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Reflections on Joshua 22:21-23:16
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 "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 in Egypt."
It may seem odd to you that I continue to quote verses about Love for the alien! However, this is a central theme of scripture that it seems the average child of God has missed from my understanding of history, my culture, and other religious cultures today. We are so quick to stand in judgment, not only against the enemy across the world we do not understand, but against our brother when his beliefs challenge our own. Although our desire for purity is wonderful and good, our enmity and strife have nothing to do with the Spirit of God. Our judgment - especially when it leads to bloodshed - destroys the purity we seek and stands against our Lord.
Psalm 133 "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore."
Deuteronomy 3:9 "(Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.)" The Children of Israel had just conquered the land of Og King of Bashan in Deuteronomy 3 up to Mount Hermon ("Sanctuary"). Considered "Snow Mountain" (Senir [Shenir]) by the Arameans or "Breastplate" (Sirion) by the Sidonions. This Mountain to the north of eastern Manasseh connected the three cultures to the north along the Northeast border of the land of Israel. The Jordan (descender) river begins within this mountain first emptying into Lake Huleh (Merom = High Place). Therefore, the brothers of Psalm 133 could well express a brotherhood beyond that of the 12 tribes of Israel.
However, that is getting beyond today's reading. Our focus is just in keeping the peace between the brotherhood of the 12 tribes. As Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh imagined the descendants of their brothers forgetting they were one, it is doubtful they imagined hostilities to arise so early within their history together across the dividing waters of life. Yet here was the threat of war based on faith between brothers - that ancient hostility that purification meant killing your fellowman. Certainly, our righteousness is too often nothing more than filthy bloodsoaked rags adding fuel to the fire. Thankfully, peacefull minds prevailed and brothers came to an agreeable understanding before their God.
Perhaps there was a reason Jesus Christ came to earth to calm our fears about our Father's wrath. Our fear and worry over His judgment sets Father against son and brother against brother, nation against nation and culture against culture. Wouldn't it be nice if we could come together before our God of Shalom and talk with one another about His Love and what He'd been doing in our lives? Couldn't Love be grand? I'm pretty sure the words of Joshua 22:22 stand true: "The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows!"
Thankfully, we need not call one another to account. Thankfully, we need not shed one another's blood to save our souls from Hell. "May the Lord himself call us to account." (vs. 23) Who are we to say to any son or daughter, brother or sister, Mother or Father "You have no share in the Lord." (vs. 23) Such words are too often believed by the hearer as they "stop fearing the Lord." (vs. 23).
Our altars bear witness against us and for us. Our places of worship and our religious edifices stand witness that we believe there is a God. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. When we tell our brother anything different, we can destroy faith. Our judgment shall come down on our own heads. As we approach our brethren within this world, first and formost, we must acknowledge that they too are loved by God. If we don't believe this, we must return to the word of God and seek first His Kingdom - not our own. As we witness the work of God in their lives, opportunity will come to share our faith also. We must have faith that God will honor our efforts if we will first honor the efforts and faith of our brethren throughout the world and if we will honor our own faith that the Spirit of God is at work within His creation. No one ever said that we should go into all the world and share bad news and destroy the hearts and lives of men.
Isaiah 55:5-13 "Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor."
Seek the Lord while he may be found; (within your neighbor!) call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.'"
In Joshua 22, when brothers took time to understand the heart of their brothers, they responded in verse 31b "Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not acted unfaithfully toward the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord's hand." May this indeed is our witness! "The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel (His Kingdom Seekers) know! If this (our worship) has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day (convict us of our sin). If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account." (vs 22-23)
Therefore we can rejoice when we hear that a brother seeks God - for the Lord our God is One and those who seek Him seek His Spirit and His Truth. He has promised His very great reward! (see Hebrews 11:6)
"I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.' Our feet are standing in your gates," Psalm 122:1-2a. When you hear those words, "Let us go to the house of the Lord" remove your shoes, you stand in the presence of His Holiness, for two or more are present seeking the One True God.
"Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture(s). Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:3-5.
Reflections on Joshua 23
Having just reflected on Isaiah 55:12-13 "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." we must equate Joshua 23 to all our verses relating to Love, Joy, and Peace and treating the alien as one of our native born witnessed throughout scripture.
