Discipleship

Amos

Amos, considered a Minor Prophet, was a shepherd whom God used  to denounce social and religious corruption. During this time Israel was enjoying peace and economic prosperity. This blessing had caused many to become selfish and materialistic. During this prosperous time there was over-taxation and land-grabbing. There was cruelty and indifference towards the poor.

They had become complacent and abandoned their faith in God. They were still pretending to be religious by going through the exercises, superficially. 

As you read through Amos, even though it was written for Israel around 760-750 B.C., read it as if Amos was writing to us today as a warning. 

The first thing I want you to be aware of is the importance of Amos being a shepherd and not a religious figure. God wants us to know that we don’t have to have a highly spiritual job to be used by Him. There is a saying in the Christian circles, the only ability God requires to do His work, is availability.

Amos was available and he spoke with brutal frankness. He continued the message that God gave him with boldness. Unfortunately, I feel this is a quality we have lost from many who proclaim God’s word every week. 

Chapter 1 not only starts by setting up the time and place but immediately starts with the naming of nation after nation that God was about to pronounce judgment on. Each section starts with this phrase: For three sins of… even for four, I will not relent.  This is symbolic of the continual sinning these nations have done. 

During each section God tells of the offense and then gives the judgment, that is until He gets to the sins of Israel in Chapter 2 starting in verse 6. 

God starts out the same way with the mantra of “For three sins of… even for four. I will not relent.”  He then lays out their sins, but instead of going next into the punishment, He names all the things He had done for them.  “I destroyed the Amorites. I destroyed their fruit. I brought you out of Egypt. I led you. I gave you the land. I raised up prophets from among you.”  Then the Lord hands out the judgment. 

As I was reading this, I could feel God’s righteous anger continuing to well up as His chosen people (Genesis 12, the covenant with Abraham), had walked away because God had given them ample time to repent. In Chapter 3 God is giving His reasons for Judgment, but in verse 7 He gave warning of His plans for disobedience. 

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.  

The following are verses giving reference from both New and Old Testament to the fact that God does give us warnings. 

Genesis 18;:17 says: 

Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

Daniel 9:22

He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding

The whole chapter of John 15 is a warning if you don’t abide in the Lord. 

Revelation 10:7

 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

We have no excuse to not heed the warnings, we have God’s Word in written form along with this statement from 2 Timothy 3:16,17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Chapter 4 Israel still has not turned back to the Lord so He starts by calling them cows. 

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” 

The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: “The time will surely come…

After the Lord speaks of all he has done, He ends each statement with, “…yet you have not returned to me.”

After showing the Isrealistes all the warnings we end chapter 4 with this: 

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.” He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the Lord God Almighty is his name.

But yet we see a merciful God who is still calling for repentance for Israel in the beginning Chapter 5. 

Seek me and live (vs 4)

Seek the Lord and live (vs 6)

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. (vs 14)

As I was reading the end of Amos 5 verses 18-27, I couldn’t help but hear the Lord speaking to me, even today because over the past few years I have said “ Oh Lord, please come quickly.  

Amos 5:18-20 says: 

Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!

Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light, pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

And He gently reminds me of how many people still don’t know Him in a personal way. They are living and will hear from the Lord, as written at the end of Amos 5, “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me.”

Did you know that God hates false worship? If we are living sinful lives and using religious rituals and traditions to make ourselves look good, God will despise our worship and will not accept what we offer. 

Jesus actually brings this up in Matthew 7: 22-23

 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Chapter 6 starts with complacency and ends with pride: 

Woe to you who are complacent.

I  abhor the pride of Jacob. 

Complacency is defined as: a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.

Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements.

In the time when Amos was writing, everyone was optimistic, business was booming and people were happy. With all the comforts and luxury, a level of self-sufficiency and false sense of security, the people became prideful and complacent about where everything had come from and that life was meaningless without a relationship with God. 

Chapter 7 starts with Amos telling what the Sovereign Lord showed him and Amos cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small.  So the Lord relented. “This will not happen,” the Lord said. 

After the second time, the Lord was standing next to a wall that had been built true to plumb with a plumb line. The Lord said he was setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

Do you know what a plumb line is? It is still used today in construction. This is a device used to ensure the straightness of a wall.  If your walls are not straight, the rest of the house will not be straight and will not be structurally sound. 

God has set a plumb line for us as children of His. He gives us warnings and even grants mercy, but He also requires us to be obedient to His Word.

The last 2 chapters (8 and 9) talk about the destruction but Amos ends with Israel’s restoration when God will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them. This is based upon the covenant that God made with David from 2 Samuel 7:12-16. Here are verses 12 and 13.

‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 

My prayer is that as you read Amos you will take inventory of your personal life. 

Pride

Self-sufficiency

Superficial religious activities

Materialistic 

As I stated earlier from 2 Timothy 3, All Scripture is God-breathe and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction and training in righteousness. His Word is there for us to read and then place ourselves against His plumb line to see how far from straight we are, so we can get back on track. 

Philippians

There is a joke that when Paul was traveling from place to place his companions would ask; “Hey Paul, do you think we’ll be able to find out what the accommodations at the local hotel are like this time?” No hotel this time either, Paul is writing this four short chaptered book from his Roman prison cell. We need to remember this was a letter, there were no chapters or verses, and for certain there weren’t subtitles so one could search for their favorite part of the letter.

Jesus hasn’t even been gone from this earth thirty years, when Paul is writing to the Philippians not only to thank them for their gift, but more importantly to strengthen the believers and to talk about the joy that comes from Christ alone. He talks about Christ alone because there were Judaizers, Jewish Christians, who were stating that the Levitical laws of the Old Testament were still binding on all Christians. (Acts 15:1) 

In this letter you will also notice that Paul doesn’t quote a lot of Old Testament, because the church was made up of mainly non-Jews and they weren’t versed in it. Joy versus Happiness. Happiness is equated to the feeling you have when you open presents on Christmas morning. Having a birthday party. Going to the beach or the mountains. Going on a cruise. 

What happens when it’s all done or you get disappointed when it wasn’t exactly what you had hoped for? Happiness depends on happenings. Joy depends on your relationship in Christ. Paul definitely displayed joy. He was in prison and yet he stated (1:12) everything that was happening, was advancing the Gospel. 

I can’t say that when I am having a prison filled day, I am making Christ known, because it is a daily fight against my flesh to find joy instead of always working from a place of being happy. Verse 6 in chapter 1 Paul writes: “being confident of this…”  Paul wants the church to know that God who began a good work, would continue until completion. 

Again this is a verse many like to paraphrase to say, “if God called you to it, He’ll see you through it.” 

