Talk About Love - First Chapter - What Is Man

“TALK ABOUT LOVE" All original ideas are Copyright of Richard R Sjaardema, 7/21/2010. (I, Richard R Sjaardema invite you to share and copy this material with Copyright notatation and without charge.)

(Pending table of contents)

1. WHY BOTHER TALKING

A. What Is Man

B. Thou Art Holy

C. Preparing For Celebration

2. KNOWING YOUR BELIEF

A. His Story Positioning

B. Word of God

C. What is Truth

3. UNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

A. God’s Spiritual Gifts

B. God’s Greatest Gift

C. Beginning The Transformation

WHAT IS MAN


If my children read this book, I will be amazed. You see, at some point, they all suffered a common ailment where they appeared to have stopped listening to what I had to say. I called the ailment “being Fourteen”. I am told there is a cure! Just wait till they have Children of their own. Being a parent is not the easiest position to be in when you want to engender love, and by most appearances, I have failed miserably.



So, as I begin this book, I have to ask myself and you, why I would want to write – and why would you want to read this book? Most of us have been hurt by love and self help books of the past have had little affect. Then when you find out it’s about God and his relationship with us and how it affects our relationships with each other, you may be thinking – “I’ve heard it all before and one thing I know, I’ve never felt the love of God in the struggles of my life or relationships – and I certainly don’t want to be bogged down by a bunch more rules. But that’s exactly why I am writing. I hear plenty about a God of Love, but then I see a religious world that is so wrapped up in the rules and attempts to live righteously only to end up lonely and guilty that I felt it was time to take another look at ourselves and our Creator realistically in light of the fact He is considered Love.



One of the reasons my Children didn’t like what I had to say was because whenever they brought a problem to me, I turned the problem back on them. In general, I felt I could not change their problem with another person externally; so I would choose to address their problem internally. This of course infuriated them as I’m sure it would you. However, I must ask you to be willing to be changed from the inside out. I must ask that you be willing to enter into this conversation with your ears wide open – willing to allow your core being to be transformed. Be willing to contemplate new ideas with an admittance that God will always be bigger than your comprehension - As we get started and as we digest these ideas, I will also admit that I do not know everything. I am willing to contemplate new ideas. I am anxious to hear of your experiences and thoughts. With this agreement, understanding, and engagement in place, let’s begin.



My message is a fairly simple one that I think most of you will appreciate, although it is tough to accept. It is my premise that we all are in communion with a Loving God that wishes for us all to get along. I intend to present a message that God, our Father, intends for us to live in peace and harmony with one another – meaning with all of His creation. I intend to present a God who is frustrated by our divisions, our hostilities, and our judgments of one another. I intend to dispute the claims that our God is one of gloom and doom and I intend to argue against the forecasts of wrath and destruction so prevalent in our religious thinking today. As a Christian, I intend on explaining my case through the Bible and inviting your personal involvement in this discussion based on your own spiritual beliefs. It is my hope that by presenting a better understanding of our loving God and Father, we might work with Him in addressing His desire for redemption of His creation.



Again, it is my hope that the message I share in this book will reach across cultural and religious lines and be meaningful to all. My hope is, after all, the same as many pageant contestants – Let there be Peace on Earth. So, if you are strong enough to open your mind and allow pre-conceived notions of your own spirituality and that of others to sit on the shelf through your reading of this book, you just may end up seeing humankind and ultimately your own world and life view with a transformed vision. My intent is not to preach, but to enter into conversation with you as well as that might happen in a book. I would love to share this journey with you. Are you up for the adventure? Let’s go!



A Spiritual Being:



I’d like to begin with considering the “nature of man”. It is my firm belief that Man is first of all a spiritual being. The fact this “God” thing is so prevalent in all of our lives is the impetus for writing this book. It is pretty tough to imagine that the belief in “God” or not believing in “God” pertains to only one nation, religion, race, or denomination. I have yet to meet an individual who has no belief regarding God. I also have yet to meet two people who share the same exact belief. Not only do we each have different finger prints, different features, different DNA, and different personalities, but it would appear we all have different spiritual identities also. As noted, I do not just wish to present my ideas, but to provide a backbone from the Word of God. Therefore, my initial quote for those of you who already wish to throw stones is the same quote that Jesus referred to in John 10:34; “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;’” Psalm 82:6 (RSV)



