Days of Praise

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March 10, 2017 The Way of Cain “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” (Proverbs 25:14)   Cain initially was a religious man, evidently proud of his achievements as a “tiller of the ground” that God had “cursed” (Genesis 4:2; 3:17). He assumed that God would be much impressed with the beautiful basket of his “fruit of the ground” that he presented as an “offering unto the LORD.” Cain became bitterly angry when God “had not respect” to Cain and his offering (Genesis 4:3-5).   “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,” shedding the blood of an innocent lamb in substitution for his own sin and guilt before God, “by which he obtained witness that he was righteous” (Hebrews 11:4). Since “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17), Abel was merely obeying God’s Word, but Cain, proud and self-righteous in attitude, was presuming to offer up his own merits in payment for the privilege of coming to God.   This was a “false gift,” however, with no meritorious value at all before God, “like clouds and wind without rain.” The apostle Jude warns against any such presumption, especially now that we can freely come to God through His own perfect “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “Woe unto them!” says Jude, “for they have gone in the way of Cain . . . clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots” (Jude 1:11-12). This severe indictment was lodged against all who, like Cain, are superficially religious but who, by their self-righteous resentment against God, are “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). We must not boast of our gifts to God, but only of His gift to us. HMM

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March 11, 2017
A First-Century Hymn
“It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

 

It has been noted that our text for the day is in poetic language and form. It probably consists of an early hymn that Timothy and the other readers of this epistle knew. It consists of a series of “if . . . then” statements, each an important conditional promise, two with negative connotations and two with positive.

 

“If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.” Elsewhere we read, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Colossians 2:13).

 

“If we suffer [literally, ‘endure’], we shall also reign with him.” “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:21).

 

“If we deny him, he also will deny us.” Christ said, “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).

 

“If we believe not [literally, are unfaithful], yet he abideth faithful.” His promises are sure whether they be warnings of judgment or promises of blessing. God promised Joshua: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:5-6).

 

Our text begins with the statement “It is a faithful saying,” and ends with “he cannot deny himself.” We can be sure that He will live up to His end of the bargain. His very nature demands it. JDM

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March 12, 2017
In the Spirit
“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18)

 

We cannot see or hear the Holy Spirit, but He is very real and is, in fact, the very life of each true Christian. It is only through Him that we have access in prayer to the Father, as our text points out. Christ in His resurrection body is seated at the right hand of the Father in the distant heavens, but the Holy Spirit has His temple in our very bodies.

 

He not only hears each spoken prayer, but also each thought of our hearts. From the moment we receive Christ, we live in the Spirit; He is always with us, to guide our steps, to bear witness with our spirits that we belong to God, to illumine our understanding, and, when needed, to convict and chasten when we get out of His will.

 

Therefore, “if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). When we yield to some worldly temptation, it is because we have ignored this admonition, for the promise is “walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). The very presence of the Holy Spirit assures our eternal salvation, so how can we ignore His holy constraints on our behavior? “Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). We speak of worshiping God in church, or home, or elsewhere, but if we really worship Him, we must “worship God in the spirit” (Philippians 3:3), for we have access to the Father, and the Son, only in the Spirit.

 

When we pray, we must be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. . . . For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:9, 14). HMM

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March 13, 2017
Lean Not
“For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.” (Isaiah 3:1)

 

Isaiah lived and wrote during a time of spiritual poverty in the nations of Judah and Israel, as well as national decline. He foresaw and foretold in graphic detail the coming captivities of both nations, but was particularly concerned with the state and future of his homeland, Judah, and his hometown, Jerusalem.

 

The first several chapters of his book consist of a strong denunciation of the practices of the people of Judah. The nation was literally disintegrating due to rampant sin. In preparation for the coming national and ultimate judgments, Isaiah warned against personal pride and reliance on human resources. “The loftiness of man shall be . . . made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day” (2:17).

