Leviticus 19:9-10

9 ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 ‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.

 

What startling thing it would be today if a farmer somewhere instructed his workers, “Don’t pick everything.  Leave a bit behind for any homeless transients or our local poor neighbors who might need to come by and pick some for themselves.”   I suppose he’d be seen as very foolish in our efficiency-at-all-costs, harvest-every-last-pea type of thinking today.  “He’ll be out of business in a year, running a farm like that!” they might say.  But what if this generous (naïve is the word that would be most used of him, I think) farmer had a different goal than simply making as much money as he could off of his land, or of strictly limiting its produce to only he, his family, and whomever could afford to buy his fruit?  What if his goal were also to be known as a generous, kindhearted, caring man who refused to be a part of an economic or political system where men, women, and children routinely went to bed as hungry as they were when they woke up that morning?  What if he insisted on being a part of a solution to the problem—even if it cost him a few beans or apples at the end of the day?  What if he actually believed that they way he treated those with less would play a part in introducing them to the Creator who’d made the trees and plants and land?

The new nation, Israel, was to be different.  It was to have a different religion, a different culture, a different calendar, than all the nations around it.  And it was to be different kind of a place to travel through, too.  Can you imagine the report that tradesman, merchants, and laborers might bring back to their homes after passing through this amazing land of generous, kindhearted citizens?  “No one goes hungry in Israel.  No one is turned away.  As a matter of fact, it’s a LAW in their land—all the farmers are to leave some of their crop in the filed for anyone passing by who is in need of a meal.”   And note this: God Himself is the defender of the poor and the stranger when it comes to how His people treat them.  Hold back from the poor, and you’re messing with God.  Mistreat the stranger, you’re mistreating God.  In these matters, the Lord is on the side of those who don’t have when those that have withhold what they have to maximize their profits.  Note also, it’s a law, yes, but not one easily enforced.  Who knows how much produce left in the field truly is a reflection of obedience, and how much is merely a nod to this inconvenient law?  Who can say how many apples left on a tree make one generous and obedient to the Lord’s law, and how many testify to one’s hypocritical, give-as-little-as-necessary lifestyle?  As far as I can see, only two people really know when enough is enough in this issue of generosity and giving, and when what’s given is not enough:  The believer and God.  It’s a matter between the two of them alone.

We were poor, but when Christ found us we became rich in Him.  We were away from God, estranged and wandering through life.  When He found us, we were adopted and taken into His family, the Church, and shown to a place at His table.  Dare we close the door of our hearts, and our wallets, to those who remain lost and poor?   

Leviticus 19:5-8

 5 ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. 6 ‘It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. 7 ‘So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted. 8 ‘Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people. 

The sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD was a burnt (animal) sacrifice offered by the worshipper to the Lord in celebration of the fellowship and atonement (the peace) that was enjoyed by the worshipper (See Lev 3:1-17).  The sacrifice itself did not achieve this fellowship, but was a celebration of it, offered completely by the free will of the worshipper.  But the sacrifice was not to be taken lightly:  the worshiper was not to offer a large, impressive animal and then live on the leftovers for the rest of the week!  Instead, he and his family and friends would enjoy the meals that that sacrifice provided, but dispose of the leftovers after three days.  To neglect or “blow off” such a treasure as the restoration between the believer and God was a terrible crime, a public travesty, and such a person would be cut off from his people—in other words, the community would break off peaceful, harmonious relations with the person.  He would lose the community peace that was the privilege of God’s people. The reason for the rule concerning how long the food could be eaten was tied to the worshipper’s commitment to treat the Lord as holy, and the treat his restoration and fellowship with the Lord as a very precious thing.

For the Christian, Jesus Christ Himself as become our sacrifice of peace, and was raised on the third day as a result and sign of God’s acceptance of the sacrificial death of His Son for sinners (Col 1:20, Eph 2:14, Rom 4:25).  If the ancient Israelites were strictly commanded to treat their peace offering to the Lord with the utmost sincerity and care, how much more should we spend our lives in enraptured in wonder and gratitude that we now enjoy restoration and peace with our God, solely on the basis of our eternal Peace Offering, Jesus Christ?  And how might our fellowship with other believer’s be strengthened and blessed as we keep our focus on reconciliation given to us by the cross?  Also, how might our fellowship be injured and sullied by our neglect to continually acknowledge and live in celebration of this restored peace with God?

