stop it.  This feeling resonates in me--not now--but in the past. I've felt like that fish. I've felt like the target of a sniper. I get it.

This is all out of order, but I'm making a mark to say "I've been here, I've wondered too. I find an ally in Habakkuk's perceptions and questions, comfort in the coming obviousness of God's presence and reign.  It's enough for the moment--it gives me the glimpse through the trees onto the larger landscape, and I feel able to endure the waiting.

Tenderly in the Wilderness

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her." Hosea 2:14

I knew there was more to Hosea that I needed to dwell in. The diction alone casts a holy spell, "behold, allure, wilderness, speak tenderly." It feels like a gentle embrace, a soft blanket, a warm fire to relax beside.

Proportionally, the majority of the text of Hosea (and the prophets in general) is devoted to detailing the sins of the people and justifying God's necessary judgement. But oh, for the culmination of His days and plans.  He gives us mere wisps of this proportionally, but they are grand, worth savoring, rich.

When I want to explore the corners of a passage, and the feelings they inspire in me, I often turn to the Biblical Illustrator Commentary.  It's a compendium of old school commentary, hit or miss, but faithful to expound and expand the conversation.

This morning, the commentators there chatted back and forth about the nature of the wilderness referenced in this passage. Is this wilderness a place of consequence, of alienation, and scarcity, or is this wilderness a place of solitude and restoration?  

Red Hills and White Flower II, Georgia O'Keeffe

Skimming the scriptures that float to the top of my thoughts, they seem a blend of both, a place of meeting, of communion with God and Satan. They can be a place of struggle and clarity--as Jacob wrestled with God in Peniel, "Face of God" literally. I would rather come away wounded than not engage myself. To me, the loneliest wilderness would be a world unconnected, uncreated, unthought of by God.

For the Israelites in Exodus, the wilderness was an in-between place, a period of progression and relapse, alternating bouts with sin but also a testimony to God's education and provision. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness as well.  And a voice cried out in the wilderness---John the Baptist's true home. I don't think it accidental that we experience both a fearful awe and a reverent release in nature--the creation declares the glory of God, it declares it and echoes it.  Yesterday our daughter Grace was referencing hurtful words someone said to her---she said she didn't want to repeat them because speaking them aloud would make them more real.

God speaks. He speaks tenderly to his people. In the beginning was the Word. 

In thinking about wilderness spaces, I remembered Robert Frost's poem, "Desert Places."

Desert Places

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast

In a field I looked into going past,

And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,

But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it - it is theirs.

All animals are smothered in their lairs.

I am too absent-spirited to count;

The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is, that loneliness

Will be more lonely ere it will be less -

A blanker whiteness of benighted snow

With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces

Between stars - on stars where no human race is.

I have it in me so much nearer home

To scare myself with my own desert places.

Robert Frost

 

I see You in these places where Frost does not.  We can frighten ourselves in these places, or we can see You there.  And if we see You there, it is because You woo us, speak to us, tenderly. Lord, may we seek You in our own desert places. May we have attentive ears and hearts. May we not scare ourselves as Frost was scared, but may the poignancy of solitude and silence turn our hearts toward You.

Hosea

 My time in Hosea has been quick, less than a week or so. Honestly, it's one of those prophetic books that feel like a long lecture from a parent--not that the parent doesn't need to lecture--but it's hard to hear all the same. 

Hosea is best known as the prophet whose marriage becomes an object lesson. His wife is unfaithful as Israel has been unfaithful to God, whoring around with pagan idols.  The particulars beyond this I've studied, but seem less the point.

Context 

(from Jack Abeelen)

Speaker: Hosea, a prophet to the Northern Kingdom for 50 years beginning in 755 BC.

For 33 years he preached to the North before the fall to Assyria. For the last 17 years, he spoke to a scattered people.

His contemporaries were Amos (North), Isaiah (South), and Micah

Jack Abeelen's sermon focused on this verse, the idea that we sow what we reap:

Hos 8:7  For they sow the wind,. and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.

The focus of the sermon was that God is patient, long-suffering, but that in the end, we reap what we sow and should be careful what we sow.

Bullock's chapter on Hosea was much more technical.  It dives into different critical theories about the book's construction, authorship, and unity. I probably should give it another day, as I'm certain there is more I need to think about, but here's the basic situation which I did pull out and think through.

God's word came to Hosea. It was for him to marry a prostitute to symbolize the Northern Kingdom's unfaithfulness. He married Gomer, and they had a son God told them to name Jezreel. Jehu was to punished for the massacre at Jezreel. Then Gomer conceives a girl, and God tells them to name her "No Mercy" for He will have no mercy on Israel but will on Judah. When she weaned No Mercy, Gomer conceived again and had a son who was to be named "Not my People." But a time will come that in the same place, they will be called "children of the living God." On that day, Judah and Israel will chose one leader and return from exile together.

So, this entire idea of naming children as object lessons is weird too. For me, it highlights the distance between God's perspective and mine, between the time period and mindset of these prophets, this culture, and my own. It's just so weird that I don't know what to make of it.

Another question I had was about the significance of the reference and naming of the oldest son, Jezreel.  Here is the Bible Knowledge Commentary's explanation:

"The first child (a son) was named Jezreel. At this point the significance of his name was not in its meaning (“God sows”), but in its association with past and future events at the place Jezreel (cf., however, Hos_1:11; Hos_2:22-23). Jezreel was the site of Jehu’s ruthless massacre of the house of Ahab (Hos_1:4; cf. 2 Kings 9-10). In the future it would be the scene of Israel’s military demise (Hos_1:5)." -BKC

I may get back to this....or I may not, but I'm publishing and moving on for now. 

Knowledge of God, Part II, Matthew 26

This morning begins with an interesting overlap of concepts between Hosea and Luke; some of my most quietly compelling convictions come from such synergies. Yesterday's truth was we are urged to seek greater knowledge of God and that one day this knowledge will be undisputed and universal:

"Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3

A piece of my frustration in this world is the lack of knowledge of and respect for God---any god, never mind the true God. Those outside of traditional faiths diminish evidence or absolute understanding of anything outside of that which can be empirically quantified. Or they seem drawn to the other extreme--throwing off all reason in faith-based areas and embracing pseudo-scientific spiritual conceptions: crystals, energy waves, things that seem super regressive. 

