Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "peace"
An Army of Phinehases – Part 1
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-13]
Have you ever read those words before? I’m not being sarcastic. Honest! Most Christians have yet to read the Bible. Oh, many read parts of the Bible—favorite verses, chapters on the Christmas story, Psalms and Proverbs. But read Genesis through Revelation, an entire Bible book at a time? Sadly, but not too many do so.
This is why I asked you whether you ever read the words of our text before. Well, it makes for a never you mind for our purpose today. Whether you did or didn’t, when you read them now, what questions pass through your mind…aside from the foreign names, that is? I’ll suggest a few for you.
1. How can a mere man turn away God’s wrath?
2. How can a mere man have God’s jealousy?
3. What is God’s jealousy anyway?
4. How can a holy God kill people in jealousy and still be holy?
5. How can a mere man make atonement for other men?
Hmm. Those are some stimulating inquiries. I bet we’re in for a smorgasbord of spiritual victuals today. I hear the dinner bell, so we mustn’t dawdle. Let’s wash our hands, recline at the table, and get to eating!
To help us get a handle on the issue involved, perhaps a story or two for illustration purposes will benefit us. We all know the one about the preschooler and the cookie jar, don’t we? It goes like this.
Mom walks into the kitchen and discovers little Johnny boy on the step ladder, his hand deep in the cookie jar which reclines atop the kitchen cabinet. Mom grabs Johnny off the ladder, before he is startled by her presence and winds up falling off. As she places him on the floor, Johnny looks up in her face wearing a whimper sort of expression. A tear or two drops out of the corner of his eye as he whines, “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Well, if we could play Johnny’s private thoughts on the TV screen at that moment, we’d be cut to the quick by his real mindset. He was sorry all right, but not because he disobeyed Mom by invading the domain of the cookie against her express instructions. No! We’d hear this:
I’m sorry, Mommy, that you came in when you did. If you’d only have been a few seconds slower, I’d have a handful of cookies out back, chowing down and having the time of my life! Why couldn’t you have just waited a few moments, Mommy? Why’d you have to go and spoil my life again? I never get to have any fun. Wish you’d chill and let me be for once.
We will continue the tale on the morrow. Let’s pause a while and spend time with the Lord now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Have you ever read those words before? I’m not being sarcastic. Honest! Most Christians have yet to read the Bible. Oh, many read parts of the Bible—favorite verses, chapters on the Christmas story, Psalms and Proverbs. But read Genesis through Revelation, an entire Bible book at a time? Sadly, but not too many do so.
This is why I asked you whether you ever read the words of our text before. Well, it makes for a never you mind for our purpose today. Whether you did or didn’t, when you read them now, what questions pass through your mind…aside from the foreign names, that is? I’ll suggest a few for you.
1. How can a mere man turn away God’s wrath?
2. How can a mere man have God’s jealousy?
3. What is God’s jealousy anyway?
4. How can a holy God kill people in jealousy and still be holy?
5. How can a mere man make atonement for other men?
Hmm. Those are some stimulating inquiries. I bet we’re in for a smorgasbord of spiritual victuals today. I hear the dinner bell, so we mustn’t dawdle. Let’s wash our hands, recline at the table, and get to eating!
To help us get a handle on the issue involved, perhaps a story or two for illustration purposes will benefit us. We all know the one about the preschooler and the cookie jar, don’t we? It goes like this.
Mom walks into the kitchen and discovers little Johnny boy on the step ladder, his hand deep in the cookie jar which reclines atop the kitchen cabinet. Mom grabs Johnny off the ladder, before he is startled by her presence and winds up falling off. As she places him on the floor, Johnny looks up in her face wearing a whimper sort of expression. A tear or two drops out of the corner of his eye as he whines, “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Well, if we could play Johnny’s private thoughts on the TV screen at that moment, we’d be cut to the quick by his real mindset. He was sorry all right, but not because he disobeyed Mom by invading the domain of the cookie against her express instructions. No! We’d hear this:
I’m sorry, Mommy, that you came in when you did. If you’d only have been a few seconds slower, I’d have a handful of cookies out back, chowing down and having the time of my life! Why couldn’t you have just waited a few moments, Mommy? Why’d you have to go and spoil my life again? I never get to have any fun. Wish you’d chill and let me be for once.
We will continue the tale on the morrow. Let’s pause a while and spend time with the Lord now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 2
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
Johnny boy was caught red-handed, his hand still in the cookie jar. Straightway he went on the offense, feigning contrition in an attempt to wring pity from Mom.
Yep. Been there, done that. You too, right? That’s me personally and that’s my kids too. It comes from the sin nature inside each of us. We won’t tolerate any outside right and wrong. What we feel inside is right for us, so it is right! Begone with morality then and let us be.
Now let’s hear the way the story should be played out—no doubt occasionally it actually does happen this way. Johnny is a real kid, so in this story he’s still on the step ladder with his hand in the cookie jar. Mom is a real mom, so she by happenstance makes her way into the kitchen at just the right moment to bust Johnny in the act of cookie filching.
