Hope in a World Gone Mad

Faith Among the Faithless: Learning from Esther How to Live in a World Gone Mad

by Mike Cosper 

I was saying that I was in a book binge, but this would probably be the last book of the binge: 7 books in 7 days.

What attracted me to the book when I bought it would be the phrase "world gone mad". Although how each of us would say how the world has gone mad would be different, it has certainly gone mad. However, looking at it from a broader perspective, it went mad a long, long, long time ago.

So what do we learn from Esther in this world gone mad?

What I appreciate about the book is that it tries to read Esther from its original context and it does not give us a very good picture. You will see that Esther and Mordecai takes on a very different life in the exile compared to Daniel. Whilst Daniel separated himself and maintained his life of being a Jew, Esther and Mordecai assimilated quite fully into theirs. 

And it is a well-known fact that God is not mentioned in the book of Esther any yet according to Cosper, what "the book of Esther tells us, is how God sometimes shows up. In the silence. In absence. In the darkness of doubt, humiliation, and loss. In the most unlikely ways possible, the miracle of grace manifests. It is precisely God’s hiddenness that makes this story so hopeful. Whatever dark place you are in today, whether by hapless circumstance or by your own actions, God hasn’t forgotten you. Esther’s story invites us to cling to hope, however small, and to confidence that whatever evil might currently reign, the story of God isn’t finished."

We can still hang on with hope and faith in midst of the madness we encounter. A lot of things are way beyond our control anyway. 

But remember, God is not finished with us.

Pearlie

God Allows Complaints

I was in KL Wesley on Sunday and found the sermon preached by Rev Dr T Jeyakumar very good. 

I was waiting for the church to probably put up the sermon in mp3 but all I found was a PDF sermon notes. 

He gave an expository sermon on Habakkuk 1 and here are some of his memorable statements. 

Habakkuk is not asking why evil but how long will God tolerate evil. He begins with faith, a questioning faith. He knows only God can put things right but why not as quickly as he wants it to. So many things God seems to be overlooking...He was disturbed how long will God tolerate evil. And how can more evil nation used to punish a less evil nation?

Is we don't point out of the sin of others we do them the greatest disservice and we mock the good news of God.

God will not abandon us. We are suffering not because we are abandoned but because he is disciplining us. 

For more, check it out here. 

pearlie

The “truth” of Job’s three friends?

We had a long break since our last CG bible study and we met for our fifth session today. 

We studied the first round of debate between Job and his three friends from Job 4-14. Oh yes, it was a long eleven chapters worth of passage that we tackled bit by bit using the questions in our workbook. 

We couldn’t complete the lesson because in the midst of studying and asking questions, we also spent time reflecting on other matters that arose based on the reading of Job and stories we share. And it was valuable. 

One takeaway for me was an answer to something that had bugged me for a long, long time. 

I find Job a difficult book to figure out. When I read the arguments given by the three friends, I always found that they were not wrong in what they said. But in the end though, the final verdict from God is that they were wrong. 

It was also brought up that the book of Psalms says about the same things and so why do we quote and pray the Psalms and not Job?

The conclusion I got was that what the three friends said wasn’t entirely wrong, though at times they were depending on context, but that their version of the truth was not complete. 

Their basis was in the retribution theology, with no understanding or knowledge of the grace of God, that God can forgive through the work of his Son even if we are the greatest of sinners. 

So in reflection, if we look at the book of Job, Psalms and the New Testament chronologically, Job was at the outset of the revelation of God, and so they only knew so much. 

Moving onto Psalms, the psalters knew more from further revelation from the prophets of the time, and by the time we get to the New Testament, God was revealed perfectly in the person and work of Jesus, his Son. 

But even that is not fully revealed to us yet. We will definitely see a fuller picture the day we come to see our Lord face to face. 

And with that, what can we learn from Job’s three friends?

For me it’s this: we only know so much and so we should not behave like we know it all, even though we are confident in the truth that we have come to believe. (This may swerve us to the other side of the pole where all truth is relative and this is not desireable. But this another story altogether.)

Therefore when we counsel someone or when we are with someone who is suffering a great pain, watch what we say, or say nothing at all but just be there with them. Our presence would serve as a better albeit inadequate comfort. 

pearlie

When and how to surrender when we are conditioned to fight?