Well this verse actually is talking about their partnership to advance the Gospel, not our agenda, church or non-profit. It is the work that God started in us to make Him known. Even though at the beginning of the letter he doesn’t name names, he does in chapter 4. The challenge is that divisions have already occurred, so Paul addresses it. He talked about people who preach out of selfish ambition, rivalry and envy, but he wanted the church to know that “as long as Christ is preached,” he would rejoice. 

He also warned in chapter 3 about the “dogs, the evildoers, the mutilators of the flesh” 

Then, “I plead with Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”(4:2) He names the ladies who are in the church. Many have come to know the Lord through their efforts, but now their broken relationship has seemingly created problems. 

Paul, as he is writing this letter, is not sure he will live or die, so he addresses this and how to die is gain, but he also feels his work isn’t finished. (1:19-26) He does give marching orders next though. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. 

Chapter 2 starts with a “Therefore.”  And hopefully you know that you need to find out what the “Therefore is there for,” 

Paul starts with the “If you have any statements.” 

Encouragement from being united with Christ.
Comfort from His love.
Common sharing in the Spirit.
Tenderness and compassion.

Then he asks the church to make his joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of one mind. (2:1-4) By verse 5 he is starting to address the issues from chapter 4 with Euodia and Syntyche. “In your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”  Verses 6 through 11, gives the mindset of Christ, so just in case you didn’t know or you had forgotten. Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.  (3:1)

I love how Paul uses Old Testament truths, laws etc without coming right out and saying “You know, as you were taught by your ancestors…”, because again they were not versed in the Old Testament law so they wouldn’t have understood, but yet he uses in conjunction to whom they did know or know about, Jesus. 

There is a quote from A.W. Tozer from his book The Knowledge of the Holy.

 The most critical need of this hour may well be that the Church should be brought back from her long Babylonian captivity and the name of God be glorified in her again as of old. A.W. Tozer

This book was written in 1961, but yet Paul in AD 61 wrote the same thing to the Church at Philippi. For as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is in their shame. (3:18-19) Paul, throughout this letter is pointing the church back to Christ. (3:7-14) He ends this section with “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ.” 

Everything we do while on this earth is to live a life being content, because our prize is not on this earth, but eternity in heaven. Our job while walking our daily life is to glorify God in everything we do and to make Him known. As Paul ends his letter, the famous verse from chapter 4, actually reads, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” 

American Christianity has turned this verse into I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It has become a “see God wants me to be happy.” When in reality I think the NIV has the best version which gives this verse new meaning. “I can do all THIS through Him who gives me strength.”

Paul has just laid out that he had learned to be content whatever the circumstances. He knew what it was to be in need and to have plenty. He learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry. Living in plenty or in want. It was only because he knew where his strength came from.

As you take the time to read Philippians, I pray that you will do some soul searching. 

Philippians 3:15b says: “…And if at some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”  

There is a saying, “Be a Berean”. Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

As you study and read the scriptures for yourself, I pray you become like the Bereans. 

Daniel Part 2

We are not done with the reign of Darius but chapter seven backtracks and chronologically it comes before chapter five. The first six chapters of Daniel present history; the last six chapters are visions relating mainly to the future, hence the prelude to Revelation.

In this chapter Daniel is said to be in his late sixties and Belshazzar is in his first year as king.

This time Daniel isn’t asking God to interpret dreams for anyone but himself.

His vision had the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea with four great beasts, each different from the others coming up out of it.

It should be noted, when the phrase “four winds” is mentioned in the Bible, it’s usually in reference to some remarkable, unusual, or devastating event and these events are being reported by some of the Lord’s prophets, most often in the form of a vision

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” Ezekiel 37:9

Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the Lord.
Zechariah 2:6

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree Revelation 7:1

The “four winds” here in Daniel, the reference is Revelation 7:1 which is one example of the phrase being used in the context of judgment. This use of the “four winds” is different from other references because the winds are being held back rather than being sent forth. The holding back of the four winds represents the whole theme of Revelation 7, which is a worshipful respite from the outpouring of God’s judgments. The four winds that had previously represented destruction and affliction on the earth now serve as the most moving and hope-filled promise from God for the protection of His people: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God” (verse 3), “and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (verse 17).

Daniel goes into great detail of what the beasts looked like, including the fourth beast with ten horns. Daniel says this beast was terrifying, frightening and very powerful. It crushed and devoured its victims and trampled under foot whatever was left. (7:7)

Take special notice to the horns, because as the court was seated, the books (plural) were opened. The book of Life was opened. Will your name be there? If you were judged today what would your sentence be? John also mentions this same sight in Revelation 17

“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. Revelation 17:12

Many believe the little horn is a future human ruler or the Antichrist

2 Thessalonians 2 says: He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2: 4

Read carefully the interpretation of the dream starting in verse fifteen. As much as I want to believe we are watching verse twenty-one play out in today’s society, we are told this isn’t even the worst of it.

As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them.

As you finish chapter seven watch verses twenty-three through twenty-five.

He will speak out against the Most High.
He will oppress his holy people.
He will try to change the set times and laws.
The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.

Where else do we know about a time, times and half a time (3.5) years? For one Revelation 12.

The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. Revelation 12:14

All this to say Daniel dreamed of four beasts which represented four kingdoms of the world, and of a ram and goat, which depicted two of those kingdoms in great detail. Daniel’s visions reveal that the Messiah will be the ruler of a spiritual Kingdom that will over power and overshadow all other earthly kingdoms. These visions help us see that we should interpret all of history in light of God’s eternal Kingdom.

Chapter eight Belshazzar is in his third year of reigning as king. Daniel clearly states he is having another vision. He tells you in detail where he is and what he saw.

He saw a ram with two horns. One horn was longer than the other, but the other soon grew. Daniel watched the ram charge to the west, the north and the south. No animal could stand against it nor be rescued from its power. It did as it pleased and became great. Then enters a goat with a horn between its eyes, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. This goat charged the ram and destroyed it. The goat became very great but at the height of its power the large horn broke off and four prominent horns grew. Out of one of the horns grew another horn. It started small but grew in power. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord, it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord and his sanctuary was thrown down. Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did and TRUTH was thrown to the ground.

What does all this mean? Again theologians state that some of this has already happened when Israel was attacked by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century B.C. He overthrew Israel’s high priest, looted the temple and replaced worship of God with a Greek form of worship. But further fulfillment of this prophecy and the powerful horn will occur in the future: The Antichrist.

