Tag: Worship

There is no Resting in Peace!

As I write this the recent events are that the ultimate champion and boxing legend Muhammad Ali has passed, the greatest hockey player (arguably of course) Gordie Howe has passed and over 50 people were gunned down in the bar in Florida. In between these events, many individuals all over the planet, not famous, not nationally known or recognized, experienced a loss of their own. My mind started processing thoughts about death as the loss of Ali. I saw a nation, led by our self-proclaimed Christian President, as well as leaders from around the world, ask that the dead “rest in peace”. I am certain that there were those unknown and more common people across the planet that wished the same for their lost loved ones as well.

What is it that we really know about death? Nothing for sure other than one minute you are alive, and the next second you are not. So beyond that, it comes down to a matter of faith, the belief in something unknown and unseen. For that reason, let me take a second to explain why I believe in the unknown and unseen.

For many reasons I believe there really is a God. When I look around at life, I find it impossible to believe that some explosion created all of this. I have often marveled at the care my God put into creating the human body. The fact that we create hydrochloric acid in our stomachs. This is an acid that eats through anything. Yet God created the right mix, and the right balance that we might use this in the digestion of our food. The bible says that man was made from the earth and scientists have proven that the chemical make-up of man has no ingredient that is not found in the earth, not one microbe of us can disprove that we were initially created from the earth. Please, do not even get me started on the wonders of the female body. The delicate exchange of oxygen and food that enables a life to grow inside a life still amazes me. No scientist has ever created something new out of nothing. No one has ever snapped their fingers and said let there be a doo-hickie, and then bam, there is this thing never seen before. But my God created it all. No man has ever raised a man after being three days dead! But eye witnesses to this account tell me that Jesus did. And no other faith can boast about their God being gone from the grave. Their leaders did not defeat death and the grave. These are just a few, a very few reasons why I believe in God Jehovah. That is important because it is that belief that forms my understanding of death. I chose to believe the bible regarding death, which is truly not the end of life.

In the book of Revelation, the testimony of Jesus, told by Jesus through John, we find that after our physical death there will be a search. The book of life will be searched and if your name is not in it, you will be sent to hell.

Revelation 20 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

So why wouldn’t our name be written in the book of life?

Romans 6 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So if sin is death and death keeps us from having our name in the book of life, what is sin?

James 4 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

1 John 3 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth (violates) also the law: for sin is the transgression (violation) of the law.

So if sin is the violation of God’s law, what is a violation?

Jesus testified in Revelation 21 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Jesus taught us in Mark 7 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Galations 5 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

2 Timothy 3 3 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

How do you avoid hell and overcome sin so that our names are in the book of life?

Romans 10 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Galations 2 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me

Why do I explain this to you? For as much as we all loved to watch Ali or Gordie perform in the ring or on the ice, and for as much as we love our friends and family who pass on (from the unknown everyday person to those in the national headlines as victims of crime), UNLESS they, in the last moments of their life, called on the name of Jesus and believe in God Jehovah as the one true God, THERE IS NO “resting in peace”.

As Christians we must learn that the earthly love we all want to live by is an unhealthy love because it is a love of satan, which is to say a love of lies. We must want to love people to life, not to death. Ali did not believe in God, he was a muslim. He is not resting at all. His soul will be tormented in the fires of hell forever. And if that thought disturbs you because you liked him so much here on earth, then please, stand in front of the mirror and challenge yourself against the scriptures I presented you. I am not sure of the spiritual condition of Mr. Howe, or any one of those people killed in the bar, or anyone who died. It is possible, and I pray that it is the truth, that as the last moments of life came to Ali he saw the errors of his ways and accepted Christ. It would be a shame that his testimony of such a change cannot be shared, but it would be glorious to God and just fantastic for his soul. I can only say that if they were not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, they are not in peace.

