To say that 2020 was a rough year for us is certainly putting it mildly. One of the most painful lessons it taught us was not to take the good pleasures in life that we have for granted because we never know when they may not be there. Some of us have been affected by Covid directly, others indirectly, and that is not even beginning to address all of the other events that took place this year in our country. I am sure that many of us, if we are honest, are asking God that familiar question, “Why?” or at least, “When will this all end?” or even, “Doesn’t God even care?” These struggles we face may be new to us, but the questions surrounding them have been asked by God’s people every generation, including the book we are looking at in this article: Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is located close to the end of the Old Testament, and although it is a small book, it asks a big question: Why does God permit the righteous to suffer while the wicked prosper? Habakkuk takes place after the prophecy of Nahum, and so God had indeed judged Assyria, that evil nation that had threatened His people, by raising up Babylon. However, rather than live in gratitude for God’s deliverance, his people had resorted to their old ways. Habakkuk asked the above question because the people of Israel were living lives of wickedness and sin rather than holiness and love. Habakkuk wanted God to do something about this but he didn’t expect the answer that God gave Him: God would indeed address the sin of His people but judging it, raising up the Babylonians against them, and would one day bring them back to the land so that they could be in it when the Messiah was to be born. This was certainly not the answer Habakkuk wanted! Hence, he protested. Surely, God could not use such an evil nation like Babylon in His work could He? God answers Habakkuk that yes, one day the Babylonians will be judged too for their sin, but comfort is found only in a relationship with Him by those who will live by faith (Hab. 2:4). Those who trust in their own power & might will be defeated but the righteous will live by faith. This is how the righteous face uncertain times: by trusting God despite the circumstances.

Yet, the good news is that this is not faith & trust in an “absentee” god, but a true and living God who acts in history, in real time events. That was the source of Habakkuk’s trust. He could look back and see God’s past victories and then look forward in faith that He would bring about His plans, that they are good, and that no evil can thwart them.

The book of Habakkuk can also be a practical text to teach us something about prayer. Habakkuk begins by not holding back, and you can hear his pain as you read his words. God then responds and gives Habakkuk an answer. That pattern repeats itself once more before ending with Habakkuk’s word of praise. This pattern also repeats itself in many of the psalms that we read. The writer is brutally honest with God and then after spending time in His presence, the writer then breaks forth into worship and adoration. The difference comes from spending time with God in prayer and in His presence and eventually He changes our perspectives to look at situations through His eyes rather than our own. God’s presence changed Habakkuk to understand that God never fails His people. Habakkuk’s last chapter ends with the truth that the world may be falling apart, but an all-powerful God is still in control. It may not have been the plans that Habakkuk wanted, but nothing can challenge an all-powerful and all-good God who is determined to redeem.

God’s strength and faithfulness is our comfort, and He willingly gives us His presence to remind us of that, especially when His presence took on flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus Christ. Jesus too lived during a time of hardship and God’s people were once again asking, “How long?” How long must they live under the Roman boot? How long until God redeems? Yet, Jesus reminded His listeners that God was still in control and proved that not only by His miracles, but by the greatest miracle of all: the Resurrection. This historical fact alone gives us many truths as we continue to struggle through these uncertain times and look forward to a new year: God’s care is constant, our future is secure, and He offers all who are willing to come to Him peace and rest (Matt. 11:28). Like, Habakkuk, we too can look back on God’s victory over sin through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and use that to look forward to a time when God will wipe away every tear, comfort every loss, and make all things new.

In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, and the Resurrection proves that the Lord Jesus has final authority over death and all disgusting and discouraging effects of sin. Therefore, because He lives we too have a living hope because we serve a living Lord who will never taste death again, but instead has defeated death so that we may have life. When circumstances are beyond our control, our comfort comes in relationship with the all-loving and all-powerful God. If we listen closely, we can hear the voice of the Shepherd of our souls calling us to His protective peace. Friends, may the gospel, the good-news that God the all-powerful and all-good one who loves humanity and offers them eternal life and peace, be the message we carry into 2021 and beyond.

Your Brother,

Craig

A global pandemic, natural disasters, tensions between people and groups, a divisive national election, personal loss and uncertainty; to say that 2020 has been a rough year so far would be an understatement. In times like these, it can be difficult to remember one fundamental truth in the life of a Christian, but this truth is what carried Christians of every generation through times similar to these and even worse: Jesus is Lord.