From the floor Johnny hangs his head in shame, unable to even look Mom in the face. This time more than a couple of tears drop from one eye. Too many to count pour out of both eyes. He tries to apologize, but his emotions run amuck and his cries are too copious to allow speech to flow smoothly. In broken words and sentences Johnny thinks and tries to say,
I’m sorry, Mommy. You told me to leave the cookies alone until after supper, but I didn’t obey you. All the love you show me, always being there when I need you. You never do me wrong. You help me make it in school and in life. I never have to worry about being rejected or deserted. You never give up on me, call it quits, and walk out.
And here I go and do the one thing you told me not to do. I have no excuse, Mommy. I did wrong. Will you please forgive me? I know I must be punished, but I need your forgiveness first. Please forgive me, Mommy.
I embellished Johnny’s lament a bit…no, quite a bit! I know it’s too adult for a preschooler. But to whatever extent the kid could reason about right and wrong, that is what he would say, if he was truly sorry for doing wrong and not just sorry because he got caught and had to pay the piper.
Time to call it a day. I’m going to meditate on what we’ve been taught today, as I sit at the feet of Jesus. See you tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Johnny boy was caught red-handed, his hand still in the cookie jar. Straightway he went on the offense, feigning contrition in an attempt to wring pity from Mom.
Yep. Been there, done that. You too, right? That’s me personally and that’s my kids too. It comes from the sin nature inside each of us. We won’t tolerate any outside right and wrong. What we feel inside is right for us, so it is right! Begone with morality then and let us be.
Now let’s hear the way the story should be played out—no doubt occasionally it actually does happen this way. Johnny is a real kid, so in this story he’s still on the step ladder with his hand in the cookie jar. Mom is a real mom, so she by happenstance makes her way into the kitchen at just the right moment to bust Johnny in the act of cookie filching.
From the floor Johnny hangs his head in shame, unable to even look Mom in the face. This time more than a couple of tears drop from one eye. Too many to count pour out of both eyes. He tries to apologize, but his emotions run amuck and his cries are too copious to allow speech to flow smoothly. In broken words and sentences Johnny thinks and tries to say,
I’m sorry, Mommy. You told me to leave the cookies alone until after supper, but I didn’t obey you. All the love you show me, always being there when I need you. You never do me wrong. You help me make it in school and in life. I never have to worry about being rejected or deserted. You never give up on me, call it quits, and walk out.
And here I go and do the one thing you told me not to do. I have no excuse, Mommy. I did wrong. Will you please forgive me? I know I must be punished, but I need your forgiveness first. Please forgive me, Mommy.
I embellished Johnny’s lament a bit…no, quite a bit! I know it’s too adult for a preschooler. But to whatever extent the kid could reason about right and wrong, that is what he would say, if he was truly sorry for doing wrong and not just sorry because he got caught and had to pay the piper.
Time to call it a day. I’m going to meditate on what we’ve been taught today, as I sit at the feet of Jesus. See you tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 3
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
If only we puny humans would submit to the Holy Spirit, we would be Johnny #2 and simply come clean with our sins. Instead we have a doctorate in rationalizations. We are Johnny #1. We make excuses and wheedle in an effort to gain pity for ourselves.
In 1 Corinthians 11:31 the Apostle Paul explained to the troublesome Christians in the church of Corinth that, if they judged their own sins, the Lord wouldn’t have to judge them. This concept is quite apposite to the situation in Numbers 25, dear friends.
The Israelites were on the east bank of the Jordan River opposite Jericho. They were delivered from Egyptian slavery by the Lord their God. The Lord led them through the wilderness for forty years and brought them to the plains of Moab on the east bank. They were on the verge of crossing the Jordan to the west bank and receiving their landed inheritance, the Promised Land.
Well, the folks who lived on the west bank weren’t too keen on the thought of this happening. Neither were the folks on the east bank who attacked the Israelites and were exterminated in the doing. Israel now owned all their lands.
Israel’s neighbors on the east bank weren’t much enthused with the new tenants either. These neighbors included the Moabites and their partners the Midianites. So those two folks wanted to evict the Israelites, preferring them dead over expelled.
First they tried to arrange a military conquest of the Israelites. The first step in doing this was to hire a false prophet named Balaam to curse Israel. That way the Israelites would be too weak to stand their ground against the enemy coalition. But the Lord blessed Israel and repulsed Balaam’s attempts, forcing him instead to acknowledge the blessing of God upon Israel.
So Balaam concocted another scheme: if attacks from the outside failed, try attacks from the inside. Balaam directed the Midianites to bedeck their loveliest honeys in alluring attire. Then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the pubescent Israelite boys.
Once in the embrace of the Midianite babes, those boys would worship the Midianite gods without even knowing it. Then the Lord God of Israel would be furious and kill the Israelite men. What a plan! The Moabites and Midianites wouldn’t even have to kill the Israelites. Their own God would do the job for them!
Oh, dear. Outta time again! I can’t wait to find out how Balaam’s devilish machination came out. But we’ll have to…until tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
If only we puny humans would submit to the Holy Spirit, we would be Johnny #2 and simply come clean with our sins. Instead we have a doctorate in rationalizations. We are Johnny #1. We make excuses and wheedle in an effort to gain pity for ourselves.
