Today’s OT reading has us focusing on of the greatest miracles in scripture, not to mention one of the most popular stories in human history. The parting of the red sea, the Israelites going across on dry land while the Egyptians were swallowed up. Not only did God take the heir to the throne, he also took the throne and showed the world just how great He was. This was catastrophic for Egyptians because now someone else not of the direct offspring of the Pharaoh would assume authority, but God has often showed that He will not share His glory with another. But, we know that story and today I want to focus on our NT reading.

Our reading today starts off kind of odd. It doesn’t seem to appear to be anything in the text that would have caused the Pharisee to ask such a question. He asks “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause” this is shortly after many came to Jesus and He healded them.

So Jesus answers the question, and what a shocking answer it is. He says unless for sexual immorality. Now, this is a very debatable topic. But I think I may have adopted Piper’s view on marriage, though I am not 100% there, my thoughts would most likely fall upon those lines. You can find that here, so I will not focus on what I think Jesus meant, I want to speak to the culture today.

Today we have songs that are chart topping pop and R&B charts. The name of the song is called “Papers” by Usher. It is song in which the hook says “I am ready to sing them papers, papers”. I would not be concerned if Mr. Raymond were not a Christian as he is not bound by the New Covenant; however, he is bound by the New Covenant, thus his song ignores Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the righteous requirement that is to follow those who say they are in Christ. But not to get sidetracked….

“Singing them papers” is the disposition of most today in our culture. Even among “conservative” evangelicals the divorce rate has hovered aroung 50% or so for the last 15-20 years. This is a disgrace and an outright rebellion against Christ and His teaching found in Matthew 19.

Because Eve was taken out the side of Adam, she was “flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone” and God gave the command even then (penned by Moses himself) that “the two shall become one flesh”. There is a strict permanence in mind here. Paul then goes on to use this in describing our relationship to Christ. Christ is permanently married to His bride and we have become “one flesh” with Him.

You see before sin so clouded our judgement and obscured the face of God, marriage was to be permanent. One man and one woman were to live forever, a sign of that covenant may be sexual intercourse. It is funny that Avatar catches this theology when Jake and Neytiri choose each other as mates. However, we have failed to acknowledge such a theology. The one flesh comes before the fall and thus is the standard of God! Sin interrupted that fellowship, but today we are not slaves to sin but to righteousness and because of this we are to restore and repair and reconcile what has been broken by the fall.

One way to do this is my Christian marriage. Christian marriage is one of the most beautiful witnesses we can portray to the world; however, we find ourselves persistently and even wrecklessly disobeying our Lord, because “God wants us to be happy”. I have even heard such false teaching from pulpits and even from “conservatives.

I don’t want to dig deeper, but I do want challenge you in an area. We have to take this more seriously than we do. This is not just another cultural thing. The marriage union for those who are in Christ is a picture of Christ and His bride. The way we love and submit, serve and give, sacrifice and live for, will show the world how Christ relates to His bride. For those who are “pastors” and constantly remarry those who have been divorced disobediently, maybe should ask who are they trying to please.

In closing we love to fight against gay marriage but will not fight for Christian marriages. I think we are more concerned with the image of marriage versus the purpose of marriage and who marriage actually belongs to. Let the world do what they want, God will judge them. But as Paul said we are to judge those in the church (I guess that “who are you to judge” is a bit overkill).

Divorce, Gospel, Marriage, Matthew, remarriage

Today in our old testament reading Pharaoh’s heart is still hardened. He has seen the miracles of God on numerous occasions. Maybe the duplication of  some of the plagues by his own magicians contributed to his arrogance and pride against God. (Side- note: Why did the magicians duplicate the plagues? (snakes, water into blood, frogs) doesn’t that only add to the problem?) But the acts of God began to be even too powerful for these select mean as well, scripture says that the magicians tried, but could not. Ex.8:18.  God brings plague after plague upon the people of Egypt and on Pharaoh, but Pharaoh, just as God said did not release the people. What is amazing to see and should not be missed is that through all of these plagues (water into blood, frogs, gnats, flies, deceased livestock, boils, hail, locust and darkness) God constantly preserves His people. Pharaoh up to this point has tried a few negotiations but has not yet given God the honor He is due. We will see how this turns out as the story continues to unfold.