As we continue Daniel says:

“Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, ‘How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?’ He said to me, ‘It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.’” Daniel 8:13-14

The time period covered, 2,300 days, figures to be about 6 1/3 years. Theologians believe this prophecy was fulfilled before the birth of Christ, during the reign of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (Epiphanes). Antiochus desecrated the temple in Jerusalem and severely persecuted the Jews from about September 171 BC to December 165 BC. When Antiochus died, the Jews purified and rededicated the temple, just as Daniel had predicted. These events are commemorated in the celebration of Hanukkah.

In Isaiah 46 it says:
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ Isaiah 46:10

The fact that God can make known the end from the beginning, from ancient time to what is still to come, is what makes the detailed prophecies contained in God’s Word unique among religious texts. He has revealed significant events in the future, counting out the very days of those periods of time.

As we finish out chapter 8, it is looking to the future and what is still to come. The Antichrist.

As I was reading the end of chapter eight, I couldn’t help but have deja vu. With everything that has happened in the past couple of years, some of this is playing out for the world to see.

He will cause astounding devastation.
He will succeed in whatever he does
He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people
He will cause deceit to prosper
He will consider himself superior.
When they feel secure, he will destroy many
He will take his stand against the Prince of princess
Yet he will be destroyed, not by human power.

We don’t know the day or the time for the end times/tribulation but the stage is being set and unfortunately many will not heed the warning and be ready for the Bridegrooms return for His bride.

Chapter nine starts by telling us when this happened. In the first year of Darius, son of Xerxes. Darius took over at the end of chapter five right after Belshazzar was killed because he used the goblets that had been taken from the temple of God.

Daniel understood from the word given to the prophet Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years and he knew it was about to end. So Daniel turned to the Lord and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

As Daniel prayed for the nation, he confessed his own sin. Even though Daniel, in all of this remained righteous, he didn’t play the blame game when confessing sinfulness and the need for God’s forgiveness. Not only did he pray, he fasted, confessed, and then pleaded for God to reveal his will.

While reading this prayer, it hit me how much I put myself on a pedestal and never remember that I have played a part in this sin ridden world. I love the wording Daniel uses in this prayer.

Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments.

Then Daniel starts in:
We have sinned and done wrong
We have been wicked and rebelled
We have turned away from your commands and laws
We have not listened to your servants the prophets

Daniel reminds God again who God is but also takes the blame for being disobedient.
Daniel continues on that he understands that the curses and sworn judgments have been poured out due to sinning against God.

Daniel then pleads with God.

Turn away your anger and wrath
Hear our prayers and petitions
Look with favor
Give ear and hear
Open your eyes and see

And I love the last couple of lines.

“We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, Listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my god, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”

How many times do we pray and forget to confess our sins?

How many times do we pray and feel like God owes us?

The last few lines of Daniels’ prayer need to become ever ingrained in my prayer life. What about yours?

Now enters Gabriel. This is the same Gabriel that went to Zechariah and told him that Elizabeth would bear him a son.
The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. Luke 1:19

To Daniel he says:
He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:
Daniel 9: 22-23

As we end chapter nine I want to touch on the Seventy Sevens.

There are three basic views.

The first is that the prophecy was fulfilled in the past at the desecration of the temple by Antiochus IV in 168-167 BC.
The second is that it was fulfilled in the past at the destruction of the temple by the Roman general Titus in A.D. 70 when one million Jews were killed.

The last says it is still to be fulfilled under the Antichrist.

Matthew 24 says: “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— Matthew 24:15

What is the abomination that causes desolation from Daniel and now Jesus? Some say that rather than one object, event or person, it could be seen as any deliberate attempt to mock and deny the reality of God’s presence. They are saying Daniels’ prediction came true in 168 B.C. Jesus’ words were remembered in A.D. 70 when Titus placed an idol on the site of the burned temple after destroying Jerusalem. In the end times the antichrist will set up an image of himself and order everyone to worship it.

He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. Revelation 13: 14, 15

They are all “abominations “ that mock God.

If we go with it is still to come then here is a synopsis according to some commentaries.
Daniel said the agreement to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem will usher in the last 7 years of tribulation, whereby the Israelites will start animal sacrifice but in the midst of the 7 years the Antichrist will stop the animal sacrifice, change laws and stand in the holy temple wanting to be worshiped. This is when the mark of the beast will be made mandatory for buying and selling;
It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. Revelation 13:16–17
Life will be terrible for many to survive and most saints will be killed; the period of great tribulation God will give his followers divine protection;
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Matthew 24:21–22
The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. Revelation 12:6
The great tribulation will take 3 and 1/2 years before Jesus returns, it is the same period that the 2 witnesses shall be prophesying, who shall be given power of fire coming out their mouth to kill those who attack them;
And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:3
If you remember at the end of chapter seven it says

He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. Daniel 7:25

Again, we can’t say when the great tribulation will happen, but as Christ followers we need to be ready. We need to live out Matthew 28 every day.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

We will finish the last three chapters in another post because I think studying all six chapters in one sitting can’t do them justice.

Daniel Part 1

Even though the book of Daniel is in the Old Testament and written in approximately 536 B.C It has been called the Prelude to Revelations.  

Daniel was taken into captivity as a teen and he writes not only about what happens but also future events that are still to take place.  It is assumed that Daniel had been around 90 years old when he penned this book. As you read through Daniel you will see God’s divine providence because of Daniel’s obedience, as well the consequences given by God for disobedience by others.

Even though Daniel is only twelve chapters, I don’t recommend reading it in one sitting. I also recommend having a journal nearby to write down all the details of Daniel’s dreams and the dreams he interrupts. You may have grown up with the story of Daniel and the Lions Den or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but did you know they had given names from their home country of Judah? There are a lot of details to take in, so read Daniel in short segments.

Daniel starts when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon went to Jerusalem via Palestine to capture Judah. In verse two, here is one of the nuggets of God keeping His promise for disobedience.  

And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God.

Deuteronomy 28 and 30 clearly laid out the rules, the rewards for obedience and the punishment for disobedience.

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

The chapter goes on for the next twelve verses of blessings for obedience. Starting in verse fifteen though,

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

The next fifty four verses put in black and white what will happen if you are disobedient.

Chapter thirty of Deuteronomy talks about when all these blessings and curses had come on them and they take them to heart, they and their children return to the Lord and obey Him with all their heart and souls according to everything they had been commanded, then the Lord would restore them.

This is why I say take the book of Daniel slow, this was just from the first two verses.

Still in chapter one verse six you see that Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were chosen based upon the king’s orders to find young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. They were also assigned daily food and wine from the king’s table and were trained for three years. Daniel asked if he could refrain from the king’s food so as to not defile himself, but instead eat vegetables. The chief official allowed (only because the Lord had intervened and caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel) for ten days and then compared the four young men to the rest of the group.