 

In our text, the words “stay” and “staff” are the masculine and feminine forms of the same word, both derived from the word meaning “support,” translated “stay of bread.” Thus, Isaiah uses this idiom and the next several verses to teach that God will remove any semblance of support for this sinful people, whether mighty man, soldier, judge, prophet, seer, elder, captain, artist, orator, or mature ruler (3:2-4), for the purpose of humbling them, “the people shall be oppressed, . . . every one by his neighbour” (v. 5), and demonstrating that the Lord, Jehovah Himself, could be their only real stay or staff. “In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious” (4:2).

 

The word “stay” is elsewhere translated “lean,” “rely,” or “rest.” “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). JDM

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March 14, 2017
Stir Up
“Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.” (2 Peter 1:13)

 

It is apparently rather easy, in this day of football games, rock concerts, and race riots, to get the emotions of a crowd all stirred up. The stirring of emotions can be either good or bad, of course, depending on the cause.

 

In our text, the apostle Peter says we need to be stirred up by our memories—that is, our remembrances of His “great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” For “he that lacketh these things,” said Peter, “hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” and urgently needs “to have these things always in remembrance” (vv. 4, 9, 15).

 

Something else needs to be stirred up, said Paul to Timothy. “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6). Each believer has received certain gifts from God, but these need to be stirred up and used both boldly and wisely for Christ.

 

Finally, Peter says that the purpose in writing both his epistles was to “stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour” (2 Peter 3:1-2). This was written especially for “the last days” (v. 3), indicating that they should stir up, not their emotions, but their minds! To meet the critical needs of the last days, they should have their minds full of the Scriptures of both Old and New Testaments. These Scriptures should even be memorized, if possible, so they can be called up “by way of remembrance” whenever needed. The Holy Scriptures are simple enough to be received by a child, yet they can stir up our minds with their heights and depths, and will stir our hearts as well. HMM

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March 15, 2017
A Bondslave and a Freeman
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.” (Romans 1:1)

 

Paul identified himself as a “servant [literally ‘bondslave’] of Jesus Christ” as he began several of his epistles; and it is significant that he began the epistle to the Romans in the same fashion. The parallel phrase “bondslave of the emperor” was commonly used in governmental and commercial circles of the day, and the readers in Rome would fully understand the meaning of the new term.

 

The emperor of Rome not only was to be obeyed as a human slave owner and king, he also was to be worshiped as a god. Paul boldly proclaimed himself to be the bondslave of a different slave owner, the subject of a different King, and the worshiper of a different God.

 

Paul knew and expected to convince his readers that this new doctrine he was preaching would quickly replace the imperialism of Rome, and he fully realized that this challenge would quickly be recognized and fought by Rome. Paul himself, not many years hence, would stand before the emperor Nero, not as an imperial bondslave, but a bondslave of the King of kings.

 

Long before Nero’s executioner freed Paul from the limitations of his physical body, Paul had been made a “freeman of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:22). The common title of the day “freedman of the emperor” designated a bondslave of the emperor who had been elevated by the emperor to a higher position.

 

Paul had been, and all believers have been, ransomed out of the slave market of sin by Christ’s blood and have been set free from the guilt, power, and penalty of that sin. Our willing response should be to permanently place ourselves into enslavement to our Redeemer, making us simultaneously both bondslaves and freedmen of the King. JDM

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March 16, 2017
David's Army
“David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.” (1 Samuel 22:1-2)

 

As David was fleeing for his life from King Saul, a rather pitiful and unpromising company began following him, and they became the nucleus of what would soon be his army. Others joined them, and David trained them, “for at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God” (1 Chronicles 12:22). Soon they were no longer discontented misfits but a remarkable array of “mighty men” (v. 21). One group, for example, was said to be “men of war fit for the battle, . . . whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains” (1 Chronicles 12:8).

 

In many remarkable ways David was a type of Christ, his life foreshadowing the experiences of the greater “son of David” who would come a thousand years later. In such a parallel, his army is a type of the earthly “host of God,” the great company of those who have chosen to follow Christ, each of whom has been called to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).