I was reading Jeremiah 21 today and when I read these few verses, I have a question,

Jeremiah 21:8-10 (NLT)

"Tell all the people, 'This is what the LORD says: Take your choice of life or death! Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life! For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the LORD. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.'

I understand that God disciplines us to teach us to be mature, more so when we really needed the lesson, when we need to humble ourselves and accept it. 

However here in Jeremiah, God was telling his people to surrender to their enemy in order to live. God did warn them and gave them years and years of warning through the prophet Jeremiah to repent, but they did not turn away from the disobedience. They gave no heed to God and his commands and yielded their lives to other gods. 

And God is telling them to surrender and to be defeated. 

I suppose we are indeed brought up to hold on to what we think is ours, but if you think about it, what is ours? Doesn't everything belong to God? What we are, what we have and what we are trained and skilled in, all ultimately belongs to Him. 

But to surrender to an enemy? To give ourselves to what we know is bad? It is so against what we as human are being taught and conditioned to do. We are taught to fight and stand up for what is ours. 

Is it even right to give up our rights? How will we know that is what God wants from us?

pearlie 

Deuteronomy 28

The sermon today was preached from Psalm 73, a favourite psalm with this beautiful verse, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (v.26)

The preacher preached on the difficult theme of suffering. He referred also to Deuteronomy 28, where its 68 verses were separated into two sections.

The first section from verse 1 to 14 deals with blessings in the form of security, material prosperity and abundance in the land God is giving to his people in their obedience.

The second section takes the much larger block from verse 15 to 68 and it deals with curses and judgment as a result of disobedience.

The speaker's brief reference to it was unsatisfactory for me because I need to settle the immediate question I had - how can it be explained when Scripture clearly states that the life we have from God is not by our works but by God's grace.

In my reference to the two electronic commentaries I have with me (I can't seem to concentrate any longer whilst this matter weighs heavy on my mind), I did manage to get it cleared.

Reading the chapter with the basic understanding of moral goodness resulting in blessings whereas rebellion curses and punishment is actually a very shallow view.

Deuteronomy 28 has to do with the covenant that God has entered into with the people of Israel. And in this covenant that is graciously given, obedience is expected and to disobey God is to betray and reject the very source of life. The only way to live is to remain in fellowship in the covenant with the Lord God. The primary concern therefore is not rewards but that only in the fellowship with God and in obedience to his commandments could life be found.¹

And the book of Job clearly display the reality that someone as righteous as Job actually lost everything he had. Some scholars have even suggested that the book of Job was written expressly to challenge the simplistic interpretation of the Deuteronomic theology.²

And the most important relevant NT account is found in John 9 when the disciples asked Jesus, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?", where Jesus responded, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned."

There you go, Scripture must be explained with Scripture.

pearlie
1 J.A. Thompson, Deuteronomy, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary
2 Duane L. Christensen, Deuteronomy 21:10-34:12

Deep and comforting Psalms

Today's sermon was based on Psalm 42, one of my favourites, with a most beloved refrain:

Why are you cast down,
O my soul,
and why are you
in turmoil within me?
Hope in God;
for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

The main sermon points were two: (1) like the Psalmist, be honest in our emotions with God in our worship and prayer, and (2) in our deepest hole of depression, there is hope in God.

I checked my Logos library and found this book I didn't realise I bought. It will be a good read. Walter Brueggemann is an excellent scholar and writer.


Spirituality of the Psalms
by Walter Brueggemann

I love his introduction of the Psalms:

The Psalms are a strange literature to study. They appear to be straightforward and obvious. They are not obscure, technical, or complicated. Yet, when one leaves off study of them, one is aware that the unresolved fascination endures. Any comment upon them is inevitably partial and provisional. That is certainly true of such a limited manuscript as this. The reason for the partial, provisional character of this study is not simply because of such limitations, but because of the nature of the material. There is simply more than can be touched and handled. So one finishes with a sense of inadequacy, of not probing enough. That, of course, is why the Psalms continue to nourish and nurture long after our interpretation has run its course. We are aware that the claims of the literature have not been exhausted.

Ah, I am accumulating more and more books to read and I shall not start too many at one go. I already have three books I am currently reading now. I had better finish reading at least one of them before I start on this. But I certainly look forward to it.

