The deep thirst of the soul is satisfied only in the holiness and majesty of God.
Psalm 63:1 – “A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.”
This title attributed to this psalm says it was written by David while he was in the wilderness or desert of Judah. The metaphor of thirsting after God in a dry land where there is no water becomes a powerful reality in the context of actually experiencing a parched desert experience.
Alexander MacLaren expands on this idea:
“…there is no more appalling desert than that in which he wandered as an exile. It is a land of arid mountains without a blade of verdure, blazing in their ghastly whiteness under the fierce sunshine, and with gaunt ravines in which there are no pools or streams, and therefore no sweet sound of running waters, no shadow, no songs of birds, but all is hot, dusty, glaring, pitiless; and men and beasts faint, and loll out their tongues, and die for want of water. And, says the Psalmist, such is life, if due regard be had to the deepest wants of a soul, notwithstanding all the abundant supplies which are spread in such rich and loving luxuriance around us-we are thirsty men in a waterless land.”
As I live in the American culture today, I can attest that what is available for our consumption indeed points to this as a waterless land. All that which seeks to influence us is nothing but briers and thorns, brambles of contention and doubt. And yet we thirst; we crave for that which David describes as the sanctuary or the holiness of God.
Psalm 63:2-5 – So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory. My lips will glorify you because your faithful love is better than life. So I will bless you as long as I live; at your name, I will lift up my hands. You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.
Regardless of his physical condition and circumstances, David relates that contemplating the faithful love of God is like rich food, and this provision causes spontaneous praise.
This is the place where believers demonstrate their integrity and love for God. When all around seems lifeless and barren, we are sustained by our hope in the God who provides for all of our needs. Yeshua constructed his famous beatitude upon this very principle:
Matthew 5:6 – ” Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
The life of integrity is one that craves for God’s will to become evident. It seeks to exhibit thanksgiving when there seems to be nothing to be thankful for, and in so doing, the blessing of the soul’s provision arrives. That which is truly nourishing is lavished upon those who strive for God’s honor. The example of David and the encouragement of Yeshua can give us strength for each day as we seek to exemplify God’s righteousness in our lives.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Right doctrine should result in compassionate actions.
Matthew 5:13-14 – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Because these two metaphors of Yeshua appear back to back in this passage in Matthew, most traditional commentators will apply a similar, combined meaning to both. An excerpt from Matthew Henry below will illustrate this point:
“Mankind, lying in ignorance and wickedness, were as a vast heap, ready to putrify; but Christ sent forth his disciples, by their lives and doctrines to season it with knowledge and grace. If they are not such as they should be, they are as salt that has lost its savour. If a man can take up the profession of Christ, and yet remain graceless, no other doctrine, no other means, can make him profitable. Our light must shine, by doing such good works as men may see. What is between God and our souls, must be kept to ourselves; but that which is of itself open to the sight of men, we must study to make suitable to our profession, and praiseworthy. We must aim at the glory of God.”
What I like about this quote is how Matthew Henry captures the idea that salt and light have to do with both the believers’ “lives and doctrines.” What is believed as doctrine should naturally pave the way for actions in life that support those beliefs.
The way I view this passage is in a similar way, with light standing for doctrine and salt standing for the physical things we do in interacting with the world around us. To me, this distinction is provided by the metaphors themselves.
For example, the light of the city on a hill simply radiates into the darkness, and can be seen even from a distance with no direct interaction with anyone; it just shines. To my way of thinking, this stands for believers being examples of righteousness based on the truth of what they believe. When doctrine is rightly aligned, the individual’s personal actions and habits are also aligned with the truth, and these can become a shining example to all those who see it.
