Month: May 2016

If you can’t beat’em, join’em

So many times in my life I have used the circumstances of my situation and environment to justify what I knew to be a wrong behavior. To this very day I still do it, and I still hear others do it. It is weird but also amazing what you hear and observe when you admit to yourself that you do the same thing. I know a lot of people who conform, even pastors, yet they would never admit it because they know it’s wrong to do so, but even they have been socialized. I have used, and am willing to assert that you have used (if you stand in that mirror and are completely honest with yourself) some of these justifying statements.  Number one- “But everybody is doing it.” Number two, “If you can’t beat’em, join’em.” Number three, “That was then, this is now.” Number four, “Times change, people change.” Number five, “These things we have today weren’t even made in the times of Jesus.” I am certain that there are many variations of these phrases, but they all lead to the same principal. We make excuses galore to be content in our earthly disobedience.

There are many examples of disobedience in the Holy Bible. Everyone would be right in saying that most all of what we have today was not present in the times of Jesus. However, everyone would be incorrect to say that the relevance of the principles Jesus taught are not the same, and not applicable to our lives today. First remember that Christ created everything, and then that he knows everything. If you believe that then the stories that He spoke were spoken to you! Let’s take the story of Elimelech.

The example that Elimelech left for his sons is that it is okay to try to solve all your problems on your own and not take the word of God seriously. Elimelech lived and was raising a family during a time of famine. He heard there was plenty of food and life in Moab. So he decides to move his family. The issue here is that the bible mentions no instance of prayer, or divine guidance. He left God and God’s people to go to the pagan city filled with food, but also filled with sin. The Moabites worshiped hundreds of Gods. They sacrificed their own children to these Gods. He marched his family of faith into the den of vipers. Upon arriving into the land of sin, Elimelech dies.  In those times that meant the son’s, particularly the eldest, are now the head of the family. Do they exercise faith and obedience to God and return to their people, the chosen people of God? Nope

Key Verse

Ruth 1

4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

They married women from Moab. Now, just in case we need some reminders about this type of activity, let’s look at the word of God and try to see if we can clearly get God’s take on this activity.

Deuteronomy 7

7 When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2 And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

That seems pretty clear to me. Remember that this is the same God we serve today. God HATES SIN!!! I believe we have become a people who live according to our flawed definition of love. God’s love is righteous, and people will be held accountable. Here, these nations that God is calling for complete destruction of are nations who chose to live in sin, and not under His love.

Genesis 6

6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

I can hear people now, wait Mike, I don’t understand what Genesis 6 has to do with this. Awesome, let me explain. Re-read it, but before you do, think about how this all came to be. Cain killed Able. Able’s heart was true, and God was well pleased with him. Cain was selfish, and thought more of himself than he did God. His heart was not true; and when God was displeased with the behavior, Cain became overwrought with envy, and hate. Instead of taking the correction and doing better next time, he lashed out and murdered his brother. God banished Cain from the family. He sent him out into the world to be on his own. As the story unfolds, we see descendants of Seth and Cain mixing, taking husbands and wives without regard to God’s desire to remain separated from the sinful world. This mixing was not about black and white like most people would like to suggest. This was about God’s people, and worldly people. The result was that there were so many offspring from these “unequally yoked” relationships that God was hurt. The whole earth became corrupt with sin. The Bible talks about how man was so wicked that he corrupted even the dirt of the earth. And so God needed to destroy all of it. I praise God for Noah, and that in spite of what society was telling him, in spite of how the people of his time were making fun of him and persecuting him, in spite of what everyone was doing, and, praise God, in spite of all the hardships of preaching an unwelcome word, giving warnings of a end of time revelation, Noah NEVER said, “If you can’t beat’em join’em!” No, he remained faithful to the end. All of that destruction, because the line of Seth mixed unequally with the line of Cain.

Even though the Israelites knew this story, we see the sons of Elimelech thinking and acting just like their dad. They took wives from the pagan group of idolaters, murderers, and all-together immoral people. Not only did they take wives, but they pitched their tents and squatted for ten years.