Understand that you as a Christian have a job to do. That job is not to love others to hell, but to love them to heaven.  It is our job, our very important job, to talk to as many people as possible about the love of Christ, the natural human nature of sinful man, and the need for Christ’s cleansing blood of salvation while they are still alive. We want to serve our God who served us while on this earth by not letting people die in sin. For those who say “but he is my brother” or “she is my sister, and if I try to talk about Christ they will stop loving me.” please let me remind you that Jesus’ own people murdered him for what he preached. I have no problem choosing God over my family! Some have walked away from me already. It is sad, but I am not going to lie just to maintain a relationship. I owe more to God than that. He was rejected by many. His own half-brothers and sisters did not come around until He was well into His ministry. Why is our relationship with our family more important than His? Why are our feelings more important than Christ’s? God is hurt everyday by those who curse Him, and even nicely deny him. That brings Him much sorrow. Are we more important that God?

We Christians need to get back to telling the truth, starting with more brave preachers. I know of only one who publicly came out and spoke of this matter. That does not mean he was the only one, it means I only know of one. That’s sad because hundreds and thousands should be making statements like this everyday. The murders in the bar in Florida are a tragedy, but the greater tragedy is that they were in the pit of sin in the first place! The greater tragedy is the thought that their lives were taken so suddenly that they did not get right with God before they died and they are now tormented in hell for all eternity. If I am wrong about hell, then I guess I am just wrong about hell. But if I am right about hell, then why can’t we agree that this is a bigger tragedy than just the earthly death?  A brother of mine told me, “Things are only going to get worse.” He is absolutely right, they certainly are, and the world will fall apart before God comes and puts it all back together in the perfect way for which it was intended. But that does not mean that we are to sit idly by and let wrong be wrong. When we are a saved Christian we become His agents, we become disciples. We take on the same charge that he gave to the original 12. We are to speak out against sin!

Mark 16 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Acts 1 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

We are indeed to let the light of Christ shine in us through our behavior that we might draw unbelievers to the cross. But that DOES NOT translate to helping people feel comfortable living in their sin. And if they reject you, take comfort that Christ was rejected to the cross, and you are under His care! We can start by being honest and stop lying just because people are dead. We need to speak the truth to them while they are alive, and if they reject Christ, we need to be just as truthful after their death. Maybe if we start telling the truth about dying in sin, people will start living for Christ! Those who do not have the spirit of Christ in their hearts when their hearts stop beating will not experience peace, but the torment of the fires of hell! That’s the truth!

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!

Influence is a powerful thing!

When I read the book of Ruth, I truly wonder what it was that Naomi did to win Ruth over to the LORD. What did she say, how did she conduct herself? Her influence had to be powerful. It was enough to make one sinner sad and cry about her choice to stay living in sin, and powerful enough to bring another person straight to the cross. Influence is a powerful thing! Sometimes, it is all that a Christian has. How we use it can be good or bad. So when I read this story, I wonder about what she did that was so powerful, and that I want to be that influence in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi~ You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

I believe Gandhi was talking about peace, but his words remind me that if I want to bring people to the cross, I have to model the behavior of the one who died on the cross. I have to be that person who can be the influence, not just by words, but by behavior. I believe that Ruth had to have the right combination of teaching and story telling with model behavior to have such an influence. She had to be the change she wanted to see in her daughters-in-law. Today’s Christians have to be the change we want to see in the world.

The behavior of Elimelech was no Godly model to follow, and neither was that of the sons. In fact, we see that their behavior was outside the will of God. These three men were as disobedient as could be. Not only did their behavior cause them to fall out of fellowship, but they broke their covenant with God. They paid the ultimate price for that. Elimelech was killed almost immediately upon entering into Moab, and the sons died ten years later. Some may say that their biggest offense was marrying someone outside the faith. While there were no laws against the marriages at the time, we all realize that we are not to marry non-believers. That would represent a relationship that is unequally yoked. I would suggest that they did not marry outside their faith, but rather married into the life of sin that they had come to love more than God. They turned their back on God and walked straight away from the chosen people. Again, we see these men died with no explanation. It must have been quick and with the understanding that since God was offended by the Moabites, He was not at all pleased with their behavior, Deuteronomy 23:3.