 

The followers of Christ were once also in distress, for the “base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen” (1 Corinthians 1:28). He is now “the captain of their salvation” (Hebrews 2:10), urging that each one should strive to “please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4). When He is finally ready to take the Kingdom, these will be with Him in His triumphant return and eternal reign (Revelation 19:14; 22:5). HMM

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March 17, 2017
He Who Made the Stars
“Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.” (Amos 5:8)

 

This striking exhortation is inserted in the midst of a prophetic rebuke by God of His people Israel. They were rapidly drifting into pagan idolatry, and Amos was trying to call them back.

 

His exhortation, given almost 2,800 years ago, is more needed today than it ever was before. Modern pagan scientists have developed elaborate but absurdly impossible theories about the chance origin of the universe from nothing, and the evolution of stars, planets, and people from primordial hydrogen. But the mighty cosmos and its galaxies of stars—even the very constellations, such as Orion and the Pleiades (the “seven stars”), as well as the solar system—were made. All of these had to be made by an omniscient, omnipotent Creator, who certainly had a glorious purpose for it all.

 

Similarly, the global evidences that waters once covered all the earth’s mountains (i.e., marine fossils and water-laid sediments at their summits) cannot possibly be explained—as evolutionary geologists try to do—by slow processes acting over aeons of time. God, the Creator, had to call massive volumes of water forth from their original reservoirs and pour them out on the earth in His Flood judgment on a rebellious world.

 

All of these witness to the fact of creation and judgment, not to impotent “gods” personifying natural forces. Men urgently need to seek the true God of creation and salvation before judgment falls again, for “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). HMM

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March 18, 2017
The Flesh of a Little Child
“Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” (2 Kings 5:14)

 

The familiar story of Naaman the Syrian was cited by the Lord Jesus as an example of God’s concern for people of all nations: “Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus [Elisha] the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27). It is also a striking picture of salvation.

 

Naaman was a great and highly acclaimed general but nevertheless was stricken with an incurable and loathsome disease. Similarly, any natural man, no matter how powerful, is afflicted with the lethal disease of sin. Before this proud official could be cured of his leprosy, he had to humble himself in several ways. First, he had to accept the advice of a slave girl from an enemy nation; then journey to that nation and its prophet, whose God his own nation had repudiated; travel still farther at the word of the prophet (who would not even come out to meet him); and, finally, immerse himself seven times in the despised river Jordan. Though he resented being so humiliated, his condition was hopeless otherwise, so he finally did all these things, and God marvelously healed him!

 

The leprous flesh became as the flesh of a little child again, but first he had to manifest the obedient faith of a little child. The same principle is true for every lost sinner. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10). Jesus said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4). HMM

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March 19, 2017 The Terror of the Lord “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.” (2 Corinthians 5:11)   The use of the English word “terror” in this verse as a translation of the Greek phobos (from which we get our word “phobia”) indicates that the frequent Old Testament phrase “fear of the LORD” means much more than implied in the modern euphemism “reverential trust.” The only other New Testament use of this phrase is in Acts 9:31: “Then had the churches rest . . . and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.”   These two passages seem to be informing us that when a church is “walking in the terror of the Lord,” its members will be seeking every means whereby to “persuade men” to come to Christ, and therefore its numbers will increase.   This impassioned persuasion of the lost is motivated by knowledge that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). That is, we know that the Lord Jesus, who died for lost sinners and has commissioned us to tell them of His great salvation, will be highly displeased if we don’t do so, or if our testimony is compromised by our selfish lives. At His judgment seat, “the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. . . . If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:13, 15).   The terror of the Lord, when we appear before Him in that day, is not the only motive for witnessing, of course. “The love of Christ constraineth us,” and when our testimony is received (our motives being “manifest unto God” and even to the “consciences” of those to whom we witness), then the glorious result is “a new creature” in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:14, 17). HMM

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March 20, 2017
Statement of Christ's Purpose
“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:15)

 

Schools, businesses, and institutions are all well-advised to develop and live by a “statement of purpose” if they are to be successful, evaluating each activity by its effectiveness in fulfilling that purpose.

 

As Christians, we should also have a well-defined purpose. Each individual’s specific purpose will vary somewhat, depending on that person’s giftedness, background, and circumstances; but since Christ is our example, each Christian’s statement of purpose should reflect His priorities and values.

