Disastrous Faith

When I played baseball as a kid, there were plenty of superstitions that went with it.  The unwritten rules of baseball are probably more extensive as the written rules--imagining things a player does or does not do can actually impact the outcome of a game.  If a pitcher is on a no-hitter, the cardinal sin is to mention it to the pitcher out loud as if they didn't know.  Even professional commentators broadcasting the game come up with creative ways to say a pitcher is on a no hitter without actually saying it.  When our team was losing a game that was reaching the end, we would don a "rally cap" and turn our hats inside out to hopefully spark an offensive outburst.  A particular bat was seen as lucky or the orientation of a helmet or random object was just the thing to help us to victory.  If it didn't work, we tried something else.  It was all good fun.

While there are people who legitimately believe the socks or jockstrap you are wearing makes a difference in your batting or pitching ability, from a objective standpoint articles of clothing do not supply good or bad luck.  The most they can do is perhaps inspire a little confidence that a hit or reaching base safely is actually possible when the team is mired in a slump.  But socks and jocks can't make decisions or swing a bat:  it is the player who must do that.  To pin your hopes upon rubbing a rabbit's foot or wearing a hat inside-out may seem safer than hoping in vain a player who has never hit the ball in a game, but it remains confidence misplaced.  It's a bit like Dumbo being emboldened to jump from great heights because he held a "magic feather" that was exposed as worthless when it was his prodigious ears that enabled him to fly.  It Dumbo didn't have those ears, a lot of circus clowns would have been squashed that day.

It is good when God reveals false supports we have looked to or trusted in rather than Him.  One might imagine God's people were immune from this tendency, yet the more they knew the more they looked to themselves as sufficient in themselves.  The Hebrews touted having Abraham as their father, the rite of circumcision, or the keeping of the Law that made them acceptable before God when His blessing was all of grace.  Jesus rebuked unbelieving Jews in John 5:39-40, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. ⁴⁰ But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."  The Jews Jesus addressed had great confidence in their standing with God because of their heritage, God's covenants, and the Scriptures He gave them.  Yet their confidence was misplaced because they did not place their faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who did the works of God the Father among them.  Imagine missing out on eternal life because you have trusted what could not save!

Placing your faith in the wrong thing is never fun and often has disastrous results.  Pharaoh hardened his heart against the LORD and the word spoken by Moses, for he trusted idols and his sorcerers rather than the God of Israel.  Misplaced trust caused Egypt to be destroyed, brought about great loss of life, and Pharaoh lost his firstborn son along with all others who refused to heed God's word.  Rather than placing our trust in ourselves or what we can do, blessed is the man who trusts and fears the LORD Who rules and reigns over all, the only God Who redeems and saves.  Images, charms, and icons have no power to deliver us from God's hand, from our troubles and cannot protect us.  What is called good or bad luck is worthless to accomplish what God promises to do and is able to do concerning us.  Psalm 42:5 wisely says, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance."

Unbelief Manifest

Sin leads to more sin, and even the most subtle sin will reveal itself openly.  As Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."  The source of our problem with sin is not measured by words we say or things we do but fundamental aspects of who we are as a person living in a body of flesh marred by pride and unbelief.  Even a person who is born again with genuine faith in God has a soft-spot toward these subtle, sometimes latent sins that we are unable to recognise in real time.  It is only by God's grace conviction of these sins comes and we are strengthened by faith to confess them, repent of them and do what pleases God instead.  Salvation is of the LORD.

A good illustration of the consequences of unbelief are seen in Exodus 6 when Moses went to speak to the children of Israel.  The almighty God told Moses to speak to the Hebrews and inform them God heard their groaning and remembered His covenant with them.  He would bring them out from the burdens the Egyptians placed on them, rid them of bondage, redeem them, and would take them as His own people.  God promised to bring them out of bondage and the land of Egypt, bring them into the land of Canaan, and give them the land as an inheritance.  One would think God's chosen people would rejoice to hear such promises from their God, but this was not the case.  Exodus 6:9 states, "So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage."  The Hebrews experienced anguish and cruel bondage so long they did not believe even God could change their awful circumstances.

On the heels of God's people refusing to hear Moses, God said to him in Exodus 6:11-12, "Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land." ¹² And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, "The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?"  Moses did not jump at the chance to go and speak to Pharaoh,  and he cited his inability to convince the Hebrews as a reason not to do so:  why would Pharaoh listen to him when God's people would not?  Moses was burdened by failure of convincing the Hebrews when it was not his job or responsibility to make people listen or to change them:  God told Moses to speak!  The same unbelief observed in God's people who refused to listen resided in Moses who refused to speak and would also be seen in Pharaoh who refused to obey and let God's people go.  Later in Exodus we observe belief was so persistent that God's people refused to enter into the land after God delivered them with a mighty hand (Hebrews 3:19).  The writer of Hebrews makes this personal for us, for it is possible it is our unbelief that prevents Christians from entering God's rest.

See the terrible consequences of unbelief:  refusal to hear God, go and speak for God, obey God, enter the land of promise or His rest!  Praise the LORD that despite the folly of man He worked miraculous wonders to change hearts, gave His people ears to hear and hearts to obey.  God freed them from bondage and cruel oppression, and the words He told Moses to say came true.  Pharoah initially refused to let God's people go and later relented, and the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt and received their inheritance in Canaan in due time.  Real, lasting rest remains for God's people.  How faithful God was to love, provide, speak and save His people despite their unbelief and hardness of heart.  If it was up to us we would prefer to groan under a heavy burden or remain silent when it is God's will to deliver us from the bondage of sin and speak forth His praise for the wondrous salvation He has wrought by faith in Jesus.

