Somehow this chapter (which has long been fairly familiar to me) always made really logical sense.
By this I mean that the idea of animal sacrifice actually dealing with sin always seemed faintly absurd to me. Now, this is coming from a point of view of a committed Christian, not a Jew, and with the realization that Jesus’ sacrificial death paid for my sin. But even so, I always wondered how in the time before Christ, sacrificial bulls/lambs/pigeons could “cover over” our sin.
In this chapter we read that it didn’t.
The law was only ever (and only ever intended to be) a taste of the reality in Christ, and its stipulations as to how sin should be dealt with are a picture only.
Christ’s sacrifice, by contrast, was once and for all. Once that had happened, the old order of animal sacrifice came to its end.
But Mick isn’t finished yet. He’s bringing out the consequences of this to us today.
He talks about the Holy Place, where previously only priests could enter – when sin had been atoned for. But in Christ, all sin, past, present and future, is atoned for, so logically one doesn’t have to be a priest to come directly to God.
Or perhaps, rather, someone who is in Christ is by default a priest already!
Mick finishes up the chapter by tying the whole thing neatly with peoples’ present circumstances – “Don’t lose heart, keep at it.”
It’s the whole concept of us coming directly to God that I want to briefly chat about. That’s unimaginable! Think about this. Recently my kids and I got to meet the boys from the band Petra. It was incredibly exciting. And I’m not ashamed to say that I was a dead set fanboy around them!
These are just humans. How much more excited should we be to be allowed free access to the God who made the heavens and the Earth? We should be jumping out of our skin to do it!
Instead we sit glumly and say “I’ll pray when I get time.” It’s my belief that this attitude springs from not truly understanding the magnitude of what God is offering us.
So let’s try to understand God. Let’s be just as excited to approach His throne as we are when we shake hands with a rock star or movie actor. Not everyone can do this – we are some of the privileged ones. So let’s understand what we have in our hands, and appreciate it!
29 May 2011
28 May 2011
Chapter 9
After a horrendously difficult week or so, it’s good to be writing a commentary again! However, before you rejoice TOO greatly at the return of your daily dose of borderline heresy, please be advised that I still have a fortnight or so of reports, and it’ll be at least a week (and possibly more) before I can say for sure that we’re back to normal. Up until the last of them are done, I may continue to be a little sporadic!
ANYWAYS . . .
Chapter 9 is a little weird.
I say this because Mick[1] goes into detail about the Tabernacle.
You may be wondering what’s weird about this. Well, there are two things:
1) He’s talking about the TABERNACLE, not the Temple, which was contemporary to the audience.
2) He’s talking to Jews, so shouldn’t he expect them to know this stuff?
A little consideration, though, indicates that the second of these is the key to understanding the first. Mick’s contemporary audience may have known the later temple, especially Herod’s temple, but a world with limited literacy means that the details of the older days may well be lost. Mick makes sure that they are all on the same page.
From here it’s a matter of the immense contrast between the old covenant and the new covenant.
However, the reason for the nature of the ceremonies in the Tabernacle (many of which continued into the Temple) is explained – they are POINTERS to the new covenant.
Why is this important to us?
Well, the main detail for us is one that is important through Hebrews – GOD HAS NOT CHANGED. God hasn’t suddenly gone from works to grace. He was always the same, and the details of the covenant bear this out.
This is critically important because this changelessness is one of the main features of what God is. If He had changed, He’d not be the God we worship. Since He has not, even in thousands of years, we have the confidence that He is indeed the God we know and love.
[1] If you’ve read all of these, you’ll know that this is my shorthand for “The Unknown Writer of the book of Hebrews.”
ANYWAYS . . .
Chapter 9 is a little weird.
I say this because Mick[1] goes into detail about the Tabernacle.
You may be wondering what’s weird about this. Well, there are two things:
1) He’s talking about the TABERNACLE, not the Temple, which was contemporary to the audience.
2) He’s talking to Jews, so shouldn’t he expect them to know this stuff?
A little consideration, though, indicates that the second of these is the key to understanding the first. Mick’s contemporary audience may have known the later temple, especially Herod’s temple, but a world with limited literacy means that the details of the older days may well be lost. Mick makes sure that they are all on the same page.
From here it’s a matter of the immense contrast between the old covenant and the new covenant.
However, the reason for the nature of the ceremonies in the Tabernacle (many of which continued into the Temple) is explained – they are POINTERS to the new covenant.
Why is this important to us?
Well, the main detail for us is one that is important through Hebrews – GOD HAS NOT CHANGED. God hasn’t suddenly gone from works to grace. He was always the same, and the details of the covenant bear this out.
This is critically important because this changelessness is one of the main features of what God is. If He had changed, He’d not be the God we worship. Since He has not, even in thousands of years, we have the confidence that He is indeed the God we know and love.
[1] If you’ve read all of these, you’ll know that this is my shorthand for “The Unknown Writer of the book of Hebrews.”
26 May 2011
Another announcement
Hey all!
Since I have managed to do better than expected with my reports, I'll be doing a commentary Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Monday to Friday will be possible, but we'll have to see - it depends.
Hope you're all doing well,
Johno
Since I have managed to do better than expected with my reports, I'll be doing a commentary Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Monday to Friday will be possible, but we'll have to see - it depends.
Hope you're all doing well,
Johno
24 May 2011
Announcement
Hey readers.
Reports are due in over the next week and a half or so, so I'll be taking it a bit easy. Some nights (such as tonight), there won't be a commentary; other nights it'll be on. It depends on how high the stack of marking has got.
Hopefully we shall return to normal Friday 4th June. If I need any more time after that I will let you know.
Thanks so much for your encouragement - it really means a lot to me when you people email or send a facebook comment!
Love in His name,
Johno
Reports are due in over the next week and a half or so, so I'll be taking it a bit easy. Some nights (such as tonight), there won't be a commentary; other nights it'll be on. It depends on how high the stack of marking has got.
Hopefully we shall return to normal Friday 4th June. If I need any more time after that I will let you know.
Thanks so much for your encouragement - it really means a lot to me when you people email or send a facebook comment!
Love in His name,
Johno
23 May 2011
Chapter 8
Mick has been really pushing this concept of Jesus as the High Priest, and no wonder – to a Jew of the 1st Century AD, religious ceremonies were ALL about the priesthood. You couldn’t sacrifice without a priest – all gifts and offerings had to be given in his presence. The priesthood was, to not put too fine a point on it, at the centre of the Jewish religious identity.
So Mick goes into some detail about Jesus’ position. He compares and contrasts.
Like a Jewish priest, Jesus offered gifts and sacrifices (vs 3 – 5). Of course – that’s what a priest does. But Mick is quick to point out that if that was all he did, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come to Earth in the first place. After all, regular human priests could do that just fine.
Here’s where the difference comes into it. For the first time in the book of Hebrews, Mick starts talking about a new COVENANT.
If you’ve spent any time reading about the Jews, especially in the first five books of the Bible, you’ll know that their religion was all about covenant. The idea was simple – God had made a deal with Israel – the Covenant – that He would be their God, and they would be His people. And since Israel were His people, they would follow His law; and in return, He would bless them, and ultimately He would bless all the nations through the people of Israel.
The trouble was that the people of Israel could not keep their end of the bargain. Even simply following the law was beyond them; they kept sinning. God was faithful and kept His end no matter what, but it was increasingly clear that the old Covenant didn’t work.
But Hebrews quotes some verses from one of the truly great chapters of the Bible – Jeremiah 31. As you may recall, we trudged through jeremiah, and a lot of it was heavy going. But this chapter was great, and more importantly it pointed the way forward to a future time in which the Covenant of law would be replaced with something more personal. He would “Carve it onto the lining of their hearts.”
Sometimes atheists pooh-hoo prophecy, but in my opinion, it’s hard to imagine a more stark prediction of God’s action than this; and it’s hard to find a clearer fulfillment of this prophecy than the actions of Christ Himself.
For us, this is critical – One more time, our relationship with God is not based on what we do any more; rather, it’s based on who we are. It’s not so much about us obeying God (though we should!), but about us getting to know God at a personal level.
This can be easy and it can be hard. It’s easy when you’re a young Christian, still excited. When you’re old, though, it can get hard. When you are old enough, sometimes you’ll struggle to know if God is really there. It’s important to remember in THOSE times that you're supposed to connect deeply with God - so next time it's getting too much to bear, remember that God still wants to connect with YOU.
So Mick goes into some detail about Jesus’ position. He compares and contrasts.
Like a Jewish priest, Jesus offered gifts and sacrifices (vs 3 – 5). Of course – that’s what a priest does. But Mick is quick to point out that if that was all he did, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to come to Earth in the first place. After all, regular human priests could do that just fine.
Here’s where the difference comes into it. For the first time in the book of Hebrews, Mick starts talking about a new COVENANT.
If you’ve spent any time reading about the Jews, especially in the first five books of the Bible, you’ll know that their religion was all about covenant. The idea was simple – God had made a deal with Israel – the Covenant – that He would be their God, and they would be His people. And since Israel were His people, they would follow His law; and in return, He would bless them, and ultimately He would bless all the nations through the people of Israel.
The trouble was that the people of Israel could not keep their end of the bargain. Even simply following the law was beyond them; they kept sinning. God was faithful and kept His end no matter what, but it was increasingly clear that the old Covenant didn’t work.
But Hebrews quotes some verses from one of the truly great chapters of the Bible – Jeremiah 31. As you may recall, we trudged through jeremiah, and a lot of it was heavy going. But this chapter was great, and more importantly it pointed the way forward to a future time in which the Covenant of law would be replaced with something more personal. He would “Carve it onto the lining of their hearts.”
Sometimes atheists pooh-hoo prophecy, but in my opinion, it’s hard to imagine a more stark prediction of God’s action than this; and it’s hard to find a clearer fulfillment of this prophecy than the actions of Christ Himself.
For us, this is critical – One more time, our relationship with God is not based on what we do any more; rather, it’s based on who we are. It’s not so much about us obeying God (though we should!), but about us getting to know God at a personal level.
This can be easy and it can be hard. It’s easy when you’re a young Christian, still excited. When you’re old, though, it can get hard. When you are old enough, sometimes you’ll struggle to know if God is really there. It’s important to remember in THOSE times that you're supposed to connect deeply with God - so next time it's getting too much to bear, remember that God still wants to connect with YOU.
22 May 2011
Chapter 7
Expanding on the last couple of chapters talking about the Ultimate High Priest, this passage today is looking at Jesus and comparing him with an enigmatic character from the Old Testament – Melchizedek.