Now, in preparation for writing a book that would appeal to a variety of religious cultures and spiritual identities, I felt I should partner up with some representatives of those cultures or immerse myself in study. However, I quickly realized that life is short and whatever partnerships I took on would appear to be excluding of others. So, with less than 100 years to write & in an effort to avoid arguments and board meetings which would ultimately delay this writing for much longer, you will have to accept my writing and the Biblical references quoted herein. My hope is that this book might start a movement which would allow each of us to learn more about one another in an atmosphere of peace & acceptance (sounds 70’s doesn’t it) and that the environment would be one in which we could mutually share our insights and learn from one another what this “spiritual nature” within each of us is all about. If in fact, it exists at all!



My intent is not to bore you with a lot of details. I would rather you kept on reading. As most of you already know, there is a growing group of humankind that would like us to believe that God in fact does not exist. At the same time, there is also a growing consensus within the scientific community that life as we know it is not possible without an intelligent designer. The chances of not only the existence of life, but of the amazing complexity of that life leave them no other choice. Having moved away from this belief for most of the past century in our public education systems, this acceptance from some of our top minds could foreshadow serious changes in our cultures – and bring about an acceptance of something most of us have been aware of deep down all our lives. I hope you will agree it’s about time! Our spiritual identities don’t belong on the shelf with the myths & legends delegated to a darker time of our history. They are alive and breathing in each and every one of us. In order to begin our investigation into these spiritual identities, let’s start at the very beginning.



Although the majority of organized religion has some story of our beginnings, I would like to mention the stories of Moses as they pertain to several major religious groups and they are those that I am most familiar with. As we as a society consider our beginnings, we often look to ancient Egypt and the knowledge they held. Isn’t it interesting that Moses grew up in a royal Egyptian household and had access through his formative years to the vast knowledge that culture held. Would it not make sense that his stories were held by that culture and time? Could we go so far as to consider that they had been passed down by God Himself?



Therefore, when Moses writes: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 RSV) we very well could be reading an ancient Egyptian text. And when he writes in Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” the same could very well be true. As the story of man’s creation is told again in Genesis 2:4-23 with slight variation, the idea that these both represented Moses formative years of education in Egypt stands to reason.



The phrase “In His Image” has been used by many throughout history to relate to the spiritual nature of man. The fact that so many of us feel a connection to God in some way stands as even more compelling evidence. Granted, some would say this “God sense” is just a figment of our imagination, but I think its overwhelming nature within humanity causes most of us to disagree. In your own experience, haven’t you found that nearly every one of us appears to be in communion with our divine nature in some way? Let’s pursue that premise without dismissing the challenging value of dissenting argument.



Broken and Bruised



Another common belief within humanity is the existence of good and evil. Nearly all, if not all of our movies are based on a story pitting good against evil, good situations verses bad situations. Good characters verses bad characters.



This carries forward into our religious cultures also. Unfortunately, organized religion too often focuses on the bad of the outside party. Jew verses Gentile. Muslim verses Infidel. Christian verses the world. Catholic verses Protestant. The list goes on and on. In fact, even within a given religion, various factions are often enemies of one another. We are all so certain we understand this “God Nature” thing better than everybody else and we therefore feel compelled to instruct or, God forbid, judge the other person. I have found it difficult to share my faith even within my own culture because my fellow man would rather argue their superior intellect or understanding instead of working together to gain insight. Therefore, as I shall mention often in this book, I intend to share my own understanding to cause reflection for you the reader. You may or may not agree, but please at least consider the possibilities so that, together, we might grow in our understanding of our mutual creator, God our Father.



Now, considering that a multitude of belief systems are used by mankind to search out the righteous nature of self and mankind’s unity or dysfunction with God, there are certainly those efforts by some to find that unity with the evil (from here on to be addressed as d’evil) nature. Whatever the cause of this behavior, the individual has generally made the choice to dabble in the dark side and is very aware of their behavior. Many times, an individual ends up desperately trying to escape the confines of such a life and serious help is required. This nature of spirituality must certainly not be ignored or glossed over. Although this is not the subject matter of this book, it is worth mention and further study. Many times, even these individuals will eventually be reaching out to loved ones, or somebody – perhaps even to you for a renewal of hope and connection.



