Curse or Blessing?

When Rebekah pulled Jacob aside and spoke of her plan for Jacob to steal Isaac's blessing (intended for his older brother Esau) for himself, it appealed to his greedy ambitions.  Though his father was blind, Jacob hesitated because he did not sound or feel like Esau:  he did not want to be found to be a deceiver.  He said, "I shall bring a curse upon myself rather than a blessing."  Rebekah replied, "Let your curse be on me, my son!"  Jacob chose to comply at the urging of his mother, and he brought young goats from the flock to prepare for Isaac.  Rebekah craftily used the skins of the butchered goats to cover up the smooth skins of Jacob.  And the plan seemed to work perfectly:  Isaac ate the food and blessed Jacob who went his way.

It only took a short while for Esau and Isaac to find out what had happened.  Jacob had scarcely left when Esau came in with a feast prepared at his father's request.  When he announced his arrival Israel trembled greatly, for he realised he had been deceived by Jacob who took away Esau's blessing.  What Jacob feared came to pass, for he was revealed to be a deceiver.  Esau hated Jacob for what he did and made his murderous intentions toward Jacob his brother known.  Rebekah heard of Esau's vengeful plot and warned Jacob of his plans.

Rebekah said to Jacob in Genesis 27:43-45:  "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ And stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away, ⁴⁵ until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?"  Notice how Rebekah admits it was not she who was held accountable as the mastermind and facilitator of Jacob taking the blessing, but Jacob alone:  "...what you have done to him."  She said previously his curse would be upon her but Jacob's sinful choice left him guilty and alone.  So it is with temptation and sin:  while sin may propose a path to our desired end, it results in guilt and trouble time alone cannot undo.  Sin always brings a curse on those deceived by it.  Jacob's hope to trick his father showed he was deceived by sin himself.

Hebrews 3:12-13 says to all who fear God, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; ¹³ but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."  When we are converted as Christians, we turn from sin in repentance to Jesus who saves us from our sins.  It is possible as believers to be deceived by the lure of sin that appeals to our flesh and turn from the LORD to follow sin as master.  We are exhorted to be on guard against this.  By His grace God grants the opportunity to continue a lifestyle to repent of our sins and look to Jesus again in faith and obedience.  Jesus has destroyed the curse of sin by His atoning death and resurrection, yet embracing sin today leads to us to seek sin tomorrow rather than our Saviour.  If we find ourselves alone with our sin, it is not because Jesus has abandoned us:  it is because we have been deceived to depart from the living God.

Unbelief in God leads to the downfall of believers and unbelievers alike, and humble repentance is the posture of a small child turning from sin to the Saviour to be picked up and rescued again.  Sorrow in itself is not repentance, and efforts to stop sinning without turning to Jesus isn't repentance either.  We can't change what we have done in the past, but by God's grace He changes our hearts and grants us repentance as we seek Him.  Repentance does not blame others or sin itself but puts the blame squarely on ourselves, and those who confess their accursed sins will be those forgiven and set free by God.  God is where the blessing always is.

Love, Knowledge and Compassion

The combination of knowledge and love can result in extending compassion toward others.  The one who is ignorant of the circumstances of a child's outburst in class may be visibly irritated and offended, yet another who realises the child has a medical condition and loves him will be more compassionate and patient.  Knowing a person in the workplace has been going through painful circumstances prompts us to be gracious and merciful when it is in our power to discipline them for tardiness or being absent.  The law condemns, but the loving give more grace.

As Jesus hung on the cross He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).  Rather than seeing forgiveness as a welcome benefit of ignorance when it comes to judgment (which Scripture does not support), see how the love of Jesus for sinners combined with His knowledge of them prompted Him to show compassion on them.  Jesus knew the deceived, envious hearts of those who plotted His murder, yet He was compassionate to intercede on their behalf before His heavenly Father and ask for forgiveness.  Often we lack both love towards others and knowledge of what people are going through.  Being born again by faith in Jesus, we are aided by the Holy Spirit to consistently show compassion on others when we naturally know little and love even less.

A recent study of the first chapter of Romans was instructive to me in considering the prayer of Jesus to forgive those who knew not what they were doing.  They did not believe Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah God promised to send to save His people from their sins.  Had they known and been convinced Jesus was the Christ, it follows they would have treated Him differently.  Though the Pharisees had great knowledge of the letter of the Law of Moses, without faith in Jesus they were blind to His divine nature:  they had eyes that did not want to see and so they could not see; they closed their ears to the truth Jesus proclaimed and thus could not hear.  Their self-inflicted blindness, deafness and hardness of heart was in conjunction with the fulfillment of scripture (Isaiah 6:9-10) and God's sovereign plan to redeem the Gentiles as well as Jews (Romans 11:7-11).

In Romans chapter 1, Paul explained God's wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, to all of mankind to whom He gave His only begotten Son Jesus.  God's judgment of sinners is seen by giving man over to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts (ver. 24), to vile affections or passions (ver. 26) and gave them over to a debased mind (ver. 28) to commit all manner of sin.  Though man is without excuse before a righteous God for sin (Acts 17:31-32; Romans 1:20-21), God provides knowledge how and why people are morally adrift today with consciences unfit for purpose--like a clock without hands that cannot be read.  Knowing this about the state of humanity, it provokes compassion within me to intercede in prayer on behalf of those who sin and think they do well, who know not what they do.  Since Romans was written to Christians, it is also a warning of the consequences should we suppress the truth of God, refuse to glorify Him, give Him thanks, or dislike to retain God in our knowledge.  God is not willing any should perish and that all should come to repentance, and thus shows compassion by His patience and continued proclamation of His truth.

