The example of God’s provision is all around us when we have eyes to see.
The example of God’s provision is all around us when we have eyes to see.
Psalm 135:6-7 – Yahweh does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths. He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from his storehouses.
The fact that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all is provided throughout the Bible as a reason for people to place their trust in him.
Revelation 4:11 – Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.
Yeshua teaches on the natural order as a measure of trusting in God when he speaks of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.
Matthew 6:26, 28-30 – “Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? … “And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. “Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. “If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you – you of little faith?”
The apostle Paul writes of how the Creation itself should cause men to seek after God.
Romans 1:18-20 – For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
When we look out into the Creation, something we see every day, we should be reminded of the power, majesty, and provision of God in our lives. Even in the cities where almost all is concrete and steel and glass, a glimpse of the sky above, the rain that falls, or the wind that blows down the streets and alleys should remind us that we are part of a world that God has created, and that he retains his privilege over all.
No matter if we lose sight of him, we can place our trust in him since he is still in control of all, even when he is obscured by circumstances of our own making, or through the designs of men all around us. When we recognize him as the Creator of all, we yield to his greater will and purpose and allow his provision in our time of need. Just as he still provides for the natural order of all things, he can still provide for those who place their faith in him.
Matthew 6:30 – “If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you – you of little faith?”
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.
Being created in God’s image, it makes sense that his stamp is embossed within us.
Being created in God’s image, it makes sense that his stamp is embossed within us.
Proverbs 20:27 – The spirit of man is Yahweh’s lamp, searching all his innermost parts.
Different English renderings of this verse appear to be unsure of how exactly to render this unusual phrase.
New International Version: The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being.
New Living Translation: The LORD’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive.
Amplified Bible: The spirit (conscience) of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching and examining all the innermost parts of his being.
Contemporary English Version: Our inner thoughts are a lamp from the LORD, and they search our hearts.
Good News Translation: The LORD gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves.
Is Yahweh somehow invading our personal human spirit, or is it speaking of the human spirit in general? Is it speaking of our mind, conscience, or inner thoughts?
The spirit of man is using the term “neshamah,” or life-breath, for man. This term is closely associated with the word “ruach” which also is typically translated as spirit. In Hebrew thinking, the life-breath is something from God that animates us as individuals. This is evidenced when God created Adam.
Genesis 2:7 – And Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [neshamah]; and man became a living soul.
When the spirit departs, the body dies.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 – Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit [ruach] shall return unto God who gave it.
The term “adam” can be speaking of an individual or the entire human race. I think we can get some direction here from another familiar passage as well:
John 1:9 – The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
There is a light that enlightens every person (all people: adam); it is called the Word, or the Spirit of God. Because of it’s association with the first chapter of John, most people assume that the Word is Yeshua. In one sense, that is true, because he was called by John “the Word made flesh.” He was so completely filled with and obedient to the Spirit of God that they were indistinguishable.
But John says this same light enlightens everyone, and this passage in Proverbs, written a millennia prior to John, is saying the same thing: the lamp of Yahweh is somehow connected to the spirit of all people. We have stumbled in our English Bibles at trying to describe it as conscience or inner thoughts, but the fact is that since all mankind (adam) is created in God’s image, we all have a connection to the Creator of all.
The writer of Hebrews takes this even further by describing how the Word of God, his eternal Spirit, is active within us.
Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
I can’t think of a more precise explanation of how the lamp of Yahweh searches the innermost parts of our being. As believers, our call to holiness is heightened by recognizing that somehow God is active within the depths of every person. We are set apart by continually growing in obedience to his Word, his Spirit.
I recognize this is not commonly accepted theology, but it is what the Bible records describe when we understand them within their cultural context. I believe this is why believers gravitate to the Bible, what we also call the Word of God, because it was conveyed to mankind through that same Spirit of God. As we recognize the Voice speaking to us from its pages, we are drawn closer to understanding the God of the universe and his desire for all men to come to him, as well.
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.
Psalm 130:5-6 – I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in his word. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning — more than watchmen for the morning.
This idea of waiting for Yahweh is all throughout the Bible, but most pronouncedly in the psalms.
Psalm 25:3-5 – No one who waits for you will be disgraced; those who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced. Make your ways known to me, Yahweh; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I wait for you all day long.
Psalm 27:14 – Wait for Yahweh; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for Yahweh.