It’s not that there was necessarily a problem with the king’s food, but as an Isrealite there may have been meat offered to idols and or meat forbidden by the Law of Moses. Seeing there were no unclean vegetables, the young men chose to go with a vegetarian diet. This is also where we get the “Daniel Fast” from.

You also may be asking who is Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah? Their new names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and Daniel was given the name of Belteshazzar.

By the time their training was over they entered the king’s service and in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. (vs 20)

Now on to chapter two. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. He calls before him all the astrologers, magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers. He wants them to interpret the dream but the catch is, he won’t tell them what the dream was about. Nebuchadnezzar even says that if they can’t tell him what it means he will cut them into pieces and turn their homes into rubble. (vs 5)

Because they all said no human could do what he had asked, the king made a decree to execute all the wise men. As the order was being carried out Daniel, speaking with wisdom and tact, asked why the harsh punishment? Daniel then went before the king asking for time to interpret the dream.

Being given a reprieve, Daniel went back to his home, and urged his three friends to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning the mystery. That night God answered Daniel in a vision, and the first thing Daniel did was praise God. What I call the “praise prayer” can be found in verses 20-23.

The rest of chapter two starts with Daniel explaining that no man can interpret the dream, but the God of heaven can reveal mysteries. Then he proceeds to tell Nebuchadnezzar what the dream was and its meaning. Nebuchadnezzar then falls before Daniel, and said, “surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kinds and a revealer of mysteries.” Because God gave Daniel the vision, now he has been made ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all the wise men. Daniel requested that Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon while Danile remained at the royal court. (vs 48-49)

Just that quick chapter three starts with Nebuchadnezzar making an image of gold and set it for all to see. He then summoned all the officials to its dedication. Loudly the king proclaimed that when you heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music you must fall down and worship the image of gold. The music was played and as you can guess, there were three that did not bow. Some of the astrologers went to the king and tattled. Furious he summoned Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego to be brought before him. Questioned as to why they would not bow and given the punishment, their response was, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it and He will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar, furious, ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter. The three were tied up and thrown into the blazing furnace. It was so hot that the flames killed the guards that threw them in.

Now if you know the story nothing happened to Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego. And actually a fourth person was in the fire with them, the preincarnate Christ. King Nebuchadnezzar called for them to come out and made a decree that no one was allowed to say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego. If they did, they would be cut to pieces and their homes turned to rubble.

Chapter four starts with King Nebuchadnezzar having a dream, Belteshazzar, (Daniel) is called in to interpret it. Even with a warning as to what’s going to happen the king says while on the roof of the royal palace, “is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

God, true to His word, immediately fulfilled what He told would happen. By the end of the chapter, once again Nebuchadnezzar was praising the Most High. I find verse 37 as a warning to all who feel they have everything because of their own hands.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

The one thing that I want to bring attention to as we close out chapter four is that many are like Nebuchadneszzar. We watch God over and over provide miraculously and we may even profess that He is God, but that doesn’t alway equate to possession of a personal relationship with Him.

It has been sixty-six years since chapter one and chapter five starts with a new king, by the name of Belshazzar. Again by verse two the king has done something he shouldn’t have and has offended God. Verse two also tells us that Nubuchadnezzar was Belshazaar’s father even though his father was actually Nabonidus. This word in Hebrew means father, but is only used nine times and each time it means ancestor.

During this banquet that the king was putting on he had summoned for the gold and silver goblets that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem. As they drank from them, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. (vs 5-6)

Just like Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar calls for the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. They could not tell him what it said. The Queen, hearing the voices, went to the banquet hall. We know that she would not have been his wife because in verse two it told us that his wives and concubines were with him. So this Queen would have been a queen-mother. Her respect for Daniel is evident from her language. It appears that her position she held was one of influence, for it appears that her advice was accepted.

Daniel is called in, but before he tells Belshazzar what the writing on the wall says, he starts in with a history lesson of the man Belshazzar keeps referring to as his father and what God did to him until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on hear and sets over them anyone he wishes. Read carefully verses 18- 24.

Daniel finishes with, 
“Therefore he (God) sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

That night, Belshazzar was killed.

Chapter six you see we have a new king, Darius the Mede. It is believed that Daniel is now approximately eighty years old and working with those who did not believe in his God. Even through all this, he distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. The others were jealous and knew Daniel wouldn’t do anything to violate God’s law, so they went to the king to set a trap. Once again the decree had to do with worshiping the king. Daniel learned of the decree and what did he do?

…he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Because of the disregard to the decree he was brought before King Darius, and even though Darius did everything he could to try and save Daniel, Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den.

Darius’s last words were, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

The stone was placed at the mouth of the den. The king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. It is recorded that Darius returned to the palace, spent the night without eating nor entertainment and he didn’t sleep. At first light, he hurried to the lions’ den,

“has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

Daniels response:
“My God sent His angel and he shut the mouths of the lions”.

The phrase of His angel is only used twice in the old testament and both times it is in Daniel. Many will say it was a preincarnate Christ.

As you finish chapter six you will see that those who came up with the plan to trap Daniel were then thrown into the lion’s den along with their wives and children. Their fate was not so lucky, as God did not shut the mouths of the lions. This was actually a Persian custom. The punishment was transferred to those who had conspired against the king by provoking him into an unjust action. This also happened in the book of Esther.

You will also see that a decree was issued that in every part of Daius’s kingdom people must fear and revere the God of Daniel.

We are not done with the reign of Darius but chapter seven backtracks and chronologically it comes before chapter five.  The first six chapters of Daniel present history; the last six chapters are visions relating mainly to the future, hence the prelude to Revelation.

Because chapters seven through twelve are intense chapters we want to look at those separately. I hope you enjoyed this overview on the first part of Daniel and you have enjoyed reading it with a new perspective.

What’s Your Calling?

I am not sure about you, but I still remember as a newbie to the weekly church thing, I would often hear a sermon about knowing the will of God. After service I would run to the front of the church to ask how I was supposed to know the will of God for my life. Sadly, my question was usually glossed over with an answer that never seemed to quench my thirst for the answer. 

It wasn’t until many years later after I had finally quit playing church, surrendered my life fully, became a true follower of Christ and became a Berean, ( examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11b), that I found Romans 12.  

Paul, in Romans 12 starts with “Therefore.”  Know that when you are doing a study that whenever you see that word, you need to search the chapters and verses prior to see why the “therefore, is there for.”  (See Romans)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. 

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

Here it clearly tells us what we need to do in order to test and approve what God’s will is. 

We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. 

Here are just a few verses that give us direction in regards to having our bodies as a living sacrifice. 

