And then God waited...

The last time God revealed himself to the whole world, there were only two people on it.  

God ordains the means.  This includes our ability to know Him.  Those two people were spoken to directly.  We know Cain was spoken to directly, oddly enough, we don't know if Abel was.  Enoch walked with YHWH, the rest of humanity walked away from Him.  Though all mankind should have had the ancestral knowledge and passing along of the true God, it is obvious they did not so that by the time God reveals Himself and His plan to Noah, only eight people, and seven of them probably not directly, have heard from Him and about Him.  A reset.  A reboot.  Through these eight, the race of men are given another chance to know YHWH and walk with him as one.  And as with Cain, it becomes painfully apparent right away that will not be the case.

And God is content to wait generations for one man and one barren woman.  Abram is chosen, among all the countless millions of people who were on the earth by that time, scattered by God himself at Babel, all with ancestral memory of the flood, all walking away from the True God.  Abram is chosen and renamed "Father of Nations."  Through Sarah and He, God would reveal Himself to the world...eventually.  And not even their whole family.  Not all of Abraham's children, but just the one, Isaac.  And not all of his children, but the one, Jacob.  In Jacob God chose to create a people for His own possession: Israel.

And so this one family, twelve clans, was chosen to be God's ambassadors, His representatives, His chosen priesthood of believers upon the earth and to the entire world.  And then God waited.  Four hundred years.

Taking no one's counsel but His own, when the time was right, God revealed Himself first to one man, Moses, then through the plea of prophecy and following, violent judgment, He revealed himself to both the nation of His sovereign election and their oppressors.  Upon leading them out of that land he led them to a mountain and allowed them to see just a hint of his holiness and glory.  And he gave them Words.  Ten words to live by, to know God by, and by obeying, to show the world what the One True God was like.  Then for forty years of wandering, He was manifestly in the midst of only one nation of all the nations and tribes in all the earth in a way they could physically see and hear.

And they walked away from Him.  Even while, literally, walking behind Him and holding His revelation in a box in a tent in their midst.  Their hearts, the box inside the tent of their bodies, the hearts of His chosen people, His royal priesthood of believers, were never with Him.  He let them die in the wilderness.  Their children entered the land following Joshua.  But where was the cloud?  It is never mentioned again.  Did it leave in a ceremony?  Did the presence of God fade away and none noticed enough to write it down?  After this there is only the revelation of prophets, chosen instruments of God's divine word.  And God waited.

And God is again content to wait for generations, four hundred years, for one man, a shepherd, David, whom he chooses from among the sheepfolds and makes king.  To this one, the one man and his one line, God will give a promise of eternal kingship.  His son, David's son, will build a kingdom that shall never pass away.  Of all the people, of all the nations of the earth, God has chosen this one man, of one tribe, of one nation to be His representative to the world again.  And then God waited.

No time for innocence

 It was small talk while we waited for an appraiser to tell me what i already knew, that my trade-in wasn't worth the electricity a crusher would take to make it into a manageable metal cube.  But it was interesting small talk.  Probably worth more than the truck i was considering purchasing.

The salesman was saying, given what he's seen in the world and the state of it now, back in '06 when he found out "we were pregnant" he was excited, of course he was excited and happy, but he.. he had reservations.  Was it right?  He didn't really want to finish the statement.  Perhaps he realized at that moment that he was talking to total strangers and sharing something intensely personal.  But maybe he left it hanging because there is a...there should be a.. a hesitation before voicing what so many of us may feel.  Is it right?  Is it good?  Is it ..moral.. to bring children into this world?

He was in perfectly safe company.  i had the same thoughts when my wife was pregnant.  i have the same thoughts now about my children having children.  i have those thoughts when i see all the new babies being born in our church.  What kind of world are we bringing them into?  What future awaits them?  My eschatology and my sense of the political winds agree that there are not just rough seas ahead, but rocks, and here there be dragons.  What kind of monster would hurl an infant child into that maelstrom?  

But in that instant, when my instincts were to nod and agree wholeheartedly, a new thought entered my head: 

But that would mean we, as a race, gave up.  If all that is required, as so many well meaning folk say, for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing, then what kind of victory would evil have if all well intentioned folk simply threw in the towel and allowed themselves to perish from the earth?  There's a dystopian novel in that idea, i'm sure of it.  And i'm fairly certain for many reasons that is all it will ever be: fiction, the feverish dreams and nightmares of grossly over pessimistic authors.  And i think the reasons for that are worth dwelling on because they are reasons to bless God and to rejoice and to repent and to find hope in an otherwise hopeless world!