Melchizedek appears suddenly in Genesis, when Abraham has won a victory and gives a tithe of the plunder to him. He very clearly treats this man like you would God Himself. Then Melchizedek disappears, leaving behind him a trail of questions.
“Who is Melchizedek?” would be favourite.
Melchizedek’s name means “King of peace.” And he was a priest, and yet a king at the same time. Sound familiar? In fact there are many Christians who see Melchizedek as just that – a pre-incarnate Christ!
Anyway, Mick uses this enigmatic behaviour of Melchizedek to make a point. He demonstrates that Melchizedek jumps into and out of history. And whether or not Melchizedek was actually an early appearance of Christ, Hebrews at the very least uses this concept as a metaphor
Mick then contrasts Melchizedek, who presumably eventually died, with Christ, who died but then rose.
Jesus replaces both forms of priesthood – Aaron’s and Melchizedeks, to be precise – which is important because our Judge is not locked to our world (as we saw in previous chapters) but is also the victim of the crime (to extend the courtroom metaphor) – And therefore He has the right, not only to try the case – but also to forgive debts – a right He uses frequently.
Melchizedek appears suddenly in Genesis, when Abraham has won a victory and gives a tithe of the plunder to him. He very clearly treats this man like you would God Himself. Then Melchizedek disappears, leaving behind him a trail of questions.
“Who is Melchizedek?” would be favourite.
Melchizedek’s name means “King of peace.” And he was a priest, and yet a king at the same time. Sound familiar? In fact there are many Christians who see Melchizedek as just that – a pre-incarnate Christ!
Anyway, Mick uses this enigmatic behaviour of Melchizedek to make a point. He demonstrates that Melchizedek jumps into and out of history. And whether or not Melchizedek was actually an early appearance of Christ, Hebrews at the very least uses this concept as a metaphor
Mick then contrasts Melchizedek, who presumably eventually died, with Christ, who died but then rose.
Jesus replaces both forms of priesthood – Aaron’s and Melchizedeks, to be precise – which is important because our Judge is not locked to our world (as we saw in previous chapters) but is also the victim of the crime (to extend the courtroom metaphor) – And therefore He has the right, not only to try the case – but also to forgive debts – a right He uses frequently.
21 May 2011
Chapter 6
I thought it worth recording (because otherwise, reading this page in a year or so, we might forget) that today was predicted by some to be the Rapture.
Well, it wasn’t. And once again, we learn the hard lesson – No-one knows the date when Christ will return – and if someone thinks they DO know, guess what day it WON’T be!
ANYWAY, now that I have got that off my chest, time to get back to Hebrews.
Chapter 6 is a difficult chapter to write on, because we have two distinct topics covered, the first of which is a continuation of the last couple of verses of the previous chapter (insert my standard rant about the selection of chapter breaks). Verses 1 – 12 deal with the idea of “re-crucifying Christ”.
This is a fairly strange expression, but when you read it, it’s actually saying something interesting and worrying – it gives the idea that if someone has experienced Christ and turned their back on Him, that they cannot ever again be saved.
Needless to say this bothers a lot of Christians (including myself), but just on reading this today I think it doesn’t deserve as much stress as we give it.
It’s not saying that if you have a brief moment of doubt in your faith, that’s it, bye bye! Nor is it saying that even a person who has spent a couple of years in the wilderness is headed for hell. No, what it’s saying is that if you have made a lifestyle of turning away from God – that is, if it’s something that characterizes you for the last part of your life – THEN you may have cause for worry.
The second bit is about God and His promises. It comments about whereas we need some authority to back up our promises (e.g. swearing on the Bible, signing a legal contract), God IS His own authority, so He doesn’t need so say “I swear on myself”! He is already there. He already will keep His promises!
Getting back to the first of the two concepts, I wanted to raise that one with you, gentle reader. All my life, a battle has raged about what the status of someone in Christ who turns away.
I didn’t realize until tonight that this passage was there. It seems to imply that someone CAN lose their salvation.
Is it the case? My tip would be “It depends”.
It depends on whether Mick is talking about the final result of a life In which Christ has been forgotten, or whether it is something that happens instantly. My money would be on the former scenario, simply because to go for the second option includes the quite horroible idea that Jesus’ death isn’t REALLY enough for dealing with sin – that the Devil can override in some circumstances. Personally I believe God is powerful enough that there is no way the enemy can change what He has decided.
Well, it wasn’t. And once again, we learn the hard lesson – No-one knows the date when Christ will return – and if someone thinks they DO know, guess what day it WON’T be!
ANYWAY, now that I have got that off my chest, time to get back to Hebrews.
Chapter 6 is a difficult chapter to write on, because we have two distinct topics covered, the first of which is a continuation of the last couple of verses of the previous chapter (insert my standard rant about the selection of chapter breaks). Verses 1 – 12 deal with the idea of “re-crucifying Christ”.
This is a fairly strange expression, but when you read it, it’s actually saying something interesting and worrying – it gives the idea that if someone has experienced Christ and turned their back on Him, that they cannot ever again be saved.
Needless to say this bothers a lot of Christians (including myself), but just on reading this today I think it doesn’t deserve as much stress as we give it.
It’s not saying that if you have a brief moment of doubt in your faith, that’s it, bye bye! Nor is it saying that even a person who has spent a couple of years in the wilderness is headed for hell. No, what it’s saying is that if you have made a lifestyle of turning away from God – that is, if it’s something that characterizes you for the last part of your life – THEN you may have cause for worry.
The second bit is about God and His promises. It comments about whereas we need some authority to back up our promises (e.g. swearing on the Bible, signing a legal contract), God IS His own authority, so He doesn’t need so say “I swear on myself”! He is already there. He already will keep His promises!
Getting back to the first of the two concepts, I wanted to raise that one with you, gentle reader. All my life, a battle has raged about what the status of someone in Christ who turns away.
I didn’t realize until tonight that this passage was there. It seems to imply that someone CAN lose their salvation.
Is it the case? My tip would be “It depends”.
It depends on whether Mick is talking about the final result of a life In which Christ has been forgotten, or whether it is something that happens instantly. My money would be on the former scenario, simply because to go for the second option includes the quite horroible idea that Jesus’ death isn’t REALLY enough for dealing with sin – that the Devil can override in some circumstances. Personally I believe God is powerful enough that there is no way the enemy can change what He has decided.
20 May 2011
Chapter 5
Time for another one of Johno’s digressions into history!
This is because we live in a world in which the High Priest is no longer a role we understand. So let’s have a brief look at his role.
A priest (or Cohen, in Hebrew) was not simply a minister for Jews, like he would be today. Priests were, rather, an intermediary between humankind and God. To put it simply, a priest represented God to other humans, and he represented humans before God.
The High Priest (Gadol Cohen) was a special case of a priest. He not only represented the entire population of Israel before God, it was he who had the job of entering the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood from the sacrifices, indicating that the people were safe for another year.
It is this image that Mick calls to mind when he describes Jesus as OUR high priest (vs 1- 10). Yesterday’s passage included a brief description of the significance of his role, and how we can rely on Him.
Well, so what? Where do we go from here?
I think the most important lesson for me from this passage would have to be the fact that God wasn’t content to sit up there while Earth went to hell in a handbasket. He wanted to get ACTIVE. Rather than remain, He chose to become our High Priest. As the previous chapter noted, this gives us an amazing High Priest – He has more power and more authority than ANY Earthly High Priest; Yet He has a deep connection with us, so much so that He understands what we’ve been through.
This is both good news and bad news. It’s good news because Jesus can understand whatever situation we would find ourselves in. It’s bad news because forever, “But you don’t understand . . .” is simply not an excuse we can lay at His feet.
Our High Priest is the best you can ever imagine!
This is because we live in a world in which the High Priest is no longer a role we understand. So let’s have a brief look at his role.
A priest (or Cohen, in Hebrew) was not simply a minister for Jews, like he would be today. Priests were, rather, an intermediary between humankind and God. To put it simply, a priest represented God to other humans, and he represented humans before God.
The High Priest (Gadol Cohen) was a special case of a priest. He not only represented the entire population of Israel before God, it was he who had the job of entering the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood from the sacrifices, indicating that the people were safe for another year.
It is this image that Mick calls to mind when he describes Jesus as OUR high priest (vs 1- 10). Yesterday’s passage included a brief description of the significance of his role, and how we can rely on Him.
Well, so what? Where do we go from here?
I think the most important lesson for me from this passage would have to be the fact that God wasn’t content to sit up there while Earth went to hell in a handbasket. He wanted to get ACTIVE. Rather than remain, He chose to become our High Priest. As the previous chapter noted, this gives us an amazing High Priest – He has more power and more authority than ANY Earthly High Priest; Yet He has a deep connection with us, so much so that He understands what we’ve been through.
This is both good news and bad news. It’s good news because Jesus can understand whatever situation we would find ourselves in. It’s bad news because forever, “But you don’t understand . . .” is simply not an excuse we can lay at His feet.
Our High Priest is the best you can ever imagine!
19 May 2011
Chapter 4
Yesterday we were looking at how Jesus compared with Moses, and then Mick compared OUR position with the position the people of Israel were in.
Today, we’re looking further into that comparison.
Mick gives us some quite deep theology here – starting in verse 1 – 3. Here we read that the same promises are available to us that were available to the people of Israel – but that they did not receive. Now, there’s an apparent contradiction here between this point and verse 6, where it says “Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient.”
What do we make of this? Why does the author seem to say one thing in one verse and then say the opposite in another verse?
Frankly, it’s because we make a dichotomy where none exists. We say that faith and works are different things. Here, Mick is implying that the two are opposite sides of the same coin. The person that believes does actions that demonstrate his faith; on the other hand, a person who does the actions clearly believes. So really, there is no conflict, especially if one sees faith as the command that God gives.
But we’re not finished. Mick then talks about this promise of rest, expands on it a little. He describes how this promise remains for today (vs 8 – 11), and didn’t just end with the time of Joshua – hence it is that we can be confident of resting with God at the end of our journey.
He backs this up by a little comment about God’s word. I have to say that I really love the translation here by Petersen – “What He says goes. His powerful word is as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, laying us open to listen and obey.”
This is an unpopular belief today – We’d much rather see the divine in everything, and the concept of God’s word is something that runs fairly counter to our culture. Yet this is what God says – He has given us His word, and He has spoken to us in this way.
The last little segment I shall leave for tomorrow, because it’s my belief that it really belongs in chapter 5. And besides, this is more than enough for us to be going along with!
What difference does this make to us?
