Tag God

A Scurry of Ebenezers

Todd R 7 Comments

What is an Ebenezer?  In the Old Testament, an Ebenezer was a “stone of help,” a kind of monument to times God helped His people.  These markers were a reminder of God’s faithfulness, providing strength for the present and future.  Sometimes in the Bible, these moments where God intervenes are noted by the phrase “but God” followed by a change in the direction of the story.

Ebenezer (pictured) is also a squirrel, and this blog’s mascot.  He represents these “but God” memorials in the Bible.  As a squirrel suddenly and unexpectedly draws our attention, Ebenezers draw our attention to reminders of God’s influence on history and our lives.  If so, a “scurry” of squirrels, as a group of them is called, should get our attention even more!  In the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis, Ebenezer (“but God”) appears multiple times:

  • Genesis 45:8 – “So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
  • Genesis 48:21 – “Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.”
  • Genesis 50:20 – “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
  • Gen. 50:24 “And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’”

The story of Joseph is long and complicated but is really a story of extreme sibling rivalry and jealousy being turned by God into a story of salvation for all of God’s family.  God intervened in many ways.

Joseph was favored by his father over his brothers, and when he shared his dreams that his family would one day bow down to him, his brothers despised him more and sold him into slavery in Egypt.  Joseph’s brothers directly were responsible this, “but God” accomplished much for Joseph in Egypt, according to Genesis 45:8.  The result of one “but God” is that Joseph had risen to a position of great power.

In addition, Joseph’s brothers hated him enough to not only sell him into slavery, but they also lied to their father, saying Joseph had been killed by wild animals.  “But God” not only used these evil intentions and acts to raise up Joseph, but through Joseph God also “meant it for good,” as Genesis 50:20 says, keeping many people alive.  Joseph had been placed in charge of the distribution of food in Egypt during a long famine.  When Joseph’s brothers came from Canaan to buy food, Joseph concealed his identity and tested them, but eventually revealed himself and gave them a new home in Egypt, providing food and a livelihood for them for years.  God made something great out of the evil of Joseph’s brothers.

There are more bad events in Joseph’s life that God overcame, without a direct “but God” reference.  Joseph had been wrongly accused of attempted rape by the wife of his earlier Egyptian employer, Potiphar.  While spending time in prison on this charge, Joseph also suffered an extended sentence because the cupbearer, who promised to advocate for Joseph to Pharaoh, forgot about him for 2 years.  All of these things Joseph overcame, with God intervening all along the way.

One last example.  Joseph also prophesied another “but God” in the future, in Genesis 50:24.  While Egypt initially welcomed Israel with open arms, giving them land in a choice area of Egypt, as the nation of Israel grew, they were eventually bound in slavery when a Pharaoh saw their size as a threat.  Joseph knew Israel would be delivered from this slavery, and “God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”  The people would return to Canaan.

What does this mean for us?  That God is always intervening in our lives in more ways than we know, or probably could even comprehend.  Sometimes our lives can seem out of control and overwhelming, “but God” intervenes in our past, present, and future.

Every moment, we are surrounded by a scurry of Ebenezers, including many we are not aware of.

“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” – John Piper

Things God Counts

Todd R 2 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Are you ever so fearful or anxious about something that you lose sleep about it? Are there things out of your control that you toss and turn over? Maybe it’s so bad that you even cry. If you’re like this, you’re definitely not alone, and in fact, King David struggled with this kind of anxiety.

In Psalm 56, David laments that his enemies are constantly out to get him, and then in verse 8, David wrote about God:

“You have kept count of my tossings;
            put my tears in your bottle.
            Are they not in your book?”

What David means is that God sees all of our anxiety and every detail about how it affects us.  He counts every time we toss and turn at night.  He counts every tear you cry, and keeps track of them all, because he cares.

This realization causes David to write in verses 10 and 11:

“In God, whose word I praise,
            in the LORD, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
            What can man do to me?”

Prayer or any religious practice won’t always cure anxiety, but as long as we suffer, God knows and cares about it.  We can trust Him to provide for us, sometime between now and eternity.

As Paul wrote about the glory of our salvation:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”[1]

Amen

[1] Romans 8:31b-32

The Name of the Lord

Todd R 1 Comment

Some of the Ten Commandments are easy to understand, both what they mean and why they matter, to people of pretty much any religion, culture, or background.  As examples, “You shall not murder”[1] and “You shall not steal”[2] are similar to rules in most ethical systems and legal codes.  But when looking at Exodus 20:7 – “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” – someone who doesn’t believe in God can wonder why this matters.[3]  Even Christians might wonder why this is important enough to be in the Ten Commandments. 

One way I look at it is like this: imagine you’re in a room with 3 people: John, Jane, and David[4].  What if you constantly were talking to John and Jane about David but never talking to or even looking at David.  Acting like David isn’t even there.  This treats David as a non-entity worthy of no respect.  In the same way, flippantly saying “God” without any reference to the actual God treats Him as a non-entity worthy of no respect.  If David would be offended by this, how much more would Almighty God be offended?