Charles Spurgeon commented,  “Which was about ten years too long. Probably they did not intend to remain so long when they went there, they only meant to be in Moab for a little while, just as Christian people, when they fall into worldly conformity, only purpose to do it once, “just for the sake of the girls, to bring them out a little.” But it happens to them as it is written here: “and they dwelled there about ten years.”

Adam Clark comments,

“The Targum very properly observes, that they transgressed the decree of the word of the Lord, and took to themselves strange women.”

For those who do not know, the Targum (pictured above, and no it is not the original) is a collection of commentaries from the first century. It is not the bible, but it is interpretations as Rabbis read Hebrew and taught and preached in Aramaic. So they needed to explain a lot. So Clark used the Targum to show that the boys were acting outside the will of God in their marriages here. Some believe that the wives converted to Judaism before they married, otherwise known as “proselyte”. Again, you cannot, if you want to be an obedient child of God, marry a non-believer. Many non-Christian religions today require conversion, if they do not outright forbid the marriage. Unfortunately, the Christian Church, with only a few denominations withstanding, don’t care who they marry. They will marry believers, non-believers, same gender marriages, all in the name of man’s own flawed definition of “Love”. A believer in the Christian faith should never even date a non-believer. What comes first is witnessing and bringing that person to the cross. Since Christ is the head of our home, the man and the woman should both be of Christ in order for Christ to be the head of the house. It is the number one reason for divorce. I do blame the American Church’s decline of this standard for the inflation of divorce, which has been high for a long time, not just recently. Even in the 50’s when Dr. J. Vernon McGee preached, he spoke of divorce rates of 50%. So I tend to agree with the likes of Clark and Spurgeon, and disagree with the likes of Coke and Gill on this. I do not believe they converted but that the men lived in the moment and turned their backs to God. The boys spent no energy even trying to be obedient.

In the first chapter of Ruth we saw the leader of the home make some bad choices that cost him, but also his lineage. The boys followed in the dad’s footsteps and they reaped the same consequence. Why did it happen ten years later; I have no idea. But it really doesn’t matter, does it? It was all according to God’s plan. And the story is told so that we can see that God is not weak, He is not confused. We are weak and we are confused. The bible is the living word of God and it is here for us to not only study, but to follow. It is our guide.

On the marriage Ellicott comments, “This seems to have been after the father’s death. The fault of settling on a heathen soil begun by the father is carried on by the sons in marrying heathen women, for such we cannot doubt they must have been in the first instance. The Targum (or ancient Chaldee paraphrase) says: “They transgressed against the decree of the Word of the Lord, and took to themselves strange wives.” This act was to incur a further risk of being involved in idolatry, as King Solomon found”

It is my belief that not a single one of us is perfect. We will ALL fall short. We will ALL violate God’s will for us; we will ALL be disobedient every day. That is not in question. What is in question is, “What are you going to do about it?” Are you going to make some changes in your life? Remember that when we become believers we should behave differently than the world. We are to be a peculiar people. Or, are you going to say well society says it’s okay, so it must be. No matter how hard it is, we never join them. No matter how many magazines say that the spaghetti strap and thong bikinis are good, no matter how many GQ magazines say that peanut shell speedos are the trend, no Christian should ever be exposing that much of their body. We are to be a modest people. In America sex sells! That’s the truth. No Christian should dress like they are selling their sexuality. I see people come to church dressed like that, let alone anywhere else in the world. Some say, well it makes me feel good to have all my flesh hanging out, or to go to church or even church functions, in front of children looking like an extra from Saturday Night Fever. And at the end of the day, our relationship with God is not about us feeling good. These boys, should there not have been any God Jehovah fearing women in Moab, should have lived a peculiar life and drawn people to God through their conduct. That didn’t happen. There is no reverence for God in selfish and idolatrous behavior. In a church house you should be screaming “PRAISE GOD”, not “LOOK AT ME”! We need churches who still preach the truth. And if people pick up and go to Moab, well, that’s between them and God. A friend of the world is an enemy of God. Again, I believe God is serious; I don’t think He is kidding. What are you conforming to? What behaviors are you making excuses for because they are just too enjoyable to give up? It is hard, but it is true. When does the God fearing hero stand up and say that enough is enough? When do we say, “I will NOT conform!” It all starts with that look in the mirror.

