Something Greater

Isaiah 11, Part 2: Fearing the LORD Isaiah referred to fear of the LORD as something admirable. Isaiah 11:3 (ESV) His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, FEAR: yir'a "yir-AW" (fear or moral reverence); from yare (to fear, to revere; to frighten) The root word of "fear of the LORD" is a word meaning an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat (The New Oxford American Dictionary). "Fear" comes from an Old English word meaning calamity or danger. Adam feared punishment after disobeying God's command regarding the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3:10). Jacob feared the loss of his wives after tricking Laban (Genesis 31:31). The Israelites feared pain and injury from serpents, scorpions and desert (Deuteronomy 8:15). Rather than describing someone running away ...

Isaiah 8: The Conspiracy (Part 3 of 4) Isaiah felt pulled into fear. The people he preached to were shaken to the core and their fear was contagious. But the LORD spoke to Isaiah, warning him not to fear as the people feared. But the LORD did not tell Isaiah not to fear at all. Rather, the LORD told Isaiah to fear the LORD only, and that fear would be their only salvation. The LORD warned Isaiah against fear of conspiracy: Isaiah 8:11-12 (ESV) For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. CONSPIRACY: qesher "KEH-sher" (an unlawful alliance); from qashar (to tie, physically or mentally) This word can mean tied up physically. When twins were born to Tamar, the midwife tied a scarlet thread on the hand of one babe as a way of distinguishing them (Genesis 38:38). Proverbs urges ...

Isaiah 7: God With Us Two generations after the downfall of King Uzziah, Jerusalem was attacked by two enemy nations: Syria and Israel. How could Israel have become an enemy of itself, an enemy of Judah's capital city, Jerusalem? The LORD spoke to the prophet Isaiah, giving him a message for Ahaz, king of Judah: Do not let your heart be faint. The two enemy forces would be shattered within 65 years. The LORD gave to Ahaz a sign of his sovereign power over people and events: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son who shall be named Immanuel, and the king of Assyria will sweep away the nation of Syria and the rebellious state of Israel. The remnant remaining will enjoy abundance and comfort. THE ATTACK: Verses 1-2 The political situation in Israel was chaotic. Civil war had divided Israel north and south. The northern state, still called Israel, joined with Syria to attack the southern state, called Judah. The king of Judah, Ahaz, a descendent of David, was shaken to his co...

Caulkers: Fastening Onto God 1 Samuel 30:6 I am easily discouraged, easily frustrated and easily disheartened. David also felt overwhelmed by discouragement, distressed by circumstances of loss and weakness, or confused about what to do and where to go. He often felt pain from circumstances that were allowed and orchestrated by God. Recently I read of an instance in which David responded to a horrendous experience of loss and violence by "strengthening", or fastening, himself in God: "David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God." 1 Samuel 30:6 (ESV) David's small army had been on the front lines of war, away from their homes for three days. During that time, Amalekites had raided their hometown of Ziklag, burning it with fire and taking captive the women and all who were in it. David and his men re...

Moses Trembled Stephen stood before the accusing council of religious rulers, defending himself against charges of blasphemy and heresy . He had quickly traced the history of the nation of Israel, beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph and Moses. He is at this point reminding the court of the great disappointment that Moses must have felt after forty years of sheepherding, exiled in fear of punishment by Egyptians after a failed attempt to deliver his people from oppression. After forty lonely, lowly years of regret, God spoke to Moses . "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. - And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, - Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt." Acts 7:33...

Safe! I sometimes have a hard day at work. No big surprise in that, right? We all have hard days at work, at home, at church. When I have a hard day at work, and I can't let go of the stress when I return home, despite the encouragement and care of my wife, I often will crawl into bed and have only one word of prayer that I can offer up to God: "Safe!" The warmth of the bed, the protection of my blanket, the quietness of the darkness, the security of my home create an image in my mind of safety. With one word, safe, I thank God for His oversight of my life, His guidance and direction and providence , despite the difficulty I've experienced in getting through the day. But my bed and blanket are only an image. Little force is required to violate the security and quiet of my home. My blanket provides small protection from the storms and raging violence of this world . It fails to protect me from even the smallest irritations and upsets. We are surprised...

Pretense and Fear "A man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet." Acts 5:1-2 The names of the man and woman in this story communicate happiness and wealth : ANANIAS: Ananias (name of three Israelites); from Hebrew, hananyahu (Jah has favored); from hanan (to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow or implore) and yah (Jah, the sacred name, shortened from Yehovah, the self-Existent or Eternal) SAPPHIRA: Sapphire (an Israelitess); from sapphiros (a "sapphire" or lapis-lazuli gem; from Hebrew, sappir (a gem, probably the sapphire, used for scratching other substances); from sapar (to score with a mark as a tally or record, to inscribe, enumerate, recount or celebrate) From birth, Ananias enjoyed the influence of a name that meant "favored by God". The Hebrew root o...

Only Human "Why do people try to gain salvation through their own merit, rather than accept God's righteousness through Jesus Christ? How strong a role does guilt play in this?" This was the question posed to me. Here is my response. From the beginning, angels and humans have inclined toward rejection of God as their ultimate Authority. God told Adam and Eve that they had for their food every plant in all the earth and every tree of the garden, except one. The serpent deceived Eve, pretending, without actually lying, to believe that God had forbade them any tree in the garden. The serpent's argument was that God's authority over them was arbitrary and unfair. The serpent opened a door into rebellion, making it appear good and delightful and wise, and Eve walked through that door. (Genesis 3:1-6) Adam was beside Eve all this time. He knew that the serpent was pretending. Adam knew that the serpent was usurping authority over God, but he also knew that t...

So You Also Must Forgive "Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." Colossians 3:13 (ESV) Paul says in Ephesians 4:32 that God forgives us on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ. Forgiveness of our sin cost God the life of His Son. In Colossians 3:13, Paul says that Jesus Christ, the Lord, has forgiven us on the basis of His own personal death . As the Lord has forgiven us, so we are to forgive others . On what basis? On our death? Yes . Becoming a Christian means complete identification with Jesus Christ, a radical return to the Original Plan in which God created us in His image. We are spiritually immersed into all that Christ is and does. We are spiritually baptized into His death, burial, and resurrection. We no longer live to ourselves, but to Christ . We have died to ourselves , yet we live in Christ. "Now if we have died with Christ, we be...