Rest – it’s a beautiful word, but one which is drastically underused in our society. Most of us are running from dawn till dusk getting everything we need to get done done.
In this environment, the instructions that we so often sing at church – “Be still and know that I am God” – seem almost like a sick joke. In fact, if you’re involved in the running of your church, you may know that a church is backbreaking labour.
Into this we have God’s promise to give His people rest. Now, here He’s talking about eternal rest at the end of life. But there’s another aspect of rest that we should be interested in.
This rest is very resolutely for THIS life, the physical life you’re living now. “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
I have a tendency to keep carrying my burdens until I simply can’t manage them any more. Yet we have here a promise that if I take them to God He WILL give me rest.
What’s maddening is that I have experience in this. I know it works. So explain to me why I do it so seldom.
Why don’t I make use of something that is so profoundly needed in my life?
Well, no longer. I’ll be working on this this week. Please pray for me, and I will pray for you in dealing with anything that confronts you. Deal?
Thanks!
Today, we’re looking further into that comparison.
Mick gives us some quite deep theology here – starting in verse 1 – 3. Here we read that the same promises are available to us that were available to the people of Israel – but that they did not receive. Now, there’s an apparent contradiction here between this point and verse 6, where it says “Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient.”
What do we make of this? Why does the author seem to say one thing in one verse and then say the opposite in another verse?
Frankly, it’s because we make a dichotomy where none exists. We say that faith and works are different things. Here, Mick is implying that the two are opposite sides of the same coin. The person that believes does actions that demonstrate his faith; on the other hand, a person who does the actions clearly believes. So really, there is no conflict, especially if one sees faith as the command that God gives.
But we’re not finished. Mick then talks about this promise of rest, expands on it a little. He describes how this promise remains for today (vs 8 – 11), and didn’t just end with the time of Joshua – hence it is that we can be confident of resting with God at the end of our journey.
He backs this up by a little comment about God’s word. I have to say that I really love the translation here by Petersen – “What He says goes. His powerful word is as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, laying us open to listen and obey.”
This is an unpopular belief today – We’d much rather see the divine in everything, and the concept of God’s word is something that runs fairly counter to our culture. Yet this is what God says – He has given us His word, and He has spoken to us in this way.
The last little segment I shall leave for tomorrow, because it’s my belief that it really belongs in chapter 5. And besides, this is more than enough for us to be going along with!
What difference does this make to us?
Rest – it’s a beautiful word, but one which is drastically underused in our society. Most of us are running from dawn till dusk getting everything we need to get done done.
In this environment, the instructions that we so often sing at church – “Be still and know that I am God” – seem almost like a sick joke. In fact, if you’re involved in the running of your church, you may know that a church is backbreaking labour.
Into this we have God’s promise to give His people rest. Now, here He’s talking about eternal rest at the end of life. But there’s another aspect of rest that we should be interested in.
This rest is very resolutely for THIS life, the physical life you’re living now. “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
I have a tendency to keep carrying my burdens until I simply can’t manage them any more. Yet we have here a promise that if I take them to God He WILL give me rest.
What’s maddening is that I have experience in this. I know it works. So explain to me why I do it so seldom.
Why don’t I make use of something that is so profoundly needed in my life?
Well, no longer. I’ll be working on this this week. Please pray for me, and I will pray for you in dealing with anything that confronts you. Deal?
Thanks!
Chapter 3
Whoops!
Last night I emailed my commentary but failed to post it. Sorry! Here it is. And you'll still get tonight's effort, which means you get 2 in 24 hours. That's a bargain. :)
--
So far we’ve looked at God’s way of bringing us back to the position of leadership over all creation that we were intended to have. Mick[1] now directs us to look at Jesus Himself.
In so doing, he compares Jesus with Moses, and declares Him to be greater – for Moses is only a servant, whereas Jesus is the master!
Now, this would have caused a bit of concern among the Jews who were the intended recipients; and no surprise, really. Moses was this incredibly great character to them. To us, Moses is an important person in our faith history, but to the Jews he was more than that. He was their leader, their prophet, their example. Moses defined and exemplified what it was to be a Jew.
Saying Jesus was greater than Moses would be bound to get some people upset! But the comparison Mick gives us is that Moses was the builder, Jesus is the owner. This would make us the building.
Mick isn’t finished yet. He not only compares Moses and Jesus, he compares the people of Israel with us. He points to a text recorded in Psalm 95 where the psalmist talks about the people of Israel in the wilderness. In this passage, it records God’s promise to Himself that he’d not let certain of the people of Israel into the Promised Land because of their sin.
The gauntlet is thrown down, and the challenge is accepted. Can Christians live God’s way longer than the Jews could?
Over to you.
[1] In case you have forgotten, “Mick” is the short title I gave to the author of Hebrews. “The Author of the book of Hebrews” seems to be a bit of a mouthful.
Last night I emailed my commentary but failed to post it. Sorry! Here it is. And you'll still get tonight's effort, which means you get 2 in 24 hours. That's a bargain. :)
--
So far we’ve looked at God’s way of bringing us back to the position of leadership over all creation that we were intended to have. Mick[1] now directs us to look at Jesus Himself.
In so doing, he compares Jesus with Moses, and declares Him to be greater – for Moses is only a servant, whereas Jesus is the master!
Now, this would have caused a bit of concern among the Jews who were the intended recipients; and no surprise, really. Moses was this incredibly great character to them. To us, Moses is an important person in our faith history, but to the Jews he was more than that. He was their leader, their prophet, their example. Moses defined and exemplified what it was to be a Jew.
Saying Jesus was greater than Moses would be bound to get some people upset! But the comparison Mick gives us is that Moses was the builder, Jesus is the owner. This would make us the building.
Mick isn’t finished yet. He not only compares Moses and Jesus, he compares the people of Israel with us. He points to a text recorded in Psalm 95 where the psalmist talks about the people of Israel in the wilderness. In this passage, it records God’s promise to Himself that he’d not let certain of the people of Israel into the Promised Land because of their sin.
The gauntlet is thrown down, and the challenge is accepted. Can Christians live God’s way longer than the Jews could?
Over to you.
[1] In case you have forgotten, “Mick” is the short title I gave to the author of Hebrews. “The Author of the book of Hebrews” seems to be a bit of a mouthful.
17 May 2011
Chapter 2
If someone asks you why you are here, what is your answer?
If you’re like most Christians, the answer would probably be “To glorify God.”
It’s a good answer. A righteous answer.
A vague answer. An answer that can be very hard to define.
So it was that I – who have been a Christian for the majority of my life, 33 years give or take – was surprised on reading this passage. In it I found a clearer image of God’s ultimate plan for my life. Verse 8 tells us that God ultimately plans to put us in charge of everything!
Yes, everything. We are created to RULE THE WORLD.
Funny how these words, written nearly 2000 years ago, still shock.
Maybe it’s because of the undeniable fact that right now WE DON’T CONTROL JACK.
The trouble, as always, is Sin. God created us with the objective of having us rule His world. You may remember that the original blessing to Adam and Eve was “Fill the Earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds of the air and all the living things that move along the ground.”
Amazing – I know that by heart, yet I don’t grasp the implications.
I am accustomed to being powerless. I’m a very small cog in a big gear; one little human in a world that really doesn’t care about me. So it’s a shock to the system to read that I am intended for greatness.
Perhaps it’s even a little painful – when you look at the current scenario and compare it with what God originally had planned, it’s no fun; you can’t help shaking your head and wondering what went wrong.
Even worse, you could be forgiven for thinking that eternity will be much the same. Well, you’ve never experienced anything else; how could you even understand any other life?
Well, it’s time for a shock – but in a good way. God has seen the way things are, and He’s not taking it. He created us to RULE, not serve, and anything less is simply not acceptable.
So how is God going to change things? It doesn’t look like much as things stand!
Well, God’s strategy for changing things is something that sports commentators might call “Brilliantly unorthodox.” Firstly, He has His own Son come to Earth and experience what we’re experiencing. Just as we suffer, HE suffers. He goes through everything we go through (vs 10-13) – including flesh and blood (and all the frailties that go with it) and death (vs 14-15).
This way we could never say that He didn’t know what it was like for us. And our pathfinder went where we could not, creating salvation for us, and in the process He blazed a trail that we could follow.
So where does this help us?
I think it’s a fairly regular part of life to come up against situations where it feels like you’re completely powerless. It’s tough – but when that happens, it’s time to realize that powerlessness, though it is familiar to us here on Earth, is NOT ultimately part of God’s plan. God has you and I in mind as RULERS, not as slaves. So even when it looks like that’s not happening, we need to keep our eyes on Him and keep believing.
I find that it’s much easier to put up with ANYTHING when you remind yourself that it’s temporary, and this is one such case. Powerlessness is temporary, and ultimately God plans to exalt you. Our response should be to be patient and do His work here in the mean time.
If you’re like most Christians, the answer would probably be “To glorify God.”
It’s a good answer. A righteous answer.
A vague answer. An answer that can be very hard to define.
So it was that I – who have been a Christian for the majority of my life, 33 years give or take – was surprised on reading this passage. In it I found a clearer image of God’s ultimate plan for my life. Verse 8 tells us that God ultimately plans to put us in charge of everything!
Yes, everything. We are created to RULE THE WORLD.
Funny how these words, written nearly 2000 years ago, still shock.
Maybe it’s because of the undeniable fact that right now WE DON’T CONTROL JACK.
The trouble, as always, is Sin. God created us with the objective of having us rule His world. You may remember that the original blessing to Adam and Eve was “Fill the Earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea, the birds of the air and all the living things that move along the ground.”
Amazing – I know that by heart, yet I don’t grasp the implications.
I am accustomed to being powerless. I’m a very small cog in a big gear; one little human in a world that really doesn’t care about me. So it’s a shock to the system to read that I am intended for greatness.
Perhaps it’s even a little painful – when you look at the current scenario and compare it with what God originally had planned, it’s no fun; you can’t help shaking your head and wondering what went wrong.
Even worse, you could be forgiven for thinking that eternity will be much the same. Well, you’ve never experienced anything else; how could you even understand any other life?
Well, it’s time for a shock – but in a good way. God has seen the way things are, and He’s not taking it. He created us to RULE, not serve, and anything less is simply not acceptable.
So how is God going to change things? It doesn’t look like much as things stand!
Well, God’s strategy for changing things is something that sports commentators might call “Brilliantly unorthodox.” Firstly, He has His own Son come to Earth and experience what we’re experiencing. Just as we suffer, HE suffers. He goes through everything we go through (vs 10-13) – including flesh and blood (and all the frailties that go with it) and death (vs 14-15).