I read somewhere or was told that the Psalms are usually appreciated by the more matured. It is when we have encountered much in life, these words of the Psalmist speak to the very depth of our hearts, lamenting to God, seeking his presence, trusting his counsel and praising his faithfulness and sovereignty.

Let all who has breath praise the Lord.

pearlie

We are not residents but pilgrims

Ortlund completes the third section on "The Supremacy of God Over the Nations" on Isaiah 24:1-27:13, where he pointed out that "Isaiah is concluding another major section in his book. Chapters 1-12 reveal God’s saving purpose for Judah and Israel. Chapters 13-27 reveal his saving purpose for the whole world."


City of God
by Saint Augustine

And here is where he referred to Augustine's work on the City of God, where there are two groups of people, or two cities. One is the city of man, a city against God and the second is the city of God. The former will fall, without a doubt, the latter will last forever.

Augustine said, "Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greater glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, “You are my glory, and the lifter up of my head.”"

Aa such, Ortlund concluded in this chapter to "stop living like a resident, and learn what it means to live like a pilgrim."

I have purchased Augustine's City of God a long time ago but have not found the time to read it. It's time I did, though it will be a big challenge--the book is a huge tome and it will take me a long, long time to finish it but I think it will be worth an attempt.

pearlie

Source: Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word, by Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., R.Kent Hughes, General Editor

He is the Redeemer and we the redeemed

As I continued reading the next chapter on "The Supremacy of God Over the Nations II" based on Isaiah 21:1-23:18, Ortlund referred to the classic fiction written in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne entitled The Scarlet Letter.

I haven't read this book before but what Ortlund said made me think.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story of the controlling power of shame.

In Puritan Boston the minister, Mr. Dimmesdale, commits adultery with Hester Prynne. She bears a child, and the community ostracizes her by sentencing her to wear a scarlet A, for “Adulteress,” the rest of her life. Her sin is made obvious to all. But Mr. Dimmesdale conceals his sin. He keeps up an appearance of rectitude, but within he is tortured with guilt. After seven years he finally makes a dramatic public confession, tearing open his shirt to reveal his own scarlet A etched into his very flesh, infinitely more painful than Hester’s embroidered accusation.

What saddens me when I read The Scarlet Letter is that no one in this story understands redemption. No one understands that public disgrace has no benefit and that private hypocrisy only binds us to our sins. No one in this story has hope, because no one sees how God is able to create beauty out of the wreckage we create. The place where sin enters in is where God himself enters in with redeeming grace. When I read this book I wish I could step inside it and say to Mr. Dimmesdale and Hester and everyone there, “It doesn’t have to be like this.” But I can say to you, “It doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t have to be controlled by shame and hypocrisy. Your past is unchangeable in fact but beautiful in potential, because there is a Redeemer.”

Isaiah is teaching us to see with prophetic eyes. He wants to give us a sense of God as we live in this world...He sees a redeeming God at work in a deeply troubled world.

Ortlund gave an exposition of the passages on Babylon, Edom and Tyre. Babylon was a "desert off the sea", a play of words on utter wilderness. Edom was silent with not a single word of hope and Tyre was seductive, a prostitute out hustling the nations. Judgement will be upon these nations.

Ortlund then says:

Everyone has something to be ashamed of. But God is a Redeemer. He wants us to become his pure bride in the New Jerusalem. The only thing is, we cannot retain our shame and hypocrisy. No unclean thing enters there. The shame that has defined us must be redeemed. And our stories of despair can be lifted into his story of redemption. Every last petty souvenir of Tyre can be redeemed into something beautiful for God.

It is definitely easier said than done. If I use the same example Ortlund used, adultery, it is amongst the most hurtful and shameful sin which causes broken lives and broken relationships. Don't think that you are above it, that you are strong enough to avert adultery, that it will never happen to you. We are weak, and only in God can we be strong.

But even in the ugliness of sin, there is hope in our God who redeems.

We will still face our past and its consequences but our God is the Redeemer and we the redeemed. "Every last petty souvenir of Tyre can be redeemed into something beautiful for God."

pearlie

Source: Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word by Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., R.Kent Hughes, General Editor

Jesus is worth everything

I read this in my morning devotion today, and it spoke to me. I hope that it does you.