By contrast, salt can only affect its purpose when it comes in physical contact with that which it is designed to preserve or cleanse as an antiseptic. In this sense, I view the “saltiness” of believers as those physical acts of compassion that are conducted in the process of reaching out to, as Matthew Henry puts it, the putrefaction of “ignorance and wickedness” among men. Believers must have a right doctrine, yes, but also right actions of compassion among non-believers. Otherwise, anytime someone believed in Messiah, they would simply be instantly transported into God’s presence. No, the reason we remain on this earth after the new spiritual birth is to be the light to the rest of the world with right doctrine, and to be the salt of purification to the world that is in many ways is considered rotting in its own ignorance and wickedness.
This purification involves believers being compassionately involved in providing real, tangible help to those who need it. If we are correct in our doctrine but it doesn’t spur us on to purifying actions in the world around us, then what good is that doctrine? Yeshua puts it this way:
Matthew 5:13 – “But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
If we are not exhibiting the salt of compassionate actions towards those around us, then our light becomes nothing more than an unattainable beacon of hypocrisy to a world that can only be preserved with our participation in helping to meet their physical needs. Instead, as our compassionate interaction with the world around us is recognized for its genuine intent, then the light of the true doctrine of the kingdom that we hold becomes brighter and more visible, allowing more individuals to be drawn to the truth of that light.
Don’t just be the light, remember to actively be the salt, too.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
Many of the same aspects still exist to this day among his people.
Ancient Israel had the privilege of being set apart from all other nations by a very significant factor, the Torah, or instruction, of God.
Deuteronomy 4:7-8: “For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him? What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you today?”
In the 20th chapter of Leviticus, Moses is continuing to present specifics of God’s instruction to the people. In the midst of laws on sexual purity, food purity, and spiritual purity, God relates why these restrictions were significant.
Leviticus 20:26: “You shall be holy to me; for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
These purity laws, recognized as the wisdom of God, would be the things that set God’s people apart from the other nations.
Today, most believers consider these laws “done away,” and that believers in Messiah are no longer are required to follow them. But by doing so, they are removing the very thing that makes them holy, or set apart, from the surrounding nations.
Additionally, I find it odd that if you go to almost any traditional Christian congregation today, you will find that even if they maintain that the law was “done away,” their congregational culture is still based on some of these same conservative imperatives of sexual purity, healthy eating, and spiritual purity.
Things like purity rings are endorsed for teens and singles, along with encouraging couples to maintain the sanctity of their marriages. Divorce is still to be avoided through various types of marriage counseling. Many congregations also promote food and healthy eating programs, whether vegetarian, vegan, or other similar dietary plans. And these same congregations would also maintain that believers should avoid any involvement in the occult. It would seem that even when men attempt to define godly behavior, it typically includes these same types of restrictions that God provided in his Torah 3,300 years ago.
So remind me again why these things are considered done away?
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
This is a role of believers that some are unwilling to accept.
Psalm 38:19-20 – “But my enemies are vigorous and strong, And many are those who hate me wrongfully. And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good”.
If anybody knew about having enemies, it was King David. He was responsible for not only ruling over Israel, but for subduing surrounding peoples from the borders of Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River. All of these surrounding nations became vassals of Israel, and in this process David was sure to stir up some ongoing conflict.
But in reading the history of his life and reign in the books of Samuel and Chronicles, we find he had enemies within his own people, as well.
It is not without good reason then that he cries out to God for assistance. Notice he says, “many are those who hate me wrongfully.” There were many who hated him, but their hatred was not based on the truth.
Most significantly, I find that he struggled with adversaries who hated him specifically because he “followed what is good.” Doing what’s right in situations will almost certainly create tensions with those who may not agree with your views.
Proverbs 29:27 – An unjust person is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked.
This is no reason to not stand up for what’s right; in fact, it’s likely an indicator that you are headed down the right path. Integrity is not a committee decision; it is a bold and blatant individual stand for doing the right thing. This takes courage and conviction, two things many of those who may consider themselves as adversaries likely do not have.
One thing that becomes quickly apparent in studying the life and ministry of Yeshua; he was (and still is) a polarizing figure. People always took sides either for or against his perspectives. This is the nature of integrity: it creates space between the false, the hypocritical, and the compromising, thereby becoming even more apparent, as a light in the darkness.