 

Leviticus 19:1-4

  1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. 3 ‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the LORD your God. 4 ‘Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

 

Well, what would being holy, showing deep respect for their parents, keeping the Sabbath, and avoiding idolatry have to do with one another as an ancient Jew sought to live a faithful life before God?  Are there any principles that Christians today can glean from these verses?

Why would the LORD tell the Israelites to reverence their parents?  Who exactly should do the “reverencing”?  Adults?  Teens? Little ones?  Well, first of all, the command is given to the sons of Israel, a term used to describe the entire community—so no one’s off the hook!  To reverence means “to regard somebody or something with deep respect.”  There was to be a lifelong commitment to love and respect of parents.  Just think of what life in the world would be like today if, along with parents worthy of such respect, this “reverencing” were a community value in our land!  Without ignoring the fact that there are some very inept, uncaring parents in the world, hasn’t most of the trouble we’ve ever gotten ourselves into come about from actions that our parents would have forbid?  But even more poignantly, the holiness of a believer’s life before the LORD God was tied into, perhaps demonstrated in, a commitment to honor, love, and obey parents.  It was also demonstrated in the believer’s commitment to keep the Sabbaths of the Lord.  The Sabbath (Saturday) is the day of rest for Judaism.  Its significance to the ancient Israelites was that on one day of the week they would not work—no plowing, sowing, reaping, cooking, roof-fixing, etc.  On that day they would spend time with their families, eat good food, and worship.  This day was a day of trust, for by not working, a Jews demonstrated his trust in the LORD to keep His promises to bless and provide for the families of Israel.  It celebrated past acts of deliverance, such as the great Passover itself, the present goodness of God, and the confident expectation of God’s continued blessing.  Finally, with the Jewish God being so different from the surrounding gods of Canaan, who were represented by material idols and shrines—it was important that the Jews never find themselves tolerating the worship of a mere representative image of a god.  They were not to create such images (Thousands of these idols, most of them very portable, only inches in size, have been uncovered in the ruins of Canaanite and Philistine cities today by archeologists).  They were not to turn to them—or, seek assistance, answers, or satisfaction from any mere idea of god, but only from a life of faith in the true God Himself, the LORD.

So what might this passage say to Christian today?  For starters, it makes a solid tie between our view of God, and our families (particularly our parents), and the importance of faith in the beliefs and practice of the family.  Our God is interested in the details—how we worship, how we think, how we treat parents, and where we look for answers in life.  Do we worship Him as He has revealed Himself to us in His word, or do we worship our own, personalized idea of Him?  An idol is anything that we give our greatest degree of attention and regard to in the expectation of reward or satisfaction in life.  Who, or what, gets your attention?

 

Welcome!

Have you ever thought of opening up your heart and home to children who need a safe place to live in temporary or permanent foster care?  There’s plenty of need, flexibility, support, and blessing for those who make the effort.  If you’re interested in some more information about foster care please get in touch with me!  Ken

Exodus 40:34-38

 34Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

 

When the Tabernacle (an elaborate tent where God would meet with His people) of Israel was finally completed, the Lord came and filled it.  This glory was observable to the nation in the form of a cloud which rested on it by day and a fire by night.  Thus, Israel needed no further confirmation of the Lord’s presence than to simply look toward the Tabernacle and see the Lord’s cloud or His fire.  And when the cloud or fire moved off of the Tabernacle, God’s people knew it was time to break camp and move on, in whichever direction Lord indicated.  They didn’t need compasses or maps; they simply followed wherever the Lord led them.  We often think of Israel has having been lost in the Wilderness, but—but according to this text, the nation was never really lost, physically speaking.  They were simply following God, despite outward appearances to the surrounding peoples of the land.