Those inside these faith systems often choose their faith by default (family tradition) or with only a passing nod of an effort to understand the scriptures that undergird their faith, thus accepting a revelation second-hand without longing for a deeper understanding and fulfillment. To me, this is not faith but wishful manipulation of God. 

Beyond this, the nature of knowledge alone is debatable. Though there may be indisputable facts, even the hardest facts are seen and interpreted through the lens of man's understanding.  Maybe this is what makes this passage from Luke so liberating: 

"Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures...." Luke 24:44-45

God can open our minds as if flipping a light switch. This truth is woven throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus picked up that thread from the prophets--seeing but never seeing, hearing but never hearing. All of these threads speak of not just access to knowledge, but point to our questionable ability to receive and understand it properly outside of the Holy Spirit's help.

Matthew Henry furthers understanding of this principle:

"In his discourse with the two disciples he took the veil from off the text, by opening the scriptures; here he took the veil from off the heart, by opening the mind. Observe here,

[1.] That Jesus Christ by his Spirit operates on the minds of men, on the minds of all that are his. He has access to our spirits, and can immediately influence them. It is observable how he did now after his resurrection give a specimen of those two great operations of his Spirit upon the spirits of men, his enlightening the intellectual faculties with a divine light, when he opened the understandings of his disciples, and his invigorating the active powers with a divine heat, when he made their hearts burn within them. 

[2.] Even good men need to have their understandings opened; for though they are not darkness, as they were by nature, yet in many things they are in the dark. David prays, Open mine eyes. Give me understanding. And Paul, who knows so much of Christ, sees his need to learn more. 

[3.] Christ's way of working faith in the soul, and gaining the throne there, is by opening the understanding to discern the evidence of those things that are to be believed. Thus he comes into the soul by the door, while Satan, as a thief and a robber, climbs up some other way. 

[4.] The design of opening the understanding is that we may understand the scriptures; not that we may be wise above what is written, but that we may be wiser in what is written, and may be made wise to salvation by it. The Spirit in the word and the Spirit in the heart say the same thing. Christ's scholars never learn above their bibles in this world; but they need to be learning still more and more out of their bibles, and to grow more ready and mighty in the scriptures. That we may have right thoughts of Christ, and have our mistakes concerning him rectified, there needs no more than to be made to understand the scriptures.

Knowledge of God in Hosea 6

"Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3

One of my favorite characteristics of the Lord is that He solicits mankind's active pursuit and participation in seeking Him.  He welcomes engagement instead of passive subservience. He's in it with us, even within us--Emmanuel. 

Ultimately, in the end times, this knowledge of God will become universal:

"They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:9

"But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Daniel 12:4

"And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:34

In a world where people cling to their ignorance and assumptions (myself included), this universal knowledge will bring unity and peace at last.

Matthew Henry comments:

"We shall know, we shall follow to know, the Lord, (so the words are); and it may be taken as the fruit of Christ's resurrection, and the life we live in God's sight by him, that we shall have not only greater means of knowledge, but grace to improve in knowledge by those means. Note, When God designs mercy for a people he gives them a heart to know him, Jer 24:7. Those that have risen with Christ have the spirit of wisdom and revelation given them....When we are designed to live in his sight, then he gives us to know him; for this is life eternal to know God, John 17:3.

"I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart." Jeremiah 24:7

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3 

Matthew Henry again,

The way and means of obtaining this blessing. We must follow on to know him. We must value and esteem the knowledge of God as the best knowledge, we must cry after it, and dig for it (Pro_2:3, Pro_2:4), must seek and intermeddle with all wisdom (Pro_18:1), and must proceed in our enquiries after this knowledge and our endeavours to improve in it. And, if we do the prescribed duty, we have reason to expect the promised mercy, that we shall know more and more of God, and be at last perfect in this knowledge.

True knowledge of God brings release. False knowledge of God, man, books, learning, is a burden. 

On Oracles & Visions

I'm admittedly not entirely clear on the concepts of oracles and visions. In Amos, Bullock asserts oracles and visions comprise the two literary centers in Amos.  

The Hebrew words for oracle may be translated as “burden,” “saying,” “word,” etc. The words can be translated in different ways, even within the same book/author.  The word oracle can be ascribed to an entire prophetic books or to a part of one.  

In one piece of Amos, the King James renders it, "Thus saith the Lord" Encyclopedia.com elaborates on this usage, "The technical term for an oracle of a prophet is n e'  It occurs 361 times in the Hebrew OT, mostly in the books of the "writing" Prophets, where it generally stands at the end of a short oracle given in Yahweh's name, traditionally rendered in English as "Thus says the Lord." It serves as a sort of signature guaranteeing the authenticity of the oracle." 

Because they were God's word, these pronouncements were true, even though they could be changed as in the case of Jonah's pronouncement over Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-9 ). Music can be involved, "But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him." 2 Kings 3:15

 This entry on oracles from the Holman Bible Dictionary via Study Light is excellent because it teases out the complexities a bit more. Beginning with an all purpose definition, "communications from God," it moves into the nuances of how this concept is worded and translated, differences between how it is used in the Old Testament or New, how it is used by pagan nations or by Israel, subcategories and ways oracles can be received and expressed.

Notes from this dictionary:

Transmission of Oracles

There are diverse ways that oracles and visions could be received and perceived--literally received through their senses or received in their minds. 

"Frequently, the Old Testament gives no indication as to how God communicated His pronouncement oracles to His prophet or priest. Careful reading of the Old Testament shows a variety of methods in use. The frequent use of sights in pronouncements has led some to believe that the prophets had encounters with God that later they had to interpret and communicate to others. Regardless of how the oracle came, it was to be expressed to others. This expression seems most often to have been oral." -HBD

"Two points should be recognized. First, oracles were remembered long after their pronouncement. When Jehu killed Joram (2 Kings 9:25 ), he had the body taken to Naboth's vineyard in order that an oracle pronounced in Ahab's day might be fulfilled. Second, though we do not know the response of the original hearers, God's pronouncements are still being read and are producing change in people in our day. Thus, the oracles are still functioning. See Inspiration; Priest; Prophet; Spirit." -HBD

Exigence and Purpose of Oracles

Sometimes an oracle is a response to a question and other times, it's a straight declaration without the framework of a question.

