Micah 2
LORD warns against iniquity verses 1- 2
Woe to them that devise iniquity
and work evil upon their beds
WHEN the morning is light – they practice it
BECAUSE it is in the power of their hand
And they covet fields – and take them by violence
and houses – and take them away
SO they oppress a man and his house
even a man and his heritage
LORD warns that we reap what we sow verse 3
THEREFORE thus says the LORD
BEHOLD – against this family do I devise an evil
FROM which you shall not remove your necks
neither shall you go haughtily
for this time is evil
All possessions lost to the enemy verse 4- 5
IN THAT DAY shall one take up a parable against you
and lament with a doleful lamentation
and say
We be utterly spoiled – he hath changed the portion of my people
how has he removed it from me
turning away he has divided our fields
THEREFORE you shall have none that shall cast a cord
by lot in the congregation of the LORD
People don’t want to hear truth verse 6
Prophesy you not – say they to them that prophesy
they shall not prophesy to them
that they shall not take shame
Micah replies with truth verse 7- 10
O you that are named the house of Jacob
Is the Spirit of the LORD straitened?
Are these HIS doings?
Do not MY words do good to him that walks uprightly?
EVEN of late MY people is risen up as an enemy
You pull off the robe with the garment
from them that pass by securely
as men averse from war
The women of MY people have you
cast out from their pleasant houses
FROM their children have you taken away
MY glory for ever
ARISE you – and depart
FOR this is not your rest – BECAUSE it is polluted
it shall destroy you – even with a sore destruction
People’s prophet will lie to them verse 11
If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie
saying
I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink
he shall even be the prophet of this people
Hope for the future given verse 12- 13
I will surely assemble
O Jacob – all of you
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel
I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah
as the flock in the midst of their fold
THEY shall make great noise by reason of the
multitude of men
The breaker is come up before them – they have broken up
and have passed through the gate – and are gone out by it
and their king shall pass before them
and the LORD on the head of them
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. (2803 “devise” [chashab] means to weave, imagine, cunning, to plan secretly, to invent, consider, think, reckon, or calculate.)
DEVOTION: What brings sorrow to our life? We are supposed to be individuals who are following the LORD. The Israelites were supposed to be individuals who were following the LORD.
Thinking can be a problem. Our thought life can get us into more trouble than our actual life. Our thought can be controlled by the enemy. Our thoughts to hurt people are coming from the enemy. Remember that all those who hurt us are to be turned over to the LORD. HE is the one who deals with those issues.
Too often we know this fact but we take things into our own hands even if it is only in our mind. The Israelites were making evil plans at night and then carrying them out in the morning. This was wrong.
Why did they do it? The simple reason is that they were able to do it, so they did it. We have the same ability. It is not pleasing to the LORD but we sometimes feel better when we get our revenge on people who have hurt us. Sometimes we like doing to people who have never mistreated us and we still enjoy it. It is wrong.
CHALLENGE: Our actions should always be to encourage those around us to follow the LORD through our example. How is that working out in your life????
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 7 O you that are named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walks uprightly? (7114 “straitened” [qatsar] means to be short, be impatient, be vexed, be grieved, or discouraged).
DEVOTION: Does the Holy Spirit every get impatient? Does the LORD every get discouraged? The answer to the question that Micah is asking the children of Israel seems to be NO. The Holy Spirit gives HIS message to the prophets and they give the message to the people. Now the people don’t want to listen to HIM. They told the prophets who told the truth to stop prophesying.
The LORD has given them every chance to repent of their sins and turn in a different direction. They have just told HIS prophets not to prophesy the truth. They have laid on their beds thinking of evil things to do to others. They have disobeyed the LORD’S command to love his neighbor. This whole chapter is dealing with their mistreatment of their neighbors in Samaria and Jerusalem.
The LORD has the attribute of being longsuffering. The New Testament tells us that we can grieve the Holy Spirit but sinning. Sinning is not the work of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t cause anyone to sin or tempt anyone to sin. We sin on our own as we are drawn away from God and enticed by our flesh.