The truth of the matter is that, on the surface, the main message of most religious groups today calls on their followers to love one another and serve their fellow man. No one religion initially appears to hold the bar on doing good deeds. This is why evangelizing from the point of telling a person how bad they are is about as good as the conversations I’ve had with my teenage children. No one wants to be reprimanded for their failures. For the most part, we all are doing our best to be good to those we love: Our families, our friends, our neighbors, etc. Instead of consistent chastisement, we thrive on consistent blessing from our fellow man. Too often, however, individuals have lost their youthful captivations of hope, love, and purpose. They not only feel unworthy of those connections with God or others, but are also, therefore, unable to pass those gifts on to others in their lives.



At our base, the goal of our spiritual nature – and for that matter, our self esteem, is to find peace and contentment with God and to share that peace, love, contentment, and blessing with those we hold dear. As we age, we often see this dream dashed a number of times and too often question our faith and the meaning of it all. Our health inevitably fails, and eventually, our battered & bruised and broken bodies experience our final day and we are no more. Regardless of cinema entertainment to the contrary, we all are indeed mortal and we all face a common fate. Too often, as our physical bodies succumb to decay our spiritual natures struggle with them. It is my premise that this need not be the case.



Children of God



Since time immemorial, mankind has tried to understand this sense of a spiritual identity with this dichotomy of a mortal physical self. Most of us today have tapped into some sort of spiritual communion which generally appears to become stronger the older and more fragile we become - depending on our investment in it. Through most of history, mankind has lived in communities where the masses had a common belief and method of tapping into this spiritual communion. However, as our world has become smaller, the smorgasbord of spiritual communities has become much closer to home, more real, and carries more of an impact in each of our lives and in those of our loved ones.



Although this should have caused us to learn more about our differing spiritual natures, we have generally done the opposite. We have either withdrawn from religion altogether in complete confusion or disarray, or run to our safe havens crying about what has gone so wrong in our world. Instead of embracing our spiritual differences and learning from them, we have too often cast off those who are different from us as heathen, lost, and in need of our witness, or worse yet, not even worth the effort and discarded by God. The intent of this book is to begin to change that spiritual climate within our world to one where we can embrace one another and through acceptable conversation & interaction. It is my hope that together, arm in arm, we can walk this spiritual journey back to our common center, our Father from whom all blessings flow.



Over the course of history, we have increasingly separated ourselves from our common Father. We have indoctrinated our children according to our own beliefs and customs and refused to teach them about a God who loves all of creation. We may have spoken of such a God and known Him to be true, but we have isolated ourselves in our own worlds and have even gone so far as to legislate against sharing Him with one another. We would rather kill and destroy in the name of peace rather than reach out with love and acceptance. These tendencies have not served to strengthen our children, but have left them to wander, lost and alone – without hope; without compassion; without love. In isolating ourselves from God, our neighbors next door, and those around the world, we have only served to have lost touch with ourselves and our Creator. Isn’t it time to get to know one another again? Isn’t it time to understand how and why each of us thinks, feels, and acts the way we do? Isn’t it time to get along and protect our world together through the power of love, joy, and peace and quit trying to destroy ourselves and our relationships through fear, hate, dispute and conflict? Is that other person truly the infidel we imagine him or her to be? Can’t we figure out how to live in peace and put down our weapons of injustice?



As most of us acknowledge the books of the Old Testament, let’s see if we can find this God of Love and the message of Peace I am putting forth;



God promises that if we live together in righteousness, there will be peace in the land:



“You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land securely. And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will remove evil beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.” Leviticus 26:5b-6 (RSV)



“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.” Psalm 85:8-10 (RSV)



“Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war!” Psalm 120:6-7 (RSV)



“Her (wisdom’s) ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.” Proverbs 3:17-18 (RSV)



“Open the gates that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in. Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee.” Isaiah 26:2-3 (RSV)



“Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousness will be peace; and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Isaiah 32:15-18 (RSV)



“I rejoice at thy word like one who finds great spoil. I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love thy law. Seven times a day I praise thee for thy righteous ordinances. Great peace have those who love thy law; nothing can make them stumble. I hope for thy salvation, O Lord, and I do thy commandments.” Psalms 119:162-166 (RSV)



As we proceed through this book, I will suggest that we believe that God the Father has become our Prince of Peace; that it is His desire to unite us again in Him as His children and family; that His intent is to destroy our dysfunction and to heal our wounds.