There are decision oracles vs. pronouncement oracles. Sometimes decision oracles involved use of an object, "lots," urim and thumen, but other times not. Decision oracles were God's response to questions and concerns in the present. They did not condemn sin or predict the future in any specific sense.

Pronouncement oracles are often interpreted as divine words of punishment or judgment. However, it is possible for an oracle to bless, as was the case with Baalam. The word oracles in the New Testament most often refers to the teachings of God in the Old Testament (Acts 7:38; Romans 3:2 ). It may refer to Christian teachings, too (Hebrews 5:12 ). -HBDictionary

"One caution about prophets and their pronouncements must be made. Often the prophets were not prophets until they received God's word (consider Amos' experience in Amos 7:14-15 ). The word came to some reluctantly as in the case of Jeremiah. God's giving of an oracle to a man or woman made them a prophet; for, when the divine word came, the prophet had to speak (Amos 3:8 )."

Amos, Nuts and Bolts of the Chapters

Six Nations and Their Rebellion

The book begins with eight oracles against the nations. Bullock points out that the audience is always Israel, not the other nations, even though it begins with them. 

"God cared for the other nations even though they cared little for Him. God's expression of concern by pronouncing judgment (or salvation as in Isaiah 19:19-22 ) was intended to remind Israel of her mission to share God with others. At least, these words reminded the hearers of God's international, even universal, power and expectations." -Holman Bible Dictionary

In the earlier period, priests were more often sought out to receive a word from God. Later, the prophets were more prominent. Of course, for a long period both functioned as intermediaries.

This series of judgements is likened to a noose tightening around Israel's throat, or a progressive bullseye of judgement with Israel as the center dot. The point is that God's judgement was certain and Israel's judgement was at the core of the offense.

The beginning of Amos focuses upon the sins of  six neighboring nations: Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. Amos lists the culminating sin for each nation, the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Even though their relationship with God was different than Israel's, they were still accountable to God with regard to basic decency and His revelation in creation.

Damascus (Capital of Aram)

act of rebellion: threshed Gilead into pulp with iron teeth, ruthless.  Gilead was a general term for the Israelite territories east of the Jordan River.

consequence: setting Hazael's palace on fire, burning forts

Gaza & Tyre

act of rebellion: sold people in slavery to the Edomites that were "brothers"

consequence: burning down walls and forts

Edom

act of rebellion: ruthlessness in murder, unrestrained anger

consequence: burning of city and destruction

Ammon

act of rebellion: ripping open pregnant women to instill fear and gain territory

consequence: burning down walls and forts, king goes into exile

Moab

act of rebellion: violated corpse of Edom's king

consequence: burning down city, kill king and princes

Judah

act of rebellion: rejected His revelation, refused to keep His commands

consequence: burning Jerusalem and forts

Israel

act of rebellion: selling people, treating them poorly, as objects for $, temple prostitutes, extortion from poor so they can sit around drinking wine

this despite God delivering them from the Ammonites and Egypt before that

Chapters 3 through 6 

Chapter 3 continues to outline God's justification and response,  They contain five oracles as identified in Bullock:

1st oracle: Amos 3:1-15  All of Israel

2nd oracle: Amos 4:1-13 Women of Samaria

3rd oracle: Amos 5:1-17 The House of Israel

4th oracle: Amos 5:18-27  Impenitent Israel

5th oracle: Amos 6:1-14 Political Leaders of Judea and Samaria

Chapter 4 focuses on the acts of rebellion of Samarian women, including a love of ease and false worship and sacrifice. God also details that He sent drought, crop failure, disease, and earthquakes, but despite these natural manifestations of His power and judgement, they still ignored Him.

The entire Chapter 5 of Amos contains a lament against Israel formed in two chiastic structures. The heart of these is that God is sovereign and that he longs for individual repentance, not corporate false worship. He longs for people to "Hate evil and love good, then work it out in the public square." -Amos 5:15 MSG

This section convicts me personally and creates a desire for me to attach ourselves, my husband, my family, to acts of righteousness and justice, to bypass the local church which feels like ineffectual dead weight. I am not judge nor jury, but I believe God wants us to be active and attached to our faith, not going through motions that fail to serve Him in the most effectual and highest ways. I believe the local church can be a false idol in this regard--it can make us think we are worshipping but really just serving our own egos/desire for security and community as we prefer it.  It can be a self-affirming echo chamber instead of a force for justice.  I'm drawn to less corporate manifestations, as they can be false in ancient Israel and false today.  I'm drawn to individual repentance and individual relationships with God, then banding together for loving action.  The rest comes with that I suspect (the relationship and the community).

"I can't stand your religious meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.  

I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. 

I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. 

I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me?  

Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. 

That's what I want. That's all I want. 

Didn't you, dear family of Israel, worship me faithfully for forty years in the wilderness, bringing the sacrifices and offerings I commanded?"  Amos 5:21-25

Chapter 6 again reflects back upon the pride and selfish indulgence of the Israelites. Their goal is to be immersed in entertainment, food, wine, ease, and luxury. They're warned of the coming destruction and consequence of their indifference to the things of God.

The Five Visions of Amos

Chapter 7 begins the visions of Amos.  BKC points out that God is referred to as "the sovereign Lord" throughout this section whereas previously He was referenced as "the Lord God Almighty."

1st Vision: the locusts--they came just as the first crop went to the king and the second crop was beginning to sprout. Amos pleaded to God after the locusts ate all of the green that Israel was too small to survive it.  Matthew Henry views the first crop being spared as evidence of God's mercy, but the Bible Knowledge Commentary views the people as the most dependent and vulnerable at this time of the growing season because this second crop would sustain them. God relents (v 3).