Recognize, accept, and own that doing what is right is what believers in Messiah are called to, following in the footsteps of the faithful saints who have gone on before, and in the footsteps of our Lord.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
Living faithfully according to God’s instruction at all times.
Psalm 26:1-3 – Vindicate me, Yahweh, because I have lived with integrity and have trusted in Yahweh without wavering. Test me, Yahweh, and try me; examine my heart and mind. For your faithful love guides me, and I live by your truth.
This psalm is attributed to David, and when reading it, it seems as if David is almost lifting himself up in God’s eyes, saying, “look how good I am, Yahweh.” In a sense, he is. He is conveying how his conscience is clear before God, and because this is the case, he is requesting that God vindicate him or judge righteously in his favor against those who would come against him.
Psalm 26:9-10 – Do not destroy me along with sinners, or my life along with men of bloodshed in whose hands are evil schemes and whose right hands are filled with bribes.
This is brought out more vividly in another psalm of David where he declares his innocence, and then pleas for God’s protection due to his own faithfulness and virtue.
Psalm 17:3, 8-14 – You have tested my heart; you have examined me at night. You have tried me and found nothing evil; I have determined that my mouth will not sin. … Protect me as the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who treat me violently, my deadly enemies who surround me. They are uncaring; their mouths speak arrogantly. They advance against me; now they surround me. They are determined to throw me to the ground. They are like a lion eager to tear, like a young lion lurking in ambush. Rise up, Yahweh! Confront him; bring him down. With your sword, save me from the wicked. With your hand, Yahweh, save me from men, from men of the world whose portion is in this life…
While believers in Messiah are commanded by Yeshua to have pure hearts (Matthew 5:8) and walk in the light and not in the darkness of this world (John 8:12) these cherished qualities are by no means insulation from all wickedness in the world.
Consider the plight of Job, a man who was considered righteous before God.
Job 1:1 – There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.
And yet disaster upon disaster came upon him. One of his companions, Eliphaz, even related this confidence as Job’s hope within himself:
Job 4:6 – Isn’t your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life your hope?
The issue is not how righteous a person is, whether imagined or in reality, but in how faithful they are in the face of all adversity. David had a clear conscience before God, and yet was persecuted by Saul and the nations surrounding Israel. Job was a man of complete integrity and yet suffered so much trouble that his very name has become synonymous with the concept of adversity.
Yeshua himself suffered the highest injustice of all, and maintained, to the death, his focus on the higher purpose of God. All of these men persevered in their integrity and faithfulness, never losing hope in the God who would ultimately vindicate them, and he did.
We are expected to walk in pureness of heart and in the light of God’s instruction, yet we should never assume that because we do that we are then somehow immune from adversity in this life. Granted, the way of the righteous is ultimate design for those who bear God’s image in this world. And yet due to the wayward passions of those around us, we can expect that this way of righteousness will be resisted and pushed back on.
2 Timothy 3:12 – In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.
This reality should not dissuade the believer from doing what’s right at all times but should only establish and encourage this conduct in the face of it. We must rebel against the wickedness of this world by living faithfully according to God’s instruction at all times and in all situations. This behavior then becomes the rebellious way of righteousness.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
Everyone serves a master, whether sin or righteousness.
Core of the Bible podcast #47 – Intentionally bound to holiness from the heart
Today we will be exploring the topic of holiness, and how achieving and maintaining holiness, or being set apart, is an intentional and voluntary result of doing what is right from the heart.
The apostle Paul spoke about it in this way:
Romans 6:16-19 – Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you have been entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing lawlessness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.
There is so much in this passage I would like to take some time to isolate a few different aspects for closer inspection.
First we see how Paul uses the imagery of slavery: he says they were slaves to sin, but now have been set free from sin, only to now be slaves of righteousness.