In this so called time of enlightenment, some would claim that there are many truths and that it doesn’t matter whether we work together as we all live in separate realities. I personally feel this is nonsense. My belief is that there is one truth about God. I am willing to admit that I do not have all the answers. I also believe that God is already in communion with the spiritual identity of each individual seeking after Him. I believe He has prepared us for this journey. I believe that when Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 4:29 “you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul” (RSV), God was speaking to all men who seek after Him. Are you willing to seek Him with a brother, or loved one who doesn’t think and act the same as you? Together, you (we) can change the world.



See also Psalm 62 and so much more.

April 22, 2010; Joshua 24:1-33, Luke 21:1-28, Psalms 89:38-52, Proverbs 13:20-23

Reflections on Joshua 24:1-33

An Ingathering of Souls Joshua 24:1-27

Genesis 1:28 "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it."

In Genesis 11:6-9 "The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'
     So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.  That is why it was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth."

Ecclesiastes 3:5a "a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them"

Genesis 11 continues to carry God's coming blessing for mankind from Shem, (son of Noah) to Abram in verse 26.  Then, the story of God's blessing to man continues in Genesis 12.


Genesis 12:1-6 "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 'I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'
     So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.  Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land."

Regardless of man's understanding, (even the authors of the Biblical books), God's message of deliverance continues in Joshua 24.  This final address by Joshua begins in Shechem, the same city Abram first settled in the land of Canaan.  Here, Joshua summoned the leaders of the people and recounted the Biblical history recorded by Moses beginning from Genesis 11.  Little did he, or they, remember that the call on Abram and this people was not meant to be a curse on any people, but that "all peoples on earth will be blessed through them."  Few remember that promise today and still are caught up in the curses carried forward by man's limited understanding as they stand in judgment upon one another.

(verse 5-7) The people of Egypt were blessed as they blessed the children of Israel.  However, when they enslaved the children of Israel and the oppressed called out to the Lord, He delivered them through His power and great glory according to His promises to their forefathers.  He built them up in His Righteousness and Holiness within the desert for 40 years as He refined their ways of worship and called them to be Holy because He was Holy.  He continued to express His love for them with the command to love one another and live lives of honor to Him. These stories can be found in Exodus 3:10, Exodus 4:14-17, Exodus 12:51, Exodus 14:2-31, Deuteronomy 1:46, Deuteronomy 2:14.

(verses 8-10) Joshua, the elder Israelite continues to recount the history of God's victories over Israel's enemies east of the Jordan first reflected in Numbers 21-24 which his predecessor, Moses had recounted in Deuteronomy 2-3.  Again, the message of blessing and curses rings loud and clear.  God's plan of salvation through the Israelite nation came with blessings for those who would bless themselves through their seed and curses for those who would curse their seed.  Verse 8 "They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands." Verse 9b-10 "he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand."

(verse 11-13) Joshua continues in few words to recount the history of God's victories over Israel's enemies under his leadership west of the Jordan.  These conquests had begun with a vision or meeting in Joshua 5:13-15 as Joshua met the commander of the Lord's army who told him he fought neither for the Israelites, nor their enemies, but for the Lord Himself.  All this was to carry forward God's plan for reclamation of His creation.  He had begun this refinement of this people and set apart this Holy Land in all the world as his sign and seal of redemption which would culminate in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.  Verses 11-13 of Joshua 24 recount the battle history represented in Joshua 6 through 12 in which the Israelites fought off the onslaughts of the Canaanites and saw the Lord deliver the land and the peoples into their hands.  verse 12b-13: "You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant."

(verse 14-15) Again, to understand this verse, we must relate it to all of scripture.  Jesus summarized all the law and the prophets as "Love God + Love Man"  The fruits of the Spirit of God are considered to be Love, Joy, and Peace.  All our idols, or ideologies which stand in contrast to those concepts must by necessity be discarded.  Our understandings of scripture must be filtered with those facets of our Father's apparent personality and religion's prior errors in honor of His name and our representations on His behalf to our fellowman.  We must hold ourselves accountable about our actions apart from that Love and worship Him in that Spirit and that Truth that comes from His Love. 