Psalm 37:7-9 – Be silent before Yahweh and wait expectantly for him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the person who carries out evil plans. Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated – it can only bring harm. For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in Yahweh will inherit the land.
Without quoting all of the passages here, the general meaning of this phrase as it is used throughout the psalms carries the concept of patience, gathering one’s wits about them, eagerly anticipating God to act in a situation. It conveys a purposeful restraint of one’s own reflexive emotion against the acts of the wicked, and instead allowing God’s justice to be played out.
It is so easy for us to be caught up in the emotion of the moment that many times we forget to wait for God to work things out in his timing. We get impatient or emotionally engaged and say or do things that we will regret later, because upon reflection, it wasn’t how God would have wanted us to act at that time.
To illustrate this, look at some of the characteristics that should mark this time of expectant waiting:
Be strong
Let your heart be courageous
Refrain from anger
Give up your rage
Do not be agitated
All of these demonstrate holding back from pursuing your own personal vengeance against those who may be working at odds with you, or against the plans of God.
Instead, the characteristics associated with waiting have to do with unceasing vigilance, watching for and expecting God to work in a way that brings justice to the situation:
I put my hope in your Word
Make your ways known to me
Teach me your paths
Guide me in your truth and teach me
Be silent before Yahweh
Wait expectantly for him
These are the things that should mark our times of waiting. Instead of reacting foolishly out of anger or impatience, we should collect our thoughts by focusing on God’s Word, his plans and purpose. We should remain silent when we want to speak out in frustration, knowing that God will be vindicated, and we will be rescued from the situation when all things are accomplished. But our waiting should be exemplified by vigilant expectancy, “more than a watchman waits for the morning.”
Waiting on Yahweh is a discipline that should mark all of his children who are truly seeking for his kingdom and his glory in this world, and not their own.
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.
The contrast of our fleeting lives with the eternity of God should keep our trust and our focus firmly grounded in him.
Core of the Bible podcast #69 – Trusting God beyond our own lifetime
Today we will be looking at the topic of trust, and how the contrast of our fleeting lives with the eternity of God should keep our trust and our focus firmly grounded in him.
Isaiah 26:4 – “Trust in Yahweh forever, because Yahweh God is the Rock eternal.”
God deserves our trust because he never changes. What he has decreed will come to pass. What he has done remains forever. What he continues to do is as constant as the ocean surf, the shining sun, the starry constellations.
Psalm 33:11 – “The counsel of Yahweh stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.”
The psalmist here instructs us how stable God’s counsel is, it outlasts generations and continues on. Have you ever taken the time to consider how incredible a thing it is that the counsel of God survives over thousands of years? Though culture and language have taken their toll on the outer layers of biblical thinking, the core of the message remains to this day, and will continue on. This in itself is a miraculous occurrence.
Throughout this unchanging counsel of the Bible, by contrast the life we have been given is represented as a fleeting and temporal existence.
James 4:14 – What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Psalm 89:47 – Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
Psalm 144:4 – Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Job 8:9 – For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow.
Psalm 103:15-16 – As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
Psalm 39:4-5 – “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!”
This recognition of our own mortality should drive us closer to God, not farther from him. Because we understand we are so temporary, we should seek to latch on to those things that are eternal, that reach beyond our short time that we have while we are here. Our thoughts should run in step with those of the psalmist:
Psalm 90:12 – So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
When we “number our days,” we are considering the short time that we have and the vain things we spend so much time on. Our lives can be unstable and variable as we flit from passion to passing trend. We waste time, energy, and passion on so many pointless and fleeting distractions that we arrive breathless and strained at the end of each day. We rave about the most popular people and issues of the day, while ranting about individualized injustice and personal misery. Like Job of old, we come to view our lives as a constant, unfair struggle that deserves to be broadcast to the widest possible audience:
Job 19:23-24 – “I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book, by an iron stylus on lead, or chiseled in stone forever.”
The fallacy of this type of thinking is borne out even in the conclusion of Job’s story: his fortunes are restored, his honor is retained, and the eternal justice of God is exonerated. Therefore, we should recognize that the eternal nature of God stands supreme over the petty and temporal issues and circumstances we face. Like Paul, our lives should be molded toward that which is eternal:
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 – “For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
When we really pause to consider that God is eternal and we are not, how can we possibly think that our ways are better than his? Have we learned nothing from the natural course of life, how the wisdom of the aged is more stable than the impetuous passion of youth? If this is true in a natural sense, how much more with the One who never changes for all of eternity?