God is calling us to look away from the little world we have made to the One who made us. God is calling us to stop putting our hope in what we can do and start putting our hope in the divine Doer. Regard him with desire and glad expectation, and you will discover that he is enough. Reject everything incompatible with him — the idolatrous altars of your heart. If you will suffer the loss of all things to gain Christ, he will make you too happy to care. That is faith, and God is calling you to live by that faith. Stop trusting in your own altars of incense. Let Christ alone be your sweet incense before a holy God. Reject yourself. Embrace Christ as your offering acceptable to God, and he will accept you without your own works-righteousness. No matter what you lose in order to gain Christ, don’t worry about it. He’s worth everything.
~ "The Supremacy of God Over the Nations I, Isaiah 13:1-20:6", Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word by Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., R.Kent Hughes, General Editor

pearlie

Our own voices from the future

“You will say in that day”
(Isaiah 12:1, 4).

We are listening here to our own voices from the future. Isaiah is describing the revival of the church in the latter days..He is not giving us details about the end times. He is creating an impression, giving us a foretaste of what it means to live in a spirit of praise.
~ Isaiah: God Saves Sinners by Raymond C. Ortlund

pearlie

Book Review: The Prince (Sons of Encouragement)

The Prince - Jonathan (Sons of Encouragement)
by Francine Rivers

I was right. The Prince is a good read. Any book that makes me weep is surely good and this one did, not a lot and only at the end, but it was good enough for me to give it a thumbs up.

I suppose in comparison to The Priest and The Warrior, the main characters here in The Prince--Jonathan, Saul and David--were very engaging and I felt like I was there with them.

But I also realise that I am more attracted to books and stories about people and their relationships.

Anyway, I just took a look at all the books I have been reading this year and I think at the end of the year I shall put it all out in one go for I certainly see my life journey through them throughout 2014.

I'm looking forward to it!

pearlie

We are rancid stinking grapes

The LORD spoke through the prophet Isaiah in 5:1-2 (ESV):

Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

Ortlund explains this perfectly, ""In the prophet’s imaginative scenario, a man is cultivating a vineyard with every appropriate provision. He has a right to expect a good crop. But what comes of his efforts? “Wild grapes,” Isaiah says. Actually, the Hebrew word suggests stinking grapes. They are not merely wild, they are rancid."

Have you ever tasted rancid stinking food? Imagine God will even spit us out of his mouth when we are found lukewarm (Rev 3:15-16), what more that we are rancid and stinking.

From now on, whenever I think I am so great, so above it all, I will come back to these verses and remind myself without my King and Saviour Jesus's love, grace, justification, redemption and sanctification work on me, I am in reality all these: abhorrent, abominable, appalling, awful, disgusting, distasteful, dreadful, evil, foul, gross, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, loathsome, nasty, nauseating, obnoxious, obscene, odious, offensive, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, scandalous, shocking, sickening, ugly.

In contrast, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23).

pearlie
Source: 'Isaiah: God Saves Sinners' by Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., R.Kent Hughes, General Editor

Our Worship Pretense

I read Isaiah 1:10-20 today and it was most striking. I'm not sure if people still talk about worship wars, but God is not so concerned about the way we worship but who and why we worship.

Ortlund says, "For our worship to be saved, it isn’t a matter of fine-tuning our outward performances. It’s a matter of repentance."

Now that I read these verses in Isaiah, I read it in new light and understanding, I read it in reference to myself and I read it against my pretense in worship.

Initially I still think about the old way of worship by the Israelites, which I obviously don't do. But now, I can relate it to the sins I commit when I come to worship God every Sunday.

"What offends God is hollowed-out worship." (Ortlund)

Listen to the Word of God through his prophet, first in ESV which is more (dynamically) literal, then NLT which is a bit more paraphrased and finally The Message which is most paraphrased.

Isaiah 1:10-20 ESV
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
"What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
"When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Isaiah 1:10-20 NLT
Listen to the LORD, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.”
“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the LORD.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting— they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

Isaiah 1:10-20 MSG
“Listen to my Message, you Sodom-schooled leaders. Receive God’s revelation, you Gomorrah-schooled people. “Why this frenzy of sacrifices?” GOD’S asking. “Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don’t you think I’ve had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, Running here and there, doing this and that— all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship?
“Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.
“Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.” This is GOD ’s Message: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white. If they’re red like crimson, they’ll be like wool. If you’ll willingly obey, you’ll feast like kings. But if you’re willful and stubborn, you’ll die like dogs.” That’s right. GOD says so.

