faith

Studies in Job (Part 2)

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In the beginning, Job’s three friends got it right. That is, when they saw their friend being subjected to immense loss and suffering, they shut up. They simply but tenderly just came alongside their friend.

Text: 11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Job 2:11-13)

Sometimes the wise thing to do is say nothing. Just come alongside the hurting person and weep with those who weep. Just be there. It’s not the time to sermonize. It’s not the time for a lecture. It’s a time just to be a friend to the person that’s hurting. And sometimes being a wise friend means shutting up and just letting him/her know you’re there if and when the proper time comes to talk.

Encouragement: When we study the life of Job, when we read the entire book again and again, we see a man that God used to teach him (and us by extension) that God uses our suffering to remind us that he is there in it. He was there before it. He will be there after it. And sometimes the wisest and most loving thing we can do is be silent.

Studies in Job: Purposes of Suffering

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When the second chapter of Job opens, we are met with a couple of profound realities. First, there is the phrase “sons of God.” “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD” (Job 2:1). This is a divine council. There are spiritual realities taking place in the heavenlies that precede events in the lives of men. That’s crucial for us to understand.

Spiritual warfare is a reality. There are forces at war in the divine and angelic realm. If and when we minimize that, it’s to our detriment. God included these phrases in Scripture for our instruction (Romans 15:4).

Second, God pays Job a huge compliment: And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me agains him to destroy him without reason” (Job 2:3).

Encouragement: God holds forth Job as a model of a trusting disciple and believer. Is Job going to put in the crucible of suffering? Absolutely. Will Job ask the most existential and agonizing questions of God and his (Job’s) three friends? Absolutely. But will Job emerge victorious and blessed by God? Absolutely.

But that’s getting ahead. For now, just remember this: God uses suffering to draw us to himself and to reveal the genuine. He purifies. He puts his people in the crucible of suffering in order to refine us, to purge us of impurities, to sanctify us–but with one overarching goal: to show us that he is God, that we are not, and that he is good and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #430: God’s Immutable Goodness

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Text: 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:20-21)

Questions: Have you ever experienced immense suffering? Have you ever been mad at God? Have you ever blamed God? Have you ever shaken your fist at the heavens, even if only internally, and cursed God? Have you ever implied that it was God’s fault that you suffered? If we are honest, I think we’ve all been there. We may have articulated our anger in different ways. But if we’re honest, I would wager that most folks have “been there and done that.”

Context, Context, Context:  The verses preceding the ones I quoted above recount how God allowed Satan to take Job’s property and children. Just let that sink in. Job’s sons and daughters were killed by the Sabeans (Job 1:15). Job’s servants and sheep were destroyed (Job 1:16). Also, the Chaldeans murdered Job’s servants (Job 1:17). You think we have it bad some days? Just read Job’s life.

Encouragement: But here’s what you must remember as you study the 42 chapters of Job: Job trusted God and in the ultimate goodness of God. Goodness cannot be separated from God himself. It is one of his immutable attributes. And God doesn’t change. Does God allow suffering? Yes, that should be obvious. But God is still good and God is still present through the valley of the shadow of death, in order that he might bring his people through that valley. Satan’s only good at destruction and division, not at construction or unity in truth. Please don’t miss that.

Don’t Confuse the Initiator

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Introduction: I’m currently reading through the Book of Job. It is one of the masterpieces of world literature and of course sacred Scripture. The reason for Job’s prominence in the canon is straightforward: the Book of Job deals with “undeserved suffering.” Another way of phrasing it is, “If God exists, and God is good, then why suffering? Wouldn’t a ‘good’ God intervene?”

Those are great questions. And not to get too far ahead but, yes, God exists. And suffering exists. Yet God has intervened, continues to intervene, and is sovereign in and through suffering. Christianity alone deals with suffering in a way that no other worldview does—namely, by explaining why suffering exists and what God has done as the suffering servant to redeem and restore a people to himself through the gospel.

