Making The Best of a Bad Situation

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (KJV)

I think it's a good idea to be familiar with the promises contained in the bible. This is probably one that many of us are familiar with. I would be willing to bet that out of all the things that Jeremiah wrote/prophesied about, this one stands alone as the best recognized (and most quoted). I often caution my readers and listeners about how they read and apply passages of the bible. We quickly embrace quotes like Jeremiah 29:11, but we are more hesitant to embrace Jesus' promise that we will have trouble in this world (John 16:33) or Paul's promise that godly people will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12). I know what you're thinking..."Henry, are you trying to depress me worse than I already am?". Hang on, we'll get to the good stuff in just a moment.

Now Jeremiah 29:11 says that God is thinking thoughts about us (yes, I believe that we can broaden the application, and that these words are not just written for ancient Israel's encouragement). However, I do believe it's important to consider the context of this particular promise, because it will affect the meaning or the interpretation. In order to explore this further, we need to go to the beginning of the chapter.

Jer 29:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; (KJV)

So these words were being delivered unto Israelites who were now captives in Babylon. Now if the scripture went from verse 4 right to verse 11 there would be no need for this blog today. But because it doesn't, I think we owe it to ourselves to dig a little deeper. So let's continue:

Jer 29:5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Jer 29:6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. (KJV)

Now, wait just a minute. It sounds to me like the Lord is telling them to put down some roots where they are. I wonder if this is the prophetic word that they were hoping for? I can tell you that if they were like the average Christian in the year 2010, this is not the prophecy they would want to hear. Instead, we might hope to hear something like "hold on just a little longer, and I'm going to deliver you from Babylon and take you back to the promised land". After all, remember they are captives- they're not on a vacation (I resisted the temptation to use the popular buzzword "stay-cation" there). Instead of hearing that their deliverance was at hand, they were told to make themselves at home in Babylon. Furthermore, they are told to pray for the city and seek the peace of it. Now at this point, God cautions the people against receiving false prophecy.

Jer 29:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.

Before I get into the content of the message of the false prophets, I want to make a few remarks. First of all, the people of God must always be vigilant about the truth. False teachers and prophets do not only function in times of prosperity, but (dare I say it) also in times of recession. Not everyone who claims to speak on behalf of the Lord is actually one of His messengers. Before I go off on a tangent about the nature of false prophecy, I had better give you the next verse in the passage:

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

So now, we are ready for Jeremiah 29:11. And we are better able to understand this promise within the context. The people that heard this great promise "I know the thoughts that I think toward you..." would likely never leave Babylon in their lifetime. It would be a full seventy years before the captivity would come to an end (and praise God, it finally did!). So why does the Lord warn against false teachers and "dreamers" in this passage? Well, we can only speculate as to the specifics, but we can generally discern (because of the verbiage in verse 10 "For thus saith the LORD") that God didn't want the people to believe lies about the time frame of Israel's deliverance. The false prophets were likely telling the people to expect deliverance from Babylon "just any day now". And God gave them a reality check which formed the basis for His promise in verse 11. On the one hand, they needed to go ahead and get established in Babylon; building homes, planting crops, having children, etc.etc. But on the other hand, they needed to realize that all of this did not mean God had abandoned them or forgotten them. His plans were still on schedule!

So the real hope in Jeremiah 29:11 for the children of Israel (and for us) is not that they were going to be immediately delivered from their troubles. Obviously, I'm not saying that we shouldn't pray or have faith that God will deliver us from our trials speedily- hopefully that goes without saying! But God was letting them know that their captivity was all part of a bigger plan. God was not going to forget about Israel. At some point (in their case, after 70 years had been accomplished) they were going to leave captivity. But they were not to spend the next few decades living in misery due to faulty expectations delivered by phony prophets. Instead, they were to live productively, rear godly children, pray for their communities, and prepare for the next generation.

Some of you today may be in difficult circumstances. But you can rest assured that God has not abandoned you. He knows exactly where you are. And He's thinking about you. And where you are now is not where you will always be. Only God knows the times and seasons of our trials and deliverance. Sometimes six months can feel like six years when we're going through a storm. But even when things don't make sense, people that love God and are called by Him have this assurance:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Until next time....

What's special about 24?

You thought this post was going to be about Jack Bauer right? Sorry to disappoint you my friends. The number 24 is significant to today's entry because it signifies a special year. The story of Abraham in the bible is one that inspires faith. As a matter of fact, his story personifies what it means to be justified by faith. Abram's (who would later be named Abraham) story begins at the young old age of 75 (Gen 12:4). God appears to him and makes him a promise that he will be the beginnings of a great nation. Abram's great desire was to have a child of his own (Gen 15:2). God promises him that he will have a child, and Abraham believes! (Gen 15:6).