This way we could never say that He didn’t know what it was like for us. And our pathfinder went where we could not, creating salvation for us, and in the process He blazed a trail that we could follow.
So where does this help us?
I think it’s a fairly regular part of life to come up against situations where it feels like you’re completely powerless. It’s tough – but when that happens, it’s time to realize that powerlessness, though it is familiar to us here on Earth, is NOT ultimately part of God’s plan. God has you and I in mind as RULERS, not as slaves. So even when it looks like that’s not happening, we need to keep our eyes on Him and keep believing.
I find that it’s much easier to put up with ANYTHING when you remind yourself that it’s temporary, and this is one such case. Powerlessness is temporary, and ultimately God plans to exalt you. Our response should be to be patient and do His work here in the mean time.
16 May 2011
Chapter 1
Hebrews chapter 1 has a ripper of an opening!
No preamble, no greetings[1]. Straight into the core of the matter.
So let’s do likewise!
This book starts off in a very appropriate way – the first chapter is entirely about Christ.
The author sees Christ as the very last word in communication between God and mankind – previously He has sent prophets, priests and scriptures; but the unusual thing about Christ’s coming is that this time God has spoken to us Himself. Face to face.
It’s the clearest way anyone can speak.
Now, the Author –
Wait a minute. I have to go through 14 chapters of this. “The Author” is a bit of a mouthful/ long phrase to type! So let us, here and now, declare it to be written by the hypothetical apostle “Mick”. For the duration of this book in my commentary, if you see Mick, you know we’re talking about the author of this book.
Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes. Now Mick is writing to Hebrews (i.e. Jews) who have a very clear idea of God. Specifically, they get the rule that there is only one God, who is NOT in human form!
Mick is under no illusions – this is one of his toughest missions ever. But he understands how to get under a Jew’s radar – he starts off quoting the Scriptures.
Jews were really into this use of scripture, so this was just the right approach to us with them.
Mick takes pains to ensure that the reader doesn’t miss anything here. He wants to make sure that you understand – Jesus is most definitely NOT an angel, He is Lord.
So where do we go from here? What point does this passage have for us?
Well, it’s fairly straightforward. The meaning for US is that Jesus is Lord. No mucking around, no beg-your-pardons. Some Christians can get a little funny about this, and no wonder – we live in a pluralistic society, and many people have a lot of trouble with the seeming “intolerance” of this fact. But Hebrews leaves no room to maneuver. As far as Mick is concerned, it’s settled, and we can move on to the next big idea. Jesus isn’t an angel and He isn’t just one of us – He is God in human form.
[1] It is this that casts doubt on Paul being the author of this book. If he wrote it, it’s the only book in which he didn’t start off with a personal introduction.
No preamble, no greetings[1]. Straight into the core of the matter.
So let’s do likewise!
This book starts off in a very appropriate way – the first chapter is entirely about Christ.
The author sees Christ as the very last word in communication between God and mankind – previously He has sent prophets, priests and scriptures; but the unusual thing about Christ’s coming is that this time God has spoken to us Himself. Face to face.
It’s the clearest way anyone can speak.
Now, the Author –
Wait a minute. I have to go through 14 chapters of this. “The Author” is a bit of a mouthful/ long phrase to type! So let us, here and now, declare it to be written by the hypothetical apostle “Mick”. For the duration of this book in my commentary, if you see Mick, you know we’re talking about the author of this book.
Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes. Now Mick is writing to Hebrews (i.e. Jews) who have a very clear idea of God. Specifically, they get the rule that there is only one God, who is NOT in human form!
Mick is under no illusions – this is one of his toughest missions ever. But he understands how to get under a Jew’s radar – he starts off quoting the Scriptures.
Jews were really into this use of scripture, so this was just the right approach to us with them.
Mick takes pains to ensure that the reader doesn’t miss anything here. He wants to make sure that you understand – Jesus is most definitely NOT an angel, He is Lord.
So where do we go from here? What point does this passage have for us?
Well, it’s fairly straightforward. The meaning for US is that Jesus is Lord. No mucking around, no beg-your-pardons. Some Christians can get a little funny about this, and no wonder – we live in a pluralistic society, and many people have a lot of trouble with the seeming “intolerance” of this fact. But Hebrews leaves no room to maneuver. As far as Mick is concerned, it’s settled, and we can move on to the next big idea. Jesus isn’t an angel and He isn’t just one of us – He is God in human form.
[1] It is this that casts doubt on Paul being the author of this book. If he wrote it, it’s the only book in which he didn’t start off with a personal introduction.
15 May 2011
Introduction to Hebrews
I once read Hebrews in totality. That was when I was a high school kid. It was pretty good going at that age; however, it was a long time ago, and so I’ve forgotten much of what I read. Added to that, I read it with a child’s understanding. So the time is definitely ripe for a second look at this book.
At university, I learned something of this book’s remarkable past. Contrary to the belief of many people outside the Church, the canon of Scripture wasn’t decided by Christian leaders selecting a list of books that held up their own prejudices. Rather, it was the other way around – certain books had already proved useful, and the councils at which the Canon was decided were more about standardizing the list than anything else. There was, however, a standard set early on – the councilors decided that one important feature of a book in the New Testament canon would be that they knew who wrote it, i.e. its provenance was understood.
One of the last books decided on was Hebrews. And it presented the Councillors with a problem – Nobody knew who had written it! Some said “Paul,” others said “Apollos”, others “Luke”, and so on. The trouble was that the book was really good, and most people wanted to keep it. So it seemed to the people at the council that it was necessary to work out who wrote the book. And the arguing was going on and on.
Saint Augustine is said to have stood up in the middle of the argument and yelled at the top of his lungs;
“PAUL WROTE IT.”
This led to a lot of milling about, and people saying “Yes. Paul. Of course.” And the book was included in the Canon list (Incidentally, some people take this comment as a statement that Augustine believed in Paul’s authorship. Maybe he did; but I personally think that rather, he was just shutting everyone up).
But whilst Hebrews is a great book, it’s also hard to understand in places. So join me as we go through Hebrews. Chapter 1 will be tomorrow night – I suggest that we read it before then, so that we have a good idea of what the book says!
At university, I learned something of this book’s remarkable past. Contrary to the belief of many people outside the Church, the canon of Scripture wasn’t decided by Christian leaders selecting a list of books that held up their own prejudices. Rather, it was the other way around – certain books had already proved useful, and the councils at which the Canon was decided were more about standardizing the list than anything else. There was, however, a standard set early on – the councilors decided that one important feature of a book in the New Testament canon would be that they knew who wrote it, i.e. its provenance was understood.
One of the last books decided on was Hebrews. And it presented the Councillors with a problem – Nobody knew who had written it! Some said “Paul,” others said “Apollos”, others “Luke”, and so on. The trouble was that the book was really good, and most people wanted to keep it. So it seemed to the people at the council that it was necessary to work out who wrote the book. And the arguing was going on and on.
Saint Augustine is said to have stood up in the middle of the argument and yelled at the top of his lungs;
“PAUL WROTE IT.”
This led to a lot of milling about, and people saying “Yes. Paul. Of course.” And the book was included in the Canon list (Incidentally, some people take this comment as a statement that Augustine believed in Paul’s authorship. Maybe he did; but I personally think that rather, he was just shutting everyone up).
But whilst Hebrews is a great book, it’s also hard to understand in places. So join me as we go through Hebrews. Chapter 1 will be tomorrow night – I suggest that we read it before then, so that we have a good idea of what the book says!
14 May 2011
John 3: Jesus meets the intellectual
Good evening everyone. I'm happy to announce that the winner was HEBREWS! So we'll start that book tomorrow night.
For tonight, however, here's my Sermon for Sanctuary Church tomorrow. As always, SPOILER WARNING.
--
Sanctuary Church
15th May 2011
John 3: Jesus meets the Intellectual
Michael was going to be speaking on this passage today, but for a variety of reasons he’s been unable to. He’s been incredibly busy this week.
Fortunately, in one of those things which might just be a “God thing”, I happen to be coming up on the Week of Terror ™ next week, so it made sense for him and I to swap. My apologies to any grandparents of Michael’s who were hoping to hear him speak, and I promise to invite you to another opportunity to hear him without telling him you’re coming!
Meanwhile, I am going to speak to you from God’s word, so let’s now pray that I do it well.
(pray)
Nicodemus appears exactly twice in the Bible, and those two times are both in the book of John. So it’s surprising that we know a fair amount about him. He appears in a lot of Christian art, though, not so much because he is all that remarkable of himself, but because he’s part of one of THE iconic scenes of the Christian world. Specifically, THIS one.
When Jesus was taken down from the cross, John’s Gospel tells us that two people who were involved in the process were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. So in many paintings of the “Deposition”, as it’s called, Nicodemus appears, although often the artist isn’t aware of who he is, so often he’s just one of two unnamed guys.
We also know a lot about what he thought because the Bible tells us what kind of a Jew he was – specifically, he was a member of a group called the Pharisees. At the time of Christ there were two really BIG groups of Jews – Pharisees, and Sadducees.
Sadducees tended to not believe in miracles and the supernatural. So perhaps you could see them as being similar to some priests that get way too much TV time – you know, the ones who don’t believe in God?
Pharisees were kind of the opposite extreme. They based their theology around the resurrection of the dead; on the last day, the dead would all be raised and judged, and the ones who had followed the law would go to Heaven, the rest to Hell. So in an effort to ensure they were in the first group, Pharisees made it their business to learn the law and learn it thoroughly.
At the time of Christ, the priesthood was dominated by the Sadducees, perhaps because they tended to collaborate with the government. Pharisees, on the other hand, were a natural fit for the legal profession, so the Jewish equivalent of our Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, was largely run by Pharisees who knew the law (although the priests were technically at the head of the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees had the numbers to control the council most of the time.). Consequently, the priesthood and the Sanhedrin often were at loggerheads. Ironically, opposition to Jesus was one of the rare things that both seemed to agree on!
We know that Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin – verse 2 tells us that he was “a member of the Jewish ruling council”. We therefore have a pretty good idea of the things he believed in, and we also know that he’d have been very well educated.
For some reason, though, Nicodemus was a bit of a rebel. Other rabbis were upset with Jesus, but for some reason Nicodemus wanted to take a closer look. Now, he may have been curious, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that Jesus was persona non-grata with the rest of them, so he came to visit Jesus at night.