First, blessing, and what is a child if not just that?  Pregnancy is sometimes called a miracle.  New life.  Which only God can bring and God has blessed and God has pronounced as good.  If the world is dark then bring light to it!  Bring children!  Bring life!  "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth," was a commandment before, "Do not eat."  What we could do, should do was here before what we should not do.  God's plan for the earth is wrapped up in this.  As a pastor i used to listen to used to say, there are two ways to outnumber the pagans, one is to convert them but the other is to simply breed them out!  Have more babies!  Being fruitful is always tied to the blessing of YHWH.  

A baby is a gift, always.  No matter the circumstances, the child did not create them.  The child we know to be a gift from God and thanksgiving is always appropriate in the face of God's gifts.  Rejoicing is the proper response.  To do anything else is ungrateful and to judge God's gifts and timing and come out saying you knew better.  To discredit the gift is to disgrace the giver, to dishonor the child is to dishonor the image of the Living God in the child.  You cannot mourn the birth of the prince without angering the King.  Rejoice!  Rejoice that God's favor has not turned from men!  In the amazing movie Children of Men, all people have become sterile, no child has been born for almost twenty years.  The human race knows it is dying.  Even pagans would have to admit the judgment of God in such an event.  

But no matter what has happened since the beginning of time no such judgment has come!  When an armageddon of ice crept down from the north, and humans were pushed south, they carried their young with them.  When God judged the earth with water, eight people (and countless animals!) he brought through and made them all fruitful and repopulated the earth.  When a wicked king demanded that the people of God throw their sons in the river, God kept giving them sons.  Through war, famine, pestilence, plague, economic depression, refugee flight, through generations of serfdom, slavery and oppression, God has given people children.  No age was too dark, no time too bleak, no trial too fiery for mothers and fathers to bear their young through it all.  How arrogant are we to think that no, this time, this age is just too bad to bring kids into, this future too hopeless?  

And so repent, you who like me may have disdained, even in idle thought, the blessing of God.  The very hope we need in this dark age is symbolized in the signs of grace God gives us in new life itself!  We who are the firstfruits of the new creation should recognize this more than anyone!  We who know Who our hope is have no justification for losing hope!  For we must never forget that it is our very hope who is in charge! 

“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few."  Jeremiah 29:4-6

Christians! On me!

 From my prayer journal this morning, a meditation on 2 Sam 10, Ps 60 and Ezekiel's visions of God's throne...

Then back to the campaigns of David with Psalm 60.  Which interestingly enough makes it sound as if they lost or were losing or the battles didn’t go as swimmingly as 2 Samuel makes it sound.  “You have rallied those who fear you round a banner out of bowshot, so that your beloved ones may be rescued.”  vs 4,5  A broken formation runs for its life as the archers pour arrow after arrow, as fast as they can knock, pull and release, into the lighter armor on the backs of the fleeing.  But then a banner raises up in their seeing.  It stands proud and tall and unfaltering and they recognize it and flee toward it.  And run beyond the arrows, re-muster, reform and gain strength and courage from their commander who reorders them for a second push.  Gathers the remnant to himself and forges it into a spear.  And now the enemy pursuers have lost formation, they have lost the integrity of their lines and each the help of his neighbor.  Now a hardened, orderly, cohesive phalanx can turn and break them into flight and cut them down on the retreat, one by one.

The banner, or better yet, your mobile throne, your chariot which Zeke saw, born up above the cherubim and the wheelwork.  If we were fleeing and saw this!  This would be the shadow we would gather under.  This would be the wings we would take refuge under.  “And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had, and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, holy and true Lord, will you not judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” And to each one of them a white robe was given, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a short time, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they had been were completed also.”  Rev 6:9-11  Those slaughtered for your name are surely gathering under your banner and out of bowshot.

God is good, all the time.

 [Direct from my prayer journal this morning... i dunno, but it may be helpful to somebody.  Peace and the prosperity of God to you, brothers and sisters.]