But like all of us, Abram also has his questions about how the promise of God will actually come about. There's a lot of story I'm leaving out (huge understatement here), but for sake of time, I'm going to pick up 24 years after Abram/Abraham's initial encounter with the Lord. By this time, Abraham and Sarah have come up with what I affectionately call "plan B". Using their own deductive reasoning skills, they figure that they will help things along, and thus Ishmael is born. I wonder how many times we have tried to "help things along" in our own lives, and out of our impatience we have birthed an Ishmael of sorts.

Now Abraham is 99 yrs old, and the Lord appears to him again (Gen 17:1). God reaffirms his initial promise to Abraham, talks about the covenant of circumcision, and changes Sarai's name to Sarah (I would love to blog some time about the Lord's habit of changing names, but we'll keep moving for now). Then God speaks those words to Abraham which he had longed to hear:

Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

From God's perspective, 24 years are just a vapor. From man's perspective, 24 years can feel like an eternity. Even though Abraham laughed when he received this good news (Gen 17:17), it was most certainly a laugh of joy and awe, because Paul tells us in Romans that Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God (Romans 4:20). But I wonder how often Abraham was mocked during those 24 years. How many times was he the object of ridicule and scorn?

Waiting for the promise(s) of God can be so difficult. As the days, weeks, months, and even years go by- we are often tempted to lose heart. Many of us have settled for a "second best" alternative, because what God has promised us seems just too good to be true. The longer we have to wait, the more weary in well-doing we can become. One thing I want to point to your attention is this phrase "at this set time" in Gen 17:21 that I posted above. We are usually willing to theologically agree that God knows the end from the beginning. But I find that on a practical level, we feel that the same logic does not apply. When God appeared to Abram at age 75, I believe that he knew that the process was going to take roughly 25 years. I'm not so sure that Abram knew that though.

Many of us are waiting today. We're waiting for our lives to take a turn for the better; for health to improve, finances to recover, marriages to be restored, fractured relationships to be mended. Maybe we don't have a "thus saith the Lord" promise like Abraham to fall back on, but we do have the promises contained in His Word. They are promises of peace, of joy, of restoration and wholeness. God came to Abraham in year 24 and told him that He was still going to do exactly what He promised He would do in the first place. I don't know how long you've been waiting, but I wanted to tell you that the same is true for you and I.

Gal 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (ESV)

Until next time...

Defusing the Enemy's Greatest Weapon

Today, I'm going to talk about one of Satan's great strategies in warring with the church. My family and I enjoy eating Chinese food. One of the highlights of our meal comes at the end, when we each read and share the pithy sayings contained in our fortune cookies. Being the joker that I am, I'm always looking for material that can be used in fortune cookies. I thought in light of today's blog entry, I would share one of my pithy sayings- how about this: "he who has not been offended this week has had no shortage of opportunities".

In the OT, King Saul became enraged when he heard those singing "Saul has killed his thousands, David his ten thousands". I believe habits & vices have claimed their thousands, but offense has slain its ten thousands. Offense is one of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of the enemy- because it is primarily a "sin of the spirit" (i.e., it can go visually undetected unlike some other sins), it is all the more deadly. Coupled with the deadly sin of pride, this duo will not only spiritually destroy us, but will allow us to believe we are justified in our state of being offended. Allow me to share a few examples from scripture as an exhortation to us all today.

From the Old Testament, I'll use the illustration of Job. Now some faith teachers will dogmatically tell you that it was Job's lack of faith that brought his calamity upon him. But an honest reading of the text will reveal that it was indeed God's idea to try Job. God remarked that Job was a perfect and upright man and allowed Satan to afflict him. Now Satan's accusation against Job was that he merely served God for the "benefits". Satan felt that if he could apply pressure at the right points, he could cause Job to cave. Job's wife verbalized Satan's strategy when she said "curse God and die"(Job 2:9b). We have the benefit of hindsight that shows us God was there all along beholding Job's misery, and that He actually started the whole process (I know some Word of Faith teachers will part ways with me on that, but I believe the bible backs up this view). Now in the end, God has pity on Job and reminds him of His sovereignty. Some would say the motto of the book is "sometimes bad things happen to good people". No doubt this is an oversimplification of the book of Job, but there is certainly a truth in this. Many people struggle with the idea of "why did God allow this to happen?" Job struggled with it too. I believe if you will perservere like Job, God will reveal to you as well that His plans and purposes are greater than you can ever imagine.

How about a NT example? Let's look at John the Baptist (briefly). For a season, John had the premier ministry in Israel. He was drawing tremendous crowds and seeing tremendous results in his ministerial efforts. Even the religious elite were coming out to see what was all the fuss with this prophet with strange clothing and strange diet. John the Baptist had the unique blessing of baptizing Jesus Christ in water- seeing the Holy Spirit descend upon Him, and hearing the voice of the Father confirming Jesus' Sonship. John also says "he must increase, I must decrease." John also says "behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world". But fast-forward a little and something astonishing happens.