We have SOME idea of what was bothering Nicodemus from his opening line. He says
“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”,
Given the view of the other Pharisees to Jesus, this is a big admission. And it seems at least to me that there’s more than a little conflict going on in Nicodemus’s head about this whole visit. Everything he’s been taught suggests otherwise, but the evidence of his eyes is that this man Jesus is doing stuff that only God can do.
There’s something completely dramatic about the next bit. Nicodemus is still finishing his opening statement when Jesus silences him, and without any preamble just utters the most confronting and bizarre thing that he’s ever heard:
“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Nicodemus’ first response to all this is to treat the statement at face value.
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
At this, Jesus explains a little further. He says
“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
At this point it may be worth asking a question which used to bother me – Why is Jesus being so obtuse? Why not simply give a theological manifesto to Nicodemus and speak plainly?
The answer is found in what Nicodemus WAS. He was an intellectual, as we’ve already seen. So Jesus isn’t going to just give him the answer on a silver platter. He’s going to make him work for it! This is actually a very good idea – it ensures that Nicodemus doesn’t mistake Jesus for a simple crowd pleaser. Nicodemus knows now that he’s dealing with an intellect that’s at least as sharp as his own, and then some.
Well, that’s all very well for the smart guy, but what is Jesus actually saying?
“Born of water” is easy. Jews saw water as the source of all things, so this is an old Jewish expression meaning to be born physically. It’s equally clear that this “Born again” concept is seen as needed for entering the Kingdom of God.
But what does Jesus mean when He says “Born of the Spirit” or “Born again?”
Pharisees believed in following all the rules. In fact, they didn’t just follow God’s rules – they put EXTRA rules in place so that they wouldn’t even get close to breaking God’s rules! God’s rules said “Do not work on the Sabbath,” but the Pharisees didn’t work on Friday afternoon, just to be sure. God’s rules said “Don’t eat unclean food”, but Pharisees wouldn’t even touch it. And so it goes.
The reason Nicodemus is sounding so concerned at what Jesus has to say is this – He’s saying that no matter how someone works, no matter how many laws they keep, they WON’T enter the kingdom of God! In short, BEING GOOD isn’t enough. OBEYING THE LAW isn’t enough. If you’re the same person that you were when you were born, you won’t see the kingdom of God!
No wonder Nicodemus is worried.
But Jesus isn’t finished yet. He goes on to explain this concept of being born again further. Just picking out a few key phrases, for time:
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[d] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Here’s the key to understanding this idea of being “born again”. Jesus talks about himself – the Son of Man is the term He uses – being “Lifted up”. This is about as clear a reference as you can get to his crucifixion. The incident he refers to is in the book of Numbers, chapter 21 – a plague of snakes were causing incredible problems among the people of Israel, so Moses was told by God to craft a snake out of bronze. When someone was bitten by a snake, they could simply look up to that metal snake and be cured.
Jesus is using that image of himself on the cross.
The best summary one can make of this whole section is found in verses 16 and 17, perhaps the best-known verses anywhere in the Bible. Can someone recite these from memory?
(recites)
Once we get this, the whole idea of being born again comes into focus. Jesus is saying that in order to be born again, in order to experience His kingdom, one must believe in Him. Note that key word - “Whoever”. Not “Whoever does the right things and believes”. Not “Whoever goes to church and believes.” No, it’s “Whoever believes.” It’s unconditional.
What difference does this make?
Only everything.
The difference is that whereas once we were like the Pharisees, desperately trying to be good enough to please God. We tried everything we knew. We went to church, sometimes twice on a Sunday. We prayed over and over again. We gave money to church and to other causes. We did all the good we knew how to do.
These were all good things. But if this passage of scripture is correct, we’re missing the point by doing them. All these things, these “good works” as we like to call them, aren’t enough – but simply believing in Jesus Christ is the deal.
One word of caution – words can trip us up a little. When we say “believing” here, the English version could leave us thinking “Well, I’m convinced that Jesus existed, and did all that stuff. So that’s it!”
That’s not quite all there is to it, though. The actual Greek word here is closer to “Exercising faith.” In other words, we’re not talking about a simple intellectual belief in Jesus – we’re talking about trusting Him completely, giving yourself over to Him.
A simple example: Here is a chair. I believe it’s going to hold my weight. It looks right, seems secure. Of course, I don’t know if it will. I will not know until I’m sitting in it. THAT is the kind of trust that this passage is asking for.
It’s a little more than simply “believing”. But it’s still a lot simpler than trying to be good and following all the rules.
Better than that, God ensures that once we’ve trusted Christ in this way, He will help us to live the lives we were desperately trying to live before – only this time, with His help, we will succeed.
(pray).
For tonight, however, here's my Sermon for Sanctuary Church tomorrow. As always, SPOILER WARNING.
--
Sanctuary Church
15th May 2011
John 3: Jesus meets the Intellectual
Michael was going to be speaking on this passage today, but for a variety of reasons he’s been unable to. He’s been incredibly busy this week.
Fortunately, in one of those things which might just be a “God thing”, I happen to be coming up on the Week of Terror ™ next week, so it made sense for him and I to swap. My apologies to any grandparents of Michael’s who were hoping to hear him speak, and I promise to invite you to another opportunity to hear him without telling him you’re coming!
Meanwhile, I am going to speak to you from God’s word, so let’s now pray that I do it well.
(pray)
Nicodemus appears exactly twice in the Bible, and those two times are both in the book of John. So it’s surprising that we know a fair amount about him. He appears in a lot of Christian art, though, not so much because he is all that remarkable of himself, but because he’s part of one of THE iconic scenes of the Christian world. Specifically, THIS one.
When Jesus was taken down from the cross, John’s Gospel tells us that two people who were involved in the process were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. So in many paintings of the “Deposition”, as it’s called, Nicodemus appears, although often the artist isn’t aware of who he is, so often he’s just one of two unnamed guys.
We also know a lot about what he thought because the Bible tells us what kind of a Jew he was – specifically, he was a member of a group called the Pharisees. At the time of Christ there were two really BIG groups of Jews – Pharisees, and Sadducees.
Sadducees tended to not believe in miracles and the supernatural. So perhaps you could see them as being similar to some priests that get way too much TV time – you know, the ones who don’t believe in God?
Pharisees were kind of the opposite extreme. They based their theology around the resurrection of the dead; on the last day, the dead would all be raised and judged, and the ones who had followed the law would go to Heaven, the rest to Hell. So in an effort to ensure they were in the first group, Pharisees made it their business to learn the law and learn it thoroughly.
At the time of Christ, the priesthood was dominated by the Sadducees, perhaps because they tended to collaborate with the government. Pharisees, on the other hand, were a natural fit for the legal profession, so the Jewish equivalent of our Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, was largely run by Pharisees who knew the law (although the priests were technically at the head of the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees had the numbers to control the council most of the time.). Consequently, the priesthood and the Sanhedrin often were at loggerheads. Ironically, opposition to Jesus was one of the rare things that both seemed to agree on!
We know that Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin – verse 2 tells us that he was “a member of the Jewish ruling council”. We therefore have a pretty good idea of the things he believed in, and we also know that he’d have been very well educated.
For some reason, though, Nicodemus was a bit of a rebel. Other rabbis were upset with Jesus, but for some reason Nicodemus wanted to take a closer look. Now, he may have been curious, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that Jesus was persona non-grata with the rest of them, so he came to visit Jesus at night.
We have SOME idea of what was bothering Nicodemus from his opening line. He says
“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”,
Given the view of the other Pharisees to Jesus, this is a big admission. And it seems at least to me that there’s more than a little conflict going on in Nicodemus’s head about this whole visit. Everything he’s been taught suggests otherwise, but the evidence of his eyes is that this man Jesus is doing stuff that only God can do.
There’s something completely dramatic about the next bit. Nicodemus is still finishing his opening statement when Jesus silences him, and without any preamble just utters the most confronting and bizarre thing that he’s ever heard:
“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Nicodemus’ first response to all this is to treat the statement at face value.
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
At this, Jesus explains a little further. He says
“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
At this point it may be worth asking a question which used to bother me – Why is Jesus being so obtuse? Why not simply give a theological manifesto to Nicodemus and speak plainly?
The answer is found in what Nicodemus WAS. He was an intellectual, as we’ve already seen. So Jesus isn’t going to just give him the answer on a silver platter. He’s going to make him work for it! This is actually a very good idea – it ensures that Nicodemus doesn’t mistake Jesus for a simple crowd pleaser. Nicodemus knows now that he’s dealing with an intellect that’s at least as sharp as his own, and then some.
Well, that’s all very well for the smart guy, but what is Jesus actually saying?
“Born of water” is easy. Jews saw water as the source of all things, so this is an old Jewish expression meaning to be born physically. It’s equally clear that this “Born again” concept is seen as needed for entering the Kingdom of God.
But what does Jesus mean when He says “Born of the Spirit” or “Born again?”
Pharisees believed in following all the rules. In fact, they didn’t just follow God’s rules – they put EXTRA rules in place so that they wouldn’t even get close to breaking God’s rules! God’s rules said “Do not work on the Sabbath,” but the Pharisees didn’t work on Friday afternoon, just to be sure. God’s rules said “Don’t eat unclean food”, but Pharisees wouldn’t even touch it. And so it goes.
The reason Nicodemus is sounding so concerned at what Jesus has to say is this – He’s saying that no matter how someone works, no matter how many laws they keep, they WON’T enter the kingdom of God! In short, BEING GOOD isn’t enough. OBEYING THE LAW isn’t enough. If you’re the same person that you were when you were born, you won’t see the kingdom of God!
No wonder Nicodemus is worried.
But Jesus isn’t finished yet. He goes on to explain this concept of being born again further. Just picking out a few key phrases, for time:
“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[d] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Here’s the key to understanding this idea of being “born again”. Jesus talks about himself – the Son of Man is the term He uses – being “Lifted up”. This is about as clear a reference as you can get to his crucifixion. The incident he refers to is in the book of Numbers, chapter 21 – a plague of snakes were causing incredible problems among the people of Israel, so Moses was told by God to craft a snake out of bronze. When someone was bitten by a snake, they could simply look up to that metal snake and be cured.
Jesus is using that image of himself on the cross.
The best summary one can make of this whole section is found in verses 16 and 17, perhaps the best-known verses anywhere in the Bible. Can someone recite these from memory?
(recites)
Once we get this, the whole idea of being born again comes into focus. Jesus is saying that in order to be born again, in order to experience His kingdom, one must believe in Him. Note that key word - “Whoever”. Not “Whoever does the right things and believes”. Not “Whoever goes to church and believes.” No, it’s “Whoever believes.” It’s unconditional.
