Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Thoughts on Israel #2...


Blog post 2

God keeps His word!

I went to Jericho today. Fascinating place! It was a great reminder of something that I think is worth talking about.
So when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised land (which by the way, I think they felt slighted – this portion of Israel is UGLY), the first city they came to was Jericho.  They conquered it and Joshua placed a curse on that city that whomever tried to build it up again would do so at the expense of his children.
Fast forward 400 years…
King Ahab convinces his servant Hiel to go down to Jericho and rebuild it. 1 Kings 16:34 says this, “It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid the foundations, it cost him the life of his oldest son, Abiram. And when he completed it and set up its gates, it cost him the life of his youngest son, Segub. This all happened according to the word of the Lord concerning Jericho spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
Ahab tries to convince Hiel that this wasn’t a fulfillment of the curse and that it was mere coincidence.  Here is Ahab’s logic – The Torah says that God will send rain in its season when we follow Him, but I have done terribly evil things and He hasn’t done anything to hurt us.
And then God sends Elijah. Elijah says – make no mistake. This has all happened exactly because of the promise God made and to prove it, there will be no more rain and no more dew until I say so.
Really… after 400 years God remembers a curse that Joshua made on an already defeated city?
Yep.  God always keeps His word.  Now, this story can raise all kinds of questions about God and evil.  But I think it is making a better point.  One that is truly profound if you think about it.
Ephesians 1 says that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. Solid! That means that on those days when we feel like the world around us look like desert – barren and dry – we can rest in the grace of a God who has in fact never forgotten what He set out to do in us and He will finish His work because God always keeps His word.
Have you felt like you can’t see God? Like perhaps He has forgotten you? Let me say one thing that I think Hiel would say to you without a doubt…
God never forgets. And He always keeps His word – always!

2 comments:

  1. I thinkt that you are right that God always keeps His word and never forgets. You also say that "we can rest in the grace of a God who has in fact never forgotten what He set out to do in us and He will finish His work because God always keeps His word." but as sinners we bring our sin into the picture. I know that God is a forgiving God but as believers who CHOOSE to sin and continue to live with this sin and in this sin how can God still use us? Every Sunday I come and pray the prayer for God to forgive me....and throughout the week I try to live in His will but I fail constently and pray that prayer constently. When is enough enough? As you walk where Jesus walked, didnt you feel unworthy? He sent His son to make us worthy but I know that I choose my will over His. In your first post you ask us to learn the Jewish history and know what it says. But we as a church body dont follow the Old Testiment Laws (except Marty). Knowning the Law and Living it is much different. I cant follow all of the 10 commandments....how am I not going to not eat Pig and not get tattoos? I feel...Unworthy of what God gives us. Thank you for sharing your thoughts of your trip and hope that your transition back to Western thinking is a painful one and that you change His church!

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  2. Thanks for your thoughts. But I would fundamentally disagree with some major foundations of what you are saying. Let me see if I can address them in a cohesive format...

    Did I feel unworthy: No, in fact, I became more aware of quite the opposite. I understand the position you are coming from. But make no mistake, you are not unworthy. God Himself thinks that you are worthy. That is why Jesus came into the world in the first place. Because you are worthy. Regardless of what depravity theology you have been taught, Jesus says you are worthy. If you were not worthy, He would not have bothered redeeming you. You and I both have been choosing our own will for a long time. And God knew your story before time began. And He knew you would choose your own will at times. And He knew you would sin. And He knew you would blow it. And He knew all that when He said, "I love you." And When He proved you were worthy through His incarnation. I am sorry that satan has used guilt to capture your heart so that you live in shame. But James says that perfect love casts out fear. In Christ, there is no fear of not being worthy.

    Learning the Jewish history vs. The OT laws: First, the Torah is 5 of 39 books of the Old Testament. That is a small amount of Jewish history. What's more, outside of Torah completely, there are Rabbincal conversations, secular history and that affected the perception of the people. How do I understand eastern thought from a western mind? What is the story of the prophets and what context were they speaking into? How did Herod affect the conversation? What about the Romans? The Greeks? The Ptolomeys? The Selucids? It goes on and on. What is the history of worship at Caesarea Philippi and why did Jesus take His guys there? This all has nothing to do with the OT laws and everything to do with why the people wrote, felt, and acted the way they did.

    We don't follow the OT laws: There are 3 categories to the Torah. First is the cultic law... this is religious practice. Second is the moral law... this just is. Don't murder, don't lie, etc. Then there is the "Works of the law." This is the part of Torah that makes one Jewish. This is the part of the law that we are freed from. And this is the part Paul is addressing when saying that we are not saved by works, we are saved by grace. He is not even addressing whether we can earn salvation. And that whole notion comes from divorcing the New Testament from its Jewish roots and furthers my case as to why it shouldn't be done. We are still just as obligated to the other 2/3 of the Torah. It will never be okay to murder or commit adultery - ever.

    I can't follow the 10 commandments...how am I not going to eat pig or get tattoos: Um, there is really no comparison between adultery and eating pork. Or murder and getting a tattoo. And again, I would ask, which law falls into which category.

    I would close with this thought... God says you are worthy of what He gives you. He loves you that much. You may not feel that way, and most people don't. But when my opinion is different than God's opinion, who is right and who is wrong? So, perhaps, the better way to engage this post is not so much to critique the thought of the post out of your own sense of unworthiness, but rather to deal with the thing that makes you feel unworthy in the first place. Then you can be free to be loved by God the way He intends.

    Thanks for your transparency. I hope this furthers the thought process.

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