“For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,”  declares YHWH, “plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jer 29:11

A very famous verse and one that prosperity gospel gets its name from.  One often taken out of context by both those who love it and those who want to debunk it.  No, it was not written about modern americans.  But what Scripture is there that is not God breathed and useful for all teaching and instruction and admonition?  What prophecy does not have both a near and a far meaning?  It is important to note that the prosperity that You gave them was one or two generations growing up knowing nothing but life in Babylon.  That three generations later, the grandchildren of the Jewish exiles will see Babylon destroyed by Cyrus.  A traumatic event.  And some will remain to serve the Persians.  And some will return to the land, the land they did not know and find filled with foreigners, and rebuild in their poverty a nation hated by its neighbors.  A land surrounded.  Mason’s packing heat in case of attack.  Hard work.  It’s not that your gifts are not good, Lord, they are.  It’s that we tend to misinterpret them.  We seek comfort and ease, and you seek discipline and training us up into the image of Christ, who suffered greatly in order to serve others and obey you.  Who was perfected through suffering.  And that is still true today.  Our prosperity is Christ.  Christ in us.  Christ for us.  Christ over us.  And you plan that for all your people.  

a public service announcement

 Don't know if this applies to the four or five of you who read this blog or if you're already getting notices about it, but it seems that if you get my blog by email, that service is going away.  i'll still be here.  Still be updating with my usual sporadic spitball manner but there will be no automatic email of said spitballs to you.  Sorry, talk to the lords of the interwebz.  i have no control over it.

thanks y'all,

justshane

All of this

 

i cannot stand 

 all of this 

i prayed that You would change

 all of this

i wept bitter tears over

all of this

i searched the Scriptures for the cause of

 all of this

i wanted to end

 all of this

i railed against

 all of this

i loathed

 all of this

i prayed that You would change

 all of this

i repented of

 all of this

i grudgingly accepted

 all of this

i learned to live with

 all of this

i saw the good in

 all of this

i saw You in

 all of this

i saw You working in

 all of this

i thank you for

 all of this

i see You changing

 some of this

i see You changing

 all of me.

Enter into the rest of your master

 In Matthew 24 Jesus tells his disciples what's going to happen, big, distressful things.  We often think we would be better off knowing the future, until we do.  Immediately though, Jesus seeks to allay their fears and anxiety in Matthew 25 by telling them, and us, what we should do in the meantime, in light of these coming cataclysms, wars, rulers and happenings.  i'm a guy who needs things simple.  i cannot keep but one complex command in my head for long enough to execute it and then give me the next one.  Jesus loves me, he seems to know that about me.  Matthew 25 boils down to three simple comparisons between those in covenant with Him and those who are not but act like they are.

1. There are virgins who are prepared for a long wait, and those who are not.

2. There are servants who love their master and show it by working for his wealth and fame, and one who does not.

3. There are sheep who love one another and generously give to those in need, and goats who do not.

There's obviously so much more we could say about this but there's also great value in looking and meditating on it in its most distilled form: Be prepared to wait a while.  Love God actively.  Love neighbor actively.

When you put it that way, it doesn't sound so tough, does it.

A momentary glimpse of eternity

 Yesterday, i had the overwhelming joy of hearing twelve anonymous strangers say the words, 

"Not Guilty,"

over a friend and brother whom i have walked through a dark time with for as long as i've known him, almost five years.  When i heard those words, "Not.  Guilty." spoken over him i cannot explain the emotions i felt.  The tears.  The joy.  The pure, clean, clear, so filling-every-hollow-spot, every-empty-chamber, every-dark-quarter-and-corner-with-rapturous-music-and-light joy that i'm still vibrating with it now.  And it occurs to me that...

If that's what twelve strangers saying, "Not Guilty," over a friend and brother in an aging, flaking, gaudy courtroom of this world does,

What will it be like to hear those words from the mouth of God over us ourselves in the glorious unapproachable light and utterly devastating beauty of His throne room in highest heaven?!  But not just those words!  As staggeringly ecstatic as they will be but added to them,

"Well done,

Good and Faithful Servant.

Enter into the Joy of your Master,

my Dearly

Beloved

Son."

Esther 3: The Enemy

"After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and he exalted him and set his position above all the officials who were with him."  Est 3

"You were anointed a guardian cherub,

    and I placed you on God's holy mountain;

you walked in the midst of stones of fire."  Ez 28

Enter the Adversary.  Created, not begotten.  Magnified by the King.  Put in high place.  Exalted.  Beautiful.  Regal.  Glorious.