What difference does this make?
Only everything.
The difference is that whereas once we were like the Pharisees, desperately trying to be good enough to please God. We tried everything we knew. We went to church, sometimes twice on a Sunday. We prayed over and over again. We gave money to church and to other causes. We did all the good we knew how to do.
These were all good things. But if this passage of scripture is correct, we’re missing the point by doing them. All these things, these “good works” as we like to call them, aren’t enough – but simply believing in Jesus Christ is the deal.
One word of caution – words can trip us up a little. When we say “believing” here, the English version could leave us thinking “Well, I’m convinced that Jesus existed, and did all that stuff. So that’s it!”
That’s not quite all there is to it, though. The actual Greek word here is closer to “Exercising faith.” In other words, we’re not talking about a simple intellectual belief in Jesus – we’re talking about trusting Him completely, giving yourself over to Him.
A simple example: Here is a chair. I believe it’s going to hold my weight. It looks right, seems secure. Of course, I don’t know if it will. I will not know until I’m sitting in it. THAT is the kind of trust that this passage is asking for.
It’s a little more than simply “believing”. But it’s still a lot simpler than trying to be good and following all the rules.
Better than that, God ensures that once we’ve trusted Christ in this way, He will help us to live the lives we were desperately trying to live before – only this time, with His help, we will succeed.
(pray).
11 May 2011
Chapter 52
Announcement: Tomorrow night there will be NO Johno’s Commentary while the poll finishes. Get your votes in!
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This chapter is basically an epilogue to Jeremiah’s book. It goes through the final breakthrough of the wall of Jerusalem and gives a brief rundown on what has happened.
The part of the whole chapter I find poignant is just the tone – the bleak, hopeless tone of someone who has just watched his home collapse and disappear.
Now, we know that in seventy years the exiles will return. We know that Jerusalem will be rebuilt; and in time, it will indeed be the centre of God’s worship it was originally intended to be.
We know that it will one day host the sad execution of Messiah.
But Jeremiah knows this only as prophecy. He has faith in God that He will carry out His promises; but from the human viewpoint, he knows he won’t be there to see it arise; all he knows is that his city has been captured, and that things look bleak..
If anything, this is the best example we can find of a man who is determined to do trust God even when it seems impossible.
And what better place to leave Jeremiah for now. Make sure you read it yourself!
--
This chapter is basically an epilogue to Jeremiah’s book. It goes through the final breakthrough of the wall of Jerusalem and gives a brief rundown on what has happened.
The part of the whole chapter I find poignant is just the tone – the bleak, hopeless tone of someone who has just watched his home collapse and disappear.
Now, we know that in seventy years the exiles will return. We know that Jerusalem will be rebuilt; and in time, it will indeed be the centre of God’s worship it was originally intended to be.
We know that it will one day host the sad execution of Messiah.
But Jeremiah knows this only as prophecy. He has faith in God that He will carry out His promises; but from the human viewpoint, he knows he won’t be there to see it arise; all he knows is that his city has been captured, and that things look bleak..
If anything, this is the best example we can find of a man who is determined to do trust God even when it seems impossible.
And what better place to leave Jeremiah for now. Make sure you read it yourself!
10 May 2011
Chapter 51 Chapter 51
If you ever have the chance to study the documents of Scripture as history rather than as theological works (and I recommend it, by the way!), you’ll come across the term “Pseudoprophecy”.
This word means, simply, “Fake prophecy,” and it’s that situation where prophecies are so strongly predictive of events that actually happened that generally, historians forget about all other evidence and say “Well, it must really have been written before that date. Because, you know, real predictions can’t happen.”
This is one of those times. Babylon was the world superpower, and yet here’s Jeremiah, a callow kid from the backwaters of Judah, now telling everyone that Babylon would be defeated. I mean, really, where does he get off?
That’s not all, either – not only does he predict that Babylon will be defeated, he says that it will be by Persia!
Now let’s put this in perspective. Persia (Iran, today, although taking in a few parts of surrounding countries) was on the up and up, but it was certainly not a world power yet. By contrast, Babylon was in the boom times. Nobody considered that there was going to be any shift in power. It would be like suggesting that America would be captured by Canada, or that New Zealand would take over the world.
As we know, unlikely though it was, it happened. God brought disaster onto the arrogant Babylonians – but He also used their greed to bring Judah to repentance.
Ultimately, though, God didn’t want to allow His people to be overrun by those who chose not to follow Him. So it was that eventually God would bring Judah home.
There’s an interesting little piece of narrative down the bottom of this chapter. Jeremiah gives the text of his “doom on Babylon” to one of the King’s officials, and he’s required to read it in Babylon! On the streets! Just imagine, walking down the street and seeing a chap there (presumably a very foreign sounding chap, at that!) telling everyone that “Doom is coming on Babylon!”
You wouldn’t know what to do or say. After all, isn’t one guy on a stree corner shouting harmless?
Well, it turns out that when that one person is of God, it’s a game changer.
This word means, simply, “Fake prophecy,” and it’s that situation where prophecies are so strongly predictive of events that actually happened that generally, historians forget about all other evidence and say “Well, it must really have been written before that date. Because, you know, real predictions can’t happen.”
This is one of those times. Babylon was the world superpower, and yet here’s Jeremiah, a callow kid from the backwaters of Judah, now telling everyone that Babylon would be defeated. I mean, really, where does he get off?
That’s not all, either – not only does he predict that Babylon will be defeated, he says that it will be by Persia!
Now let’s put this in perspective. Persia (Iran, today, although taking in a few parts of surrounding countries) was on the up and up, but it was certainly not a world power yet. By contrast, Babylon was in the boom times. Nobody considered that there was going to be any shift in power. It would be like suggesting that America would be captured by Canada, or that New Zealand would take over the world.
As we know, unlikely though it was, it happened. God brought disaster onto the arrogant Babylonians – but He also used their greed to bring Judah to repentance.
Ultimately, though, God didn’t want to allow His people to be overrun by those who chose not to follow Him. So it was that eventually God would bring Judah home.
There’s an interesting little piece of narrative down the bottom of this chapter. Jeremiah gives the text of his “doom on Babylon” to one of the King’s officials, and he’s required to read it in Babylon! On the streets! Just imagine, walking down the street and seeing a chap there (presumably a very foreign sounding chap, at that!) telling everyone that “Doom is coming on Babylon!”
You wouldn’t know what to do or say. After all, isn’t one guy on a stree corner shouting harmless?
Well, it turns out that when that one person is of God, it’s a game changer.
09 May 2011
Chapter 50
9/5/11
CHAPTER 50
Firstly, an apology to all reading this who are wondering what happened last night. Simply put, I managed to completely exhaust myself, and simply couldn’t keep going. BUT we’re up on deck again, so continuing where I left off . . .
Jeremiah 50 is a similar kind of oracle to those seen in the preceding few chapters, in that it’s a proclamation of doom. However, there are a few differences. To begin with, it’s much longer. Also, it’s a proclamation of doom against the nation which has captured God’s beloved people from Judah, and naturally that means it’s a more far-reaching and momentous proclamation.
Once again, the promised doom can now be seen (from our viewpoint) as a completed thing. Babylon (at that time one of the truly great cities of the world) eventually met its doom; the remains are about 80 km to the south of Baghdad. And the repeated catchcry – “Get out of Babylon as soon as you can!” acquires a new poignancy when one looks at the remains of the city, which is now nothing but an ancient Tell (abandoned city-mound) in the middle of nowhere.
Get out of Babylon as soon as you can!
Strangely, given that God says so much in his oracle against Babylon, from my viewpoint there’s not a lot to say about that. Babylon has sinned. God used Babylon as His tool for achieving His ends, but make no mistake, Babylon will face its come-uppance.
No, what I want to concentrate on instead is the fact that within the confines of this blistering attack on the enemy, God nevertheless articulates His plan to bring the people of Judea home (and again, we know this is going to happen because we’ve seen it become reality – in fact, it has become reality TWICE since then!).
God has punished and struck – but once again (as if we needed it driven home), God will not stay angry forever. He loves us too much for that! Ultimately God is going to forgive (that’s in His nature). The exiles He will welcome home. The captives He will free. The poor He will make rich. The sad He will comfort. And so on.
As part of this prediction about Judah (as though you didn’t need any more!), God once again reveals something of His personality. It is the fact that (verse 20):
“In those days and at that time"—God's Decree—
"they'll look high and low for a sign of Israel's guilt—nothing;
Search nook and cranny for a trace of Judah's sin—nothing.
These people that I've saved will start out with a clean slate.
I have repeatedly pointed out that Grace is woven through the entire Bible, not just the New Testament. Here it is again! God will wipe away Sin from his people. The message of Grace is that God has ALWAYS operated that way, and that our salvation depends on Him. ALONE.
CHAPTER 50
Firstly, an apology to all reading this who are wondering what happened last night. Simply put, I managed to completely exhaust myself, and simply couldn’t keep going. BUT we’re up on deck again, so continuing where I left off . . .
Jeremiah 50 is a similar kind of oracle to those seen in the preceding few chapters, in that it’s a proclamation of doom. However, there are a few differences. To begin with, it’s much longer. Also, it’s a proclamation of doom against the nation which has captured God’s beloved people from Judah, and naturally that means it’s a more far-reaching and momentous proclamation.
Once again, the promised doom can now be seen (from our viewpoint) as a completed thing. Babylon (at that time one of the truly great cities of the world) eventually met its doom; the remains are about 80 km to the south of Baghdad. And the repeated catchcry – “Get out of Babylon as soon as you can!” acquires a new poignancy when one looks at the remains of the city, which is now nothing but an ancient Tell (abandoned city-mound) in the middle of nowhere.
Get out of Babylon as soon as you can!
Strangely, given that God says so much in his oracle against Babylon, from my viewpoint there’s not a lot to say about that. Babylon has sinned. God used Babylon as His tool for achieving His ends, but make no mistake, Babylon will face its come-uppance.
No, what I want to concentrate on instead is the fact that within the confines of this blistering attack on the enemy, God nevertheless articulates His plan to bring the people of Judea home (and again, we know this is going to happen because we’ve seen it become reality – in fact, it has become reality TWICE since then!).
God has punished and struck – but once again (as if we needed it driven home), God will not stay angry forever. He loves us too much for that! Ultimately God is going to forgive (that’s in His nature). The exiles He will welcome home. The captives He will free. The poor He will make rich. The sad He will comfort. And so on.