The book of Nahum gives us a up close encounter with this very truth. This book is a prophecy against the city of Nineveh, the heart of the country of Assyria. The Assyrian Empire was brutal, cruel, and had conquered much of the world from Egypt and modern-day Turkey in the west and modern-day Iran on the east. Although they had repented under Jonah, the Assyrians had apparently returned to their old ways. They had lived by the sword and now they would fall by the sword, for the worship of violence and power leads to only one end. Although Assryria had regarded itself like a lion, the true Lion was ready to roar and nothing can withstand His judgment on wickedness.

Although, in 722 B.C. God had used Assyria to bring judgment against the Northern Kingdom of Israel after they had split from Judah, He will not let this terrible source of pride or injustice continue on forever without proper accounting. Assyria would eventually be destroyed by the Babylonian Empire and to this day, that land has never arose as a united empire to threaten the world. Although given the chance to heed God’s warning when Jonah had preached to them and accept his mercy (which they did temporarily), they hardened their hearts against Him, and so God would be the one to deliver justice. He is sovereign and therefore nothing can stand against Him, but He is also perfectly good, delivering this justice at the right time.

When God’s people first heard this judgment of their enemies, celebration probably ensued. While this is certainly understandable, when one reads Nahum in light of the entire Bible, pride and smugness is quickly disallowed. It was not because of Israel’s righteousness that God sought to save them, but because of who He is, a Lord who is perfectly fair and impartial, who is just and good. Likewise, it is not because of anything we have done that God has saved us, but because of who He is, a Lord who is also perfectly loving and holy. Jesus is that Lord because Jesus is God the Son, one in essence with the Father.

On the cross, God defeated an empire even greater than that of Assyria, the empire of darkness, death, sin, and the devil. To Israel, although Assyria looked unstoppable and victorious, God would eventually show Himself the victor. Likewise, in our world today, although evil looks unstoppable and victorious, God through Christ has already usurped satan and his hordes and will eventually show himself to the world what He already is in the heart of a Christian: the Victor of Victors, the King of Kings. Jesus is Lord, and in this fact there are many relevant truths we must remember as we navigate the challenging times at present and those we will face in the future.

It is God’s role to judge, our role to pray. The judgment and the battle belong to the Lord. Although the forces of evil seek to divide us even in our churches during times like these, we must remember who ultimately sits on the throne, the Lord Jesus. If we forget that He is the only one with the right to judge, then we will be tempted to seek revenge against those who have wronged us and be tempted to call it “righteous justice”. On the other hand, if we trust that He will judge everything in His time and will deliver justice perfectly then it relives us of that burden so that we can continue to do good to all and pray for everyone, even our enemies for this is what sets the Christian apart from anyone else; not to repay evil for evil, but to repay evil with good.

It is the Gospel that unites us with chords deeper than anything that could separate us. The Gospel shows us that everyone is made in God’s image, everyone is broken by sin, and everyone is loved by God and has the chance to be redeemed in Jesus Christ. I have tried to encourage other Christians and churches to not lose our spirit of brotherhood but to remember we are a family of God. Imagine if the next generation growing up in times like these would see us loving and caring for one another and what a testimony to the power of Christ that would be! They could see for themselves that even in times of hatred, the love of God can be shown.

Jesus is Lord. No matter what happens regarding the Coronavirus, the upcoming election, or anything else, God is the one ultimately in control. This truth is what gives the Christian peace in the midst of the current chaos and uncertainty. It also reminds us that we can and must continue to live like Jesus because He will use our lives as a witness to the power and stability of the Kingdom of God to impact others who may be plagued by worry and anxiety. If God is powerful enough to control empires and yet gentle and kind enough to number every hair on our head, then rest assured, He is able and He is willing to care for all of us now and forever. Jesus is Lord, amen

Your Brother,

Craig

It is truly both miraculous and insightful when one reads the biblical prophets just how much connection there is between the issues God’s messengers denounced then and our own time with its troubles. Power, greed, injustice, turning a blind eye to sin, and so much more can be found in the book that we focus on in this article: Micah.

Micah lived in the 700s B.C. His indictment against his fellow Jews was not because Judah’s military was not the greatest, the economy was not the largest, or even that Judah was not a mighty world empire. All of the earthly sources man trusts in for power and safety did not matter to those who heard Micah’s message. Judgment was coming for one reason and one reason only: Israel and Judah, God’s people, were not living up to their side of the agreement they had made when He graciously delivered them from slavery in Egypt and gave them the Ten Commandments.

