Beat plowshares into swords OR swords into plowshares?

Coincidence? Sometimes there are coincidences, sometimes not.

Last week, one of my colleagues uttered out of nowhere the phrase "beat their swords into plowshares". We were both quietly working on our computers and suddenly it just came. I asked him why he said it and he simply replied, "Oh! A song, but it was the other way round, 'beat plowshares into swords'. Something is not right somewhere."

I am not so familiar with the prophetic section of Scripture and so I did a search in my Bibleworks and showed him: Micah 4:3 and Isa 2:4 have it as "beat their swords into plowshares", whilst Joel 3:10 do have it the other way round, "beat plowshares into swords".

So, we have both. But why he brought it up, I still have no idea.

I would have just let it rest except that the preacher in church this morning brought up the same phrase. He was not preaching from it - he was just using it peripherally to refer to his point on peace. But to me, it struck a chord.

I don't think it is a coincidence. Both almost came from nowhere, and a bible verse that is not that ordinarily quoted like John 3:16 or Psalms 23. A word from God to me perhaps? And if it is, it certainly speaks volumes.

Isaiah 2:1-4
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established
as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,

3 and many peoples shall come, and say:
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go the law,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.

Micah 4:1-5
1 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths."
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide for strong nations afar off;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
and no one shall make them afraid,
for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
5 For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.

Compare those with Joel:

Joel 3:1-21
1 "For behold, in those days and at that time,
when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
And I will enter into judgment with them there,
on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel,
because they have scattered them among the nations
and have divided up my land,
3 and have cast lots for my people,
and have traded a boy for a prostitute,
and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

4 "What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon,
and all the regions of Philistia?
Are you paying me back for something?
If you are paying me back,
I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily.
5 For you have taken my silver and my gold,
and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.
6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks
in order to remove them far from their own border.
7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place
to which you have sold them,
and I will return your payment on your own head.
8 I will sell your sons and your daughters
into the hand of the people of Judah,
and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away,
for the LORD has spoken."

9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, "I am a warrior."

11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O LORD.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Go in, tread, for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the LORD is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
17 "So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
who dwell in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.
18 "And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water;
and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD
and water the Valley of Shittim.
19 "Egypt shall become a desolation
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged, for the LORD dwells in Zion."

As I said, I am not at all familiar with prophetic books, so my disclaimer here is: I may be wrong.

What I can see for now, is that the 3 passages are eschatological but Micah and Isaiah are about peace within the nation, while Joel is about judgement on the whole entire race of mankind.

The thing is how different we see the world right now. We are fighting from within and being consorts with the world. Within the body of Christ, we need to beat swords into plowshare, the same goes for when we work in the world - we need to plow and not fight. We need to understand the other people, where they are coming from to reach out to them with the love of Christ. Instead, we are busy being at war with each other.

We need to stop complaining, stop bickering, stop blaming, stop comparing, stop hating, and start working. There is so much work - the harvest is white but the workers are few. Put down the sword, pick up the shovel and start working.

pearlie

Much thinking to do

These two things filled my mind:

• Reb's "Where is Malaysia Heading and What Must One Do"
• Daniel 6

pearlie

Be strong; fear not!

Isaiah 35:4-5
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
"Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you."
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

pearlie

The Minor Prophets

I am trying to keep to my so-called New Year resolution to read and study the Minor Prophets. It will not be easy since I am far from being “prophetically inclined” in the study of Scripture.

So to start it off, let’s see what this collection of twelve books called the Minor Prophets is?

The title apparently originated in Augustine's time, in the late 4th century A.D. They are called the “minor” prophets not because they are less important. They are called that by virtue of the length of the book - they are shorter than the four longer, hence major, prophetical books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.

I don't think many of us really understood who and what prophets are. If you check a dictionary, you will find its definition in the lines of “an authoritative person who divines the future” but this is not entirely who they were. Evidence from the text in the bible show that they gave:
(1) warning of impending judgment because of Israel's sinfulness,
(2) descriptions of sin,
(3) descriptions of coming judgment,
(4) call for repentance, and
(5) promise of future deliverance.