2nd Vision: a fire storm to punish Israel.  A fire so intense that it destroys the depths of the sea and the land.  Amos pleads and again, God relents.

3rd Vision: The Lord is standing beside a wall with a plumb line. He asks Amos what he sees and says that this time he will not spare Israel.  The priest at Bethel, Amaziah, sends message to Jeroboam warning him that Amos is destroying Israel from within and must be silenced. Amaziah confronts Amos and tells him to leave the land, take his mess to Judah.  Amos replies that he never asked to be a prophet, was minding his own business when called. But, the Lord called him, and that the punishment will fall on Amaziah in the following ways: his wife will be a prostitute, his children will fall by the sword, your land will be divided up, you will die in an unclean land, and Israel will go into exile.

4th Vision, Chapter 8: A bowl of fresh fruit. BKC: Ripe time” (qēṣ) was “end time” or “cutting time”  the “reaping time” of death.

The Results (Amo_8:4-14)

These two results of God’s judgment - human grief and divine silence - are described more fully in Amo_8:4-14.  

In this chapter, the sins of corrupt business practices are described--inferior products, dishonest scales, making a dollar over worship, etc.

Amos paints a stark picture of judgement-- God's judgement going forth like an oath, the earth trembling and rising as His judgement is carried out. Other physical manifestations of this judgement: the sun going down at noon. people mourning, comparing this to the loss of one's only son by murder. 

There will be a famine of the word of God--divine silence. People will wander in all directions looking for it, but not find it. This reminds me of our current culture--people seeking truth and seeking You but never finding it.  There is great travel and globalization but not greater wisdom or honoring of You among the nations. You seem largely silent.

On judgement day, even the youthful and strong will be made weak and those who worship false gods will fall and not rise again. The people who mourned will die as well.

5th Vision, Chapter 9: The Lord standing beside the altar of the false temple. He commands that the top of the pillars be hit so that the floor will shake and all within destroyed. He will hunt them down to all ends of the earth, no escape.  God touches the earth and it melts, trembles.  Israel is not better than Cush or other nations, only God's hand has made the difference. He has His eye on it all, and He will destroy sin though not entirely wiping out Jacob.

"Yes indeed, it won't be long now." GOD's Decree. "Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won't be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I'll make everything right again for my people Israel: "They'll rebuild their ruined cities. They'll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They'll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables.  And I'll plant them, plant them on their own land. They'll never again be uprooted from the land I've given them." GOD, your God, says so."

I cherish God's promise of eating the fruit one has planted in one's own garden.  This is peace in the simplest terms--reaping what you've invested in, return on investment.

Joseph of Arimathea

Joseph, the man who buries Jesus.  

He is a member of the Jewish High Council.  He's described as a man "of good heart and good character." (Luke 23:50 MSG)

He didn't go along with the plans of the larger council.

"He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God."  -Luke 23:52 MSG

He took the body of Jesus down, wrapped it in linen, and placed it in a new tomb.

Not many verses are devoted to Joseph of Arimathea and his actions, but they are quietly convicting to me in all ways. He was part of leadership but dared to break with their perspective. He had eyes that were looking and a heart waiting for God's kingdom. He chose action and took initiative to treat the broken and bloody body of Christ with simple dignity.

May I be a person of quiet convicting, going against the mainstream, of good character and heart, eyes looking and waiting for your Kingdom. May I act decisively at the right time in the right ways that honor You. 

A Most Wicked Exchange, Luke 22:6-71

It's human to prefer some parts of the scriptures more than others.  Christ's arrest, trial, and execution are the worst, revealing the bottom of the pit of humanity and the "religious" establishment.

Reading this section of Luke 22:63-71, Jesus knows that they are merely going through the motions.  He reveals this when he states, "If I tell you, ye will not believe: And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go."  There is no win to be had in the immediate and he knows it.

However, in the discouraging corners of my spirt, I also need to hear the end of his remark as emphatically: "Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God."

And yes, they willfully misunderstand his words--these very words--and use them to condemn him in the immediate, 

Then said they all, "Art thou then the Son of God?" 

And he said unto them, "Ye say that I am."

And they said, "What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth."

Jesus allowed himself to become a soundbite for us in that moment. 

But the immediacy of man's wicked nature and plans does not nullify the overarching, unchangeable goodness of God. 

Amos, Getting my Bearings

Amos the Shepherd

I suppose Amos is much more than a shepherd, not that being a shepherd isn't enough alone. Jack Abeelen translates his name as "burden bearer," more to think about.

Background Context

Amos was a prophet from Judah, called from his rural  hometown of Tekoa to an urban environment in the Northern Kingdom, perhaps Bethel, their capital. Tekoa was about ten miles south of Jerusalem, one of a chain of places that Rehoboam of Judah fortified to mount a defense. 

At one point, Amos says to a king--"I was a shepherd and God called me," which makes him relatable.  Who wouldn't rather be overseeing sheepherders and sycamore figs instead of slogging condemnation at urbanites?  Bring on the sheep and figs.  Truthfully, it reminds me of a visit to my pastor's office one morning--a hundred places both Amos and I would rather be!

 Who was ruling?  Northern King: Jeroboam II   Southern King: Uzziah

E. Hassell Bullock titles his chapter on Amos "Call for Moral Obedience" and asserts that "the moral character of the Hebrew religion was incorporated into the fabric of his prophecies." He cites Amos as the first time since Moses in the Old Testament where the welfare of the nation was directly linked their morality. The book is comprised of a collection of oracles and visions which took place over a number of years.

The setting of the book of Jonah may precede or come after Amos--scholars argue both.  Bullock puts him after Jonah asserting that the affluence of Israel at this time argues for a date later in the reign of Jeroboam II. The affluence of the Northern Kingdom is in full swing. The text mentions that summer and winter homes were destroyed. It also alludes to people indifferently lounging around on couches, which reminds me of Daisy and Jordan when Nick first encounters them on East Egg in Gatsby. It could as easily remind me of the summer homes on Reynolds Mountain above our home.

I found this excellently crafted overview from the Bible Project helpful: 

The Bible Project's fantastic overview of Amos.