The Holy Spirit encouraged the children of Israel to do good, but they chose a different direction. Another sin against the Holy Spirit is to quench HIM. HE tells people what direction they should be heading and they chose to not listen to HIM.
Are we listening to the Holy Spirit with our actions? They received the chastening of the LORD after many warnings. Are we listening to the warnings of the LORD in our lives? Are we walking uprightly? Are we quenching the Holy Spirit by not doing what HE tells us to do? There are the sins of commission and the sins of omission. The sins of commission grieve the Holy Spirit. The sins of omission quench the Holy Spirit.
CHALLENGE: The LORD wants us to walk uprightly towards everyone we meet.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. (7611 “remnant” [sha’eriyth] means rest, residue, remainder, survivors, what is left, or those who had escaped.)
DEVOTION: Hope in the midst of judgment. Micah stops talking about captivity and speaks of a future that is bright for a group of people from Israel.
There is going to be an assembly of those who are faithful to the LORD in the future. They are going to be like a group of sheep that need a good shepherd. Sheep need a leader or they will fall into traps.
What would you think if I said that there is only a remnant in every church that is a true believer? There is a difference between being a follower or a fan. Many people are fans of Jesus as a current author states.
There is a definition going around of a “church attendee.” A church attendee is one who likes to hang around Christians. They have all the outward show of being a “Christian” but not the internal desire to exclusively following Christ.
Our responsibility as leaders is to train people in the difference between just an attendee and a participant. God wants us to lead the sheep in our care in the right path. Not just outward show but inner change.
CHALLENGE: Each of us has to encourage one another to grow in the LORD. Each of us needs to be part of those who are called to be survivors in our evil world.
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: 13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them. (7218 “head” [roshe] means chief, top, captain, principle, choicest, or source.)
DEVOTION: The LORD is going to lead HIS people in the future. This will happen during the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.
Christ is described as the one who will break open the gate to allow the sheep to follow HIM wherever HE leads. They will go out of the protection of the fold to enter into the kingdom with peace. They will be led in again by the LORD.
HE is the king. HE is their leader. The future looks bright for Israel even when Micah is telling them that captivity is coming because of their sin. A remnant is always left that follow the LORD.
We have a bright future in heaven. What is going here on this earth is not always pleasant. Too often we are misunderstood by those around us now. Too often those who are genuine followers don’t understand their responsibility. We are to be followers of the Shepherd. HE is leading the flock even now.
HE wants us out in the world reaching everyone in our world. What should be our main concern on November 6 in our nation? It should be the salvation of souls. Sometimes our eyes are not fixed on the Shepherd so HE can lead us in the right direction. We get sidetracked so easy.
CHALLENGE: Follow the LORD where HE leads.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Congregation of the LORD verse 5
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Thus says the LORD verse 3
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 3, 5, 7, 13
I will devise an evil against family
that is haughty verse 3
Congregation of the LORD verse 5
LORD’s words verse 7
LORD’S people is risen up as an enemy verse 8, 9
MY people verse 9
MY glory verse 9
I will pull the remnant of Israel together verse 12
LORD is on the head of king and people verse 13
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Spirit of the LORD verse 7
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Take up a parable verse 4
Enemy verse 8
Sheep of Bozrah verse 12
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Devise iniquity verse 1
Work evil verse 1
Practice evil verse 1
Covet verse 2
Take by violence verse 2
Oppress verse 2
Devise an evil verse 3
Haughty verse 3
Shame verse 6
Cast out verse 9
Polluted rest verse 10
Falsehood to lie verse 11
False prophecy verse 11
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Prophesy verse 6
Walks uprightly verse 7
Rest verse 10
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
House of Jacob verse 7, 12
Women of MY people have you cast
Out form their pleasant houses verse 9
Women of MY people – from their children
have you taken away MY glory forever verse 9
Remnant of Israel verse 12
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
In that day verse 4
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QUOTES regarding passage
2:13 Apparently Micah’s quotation of the Lord ends in v. 12, and now Micah himself takes up the strain. He identifies the one who will accomplish Israel’s restoration as “One who breaks open,” “King,” and “the Lord” (using the redemptive covenant name of Israel’s Suzerain, Yahweh). The verse begins with a prophetic perfect in the Hebrew text (“will go up”), stressing the certainty of the action. Rabbinic interpretation refers this verse to the Messiah and Redeemer.
