The scarlet thread day2

David had a great idea.

God had blessed him in so many ways. The kingdom was at peace (relatively speaking), the economy was up, inflation and unemployment were down, his approval rating was through the roof and he had this great palace in Jerusalem.

David thought, Maybe it’s time to give a little something back. After all, I’m sitting in this great big house, and God’s still living in that rickety old tent. Let’s build Him a house, a Temple, a magnificent structure, something that will make people from miles around sit up and take note.

It sounded like such a great idea. David even checked with his good friend Nathan, who had a direct line to God. The prophet thought it was a great idea, too. There was just one small problem: Nobody bothered to check with God.

Turns out, it was a good idea, but it wasn’t God’s idea. God had a very different plan, a plan that did not include David building the Temple. In fact, God told David he could not build it because of some sinful things he had done.

We can understand how disappointed David may have felt. This was his chance to demonstrate to God just how thankful he was for how He had used him up to that point. But God had something else in mind.

It’s at times like this that we discover something important about God,  His plans are not always our plans. They may seem confusing or even disappointing; they may frustrate us and cause us to question God’s rationality. But God’s plans are always better, always bigger, always longer-lasting. However, it usually requires hindsight to see how true this is. Looking back, what God had in store for David was infinitely better than what David had in store for God.

God promised that one of David’s sons would, in fact, build a temple. He promised to establish that son’s throne forever.

David was thinking about his own legacy and perhaps the nation’s sense of pride. He was thinking about those things in the context of honouring God, and that’s a good thing. But he was thinking too small. God was thinking about the whole world.

God made the promise about one of David’s sons, but the question remained: Which son? From that point forward in Jewish history, many people assumed that the promise had been fulfilled through David’s son Solomon. But as we’ll see in the coming weeks, while Solomon did build a Temple, he eventually died. After his death, the kingdom of Israel was split in half, and many of the promises for God’s people seem to unravel. What happened to all that stuff God told David?

Well, follow the scarlet thread forward for about a thousand years. There, we find someone in David’s line who seems to fit the description in the promise pretty well: Jesus (who so many people insisted on calling “Son of David”, see Matthew 1.1, 12.23, 21.9).

With so many people suggesting that He might be the fulfilment of that long-ago promise to King David, folks would surely have paid attention to anything He had to say about the Temple. After all, if He were the Promised One, He would have to build God a permanent house in order to establish a permanent throne for Himself.

Jesus never built a single building, but He has built a structure— the Church universal, which is made up of all those who place their faith in His sinless life, atoning death and victorious resurrection. All who do so are the new dwelling place for God (see 1 Corinthians 14.25, Ephesians 2.21, Hebrews 3.6, 1 Peter 2.5). And because He has built this permanent house for God, He has been given a permanent throne (see Revelation 11.15). But that’s not all, because then, and this is so like Him, Jesus shares His kingdom with us, allowing us to participate with Him in His reign (see Revelation 3.21).

God’s plans are not our plans. They’re always better, always bigger, always longer-lasting.

Lord God, I so often try to persuade You that my plans and hopes are in my best interests and then ask You to bless them. But when I really think about it, how can I know what is really best for me? I can only judge by appearances, but You look ahead to the outcomes. Only You see and hold the future, and I want to confess that only You know what is truly best for me. Grant that I would become increasingly willing to let loose of my fond aspirations and embrace what You know is really in my best interests. I know I will have to wrestle with this all my life, because I often struggle with what You bring into my life and tell me to do. It is only when I embrace Your goodness and wisdom that I can stop wrestling with Your good plans and purposes.

In Jesus’s  name, Amen

The scarlet thread day1

 2 SAMUEL 7 

 

God’s intention from the very beginning was to create a people who would live in unbroken relationship with Him and with one another. And they would be stewards of the rest of creation, partnering with God to create a place of meaning and real substance. 

But, come to find out, these humans are rebellious. They turn against God and against one another. In the process, the whole world suffers the negative fallout of their sinful choices. 

Fortunately, as stubborn as these humans are, God is more stubborn still. 

Refusing to give up on the people He loves so much, God makes a promise that one day there will be an ultimate solution to this problem of sin and evil in the world. This promise becomes like a scarlet thread that weaves its way through the rest of the Bible’s Story. 

The thread often appears as weak as a new-born baby, but it refuses to be broken. And though the Story often comes dangerously close to unravelling altogether, it never comes all the way undone. God simply won’t allow it to happen. 

Just in case the people forget that there is a larger Story going on, God sometimes reminds them. He does it with the people standing in the desert after wandering around for 40 years, reminding them of the promises He has made to them and asking them to renew their commitment to Him. He does it again at the end of Joshua’s life. 

Now, years later, there’s a good king on the throne. David has brought the nation to a level of unprecedented prosperity and international influence. Their enemies have mostly been dealt with. There is relative peace in the land. It might look like the Story has reached its conclusion. 

But there is this one problem. The people are still broken, individually and corporately. There’s brokenness everywhere, and as a result of that brokenness, there are these sacrifices that have to be made on a daily basis. That’s bloody, exhausting, disgusting work, done because the Final Solution hasn’t arrived yet. 

God tells David that the once-and-for-all fix is still on its way. In fact, He tells David this bit of great news: The fix will come directly through David’s lineage! The Deliverer promised to Adam and Eve back in Genesis 3, the One whom the Judges wanted to be, the quintessential King, the Promised One, the ultimate Way the children of Abraham would bless the entire world—the Messiah would be a descendant of David. 

There were certainly times in David’s life when he must have thought he was part of the problem (and he would have been correct). But in God’s strange plan, weaving like a scarlet thread throughout history, David was also part of the solution. 

 

God of Glory, the narrative of Your extraordinary and creative program of redemption that is revealed in the pages of Your Holy Word boggles the mind and transcends our imagination. In Your sovereign power and wisdom, you transmute evil into good. What people mean for evil, You turn to ultimate good, and all this without violating the dignity of freedom You have given us as moral beings who, though fallen, are nevertheless created in Your image. You have progressively revealed Your nature and purposes in the history of Your people and in the pages of Scripture. You accomplish Your loving intentions through the obedience of Your people and in spite of their frequent disobedience. I ask that I would be used by You as a willing part of Your purposes so that I can participate in what You are about. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

A man after God's own heart day4

David’s life was characterised by a sense of wild abandon. When he did something, he didn’t do it halfway. He jumped in the deep end. He took risks. He felt things deeply and passionately.