This idea of slavery may seem harsh to our modern sensitivities, but Paul says he is using an example from “everyday life.” Slaves were common in Paul’s day and in the Roman realm. When we think of slaves today, we typically think of the unwilling souls who were kidnapped and sold against their will into a life of hard labor and physical abuse. While that was certainly a reality in Paul’s day, there was also another type of slavery that was much less severe, yet just as binding on the individual: indentured servitude. In this type of slavery, it was not uncommon for someone to intentionally and voluntarily bind or sell themselves to an estate as a way of working off debt. While they were in servitude, the master provided for their needs while they worked off their debt. Once the debt was paid or their obligation honored, they could go free. Many times, at least among the Jews, they were treated well and sometimes desired to stay on with the family because they had become attached to that familial group.
To give you an idea of this type of servitude, here is just a brief excerpt from the Law regarding slaves:
Exodus 21:2-6 – When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything. “If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with a wife, his wife is to leave with him. “If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone. “But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’ “his master is to bring him to the judges and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.
So we can see that this type of slavery, sometimes listed as a bond-servant, was a formal contract that bound the individual to the master or the estate until the obligation was fulfilled, and sometimes the servant would want to stay with the family permanently.
In the biblical sense, a slave is someone who does not have any ownership rights of their own for the time they are in bondage; they belong to another. Paul takes this common understanding and then applies it to believers in the context of obedience. Everyone serves a master, he says, whether sin or righteousness. As believers in Messiah they were encouraged to follow righteousness that would ultimately set them apart, or make them holy.
Secondly, notice the type of terms that Paul repeatedly emphasizes in this passage besides the concept of slavery. His overall premise is that sin leads to death, but obedience leads to righteousness, and then righteousness leads to holiness. So the contrast he is drawing is between sin and obedience.
If sin is the opposite of obedience, then it can be said that sin is simply disobedience. But disobedience to what?
In relation to obedience, he says the obedience is based in “the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.” This is an interesting word here that is used for a specific type of teaching. Paul calls it a pattern of teaching, but the underlying language expands on that meaning. The word typon can mean an example, pattern, or model. But it also includes the idea of an imprint, as in a die that is stamped into something, revealing as consistent a pattern as the original.
Obedience to this “stamp of teaching,” he says, is considered righteousness, which then leads to holiness. Therefore disobedience to the pattern of teaching is sin, which leads to impurity and ever-increasing lawlessness.
What is this pattern or “stamp”of teaching?
In one sense, we learn from the apostle John that sin is disobedience to the law:
1 John 3:4 – Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
Lawlessness is anything that is against the law. In relation to the type of law that is used throughout the writings of Paul and the apostles, the law, nomos, is typically associated with the law of Moses, summarized in the Ten Commandments.
Paul says to the Roman believers, “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you have been entrusted.” The pattern of teaching that the Jews had been entrusted to was the Law of Moses. When it is obeyed from the heart, that is an indication of the New Covenant:
Jeremiah 31:33 – “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” – the Yahweh’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Notice the prophet says God’s teaching would be “within them, on their hearts.” The teaching he is speaking of here is the torah, the law of God. I believe this is the same teaching that Paul is speaking of in Romans 6. But he doesn’t simply call it the law, because the law is a static thing that is written in stone and has no power to make anyone comply with its demands. However, using the New Covenant imagery, when the law is upon the heart, it has the ability to transform actions from the inside out. Obedience is therefore voluntary and desired. This leads to righteous actions and ultimately to holiness.
2 Corinthians 3:6-9 – He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones [could this be an allusion to the “imprint” or the “stamp” language Paul used earlier], came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory which was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory.
Paul writing to the congregation in Corinth expands on this idea a little further by saying the letter of the law kills, because it is an unflinching and permanent standard that cannot be abrogated. However, when the Spirit applies the law to the heart (through the teaching of the anointed Yeshua), the law chiseled in stone can no longer condemn because the actions that would bring death have been changed into actions of righteousness! Therefore the “ministry of the Spirit” is more glorious than the stone law because the ministry or law of the Spirit actually produces the desired result in those who are obedient to it!