This brings us to our new testament reading. Jesus teaches the disciples a lesson on humility. The disciples ask Jesus: “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus gives them an answer I personally don’t think they were ready for. I say this because if they were they would not have asked such a question. Jesus tells them that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself as a child. My question to day is: How are you looking in this area? Are you still persuing greatness by man’s standard, by constantly trying to do more than you did yesterday, or more than you neighbor or have you humbled youself as a child before the Father, knowing that He controls all and supplies all according to His will, realizing that it was He and not our good deeds that called us out of darkness into the marvelous light of His son Jesus Christ 1Peter 2:9? I don’t know how you will answer this question but ask yourself,be honest with yourself, take a minute and ponder on it.

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January 23, 2010 Daily Reading

God has chosen to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt by using Moses. Huh? Moses? Are you serious, God? You want to use a murdering shepherd who can’t speak well and who doesn’t want the job?

Yes, apparently that is exactly who God decided to use. And, God even manages to persuade Moses. Apparently, the whole burning bush scene didn’t convince Moses of God’s power, so God had to persuade Moses that he was powerful enough to accomplish his goals through Moses.

Now that Moses and Aaron have agreed, everything is fine, right? No. Apparently, the people don’t like God’s choices of leaders, and they’re not too sure about leaving Egypt. (But, I’m sure that once the miracles start up everything will change… yeah, right.)

God, are you sure you know what you’re doing?

Which brings us to our New Testament reading. The twelve are still having problems understanding Jesus. They can’t get their mind off of their physical circumstances long enough to understand that Jesus is talking about more than (bread).

But, there is a flash of hope! Peter does understand that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”! Great for Peter! Jesus even says that he is going to build his assembly based on people like Peter. What joy! What a blessing! What success!

Then Jesus has to start talking about dying. That just ruins everything. I mean, how can Jesus rule a kingdom if he dies? Peter sets Jesus straight… and apparently, in spite of Peter’s misunderstanding, Jesus still plans to build his church around people like Peter… Peter… who sounded more like the devil than like God.

Jesus, are you sure you know what you’re doing?

Yes. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Why? Because he is able. That’s all it takes. We will fail. We will lack the abilities. We will be rejected. We will make mistakes. We will disappoint and be disappointed.

But, God’s plan does not depend upon us being perfect. God’s plan depends upon him, and how he chooses to work through us. Are we willing to allow him? Or are we going to keep giving him excuses like Moses did?

A Little Greek

Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς δεικνύειν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἀπελθεῖν καὶ πολλὰ παθεῖν ἀπὸ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ ἀρχιερέων καὶ γραμματέων καὶ ἀποκτανθῆναι καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐγερθῆναι. (Matthew 16:21)

This sentence marks an important transition in Matthew’s Gospel. First, we see that it is at this time that Jesus begins to tell his followers about his death, burial, and resurrection (Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς δεικνύειν – “From that time, Jesus began to tell…”).

Also, there is a very small word in this sentence that is very important. The word is δεῖ, which is usually translated “it is necessary” or “one must”. It is a very strong imperative – command. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection were not just good ideas… no, it was necessary.

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The last few chapters of Genesis and the opening of Exodus looks to be the climax of the children of Israel. Jacob has become Israel, his sons reconciled,  they escaped famine, the offspring has the fertile land (important?) in Egypt they have integrated and permeated Egypt, they have lived their for a generation and it seems like everything is going fine but…..

Their blessing is their curse. Egypt as beautiful and enticing as it may be, will soon become a constant thorn in the side of God’s people. To be clear we will see Egypt as a picture of sin and we will see the only deliverer who can free God’s people will be God Himself. As we read through Exodus we should view this experience from the lens of the New Testament. The metanarrative (grand-story) of the bible is found in the promise of Genesis 3. God will deliverer His creation through the seed of the woman. Who this seed is, is the unfolding theme of our bible (Romans 4:13-16; Galatians 3:10-29).