In 1 Corinthians 11:31 the Apostle Paul explained to the troublesome Christians in the church of Corinth that, if they judged their own sins, the Lord wouldn’t have to judge them. This concept is quite apposite to the situation in Numbers 25, dear friends.
The Israelites were on the east bank of the Jordan River opposite Jericho. They were delivered from Egyptian slavery by the Lord their God. The Lord led them through the wilderness for forty years and brought them to the plains of Moab on the east bank. They were on the verge of crossing the Jordan to the west bank and receiving their landed inheritance, the Promised Land.
Well, the folks who lived on the west bank weren’t too keen on the thought of this happening. Neither were the folks on the east bank who attacked the Israelites and were exterminated in the doing. Israel now owned all their lands.
Israel’s neighbors on the east bank weren’t much enthused with the new tenants either. These neighbors included the Moabites and their partners the Midianites. So those two folks wanted to evict the Israelites, preferring them dead over expelled.
First they tried to arrange a military conquest of the Israelites. The first step in doing this was to hire a false prophet named Balaam to curse Israel. That way the Israelites would be too weak to stand their ground against the enemy coalition. But the Lord blessed Israel and repulsed Balaam’s attempts, forcing him instead to acknowledge the blessing of God upon Israel.
So Balaam concocted another scheme: if attacks from the outside failed, try attacks from the inside. Balaam directed the Midianites to bedeck their loveliest honeys in alluring attire. Then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the pubescent Israelite boys.
Once in the embrace of the Midianite babes, those boys would worship the Midianite gods without even knowing it. Then the Lord God of Israel would be furious and kill the Israelite men. What a plan! The Moabites and Midianites wouldn’t even have to kill the Israelites. Their own God would do the job for them!
Oh, dear. Outta time again! I can’t wait to find out how Balaam’s devilish machination came out. But we’ll have to…until tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 4
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
Balaam squeezed some demon juice from his brain and fed it to the Moabites and Midianites. Let them bedeck their lovely lasses in alluring attire, then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the puberty-afflicted Israelite boys…of all ages! That’ll get them worshiping Baal, and force the Lord to kill them.
So bedecked became the Midianite femme fatales, and off to the camp of Israel they went. Straightway the camp was filled with pubescent Israelites, ambling along with Midianite sirens on their arms…and into the tents they went.
No sooner were they in the tents than a plague from the Lord struck and killed 24,000 Israelites. Balaam’s plan seemed to be working to a T. Why, even after all this, some clueless dufus Israelite actually walked out in front of Moses and the leaders of Israel, as they were praying to the Lord at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites.
This dufus had a Midianite lassie on his arm, and he was the son of an Israelite leader! He called out to dad in front of all Israel’s leaders,
Hey, Dad. I’m taking my new girlfriend back to the tent to play and have fun. So stay away a while, okay?
Then off to the camp on the south side the two went. Moses and the leaders had to place an order for a crane to come and lift their jaws off the desert floor! Such temerity, such chutzpah was beyond belief. No one could be that anile…could he?
The son of the high priest, Phinehas by name, knew what the situation demanded. Thousands of Israelites were dying by the minute from the Lord’s plague, and all because dufuses like this boy sinned with heathen women.
The job of the priest was to intercede with the Lord on behalf of the Israelites. The Lord was in the process of judging the Israelites for their sin. In order for the priest to petition the Lord to cease and desist, first the sin had to be atoned for.
So how was sin to be atoned for? Well, the wages of sin is death, so the Lord put them to death. To stop the plague, first the Israelites needed to stop sinning, and secondly those who sinned needed to be put to death.
We’ll find out tomorrow how this was accomplished. For today let’s muse on what we’ve already learned. The prayer closet is a good place to do so. See you there.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Balaam squeezed some demon juice from his brain and fed it to the Moabites and Midianites. Let them bedeck their lovely lasses in alluring attire, then dispatch them to the camp of Israel to seduce the puberty-afflicted Israelite boys…of all ages! That’ll get them worshiping Baal, and force the Lord to kill them.
So bedecked became the Midianite femme fatales, and off to the camp of Israel they went. Straightway the camp was filled with pubescent Israelites, ambling along with Midianite sirens on their arms…and into the tents they went.
No sooner were they in the tents than a plague from the Lord struck and killed 24,000 Israelites. Balaam’s plan seemed to be working to a T. Why, even after all this, some clueless dufus Israelite actually walked out in front of Moses and the leaders of Israel, as they were praying to the Lord at the tent of meeting on behalf of the Israelites.
This dufus had a Midianite lassie on his arm, and he was the son of an Israelite leader! He called out to dad in front of all Israel’s leaders,
Hey, Dad. I’m taking my new girlfriend back to the tent to play and have fun. So stay away a while, okay?
Then off to the camp on the south side the two went. Moses and the leaders had to place an order for a crane to come and lift their jaws off the desert floor! Such temerity, such chutzpah was beyond belief. No one could be that anile…could he?
The son of the high priest, Phinehas by name, knew what the situation demanded. Thousands of Israelites were dying by the minute from the Lord’s plague, and all because dufuses like this boy sinned with heathen women.