Jonah, Parting Thoughts

 It's been a good stay in Jonah, but after three weeks, I'm ready to move along. I finished Jack Abeelen and Alistair Begg's sermons on Jonah, in addition to the Bullock sections. I even re-read my 2014 thoughts on the book, which held up better than I feared. It's both comforting and scary that my realizations then and now have many similarities--comforting to know that I am thinking through things carefully in a way that is "checkable"--scary because I don't remember thinking all those thoughts before.  I guess that's the wear and tear of seven years.

Before I leave Jonah though, I have a cache of unsorted truths worth corralling.

First, I'm thankful for God's great patience and pursuit of man. He makes a way for Adam and Eve, Cain, Noah. We see it with Abraham and Sodom, Jacob at Peniel, with Job, and yes, Jonah and the Ninevites as well. I see it in my life today as well as the lives of others.   Jesus knew the heart of man, yet he wept over Jerusalem. Praise be to God for His care, His long suffering patience and endurance with us.

I'm also thankful that God allows mankind to wrestle with Him. He's not diminished or threatened by earnest, sincere questions, but willing to throw Himself in the ring with man's best attempts to reason.  He is fully wise beyond our understanding, and won't permit us to limit His scope: 

"The actions of God, in judgment and in mercy, are not constrained by our understanding of what’s taking place...."Says one Scottish theologian, “Ultimately divine grace towards sinners cannot be understood. It does not have a reason. It simply reflects the way God is.” -Alistair Begg

All the same, He's also willing to endure Jonah and Job's questions about His nature and intentions. He bothers to listen and answer. God is pleased to be sought after by any and all nations and people groups.

Pivoting To Address Today's Church

In this last sermon of his "Man Overboard" series, Alistair Begg bring the question out to the present, to today's church and our sometimes insular tendencies which are not far from Jonah's nationalistic preferences.  He quotes George Verwer, the head of the missionary organization, Operation Mobilization:

"[First,] we need a greater renewal and reality in the churches. By this I mean Christians moving on from a superficial walk with God to one which accepts the challenges which God is putting before us today. I also mean an honest and open attempt to break down barriers between different visions and different emphases in the church and working for a Holy Spirit marriage of them.

Secondly, it is so important that there should be a “grace awakening”. By this I mean a renewed emphasis on the kind of love which 1 Corinthians speaks about. I believe that unless we have more of that big-heartedness towards one another—individuals and organizations—our grand visions for large numbers of new workers will not become a reality. We need every member of the Body of Christ.

Thirdly, a greater discipline is needed in prayer, in studying the Word of God and in giving. These basic, godly activities cannot be separated from other visions that God has given us.

Finally, we must beware of allowing negative thinking to kill our creativity or vision." 

And Begg's follow up comments: 

"The kind of negative thinking that builds a little shelter and sits in it and says, “Oh, I think I’d be better if I was dead.

And again, we see our faces: attending services, preaching sermons, giving the right clichéd answers, and all a thin veneer for a heart that is increasingly distanced from your heart of compassion, Lord Jesus Christ. Hearts that have failed to look at the lonely people and to say, “Where do they all come from?”[7] Hearts that have grown cold. Minds that have retreated into our theological shibboleths, using our theology as a means of retreat from ever getting our hands dirty, from ever putting ourselves in the place of vulnerability—for asking people to come to us and forgetting that it was Jesus who said, “Come to me,” and he said that we should go to them.

The real question is, How do we, the readers of the book, perceive the grace of God? And does the example of God, in showing his compassion to Nineveh here, establish the pattern for our concern? Or, if you like, taking it forward into the New Testament: Does the example of the concern of God our Savior provide the pattern for our concern? First Timothy chapter 2: “This is good”—verse 3—“and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 

And, the larger purpose of prophecy in Jonah's time and in our own, is not merely "to predict," just as Christ's miracles were not merely "to heal." God isn't into cheap tricks and much more efficient than this. Healing and prophecy point beyond the healing of today or the punishment of tomorrow; they testify to and reveal His character and action in the universe:

"Prophecy is not merely for the sake of proving God’s omniscience by the verification of predictions of the future, but is mainly designed to vindicate God’s justice and mercy in dealing with the impenitent and penitent respectively" (Rom_11:22). -Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown

In the end, thankfully, the vision of God is also beyond the visible church of today, beyond our petty infighting and turf battles. I'm thankful for this truth as much as the others. Honestly, I see little difference between today's church, Nineveh, and Jonah. We all have blind spots, preconceptions about how God should work, self-serving tendencies, and unaddressed sin. Praise be to God that His mercy endures forever. It's less about Jonah, the sailors, the Ninevites, the Jews...much more about Him.

Jonah, Chapter 4, Jonah's Anger

Jon 4:1  But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 

He was very angry; Septuagint, συνεχύθη, "was confounded." -Pulpit Commentary

Why was Jonah so mad as to be confounded?  Was it because Nineveh was their enemy?  This type of nationalism is hard for me to relate to.

The Expositor's Bible explains, 

"In short he could not, either then or now, master his conviction that the heathen should be destroyed. His grief, though foolish, is not selfish. He is angry, not at the baffling of his word, but at God’s forbearance with the foes and tyrants of Israel. Now, as in all else, so in this, Jonah is the type of his people. If we can judge from their literature after the Exile, they were not troubled by the non-fulfillment of prophecy, except as one item of what was the problem of their faith-the continued prosperity of the Gentiles. " -Expositor's Bible

Alistair Begg sees the problems as that of a double standard:

"In Jonah’s case, the root issue is a double standard. He has a standard for himself and the people of God—namely, Israel. And then he has another standard by which the foreigners and the enemies of God’s people are to be judged. It was okay for God to forgive Jonah’s disobedience, but not, in Jonah’s mind, just as right for God to show his mercy to the Ninevites."

Jamieson Fausset Brown's comment is also helpful:

"If Nineveh had been the prominent object with him, he would have rejoiced at the result of his mission. But Israel was the prominent aim of Jonah, as a prophet of the elect people...he was bitterly disappointed, not from pride or mercilessness, but from hopelessness as to anything being possible for the reformation of Israel....But God’s plan was to teach Israel, by the example of Nineveh, how inexcusable is their own impenitence, and how inevitable their ruin if they persevere." 

