Holy and Happy Day

When people gathered for the annual feasts in Jerusalem, it was a time of rejoicing and celebration.  In the days of Nehemiah after the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, the people gathered together in the street before the Water Gate where Ezra the scribe read the book of the Law.  Everyone who had understanding was attentive to hear the Law and responded with contrition, and they mourning with weeping over their sins.  Ezra exhorted the people to dry their tears for it was a holy day unto the LORD.  Nehemiah 8:10-12 says, "Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." ¹¹ So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved." ¹² And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them."  A holy day unto the LORD was meant to be observed with enjoying good food, giving to those in need and rejoicing together.  These people rejoiced because they understood God's word that was declared to them.

In response to God's word, shortly thereafter the children of Israel gathered branches of many kinds--including palm branches--to make booths to dwell in to observe the Feast of Tabernacles.  Their gathering of palm branches reminded me of Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem before the Feast of Unleavened Bread in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9:  "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."  Even before Jesus made the descent from Mount Olives toward the city, people placed their clothing and palm branches on the ground before Him.  Matthew 21:9 says, "Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!"  Jesus was revealed as King and Messiah, the Son of David in whom is salvation.  When the Pharisees urged Jesus to rebuke His disciples, He said if they were silent even the stones would cry out.  God had ordained that day to be one marked with rejoicing and worship of the holy God.  Ironically, when Jesus drew near to the city He was not gleeful or exuberant by the praise of the people but wept over Jerusalem because they did not realise the day of their visitation and judgment was coming (Luke 19:41-44).

Consider the triumphal entry of Jesus in light of the richness of Psalm 118:19-29 that points to Jesus our Righteousness, Rock and LORD who died, rose from the dead and lives:  "Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the LORD. ²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD, through which the righteous shall enter. ²¹ I will praise You, for You have answered me, and have become my salvation. ²² The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. ²³ This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴ This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. ²⁵ Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. ²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. ²⁷ God is the LORD, and He has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. ²⁸ You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. ²⁹ Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever."

Isn't God awesome and worthy of all praise?  May His grace, goodness and salvation be marvellous in our eyes, and let us rejoice and be glad in Him.  In light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the joy of the LORD is our strength.  Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

God the Healer

"Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand."

Deuteronomy 32:39

Unlike a doctor who uses medicine and other means to harness the natural healing processes of the body, God IS the healer.  He designed all the systems that protect, identify and eliminate harmful infections, and promote the health of the body.   I have found my typical response when I am not feeling my best is to downplay my symptoms.  I must be undeniably sick to admit I am sick, and I assume the healing process should act more quickly than it does.  After a couple of weeks of a cold or cough it feels like restoration to full health drags on forever!  Being ignorant of the extent or severity of my illness, I assume healing should occur quickly and easily.  As oncologists go to great lengths to destroy all cancer cells, so God is willing to take great pains to restore sinning souls to Himself.

The prophet Isaiah was chosen and sent by God to bring a message in Isaiah 6:9-10:  "And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' ¹⁰ "Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed."  This passage always confused me because it seemed contradictory God spoke yet did not want them to hear.  It seemed God worked to undermine the whole purpose for sending Isaiah at all!  The reality was quite different, for God's people had departed from Him, were entrenched in idolatry, loved the lies of false prophets and oppressed one another.  Like I tend to downplay my own illness, we can downplay the severity of the sin of others and ourselves.  When we are sick we take a tablet, but the children of Israel needed spiritual revival, a new heart and new mind obtained only by faith in God, repentance for sin and humble obedience.  They were unwilling to take their medicine.

Modern surgery likely would seem very extreme to people who relied upon poultices and bloodletting which could never clear clogged arteries or put cancer in remission.  Having a better understanding of the complex processes of the human body with scans and testing allows medical professionals to better diagnose and treat illnesses.  God's diagnosis for the children of Israel in Isaiah's day was grim, for they refused to listen to Him.  They were heading to destruction due to their sin, and God would surely judge them for their sins with the aim to ultimately restore them to Himself.  Half-doses would not be adequate for their healing.  God's prescription was for Israel to be cut down like a tree with a stump left in the ground by their enemies, be carried away captive, and after 70 years for a remnant return to Him.  In His wisdom God determined their spiritual blindness would lead to sight, their deafness result in hearing His voice, and being taken from their land lead to them choosing to return to Him.  This may seem counterintuitive, but this was the means God would employ to sanctify and heal His people.

The teaching of Jesus in parables also fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, and Jesus affirmed this in Matthew 13:13-15.  At the same time, those who exercised faith in Christ were blessed with understanding as Jesus said in Matthew 13:16-17:  "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; ¹⁷ for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."  Jesus came as the Light of the World and did not keep anyone in the dark, but those who loved darkness and refused to come into the Light would remain blind.  Amazingly, in part the blindness of the Jews served another divine purpose:  the unbelief of the Jews graciously opened a door to the Gentiles into the kingdom of God by faith in Jesus.  The refusal of the Jews to hear Jesus led Him to be proclaimed and heard by Jews and Gentiles to this day.  Paul wrote in Romans 11:30-32, "For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all."

See the wisdom, grace and goodness of God upon all!  Through God's sovereign designs there is hope, healing and restoration for all people by faith in Jesus Christ.  Our own deafness, blindness and hardness of heart can be used by God to make us hearers and doers of His word, to bless us with spiritual insight, and to have our hearts of stone replaced with soft and responsive hearts.  As we may seek medical care only to alleviate our symptoms (as long as it is convenient and not too costly!), we can be content with minor reforms or partial healing God spoke of in Jeremiah 6:14:  "They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, 'Peace, peace!' when there is no peace."  Slight healing that enables us to stay as we are falls far short of God's intent to heal, revive and restore us to Himself which requires a more involved process of repentance, faith in God, submission and obedience to Him.  Because God loves us, He is willing to oversee and orchestrate events in our lives and nations so His will for healing and salvation will be fully accomplished for us and for generations to come.