The Lord is first described as “the Breaker,” who opens up the way and leads his people out of the lands where they have been scattered. The significance of the epithet is then explained: The Lord’s action enables his people to break through the city gate and exit the place of their confinement. Second, the Lord is described as their “King,” who “will pass through before them,” as he did when they came up out of Egypt (Exod 13:21; Deut 1:30–33; Isa 63:9). Third, he is described as “the Lord,” who will pave the way ahead of them, further emphasizing his leadership. The ultimate, complete fulfillment of vv. 12–13 extends to the future coming of the Messiah and even to his second advent and millennial reign for the final stage in the progressive fulfillment of the whole (cf. 4:1–8; 5:2–9; Ezek 20:33–44; Zech 9:9–10; Matt 24:30–31; Rev 11:15; 19:6–9, 11–16; 20:1–6). (Barker, K. L. (1999). Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Vol. 20, pp. 70–71). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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13 The MT clearly identifies הַפֹּרֵץ (happōrēṣ, “the Breaker”) as one who arises from the people. It literally reads, “The Breaker will go up before them; they will break through and pass on.” The people do not break through till the Breaker, who goes before them, has broken through. The people break out of the enclosure as they follow the one who first makes the breach. (McComiskey, T. E. (1986). Micah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, p. 416). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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Suddenly a figure, called “the Breaker” (happōrēṣ; NIV, “One who breaks open the way”), appears in the narrative with no introduction (v.13). He is described as going up before the multitude. Where can they go? After all, they are confined. But this is why his activity is described as “breaking.” Led by the Breaker, the people burst through the gate of the enclosure to form a procession with their King at their head.
Micah envisioned a time when the kingdom of God would burst forth into sudden reality and the people of God would be manifested. Micah’s theology of the kingdom was thus similar to that of Christ’s, who in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt 13:24–30) affirmed that the true people of God would be manifested and gathered to him at the time of the harvest (v.30), an evident reference to the Eschaton. Micah affirmed that the strictures that now prevent the visible realization of the power and glory of God’s kingdom and that blur the identity of God’s people in the world would be shattered and the Breaker would lead his people to glory.
The Breaker will “go up before them.” Then, according to the clausal structure the multitude will burst through the gate. The Breaker must be one of the throng, because he goes before them to lead them out. His work is not done from outside the enclosure. Together they go forward with their King before them. The parallelism of the last clause establishes a close relationship between the work of the Breaker and the King of 5:2–4. Both arise from the people (5:2) and bring deliverance to the people (5:4); the people they lead are likened to a flock (5:4); and both are intimately associated with Yahweh (5:4). We may thus understand the Breaker to be Israel’s King.