It's an excellent point--not only does Jonah anticipate Jesus in the belly of the great fish/death followed by rescue and the resurrection, but Jonah's selfishness anticipates the problem of the Jewish response in Christ's day.  They had a certain thought about how things should be, how God should perceive things, and it wasn't big enough.  It was still playing favorites, the Jews, not the Jews and...

"Moreover, if this is a picture of Christ in his death and resurrection, then it’s also, by extension, a picture of his followers. One reason Jonah was such a beloved subject among Christians throughout the Roman Empire during the persecutions is because his story, and its New-Testament fulfillment, reminded them of the ultimate powerlessness of the grave, of the hope they had of rising again on the last day. And it is a picture not only of what will be but also of what has been in baptism: the believer’s dying to sin and being raised to new life in Christ (Romans 6:1–11).  -Victoria Emily Jones

Source: Woodmen Valley Chapel

Jonah, Chapter 3, And He Did It Not

"And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." Jonah 3:10  

How can  it be that God would need to "repent of evil"?  It's got to be in the wording, or I run into all kinds of snags regarding the unchangeable nature of God (Westminster Catechism Questions 4) then additional tangles while considering determinism and free will. 

As a counterpoint, Numbers 23:19 floats to mind:

"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? God a man that he should change his mind?"

Alistair Begg addresses this change briefly in his Jonah series, "Man Overboard,"

"Now, how then are you to understand that? Well, the fact is, loved ones, that there is no ultimate inconsistency between these two modes of expression. Because actually, when God is said to change his mind, it is really an accommodation to us. When God is said to change his mind, matters are being viewed from our human perspective. Because it appears to us that there has been a change in God. But what in fact has actually changed is our human conduct, not God. -Alistair Begg

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown also weigh in on this issue: "What was really a change in them and in God’s corresponding dealings is, in condescension to human conceptions, represented as a change in God (compare Exo_32:14), who, in His essential righteousness and mercy, changeth not (Num_23:19; 1Sa_15:29; Mal_3:6; Jas_1:17)." 

These perspectives help in part. They answer the chronologically troubling aspect of the question.  However, the entire mystery of why God chooses to "relent" at times and other times not, remains a mystery for the end of this age.

Source: Michele Lesley

 David, clearly a darling of God, was repentant, but their child still died as a consequence of his moral failure. Lot was spared on account of Abraham, though he didn't seem to repent at all. 

In this narrative, it's oddly the pagans who quickly grasp the need for repentance while the seasoned Jew with the inside track bucks the plan.

"So the captain came up to him and said, "How can you stay asleep? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps your god will give a thought to us so that we will not perish." Jonah 1:6

Later the king of Assyria explains his reasoning of repentance, "Who knows, God may turn [in compassion] and relent and withdraw His burning anger (judgment) so that we will not perish." Jonah 3:9

As mechanical and man-centered as these thoughts seem, they do hope in God's mercy. In both instances, unbelieving men are willing to "try" God out.

Alistair Begg reminds us that sometimes God chooses to change his plan but other times not. Nor should man assume that man's repentance will result in a "change" of God's reaction. The pagans got this right too; they allowed it could make a difference, not that it must.

Begg feels our American culture is too presumptuous in this regard:

"There is no definite indication that their turning in repentance will be accompanied by a divine turning. He says, “But you never know, God may actually respond in this way.” It’s a reminder to us of this: that the repentant have no case to argue for acceptance. And the future well-being of the repentant remains solely dependent on the grace of God.

That’s why I get so tired of people in America here—sorry to say, that makes me an alien again—I get so tired of people in America and in Britain trotting out 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways and do this and do this and do this, and then I will hear from heaven and heal their sin and do their land.”[15] And the way that it comes out is this: “If we press Button A, he is duty bound to press Button B.” We have it completely upside down." -"Man Overboard Series," Alistair Begg

God is God, and He is entirely just whatever He chooses to do.  This is why when David and Bathsheba's son dies, David's right response is to go to worship. He accepts God's sovereignty whichever way it falls upon his life:

"And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?  But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." 2 Samuel 12:22-23 

Luke 22:3-4, Difficult Verse of the Day

"Then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve [disciples]. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him and hand Him over to them." Luke 22:3-4

Even though I am reading short chunks of Luke each day, not even full chapters, I feel like each day brings a new "difficult" verse.  Today's is above.

I feel as if I could gain more understanding of it if it came from Mark--it has that abrupt Mark quality---boom, four words and we are in a different spot.  But it's Luke.  Luke, who takes time to linger, who gives us the fullest account of Christ's birth, who sets forth to create an orderly account, who is a physician by trade.

And Luke, all these things, sets forth this idea that Satan entered Judas.  John mentions this truth too (John 13:2 and 13:27) in the context of the Last Supper:

"It was during supper, when the devil had already put [the thought of] betraying Jesus into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son...." Joh 13:2

So, what to make of a matter of fact statement that Satan can place thoughts in a person's head. What to make of an evil spirit that enters a person? 

I can't blow past such statements with wrestling

A few things occur to me immediately.  One is that Jesus places a high emphasis on thoughts and our thought life. He places thought right up there with action: Matthew 5:28 "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

I think of the man of Gadarenes tormented by evil spirits that Christ sent into the herd of pigs. In the Old Testament, I think of King Saul, also tormented by an evil spirit. Searching further through cross references, Ananias

Luk 13:11  And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had an illness caused by a spirit (demon). She was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. 

What to make of this? How to differentiate between a distorted psychological perception and a spirit that is separate, distinct, that enters a person. It's surely confusing and riddled with potential for over simplification, under simplification, and general abuse.

