Why only the Parade?

A man by the name of Mordecai once saved the king's life. Naturally, such a consequential event is recorded in the chronicles of the land. However, the king's right hand man, Haman, doesn't care about this good work, when he demands that all of Mordecai's people, the Jews, be destroyed.

Yes, we're going to that book in the Bible, where the name of God is not actually mentioned once. In relationship to it though, I have decided to challenge myself with not saying the name of the book once. This could be fun.

Mordecai is now in fear of his life. He sees a providential hand in allowing his cousin to become queen, so maybe she could act to save the Jews.

During the tale, Haman starts to hate Mordecai so much that waiting for Mordecai to die along with the other Jews is not going to work with Haman. He decides to ask the king in the middle of the night to kill Mordecai now.

Unfortunately for Haman (and fortunately for Mordecai), the king could not sleep that night. He is read from the book of the chronicles specifically where Mordecai pointed out a conspiracy to take the king's life.

And just like that, God has used a case of insomnia to save Mordecai's life. Instead of Haman's visit to the king's court solidifying the hanging of Mordecai, Haman (quite ironically) becomes the reason Mordecai is given the highest honor in the kingdom.

Paraded through the city in royal garments with Haman proclaiming, "Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour," Mordecai was experiencing a rather pleasant time.

But one has to wonder why did Mordecai accept only this temporal parade as reward. Why did not he specifically ask for the salvation of his entire people? Why did he decide to leave it up to the nerve of his cousin?

Instead, in Davidic fashion, he went right back to where he came from, figuratively and literally. Back in the king's gate, Mordecai was still a man with a death sentence carried over him. Why did he leave that death sentence in place?

I know it might be a bit disappointing to hear, but I actually don't have an answer for you. It is a peculiar question that I want to meditate on further, and I thought that you might enjoy such meditation as well, or might have some information that makes it seem absolutely clear in my mind. Thus I have shared it with you today. Feel free to comment, or ignore at your own leisure.

The Effect of Sin upon Emotions

From one young king in the last few years of Judah's freedom to the other young king of Judah, that is where we are heading in relation to this blog as we go from last week's post about Joash to this week's post on Josiah.

Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign. Unlike Joash, he didn't have one single counsellor that he relied upon solely for his life and decisionmaking. Still he successfully served the Lord from the outset of his reign. The Bible even goes so far as to say that he "declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left."

It all starts at the age of 16. This is when the Bible explains that Josiah truly began to seek the Lord and comes closer to Him. After he has developed a personal relationship with the Lord, Josiah turned his attention to the sin of the people. At the age of 20, he went around Judah to crumble all the idols and altars for worship of false gods into dust.

Finally, at age 26 with a pretty stellar resume of service to the Lord already established, he ordered that the Lord's house be cleaned up and brought to a state of usefulness once more. In the process, the Law of God is found.

When Josiah heard the words of the Law, he had a most emotional response. Let's listen in on II Chronicles 34:18-21,

"Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book."

Even with the awe-inspiring works that Josiah had done in his life, when he read the book of the Law and realized that he and the people were simply falling short of the standard God had put in their lives, he rent his clothes in anger. His sin and the sin of the people put a heavy burden on his heart, that he couldn't just ignore.

So how does our sin weigh on us? Do we examine our sin as if it's no big deal because God has already forgiven it? Do we claim that because of all the other good we have done our sin in x area is meaningless? I certainly hope not!

Josiah had done much for the Lord through his young years. But that didn't change his reaction when he learned some of his actions were actually sinful. Despite all the good Josiah had done, he looked down on himself and was angry at his own sin. That also should be our response.

We can't just treat sin as if it's no big deal. When we do, it is allowed to grow and fester. Our sin needs to bring us to our knees to confess and ask the Lord to forgive.

Not for Any Wisdom that I Have

Nebuchadnezzar! A man many remember as being the heathen king that took the Lord's people captive. Nebuchadnezzar trusted in his gods and his own might to fight wars, and through that, the Lord was able to use him to punish His people.

Nebuchadnezzar of course was still ignorant about the truth of God. Indeed after the Israelites were a part of the kingdom, he kept coming to praise God, then shortly thereafter pronounce death to any who refused to worship his idol. He was a proud man, and one we probably wouldn't want to meet or serve under.

Certainly we wouldn't expect this man to be one of the first to receive a vision from God about the last days. However, that is exactly what happened.