Ignorance of sin or judgment does not exonerate a soul, but it ought to stir compassion in our hearts for the drifting, lost and perishing.  It would be a great shame to use Romans 1 or other passages of Scripture as ammunition to take shots at others in judgment rather than the humble consideration of the state of our own hearts and minds with repentance.  Should God give us over to a debased mind, how could we make one wise judgment?  Let us be those who proclaim the truth of God, glorify Him with thanksgiving and remember His goodness, love, and compassion to us always so we might be a light to those in darkness, knowing we too were once in such a state.  God demonstrated compassion to open our blind eyes and closed ears, give us new hearts and renewed minds, and let us extend the same grace to others without restraint.

Studying Through the Bible

I was asked a thoughtful question today about the Calvary Chapel style of teaching through the Bible verse by verse:  what happens after you teach through the entire Bible?  Do you just cycle through the same notes?  While I cannot speak for other churches or pastoral approaches to teaching, I can speak to the unfathomable wisdom of the revelation of God's word.  One could more easily bottle all the water of the oceans of the world before we could process or exhaust God's wisdom held forth in the Bible.  Because Scripture is God-inspired, living and active, there is much more to learn than we can possibly receive in a single pass or a thousand studies of the same passage.  This is one reason my practice is to study a passage from scratch every time:  God and the passage hasn't changed, but I do.

By the grace of God, faith in God and obedience to His word results in increased maturity.  Our experiences, feelings, and circumstances impact our perspective and outlook.  Thus the Bible and God's truth will impact us differently depending on our current frame of mind and what God has already been speaking to us about.  The timeless truths remain in full force, but what seems most relevant to us at the time can change depending on how we are feeling and what we are thinking.  The Holy Spirit is able to go beyond the words of the page as well, leading us to consider how other passages connect in new and unexpected ways that provide additional richness and depth of personal application.

Another aspect of teaching through the Bible is even if a text is repeated the congregation and hearers will also be a different group of people.  They too will be in various stages of spiritual growth and maturity.  God is able to help those preaching tailor a fresh message by His leading that takes into account things we cannot know, like an unbeliever who will be visiting or new believers in the congregation.  Even in the midst of teaching the Holy Spirit can prompt a new line of reasoning not written down to dovetail into the message that ministers to the minister and people alike.  The picture of Hebrews gathering manna to be eaten that day is a picture of the daily gathering of our daily bread with humility due to our need.  There is also a season to eat of the old store, and this suggests God's Word is no less nourishing when a sermon is shared that has been preached before.

As useful as commentaries and study materials can be, there is no substitute with digging into God's Word afresh ourselves to seek what God has to say to us or our congregation through us today.  The scene with Boaz who commanded handfuls of grain be conspicuously left for Ruth is a beautiful picture of how God supplies our needs with wisdom, illustrations, promises, instruction, rebuke and personal application:  all we must do is rise in faith and gather them up.  Even a short devotional talk with children can yield more leftovers than the bread and fish that remained after Jesus fed 5,000 men plus their families with the lunch of one lad.  Praise the LORD He supplies our need for spiritual nutrition that brings health, growth and transformation by His grace.  God and His Word never change, but He is faithful to change us by familiar and obscure passages alike.

The Non-Negotiables

When we establish priorities, it is reasonable this results in making decisions that are non-negotiable.  A pregnant mother who prioritises the health of her baby chooses to avoid drinking alcohol during her pregnancy.  Should a glass of wine or beer be offered to her--even when she is not "showing"--she will politely decline the beverage because having a healthy infant is more important than having a drink.   She does not need to wrestle every time alcohol is on a menu or on the table because it is not negotiable in her mind; the decision has already been made.  The decision was already made to choose drinking options without alcohol that pose no risk for her developing baby.

In a marriage, workplace or in our relationship with God, there should be non-negotiables.  During an interview with a company years ago, I told the business manager who was hiring I was not available to work on Sundays regardless of overtime.  For me, it was a non-negotiable because my wife and I were already committed to attend church with our children on Sundays.  I was not tempted by double or triple time because the decision to go to church had already been made.  The decision to go to church was not impacted by a busy week, late nights or if I was feeling well-rested.  I was going to church unless I was not physically able to go because of sickness that would keep me from going to work during the week.

Recently I heard someone say that we shouldn't make doing what is good and right dependent on our feelings, and I agree with this.  Doing what is good should be a non-negotiable for a child of God and going to church, giving, serving and helping ought to be in the non-negotiable category.  Nothing in this world is certain, but we ought not to waffle between going to church or staying home every week depending on how we feel.  What God commands us to do--like not forsaking the gathering of believers together--we ought to do by faith in Him.  God has given us wisdom in His word, the power of the Holy Spirit within us, and the ability to do His will:  He holds us responsible to do our part according to His will.

It is wise to determine before a pressure-filled moment to decide what is the correct course of action and not be swayed by fleshy, selfish influences that are not of God.  Sometimes our non-negotiables arise from transgressions.  We decide we will no longer drink alcohol even when it is offered because we find we are unable to show restraint.  At the same time we should not need to commit adultery before we establish wise boundaries concerning our conduct and communication with members of the opposite sex.  Our non-negotiables ought to be established by faith and obedience to the LORD as we communicate with our spouse and fellow believers.  The LORD is faithful to help us walk in wisdom and strengthens us to stand resolute in His grace.