Deuteronomy 23:3 “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever,”

So here we are. Naomi’s husband- dead. The two sons- dead. All that is left are the two daughters-in-law and the mother, Naomi. Naomi has heard that God has delivered food to the land of His people back in Bethlehem-Judah, the land of bread and praise. Naomi makes the decision to return home to be with her people, God’s chosen people. Even though Naomi loved these two ladies, and even though she most likely would have loved their companionship, Naomi offers them an opportunity to leave her. This was important because following her into the house of God has to be a voluntary act. So she advises them to return back to their homes. She is now in the position to make her own choices and is making far better choices than the men in her life. She is making choices that show the fruit of her faith. She knows Orpah and Ruth are not Israelites, so if they make the decision to come to Christ, they must do so understanding that there is no obligation to do so. They need to have the free will to make the choice. This is a picture of our free will today. Christ does not make people follow Him. It is a decision that needs to be made freely and completely. But up until this moment, they do not share her faith. They are from a land of sin, a land and a people despised by her God for all their idol worshiping.

Orpah loved her mother-in-law and Naomi loved her. Noami kissed her good-bye and Orpah cried. Then Orpah kissed Naomi good-bye and returns to her people, the people of the land of great sin and idol worship. Such is the case for many today. We will see that there was something during the ten years that Naomi did to show her faith. And at this point, Orpah wants to go with Naomi, but turns back. Today we see many people who want to follow Jesus, and may even say that they believe they do follow Jesus, but they do not turn from their sin. It is always right there. Some find it so enjoyable that they just flat out refuse to follow God, and make up a ton of excuses why “Religion” isn’t for them. Some are lukewarm Christians. They proclaim Christ, yet they do not follow. They proclaim faith, but have no works generated by the spirit that is supposed to be in them. They think that is a decision for Christ, but fail to realize that Christ says this is not a decision for Him, but rather a decision for themselves. There is no middle ground, either you are a believer and enthused about that, or not. It was an “or not” for Orpah as she sadly and fatally chose to return to sin from where she came.

Charles Spurgeon~ The one would like to follow Jesus, but the price is too much to pay; so there is a kiss somewhat like that of Judas, and Orpah goes back to her people, and to her idols.

Matthew Henry~ Orpah was loth to part from her; yet she did not love her well enough to leave Moab for her sake. Thus, many have a value and affection for Christ, yet come short of salvation by him, because they will not forsake other things for him. They love him, yet leave him, because they do not love him enough, but love other things better.

Jesus the Christ~ Revelation 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

But the wife of the oldest son, Ruth, she “clave” unto Naomi.

Key Verse~ Ruth 1:16-17 “16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

This word clave, דָּ֥בְקָה, gives us a picture that is more than ‘held onto’. It is more like, ‘joined’ or ‘become one’. Ruth was not hugging, she was clinging and squeezing onto for dear life, as if to never let go, as if they were conjoined twins needing surgically removed from one another. And then Ruth gave one of the best speeches I have ever heard. It is the speech that draws out the topical question of this article. What did Ruth do, and what did she say all those years? I think to myself, I want to be that kind of Christian. I want to act and speak in that kind of way. I want to represent God to such a degree that, after spending time with another, when parting with that person comes to pass they fall to the ground and clave onto me for dear life and say, “I want Christ as the head of my life! I want to serve your God! I want to have what you have!” I often say that when I die I want to be exhausted. I want to be totally used up. It was a lot that Naomi went through during her time in Moab, but she brought a lost sinner to the cross. All that for just one person and it was glorious. I think that even though God made clear how he felt towards the Moabites, he had mercy on Ruth when she fell to the ground and begged to be brought into the people of God. When I think about this I am overcome with joy and hope that I can obtain, with plenty of prayer and obedience and hard spirit filled work, the example that Naomi was to Ruth. What an example Naomi must have been. Never giving up on the God of Israel when her husband and sons did. Talking and teaching about all that God did for his children of Israel. And then being the determined follower to the point that she would just pick-up and return after the death of her loved ones.

