April 14, 2010; Joshua 9:3-10:43, Luke 16:19-17:10, Psalms 83:1-18, Proverbs 13:4

Reflections on Joshua 9:3-10:43

'Make Peace, Not War' Lessons From Gibeon Joshua 9:3-27

The Gibeonites chose to make peace with the Children of Israel.  Despite their deceit, their peace was a lasting peace!  As we have seen quite often in reflecting on Exodus 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor," the command is given to promote peace between men, not to destroy it. (Don't misrepresent them in such a way as to bring them into trouble - most appropriately placed within the Temple courts leading to the crucifiction of Jesus).

Verse 7 refers to the Gibeonites as Hivites.  This is the only reference in the Bible to them as Hivites as they were Amorites.  In reflecting on http://www.bible-history.com/map-israel-joshua/index.html  "Map of the 7 Nations of Ancient Canaan", we can see the Hivites were located far to the North, while the Gibeonites were within Amorite plains, just west of Bethel and Ai. 

The symbolism of three days is again represented in verse 16. "Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them."  Through granting peace to the people of Gibeon, the Israelites had, perhaps unknowingly, followed the law of Deuteronomy 20:10-11.
     "When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.  If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you." Deuteronomy 20:10-11.

We have a choice to make today!  Will we make peace, or will we make war with our fellowman?  Will we live in hostility with our neighbors or will we choose to Love?  Will we fight against a God of wrath and judgment, or will we serve a King of Peace?  Luke 14:31-33 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

I am going to make an educated guess;  If we will choose to make peace with our enemy, and devote such a decision to prayer and meditation for a period of three days, perhaps over a sabbath weekend, I am guessing Our Father will honor our vow and help us to realize the good in - and His vision for - our enemy, thereby finding the ability to accept them as a neighbor, a brother, a friend.

Luke 19:38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

Hebrews 7:2b-4a "His Name means "King of Righteousness"; then also, "King of Salem" means "King of Peace." Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a Priest forever. Just think how great He was:"

Genesis 14:19-20 "and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator [possessor] of heaven and earth. And blessed be [praise be] God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand."

Isaiah 9:2-7a "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
     For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
     For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

Luke 2:10-14 "'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ [Messiah, Annointed One] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'
     Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'"

Although the word is not listed in the Bible, I think that all the warriors gathered in the valley of Armaggedon in full battle gear, with bloodied boots and garments, claiming their righteousness over their fellowman will meet with one final word of God; "DUH" And they will all hang their heads in shame as they bow their heads and confess with their mouths "In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength." Isaiah 45:24

Therefore, as the men of Gibeon, come before the Lord and offer your Shalom!  Come before Him with singing!  As the prodigal son we are, tell Him; "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men." (Luke 15:18b-19)  The treaty has been made for us with the heavenly host!  The Son of God Himself sealed the covenant for us with His blood.  Our Father ratified the treaty by raising our firstborn brother from the Dead, thereby accepting His atoning sacrifice on our behalf!  Our guilt offering has been paid through His blood!  Our burnt offering of atonement was witnessed as His dead Body was returned to the earth!  It was accepted as a pleasing aroma as God raised Him from the dead, welcoming mankind back to Him. Our Peace offerings in His name shall grant us fellowship with Him and with one another.  This is our great news!  Our sins are forgiven! Now, go, and sin no more.

The Gibeonites were neighbors, living near them. (Joshua 9:16).  They would serve as members of the congregation and even within the house of the Lord, sharing in the sacriments of Holy Water (Joshua 9:27).  The Kingdom of God granted them protection from their enemies (Joshua 10:6), They had become the Aliens living among them and were to be treated as members of the family. (Leviticus 19:34).

Before Christ's atoning sacrifice, Exodus 21:23 "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life" looked much different before God and Man as the story of the Gibeonites continues in II Samuel 21:1-14;
     "During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, 'It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.'
     The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.)  David asked the Gibeonites, 'What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the Lord's inheritance?'
     The Gibeonites answered him, 'We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.'
     'What do you want me to do for you?' David asked.
     They answered the king, 'As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul - the Lord 's chosen one.'
     So the king said, 'I will give them to you.'
     The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul.  But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah's daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul's daughter Merab, [some manuscripts 'Michal'] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed and exposed them on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.
     Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds of the air touch them by day or the wild animals by night. When David was told what Aiah's daughter Rizpah, Saul's concubine, had done,  he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had taken them secretly from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.)  David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.
     They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul's father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land."