In our English bible, the Minor Prophets are arranged mainly by length:
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

But if taken chronologically, they most probably will take this sequence (approximate dates in parentheses:

Pre-Exilic (to Nineveh)
Jonah (780-850)

Pre-Exilic (to Israel)
Amos (765-750), Hosea (755-715)

Pre-Exilic (to Judah)
Obadiah (840), Joel (835-796), Micah (740-690), Nahum (630-612), Zephaniah (625), Habakkuk (606-604)

Post-Exilic
Haggai (520), Zechariah (515), Malachi (430)

pearlie
source: Bible.org, The Minor Prophets

Word for the New Year

Pastorpher preached from a very appropriate Scripture passage as we begin to face a daunting 2009. We may be in "exile" so to speak, but God has a plan, not for calamity but to give us a future a hope. We look forward to the year in hope and an expectant heart, waiting on the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:1-14
1 Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 'Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 'Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 'Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.' 8 "For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. 9 'For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,' declares the LORD. 10 "For thus says the LORD, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

pearlie

Hosea: Immediate curses and distant blessings

I must mention that I begin work today in year 2009 and it was a good day. Well of course it is; it's a Friday! But nonetheless, it was a great day at work, and I thank the Lord for it.

I also began the day by adhering to my plan of reading the bible more faithfully. I have decided to read the minor prophets and started with Hosea.

The book of Hosea is a book of both predictions of destruction and restoration. Hosea was called by Yahweh to prophesy the destruction and exile of Israel at a time when Israel was at the height of its prosperity. The content of Hosea may be divided roughly into three categories: evidence, curses, and blessings.

1. The evidence which takes up 2/3 of the book demonstrate that Yahweh's covenant with Israel has indeed been broken.

2. The curses, taking 1/4 of the book, were the immediate punishment to be meted out to Israel due to the evidences.

3. The blessings, which is only less than a tenth of the book, are announced for the distant future. The era of restoration which the Mosaic Covenant promises will follow after the punishments for covenant-breaking have run their course.

I know we now have the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who paid for our death on the cross and resurrected to our eternal communion with the Father, but how often we expect ourselves to be delivered immediately from our wilful disobedience only to realise that we first have to face the consequences of our sins, or do we? Do you think that the message of immediate punishment and distant blessing apply to us?

pearlie
Stuart, Douglas. Word Biblical Commentary: Hosea-Jonah. Dallas: Word, 2002.

Purses with holes

We had Mr Selvarajah speak to us today from Haggai 1:1-11, a timely reminder as we face the economic crunch. While we are busy with the upkeeping and mending our own home, we must not ignore the building and the care of our church, the body of Christ.

Haggai 1:1-11
1 In the second year of Darius the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt."'" 3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" 5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways! 6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." 7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways! 8 "Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified," says the LORD. 9 "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. 10 "Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 "I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands."

pearlie

Isaiah 54:1-8

I never dare to attempt Isaiah. When I read it several years ago when I was attempting to read through the whole of Scriptures, I remember feeling so lost and dismayed at my lack of understanding.

As I attended my family church today, which is celebrating its 41st anniversary and Grace Notes was to give the anthem, CAC President Rev Boh Chee Suan spoke from Isaiah 54:2-6.

Now that I read it, Isaiah 54:1-8, I found it such a spectacular and beautiful hymn.

Isaiah 54:1-8 (NASB)
1 "Shout for joy, O barren one,
you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud,
you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman," says the LORD.

2 "Enlarge the place of your tent;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your cords
And strengthen your pegs.
3 "For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.

4 "Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 "For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the LORD of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
6 "For the LORD has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,"
Says your God.

7 "For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
8 "In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,"
Says the LORD your Redeemer.

The Israelites were termed as barren woman and saddled with widowhood - the lowliest one can be at that time: a woman, barren and widowed. But here she is told to shout for joy (v.1) for while for a moment, God has hidden his face in anger - now for everlasting God has shown his lovingkindness in compassion (v.8).

In the same way, we who were once far from the presence of God, now in eternity, live in the saving grace of Christ Jesus, and in the Day to come, in eternity, we will live in the very presence of God, loving, kind and compassionate.

pearlie

Dreaming dreams, seeing visions

Pastor Chris's sermon today was fiery but gentle. He taught and exhorted us through the words of Joel in 2:28-29. For one, SH commented that he has never heard any sermons preached from Joel before.

Pastor said that we need to dream - not to close our eyes and imagine what we want and where we hope to be down the line - but to dream God's vision, what he wants. I suppose we are so contented with the past and the present we stop dreaming.