And bent.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any other animal of the field which YHWH God had made." Gen 3

"You were blameless in your ways

from the day you were created,

until wickedness was found in you.

In the abundance of your trading,

    they filled the midst of you with violence, and you sinned,"  Ez 28

"And Haman saw that Mordecai was not kneeling and bowing down to him, and he was filled with anger.  But he considered it beneath him to lay hands on Mordecai only, for they told him of Mordecai's people, and Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, who were in the kingdom of Ahasuerus."  Est 3

"And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour it."  "And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child."  "And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to fight against the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus."  Rev 12

But powerful though he is, malevolent and bent on genocide as he is, Satan and Haman both, must seek the permission of the King to do any of the evil they desire to do.  Yet, deceivers to the heart, they cannot but work in subterfuge and intrigue, masking their intent and hatred beneath layers of calculated civility.

"And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and deparated among the peoples in all of the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from every other people, and they do not observe the laws of the king; it is not appropriate for the king to tolerate them.  If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to those who do the job, to bring into the treasury of the king."  Est 3

"Then Satan answered YHWH and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?  Have you not put a fence around him and his household and around all that belongs to him on every side?  You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock has increased in the land.  But, on the other hand, stretch out your hand and touch all that belongs to him and see whether he will curse you to your face."  Job 1

And the King gives the permission.  This calls for the patient endurance of the saints!  One king does so because he believes the lies and the deception but our King, our Jesus, does so for His own reasons which we can only guess at and usually not to our benefit.  Though His intentions can never be in doubt for He is good and He loves us as His own and has chosen us for Himself and means us no harm but only greater glory.  

For now though, in the story as in life, we see the Adversary ascendant and the King appears complicit and the slaughter of our people imminent and we, like the city of Susa, are bewildered.

Esther 2: A worthy queen.

 "Let them seek attractive young virgins for the king.  Let the king appoint chief officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and let them gather every attractive young virgin to the harem in the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai, the king's eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let him give them their beauty treatment.  And let the young woman who is pleasing in the king's eyes become queen in place of Vashti."  Esther 2:2-4

Adam fell and was expelled from the Garden.  From that time on, God's redemptive purpose was acted out by His choosing, His sovereign election, of a person and choosing to cut a covenant with them.  To bind Himself to them.  To Seth.  To Noah.  To Abraham.  To Isaac.  To Jacob.  To Joseph.  To Judah.  To Perez.  To Moses.  To David.  To those whom the king finds lovely in his sight.  They are His by right.  King Ahasuerus could take any woman he pleased because he was king.  Even more so, God can take any man or woman he pleases because He is God.  He takes them, treats them like royalty, though subjects, he beautifies them, glorifies them, sanctifies them, yet each one was found wanting.  None was worthy to be queen.  No not one.  No matter whom God has chosen and blessed over the millennia, they have all fallen short of the glory of God.  None is worthy to redeem us.  None can save us.  None could ever give up their bodies for us to save us from our slavery to death.  

"There was a Jew in the citadel of Susa..."  Est 2:5

"...who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, to whom belong the patriarchs, and from whom is the Christ, according to human descent, who is God over all, blessed forever.  Amen."  Romans 9:4,5

"And it happened, at the proclaiming of the edict of the king and his law, when many young women were being gathered to the citadel of Susa under Hegai's care, Esther was taken to the king's palace under the care of Hegai who was in charge of the women.  The young woman pleased him and she won favor in his presence, and he quickly provided for her beauty treatment and her portion of food, with seven chosen maids to give to her from the king's palace, and he advanced her and her maids to the best part of the harem."

"And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with people."  Luke 2:52

Side note, can we think of the king's eunuchs as representative of the angels?  The way we are cared for and watched over by these invisible ministers of our God?  Those who do His bidding directly.