Within this idea of the fleeting nature of life we may be challenged as to what, then, we should spend our time doing. What kind of goals should we set for ourselves when we have such little time to accomplish what we would hope to do? And can we maintain those goals in any sort of consistent manner? As an example, I happen to be an employee of a large national corporation here in America which sets its goals year by year and quarter by quarter, and those goals are constantly changing. But because of this type of constant change, I find the perpetual stability of God’s word to be of great comfort.
I remember reading of some Japanese institutions which have existed for generations who do their best to lay out 500-year goals for their companies! Can you imagine such a thing? In fact, it is said that more than half of the oldest companies in the world are in Japan. As of 2020, there were over 33,000 Japanese companies that were over 100 years old, there were about 40 companies that were 500 years old. The oldest company in the world is also Japanese; it is a construction company that has been in business for over 1,400 years. A lot of this longevity has to do with the culture of the working class and the mindset of the employees who rarely change jobs. The overarching ideal is for stability of the company through the stability of its employment.
By contrast, our American culture has almost the exact opposite mentality. While some institutions have survived for long periods of time, overall, employment stability is rare, if not non-existent. And this lack of stability in employment leads workers to change jobs frequently in order to cope. It is said that the average American worker changes jobs between 12-15 times throughout their working lifetime.
But what if, as believers, we were to take a lesson from the eternal nature of God and some of this understanding of the Japanese culture by considering objectives in our lives beyond just our lifetimes? Remember:
Psalm 90:12 – So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
What if we had 500-year goals, not for an earthly company, but for God? Since he is unchanging and eternal, and if we were to line our goals up with his, we could be able to create a solid planning strategy that could extend well into the future. “Well,” you may say, “that’s impossible, because we won’t live to be 500 years old.” True, but if we were to consider the impact our life can have beyond even our own lifetime, how would that change what we do each day?
Think of the cathedral builders who recognized they were working on a project that would not be completed for decades or even over a hundred years. They worked every day as a link in a chain that they knew could extend beyond their working lifetime. If we had even the slightest inclination that our work would be progressively built upon after our departure, how would that affect the effort and quality we would put forth?
I stumbled across a story recently written by Jim Stephens on leadership, where he shares this kind of principle in the context of effective life-planning. He writes the following:
“My mentor once asked me for my life plan. I didn’t have one. He made me go home and not come back to work until I had my plan down on paper. After a few days I returned to work and handed him several pages. He asked me why my life plan only went 50 years? (At the time I was 27 and I figured that was a pretty good life plan.) He said, ‘Don’t you get anything?’ I was thoroughly confused. He asked, ‘Why set goals that last only as long as the body?’ He said, ‘Don’t you realize you are a spiritual being who HAS a body? And, if that’s true, why not set 500 year goals for what will be going on in the world as a result of when you had a body. At the least,’ he continued, ‘set 100 years goals, figuring that you will leave a wake on this company, your family, your community and your church much like a boat leaves a wake behind in the water when it passes.'”
I like that imagery of a boat leaving a wake behind it that continues outward behind it. When we can get out of our limited mindset of the-most-important-thing-right-now to the most important thing to an eternal God, our perspective changes, and our scope of influence changes radically. Our life now becomes a life of faith, because we are having to rely on others and situations outside of ourselves, and strength and wisdom that comes from God. When we consider ways we can pass the baton of the faith not only to the next generation but the one beyond that, we re-structure the priorities we have currently to affect that end result. Sometimes the biggest way to grow our faith is to simply change our perspective.
As we have seen, the Bible is filled with references to the temporary nature of our lives on this earth. By looking beyond the scope of our own lifetime, we can see that the God of the Bible is eternal and unchanging, and the more our plans and goals line up with his, the more likely the things and people we are involved with during our time here will carry greater meaning and lasting influence.
Ultimately, we are encouraged by the prophet Isaiah to trust in God if for no other reason than simply because he is eternal. We need to allow God to be God, and to recognize that we are not. When we do so, we can then have clarity through the settling dust of our temporary existence to see him for who he is, and place our trust and our purpose where it really belongs: in his gracious, unchanging hands.
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.
Being regularly engaged with God’s word in meaningful ways is what sets us apart for his will.