The job of the priest was to intercede with the Lord on behalf of the Israelites. The Lord was in the process of judging the Israelites for their sin. In order for the priest to petition the Lord to cease and desist, first the sin had to be atoned for.
So how was sin to be atoned for? Well, the wages of sin is death, so the Lord put them to death. To stop the plague, first the Israelites needed to stop sinning, and secondly those who sinned needed to be put to death.
We’ll find out tomorrow how this was accomplished. For today let’s muse on what we’ve already learned. The prayer closet is a good place to do so. See you there.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 5
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
So how was the sin of the pubescent Israelites atoned for? It happened like this:
Phinehas grabbed his spear and followed the dufus Israelite into his tent. Inside the tent Phinehas pinned both the Israelite boy and the Midianite girl to the desert floor with his spear, like a shish kabob. Then the plague on the Israelites was stayed.
You see, the Israelites judged the sin in their camp, so the Lord no longer had to do so. If we judge our own sins, we won’t have to be judged.
And this brings us back to the five questions we itemized at the start of this study. We just narrated how a mere man can turn away God’s wrath (answer to question #1). The mere man simply did what the Word of God commanded to be done. The Law of Moses was already given to the Israelites to govern their national existence. It afforded the answers for holy living and judging society accordingly.
This Law commanded the Israelites to follow the doctrine of separation: no intermingling with the heathen peoples of the world. The Law also forbade idolatry: no worshiping other gods. The priests were assigned to be God’s judges in Israel. Phinehas the priest judged the lawbreaker guilty and executed him according to the Law.
How can a mere man have God’s jealousy? Just the way Phinehas did. He didn’t get mad at the dufus Israelite for personal reasons and exact his personal revenge. Rather, Phinehas recognized from the Law that the Lord loved the Israelites as His own bride.
The Lord was betrayed by His bride, when the Israelites slept with the daughters of foreign gods and then worshiped those gods. This aroused the Lord’s righteous jealousy. So that is what God’s jealousy is (answer to question #3). When Phinehas acted on behalf of God’s jealousy, he displayed God’s jealousy (answer to question #2).
Because the Lord is always faithful, He never steps out on those with whom He is in covenantal relationship. The Lord expects the same in return. When His people play spouse-swapping and intermingle with the heathen gods, they forfeit any claims to being God’s people and willingly join the camp of the enemy.
The word “holy” means that God is the one and only. For a man to be holy means that he sides with God against all other gods or anything else. When a man doesn’t do so, then he is no longer holy and God cannot abide with him.
Yikes! That didn’t spell good news for those pubescent Israelites, did it? We’ll learn the specifics in our next study. Off to the Lord I’m going now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
So how was the sin of the pubescent Israelites atoned for? It happened like this:
Phinehas grabbed his spear and followed the dufus Israelite into his tent. Inside the tent Phinehas pinned both the Israelite boy and the Midianite girl to the desert floor with his spear, like a shish kabob. Then the plague on the Israelites was stayed.
You see, the Israelites judged the sin in their camp, so the Lord no longer had to do so. If we judge our own sins, we won’t have to be judged.
And this brings us back to the five questions we itemized at the start of this study. We just narrated how a mere man can turn away God’s wrath (answer to question #1). The mere man simply did what the Word of God commanded to be done. The Law of Moses was already given to the Israelites to govern their national existence. It afforded the answers for holy living and judging society accordingly.
This Law commanded the Israelites to follow the doctrine of separation: no intermingling with the heathen peoples of the world. The Law also forbade idolatry: no worshiping other gods. The priests were assigned to be God’s judges in Israel. Phinehas the priest judged the lawbreaker guilty and executed him according to the Law.
How can a mere man have God’s jealousy? Just the way Phinehas did. He didn’t get mad at the dufus Israelite for personal reasons and exact his personal revenge. Rather, Phinehas recognized from the Law that the Lord loved the Israelites as His own bride.
The Lord was betrayed by His bride, when the Israelites slept with the daughters of foreign gods and then worshiped those gods. This aroused the Lord’s righteous jealousy. So that is what God’s jealousy is (answer to question #3). When Phinehas acted on behalf of God’s jealousy, he displayed God’s jealousy (answer to question #2).
Because the Lord is always faithful, He never steps out on those with whom He is in covenantal relationship. The Lord expects the same in return. When His people play spouse-swapping and intermingle with the heathen gods, they forfeit any claims to being God’s people and willingly join the camp of the enemy.
The word “holy” means that God is the one and only. For a man to be holy means that he sides with God against all other gods or anything else. When a man doesn’t do so, then he is no longer holy and God cannot abide with him.
Yikes! That didn’t spell good news for those pubescent Israelites, did it? We’ll learn the specifics in our next study. Off to the Lord I’m going now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
An Army of Phinehases – Part 6
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-12]
The Lord is holy. If man is to be in a relationship with Him, we have to be holy also. This means we cannot live to please self and do our own thing. We cannot worship and serve other gods…or money…or sex…or fame. We have to worship and serve the Lord alone. We have to practice fidelity to one Spouse, the Lord.
The pubescent Israelites didn’t do this. The only alternatives then were either for the Lord to leave and give man his way, or else for the Lord to stay and send man away. Putting sinful man to death removed the sin and maintained God’s holiness. It sent sinful man away so that the Lord could stay (answer to question 4).
