Introduction: Theology is unavoidable. What a man believes about God shapes his life. It is unavoidable.

Theology, simply defined, is the study of God. Does God exist? Yes or no? If God doesn’t exist, morality is reduced to moral relativism, human assertions, and the will to power. But if God does exist, what is his nature? Has he spoken/revealed himself? Yes or no? If he has spoken/revealed himself in words, in history, in creation, and in conscience, how should we then live?

These are some of the fundamental questions and issues addressed in theology.

Connections to Current Events: If you take some time and think through what is happening currently in the Middle East, a person’s theological beliefs/worldview shape his understanding.

I had the misfortune of viewing Greg Locke’s screed recently (linked below for you) of why I call it a misfortune. This level of theological muddleheadedness is replete with problems. Christians worship Christ, not a temple. This should be so basic. Christians do not worsip real estate, be that a former temple (Solomon’s) or a city (Jerusalem) or a race (Jews, e.g.). Christians worship the Lord who was “born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead” (from the Apostles’ Creed).

But there is a push among many influential people who claim to be Christian who are calling for race wars, blowing entire countries to smithereens, and for rebuilding the very temple that was destroyed in A.D. 70.

Will folks even take the time to read Scripture’s own testimony of why the temple was destroyed? It was in direct fulfillment of 1 Kings 9:

⁴ And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, ⁵ then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’ ⁶ But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ⁸ And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ ⁹ Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them.’” (1 Kings 9:4-9)

In short, the destruction of the temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 was a direct result of unbelievers rejecting Jesus. Unbelievers, Jews and Gentiles, hated Christ, who put an end to repeated ineffectual sacrifices and ritual days of atonement. That’s what the book of Hebrews is all about.

Concluding Thoughts: I write as a Christian. These shallow and immature calls for levelling real estate (a la Greg Locke and other loud Christian Zionists), of rebuilding a temple, of racial wars upon entire demographics, etc. are not biblically, theologically mature worldviews or Christian. They are, in fact, completely opposed to Christ. Christians are to preach the gospel, to plant churches, to shepherd well, and to pray for those who persecute us.

Text:

¹¹ Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? ¹² Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. ¹³ Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’ ¹⁴ Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.” (1 Kings 1:11-14)

Context, Context, Context: King David was now an old man. He had been a man of war for years. The consequences of his sin against Uriah and his (David’s) adultery with Bathseba, as well as his (David’s) disastrous relationship with his son Absalom were coming full circle. David was still king, yes, but his power was weakening in myriad ways. He was physically diminished; he was old (1 Kings 1:1), etc. And David’s enemies thought it was the time to strike, the time to assert themselves to gain power, and to install themselves as king in David’s stead. Adonijah saw himself as that man, as one willing to try and replace David and David’s son, Solomon.

Teaching: And yet God had his servant, Nathan. Nathan was a phenomenal prophet. He was a truth-teller. He was God’s man for David, just as David was God’s man. So Nathan goes to David’s now-wife Bathsheba and explains to her Adonijah’s wicked plan to replace David as king. Bathsheba lets David in on Adonijah’s plot. God was determined, you see, to bring about the immediate son (Solomon) as king, but ultimately God the Son as king. That’s what this is all about.

No powers of hell or schemes of man can topple God’s plan for Christ as king. As Psalm 2 phrases it, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” But then you get to verse 4: “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.”

Encouragement: Folks can and do try to outsmart God. That is clear. But what should be even more obvious is this: that’s a fool’s errand. You can deny reality but reality still wins. You can mock God, but God still is. You can plot and scheme and lie, but God still sees and God is holy. You can take counsel together against the Lord, but God laughs at you. There’s no outsmarting God’s plan, and his plan was and is and ever shall be this: Christ is king.

Servant leadership. The phrase is so often used that it has perhaps suffered from overuse as a term. There is nothing wrong with the phrase but it perhaps needs a bit of clarification.

Questions:

• How many of us know people in positions of leadership but who fail at serving people?
• How many of us know people who covet the title of “leader” but fall short of leading selflessly?

Connection: At the church I’m privileged to pastor, we are currently going verse be verse through 1 Peter. The apostle of hope ends the second chapter of that epistle by going in-depth on what it means to serve people well. In verses 18-19, for example, he writes, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly” (1 Peter 2:18-19).

