A Boomer in the Pew

God: It is Foolish to Place Your Faith in Nations

Bible in a Year Series - Day #197 & 198 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Isaiah 13-17, & Isaiah 18-22.

From the ESV Study Bible:

"The prophet helps Judah to see the nations of the day as entirely subject to the sovereign rule of God. Five oracles reveal God ruling over Babylon and Assyria (13:1–14:27), Philistia (14:28–32), Moab (15:1–16:14), Damascus/Israel (17:1–18:7), and Egypt (19:1–20:6). The OT prophets have numerous oracles about other nations (see chart). These display the basic biblical conviction that as universal Creator, the God of Israel is not limited to Israel but holds all nations accountable for their deeds (cf. 13:11; Rom. 3:29–30)."

The world had changed greatly from the time of Kings David & Solomon.  For centuries, with a few exceptions here and there, God's chosen Israel has liven an apostate life.  Over, and over, and over we have seen a pattern of apostasy followed by repentance. 

This time, however, things will be different.  Israel, and her 10 tribes, now ceases to exist, and Judah is not far behind.

Israel's history is replete with miraculous examples of God protecting his people, but in the 8th century B.C the king's had taken to withering from powerful nation's and paying them very expensive tributes rather than being slaughtered.

In our verses today, God, through the prophet Isaiah, is making it absolutely crystal clear that he is God of all of his creation.  If fact, he will demonstrate this fact through many oracles foretelling of his bringing down, and bringing up the nations at his prerogative.

When we live in the world's only true superpower, it is quite easy to place our faith in our government and our nuclear bombs to keep us safe from evil doers. 

And certainly God is the architect of our current state, but we must learn the lesson of the Scriptures and understand that God alone is our shield.

If we persist in our own arrogance, and continue the path that wealth so often brings, then perhaps we too someday will lose God's blessing and find ourselves enslaved by another nation.

I suspect that most on the street would think this thought pure lunacy.  But one only needs to read history to see this pattern played out over, and over.

Are we so vain that we think we too are above God's righteous hand?

Yahweh is Lord of all.

Israel Slain, 10 Tribes Forever Lost, and Unmistakably Yahweh Reigns

Bible in a Year Series - Day #196 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: 2 Chronicles 28, and 2 Kings 16-17.

Israel is no more. 

Today, in our chronological journey through the Bible, Samaria is sacked, and her inhabitants carried away into exile.

Here is why God chose to destroy the Northern Tribes of Israel.

From the InterVarsity Press New Bible Commentary:

"The city fell in 722 BC, at about the time of Shalmaneser V’s death. In Assyrian sources Sargon II, his brother and successor, claims credit for the city’s capture. Those deported (6) were numbered by Sargon at 27,290. This figure seems too large for Samaria alone and probably includes people from other cities of Israel. The deportees were resettled in distant parts of the Assyrian empire (6), not all of which can be located with confidence."

Interestingly, Sargon II was held for centuries to be a Biblical myth until in 1843 French scholar Paul Emile Botta unearthed Sargon's mighty palace at Dur Sharrukin (Khorsabad), just north of Nineveh near the Tigris river.

Inside these incredible ruins was found this inscription:

"At the beginning of my rule, in the very first year I reigned…I set siege to and conquered Samaria…I carried away into captivity 27,290 persons who lived there; I took fifty fine chariots for my royal equipment."

My head is spinning as I attempt to wrap my mind around:

• God's clear and warned judgment of these apostate tribes.
• Imagining what it must have been like to have been starved for three years (the battle for the city of Samaria), and then carried away into exile.
• These people have now become the 10 lost tribes of Israel, never again to be seen, for it is from Judah God will rebuild Israel.

I grieve for Israel, but I suppose at the end of the day, this really wasn't God's chosen Israel at all.  Over the centuries, they had drifted so far from the commandments of God, through idolatry, sacrificing their own children, and significant other heinous sins, that God wiped these usurpers of his name from the face of the earth.

Certainly we must all see and learn what the human nature is capable of.

Our fallen human nature hates God, desires to place ourselves on the throne of life, and then revel in debaucheries of all kinds.

As we stand here in the burning ruins of Israel (Samaria), and can hears the screams of the women and children being carried off into slavery, we must begin to understand that Yahweh reigns, and will judge his creation.

