The LORD is God

One aspect of God I love is that nothing is hard for Him.  In fact, He intentionally stacks all the odds against Himself so there is no doubt He is the only One who could be responsible for miraculously doing the impossible.  For instance when it came time for Elijah to offer a sacrifice to God on Mt. Carmel, before he prayed for God to send fire from heaven he commanded the wood and sacrifice be drenched with water and to fill a trench around it.  When the fire of God fell in response to Elijah's prayer, it consumed the offering and even licked up the water that was in the trench.  Everyone who witnessed the event shouted, "The LORD, He is God!" and fell on their faces in worship.  The God who created the natural laws we perceive and understand, and what we know in part helps us define what is truly miraculous.  Hezekiah saw it as a little thing for the shadow of the sundial to go down 10 degrees, so he requested God made the sundial return backward 10 degrees (2 Kings 20:11).  It was nothing for God to heal Hezekiah of a deadly illness or to make the sun and earth obey His command.  God is the LORD of all.

After God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt with mighty plagues and wonders, He caused them to pass through the Red Sea unharmed while the army of Egypt was drowned and overthrown.  When it came time to cross the Jordan into Canaan, it was the season when the river flooded its banks--not a time any sensible person would think of crossing it with their little ones and livestock.  But this is exactly when God led His people into the land, and their safe passage was not only proof of His power and protection but a promise of His future deliverance.  Joshua 3:9-13 says, "So Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God." ¹⁰ And Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: ¹¹ behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. ¹³ And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap."  And that is exactly what happened:  the children of Israel passed over on dry ground in the time of harvest, and God did not fail in driving out the enemies of Israel before them.

Jesus did many things which showed God indeed was among men as Nicodemus the Pharisee said, "No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with Him" (John 3:2).  It is true God was with Jesus, yet it would be much more accurate to say based on all evidence provided and the testimony of God's word that Jesus is God.  Many times during His time on earth Jesus claimed to be equal to God the Father, drawing the ire of the Jewish religious leaders.  When they asked Jesus for a sign after He just healed a man with a withered hand and delivered a man from a demon who rendered him blind and dumb, Matthew 12:39-40, "But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰ For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead, buried and decomposing before raising him to life, and after being crucified Jesus rose from the dead three days later.  His resurrection, in addition to proving His identity and power, reveals He is able to forgive sins and grant eternal life to all who trust in Him.  Admiring Jesus in worship--who does what only God can do--may we declare, "The LORD, He is God!"

The Earnest Servant

I'm always drawn to Nehemiah's description of Baruch when the walls and gates of Jerusalem were being repaired in the KJV rendering of Nehemiah 3:20:  "After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired the other piece, from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest."  The NKJV uses "carefully" instead of "earnestly," and "earnestly" seems to better convey the zeal Baruch demonstrated in his efforts.  Of all the workers, Baruch is the only one where an adverb was used to describe how he worked and thus clearly stood out.  The Hebrew word "hara" is only translated "earnestly" on this one occasion, and the Strong's Concordance noted other uses in English as, "kindled (44 times), wroth (13), hot (10), angry (9), displease (4), fret (4), incensed (2) and burn (1).  Baruch was a man on fire, one who attacked the task with fervency and unrivaled earnestness.

Since "earnestly" is not a word spoken often, I also looked up the definition in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary:

EARNESTLY, adverb ern'estly. Warmly; zealously; importunately; eagerly; with real desire.

"Being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly." Luke 22:44.

"That ye should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints." Jude 1:3.

2. With fixed attention; with eagerness.

"A certain maid looked earnestly upon him." Luke 22:44.