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar has a strange dream. It unsettles him, so he calls his magicians and wise men instructed in the worship of his false gods. Nebuchadnezzar seems a little distrusting of his wise men though. He demands that they tell him the dream, so that he "shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof."

When the wise men admit that it is not within the power of any man to do as the king has said, the wonderful King Nebuchadnezzar demands that they all be utterly destroyed. But not just the wise men who couldn't give him the answer, but all the wise men in the land!

In another part of the land, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are going about their normal business. Although they still serve the Lord, they have been promoted to the status of wise men within Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom.

So when Nebuchadnezzar sends his captain Arioch to kill the wise men, he must go to Daniel and his fellows to kill them.

But Daniel asks Arioch boldly why the king is so hastily killing his subjects. When told the story of the dream, Daniel asks that Arioch would give Daniel time to learn the dream before killing the wise men.

As you would expect, Daniel begins to pray and ultimately the Lord reveals to him the dream and the interpretation thereof. Daniel 2:27-45 reveals the details of this dream. Time would not allow me to put all of that here, so instead let's look specifically to the beginning of that dialogue in verses 27-28,

"Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days."

I shared all of that just to prove that this heathen, ill-tempered king saw a vision similar to the one John received when he wrote the book of Revelation.

There was absolutely nothing special about Nebuchadnezzar that made him the prime target to be used by God in this very special way. In fact there was quite the opposite. Yet the Lord still revealed his plans to the world through him.

In addition to the obvious lesson of sovereignty that we can see here, that the Lord can use the oddest of means for His glory, we can learn that our past mistakes don't necessarily keep us from being able to serve the Lord. Perhaps someone reading this blog needed a good reminder that their fallibility won't keep them from serving God.

However, what I needed to and did learn from this story (and thus what I focus on today) was quite the opposite. I needed no reminder that my fallibility wouldn't prevent me from serving the Lord because I was becoming convinced that since the Lord could use me in some miniscule way means that I'm a pretty stellar guy.

No, I needed to be reminded that the Lord was able to use me in spite of my character and not because of it. I needed to be reminded that the Lord might choose to use the most heathen of heathens to reveal His truth, and simply because He chose me to write this small blog, or He chose me to be a pastor one day, doesn't mean that I'm anything special at all. After all, I am only what He made me.

So this account of how Nebuchadnezzar was shown prophecies of what would happen in the end days was a not so subtle reminder that I am not special because I happen to serve the Lord (most of the time...).

As if to summarize all this up, Daniel expresses in Daniel 2:30,

"But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart."

Forgiveness or Forgetfulness?

There was once a little girl. She was an Israelite. Little is known of her family, but she remembers them even if noone else does. She was taken from her family, her friends, her people, and everything she knew in the world to become a servant girl in the house of Naaman.

When one is placed in this position, one would expect much anger to be directed at those around them. Certainly if I was in this position, I would be looking at Naaman's situation and consistently holding a grudge hoping that my masters would find suffering. That the Lord might reward them according to the harm he has afflicted me.

This is a natural reaction. Whenever anyone hurts us, no matter how small, we tend to become angry at them. Now imagine if that were escalated to the point where everything you hold dear was taken away from you.

That is where this little girl is. We know that she has a memory of her life in Israel. We know that she might not ever attain to find her way back there again, yet here we are seeing her without wishing that her masters will have some harm fall upon them.

Instead, this little servant girl has a fervent care and compassion for her masters. When she sees that Naaman has leprosy, her thought isn't, "About time! You really thought the Lord would let you get away with taking one of His people to be your slave?!?"

But her thought as told to us in 2 Kings 5:3,

"Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy."

What an example! I must confess I don't follow this example. Whenever anyone hurts me, even in the small way of keeping me from sitting where I wanted to, I start to get angry and it becomes difficult for me to forgive and forget so that I can begin to actually care about the other person.

I can't help but think that I am not alone. Can you imagine that you could forgive someone who had only ever wronged you? The Lord says that we are to forgive up to seven times seventy times. We are to love our enemies. Here we have the ultimate example. Having compassion on those who have harmed us.

Trials and Persecution 5: Surviving the Suffering

The Christian walk isn't always easy. We will have suffering and persecution within our life. This fact is guaranteed in Scripture. When we are faced with such trials, we always want to blame someone. We want to be able to take it to the man.

This is especially true when we undergo these difficulties while serving the Lord wholly, perhaps only because we are serving the Lord wholly. Far from our reactions is the admonition in 1 Peter 2: 19-23, 

"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously."