Most sobering to consider.

And What Does the Lord Require of You?

Bible in a Year Series - Day #195 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Micah 1-7.

Today we come upon yet another of God's prophets who foretell of a coming judgment for Israel and Judah.

The Prophet Micah foretells of God's use of Assyria and Babylon to bring about this destruction and exile.

Micah also foretells of a future Shepherd-King (Messiah) who will be born in Bethlehem.

In the sixth chapter, the hearers of this prophecy are snipping back in arrogance and asking what God requires of them to avert this pending judgment:

“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
 8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:6-8)

Certainly these men don't understand the true penitent heart.

It Boggles the Mind to Consider Isaiah's Prophesy of Messiah

Bible in a Year Series - Day #194 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: 2 Chronicles 27, and Isaiah 9-12.

If I got these dates right, while Amos was up in Israel speaking of God's coming destruction of Israel, and a preserved remnant of David, the Prophet Isaiah was in the South giving a similar message to Judah.

Amos talked of wonderful things for the remnant, but just look what Isaiah has to say:

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Looking through the eyes of the 740 B.C. child of God, this may not have made much sense.  But to us who are thousands of years down the road, what an absolutely, incomprehensible thing!

God, in the form of Messiah, will come to earth to sit eternally upon the throne of David.  The King of Kings.

What wonder is this?  I'm speechless.

The Prophet Amos, the Coming Destruction of Israel, and the Plumb Line of God

Bible in a Year Series - Day #193 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Amos 6-9.

Today's reading from the Prophet Amos was very sobering to read and consider. 

Although this post is longer than normal, please take 15 minutes and digest what God desires that we know about him.

God is teaching us that he has a plumb line, and that plumb line will determine who are truly His.

"This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them;" (Amos 7:7-8)

"This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them." (Amos 8:1-2)

"I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said:

“Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape." (Amos 9:1)

"All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’" (Amos 9:10)

You've seen them.  You know, the "crazy people" who hold up signs that say, "the end is near".  Well that was Amos.

God was pleased to pluck him out of the field where he was tending his flock, and gave him a vision to share with Israel. 

Although we have yet to actually come upon this foretold destruction of Israel, hearing the words of God's wrath stirs my soul to its roots.

From the very day of the Exodus, God made clear his desires to his chosen people Israel.  God built this nation from the loins of Abraham, and a great many have done nothing but try His patience.

Well, we have now come to the end of the summer of God's patience for Israel.

God is going to destroy all Israel, but he is going to do it with discrimination.  He has a plumb line that he will use to measure, and those who are truly his He will remember.  Everyone else is doomed to certain destruction, and God will never pass by them again.  That's it!  Finished!  Forever separated from God.

This is incomprehensible, and significantly difficult to read.  I try, in my mind, to place myself in the crowd listening to these words. 

I now know that I would stand the test of the plumb line, but the sheer horror is painful nonetheless.

We learn here, and all throughout the Bible, that there exists a church within a church.  There are those who call themselves God's elect, and then there are those who truly are God's elect.

Many, in ancient Israel, thought themselves elect because they were descended from those who were in the Exodus.  Likewise, many today think themselves elect because they said a magic prayer, or they have been good, or they go to church, or they "believe" in God.

Yet, here, and all throughout the Bible, we see God moving against those who stand at the gate calling out His name, yet He knows them not.

Jonathan Edwards wrote his famous Religious Affections (see my months long study on this book) precisely on this subject.

Although this is horrifying for even God's true elect to view, we all must first search our souls to make certain that we are His. 

Once again, the InterVarsity Press New Bible Commentary brings some clarity:

"But who are these ‘pebbles’, destined for removal? Not just the sinners among my people but a particular class of sinner: those who are complacent in the face of divine judgment, those who are sinners and who assert that sin is a permitted way of life by discounting the reality of coming judgment. Overtake or meet, i.e. neither catch up with us out of the past nor face us in the future, as if they were saying, ‘There is nothing in our past to merit judgment, nor will there be in the future.’ This is not the voice of those (the people who pass the plumbline test in 7:7-9) who are building their lives on the level of grace with the straight edge of law, but of complacent, uncaring sinners in a world of make–believe. Neither for Amos nor for us is this a word intended to put our salvation at peril. But it reminds us that there is a double seal on the foundation of the LORD’s house: ‘the LORD knows those who are his’ (2 Tim. 2:19) (hence our security in the unchanging will of the God who chose and took us for himself), and ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity’ (see 2 Pet. 1:5-11) (the moral determination which is evidence of elect status)."