Core of the Bible podcast #68 – Being intentional with God’s Word
Today we will be looking at the topic of holiness, and how being regularly engaged with God’s word in meaningful ways is what sets us apart for his will.
Psalm 1:1-2 – “Blessed is the person who does not follow the advice of wicked people, take the path of sinners, or join the company of mockers. Rather, he delights in the teachings of Yahweh and reflects on his teachings day and night.”
A life that is set apart in holiness has its roots in the diligent study of torah, or the instruction, of Yahweh. This constant input of God’s teachings is what generates within us a desire to do what honors him and directs us to deal fairly with others. Since we are commanded to be holy, a practical understanding of what it means to “meditate” or “reflect on” his teachings can benefit our spiritual growth and nourishment.
Firstly, if our review of God’s instruction is to be constant, it must be comprehensive. We should be reviewing all of God’s word on a regular basis, not just cherry-picking our favorite verses. At a minimum we should be reviewing all of the Bible at least once a year.
There are many different ways this can be accomplished in today’s world. In our day and culture, at least here in America, we have a large variety of versions and translations to choose from. We also have many different media options from print, to online, to apps for our mobile devices. We have audio versions and video versions that can be listened to and viewed regularly. If any generation has the ability to be steeped in God’s word, it is our current information-rich society.
Typically, one of these through-the-year plans will have daily readings each including a portion of the Old Testament, Psalms, and the New Testament. When broken down into bite-size pieces like this, it is easily achievable to read the entire Bible in only 15 or so minutes a day.
The problem that can be encountered with these plans comes when some unavoidable event comes up that causes the reader to lose a day or a couple of days. Getting caught up to get back on track becomes more and more challenging with each passing day, and eventually it is just easier to give up. Part of this stems from the versions that list the actual date for each passage to be read, and once a few days are lost or we get behind, it can be a struggle to keep up. I find it’s easier to use a plan that doesn’t have dates attached to each reading, therefore, if a day or two is missed, it just takes a couple of days longer than a year to complete the entire Bible.
My favorite method is based on a chart that was created by the para-ministry Young Life, and it breaks all of the passages down by the genre of content on each day of the week rather than by simply Old or New Testament each day. This way, there is more consistency and variety throughout each week.
Now over the years I have modified this method for my own preference, but as an example, on Sundays I read through the books of Moses. Mondays and Tuesdays are prophecy, Wednesdays are the Apocryphal books, Thursdays and Fridays are historical books, and Sabbath is New Testament. Additionally, each day I read a portion from Proverbs and Psalms in an ongoing rotation throughout the year. I have had the most success with this method, as it has the variety I need, but also the consistency of regularity that works with my daily and weekly routine.
Whatever plan one chooses, just take it one day at a time to continue or create a daily routine. There really is no excuse to not engage regularly with God’s Word for believers in today’s day and age, other than not having the discipline to do so, which leads to the next point.
Secondly, our review should be intentional. We have to set apart time each day to be successful. Like any relationship, there has to be constant interaction in order for the relationship to grow. The psalmist uses the language of “day and night” to convey the constancy of this meditation in God’s word.
Again, my personal practice is that my morning time is when I can most focus on my relationship with God and my deeper thinking about theological issues. I’m typically up really early while the rest of the family is sleeping so I have the quiet time I need to focus. For other people, late at night might be the best for them, after the events of the day have calmed down and everyone else in the household goes to bed.
All I know is that for me, personally, if the day gets going before I have had my quiet time, I rarely have another opportunity throughout the day and I am usually so tired by the evening that I am straight off to bed.
Setting aside whatever time works for you is critical to the success of this type of commitment to read through the Bible. If you do not have a routine, you are less likely to keep going.
Additionally, with a quiet time routine, your mind and body are more likely to remain engaged with it because it becomes a natural part of who you are and what you do. I look forward to my quiet time each day because I enjoy spending time with God in his Word, but if I don’t make the time for that interaction to take place, it rarely happens on its own.
Thirdly, this daily review of God’s Word should be meaningful. We need to be critically engaged with God’s instruction. What do I mean by this? Essentially, we need to be thinking about what it is that we are reading: who was this written to? When was it written? What is the goal of the author in writing this material? These are the types of things that help us begin to understand the overarching narratives that become evident as we gather information on the whole of the Bible and not just our favorite comfortable passages.
