Context, Context, Context!

Whether a person is buying or renting a house, the old adage rings true:  "Location, location, location!"  In Sydney the closer a house is to the city the more valuable it is.  Small studios command millions of dollars because of their proximity to the Sydney CBD (Central Business District).  The location dictates the value of a property more than the quality of construction, the square footage, or how new the development is.  Location is the primary commodity.  A postage-stamp lot in the city translates to more dollars than acres in the bush.

There is a similar principle concerning "location" in the Bible.  People quote scripture to verify their claims, but the immediate context will show how valuable and trustworthy an interpretation is.  Respecting the context of a passage helps us to know more than what was said but to whom and why it was said.  This has enormous implications in understanding and applying the text to our lives personally.  When Paul exhorted Timothy as a student of scripture to "rightly" divide the Word of truth he implied it can be handled wrongly by ignorance or even deceit.  Even as safeguards are taken when handling necessary and useful but potentially hazardous substances, Christians must be cautious to ensure we consider the context of a Bible passage before we utilise it to validate claims.

I recently saw a presentation which emphasised the importance of understanding the true facts of history some allegedly have tried to cover up.  The narrator quoted from Orwell's 1984:  "Those who control the past control the future."  It was then followed up with a snippet of scripture where God said through the prophet Hosea, "My people perish for a lack of knowledge."  All this was to conclude the value and necessity of all the evidence which had been presented and how important this revelation was for people to know.  Now I have heard this passage quoted many times for various reasons.  The burning question is, what knowledge were the people lacking when the prophet spoke these words?  Was it historical or secret information?  It is the immediate context in scripture which will prove to the discerning mind if it was quoted appropriately in the presentation.  To answer this question, I opened my Bible.  If someone quotes from the Bible to make a point, we ought to see what the context is to verify it.

Let us read Hosea 4:1-6 (bold emphasis mine):  "Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. ² By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed. ³ Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away. ⁴ "Now let no man contend, or rebuke another; for your people are like those who contend with the priest. ⁵ Therefore you shall stumble in the day; the prophet also shall stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. ⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

From the text there are two specific references to the lack of knowledge which lead to the destruction of God's people:  a lack of the knowledge of God (verse 1) and the rejection/forgetfulness of the knowledge of God's law (verse 6).  It is true God's people perished for a lack of knowledge, but it was not just any kind of knowledge.  God revealed Himself to His people and gave them His laws so they could live.  Because the people did not know God or walk in His ways they were perishing.  The passage does tell us the knowledge the people lacked and therefore reveals the Hosea quote in the presentation was used out of context.  For a Christian who searches the scriptures the partially quoted verse weakens the argument instead of strengthening it.  Looking at the verse in context shows the Orwell quote was much more suitable than the biblical reference.

When it comes to reading and quoting scripture, "Context, context, context!"  Reading passages in context helps us understand what God has said, what He means, and how to apply it personally in my life.  Knowledge of history is one thing, but knowing God is indispensable for life.  Blessed is the man who knows God and His law, the one who walks in His truth, mercy, and wisdom.  Jeremiah 9:23-24 supplies a relevant conclusion:  "Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; ²⁴ but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD."

It's Blooming Time

On my way home yesterday from church I dropped by the shops to pick up ingredients needed for dinner.  After making purchases I briskly walked by the flower shop on the corner where the florists were already at work.  A phrase written in chalk on a sandwich board caught my eye which read, "Bloom where you are planted."  This was wise advice from an unexpected source.  The LORD used this phrase to encourage me to keep serving and living for God right where I am.

Countless people endure each day with dissatisfaction and even bitterness because of disillusionment.  The seasons of waiting can drag on.  Unfulfilled longings and desires of their hearts hold them back from complete surrender and joy in Jesus today.  For some it is the longing to be married, to be recognised or respected by family, to have children, or to be a pastor or missionary.  In my Christian walk there have been times I felt it hard to commit fully to the present because of a potential future I imagined loomed somewhere in the distance.  It was when I decided to "bloom where I was planted" - to use a God-given gift and to remain at my church without seeking my ideal situation - when God caused me to be more fruitful for His glory.

We often think a change of scenery would do us good and infuse within us satisfaction we currently find unobtainable.  If things were different, we also would be different for the better.  I have found when we discover we are completely satisfied in Christ because He is meeting our needs and will continue to do so, that is when we really bloom.  Transplanting flowers does not promote blooms because the plant needs to be re-established.  Over the years I have had many roses, and it is time, pruning, feeding, and the control of disease and pests which stimulates the best blooms.  You don't need a new role in ministry, job, suburb, country, or relationship to bloom, but trust God He knows what He is doing and is in control today.  Our blooms are according to His design and timing.