The last line of v.13 establishes a close connection between the Lord and the King. It is the Lord whose strength and power is manifested in the reign of the King. The King in v.13 reflects the strength and majesty of the Lord as does the figure of 5:4. The remnant, according to Micah, will receive its final glory and vindication only through the Messiah. He will arise from his people and lead them into the security of God’s kingdom. This passage anticipates a later passage (4:7) in which Micah envisioned the remnant as a “strong nation” over which Yahweh reigns. (McComiskey, T. E. (1986). Micah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets (Vol. 7, pp. 415–416). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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2:12–13a. Though the outlook was grim for Judah, the Prophet Micah voiced a ray of hope, based on God’s covenant promises to Abraham. Each of the three sections of Micah’s prophecy includes a promise of regathering and blessing on the nation (2:12–13; 4:1–8; 7:8–20). Here in chapter 2 the promise of blessing is brief. Two truths are stated in verses 12–13 which are expanded greatly in chapters 4–5. The first is that the Lord will regather and renew His people as their Shepherd (2:12–13a), and the second is that the Lord will lead His people as their King (v. 13b). Jacob and Israel are synonyms for the entire nation (cf. comments on 1:5). When God restores the believing remnant of Israel to their land, He will be like a shepherd leading his flock (cf. 5:4; 7:14). So great will be the regathering of the sheep that the place (i.e., the land) will throng with people. The Old Testament frequently spoke of God as a Shepherd and His people as sheep (cf. Pss. 23:1; 77:20; 78:52; 80:1; 100:3; Isa. 40:11; also note Jer. 23:3; 31:10). The people would be like sheep brought together in a pen for safekeeping.
That long-awaited time of blessing will come about for the nation of Israel in the Millennium. Some interpreters claim that this promise of blessing is being fulfilled now in the church, rather than in the future for Israel. However, if Micah 2:12 refers to spiritual blessings for the church, then Israel has been misled all these centuries since Abraham to think that she will inherit the land forever.
Much as a shepherd breaks open or clears the way for his sheep, going before them and leading them out the gate to pastures, so the Lord will remove all obstacles to blessing for His people Israel.
2:13b. A second fact about the forthcoming blessing is that the Lord will lead His people as their King (cf. Isa. 33:22; Zeph. 3:15; Zech. 14:9). He has not abandoned them. He will lead them, passing through before them as their Head. The false prophets were partially correct when they stated that the Lord is for the covenant nation. He will fulfill His promises to Israel for, like a good king, He loves His people. (Martin, J. A. (1985). Micah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1481). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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4. Consolation: hope for the future (Micah 2:12–13)
The faithful prophet must expose sin and announce judgment, but he must also provide consolation and hope for those who receive his message and turn to God. Consolation without true repentance is only giving false hope; it’s saying “Peace, peace!” when there is no peace. But conviction without hope creates only hopelessness, like performing surgery without providing healing.
The Lord seems to be speaking here to the entire nation (“all of you, O Jacob … Israel,” niv), and His promise seems to reach ahead to the end times when Israel and Judah will be united and their King Messiah will reign over them. Micah describes a triumphant procession into the land, with King Messiah at the head and the Lord leading the people, just as He had led them out of Egypt (v. 13).
However, until that glorious day, God will deal with the “remnant” of His people. The “remnant” is a very important doctrine in the prophetic books, and there are many references to it. Though the nation of Israel might rebel against God, there would always be a faithful remnant that would trust Him and seek to do His will and God would work because of the faith of this remnant. (This is also true of the professing church.) The hope of the nation lies with the remnant.
A remnant returned to Judah after the Babylonian Captivity, but it never became the great nation that the prophets promised. That will happen when the Lord returns, claims His chosen nation, and establishes His kingdom. The Messiah is described in verse 13 as “One who breaks open the way” (niv), that is, who opens the doors that confine the Jews in the various nations so that He might bring them to their land. God certainly did this when the exiles left Babylon, but the promise here is for the last days when the Messiah shall come to overcome His enemies and redeem His chosen people.
Micah’s first message aroused the opposition of the false prophets, but it didn’t change the hearts of the people. Thus he gave a second message, announcing that “the Deliverer is coming.”
But we today need to deal with our sins of covetousness, selfishness, and willingness to believe “religious lies.” We must abandon “soft religion” that pampers our pride and makes it easy for us to sin. Why? Because “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29), and “The Lord shall judge His people” (10:30). Remember, judgment begins in the house of the Lord (1 Peter 4:17). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be concerned (pp. 95–96). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor.)