Part of living that relationship with God in one’s life is caring for the “least of these”: widows, orphans, and others that have been forgotten by society, but never forgotten by God. So often the temptation in our world today is to keep our “religious life” separate from the rest of our lives. I know you have heard me say this often, but again I must emphasize that the Bible makes no such separation. As the book of James says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (1:27). This among many other verses in the Bible show us that what we believe must be lived out in our everyday lives and in every aspect of life. Just as God created us as one whole person, so therefore our faith must touch our whole lives.

As one reads through the book of Micah, we see a list of corrupt individuals that are the perpetrators of the injustice done to the innocent: “property barons who enrich themselves at the expense of their countrymen (2:1-2), opportunists whose moral compass is stuck on greed (2:8-9), government officials who use their power to enrich themselves on the backs of those they govern (3:1-4), self-appointed prophets and corrupt priests who are ready to preach health and wealth as long as the offering plate is full (3:5-7, 11), and dishonest businessmen who use every trick to extort more profit (6:10-12).” (How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens, pg. 133-34).

God’s aim for his people is that they would show his mercy, justice, and goodness to the whole world by the lives they lived. If justice would not be done by those whom God had appointed, the leaders of His people, then it would come from God Himself, by bringing down the high and lofty and remind them and us all, that He does not show favoritism but instead looks at the heart. Yet, even in the aftermath of the judgment that was to come to Jerusalem many years later when the city and temple would be destroyed and the people would be exiled, Micah delivers a message of hope and deliverance. God promises a time when not just Israel and Judah would be restored, but that “many nations” will come to the Lord and learn his ways. This new people of God would be led by a just and merciful shepherd who later on would say to His followers, “Whatever you did to the least of these, you did it to me” (Matt. 25).

The church is to act as a voice of prophetic reform in a society, to show and remind that society of God and His ways, and then champion the cause of those whom that society would overlook. More often than not throughout the history of the church, the exact opposite has happened. The church would cozy up next to the state and rather than make the state holy it would make the church corrupt. Instead, we are to heed the words that another prophet Jeremiah would write to those same people of God after His judgment once they had been exiled so long ago. They were not to forget who they were and to still be God’s people, but to act like this with the purpose of going into another country and showing them what that means and that He loves all men and desires that all repent.

Today, we can look at the above perpetrators and still see the same injustice happening everywhere. We have the same responsibility as the people of God to practice justice and mercy in all situations as well as to be a voice of reform to call all people to turn away from sin, injustice, greed, and exploitation and to follow the merciful shepherd, Jesus Christ. We do this with the truth found in the Bible and with the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Ask God to show you areas of your life, your work, your family, or your community where injustice is taking place, where wickedness is being tolerated, and then ask Him to show you what must be done to correct it and bring righteousness and holiness to that place. And take this verse from Micah with you: “He [God] has told you, O man, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Your Brother,

Craig

Jonah is one of those stories in the Bible that many of probably know (talk about a crazy fish story!). Yet, there are still many layers to this tale of God’s sovereignty and grace, and Jonah’s reluctance, that we can benefit by reading this four-chapter long epic account. 

Jonah was a Jewish prophet, and one day God instructs him to visit Assyria’s capital city, Nineveh and preach judgment against it because of its wickedness. Some clues will help us put some flesh on the narrative. Assyria was a country where modern Iraq and Turkey are today, and it was not only a country but also an empire that brutally conquered other countries and did so with cruelty. In fact, after King Solomon died and the country of Israel split into two countries, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, Israel was actually conquered by Assyria in 722 BC. At first, Jonah fleeing from God seems puzzling. He was given a chance to tell the biggest empire (and also his enemy) that their number was finally up and God was going to punish them for their wrongs, and yet Jonah runs. Why? Well, other than the fact that he probably feared for his life (after all he was a foreigner and an outsider telling the capital city they were about to fall which probably did not win him any popularity contests), Jonah knew that God was merciful. Yes, the Lord would judge the hard-heartedness of Assyria if they did not repent, but by sending Jonah, He was also giving the Assyrians the chance to repent and therefore be spared. 

Jonah did not want that! The Assyrians were not God’s people and if anything, they were the opposite. How dare He show grace to them? So Jonah flees, boards a ship and flees in the exact opposite direction from his God-instructed destination. Suddenly, on the seas a storm billows up and with the waves crashing against the side of the ship, each sailor prays to his own god, but it is Jonah who reveals he is the reason for the storm. Ironically, these sailors now call upon the true God as they throw a willing Jonah overboard, so God is using Jonah to reach these men, showing them grace, and Jonah does not even realize it. 