So we find the Israelites being “fruitful and multiplying” in a land that does not know their God nor their covenant. To be even more direct, this land is ruled by a god who’s name is Pharaoh,  he will not acknowledge the true God and because of this brings God’s people into slavery. If we see the progression of Israel’s slavery it looks much like the progression of sin. First is starts off as an enjoyment, though you know you shouldn’t be there. Then it moves into a burden (Exodus 1:11), then it moves into ruthless oppression (Exodus 1:12-14) and eventually it moves into death (Exodus 1:15-22). James 1:15, has a similar progression of sin.

So now the Israelites have moved from fertile acceptance to ruthless death (“throw them in the Nile” Pharaoh says). We see this early in Matthew with a king who does not want Israel to have another king and many times Romans leaders were viewed as deities. Pharaoh was threatened by the male children much like Herod was, yet God will call His son “out of Egypt” (Matthew 2:15).

In spite of this God, hears the cries of His elect and provides a deliverer! A male child goes into Egypt (he is accepted as an Egyptian) by a miraculous event, guided by the hands of YAWEH and God now calls this son to deliver his elect. He will go in the power of YAWEH, and will deliever the people out of bondage into the land promised (the promise land is a picture of what will be known as the New Jerusalem where Mt. Zion is and God dwells). 

Jesus says “anyone who sins is a slave to sin”. Every human being is in bondage but God has provided a deliverer. The task master is tough, the burden is hard, yet God’s deliverer is loving and has a light burden and just as the Israelites need rest so do we, God’s deliverer provides rest (Matthew 11:28-30). Lets see how the story unfolds

Deliverance, Motif, Picture, Shadow

Today’s reading led me to focus on our New Testament reading. Jesus had crossed over and is now in a port town on the northwest side of the Sea of Gailee. Immediately the people recognize Him and they went throughout the town calling people and bringing them to Jesus so that he may heal them. So much so that even touching a piece of His clothing lead to healing.

But even in the midst of this religious tradition took over. As people are being healed and made well. A little side bar here. We have to understand exactly what healing does. It isn’t simply that people get there limbs back functioning or their eyes opened, or even the flow of blood stopping, or grow back limbs. To be crippled and sick made you an outcast in Israel. You were ceremonially unclean and for the most part the people would believe either “you sinned or your parents”. Other than that if you are obeying the Law of God you should be healthy and prosperous. These paralytics, mute, blind and sick individuals were social outcast. They had nowhere to go, their families often left them, they were unable to work, unable to have families and were left to beg in the city streets. The religious leaders of their day would outright ignore them, thus the apathy that clouds the mind of the pharisees in this section of scripture. How often today are we the same way? But…

So, as many were healed that day, here comes the religous leaders. Instead of giving praise to God, instead of recognizing bones being set straight and families restored and social outcast now being reconciled to their communities, they ask “why don’t your disciples follow tradition”.

Jesus’ response is hilarious. He asks “why do you break the COMMANDMENTS of God”. You see their tradition had so clouded their minds that they believed that their tradition had greater authority than God’s word! And often times today our tradition have more authority than God’s word. Our tradition of what we should watch, or what we should wear, or how we should educate our children, or where we should go to “church” or make-up, or dating or…… you see, Christ has given us a NEW COMMANDMENT. That commandment is “love one another”.

But like the religious leaders our tradition usurps the authority of God’s commandment even to the fact that when we see people accepting the social outcast of our days, and loving the unlovable, and receiving the unreceivable we look and say “how can they do that, don’t they understand our tradition”?

Religious tradition and heritage can be healthy, it just has to be put in the right perspective. God’s word is authoritative, not our traditions. And whenever our tradition usurps the authority of God’s word we should repent and put our traditions in check. This goes for all of us. Lets not be too quick to make our traditions God’s word and ignore the work and power of God in the lives of others, regardless of how “unorthodox” it looks to our tradition. We may end up missing an opportunity to see Jesus working, much like the religious leaders did in Gennesaret.