"When the turn came near..."  Est 2:15

"But when the fullness of time came..." Gal 4:4

"Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, to his palace...And the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won his favor and loyalty more than all the virgins..." Est 2:16,17

"Sixty queens there are, eighty concubines,
    and maidens beyond number.
My dove, she is the one;
    my perfect, she is the only one;
        she is the favorite of her mother who bore her.
Maidens see her and consider her fortunate;
    queens and concubines praise her:
"Who is this that looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon,
    bright as the sun,
        overwhelming as an army with banners?"  Song of Songs 6:8-10

"And behold, there was a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."  Matt 3:17

"...so he put a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.  And the king gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his officials and servants.  And he granted tax amnesty to the provinces and he gave gifts with royal liberality."  Est 2:17,18

Two things happen when Christ comes, our debts are forgiven!  The debt we owe the King.  The debt of allegiance that we never gave.  The debt of holiness we could never pay.  The king's ransom was paid by Christ himself, the second, better and truer Adam, the acceptable sacrifice.  And the King gives gifts!  "Now to each one of us was give this grace, according to the measure of Christ's gift.  Therefore it says, "Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men."  Pentecost!  The Spirit that dwelt and rested on Christ is given now to all who call on and are called by His worthy Name.  

Esther 1: Call and Rejection

 "And when those days were completed, the king gave for all the people that were present in the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet in the courtyard of the king's palace garden that lasted seven days... Esther 1:5

Maybe it was all the time i spent pondering the "two women" of Proverbs but this time i came to the book of Esther, i saw in it something i have never seen before.  An allegory.  A precursor.  A story that doesn't just tell of a time when the Jews were in dire peril and needed rescuing but, and this should really not surprise me at all by this point in my education, but a book that points directly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Duh.  All the Bible tells that story!  Why wouldn't Esther?  

It began not with the two women though, but the thought, which comes from the Holy Spirit who whispers to us when we are fully engaged in studying His testimony, that this celebration of a king points to the banquet we all wait for... the Wedding Celebration of the Lamb.  The lavish descriptions of it's opulence, the incredulous length of time and preparation and supply it would have required, the regal generousness of it, the wealth, the liberal length of time for the feasting, the copious amounts of alcohol for merriment.  The openness of its guest list.  It's extravagant to the point of hyperbole!  Which can only point to the true feast which will have no end, to its time, to its food, to its libation, to its joy!  The feast which we lack the imagination to describe!

When that image struck me, it gave me a whole new lens to read the rest by.  

"On the seventh day, (a symbol of completeness, perfection, "at the fullness of time," "when the time was right,")

when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he said to [his] seven eunuchs attending King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown...Esther 1:10,11

The wife of God, the King.  The One who married Himself to His people.  He called His people.  He has always called.  One and not another, His and not another man's wife, the one to whom He bestowed the His own crown of glory.  Seth and not Cain.  Isaac and not Ishmael.  Jacob and not Esau.  His sovereign election.  "For what great nation has for it a god near to it as YHWH our God, when ever we call upon him?  And what other great nation has for it just rules and regulations just like this whole law that I am setting before you today?"  Deut 4:7,8

"However, take care for yourself and watch your inner self closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen..." Deut 4:9

"But Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king...And the king became very angry, and his anger burned in him." Esther 1:12

The Queen, the wife of the king, refuses him.  Now much has been made in modern times to excuse her behavior, to validate Vashti and paint King Ahasuerus as the villain and who knows but some of it may be true but i doubt it, not because i don't doubt that the king was a sinner and could have had less than noble purposes for his wife, but because the reason the story is recorded for us is to tell the story of God.  And God's queen rejects him for the same reason every time, pride.  She knows what's best for her, not Him.  It's not enough for her to be queen, she must be king!  But what happens when the one chosen by God to be His rejects Him?  The world is watching.  It does not happen in a vacuum but is witnessed by the nations.  The kingdom of priests, consecrated to be ambassadors for the One True God and His salvation through His Son, corrupt their message and teach the nations a lie.  The two women of Proverbs comes back to me: Wisdom and the Harlot- the mother of all whores, the one "with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality."  Rev 17:2  One points us always, ever to God and His truth, the other, ever always away from Him.

"Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but to all the officials and all of the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.  For this deed of the queen will be known to all the women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, as they will say, "King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!"  vs 16,17

The disobedience and faithlessness of God's people not only endangers themselves, but all the nations!  For if those to whom the special revelation came teach that God is to be treated with contempt, then who can be saved!  This is one reason why God had to so closely guard His holiness before the Ark when he killed Nadab and Abihu, when He broke out against Uzza, and when He cut down Ananias and Sapphira.  This is why apostasy cannot be treated lightly by God, it endangers His whole plan to save His people.  So God also rejects His queen when she rejects Him...

