Tag: Judgment

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The law trap.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Any casual reader would come upon this story and think to themselves, what law? The religious leaders had made themselves into the religious police. Who protected and promoted God while He was silent? They did. Who protected the sacred texts and cultural ways of God when His people all but abandoned their faith? They did. They had earned the right to speak for God because they believed they were the only ones capable and righteous enough to do so! Thank you for your service Pharisees, but you missed one BIG truth. God didn’t need nor ask you to do that.

The job, the attitude, the title and authority… were all self appointed.

And because, they maintained the persona of “experts,” they spent much of their time being religious monitors for all of what was left of Israel. The average person must have loved and feared having them around. I say loved because they knew they were not as holy or righteous as they should be, so the Pharisees set the standard (unattainable as it was). Hated because they could never be as perfect or righteous as the religious leaders. They had to always be on guard against violating the religious laws and reaping the physical and cultural consequences of their behaviors. Imagine being under the thumb of TWO oppressive systems! One, the Roman oppression, filled with horrible treatment and atrocities, alone with massive taxation. Two, the religious oppression, also filled with glaring judgment and taxation.

The Pharisees delighted in catching and judging violations of “the law.” Granted “the law” had expanded far beyond the big 10 commandments and even beyond the cultural health codes that God had given to Israel to teach them and to help them survive the wild open plains of nomadic living. The religious legal code had swelled to over 613 codes and code violations that were supposed to “help” the righteous obey the original laws and codes God prescribed.

Matthew records one of many times the Pharisees “caught” rabbi Jesus or his followers “breaking” the law. Ah, but a Jesus wasn’t an ordinary rabbi. He wasn’t just trained to know the laws (and codes) of God. He was trained to actually KNOW God Himself. Who knows when Jesus knew who he really was. But, from a very young age (12), Jesus focused his life on one thing – he must be about his Father’s business! And he wasn’t taking about being a stonemason and carpenter.

Jesus was clearly capable of not only knowing God’s law, but perfectly comfortable talking about the intent of those laws and the inevitable “loopholes” that come with them. You see the Pharisees had forever found loopholes that served themselves and those loopholes were used to their advantage and the poor’s disadvantage. You don’t think this irritated God? Jesus had also found loopholes of mercy, which served the intent and principle of the law without violating it. Smart right? Yeah, righteously brilliant!

Jesus’ killer lines to address the Pharisees’ hearts are amazing. “Haven’t you read?” Oh snap, isn’t that the coolest. Oh, my friends, you must have missed the part where God allows for special circumstances 😳. Again, principles can accommodate special circumstances without violating the intent of a law. He quoted David’s and Moses’s behaviors that clearly violated the strict reading of the religious law they had been propagating. Jesus’ name dropping of high-level and beloved leaders was no accident! I love that Jesus even admitted, David “broke the law.” And Moses, “allowed” the priests to break the law as well. Touché Jesus.

But even still, Jesus wasn’t trying to one-up the Pharisees, shaming them (even though they deserved it) or to just win a religious argument (too often done today). His intent was to soften the hardened hearts of the religious leaders who might hear the truth and be set free. He told them exactly where the law leads and why it is so ineffective. Quoting Hosea 6:6, Jesus tells them, “I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.”

The law shows no mercy. The law has no capacity for mercy. In fact, the law is and was used to show the legal and moral reasoning of why judgment MUST be pronounced on all who break it! The system of justice shows no mercy because it is impervious to excuses, causes or reasons for violating it.

People say they want justice for all, but that can hardly be true. We don’t want true justice for all because that would mean true judgment and death for all. None are perfect – we know this instinctively! We just want weird forms of justice on our opinionated, loopholed, lopsided views! Jesus sets up the inescapable truth, mercy is the only way out and He is the only one to show it, live it and prove it by His death and resurrection. We can only get mercy through Christ.

Prayer

Dad,
I would not, do want, to be judge by the law! I am fine living and thriving under your mercy and grace! However, seeing my own sinfulness and inability to not just keep the Old Testament Law, but knowing that I am sadly still making sinful decisions keeps my judginess in check. Of course I glare at bad drivers and get angry at bad fathers or husbands, but I also know how much I have failed and how desperate I am for your grace. Thank your for the work of Jesus on the cross for my sin and His resurrection power in me today.

