Distinguishing God's Service

Many Christians who have come to faith in God through Jesus look at the Law of Moses as ridiculously complex and burdensome--even unnecessary due to the Gospel.  It would be unwise to hold to this view, especially since the lawgiver Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Since God does not change, this was true for the Jews who kept the Law of Moses by comparison to all other masters to whom they bound themselves.  As keeping God's commandments was His will for His people, He was always faithful to help them walk in His ways.  No man ever kept the Law perfectly because no man (except Christ) is perfect.

The children of Israel toiled under cruel taskmasters in Egypt and they groaned to God in bondage.  They were forced to bake bricks and build cities while Pharaoh decided to slaughter their male children in the river because they had grown strong.  God delivered His people from their crushing burdens and gave them His Laws.  He was the generous provider of all they sacrificed and offered to the LORD, and He made a covenant with them to bless them.  God gave them freedom in His service and did not force them to do anything, and He was gracious to warn them of consequences should they rebel and sin.  Sin was a more brutal dictator than the Egyptians ever were, for the soul that sins will surely die.  There is no escape possible from the sinful plagues of the heart that bind a man body, mind and soul except through the atonement God provided graciously in His covenant.

After the Hebrews were established in the land of promise, they asked Samuel to anoint a king over them who would go before them and fight their battles like all the other nations, God directed Samuel to warn the people what they were asking for.  The king who would rule over them would not rule them gently as God did.  Saul would tax them heavily, take their daughters to be his bakers and their sons to fight in his wars.  In asking for a human king they were requesting someone they would need to support and would be dependant upon their provision.  This was not the case with God as King, for He is not dependant on anyone; He is a provider, protector and fights His people's battles without needing weapons or an army.  Unlike human kings, God is not self-serving, proud, unjust or oppressive.  Serving the LORD according to His Law was a lighter load than what Saul would require of them.

Another example of how serving God is different than serving idols, men or ourselves is seen during the reign of Rehoboam in Jerusalem.  Having been established in his kingdom, Rehoboam forsook the Law of the LORD and God allowed Shishak of Egypt to plunder him.  God sent a prophet to instruct Rehoboam that his rebellion against God was the cause of his defeat, and he and his people humbled themselves before God.  2 Chronicles 12:7-8 says, "Now when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, "They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless they will be his servants, that they may distinguish My service from the service of the kingdoms of the nations."  God allowed the people of Judah to serve Shishak to learn to distinguish his service from the service of other kingdoms.  For three years they served the LORD with gladness, and when they rebelled from God the heavy yoke of Shishak was placed on them--a much heavier yoke that left them weak, plundered, facing threats of retribution, fears and worries. 

If we feel serving God is a heavy burden and difficult chore, remember the other yokes that dragged us down over the years and rendered us helpless and hopeless to deliver ourselves--sins, addictions, pride, people-pleasing and selfishness.  It is true what Jesus says, that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  In His service we discover peace in Him and rest for our souls.  There is joy and gladness in knowing God is with us, helps us, and loves us with an everlasting love.  The apostle writes of the new covenant in 1 John 5:3:  "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome."  Those who love Jesus will keep His commandments, to love the LORD and one another as Jesus loves us.  Christ's yoke is easy and His burden is light because He lifts us up and fills us with the Holy Spirit.  He provides divine resources of wisdom, strength and understanding to do God's will, and He is faithful.  God's desire is we would learn to depend upon Him entirely, distinguish His service from all others, and delight to serve Him with gladness.

God's Completed Wrath

I was encouraged while reading Revelation 15 when John observed seven angels parading plagues out of the temple of God in heaven.  Each of them was given a bowl that was filled with the wrath of God that would be a manifest judgment of God through the plague poured out.  It struck me how these plagues came from God and were intended to accomplish His perfect will at the right time.  Though we cannot see a plague as a good thing in itself, knowing God is wise, sovereign and good moves us to worship God when He administers judgment and wrath.

It occurred to me I have often expressed gratitude and praise to God that He is just, but I have neglected to worship God for His wrath He has revealed and will one day pour out bowl after bowl.  Because God is good and righteous, every judgment He makes and action He takes is upright and good.  His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and thus it is faith in God that enables us to thank and praise God like the martyrs, psalmists and children of God for His righteous judgments.  When a judge on earth pronounces a judgment and sentence, we have opinions whether "justice" was served or not.  But we must realise God is not at all like a judge under law and guided by precedent:  He is the lawgiver and the law is beneath Him.  He is not beholden to any law like a human judge, for He is also KING OF KINGS.