The final question (#5) is, “How can a mere man make atonement for other men?” Answer: in just the way Phinehas did, viz., by following the Word of God and judging sin accordingly. The sin wasn’t atoned for in the case of the sinners. They weren’t atoned for: they were judged and condemned! The sin was atoned for in the case of the Israelites who weren’t committing the sin.
Sin in the camp of Israel required that the camp of Israel be judged. So the plague from the Lord struck the camp of Israel. So long as this fraternizing with the enemy continued, the rest of the Israelites were susceptible to being entangled in the devilish web. Phinehas put an end to the fraternizing by his bold act. No other Israelites volunteered to fraternize any longer, considering the consequences!
Ergo, Phinehas atoned for the sin by terminating its practice, as well as by judging the offenders according to the Word of God. The operative phrase is “according to the Word of God”. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the Israelites while they inhabited the Promised Land. It was given at Mount Sinai and went into effect forthwith. God gave them His Law in preparation for having their own country. He was the King of Israel.
We Christians today are not Israel in the Promised Land. The Law of Moses wasn’t given to govern us: the New Testament was. However, we still learn spiritual truths about God from the Lord’s picture stories in the Old Testament, so we continue to study it. However, let’s not be overly eager and go to executing sinners!
In the Church today we need an army of valiant Phinehases to combat the Gospel of Affluence which pervades the Christian community. Alas, but what we have seems to be a nursery full of wimpy Zimris. If you want to know what a Zimri is, read Numbers 25 and see. If you want to enlist in the army of Phinehases, report to the Lord in prayer. Think I’ll do so now. Want to join?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The Lord is holy. If man is to be in a relationship with Him, we have to be holy also. This means we cannot live to please self and do our own thing. We cannot worship and serve other gods…or money…or sex…or fame. We have to worship and serve the Lord alone. We have to practice fidelity to one Spouse, the Lord.
The pubescent Israelites didn’t do this. The only alternatives then were either for the Lord to leave and give man his way, or else for the Lord to stay and send man away. Putting sinful man to death removed the sin and maintained God’s holiness. It sent sinful man away so that the Lord could stay (answer to question 4).
The final question (#5) is, “How can a mere man make atonement for other men?” Answer: in just the way Phinehas did, viz., by following the Word of God and judging sin accordingly. The sin wasn’t atoned for in the case of the sinners. They weren’t atoned for: they were judged and condemned! The sin was atoned for in the case of the Israelites who weren’t committing the sin.
Sin in the camp of Israel required that the camp of Israel be judged. So the plague from the Lord struck the camp of Israel. So long as this fraternizing with the enemy continued, the rest of the Israelites were susceptible to being entangled in the devilish web. Phinehas put an end to the fraternizing by his bold act. No other Israelites volunteered to fraternize any longer, considering the consequences!
Ergo, Phinehas atoned for the sin by terminating its practice, as well as by judging the offenders according to the Word of God. The operative phrase is “according to the Word of God”. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the Israelites while they inhabited the Promised Land. It was given at Mount Sinai and went into effect forthwith. God gave them His Law in preparation for having their own country. He was the King of Israel.
We Christians today are not Israel in the Promised Land. The Law of Moses wasn’t given to govern us: the New Testament was. However, we still learn spiritual truths about God from the Lord’s picture stories in the Old Testament, so we continue to study it. However, let’s not be overly eager and go to executing sinners!
In the Church today we need an army of valiant Phinehases to combat the Gospel of Affluence which pervades the Christian community. Alas, but what we have seems to be a nursery full of wimpy Zimris. If you want to know what a Zimri is, read Numbers 25 and see. If you want to enlist in the army of Phinehases, report to the Lord in prayer. Think I’ll do so now. Want to join?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
War and Peace – Part 1
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is acknowledged as one of the longest novels ever written. Its fame is not based on its length though. Tolstoy is a wonderful writer, who should be appreciated by readers until Jesus comes again.
His style is engaging, but his subject matter often makes the novel difficult for modern Americans to enjoy. We aren’t much given to reading today, what with TV and movies and PCs and smart phones and the internet all working in unison to steal our time from us. Reading has become a lost art, unless we buy into the synopsis alternative to the real thing.
Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” portrays Czarist Russia circa 1805, when the French invaded the land. It continues into the Napoleonic era and his invasion of Russia. The historical setting is not one with which many Americans are familiar. This makes his novel distant and irrelevant for many of us. I personally enjoyed the book quite a bit, though it did have the side effect of heavy lifting on the brain.
You might want to read Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, if you haven’t already done so. It may afford you a blessing in the reading. But there is another “war and peace” for us to consider. This one will indubitably shower us with blessings. So we mustn’t skip it for any reason in the world!
In our last several studies we have descanted on the topic of spiritual warfare. In order to conduct spiritual warfare successfully, we must needs “put on the full armor of God”. We learned that already, as I am sure you recall.
The first piece of armor is “the belt of truth”. Jesus is the Truth, and the written Word of God is the truth.