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Delayed judgment gratification.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Please, God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me. May those who try to kill me be humiliated and put to shame. May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace. Let them be horrified by their shame, for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭70‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David wrote this Psalm while running from his own son, Absalom, who wanted to take the throne by force. Yet, in David’s fear and desperation, he writes a prophetic/messianic Psalm projecting the future moments leading up to Jesus, on trial for blasphemy, and eventual judgment of death on a cross like a common criminal.

The prayer of Jesus, in the garden, asking that this “cup” may pass. Maybe not the cup of suffering alone, but the cup of wrath, the moment God, the Father, would turn away, not able to look at His only son. The one and only time, EVER, the intimate presence of the Father, His full and complete love, would not be felt on the cross. Yes, this Psalm was most likely on the lips of Jesus in the garden and in his thoughts while hanging on the cross. “Please God, rescue me!” The rest of David’s Psalm though, would not be uttered by Jesus on the cross. All the judgment, shame and disgrace that you and I deserve would be stored up and poured upon Jesus that one very dark afternoon around 3:00 pm. The cursing of shame and disgrace would not be wished upon the crowd that jeered. All the hatred of humanity being shouted at Jesus, masking their own culpability of lies and murder, would be quietly confronted by a different prayer, a whole different ending to David’s desire for justice and revenge.

Jesus’ prayer was, “Father forgive them,” they just don’t know any better. Jesus’ rewriting Psalm 70 asked that all the retribution of judgment be redirected on him and He asked that they (all of humanity) be forgiven. Are you mad at God? He’s forgiven you. Do you hate God for something that happened to you, something you blame Him for? He’s forgiven you. Why? Because the perfection and blamelessness of Jesus, took your gripes and grief and paid the price for you to even hold those feelings of ill-will towards God and others. This Easter, drop your charges against God! He’s not who you think He is. He loves and forgives you.

Prayer

Dad,
Even with all the crummy things that happened in my life as a child and through youth, I never held you responsible for it. I didn’t carry a grudge, thinking you had cursed my family and that I was just stuck with it. I knew my moms and dads were broken. I knew the way they chose to live out their lives was not healthy nor helpful to me. But I also knew that without some kind of massive miracle and change in my own ways, I would end up just like them! You were that miracle. You reaching out to me and offering life would be my one chance to get out of generational cycles of pain, addictions and dysfunction. Yet still, I knew that I needed forgiveness for my own decisions that could never be blamed on my origin story. Thank you for permanently not just delaying judgment that I deserved, but removing it completely through Jesus death on the cross.

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Newsflash Reminder.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Once you were dead! I don’t know about you, but I remember my disobedience and MANY sins. I wasn’t born a believer. I did not surrender my life to Jesus as a child. I had a fairly high sin-rate in Junior and Senior High School. I agree with the Apostle Paul, I used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world – obeying the devil and the disordered desires of my heart. In fact, I’m not exactly sure I had a decent conscience. I had a twisted view of guilt. Not only did I rarely feel guilty for my decisions and behaviors, I was really good at masking those feelings behind massive blame of others and the crummy chaotic, dysfunctional life I was handed from my parents.

It was those decisions to ignore my conscience where I can clearly see myself being subject to God’s anger – just like everyone else. Being a sinner didn’t make me special or unique at all. In fact it was slowly stripping away the real me that I was trying to push away.

When I look around at the multiple sin-fests on constant display in entertainment, socials and curated news cycles, I must remember Paul’s words. There is a real devil and he’s commanding the powers of unseen world! My heart breaks as I see my friends, family and neighbors swallow the reverse sour-patch candy. First the lies are sweet, by a well crafted design to follow our passionate desires and inclinations, but turn bitter as they produce rotten results.

I pray that God reveals Himself and rescues them, just as He did for me. These verses lead Paul, via the Holy Spirit, to release one of the most powerful truths found in the New Testament. “For it is by grace you are saved, through faith. It is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” My path, my decisions, my sin was disrupted and redeemed by that powerful, undeserved grace of God. I will never forget who I was. Yet, I will remember what God can do that for others even today.

Prayer

Dad,
Do it again in those I love! Arrest them by your grace. Hunt them down by your love and mercy, relentlessly pursuing them as you did for me. Lift the blinders from their eyes. Penetrate their hearts with light that shatters the lies that lead them to darkness. Expose the wicked plans against them to reveal your love and true freedom. I ask in Jesus name, Amen.