Healing, Religion, Tradition

I hope that I am not stepping on anyone’s toes or stealing anyone’s thunder by inserting this summary of the life of Joseph as the narrative regarding Joseph does not end until Chapter 50 of Genesis.

In a book that is very free and honest in its portrayal of the weaknesses and sins of its characters and hero’s, Joseph stands as a unique individual. We cannot come to the conclusion that Joseph was sinless as all men have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, but for some purpose we are not told of any of Joseph’s sins and short-comings. Joseph was his father’s beloved or favorite son who was given prophetic dreams and the ability to interpret dreams. ..Dreams that were fulfilled in his person and work. Joseph was despised by his brothers and who in their jealousy betrayed him and sold him for the price of a slave. Joseph was placed in the ground and then lifted up, when his distraught father learned many years later that he was still alive; Joseph was received back to Israel as if back from the dead. He was numbered as and treated as a criminal and in whatever unfair or unjust situation Joseph found himself in, he was always promoted due to his high integrity and ability. He literally fled temptation and sin. In fulfillment of prophecies regarding his life and work, he was elevated to the position of a savior and king over his people and they bowed the knee to him. He not only became a savior and ruler to the circumcised but he also became a ruler and savior of a pagan and uncircumcised people! Joseph had a generous ability to extend forgiveness to those who had sinned against him grievously and to see his life as being used by God for a greater purpose.

Hmmm…does any of this sound familiar?

Now that we are done with reviewing a bit of type teaching, let’s visit a few other things we can learn from Chapters 46-48 of Genesis:

In chapter 46 God speaks to Jacob/Israel in a dream and reassures Jacob that going down to Egypt is all a part of His plan and that Israel should not be afraid despite his and his families dubious past history with Egypt. God comforts Israel with the information that God will bring Israel back up from Egypt and that Joseph would himself close Israel eyes. When all things look grim and we wonder if we are outside of God’s will, God will speak to His children love and encouragement and confirm his plan and commitment to them.

In Genesis 47 we see that as the famine continued to ravage the land that Joseph indicates that he had bought the Egyptians for the one that he served Genesis 47:23. And the people exclaim, “You have saved our lives!”

Thank God that Christ has bought us in our desperate condition to be servants of the Father!

In consternation to Patriarchy People everywhere and in all generations, God in chapter 48 once again sovereignly promotes the younger over the older regarding Josephs sons, this will play out within the OT narrative and redemptive history in interesting ways.

Thank God that in Christ the weak and foolish are used by God to shame the strong and the wise, that’s good news for me! 1 Corinthians 1:25-27.

In our Matthew passage, I will focus on the account of Christ walking on the water:

It is interesting that Jesus had to “make”/constrained his disciples to get into a ship. Perhaps they were afraid to return into the jurisdiction of Herod, or they were unwilling to embark without their Lord and Protector, and would not enter their boat till Christ had commanded them to embark.

Regarding our Lord’s conduct, spirit and practice of prayer, we can observe that He frequently withdrew from the world, elevated His heart to God and sought solitude, I hope and pray that this activity can become a bigger part of my life as it expresses my dependence upon God for strength and His direction for my life and activity.

Meanwhile His disciples are being “Tossed with waves” and “grievously agitated”.  Perhaps the proper meaning was that they where being, plunged under the waves, frequently covered with them; the waves often breaking over the vessel.

Could it be that our Savior is interceding and making petition for us even as we are going through different struggle and difficulties in our lives? Even when it looks like the boat is going to sink?

As the disciples struggle in a situation they cannot control, between the hours of three and six in the morning Jesus makes his appearance to his disciples.

I want us to be careful to see more than just a lesson on personal faith and belief that God will pull us through in this passage, even though God will most certainly come through for His children. I think there is much more here.