When David praised God, he did it with his whole heart (see Psalms 9, 86 and 111). He didn’t hold anything back. He wasn’t calculating or cautious.

There’s a great story of David dancing for joy with all his might. Anyone who has spent time in the company of children has seen their willingness to do this. They dance and get so excited about things that sometimes they just jump up and down squealing. That’s what David was like.

Grown-ups are not prone to this kind of activity, unless it’s time for the FA cup final, or the climax to a reality series like Strictly or Eurovision. And that says something about us, doesn’t it?

David was like a little kid in his excitement over what God was doing, had done or was going to do. When was the last time you were so overwhelmed with what God was doing that you just had to jump up and down and high-five the person next to you?

You don’t want to go to your grave with a heart that is cold and calculating and protected and safe. God wants your heart to be passionate and sold out to Him with a wild abandon.

That is, after all, the kind of heart He has for you. God is not neutral about you. God gives you His heart without holding anything back (see Romans 8.32). He is for you. He cheers you on (see Zephaniah 3.17). He longs to lavish good gifts on you. It’s almost as if God can’t help Himself, He loves you so much that He’s willing to go to incredible lengths to restore you and draw you back to Himself.

But there’s another feature about David, one that is rare in people whose hearts are so wild and intense. David was also a man of deep reflection. David took time alone with God, out with the sheep, hiding in caves, allowing God to shepherd his heart.

It’s uncommon to find both traits in one person. Usually you find in a person one or the other. Either they live with a sense of wild abandon or they are deeply reflective. But David combined both.

In the very first Psalm, David uses this great image of a tree. He says that the godly man or woman is like a tree planted by rivers of water, whose roots go down so deep that producing fruit almost comes effortlessly. The tree can’t help but produce fruit because the root system is so deep and the tree is so well nourished that it just flourishes.

Regardless how much you know about gardening, most of us realise that you can’t develop a root system in a hurry. It takes time and stillness and waiting. When was the last time you saw someone whose life was always a blur, a rushing, swirling mass of chaos, and they were also deep? You can be hurried or you can be deep, but you can’t be both.

Far too many of us live at breakneck speed, squeezing the most out of each day, collapsing in a heap long after midnight, neglecting the command to be still and know that God is God (and by implication, we are not). We’ve bought into the lie that our worth is determined by our productivity. Our hearts are not often characterised by deep reflection.

Passionate living. Deep reflection. This is one of those cases when we dare not take an either/or approach. We must live in the tension of both/and, allowing ourselves to plunge in the deep end of life with all its messes and mysteries, and carve out time for solitude and contemplation.

That’s not just how David lived. It’s how Jesus lived (more on Him later). And it’s how we were designed to live as well.

Dear Father, grant me a childlike enthusiasm and wonder at all that You are and all that You have done in heaven above and earth below. Let me revel in Your many deliverances and kindnesses that You have imparted to me. You have given me vitality, hope and purpose, and I acknowledge that all of life is gift and grace. I ask that I would not merely live on the surface of life, but that I would sink my roots deep into the soil of Your love and draw my vitality from the water of Your Word. May I be rooted and grounded in Your love, and may I take the time I need for reflection, renewal and rest, so that I will know You better and become increasingly like You. Then I will be a contemplative in action, a person of depth and breadth, and one who has learned the secret of living from the inside out.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

A man after God's own heart day3

David’s heart was loyal, some might even say it was stubborn. When he gave his heart to someone, he didn’t take it back. When David loved you, you stayed loved, even if he hated you sometimes.

Think about the people in David’s life. First, there was King Saul. He was once a promising young king, but then he became increasingly corrupt, tormented by a pathological jealousy of David, paranoid and eaten up by his own anxiety. Several times he tried to kill David, but David just kept loving Saul. Twice David could have killed him, but he wouldn’t. He probably would have been justified in doing it, still he refused. And when Saul eventually died, David wrote one of his most heart-rending poems for the king, “How the mighty have fallen,” he sang (see 2 Samuel 1.19-27). Knowing everything he knew of Saul, he wept at his death. He loved Saul to the end.

Then, of course, there was Jonathan. He was Saul’s son and could have been David’s rival for the throne. You might have expected them to be at each other’s throats, but instead they had one of the great friendships in all of literature.

Many years later, after both Saul and Jonathan were dead, David started looking for someone from their families, just so he could show that person kindness. Someone eventually found a little-known guy named Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son who had been crippled in a childhood accident. David sent for him and had him brought into the royal court. He treated Mephibosheth like a son because of his intense love for Jonathan.

And his own son, Absalom, who tried to overthrow his father and take the throne. He actually took over the capital city and forced David into exile. As soon as he was in power, he staged an elaborate orgy held in broad daylight on the rooftop with all of David’s mistresses involved. That’s detestable. But when David was finally restored to power and received word that Absalom had been killed, he did not rejoice in the fact that he was safe and secure. Rather, he cried out that he would gladly have exchanged places with his son. He wished that he had died in Absalom’s place.

When David loved you, you stayed loved no matter what you did to him. That’s the kind of heart God wants His children to cultivate, a heart that says, “Regardless of what you’ve done, are doing, will do, might do, you are loved.”

That is, after all, God’s own heart. When God loves you, you stay loved. No matter what you pull. No matter how much you never realise your potential. No matter how distant and separated you may be. No matter how rebellious you’ve been. God says, “I wish I could die in your place.”

And that is precisely what He did.

 

Lord God, Your love for me is causeless and ceaseless and measureless. You have loved me because You have chosen to do so, not because of anything I am or have done. This is the wellspring of my true security, and I revel in Your unconditional love and acceptance, knowing that I could never have earned it or merited it. This frees me to be the person You intended me to be, secure enough in Your love so that I can love and serve others. May I show kindness and compassion for people, even when they may turn against me. Give me the grace to be a peacemaker and a reconciler with the people You sovereignly place in my path. Let me learn to see my love, fidelity and service to them as an expression of who I am to You and who You are to me.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

A man after God's own heart day2

 King David is, without a doubt, one of the most prolific characters in the entire Bible. Just about everybody has heard of his story, regardless of their religious background. Who hasn’t heard of David and Goliath? Or David and Bathsheba?

This brings up one of the great things about the Bible: It refuses to gloss over the failures of its heroes. The Bible doesn’t place them on a pedestal or portray them as two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. These are real people. David most certainly was. He experienced tremendous victories and humiliating defeats (many of which he brought on himself). He was deeply troubled and dysfunctional, a disaster as a husband and father. He had 8 wives and 11 concubines. He was guilty of adultery, deception and murder.