Dreaming is a dangerous thing - it bring disappointments, confusion and disbelief, so much so that we have decided to just stop dreaming and accept the present reality. Just take the Methodists as an example. Pastor told us that we have been around for 120 years. I am assuming he meant 120 years in Malaysia. On the whole, we actually have been around for 250 years. Much have been done and many people have been reached by the "travelling ministers" but at present we are too contented with the achievements, we are apathetic. Right now, we are good at just existing.

We need to be in the society we live in. We need to be an impact but we are far behind.

In Joel 2:28-29, the prophet was speaking to the Israelites who were living in sin and disobedience. Their hearts were hardened and they were chiefly concerned about their own lives. Joel said that God will pour out his Spirit and when he does, "your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions." God's vision should be and will be ours - it is our right.

But what happened to that kind of dreaming?

When God works in our midst, there is always a sense of excitement, healing is experienced in midst of pain, joy abundant in the presence of suffering and goodness evident in the thick of depravity. That is only because God's presence in our lives. But is he?

What does dreaming involve? Only trust or faith, and only the cross. Faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb 11:1) and the cross is "if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Mk 8:34, Lk 9:23).

Trust and obey ... there is no other way.

Pastor's sermon reached me in two ways:

(1) I need to begin to dream again like I did before. Maybe I have grown older - I suppose the older we get, the more practical we are. We'd rather be seen as realists than idealists. I used to dream when I was young - the world was like a playground - there was so much to explore, to feel, to climb, to be challenged, to achieve, and I had the energy. Now 20 years down the line, the playground has morphed into a backyard - there is so much to do, to repair, to desensitise, to pull-down, to avoid, and my energy is sapping the more I look at it. This should not be - I should dream again, and feel the excitement that is from the Lord. And what more with the years of pain as the result of going through fire after fire, with the years of learning and seeking his word, the dreaming should take on a more profound and powerful sense. I don't know ... I suppose I am dreaming of dreaming?

(2) And on the other end, I am very glad that after 5 long years, I am now listening to sermons that convict and exhort, not just motivate and encourage. I remember the days when I look forward to Sundays for the sermons, but after awhile it became quite a snag and I think I lost the knack of listening. I remember one year during a graduation event in STM, where Bishop Rev Hwa Yung was speaking, I subconsciously forgot to listen. Midway through, I had to snap back, scolded myself and make effort to hear the sermon, which in fact was a good one. So you see, we have not heard any sermons preached from Joel before because there weren't many biblical sermon that we can fall on anyway.

pearlie

Isaiah 33 (NASB)

I must admit I have not been reading and meditating much on God's word lately. I made myself do so today and the reading was on Isaiah 33. The chapter relates to what happened in Isaiah 32, the distress suffered by Judah and Jerusalem by the invasion of Sennacherib.

It can be divided into these sections:

I. "Woe to you" (v.1-4)
1 Woe to you, O destroyer,
While you were not destroyed;
And he who is treacherous,
while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying,
you will be destroyed;
As soon as you cease to deal treacherously,
others will deal treacherously with you.
2 O LORD, be gracious to us; we have waited for You.
Be their strength every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of distress.
3 At the sound of the tumult peoples flee;
At the lifting up of Yourself nations disperse.
4 Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.

II. The mercy and power of God (v.5-6)
5 The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 And He will be the stability of your times,
A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

III. Distress and despair (v.7-9)
7 Behold, their brave men cry in the streets,
The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased,
He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities,
He has no regard for man.
9 The land mourns and pines away,
Lebanon is shamed and withers;
Sharon is like a desert plain,
And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

IV. Promise of deliverance (v.10-13)
10 "Now I will arise," says the LORD,
"Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.
11 "You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble;
My breath will consume you like a fire.
12 "The peoples will be burned to lime,
Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.
13 "You who are far away, hear what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might."