Adam Clark~ A more perfect surrender was never made of friendly feelings to a friend: I will not leave thee – I will follow thee: I will lodge where thou lodgest – take the same fare with which thou meetest; thy people shall be my people – I most cheerfully abandon my own country, and determine to end my days in thine. I will also henceforth have no god but thy God, and be joined with thee in worship, as I am in affection and consanguinity. I will cleave unto thee even unto death; die where thou diest; and be buried, if possible, in the same grave. This was a most extraordinary attachment, and evidently without any secular motive.

I just had lunch with a good man the other day who spoke about a sermon he gave. He asked his church, what does their conduct say about the kind of Christian they are. I asked that of myself and was disappointed in my truthful answer. I am my own worst critic, much harder on myself than others are on me. But the truth is that, compared to whatever it was that Naomi did and said, I am falling short. I can improve every day, I want to improve every day. The worst thing I could for my relationship with God is be content with where I am at this moment. The worst thing I can do is come up with excuses to try to claim Christ and claim the world at the same time. Being a lukewarm Christian is like not being a Christian at all, in the eyes of Christ. The featured picture here is my thermostat. In life on earth, 68-75 degrees is a comfortable middle of the road temperature for me. My wonderful wife affectionately calls me her Polar Bear because I would love a life in the high mountains of Alaska! However, if this thermostat was a gauge for my salvation, I would be in serious trouble! I would hope that top needle would be buried to the far, far right! I don’t want to ever be happy with where I am in my walk in Christ. There is more to learn, there is more to do. May my run to Him always be a full-out sprint. Being a Christian is not boring and it is tons of fun. I want to feel alive and excited about being redeemed. I have a thirst for my LORD, the worse thing I believe that could ever happen to me is to feel like that thirst has been quenched. May I live my whole life on earth searching to quench that thirst, yet dying a thirsty and worn out old man!

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!

 

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!

God is not out to hurt us!

Struggles! Who doesn’t have them? I have them. I have them a lot. Doesn’t it just seem like no matter what you do, it just isn’t good enough? Sometimes I feel like I am never going to please my own wife, let alone the rest of the world. Sometimes it feels like nothing I do is right, everyone wants to take a swipe at me, and sometimes I feel like God is not helping. I pray, but where is He? Every day is a new set of challenges that brings a new set of frustrations. Bills, kids, the wife, the job, the friends, and dare I say, that church folk even try to take a few licks at me too. When will the attacks stop? When will I be able to tell the truth without retaliation? The answer is never. But can I tell you that God gives us great joy in His divine lessons in His Holy word on this very subject.

I was listening to the podcast, “Thru the Bible” with Dr. J. Vernon McGee, and was motivated to do this piece on this subject. The message he was delivering is called “The Entrance Exams to God’s University”. You can click on that title to be taken to the whole message. I encourage you to listen to it.

Dr. McGee preached out of the book of James Chapter 1. Now let me say the book of James is my favorite NT book. It is the oldest NT book. It was written just a short time, 60-70 years, after the crucifixion of Christ. It talks a lot about how a true conversion, a true decision for Christ will change the behavior of man because there is an expected behavior for us. God does not want us acting like the world. He wants us to follow Him in His ways, not lead Him in our ways. But the book starts off by telling us all that the trials of our time, the frustrations we have with the world, are a joy if we grow in our faith, and endure with great patience. Dr. McGee highlights verse two of chapter one.

Key verses

James 1: 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

First, let’s not make any error here. When he says “My Brethren”, James is talking to Christians. They were being persecuted. They were facing the same troubling times as followers of Christ than we are today, believe that or not. People were falling away out of fear. People were making up their own rules. Much like the times we read about in the book of Judges. This is a time period where there were no rules and man did what he wanted to do. This is so similar to today in America.