Thank goodness our Father has accepted the atoning sacrifice of His only begotten Son on our behalf!  We can now work side by side within the Kingdom of God with the Heavenly host as we establish His Peace on earth with our fellowman.  As "Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the Thirty" (I Chronicles 12:4), we can be Mighty Men serving within His Kingdom.  As "men from Gibeon and Mizpah - Melatiah of Gibeon and Jadon of Meronoth - places under the authority of the governor of Trans-Euphrates" (Nehemiah 3:7), we can work side by side with other children of God establishing His Kingdom and rebuilding the gates so that all who call on the name of the Lord, with lips purified in His peace shall be saved. (see Zephaniah 3:9-20)

"Son, We Wish to See Salvation" Joshua 10

No one ever said establishing peace would be easy!  Jesus claimed there would be attacks from everywhere!  He also claimed that whoever would stand firm until the end would be saved and honored and would bring Glory to their Father in Heaven.  He would send His holy Angels to their aid.

Micah 7:4-10a "The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion. Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words. For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
a man's enemies are the members of his own household.
     But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.  Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.  Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she who said to me, 'Where is the Lord your God?'"

Luke 12:49-53 "'I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." (see also Matthew 10:34-36, Mark 13:12-13)

John 12:20-32 "Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. 'Sir,' they said, 'we would like to see Jesus.' Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
     Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!' Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.' The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, 'This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.'"

Malachi 4:5-6 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

Gibeon had made a choice for peace, which found some agreement within the Law as found in Deuteronomy 20:10-11.  However, until making the treaty, the Israelites had the right to destroy them completely as God had required within the context of that passage.  They were a nearby neighbor, and God had required their utter destruction so that their religions would not dilute the purity of righteousness He was establishing within His children.  Considering the actions of the five kings of Joshua 10, the Israelites had full justification for their annihilation as our passage from Deuteronomy 20 continues with verses 12-18.

Deuteronomy 20:12-18 "If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city.  When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.  As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
     However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them - the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites - as the Lord your God has commanded you. Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God. (Remember this when we study Luke 17:10)

As I have used this blogsite as quite a pedestal as a "peace monger," (A peace monger is one who attempts to stir up or spread ideals that would make possible a security from civil or moral dysfunction with the intent of establishing harmonious relations within the specified group. Such ideals would stand open to debate or scrutiny, not necessarily establishing the desired affect (my entry on WikiAnswers)), I must back off for a moment and establish the fact that I stood behind the retribution taken against the terrorists who attacked the world trade center of the United States on September 11, 2001.  I stand behind the efforts of these United States of America as they helped to re-establish peace worldwide following the attacks of Germany and Japan in the II World War.  And yet, I do not abide by the long drawn out war presently being waged against Muslim countries who have not declared war against these United States without any efforts to speak with the enemies within regarding peace.  I also have become very frustrated with the gigantic expenditures within a failing economy against the desire of our chosen leader. 
 
These United States of America have the capability of micro-management of pinpoint military attacks without excess loss of life at a fraction of the cost of our present military escapades.  We are not negotiating for peace!  We are bad mouthing our leadership while the world is watching!  We are not requiring compensation from the countries requesting our services! We have acted arrogantly within the worldwide community, claiming a self proclaimed righteousness and justification regardless of our sins and errors!  We have spent nearly 10 years, killing hundreds of thousands of individuals - well beyond any natural catastrophes which have endeared our compassion!  We have ceased to see this as a humanitarian effort!  We have not been blessed by God in bringing down the leadership of our Enemy and we have not sought God's leadership in negotiating a world peace.
 
Forgive me for getting off track, but I felt a need to clarify.
 
Back to the Gibeonites and the story of the 5 Kings.  The Gibeonites own family of Canaanites had turned against them.  They called upon the family of God, whom they had adopted under a banner of peace for protection and salvation.  Not only did they receive the protection and salvation from the people of Israel, but they received help from Heaven itself - stones fell from Heaven and the sun stood still!  There was no question that the King of Peace sought the destruction of their enemies.  The only question that remains would be; Did the Lord fight for Israel, Gibeon, or for the Kingdom of God and for a lasting Peace?
 