But in the first installment I wish only to focus on one particular topic, and that is God’s initiation of Job’s education. When the Book of Job opens, verses 8-12 of chapter 1 are crucial to understand:

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:8-12)

Teaching: If you don’t pay attention, you might think that Satan is running the show in the Book of Job. But it was God who summoned Satan, a created angel, to the court of heaven. It wasn’t Satan who initiated all of that was going to unfold. That’s so important. Why? Because God is the one who’s in control. God is the sovereign. Satan is a contingent, created, fallen being. God is not contingent, is uncreated, and holy. Again, pay attention to the text: “Have you considered my servant Job . . .?” was a question from God to Satan about Job. God was the initiator in all this. And God, if you’ll stick with me through Job, you will see is there at the end.

Encouragement: For now, however, just remember this: Satan’s not sovereign; God is. God is the hero of the Book of Job. Those who follow hellish counsel will be humiliated by the end of this history, and Job, the righteous sufferer, will be rewarded. But we’ll get there.

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #427: For Such a Time as This

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Text: 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:12-14)

Context, Context, Context: Always keep the big picture in mind. The big picture is that God’s people are strangers and exiles in the world system. We’re to be salt and light in a world of rot and darkness. In the Book of Esther, set in Persia in the 470s B.C., Mordecai and Esther embodied and personified God’s people under Ahasuerus the Persian king. (Ancient Persia was a world power then. And here we are in our day once again dealing with the same region, but that’s another topic.) At any rate, Mordecai and Esther were Jews. And a holocaust had been decreed against them by wicked Haman and Ahasuerus (Esther 3:11).

Teaching: Mordecai was God’s man. He maintained short accounts with God. He prayed fervently. He interceded on behalf of his people against the wicked schemes of Haman, a yes man and utterly self-absorbed opportunist. Mordecai spoke to his adopted niece the words you read above in verses 13-14. “For such a time as this” has become one of the most cited verses in all of Scripture. Why? Because the wise person understands the times and what God’s people are to do. And what was Esther to do? Have courage. Be humble but act with courage. Trust the Lord and act with courage.

Encouragement: Courage is not the same thing as bravado. We all know people who inculcate bravado. Wicked Haman was such a person. And Haman is truly one of the most despicable people in history. He was self-absorbed, a flagrant self-promoter, shameless, and a liar. But God was going to use the courage of Mordecai and Esther, exiles and sojourners, to overturn an empire. Haman would get what was coming to him. But before that, it took one crucial element: the courage of God’s people. Nothing has changed, dear ones. Nothing has changed.

The Perils of Half-hearted Obedience: Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #420

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Bottom line up front: The peril of half-hearted obedience

Text: 7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless  toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time. 11 The acts of Asa, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians.  (2 Chr 16:7-12)

Teaching: Until that time, Asa had been a solid leader. He had purged many of the idols from Israel. He had helped turn the people back to Yahweh. But he grew unwise in time. He grew comfortable. He trusted those he shouldn’t have. The king of Syria is just one example of untrustworthy people here. And the prophet Hanani, the truth-teller, rebuked Asa for his shortsightedness, lack of faith in God, and sin. And what’s worse, rather than owning up to his own half-hearted obedience, Asa “inflicted cruelties” upon other people. That’s key, folks. We sinners love to deflect; we love to project our own issues and sins onto others rather than owning our sins and having God rebuke us via truth-tellers like Hanani in this passage or God the Holy Spirit.

Encouragement: Asa began well but ended poorly. We need to learn from his example. Were we half as concerned with our standing before God as we are with comfort, how might that change our spiritual trajectory and witness before God and men?

Understanding the Temple

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There is no paucity of zeal surrounding the understanding of “the temple” from myriad spheres–Christian, Muslim, political, etc. But what is the Bibe’s own testimony regarding the temple? Is it a building that is to be the focus? Is it a place of real estate that is to be the focus? How should Christians understand “the temple”? How do our understandings of the temple affect the person and work of Christ?