Jonah spends three days in the whale and miraculously survives while realizing what he had done. He repents and God orders the whale to spit Jonah back onto dry land so that he may complete his mission. Jonah travels forth to Nineveh and, much to his chagrin, the city actually listens and repents of its wickedness! True to God’s character, he does indeed show mercy upon the Ninevites and does not destroy the city. Jonah, angered that the people were spared, expresses his outrage at God for showing compassion and then wishes for his own death. Yet, God concludes this book with many points to make to Jonah. 

Throughout the book, God’s identity as creator is emphasized, and every element is under His control and fulfills his purposes; he is all-powerful. Second, His grace and compassion is shown to those whom we think are “outsiders” or “beyond all hope”; he is all-good. Combined, these two make a third point: God’s ultimate purpose is to save and not destroy. Fourth, Jonah and the rest of Israel were chosen by God to be a light to all nations so that they would turn to Him and find life; we in the church have the same purpose. Ironically, it is the Gentile “outsiders” the sailors and the Ninevites who are the ones who show us God’s grace is available to any who would accept it and turn to Him for salvation. 

We have been given the Great Commission to preach that same grace and mercy to all people, even those who make us uncomfortable. Yet, if we truly understand, appreciate, and celebrate the gospel then this should increase our joy in sharing it and encourage us to look for opportunities to do so because we have been given a gift and a desire and we wish to share that with the world. We should not be upset when God shows compassion and forgiveness to the worst of sinners because that is exactly what He has shown to us when we did not deserve it. As one of my books says, “The ship of the whole human race has sunk, and we are all splashing around helplessly in a sea of sin and death. We have been hauled aboard a lifeboat by unseen hands. Let’s get busy helping to haul aboard as many others as we can. That is what I pray we all will do. 

Your Brother, 

Craig

The biblical book Obadiah is one chapter long, and yet it can still leave an impact on those who sit with it and study its words. The main theme can be summarized this way: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Unfortunately, the original audience of the book, the nation of Edom was only going to learn the first half of that theme, and it would happen the hard way. 

The peoples of Edom and Israel were distant family. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, while the Israelites were Jacob’s successors. Furthermore, they also shared a border, but they weren’t always the best of neighbors. When Judah was being invaded by Babylon around 586 BC, rather than help their distant cousins, the Edomites helped their enemies instead! Despite the ties of kin, Edom had kicked Judah while they were down, but what Edom had not counted on was that God would be faithful to His people. In other words, when one nation messed with Israel, they messed with God himself. Edom was arrogant and proud, and it would bring about their downfall. 

If we take a snapshot of Israel’s struggles with Edom and then zoom out, we can see a panoramic view throughout history of God opposing the proud but giving grace to the humble. Even His own people, Israel when they became too haughty and began to forsake the Lord and mistreat the poor and needy, God would humble them by sending judgment against them. Yet, He never stopped loving them, and even after they were taken over by a foreign power and sent into exile, not only did he promise to be with them, but He would judge the very nation that He had sent to judge them, Babylon. One important lesson in the Old Testament that we must remember as we face uncertain times and clashing of nations is that no matter what, God is in control of the events of history. It is He who raises up nations or brings them down. This truth can bring us great comfort as individuals as a church especially when we hear of the chaotic situations involving countries the world over. 

Obadiah also gives us a glimpse into the gospel story. Like the nation of Israel, Jesus the “new Israel” was mistreated and misunderstood by his own family and people. John’s gospel says that “he came to his own but his own did not receive him” (1:11). His family was confused by him, his nation as a whole rejected Him, and even His disciples eventually fled from Him. Yet, He entrusted himself to God his Father’s justice and his vindication was proven when He was raised from the dead. Now, “to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, he gave them the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13). Now, all nations and all people in all nations stand where Edom once stood and as such we all have to make that choice. Do we oppose God and reject His Son, mocking His offer of salvation and hardening our hearts? Or do we fall to our knees in humble adoration, accepting and welcoming this Son into our hearts, rejoicing in His salvation and using our “hearts of flesh” that He has given us? In turn, do we share this with others so that they too may avoid the coming wrath? We the church stands in the place that Obediah once stood, and rather than simply proclaim God’s message to one nation, we are called to go to all places, all people and proclaim the gospel so that they would turn from sin and be saved. 