"Richard Lovelace reminds us that the grace of God is the only power that can free us from our hypocrisies". (Ortlund)

pearlie

Isaiah, God Saves Sinners (Preaching the Word Series)

Isaiah - God Saves Sinners
by Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr.

As I have blogged before, I found the Preaching the Word series by Kent Hughes very useful as devotional materials for me, and I thought I'd do Isaiah now.

I've finished the edition on Proverbs and do not think I can continue with Exodus.

So, Isaiah it shall be.

Isaiah is an important book in the bible and for me it is the least understood. Ortlund quotes and Ortlund says:

"God spoke eloquently through Isaiah. If you have any interest in the Bible at all, Isaiah will reward a close reading. It is “the most theologically significant book in the Old Testament.” “Of all the books in the Old Testament, Isaiah is perhaps the richest.” “From ancient times Isaiah has been considered the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.” The scholars who know what they are talking about prize Isaiah. What Bach’s first biographer said about his music applies to Isaiah’s prophecy:

[Bach’s music] is not merely agreeable, like other composers’, but transports us to the regions of the ideal. It does not arrest our attention momentarily but grips us the stronger the oftener we listen to it so that, after a thousand hearings, its treasures are still unexhausted and yield fresh beauties to excite our wonder.

Isaiah deserves better than to be a “classic” — a famous book nobody reads anymore. His prophecy isn’t always easy to understand. But every day all around the world people take on challenges, from climbing the Matterhorn to learning Japanese to launching a new business. If God has spoken to us through Isaiah, let’s explore this literary Matterhorn. Let’s enjoy the view from the very top, and even the effort of getting there. Let’s reach out for new understandings."

I am certainly looking forward to reading it and learning from Isaiah, admitting I'm nothing but a sinner and being convicted of my dire need for God and God alone.

pearlie

Book Review: Proverbs, Wisdom that Works

Proverbs, Wisdom that Works, Preaching the Word
by Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

This is a very good commentary to read on Proverbs. When I first bought this book, I didn't think to check how the author would manage a preaching commentary on a book with proverbs scattered across the book.

Ortlund did a marvelous job by handling it by topics, only that he was not able to cover them all.

The topics are:
1   Why the Book of Proverbs Matters
2   Let’s Begin (1:1–7)
3   Violence !(1:8–19)
4   A Storm Is Coming (1:20–33)
5   How We Can Grow (2:1–22)
6   The Wisdom That Helps Us (3:1–8)
7   Wisdom at the Extremes of Life (3:9–12)
8   Why Wisdom Matters, What Wisdom Creates (3:13–35)
9   The Only Path into Life (4:1–27)
10   Bitter Honey and Sweet Water (5:1–23)
11   Responsibility, Opportunity, Unity (6:1–19)
12   Why Our Sexuality Matters to God (6:20—7:27)
13   The Worldview of Wisdom (8:1–36)
14   It’s Decision Time (9:1–18)
15   The Tongue (18:21)
16   Humility (22:4)
17   Family (22:6)
18   Emotions (15:30)
19   Friendship (18:24)
20   Money (10:22)
21   Life and Death (12:28)

One of the most important thing about this book is how he centers the message on the Gospel of Christ. Ortlund says, "It leads us to Christ. If you look for him here, you will find him."

For now, Chapter 19 on friendship is extremely relevant and timely for me. This is one I will revisit very soon.

And here are some great quotes from the book:

Life is a journey, and the end of it all is not just a place but also a condition.

Through the book of Proverbs, God coaches us in the wisdom we need throughout the long and complicated path of our everyday lives.

We need wisdom to fill in the blanks moment by moment, and God gives us his wisdom in the book of Proverbs.

However we are suffering, our real business is with Christ. He is saying to us here in his Word, “Come to me. Deal with me. I am able to restore you out of your past failings and defend you for the future. Hurl yourself at me in all your need. I will give myself to you in all my grace. My wisdom will enter your heart in ways you’ve never known before.”