This is why Paul can confirm the same thing with the Roman believers when he writes:
Romans 8:13-15 – But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father! “
Beyond the spirit of slavery he mentioned in chapter six, Paul says to the believers that they don’t only have to be a slave for life in the house of God, they have become adopted into his family!
In one primary respect, the life of a believer is simply an honest recognition that the life they are living is not their own. Paul uses this type of illustration with the Corinthian congregation.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
The life they were living should have been voluntarily offered back to the One who provided it to them in the first place. This is so simplistic, it is almost inconceivable that it has been lost among the masses of believers today. Unfortunately, we are so used to viewing our lives as belonging to ourselves that we easily fall back into old practices of doing whatever we want with them. We many times unwittingly go back to serving impurity and lawlessness simply out of habit.
However, a believer, once freed from sinfulness, must by default accept another intentional yoke upon themselves. But this is a yoke that is bearable and easy.
Matthew 11:29-30 – “Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This yoke is easy is because it is a life being lived as the Designer has created it to be: a life separated to Him according to his law obeyed from the heart. This is a life of holiness.
Holiness is not some sort of mystical state of existence, but a continual practice of doing what is right, or righteous actions. We can only know what is right or wrong in God’s eyes because of the revelation of his law.
Acts 10:34-35 – Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, “but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
So this is why God is holy, not just because he is magnificent and removed far above all he has created, but because he always, always does what is right. He can never be convicted of wrongdoing or injustice.
Isaiah 5:16 – But the Yahweh of Armies is exalted by his justice, and the holy God shows that he is holy through his righteousness.
Romans 9:14 – What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!
As believers we recognize that all life flows from God and we are simply yielding ourselves to live righteously within the parameters of the life that he has given us.
Genesis 2:7 – Then the Yahweh God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Job 33:4 – The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Paul cautions the Corinthian believers to purposely maintain their righteous lifestyle through the fear of God which leads to holiness.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18, 7:1 – Don’t become partners with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Messiah have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Yahweh; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. And I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the Yahweh Almighty. So then, dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
A life that is set apart in holiness is separated because it is constantly being renewed in the image of the One who made it.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 – For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness.
Our mindfulness in remaining intentionally and purposefully bound to this life of righteousness, that is, doing what is right from the heart, is what causes us to become holy and set apart for use by God.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
Contrasts in the Proverbs help to provide clarity.
The Proverbs of Solomon provide us some insight into the life of integrity by contrasting integrity with its opposites. By viewing what integrity is not, we can gain a better understanding of what it is and how it is beneficial to those who practice it.
Proverbs 10:9 – The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out. Proverbs 10:29 – The way of Yahweh is a stronghold for the honorable, but destruction awaits the malicious. Proverbs 13:6 – Righteousness guards people of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner.
In these three proverbs, we see integrity and the way of Yahweh contrasted with those who are responsible for twisting and distortion, those who make trouble or sorrow, and wickedness that overturns those who are sinful.
However, on the positive side, it can also be noted that integrity is associated with security and protection. Living and acting with integrity can provide safety from the consequences of those who are sinful and willing to cause pain and suffering to others for their own benefit.
Proverbs 19:1 – Better a poor person who lives with integrity than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool. Proverbs 28:6 – Better the poor person who lives with integrity than the rich one who is crooked in their ways.
In these proverbs, the one who lives with integrity is contrasted with two other types of individuals: those who are arrogant, foolish, and who distort the truth with their speech, along with those who are twisted in their ways. One of the common negative characteristics of these individuals is this idea of crookedness, twisting their speech, distorting the truth. People who act like this cannot be trusted because they will simply manipulate situations to their advantage.
It is interesting that these negative characteristics are generally, though not exclusively, associated with those who are rich, while integrity is associated with humility of circumstance.