Second, do not be confused. James is not talking about works here. He is talking about faith. The book of James and all the books written by Paul are NOT at odds with each other. When James talks about works, he is talking about works that are brought about by the exercise of your faith.

Third, notice that James says “When”! He does not say “if”, but “when”. Going through troubles is not a matter of “if”, but the surety of “when”. It is going to happen!

Fourth, let’s get it out there that God does indeed put us through the tests of fire. He absolutely allows the trials of our life. People ask, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people.” God allows things to happen to all of us, the good and the bad. In fact, the bible tells us that there are none that are good, no not one. So what does “good people” really mean? If you mean the redeemed, well then there is an actual answer to why bad things happen to the redeemed, and I hope to clarify that answer here. It is only an assumption that the “Bad” person has had a great life. I am willing to bet that bad things happen to them too. The difference in the outcome. God puts us through things to show us the level of our faith. We can blame God for bad things, but do we credit Him for the good? We need to understand our success or failure is not for His learning. He already knows how we will fair, he knows what we will do. He allows us to go through things so that WE will know where WE stand. We go through adversity so that we can see where our faith is. If you don’t believe that, ask yourself, will you get into a plane that has not been tested? If you listen to the sermon you will hear the analogy given by Dr. McGee. He speaks of an engineer testing a plane to make sure it does what they say it does. Once the plane does what it is supposed to, then they put passengers on it. Then it gets used. We want things tested to prove its workability. Why then would God not want us to see our own workability of our faith?

Fifth, perfect does not mean perfect, without blemish. We will never be perfect! Perfect here means fullness, maturity, completeness. How can we be mature in our faith if we have never been tested? How will you know how you will work under pressure if you never felt pressure? I find it so refreshing when I see a child do something for the first time. First, they are scared, and unsure of themselves. But then they do it. They gain a measure of confidence. And they continue to gain measure after measure of that confidence as they try new things consistently. That is how they mature. Being a Christian is no different. And I just cannot see how God feels any different when he watches His children gain confidence in the face of troubles by leaning on Him. Time and time again, failures and successes. As Long as we are learning and growing and not consistently ignoring God, consistently leaning on Him, and praying to Him, we grow ourselves in our faith. We must go through fires to gain that confidence. Failing doesn’t mean loss of salvation; it means you need to gain more confidence.

Dr. McGee “The joy is the result of the Trial, not the trial in and of itself.”

When James tells us to count it joy, he does not mean only the situations you enjoy being in. As Dr. McGee points out, he also does not mean that the trial itself is joyous.

Hebrews 12: 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

The death, untimely or even the expected, of loved ones are not joyful occasions. Even when we know our loved one will be with the King, we mourn. We would never bring them back to this evil world, but we long for them, and miss them. It hurts! Losing a job, arguing with a spouse, having disobedient children, none of these are enjoyable experiences, yet they are all struggles that will bring joy by our obedience and faithfulness. The trial is going to hurt. God corrects us, and teaches us. Going through life, and the trials of it, will produce the wisest student.

“Man learns through experience, and the spiritual path is full of different kinds of experiences. He will encounter many difficulties and obstacles, and they are the very experiences he needs to encourage and complete the cleansing process.” Sai Baba

The joy comes when you refuse to allow each of these, and any other, situations to cause you to lose focus on your worship of God. That is the result that Dr. McGee speaks of. So many Christians give up, they say it’s too hard and walk away. That is the example of the LACK of patience. They were tested an they ran. Is that you? Or are you one who has been tested and you continue to be faithful? This is important because continuing to have the patience is what makes us complete. Dr. McGee talks about a little shepherd boy by the name of David. God tested him many times. He wrote the 23rd psalm as he sat in a field and reflected over His past. Dr. McGee reports that King David wrote that as a man who was tried, and forged through the “fires of adversity”. King David went through many trials in his life. So did Pau and Job. John, the gentle apostle that Jesus loved, went through the trial of exile and imprisonment. Yet he remained faithful to the point that even while exiled Jesus used him to write the book of Revelation.