It’s popular today to do some form of Bible journaling, where one comes to the Bible with markers and pens, ready to note any insights that may become apparent in that daily reading. Using this type of approach helped me begin to see many of the connections throughout the Bible, how it is essentially “hyper-linked” between passages and quotations throughout. In fact, at one point, my marked-up Bible became so worn that pages began to fall out. Some wonderful friends in the congregation surprised me by taking the time and expense to have it rebound for me as a gift so I could continue to use it as the valuable reference tool it had become.
The more comprehensive our understanding is of all of God’s Word, the more clarity we can gain on his overall purpose and goal for humanity within his Creation. When we have a better grasp of his purpose and goals, then we also have more understanding on his expectations of us as individuals, and we become empowered to bear fruit for him.
A comprehensive understanding of the Bible helps us realize that God desires people to rule over his Creation as his representatives, but they have constantly rejected his authority and suffered the due consequences of that rejection. He then chose one nation, Israel, to be an example and a light to the rest of the world. The Bible is their record of the experiences they encountered on that journey with God. Through their example and his interactions with them, we learn of how God desires to interact with all people.
Coming to conclusions like this can only be gained by continual and deep reflection on the context of the original writings of Scripture. Rather than looking for a meaningful verse that just sounds good, or simply passing popular scripture memes on social media, the life of true faith in the God of the Bible is one that seeks to understand not only what the Bible says this life is about, but how it is to be lived to best honor our Creator.
Finally, while there are different learning styles, we can have various levels of meaningful engagement depending on how we choose to interact with the Word. Most people do this through reading. This engages one level of our critical insight. If one comes to the Bible to read and to journal or take physical notes, our comprehension begins to grow on a couple of levels. By reading and taking notes while listening to an audio version, our comprehension grows on multiple levels. The key is to recognize that God has provided his Word for a reason, and it’s the most important reason in the world: so we can know him. If doing additional things besides just reading sounds too difficult and challenging, then at least reading or listening to the Word on a regular basis can continually familiarize the believer with its content.
Here are a couple of other ideas for helping our understanding grow:
When we study, we can read the word out loud, interacting through sight, speech and hearing.
We can select different versions or parallel Bibles to keep the variety of expressions fresh, and our understanding broadened by the subtle variations in versions.
By committing meaningful passages to memory and reciting them over and over (i.e., “hiding God’s word in our heart,” Psalm 119:11), we have our most intimate and meaningful application of this engagement.
Through all of this, I would hope that you have at least one takeaway from today’s information, and that is that whatever method works for you in spending time with the God of the Bible, your diligence in that effort sets you apart from the rest of the world who is simply trying to find their own way based on what seems best to them at the time. This being set apart, this holiness, is what God wants for his people, because he does desire our continual spiritual growth in knowing him and in our fruitful work in helping others.
In what ways can you be more engaged with God’s instruction? Perhaps experimenting with different levels of interacting with his word through the media options available to us can provide fresh perspective and renewed insight. The more intentional we are in learning from his guidance, the more set apart and available for his purposes we become.
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.
When we reserve retribution to God, we will be honoring him, and he will be attentive to our call.
When we reserve retribution to God, we will be honoring him, and he will be attentive to our call.
Psalm 4:3-5 – “But know that Yahweh has set apart the faithful for himself; Yahweh hears when I call to him. When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in Yahweh.”
This psalm highlights that those who exhibit faith in God have been set apart for himself. With this being set apart comes a responsibility to maintain that trust in God. The believer demonstrates trust in God when they do not allow themselves to take action against personal injustice, but to meditate or ponder the situation in a quiet place such as the bed, and to remain silent.
In this version, the psalm says, “when you are disturbed, do not sin…” The meaning of being disturbed actually broadens to describe when someone becomes angry, or disquieted, or so worked up over some injustice that they begin to shake and become frustrated. When this happens, they are not to not follow through with the outworking of that frustration, but to think it through in that quiet place.
Instead, the psalmist says to have a two-pronged response: to offer right sacrifices and to put one’s trust in Yahweh. What is a correct sacrificial response for believers today?
Romans 12:1 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Hebrews 13:16 – “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
The admonition for believers today is to offer ourselves as ongoing sacrifices, and to not neglect others as we seek to serve God. These are the sacrificial things we need to meditate about and consider as we remain silent on our beds.
Yeshua’s conversation with a scribe brought a similar understanding to him, when he repeated back to the Master his understanding of the whole purpose of man: to love God and to love others.