Photo by Cdoncel on Unsplash

Also, the commandment says to not “take the name” in vain.  The idea of a “name” doesn’t just refer to God’s literal name – Yahweh – but is also associated with God’s reputation and authority.  This is some of the sense of “hallowed be your name”[5] in the Lord’s Prayer.  So, imagine robbing a bank “in the name of” the police.  Whether or not the actual police authorized you to rob the bank, using their “name” this way hurts their reputation and could lessen their authority in others’ eyes later.  In the same way, any misrepresentation of God’s authority or failure to give Him the respect He deserves takes His “name in vain”.  Committing sin “in His name” is never what He wants, but unbelieving observers might not know that.  Therefore, His reputation is injured in the eyes of many.

Lastly, implicit in the command to “not take the name of the LORD your God in vain” is the command that we should do the opposite.  We should glorify His name, so that His name will be “hallowed” on earth.  God cares about His reputation, and so should His people.  After all, our God is the God who declares:

“I am the LORD; that is my name;
            my glory I give to no other,
            nor my praise to carved idols.” – Isaiah 42:8

Soli Deo Gloria

[1] Exodus 20:13
[2] Exodus 20:15
[3] From an unbeliever’s perspective, it’s just pointless to say “God” at all.
[4] All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
[5] Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2

The Fatherless Aren’t

Todd R Leave a comment

There are a lot of different perspectives on truth.  Truth of the way the world is.  Truth of the way it should be.  Gospel Truth.  But this Father’s Day, I’ll focus on one particular truth:

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” – James 1:27

This verse tells us that God the Father has a special place for those who don’t have an earthly father.  He will be Father to them.  It tells us to be Jesus to the widows and orphans, showing them the Way to, and the love of, their Father.  There is a reason the Lord’s Prayer starts with “Our Father” – because ultimately all depends on Him.

Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash

Many in the world reject God as Father because of the failure of fathers in the world.  The Old Testament of the Bible is not full of great examples of parents, but rather shows people with all their flaws and warts, who by God’s grace became part of God’s plan to use sinners to reach sinners.  To become the Father of His eternal people, despite the failure of His people to be good fathers.  There are no Godly offspring without the sacrifice of Jesus.  There is no human Jesus without a genealogy of sinners.  There are none to inhabit heaven without the sacrifice of a human Jesus, God’s only Son, given for you.

This Father’s Day, take every opportunity to be grateful for fathers, for parents, for those who take on parenthood in other ways, but also think about those who have no earthly provision.  Because those who see Jesus see the Father, help people see Jesus.  God’s purpose for Godly offspring will be fulfilled and praise Him that you have the awesome responsibility and opportunity to be a part of that work.

Fathers matter.  You matter.  To God and to others.  Whoever you are.

God is Not a Chemistry Experiment

Todd R 3 Comments

There are some Old Testament stories that seem frightening, or even repulsive.  We might read these and ask, is that the same God that we worship today?  One of these is a brief story of Aaron’s sons, found in Leviticus 10:1-2.

“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them.  And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.”

These sons of Aaron were priests, with detailed instructions for worshipping God, like those found in Leviticus 16:12 (“And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil”) and Exodus 30:9 (“You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.”).  There are many theories on what they did wrong, including that they took the coals from somewhere other than from the altar, but I think all the theories imply that they were treating worship like a chemistry experiment.

What do I mean by that?  Nadab and Abihu knew what God wanted but probably were curious to see what would happen if they offered something different.  As someone with a chemistry set knows what happens when they mix chemical A and chemical B, they might try to learn something new by mixing chemicals A, B, and C.  Like Adam and Eve in the beginning, and everyone else since then, they thought “what’s the worst that could happen if we try to do this our own way?”  Nadab and Abihu might have been trying to learn something, and they tragically did, because God is not a laboratory where we explore our curiosity.

Living Sacrifices
In the New Testament book of Romans, Paul wrote:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”[1]

Paul is teaching a similar lesson to that of Aaron’s sons, that God alone gets to determine what worship is acceptable to Him, and we should offer it.  According to Paul, the proper offering to God in worship is our own lives.  This is not just a New Testament idea.  The Old Testament prophet Micah said:

“With what shall I come before the LORD,
         and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
         with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
         with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
         the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
         and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
         and to walk humbly with your God?”[2]

God did provide laws for making sacrifices to Him, but the real purpose of those sacrifices was to point toward a future where Christ would be sacrificed so we could “do justice,” “love kindness,” and be humble before God.  Religious people in all places and times have tried to offer the right mix of ritual, the right recipe of doctrine, or the right form of rigid behaviors, but none of it can replace what God has offered for us – His own Son.  None of those other attempts at worship give us a future of being reconciled to our God and to each other.

Nadab and Abihu’s lesson is not just about the wrath of an Old Testament God, but a lesson for all times that there is only one God, and that He determines what is acceptable, in sacrifices and in actions.  He gives us rules and guidance because not every path is good for us, and He knows we only put ourselves in danger by not following Him.  The fate of Aaron’s sons proves it.

Because we cannot live a perfect life as an acceptable living offering, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[3]  Jesus lived the perfect life to be the only acceptable sacrifice.  To benefit from that sacrifice, we must accept his righteousness as our own by calling him Lord, then He will be our Savior.  We must accept that His righteousness is the righteousness we want.  No other sacrifice will do. God is not a chemistry experiment.

[1] Romans 12:1-2
[2] Micah 6:6-8
[3] Romans 5:8