Verse 23:1 reflects that the people lived in peace. Following 40 years in the wilderness, the sons of Israel had experienced two great military offensives against Sihon and Og of the Amorites. This had established the lands west of the Jordan as early as Numbers 21. Confident in their strength, they went in to the daughters of Moab and Midian in the valley of Shittim, forgetting their call to be Holy. They suffered greatly by plague and understood this call by God that they had been set apart to be His chosen people. He had chosen them to be representative of men on earth as God was preparing His plan of redemption through their culture. As we have read, they were to be holy because He was Holy. From their culture, Jesus Christ would come to die for all men. They had been offered up to God as a pleasing sacrifice through circumcision and the law.
They had entered the land of Canaan and again dedicated themselves to the Lord through circumcision and observance of the passover. Before their military efforts began, Joshua had met the military commander of the Lord's army and found that He was neither for them or against them, but was prepared to represent the host of heaven. (Joshua 5:13-15) However, through defeat on Ai and Bethel, they were once again reminded of their reliance upon God and their personal call to faith and purity. Our master designer continued fashioning them according to His will.
Jericho had fallen miraculously as they stood witness once again to the power of God on their behalf.
Scripture of Joshua 9 then provided a look at the vision of Peace God had for the land in the story of Gibeon. We reflected on the importance of honoring that peace with reference to other scripture on April 14th.
Perhaps following their initial failure at Ai the people of Canaan, whose hearts had melted in fear before the awesome power of the Lord displayed through these people, rose up against them. Joshua 10 and 11 detailed two successful defensive military efforts as God led His people into the land by His mighty hand and according to his plan for and purpose of their establishment.
The people had then joined together to partition the land following 7 years of primarily defensive military campaigns. At this point, their neighbors had ceased their onslaughts and the land was at rest. The people gathered together and allotted the land to the 12 tribes even though the Canaanites still lived in the land. They received their plots and co-existed. All of their instruction of how to treat the alien now came with the utmost importance as they lived among the people - the supposedly blessed lived among the supposedly cursed. The alien was to be treated as the native born. They were to share the celebrations and festivals which they had learned in the desert within their new home and with their new neighbors - and yet, they were not to foget that they had been set apart to be holy as reflected in Joshua 22 as they considered appropriate faith between brothers.
(verse 2) Now advanced in years - and perhaps full of wisdom, Joshua calls the rulers of the Israelites and reflects on their lives together. He has been living at his home in the hill country of Ephraim, perhaps looking out over the Mediterean sea - over the land of Dan and the Philistines certainly a peaceful setting unblemished from his distant view by the hostilities among men.
(verse 3) Joshua reminds the people of all the Lord has done for them as He had fought their battles.
(verse 4) Joshua reminds the people of all he had done for them as he had commanded the battles. Notice the change in tone between verse 3 and 4. And yet, we can tell of what the Lord has done through us as reflected in Phillippians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."
(verse 5) This verse begins the same theme as Moses gave in Exodus 23:20-33 telling once again what God would do; "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you."
In the same way the land of Canaan had been invaded by God's presence of reclamation, so he works within our hearts and minds, communities and nations cleansing us of all unrighteousness. Wisdom 12:1-2; "for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them, and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord!"
(verse 6) Stay on the narrow way, pursue Peace as well as your own holiness. Love God + Love Man. Do not jump in and destroy! Matthew 7:6-16; "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.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For (not only you but) everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 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. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Do not worry, in the end, you will have no choice but to follow the Lord's leading as found in Numbers 22:26: "Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left." Through Him we shall find Love, Joy, and Peace both now and forevermore. But first, we must die to self.
(verse 7-8) The jist of this verse appears to deal with religious practice. As we found, as the Israelites lived in the desert for 40 years, they were weaned from idolotrous cycles of addiction. They learned to rely on God Himself for their sustenance. They were motivated from their struggles in life to remain holy and righteous before Him. God's intent as we live with our fellowman is that they will see our devotion to God and choose to follow our lead as they witness the joys of the fruits of His Spirit within. Although they might desire we join them in unrighteousness, that is not our call and would dishonor our God who had claimed us and was refining us to be holy because He is holy. Plus, why would we wish to re-enter that area of pain and death? (For further reading, see Psalm 16.)
(verse 9-11) Joshua remembers the wonderful works of the Lord that His people have witnessed as He has destroyed the giants from within their land and brought them to a time of peace "within the presence of their enemies." (Psalm 23:5) He reminds them that this blessing is dependant upon their loyalty to abide by His law which we know to be righteousness and love. This assurance is reflected again by the Psalmist in Psalm 28:7-8; "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one."