Mark 12:32-34 – “Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Yeshua saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’”
If we truly offer these “right sacrifices” and maintain our trust that Yahweh will work the situation through in his timing, we will be honoring God and he will be attentive to our call. If we choose to maintain our trust in Yahweh in this way, we can be encouraged through the reassuring words of the apostle Paul:
Romans 8:28 – “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
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.
Holiness is the evidence of the salvation God provides.
Holiness is the evidence of the salvation God provides.
Leviticus 20:23, 26 – “You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. … ‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I Yahweh am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.”
All throughout the book of Leviticus, God reiterates over and over how his people were to be distinct from the people around them. They were to avoid copying their religious practices and social customs. Yahweh says, “Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.” And yet, as the history of Israel unfolds, we find that they stubbornly continued the idolatrous practices that eventually led to God removing them from their land by the Assyrians and Babylonians.
2 Kings 16:6-8 – “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. This occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had introduced.”
The same God still desires his people to be holy and set apart today. Yet there appears to be an ongoing desire to participate in the customs of the people around us. It is no longer just a mild or sporadic resistance to certain aspects of obedience to God, but now flagrant disregard for the commandments and practices that should be setting us apart. God has provided the commandments as a way of protecting his people from the harm that comes from these destructive practices, and yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish God’s people from the rest of the nations.
Fearful of appearing to be legalists, God’s people instead go along with the cultural and societal practices under the guise of “reaching out” to others, or simply out of ignorance. Believers have been taught for so long that the law of God has been “done away” in Messiah, that they have adopted an “anything goes” mentality instead of maintaining a purposeful separation from the harmful practices of our societies.
Understanding why God wanted his people separate can help: God’s people are his, and bear his name in this world.
Leviticus 20:26 – “You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.”
When we recognize our lives as believers are not our own, we begin to understand that God has rightful authority to direct us and that he does so because he cares for us and wants to rescue us completely from the worldliness around us. The longer we resist his authority and instead choose our own paths, the longer we will remain in conditions he never desired for us to be in.
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.
Believers today have an obligation to tell the good news about God’s rule.
Luke 4:43 – But Yeshua said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.”
There are many ideas today about what the kingdom of God is all about, such as how and when it is to be established. However, I would like to present some thoughts as to why the kingdom is already a present and eternal reality, even if it is not recognized as such just yet.
The kingdom is not a physical place, but an ideal.
Luke 17:20-21 – Once Yeshua was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God does not come with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.”
The Pharisees, like many believers today, were looking for signs of when the kingdom was going to be established. They believed a physical king would rule over Israel and subdue all nations to himself. However, Yeshua corrected them and let them know that it was something more than a physical kingdom. A physical kingdom can be observed or identified on a map. But Yeshua taught the kingdom of God was in their midst, among them in that present time. The Pharisees were unable to see it only because they were blinded to the ideal due to their desire for earthly power and prestige. Therefore, it eluded them, even though it was a present reality.
The kingdom does not have a single location but is universal.
Psalm 22:27-28 – All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. For dominion belongs to Yahweh, and he rules over the nations.
The rule of God already extends over all people throughout the earth, and always has. While in the past God had selected Israel as a people for himself out of all the nations, it was for the purpose of demonstrating an object lesson, a way for him to express who he is so the world could see how he chooses to interact with all of humanity. But his rule is not limited to one city or nation above all others, he rules over all nations at all times.
The kingdom is not past or future but is present and eternal.
Psalm 145:10-13 – All your works shall give thanks to you, O Yahweh, and all your faithful shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power, to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
Just because individuals may not recognize the rule and authority of God here and now does not mean it does not exist. Like a ruler of old who ascended to a throne, until the message had spread throughout the empire, there was no knowledge of a new emperor or king. This is the role of believers today, to “speak of the glory of [his] kingdom, to tell of [his] power, to make known to all people [his] mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of [his] kingdom.”
This is the message I bring to you today. This is the message, the good news, the gospel of the kingdom.
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.
Core of the Bible podcast #65 – In this kingdom we bear the name and character of God
Today we will be looking at the topic of the Kingdom of God, and how by being in the kingdom, we carry God’s name. Because of this, our words and actions should match his.
Exodus 20:7 – “You do not take up the name of your God Yahweh for a vain thing, for Yahweh does not acquit him who takes up His name for a vain thing.”