The hounds of Heaven itself joined with Joshua and His army as they placed the adversity represented by the five kings within the cave.  They pursued the remnants of this representation of evil to destroy them according to the command of the Lord.  According to the promise of the Lord, their presence was eliminated from the land.  The corpses of their kings were hung upon trees until evening until their rotting bodies were returned to the earth, never to return to the land of men.  Men have been sacrificing their children on the altar of hatred, enmity, strife, self righteousness, violence, and vengeance for far too long.  Let's save our children's children from a similar fate by implementing this Law of Love from Our Father through His Word and by His Spirit from this time forth and forevermore.
 
The application to our own lives as we hunt down the adversity and the sin in our lives can grant us great courage!  As we seek the help of God, He will come to our aid.  If we will commit to Him to purify our hearts and minds from adversity and addiction, He will grant us courage and hope.  Seek the help of God and your fellowman.  Seek His peace with God and man and pursue it.  Toss your greatest demons onto this refuse heap of man's garbage and walk away cleansed and ready to face each new day.  Walk within the fellowship of brothers who are willing to join you in your pursuit of His peace and bury your hatchets of wrath, violence, and vengeance.  Not only can we seek this peace on a spiritual level, but we can seek the Peace available through God against our physical enemies also.  Seek that peace, and pursue it!  Find your peace with family and friends.  That truly is the end game.  Trust in the Lord, and devote your way to Him.
 
Psalm 124 "If the Lord had not been on our side - let Israel say - if the LORD had not been on our side
when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.
     Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Response to Luke 16:19-17:10

A Good Scare Luke 16:10-31

I believe the setup for this story of the Rich man and Lazarus came in Luke 16:14-15 "The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, 'You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.'" 

Always refining our beliefs, Jesus spoke of the old ways of righteousness and the new ways of liberty, reminding the Pharisees and the crowd that righteousness and purity were still as much a part of the way and the truth as they had always been.  He then had addressed the liberties and justifications of divorce and adultery!

Being on a roll as he was in condemning the religious, He now moved on to a parable of the haves and the have nots, the rich and the poor, the Pharisee and the leper. 

James 5:2-5 shares a similar teaching "Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter."

Again, Jesus was fulfilling Old Testament scripture from a passage we have worn thin!  However, as it ties so closely with this parable, allow me to mention it again in its greater context.

Malachi 3:2-10 "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
     '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?'
     'Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.'
     But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
'In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'

He continues in Malachi 3:14-18 "You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?  But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.'
     Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 'They will be mine,' says the Lord Almighty, 'in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.'"

One cannot read scripture and not realize the Lord's heart towards the poor and needy.  Who are the poor and needy in your life?  Is your wealth justified by their needs being met?  Which side of the income disparity which has become so prevalent in the world today are you?  There is a struggle to understand a parable such as this one of the rich man and Lazarus and not come away feeling that works have a lot to do with salvation!  There is a struggle to interpret this picture of Hell or Hades and not to imagine there is such a place!  Jesus was using a scare tactic to exemplify the importance of good works and I dare not interefere with the fire of His refinement as He speaks into our hearts and minds.  Ephesians 2:10 claims "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  May I suggest that we do them out of Love, and not self righteousness.  Therein lies the heart of God.

Faith and Works Luke 17:1-10

Deuteronomy 20:18 "Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God." In a prior age and covenant, man used this verse to destroy their enemies by the sword.  Today, we have the sword of the Spirit and the Word of the Lord in our hearts and minds.  Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."  We should no longer destroy other people, but we must destroy our own ideologies that would turn us against "Love God + Love Man".  Through His Word, we can now share with others His Good News!
I'm not sure I like the phrase "Things that cause people to sin" in verse 1.  Many interpretations render the phrase closer to "stumbling blocks."  I think that idea goes way beyond "sin"!  Now the concept of "doubt", "rebel", "turn away", all come into play.  Luke mentions the "little ones" in verse 2.  The songs I sang as a child were all about the Love of God.  "Jesus Loves Me"!  "Jesus Loves the Little Children - All the Children of the World"!  Oh, that I could return to that childlike faith!  Before the gloom and doom of Armageddon and trying to figure out who the "Right" Jesus was and who God really Loved and who He didn't!  Before there was any question about whether God "could" save the world or even if He wanted to!  Before I had to contemplate what kind of baloney all those other kids in the world were falling prey to and question whether I had to "save" them!  Who let all these demons cloud our judgments regarding the Love of God?  How is it we enter into this word of God attempting to disprove His all encompassing, omniscient, overcoming, all powerful, Awesome, Everlasting, Perfect LOVE?