(verse 12-13) From a mindset of righteous vs. wicked these verses would make a pretty strong case. But if we look closer, we will find a messianic portrayal as once again, the life of the righteous is given for the wicked. As the purity of the Israelites was to change the communities in which they lived, so Christ died for all of us. Can you imagine Christ's choice to become snared in our world for all intents and purposes to die for our sins in order to bring us back to His Heavenly paradise! "they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you." He chose to become one of us so that we could live with Him forever - not because of our will, but because of the will of His Father in Heaven. Then too, there is the symbolism of his purity as Christ succeeded where even the people of Israel failed, regardless of their human efforts.
Romans 6:11-14 "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."
Our sin and separation was to know good and evil. God has continued to grant us our desire. We have separated mankind into good and evil ever since. Christ removed the curse by wearing our thorns in His brow and receiving the lashes on His back. We can now worship our one true God in Spirit and Truth with one another in an atmosphere of Love, Joy, and Peace!
(verse 14) "I am about to go the way of all the earth" words of Joshua here and of David in I Kings 2:2. Again, Joshua reflects that all of God's promises have been fulfilled. Thus, the fact many of the people still lived within the land was not considered a part of the fulfillment of the promise. As most of the world cultures today subsist of subcultures, so was the culture of Israelites west of the Jordan river in Canaan from the beginning of their domain.
(verse 15) Just as the promises had come true, so the curse of Leviticus 26:33 would come true. I have checked several English translations and each time, the translators expressed the surety of what was to come. There was no doubt, this also was by the plan and design of God. Such things must come before the Christ would appear to display the Gospel truth of redemption, and the spreading of the seeds of righteousness. Perhaps few have understood the importance of a Daniel affecting the Kingdom of Babylon, Persia, and an empire. Perhaps few have understood the righteousness exemplified within the books of Maccabees as History continues to tell the story of God and how He uses his people, not to bring a few unrighteous souls home, but to reclaim all of creation as his word went forth to claim His prize, his Love. He used their purification, their righteousness, their unrighteousness, their chastisement, their refinement, their obedience, their devotion - all for His Glory. When we consider these attributes of God; He alone is Pure, He alone is Righteous, He alone is Holy, He alone Redeems, He alone is our Redeemer, He alone is our Justice, He alone is our Judge. He personified these attributes within the body and blood of His only begotten Son, yet He alone is our Lord and Savior. His Spirit dwelt within the Christ, the Messiah - who reminded us time and again that He alone is good. (Why do you call Christ good? (Luke 18:19) - except for the Spirit of God within)
"The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him." (Exodus 15:2)
"The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
"I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation." (Psalm 118:13-14)
"'I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.'
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: 'Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.'" (Isaiah 12:1b-5)
(verse 16) If we do not live in purity and righteousness; if we do not pursue love and peace with God and Man, we will not last long, nor enjoy the Joy of the Lord that is available for us. If we rebel and dishonor His Love for all that He has created, He most assuredly will remove our Joy and our Peace. This is purely logical. This passage reflects Deuteronomy 4:25-31.
"They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.' "All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame." (Isaiah 45:24)
And yet, there is hope in the Love of His blessed redemption: "But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel
will be found righteous and will exult." (see also Ephesians 1:3-14) "
"In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will" (Ephesians 1:5)
"For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. (Romans 9:3-5)
"But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." (I Thessalonians 5:8-11)
Response to Luke 20:27-47
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadducees "The Sadducees (or Tzedukim) were a group of Jews opposed to the Pharisees (today's Rabbinical Jews), founded in the second century BC. They ceased to exist sometime after the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem (Herod's Temple) in 70AD."
"The Hebrew name, Tsdoki, indicates that they are the followers of the teachings of the High Priest Tsadok, often spelled Zadok, who anointed Solomon king at the start of the First Temple Period."
The etymology for the word Zadok appears to represent "righteous."
II Samuel 15:27 "The king (David) also said to Zadok the priest, "Aren't you a seer? Go back to the city in peace"
I Kings 1:45 "and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him (Solomon) king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That's the noise you hear."