Proverbs 2:7 – He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity Proverbs 20:7 – A righteous person acts with integrity; his children who come after him will be happy.
Here we see the benefits associated with living a life of integrity. Those who have integrity are considered righteous. There is protection and longevity of benefit for their families associated with doing what’s right, extending even to their children.
From this brief survey of integrity in the Proverbs, we can glean the advantages of living righteously according to the way of Yahweh over those who exploit others and busy themselves with constantly striving to gain advantage for themselves. Solomon encourages humble circumstances with doing what’s right over wealth and subterfuge.
These positive traits of integrity are consistent with what Yeshua presented in the Sermon on the Mount regarding purity of heart, doing what’s right, and magnifying God. In his way of thinking, to individuals such as these belong the kingdom of God.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
Illuminating aspects of biblical obedience and sinfulness.
Luke 11:34-36 – Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness. If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you.
Yeshua appears to be drawing this imagery of lamps and light from the rich veins of the Psalms and Proverbs. All throughout this literature are references to lamps as representing the inspiration and guidance of God and purposeful actions. Most famously are some passages referencing the guiding influence of God and his Word.
Psalm 18:28 – Yahweh, you light my lamp; my God illuminates my darkness. Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. Proverbs 6:23 – For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.
If, according to Yeshua, “the eye is the lamp of the body,” then from this background of language it is not difficult to connect our view of God’s Word, what we focus on, as being directive in our manner of living.
Contrasted with the illumination that comes from God and his Word is the “guiding lamp” of those who choose not to obey God.
Proverbs 21:4 – The lamp that guides the wicked — haughty eyes and an arrogant heart – is sin.
To Solomon, the path of the wicked is illuminated only by the sinfulness of pride and arrogance. In Matthew’s narrative on this same teaching, Yeshua is quoted as confirming the depths of darkness attached to sin:
Matthew 6:23 – “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness [i.e., the light that guides the wicked], how deep is that darkness!
To this condition, Solomon spares no flowery language and gets right to the end result of this manner of life.
Proverbs 24:20 – For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out. Proverbs 13:9 – The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is put out.
On the positive aspects of the righteous, Yeshua, like Solomon, draws out the illuminating aspects of the righteous having a single focus on God’s Word and his commands.
Luke 11:36 – “If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you.”
The end result of this type of obedient life to God’s Word is that it can become set apart as a positive influence on the lives of others, and will not only be illuminated within, but shine brightly for others to see.
Matthew 5:15-16 – “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
Gaining the ability to be holy examples in our generation.
Philippians 4:8 – Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.
To meditate on here means to consider, take into account, weigh, reason, deliberate inwardly. Paul is encouraging believers to continually be reviewing purity of thought to provide the best results in mastering the walk of righteousness in holiness.
In a similar admonition, Paul uses another term: renewing of the mind.
Romans 12:2 – Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
One of the keys to holiness that the apostle Paul conveys to the congregations is the need for focusing on righteousness. Our minds our powerful and the focus of our attention is the very thing that God desires. As we focus on righteousness and purity of thought, we can be transformed and become separated for God’s purpose. However, when we are distracted and sidetracked by pointless trivial occurrences throughout the day, we can lose sight of what’s really important in God’s eyes.
“…as thought makes deeds, and thought and deeds make character, so character makes destiny, here and hereafter. If you have these blessed thoughts in your hearts and minds, as your continual companions and your habitual guests, then, my friend, you will have a light within that will burn all independent of externals; and whether the world smiles or frowns on you, you will have the true wealth in yourselves; ‘a better and enduring substance.’ You will have peace, you will be lords of the world, and having nothing yet may have all. No harm can come to the man who has laid up in his youth, as the best treasure of old age, this possession of these thoughts enjoined in [this] text [Philippians 4:8].”
– Alexander MacLaren
The same word used for meditating on these things in the Philippian epistle is also used by Paul to the Roman congregation in a similarly impactful character-building verse:
Romans 6:11-12 – So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.