V. Apprehension of the wicked (v.14-19)
14 Sinners in Zion are terrified;
Trembling has seized the godless.
"Who among us can live with the consuming fire?
Who among us can live with continual burning?"
15 He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity,
He who rejects unjust gain
And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;
He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;
16 He will dwell on the heights,
His refuge will be the impregnable rock;
His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.
17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will behold a far-distant land.
18 Your heart will meditate on terror:
"Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?"
19 You will no longer see a fierce people,
A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,
Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

V. The righteous is secure (v.20-24)
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation,
A tent which will not be folded;
Its stakes will never be pulled up,
Nor any of its cords be torn apart.
21 But there the majestic One, the LORD, will be for us
A place of rivers and wide canals
On which no boat with oars will go,
And on which no mighty ship will pass--
22 For the LORD is our judge,
The LORD is our lawgiver,
The LORD is our king;
He will save us--
23 Your tackle hangs slack;
It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;
The lame will take the plunder.
24 And no resident will say, "I am sick";
The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

What caught my eye was v.6: And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

This is certainly God's promise to us. He is our stability no matter how violently our world rocks. He is our foundation, our salvation, our wisdom and our knowledge. What is required of us is fear. To fear God is to give him reverence, obedience, worship, adoration and submission. And indeed, the fear of the Lord is our treasure.

pearlie
Picture by Adrian Yee

Calvin and Daniel

Calvin asked me yesterday if I knew that Satan's name was Lucifer, his teacher told him he said. I remember reading somewhere that it was not so and we ended up reading Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology together - way to go for a 9-year old!

My suspicion was confirmed. The KJV somehow translated "star of the morning" in Isa 14:12-15 as Lucifer and the name stuck, and it is only mentioned in the KJV all but once.

Isa 14:12-15 (NASB)
12"How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
13"But you said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
14'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.'
15"Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.

Anyway, in the midst of reading Grudem, there was a passage quoted from Daniel 2 about King Nebudchanezzer not remembering his dream and now for 2 nights, Calvin was glued to the book of Daniel. He was fascinated with the narratives of the furnace, and the dream, and the statue. I believe he had heard of them during Sunday School lessons when he was younger, but nothing beats reading it for yourself.

Such is the beauty of the bible. It speaks to us in its different forms - narratives, poetry, history, proverbs, songs, letters. It speaks to us no matter who we are or how old we are, wherever we are. God knows us well and what would work for us.

pearlie
Picture by Nikolaj Bourguignon

River of life

Truth be told, I am quite daunted by prophetic books. But if I can choose which I am more attracted to, it could be Ezekiel. Rev Christopher Rao spoke from Ezekiel 47:1-12 today and I thought it would be exciting to learn from this passage. SH too was looking forward as he noted that this will be our first time listening to a sermon from Ezekiel.

The book of Ezekiel is about the judgement of God on Israel, which was deep in sin and idolatry. The first 23 chapters contain testimonies from God against Israel in general, and against Jerusalem in particular. Then it was the surrounding nations who are judged. In the beginning of chapter 33, the prophet resumes to subject of Israel, announcing their restoration as well as their judgement. Finally from chapter 40 to the end, the prophet describes the temple and the division of land.

Ezekiel 47:1-12 is about the temple with water flowing out from its threshold bringing life to wherever it flows. It is a very engaging passage:

Ezekiel 47:1-12 (ESV)
1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.
2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.
4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep.
5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
6 And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8 And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.
9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.
12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing."

The reason why life would grow is not because of what we do or who we are. It is because of the river that flows from the temple of God. Life begins from God. The encounter of the presence of God in his temple is critical for us to have life flow into us and to the others around us.

This reminded me of what Paul said in 1 Cor 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. The "body" that Paul refers to here is the body of Christ, the church and not our individual bodies, as we would usually refer to. We, the church of Christ, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit must flow within making us grow in God. The Spirit will also flow to those outside the body, to draw them into the body.

However, there may be still areas in our lives that need healing. Like the metaphor Ezekiel used: the salty water becoming fresh at the outflow of the Spirit. We need to be transformed to be what God wants us to be: his children, his imitators, living out the Spirit in our lives and bearing fruits for him, bring his healing to the others as well.

This reminds me of the other way the "salt" metaphor is being used in Mat 5:13: You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. It will be interesting to try to integrate the 2 usages. I will try to do that one day.

There are therefore 3 things to do in order for the river to flow in our church, into our lives and into the lives of others around us:

1. Prayer: we must give ourselves into the discipline of prayer so that doors can be opened for God to work in us. When we pray, we are opening up our lives for God to move in us.

2. Holiness: we must devote ourselves to holy living. When our lives are sanctified, we make room for the Spirit to work in us.

3. Unity: we are one body, one church. God himself is a community of three but one. In the same way, we exist in one community, we must live as one body of Christ, loving and uplifting one another.

Life will only come through the work of the Spirit. So, pray, live a holy life and live in unity.

pearlie
Picture by Grozlykos

Christian Pilgrimage

The preacher asked us this morning if we have read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress. I read the simplified version during my early teen years. Does that count?