Ezekiel 48:10-12 "This will be the sacred portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the center of it will be the sanctuary of the Lord. This will be for the consecrated priests, the Zadokites, who were faithful in serving me and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. It will be a special gift to them from the sacred portion of the land, a most holy portion, bordering the territory of the Levites. "
I often remember this name "Sadducees" and their belief that there is no resurection in that without resurection, there is no hope. This would make you sad, you see? The first mention of the Sadducees comes with the Pharisees in Matthew 3:7-8 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.'" Considering their religious focus on wrath and judgment given a theology void of the hope of resurrection, theirs was a depressing theology indeed. "The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all." Acts 3:8
To understand the Sadducee and their beliefs and the importance of their reference in understanding the written documentation of the oral law and its interpretation by these various Temple leaders during the time of Jesus, read the Wikipedia reference on Sadducees at the beginning of this section. For Jesus to enter the world stage as these groups were determining theology was nothing less than divine coincidence. This again, brings up a little known theological belief of divine prevenience - Our awesome God is involved in our histories having set up in what was to come, and being in complete control of what is to be.
As mentioned in my commentary on Luke 20:27-40's sister passage of Mark 12:18-27, the Sadducee's question of the 7 grooms who died possibly reflects the story from: "the book of Tobit. This book portrays Jewish folklore of a man named Tobit from the tribe of Naphtali living in Nineveh following the Assyrian deportation of the 10 tribes of Israel around 721 B.C. In this story, We hear of the plight of Sarah, who shall be wed to Tobit's son, Tobiah:
From The Old Testament of the New American Bible copyright 1970: Tobit 3:8: 'For she had been married to seven husbands, but the wicked demon Asmodeus* killed them off before they could have intercourse with her, as it is prescribed for wives. So the maid said to her: 'You are the one who strangles your husbands! Look at you! You have already been married seven times, but you have had no joy with any one of your husbands.'"
*Asmodeus: in Persian aeshma daeva, "demon of wrath," adopted into Aramaic with the sense of "the Destroyer." He will be subdued (Tb8,3) by Raphael (v 17), "God heals."
This story in itself displays our adversity and the Leviathan of wrath on earth, causing the hopelessness that so many of us face. However, the grace and mercy of good triumphs over evil as it so often happens in all good stories.
Deuteronomy 25:5 "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her." The first consideration of this law was seen in Biblical scripture in Genesis 38:8-10 "Then Judah said to Onan, 'Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord's sight; so he put him to death also." As this story led to a crucial, yet surprisingly difficult step in the Messianic line, the law was certainly well known to Jesus, a critical student of the word of God. This law carries our understandings of the sanctity of life and the survival of men - all men - to a level beyond most of our comprehension.
Avoiding the application of brotherly love or sanctity of life, Jesus deals with the question and the belief of the Sadducees, reflecting again on the Kingdom of God. As Jesus studied the scriptures within the Rabbinical schools, his teachings reflected those of the Pharisees more than the Sadducees. His response of verse 35 began His rebuke of their denial of the resurrection as His intent is always to reach the heart of the listener. He was not afraid to overpower an opponent with words and thereby challenged their worthiness of such a noble gift as that of Resurrection, thereby also granting the listeners within the crowd a touch of pride and confidence in their belief - even a motivation to achieve such worthiness.
Again in verse 36, Jesus mentions the Angels. Once again, a direct attack on the group asking the question. Their own beliefs have now excluded them from the worthiness of resurrection, from everlasting life, and from holding even the title of "Children of God." Quite probably, this was not a condemnation to Hell as even the belief in Hell reflects a resurrection and an eternal spiritual life! His response was as strong as casting out the demons of their theology which was holding them back from the Kingdom of God which was among them.
Knowing their dedication to know and understand the scripture, Jesus then reflected on the Talmud containing the Mosaic law. His answer of Luke 20:37-38 sounds like a student of theology making a case in debate class. He attributes the writing to Moses even though the quote comes from God Himself in Exodus 3:6: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." His final statement of Luke 20:38 slipped in that theme that all will be raised in that "for to him all are alive."