Consider the parable of the sower from Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8!  Perhaps there is condemnation here of the birds; the rocks; the lack of soil preparation; the blazing hot sun; the thorns; the evil one who snatches away; the brother who does not follow through; the one who causes tribulation, persecution, or oppression; those who foster oppulence.  Certainly there is condemnation in Luke 17:1-10 of the enemy of Matthew 13:25 who sowed weeds among the wheat!

Paul witnessed these weeds in the field and they drove him crazy, condemning all those false teachers!  I Corinthians 1:10 "agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought"  Again in Galatians 1:6-7 "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ."

So, if I have made my point, you may realize "sin" is a pretty small word compared to "stumbling block"!
Now, perhaps I have confused the issue and scared each of us from sharing the gospel as it is so difficult not to throw stumbling blocks in front of one another!  Allow me to get back to the basics:  The law and the prophets were summed up as: Love God + Love Man.  God so Loved the World that He gave His only Begotten Son that Whosoever believeth in God shall not perish but have everlasting life.  We can't save anybody, God did.  The fruits of His Spirit are Love, Joy, and Peace.  Most importantly, He promised to send that Spirit to all who seek Him.

The best advise I can give comes from James 1:19-21 " My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

If we have faith that God loves man and will reward those who seek Him, we do not want to interfere with the Holy Spirit's work.  We must be quick to hear and slow to speak.  "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," I Peter 3:15.

The rest is fairly self explanatory in Luke 17:1-10.  Without being judgmental, I believe verse 3 refers to letting a brother know when they are offensive to you, again in meekness, having already forgiven them in your heart. 

Verse 6 speaks of grain the size of a mustard seed.  James 2:14-17 states "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."  If you imagine something can be done and you pray to the Lord to bless the work of your hands and use the good common sense the Good Lord gave you, you can do anything.  You could even move a mountain or plant a tree in an un-natural place. Imagine the faith it took to build Las Vegas!

We serve the Lord.  It is not our place to consistantly call on Him to do our dirty work.  I mentioned in my blog Luke 11 (April 4), that when we pray "Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven" we must be willing to make it happen.  God will bless our efforts - we must envision what that's going to look like.  If we just expect to sit in our houses hoping He snatches us before all that wrath and doom, I imagine we'll experience a fair amount of wrath and doom.  If we are willing to work for Peace on Earth, serving within His Kingdom plan, I expect we'll experience plenty of love, joy, peace, pain, and heartache - but then, when we enter the gates of glory, Our Father will welcome us Home and utter those words we all want to hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:21 and 23)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-OvhztRne8&feature=related

Reflections on Psalms 83:1-18

The title of Psalm 83 is "A Song. A Psalm of Asaph."  This is the final Psalm of Asaph which have included Psalm 50 and Psalms 73-83.  We have found the Psalms of Asaph have been set during David's reign and into the Babylonian captivity.  This Psalm appears to be written during the reign of Jehoshaphat.

Psalm 83 is written in the time of military adversity.  The Psalmist remembers before the Lord previous times of military adversity, calling once again for the Lord's deliverance.  Unfortunately, the Psalmist lays claim to God's Love for Israel, imagining that God did not have a love for all men.  As we will see, God's desire was for a Holy place and a Holy People where He could call all men back to Him, and where His begotten Son could live and die to bring bring about redemption and salvation.  His law of Love is "Love God + Love Man".  Apart from obedience to that command, man goes through a cycle of addiction; Entitlement, Exclusion, Denial, Disobedience, Adversity, Blame, Supplication, Deliverance, Purification, Entitlement, Exclusion, Denial, Disobedience, Adversity...

Let's take a look at this Psalm of Adversity and supplication;

The Setting of Adversity and Supplication: Psalm 83:1-8

II Chronicles 20:1-4 "After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him."