Text:

18 “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! 19 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, 20 that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 21 And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. (2 Chronicles 6:18-21)

Context, Context, Context: In the passage above, King Solomon was dedicating the temple in Jerusalem. Notice the question asked up front: “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth?” (2 Chr 6:18a). Will God be amongst his people? Will God manifest himself? Will God take on flesh?

The second half of verse 18 answers the question. The answers? No, heaven cannot “contain” God, much less any house or temple. Folks, that’s crucial to understand. Yes, God will be amongst his people. Yes, God will manifest himself. Yes, God took on flesh. That’s the very definition of incarnation.

Christianity is not about a building, a piece of real estate, a political identity, or any such thing. It’s about God. It’s about Christ. Jesus is the temple.

All of the Bible coheres; it all tells one coherent, interconnected, unified story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. If we misunderstand the temple, we misunderstand the Christian worldview.

Revelation 21:22 reads, “And I [John] saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” How clear is that? Crystal.

Encouragement: The temple was God tabernacling among his people. It was a picture of what God would do in the Son’s incarnation–dwell among us. What happened in the incarnation of the Christ? John 1:14 reads, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled] among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #417: Why the ‘God Question’ Matters

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As part of the church I serve as a teaching elder/pastor, we have begun sending out 60-second reels on social media entitled “Truth Through Theology.” The goals are simple: depth and brevity simultaneously. It’s no use decrying the fact that we live in a culture plagued by short attention spans. Most folks will not suffer through legthy, weighty, deep discussions or lectures or books. I could whine about that. But as the cliche goes, it is what it is. This is simply where most folks are. To gain a hearing, we almost always have to keep it pithy and easily digestible. Hence, our efforts via “Truth Through Theology.”

So what, right? Why should you care? Well, I’m glad you asked. The reason is that theology is unavoidable. Everyone has a worldview. No exceptions. Some folks are atheists. Some are materialists. Some are pantheists. Some are polytheists. Some are monotheists. Some are nihilists. Others, still, claim to be agnostic. The list could continue.

Regardless of the camp, however, everyone has a worldview. And theology is unavoidable. Everyone has a worldview, coherent or not, consciously held or not, regarding basic questions/issues like the following:

  • Where did everything come from?
  • Does God exist?
  • If God doesn’t exist, on what basis should creatures complain about categories regarding ‘justice’? Rocks don’t complain.
  • If God does not exist, are we not by definition just matter in motion, molecules in motion, hairy apes without freedom?
  • Why is there such evil in the world?
  • Where do we get categories of right and wrong, good and evil?
  • Where did mind come from?
  • How do you explain irreducible complexity?
  • Why is there so much suffering in the world?
  • How do we explain language?
  • What happens when we die?
  • What’s wrong with the world and is it fixable?
  • Why is there something rather than nothing?

This list of questions could go on and on. But each worldview has to grapple with these and other foundational questions. Regardless of one’s worldview, you have to grapple with these issues. Hence, “Truth Through Theology.”

In the Christian worldview, we have answers to these profound questions. God does exist. He has spoken. He has revealed himself in creation, in conscience, in the incarnation of Christ the Son, and in Scripture. For example, David wrote in Psalm 19 the following:

19 The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voicemgoes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat. (Psalm 19:1-6)

This is what’s known as general revelation. God’s creation attests to and manifests his existence.

Illustration: As I sit in my library each night and study, my desk and tables and chairs are littered with books. (My wife lets me know the stacks often grow out of control and that I need to give more of them away. Pray for me!) But here’s where I’m going. As I look at the book on my table beside my chair right now that I’ve put down in order to type this out, I could pose some basic questions about the book: 1) Did it just come into existence on its own? No, of course not. That would mean that it had to exist before it acually existed. Self-creation is utterly illogical. One does not birth oneself; 2) Did not the book have an author? Of course. It had an author. And it had an editor. And it was typed. And it was bound. And it was marketed; 3) And did the book not have a mind behind it, a mind that communicates with my mind through the media of language and culture and ideas?