God Warns for Good

I remember an incident that happened a long time ago when I was in high school.  While at a Cross-country team dinner, a younger teammate decided to pester me.  I warned him if he continued to shove and touch me, I was going to drop him.  When it was evident my warning went unheeded, I did a judo throw that ended up knocking the wind out of him.  In that moment I had a mix of feelings:  I felt justified in warning him and the consequences doled out but at the same time had a twinge guilt.  I was older than him and should have demonstrated wisdom by walking away.  It was all good between us after the incident (I apologised profusely) and I was not surprised when he took up wrestling for the school the following season.

From my view at the time, my teammate got exactly what he deserved because he was warned about the consequences of his actions and did not listen.  But at the same time I can say my actions were unjust and not from a heart of love.  My grovelling apology was not because I pitied him but to avoid future trouble with him or our coach.  I am most grateful God is not biased and selfish like humans are, for the consequences He sets forth are just, righteous and from a heart of love.  God warns people, not to manipulate or trick us, but for our ultimate good.  His correction is perfectly weighted according to the offence and exerts the minimum pressure required to move us in right direction--if we will heed and submit ourselves to Him.  On our own we are all headed for destruction due to sin, so He is gracious to intervene.

Did you know God told Pharaoh the high stakes of refusing to let God's people go right from the beginning?  Every plague was prefaced by a warning of what God would do, and the final plague was the first God warned Pharaoh about.  Before a single plague was poured out on the nation, God told Moses in Exodus 4:22-23:  "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn. ²³ So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn."  God warned Pharaoh that his refusal to let His people go would ultimately cost the life of his firstborn son, for Pharaoh had enslaved and oppressed the children of Israel whom God called His firstborn:  a life for a life.  Pharaoh hardened his heart several times and refused to heed God's voice even when severe plagues came upon Egypt, and then God hardened Pharaoh's heart too.

Though Pharaoh's heart was hardened against God, the LORD graciously provided a way for all the firstborn in Egypt to be delivered from death.  The blood of the Passover lamb was to be struck upon the doorposts and lintel, and God later spared them as promised in Exodus 12:12-13:  "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. ¹³ Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."  God warned Pharaoh what would happen if he refused to let Israel go, gave Pharaoh opportunity to relent 10 times, graciously made a way of escape for everyone else, and then did justly exactly as He said.

God is longsuffering and would rather no one perish.  By providing Jesus as the Lamb of God, we are offered salvation we do not deserve through the Gospel.  How great is the LORD to execute judgment as well as extending gracious pardon to all those who trust in Him!

The One God Forever

Names and words are very important.  This is observed in fairy tales where incantations are used to wield magical power, and the invocations are used in pagan and religious rites.  In the animated film Prince of Egypt, the magicians invoked the power of Ra to do their bidding, similar to cartoon He-Man shouting, "By the power of Greyskull I have the power!"  From a Christian biblical perspective, no name can compare with the name of Jesus Christ, for God has put His name above all others forever (Phil. 2:9-11).  All other names and powers are subject to Him--even those who say His name.

Some people imagine that knowing or saying a name gives them power over the one they refer to when the opposite is more accurate:  to call on a name of a deity with an invocation is a claim the deity wields power we willingly submit to.  God revealed Himself to Moses from a burning bush, and when Moses asked by what name God should be identified to His people Exodus 3:14-15 reads, "And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " ¹⁵ Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'"  God identified Himself as "I AM," the self-existent, eternal God who always was, is and will ever be.  But this is not the only name by which the God of Israel--Who is sovereign over all principalities and powers--is identified.

Later God revealed in Exodus 6:2-3, "And God spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am the LORD. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them."  The patriarchs knew the one true God as "God Almighty," but they did not know Him by what is translated LORD, which is transliterated YHWH or YHVH, the name of God to the ancient Hebrews  This four-letter divine name of God has been termed by scholars the Tetragrammton, and while there is no consensus concerning the etymology of the word, Yahweh is the most accepted transliteration while Jehovah is still used by some.  Moses had a greater revelation of the same God Abraham personally knew, believed and obeyed, the almighty God who knew Abraham as friend (James 2:23).  The God known by Moses and Abraham was the same God, for He never changes.

The Christian view is Jesus fulfilled the word spoken by the LORD through the prophet in Isaiah 9:6:  "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  When Jesus referred to father Abraham as a contemporary, the people scorned the thought.  John 8:57-58 reads, "Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  This enraged unbelieving hearers of Jesus, for He identified Himself with being the one and only God worshipped by Abraham--now in human form standing and speaking in their midst.  Jesus Christ is a revelation of God Abraham and Moses did not know but we can know personally by faith in Him.

The almighty God has revealed Himself to the world in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.  God identified Himself by "I AM" to His people in the days of Moses, and Jesus revealed Himself as the same God while in Jerusalem.  Jesus showed himself greater than Solomon when, after the temple of His body was destroyed, rose from the dead and ascended to the Father from whence He came.  In rising to the Father He demonstrated He always was, is and will ever be, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.  Jesus and the Holy Spirit have given us a greater revelation of God through the Bible than the Hebrew patriarchs had, for Jesus Christ has come--the same God forever to all generations.  We pray in the name of Jesus, not because our words make Him do anything, but because God our LORD and Saviour does everything (Job 42:2).