Obadiah may seem ancient to us, but it also gives us a warning today. Christians are not immune to pride, to thinking that in every area of life it must be “my way or the highway”. Pride has a way of hardening us, making us immune to God’s beckoning to follow Him and find life. When we crucify our pride, we put ourselves in a position to grow in Christlikeness, to continually be renewed by God’s love and grace toward us. Edom thought they could reject God and not suffer the consequences of scorning His divine love. May we never be found guilty of such an offense, but instead take the love He has shown to us in Jesus Christ and offer it to everyone, everywhere though our actions, our words, and our lives. Remember, He really does oppose the proud and gives grace to the humble. 

Your Brother, 

Craig

The biblical book of Amos is believed to be the first book of the written prophets. Tucked in our Bibles between some of the more well-known prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah on one side and the New Testament on the other, this small book is a forerunner to what Jesus Christ had similarly preached in His day: warnings against hypocrisy and making sure that those who believe in God not simply act like it “during the worship services” but also in daily life, for the transformation the Holy Spirit does in the life of a Christian affects every part of our lives. 

From my personal Bible, “Amos’ central message is that the Lord is the righteous and just Creator who upholds right order (righteousness and justice) in creation. This is God’s love in action. His creatures are charged with imitating His love by acting with these same two motivations. As prophets and priests rehearsed the story of how God redeemed Israel, this poor, oppressed, alien people from Egyptian slavery and gave them a land, the Israelites were instilled with the knowledge of the loving works of God. This was celebrated in the major worship festivals, when the people had an opportunity to express gratitude for God’s redemption by sharing sacrificial meals with the less fortunate (Deut. 14:22-29; 15:7-11). Instead, prosperous worshipers indulged themselves and excluded the needy. In their daily business they mistreated and enslaved the poor and weak, behaving like the Egyptian oppressors of old. In Amos’ day God heard the groans of the oppressed (as with Israel in Egypt, Exodus 2:23-24), and the Lord promised to vindicate such people (Ex. 22:21-24; Deut 24:14-15). 

There is much in Amos for which we as Christians can profit by reading (and it isn’t even that long of a book!) One of the most ironic moments in Amos is when he begins by pronouncing judgement on Israel’s neighbors for their wicked ways. I can only picture the listening crowd giving their cheers and approval of God judging others, but then Amos delivers the unexpected combo: God’s judgment is also coming upon them! Simply because Israel was God’s covenant nation did not make them exempt from divine judgment for sin (if anything it made them more accountable for they ought to have known better). This is a sobering message for believers today. It is so much easier and more convenient to point out the sins in others, and sometimes we do this to make ourselves feel better. Rather, the approach should be the exact opposite: We should approach God humbly, and ask Him to shape us and mold us (which is not always easy), while at the same time being gentle and patient with others, praying for them and constantly witnessing to them by our words and our very lives. 

Additionally, when it comes to our celebrations at church, we may often ask, “Why do we continue to do this?” The answer is the same one found above for Amos and his people: it reminds us of God’s gracious actions towards us when we did not deserve such kindness, it forms our identity as believers by reminding us that we are surrounded with a “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1) as a church, and it is a process of growing in our individual faith. For some, the words “church” and “celebration” do not fit in the same sentence, and yet, for the Christian who has experienced God’s love, every day can be a celebration of it! To celebrate the Lord’s goodness not only gives us a sense of joy, but encourages us to match our actions with our words, to leave church each week carrying the presence of Jesus with us into our everyday lives. When we gather, He is with us in our midst (Matt. 18:20). When we depart, each of us take Him with us by the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, and this is why the Bible calls Christians “temples of God”. Be both encouraged and challenged by this thought: many people have walked away from God or never given Him a chance simply because they never met a Christian who “practiced what they preached”. One does not need to be a good speaker or a perfect person to show God’s love to others. All it takes is someone drawing near to Him through Jesus Christ and then showing that transformed life to others. This year, let us all commit afresh to doing just that!

Your Brother,

Craig

Joel may be a strange book to discuss. For starters, it is one of the “minor prophets” that we read in our last article. Second, it spoke mostly to Israel in the Old Testament so you may be wondering what relevance it has for our lives today. Third, its vibrant imagery can leave us confused sometimes. Yet, every part of God’s word can speak to us as Christians today if we take the time to listen and approach humbly, and Joel is no different as it gives us truth that we can use to nourish our souls. 