"If it pleases the king, let a royal edict go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it will not be altered, that Vashti cannot come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to her neighbor who is better than she." v19

When the descendants of Abraham whom God called out of Egypt turned on Him at Kadesh and would not enter into the Land He had prepared for them, "As I swore in my anger, "They will never enter into my rest."" Heb 3:11  He gave them over to die in the desert and took in their children.  When Saul would not obey and in his foolishness and fear and persistent unbelief turned on Him, YHWH rejected him as king over Israel and gave his throne to David.  And when the "builders" rejected the "stone placed in Zion" they too were rejected and God called others, "And the king was angry and sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy.  Therefore, go out to the places where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding celebration as many people as you find."  And those slaves went out into the roads and gathered everyone whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding celebration was filled with dinner guests."  Matt 22:7-10

"Then you will say, "Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in."  Well said!  They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith."  Rom 11:19,20

Proverbs 31: a bride adorned for her husband

 Proverbs 31

"A woman of excellence, who will find?

For her worth is far more than precious jewels."

i won't claim to know what it's like for godly women who read this chapter and only measure themselves against it. But i would imagine it is similar to how any of us who loves God and loves His law feels when we read the Beatitudes and realize what Christ's standards really are: "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." Or as James expounds upon it, "For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point only has become guilty of all of it." If we see Proverbs as only pithy sayings of how we should be, then we are the same as those who think their salvation is secured by keeping the law of God and proving ourselves acceptable. We are in short damned and we know it when we read these verses, because no matter how good we think we are, we know we are not perfect.

But this chapter is a bookend. Proverbs begins and ends with the description of a woman. An ideal woman. A symbolic woman. i have maintained all throughout that Wisdom is Jesus. And we could surmise that this too, here in chapter 31 is description of Jesus, His faithfulness, His goodness, His diligence, His provision, His work ethic, His loyalty, His generosity, His righteousness, His care for those He loves and for those in need and it is...

but that is because His Bride will be like Him. "You will be holy because I AM holy." Lev 19:2 "because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He should be the firstborn among many brothers." Rom 8:29 The church is the bride of Christ and when she is at her best, walking in His Spirit, abiding in Him, she will look like him, she will act like him, she will do His work here upon the earth. She will witness to him by everything she says and does, from suffering for His name sake, to her generosity with the prosperity He provides her. When we, who are the church, do this together, our Husband will be known at the gates in his seat among the elders of the land and he will praise us, "many daughters have done excellence, but you surpass all of them."

"Charm is deceit and beauty is vain,

(hypocrisy, doing good so people will praise us, so God will be in our debt)

but a (church) who fears (loves with all our mind, body and soul) YHWH shall be praised."

Proverbs 23: yeah, i didn't do all of them... maybe someday.

 Proverbs 23

Of the many unifying themes i see running through it, one that stood out to me today was, self control. Which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Whom the Father gives to those who believe in the Son. Which is wisdom. "Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask for it from God, who gives to all without reservation and not reproaching, and it will be given to him."

Proverbs 16: with a heavy dose of the rest of the Script(ture)

 Proverbs 16:6 By loyalty and faithfulness, iniquity will be covered over,

and by fear of YHWH one turns from evil.

Proverbs 9:10 The start of wisdom is fear of YHWH,

and knowledge of the Holy One, insight.

Matt 11:19, 25-30 But wisdom is vindicated by her children.

"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, (Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but YHWH weights the spirit.) and have revealed them to young children. (Mark 10:15 For whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a young child will never enter into it.) Yes, Father, for to do so was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him. (John 14:6 I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.) Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, (Psalm 38:4 For my iniquities have passed over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. Matt 23:4 And they (pharisees and teachers of the law) tie up heavy burdens and put them on people's shoulders, but they are not willing with their finger to move them.) and I will give you rest. (Hebrews 4:3 For we who have believed enter into rest...) Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I AM gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to carry and my burden is light."

Proverbs 16: 20 He who heeds the word wisely will find good,

and whoever trusts in YHWH, happy is he.