Joshua reminds the people of not only the idol worship of Egypt, but also the innappropriate behavior and worship with the Midianite and Moabite women in the valley of Shittim across the Jordan from Numbers 25:1-5.  His concern that they throw away those idols would mean that many of those idols were still within their possession at the time of this call.  Even today, idol worship and the errant ideologies of man run rampant within our worship practices.  It is so easy to justify placing individuals, or acts, or needs, or material possessions, or personal prides or righteousness ahead of our Love for God.  It is common for man to imagine the heart of God in acts of retribution, or retaliation against our fellowman without an active participation within the whole word of God and service to the Prince of Peace.  Moral failures and hypocracies haunt modern societies as every man does as one sees fit.

Deuteronomy 10:12b states "what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Moses continues in Deuteronomy 10:16-19a "Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.  For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.  He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.  And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens..." 

Ezekiel 20:39-44 "'As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, there in the land the entire house of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.  I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will show myself holy among you in the sight of the nations.  Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your fathers.  There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name's sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, O house of Israel,' declares the Sovereign Lord."

The question remains, who represents the house of Israel in modern times, biblically speaking?  As noted above from Genesis 12, "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."  Galatians 3:28-29 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."  Revelation 7:9-12 "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

     'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"

The question and the command of Joshua 24:15 is presented to each of us again today in a bit different light.  How will you choose to serve the one true God?  As for me and my house, we will choose to serve the Lord within His Spirit of Love, Joy, and Peace for we believe that therein lies the life and ministry of His only begotten son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who gave all glory back to the Father from whence all blessings come.

(verse 16-18) The people responded to Joshua that they would serve the Lord their God.  And yet, in the next book, Judges 2:10-11, the next generation forgot the God their father's had known and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.  Personally, I share concern today as the people do as they see fit.  Even in the study of scripture, many have the tendancy to pick out the evil practices and call them righteousness as they promote supposed divine retribution against the evil in our world, forgetting that the evil resides within their own practices and ideologies.  We become so concerned with controling others within our ideologies of righteousness that we forget the need for cleansing within our own souls, families, and nations.  I question how many truly know this God as portrayed within the Bible as a Loving Father of His creation!  Therefore, as we claim to know this God, we must reflect on His requirements of us: 

Micah 6:8 "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  Many condone violence in their intrepretation of "act justly".  However, to do so pulls those words completely out of context.  The virtues presented of love, mercy, and humbleness as we walk with our God reflects the justice He visits upon His creation.  He truly does understand our pains and our sorrows as well as those of our fellowman and He calls us to visit those compassions on the poor and needy within our world.  This is biblical justice in the Spirit of Truth.

(verse 19-20) Having a concept of God in our hearts is not enough.  Knowing God - the one supreme creator of the earth - requires a knowledge of truth.  And yet, until we meet Him face to face, all of our knowledge is based in theory.  Our interpretations of scripture differ widely even within our church bodies.  Therefore, to know His word - and see the examples set by the multitude of Biblical writers and men of God today - and to listen to the still small voice of His Spirit within is of dire importance regarding our blessings or curses within this life.  "He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you." Jesus Christ came offering Love, Peace, and Redemption.  He continues to offer the hope of peace with God to all of humanity today.

(verse 21-24)  Without only claiming we will serve the Lord, let's go out and do it!

(verse 25-28) Joshua set up a stone to stand as witness:  The life and ministry of Jesus Christ stands witness between man and God today as we seek to honor His will.  Jesus said His words were those of the Father.  According to John 10:30, he even claimed "I and the Father are one." He went on in verse 34-38 to back up that claim: "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'[Psalm 82:6]? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came - and the Scripture cannot be broken - what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father."

Psalm 118:22-23 then grants this claim of Jesus being the stone of witness: "The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes."  Peter laid claim to this scripture as He spoke to the Jewish authorities in Acts 4:11-12: " He is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.'Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.'"  It is good to remember that God remains the Redeemer and that this gift became possible through His acceptance of the righteousness and dedication of His only begotten Son, this man Jesus.  Let's worship in that Spirit of His righteousness and His Holiness as He died for all mankind, bringing about the salvation and Love of our Creator for His creation.