King David was guilty of the kinds of things we want people thrown out of office for today, yet this is the guy the Bible calls “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). How is that possible?

This one reason stands out: While David may have had 8 wives, 11 concubines, uncontrollable children and fractured relationships all over the place, he only had one God. For all the other commandments he ended up breaking (4 of the top 10 in the episode with Bathsheba), he never broke the first one: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

Unlike most of the other kings in Israel’s history, David never bent his knee to a false god. He never went over to Baal or Asherah or Dagon. When he failed (which he did often), he took his regret and his brokenness to one Source: YHWH. When he was confused or afraid, he did not seek refuge in the gods of the Philistines or the Moabites. He went to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

At the end of his most famous poem, David wrote, “I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6). Usually we think of this line as if it refers to heaven and eternity. That may not be what David had in mind when he wrote it, however.

Maybe David was an old man when he said those words, with a long, grey beard and a wrinkled face. Maybe he remembered when he was young and handsome and Samuel poured oil all over him and said the mysterious words that started it all. Maybe he remembered how, on that day, so many years ago, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Maybe he remembered how he decided when he was a young man, the way young men do, that when he was king things would be different. He’d get things right.

Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn’t. But he stayed in the house of the Lord all the days of his life.

He did not write, “I hope I will stay there” or “Maybe I’ll stay there.” He said, “I’m staying in the house. I’ll make a mess of it. I’ll spill stuff on the carpet and knock over lamps and break expensive things. It will be a pain having me in the house, but you’ll have to drag me out kicking and screaming. I will dwell here, in the house of the Lord, forever.”

In the end, that’s what God is looking for from all of us. God can handle our failures and our messes. God can handle our most embarrassing episodes. What He cannot abide and will not tolerate is duplicity. David asked God to give him an undivided heart, and it appears God granted that request.

Are we willing to ask the same thing?

Dear Lord, You alone are the fountainhead of all that is good, true and beautiful. I know that if I want life, I must pursue You above all else. May I say with David, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42). I have nowhere else to turn, for You alone are the source of all that I want in my heart of hearts. By Your grace I will not succumb to the idolatry of having any other god before You. I will put You first and foremost in my affection and choices, because I know that You alone are worthy of all honour, glory and praise. May I fear to displease You and long to lay hold of that which You want for me. You are my shepherd and I am one of your flock. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

A man after God's own heart day1

 1 SAMUEL 16, 1 KINGS 2

The first king of Israel was the best-looking man in the land. The second king of Israel wasn’t even the best-looking man in his own family!

David was the youngest of eight brothers and frequently got the short end of the stick when it came time to divvy up family chores. Consequently, David spent more than his fair share of time outside watching sheep. It was dangerous work, and more than once David found himself face to face with a hungry mountain lion or a bear.

But he seemed to enjoy the solitude. He learned to play the harp and began writing little poems, and putting some of them to music. Mostly they were about this strange God of the Israelites who was always there but sometimes felt absent.

When David heard his father calling for him that day, how could he have known that the odd old man, Samuel, had been sent by that very same God? How could he have known that the crazy old man would pull out a jar of oil and pour it all over David’s head? And what would he have done if he could have seen it coming?

From tending sheep to being told he would be the next king of Israel, that’s quite a day for anyone, let alone a kid who didn’t even have the respect of his brothers or his father.

Turns out David would always struggle with family relationships.

David grew up to be a poet, a warrior, a musician and a statesman. He was a bold and charismatic leader, handsome, fierce, intense. He wrote the prayer book for the human race. He played the harp so skilfully that he was the only one who could calm Saul’s jangled nerves. He defeated a giant and gathered some of the greatest warriors of the day to become his “Mighty Men.” He lifted Israel to a level of economic wellbeing and political stability that has forever been regarded as Israel’s Golden Age, Israel’s Camelot.

But he couldn’t figure out how to be a family man. He had 8 wives, 11 concubines, rebellious children and adulterated family relationships all over the place.

King David lived large. He felt things passionately. He danced hard, played hard, fought hard, prayed hard and sang hard. Everything he did was done to the fullest extent, even when he sinned. (In one episode, he lusted, coveted his neighbour’s wife, committed adultery, deceived the woman’s husband and ultimately ordered the man’s murder.)

But the one thing that set him apart from Saul was that when he was confronted with his sin, he did not offer a single excuse. He took responsibility for his failures.

King David was not a perfect man, far from it. But it takes more than a perfect man to be called a man after God’s own heart, it took this passionate, contemplative, stubborn man to get the title.

Father, I desire to be a person after Your own heart. I want to be pleasing and obedient to You, and when I sin against You, I want to acknowledge it quickly with no excuses and waste no time returning back to Your embrace. I know that I will never attain perfection in this life, but I desire to progress in godly character and conduct. You look at the heart and not at the externals that impress people. Therefore I ask that I would guard my heart and walk in integrity before You. By Your grace I would desire what You desire, love what You love and hate what You hate. May I honour my commitments and relationships and not succumb to treachery, dishonesty or immorality. Let me allow You to define my understanding of myself and not the world with its pride and deception.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

The first king day4

 The people of Israel wanted security and stability. They were afraid of being different from all the surrounding nations, forced, as they were, to rely on Someone they couldn’t see. Unfortunately, they allowed their fear to prompt a terrible decision, one that produced even higher levels of instability and insecurity. 

This is almost always what happens when we make decisions based on fear and anxiety. We end up setting in motion a chain of events that increases the odds of our worst fears becoming reality. Anxiety makes us do foolish things that get us into trouble. 

In this case (as in many others), an insecure people selected an insecure leader. At some level, Saul must have known that he got the job because of his looks. Perhaps he wondered if the people would actually accept him if they knew what he was really like. Insecurity usually breeds further insecurity, and at least on some level, Saul’s life became about keeping up appearances. 

An appearance-based economy will always drive people to duplicity. Saul’s insecurity led him first to compromise, then to disobedience. Eventually, Saul decided to redefine obedience, and in doing so, he became rebellious. Now, disobedience is bad, but rebellion is even worse. God says it’s like witchcraft (see 1 Sam 15.23). 

It all began when the people of God let their anxiety get the best of them. They began making decisions based on fear, telling God, in effect, that they knew better than He what was in their best interest. In the final analysis, then, most of our sinful behaviour can be traced back to a lack of trust in God’s ability and/or desire to have our best interests at heart. If we could only calm our anxiety, trust in God and do what He says, we’d save ourselves lots of trouble. 