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Forget the bread, what about my boy?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Shocker, I just found out this past year that the widow mentioned in this story was a Gentile, not a Jew. And the Jewish people reading about the life and times of Elijah did not like it! Luke 4:25-26 and Acts 10:34-35.

There was drought and famine going on and widows had it the worse because they had little to no means to provide on their own. Elijah didn’t just ask her for her last meal, but her son’s as well. You can hear the resignation in the widow’s words, “we’ll eat it and then die.” Obviously no hope there.

Hello! Elijah wasn’t being greedy, he was being obedient. Elijah may have tried to ease the bluntness by asking for a drink of water first. Uh… fail. That wasn’t a smooth segue because of the drought. As she walked away, Elijah threw in the request, “…bring me a bite of bread as well.” Just a bite? I hope you hear the sheer awkwardness of being obedient to God in THE worst kinds of circumstances possible. Are we obedient regardless of what we know, see or sense? Woof.

Elijah gives her a promise, “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” The widow has just enough faith to be obedient. Promise made, promise kept. The widow provides Elijah room and board while he stays in the village of Zarephath. Why did Elijah stay? Because God told him to “live” there – “Go and live in the village of Zarephath. This next scene is disturbing in so many ways.

The widow’s son gets sick, then dies. The widow blames Elijah for her son’s death because he must be judging her sins. What? Wow. You see the ancient world was simple cause and effect. Someone gets sick, who’s to blame? Someone died, who sinned? God or God’s agents were directly held responsible because they obviously weren’t happy with something. It’s Elijah’s prayer to God that verifies this mindset. “Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” Why why why?

God seemed comfortable putting Elijah on the spot with the health and well being of the widow and her son. That’s doesn’t seem fair. The miracle of long lasting bread and oil supply wasn’t enough of an official credential proving that Elijah is a spokesperson for God? Elijah is bold, if not weird, in his prayer and physical application to make sure that God hears him. Was the “stretching himself” out over the child three times necessary? Apparently, the first time didn’t work, so he went for three (“three” may be a significant brain-bookmark for us in the future). God heard, God answered and raised the boy from death to life. Ah, then the widow says confidently… “yep, now I believe you’re from God and God speaks through you.”

God is really into us having faith! God loves us having faith. It is pleasing to him because it completely says “I trust you more than anything else going on in my life.” Faith doesn’t just make God happy, faith is the critical decisions that saves us and is saving us.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow. Both Elijah and the widow shared in the experience of having faith in you. I never saw that before. You asked Elijah to do and say some really tough things and I get the responsibility, but I did not grasp the level of trust that Elijah was exercising in you. It was important wasn’t it. I want to be obedient so badly, but it is ALWAYS diluted by the thought of what others will think when I follow through with what you’ve asked. It feels so much more risky when it comes to the question of “who do I want to please more?” You or people. I have faith, but need more courage!

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God’s axe to grind.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Matthew let’s us know that John the Baptizer and the teachers of the law and ruling class of religious leaders over the Jews did NOT get along nor see eye to eye. So much for being on the same team, right? Why didn’t they like each other, where’s the love and unity here? John had a quick nickname for them – snake broods. Or offspring of snakes.

Interesting that later on Jesus told the religious leaders that they were in fact the kin of their father, the “father” of lies (John 8:44), tying our thoughts to the original garden scene where Satan is the deceiving snake who temps the couple into disbelieving God.

Shocker, these religious leaders were not on the God-squad at all. They were working and cheering for the wrong team. John says, “who warned you?” Had they been listening to John’s messages? Had they been baptized, showing repentance for their sins? Then John says something that Jesus picks up and repeats later in Luke 6:46. John, “prove it by the way you live!” John also drops the good-fruit bearing tree analogy, which Jesus also talks about later in Matthew 7:18, and 12:33.

Does John quote the religious leaders when they were saying, “we’re safe?” Safe from what? Judgment? Eternal fire (Gehenna) or hell? But they were NOT safe, were they? The axe God was grinding was from this very old imagery when God actually did chop down the tree representing Israel many times in the past, but always left the root of the symbolic tree in tact. God spared the “root of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:10).