Joel takes place during a natural disaster that happened in the land of Israel as a locust plague has destroyed both wine and grain, which means the people cannot bring these offerings to God in the Temple. Joel used this to point to the “Day of the Lord” in which God’s judgment would arrive and impact all. At first, when the people heard this they were relieved because, in their arrogance, they thought that God would judge their enemies and leave them alone no matter how corrupt they lived. However, Joel was giving a warning that while judgment was indeed coming for the other nations, it was going to hit Israel too! Therefore, Joel pronounces divine judgment against human sin and a future restoration of God’s people. However, Joel also calls the people to take responsibility and act, proclaiming that fasting and repentance was needed and that the people must return to the Lord. God would surely have mercy upon them as always and would show that powerfully one day by sending His Spirit, pouring it out upon His people so that his activity will be seen in a powerful way. This should be familiar to us because it points forward to Pentecost. Then on that final day, all will face the judgment of God and only one question has ever mattered to determine life or death: “What have you done with Him?”

It is here where Joel can speak to us today. The “Day of the Lord” basically meant that the consequences of sin would be felt by those who reject Him. If God is the source of all life, then to turn away from Him leads only to death. This happened to Israel, but on a larger scale it is the story of humanity as a whole. Yet, the gospel is the truth that God did not leave us to die in our sin and exile, but rather came Himself, “took on flesh and dwelt among us” and was born as a helpless baby, not in wealth nor prestige but in poverty and obscurity. This Chosen One would grow, preach, love, endure hardship, suffer on a cross, die, and be raised to life again. 

The Apostle Peter says that Jesus’ death on the cross was the Christians’ “Day of the Lord,” when the judgement for our disobedience was experienced on our behalf by our sinless representative. Jesus experienced dire consequences so that those with faith in Him would not. He took our judgment and has given us a foretaste of the restoration of all things when He returns. For the Christian, the celebration starts when Jesus was born and we can hear in His baby cries the proclamation resounding throughout the heavens that the day of redemption is near! In Jesus Christ, God is outstretching His merciful hand to a lost, dying humanity and saying, “grasp and find life in Me!” 

It was this same Peter, along with the other Apostles, who were the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that one day God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, would be poured out upon all people. We cannot overlook the importance and joy that this brings. God’s Spirit lives within us and within every person that accepts His offer of grace and forgiveness of sin. The Holy Spirit is the One who gives the Christian the power to live a life of sharing the gospel, of holiness, and of joy. 

God does not change. The future “Day of the Lord” is going to come. The only difference is are we fearful or hopeful? If we learn from Joel, realizing our sins, repenting of them and turning to God for forgiveness, and then committing to live the Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of Christ, then the “Day of the Lord” will be met by us not by gasps of fear, but with one mighty singing voice shouting “Hallelujah!”

Your Brother,

Craig

We are approaching a part of the Bible nestled conveniently in the middle and yet it is one that many of us might not be familiar with, the minor prophets. While they may be minor in name, they certainly are not minor in content or truthfulness! We can learn much about God, his people, and our lives as Christians today. The first of these is the prophet Hosea. 

Allow me to paint a picture in history to set the context. After King David ruled, his son Solomon assumed the throne. Solomon started off well, but his heart was turned away from God, and he began to worship the other idols and false gods of the cultures around him. As such, Solomon was warned that the country would eventually be torn into two separate ones, Israel in the north (10 tribes) and Judah in the south (2 tribes). Remember, these tribes were distant family to each other and the purpose of Israel existing as a country was to be a kingdom of priests, showing God’s glory to the world. Imagine the horror finding out that a unified holy nation would now be split into two! Yet, God was not finished with His people and His grace extended to both Israel and Judah, and this is surprising given Israel’s history. Ever since the first king of the northern kingdom, King Jeroboam, Israel did not have one righteous king that feared God, not one! So God had to send a prophet to his people in the north and remind them of His great love for them and call them to turn away from their wickedness, and this is where we meet Hosea.

God told Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer who would be characterized by her infidelity. Whether this was unfaithfulness to Hosea or disloyalty to God, the text does not quite make specific. However, the point is still the same. Hosea represents God, the unwavering husband, devoted to his wife, Israel, and Gomer represents Israel the promiscuous spouse who has chased after other lovers and scorned her marriage to her beloved rescuer, the Lord. This may seem like just another biblical metaphor, and yet when God warns Israel of her idolatry (in Hosea and other books) he usually puts it in terms of relational unfaithfulness. God’s love of his people runs so deep it is comparable to a groom’s love for his bride, and the reason why idolatry infuriates Him so much is because it is the equivalent of Israel giving herself to other men. Not only is this disloyal, but God is heartbroken because He is the only one who can provide Israel (and all of humanity) the life that is good, true, and beautiful. All that these other false idols can promise is death. God is continually “falling all over himself” to try to woo Israel back into His arms by using Hosea to remind them of His power and love by ransoming them from Egyptian slavery and the Exodus. 