I should probably add a word about what to do when you blow it because, you know, most of us will blow it at some point in time. 

We serve a God who allows us to make decisions, real decisions. He refuses to manipulate us. He’s no puppet master, pulling our strings and forcing us to do His bidding. It’s important to remember, however, that real decisions, which bring about real consequences, never dissolve our relationship with YHWH. He is always waiting for His people to come to their senses and return to Him. 

God wants obedience, even when what He’s asking of us seems counter-intuitive. For reasons that are difficult to understand, let alone explain, God allows us to disobey him. 

Perhaps you have made some terrible choices, and perhaps you are suffering from the consequences of those terrible choices. Know this, no decision, no matter how terrible it may be, will ever put you beyond the reach of God’s grace. You can come back to Him right now. Or you can just say thanks for the last time He took you back. 

I’ll leave you two alone now. 

Living God, may I never place my security in people or performance, but only in Your character and promises. Deliver me from the plague of insecurity and anxiety that can cripple me and erode my faith in You. I want to be increasingly defined by Your truth and not by the lies of a fleeting and broken world. May I be Your person, even in times of trouble and stress, knowing that from You and through You and to You are all things. Grant that as I cast all my anxiety on You, I will experience Your peace and make choices that are honouring to You, instead of foolish decisions that spring from fear and disbelief. Thank You for the grace of forgiveness when I do things that are displeasing to You. I am grateful that there is no sin that is so great that it would prevent You from welcoming me back when I come to my senses and return to You. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

The first king day 3

 We live in a bottom-line society. From the highest echelon of government to the lowest rung of the ladder, we live with the idea that private morality is just that, a private matter. So long as a person’s public performance isn’t affected, we make allowances for personal quirks. And if they look the part, that’s even better. In fact, shortcomings and flaws matter less than playing the part. What matters is keeping up appearances. 

Giftedness and performance are important. It is vital to find diplomats who can negotiate, skilled craftspeople who can make quality products, and business administrators who can do maths, and it’s necessary for these leaders to do things like bathe and groom themselves (because hygiene and a sense of decorum are also nice). Those things are all important. But make no mistake. In the economy of God, character is more important than giftedness and appearance. 

The hidden, quiet, internal qualities of humility, wisdom and a willingness to sacrifice personal agenda for the sake of a bigger picture are the character traits of a godly leader. It’s important that we review these ideas occasionally, because appearances can be deceiving, and performance without character is often a recipe for disaster. 

We’ve come to value externals over internals. In an image-obsessed society, it’s no longer enough for a candidate to have qualifications and good ideas, that candidate must now look “ministerial.” Some of the greatest prime ministers or presidents in the history of the world may never have been elected in such a mass-media culture. Likewise, a pastor may be good at turning a phrase and producing a pithy and memorable sound bite, but substance matters. Character makes the difference when push comes to shove. 

The story of King Saul is a cautionary tale, not only for those who select their leaders but also for the leaders themselves. If the onus is on the people to do the due diligence of investigating a potential leader’s character, the onus is equally on the shoulders of that leader to continue the development of healthy character traits, rather than relying upon giftedness and appearances. The temptation for a leader to look for shortcuts and take the easy way out is always strong. 

Simply looking good while you do what you do won’t cut it, not in God’s economy. Why you do what you do and the way you do it matter. 

If Saul looked the part, King David, his eventual successor, was on the opposite end of the spectrum. We’ll get to his story next, but for now, suffice it to say that David didn’t strike anyone as being particularly “kingly.” His own family thought of him as the runt of the litter. But God reminded his spokesman, Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height… . The LORD does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16.8). 

Hundreds of years later, Jesus encountered some leaders who had decent behaviour but terrible character. They thought that their smooth appearance and spotless performance would be enough to fool God. Jesus told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight” (Luke 16.15). 

What might Saul have become if he had cultivated the right character? What rewards might God have bestowed on one so gifted and talented, with so much potential? Would it have been Saul’s line that produced the Messiah? His throne that was established forever? Would he have been the one to take Israel to unprecedented levels of prosperity and dominion? 

We’ll never know. 

One thing we do know for certain. Saul would have lived a life free of the anxiety and insecurity that eventually destroyed him. God rewards good character, but the greatest reward may be the good character itself.

 

God, may I never be more concerned with surface appearances than with inward substance. I long for a Christlike character that will sustain me through the vicissitudes and trials of this life. May I seek integrity over image and holiness over happiness. Protect me from the sin of lost potential that would result from pursuing the wrong things at the wrong times in the wrong ways. Grant me the power to be that same person when no one is looking as I am when I am among my peers. Let me be increasingly impressed with Jesus Christ and less impressed with appearance, posturing and posing. I ask that godly character will inform and empower my daily choices and relationships. Then I will seek the things that really matter and endure over the things that will fade and disappear. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

The first king day 2

 Following God is hard. After all, He’s invisible. You never know when He’s going to show up and intervene, or when He’s not. His work is constant, but the vast majority of it is hidden from our sight, underground, behind the scenes. 

He would spring up when conditions were bad, when the people were being oppressed by some foreign power, and raise up a leader, call out an army and vanquish the foe. But then He would disappear again, waiting for the next crisis.

That’s how it seemed, anyway, and it made the Israelites more than a little nervous. 

Never mind the fact that they always brought the crisis upon themselves. Never mind the fact that God always came through and always responded when they cried out to Him. Never mind any of that, they wanted something a little more tangible and visible. 

They wanted a succession of leaders they could point to, great kings in the history of a great nation. They wanted a dynasty, a royal household with all the trimmings. Pomp and circumstance and high visibility. And a standing army, you know, just in case. 

But God hadn’t given them any of those. 

From God’s perspective, He was their king. He was their fearless and tireless leader. He could trump any of those earthly kings in all ways except one. He wasn’t very visible, very touchable. It took something more than a glance at the palace if you wanted to trust Him. It required actual trust. You had to believe in something you couldn’t see, based on what you had seen in the past. 

That’s a critical point, God doesn’t just ask people to take a blind leap. The Israelites had 400 years’ worth of history with YHWH. They had 10 plagues and a Red Sea crossing, manna every morning and water in the wilderness. They’d seen the walls of Jericho come a-tumblin’ down. The very fact that they had managed to survive as a nation for over 350 years without a visible king should have given them a sense of security and enabled them to trust God even more. 