 

In many ways, Mark’s gospel provides the most vivid and explicit insight into the work of Jesus, and in this book we see Jesus often repeating His statement of purpose. “Jesus came . . . preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying . . . repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). Jesus Christ had come with the specific purpose of saving the lost, and everything He did pointed to that end. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (2:17).

 

Christ not only preached to sinners, but He trained and sent out His followers to see that His mission was effectively carried out, even after He was gone. “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth. . . . And they went out, and preached that men should repent” (6:7, 12). Regarding His approaching death, He explained: “The Son of man came . . . to give his life a ransom for many” (10:45). As He left them, He commanded, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (16:15).

 

Our priorities should be the same as His. If everything we do points toward this end, His mission will thereby be accomplished. “Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (8:35). JDM

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March 21, 2017
By Any Means
“And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west.” (Acts 27:12)

 

This seemingly insignificant phrase “by any means” (Greek ei pos) is actually used to express the urgency of attaining some object sought, along with the means for its attainment. It occurs just four times in the New Testament, and it is interesting that these four occurrences seem to follow a significant order.

 

The first of them is in our text above and expresses a search for physical comfort, as the mariners, transporting Paul to Rome, sought by any means to find a convenient place to spend the winter.

 

The second expresses Paul’s search for spiritual ministry. When Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, he told them of his constant prayers: “Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established” (Romans 1:10-11).

 

Thirdly, there was his search for conversion of others. “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them” (Romans 11:13-14).

 

Finally, and most importantly, there was Paul’s (and, Lord willing, may it be ours also!) search for a Christ-centered life. “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11). HMM

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March 22, 2017
The Word of the King
“Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?” (Ecclesiastes 8:4)

 

Perhaps the archetype of absolute monarchs was Babylonia’s King Nebuchadnezzar, of whom the prophet Daniel could say, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory” (Daniel 2:37). The word of this and every true king was with power, the king being answerable to no man but himself, for his authority came from God. “For there is no power but of God” (Romans 13:1). Many kings have had to learn this truth the hard way, however, for they have found that God could remove them as quickly as He had ordained them when they abused that power.

 

But there is one King who will never fall; one “who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings; . . . to whom be honour and power everlasting” (1 Timothy 6:15-16). The Lord Jesus Christ has asserted, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18), and one day all creatures in heaven and Earth will acknowledge: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things” (Revelation 4:11). In that day all “the kingdoms of this world [shall] become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

 

This one, who is King of all kings, is also the One who is “called The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13). The word of this King is of such power that He could speak the mighty cosmos into existence. His word could calm a violent storm and call Lazarus back from death.

 

“The word of God is quick, and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12), and “his word was with power” (Luke 4:32). Therefore, “all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20). HMM

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March 23, 2017
The Mystery of Darkness
“And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 22:5)

 

The Bible reveals that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5), and also that, in the ages to come, there will be no more darkness. God promises twice that there shall be “no night there” (Revelation 21:25; 22:5) in the very last references to night in the Bible.

 

Why, then, is there darkness, and where did it come from? God gives the answer: “I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness” (Isaiah 45:6-7). Light was always in and with God, but the darkness had to be created! And, it has a purpose, serving as a contrast to the light.

 

Men and women were created to love and have fellowship with their Creator, not as robots but in freedom. Darkness thus served as the choice that could be made against God and the light, for those so minded. Satan and his hosts of fallen angels and wicked spirits have become “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12). The tragedy is that ever since Adam, men have “loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19), and so have been practicing “the works of darkness” (Romans 13:12), and deserving nothing but “the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 1:13).

 

But our Creator has become our Redeemer. He “hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9), paying the great price for our redemption on the cross. The Father “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13); we are now free to enter into the eternal fellowship with God that He had planned before the world began. We should “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11). HMM

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March 24, 2017
God's Son in the Old Testament
“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Psalm 2:7)

 

There are many today (especially Muslims, Jews, and Christian “liberals”) who are monotheists, believing in one supreme God but rejecting the deity of Christ. They argue that the doctrine that Jesus was the unique Son of God was invented by the early Christians and that the God of the Old Testament had no Son. Orthodox Jews in particular emphasize Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”

 

The fact is, however, that there are a number of Old Testament verses that do speak of God’s only begotten Son. Note the following brief summary.