Jesus is that root and any life, any fruit that would come from that “tree of life,” would live and continue to produce good fruit. However, any branch that did not come from this root, this Jesus’ tree would be SEVERED from its root and thrown into the fire. It’s story, it’s lineage, it’s legacy would not continue. John’s symbol of an axe, is God’s axe of judgment, of finality, the end of Satan’s seeds of lies growing sickly trees filled with rotten fruit. John saw all of this as the religious pretenders walked up as looky-loos wanting the crowds to see that they were on God’s team as well. But they weren’t.

Prayer

Dad,
The last thing I would ever want is to be a pretentious pretender, faking my life, my faith and my behaviors to impress everyone. I’m in this for the relationship with you. I’m in this for life, for eternity. My past and my “good deeds,” are not all that impressive when compared to your grace and glory. I do want to be a contender NOT a pretender. I was grafted into this tree of life, of faith because of Jesus. And I absolutely want to produce good fruit, not to prove my salvation, but proving my gratitude.

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Doomed cycles of repetition.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“She defiled herself with immorality and gave no thought to her future. Now she lies in the gutter with no one to lift her out. “Lord, see my misery,” she cries. “The enemy has triumphed.” Lamentations‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​We need mercy to escape the doomed cycles of repetition.

Poetic reality sets in on the people of Israel, personified in the city of Jerusalem. The city is the people, the people the city. There is a healthy recognition in deep grief. Their sin, our sin, will ALWAYS catch up to us. As humans, we have this unique ability to think we can do the deed and just keep running from the consequences! Jeremiah writes this incredible analogy; “He wove my sins into ropes to hitch me to a yoke of captivity.” And, I must never forget, captivity was true love and justice in action. Babylon was a decisive, punishment of discipline, not destruction.

From the dizzy heights of Solomon’s success, his global reach of riches and power, to the depths of being dragged off to another country and watching all of what Israel had become in the city of Jerusalem raided and burned to the ground. The warnings ignored. The threats thought impossible. Now the people must face reality. But did Babylon do it’s job? Did it work? Did it fix their sin problem? Did they repent and turn from their sin and deep cycles of immortality? Temporarily, yes. Permanently, no.

Even with the most massive lesson in all of history, the rise and fall of God’s own people and the picture of the city of God – the rehabilitation and transformation was only temporary. The permanent solution, our permanent resolve would not be found in these cycles of sin, repentance, mourning and change. It would only be found in the work of Christ, God’s own son.

Without God’s own solution to our selfish cycles of sin to confession and back again, we would be forever trapped in generational repetition. Jeremiah records these horrible moments to ultimately point to hopelessness with out Christ.

The city of Jerusalem, the people of God would never be the same and will never be the same until the final days of revelation that Jesus is the messiah. These writings are meant to be a reminder of our morbid morality and the power and mercy of God to redeem us even while we are caught in mid-cycle of sin!

Prayer

Dad,
Looking into the perfect mirror of your word and seeing a clear reflection of who and what I am, even in my best effort, is so depressing. These words are not ancient, they are transcendent and eternal! These glimpses of humanity only remind and reinforce what I already know – I am a selfish sinner saved only by grace and has nothing to do with my poor attempts to perfection. I rest, not on my promises to never sin again, but only on your Word, your promise to clean me, restore me from all unrighteousness. In that and that alone do I find solace, peace and most of all HOPE.

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God had had it with us

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“The Babylonians outside the walls will come in and set fire to the city. They will burn down all these houses where the people provoked my anger by burning incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out liquid offerings to other gods. Israel and Judah have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days. They have infuriated me with all their evil deeds,” says the Lord. “From the time this city was built until now, it has done nothing but anger me, so I am determined to get rid of it.” Jeremiah‬ ‭32:29-31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I always wondered what Israel did to really tick God off. Now I know. God tells Jeremiah exactly what has been going on in secret and in public. I am currently doing a deep dive in Nehemiah and it is a sad and slow process of rebuilding and revisioning a new future. Everything the people had known had been gone for 70 years. God mentions specific offensive sins the people did in their own homes, on the rooftops in plain, public site. They poured out drink offerings to other gods. Gods and images that were not real and could not answer any of the people’s prayers. Later in the passage God said their wickedness had no end they, “They have set up their abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it. They have built pagan shrines to Baal in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to sin so greatly!” The nerve to set up idols in the temple built and dedicated to God. They put up idol shrines all over the countryside and actually sacrificed their own children to these false gods of Molech. As humans, we will stop at nothing to get our own way, yet not even give the creator of the universe the courtesy of obeying Him. We will and have for centuries, sacrificed our own children to have our own way and rebel. I don’t just see this in Israel’s sin, I see it in our own culture today! God had enough and allowed Babylon to come in, strip and burn everything to the ground. Then Babylon carried off the millions of Israelites into slavery and exile. Compared to cities, temples and buildings, which mean NOTHING to God – people however are eternal and worth saving. Our worth, our value is not in the things we build, the progress and advancements in technology or the fact that we can send a spacecraft to mars and back. We find worth in humans, created in God’s image and bearing the breath of God upon us. From the tiniest baby in a womb to the frail senior who passes from this life – all valued and loved by God.