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy,your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22-23

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3

I heard it said that God doesn’t care what college you go to, where you live or if you color your hair; what God does care about is how you act, react and present yourself as a child of His in all areas of your life and wherever you go. So for all those years as I was walking aimlessly attempting to find out what God’s will for my life was, it was right there in black and white. I just thought it had to be more. 

But in my best game show voice, “but wait, there is more.”  A continued search of the scriptures, let’s look at the verse from Acts 20 in which Paul says that he considers his life worth nothing and that his only aim is to finish the race and complete the task he was given by the Lord. 

 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Acts 20:24 (NIV)

Did you know that in Romans 11 it says that because the Jews didn’t accept Jesus as the Messiah, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make the Jews jealous? 

When I read that, it made the verse in Acts 20 have even more importance. We were given the chance at salvation not to keep it to ourselves but to complete the task the Lord has given us. The gift  of testifying to the good news of God’s amazing grace. You see this wasn’t just a call on Paul’s life, it is a call on everyone’s life who considers themselves a born again Christian. 

As a Christ follower in the twenty-first century, I am thinking Acts 20:24 needs to be memorized and lived out daily. 

Do we think about finishing the race and completing the task that the Lord set before us as followers? Unfortunately I think many get so focused on career choices, making a living, raising a family that we forget that in everything we do, we are supposed to live as a sacrifice to the Lord. 

Going back to Romans 12, Paul gives us the answer on how to do that. 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

We are supposed to be different from the world. We are to be transformed by renewing our mind. 

How do we renew our minds? By getting into the Word. Reading the Word. Studying the Word. And while you are doing all that, daily you live out what you have read, studied and share what has been revealed to you. 

Sadly, many think that salvation is a day and time of a prayer and or baptism and that’s it, but Paul writes in Philippians that we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. 

Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose. Phillippians 2:11b-12

First hear me, this is not works salvation, this is living a life daily because of what Christ did for us. My husband has a quote that says, to live out Romans 12 is not a legalistic requirement but an irresistible response. Because of our gift of salvation we want everyone to know who He is, but we cannot do any of what God is asking us to do without His Holy Spirit as our helper. 

Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and my Father and I will come to them and live with them. Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. And the teaching you have heard is not mine, but comes from the Father, who sent me. “I have told you this while I am still with you. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you. John 14:23-26 (GNT)

So our calling may not be as a pastor, teacher or evangelist with a huge stage and platform, but we are all called to tell everyone whom He places in our lives who He is and what He has done in our life, and is continuing to do in our life and what better way than to live a life glorifying God through the way we live.  

Galatians 5 verse 16- 21 say this: 

 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

So I will leave you with this last question, as you read through that list, are there things on there that you deal with and need to hand over to the Lord, so He can free you? 

Genesis part 2

Before we pick up part 2 of the Genesis Overview lets review. The first 2000 years included: creation, disobedience, getting kicked out of paradise and the first murder. Then we find God truly upset with mankind, but Noah is found righteous. God gives him exact plans on how to build a big boat, but the catch; only Noah, his wife, their 3 boys and their wives are the only humans allowed on. After the flood, Abram (Abraham) has now lied about who his wife is to spare his life. His wife Sarai (Sarah) takes matters into her own hands because she feels God’s promise (I will make you a great nation Genesis 12) won’t happen if she doesn’t help. I have to admit, I am guilty of helping God along as well, and just like in Sarai’s case, it didn’t end well. Finally, Sarah gave Abraham a son at the age of ninety.  I know much more happened: The Tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, and God providing the ram for the sacrifice, my prayer is that you will go back and want to study God’s Word for yourself. 

Picking up our overview in Chapter 24. Isaac is now forty years old (Genesis 25:20) and Abraham is asking for his head senior servant to make an oath. Abraham calls him in and asks the servant to put his hand under his thigh to make a promise to find Issac a wife. This promise came with specific requirements.  The wife was not to come from the Canaanites. The servant needed to go back to Abraham’s country where his own relatives lived. The servant was also told that under no circumstances could Isaac go there. If the servant couldn’t be successful without Isaac going, the servant was released from the oath. To give you an idea of the legality of the servant taking this oath by putting his hand under Abraham’s thigh, in today’s society, he would have to sign his name on a legal document, certified and signed in front of a notary. And luckily we see in Genesis 24, the servant was successful and brought back Rebekah. 

Rebekah and Isaac had been married for approximately 20 years (Genesis 25:20 &26) when she finally became pregnant after Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife. During the pregnancy the babies jostled each other within her (25: 22). Rebekah inquired of the Lord. The Lord told her that two nations were within her womb, that they will be separated, and the older will serve the younger. The story of the twins can be found in Genesis 25 to the beginning of chapter 28. Their story is filled with favoritism and deceit just to name a few. In the very beginning of the story Esau thinks he is going to die, so he sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. (Genesis 25;33). 

In Chapter 26, there was a famine. God tells Isaac to move to a land and stay there. Verse 3 God says, “stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and bless you.” Even when Isaac has God’s blessing he still does the same as his father did which was lie about who his wife was. Isaac told the people that Rebekkah was his sister, so that his life might be spared. Abraham, his father did it as well in chapter 12. In the rest of the chapter we see God’s favor on Issac, but not before another dispute.

By Genesis 27, Jacob and Esau are forty years old. Esau has taken a Hittite as a wife, which became a source of grief for Isaac and Rebekah because she was a pagen, not of Jewish descent. Isaac is also around 100 years old, the age his father was when he was born.  Following the story of Jacob and Esau into chapter 28, you will find a wife plotting so that her favorite son gets the blessing. When Issac realizes he has been deceived, “he trembled violently” (verse 33). 

Esau is so angry that he vows to kill Jacob after Isaac is dead. Upon being told of Esau’s plot, Rebekah told Jacob to go live with her brother Laban in Harran, but to make it look like it was Isaacs idea she went to him and said, “I am disgusted with living because of the Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from HIttite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” (vs 48)

We begin chapter 28 with Isaac calling for Jacob, blessed him and commanded him to leave and find a wife among the daughters of Laban. When Esau learned of this, and how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father, he went to Ishmael (Isaac’s older half brother) and married the sister of Ishmael’s daughter in hopes that this would please his father and mother. Chapter 28 finishes with God speaking to Jacob and Jacob making the faith in God, his own. Chapter 29 is the story of how Jacob worked for seven years for Rachel but Laban gave him Leah instead because she was the oldest. Jacob loved Rachel so she worked another seven years for her. Again, we find ourselves in the midst of deceit, barrenness, and true love. 

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved He enabled her to conceive and Rachel remained childless. Leah thought that because she gave him a son, Jacob would love her, but unfortunately that was not the case. With every son, she was hoping that Jacob would love her. 