Seeking greater understanding and perspective, I came across this comment:

“True to its principle of contrast, this book gives Satan a prominent position” (Abbot). See Luk_4:13; Luk_10:18; Luk_22:3, Luk_22:31. See Introduction.  -Vincent's Word Studies

VWS's further commentary on contrasts in Luke was worth digging for:

"Luke's Gospel is the gospel of contrasts. Thus Satan is constantly emphasized over against Jesus, as binding a daughter of Abraham; as cast down from heaven in Jesus' vision; as entering into Judas; as sifting Peter. The evangelist portrays the doubting Zacharias and the trusting Mary; the churlish Simon and the loving sinner; the bustling Martha and the quiet, adoring Mary; the thankful and the thankless lepers; the woes added to the blessings in the Sermon on the Mount; the rich man and Lazarus; the Pharisee and the Publican; the good Samaritan and the priest and Levite; the prodigal and his elder brother; the penitent and impenitent thieves."

This is an interesting angle to think through--I don't believe I've considered contrasts in Luke as a major aspect of his style.  And thinking further--how to interpret "style," how the individual composer expresses his identity, perspective, and uses literary constructs to express inerrant truth?  This is way too much to push up against on a cold and dreary Monday morning.

Even searching for this reference has prompted me to circle back around and try to understand Luke better as an author, a disciple, a doctor, a person.  22 chapters in, and I am just realizing this need? It makes me further question my mind's ability to grasp the forest and the trees together, always losing one for the other.

Key insights from the VWS introduction to Luke also include thoughts that he was Greek, maybe from Antioch, the most skillful of the gospel writers in terms of his precision for language and skills of observation.  He utilized over 700 words not in the other gospels. He saw the world through the lens of a physician, but also had a precision about terminology related to the sea and politics.  We are not certain of when he enters Paul's life, but there is also a strong correlation between Paul's language/thoughts and Luke's--almost like a married couple.  It illustrates the closeness of their walk. 

Not done thinking by any means, but this is where I need to leave the questions and verses for today.

Luke 22:3, More Thoughts--Sin Doesn't Just Happen

I'm still making efforts to process the implications of Luke 22:3 this morning:

"Then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve [disciples]."

 Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown suggest that this entering was part of a progression of sin, that sin is a process:

 Then entered Satan, etc. — but not yet in the full sense. The awful stages of it were these: (1) Covetousness being his master - passion, the Lord let it reveal itself and gather strength by entrusting him with “the bag” (Joh_12:6), as treasurer to Himself and the Twelve. (2) In the discharge of that most sacred trust he became “a thief,” appropriating its contents from time to time to his own use. Satan, seeing this door into his heart standing wide open, determines to enter by it, but cautiously (2Co_2:11); first merely “putting it into his heart to betray Him” (Joh_13:2), suggesting the thought to him that by this means he might enrich himself. (3) This thought was probably converted into a settled purpose by what took place in Simon’s house at Bethany. (See Mat_26:6, and see on Joh_12:4-8.) (4) Starting back, perhaps, or mercifully held back, for some time, the determination to carry it into immediate effect was not consummated till, sitting at the paschal supper, “Satan entered into him” (see on Joh_13:27), and conscience, effectually stifled, only rose again to be his tormentor. What lessons in all this for every one (Eph_4:27; Jas_4:7; 1Pe_5:8, 1Pe_5:9)! -Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

I find this helpful and remember when I was young, wondering how someone ended up in jail, homeless, or any other sad circumstances.  The thought here is that it didn't just come out of the blue without warning or ability to prepare for it. And maybe that was part of what I was struggling with--the way Luke presents it seems as Judas was a hapless host for evil without explicit culpability. JFB make excellent points in noting that it was a progression.  The verses they reference in the last line further lay forth this spiritual principle: 

"And do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness]." Ephesians 4:27 

"So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you." James 4:7

"Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

"But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack--rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. [You do not suffer alone.]" 1 Peter 5:9

They are right on---lots to ponder in these verses. Our involvement in sin is not passive but active, no matter how things go down.  There is a maintenance of our spirits, a right position before God, caution, and alertness to events, keeping short tabs and a clean house spiritually, submission, resistance, firmness of resolve and spirit, self-discipline, consistency, and the help of community---all these are to be considered, factored, part of the spiritual principles that were set in place long ago.

Jonah, Chapter 2, Providence & Prayer

“Your laws endure to this day for all things serve you.” -Psalm 119:91

Lately I've been memorizing the first questions of the Westminster Catechism. I'm not sure if it's a counter-reaction to leaving our local church, to the pandemic, or a vestige of my Catholic upbringing, but the discipline and precision of the wording is good--calibrating my mind and heart to bigger truths.

The catechism speaks of the providence of God, an alternatingly comforting and unsettling concept that is addressed in Questions 8, 11, and 12.  

Question 11: What are God's works of providence?

Answer: God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions.

Alistair Begg cites God's providence as one of the overarching truths in Jonah:

"Now, we ought not to miss, just in passing, that whether it is a gigantic fish or whether it is a small worm, what we’re discovering here is that God is at work directing everything to its appointed end."

I see this thread woven throughout the book in subtle and not so subtle regards. The text says God appointed the fish to swallow Jonah.  Appointed suggests the intentionality and dominion He manifests over His creation.

"Now the LORD had prepared (appointed, destined) a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17 Amplified

I love the layout and conceptualization of this part of Jonah's journey from the
cartoonist Eyeteeth. Check out his book of Jonah illustrations here.

Begg asserts that Jonah's prayer in Jonah 2 demonstrates someone who knows the scriptures well and has internalized them.  This is his explanation of why Jonah's prayer is a medley of psalms and other scriptures mashed together.

Begg's comments on prayer were some of my favorites in this series:

"I’ve been greatly helped by some of the things that William Still said concerning prayer. I want to say them to you this morning, recognizing that once they’re on tape it will be a benefit to those who then listen to the tape. This is what he says: “Prayer for the Christian is a matter of believing that God is, and that He does respond to those who believe in Him.” That’s the start. In other words, there is nothing vague, there is nothing amorphous about the notion with which the Christian begins to approach God. We approach God believing that he is, and that although we cannot see him, nevertheless he hears our prayers, and he also is the God who responds.