Passing the Torch Joshua 24:29-33

Joshua was first mentioned in Exodus 17:9 when Moses appointed him to fight against the Amelekites.  He joined Moses as his assistant or minister in ascending Mount Sinai to receive the law in Exodus 24.  Numbers 11:28 records that Joshua was Moses personal aide since his youth.  As no further mention of Joshua's age is given until his death in these verses at 110, one may assume this passage is written of a time nearly 50 years after the Israelites crossed the Jordan River.  From the dismissal from Shechem, it would appear from Joshua 24:29 that there was relative peace.  However, as we have seen some crossover of the battles of Judges and Joshua, there may have been skirmishes and conflicts even during these final years of Joshua's life.

Joshua 19:50 records that Joshua was given the city of Timnath-Serah (etymology "portion of the Sun" or "abundant portion").  It was here that he was buried in the hill country of Ephraim, leading tribe of the coming Northern tribes of Israel.  It was also within this tribal inheritance that Shiloh is located.  Shechem also lies within the hill country of Ephraim on the border of Ephraim and Manasseh.

This section of Joshua is a direct tie-in to the next book of Judges as Joshua 24:28-31 is repeated in Judges 2:6-8.  Joshua is laid to rest and the elders of that generation.  As the new generation comes upon the earth, they forgot many of the signs and wonders their father's had seen.  They did not live in a time where the printed word was readily available in every household.  Many never would have taken the pilgramage to the holy place of Shiloh as often only the elders or leaders went.  Their's was a day that showed the importance of coming together for the reading of the law and the fellowship offerings as man's tendancy is to become caught up in the day to day rituals.  God had called mankind to come together to fellowship in His name so that we would not forget His commands - to love one another in His name.  This new generation forgot the requirements of the Lord and suffered the consequences.  Before we pass judgment upon them, let's remember the priviledges we have to worship and honor God, and yet we too fail miserably as we set our hearts too often against our fellowman in a self-righteous misrepresentation of our Creator's passion for His creation's reclaimation.

Joshua 24:32 is almost a sidenote regarding Joshua's bones which had been carried up out of Egypt.  These also were buried near Shechem, Abram's first abode within the land of Canaan and Jacob's first home before his sons, Levi and Simeon murdered the young men of the town because of Shechem's dishonor of their sister.

Although Joshua 24:33 locates Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim, it would appear this is the same city as Gibeon mentioned in Joshua 21:17.  It would also appear the hill country of Ephraim extended into the tribal boundaries of Manasseh and Benjamin on the north and south.  Although it was here that Aaron's son Eleazar was buried, it would appear that his son, Phinehas set up the Tabernacle at Bethel by the end of Judges.  Gibeah (Gibeon/Geba) was located between Jebus (Jerusalem) and Bethel.  It was here that the difficulties of Judges 19-20 would take place as the evils that beset this new generation of God's chosen people emerged.  It is also worthy to note that this final story of Judges takes place before the death of Phinehas, son of Eleazar.  Such is the setting for the stories to be told as we continue this journey of God's chosen people as they stumble through their misunderstandings and weaknesses in the establishment of God's righteousness within His land of promise - and thereby, His creation.

Reflections on Luke 21:1-28

Humility and Equality Luke 21:1-4

The notations of chapter and verse had not begun until the 13th century AD, and the breakdown into the chapters and verses we understand scripture in today was not completed until the 16th century AD.  Unfortunately, the breakdown often interupts the continuity of what we are reading.  I believe this is true of Luke's use of the story of the Widows penny of Luke 21:1-4 which is also found in Mark 12:41-44.  Notice that the preceding verse used by both authors (Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47) are the same;

"They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."

Again, it is easy to pass judgment upon the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day.  Yet, what good does such theology do us today if we are to transform our lives?  We must avoid our own abuses of the poor and needy.  The passage may mention the widow, but as we have seen, this classification of "poor and needy" often includes the widow, the orphan, the alien, and the Levite!