As part of this prediction about Judah (as though you didn’t need any more!), God once again reveals something of His personality. It is the fact that (verse 20):
“In those days and at that time"—God's Decree—
"they'll look high and low for a sign of Israel's guilt—nothing;
Search nook and cranny for a trace of Judah's sin—nothing.
These people that I've saved will start out with a clean slate.
I have repeatedly pointed out that Grace is woven through the entire Bible, not just the New Testament. Here it is again! God will wipe away Sin from his people. The message of Grace is that God has ALWAYS operated that way, and that our salvation depends on Him. ALONE.
08 May 2011
Announcement
Hey all. Just a brief note that there will be no Commentary this evening. I shall endeavour to do the commentary for tomorrow.
07 May 2011
The Poll is up. Please vote!
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There is a lot of similarity between the prophecy seen here and what we saw for Philistia yesterday – a country in the local area which has been on both the giving and receiving end of various beatings with Judah.
There are, however, differences. Moab is family (established family) of Israel/Judah. And yes, they fight; but Moab is within Abraham’s family. Whilst the line of blessing is that of Isaac, nevertheless, Moab shares the inheritance of Abraham.
But their history with Judah has been characterized by war and dirty tricks,
So God has to find the middle ground between justice and mercy, which isn’t easy to find.
What is interesting here is that when God promises the judgement on Moab, He also promises that one day He will “put things right in Moab.”
God is not willing that ANY should perish, including old enemies!
--
There is a lot of similarity between the prophecy seen here and what we saw for Philistia yesterday – a country in the local area which has been on both the giving and receiving end of various beatings with Judah.
There are, however, differences. Moab is family (established family) of Israel/Judah. And yes, they fight; but Moab is within Abraham’s family. Whilst the line of blessing is that of Isaac, nevertheless, Moab shares the inheritance of Abraham.
But their history with Judah has been characterized by war and dirty tricks,
So God has to find the middle ground between justice and mercy, which isn’t easy to find.
What is interesting here is that when God promises the judgement on Moab, He also promises that one day He will “put things right in Moab.”
God is not willing that ANY should perish, including old enemies!
06 May 2011
Chapter 48
The Poll is up. Please vote!
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There is a lot of similarity between the prophecy seen here and what we saw for Philistia yesterday – a country in the local area which has been on both the giving and receiving end of various beatings with Judah.
There are, however, differences. Moab is family (established family) of Israel/Judah. And yes, they fight; but Moab is within Abraham’s family. Whilst the line of blessing is that of Isaac, nevertheless, Moab shares the inheritance of Abraham.
But their history with Judah has been characterized by war and dirty tricks,
So God has to find the middle ground between justice and mercy, which isn’t easy to find.
What is interesting here is that when God promises the judgement on Moab, He also promises that one day He will “put things right in Moab.”
God is not willing that ANY should perish, including old enemies!
--
There is a lot of similarity between the prophecy seen here and what we saw for Philistia yesterday – a country in the local area which has been on both the giving and receiving end of various beatings with Judah.
There are, however, differences. Moab is family (established family) of Israel/Judah. And yes, they fight; but Moab is within Abraham’s family. Whilst the line of blessing is that of Isaac, nevertheless, Moab shares the inheritance of Abraham.
But their history with Judah has been characterized by war and dirty tricks,
So God has to find the middle ground between justice and mercy, which isn’t easy to find.
What is interesting here is that when God promises the judgement on Moab, He also promises that one day He will “put things right in Moab.”
God is not willing that ANY should perish, including old enemies!
05 May 2011
Chapter 47
Note: It’s coming to that time again!
We’re coming close to the end of Jeremiah (which has been a pretty mammoth effort, I have to say). We’ll be heading into the New Testament again shortly, and since I’ve gone through Acts last time, it has to be a letter.
So: Paul or not Paul, that is the question!
I’m picking four letters I haven’t read for a while; two from Paul, two from others. Please vote for your favourite.
The poll will be up tomorrow night.
And now . . ON WITH JEREMIAH!
--
Chapter 47 carries on from chapter 46’s oracle to Egypt. For the next few chapters, God has a message for each of the countries around Judah. Most of these are traditional foes of Judah, although as I pointed out yesterday the diplomacy between countries at this time sometimes became a little complicated. Like tracing the relationships amongst a group of students at an all-girls high school. Anyway, I digress.
Today it’s the Philistines. Now, unlike the erratic relationship with the Egyptians, to Judah the Philistines are cartoon bad guys. When the Philistine comes in on stage, the audience is supposed to boo.
In reality, they were actually dangerous foes. Because (for at least a time) the Philistines lived nearby, there was constant tension. Bluntly, in the ancient world food was in scarce supply; countries went to war so that they could survive another year.
Since the Philistines and Judah were next door neighbours, they were often squaring off in the annual pas de deux.
God is predicting doom on the Philistines, and certainly this doom took place. I am unsure which people group of today is descended from them (if any) but they don’t exist in this form today.
But this isn’t the point I want to look at tonight. No, it’s a simple and short phrase Jeremiah adds in in verse 6.
He says “Oh Sword of God, how long will you keep this up? Return to your scabbard. Haven’t you had enough? Can’t you call it quits?”
People are often troubled by the vengeance of God. This verse demonstrates that this concern has been here for a long time!
So how do we deal with it?
There are no simple answers. But one thing that I have learned is that God Himself is good. Really good. And we’re talking about a God of love and grace.
In the final analysis, everything in the Bible must be read in context. The context that matters here is a God who so loved the world (not only “His” people!) that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
I don’t know how God’s love and mercy fit in with His justice in this passage. I DO know that He is good, and that He can be trusted. I know that He loves the very people He must strike.
We won’t know how it all works this side of Heaven; but one day we will understand in full. Until then, we can simply deal with the occasional parts we don’t know with faith.
I don’t know it all. What I DO know is that I can trust God.
We’re coming close to the end of Jeremiah (which has been a pretty mammoth effort, I have to say). We’ll be heading into the New Testament again shortly, and since I’ve gone through Acts last time, it has to be a letter.
So: Paul or not Paul, that is the question!
I’m picking four letters I haven’t read for a while; two from Paul, two from others. Please vote for your favourite.
The poll will be up tomorrow night.
And now . . ON WITH JEREMIAH!
--
Chapter 47 carries on from chapter 46’s oracle to Egypt. For the next few chapters, God has a message for each of the countries around Judah. Most of these are traditional foes of Judah, although as I pointed out yesterday the diplomacy between countries at this time sometimes became a little complicated. Like tracing the relationships amongst a group of students at an all-girls high school. Anyway, I digress.
Today it’s the Philistines. Now, unlike the erratic relationship with the Egyptians, to Judah the Philistines are cartoon bad guys. When the Philistine comes in on stage, the audience is supposed to boo.
In reality, they were actually dangerous foes. Because (for at least a time) the Philistines lived nearby, there was constant tension. Bluntly, in the ancient world food was in scarce supply; countries went to war so that they could survive another year.
Since the Philistines and Judah were next door neighbours, they were often squaring off in the annual pas de deux.
God is predicting doom on the Philistines, and certainly this doom took place. I am unsure which people group of today is descended from them (if any) but they don’t exist in this form today.
But this isn’t the point I want to look at tonight. No, it’s a simple and short phrase Jeremiah adds in in verse 6.
He says “Oh Sword of God, how long will you keep this up? Return to your scabbard. Haven’t you had enough? Can’t you call it quits?”
People are often troubled by the vengeance of God. This verse demonstrates that this concern has been here for a long time!
So how do we deal with it?
There are no simple answers. But one thing that I have learned is that God Himself is good. Really good. And we’re talking about a God of love and grace.
In the final analysis, everything in the Bible must be read in context. The context that matters here is a God who so loved the world (not only “His” people!) that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
I don’t know how God’s love and mercy fit in with His justice in this passage. I DO know that He is good, and that He can be trusted. I know that He loves the very people He must strike.
We won’t know how it all works this side of Heaven; but one day we will understand in full. Until then, we can simply deal with the occasional parts we don’t know with faith.
I don’t know it all. What I DO know is that I can trust God.
04 May 2011
Chapter 46
The relationship between the Jews and Egypt during the Old Testament period has always been rather curious to me.
On the one hand you have the memory of the time of slavery and the Exodus. So you could be forgiven for thinking that the Egyptians weren’t the Jews’ favourite people (and for that matter vice versa!).
Yet when the chips are down (several times!) the Israelites and the Jews seem to rely on Egypt for aid.
During Jeremiah’s ministry is just one of those times.
It’s tragic, really. All the time of his ministry (an unknown period of time, but possibly many years), Jeremiah has been calling the people of Israel to repent and turn back to God. Yet they are willing to do almost anything but – including relying on the empire that once held them as slaves!
Politics and diplomacy make for strange bedfellows . . .
In any case, Jeremiah starts directly by describing the enormous armies of Egypt. Then he makes the prophecy on what will happen to Egypt.
He does this a few times – a pattern of describing the army and predicting its ultimate downfall.
Then Jeremiah moves on to describing the same events, but giving us a few specifics. He explains that it will be Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonians who bring about Egypt’s downfall. He describes in detail how complete will be the loss of Egypt.
Finally he finishes off by once more reassuring Judah, that God is indeed on their side. And once again, when Judah has been completely scattered, once more God will bring them back together.
That was then and this is now. So how can we see this passage being relevant today?
Well, for starters, Egypt of today is actually an outpost of Arabic peoples, whereas it used to be a country of darker-skinned people. The Egypt that once was is completely gone now, and replaced. So it is self-evident that this prophecy came true – we can trust God’s promises (positive AND negative). So far so good. But I believe there is more to it than this.
What do we really rely on?
If it is anything other than God Himself, we could be in for trouble. God is reliable, but anything else is going to ultimately fail.
God wants us to rely on Him first, anything else second. In this case, God wants His people to remember that – so He takes away anything else.
To us God is unlikely to be so harsh. But we still need to remember what God has done in the past before we move along. God is sovereign – and cannot be mocked.
On the one hand you have the memory of the time of slavery and the Exodus. So you could be forgiven for thinking that the Egyptians weren’t the Jews’ favourite people (and for that matter vice versa!).
Yet when the chips are down (several times!) the Israelites and the Jews seem to rely on Egypt for aid.
During Jeremiah’s ministry is just one of those times.
It’s tragic, really. All the time of his ministry (an unknown period of time, but possibly many years), Jeremiah has been calling the people of Israel to repent and turn back to God. Yet they are willing to do almost anything but – including relying on the empire that once held them as slaves!
Politics and diplomacy make for strange bedfellows . . .
In any case, Jeremiah starts directly by describing the enormous armies of Egypt. Then he makes the prophecy on what will happen to Egypt.