The examples used by Webster from scripture are Jesus agonising earnestly in prayer, how believers are to contend for the faith and the thoughtful, intense stare of a maid at Peter because she recognised him.  Baruch took to the task of repairing a portion of the wall earnestly, though he worked alone.  Many workers are mentioned who teamed up together, and even sons and daughters pitched in as one to make progress.  Whilst it is possible and probable Baruch had many helpers, his earnestness in working was fit to be distinguished as distinct and recorded.  The nobles of the Tekoa did not put their necks to the work of the LORD (Neh. 3:5), but Baruch maintained singular focus to do this work with great effort.  While people day-dreamed about how good it would be to have their portion of the wall built so they could be done and relax, Baruch's earnest labour suggests he would be one who, after finishing his bit, would volunteer to assist others until the whole job was done.

If there was a man besides Christ who laboured for the LORD earnestly in the New Testament, my pick would be Paul.  Like Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and give His life for mankind, Paul worked with his own hands to provide for himself and others so no one could say he was greedy for financial gain or shared the Gospel for profit.  By day he worked sewing tents and all other hours were consumed in labouring in the word and teaching.  As a servant of God he gave an exhortation he followed himself in Colossians 3:22-24:  "Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. ²³ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."  Servants of the LORD were not just to work, but work heartily--exceedingly, abundantly even vehemently--as unto the LORD.  Their "secular" job was to be sanctified with the holy aim of serving God himself in their earnest efforts.

Are you a Baruch, believer?  Are you like Paul who obeyed his master according to the flesh in sincerity of heart, fearing God, working heartily as to the LORD on and off the clock?  Paul received wages but he did not set his heart or hopes on them:  he looked to the reward of the inheritance he would receive as a servant of Jesus Christ.  Baruch repaired earnestly, not to impress the high priest or Nehemiah who watched him, but did the work of the LORD as if the success of the whole project depended upon him.  It was God's work He would see done with the help of many willing servants from various backgrounds and skill levels.  Among many men and women Baruch stood out who earnestly repaired, and thus the way he worked made a difference God saw fit to note for our benefit.  Let us be this sort of servant, brothers and sisters, who serve the LORD earnestly knowing He has promised us eternal rewards by His grace.

God's Will Done

In a world full of people that change over time, God remains the same.  It is profoundly comforting to consider the righteous, merciful and gracious character of God who has spoken forth His word that contains promises He will be faithful to bring to fruition.  The God who has made Himself known to Israel and all the world also has revealed His will that remains constant.

One thing we must keep in mind is from man's vantage point God's will is not always done.  2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."  God is absolutely righteous and holy, and death entered into the world by Adam's sinful choice to rebel against Him.  Man doing his own will led to destruction that was never God's will.  Though God is not willing any should perish, mankind was cursed by sin which is evidenced by sickness, pain, suffering, the death of the body and the eternal destruction of the soul.  Because we know it is not God's will any should perish and Jesus was sent to seek and save the lost, those souls who trust in Jesus are assured of eternal salvation--according to God's will.

Another consistent aspect of God's will in scripture is to heal as seen by those who came to Jesus who were diseased, bind, lame and demon possessed.  Luke 5:12-13 says, "And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." ¹³ Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately the leprosy left him."  Jesus healed all those who came to Him, even from incurable illnesses like this man full of leprosy.  By doing so He showed His power over all illnesses and the source of it (sin), for He proved His power to forgive sins by restoring a paralysed man in an instant.  Though God has the power to heal over all sickness, even as He has provided atonement for all sin, the reality is people still become sick and die.  The first part of 2 Kings 13:14 illustrates this well:  "Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die."  Paul, who delivered the woman from the unclean spirit was himself buffeted by a messenger of Satan.  God, in His wisdom and strength, is able to redeem suffering for good.