Certainly, His answer pitted the crowd against one another as Jesus had touched the central core of the controversy between the Pharisee and the Sadducee. The Pharisee's had won this debate through the great debater who stood in their presence and they applauded his answer, reflecting His Rabbinical title and standing in verse 39. He had been showing His knowledge of scripture since the time He was a child and they no doubt knew of His reputation of knowledge. Their problem stood more with His moral standing as seen through his associations and his condemnation of much of their own moral and ethical code.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all reflect Jesus asking the next question regarding the Christ being the "Son of David" of Luke 20:41. Matthew directs this question at the Pharisee's. This apparently was another debate of the time as this phrase is not reflected in the Old Testament, but makes its first appearance regarding Jesus in Matthew 9:27. Therefore, it may be assumed this was a title understood by the people of the day as an interpretation of the scripture, perhaps just as the title "Jesus of Nazareth". This then was perhaps another reflection of a classroom debate within the Rabbinical schools of the day. Jesus quote of Psalm 110:1, giving the claim that the Messiah was even before David, reflects He was well aware of their studies. His self reference throughout the gospels was "Son of Man", a title quite common in scripture, making its first entry in Numbers 23:19.
Having thus mastered the scriptures with the masters, He had exemplified his authority in reference to their concern of Luke 20:2. Turning then to the disciples, Jesus spoke to the crowd and to all of us in reflecting the innapropriate attitudes of the religious when it comes to service within the Kingdom of God. Do not flaunt your wealth or blessings. Do not seek the esteem of man for your spirituallity or righteousness; Do not consider yourself specially chosen and loved by your God who does not play favorites, but loves all men; Do not justify the excesses of your place of blessed priviledge at the cost of the greater community as the less fortunate succomb to the cycles of poverty your excess creates. Philippians 1:2 summarizes it this way "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
Haggai 1:5-11 speaks well of the discipline of the Lord which shall come upon those of such vain conceit:
"Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.'
This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,' says the Lord. 'You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?' declares the Lord Almighty. 'Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.'"
Reflections on Psalms 89:14-37
(verse 14) "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you."
Hosea 2:19-20 "I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord."
(verse 15) "Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord."
I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
(verse 16) "They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness."
I Corinthians 1:30-31: "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'" (See also Isaiah 45:24)
(verse 17) "For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn."
Psalm 23:5b-6: "I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows."
(verse 18) "Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord, our king to the Holy One of Israel."
Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(verse 19) "Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: 'I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a young man from among the people.'"
I Samuel 18;6b-7 "the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."
(verse 20) "I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him."
I Samuel 16:12 "So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
(verse 21) "My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him."
I Kings 8:42a "for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays"
(verse 22) "No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will oppress him."
Ezra 8:22b "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him."
(verse 23) "I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries."
Zechariah 8:20-22 "Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, 'Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.' And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him."
(verse 24) "My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted.
Isaiah 55:3 "Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David."
(verse 25) "I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers."
Zechariah 9:10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth."
(verse 26) "He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.'"
II Corinthians 6:18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
(verse 27) "I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth."
Daniel 7:14 "He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
(verse 28) "I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail."
Jeremiah 31:3b-4a "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt"
(verse 29) "I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure."
Deuteronomy 11:21 "so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."
(verse 30) "If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes,"
II Samuel 7:14 "I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men."
(verse 31) "if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands,"
Ezekiel 22:29 " The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice."
(verse 32) "I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging"
Job 9:33-35a "If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him,"
(verse 33) "but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
Hebrews 13:5b-6 "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."[Deuteronomy 31:6b] So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'"[Psalm 118:6-7]
(verse 34) "I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered."
Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"
(verse 35) "Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness - and I will not lie to David-"
Hebrews 6:17: " Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath."
(verse 36) "that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;"
Luke 1:31-33: "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
(verse 37) "it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky."
Job 16:19-20: "Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDncpDmqA88
Reflections on Proverbs 13:17-19
(verse 17) "A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy brings healing."
Matthew 3:7b-8 "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."
I John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Since John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, the message has been all about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. The reputation of our God as a God of wrath and judgment should be wiped away due to his abounding Love and Mercy to all who call on His name. As children of God, we must quit promoting enmity with God and bring the Glory due His name. Truly, He can claim the vilest sinner on earth.
(verse 18) "He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored."
Isaiah 45:24b "All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame."
II Timothy 1:7; "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
Matthew 16:26-27; "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done."
(verse 19) "A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil."
Psalm 119:102-103; "I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
Judges 3:4-5a; "They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord's commands, which he had given their forefathers through Moses. The Israelites lived among the Canaanites"
Matthew 7:11-12; "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Until Tomorrow
Rick
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