In order to work or go to war, the folks of the ancient world needed to wear their belt or girdle or sash around their tunic. The tunic dragged along the feet and tripped them up, if they tried to work or fight a battle in it. They had to pull the tunic up away from the feet and tuck it into the belt, to keep it off the feet and out of the way. Then they could successfully work or fight the war.
Only by adhering to the Word of God can we Christians successfully conduct spiritual warfare and obtain the victory over the wicked one. The battle is not ours. The battle belongs to the Lord. The Word of God is the truth about who the devil is, what sin is, how to resist the devil on the spiritual plane, and important topics like that.
Now that is good stuff! I can’t wait to taste some more…but we’ll have to wait because our time is up for today. Let’s spend time with Jesus a while. We’ll meet back here tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is acknowledged as one of the longest novels ever written. Its fame is not based on its length though. Tolstoy is a wonderful writer, who should be appreciated by readers until Jesus comes again.
His style is engaging, but his subject matter often makes the novel difficult for modern Americans to enjoy. We aren’t much given to reading today, what with TV and movies and PCs and smart phones and the internet all working in unison to steal our time from us. Reading has become a lost art, unless we buy into the synopsis alternative to the real thing.
Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” portrays Czarist Russia circa 1805, when the French invaded the land. It continues into the Napoleonic era and his invasion of Russia. The historical setting is not one with which many Americans are familiar. This makes his novel distant and irrelevant for many of us. I personally enjoyed the book quite a bit, though it did have the side effect of heavy lifting on the brain.
You might want to read Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, if you haven’t already done so. It may afford you a blessing in the reading. But there is another “war and peace” for us to consider. This one will indubitably shower us with blessings. So we mustn’t skip it for any reason in the world!
In our last several studies we have descanted on the topic of spiritual warfare. In order to conduct spiritual warfare successfully, we must needs “put on the full armor of God”. We learned that already, as I am sure you recall.
The first piece of armor is “the belt of truth”. Jesus is the Truth, and the written Word of God is the truth.
In order to work or go to war, the folks of the ancient world needed to wear their belt or girdle or sash around their tunic. The tunic dragged along the feet and tripped them up, if they tried to work or fight a battle in it. They had to pull the tunic up away from the feet and tuck it into the belt, to keep it off the feet and out of the way. Then they could successfully work or fight the war.
Only by adhering to the Word of God can we Christians successfully conduct spiritual warfare and obtain the victory over the wicked one. The battle is not ours. The battle belongs to the Lord. The Word of God is the truth about who the devil is, what sin is, how to resist the devil on the spiritual plane, and important topics like that.
Now that is good stuff! I can’t wait to taste some more…but we’ll have to wait because our time is up for today. Let’s spend time with Jesus a while. We’ll meet back here tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
War and Peace – Part 2
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
We are to conduct spiritual warfare and defeat the devil in his wiles. Symbolically, the Word of God keeps our feet unencumbered by the pitfalls and stumbling blocks of the flesh, the world, and the devil. God’s Word is like the belt which anchors the tunic away from the feet so we don’t stumble. God’s Word is “the belt of truth”.
The second piece of armor is “the breastplate of righteousness”. Man is his own strength cannot stand against the devil. We will fall for his guile in no time flat. The devil will remind us of whatever weakness and failing we have, which is as simple as pie for him.
Satan might point out the last time we sinned, and we will be speechless, unable to refute him because he would be right. Or Satan might butter us up about some supposed achievement we accomplished, should our weakness be pride. Our head will swell to the size of Rhode Island, and we will be defeated outright.
No man, including the Christian, is righteous in his own right. We all sin and we all fail. Ergo, we cannot confront Satan in our own righteousness. We need “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”, if we are to be victorious in spiritual warfare.
That is “the breastplate of righteousness”. As new creations in Christ Jesus, we don’t stand on our own righteousness. We stand on the Rock, Christ Jesus. We have His righteousness ascribed to us by God.
Satan can point the finger at the old sinner’s lack of righteousness until the cows come home. God isn’t impressed. His Son Jesus names us as His own, as having His righteousness. God declares us “Not guilty!” Satan goes away ashamed.
The third piece of armor for us to put on can be identified as “the shoes or sandals of peace”. And that identifies the “war and peace” we made note of earlier. On the one hand we are going forth to conduct spiritual warfare. On the other hand we are fitting our feet with the gospel of peace.
Isn’t that peculiar? Are we to conduct war or are we to hold peace talks? Which is it already! Well, it’s both. How’s that for decisiveness, huh?
Permit me to explain. When we conduct spiritual warfare, we don’t do so by pushing our own agenda. We serve the Lord Christ, not ourselves. We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ah oh. Just when we were getting to the nitty gritty, the sand in the clock has filled the bottom. Oh well. We’ll be able to roll the good things of today over our tongues a bit, as we sit at the feet of Jesus. Tomorrow we will continue down this trail.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We are to conduct spiritual warfare and defeat the devil in his wiles. Symbolically, the Word of God keeps our feet unencumbered by the pitfalls and stumbling blocks of the flesh, the world, and the devil. God’s Word is like the belt which anchors the tunic away from the feet so we don’t stumble. God’s Word is “the belt of truth”.