Considering and meditating on the fact that we as believers are dead to sin and alive to God provides the practical ability to overcome the sin that reigns in our fleshly bodies; this allows us to gain mastery over sin and thereby to remain holy and set apart.
It is not without good reason that in his divinely-ordained wisdom Solomon uttered the following proverb:
Proverbs 4:23 – Guard your heart above all else, for it is the well-spring of life.
By meditating on purity of thought and beautiful things that God provides, we can have the ability to maintain the strength of character that God requires of his people to be examples of righteousness and holiness to every generation.
Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Now also on YouTube! Just getting started, but new videos will be added regularly on many different topics, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
No matter how dire, unforgiving or treacherous the situation, God’s love never fails.
Matthew 5:10-12 – Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
As I was reading through Psalms, I came across Psalm 44 and it seemed as if I was reading it for the first time. I understood that the psalmist was feeling dismay over the situation of Israel being scattered among the nations. This would normally be a context of asking for forgiveness for their unfaithfulness, and a plea for restoration.
Psalm 44:9-16 – But you have rejected and humiliated us; you do not march out with our armies. You make us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have taken plunder for themselves. You hand us over to be eaten like sheep and scatter us among the nations. You sell your people for nothing; you make no profit from selling them. You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us. You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples. My disgrace is before me all day long, and shame has covered my face, because of the taunts of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy and avenger.
This would be understandable in the context of Israel’s national sin and constant turning to idols. God had forewarned them that if they did not keep to his commands and his covenant, that they would be sent throughout the nations and there suffer at the hands of foreign gods and other cultures. The psalmist may lament their condition, but it would be as a result of their own sin.
However, I was struck by the larger context of the psalm. In verses to follow, the psalmist recounts how they had not forsaken God, and yet were still suffering at the hands of their enemies.
Psalm 44:17-22 – All this has happened to us, but we have not forgotten you or betrayed your covenant. Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from your path. But you have crushed us in a haunt of jackals and have covered us with deepest darkness. If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god, wouldn’t God have found this out, since he knows the secrets of the heart? Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
Then I recognized that last line as having been applied by the apostle Paul to their situation in the first century:
Romans 8:35-36 – Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
Paul was taking the entire context of this psalm and applying it to the condition of the believers in the mid-first century. They had not forsaken God; they had not betrayed God by worshiping other gods; they had not strayed from the path of righteousness, and yet they were still being hunted down as sheep to be slaughtered. They went without food, without clothes, and were in constant danger for their lives, and yet they were living lives of integrity and faithfulness!
Psalm 44:23-26 – Wake up, LORD! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Don’t reject us forever! Why do you hide and forget our affliction and oppression? For we have sunk down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground. Rise up! Help us! Redeem us because of your faithful love.
This was the cry of that faithful generation. They longed for God to deliver them from their brutal affliction and the oppression they faced in the company of their own people who had turned against them because of their belief in Messiah. They were savagely treated and violently persecuted; yet, they maintained their hope in the faithful love of God!
Why would they do that? How could they do that? Paul provides an answer in the following verse:
Romans 8:37 – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Paul knew that no matter what happened to them physically, they could endure because of love; God’s faithful, covenantal love for them which was expressed through the Messiah.
Romans 8:38-39 – For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.
That was all Paul needed: the love of God. That was the motivator that allowed them to continue to maintain their integrity in the face of the most intense hatred and persecution that God’s people have ever seen.
Even today, God’s redemptive love in calling his people to himself is so strong that nothing in creation can overcome it. It is a rock-solid destiny for all time.
1 Corinthians 13:6-8 – Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
This is where it plays out in real time. No matter how dire, unforgiving or treacherous the situation, God’s love never fails. When Paul says that “love never fails,” the word he used literally means that love never falls down because the strain is too great. This is the type of love that always endures. Always.
And Yeshua’s admonition is that the blessing of God and kingdom of God belong to those who are enabled to endure all because of, and for the sake of, this type of never-failing love.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service.
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