A key phrase in that passage is “mindful of God.” What Peter means there is this: biblical leaders are to lead well because they live out a life that demonstrates reverence for God. God is the leader’s commander, if you will. And the leader is mindful of that. That cognizance shapes the trajectory of his leading the people God has sent him to shepherd. That awareness of God’s evaluation of his leadership leads him into humble servant leadership of people God has ransomed by his own blood.

Encouragement: Like all things in Scripture, Christ is the supreme model. He is to be the biblical leader’s perfect paradigm. He’s the model. Do we men fall short of that standard? Of course. But that is not reason to not aim for that standard. Servant leadership is a fine phrase; it’s living that out before God and his people that tests one’s mettle.

Text:

14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
    and do not walk in the way of the evil.
¹⁵ Avoid it; do not go on it;
    turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶ For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
    they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
¹⁷ For they eat the bread of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
    which shines brighter and brighter until full day. (Pr 4:14-18)

Teaching: Solomon instructs his son in wisdom. The father teaches the son the ungliness of folly and the beauty of wisdom. Solomon provides the imagery of two different paths. One path is trod by the wicked. The wicked “walk in the way of evil” (v. 14b). And Solomon instructs his son plainly: “Avoid it [the path of the wicked]; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on” (v. 15). Walk the beautiful path, the path of wisdom.

Then Solomon describes the moral character of those who trod the path of evil. He tells his son that those who trod that path “cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble” (v. 16). There are some folks whose lives are restless; therefore, they meddle in other people’s lives. They stir the pot, we might say. They are nosy people. They insert themselves into our lives without invitation. They “eat the bread of wickedness,” (v. 17), Solomon writes.

That’s a pretty unsavory individual, the one who refuses to stay in his lane. He just cannot be content; therefore, he meddles. He intrudes. He is nosy. And he’s an irritant.

Encouragement: We’re to turn away from such people and walk the path of the righteous. Why? Because that path “shines brighter and brighter until full day” (v. 18b). We’re to keep our hearts “with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (v. 23).

Introduction: “Take a knee.” It’s a welcome phrase we hear sometimes as soldiers, especially when we’re physically exhausted, spent, and our gas tank is running on empty. (Yes, I’m hearing Jackson Browne’s song in my head, too, now.) Here’s the way Browne wrote about this feeling:

runnin’ on empty
(Runnin’ on) runnin’ blind
(Runnin’ on) runnin’ into the sun
But I’m runnin’ behind

Regardless of our stations in life, I would think all of us have experienced seasons when we knew that we were running on empty and that we needed to take a knee.

Connection to Scripture: In 1 Samuel 30, it’s a low time in the life of David. His wives had been captured by the wicked pagans, the Amalekites. Much of the territory had been reduced to scorched earth. The invaders had taken captives. And the word on the street got back to David that he was a wanted man (1 Samuel 30:5). David was running on empty. David very much needed to take a knee.

Text and Teaching: But listen to what Scripture records about this incident and learn what it has to teach all of us who have found ourselves running on empty and in need of taking a knee: “And 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).

Encouragement: First, David was self-aware. Second, because David was self-aware, he turned to God. David knew the situation was too much for human effort to conquer. He knew where he needed to look for strength, and he did it. He strengthened himself “in the LORD his God.” There’s much wisdom here, dear ones. Some battles are too big for us. If we think they’re not, that may be a sign of our hubris. Let us be self-aware and turn to the One whose strength is all-powerful and holy and not delude ourselves into webs of entrapment woven by human vanity.

The prophetic voice is a gift of God’s grace.

Questions: When you hear the word prophet, what comes to your mind? Does it usher in thoughts of ease and comfort? When you study the lives of men like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, are ease and comfort what you find with those men? Or is it more accurate to say that God’s prophets meet with resistance from forces hostile to God and God’s ways? The questions answer themselves, of course.

Text:

When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” (Judges 6:7-10)

Teaching: In Judges 6, as in sundry other passages from Judges, God sends prophetic voices to wake the people up from spiritual slumber and apostasy. The prophetic voice is a gift of God’s grace.

Verse 7 of Judges 6 records that “the people of Israel cried out to the LORD . . .”
Why? Because they were being overrun by the Midianites. And what did God do in his grace? He sent them a prophet. The truth-telling prophet called the people back to God, to the history of God’s fidelity, to God’s providential hand, and the prophet called the people to trust. He didn’t call them to trust wicked leaders; he called them to trust God and God’s messenger.