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2:12, 13 Messiah will make ready the way, removing the obstacles which might hinder His remnant’s deliverance and return at the Second Advent (cf. Is 11:15, 16; 52:12). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Mic 2:12). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
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Thus they set at naught the Shepherd of Israel, and would not follow His ways. Hence their casting off. Nevertheless His anger shall not burn forever; for the message closes with a precious promise of restoration and blessing to be fulfilled in a day yet future (vers. 12, 13). God will Himself assemble the lost sheep of Jacob, gathering the remnant of Israel, and placing them together as flocks in His fold. If walls rise before them to bar their return to the land of their rest, He will send His breaker* to open a way for His redeemed, thus leading them in triumph back to Immanuel’s land, as it is written, “Their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them.”
Happy ending when all their discipline is accomplished, and they ask the way to Zion! (Ironside, H. A. (1909). Notes on the Minor Prophets. (p. 228). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
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Ver. 13. The breaker up is come up before them, &c.] Not the enemy, either the Assyrian or Chaldean army, or any part thereof, going up before the rest, breaking down the walls of the city, either of Samaria or Jerusalem, so making way for entrance therein; nor Zedekiah, as Joseph Kimchi, who made his escape through the wall broken down; nor the Maccabees, who were instruments of great salvation and deliverance to the Jews after the captivity, and before the coming of Christ. Kimchi makes mention of an exposition, which interprets the breaker of Elias, that was to come before the Messiah; and their king, in the latter part of the text, of the branch the son of David; that is, the Messiah; which sense Mr. Pocock thinks may be admitted of, provided by Elias we understand John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, who is the true Elias that was to come; who broke, prepared, and cleared the way for Christ by his doctrine and baptism; see Luke 1:16, 17 and 3:4, 5. but it is best to interpret the breaker of Christ himself; and so I find it explained by the Jews also, to whom this and all the rest of the characters in the text agree; and who may be so called with respect to his incarnation, being the first-born that opened the womb, and broke forth into the world in a very extraordinary manner; his birth being of a virgin, who was so both before and after the birth; thus Pharez had his name, which is from the same root, and is of a similar sound with Phorez here, from his breaking forth before his brother, unawares, and contrary to expectation, Gen. 38:29. this agrees with Christ, with respect to his death, when he broke through and vanquished all enemies, sin, Satan, the world, and death; broke through all the troops of hell, and spoiled principalities and powers; and through all difficulties that lay in the way of the salvation of his people; he broke down the middle wall of partition, the ceremonial law which was between Jew and Gentile; and broke off the yoke of sin, Satan, and the law, under which they were, and set them at liberty; and at his resurrection he broke as under the cords of death, as Samson did his withs as a thread of tow; and at his ascension he broke his way through the regions of the air, and legions of devils there, leading captivity captive, and entered into heaven; and was pandens iter, as the Volgate Latin version here renders it, opening the way for his people into it; by the ministry of the word, he broke his way into the Gentile world, conquering and to conquer, which was mighty, through God, for the pulling down of strong holds, and reducing multitudes to his obedience; at the conversion of every sinner he breaks open the everlasting doors of their hearts, and enters in; he breaks their rocky hearts in pieces, and then binds up what he has broken; and in the latter day he’ll break in pieces all his enemies as a potter’s vessel; yea, he’ll break in pieces and consume all the kingdoms of the earth, which will become like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors: and now he is ascended, or gone up to heaven to his father there, and before them his sheep, his people, said to be assembled, gathered and put together; he is ascended as the forerunner of them, to receive gifts for them, and bestow them on them, and to prepare heaven for them, and to make intercession on their behalf; and, as sure as he is gone up, so sure shall they also follow: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it; not either the Assyrians or Chaldeans; nor the people that fled with Zedekiah; but the sheep of Christ following him their Shepherd; who, in the strength of Christ, and the power of his grace, break out of their prison-houses; and break off the yokes and fetters in which they have been detained, and all allegiance to former lords; and break through their enemies, and become more than conquerors through him that has loved them; and pass through him the gate; the strait gate, and narrow way, that leads to the Father, and to the enjoyment of all the blessings of grace; and into the sheep-fold, the church, and the privileges of it; and even into heaven itself, eternal life and happiness; and by which also they go out, for he is a door of escape unto them out of the hands of all their enemies, and from wrath to come; and he is a door of hope of all good