But the people wanted something else. They wanted following God to be easy. 

God never said following Him would be easy. Following Him requires a willingness to do what He asks even when it doesn’t make sense. Following Him requires a person to do things that appear counterintuitive: Give stuff away. Turn the other cheek. These things don’t make sense in an economy where what you see is what there is. 

But we live in a different kind of economy, God’s economy, where there is more afoot than is apparent to the eye. 

Following God is hard. After all, He is invisible. But the people who please God are those who make a decision to follow Him even when He can’t be seen. 

 

O Lord, keep me from the folly of following what the world tells me to clamour for. I realize that biblical faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And I know that it takes a great deal of trust and risk to pursue the invisible over the visible and the not-yet over the now. But hope that is seen is not hope, and if I hope for what I do not see, with perseverance I will wait eagerly for it. I will welcome Your promises from a distance and confess that I am a stranger and exile on the earth. May I trust You enough to treasure Your invisible promises over the visible promises of the world, knowing that only Your promises will endure in the end, and that the world is passing away. You have been faithful to me in the past and I will hope in You for the future. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

The first king day 1

 1 SAMUEL 8–31

The children of Abraham had developed quite a list of enemies. After all, they had shown up unannounced and proclaimed themselves the rightful heirs to a land that was already occupied. Then they had proceeded to kill everyone who didn’t leave peacefully and immediately. 

That’ll put you on a lot of people’s naughty list. 

Now, some of these enemies were tiddly little people who wouldn’t scare anybody. But some of them were fearsome and had names like “Philistines” and “Ammonites” and “Amalekites.” And all of them had something the Israelites did not have, a king. Usually that king was an impressive-looking person, the kind of presence that could reassure the people and intimidate the enemies. 

When someone asked the Israelites to show them their leader, all they could do was point to a box called the Ark of the Covenant, which sat inside a portable tent called the Tabernacle. That’s where YHWH sat but, well, YHWH was invisible. And some of their enemies started to wonder if “invisible” might actually mean “imaginary.” 

So the Israelites wanted a king, a real, flesh-and-blood king. Preferably someone who would strike terror in the hearts of their enemies. 

And that’s when they found a 30-year-old golden boy named Saul. 

He was tall, stood head and shoulders above everyone else, and had that commanding presence that you want in a king. He came from a wealthy family, and he was everything you think of when you think of a leader. Tall. (Did I already mention tall?) Handsome. Quick-witted. He was quickly approved by God, anointed by the prophet Samuel and affirmed by the people. 

But none of that was enough to ensure his success as the first king of Israel. Like so many other young men of privilege, Saul had trouble with self-control and responsibility. 

Still, whatever doubts anyone may have had were quickly erased after his first military campaign. A foreign king laid siege to one of the Israelite towns, vowing to gouge out the eyes of the townsfolk. Saul raised an army of more than 300,000 men and led them in a pre-dawn attack, utterly destroying the enemy. 

Maybe he was going to be alright after all. 

But Saul had an internal anxiety that showed up at the oddest of times in the oddest of ways and drove him to do the oddest of things. He hid among the suitcases when it was time to come out and greet the people for the first time. He flew off in a rage at the slightest provocation. He was impatient and impulsive, and when he was confronted, there was always an excuse. 

Before long, his mind became completely poisoned by jealousy and fear. Two of his children were estranged from him. His inability to calm the anxiety that boiled within him drove him to attempt the impossible, murder a man God Himself had promised to protect. 

Saul’s life and reign as king gradually went from bad to worse. The man who had looked so full of promise, so kingly, became a sullen shell of a person who drove those closest to him further and further away. In the end, he lost his kingdom, his integrity, his family and his very life. 

The first king of Israel had many enemies, but none was greater than himself.

Father God, I know that I am engaged in a spiritual warfare on the three battlefronts of the flesh, the world and the devil. These forces are opposed to Your rule and authority, and the most chilling of them is the flesh, because it is internal. I affirm that the good I want I do not do, and instead practice the very evil I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but the sin that dwells in me. There rages a war between my deepest self in Christ and the sinful remnant of what I was in Adam. But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! You have given me the power of Your Holy Spirit so that I can put to death the deeds of the flesh. Let me never trust in my own devices and desires, but only in Your power.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

The pagan who got it right day4

Everybody wants to do the right thing. Okay, maybe not everyone, but it’s an exceptionally evil person who wakes up in the morning wondering how he can do the wrong thing in new and destructive ways that day. 

It’s a safe bet that the vast majority of people reading this blog, as well as the people you know, want to do the right thing. And when they pray, the bulk of their prayer lives can be summed up this way, “God, could You please make it easier for me to do the right thing?” 

There’s nothing wrong with that prayer, per se. But what about when it’s hard? What about when God sees fit to leave obstacles in your path that make doing the right thing difficult? It’s one thing to do right when life’s a bed of roses, when the sun is shining and your boss is your best friend. But can you do the right thing even when it’s difficult, even when you’re stuck with a nagging, complaining, bitter, old mother-in-law who can’t seem to remember that your husband died, too? Can you continue doing the right thing even when you have to get out early and stay out late and pick up the table scraps from somebody else, just so you can provide food for your own table? Can you do what’s right then? 

God thinks you can. 

After reading the book of Judges, it’s understandable for us to have a decidedly pessimistic view of humanity. We may even be tempted to question God’s judgment in entrusting His promises to fickle-hearted people who never seem to get it right for very long. 

Perhaps that’s why God saw fit to preserve the story of Ruth. 

Ruth gets it right, even when we might expect her to get it wrong. We would understand if a desperate pagan widow failed. After all, she’s got the deck stacked against her. But Ruth refuses to fold, choosing instead to play the hand dealt to her with courage and integrity, and a dash of cunning, as well. 

But, and this is important, there’s no secret to it. There’s no magical incantation to recite, no seminar to attend, no program of seven easy steps to total transformation in just 15-minutes a day. Operators are not standing by ready to take your order. 

You already know how to do this. You learned it all innursery school. Don’t hit. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Put things back where you found them. Share. If you see someone who needs help, lend a hand. Take time off to think and reflect and catch your breath. Tell someone that you appreciate what they do. Give someone a hug. This is simple, meat-and-potatoes stuff. 

You want to do the right thing? Maybe you could stop looking for a shortcut and just do what you know to do today. 