Proverbs 14 and 15: Works vs Grace

(So here our story takes a little turn.  As you may remember, or not, this foray into the Proverbs began with an invitation from my uncle on Facebook, open to the whole family to share in reading one chapter a day for all of January (Wouldn't be a bad idea in any month with thirty-one days, jes sayin')and then to share out thoughts on the Clan Facebook page.  But after my last post for chapter ten i think, my uncle and i got into a bit of a conversation about the meaning of the proverbs which was really about the meaning of the gospel.  How are we saved?  Do we need saving?  Or do we just need help?  You may notice my commentary becoming more  pointed from here on out.)  

14

"Fools mock the guilt offering,

but among the upright, it is favorable." 9

"There is a way that seems upright to a man,

but its end is the way of death." 12

"He who saves souls is a witness of truth,

but he who utters lies is a betrayer.

In the fear of YHWH, there is confidence of strength,

and for his children, there will be refuge.

The fear of YHWH is a fountain of life,

in order to turn from the snares of death." 25-27

15

"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination of YHWH,

but the prayer of the upright is His delight." 9

"From the light of the eyes, the heart will rejoice,

and good news will enliven the bones." 30

"Fear of YHWH is the instruction of the wise,

and before honor comes humility." 33

Are our deeds and righteousness the means of our salvation? The price we pay to enter heaven? The way we earn the favor of the Holy, Holy, Holy God? The thing we point to and say, here, here is my worth before You; You required perfection and i have brought it.

Or are they the result? Are they the gratitude and love naturally flowing from the heart of a slave set free? A lost soul given hope? A prisoner of sin, unable to stop himself, unable to help himself, now made a son of God by adoption through Jesus Christ's sacrifice on his or her behalf? Clothed in the beautiful robes, not of their own filthy rags of "righteousness" but of Jesus'! The only one who met God's standards.

more about mouths

 12 Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

13 He who despises a word will bring destruction on himself,

but he who respects a commandment will be rewarded.

2 From the fruit of the mouth of a man, he shall eat what is good,

but the desire of the treacherous, wrongdoing.

So much of these shorter aphorisms focus on honesty and speech that i can't help but see and hear Jesus..."For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person from his good treasury brings out good things, and the evil person from his evil treasury brings out evil things." Matt 12

So our words, the fruit of our lips, show even us, what is in our hearts. The treasury of our hearts. And where is our treasure? What is our desire? If it is for worldly things, even good things, then it will be filled with anxiety and envy and all kinds of strife because even good things are passing away and can be taken from us and cannot satisfy.

But if our eye is on the Light, then we are filled with light and truth and righteousness. If what we desire is to be wise, then we will listen to wisdom: respect a commandment, take advice, guard reproof, then we will "know", be one with, drink deep from the fountain of Life: Wisdom, and He has promised to fill us abundantly! The Tree of Life. These are not disconnected sayings...they are facets of our pearl of great price. And our mouth is testifying to us whether or not we know Him. If we do, we will sound like Him. If we do not...well, as the proverb my mom used to quote goes, garbage in, garbage out.

Proverbs ten: Out of the heart, the mouth speaks...

 "The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

    but a tongue of perversity will be cut off."  Proverbs 10:31

So very much of Proverbs deals with what we say.  How we speak.  Honesty is at the heart of all we do.  We who know the Truth, know wisdom, and to know is to be one with.  If we are one with He who is the Truth, then we speak truth.  Always.  No exceptions.  We who know Love, are one with Love, will speak in love.  The two are not exclusive.  Truth in love.  Always for the good of the other.  A truth that does not help, does not build up, does not exhort to greater love, we will hold.  For the wise knows when to be silent and when to speak.  

All of these proverbs i read back in January at the invitation of my uncle.  When i read this, the capitol riot was still fresh in my ears.  The rhetoric we have heard so much of was still fresh in my mind.  And i cannot help but wonder if we have no reaped what we have sown.  

Proverbs 8 and 9: Which woman will you court?

 Chapters 8 and 9...it's worth hammering because Proverbs thinks it is..

if all wisdom is to us is wise sayings and life lessons, then we will miss Wisdom.  Wisdom is a person, a person who was with God in the beginning and whose "delight was the children of humankind."  A person who rejoiced before God as They created all that is.  And most of all when They created us.  A person who loves those who love Them and hates all that keeps us from Him.  A person who will give us riches greater than gold and silver and jewels and families and homes and food and wise sayings and life lessons and examples and seven simple steps for a happy, healthy life, for if we come to them we "find life."  The Resurrection and the Life.

"The start of wisdom is fear of YHWH and knowledge of the Holy One, insight."  For if we know Christ, we know the Father (John 14).  