Takeaway: Theology is unavoidable. Everything that has been created has a creator. Each worldview has to deal with the matter of origins. God is the Author of life (Acts 3:15). That’s enough for this installment, but I hope it encourages you to explore foundational/worldview questions. Thanks for sticking with me. More to follow.

What Sets a Godly Leader Apart?

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Question: What sets a godly leader apart?

Character Study: Many people may have some familiarity with King David from the Old Testament. He was the man after God’s own heart. 1 Samuel 13:14 reads this way: “But now your kingdom [wicked King Saul’s] shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man [David] after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to prince over his people, because you [wicked King Saul] have not kept what the LORD commanded you.

The New Testament, too, refers to David as a man after God’s own heart: “And when he had removed him [wicked King Saul], he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, “I have found in David the son of Jese a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’” (Acts 13:22)

In sum, then, David was God’s man.

Question: But ask the question again, What sets a godly leader apart? Focus with me upon 1 Chronicles 12. It’s a passage about David’s soldiers, his “mighty men.”

Text: 16 And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. 17 David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.” 18 Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said,

“We are yours, O David,
    and with you, O son of Jesse!
Peace, peace to you,
    and peace to your helpers!
    For your God helps you.”

Then David received them and made them officers of his troops. (1 Chronicles 12:16-18)

Teaching: First, notice how David “went out” to his men. That is, he was a servant-leader. He didn’t expect to be pampered. He was amidst the people, not hanging back. Second, he sought friendship with people of character. He discerned between godly and ungodly soldiers and friends. He didn’t knowingly truck with wicked men. Third, David trusted the Lord’s omniscience and sovereignty to vindicate him. In other words, David trusted God. Again, three things set David apart as a godly leader:

  • David led by serving
  • David distinguished noble from ignoble men
  • David trusted God’s sovereignty

Encouragement: There are countless leadership lessons to be gleaned from studying Saul and David as types of leaders. Saul was self-absorbed, self-centered, narcissistic, and insecure. He trusted no one. And he ended up taking his own life. David, on the other hand, was a servant-leader. He worked hard. He “went out” to his men; that is, he didn’t put himself above them. Rather, he led by example. And David cultivated the right leaders. And David truly was God’s man. He was by no means a perfect man, but his heart was a heart for God. When it comes to leadership, these characteristics set him apart, and redound to God’s work in him, and the lessons are for us, too, whether we’re soldiers, veterans, or civilians.

My Servants the Prophets: Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #413

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Questions: What comes to mind when you hear the word prophet? One who predicts future events? Bravery? Truth-teller? Forth-teller?

In Scripture, all of those attributes are true. Think of Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John the Baptist, as just some examples. Each man was used by God to tell the truth forthrightly; each man was brave; each man did speak of future events that would and did take place, etc.

Now think of the text below from 2 Kings:

10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, 11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, 12 and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. (2 Kings 17:10-18)

Teaching: Israel once again fell into idolatry and apostasy. They failed to believe God and follow his revealed covenantal promises. They sinned, and they grew increasingly callous. They sacrificed their children by burning them atop idols. The list is long of their abominations. And yet, God sent his servants the prophets. And what was their duty? To call the people back to God, to holiness, to restoration.

Encouragement: As I’ve said countless times to our people, “Soft preaching makes hard people; hard preaching makes soft people.” That is undisputable. If you tickle ears and pimp people sentimentally, you’re a hireling and coward. God hates such shenanigans. God calls his servants the prophets to tell the truth, to serve the Lord, to fear God and love the sheep of his pasture. The fear of man is a snare. If we’re God’s shepherds, we’re to fear the Lord and serve the Lord. And that baseline will shape the trajectory of our ministries because that’s the solemn office to which some of us are called. The crux comes in having people with enough discernment to distinguish between hirelings out for their own fame and fortune and the true men of God who are laboring to please the Lord Jesus and to serve his bride, the true church.