Encouragement: May God grant hearts and minds that discern God’s truth-telling prophets. Why? Because the prophetic voice is a gift of God’s grace.

After a day of work, I met my wife and son for an early supper at our Mexican restaurant we patronize with regularity. CJ and I split a plate of fajitas. Our son got his usual, too. We talked during our time together and drove home afterwards. I drank a cup of coffee, played with Ladybug, our dog, for a bit, and then sat down to study a bit more for teaching our congregation through 1 Peter.

This coming Lord’s Day we are in the first few verses of 1 Peter 2. Verse 1 of that text reads thus: “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” There is so much practical Christian wisdom in that one sentence.

Context, Context, Context: Peter was writing to what he termed “elect exiles.” That is, his initial audience was Christians who were enduring some level of persecution. Peter knew they were feeling pressures to chuck their faith, to give up, to give in, to doubt God and God’s providence.

Thus Peter, “the apostle of hope,” as he is known in church history, wrote to encourage the saints. And how did Peter do that? By reminding Christians of the fundamentals. And what were some of those fundamentals of what not to do? Just in verse 1, Peter names five specific things Christians are not to do:

• Be malicious
• Be deceitful
• Be hypocrites
• Be envious
• Be slanderous

All that is just in verse 1.

Encouragement: Have you ever noticed the amount of damage inflicted by just these five things? Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander undermine Christian witness. Folks, we can learn from all examples, especially bad ones. Let God’s people come to terms with the high calling of being salt and light in a sin-saturated world.

Questions:

• Was Moses a godly leader?
• Was Moses commended by the Lord?
• Was Moses a perfect man?
• Did Moses enter the land of promise?
• What lessons should Christians learn from Moses’ life?

Text:

Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel (Dt 34:7-12).

Teaching: Regardless of how many times I read the Bible, this writing about the end of Moses’ earthly life moves me viscerally. Why? I think it’s because there are some people with whom we strongly identify.

Moses was a shepherd. He truly cared for his people and endured vast amounts of suffering on their behalf. He led them like a biblical shepherd leads a flock—selflessly and sometimes with great private pain. He worked hard on their behalf.

Moses was godly. He was certainly a sinner. That is clear from his not giving God the glory when he (Moses) struck the rock at Meribah (Num 20:8). Moses was also a murderer (Ex 2:11-15). And yet God expresses unique love for Moses (Dt 34:10-11).

Moses was a fallen man, and yet God used him centrally as part of Israel’s deliverance and future conquering of Canaan.

Moses was not allowed by God to enter the Promised Land. Why? Because of his own sin. It moves me viscerally when I think upon this judgment of Moses. Moses did not have to answer for the sins and recalcitrance of the sins of those he led. He had to answer for his own sin.

What should Christians learn from Moses’ life?

• God judges us individually.
• God pronounces benediction upon godly leaders.
• God welcomes intimacy with himself and that hinges upon God’s immanence and believers’ lives of spiritual obedience to God’s revelation.

Encouragement: When you have a moment, read Deuteronomy 34 again and again. Then read it again. It is only twelve verses, but those few sentences are among the most laudatory and tender verses in all of Scripture, and they are a master study in the life of Moses, a man “the LORD knew face to face” (Dt 34:10).

Text:

When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold (Deuteronomy 17:14-17).

Questions:

• What does the Bible teach about the importance of godly leaders?
• What traits should be present?
• What traits should be absent?
• What possible dangers lurk when people have wicked rulers?
• What blessings come via godly leaders?

Teaching: In the text above from Deuteronomy 17, God instructs Moses in all these issues so that he would model godly leadership. Peruse the text and see if you don’t see all of these things:

• God blesses godly leadership. Leadership is inevitable. Someone will always take charge. The only question is, What kind of leader will he be?
• The leader is to be “whom the Lord your God will choose” (Dt 17:15).
• The leader is to be out for the team rather than out for self. The leader “must not acquire many horses for himself,” the text says in verse 16. In other words, if you see the leader using his position for his own agrandizement, “Houston, we have a problem.”
• The leader is to be modest rather than self-absorbed. That’s what verse 17 teaches, namely, that the leader shall not “acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.”

Encouragement: It’s cliche for a reason: Organizations rise or fall based upon the quality of their leadership. “[I]f the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3). Let us be a discerning people who inculcate godly leadership.