Prayer

Dad,
What a rough story for Israel. What a stark reality for our own existence as well. It’s hard to fathom the depth of anger, frustration and rebellion bound up in our human hearts. We have such deep cravings to do wrong, to go our stubborn independant ways. Yet, we blame you for everything that goes wrong even though it originated with our decisions. We’re a goofy bunch. It’s hard to see what you see in us. Something worth saving, worth the patience and pursuit. I am certainly glad for your grace towards me.

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It’s extremely hard to get our attention.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced. Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!” Amos‬ ‭4:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Especially when we are living the high-life, going, doing whatever we desire, whatever we fancy.

Famous Amos, another spokesperson for God, has the wonderful opportunity to tell Israel the truth. While Israel is living it up, partying, taking advantage of others and all along offering sacrifices to idols! Giving time, money (crops and foods) and attention to block statues of wood called Baal.

Amos is pointing out the obvious, holding up a community mirror up in their faces. They were basically visiting whores while saying they were in a promised, lifetime relationship with the creator of the universes. Amos says, “Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel. Keep on disobeying at Gilgal. Offer sacrifices each morning, and bring your tithes every three days. Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do,” says the Sovereign Lord.”

Betrayal, rebellion and brash, ballzy, hubris behavior towards God. So, yes, God sends a slew of reminders, strong hints that they were flirting with danger. Much of these were what we would call “natural” disasters or “Mother Nature.” What a laugh. These weren’t natural occurrences, they were supernatural messages to stop living a life destined for death. Even after famines, droughts, insect infestations and outright plagues reminiscent of Egypt, Israel just wanted to “Bill & Ted” their lives saying, “party on!”

How would you stop a high speed train barreling down the track destined to travel off a cliff? That’s right, you’d try your best to purposely DERAIL it, hoping to save lives. Amos is begging Israel to quit living for and giving to fake gods and come back to the real God.

I don’t want God to have to work that hard to get my attention, save my life, or accomplish His good and perfect will in this world. However, out of His mercy, God will do whatever it takes. I’ve seen some really awful things happen in people’s lives and I wonder, why? It’s it “natural” consequences from just living in a broken world. Is it the work of the chief liar and deceiver? Or – OR is it God trying to just get them to turn and make things right with Him? As I’ve said before, David, in the Psalms apparently ALWAYS attributes everything to God’s eventual control. I’d say it’s best to go to the one who has all the answers – God. Start there. Tell God what’s going on and ask him how to proceed. I also need to remember, because of Christ, these are NOT threats of hell, they’re disciplines of love to lead the full life God promised!

Prayer

Dad,
I don’t know a lot, but I do know what betrayal feels like. I know what it’s like to love someone, invest in a relationship and have it derail, sometimes even going bitter and sour. It is so painful to vulnerably give and have it spurned or used against you. Even in that tiny little example, I can see how wrong we are to run after “other” gods, fake gods made out of wood or electrons. Who won’t give back anything but pain. Who won’t, who can’t save us nor make life good for us! No fake gods for me thank you!

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Somebody stop me!

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds. They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.” Jeremiah‬ ‭6:13-15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​Brought to you by the same guy that gave us Jeremiah 29:11. Oh, God has plans alright… but there’s this little (cough, cough) issue of deep, hidden, pervasive SIN. Just before this passage Jeremiah quite dramatically says, “So now I am filled with the Lord’s fury. Yes, I am tired of holding it in! “I will pour out my fury on children playing in the streets and on gatherings of young men, on husbands and wives and on those who are old and gray.”