The second piece of armor is “the breastplate of righteousness”. Man is his own strength cannot stand against the devil. We will fall for his guile in no time flat. The devil will remind us of whatever weakness and failing we have, which is as simple as pie for him.
Satan might point out the last time we sinned, and we will be speechless, unable to refute him because he would be right. Or Satan might butter us up about some supposed achievement we accomplished, should our weakness be pride. Our head will swell to the size of Rhode Island, and we will be defeated outright.
No man, including the Christian, is righteous in his own right. We all sin and we all fail. Ergo, we cannot confront Satan in our own righteousness. We need “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”, if we are to be victorious in spiritual warfare.
That is “the breastplate of righteousness”. As new creations in Christ Jesus, we don’t stand on our own righteousness. We stand on the Rock, Christ Jesus. We have His righteousness ascribed to us by God.
Satan can point the finger at the old sinner’s lack of righteousness until the cows come home. God isn’t impressed. His Son Jesus names us as His own, as having His righteousness. God declares us “Not guilty!” Satan goes away ashamed.
The third piece of armor for us to put on can be identified as “the shoes or sandals of peace”. And that identifies the “war and peace” we made note of earlier. On the one hand we are going forth to conduct spiritual warfare. On the other hand we are fitting our feet with the gospel of peace.
Isn’t that peculiar? Are we to conduct war or are we to hold peace talks? Which is it already! Well, it’s both. How’s that for decisiveness, huh?
Permit me to explain. When we conduct spiritual warfare, we don’t do so by pushing our own agenda. We serve the Lord Christ, not ourselves. We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ah oh. Just when we were getting to the nitty gritty, the sand in the clock has filled the bottom. Oh well. We’ll be able to roll the good things of today over our tongues a bit, as we sit at the feet of Jesus. Tomorrow we will continue down this trail.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
War and Peace – Part 3
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is God’s proclamation to sinful man that he cease from his hostilities against God, repent of his sins, and turn to God for forgiveness. In doing this the sinner renounces his sin of rebellion against God’s kingship, and he submits himself to God as His King. In this way the sinner becomes a saint, an adopted son of God in Christ Jesus.
This scenario is made possible by the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died our death, thus paying the penalty for our sins. He rose out of death without sin, thus providing us with a new, resurrection life without sin.
When the sinner believes this message of the Gospel and accepts God’s offer, he is no longer the old sinner at war with God. He becomes a saint, a new creation in Christ Jesus who is a part of God’s family. He isn’t at war with God any longer. He thenceforth has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He can live in the peace of God thereafter. This is “the gospel of peace”.
In conducting spiritual warfare, this translates thusly. Satan accuses the saint of sinning, trying to evoke guilt feelings in the saint and drive him to hide from God. It worked in the garden of Eden when the man and woman sinned, didn’t it? Who’s to say it’s not a successful ploy still?
When we put on “the shoes of peace”, it amounts to proclaiming that we are in a state of peace with God because we are “in Christ”. Satan’s accusation dissipates into thin air by this revelation. We cannot exactly feel guilty and run away to hide from God, if we clearly know that we are at peace with God. Can we? Methinks not!
In case you haven’t noticed, as we’ve studied each piece in “the full armor of God”, we’ve basically been identifying different aspects of Christ Jesus’ Person and ministry. We’ve proclaimed the Gospel in its various aspects. The Gospel is the answer to any guile and bile which Satan employs against us.
We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us, dear friends. We can overcome the world because Christ overcame the world and we are “in Christ”. We can rebuke the flesh because of Christ in us, the hope of glory, and He was victorious over the flesh. We can overcome the devil because we are “in Christ”. Didn’t He overcome the devil in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights?
Yes, Jesus sure did! Let’s go to Him now and congratulate Him on His sterling victory. We’ll finish our topic in the next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is God’s proclamation to sinful man that he cease from his hostilities against God, repent of his sins, and turn to God for forgiveness. In doing this the sinner renounces his sin of rebellion against God’s kingship, and he submits himself to God as His King. In this way the sinner becomes a saint, an adopted son of God in Christ Jesus.
This scenario is made possible by the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died our death, thus paying the penalty for our sins. He rose out of death without sin, thus providing us with a new, resurrection life without sin.
When the sinner believes this message of the Gospel and accepts God’s offer, he is no longer the old sinner at war with God. He becomes a saint, a new creation in Christ Jesus who is a part of God’s family. He isn’t at war with God any longer. He thenceforth has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He can live in the peace of God thereafter. This is “the gospel of peace”.
In conducting spiritual warfare, this translates thusly. Satan accuses the saint of sinning, trying to evoke guilt feelings in the saint and drive him to hide from God. It worked in the garden of Eden when the man and woman sinned, didn’t it? Who’s to say it’s not a successful ploy still?
When we put on “the shoes of peace”, it amounts to proclaiming that we are in a state of peace with God because we are “in Christ”. Satan’s accusation dissipates into thin air by this revelation. We cannot exactly feel guilty and run away to hide from God, if we clearly know that we are at peace with God. Can we? Methinks not!