In the seven plagues carried by the angels, God's wrath was complete.  It is awesome God's love, grace and mercy have no bounds, and this is revealed by His choice to restrain and limit His wrath.  In light of God's wrath martyrs for the sake of Christ in the Great Tribulation will sing:  "...Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! ⁴ Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested." (Rev. 15:3-4)  Those people who refuse to draw near to God at the revelation of divine love through Jesus Christ on Calvary may indeed be moved by the manifestation of His judgments in wrath.  The glorified believers do no wring their hands at the prospect of the devastation and destruction that will result, but worship the LORD God Almighty for His great and marvelous works and His ways that are just and true.  Nations will come and worship God because He is in Himself glorious and worthy, able to do what we cannot.

The song of Moses ends in Deuteronomy 32:43:  "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people."  The wise who fear God are called to worship and rejoice in God who will avenge the blood of His servants, render vengeance upon His enemies, and provide atonement for the land and His people.  If we will praise God He is just, that He is loving and merciful, we also can praise Him for the righteous administration of His wrath in judgment.  The trusting soul delights to do this, for God does all things perfectly in righteousness.  Praise the LORD for His wrath, and that one day it will be completely finished.

Drawn By Love

An illustration many Christians are familiar with concerns a common way how shepherds dealt with wayward lambs or sheep.  The story goes a shepherd would carefully break the leg of the sheep, immobilise the limb, and carry the animal around.  By needing to rely upon the shepherd for everything, a strong bond was forged between the sheep and shepherd and the wandering issue was over.  A problem I have with this story (one I have likely perpetuated over the years) is there is no biblical evidence of this practice.  There is scant or any evidence outside the Bible this was ever a common way to correct sheep that wander.  I place this among the often parroted illustrations because we heard it from someone we respect and it made sense at the time.  The more I think about it, however, the less sense it makes.

Let me preface this by saying, I have never cared for a flock of sheep or even one little lamb.  My only interactions with sheep was at a petting zoo.  In a stinging rebuke to the religious rulers in Israel, God used the responsibilities of a shepherd to expose their failure to serve His people in Ezekiel 34:4:  "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them."  Among the things good shepherds did was to bind up the broken, but there is no suggestion it was their responsibility to break bones of the sheep.  Shepherds cared for the flock by lovingly nurturing them, protecting them from harm, calling out to them, counting them regularly so the lost might be sought and found, and bringing them back to the safety of the fold.  Breaking bones sounds forceful and cruel--characteristics that marked these wicked rulers but not God.

I was reminded of something that happened long ago that illustrates how love, patience and care makes a better, lasting bond than breaking a bone.  I was house-sitting for a workmate who had a dog named Buddy who was anything but my buddy.  I had dogs growing up and always enjoyed them, but for whatever reason Buddy was timid and did not care to be around me at all.  One morning I awoke to find the back room where Buddy slept in a crate looking like a crime scene:  the poor dog had lost control of his bowels and the mess was everywhere.  After calling the owner and being assured this was not out of the ordinary, Buddy seemed to know I was there to help.  He let me pick him up (and I don't think I had even pet him by that stage), place him in the deep sink, and wash him of his filth.  As the warm water poured over him, I remember him simply staring into my eyes as I talked to him.  Showing love to Buddy when he was willing to receive it marked the beginning of Buddy trusting me, and the ice melted.

It has been a long time since I read A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, but there was a passage that always stuck with me.  Phillip Keller spoke of a quality ewe that was the epitome of a wayward sheep he named "Mrs. Gad-about."  The problem with this ewe is she was a skilled escape artist that was never content to remain in the fold and taught other sheep how to follow suit.  It seems Keller did not consider the broken-leg technique on the ewe, for she had to go.  He said, "...I took the killing knife in hand and butchered her. It was the only solution to the dilemma."  This was not a cruel thing to do because he was moved by love for all his sheep and the good of the flock.  This may not make for a homey sermon illustration, but it rings true with reality how shepherds dealt with problem sheep in their flocks.  Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd and He laid down His life for the sheep so we can have eternal life.  Our call as sheep of His pasture is to love one another as He loves us.