Proverbs with these two women is trying over and over to tell us that "knowing" is experiential, it is holistic, it is comprehensive, it is covenantal.  We are reminded that "to know" in the Bible means so much more than intellectual learning; it means to be one with.  To know the One who made all things, the Alpha and the Omega, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the source of all wisdom and knowledge, to be redeemed to the Father who made us to be His children, forever with Him in Paradise...  to not know Him is to pursue a harlot, a deceiver, adultery (for our true lover and husband is Christ), and thus idolatry.  There are only two options.  If you are not pursuing the one, you are courting the other.

That's bound to make us live a little wiser.

Proverbs chapter six... what kind of tree is it?

i originally wrote this post on January seventh....

 Well, these words from yesterday's chapter six seem somewhat poignant after yesterday's events...

12 A worthless man, an evil man,

    goes around with deceitful speech.

13 Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot,

    pointing in his fingers,

14 perversion in his heart, he devises evil;

    at all times he will send out discord.

15 Upon such a man, suddenly shall his calamity come;

    in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing.

16 There are six things Yahweh hates,

    and seven things are abominations of his soul:

17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

    and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a devising heart, plans of deception,

    feet that hurry to run to evil,

19 a false witness who breathes lies

    and sends out discord between brothers.

By the fruit, the outcome, desired or otherwise, a tree may be known.  Jesus and those who follow him, his firstfruits, shall be known by their unity.  Not uniformity, mind you, but like male and female, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, they shall be made of many different parts into a single Body, learning to work together by working out their single faith in love.  The love that they have been shown.  Not that Christians will never have disagreements, but that those disagreements never divide the Body of Christ.  But those disagreements are arenas to practice humility and repentance and honoring the other more than one's self.

When the results of our actions lead to discord among brothers, we know we have been putting our faith in the wrong tree, listening to the words of the wrong woman of Proverbs.  The one outlined again for us in chapter 7.

Proverbs 3 and 4

 In three and four, what i noticed was it preparing us for hard work.  Many if not all of us have probably had an experience where we really needed a Word from God and we prayed and begged him to speak to us and then opened up our Bibles at random and it seemed to fall open to exactly the kind of verse we needed in that moment.  And that's God meeting us in our weakness and immaturity with His grace and understanding.  But He doesn't plan for that to be the usual pattern of our interaction with Him.  He's not a cosmic slot machine, to treat Him as such is unloving and demeaning.  He is our Father.  God delights in our regularly seeking Him through prayer and teaching and community and most importantly, in His Word.  In our pursuit of Wisdom, which is the revelation of God, which is Christ.  It's work, good work, rewarding work, lifelong work.  Work He does with us and in us.

Proverbs 2

 Continuing my foray through Proverbs...

What i was given (because it bears repeating that if i ever say anything wise or useful, it is from the Spirit) in the second chapter is a reminder that just as wisdom and righteousness are a person, so too is evil.  The path we choose is not an empty road with hypothetical destinations, but a willful act to follow someone, to listen to someone, to believe someone, to love someone...to either life or death.

Proverbs 1

 So my uncle invited a bunch of our family to read through Proverbs, one chapter per day, this month to begin this year seeking wisdom and then share our thoughts on our clan facebook page (i have a LARGE family).  And since it got me writing again, for the first time in far too long, i thought i'd share my reflections over here in the Coop.  As always, if it blesses you, glorify God, if it does not, feel free to pitch it.

Prov 1:

What struck me this time is the completeness of this chapter. It's not like some of the book, a list, but a tale. It is the story of the Bible in wisdom form. Creation, Fall, Redemption, Re-Creation. The beginning is God and fear of God. Foolishness is the denial of Him. The terms are laid out. The middle is Foolishness played out. What it looks like to God. What its goal is. What its end will be. But then comes Wisdom personified. Even though we scorn her and refused her call, she poured her spirit out on us and "stretched out her hand"; she has done all. She has done more than she needed. She pursued us, even pleaded with us. But eventually the storm will come, calamity will come, death comes and when it does, it will be too late, the door of the Ark is shut, the gate of the Wedding Feast is closed and barred and those who refused the Fear of Yahweh only then see their mistake and those who "listened", heard and took to heart, will "rest securely."

It lays down the gridwork from which to view the rest of the book.