The sermon this morning is based on Micah 7:8-13 particularly the first 2 verses:

8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
…… Though I have fallen, I will rise.
…… Though I sit in darkness,
…… the LORD will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him,
…… I will bear the LORD's wrath,
…… until he pleads my case
…… and establishes my right.
…… He will bring me out into the light;
……I will see his righteousness.

When we commit our lives to God, it is not so much a “happily ever after”, there will be hard and tough times and we need to know how to respond to our God. The Christian pilgrimage is imperfect. “Though I have fallen … though I sit in darkness.”

The preacher reminded us that Abraham, the Father of all nations, lied to save his own skin; David, the man after God’s heart, committed adultery, committed murder; Simon Peter, the disciple closest to the Lord, denied him three times. The preacher reminded us that we have hope because even these great men has fallen at some points of their lives but they still had hope and salvation in God.

But I thought that we must also never forget that this is not the license for us to continue to sin. We must remember Romans 6.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ~ Rom 6:1-2

We still struggle, we still fall. We must confess, repent and face God. Are there sins in your life that you need to confess before God? The pilgrimage of faith is not an easy one. And we cannot be so engrossed in our own ways that we forget the ways of God.

The only way to master life is to trust in God, and in God alone. There is hope in him. The speaker shared with us this story about Mother Theresa.

Professor of Christian Ethics John Kavanaugh once went to live at Mother Teresa's ‘house for the dying’ in Calcutta for three months. Somehow he thought that he might find the answers to some nagging questions about where his life was headed. On his first morning there he met Mother Teresa herself. She asked him, "What can I do for you?" Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him. "And what shall I pray for?" she asked. He voiced the request that had taken him the thousands of miles from his home in the U.S., "Pray that I might have clarity."

She looked at him sternly and said, "No, I will not do that." When he asked her why, she said, "Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and that's what you have to let go of." But Kavanaugh replied that she always seemed to have complete clarity about what she was doing and the direction of her life. She laughed and said, "I have never had clarity, what I always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God”. What a simple yet powerful statement. It’s something we all need to remember that the most important thing in the Christian life is to trust in God. Our problem is we fret and worry about life, instead of trusting in God.

There is no clarity in life, only faith and trust in God. What happens at times when we do not hear God at all? What do we do? What can we do other than to trust him?

Trust is the only logical respond in our world of troubles. He is hope, he is Emmanuel.

We may have been a Christian for a long time but have we started our journey of faith, trusting him and depending on him for all things? Let God rule in your life. He is God, he is hope.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ~ Heb 11:1

pearlie
Picture by Alistair Williamson

Text of Mother Theresa from Thought of the Day

An offering for sin

Holy Saturday

Fifth Stanza
v.10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him ... make an offering for sin
Such is the love of our God, that He love us so much that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

v.11 make many to be accounted righteous ... he shall bear their iniquities
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Rom 3:23-25)

v.12 was numbered with the transgressors ... yet he bore the sin of many
Jesus was numbered with us, Jesus bore the sins of ours.

A Prayer
Heavenly Father, I am silenced at the grave of Your Son.
In justice You called for Him, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us.
Yet You permitted Your Son to die in innocence.
In love He came to us but He was rejected by hate.
He taught us obedience but men rebelled against Him.

I confess that a great mystery confronts me at this tomb of sin and death.
He was buried behind the great seal of my sin and my death.
By faith I know also that He who died is the One who unlocked the great secret of Your love.
His tomb is my tomb.
He carried with Him to the grave my sin and my death that He might break their hold on me.

Trusting in the Lord’s promise that He would rise again on the third day,
I come not to mourn Him but to confess the sin that He would leave buried.
Have mercy on me O God! Have mercy on me. Amen.
~ Scot A Kinnaman

pearlie
Picture by Petre Birlea

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit

Good Friday

Fourth Stanza
v.7 oppressed ... afflicted ... yet he did not open his mouth ... led like a lamb to slaughter
John the Baptist cried out when he saw Jesus coming toward him, ""Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" "Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed." (Matt 27:13-14).

v.8 by oppression and judgement he was taken away ... for the transgression of my people he was stricken
Jesus was given an unfair trial ... for our sake, he was crucified on the cross, and died for our sins, that we may also die in our sins.

v.9 he was assigned a grave with the wicked ... with the rich in his death
Jesus was to be given a grace with the condemned but instead he was buried with the rich in his death. The wealthy Joseph of Arimathea gave Jesus an honorable burial by placing his body in his tomb.