When I heard this sermon by Dr. J. Vernon McGee, I was inspired. I was grateful. Then I went to church. If there was any question as to what was being laid upon my mind for this edition, that question was erased when Pastor John McCaw preached on Faith! Pastor John preached out of Matthew 14.

Matthew 14: 22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

First he covered that God puts us through trials. Jesus sent the disciples out in the boat knowing that there would be a store and that they would need Him. In fact, my KJV bible says Jesus MADE the disciples depart in the boat. Jesus knew there would be a storm. But while mourning the death of John the Baptist, troubles still come. We have heard it said, “When it rains it pours.” We need to remain focused.

Second, Jesus was right there, walking out on the water to them. They were scared thinking that stories of Ghosts and spirits were true. But Jesus had to say to them, “be of good cheer”. Really? Experienced fisherman on a stormy sea, scared, and Jesus says be of good cheer. Would you, could you be of good cheer? Are we joyful when the car breaks down, when the doctor gives us bad news, when we have no money to pay bills? Jesus tells the disciples, and tells us, to be of good cheer not because they are in the midst of a storm, but because He is there with them!!! We are to be of good cheer, we are to count it all joy when we are in the midst of the storm because Christ is there. In that storm, you will see the strength of your faith. Do you truly understand what it means that God is there? Do you truly know how to use Him?

Pastor McCaw went on to reveal the scripture’s account of what happens when we have distractions in our life. Again, a lack of faith does not mean loss of salvation. Peter saw God walking on the water and in his boldness asked if he could come out to him. Jesus told him to come. Peter did. His faith in Jesus permitted him to walk on the water. What an incredible success right? Then the wind came. Peter got distracted, he took his eyes off God, off Jesus and He started to sink. You need to know that the wind was created by God to test Peter’s faith. When that wind blew, Peter doubted, lost focus. As he started to sink he refocused and cried out for Jesus to save him. As Pastor McCaw pointed out, God is not out to hurt us. God is trying to teach us. Pastor McCaw made the observation (joke) that God did not allow Peter to go under, God did not shove Peter under and say, “Take that for not believing!” No, Peter cried out and the bible says, “IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretched forth His hand and saved him”. And the lesson was taught directly thereafter. After sinking and needing to be saved, Jesus says, “thou of little faith.” This is a great example of what Dr. McGee was saying in the maturity of our faith. Peter would go on to be a force in his service to God. But he needed to go through these times to get to that point. Pastor McCaw told us that “Little” really means puny or underdeveloped. I believe you could also say immature. He closed out his sermon by making sure we all know that God is ready and willing to rescue the helpless. But we have to be active in the exercising of our faith to cry out for that rescue.

Once back in the boat and Jesus calmed the seas, they acknowledged that Jesus truly is the son of God. It is funny that when we get what we want we say that He is God. But when we do not get what we want we blame Him. He is God when we get what we want, and when we don’t. A lot of the time the trials come because we asked them to. I hear a lot of people complain about their relationships. I know I complained, a lot. I can honestly say that it was all my fault because I was having sex before I was married, I was having multiple partners, and I really did not care what God thought about marriage. I set myself up for bad relationship after bad relationship. I see people doing the same thing. We cannot live in sin, and expect to be blessed, that is not how that works. We may think we are, but God will have His perfect way. Remember that!

Friends, having faith provides us with salvation. There is no work that you can do that will earn that for you. It is a free gift that you can accept by accepting Christ. Once you have that faith, God will send trials your way as a process of growth. You start off on the milk, and your goal is to grow up to endure on the meat. Each trial is to draw you closer to God, to mature your faith, to strengthen your divine relationship, and to correct you when you are outside His will for you. We are tried every day. I watch people every day, get all wrapped up in the pining and wallowing in the struggles of life. Christians who talk for hours about a problem and never once mention God’s name. Struggles exercise our faith which exercise our patience and that makes us complete in our faith. Struggles start with faith, has some work on our part, and then ends with an even stronger faith.

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!