The spokespersons for God had the awful job of delivering warnings, consequences and mostly bad news. Anything to get us, to shake us back into the reality of how far we’ve slid, how far we’ve drifted. And, enough is enough. For selfishness and self serving hunger from sin there is never satiation, it’s never enough. We don’t come to our senses. We don’t have an ultimate endpoint of self awareness to reign in our lust and desires.

God must stop our spiraling pursuit of MORE. Jeremiah describes it as greed, but it’s far more than just material gain, it’s power, control and massive egotistical tyrannies of self-protection.

We are currently being served (or subjugated) by these narcissistic leaders all around us today! No wonder Jeremiah can’t hold it in any more! There’s a moment when we also get a sense that one; we have just given up and expect these bad characters to lead us or two; we want these maniacs in power because they also give us what we want.

Do we really want leaders constantly telling us, leading us to DO RIGHT and LIVE RIGHT? God put a stop to all of it when He PUT his own people into slavery, under a powerful leader in the most wealthy kingdom of its day. It starts to feel like God would be saying, “if you want to behave like slaves, then I’ll just let you have your way.”

I’ve been seeing a lot of bad human qualities in me, reflected through these Old Testament stories. One is: I want what I want, when I want it and I don’t want anyone telling me different! Two is: Never point out when I’m wrong, because it is ALWAYS someone else’s fault! Geez, I’m a real piece of work here.

God stopped his people from destroying themselves and lovingly punished them to protect them. And, God is still doing so today in our lives, in our culture, even in our churches. I wouldn’t be too eager to celebrate God’s judgment on our “pagan” neighbors in entertainment, media, politics, policing, education or business. God is willing to start with his own, the church. Peter wasn’t afraid to just plainly write it out in 4:17, “For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household.” You know what’s wild, this is GOOD news. To quote Jim Carrey in The Mask, “Somebody stop me!”

Prayer

Dad,
I see that my sin could and would carry me away, far away from you. I see that you’re love equals discipline as much as it means blessing. I see, I know the things in my heart of hearts and I am thankful that the Holy Spirit both corrects and keeps them in check. I cannot get away from my sins, but I can confess and turn and run towards you rather than run from you. Thank you for your correction and your grace.

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Easter eggs hidden throughout the Bible.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“For the Lord holds a cup in his hand that is full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours out the wine in judgment, and all the wicked must drink it, draining it to the dregs.”
‭Psalms‬ ‭75:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​Wow. This cup that the Psalmist refers to is the cup of judgment from God. Asaph writes about all those who are arrogant and defiant towards God, “I warned the proud, ‘Stop your boasting!’ I told the wicked, ‘Don’t raise your fists! Don’t raise your fists in defiance at the heavens or speak with such arrogance.’” He says that God mixes a bitter drink and makes the wicked drink it. This is cup of judgment. Benson says, “God is here compared to the master of a feast, who, in those days, used to distribute portions of meats or drinks to the several guests, as he thought fit.” And Barnes says, “It is full of mixture – Mixed with spices, in order to increase its strength; or, as we should say, drugged. This was frequently done in order to increase the intoxicating quality of wine. The idea is, that the wrath of God was like wine whose native strength, or power of producing intoxication, was thus increased by drugs.” The king, giving these different cups to their guests were signifying either a blessing or judgment. And, these cups of blessing or curses were mentioned all through the Old Testament.

The gospel writers bring back this idea, these symbols of cups at the last supper, and in the garden of Gethsemane. “And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it,” Matthew‬ ‭26:27‬. “Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” Matthew‬ ‭26:42‬ ‭NLT‬. One more reference is made to the guards offering Jesus “sour wine,” possibly an analgesic to ease the pain. Jesus refused this ‬drink. Matthew 27:34.

God is definitely into these deep, symbolic moments of mystery and has hundreds of encoded “Easter eggs” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg_(media) ) scattered throughout scripture. All of them leaving clues and all them pointing to the fulfillment of the work Christ has done for us.

Prayer

Dad,
You are amazing at not only telling your grand story of tragedy and redemption. But the sheer amount of details woven into the salvation of humans is astounding! There are so many clues, so many hints hidden in plain sight. I do however notice that people have to actually look for them. Even in the parables, Christ plainly said, they don’t give answers they encourage seeking! And when we seek… we FIND. I am thankful that you brought me the message of hope and made it so clear, so simple. I think it’s another sign of your mercy to those who are broken, and how you give grace to the humble.