As one of the Ten Commandments or Ten “Words” which I believe are the charter instructions for the kingdom of God, I wanted to take some time to explore the nature of what this commandment is really all about.
This verse has classically been used throughout generations for the purpose of not abusing or misusing the revealed name of God, in the sense of using his name as a curse word, or speaking it casually in conversation outside of an appropriate worship setting, or reading it within the text of the Bible.
But as we explore this verse today I think we’ll see that these caricatures miss the intent of what God is attempting to teach us here and throughout the whole Bible. The real sense of the passage is less about misusing God’s name carelessly, and more about our character in claiming to be believers or followers of him.
To begin with, let’s look at how the verse is expressed in some of its original Hebrew key words to gain some depth of what exactly is being discussed.
To “take up” God’s name means to lift or carry; it conveys the idea of raising or bearing a load or burden; it can also mean to accept. To “take” his name is to take up, or carry his name as identifying who we are, or rather, whose we are.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the word for name. The word for “name” in Hebrew is shem. The idea of avoiding pronouncing the sacred name of God (which I refer to as Yahweh) comes from a long tradition among the Jews, who wanted to substitute another word, “adonai,” whenever Yahweh appeared in the text to avoid speaking the sacred name casually or without respect. This word translates into the English as “lord” and is usually printed in all capitals in the Old Testament to identify that verse as containing the sacred name of God.
I suppose the idea behind this practice has been to honor God’s name; however, it has not always been this way, even among God’s people. Hundreds of years before Messiah, it was still a common practice to greet one another with the blessings of Yahweh; it was not until after the return from their captivity that they adopted the practice of not pronouncing the name of God. To this day, God is typically referenced among Jews as HaShem, a title which literally means, the Name.
There is nothing really wrong in continuing this practice out of respect for God, but it is important to recognize there is nothing within the Bible itself that requires this avoidance of pronouncing the name of God, Yahweh. In fact, it could be argued from the Bible that God actually encourages and expects us to use his name, which is why he told it to Moses in the first place:
Exodus 3:15 – “God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations.'”
The reason this has significance is because the word shem or name also conveys some meanings about what it represents. It is associated with the fame or glory of an individual, indicative of their character. From a Hebraic perspective, to utter someone’s name is to call out their character.
This is one of the main reasons I prefer to use the name Yeshua instead of Jesus when speaking of the Messiah, because the word Yeshua in Hebrew conveys the idea of salvation, that which the Messiah came to provide.
Now as a representative name applies to Yahweh, Amos exemplifies this type of use of the word when he says:
Amos 5:8 – “The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the earth — Yahweh is his name.”
This verse shows how God’s ability or nature as the Creator is contained within his “name” or his character. To recognize and honor his name is to recognize him as the Creator and sustainer of all.
It is also representative of a memorial of that character or essence.
Isaiah 66:22 – “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will remain before me” — this is Yahweh’s declaration — “so your offspring and your name will remain.”
The idea that Isaiah conveys here is that the Israelites’ name, that which embodies who they are, would remain with their future generations.
So from this brief look at a few of the words and phrases more closely, we can see that to take the name of God is to lift, carry, or honor his name (as in raising it up). That which is being lifted, carried and honored is his character, his reputation. Therefore, those who belong to the kingdom of God should be honoring the name, or character, of God with their thoughts, speech, and conduct.
As one of the Ten Commandments within the charter of the kingdom of God, this then implies that honoring the name through living out its values is appropriate and expected kingdom behavior.
So far we have seen that the admonition here is not about the abuse of God’s name, but it’s about when we are identifying as belonging to him, we do not dishonor or defame his name or character by our careless conduct. When someone comes to the knowledge of God and wants to be his follower, then they take his name, identifying with his character. By this participation in the kingdom of God, as his children, we carry his name and his character in this world.
To “take God’s name in vain” is not expressly to use his name flippantly (although that certainly is included). The fact that the commandment urges us to not take the name “in vain” could be paraphrased as “You shall not take my name lightly or for no purpose.”
Our desire to follow his ways should not be rooted in our own selfish ambition or schemes. We should not join the kingdom impetuously, without any real thought for the responsibility we bear. Unfortunately, I have witnessed many “altar calls” for people to become believers based on transient emotions, getting swept away in the moment by some moving stories or demonstrative worship experience.