Father, the tasks of this life are so manifold and complex that I can lose the big picture in the details of daily living. Teach me to see with increasing clarity that it is in these details that I am called to trust and obey You. I may be confused about Your ways and timing in my journey, but Your Word tells me that You are working all things together for good to those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. I ask for the grace to see You in all things and to live in the simplicity of willing one thing above all else. May I will to do Your will, love the things You love, and hope in the things You promise. May I have the wisdom to do the right things in the right times and in the right ways. I want to honour You in the many small opportunities of this day and live well before You.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

The pagan who got it right day3

 The book of Ruth is not flashy. There are no miracles in its pages. There doesn’t appear to be anyone remarkably gifted, no feats of strength, no beauty pageants (read the book of Esther for that). The woman herself isn’t known for being particularly talented or smart, and the book named for her is sort of the meatloaf of the Old Testament. The things we see in Ruth, the things that make her stand out, are things like, “She’s honest,” “She works really hard,” “She’s loyal,” “She has integrity.” Not the kind of stuff that Hollywood movies are made of. 

Ruth and Naomi were both shrewd, but it was a common-sense, homespun, front-porch kind of wisdom, the kind usually dispensed by grandparents and isn’t particularly sexy, and isn’t valued nearly enough in our time. They got up early, stayed up late, and did the kinds of things you have to do when you live on the edge, barely eking out a living. 

This is a pretty apt description of our leading man, Boaz, as well. He was a landowner, but it doesn’t seem that he was extraordinarily wealthy. It seems, instead, that he was a decent, middle-class guy. For example, the Law told landowners that when they were harvesting the crops, they should make provision for widows and orphans. Boaz did. There was a little extra generosity on his part, but he wasn’t flashy about it. He didn’t stand on the street corner and yell out about what he was doing to help the plight of the poor. He just told his foreman to be a little extra sloppy around the edges of the fields. 

When he found out that he was related to Ruth, he put together a simple, practical plan to set things right. He had more than a cursory understanding of what the Law says about familial obligation to widows. He went to the right people in the right way at the right time and did the right thing. 

This is an ordinary story of ordinary people doing what it takes and doing what is right. All of the main characters are clever, simple, practical, hardworking folks, salt of the earth types who help others and keep their word. 

We used to call such behaviour the Judeo-Christian work ethic. But we don’t talk about that much anymore. Our pride is that we live in an age of innovation, and innovation is often a good thing. But nothing will ever take the place of ordinary people doing what it takes and doing what’s right. 

Dear Lord, I ask that I would apply all diligence to be Your person in this world. As I seek Your will, I don’t need to impress or manipulate people. Instead, I can choose the simplicity of quiet service, even when others don’t notice. I realize that You often accomplish Your extraordinary work in ordinary ways. I pray that I would learn to welcome You into the routines of my life so that I will see that nothing is too trivial or mundane to be infused by Your grace. May I see my love and service to You in my love and service to the people You have placed in my life. I ask that my faith would be expressed through moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love. May I pursue fidelity to You in the small things and little tasks of life.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

The pagan who got it right day2

 God’s plan for His people wasn’t going very well, because they wouldn’t cooperate. Time and time again, they turned their backs on God and His benevolent care, choosing instead to do whatever seemed right in their own eyes. The book of Judges is so full of violence and immorality, it’s amazing that any of it made it into the Bible. 

God’s original plan was for His people to live according to His laws and be a guiding light to the rest of the world, to show other nations what it looks like when a people live in harmony with God and with one another for the sake of everyone’s highest good. But God’s people wouldn’t stick with the plan; they wanted to do their own thing, and that always leads to disaster. 

Just when you might be tempted to think that God may have to wipe everyone out and start over, we encounter this story about a foreign woman named Ruth. The story of Ruth shows us that God is not above going outside of His original plan to get His purposes accomplished. 

Ruth was a Moabite. Moab was not a good place. Its origins can be traced back to a terrible story about a man named Lot and his daughters doing something we shudder to consider, even today. Technically, the Moabites should never have been a nation to begin with. Furthermore, they should have been chased out of the land or killed well before Ruth was born. If Lot had been a righteous man and avoided incest (as even most unrighteous men manage to do), there would have been no Moabites. And if the people of Israel had done as God instructed, the Moabites would have been long gone. 

Plus, there’s no way God would have advocated that any of His people marry one of those pagan people. They were, well pagans, for crying out loud! 

But God had promised Abraham way back when that He would bless everyone, not just the Jewish people. And God never welshes on a promise. 

We’ve learned by now that this YHWH is unpredictable. He doesn’t do things the way we would. Just when you think you’ve got Him figured out, He dips and swerves and goes underground, only to appear where you least expect Him. 

And He loves strays, and keeps bringing them in at night even though He knows that if you feed them once they’ll keep coming back. He did this with Rahab (who ran the best little whorehouse in Jericho), and now He’s doing it again with this Moabite woman, Ruth. Orphans, widows, street urchins, mongrels, they all matter more to God than maybe we think they should. 

Ruth’s an unlikely character who has nothing much going for her. We expect God to take an interest in a guy like Samson (who lived during this same period of time). Samson was big and strong and powerful. He was born into a good family, had the pedigree. Ruth, by contrast, was a mutt. 

Maybe that’s the point of the story, though. When the purebred, the physically, mentally, spiritually gifted people, the privileged insiders who have been called by God, fall down on the job, God’s not above going down to the pound and picking up a stray. Strays, as it turns out, have really good memories and rarely forget what it was like to be this close to death and then be rescued by the kindness of a benevolent person. 

Father God, I rejoice in the truth that You have chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and have chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong. I acknowledge that You have the power to use me in remarkable ways in spite of my inadequacies and weaknesses. You are not impressed with the things that impress people, but You deign to use those who, through humility, are willing to depend entirely on You and not on their position or power. I see that the things that are highly esteemed among people are detestable in Your sight, and that it is foolish to be impressed by the things that impress people. I ask for the grace to live and serve others out of my weakness and thus out of Your strength. Let me be impressed by the things that are truly pleasing to You. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

The pagan who got it right day1

 THE BOOK OF RUTH

 

God promised that Abraham’s descendants would bless the rest of the world, but they didn’t always cooperate. God, however, is not easily dissuaded from His plans and frequently comes up with the most inventive ways of continuing to push the story forward, even when things seem to have stopped completely. 

The Judges of Israel were used in powerful ways, but they were often terrible people with a total lack of impulse control. They were arrogant and violent and stubborn and rebellious. And the people followed their leaders well. 

