365 Reflections

The Lord will always have the final say on truth and justice. And that should give great comfort to all who live in a world filled with lies and injustice. But how will this happen? How did it already happen in one way? 2 Kings shows us a picture. Israel and Judah, the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel are in a terrible place. The bitter root of sin has defiled many as the house of Ahab has infected through unholy marital alliances not only Israel to the North which had long been apostate but now recently in the south where Judah has been far more faithful to the Lord.  It is important that we remember the root of all this immorality. Ahab married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians.  1 Kings 16:31 (ESV) And as if it had been a light thing for him (Ahab) to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. However, the root of this imm...

Judges 9 does not paint a happy picture of the nation. You have the lone step-brother of Gideon's children (Abimelech) slaughter his 70 half-brothers on one stone. You have an uprising against that same man by the very people he appealed to for power. You have one massacre after another until a chance milestone throw takes out Abimelech once and for all. It's a sad chapter without mention of the Covenant name of the Lord. In fact, the only time God is mentioned is at the beginning of the insurrection against Abimelech and at the end of the matter to summarize His purposes: Judges 9:23 (ESV)   And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, Judges 9:56–57 (ESV) 56 Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57 And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the cu...

Sorry for the long delay in posts. Holidays, vacation... etc. Today I want to look at Psalm 137. It contains perhaps one of the most difficult passages to interpret as the Word of God in all of Scripture. The Psalm is a lament by the Exiles of Israel living in Babylon having been taken captive and watched their city destroyed. Context is important because of how this Psalm ends. Psalm 137:1–9 (ESV) By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our lyres. 3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”  4 How shall we sing the Lord ’s song in a foreign land?  5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!  7 Remember, O Lord , against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “L...

Hurst will happen. We cannot avoid them. Psalm 94 is a call for the God of vengeance to do something about the harm being done to His people: Psalm 94:1–2 (ESV) 1 O Lord , God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth! 2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! Psalm 94:5–7 (ESV) 5 They crush your people, O Lord , and afflict your heritage. 6 They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; 7 and they say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” Some people are awful. We see them in the middle east and on the streets of America's cities. People who don't give a care about God and act like His rule is a myth. They can drive us crazy if we let them. Psalm 94 is a better response. Instead of getting mad at those who do wrong, pray for the Lord of vengeance to shine forth, rise up and judge. There's a reason why God's vengeance is called for. Because we tend toward R...