April
War
by Cynthia Saladin
The opening chapter of Judges describes the conquest of the Promised Land after the death of Joshua. The people began by inquiring of the LORD, but vs. 21 says that the Benjaminites didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Jebusites. Verse 27 says that the tribe of Manasseh did not drive out inhabitants. Verses 29, 30, 31, and 33 cite the failure of Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali to drive out the inhabitants. And then it gets worse: in verse 34, we’re told that the Amorites actually pushed Dan back into the hill country and didn’t even allow them to take their inheritance.
In Judges 2:2, God says that the people did not obey His voice to drive the inhabitants out completely. Rather, they made covenants with the inhabitants. The peoples of the land had become so corrupt, so vile, so wicked, so ungodly (Deuteronomy 9:4) that God’s people could not live among them without likewise becoming corrupt, vile, wicked and ungodly. The gods of the Canaanites would become snares to the Israelites and draw them away from serving the One and Only God, Jehovah! God had told them they couldn’t have their cake and eat it too. They couldn’t co-exist with the Canaanites and be obedient to God simultaneously.
God goes on to explain why He would no longer drive out the Canaanites before the Israelites in Judges 3:2 and 4, “It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. . . . They [the wicked inhabitants of the land] were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”
We know Israel’s history; it’s summarized in Judges 2:16-19. God would raise up a judge to lead Israel. God would save them out of the hand of their enemies. As soon as the judge died, the people became worse than they had been before, more perverse, more ungodly, more wicked! God would sell them into the hands of their enemies to oppress them. When the people cried out to God, God would raise up another judge and rescue the people again. It happened over and over. Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson were all judges in this cycle.
It becomes abundantly clear that when their lives were prosperous and pleasant, the people forgot God and did whatever they wanted. When they found themselves persecuted, oppressed, and in trouble, they asked God to save them from disaster. Deuteronomy 6:11-12; 8:11; and 31:20-21 all warn, “and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD.” God was abundantly merciful and exceedingly patient! But the people repeated the pattern over and over.
So it seems that God sent trouble for two reasons: 1) to turn the hearts of the people back to Him and 2) to see if the people would obey God. Incredibly to us today, we wonder why in the world they couldn’t see the pattern and turn back to God whole-heartedly!
But we know they didn’t see it. Look at Judges 6:13. When the angel of the LORD appears before Gideon, He says, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Gideon response is, “If the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” Why, Gideon asked, has God forsaken us and given us into the hands of the Midianites? Gideon didn’t seem to know why they were experiencing trouble. And yet, his own father had an altar to Baal!
What a peculiar proclivity among carnal humans who are in covenant with God! When things are going well, we must constantly guard against becoming comfortable and tolerant of the evil around us. We live among the inhabitants of the land - the inhabitants who do not know God and have no interest in serving Him. The inhabitants of the land can become a snare to us, enticing us to worship their gods. They can become thorns in our sides. It is for very good reason that James writes this to the “twelve tribes in the Dispersion,” in other words, those who are in covenant with God: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
An applicable quote, then, is “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We are living in the world, but we must not become part of the world (John 15:19). We must be partakers of the world’s sins and subsequent consequences (Revelation 18:4). Especially as we approach the Passover, we must take time to examine ourselves to see if there be any evil way within us (Psalm 139:24) and make every effort to purify body and spirit out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
And all of those troubles we encounter? They could simply be God’s discipline - to encourage us to seek Him continually. Laura Story’s song “Blessing” has a section where she sings,
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise.
What if God knows that we need war, we need battles to fight, to keep us from becoming soft and complacent and falling away from our zealousness in seeking Him? It gives an entirely different perspective on James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Make no mistake: we are in a battle. We must prepare our minds for battle (1 Peter 1:13). We must put on the full armor of God, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:13-18). We must overcome and persevere to the end (Revelation 2-3). We must not allow the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches to stymie our productivity for the kingdom (Matthew 13:22). And we must not allow the enemy to conquer and divide (Ecclesiastes 4:12). We need each other for support and encouragement and growth (Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Samuel 23:16; Proverbs 27:17). It’s time to fully set our hearts and minds on God, His ways and His will for our lives.
Compulsion to Conform
by Jim O’Brien (12/21/18)
My wife has a book entitled Everyone is Normal Until You Get to Know Them. It's a bittersweet concept. Bitter because all of us have baggage (as we say), sweet because there is no need to feel inferior-at least to other humans.