Because we live in bodies of flesh, we can make the healing of our temporary bodies a priority whilst neglecting the condition of the inner man.  Based upon the promises of God and His revealed will, we can know God is not willing any should perish and His will is always to forgive, heal, redeem souls and give eternal life by faith in Jesus.  John 11:25-26 says, "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"  Lazarus died from an illness, Jesus raised him from the dead and ultimately the body of Lazarus died.  But Jesus revealed the one who believes in Him "though he may die, he shall live."  Whether our bodies live or die we ought to keep trusting Jesus who is the resurrection and the life, and even when we are sick or suffer from a physical malady we can know our sins are forgiven and our souls are redeemed.  While sickness can be a direct result of a particular sin (1 Corinthians 11:30), in Job's case sickness was allowed by God for the opposite reason because he was above all others a righteous man who trusted God.  Jesus explained a man born blind from birth was not due to sin but so "the works of God should be made manifest in him." (John 9:3)

Though God's will is clearly revealed to us, in our fallen world God allows much to occur that is not His will.  Because His thoughts and ways are above ours, we cannot often understand His reasons or purposes.  Being sovereign and in command over all, God is able to redeem and leverage even the schemes of Satan to further His kingdom, strengthen His people and amazingly accomplish His will.  The most tragic injustice of all time--the condemnation and murder of the Son of God Jesus Christ--has been redeemed by God to bring salvation, healing, forgiveness and eternal life for all who trust in Him.  Ultimately God's will was done and is being done when we trust Jesus.  When a child of God is sick, should there be miraculous healing or it turns out to be an illness that leads to physical death, we can rest in our God whose will was done because the born-again soul lives in the presence of God forever.  Death was never God's will, but even in death God is victorious over it.  One day God is going to kill death with death (Revelation 20:14), and the empty tomb proves God is able.

Jesus wept when His friend Lazarus died because He loved him, and love suffers long.  Since the fall of mankind God has patiently suffered sinners who have hated, disobeyed and rebelled against Him and opposed His will.  God has remained the same:  He is the resurrection and the life, He is not willing any should perish but all should come to repentance.  God is willing to forgive sins, to redeem souls and heal bodies.  His grace is even extended to those who reject Him, for He patiently waits for sinners to come to Him in faith.  Even when God's will is disregarded and seems undermined He is able to bring His will to fruition, for the believer who dies due to an illness is raised eternally healed, whole and glorified.  Man's will leads to sorrow, pain and destruction without hope, and God's will is to provide all a living hope through Jesus for all.  Whether our bodies live or die, we have a sure hope in God who gives eternal life.  Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  God's will is done in heaven, and by His grace it is also done on earth.

Doing What God Says

"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."

Deuteronomy 29:29

Regardless how much a person might know, there is abundantly more that they do not know.  When it comes to the secret things of God, there is much we cannot know or understand.  The complexity of life and glory of God revealed in nature and His word are merely the edges of His ways.  The more we learn of God and the things He has made, we realise there is much more we have yet to understand.

Moses wrote of secret things that belong to the LORD our God:  some mysteries He chooses to reveal in His time, and other things He chooses to keep secret.  The thrust of the passage, however, is not to focus on what God knows that we cannot know.  The truth is God has revealed Himself and His wisdom to us and has given us things to take to heart and put into practice.  The book of Deuteronomy contains many warnings to God's people of the danger of departing from faith and obedience to Him:  plagues, sickness, fires and deadness would pollute the land, even as sin had corrupted the people.

When people saw the desolation of the land, they would wonder what was the cause.  The answer was given in Deuteronomy 29:25-27:  "Then people would say: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; ²⁶ for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them. ²⁷ Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this book."  God revealed beforehand what would happen should His people depart from Him, and thus they were to order their lives according to the knowledge of His law.

The timeless principle held forth by Moses is applicable to the new covenant established by Jesus Christ.  There remains much we do not know, but the things God has revealed are gifts for us to the end we would put them into practice.  We should heed the exhortations, warnings, directives and promises God has provided that we ought to own and share with our children forever.  See how the wisdom of God is eternal, that those who fear, trust and obey the LORD will live beyond our short years on this planet, for God is the God of the living.  How blessed and privileged are those to whom God has revealed Himself, and blessed is the man who does what God says.