Saved to Stand

History has shown even those who believe God exists and attribute power to Him often choose to reject Him.  The Egyptians realised the God of the Hebrews fought against them when suddenly their chariot wheels began falling off as they tried to pursue them through the Red Sea.  The testimony of Rahab in Jericho showed the miraculous, marvelous power of God had been voiced throughout the region with the plagues He poured out on Egypt, yet those in Jericho did not worship Him.  In a passage I read this morning, the Philistines believed the God of Israel was responsible for the deadly tumours and plague of mice that ravaged the land wherever the ark of God was carried, yet they continued to cling to their idol Dagon.  God's own people were guilty of forsaking the worship of God in their service to idols who never once saved them.

In a rather humorous way, the Bible describes what happened when the ark of God was captured and placed by the image of Dagon in the Philistine temple.  1 Samuel 5:3-5 says, "And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. ⁴ And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon's torso was left of it. ⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day."  It is likely the image of Dagon had never toppled over until the ark of God was brought into his temple.  The irony is after Dagon fell over a second time and his head and hands broke off--leaving only a stump--the Philistine priests and people reverenced the threshold where Dagon fell rather than transferring their allegiance to the God before whom Dagon bowed.

Recently I viewed a clip of a hardened atheist who railed upon God for the suffering He allows people to endure, yet his worldview does not provide him or anyone else comfort from suffering in this supposedly godless world.  All the rage the fellow expressed remained impotent to redeem the past or provide a bright future for him:  so it is for all who make a covenant with death.  The amazing thing about the living God is He chose to come to earth as a man and suffer a bloody death at the hands of murderous humanity on the cross on Calvary so whosoever might believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead and ascension to heaven reveals His power over sin and death, and by faith in Him we have a living, enduring hope.  God demonstrated His love for us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us so we might live with Him.

The God who created mankind has suffered more rejection than everyone else combined, yet He remains gracious and loving towards us.  Despite people throughout the ages to this day who reverence rocks, stones and themselves over the true God, He stays faithful and is worthy to be praised.  Let us be numbered among those who cast aside our idols and wrath and faithfully cling to Him, for He able to set us back on our feet after we have fallen.  When we suffer, He draws us to Himself with words of comfort, love and peace.  He supports us, despite our wretchedness and folly, with His redemptive power and everlasting arms.  Psalm 20:6-8 expresses our great confidence in Christ:  "Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. ⁷ Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. ⁸ They have bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright."

Power of Prophecy

Some Christians have an appetite for biblical prophecy to gain understanding of future events.  Some enjoy observing what is happening in the world with the aim of connecting what they see with what the Bible says.  Given a bit of time, this often proves to be a highly speculative practice.  If people were to dig out dusty paperbacks from the 70's and 80's, there undoubtedly would be suggestions based on current events at the time that sound quite silly now.  A problem I have with those who have a prophetic sweet tooth that springboards off current events is the quick discarding of claims that proved erroneous to make way for new speculations that pose as revelations--without damaging the credibility of those who made false claims previously.

I am convinced God has revealed Himself to mankind through His word for the purpose of us knowing Him, that we would be saved and sanctified by Him.  This is true concerning poetry, prophecy or any book of the Bible.  God has spoken through historical narrative, through prophets and His Son Jesus so we would be transformed inside and out.  On the subject of God being our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, the sons of Korah sang prophetically in Psalm 46:10-11:  "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! ¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah"  To people who looked around at the desolations of the earth and justified being afraid, God commanded His people to stand still and know the LORD of hosts is God.  Knowledge of God's power and presence was intended to shift the perspective of God's people from their enemies or troubles to their God who will be exalted.  God's word ought to change our outlook, thinking, words and actions.

At the conclusion of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ Revelation 22:10-11 says, "And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. ¹¹ He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."  The words of prophecy spoken through the apostle John were relevant for the 1st century Christians and remain important to this day.  The words were not to be sealed because they were intended to be heard and responded to by faith through obedience.  Those who refused to heed God's word would remain unchanged in their sinfulness, and those made righteous by faith in Jesus would listen to and obey His word.  This exhortation is not to encourage unjust and filthy living, but it shows how our response to God's pure and holy word will be reflected in our actions.  Sin and righteousness each have their own final reward from God:  death or life.