I fear there exists a great many of these complacent ones who have never read the whole of God's counsel, and therefore their pride and ignorance puts them in great peril.

In spite of this certain impending horror about to befall Israel, look at the promise for God's true elect:

“In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the Lord who does this.

13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God." (Amos 9:11-15)

Oh my friend.  Oh my loved ones.  Search your soul and make absolutely certain that your name is written in God's Book of Life. 

For here we will see a certain final judgment come upon these particular Israelites, but Messiah has made it clear that there is also coming a certain final judgment for all.

The question is:  will you be among the scoffers, or the saved ones?

A most sobering question indeed!

The Prophet Amos Tells of God's Hatred of "Religion" and Shockingly Foretells of Israel's Doom

Bible in a Year Series - Day #192 - This post is part of a year-long series where we are reading chronologically through the Bible.  Click here to learn more.  You are most welcome to join along at any time.

Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Amos 1-5.

“I hate, I despise your feasts..." (Amos 5:21a)

and:

“Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

13 For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and declares to man what is his thought,
who makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name! (Amos 4:12-13)

Yahweh brings in a shepherd (despised of society) prophet to bring his message to Israel.  The prophet is able to easily gather a crowd as he tells of Yahweh's judgment on the surrounding nations.  The wealthy and apostate Israelites drink it up until the Prophet Amos then shares that God intends to also, like a mighty lion, slay Israel.

I found it very difficult to hear God say, "I hate", or "prepare to meet your God".  For centuries Israel has turned her nose to Yahweh, and their judgment is just.  But, nonetheless, when you hear these words come from your Creator, it stirs the soul.

These words do not line up with the Coca-Cola god of my youth!

Here's this from the ESV Study Bible:

"From c. 780–745 b.c. the Assyrian Empire was unable to continue the pressure it had put on the nations of the Canaanite coast during the previous century. At this same time, both Judah and Israel were blessed with fairly stable governments. As a result of these two factors, the two nations were experiencing a time of wealth and prosperity unparalleled since the day of Solomon. This was especially true for the northern kingdom, Israel. Judah tended to be more isolated from the world at large and possessed less arable land than did Israel. Thus, when opportunities for amassing wealth and the trappings of prosperity presented themselves, Israel was in a better position to capitalize on those opportunities.

As has tended to be true throughout history, the Israelites took this wealth and prosperity to be unmistakable signs of the blessing of God. Thus, they were reinforced in their belief that “the day of the Lord” would soon dawn in which God would subdue their enemies under their feet and make them the rulers of the world. But in fact, their present wealth and power was not evidence of the blessing of God. As Amos conclusively showed, they were actually under the curse of God because of their egregious breaches of their covenant with him. Much of their wealth had been amassed at the expense of the poor, whom the rich and powerful were systematically oppressing. Their worship of God was little more than attempts at magical manipulation of him, much like the religion of their pagan neighbors. It is no accident that Amos delivered his messages at Bethel, where Jeroboam's namesake (Jeroboam I) had set up a golden calf for Israel to worship in 930 b.c. at the very outset of the northern kingdom.

Thus, what the Israelites saw as the beginning of a new “Golden Age” was really the last flush of a terminal illness. And it was Amos's unhappy task to disabuse them of their foolish expectations. Not only was Israel not going to become ruler of the world, within just a few years they would not exist as a nation at all, and would continue to exist as a people only by the unmerited grace of God (9:11–15). “The day of the Lord,” far from being a day of light, was going to be a day of darkness.

As it turned out, Amos was profoundly correct. Though no human could have predicted it, God knew that Assyria was not entering its final decline but was only “catching its breath” before its explosion into its final century of greatness. In 745 b.c. Tiglath-pileser III would ascend the throne of Assyria, and hardly more than 20 years later, in 722, the northern kingdom of Israel would cease to exist."

Clearly we can see how much God will do to protect the glory, and honor of His Holy Name.

We can not understand who God is unless we also understand that he is also Judge.