After Leah had four sons, she stopped having children and somehow Rachel thought her non child bearing was Jacob’s fault. Chapter 30 starts with Rachel telling Jacob to give her children or she’ll die. Jacob became angry and gave a great response. “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”  Then just like her father-in-law’s mother (Sarah) her response was, take matters into her own hands and give her husband her servant. What happens? She has a son and Rachel says that God has vindicated her. Then the servant has another son, and Rachel states she has won the struggle she had with her sister (verse 8), 

Leah, seeing she was no longer conceiving, gave her servant to her husband Jacob and she too conceived not once but twice but the rivalry between the sisters didn’t end there. In chapter 30, Rachel sells the right to sleep with Jacob to Leah. What happens? Two more sons and a daughter. Finally it is Rachel’s time to actually give birth to a son, Joseph. 

The story continues with more rivalry, this time between Jacob and Laban, his father-in-law, and it all started because Jacob wanted to leave with all that he had and return to his homeland. Chapter 31 God intervenes again and tells Jacob to go home and that He would be with him but Laban goes after him. Again God intervenes in a dream and Laban, in the end kisses his grandchildren and daughters and sends them on their way, but only after Jacob lays out his twenty years of frustration. 

Now Jacob is preparing to meet Esau. He sends many gifts ahead of the meeting thinking this will pacify Esau.  Jacob gets word that Esau is coming with 400 men. Jacob, in preparation  moves his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons across the stream. Then he sent across his possessions.  That evening  Jacob wrestled with a “man,” and by daybreak, the “man” had changed Jacob’s name to Israel because he had struggled with God and with humans and had overcome. (Genesis 32:28) The exchange goes on and Jacob realizes he has seen God face to face and his life was spared. (vs 30) 

Jacob sees Esau coming and in fear of retaliation he divides up his children among the women and he walks ahead and bowed down as he approached, but Esau ran to meet Jacob, embraced him and kissed him. There they wept. This was an amazing story of redemption as Jacob keeps calling him lord and that he was his servant. 

As the journey continues in chapter 34, you will read about the rape of Jacobs only daughter Dinah and how her brothers get revenge. But by chapter 35 God has asked them to move again, cleanse themselves and rid themselves of all foreign gods. It was also during this time that Rachel became pregnant and died after giving birth to Benjamin and Rueben (Leah’s oldest son) slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid servant, who is the mother to his half brothers, Dan and Naphtali. 

The end of Genesis (chapters 37-50) is the story of Joseph, Rachel’s first born and it is written that he was also the son that Israel loved most. Israel made Joseph an ornate robe (coat of many colors) and this proved to the others that he was loved more. One of Joseph’s first problems was that he had dreams and told his brothers about them. (Genesis 37: 5-9)

Joseph not only told his brothers but he also told his father who rebuked him, but kept it in mind, but the brothers were jealous and plotted to kill him. Luckily for Joseph, Ruben had a conscience and didn’t want him killed and actually came up with the plan of putting him in a cistern so he could rescue him. By the time he came back, the other brothers had sold Joseph to  a band of Ishmaelites. They took his coat, ripped it and covered it with blood from a slaughtered goat to make it look like he was attacked by a ferocious animal. At this point Jacob has torn his own clothes and swore to mourn until the day he joined his son in the grave. 

At this time Judah (Leah’s son) has grown up and moved on. He is married and has 3 sons. The first son is wicked in the sight of God, so he is put to death but at that time he was married and culturally the next son should take his deceased brother’s place to produce an heir. He takes that role but because he doesn’t get her pregnant (Genesis 38:10) he too is put to death by the Lord. Judah promises Tamar, his daughter-in-law, the youngest when he is older. She is to go home to her fathers house.  Judah doesn’t want to lose his last son, so he never sends him. The chapter goes on to say that a long time has passed and Judah is done mourning the death of his wife. Tamar is told about her father-in-law coming to the area, so she dresses as a prostitute, sleeps with him and gets pregnant. She is smart though, as a pledge for payment Judah gives her his seal, chord, and staff.  When it is found out she is pregnant, being burned to death is her punishment. She is brought before Judah where she reveals who the father is.  Judah’s response can be found in verse 26 of chapter 38. And the reason this story of Genesis is important, is because Tamar is one of the women mentioned in Jesus’s lineage. (Matthew 1:3)

Now to finish out the rest of Genesis and the story of Joseph and where the phrase many love to quote. “What you meant for harm, God intended for good.”  (Genesis 50:20) The Ishmaelites sold Joseph to Potipher an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials. Through no wrong doing of Joseph,  he was thrown in prison (Genesis 39) but the Lord had favor shown to him and he was put in charge of the prisoners. The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did (vs 23).

Starting in chapter 40, Joseph, at age of 30, because of God’s favor in interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams Joseph was put in charge of all Egypt. The famine was great in all the land, but because of the dreams Pharaoh had and Joseph interpreting, Egypt was prepared. It was during this time that Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for food. They didn’t recognize him, and  instead of holding a grudge, Joseph showed favor. (Genesis 40-47)

Genesis 49, “Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.”  As we finish our look at Genesis, the ultimate in not holding a grudge.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20

Life, God and Your Purpose

I saw a meme on social media that said “He’s a I don’t care how far you’ve run, just come home, kind of God.”

As exciting this news is, and it is true, for the most part, God is also a just God and He does have a limit to our disobedience and will not be mocked.

Recently I attended a workshop with George Barna. He gave us statistic after statistic that most self professing Christians are in name only. Matter of fact he is quoted as saying  “’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.”

During the workshop that I attended he stated that only 7% of the population are actually what he would call “Integrated Disciples”, those who actually are working towards a deeper relationship with, while following the teachings of, Jesus.

Here is my challenge when standing on a promise that has an amazing outcome for us, the person. Remember that there is also another side to the story.  There are plenty of examples in the Bible where God quit calling and gave them over to their sinful desires or destroyed them completely.

Sodom and Gomorrah ~ Genesis 19
The story of following Korah in Numbers ~16, God opened up the earth, they fell in and then he closed it back up.
The Flood ~ Genesis 6
Balaam and the Donkey ~ Numbers 22

I know those examples are from the Old Testament, but Paul talks about it in Romans 1, just 24 years after Christ ascended into heaven.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts ( Romans 1:24)

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, (Romans 1:28)

Do we really want to see how far we can run? Matthew, Mark and even the book of Acts talk about that we don’t know the day or hour….

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36)

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32)

Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. (Acts 1:7)

So instead of seeing just how long God’s patience really is, remember this verse.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Not sure about you, but I would much rather be bowing because of the relationship I had with Him and doing the work He called me to with the time I have left.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

What is God prompting you to do today?
Is it time to quit running before it’s too late?