Our Good Father

The other night I came across the passage in 1 Timothy 3:4-5 (NIV) concerning requirements for overseers in church leadership:  "He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. ⁵ (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)"  When I observe the interactions of children with their parents, the behaviour of the child demonstrates clearly if they have been made to obey their parents or if they have been permitted to disobey.  I remember a somewhat amusing situation years ago when it was very apparent a child was used to doing what he wanted, and because I was a guest in the home I received quite a show of consternation from a parent when he willfully disobeyed.  The behaviour of the child when I was present provided a strong indication of a lack of discipline from his parents when I was not present.  It is the duty of all parents--and especially those in church leadership--that they teach their children to obey them.

Paul made the point that if parents are not faithful to attend to their own house and the management of the children God has given made them stewards of, they are not suitable candidates for church leadership.  This aligns with a principle Jesus taught in Luke 16:10:  "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much."  Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 4:2 what servants and masters both knew, that it is required that stewards--those who were given a charge and responsibility by their superior--be proved faithful.  A servant who wasted his master's goods would be let go, but the one who was faithful to do a small thing well would be given additional responsibilities like Joseph who served Potiphar and Pharaoh.

The strong, inescapable implication is God is able to manage His own kingdom and family well, and He sees to it His children learn to obey Him.  We can make the mistake of wholesale blaming parents of disobedient and rebellious children, yet the Scripture is full of examples of God's people rebelling from their perfect heavenly Father.  We see the great lengths God went to in love of His people, how He guided them by His word, sent prophets to teach them, and disciplined them with trials to correct and restore them to Himself.  Like all good parents, God made clear His expectations of what He desired to see in His people and consequences should they disobey Him.  When they failed to meet His expectations and shirked their God-given directives, He addressed Israel like a landowner who discovered the vineyard he planted at great expense was not bearing any fruit.  From of their own mouths and by their own deeds God judged them--with love, mercy and compassion they refused to extend to those who were unprofitable.

In a parable Jesus told, He appealed to the understood order in society between a servant and master.  It was customary for the servants to serve their master first, and after he had eaten then they could eat.  Jesus said concerning the master in Luke 17:9-10, "Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. ¹⁰ So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"  The context of the parable was in relation to disciples of Jesus forgiving those who sinned against them.  We should not expect to be thanked or commended by God when we forgive others, for that is our God-given duty to do.  If we lacked a gracious Father in heaven who loves, forgives and gives grace to us, it might be understandable for us to hold grudges or slander others.  God's expectations for His redeemed people is spelled out for us in Ephesians 4:31-32:  "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."  When we obey and do what is right it is not because we are good children, but because we have a good Father in heaven.

Immoral Outrage

Have you ever experienced an indignant feeling when you saw people doing what you believe is wrong?  I remember one such occasion when I was incensed as it became apparent I was deceived and misled by someone I trusted to tell the truth.  I was later convicted because I took personal offence when it was in truth sin against God.  It was easy to justify my anger through what is called moral outrage, but since my heart was not humble and contrite before God it was actually immoral outrage.

There are passages in the Bible where the outrage people expressed was more an indicator sin within them brought to light by supposed offences.  A classic example is when Nathan the prophet came to king David and told him what turned out to be a parable about a rich man who had many sheep.  In the tale he callously stole the prized, only lamb of a poor man and killed it to provide a meal for his guests.  David was furious at this injustice, and immediately condemned the rich man to death for his theft and lack of pity, and commanded four-fold should be given to the poor man.  The prophet Nathan said, "You are the man!"  Then he laid out how David conducted himself like that rich man he condemned to death, for he had stolen Bathsheba as his own wife (when he already had many) and used the sword of the Ammonites to murder her husband Urijah.  God laid out the worst of David's crimes from which all others sprang in 2 Samuel 12:10:  "You have despised Me."  David's response was immoral outrage and hypocrisy, seeing he had not repented of his own sin against God.

When Jesus was in Bethany, the Gospel of John tells us Mary poured a pound of expensive, fragrant spikenard to anoint Jesus.  The Gospel of Matthew says the disciples were indignant at what they perceived to be a waste of the oil, for it could have been sold and the proceeds--which amounted to be around the average annual wage--could have been given to the poor.  John tells us it was Judas Iscariot who expressed this outrage, and it was not for the sake of the poor!  His greedy and sinful motives are laid bare in John 12:6:  "This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it."  Jesus rebuked His disciples and told them to leave Mary alone, for the good thing she had done in anointing Jesus for His burial would be spoken about as a memorial wherever the Gospel is preached.

It used to be when I saw people living in some sort of sin, I used to experience what I will call immoral outrage because I took personally the offence committed against God--as if I was the victim.  More and more by God's grace I am finding that feeling of indignation replaced by compassion, for in clinging to sin people close their arms to the almighty, awesome God who loves them and seeks a relationship with them.  In choosing a sinful lifestyle people reject God and His grace extended to them, for He has done everything to pay the price for their redemption, joy, peace and rest.  Jesus looked upon the multitudes with compassion and wept because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and when we are consumed by immoral outrage we are among those who have wandered from His side in self-righteousness and pride.  May the LORD continue to change us to be more like Him:  to love others and pray for those who do wrong as we are no better.