These type of theatrics were not how Yeshua practiced ministry; he never “worked” the crowds to cause people to come to him. In fact, if anything, his teaching was so polarizing and hotly debated that sometimes people left by droves.
John 6:60-61, 66 “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But Yeshua, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you?’ … Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.”
Coming to faith in the God of the Bible is not a matter of spiritual feelings or some worshipful experience based on emotion; it should be a willing desire based on a knowledge and understanding of what being a disciple, a member of God’s kingdom, means.
Luke 14:27-30 – “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’”
Sadly, I have seen many sincere people begin to build a tower that they could not finish, and I believe it was because their foundation was not based on a knowledge of the Holy One, but on feelings and emotions that faded when the reality of the daily participation in the kingdom was realized. Essayist and poet G.K. Chesterton has been famously quoted as saying: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried.”
The carrying of one’s cross implies that in some respects the life of a disciple is one of carrying a sacrificial burden, one that involves the reduction of self in all things. Carrying the name of God is such a burden, as it is a diminishment of ourselves and a lifting up of his honor and character. Within the kingdom of God, we should be sincere in our desires to live for him and to bring honor and glory to his name. When we carry his name, our actions and our words should match his.
Yeshua demonstrated this so completely that it was impossible to distinguish between him and his Father.
John 5:19 – “So Yeshua said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.'”
John 7:16 – “So Yeshua answered them, ‘My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.'”
John 12:49 – “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment–what to say and what to speak.”
John 14:8-9 – “Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Yeshua said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?'”
When we consider following the Messiah, we are accepting that he was sent from the Father, and carried the name of God so completely that he was essentially indistinguishable from the Father. If we are to become more and more like Messiah, then this same characteristic should be evident in our lives. When people see or hear us, they should be seeing what the Father would want to do or say in that situation.
Does this sound like a heavy responsibility? Of course, which is why we should not take his name lightly or for no purpose, which is the whole point of the third commandment. As we have seen already, we are admonished by Yeshua to count the cost of kingdom living (Luke 14:25-33), but in so doing, to accept it willingly and gladly.
The kingdom is a place of great joy and fulfillment, but it is also a participation in a lifestyle of discipline and self-control. As one of the gifts of God’s Spirit, we should demonstrate self-control so that we do not defame the name that we bear. As we reflect his glory and honor in our words in our actions, we can be sure that we are providing every opportunity for others to be drawn to him, and for the kingdom to become a little bit larger in our generation.
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.
Within the revelation provided to the apostle John, we get a glimpse of a scene in heaven with the saints extolling the majesty and holiness of the one true God.
Revelation 15:2-4 – And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.”
In this scene, those who had been brought through the trials of the tribulation predicted by Messiah now stand before the throne of God, worshiping him. They describe him as the one who alone is holy because of his “amazing deeds” and “judgments” which had been revealed.
The outworking of these judgments within the Revelation are a demonstration of God’s holiness, his set-apartness from all other gods. He alone could rightfully carry out the actions that are represented there because it had all come to pass due to the failure of his people to honor him.
There is a principle revealed throughout the Bible that ties the holiness of believers to their worship of the one true God. Just like the saying that relates “you are what you eat,” the biblical principle is “you become like the one you worship.”
1 Kings 11:2 – “Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, You shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods…”
The apostle John admonishes his audience to reject the false gods of this world.
1 John 2:16 – For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
If we worship the false gods of this world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, we will become consumed with them in our daily lives. This is why the Bible in so many different ways condemns these things, from the Ten Commandments through the Sermon on the Mount. This is why this song in Revelation can be titled “the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.”
However, if we worship the one true God, since he is holy and set apart, we become holy and set apart. This is not only the result of our worship, but is a commandment which becomes a statement of fact of the reality of our lives:
Leviticus 20:26 – And you shall be holy unto me: for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
Romans 11:16 – For if the first-fruit is holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Our holiness is a derived holiness from God, it is not something we manufacture or invent within ourselves as if it were some sort of way that we could make up to try to please him. Our holiness becomes evident only when we produce fruit in keeping with his commandments because we are single-mindedly focused on pleasing him. Our devotion to him drives the holiness in our lives.
And the holiness in our lives drives the nations to worship him, also. As they see the separateness of our lives that are devoted to him, they learn of his deeds that he has performed on behalf of his people. We can then say with the saints in heaven, “Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name?”
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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, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
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