If you don’t know what any of this means or you don’t have a personal relationship with Christ, reach out today to your local church. Reach out to your friend who has a personal relationship. Or reach out to a local pastor or minister. Just reach out before it’s too late.

Genesis Overview – part 1



Genesis may be the first book you come to when you open up your Bible, but did you know that Job was actually written approximately five hundred years before, around the time Joseph (from chapters 37:1 through 50:26) was dying? Genesis was written by Moses, when he was between 76 and 116 years old. Not only did he write Genesis, but he also wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Number and most of Deuteronomy was also and during the same time period. These five books are also known as the Pentateuch and were all written around 1450-1410.

Genesis starts with God creating the world and everything in it in six days. The first three chapters not only cover the creation of man and woman in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and everything in it, it also includes what is known as the “Fall of Man.” God bans man from the garden for his disobedience and by chapter four, we have our first sibling rivalry and murder. By chapter 6 God has had it with the world. Starting in verse 5, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth and His heart was greatly troubled.” If you take the time to add up the ages of descendants, we can figure that starting with Adam in chapter 1 and ending with Noah and the flood, was approximately 1600-1700 years.

When I think that in six chapters, God has created everything in the world, including man and woman and has completely gotten flabbergasted with what He created, because they were evil, I start to really thank Him that in chapter 8 He says “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” He then adds in chapter 9, I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” I love it when rainbows come out after a rainstorm. It is a wonderful reminder of God’s promises all those thousands of years ago.

Chapters 11 through 25 find once again man and woman taking matters in their own hands and not waiting on the promise that He gave. This time the promise was in the form of an heir. In these chapters you will be introduced to Abram and Sarai. God has called Abram to leave his family. The promise is that God will make him a great nation. (Genesis 12:2) Abram at age 75 did as God instructed and took off for another land. In verse 7 of chapter 12 it says that God appeared to Abram and told him that his offspring would get this land. You would think everything was great but just a few short verses later, Abram is telling Sarai to lie and say she is his sister, so they would live. (Chapter 12:10-20)

After getting out of that situation, in Chapter 13, The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.

The Lord not only told Abram about the promise once again, but He reiterated it again in chapter 15, but by the next chapter Sarai has had it waiting for God and took matters into her own hands because she is old and has no children, so therefore no heir, that God keeps talking about. Sarai gives to Abram her maidservant, Hagar and she gets pregnant and has a son. Abram is 86 years old at this time. It has already been 11 years since God originally gave the promise to Abram, and Sarai is tired of waiting, but then she gets mad at the situation and tells Abram it is his fault.

You would have hoped that God would have taken pity and sped up His timeline but no. He had Sarai, who has now had a name change to Sarah and Abram became Abraham (Genesis 17) wait another 13 years to have her very own son (chapter 21). Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born. We finish the story of Abraham with God seeking to see who he loved more. Isaac or God? Read Genesis 22. In Chapter 23, not only is Sarah’s death reported, but her age is as well. Sarah is the only woman to have her age recorded in the Bible. Most scholars agree that it was given to show the miraculous power of God and His promise.

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. Hebrews 11:11

Think about all that has happened and we are only half way through Genesis and we have covered over 2000 years.

Jude

In September 2021, Christian Post wrote an article and I wanted to share a few statistics from it.  

176 Million  American adults who identify as a Christian just 6% actually hold a biblical worldview. 

A biblical worldview  means that every decision and action is shaped by the Truth that was from the beginning—Jesus Christ.

What is scary about the other 94% can be summed up by this statement from George Barna, the lead researcher at the Cultural Research Center.  

 “’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.”

Here are some other stats that I want to look at before we get into the book of Jude. 

  • 62% of self-identified born-again Christians contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence or purity.
  • 61% say that all religious faiths are of equal value.
  • 60% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into Heaven.
  • But of those who are part of the 6% that hold to the Biblical Worldview:
  • 25% say there is no absolute moral truth.
  • 33% believe in karma.
  • 39% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity;
  • 42% believe that having faith matters more than which faith you pursue;
  • 52% argue that people are basically good. —

Jude may be the smallest book of the Bible with only one chapter and twenty-five verses, but I feel it needs to be read regularly as part of a healthy walk with our Lord, especially seeing that even the 6% of those who call themselves Christians and believe in a Biblical worldview, are still allowing the world to dictate their belief system. 

Jude has been equated to that buzzing from not wearing your seatbelt. It gets so irritating you find a way to have it disabled. Or the constant chirping of the smoke detector. Instead of trying to figure out why it’s constantly making the noise,  you disable it all together, because it’s just annoying. So we just gloss over what Jude has to say.

Who was Jude? Did you know that he was Jesus’s half brother? Verse 1 says: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Paul writes in Galatians 1:19 I saw none of the other apostles- only James, the Lord’s brother.

It is said that Jude was written between the years 65-80 A.D, This is only 65- 80 years after Jesus was born and Jesus would have only been gone from this earth, 32-47 years. So what does that mean for us as believers almost 2000 years later?  

In 2 Timothy 4, Paul warns Timothy:

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

I think the warnings you will read about in Jude, need to be examined closely in today’s church and the life of a Christian. 

After Jude introduced who he was, and did you notice he left out he was Jesus’s brother? Jude  immediately stated that although he was eager to write about salvation they all shared, he felt compelled to write instead about contending for their faith. 

I think the fact that Jude was not actually written to a specific church, but to a people group,  Jewish Christians, speaks volumes that there is much we can learn from his letter. Jude immediately calls out and says that there are those who have secretly slipped in and are ungodly perverting the grace of our God into a license for immortality and deny Jesus.

Once again Jude goes into “I know you already know this..” and gives three examples that they would have known about.. 

The first is where the Isrealites, although they had been delivered from Egypt, refused to trust God and enter the promised land. Numbers 14:26-39 

The second example is about the angels who did not keep their positions and God put them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment. 2 Peter 2:4

And thirdly Jude used the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19

So we are now eight verses in and Jude says “In the same way…..” 

As I was studying this section of verses one thing that stood out to me was that with Michael, the Archangel while disputing with the devil. It says that Michael did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said “The Lord rebuke you!”  As I studied that further it struck me how we have become nonchalant when it comes to satan. Many say, myself included, “I know how the story ends and satan is defeated.” As true of a statement that is, we still have to get to the end times and before that time, we need to NOT take satans supernatural powers of evil lightly and not become arrogant about how defeated he will be. Even though he will be destroyed  completely, we need to remember that until that time, his job is to render Christians complacent and ineffective. And if he was already using people in 70 AD think how much more he is using people today. 