In the end, the Israelites looked an awful lot like their Canaanite neighbours. 

What was God to do? This people He meant to make into a special nation insisted on being like the motley crowd around them. So God went and found someone else. 

Her name was Ruth, and she was a Moabite. She married a Jewish man who had moved to Moab with his parents and brother because of a famine in their homeland. But then tragedy struck, all the men in the family died, leaving three widows behind. Ruth, her Moabite sister-in-law, Orpah, and her Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi. 

These two Moabite women had never encountered the, uh, special blessing that is a Jewish widow. “I’m going to change my name to ‘Bitter,’ because that’s exactly how I feel. God has been bitter to me; I’m going to be bitter to everyone else.”

For some reason, Ruth decided to stick it out with this woman. Orpah chose to stay behind while Ruth took Naomi (a.k.a., “Bitter Woman”) back to Israel. What a fun trip that must have been! 

Now, in those days, wealthy landowners often left portions of their fields unharvested so that widows and other needy people could pick the grain and have some food without having to beg. It was while Ruth was availing herself of this local custom that she caught the eye of a man named Boaz (who also happened to be a relative of Naomi’s). 

Boaz liked what he saw and asked his workers to be a little extra sloppy when picking the fields so that Ruth wouldn’t have to work too hard to find food. Naomi told Ruth, “I think he’s warm for your form” (that’s a paraphrase you won’t even read in THE MESSAGE). Ruth made a forward pass that Boaz caught, and they all lived happily ever after. 

Oh, and it turns out that bitter turns sweet awfully fast when there’s a grandchild involved! 

Dear Lord, nothing can defeat Your gracious and redemptive purposes. In spite of the frequently profound rebellion of Your people, You continue to unfold Your Story in creative and unexpected ways. You often display the riches of Your grace in ways that we do not understand, and You can use adversity and turn it to good. You can turn our bitterness into joy and our despair into praise when we hold fast to You in times when we are too near-sighted to see the good that You see. I can’t control a single day, and I don’t know what lies around the next corner of my life. But You do, and You always intend my ultimate good. I ask that by Your grace I would release all bitterness and resentment and embrace a clear and robust hope in You, even though I do not know where my journey is leading me. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen

God's patience day4

 God takes His people out of Egyptian bondage, leading them through the Red Sea, through the wilderness, right up to the edge of their Promised Land. But they retreat in fear, apparently having forgotten just what God is capable of. 

God takes them through a refining disciplinary process and gives them another chance. Moses has the people renew their covenantal vows with God, and they march into the land full of confidence, not in themselves, but in the God they serve. 

Moses dies, Joshua takes over, and his first item of business is to lead the people in renewing their covenant again. He wants to make sure they don’t forget this time. The people stand and, with one voice, make a promise to love God with everything they have and to pass their faith down to their children. 

A promise that lasts one generation. 

Joshua dies, and we read one of the saddest verses in the whole Bible, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2.10) 

The people failed to pass the baton of faith to their children, and it set in motion this depressing chain of events we read about in the book of Judges. 

In some ways, this book should never have been written. If the people had simply done what they promised to do, there would have been no rebellion, no punishment, no crying out to God, no need for deliverance. There would have been no Judges. But they didn’t keep their promise, so there were and there it is. 

And here’s the really frustrating part. Every time the people survived their punishment and were delivered by God’s appointed judge, they had the opportunity to break the cycle. There was a time of peace that usually followed deliverance. In that time of peace, they had the chance to teach their children, to help their kids avoid making the same mistakes they made. 

Do they learn their lesson? No, they do not. If only they’d gone back to the vows of the covenant they had made under Moses and Joshua, but they did not love God properly, and they did not teach their children. 

Now we find ourselves living in a post-Christian era. We lament the decay of culture, wondering how things could have gotten so far off-track. But with each generational turning, we are given the same opportunity. We can bemoan the loss of Judeo-Christian ethics and values, or we can make a commitment to once again love God with everything,  our heart, soul, mind and strength, and pass this commitment down to the next generation.

Lord God, as I look back on the stories of Your patience, guidance and many deliverances of Your people, and as I consider the similar story of Your works and ways in my life, I realise that You have put me in a position of great privilege and perspective. You have given me the opportunity to consider and learn from Your many interactions in human history, and You have also given me a personal history of Your many gracious dealings in my own journey. I pray that I would not squander these great gifts, but that I would impart what You have taught me to others so that I would invest in their lives and pass this on to the next generation. I do not want to waste the many blessings You have given me by keeping them to myself. May I pass them on so that Your gracious work in me would be a blessing to others.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

God's patience day3

 It is probably a safe bet to say that everyone has prayed at some point in time. Even people who say they don’t believe in God report praying on occasion. Maybe it’s like a rabbit’s foot or some other good luck charm, we pray “just in case.” 

It is probably an equally safe bet to say that anyone who has prayed has spent some time wondering if anyone’s really listening. Is prayer just good, positive self-talk? Is it just a psychological exercise? Or does it really fall into the realm of communication between two distinct persons? 

The 30,000-foot perspective of Judges reminds that there is a God, and He does actually hear us when we call out to Him. He sometimes even initiates conversations. 

God listens to individuals, sharing a back-and-forth dialogue with a woman like Deborah, a nobody like Gideon and a failure like Samson. 

God listens to groups and nations, too. And, this is huge, He doesn’t require a lot of pageantry and hoopla first. We don’t have to stand on chairs and wave our arms to get His attention. No smoke signals or dragon slaying required, just a simple, earnest voice crying out to the God of the universe is all it takes to gain His attention. 

God listens and sends a deliverer to help His people when they get into trouble, even when it’s trouble they’ve brought on themselves by not listening to Him in the first place. 

It makes one wonder. We have the privilege of speaking with the greatest, most powerful and most generous Being in the universe. And how exactly do we use that privilege? To ask Him to just do this for us or just do that for us, “God, we’re just wondering if You could just help our team just win this one game tonight. If You would just help my friend just get this job … gee, that’d be just swell.” 

Why in the world aren’t we asking Him to help us figure out a long-term solution to end poverty or disease, to provide drinkable water for people in Africa or end hunger in our own urban areas? Do we really value the privilege we’ve been given to speak with a God who hears us when we cry out to Him and has proven Himself willing to respond? 