Wherever you turn in the Bible, remind yourself, “God has a blessing for me here.” Never dismiss a single verse. Even if you don’t understand it, you can still say, “I don’t understand this yet, but I will not despise it. I will not dismiss it as irrelevant or archaic. This book is Jesus speaking to me, every word of it.

pearlie

We are never content

I was set to finish reading Chapter 36 of Philip Graham Ryken's commentary on Exodus, and I did. (But I must say, with the help of Kate in VoiceReader).

What made me think this time was from the point of the whining Israelites.

For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'What are we to drink?' (Exo 15:22b-24)

If I were them, I would have said why didn't God provide good drinking water in the first without us having to ask him, because he already knows that we need it! We have no water for three days! I don't even need to ask! It's a given!

It does not work that way, not with them, not with us.

But we certainly expect it, don't we? We want everything ready at hand for us. We are really a very pampered generation. Gone are the days where we do all the things ourselves. For most of us, wherever we go, we are waited hand and foot for the basics of life - clean water, clean air, clean clothes, good food...good coffee. These are now considered a given by most.

We have lost the awe and wonder of the simplicities of life.

So when the Israelites were dying from thirst, why didn't God just provided and lead them to good fresh water to start with? It is because they need to know and acknowledge that all providence comes from God.

If you...know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matt 7:11)

The key word is "ask". We don't have because we don't ask. It is a command from God that we ask, and in his will and in his time, he will give. Only then will we know and acknowledge who the giver is, and not be like how we are these days, pampered babies.

But when the Israelites were given manna every morning everyday of their lives wandering the dessert, where they contented?

There were not. They were still grumbling and wanted something better.

We will never learn. It is only by God's grace that saves us from his wrath.

pearlie

Moses and the whiners

At the rate I am keeping up with the commentary on Exodus by Philip Graham Ryken, it will be a lifetime before I complete all 102 chapters. I am only at chapter 36 today, and I only barely read the first few pages before my mind got stuck and became busy with this one thing.

But I do think this is good, because devotional reading and studying of God's word takes time and much thinking and mulling, and application.

The chapter is entitled "A Bitter Complaint" on Exo 15:22-27. The portion that made me stop and think was this:

Whining always sounds childish. Consider the bumper sticker on which the word “Whining” is superimposed with a red circle slashed by a diagonal line — “No Whining!” It is not hard to guess who is inside the car (usually a minivan). Children are notorious for whining. To be guilty of this sin, as the Israelites were, is a sign of spiritual immaturity. One day the people were dancing on the beach, singing praises to God; but only a few days later they were on the verge of open rebellion. This is a clear sign that they were still in their spiritual infancy."

I began to think about Moses. I wondered how he must have felt having to face a horde of whining people for 40 years! How could he stand it? I wouldn't be able to. I cannot stand whiny people.

But that is what he did. He did show his impatience once in awhile as we read in the exodus account, but all in all, I must say he is very, very patient indeed and he always come back to God in his frustrations.

I had my fourth coaching session with a CG friend this evening, and in our conversation, with no reference to my mulling about Moses, she talked about him.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

She brought up a very interesting point. Moses brought the people through the wilderness for 40 years, but in the end he did not go with them into the promised land. My friend commented that sometimes in our dealing with people, we complete our duty and let them move forward to their new land without us.

Is that so? Can I then let the people I deal with move on and I let them go ahead without following them. If that is the case, I can move on to help and manage other people.

However, the only reason Moses could not go into the promised land was because he sinned against God in his disobedience and lack of faith. How does this then square with what my friend say?

I think I can conclude with these observations:

1. God has chosen us to minister to some people he placed in our lives, and some of these people will be whiners.

2. We are to obey God and following his leading and bring the people into God's truth, especially the whiners, so they can mature in Christ.

3. I do not think we can apply it literally to our lives where Moses was left behind and not go into the promised land. However, when some people move on to continue to grow in God, we trust that God will arrange for new guides for them in their next phase of growth and sanctification. It is not our call, but God's.

pearlie

Built for God's Glory

We had a church building dedication today and Pastor Marvin's sermon was on 1 Chronicles 22, entitled Built for God's Glory.

What I remember from the sermon are (now, I had better get back into the habit of taking sermon notes!) these three points:

(1) Every building has a purpose
The construction of a building always comes with a purpose. The temple of Jerusalem built by King Solomon was obviously for God's glory, to be used by the people to worship God. So must the buildings that we have now.