He does this a few times – a pattern of describing the army and predicting its ultimate downfall.
Then Jeremiah moves on to describing the same events, but giving us a few specifics. He explains that it will be Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonians who bring about Egypt’s downfall. He describes in detail how complete will be the loss of Egypt.
Finally he finishes off by once more reassuring Judah, that God is indeed on their side. And once again, when Judah has been completely scattered, once more God will bring them back together.
That was then and this is now. So how can we see this passage being relevant today?
Well, for starters, Egypt of today is actually an outpost of Arabic peoples, whereas it used to be a country of darker-skinned people. The Egypt that once was is completely gone now, and replaced. So it is self-evident that this prophecy came true – we can trust God’s promises (positive AND negative). So far so good. But I believe there is more to it than this.
What do we really rely on?
If it is anything other than God Himself, we could be in for trouble. God is reliable, but anything else is going to ultimately fail.
God wants us to rely on Him first, anything else second. In this case, God wants His people to remember that – so He takes away anything else.
To us God is unlikely to be so harsh. But we still need to remember what God has done in the past before we move along. God is sovereign – and cannot be mocked.
03 May 2011
Chapter 45
Today’s chapter is considerably shorter than any other we’ve examined in the entire 120-some day history of Johno’s Commentary. This is good, because I really need to sleep soon!
This chapter is a very simple one too. Basically, whilst Baruch is listening, Jeremiah has a word from God for him. Basically it is (once again) “I have plans to stomp most of the people flat for their disobedience. But you I will look after.”
God is going to wreck what He has built and start over. This is a running theme in this book. To a lesser extent, it’s the story of the whole history of humankind.
There is little else that can really be said for this one . . . .
This chapter is a very simple one too. Basically, whilst Baruch is listening, Jeremiah has a word from God for him. Basically it is (once again) “I have plans to stomp most of the people flat for their disobedience. But you I will look after.”
God is going to wreck what He has built and start over. This is a running theme in this book. To a lesser extent, it’s the story of the whole history of humankind.
There is little else that can really be said for this one . . . .
02 May 2011
Chapter 44
Sometimes I complain that there’s not much in a particular passage.
Be careful what you complain about, because you might get what you SAY you want!
This passage tonight is massive, and there’s lots in it. So let’s just get into it.
It follows on from last night’s passage, in which God revealed that the idea of a trip to Egypt was NOT his intention for the refugees. You may recall that they basically told Jeremiah (and through him, God!) to stick it where the Sun Shineth Not (selah).
What we have here tonight is God’s reply to their stubbornness.
Some may see God’s anger, and it is there. But what I see first is simple, bottomless sorrow. Some may think God is simply wanting worship for His own sake, but if you read this passage, His every thought is for His people, not for Himself! His heart is broken as He sees His people going after what the Message calls their “no-gods.” He can see how destructive this is, and how much damage it is doing to them; and He cannot bear to see it happen.
More than that, God sees that the people of Judah are not only cutting themselves off from Him, they’re cutting themselves off from each other. To God, who made humans to be communal creatures, that is shocking – He is frustrated to see the people He has made floundering around in the dark.
Worse even than THAT, the people of Judah are completely unrepentant. There is a goddess called the Queen of Heaven who is worshipped by some Judeans. They know God’s position on other gods. Yet they see their worship of this Queen of Heaven as harmless.
God sees it as anything BUT harmless, and He plans to put a stop to it. But He begs His people to bring themselves out first.
When we do things that hurt God, the reason it Upsets Him, first and foremost, is that we harm ourselves. Given that God REALLY loves us humans, it’s the damage to us that He finds most heartwrenching. He would do anything for us to miss out on that kind of damage.
The point of this for us is simple – How about we make a habit of listening to God BEFORE such damage is done?
Be careful what you complain about, because you might get what you SAY you want!
This passage tonight is massive, and there’s lots in it. So let’s just get into it.
It follows on from last night’s passage, in which God revealed that the idea of a trip to Egypt was NOT his intention for the refugees. You may recall that they basically told Jeremiah (and through him, God!) to stick it where the Sun Shineth Not (selah).
What we have here tonight is God’s reply to their stubbornness.
Some may see God’s anger, and it is there. But what I see first is simple, bottomless sorrow. Some may think God is simply wanting worship for His own sake, but if you read this passage, His every thought is for His people, not for Himself! His heart is broken as He sees His people going after what the Message calls their “no-gods.” He can see how destructive this is, and how much damage it is doing to them; and He cannot bear to see it happen.
More than that, God sees that the people of Judah are not only cutting themselves off from Him, they’re cutting themselves off from each other. To God, who made humans to be communal creatures, that is shocking – He is frustrated to see the people He has made floundering around in the dark.
Worse even than THAT, the people of Judah are completely unrepentant. There is a goddess called the Queen of Heaven who is worshipped by some Judeans. They know God’s position on other gods. Yet they see their worship of this Queen of Heaven as harmless.
God sees it as anything BUT harmless, and He plans to put a stop to it. But He begs His people to bring themselves out first.
When we do things that hurt God, the reason it Upsets Him, first and foremost, is that we harm ourselves. Given that God REALLY loves us humans, it’s the damage to us that He finds most heartwrenching. He would do anything for us to miss out on that kind of damage.
The point of this for us is simple – How about we make a habit of listening to God BEFORE such damage is done?
01 May 2011
Chapter 43
Let’s recap here – these refugees have come to Jeremiah asking for God’s advice. They have made the very dangerous promise that “whatever God says, we will do.”
I’ll bet they’re not so happy at having made that promise now!
In fact, they are so upset that these very people, who not last chapter declared that they’d do whatever Jeremiah said regardless are now calling him a liar!
In fact this isn’t a particularly unusual thing for humans to do. Let’s face it. There is inconsistency here because the delegation went to the Prophet fairly certain that he was just going to ratify their decision.
After all, their decision – to travel to Egypt – seemed logical. There was nothing left for these people in Judah, especially after the debacle that had left the governor dead. Going away to Egypt seemed to be perfectly sensible. And these people had convinced themselves that this was what they should do.
Let’s pause here and remember that going from Judah to Egypt was a big commitment. So it is possible to be a little sympathetic for these guys – it can’t have been easy to make the decision to pull up stumps and travel what was for them a very long trip (remember they don’t have airlines – for us, this is a journey of a couple of hours, but for them it would have been weeks or even months of travel.
But the problem they had was that they had made their decision, and didn’t really want God’s advice. They wanted God’s approval of their decision.
And God wasn’t going to give it to them. Bluntly, God wanted them to stay in Judah. In effect, He was saying “Well, it’s your call. But if you stay here I will protect you; if you go to Egypt[1], I won’t.”
So ironically, these people who went into Jeremiah’s room saying that they’d do whatever the Lord said through him, left his room declaring him to not really be a prophet!
For some of these devotions it can be really difficult to come up with an application, but this one is all too easy to see.
It’s simple – we must not let what we WANT God to say drown out what He really DOES say.
The thing is, God has spoken to us through His word. And a lot of what He says is stuff we really want to forget about.
No, I’m not talking about the difficult passages on sexuality or the role of women. I’m talking about uncontroversial stuff such as do not bear false witness, honour your father and mother, do not commit adultery. That kind of stuff.
I know someone who declared that her divorce from her (totally faithful Christian!) husband was the will of God. I call bull on that – the Bible is clear that God hates divorce. So whatever it was telling her to divorce this good man, it wasn’t from God. Some might argue that it was the voice of the Devil; perhaps, maybe, but it could just as easily come from the desperately wicked mind of humanity.
God is consistent. We may wish that He’d change His mind, but He’s not going to and we need to get used to that idea. God’s will is God’s will, and we can’t change it. So we need to get our minds in order – and if God says something we don’t like, we need to realize that ultimately it is us who benefit. . . so it’s time to harden up!
[1] For some reason, every time the Israelites or the Judeans faced trouble, it was Egypt that they would always travel to. . . . as was to happen for a certain jewish boy, the son of a Carpenter . . .
I’ll bet they’re not so happy at having made that promise now!
In fact, they are so upset that these very people, who not last chapter declared that they’d do whatever Jeremiah said regardless are now calling him a liar!
In fact this isn’t a particularly unusual thing for humans to do. Let’s face it. There is inconsistency here because the delegation went to the Prophet fairly certain that he was just going to ratify their decision.
After all, their decision – to travel to Egypt – seemed logical. There was nothing left for these people in Judah, especially after the debacle that had left the governor dead. Going away to Egypt seemed to be perfectly sensible. And these people had convinced themselves that this was what they should do.
Let’s pause here and remember that going from Judah to Egypt was a big commitment. So it is possible to be a little sympathetic for these guys – it can’t have been easy to make the decision to pull up stumps and travel what was for them a very long trip (remember they don’t have airlines – for us, this is a journey of a couple of hours, but for them it would have been weeks or even months of travel.
But the problem they had was that they had made their decision, and didn’t really want God’s advice. They wanted God’s approval of their decision.
And God wasn’t going to give it to them. Bluntly, God wanted them to stay in Judah. In effect, He was saying “Well, it’s your call. But if you stay here I will protect you; if you go to Egypt[1], I won’t.”
So ironically, these people who went into Jeremiah’s room saying that they’d do whatever the Lord said through him, left his room declaring him to not really be a prophet!
For some of these devotions it can be really difficult to come up with an application, but this one is all too easy to see.
It’s simple – we must not let what we WANT God to say drown out what He really DOES say.
The thing is, God has spoken to us through His word. And a lot of what He says is stuff we really want to forget about.
No, I’m not talking about the difficult passages on sexuality or the role of women. I’m talking about uncontroversial stuff such as do not bear false witness, honour your father and mother, do not commit adultery. That kind of stuff.
I know someone who declared that her divorce from her (totally faithful Christian!) husband was the will of God. I call bull on that – the Bible is clear that God hates divorce. So whatever it was telling her to divorce this good man, it wasn’t from God. Some might argue that it was the voice of the Devil; perhaps, maybe, but it could just as easily come from the desperately wicked mind of humanity.
God is consistent. We may wish that He’d change His mind, but He’s not going to and we need to get used to that idea. God’s will is God’s will, and we can’t change it. So we need to get our minds in order – and if God says something we don’t like, we need to realize that ultimately it is us who benefit. . . so it’s time to harden up!
[1] For some reason, every time the Israelites or the Judeans faced trouble, it was Egypt that they would always travel to. . . . as was to happen for a certain jewish boy, the son of a Carpenter . . .
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