Jesus is our ultimate example in the midst of crises. (Actually, Jesus is our ultimate example in everything!) Jesus when He suffered wrongfully, didn't lash out - He didn't try to attack those who were harming Him. He took it patiently.

Now this isn't necessarily to say that we have to sit and watch as people destroy us. If someone is beating us up in an alley, we have a right to use any available resources to ensure we live. What it does mean is that we should not be holding grudgeful vendettas against those who have wronged us in the past.

There could be many different reasons that can be given for this fact: that the Lord will be judging them in eternity, that we are only better than them by the grace of God, and that they need that grace themselves. All of these are wonderful reasons, but the one that the Lord has been showing me in the last few months (and further in the last day; I'm glad the Lord had me schedule this blog post to be written precisely when I needed the truths therein), has been one slightly peripheral to these issues.

In John 16, the Lord spends time preparing the disciples for what lies ahead of them. He prepares them for their suffering. Before he begins to express the aspects of their lives that will be troubling, He tells them that those who persecute them may not have such impure motivations as they might think. John 16:2 proclaims,

"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."

To me, once I can understand the motivations behind someone's actions, I have a hard time condemning that person. Instead I want to concentrate my time on helping them to see the flaw in their application of such things.

This is a key glue that holds families together. Let's be honest, when you spend a lot of time with another human being, you will often have a few conflicts. You might even be buffeted for your faults or when you do well. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that will happen.

But due to love and a simple understanding of the underlying motivations in their heart, you are able to forgive them, and though you are probably still saddened by their words and actions, you are not likely to be so angry.

This same principle can and should be true of everyone that hurts us, whether they be of God's people or not. We ought to try to look at things from their perspective. Not only might it help us to not become angry at each other, but it might even show us our own flaws in how we interacted with others.

But beyond just being an example in suffering, Jesus does so much more to help us in our daily walk with him. As I previously quoted, Sarah Arthur explains,

"Jesus fought the war and came back to help us win the battles."

The Lord has provided many different ways in which to help us through the suffering that we have in our life. You see, when He saved us, He didn't leave us to our own devices to figure out how to serve Him and how to survive the suffering without a guide. Rather He promises us that if we seek Him, we will find Him, that He will never leave us or forsake us, and that He will send us another Comforter, that is, the Holy Spirit.

And that is a blessing beyond which anyone of us deserves, and one that will ease the pain of our suffering and perhaps allow us to sing in prison like Paul and Silas, or just to show joy regardless of our circumstances.

We know that He is able to carry us through our struggles. We know that this omnipotent God has the power to comfort us within our crises. The power of this world and the suffering it inflicts upon us are of no consequence. Whenever you feel that it does, remind yourself of John 16:32-33,

"Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Surviving the suffering requires no special effort from ourselves. It requires nothing but a surrender to the will of God, to His strength and to His protection in our lives. It is best that we not hold grudges in this situation, but simply wait on the Lord and let Him guide us through. It is by His strength alone that we can take struggles patiently and find contentment in even the most depressing circumstances.

As Paul writes in Philippians 4:11-13,

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Continue to Trials and Persecution 6: Together for Good

Why would David Lament on Saul's Behalf?

You may have noticed that my blog posts as of late have almost always focused on a similar theme. For whatever reason, I keep heading back to the same principle of relying upon God through prayer in every circumstance. This has been steady throughout my blog's history.

I noticed this phenomenon as I published my post last week. I kept feeling that every time I went to my Bible, I would come back with the same lesson. I wanted to know why. My immediate question was whether I wasn't applying myself well enough to that lesson (and the Lord still wanted me to learn) or if I wasn't applying myself well enough to my studies (and thus couldn't go beyond learning what I already knew).

Last Friday morning, the Lord provided the answer. I was simply not applying the lessons I had learned. Throughout that day, I worked on applying the lesson to my life, and the next day, the Lord taught me a vastly different lesson in my devotions than that which I normally receive. That is what I would like to talk about today.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that was my introduction. I may be a bit long-winded today. But I'll try to keep it interesting nonetheless.

Last Saturday, I read in my devotions from II Samuel 1. The events take place after what we have discussed last week. In that battle with the Philistines, Saul has fallen. Meanwhile, David's battle with the Amalekites has been won; David has returned to work on restoring his home. At this point, David has not yet heard that Saul is dead.