(2) God is the sole benefactor
Even though a building is made possible by many hands, it is God who makes it possible. Even though Solomon built the temple, it was David who came up with the plans and the materials, and ultimately it was God who directs it. We have had so many blessings pouring in from so many people - in time, labour and resources - but only God made it possible.

(3) Constructing only during peace time
God did not allow David to build the temple. David's time was the time of blood and war. The building of the temple has to be in time of peace. And this I found interesting: Solomon comes from the Hebrew name שְׁלֹמֹה (Shelomoh), which is derived from the Hebrew word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) that means "peace". We have had conflicts and problems before but now in a time of peace, God has blessed us with a new building.

And for that we praise God. To him alone be the glory. Amen.

pearlie

An incubation and a meal

I am onto the last portion of the book of Genesis as I read R. Kent Hughes book on it. It felt like I was moving into the excitement that you get when you come to the closing of a historical saga. I did say that I can only take a chapter of Hughes' book a day, since every chapter is like a sermon with insights into the given passage and life application points. But today, I read six chapters at one go! It was like, "What next? What next?" And Hughes certainly has many great insights in this most favourite historical account of mine.

There is no doubt that I have learnt so many lessons today, but two of them have left a stronger imprint in my mind.

First is a statement that he quoted from John Walton's Genesis, NIV Application Commentary. It refers to the time when Jacob and his entire household was to move into Egypt in order to survive the great famine, and I quote, "the time in Egypt is not an interruption of the covenant but an incubation of the covenant people."

I love the word "incubation". It reminds of certain periods of my life when all is quiet and peaceful only to have problems and troubles piling in one after another. God gives us times and periods of incubation. I am reminded that I must use these times to enjoy the presence and the holiness of God, and then I can stand strong beneath his wings when trials come, which will definitely come in this broken world. I can even say that life here on earth is like an incubator for us to grow in God and be fed by his goodness and his Word before we are reunited with him in his full presence in the day to come.

Moreover, Hughes highlighted that "astonishingly, Israel would not become a great nation in the land of promise but on the pagan Nile!" Even so for the Christians in this broken world of ours, where hatred, revenge, murders, lies and slanders thrive.

The second truth that I am now holding close to my heart refers to when Joseph invites his brothers into his home for a meal, when his brothers have not yet realised who Joseph really was. Hughes was quoting Westermann, "the meal was not just an expression of communion (Gemeinschaft), but engenders and preserves this commonality. The acceptance of a guest into the fellowship of the meal is therefore simultaneously the granting of participation in one's own existence" (Claus Westermann, Joseph: Eleven Bible Studies on Genesis, 1996).

I shall remember this the next time I attend the Lord's Supper and with that I look forward with hope to be eating with my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ in the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. (Rev 19:9)

pearlie

I am an Esau too?

I am getting along pretty well with Kent Hughes' Genesis, Beginning and Blessing and finally met Esau for all that he was. Just like Lot, I never identified with Esau until now.

Here is what Hughes said: Esau despised his birthright. He was no villain, but he was young, attractive with an unbridled nature. He was spontaneous, extroverted, impulsive outdoorsman - a good guy, as we say. A prince of men, prime favourite both with men, and women, and children, with a good word and a good gift from the field for them all. But the tragedy was, that was just about the sum total of who the man was. He was a man of the present and cared not at all about the covenant's future promises of Canaan and a multitude of descendants. What good were they in the present? Even the firstborn entitlement to a double portion of the inheritance meant nothing now. But he did become a good man after a 20-year hiatus and received Jacob with much grace.

So how are we like Esau? Do Christian things mean little or much to us? Is heaven faraway and disconnected to real life? Do we despised our heritage, both the biblical heritage and our own Christian heritage?

I just found our that King Herod was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau and Hughes said this well, that the "ultimate sons of Esau and Jacob (Herod the King and Christ the King) testified to the significance of the path we take up...For every generation, the challenge is the same - to see that there is more to life than a meal, or a video game, or baseball, or a party, or a movie, or an indulgence of some kind - to see, as Paul puts it, that the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Are we selling what God has given us through his Word, our churches, and our families for a cheap pleasure?

pearlie