When the people of Israel called out to Him, His response was to send a deliverer. The people He used then weren’t exactly pillars of strength. Some of them might qualify for honourable mention, but most of them are of the up-and-down, hit-and-miss variety. Their example should point us to the thing we should value most from our reading of Judges, the once-for-all Deliverer (with a capital “D”) who would come hundreds of years later. 

We, by virtue of the time in which we were born, are privileged to live under the leadership of that Deliverer, that Judge who also serves as our greatest Advocate and Defender. The Deliverer to whom we pray is now the One through whom we pray, by whom we pray. 

Lord Jesus, You are my Hope and Deliverer. In spite of my folly and waywardness, You listen to my prayers and work in ways that are too marvellous for me to understand. I give thanks that You really care, and though I live in a broken world of sin, disease and death, I know that nothing can finally separate me from Your love. I give thanks for the privilege of prayer and for the truth that You are my Mediator and Advocate. In spite of the uncertainties of this life, You will never leave or abandon me. You have set me free from the bondage of sin and death, and You have graciously chosen me to accomplish something worthwhile in this life that will endure forever. May I freely lay hold of the benefits of prayer and seek Your wisdom and power amid the adversities and uncertainties of this life. 

In Your holy name, Amen 

God's patience day2

If you were to just sit down and read the book of Judges, you might find yourself getting so caught up in these fascinating individual vignettes that you would lose sight of the bigger picture. There are so many wonderful characters here, Deborah, Othniel, Shamgar. We relish the quirky details of Ehud stabbing the fat king Eglon, Samson’s disgrace at the hands of Delilah, Gideon’s torch-bearing, trumpet-blowing army of misfits, Jephthah’s rash vow.

But we cannot allow ourselves to get so involved in their stories that we end up thinking that the book is simply a cautionary tale about what happens to people when they divorce themselves from an absolute Source of absolute truth and simply do whatever is right in their own eyes. As valid as that point may be, the book is about much more than that.

From a distance, we can see a different pattern emerge. We are reminded that the Bible is not written to tell us the stories of the people of God. Rather, the Bible is written primarily to tell us the story of the God of the people. With that lens firmly in place, we get a better view of this book and can see two things about God that we would do well to remember.

First, God is remarkably patient. He lets the Israelites grow complacent and lax in their devotion. He allows them to be openly rebellious. He allows them to suffer the consequences and painful sting of His discipline. He hears them cry out to Him in great remorse. He sends them a deliverer and restores peace to the land.

Then He allows them to do the whole thing over again. And again. Each time, He listens as they say, “We’ll never do it again, God. This time we’ve learned our lesson, and this time we mean it.”

He could have wiped them off the map. He could have started over with some other nation. He could have done any number of things, but He chose to be patient, to restrain Himself and give them chance after chance. He never says, “I told you so.” He never tells them, “This is the fourth time we’ve done this.” His patience is astonishing, and it’s a good thing.

But the other side of that coin is that if we are to celebrate the amazing patience of God appropriately, then we must also acknowledge the fact that, clearly, patience has its limits. God is not a doormat here. He doesn’t operate like an abused woman who keeps taking back her husband just because he promises not to do it again this time.

God’s patience has a limit. He gives his people chance after chance after chance, but eventually He draws a line in the sand and says, “This far and no farther.” He is not opposed to discipline, even painful discipline. Just like any good parent, God establishes boundaries and consequences.

Mennonites have a saying: “We are living in the time of God’s patience.” We are wise to remember that, to thank Him for His patience and celebrate it. But we are also wise to remember that His patience has a limit, and one day judgment will come.

 

Lord God, You have progressively revealed Your person, powers and perfections through the course of Your dealings with people in the pages of Scripture. It is through Your revelation that I can see Your glorious attributes of holiness, love, mercy and justice. I find with the passing of time that Your patience with Your people is astonishing. I give thanks for Your forbearance and kindness and for Your willingness to endure my waywardness. But at the same time, I ask that I would not foolishly test the limits of Your patience and presume on Your grace. You discipline me when I stray too far, and I desire to take the better course of staying near rather than straying far. I know that the way of obedience is life-giving and that the way of disobedience is death-dealing.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

God's patience day1

 JUDGES

 

God had gone to great lengths to get His people into this land. He certainly took them on the scenic route, but they had finally arrived. They took possession of the land and now it was time to get on with the rest of God’s promise, the part about being a blessing to all the nations around them.

But they still had a lot of growing up to do.

When their fearless leader, Joshua, was about to die, he made the people promise that they’d be good.

“We promise!”

“Cross your hearts and hope to die?”

“Cross our hearts and hope to die, stick a needle in our eye!”

But the people couldn’t keep their promise. They never could. After Joshua and his generation died, the people started staying out too late, partying with the neighbours kids, praying to the neighbour’s gods.

Thus began one of the most interesting and boring parts of the Bible story, the period of the Judges. Yes, interesting and boring, simultaneously. Kind of like college was for most of us, and probably for a lot of the same reasons.

See, there were lots of colourful characters during the period of the Judges, and they specialised in doing strange things. There were obese kings and seductive women. There were feats of strength and barbaric acts. Some people had low self-esteem, others’ self-esteem was off the charts and too high for their own good.

It was a crazy time, and you never knew what was going to happen.

Except you knew exactly what was going to happen.

It’s the same thing over and over and over. It always starts well enough. The land is at peace, and the nation is growing in wealth and influence. But then they get all fat and sassy and start flirting with other gods. YHWH is a highly differentiated person, so He’s not easily threatened, but He does consider Himself a jealous God. He’ll let Israel go only so far with the philandering. When they cross the line, He’s not afraid to let ’em have it.

Peace. Rebellion. Painful (and sometimes embarrassing) correction in the form of an outside oppressor. Remorse. Crying out to God. The emergence of a new leader to overthrow the oppressor. Back to peace.

Lather, rinse, repeat for 400 years, and you get the period of the Judges.

 

Father, when I read the book of Judges I see that it is a series of warnings that were written for our instruction. Through it, You teach the awful monotony and destructiveness of rebellion and disobedience, and You warn me that to veer off the way of trust and obedience is to take a path that leads to destruction and death. I see in the stories of Judges that it is difficult to hold fast to You when times are relatively easy and peaceful. In such times, I lose the cutting edge of gratitude and dependence and I hope in the things of this world rather than what You tell me to value. The cycles of sin are so predictable and relentless, and when I get caught in this vortex, I lose my peace. By the power of Your Spirit, I pray that I would hold fast to You, not only in times of adversity, but also in times of ease.

In Jesus’s name, Amen