For Christians today, our direction through the wilderness of this life is to come from God, as He reveals Himself to us in His word, the Bible, and through His indwelling presence in the soul—His Holy Spirit.  Has God communicated to you that you are to remain in a place or situation, worshiping Him and participating in the community around you?  You may feel a strong desire for other places, new experiences and challenges, and yet the Lord would have you stay where you are at, trusting Him and learning whatever lessons He has for you.  Or, perhaps He is showing you that it is time to move out in a new direction, participating in a new ministry, or taking on a new challenge to your faith.  This can be quite a test, for we can become very comfortable, and then complacent—even in a wilderness!  Whether we stay or go, pack up or dig in, our leading is to come from God.  We are to be His people looking toward our Tabernacle, the place where God meets with us.  The gospel of John tell us that Jesus Christ came to “dwell” (literally tabernacle) among us (John 1:14).  If we look to Him, the God-man who bears our sins and provides us access to our Holy Father, we will receive the guidance and direction we need for the wilderness journey we’re all on.  We must ask the Lord for guidance, and then keep our eyes on our Tabernacle, Jesus Christ.

Exodus 32:1-6

¹Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”  ²Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” ³Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.  ⁴He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” ⁵Now when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” ⁶So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

 

For many years, the mental picture of ancient Israelites dancing around a golden calf was about all I knew of this story—a picture taken more from an old Hollywood movie than the Bible itself!  But if we look a bit more closely, we can discern some very applicable truths about the components of a false religion, and how people are tempted in the same way today to worship their own types of idols.

First, we can see that when the people of God practice false religion it is often rooted in a complaint against God.  The Israelites accused God of either forgetting or abandoning them—so they demanded a new god who would provide them with leadership and protection.  A second trait of false religion is that it is human created—Aaron did a little metal sculpting with the gold donated by the people and…Viola!, a new god for them to follow!  Third, this god was a counterfeit of their real, living, personal God, the LORD.  A counterfeit is like the real thing in appearance, but not quality. They wanted something like God, but not God Himself.  Finally, this false, little-g god was controllable by its creators.  They decided when and how it would be worshipped.  (Oddly enough, in a way that provided them with the opportunity to have a party!) 

Here is a telling picture of what happens when the redeemed people of God decide to start over in their religion and create a god more to their own liking—even if they still call their creation “the LORD” and ascribe to it their deliverance.  It is when we are disappointed, bored, or distrustful of God that we find ourselves tempted to create, and then worship something else—as if we were still worshiping and following the LORD God.  Money, houses, family, jobs, education, status, sex, substances…you name it—we make it a god and religion when we give it the loyalty, honor, and investment of our time and resources that rightfully belong to the LORD God who saved us.  As we journey through this wilderness of the world, on our way to an eternal home with God, let’s beware of creating, and then giving loyalty to, the “little gods” that would draw us away from an obedient, patient loyalty to the One who saved us from the slavery of sin.

Father, give us the gift of patience and obedience today.  Form us into people of stubborn loyalty and obedience to You alone.

 

 

 

What kind of old man do you want to be…?

Here’s the list from Gordon MacDonald’s book “The Life God Blesses.” I thought it was great!  We are told to spend so much time, energy, and money planning for our elder years.  How much time do we spend building the character qualities that we’d like to have by the time we reach them?  I’ve included many quotes from the book, and some comments of my own.
The kind of old man I want to be…
…is full of gratitude. “All of them are appreciative. Their conversation, their correspondence, and their responses to events are all marked by appreciation.
…is enthusiastically interested in the accomplishments of the younger generation. “They take delight in what they see their younger comrades able to accomplish.” Ouch!  Envy and criticism be gone!
…keeps his mind sharp and agile. “Unlike so many others, they have not stopped thinking, not ceased grasping for new ideas.”
…thinks in macro terms. “They look at life from the largest point of view, and they resist panic when sudden events grab the headlines and younger people are sure that the end of theme has arrived.”
…never retires. “They are called to the notion that life and vitality are in the act of adding value to the generations.”
…still loves his wife, deeply and romantically. “When they speak of their wives , they speak in noble tones, and each man does nothing but heap praise and appreciation on the one with whom he’s walked through the majority of life.”
…does not try to hold on to institutional power. “They do not try to control (or maintain control of) people.” (Italics mine.)  It is surprising to me to see the absence of any real strategic thinking concerning the transfer of leadership in churches, and the resultant panic when suddenly faced with the need to find a new pastor, or fill a leadership position in the ministry.  I hope as I reach my sunset years of life that I spend increasing amounts of time and energy simply hanging out with younger men and their families, encouraging them to stay strong in their faith and loyal in their commitments.  I hope I graciously and optimistically hand the reins of leadership to a younger man, rather than having those reins taken from my hands by others, or time itself.  I hope that my stepping down from a ministry position is not a cause of instability or panic for my church, but a gracious, joyful event following a lifetime of “giving away” ministry to the up and coming generation.
…knows how to pray, “…they have come to realize that there are no more vital moments than those in which they are in close contact with God.”  Wow!  Do we really plan to become more committed to prayer as we age, or simply assume we’re fine now, or will naturally increase in that area?
What a list! Let me ask you this….What kind of old man, or old woman, to you want to be?  Is there anything you’d add to the list?  Let me know your thoughts!
Ken