It's also overwhelming because we are offered entrance into the very family of God-who is flawless. We are told to "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. 5:48)
Maybe that's why one of the most interesting ironies of human nature is the compulsion to conform to other humans. Most people have enough weaknesses to create a natural resistance to imitation.
When I was in college a psychology professor told us to imagine looking at a classroom of 25 students. He said that 2 of the 25 would spend time in a mental hospital, 4 would be profoundly neurotic, 4 deeply neurotic, 4 mildly neurotic and only 8 to 10 would be fairly normal.
It's gotten worse over the years. Today about one-quarter of the adult population suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. That's more than 57 million people!
Over 2 million adults were admitted to a drug or alcohol rehabilitation center last year. And the day before they were admitted to the institution, some of them were passing you on the highway driving a car or big truck.
Add to this the financial indebtedness and serious health issues most people face on a daily basis. For example, the average student leaves college today with a debt of $32,000!
Okay, enough of statistical bad news! I've made my point-why would any of us want to be like everybody else? The truth is, if you want to be like everybody else then you'll get what everybody else gets.
There was a psychological study once that demonstrated the benefit of having an unusual name. Having a name that is, well, peculiar, was a factor that actually favored success. The author cited the name Elvis as an example that helped the singer become great. If his parents had named him Bill or Bob he would probably have worked the checkout counter at Kroger and driven a used Ford.
There is deep truth in the idea of our unique identity in God. The King James Version of the Bible uses the term "peculiar" when it refers to God's people. Moses quotes God as saying, "Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people." (Exodus 19:5 KJV) In other words, you are special to God above the crowd because of your lack of conformity. That's a peculiar characteristic you can enjoy.
The thought is expressed at least 5 times in the Bible. The contemporary versions render the word peculiar as "treasured people" as in Deuteronomy where Moses says, "Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession!" (Deut. 14:2 NIV)
Being thought of as "different" isn't so bad after all.
"Worry is a conversation you have with yourself
about things you cannot change.
Prayer is a conversation you have with God
about things He can change."
War
by Cynthia Saladin
The opening chapter of Judges describes the conquest of the Promised Land after the death of Joshua. The people began by inquiring of the LORD, but vs. 21 says that the Benjaminites didn’t drive out the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Jebusites. Verse 27 says that the tribe of Manasseh did not drive out inhabitants. Verses 29, 30, 31, and 33 cite the failure of Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali to drive out the inhabitants. And then it gets worse: in verse 34, we’re told that the Amorites actually pushed Dan back into the hill country and didn’t even allow them to take their inheritance.
In Judges 2:2, God says that the people did not obey His voice to drive the inhabitants out completely. Rather, they made covenants with the inhabitants. The peoples of the land had become so corrupt, so vile, so wicked, so ungodly (Deuteronomy 9:4) that God’s people could not live among them without likewise becoming corrupt, vile, wicked and ungodly. The gods of the Canaanites would become snares to the Israelites and draw them away from serving the One and Only God, Jehovah! God had told them they couldn’t have their cake and eat it too. They couldn’t co-exist with the Canaanites and be obedient to God simultaneously.
God goes on to explain why He would no longer drive out the Canaanites before the Israelites in Judges 3:2 and 4, “It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. . . . They [the wicked inhabitants of the land] were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.”
We know Israel’s history; it’s summarized in Judges 2:16-19. God would raise up a judge to lead Israel. God would save them out of the hand of their enemies. As soon as the judge died, the people became worse than they had been before, more perverse, more ungodly, more wicked! God would sell them into the hands of their enemies to oppress them. When the people cried out to God, God would raise up another judge and rescue the people again. It happened over and over. Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson were all judges in this cycle.
It becomes abundantly clear that when their lives were prosperous and pleasant, the people forgot God and did whatever they wanted. When they found themselves persecuted, oppressed, and in trouble, they asked God to save them from disaster. Deuteronomy 6:11-12; 8:11; and 31:20-21 all warn, “and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD.” God was abundantly merciful and exceedingly patient! But the people repeated the pattern over and over.
So it seems that God sent trouble for two reasons: 1) to turn the hearts of the people back to Him and 2) to see if the people would obey God. Incredibly to us today, we wonder why in the world they couldn’t see the pattern and turn back to God whole-heartedly!