Jesus suspending the laws of gravity as a proper manifestation of unlimited power, Though at a distance from his disciples, he knew their distress, He found them out on the lake, and probably in the midst of darkness and He walked upon the water. Job, speaking of those things whereby the omnipotence of God was demonstrated, says this:  He walks upon the waves of the sea: indicating that this was impossible to anything but Omnipotence.

It is I; be not afraid. Nothing but this voice of Christ could, in such circumstances, have given courage and comfort to his disciples: those who are grievously tossed with difficulties and temptations require a similar manifestation of his power and goodness.

Peter is his usual intrepid way says to Jesus, “Tell me to come to you on the water”.  Christ commands Peter to come and however impossible the thing commanded by Christ may appear, it is certain he will give power to accomplish it to those who receive his word by faith. Peter starts out well but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. It was not the violence of the winds, nor the raging of the waves, which endangered his life, nor is the temptations and difficulties that swamp our boat that endangers our lives it our habit of taking our eyes off of Christ and focusing on our circumstances that pose us the biggest threat.

Is this just a lesson on the failure or the littleness of Peter’s faith? I think not. Can we see that each circumstance and difficulty in our lives is being used by God to increase our faith and dependency upon Christ? Can we see that even when we fail, as His child he we are only sustained by His mercy as He puts His hand forth and grabs a hold of us to keep us from going under. Are we not saved and sustained in that salvation only by the strong hand of our gracious and merciful God?

In Christ, the Prince of peace is peace and calm where He condescends to enter and abide.

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Today’s reading finds Jacob and his sons that reside with him amidst a severe famine. Their sheep, donkeys and money can not create food for them, so now they must turn to Egypt for help. It seems their lives have gone on after the conniving actions they took against their younger brother Joseph. Though they may have some guilt, Jacob has continually bore the pain of losing his favorite son.

So Jacob sends 10 of his sons to get food from Egypt, and when they get there Joseph immediately recognizes them yet they don’t recognized him (there are quite a few years in between these two events).

What is heart warming about this text is the recognition of sin in the lives of the 10. They realize that they are wrong. They realize that God will not let their sin go unnoticed, but what they have not realized is that God has already provided a substitute for them. Joseph being innocent has already suffered and has been elevated to highest office possible in Egypt. God as always has provided a ram for Himself. His promises to Abraham will not prevented, even in adverse circumstances.

After hearing their repentance Joseph weeps. He is broken by his brothers sins and excited that he has been reconciled. He must have thought throughout these years what was his purpose. Was he only their to pepetuate the Egyptian dynasty and go to his grave alone as an Egyptian? No, he is has provided a way of provision for his family, although through hardship.

We see reconciliation and repentance. But to make this practical, we need to think about our lives. If we are in Christ we have repented and have been reconciled and God has also provided Himself a lamb a sacrifice who was also innocent and this was His Son. The one He loves. He bears the suffering on our behalf and we get the provision that only He can make possible. But even more we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. God did not place Joseph in the high position of Pharaohs right hand so that he can eat, drink and be merry. God used Jacob to fulfill His purpose and plan to bring His promise to His people. Joseph could have easily gave them the food and not compromise His position and person. But He didn’t. And neither should we. God has given us a ministry of reconciliation. We are now ambassadors for Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).  And we too can be used to reconcile our friends and family to the one true God.

However, Joseph’s position came by his uprightness in his moral character and his integrity. When presented with opportunities to get over, he did not. When presented with sexual immorality he fled, when given the opportunity to use his gifts to get out of prison he passed them along to the his fellow prisoners and they got free and even when they were free he never yelled about how unfair that was. He entrusted himself to God and God gave him the ultimate victory. We will have to do the same if we are to present the ministry of reconciliation. We will have to have upright moral character and integrity. This may cause us to be falsely accused, ridiculed or even persecuted at some length, but Jesus says ” a servant is not above His master…”. Jesus experienced this and so will we from time to time.