Says Still,

Now the real Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is God, and is, naturally, [therefore] in vital touch with the Father and the Son. On the basis that we know something about this God from the Holy Scriptures, we begin to speak to Him internally, and should do so as naturally, in a sense, as we speak to ourselves—our “better” selves, born of God in Christ Jesus. That’s prayer. But we have to believe that He is there and listening.

Not that by believing we make him there; but we have to remind ourselves that this is not an exercise in futility. We’re not speaking out into the night; we’re not simply getting things off our chest. We’re not simply meditating, you know, and sort of doing an exercise in deep breathing with some words that go along with it. No, we remind ourselves that God listens to prayer, that he is there and that he does hear us. He neither slumbers nor sleeps." -Alistair Begg, "Salvation Comes from the Lord," Overboard Series. 

This concept of "believing He is there and listening" makes a type of intuitive sense to me.  Prayer offers us opportunity to act on our faith, and the investment of time and energy illuminates and grows our faith life.

At the end of Chapter 2, the overarching sense of providential intervention echoes again,  "So the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land." Jonah 2:10

Note the consistency of the transitions "Now...So" and the verbs "appointed...commanded."  They highlight the connectivity of action and reaction between God, Jonah, and the fish. 

Jonah's time in the fish garners much of the attention paid to this book, but as Jack Abeelen aptly points out, the real miracle is that the city of Nineveh repents! We are easily more impressed by physical miracles than spiritual ones, a fact Jesus also lamented (Matthew 9:5-6).

Another Difficult Verse, Luke 21:32

"I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this generation [those living at that definite period of time preceding the second coming] will not pass away until everything takes place." 21:32

"Others would argue that the generation who sees “all this” is not the generation who is alive when Jesus is speaking these words, but rather the generation who is alive when the final period of great tribulation at the end of history begins. Darrell Bock, who favors this position, puts it like this: “What Jesus is saying is that the generation that sees the beginning of the end, also sees its end. When the signs come, they will proceed quickly; they will not drag on for many generations. It will happen within a generation.” -David Sunday

Sunday references Alistair Begg 's sermon on this verse.  Here are my notes from listening to Begg: 

First, he points out that for the Jews, the temple was the focal point for God's relationship with the people. The disciples couldn't fathom that the world would continue if the temple fell.  

Jesus instructs them, calls them to personal vigilance and action "Be careful...be watchful, be prayerful, be faithful...." (v 34 & 36). Begg emphasizes that God has given us the Word not just to increase our knowledge, but to transform our lives. If this doesn't happen, we miss the point.  The function of the scriptures is not merely information and explanation, but application.

Begg admits that verse 32 is very difficult.  He references a commentary by James Boice---who said he doesn't have the foggiest idea of what one aspect means. Begg finds it comforting to know he's in good company. 

Also, he suggests that we cannot be unduly dogmatic about passages of the scripture that are not absolutely clear. The principle he asserts is that where the Bible is absolutely clear, we should be absolutely dogmatic about that issue, but where it is not clear, we should not be dogmatic.

Some commentaries have asserted it's all about AD 70; in such case, this verse doesn't cause trouble. If it involves now and the future end of the age, then we have a real dilemma.

"Grand Cloud" by Adam Thomas, all rights reserved.
Check out his artwork here.

There are a few possible ways to resolve the tension it creates. One is that "this generation" could reference a race or group of people instead of a set of decades.  Another interpretation is that the "people who are there when it begins will be there at the end."  However, Begg doesn't prefer either of these.

Instead, he thinks that there is a telescoping, a shift in reference during the passage--that at first he's referring to the immediate issue of the temple, then he shifts to the end of the age, and then is back to referring to the impending destruction of the temple referenced in verse 7.

Furthermore, he feels that the reader can get trapped in all of this referencing when the primary function of the discourse then and now that the disciples and current day readers are to act without hesitation.

Here's Begg's outline:

v 5-7 occasion of discourse

v 8-11 warns followers of being deceived or disheartened

v 12-19 persecution to come, promised help that they can anticipate.

I now need to go back and revisit this chapter with all of this in mind---a task for another day!

Coming in a Cloud, Luke 21:27

"Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with [transcendent, overwhelming] power [subduing the nations] and with great glory [Dan_7:13-14]."   Luke 21:27 Amplified Bible

How long would I have to sit with this part of today's passage (Luke 21:20-28) to begin to make even the slightest sense of it? As a well-read and well-preached Christian, the words are familiar enough to pass by and not marvel.  But if I had a friend who was a Jehovah's Witness, or any other cult for that matter, who introduced this image as their understanding of truth, it would confirm my belief that they're off balance.

So am I off balanced to follow this set of scriptures? To believe this could really happen? To just drink my coffee and accept alongside the current news of today that "the Son of Man'" will come in a cloud?  A cloud---really??

When I was younger, I was a strict naturalist in the sense that I was suspicious of emotionally driven people that are led away by romantic notions of fairies, spirits, miracles. I figured out early on that these were the same people who were undependable, had trouble managing their more practical lives.  Looking back, I think this strict naturalism (maybe empiricism is a more precise word) was a barrier to faith.

Artist: Adam Thomas, "A New Hope,"  All rights reserved. 
Check out his amazing cloud artwork here.

If I'm honest with myself, it can still be a barrier at times, as I still have an inherit suspicion of people that are too free with their beliefs and too quick to call an exception a miracle. I inherently dislike people who manipulate the truth to suit their preferences and tastes.

But, I've also learned to become more comfortable--not entirely comfortable---but more comfortable, with the grey, the mysterious, the "seeing in a glass darkly" aspects of this life. I love Hamlet's observation that, " There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy" (Hamlet, Act I, scene v).

A God, the God, the only God, who comprises a trinity, a Spirit, yet man, yet God, yet equal and same---coming back to this earth---and on a cloud.  How am I to sip my coffee, make little of it, accept it, and move on?

At very least, I should be as the shepherds when He came the first time and the angels appeared.

What is it about us humans?  We'd rather wake up slowly, sit with the sheep, remain and retain the familiar.  At what risk of loss?  At risk of loss for either a delusion OR something so majestic, unexpected, and unfathomably greater that it would blow up our box of what is and lead us out of ourselves, our chains, our limits, our brokenness.