Exodus 13:21-22

   The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

 

As the nation of Israel entered into the wilderness in their escape from Egypt, they were not without guidance.  The LORD Himself provided them with the most amazing roadmap ever; a cloud to guide them by day and a pillar of fire by night.  Think of it!  There would never be a doubt as to the direction of God’s will.  They didn’t need to hesitate about which direction they were to be heading—there was a pillar of cloud right before their eyes directing them, providing them a constant source of guidance.

When we Christians are delivered from sin by the blood of Christ we then enter into a type of spiritual journey.  The rest of our earthly lives become a wilderness experience as we travel along, freed from sin’s slavery, promised a land beyond, and yet left to travel through the challenging, dangerous wilderness of this world.  It is here that we learn to trust in the Lord, and simply obey His direction.  God used ordinary elements—a cloud and fire, in an extraordinary way, to provide a nation with direction.  In the same way, our decisions in life are now to be made in accordance with the “cloud” and “fire” of His word.  We’re to obey the Bible, as taught to us and applied to our lives and specific circumstances by the Holy Spirit, as we make our way through this life.  And just as the Lord did not take away the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night, so He will never take away His Spirit from us, or fail to speak to us in His word.  We are Christians, freed from a life of slavery to sin.  We have the Holy Spirit of God living in us and the Holy Bible to guide and direct.  Let us follow, despite the difficulties!

Father, thank you for delivering us from sin.  Please train us for the future, by making us into obedient travelers today.  Our cloud and our fire are the constant presence of Your Spirit, and the eternal wisdom of Your word.

Exodus 12:13

 ’The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

 

How bizarre the instructions that Moses gave to the Israelites!  They were to slay an unblemished male lamb and kill it at twilight.  Then they were to prepare its body for a unique, hastily eaten meal, and they were to paint its blood on the doorposts of their homes.  When the Lord came that night to execute judgment on the Egyptians, He would pass over (read, not strike) the families taking refuge in homes that had the lamb’s blood painted on the doorposts.  They were nourished for their coming journey out of slavery by the body of the lamb, and they were saved from the righteous judgment of God by the blood of that same lamb.

But given the great need of humanity for forgiveness of sin and restoration with God, perhaps Moses’ instructions were not so bizarre after all.  We’re not slaves in Egypt, but we’re slaves to sin.  God is righteous, and will therefore judge sin.  We need salvation; we need to passed over when the judgment of God visits.  We need a lamb.  Jesus is our Lamb.  We have been saved from the judgment of God for our sins by the sacrifice of His perfect, sinless blood on our behalf.  We have escaped judgment from God because God provided His own Son as our Lamb.  We gain strength for our journey through life, increasingly leaving behind the slavery of our sin, by continued fellowship with Him.  As the Israelites literally ate the body of the lamb for their strength, so we spiritually receive our Lord Jesus through the continued presence of His Spirit at work in our souls.  As they were delivered by the blood and body of an unblemished lamb, so we have been saved from judgment and given new life by the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

Perseverance in Ministry article, link works now…

I was given the opportunity of contributing an article to The Spurgeon Fellowship Journal (online). If you’re interested in looking it over, thanks!  I didn’t set up the link correctly when I initially posted this, but it should work now…
http://thespurgeonfellowship.org/feature_w09_1.htm