As we transition into our New Testament reading Jesus is speaking of the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. He uses the simile literary style.  We see from yesterday that the Kingdom is a seed that is thrown but only a few will bear fruit. It is also like leaven that permeates, a valuable item in which all is sold to pursue and finally it is like a net which may catch a lot of things  yet only some of them will be good, while the others will be discarded. The Kingdom of Heaven in these instances is the Good News. We are to sow it like seed, and let God deal with the soil, we are to let it permeate our lives, it (He) is to be valuable enough to sale everything we have and we are to cast it out and God will do the work of separation (we are not to choose which people get the message, it is God’s kingdom He will decide who gets in and who does not).

Again this is the ministry of reconciliation. The Good News of Jesus Christ. We are the sowers, we are the person who found the treasure it is the leaven in our lives which permeates every part and we are to be fisher of men.

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In the NT reading Jesus teaches in the form of parables. In Matt. 13:1-23 the parable of the soils He explains that everyone will not become a believer (the seeds that fell on the road side, the rocky places, and among the thorns) but those who do believe ( the seed that was sown on good soil) will bear fruit. Some may bear more fruit than others but they will bear fruit nonetheless.

I don’t want to explain the next parable here because it will be discussed tomorrow.

The OT reading today starts with Pharaoh dreaming not once but twice. The problem is he can’t get the dreams out of his mind for the scriptures say: Gen. 41:8 in the  morning when Pharaoh awakened from sleep his spirit is troubled. To add the his torment of not being able to shake the dreams, he has no idea of what the dreams mean. He calls everyone he thinks should know and none of them do him any good. The cupbearer remembers Joseph and brings it to Pharaoh. What I love most is the reverence, respect, and humility Joseph has towards God. When Pharaoh tells Joseph what he has heard about Joseph’s interpreting abilities, Joseph could have easily taken credit, even if it wasn’t in a way that seemed haughty or proud. What I mean is this: Pharaoh says to Joseph Gen.41:15 ” I have a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph, at this point could have answered like this: He could have said: “I do”, ” It is true what you have heard” or  anything similar, but he doesn’t. He does not take an opportunity to gratify the flesh even a little. His response to Pharaoh is the response we should have to all that we meet. Joseph says: Gen. 41:16  ” It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Just as Joseph did not cease an opportunity to pat himself on the back because of the good deeds he had done, neither should we. Joseph understood that with out the power of God he would not be possible to do anything. We should remember that nothing we’ve done that seems good or righteous,( whether we are good husbands, or wives, good preachers, teachers, give to the poor, take care of orphans and widows)   is done in our own power, None of it could be done outside of the power of God working in us. Therefore we should give honor to whom honor is do.(Rom. 13:7) In this case it would be God, for Phil.2:13 tells us that it is God who is at work in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

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January 15, 2010 Daily Reading

I hope it isn’t sacrilegious to say this, but the Genesis saga is better than any reality television show I have ever watched! I mean I’ve read or heard all these stories at one point or another in my life, but never have I read them straight through as one large narrative. I am starting to fill in some mental gaps and the Old Testament, which was once so scary to me, is actually turning out to be quite intriguing.

The story makes a clean break from the narrative and gives us Esau’s lineage. Why is that important? I think we’ll find out as we keep reading because I noticed some names that I remember from my childhood Sunday school class in that heritage that will reappear much later (i.e. Amalek=Amalekites, and the land of Edom, which is named after Esau). Also, we find that physical lineage has been a very important part of the story this far and will continue to be until the birth of Jesus…and then…we see an even more important lineage granted to those who would believe, namely the sonship/heir/adoption that we have received in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I think everyone is pretty familiar with the Joseph story so I won’t beat the dead horse by retelling it. However, here are some things that I noticed:

• Israel loved Joseph more than any other son because he was born in his old age, yet Benjamin is the youngest (which means he was really born in Israel’s old age) and he doesn’t receive that beloved affection.
• Joseph’s dream bears striking similarity to what God told Rebekah, “The younger will serve the older.” We never really see Esau “serve” Jacob (in fact we see the inverse sometimes in Jacob’s language toward Esau and the gifts that he gives), so could God have beeen speaking prophetically in this case to mean future generations?
• I was very surprised at Reuben’s grace toward his brother even though he hated him.