The warnings are great to heed even today. For what we worship, what we live for, affects everything else in our lives, and worship of those idols that bring only death will spread poison to every area of life. Jesus Christ acted like a “Hosea” to Israel and to the entire world, beckoning with God’s power and love to draw near to Him and be saved. He shows us on the cross that He has ransomed us from slavery to sin and death and has given us an Exodus into eternal life. When the church is called “the bride of Christ” that means that Jesus our husband loves us with the same passionate fire that a groom is filled with upon seeing his bride on their wedding day. This love is not only good and powerful, but compels us and speaks to our souls by its goodness and power to forsake every other loyalty to anything that is not of Him. Christ celebrates us as a groom celebrates his beloved, and we as his bride in turn, ought to always strive to show Him the same loyalty and devotion He showed us first. 

Hosea’s warnings to the idolatrous and disobedient, and promises of creation-wide restoration by God’s grace is relevant to our time today. Read of His goodness shown to Israel, and then remember of His goodness shown to you. Every breath you take, every movement you make, you breathe and make in Him. He is life, and it is that life, shown in His Son, that “took on flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory”. Use that wonderful truth to turn away from all others and pursue loving the Lord with all your heart. 

Your Brother,

Craig

Daniel is a book so rich, beautiful, and full of truth, that one could write many books focusing on each facet of this short, twelve-chapter long work of Scripture. The best that I can do is present some highlights that I pray would help you as you study God’s holy word, but do not let some of the fascinating and descriptive stories stop you from delving head-first and pulling blessings from it. 

Daniel was a young man who practically grew up as an exile in a foreign land. Israel by this time had fallen and been destroyed by King Nebuchaddezar of Babylon. God’s people had refused to turn from their sin and therefore was taken captive by their conquerors into a strange country. Yet, although they had neither land nor temple nor human king ruling them, God never left them. He watched over them in their plight because as we will see below, God is always in control of everything. Let me say one more time with conviction: God is always in control of everything! 

We may hear that basic statement and give a hearty “amen!” while at worship or in Bible study, but are we bold enough to hold to it when it seems like everything else is in power and control in today’s world except God? Well, let us turn to Daniel to not only discover God’s sovereign actions being revealed in history, but also how we can live confidently knowing He is just as much in control of today’s events. 

Daniel had to struggle with thinking, “If God is truly in control, why is it that so many arrogant earthly rulers appear to be the ones in charge?” Eventually God showed Daniel dreams and visions to reveal exactly what would occur to these so-called “all-powerful” rulers who set themselves up against Him. One vision produced a great statue with four sections: a head of gold, shoulders and chest of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and feet of iron mixed with clay. In this, Daniel eventually saw a boulder that was not cut by human hands, and it smashed the statue, showing this kingdom and its King will be forever! Another vision unveiled four beasts that were similar to the four sections of the previous statue and then a great ruler called “the Son of Man” brought judgment against them, and His kingdom will have no end! Not only would this divine Ruler reign supreme, but furthermore in Dan. 9 while Daniel is in prayer, acting like a priest and confessing the sins of his people, God shows him that one day in the future, there will be an end of sins, reconciliation, and a new era. Finally, in Dan. 12 there is a final vision in which the dead will live again, some to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt. All of this points to one person: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. On the cross, all of the forces of evil and death threw everything at Him, and yet He conquered and now “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to Him. He is the forever King, the Judge, the one who makes makes forgiveness of sins possible by being the atonement. He is the Victor, by dying on the cross and rising again, He has trampled down death forever and we can have new life! We need not fear boastful, arrogant, or evil human rulers no matter how powerful they may seem, for there is a King among kings who is our Lord, Savior, and best friend. 