But we know they didn’t see it. Look at Judges 6:13. When the angel of the LORD appears before Gideon, He says, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” Gideon response is, “If the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” Why, Gideon asked, has God forsaken us and given us into the hands of the Midianites? Gideon didn’t seem to know why they were experiencing trouble. And yet, his own father had an altar to Baal!
What a peculiar proclivity among carnal humans who are in covenant with God! When things are going well, we must constantly guard against becoming comfortable and tolerant of the evil around us. We live among the inhabitants of the land - the inhabitants who do not know God and have no interest in serving Him. The inhabitants of the land can become a snare to us, enticing us to worship their gods. They can become thorns in our sides. It is for very good reason that James writes this to the “twelve tribes in the Dispersion,” in other words, those who are in covenant with God: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
An applicable quote, then, is “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We are living in the world, but we must not become part of the world (John 15:19). We must be partakers of the world’s sins and subsequent consequences (Revelation 18:4). Especially as we approach the Passover, we must take time to examine ourselves to see if there be any evil way within us (Psalm 139:24) and make every effort to purify body and spirit out of reverence for God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
And all of those troubles we encounter? They could simply be God’s discipline - to encourage us to seek Him continually. Laura Story’s song “Blessing” has a section where she sings,
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise.
What if God knows that we need war, we need battles to fight, to keep us from becoming soft and complacent and falling away from our zealousness in seeking Him? It gives an entirely different perspective on James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Make no mistake: we are in a battle. We must prepare our minds for battle (1 Peter 1:13). We must put on the full armor of God, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:13-18). We must overcome and persevere to the end (Revelation 2-3). We must not allow the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches to stymie our productivity for the kingdom (Matthew 13:22). And we must not allow the enemy to conquer and divide (Ecclesiastes 4:12). We need each other for support and encouragement and growth (Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Samuel 23:16; Proverbs 27:17). It’s time to fully set our hearts and minds on God, His ways and His will for our lives.
Compulsion to Conform
by Jim O’Brien (12/21/18)
My wife has a book entitled Everyone is Normal Until You Get to Know Them. It's a bittersweet concept. Bitter because all of us have baggage (as we say), sweet because there is no need to feel inferior-at least to other humans.
It's also overwhelming because we are offered entrance into the very family of God-who is flawless. We are told to "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. 5:48)
Maybe that's why one of the most interesting ironies of human nature is the compulsion to conform to other humans. Most people have enough weaknesses to create a natural resistance to imitation.
When I was in college a psychology professor told us to imagine looking at a classroom of 25 students. He said that 2 of the 25 would spend time in a mental hospital, 4 would be profoundly neurotic, 4 deeply neurotic, 4 mildly neurotic and only 8 to 10 would be fairly normal.
It's gotten worse over the years. Today about one-quarter of the adult population suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. That's more than 57 million people!
Over 2 million adults were admitted to a drug or alcohol rehabilitation center last year. And the day before they were admitted to the institution, some of them were passing you on the highway driving a car or big truck.
Add to this the financial indebtedness and serious health issues most people face on a daily basis. For example, the average student leaves college today with a debt of $32,000!
Okay, enough of statistical bad news! I've made my point-why would any of us want to be like everybody else? The truth is, if you want to be like everybody else then you'll get what everybody else gets.
There was a psychological study once that demonstrated the benefit of having an unusual name. Having a name that is, well, peculiar, was a factor that actually favored success. The author cited the name Elvis as an example that helped the singer become great. If his parents had named him Bill or Bob he would probably have worked the checkout counter at Kroger and driven a used Ford.
There is deep truth in the idea of our unique identity in God. The King James Version of the Bible uses the term "peculiar" when it refers to God's people. Moses quotes God as saying, "Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people." (Exodus 19:5 KJV) In other words, you are special to God above the crowd because of your lack of conformity. That's a peculiar characteristic you can enjoy.
The thought is expressed at least 5 times in the Bible. The contemporary versions render the word peculiar as "treasured people" as in Deuteronomy where Moses says, "Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession!" (Deut. 14:2 NIV)
Being thought of as "different" isn't so bad after all.
"Worry is a conversation you have with yourself
about things you cannot change.
Prayer is a conversation you have with God
about things He can change."