Much can be said about our NT reading concerning Jesus and the Sabbath, but I think Lionel poignantly pointed out that great truth in yesterday’s post: Jesus Christ IS the Sabbath; we find our rest IN Him. However, I hope it’s appropriate for me to focus a bit on the endorsement of Jesus Christ by God, through the words of Isaiah (vv.18-21). “He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles,” “he brings justice to victory,” and “In His name the Gentiles will hope.” Justice. Justice. Justice. It is at the heart of God, and He used His own Son as a conduit. Not only is He the means through which justice is available on the earth, HE IS ALSO THE MERCY (v. 7) BY WHICH JUSTICE IS EVEN POSSIBLE! That, my friends, is good news! Because of the mercy of Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, we can hope in His name, and justice is served. In light of the Haitian tragedy, that is good news!

My heart is burdened for Haiti (as I assume yours is, too. If not pray right now and ask Jesus to come into your heart ). Please pray earnestly for the Haitian people. And if you have a few extra dollars to spare, please donate. My husband and I donated to Compassion International https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/disasterrelief.htm?referer=105910

Desiring God has compiled a list of organizations here. http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2188_11_charities_collecting_donations_for_haiti/

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 Today’s reading gives us some disturbing details into the life of Jacob and his 12 sons (the deception, killing, Reuben sleeping with his brother’s mother) and then we see three deaths. Yet in spite of that I name this “From Running to Rest”! Why?

Well, Jacob finally finds rest. He can no longer run, his deception, lies, and trickery have finally come to an end, he has been afflicted by YAWEH and now is the time of reconciliation, he must face his past. What a picture of God’s grace.  We see Jacob meeting up with Esau and there is reconciliation, we see him meeting up with Isaac and there is reconciliation and now we see Jacob back in the land of his fathers, the place God has told him to go. We even see a picture of intercession as Jacob buries the false gods of his loved ones and builds an alter to the Most High. Jacob has finally found rest for his feet, his household and his soul!

In our New Testament reading we see another rest. Jesus says “come to me… and I will give you rest”.  What is odd about Jesus’ statement is the paradoxical nature of it. You see He says “take my yoke… for it is easy and light”. Now if you know what a yoke is, niether a picture of rest oreasy and light will ever cross your mind. Seeing a mule or an ox yoked up has never produced a picture of rest in my mind. Not to mention when we think of rest we usually don’t think of  being “controlled” we think of freedom.  A yoke is for the sole purpose of directing and controlling and subduing for the benefit  of the person who has control of the yoke.

However, Jesus says putting on His yoke yields the fruit of rest! Often times we hear “I will come to God when I am ready” (usually that means the commands of Jesus are taxing, hard or laboring) people think they have rest or freedom, yet they have bondage and are constantly running from person to person, thing to thing, drug to drug only to never find “rest”.

Jesus is our rest. In Christ we are even told “we rest from all of our works” (Hebrews 4:10), outside of Christ there is no rest and no freedom once we take on His yoke only then can we rest and we can be assured that wherever He takes us will be for our own good.

But there is one more rest I want to remind us who know Christ about. That is the rest from legalism. Many of us today are busy, we are running, we are working hard to please God, yet we never feel at peace, we never feel secure and we never feel rested. It is always improve, try harder, dig deeper, obey more, and then and only then will God be satisfied, yet we ache with condemnation, a sense of failure, an unworthiness. However, Jesus gives us a different picture. When we come to Christ and yield to Him it produces the fruit of rest (rest embodies, peace, serenity, joy, comfort). We can rest from our effort and trust that God’s wrath has been satisfied and that He loves us because of His Son. To be even more frank apart from resting in Christ, we can’t satisfy the Father, Jesus tells us “unless you become like one of these little ones, you can not enter the Kingdom of God”. So today if you are in Christ find rest in His work, if you are outside of Christ find rest in Christ. Don’t be crippled like Jacob for trying to run. He  walked with a sign of God’s sovereignty until he was buried with his fathers, let experience be the wisdom of fools.

Grace, Rest, Salvation