Verse 11, once again starts by mentioning events from the Old Testament. They have taken the way of Cain. If you remember from Genesis 4 Cain got mad because when he brought an offering before the Lord, it wasn’t looked favorably on but Able, his brother, was from the fattened and first born of the flock. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Jude then said they rushed for profit into Balaam’s error. Numbers 22 tells the story how Balaam inquired of the Lord, and when those who were requesting his help didn’t like the answer, Balaam inquired again. The Lord allowed him to go, but got very upset, and this is where the talking donkey comes in. 

The verse ends with “they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellions.”  Numbers 16 tells of this story and how the people had risen against Moses and here is God’s answer. 

As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart  and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.

In verse 12 Jude talks about “Love Feasts” and shepherds that only feed themselves. When this was written the Lord’s Supper was celebrated with a full meal prior to communion. The meal was called a “Love Feast”, it was a sacred time of fellowship to prepare one’s heart for Communion. Unfortunately it had turned into a time of gluttony and drunkenness, while many in the area were hungry.  In regards to shepherds who only feed themselves, once again in the Old Testament there was a warning for this as well. Ezekiel 34. 

‘You shepherds of Israel have only been feeding yourselves. It will be very bad for you! Why don’t you shepherds feed the flock? 

You have not made the weak strong. You have not cared for the sick sheep. You have not put bandages on the sheep that were hurt. Some of the sheep wandered away, and you did not go get them and bring them back. You did not go to look for the lost sheep. No, you were cruel and severe—that’s the way you tried to lead the sheep! “‘And now the sheep are scattered because there was no shepherd. 

 “I am against the shepherds. I will demand my sheep from them. I will fire them. They will not be my shepherds anymore.”

Strong words from the Lord and remember even though this is Old Testament, and it isn’t relevant for today, Jesus said this in Matthew, 

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17

And Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

Then Enoch is used as an example. Enoch actually never died. He was walking with the Lord and then he wasn’t (Genesis 5:24, he was 365 years old) 

In the last nine verses of Jude, he is asking the recipients of this letter to fight for God’s truth until Jesus comes back. He warns, just like Paul does in many of his writings, to be mindful in the last days there will be those who follow their own ungodly desires. They will divide the church, they will follow natural instincts and won’t be led by the Spirit, which according to the article mentioned at the beginning, 39% of those who have a Biblical worldview, don’t believe that the Holy Spirit, part of the Trinity, but not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity;

But 2 Corinthian 1:21-22 says: Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

And as Jude closes out his letter, he states

 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

We need to remember it is only through standing firm in the Lord, through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can stand firm. 

Romans

Romans was Paul’s sixth letter to be written, even though it is the first recorded in our modern day Bibles. Scholars say that he most likely was in Corinth, preparing to go to Jerusalem. Romans was written in approximately 57 A.D. which would have been about 20 years after his Damascus Road experience. (Acts 9).  In order to understand the gravity of Paul’s writing about holy and righteous living, you have to remember that Paul used to be Saul, prior to the conversion, and his job was to persecute those who were followers of Jesus (Acts 9:13).

The church (people, not a place, because they would have met in homes not a central location) most likely was started by converted Jews who were in Jerusalem possibly even during Pentecost, (Acts 2). The church in Rome was made up of rich, poor, free, slave, men, women, Jews, Gentiles, Roman citizens and even travelers. During this time the Roman government didn’t mess with religious groups that were polythiesitc; the worship of more than one god. This was a problem for the Jews and Gentile Christians because they were monothesitc: the belief there is only one God. During Emperor Claudius’s reign (AD 10-54) he made the Jewish expulsion decree, (49 AD). Under this decree the Jews were banished from Rome (Acts 18:1-2). This is when it is said that the church exploded under Gentile leadership, but you have to understand that no other apostle nor Paul (Romans 1:10)  had been there to start a church or to bring leadership. 

 It wasn’t until Emperor Nero took over that he reversed the Jewish decree and those who had fled were able to return, such as Priscilla and Aquila, who returned to Rome in 55 AD and had a church in their home (Romans 16). Paul’s letter to the church in Rome also came as the Jewish Christians were returning. As you read Romans you will see he is getting those he was writing to, to come together in the unity of Christ, verses looking at their differences. He asks many questions to get the recipient of the letter to understand that God loves both the Jew and the Gentile (Romans 3:9 and Romans 3:29)  and that they all have fallen short (Romans 3:23) and are in need of a Savior (Romans 6:23).   

One thing you have to remember is that this was a letter. It didn’t have chapters and verses. When the Bible was translated, titles, chapters, and verses were added. To get the fullness of any book that Paul wrote, you need to read it in one sitting as a whole. Sometimes I like to cut and paste onto a word document and take out all the extras so I can study without the distraction. 

Why read Romans? 

Theologians say that Romans is a very clear and the most systematic presentation of Christian doctrine. They have also said it reads more like a theological essay.  Unlike Paul’s other books, where he was writing to address a problem or issue, some say Paul wrote Romans as a prelude to his visit, to prepare them for what he had to say. In Romans 1 verse 7 Paul immediately tells you who he is writing this letter for:  I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. Romans 1:7 (NLT)

One of the things that keeps me on my toes in Romans is the word “therefore.” When you study hermeneutics you are taught to discover the truths and values expressed in the Bible. Well in the King James Version, Paul used the word “therefore” twenty seven times in the book of Romans? This is significant because when you see the word “therefore,” you are taught to go back and search why the therefore is there and for what reason.  So as you are reading Romans keep a watchful eye for Paul’s language and what he wants you to learn. 

After Paul has written his formalities, he doesn’t waste any more ink on flowery language but starts preaching to the church in Rome that there are those who even though they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. The verse goes on to say that their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21-23)

He then writes about how God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired (Romans 1:24). Paul continues to write about the sinfulness of all people, and how we have all been condemned due to our rebellion against God but he then explains how forgiveness was available through faith in Christ and showed what believers can experience in life through their new faith. Eternal Life. The Free Gift (Romans 3:10, 3:24, 5:8, 6:23)

Then you get to Chapter 12 and Paul says “Therefore in view of God’s mercy…”  He doesn’t want the Roman people to just get saved and then live a life like the world. No, he tells them to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. 

As Paul ends his letter with all his “greets and salutes”, he makes one more appeal to the church. He wants them to watch out for those who cause divisions or teach contrary to what they have been taught. He wants the church to stay away from them. Paul even goes on to say that those people are not serving Christ our Lord but are self-serving. He warns of their smooth talk, and glowing words that deceive innocent people. Even though Romans was written over 1900 years ago, we can learn so much from not only reading it often but living it out, especially Romans 12:1-2 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)