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

Elimelech said, “I got this!”

The book of Ruth, a wonderful love story. The power of love between a man and a woman right there in the word of God. Did you know that there are some who argue that the book of Ruth should not be in the bible. It is an opinion of a few that the only reason the Book of Ruth is in the scriptures is to show a lineage to King David, then of course to Christ Jesus. If you read the book of Ruth, and the only thing you take away from it is a love story, then you are reading with a shallow eye. May I suggest prayer before your reading…as well as your attention here as I share some wonderful information over the next few articles.

ELIMELECH- THE APOSTATE

KEY VERSES RUTH 1:1-3

1Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 3 Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.

The first thing that we should notice is that the beginning of the story of Ruth is set in a time when there was no king. The judges ruled. Judges ruled after Joshua (about 1376 or 1200 BC) to King Saul (somewhere right around 1050BC). This is important because the times of Judges was always a period where the tribes of Isreal were experiencing hardship. Inspired Judges would come along and relieve that hardship in their faithful service to God for an unfaithful nation. This is important because after the author tells us the time period, we also see that there was a famine in the land.

Famines were used by God for one of three reasons, usually. First, to move the people from one area to another. If we apply that here, we could say that Elimelech was being moved to Moab. There is another reason why God brought famine to the land, and that is as a consequence for the repeated disobedience of His people. It was punishment. The last reason for a famine is the spoils of war. When conquered, the armies would pilfer the resources of the land. So which one was it, did God move Elimelech to Moab, or did he go on his own because either the nation was being punished or because it was attacked and defeated, and believe me, that is an imperative question to ask. The first four words of the second sentence in verse one state that “a certain man” went to Moab. Verse one goes on to say that he went to dwell, which is to live. So if it was God’s intent that the entire nation go, why do we see here that only a certain man went. Most either believe that the famine was caused by God because of disobedience or war. There are ten major famines that God clearly used as punishments. This one is not clearly identified as one of those ten. Most indicate that because this chapter starts off with, ‘it came to pass’ that the famine was not God caused, but as a result of being invaded and pilfered. In the book of Judges we can see that in this time period the nation was attacked and defeated a few times. It is probably that this is a result of “to the victor go the spoils.”

Judges 21:25

25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

If we go back to the last verse of the book of Judges, which is the book right before Ruth, we see that we are talking about a time period where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It may be true that this was another disobedient time period. I believe it is most important to take one position away from these clues. No matter which one of these two theories you subscribe to, Elimelech was not being moved from the land by God, but rather was surveying the situation and took matters in to his own hands.

I imagine that his assessment went something like this. I have a wife and two children. There is a famine in the land. There is much in the land of Moab. I need to leave my nation, go over to that land, pitch my tent and take up residency so that I can provide for my family. At this point I would like to say that some say Elimelech was wealthy and did not want to lose his possessions. Even if you subscribe to this theory, I believe it does not change the main course, but just adds another side dish. The main course for ole Elimelech is the same main course that most of us partake in daily. That is Idolatry. Idolatry is not just worshiping idols. It is looking at the world through man centered eyes. It is moving through life making man centered decisions. It is making choices that suit you first.

Dueteronomy 23:3

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:

Zephaniah 2:8-10

8 -I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified [themselves] against their border.
9 – Therefore [as] I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, [even] the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
10 – This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified [themselves] against the people of the LORD of hosts.

The Moabites worshiped false gods. They gave up their children as human sacrifices to those gods. God Jehovah had no place for the Moabites. The bible also speaks about crushing the forehead of Moab. I think the best thing a Christian can do for his/her own spiritual growth, not salvation, but your growth in your faith, is understand that God really does have zero tolerance for disobedience. But at the same time, He has great mercy for those who understand that and live with great faith! Remember I said that in later editions on this study of Ruth. You cannot see it, but I am winking at you.