In case you haven’t noticed, as we’ve studied each piece in “the full armor of God”, we’ve basically been identifying different aspects of Christ Jesus’ Person and ministry. We’ve proclaimed the Gospel in its various aspects. The Gospel is the answer to any guile and bile which Satan employs against us.
We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us, dear friends. We can overcome the world because Christ overcame the world and we are “in Christ”. We can rebuke the flesh because of Christ in us, the hope of glory, and He was victorious over the flesh. We can overcome the devil because we are “in Christ”. Didn’t He overcome the devil in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights?
Yes, Jesus sure did! Let’s go to Him now and congratulate Him on His sterling victory. We’ll finish our topic in the next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
War and Peace – Part 4
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
Jesus won the victory over the flesh, the world, and the devil. We are “in Christ”, so we too have won those selfsame victories. Isn’t that fantastic?
We have to remember that the battle is not ours to fight and win. The battle belongs to the Lord. We are not to live our own life. We are to be the Body of Christ on earth and allow Him to live His life in and through us. We are not out to accomplish our plans. We are servants of Christ, doing His work to accomplish His plan.
The Lord Jesus is the perfect military commander. He is the perfect master. He never sends any of His people into the world to do a job, without first equipping them to succeed in achieving His goals. He never dispatches any of His troops to the battlefield, without first furnishing them with the weaponry needed to succeed and obtain the victory.
The Lord displayed this truth to the Israelites in Egypt. He defeated Pharaoh and his armies on Israel’s behalf, forcing Pharaoh to surrender and release Israel from slavery to him. He defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea, when he tried to force Israel back into slavery to Egypt.
The Lord went ahead of the Israelites into Canaan, defeating the inhabitants of that land for Israel. Israel wasn’t allowed to sit back and watch the action, mind you. They did have to go forth and fight. But the Lord went first and whupped the heathen folks. Israel simply had to obey the Word of God to them to follow behind Him and do mop up duty. In other words the Lord equipped the Israelites to accomplish the chore which He assigned to them.
Though the Israelites fought against physical troops and employed physical weapons, the war was first and foremost spiritual warfare. The Lord was in control. The battle belonged to the Lord. Israel’s part was to hear the Word of God to them, obey the Word of God to them, and win the victory which the Word of God guaranteed them. Voilà! spiritual warfare in a nutshell.
The same applies to us Christians today. No, we don’t conduct physical warfare against physical enemies by employing physical weapons. We aren’t out to inherit a physical country as the spoils of war. We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, who desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
But we do walk with the Lord in order to arrive at our heavenly country. And we can only do so on the basis of obedience to the Word of God. This journey is one of daily spiritual warfare. This warfare is conducted on the basis of the Word of God. It begins with grace through faith, and it ends with grace through faith. Everything in between is also grace through faith.
That is what we are learning by the individual pieces which comprise “the full armor of God”. Are you putting on each piece daily? Are you wearing “the shoes of the gospel of peace”? Praise the Lord for his armor. Let us go forth to war, being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jesus won the victory over the flesh, the world, and the devil. We are “in Christ”, so we too have won those selfsame victories. Isn’t that fantastic?
We have to remember that the battle is not ours to fight and win. The battle belongs to the Lord. We are not to live our own life. We are to be the Body of Christ on earth and allow Him to live His life in and through us. We are not out to accomplish our plans. We are servants of Christ, doing His work to accomplish His plan.
The Lord Jesus is the perfect military commander. He is the perfect master. He never sends any of His people into the world to do a job, without first equipping them to succeed in achieving His goals. He never dispatches any of His troops to the battlefield, without first furnishing them with the weaponry needed to succeed and obtain the victory.
The Lord displayed this truth to the Israelites in Egypt. He defeated Pharaoh and his armies on Israel’s behalf, forcing Pharaoh to surrender and release Israel from slavery to him. He defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea, when he tried to force Israel back into slavery to Egypt.
The Lord went ahead of the Israelites into Canaan, defeating the inhabitants of that land for Israel. Israel wasn’t allowed to sit back and watch the action, mind you. They did have to go forth and fight. But the Lord went first and whupped the heathen folks. Israel simply had to obey the Word of God to them to follow behind Him and do mop up duty. In other words the Lord equipped the Israelites to accomplish the chore which He assigned to them.
Though the Israelites fought against physical troops and employed physical weapons, the war was first and foremost spiritual warfare. The Lord was in control. The battle belonged to the Lord. Israel’s part was to hear the Word of God to them, obey the Word of God to them, and win the victory which the Word of God guaranteed them. Voilà! spiritual warfare in a nutshell.
The same applies to us Christians today. No, we don’t conduct physical warfare against physical enemies by employing physical weapons. We aren’t out to inherit a physical country as the spoils of war. We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, who desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
But we do walk with the Lord in order to arrive at our heavenly country. And we can only do so on the basis of obedience to the Word of God. This journey is one of daily spiritual warfare. This warfare is conducted on the basis of the Word of God. It begins with grace through faith, and it ends with grace through faith. Everything in between is also grace through faith.
That is what we are learning by the individual pieces which comprise “the full armor of God”. Are you putting on each piece daily? Are you wearing “the shoes of the gospel of peace”? Praise the Lord for his armor. Let us go forth to war, being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