This had to carry Daniel and his three friends through hardship as they had to learn to live as strangers in a strange land, and it can carry us too. Look at how God protected these men for their faithfulness. We know of the stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo and how they survived the fiery furnace when they would not bow down to an idol. Yet, do we remember the fourth figure with “the appearance of a god” that was there in the furnace with the men? Do we not see this pointing to Jesus Christ, God-in-the-flesh delivering us in his love and protection from the fires of judgment and hardship? We know the story of Daniel in the lion’s den but do we not see how the noble “Lion of the Tribe of Judah” is our protector against “prowling lion”, the devil who seeks our destruction? Even in exile in a foreign world, Daniel and the other faithful members of God’s people take their place, bear witness to Him, and make a difference in their situations. In other words, they are “salt and light”. Today, we as Christians are called to be “in the world, but not of it”, not identical to it, but not cowering in fear because of it either. Instead, we must follow the Lord, the King of kings, Jesus Christ as He leads us and speak the good news of His authority, God’s authority, over all of creation. We must remain faithful to the truth, just as Daniel did, and show the world that there is one true Ruler, who grants freedom from sin, hope, joy, happiness, community, love, and so much more. He is Jesus Christ, always and forever, amen!

Your Brother,

Craig

Ezekiel is the next book of the Bible that we are examining in our blog series, and if you have ever tried to read through it, I am sure it looks odd at first. There are many visions with some exciting and vibrant details, actions done by Ezekiel in the name of God that jar us even today, and trying to understand the prophecies may leave us wondering what exactly what we have just read!!

As such, allow me to put some context to this and then attempt to explain this book and I pray that it may help you in your reading. The author, Ezekiel was a prophet and a priest, who had lived in Israel but was taken captive to Babylon when the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and eventually destroyed the Temple in 587-586 BC. However, even in Babylon, God was still with his people, showing that He is not Lord just over one specific territory or country, but of all creation for He created all. He is all-powerful and directs events in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, God was not finished with his people and redemption was coming, but first it helps to put the story of Ezekiel in terms of humanity’s story in Genesis. 

As we have seen in Genesis, God created human beings with a special purpose: to be a kingdom of priests, to reflect God’s presence to creation and reflect creation’s worship back to God. However, we as human beings walked away from God and His presence, and if His presence is the source of life, then leaving that presence results only in death. Despite our fall, God’s plans were not thwarted. For in Genesis 12, God calls Abraham and says through him, the Lord will create a people who will shine as a light for all nations, showing them what it means to be a kingdom of priests, and thus, to be truly human with a right relationship with God. God even promised He personally would dwell with them like He did in Eden, and in the Tabernacle when they left Egypt and later in the Temple during Solomon’s time, God’s presence was indeed there. 

Sadly, by the time of Ezekiel, Israel too had walked away from God and His law and had refused to obey His purpose for them, instead, chasing after foreign gods and even setting them up in God’s temple! While they were in exile, the Israelites would often try to blame their misfortune on something else rather than take responsibility for their own failings, but Ezekiel says that is exactly the reason they are in exile. Israel had forsaken God, their source of life, and so Ezekiel had a vision in which God’s presence left the Temple, and in seeing this, Ezekiel knew exactly what it meant: God’s presence and protection was leaving His people and the result would be chaos. Yet, that same presence of God would go with the exiles Eastward toward Babylon, showing them that He went with them and that his love would never forsake them. 

Furthermore there is hope, for Ezekiel saw another vision in which that same presence of God eventually returned to a new Temple, and with it came a refined priesthood and prince, and a restored land with a city named, “The LORD is there!” (Ezekiel 48:35). With this future place where God will dwell, life will return and healing water would flow. 

Hundreds of years after Ezekiel this prophecy came true. The people were waiting for the glory of the LORD to return to the temple, and in Jesus Christ, His coming to earth, and his triumphal entry, that glory had indeed returned! HE is the living healing water! John’s gospel could almost be called, “Ezekiel’s prophecy fulfilled”. God indeed returned in a temple, but not one made of brick and mortar, but of flesh and blood, “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory of the one and only Son” (John 1:14). Jesus, God’s presence, had returned and with Him came healing and life. He is our Temple, our priest, our king, our sacrifice and so much more. When we trust in Him, God breathes on us the Holy Spirit which gives us life, just as He brought life back to the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision. God restores what was once dead to new life, and so just as we were once dead to sin and corruption, we have been saved and brought to new life in Christ. 

The challenge that faced Israel is the same challenge to us today. Just as God’s presence with his people in the Old Testament involved the entrance of his glory into the temple, and the question would be would they welcome and treasure His presence among them and experience the life that flows from it like a river or would they resist and reject his presence among them and become like a valley of dried bones? We as individual Christians and as a church must ask ourselves the same question, and let us keep God’s life-giving presence in the front of our minds so that our life in Christ grows and deepens and flows out to those around us! (Col 3:2-4)

Your Brother,

Craig