I believe God plants people, and I encourage you to bloom where you are planted.  Paul learned in whatever state he was to be content, and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  It is only after a flower blooms that the reproductive parts of the flower are exposed and the sweet fragrance is enjoyed by others.  Blooming is the precursor to pollenisation, propagation, and fruit which sustains body and soul.  You can bloom right where you are because in Christ we have the best Husbandman.  He provides all we need to grow and develop into the fruitful and fulfilled people He has designed us to be - wherever He plants us.

God's Labourers

"Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon."

Nehemiah 4:17

The workers who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem were armed and prepared to fend off the attacks of their enemies.  It is from this passage C.H. Spurgeon titled his magazine, "The Sword and the Trowel."  He used this verse as an allegorical picture of the role of a Christian in the first issue:  "We would ply the Trowel with untiring hand for the building up of Jerusalem's dilapidated walls, and wield the Sword with vigour and valour against the enemies of the truth." (Spurgeon, C. H. The Sword and the Trowel. Vol. 1. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1975. Print. pg. 2)  The Bible is called the "Sword of the Spirit," and we ought to always have it at hand in our labours and during conflicts.

The clear priorities of the workmen in this passage are useful for us to consider.  These were primarily builders who were prepared and willing to fight if required - not fighters who were willing to build.  The aim of the enemies of Israel was to cause work on the wall to cease, and if fighting became their primary aim their threats would have been effective.  The workers on the walls of Jerusalem had it right.  They were not looking for a fight, but were firm in their resolve to do God's work even if enemies surrounded or assaulted them.  It is true we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, rulers of wickedness in heavenly places.  Yet if we do not faithfully labour for the LORD in obedience, practically encouraging and exhorting our brethren as we lead by example, what have we accomplished?

Jesus said a wise man who hears His words and does them will be likened to a man who built his house upon a rock, and this house was capable of standing firm in the fiercest storm.  If we are doing the LORD's work, it will endure and profit many.  Those who expend their effort fighting their own battles will not realise the peace and security God grants those who trust Him.  Let us fight the LORD's battles, and in the meantime be about our Father's business as was our Saviour.  He is a Refuge and Shield for all who abide in Him.

What Follows Life and Death

I'm always interested in ways to share the truth of God and the scripture in new ways.  It is one thing to discuss doctrine with believers, but another thing to engage unbelieving minds and encourage people to logically consider facts which supports faith in God.  In his book Tortured for Christ, Richard Wurmbrand shared an interesting perspective from a Christian who reasoned with an atheist to consider the reality of life after death:

"Suppose that we could speak with an embryo in his mother's womb and that you would tell him that the embryonic life is only a short one after which follows a real, long life.  What would the embryo answer?  He would say just what you atheists answer to us, when we speak to you about paradise and hell.  He would say that the life in the mother's womb is the only one and that everything else is religious foolishness.  But if the embryo could think, he would say to himself, 'Here arms grow on me.  I do not need them.  I cannot even stretch them.  Why do they grow?  Perhaps they grow for a future stage of my existence, in which I will have to work with them.  Legs grow, but I have to keep them bent toward my chest.  Why do they grow?  Probably life in a large world follows, where I will have to walk.  Eyes grow, although I am surrounded by perfect darkness and don't need them.  Why do I have eyes?  probably a world with light and colours will follow.'

So if the embryo would reflect on his own development, he would know about a life outside of his mother's womb, without having seen it.  It is the same with us.  As long as we are young, we have vigour, but no mind to use it properly.  When, with the years, we have grown in knowledge and wisdom, the hearse waits to take us to the grave.  Why was it necessary to grow in a knowledge and wisdom that we can use no more?  Why do arms, legs, and eyes grow on an embryo?  It is for what follows.  So it is with us here.  We grow here in experience, knowledge, and wisdom for what follows.  We are prepared to serve on a higher level that follows death." (Wurmbrand, Richard. Tortured for Christ. Oklahoma: Living Sacrifice Book, 1998. 96. Print.)

It is God and faith in Him which provides meaning and purpose to life which transcends time served on earth.  There is something in men which rejects the idea that life is without lasting significance.  Why else would people try to prolong their lives on earth, to labour for cures for diseases, and to hope of a brighter future?  What is the point of procreation, of spending thousands for artificial insemination, or cryogenically freezing your own body if life doesn't count for something?  Even people who despair of life on earth do not hate life itself, but want a life more agreeable for themselves.  If we could obtain life on our terms, I don't know a sane person who would refuse it.

Jesus came to earth to die so we might have eternal life through Him.  Life on earth is hard on everyone, and even more so for those who choose to deny themselves to follow Jesus.  There is more to life than these bodies we live in, for God breathed into every man a living soul, an eternal consciousness.  Matthew 16:24-26 reads, "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  Even as Christ was raised from the dead in a new body, so all who follow Jesus will never experience the bitter defeat of death.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  It is folly to claim this life is all there is based upon the evidence.  Consider the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ.  In denying Christ man denies life and misses the profound satisfaction which comes from knowing God today and spending eternity with the One who created, loves, and knows our names.