Entitlement, Exclusion, Denial, Disobedience, Adversity, Blame, Supplication,

After pleading before God remembering Solomon's prayer at the completion of the Temple in II Chronicles 6:20 and 6:28-29, Jehoshaphat continues in II Chronicles 20:10-12 "But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.  See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.  O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

Psalm 83:8 refers to the descendants of Lot which represent the Ammonites to the east of Gad and Reuben and the Moabites to the south of the tribe of Reuben.

Remembrance of Prior Deliverance Psalm 83:9-12

Within a mindset of Entitlement and Exclusion, the Psalmist finds justification for disobedience to God's law from a history of previous deliverance;

Judges 4:1-3 "After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the Lord for help.

Deborah, judge in Israel at the time prophesied the word of the Lord to Barak in Judges 4:6b-7 "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor.  I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.' "

God delivered His possession against their foe and preserved His Holy Land in Judges 4:15-23 "At Barak's advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.
     Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, 'Come, my Lord , come right in. Don't be afraid.' So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him. 'I'm thirsty," he said. 'Please give me some water.' She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.
     'Stand in the doorway of the tent,' he told her. 'If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.'
     But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.
     Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. 'Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for.' So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple-dead.
     On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.

Psalm 83:11-12 remembers other times of Deliverance under Gideon from Judges 6-8.

Judges 6:1 "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites"

Judges 7:22-25 "When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, 'Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.'

     So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. 
They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.

Judges 8:10-12 "Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with a force of about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of the armies of the eastern peoples; a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen.  Gideon went up by the route of the nomads east of Nobah and Jogbehah and fell upon the unsuspecting army. Zebah and Zalmunna, the two kings of Midian, fled, but he pursued them and captured them, routing their entire army. "

Supplication, Deliverance, Purification, Entitlement, Exclusion, Psalm 83:13-18
 
There is purification in the prayer of Psalm 83, but with an exclusion of God's Love for all man, there is also a menu for coming disaster.  The Israelites would eventually be taken to Babylonia for 70 years, then in 70 AD, they would be scattered among the nations for all of eternity, with a reunion and purification of their Holy Land to take place in our lifetimes, as it is shared and honored among all nations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ew919h2BcM&feature=related



Lord, may our ways of violence become nothing more than swirling dust in the desert, calmed by the dew of your Spirit of peace.  May your refining fires of purification burn through the hardest hearts of men, exorcising our demons of hostily, enmity, entitlement, and exclusion as we pursue visions of destruction and vengeance in your name.  Pursue us, Heavenly Father with your Love and amaze us with the Joy of your Peace.  Shame us for our bloodlusts as we seek your Holy Name.  May we bow in Holy Fear as we stand witness to your awesome power and Grace.  Lift our hearts towards your Kingdom as we witness that you alone are Jehovah Shalom; our Father of Peace, our Healer, our Provider.  You alone are our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords.  Unite us we pray through our Love in this your Kingdom of Peace. Help us to see the sign of your coming; "a babe, wrapped in cloths, lying in a feeding trough."

Reflections on Proverbs 13:4

Perhaps you have noticed that although I do not lay claim to an infallibility of Biblical scripture, I stand witness to the inspiration of God that comes through every word.  Through the hearts and minds of the writers given their circumstances and world and life views, I find truths about God revealed not only through Biblical scripture, but also the books that have been excluded, through present day entertainment and everyday experiences.  As far as I can tell, God truly is all and is in all.  His word is strong and present if we will but open our eyes and unplug our ears.  If we seek Him, He will be found. 

With that in mind, I reflect on Proverbs 13:4 in light of the Kingdom of God.  I see this proverb of the sluggard and the diligent as representative of our Kingdom service in precedence to our menial tasks.  As I blogged about faith and works in our discussion of Luke 16:19-17:10 today, I find this proverb falls in line with what was said there.

Whatever you crave in your prayer life - be it Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Healing, Forgiveness - whatever it might be; if you are unwilling to work for it, your prayers will not be answered.  However, if you pray and have faith that God can and will move the mountain and you are willing to put forth your effort to make it happen, God will provide full satisfaction.  In this I find Hope.

Work Hard, Press on towards your goals, basking in unwarranted Love, Joy, and Peace!

Until Tommorow

Rick