things unto them, and which leads to green pastures, and by which they go in and out, and find pasture: and their King shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them; not the king of Assyria or Babylon, before their respective armies, the Lord God himself being in a providential way at the head of them, and succeeding them; nor Hoshea or Zedekiah, going before their people into captivity, the Lord having forsaken them; but the King Messiah, who is King of Zion, King of saints, that goes before his people as a king before his subjects, and as a shepherd before his flock; and who is the true Jehovah, the Lord our righteousness, who is at the head, and is the Head, of his church; the Captain of their salvation, that is at the head of his armies, his chosen and faithful ones, they following and marching after him, Rev. 17:14 and 19:14. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 6, pp. 562–563). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
The writer warns the Hebrew readers of their complacency. While they have believed in Christ, they have not progressed. They are still spiritual infants. When they should be going on to the “meat and potatoes” of the Christian life, they, like infants, need milk. However, the mature have spiritually trained (gumnazo) to discern good and evil. That’s where these Christians should be. …. This is a solemn reminder that we do not stand still. We either progress spiritually or we regress. The challenge is clear: “let us press on to maturity.” (November 8, Living The New Testament by Paul Enns)
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Christians are the intellectual outlaws under the current secular conditions. Entering a discussion on the basis of a theistic or theological claim is to break a cardinal rule of late Modernity by moving from a proposition or question to a command and law and authority and to do so in the context of a culture now explicitly secularized, and a culture that either reduces such claims to something below a genuine theistic claim or rejects them to court. Secularization in America has been attended by a moral revolution without precedent and without endgame. The cultural engines of progress driving toward personal autonomy and fulfillment will not stop until the human being is completely self-defining. This progress requires the explicit rejection of Christian morality for the project for human liberation. (Al Mohler, Everything That is Solid Melts Into Air — The New Secular Worldview)
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Response to Prayer
“In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedest me with strength in my soul.” (Psalm 138:3)
God’s responses to our prayers are delivered in two ways: practically, in the circumstances or in the direction, and spiritually, in the “inner man” (Ephesians 3:16).
We are often so focused on the physical or external event for which we are insistently praying that when the answer comes we fail to receive the full blessing—even if we read the practical answer correctly. Our heavenly Father is committed to providing our needs on Earth (Philippians 4:19; Luke 12:30), but such supply is of minimal significance in the scope of eternity. The good thoughts (Jeremiah 29:11) and the good gifts of God (Luke 11:13) are toward the expected end, the ultimate conformity “to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).
While God responds to our physical needs, His heart and His purpose are to fill us “with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). He blesses us “with all spiritual blessings” (Ephesians 1:3) and has chosen us to be “holy and without blame” (Ephesians 1:4). God’s Word is designed to allow us to participate in the “divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). God’s desire in responding to our prayers is this: “That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfullness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:9-12).
But please be on notice! This internal and spiritual worship and praise cannot be kept private. The “internal” blessings of God will overflow in godly behavior and visible joy (James 3:13; 1 Peter 1:8). (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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OUR LORD AND SCRIPTURE
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18
The most vital testimony about the authority of the Bible that we must adduce is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Read your Gospels, and notice the way in which He constantly quotes the Old Testament. Notice the way in which He assumed that it is authoritative, that it puts a matter beyond argument and beyond any dispute whatsoever. He just says, “It is written,” and that is final (see, for example, Luke 19:46; John 6:45). He obviously accepted the Old Testament in toto as authoritative, final, and supreme.
There are also certain specific statements that He made: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). And in a sense that is the whole of the Old Testament–Moses and the prophets. “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Then you will find Him, for example, saying, “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4). That quotation alone is sufficient to show that our Lord regarded what we read in the early chapters of Genesis as being authoritative for the whole question of man and woman and their appearance in the world. So if you begin to play fast and loose with the authority of the Scriptures and with the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, you are of necessity involved in difficulties about the person of the Lord Himself.