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary said this:  "No worse punishment can God lay on ungodly men than to give them up to themselves. The solemn lesson derivable from this verse is, Be converted now in the short time left (Rev 22:10, end) before “I come” (Rev 22:7, 12), or else you must remain unconverted for ever; sin in the eternal world will be left to its own natural consequences; holiness in germ will there develop itself into perfect holiness, which is happiness."  One thing that rings true from reading the Bible is it never comforts or exhorts people to remain as we are, for unconverted sinners and redeemed saints are both called to repentance and to follow Jesus.  We come to Jesus as we are, and as a potter fashions clay so God works in and through us to accomplish His pleasure as vessels sanctified for His honour.  The power of prophecy is not knowing when or what will happen in the future but by the transformation God brings about in us when we submit and entrust our lives to Him by faith and obedience.

The Shoulder Incident(s)

This morning I was reminded of a surprise revelation when I went to the doctor about shoulder discomfort.  While playing baseball, I stumbled and rolled onto my shoulder in tagging out a baserunner hung up between third base and home.  I ended up separating my shoulder and damaging the AC joint when I landed heavily on it.  There was no question what I did that hurt myself, but I was quite surprised after the doctor looked at scans.

The x-ray brought to light I had--at some point prior without my knowledge--sustained a Hills-Sachs fracture of the shoulder.  I could only theorise what had happened.  Maybe it happened when I injured my shoulder throwing a baseball during high school or at a point during my working career.  Looking at the scan it was clear there had been trauma to the shoulder, even though I could not say when it happened or what caused it.  Healing had taken place but the evidence of the break remained.

My situation illustrates to me the grace of God who enabled me to press on with playing baseball, worked in a trade to provide for my family, and continue living as if I had never sustained an injury.  God is faithful to protect and help us when we cannot help ourselves.  The LORD did a similar thing for me mentally and emotionally when I went to 8th grade after being homeschooled for years.  I remember in my adulthood I ran into one of my classmates in a Bible study where he apologised profusely for bullying me in school.  Honestly, I could not recall a single thing he did or said that disturbed or troubled me.  It was another case of God's protecting, healing hand upon my life when I was clueless of how completely I needed Him.

The separated shoulder event I knew perfectly well happened also had a valuable takeaway.  Rather than throwing the ball to my teammate to tag the runner, my lack of confidence in his ability and self-confidence led me to overexert myself by taking matters into my own hands.  Sure, the runner was tagged out, but it came at a heavy cost that has impacted my ability to sleep on that side every night until this day.  I should have distributed the responsibility to make the play to my teammate by throwing him the ball, yet the priceless lesson of learning to trust the LORD by entrusting important tasks to others has served me well.  Pain is a skilled teacher, but the LORD is the greatest Teacher because He can use every experience of life--and the experiences of others--to teach us life-changing lessons money cannot buy.

Praying Changes Us

I was impressed to read the testimony of Hannah and how praying to the LORD made an immediate impact in her life.  For a long time she had been provoked by her husband's second wife who pitted herself against Hannah as her rival.  Hannah's adversary Penninah had children and Hannah was barren, and year after year she heaped scorn upon Hannah concerning something she could not change.  She wanted children, and as the years dragged the continuous provocations wounded Hannah to the point she lost her appetite.

During her annual trek to the tabernacle with her family, Hannah wept before the LORD in prayer.  She prayed God would giver her a son, a child she promised to lend to the LORD all his days.  Eli, the high priest at the time, observed her praying and assumed she was drunk because her mouth was moving but no sounds came forth.  One might think with all Hannah suffered--and then to be falsely accused by the high priest as a drunk--would only have added to her pain and led her to further despair.

This wasn't the case at all!  Having poured out her heart to the LORD and refuted the accusation of being drunk, she explained to Eli her demeanour in prayer was the result of great sorrow and grief.  Eli then blessed Hannah and encouraged her with agreement that God would hear and answer her request.  1 Samuel 1:18 says, "And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight.  So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad."  Crying out to God in faith did not immediately change Hannah's barrenness, but praying changed Hannah.  Her pained expression turned to gladness, and she ate the portion provided by her husband who loved her.

Casting our cares upon the LORD knowing He will hear and answer may not change our situation, but exercising faith in God in prayer works to change us, our attitude and perspective going forward.  The very situations we desire God to change can be employed by God to change us.  It took great provocation before Hannah was moved to desperately seek the LORD in prayer, and when she later conceived and bore a son by God's grace she testified of God's faithfulness all along.  We can know we have cast our cares upon the LORD when we are changed and encouraged by doing so--not because our circumstances have changed.