John the Baptist takes a stand against adultery. As a result he is imprisoned (and would later be beheaded at the request of another). It is at this point that he asks a very surprising question. He sends two of his disciples to Jesus and says (and I am paraphrasing here) "are you the one we were looking for, or should we look for another"? (the actual passage is found in Matthew chapter 11- I encourage you to prayerfully read it for yourself) Jesus makes the statement in Matt 11:6 "blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me"- some translations are even more emphatic and say "who does not fall away on account of me". So we see even a spirit-filled prophetic voice like John the Baptist was not immune from the test of offense. How much more should we be on guard against this insidious beast!

I have dealt primarily with offense towards God, because it is so prevalent, but the bible warns against a spirit of offense towards our fellow man as well. Peter warns that our prayers can be hindered if we harbor an offense against our spouse (I Peter 3:7). Jesus teaches that one of the conditions of our receiving forgiveness on a daily basis is our willingness to forgive others (Matt 6:14-15). Jesus also frames one of the great discourses on mountain-moving faith (Mark 11:22-26) within the context of having a forgiving heart. You may claim to have the kind of faith that will curse trees and cause them to wither, but a heart of offense will short-circuit that power!

There are a myriad of reasons why we allow offense to overcome us. This blog entry is not an attempt to trivialize any suffering or hardship you may have endured or are enduring at the present time. I have learned that trials and suffering are no big deal....when they are happening to someone else!!! But it's entirely different when we are the ones going through difficult circumstances. We are often offended by other Christians because our expectations are so high. We reason that "they should know better". Sometimes our offenses are because we think so highly of ourselves. We have an entitlement mentality that says "don't they know who I am?" "how could they treat me like that after all I've done for them?".

Offenses will come. And like my fortune-cookie words of wisdom indicate- there will be plenty of opportunities in our lifetime to become offended. We cannot control the behavior or others, or force believers to live out a Christian ethic in all of their dealings. But we can control how we respond to adversity. Sometimes the hurt is so deep that we experience, that it will take a Divine intervention to get through it. If you are one of those people today who are suffering with what seems like a hurt you cannot get past- let me encourage you. With men, it may be impossible- but not with God- for with God ALL things are possible! The same grace that is there to forgive you of your sins will empower you to forgive the sins of others. It may not be easy, but it is the only way.

Much love in Him- until next time my friends....

Interpretive Issues

I thought it might be fun (for me at least) to share a few posts regarding interpretive issues and personal bible study. How do we properly interpret the scriptures? Let's define a few "theological" words before we begin. Don't let these words scare you- they have simple meanings. The first word is hermeneutics ('herman-newticks'); this word simply refers to the principles of interpretation. The second word is exegesis; this is simply the practice of hermeneutics. Eisegesis is the opposite of exegesis and it means to express your own interpretation of a text (i.e. "to read into it" as opposed to exegesis which is to "draw out" from the text). In case you didn't know (wink wink), exegesis is the preferred method of interpretation; allowing the text to speak to us, rather than trying to make it say something we've conceived. The final word today is exposition. I chuckle when I read advertisements for local churches in the newspaper. They will often make the boast "We feature expository preaching at our church!" Obviously this is worn as a badge of honor, and I wonder if the people truly know what expository really means, or if it just sounds cool or profound to them. The word exposition simply means to pass on or to explain a text (pretty complicated stuff eh?)

Ok, now that we've got some of the white-collar stuff out of the way, let's look at a brief example today in closing. Let's take a verse like Psalm 115:17 as an example that presents a simple challenge in interpretation.

Ps 115:17
17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.(KJV)

Well, if we take a wooden, literal approach to this text, then one might come to the exegetical (there's one of those big words again) conclusion that people who die lose their ability to praise God in eternity. Using this method of interpretation, we might imagine Heaven as a kind of public library where the saints do not mutter a word, and perhaps even the angels whisper to keep from making any commotion. Of course, I drew a rather silly conclusion to try and engage and amuse you as a reader of this blog. But on a more serious note- I wonder how many would take a text like this (standing alone without the support of other scriptures) and use it as a support for a doctrine like "soul-sleep" (i.e., the idea that a person who dies goes into a spiritual coma until the day of the Resurrection)? So you see, it's not hard for something which seems rather benign in terms of interpretation to become serious.

Perhaps if this were the only text we had regarding the dead and their activities, the wooden-literal approach to interpreting this text would be favorable. However, we have the benefit of many other Scriptures which describe the activities of the saints (I'll just deal with the saints in this blog for sake of time) in Heaven. The book of Revelation, in particular, describes the activities of those who have been martyred for Jesus, and they are anything but silent! This illustrates the absolute necessity of allowing scripture to interpret scripture. That means that an obscure text which seems to have a strange meaning must always be intrepreted in light of the other scriptures which deal with the same subject. As with most things in life, there may be some exceptions, and some situations where we don't have a multiplicity of other examples to draw inferences from. But as a general rule, this principle will serve you and I well in our personal bible study.

That's all for today...more soon!

New Sermon Podcast

I'm proud to announce that I just launched a sermon podcast. Feel free to check it out over at Liberty Worship Center