As Jesus called out, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit", and breathed his last, may we too remembering what he has done, cry out to our Father God, "into your hands I commit my spirit" and breathe our last in owning our lives, it is no longer ours but Christ's.

pearlie
Picture by Josee Holland

Sin?

Maundy Thursday

Continuing on Isa 52:13-53:12,

Third Stanza
v. 4 borne our griefs … carried our sorrows … we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Jesus took our griefs, our infirmities, he carried our sadness. We grieve, we have infirmities and we have sorrows because of our original sin. We are the fallen race and with it comes the sickness, diseases and sadness. And yet, when Jesus died, do we think of him as stricken and smitten by God and nothing to do with us?

v.5 wounded for our transgressions … crushed for our iniquities … upon him was the chastisement … his stripes
He was crushed, by the sins of the whole world that weighed heavily on him.

And why did he have to do that? Because:

v.6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

How should we explain sin? Do we currently live in a world that does not understand sin? “As the Chinese saying goes, I did not commit murder, I did not commit arson, I have done no wrong, so why do I need someone to save me? I could have just told a lie, Jesus had to die for that?”

John Stott wrote in his book, The Cross of Christ on “The Gravity of Sin” (IVP, 1986: p.89-90):

The very word ‘sin’ has in recent years dropped from most people’s vocabulary. It belongs to traditional religious phraseology which, at least in the increasingly secularized West, it is now declared by many to be meaningless. Moreover, if and when ‘sin’ is mentioned, it is most likely to be misunderstood. What is it, then?

The New Testament uses five main Greek words for sin, which together portray its various aspects, both passive and active. The commonest is hamartia, which depicts sin as a missing of the target, the failure to attain a goal. Adikia is ‘unrighteousness’ or ‘iniquity’, and ponēria is evil of a vicious or degenerate kind. Both these terms seem to speak of an inward corruption or perversion of character. The more active words are parabasis (with which we may associate the similar paraptōma), a ‘tresspass; or ‘transgression’, the stepping over a known boundary, and anomia, ‘lawlessness’, the disregard or violation of a known law. In each case an objective criterion is implied, either a standard we fail to reach or a line we deliberately cross.

…

The emphasis of Scripture … is on the godless self-centeredness of sin. Every sin is a breach of what Jesus called ‘the first and great commandment’, not just by failing to love God with all our being, but by actively refusing to acknowledge and obey Him as our Creator and Lord. We have rejected the position occupied by God alone. Sin is not a regrettable lapse from conventional standards; its essence is hostility to God (Rom 8:7), issuing in active rebellion against him, It has been described in terms of ‘getting rid of the Lord God’ in order to put ourselves in his place in a haughty spirit of ‘God-almightyness’. Emil Brunner sums it up well: “Sin is defiance, arrogance, the desire to be equal with God, … the assertion of human independence over against God, … the constitution of the autonomous reason, morality and culture.”

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Christ took our iniquities, our sins and bore the punishment for us, because we have gone astray, we have gone our own way. We have removed ourselves from the way of God and walk our own self-glorified way instead. And that way is the way to death. Christ has come to take away that death from us. He died that death so that we might be raised when he rise from the dead.

O we like sheep, have gone astray,
We have turned to our own way,
The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,
So we might live when on him we call.

pearlie
Picture by Elma Avdagic

The Man of Sorrows

Holy Wednesday

The 4th Servant Song is the longest of the 4 songs in Isaiah (42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9 and 52:13 – 53:12). It is the central and most important unit in chapters 40-66. The literary style of the song is that of a lyrical metric with 5 stanzas, 3 numbered verses each. As such I have updated my post on 2 April 2007. It is the most frequent quoted in the NT than any other OT passages. And as I have stated yesterday it is known as the gospel in the OT.