In this setting, first recorded by Mark and used here by Luke, Jesus continues the teaching against the self-righteousness exhibited by his favorite players (the Scribes and Pharisees) as reflected by the alternative penitence and self sacrifice of the poor and needy - hereby reflected by the widow and her two pennies.  The story is in direct correlation with the previous verse how the church takes advantage of the widow. 

If we step out of a righteous/wicked world and life view as we classify the people of the world and apply these teachings to our societies as a whole or to ourselves individually, we will find they have a much more personal, or societal meaning.  No longer can capitalists claim the poor and needy are that way based on God's approval or disapproval.  Little do we understand about another's life situations which cause the emotional distress or physical impairment which trap them into their lot in life.  God's consistent call on our lives is not to stand in judgment upon the poor and needy, but to share according to our ability and to love them.  No longer can a child of God feel justified in income inequality, the extortion of high interest or fee bearing loans, or economies that devour the incomes and sustenance of the poor and needy while the affluent relish in their self righteousness, unmindful of the blessings of God in their lives. The only excuse may be those who do not consider themselves children of God, and I believe that only represents a case of rebellious denial.

Paul offered further teaching upon income equality and looking after one another financially in II Corinthians 8:12-15.  "For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
     Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: 'He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.'[Exodus 16:18]"

It will be difficult for mankind to accept the social call to income equality and the proper use of our money towards one another until we realize we are all one family.  As long as there are world and life views flaunted in religious circles that claim a righteousness that makes one man greater than another within the eyes of God, there will be a resistance to helping those outside one's own religious clique.  Paul also provides a reason for serving God and man according to our abilities in II Corinthians 8:9 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."  In essence, this is the same teaching as I John 4:19; "We love because he first loved us."
Truly, there is not one of us who should not be humbled by the offering of the widow's pennies.

Test of Faith Luke 21:5-19

As related in my earlier commentaries of the associated passages of Matthew 24 and Mark 13, I believe Luke 21:5-19 deals directly with the generation of disciples Christ was speaking to.  The victimization Christians imagine today from their world as they flaunt their righteousness in consideration of a wicked world in peril of the coming wrath and judgment of God is totally unfounded when we consider logically the conversation at hand.

As these Jewish disciples following their Rabbi consider the beauty of their temple, the most Holy place of Mount Zion, that is exactly what they are envisioning.  This temple represents the epitomy of their pride in being the chosen people of God.  Theirs is the Kingdom and theirs is the glory!  Little can they imagine as they coverse with Christ the coming glory of God as His Kingdom is given even to the Gentiles.  In their mindset, they have not even accepted the Samaritans.  Their righteousness does not even come close at this point to that of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  They are, in fact, suffering a rebellion against the very traditionalism of their Religion - yet they have missed Christ's message that their righteousness must surpass that even of the present Church leaders.

For any of us who know Church history, we know the temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.  We know Nero became a great political abuser of the early Christian Church.  This generation of disciples would see wars!  They would see revolutions! They would see persecutions both by the Jews and by the Romans!  They would be affected by martyrdom!  We have stories that nearly all of the disciples succombed to such death for their religious teachings.  Although Jesus assured them they would find life and that they would be His witnesses even at the point of death, death came and with it, eternal glory and the events of Church History in the making.

Friends and family would turn on one another.  Their generation suffered great peril as Christianity broke off from Judaism - just as the generation of the reformation of the 16th century and following suffered great peril in a time of great change and transformation.  At that time and since, men have experienced earthquakes and natural disasters of many kinds.  For centuries, they have routinely claimed "here He comes".  Always, considering ourselves the center of History!  It may be frustrating to know, that generation and that man, Jesus Christ was the center of History.  His Kingdom came as He died on the Cross and God's plan of salvation was finished.  Now history awaits the unfolding of that redemption in the hearts and minds of men.  But, we're getting ahead of ourselves, we must go back to that fateful time of 70 AD!

Great Tribulation and the fall of Jerusalem Luke 24:20-32 A Time for Learning

Luke 21:20-24; "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

Daniel 9:25-26; "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed."