A Thought to Ponder: The most vital testimony about the authority of the Bible is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. (From God the Father, God the Son, p. 31, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Song of Solomon 1
Solomon expresses the beauty of married love.
INSIGHT
Hebrews 13:4 says that the marriage bed is holy and “undefiled.” In his commentary on the Song of Solomon, A Song for Lovers, Craig Glickman writes: “No artist could have fashioned two people better suited for one another. He was the king of their great nation; she, his chosen bride. Spring had seen their love blossom like the flowers in the palace gardens. Their love was destined to be a song for the world. And, in fact, so ideal was their love that the song about them was chosen as one of the books of sacred Scripture. It became the only one of the entire collection devoted exclusively to courtship and marriage.” The Song of Solomon gives us God’s perspective on marriage and love. (Quiet Walk)
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The following is adapted from Alfred Smith’s Treasury of Hymn Stories and other sources. The account by Smith said Ed Spencer was an Olympic gold medal winner, but this was not possible since the modern Olympic games did not begin until 1896.
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Edward Spencer was a student at Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston, Illinois, on Lake Michigan.
On the morning of September 8, 1860, Ed heard the news that the Lady Elgin, an overloaded steamship, had collided with the lumber-hauling schooner Augusta, and had sunk. People were drowning, and nothing could be done because of the heavy waves and strong currents.
Ed ran to the shores of the lake and saw that the situation was indeed serious. People were floating on pieces of wreckage in the waters, close enough to shore for their cries of help to be heard, but unable to swim to safety.
Without hesitation, Ed stripped himself of excess clothing and dove into the rolling waves. He was able to reach the first person, a woman who had clung to a piece of wreckage for hours and was totally exhausted, and bring her to shore. He later said, “Then the struggle began, the huge breakers forcing us towards the shore, keeping us buried much of the time, and the strong undertow tending to carry us back out into the lake. It was a struggle indeed, and I was gaining but little when two tall, stout biblical students, to whom I had signaled, came to our relief” (cited from Josiah Currey, Chicago: Its History and Its Builders).
He repeated this heroic act several more times before onlookers and friends began to say, “Ed, you’ve got to stop. You’ve done all you can. You’ll kill yourself if you keep going!” Ed did not hesitate. He replied, “I’ve got to do my best,” and plunged again into the water. On one trip he was hit in the head and injured by a piece of wreckage.
Ed rescued 17 people in 16 trips in that pitching, rolling storm. After the 16th trip he collapsed unconscious on the shore, unable to go on. He lay there repeating, “Have I done my best fellows? Have I done my best?” All night he battled for his life in the infirmary, continually repeating, “Have I done my best fellows? Have I done my best?”
Ed Spencer had done his best, but it cost him his health. He lived the rest of his life as a semi-invalid due to injuries sustained during the rescue. It was in Phoenix, Arizona, in a humble cottage, that Ensign Edwin Young found him. Mr. Young, Dean of the School of Music at Hardin-Simmons University, had heard his story and heard that he could be found in Arizona. He found a man no longer a robust athlete, but a shadow of the strong man he once was.
During the course of their visit, Mr. Young commended him for his heroic action and asked how he had been recognized during his life by the people who’s lives he had saved that day. With tears streaming down the invalid’s cheeks, he replied, “Not one ever came back to even say thank you.”
It was the retelling of this story that led Ensign Edwin Young to write, “Have I Done My Best for Jesus?”
I wonder have I done my best for Jesus,
Who died upon the cruel tree?
To think of His great sacrifice at Calvary!
I know my Lord expects the best from me.
How many are the lost that I have lifted?
How many are the chained I’ve helped to free?
I wonder, have I done my best for Jesus,
When He has done so much for me?
The hours that I have wasted are so many
The hours I’ve spent for Christ so few;
Because of all my lack of love for Jesus,
I wonder if His heart is breaking too.