If I tell you that Elimelech left Bethlehem Judah to go to Moab, using the interpretation of the original language, it sounds something like this. ‘God my King’ left ‘the house of bread and praise’ to live in the land ‘of his father’. How does that sound. Well… notice that ‘father’ is not capitalized. Maybe we can understand God’s wrath towards Moab if we remember the story. The land of Moab is from Moab, remember him? Remember when Lot’s daughters thought they were the last people on earth after the destruction of the five cities? Remember when Lot and his family were fleeing and the wife turned and looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt for her disobedience? Remember when the two daughters conspired with each other to get Lot drunk so they could have sex with him so they could get pregnant and continue civilization? Remember the youngest had a son? Do you remember his name? It was Moab, ‘of his father’. So this is not a reference to any spirituality. It is a reference to the incestuous and sinful relationship that took place and brought in existence, Moab. So it is not like he left the land of bread and praise to go to the land of God, but more like the land of Lot, the land of immorality, the land of sin. And remember that Lot made a bad choice when given the choice of two lands to live in by Abraham. Lot chose the land of the world, the land of sin. As a result, Abraham pled with God not to destroy the city if he found just one righteous man there? Lot, and his family, was not saved because of his righteousness, he, and his family, was saved because of Abraham’s righteousness, and God’s love for Abraham.

The land of bread! Has it occurred to you yet that in the midst of a famine, ‘the land of bread’ might be a place where you would want to stay? I draw this lesson to a close by relating Elimelech’s actions to ours. He was face with a horrible circumstance. If you are a real leader, man or woman, you do not want to see people under your leadership suffer. You just don’t want that. Elimelech looked at the situation and took matters into his own hands. What he did was left the land of bread. He left his nation. He left the house of God. He turned his back on God and said, “I got this”. The fact that his name means ‘God my King’ indicates to us that he was a follower. We are not to believe that he was an atheist, or in any other way a non-believer. He knew God. In his hour of trouble, he turned his back on God, said, “I have had enough of this”, and left the house of God. He led his family out of the house of God, and into the world of sin. He gave up his faith. When we look up other men in the bible, we see a story about their life. We see how their last days went before they died. Here, we just see he died. It was quick, with no explanation. We see nothing about mourning, or how people gathered, where the tomb is, or anything. There is just this cold quick abruptness to Elimelech’s death. Commentator Adam Clarke states that he believes the death occurred shortly after their arrival to Moab.

Matthew Henry

Elimelech’s care to provide for his family, was not to be blamed; but his removal into the country of Moab could not be justified. And the removal ended in the wasting of his family. It is folly to think of escaping that cross, which, being laid in our way, we ought to take up. Changing our place seldom is mending it. Those who bring young people into bad acquaintance, and take them out of the way of public ordinances, thought they may think them well-principled, and armed against temptation, know not what will be the end. It does not appear that the women the sons of Elimelech married, were proselyted to the Jewish religion. Earthly trials or enjoyments are of short continuance. Death continually removes those of every age and situation, and mars all our outward comforts: we cannot too strongly prefer those advantages which shall last for ever.

How is the condition of your faith? Are you like me and Elimelech? I certainly admit that there are times when I try to ‘take the bull by the horns’ instead of leaving my cares at the foot of the cross. I freely admit that there are times when the world looks so good to me. I am so tempted by the pleasurable sins of the flesh. I praise God for using Elimelech’s apostacy to teach me about keeping the faith and leading my family in the way God wants, not the way I want. To the men reading this, from Adam not stopping Eve from partaking in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from Abraham not stopping Sarah from introducing Hagar to bear the child she thought God was lying about, From Abraham knowing better to not lie about his marriage to Sarah to the Pharaoh, and the same for Isaac lying to King Abimelech, and Jacob lying to his father, from Moses and Aaron not being obedient to God, all the way to me and you not being the spiritual leaders that God intended us ALL to be, let the first three verses of this ‘love story’ be a testimony to how we are to be patient and to wait on the LORD. Do we really think that God would not provide for His people in the land of bread? We must have deeper faith that this. We must think about our choices with spiritual consideration, not earthly and human consideration. It is not power that God gives unto men. Men have to realize that God is the power. It is responsibility and accountability that God gives to men. Men operate under the authority of God, not your own power and authority and thus God must always come first.

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!