There are a multitude of other passages as God attempted to prepare the Jews for the realization that their time would come to an end.  Can you imagine the agony of this people - who's faith told them that they were God's chosen people and that He would bring about their redemption!  Wars had continued.  Hostilities from Greeks, Romans, Persians - all those Gentiles for so many years - yet as they held a countenance as God's chosen people, their faith told them that they would overcome!  And then, 70 AD came and they watched their pride, their faith, their city, their temple, everything that they held dear - all that they held pride in as a people and a faith came to utter destruction.  According to prophecy, they once again were spread throughout the earth.  Without their awareness, their remnant once again was planted worldwide as their redemption and that of the Gentiles was being fulfilled. 

It absolutely did not feel like the fulfillment of the promise, but it was absolutely the fulfillment of Jesus coversation outside the temple that day!  As their world caved in, they would understand if they would but remember those wonderful words of Jesus in Luke 21:28 "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." He was very clear in that they would experience this within their lifetimes as stated in verse 32; "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Their idea of Heaven and Earth would pass away, but Jesus words - and the words their forefathers had penned for all of us to study today would not pass away.

The same stands true for us today.  Religion today still assumes an election and that God plays favorites.  As the Jews saw their ideals of righteousness in themselves slip away in clouds of smoke, so our own ideas of self-righteousness will crumble and fall as we realize the ultimate reality of the righteousness of God.  Three times, God intoned those words; Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that righteousness exists in God alone.  Every knee will bow!  Personally, I find religion today does not want to accept these words as there is such a strong concesus from every clique that theirs is the only way to salvation.  I truly believe God's way is the only way to salvation - and one day, He will make it plain to all of us what His plan was all along.  He is not willing that any should perish, but ours is!  His will will triumph! guaranteed.

Let's stop trying to make this conversaton to a generation of disciples who would experience such tribulation without being able to rapture out of it some sort of divination and omen for our times.  It is unfair to that generation that had to endure it and it is high time we learn something from their lesson and our mutual mistakes of thinking God plays favorites. It's just not true - and it is scaring people away from and justifying people's separation from God's Love and their required love for their fellowman - our very reason for living!

Reflections on Psalms 89:38-52

(Verse 38) "But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one."
Isaiah 53:10 "Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand."

(Verse 39) "You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust." Luke 21:20 "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near."

(Verse 40) "You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins."
Lamentations 2:5 "The Lord is like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah."

(Verse 41) "All who pass by have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors."
Luke 23:34-35; "Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, 'He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.'"

(Verse 42) "You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice."
I Chronicles 16:31 "Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The Lord reigns!"

(Verse 43) "You have turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle."
Leviticus 26:14-17; "But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you,"
 
(Verse 44) "You have put an end to his splendor and cast his throne to the ground."
Hosea 8:1-3a; " "Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the Lord because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law. Israel cries out to me, 'O our God, we acknowledge you!' But Israel has rejected what is good;"
 
(Verse 45) "You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame."
James 1:11; "For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business."
 
(Verse 46) "How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Malachi 3:5-7; "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the Lord Almighty.
     'I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty.
     But you ask, 'How are we to return?'"

(Verse 47) "Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all men!"
Isaiah 57:15-16 "this is what the high and lofty One says - he who lives forever, whose name is holy: 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me - the breath of man that I have created."

(Verse 48) "What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave"
Revelation 12:10-11 "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb"



(Verse 49) "O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?"
Isaiah 49:12-14; "See, they will come from afar - some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan. Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
     But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.'"

(Verse 50) "Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations"
Romans 15:2-4a; Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.' For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us"

(Verse 51) "the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O Lord, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one."
Deuteronomy 32:6-8; "Is this the way you repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel."

(Verse 52) "Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen."
Daniel 4:1-3 and 37; "King Nebuchadnezzar, To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world: May you prosper greatly!
     It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation...
     Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble."

Reflections on Proverbs 13:20-23

(Verse 20) "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
Hebrews 6:12 "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Philippians 2:14-16a "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life"

(Verse 21) "Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous."
John 16:32-33 "you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Micah 5:3-5 "Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace."

(Verse 22) "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous."
Matthew 6:24; "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Proverbs 22:2-6; "Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all. A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life. In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."

(Verse 23) "He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded."
Matthew 7:6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." Luke 18:32; "They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him."
Matthew 7:12-13a; "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate."
 
Choose Love;
 
Rick