I wonder have I cared enough for others,
Or have I let them die alone?
I might have helped a wand’rer to the Saviour,
The seed of precious Life I might have sown.
No longer will I stay within the valley
I’ll climb to mountain heights above;
The world is dying now for want of someone
To tell them of the Saviour’s matchless love.
How many are the lost that I have lifted?
How many are the chained I’ve helped to free?
I wonder, have I done my best for Jesus,
When He has done so much for me?
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“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, “and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them.”Of course, there are evil people. We know that far too well, especially after this past weekend. In fact, that there are evil people out there is the one thing, maybe the only thing, everyone still agrees on. We disagree on who the people are: The evil shooter. The evil racist president. The evil progressives who want to take our guns.
So we go on and on, identifying who the evil people are—always them—and we go on and on missing the real problem right in front of our face. Solzhenitsyn’s point wasn’t, as some argue, that people aren’t really evil. Far from it. His point was that to assume evil exists only in them (whoever our “them” is) and not in us, is just plain wrong. Rather, as he continued: “… the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”
The finger pointing that immediately followed the mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton started before any facts were known, and came even quicker than usual. (Let’s pause there… “than usual.” What a tragic way to talk about mass murders.) The finger pointers had already decided who the bad guys were, and many of us joined in on the chorus. So, we tweeted and reported and assumed the evil ones belonged to the other side while hoping they did not belong to ours. If it’s discovered the evildoer does belong to us, we know how to twist and contort and accuse in order to explain any connection away. But, if he belongs to them, we also know how to leverage the tragedy to indict the entire lot.
I say this as a 2nd Amendment guy. I fully agree that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Read the online manifestos of these young men and tell me that they wouldn’t eventually find some other way to carry out their violent fantasies. Even if gun control were the answer, how would we ever go about implementing it? Does anyone really think someone so radicalized to that degree of hatred would trade in their weapons for a gift card?
At the same time, the idea that “the best way to stop bad guys with guns is with good guys with guns” needs to be reconsidered. At face value, I fully agree. What I fear, however, is that those who repeat this idea are working off of old math. When bad guys are willing to target innocents, even children, at schools, movie theaters, churches, festivals, and Wal-Marts… what then? In Dayton, the good guys showed up in one minute, one minute, and the bad guy still killed nine people. Facing that sort of evil, how many good guys with guns will we need to protect us? Where exactly will we need them? Everywhere? That’s called a “police state,” and it’s the inevitable end of any society that sinks so deeply into moral chaos.
If that is our fate, make no mistake, we’ll have brought it on ourselves. And by “we,” I mean us and them. As the progressive left finds new ways to deconstruct the family, reconstruct morality, and scandalize the innocence of children at every level and in every area of culture while demonizing their evil other by state force and financial leveraging, the libertarian right demands unfettered license to say whatever and think whatever and post whatever on 8chan while demonizing its own evil other as the cause for all so-called ills. All this while the church faces scandal after scandal of its own making.
Yet, we wonder how lonely young men without meaning or moral formation or fathers, who have no way to fulfill their pornographic-fueled fantasies but have access to plenty of self-medication options, could be driven to white-supremacist or progressive extremism. We need to ask what it is about our culture that’s producing these young men bent on killing and chaos. And we need to ask: Where is the church?
Do we really think we are immune to the historically repetitive realities that have marked every crumbling civilization since the dawn of time? Do we really think we can keep our freedom in a society not only without virtue, but without any of the “little platoons” that form virtue?
Can freedom be sustained where virtue is not flourishing? Chuck Colson asked this every time he spoke the last few years of his life. The answer to Chuck’s question is still, of course, no.
As Chuck said, it’s either the conscience or the constable. Unless we are willing to look at us, to as Solzhenitsyn said, “destroy a piece of our own heart,” our future is increasingly obvious.
Only Christ can restore this mess. We must be about His work of restoration.(BreakPoint )
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