First stanza
v.13 my servant … exalted high
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. (42:1) This servant is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.

v.14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness.
Men is appalled at they see on the cross – a man so disfigured beyond imagination.

v.15 so will he sprinkle many nations
Nations will be sprinkled with the sprinkling of cleansing and consecration. Not only the people of God but the nations, all who receive him, who believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

Second stanza
v.1 our message … who has believed … who has heard
This is our message to all people, that Christ was sacrificed so that we may live and live it to the fullest.

v.2 grew up … like a root … no form of majesty
Jesus began humbly without the bearings or trappings of royalty. He came as we are, made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man, humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death. (Phil 2:7-8)

v.3 despised, rejected by man … a man of sorrows
Jesus is a man of sorrows, which in the Hebrew word stands for both physical and mental sorrows, which we see when he was in Gethsemane and on the cross.

What Christ has done is so profound that “for that which has not been told them we see, and that which we have not heard we understand.” (see 52:15).

O amazing God, I thank you for your love, a love that we truly cannot fathom, or measure. No words can ever describe what you have done. I am mean and lowly, sinful and unbecoming. Thank you for accepting me and loving me. Help me to love you because you first loved me, you love me with such great love, there is no way to repay you but to give myself in offering back to you.
Amen.

pearlie

Picture by Markus Biehal

Isaiah 53: an introduction

Holy Tuesday

Matthew Henry gave a very good introduction to Isaiah 53:

The two great things which the Spirit of Christ in the Old Testament prophets testified beforehand were the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, 1Pe 1:11. And that which Christ himself, when he expounded Moses and all the prophets, showed to be the drift and scope of them all was that Christ ought to suffer and then to enter into his glory, Luk 24:26, Luk 24:27.

But nowhere in all the Old Testament are these two so plainly and fully prophesied of as here in this chapter, out of which diverse passages are quoted with application to Christ in the New Testament. This chapter is so replenished with the unsearchable riches of Christ that it may be called rather the gospel of the evangelist Isaiah than the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah.

We may observe here,

I. The reproach of Christ's sufferings - the meanness of his appearance, the greatness of his grief, and the prejudices which many conceived in consequences against his doctrine (Isa 53:1-3).

II. The rolling away of this reproach, and the stamping of immortal honour upon his sufferings, notwithstanding the disgrace and ignominy of them, by four considerations:
1. That therein he did his Father's will (Isa 53:4, Isa 53:6, Isa 53:10).
2. That thereby he made atonement for the sin of man (Isa 53:4-6, Isa 53:8, Isa 53:11, Isa 53:12), for it was not for any sin of his own that he suffered (Isa 53:9).
3. That he bore his sufferings with an invincible and exemplary patience (Isa 53:7).
4. That he should prosper in his undertaking, and his sufferings should end in his immortal honour (Isa 53:10-12).

By mixing faith with the prophecy of this chapter we may improve our acquaintance with Jesus Christ and him crucified, with Jesus Christ and him glorified, dying for our sins and rising again for our justification.

pearlie
Picture by Benjamin Earwicker

Lamb to the slaughter

Holy Monday

I am ashamed to say that in all my busyness, I haven't been really observing Lent. So for this Holy week, I shall meditate on these truly amazing verses:

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12
13Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.
14As many were astonished at you--
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind--
15so shall he sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

1Who has believed what they heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,
and we esteemed him not.

4Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?

9And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring;
he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

pearlie
Picture by Ruben Joye

A Right Relationship with God

Micah 6:1-8
1 Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 "O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the saving acts of the LORD."
6 "With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you but
to do justice,
and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6 gives us the prophet's exhortation after the precious promises in the 2 chapters before.

In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore. ~ Micah 4:6-7

Micah now talks about the Messiah's kingdom, to set the sins of Israel before them. The prophet presents a legal case against Israel with the mountains, hills and foundations of the earth as witnesses.

God enters an action against his people for their ingratitude, and the bad returns they had made him for his favours. He has ransomed them, sent them prophets and gave them security but they remained disobedient. Sound familiar? How do you think we would fare?

He shows the wrong course they could have taken. Burnt offerings? Year-old calves? Thousands of rams? Ten thousands of rivers of oil? My firstborn? Fruit of my body? Promises? Thousands apologies? More money?

But the prophet instead presents what they should be doing, what we should be doing:

1) Do justice
2) Love kindness
3) Walk humbly with God

To do justice is to live justly in the community of life. It is how we should live with one another. Set right the wrong and protect the helpless.

To love kindness is to exist harmoniously in partnership with others in the community. It is to love others sacrificially and to be faithful to God.

To walk humbly with God is to walk carefully with him, intimately and in close communication. It is to walk attentively, listening and hearing him. It is to yield to his will.

pearlie
Picture by Caio Beltrão