Shepherds pursued sheep that wandered and were lost; they helped the ones that fell into a pit and broke bones on rugged terrain.  Jesus described the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to find one sheep rejoicing when he found it.  He would carry the sheep on his shoulders, call his friends and neighbours together, and ask them to rejoice with him because he found his lost sheep intact.  There were times this didn't happen, as Amos 3:12 says, that only piece of an ear or a couple legs would be found by the shepherd. The gladness of the shepherd and kindness towards his sheep was more likely to build bonds of love and loyalty in a sheep towards the shepherd than a shattered leg.  This agrees with God's word in Jeremiah 31:3:  "The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."  When David or Jeremiah spoke of their bones or skeleton being broken by God, it is figurative indication of inner agony--not an allusion to the practice of eastern shepherds.

David sang in Psalm 51:17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise."  God's desire is His people would humble themselves and be broken and contrite due to our sins.  God desires one person to be broken in spirit and heart like David was for his sin before a holy God more than a million burnt offerings.  Breaking a leg does not change a heart. God does not need heavy-handed tactics to convict us of sin nor will He force us to be with Him.  He wants us to love and want to be with Him even as He has demonstrated His love for us as our Good Shepherd by dying in our place.  We can humbly offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God (with all limbs intact!) as a spiritually acceptable offering, made whole by Jesus and transformed by His love.  Even if our physical body is broken we are accepted in the beloved by God's grace because of Jesus.

God's Exceptional Glory

Of all people, kings and queens might be among those most difficult to impress.  Their wealth, fame, power, possessions and land holdings are vast in comparison to their subjects.  They have the authority, ability and right to take anything they want for themselves, to demand even the lives of anyone who may be a threat to their rule and prosperity.  For this reason I find it remarkable how the queen of Sheba was amazed and overwhelmed by the wisdom and glory of king Solomon.  Reports of king Solomon had reached her ears and were intriguing enough to compel her to personally pay a visit to Jerusalem.

After the queen of Sheba was granted a tour of king Solomon's courts, she was overwhelmed by everything she saw--the architecture, clothing and service of his servants, and the grandeur of his entrance to the house of the LORD.  2 Chronicles 9:5-6 says, "Then she said to the king: "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. ⁶ However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard."  I have the sense that the queen of Sheba experienced what we do when we try to capture the beauty of a sunrise or windswept vista with a picture that cannot possibly contain it.  The energy and excitement we feel being in a crowd when the championship game is won cannot be conveyed fully second-hand or by a video.  The queen of Sheba heard great things about Solomon, but no one came close to telling her the full story.

The queen of Sheba came bearing gifts worthy of royalty that included gold, an abundance of spices and precious stones.  Amazingly, 2 Chronicles 9:12 tells us she and her servants left with more than they brought due to Solomon's wealth and generosity:  "Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants."  This reminds me of when we come to Jesus as Saviour.  We come to Him having heard He loves us, that He died to save us sinners.  When we come to Him in faith and give our lives to Him, as time goes on in our relationship with Jesus we realise we have not been told or have begun to comprehend a fraction of how good He is.  There was no spirit left in the queen of Sheba because she was overwhelmed in Solomon's presence, and God has chosen to put the Holy Spirit within us when we come to Him, not as kings and queens, but as beggars who are undeserving to even speak with divine royalty.

In offering our lives to Jesus, we end up being enriched far beyond what we have ever given by God's grace.  What is lovely is the observation in the text that spices brought by the queen of Sheba were unlike any found in Solomon's kingdom before or since (2 Chron. 9:9).  This is also true concerning the way God has created human beings in His image and how He unites us individuals in the body of Christ, the church.  There is no one else in God's kingdom like you and me, and this is God's doing.  We each bring a unique personality, perspective and spiritual fruitfulness by the Holy Spirit that brings a sweet fragrance and flavour to the kingdom of God.  The almighty God does not lack anything, nor does He need us to accomplish His will, but He delights in us like parents do their own child.  When we offer to God freely what He has already given us, it is we who are enriched and blessed beyond reason.

It is true what is written:  that eye has not seen, ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him--and He reveals them to us through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).  The queen of Sheba was of another kingdom, so at some point she had to leave king Solomon and the glories of Jerusalem.  For Christians, our glorious Saviour will never leave or forsake us, and we can abide with Him forever starting right now!  How awesome is our wise and holy God who gives us all things to richly enjoy, who supplies all that is needed for life and godliness for eternity.  Whatever we know of God today, we only know a fraction of the greatness of His wisdom and the glory of His kingdom.  When we seek the LORD and His kingdom, everything else will be added to us because it is God's good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:31-32).  Rather than weighing us down, our glorious God draws us close and lifts us up.