But have no fear, he will know soon enough. Enter random unnamed Amalekite!

This Amalekite sees an opportunity in this situation. After all, David has long been thought to  a threat to Saul's kingship. Now that Saul is dead, David will gain that opportunity. To claim credit for his death will mean that I will be rewarded for establishing David's kingdom. 

Thus is the Amelekite's logic. He expects this to be joyous news in David's eyes, or else he would never have claimed credit for such a heinous action.

Yet at the end of the Amalekite's announcement, David responds in a most unusual way. In II Samuel 1:11-12, we hear,

"Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword."

David would later enact justice on Saul's behalf, and the lying Amalekite is killed.

Yes, David laments Saul's death. I'm sure that David remembered that Saul had tried to kill him. But apparently it doesn't matter to him. David will lament the tragedies of his enemies, and most likely praise in their successes.

But I know that I wouldn't be able to do such a thing. When someone tries to hurt me, I can't help to become bitter against them.

I'm sure I'm not alone. Today, for different reasons, people hold grudges.  Whether these reasons are petty or not, we as Christians need to get over it, to forgive, to choose love.

Yes, it's not easy, but we must strive to forget the actions against us, or even our friends. We must learn to let go. We must love people enough that we can easily forgive them.

After all, when a family member hurts you, you are able to forgive them more quickly because of the love and bond you share. This should be true of everyone we come in contact with.

Let us learn to praise in the successes of everyone. Let us learn to cry at the hurt of whomever. Let us learn to abide by Jesus' exhortation in Matthew 5:43-44,

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

The Proper Response to Rage and Sadness

It is a troubling time for David, anointed to be king. Instead of ascending to the throne, he is running for his life from the jealous King Saul.

David is now back in Saul's kingdom, ready to serve him, but he fears for his life all the same. After all, Saul had often accepted him for a time before madness overcame Saul and an attempt on David's life was made. 

David was sure that staying in Israel would be to invite his own murder at the hands of the King. He leaves Israel then and heads to the land of the Philistines. That's right the mortal enemies of David and the Israelites. Indeed David heads straight toward the city of Gath, where Goliath the giant hailed. 

One can speculate all day whether this action was justified, but the fact is, the Bible makes no case either to condemn it or to justify it. Thus, we are left with no basis by which to judge David's actions here. 

David fights for the Philistines, but by the grace of God is prevented from fighting against the Israelites. Indeed near the end of his stay with the Philistines, the Philistines and Israelites did set battle in array against each other, the battle that would prove to be the last battle for King Saul. 

David was willing to fight this battle. He was willing to fight for the sake of the Philistines, but the Lord put upon the hearts of the Philistines a mistrust of David due to his lineage. When the King of the Philistines dismisses David, he feels insulted. He asks the king what he had done to deserve this mistrust. 

David ultimately leaves the Philistines and heads back to the city Ziklag, which the Philistines had given him - the city where he had left his family. What he did not know was that as he was determined to stay to fight Israel, the Amalekites attacked Ziklag. 

When David returns, he found that the Amalekites had succeeded in laying siege to the city, they took captive the sons and the women (including David's family), and have left it on fire. 

Can you imagine that? You leave your city for a week or two and return to find your home in shambles! Your family, captured at best, dead at worst. That emotion is almost unexplainable. 

Thus, it comes as no surprise when I Samuel 30:4-6,

"Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God."

Yes, I know, I have skirted around the fact that David had two wives at this point (he had a third in Israel, but she was remarried to another man); it's just not important to the point of this post.

On top of all the emotion at losing his house and family, his own people have turned against him! He is emotionally distressed. But then how does he next respond?

If it was us, we would be ready to hunt down those responsible and make sure that they are punished, while protecting our family.  This is where David is, yet he understands one stage, we may easily forget. You see, in the heat of emotion, our judgment may get clouded, in that we forget that our experience is not the end-all of wisdom. You've heard it from me a lot before. We all forget to consult the Lord.

But David didn't. In I Samuel 30:8, we read,

"And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all."

In the heat of emotion, David didn't lose himself. He didn't forget that he was a humble servant. He remembered to consult the Lord. Are we able to do the same?

What else are we supposed to do in times of crisis? What more should be our place? Take heed to the examples of David today and throughout the rest of your life. Consult the Lord even when your emotions want you to act quickly. In fact, especially when you are emotionally distressed, remember the words of Proverbs 3:5,

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."