 

First, there is God’s great promise to David: “I will set up thy seed after thee, . . . I will be his father, and he shall be my son. . . . thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Samuel 7:12, 14, 16).

 

Consider also the rhetorical questions of Agur. “Who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?” (Proverbs 30:4).

 

Then there are the two famous prophecies of Isaiah, quoted so frequently at Christmastime. “Behold, a [literally ‘the’] virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [meaning ‘God with us’]” (Isaiah 7:14). “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

 

Perhaps the most explicit verse in this connection is our text. “The LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son” (Psalm 2:7). Then this marvelous Messianic psalm concludes with this exhortation: “Kiss the Son, . . . Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12). HMM

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March 25, 2017
His Word Is with Power
“And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.” (Luke 4:32)

 

God’s words, whether spoken by Jesus or written in Scripture, are indeed full of power, and it is noteworthy how many and varied are the physical analogies used to characterize and emphasize its power.

 

For example, consider Jeremiah 23:29. “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” The fire analogy is also stressed in Jeremiah 20:9, when the prophet became weary of the negative reaction against his preaching: “Then I said, I will not . . . speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”

 

God’s Word is also called a sharp sword wielded by the Holy Spirit. As part of the Christian’s spiritual armor, we are exhorted to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

 

Even more significantly, perhaps, it is compared to light, for light energy is really the most basic of all forms of energy, or power. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path.” “The entrance of thy words giveth light” (Psalm 119:105, 130). The first spoken words of Christ our Creator were “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).

 

But no earthly form of power can compare to the power in the words of the One who is Himself the living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is actually “upholding all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). HMM

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March 26, 2017
The New Heavens and New Earth
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)

 

There is a glorious future awaiting the redeemed. Although God’s primeval creation of the heavens and the earth is eternal (note Psalm 148:6, etc.), these are now groaning in pain under the effects of sin and the curse. When the Lord returns, they will be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into . . . glorious liberty” (Romans 8:21), and God will make them all new again, with all the scars of sin and death burned away by His refining fires (2 Peter 3:10).

 

There are four explicit references in the Bible to these “renewed” heavens and Earth. In addition to our text, which assures us that they will be so wonderful that this present earth and its heavens will soon be forgotten, there is the great promise of Isaiah 66:22: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.” Thus, that heavens and Earth will remain eternally, and so will all who dwell there, with their true spiritual children. Note also that both God’s “creation” and “making” powers will be applied to the new heavens and new earth, just as they were to the first (Genesis 2:3).

 

The third and fourth references are in the New Testament. “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). Not only will no sin be present there, neither will the results of sin and the curse. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; . . . And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4). HMM

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March 27, 2017 The Land of Uz “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job.” (Job 1:1)   Uz was a son of Aram and a grandson of Shem (Genesis 10:22-23). Shem’s first son, Arphaxad, was born two years after the Flood, and his remaining sons would have been born in some reasonable sequence thereafter, probably around 36 years apart (Genesis 11:10-26). It is unlikely that Aram, Uz’s father, was born past the first century after the Flood. The events at Babel took place during the fifth generation (the generation of Peleg), and Uz would have been alive then.   The land of Uz is later associated with the territory of Edom (Lamentations 4:21), which is near the area southeast of the Dead Sea, toward the upper reaches of the Sinai Peninsula, east of Egypt and just north of the Red Sea. Although that area is not very pleasant now, at the time of Abraham it was “well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar” (Genesis 13:10). Quite likely, this was one of the more beautiful spots that was safely away from the rule of Nimrod and farther away from the climate shifts that were leading to the coming Ice Age.   We must guard against seeing the message in the light of our own experience, education, and entertainment. When we read that Job had vast herds of “camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household” (Job 1:3), our first reaction is to reject that as pure exaggeration since we “know” that that whole area is desert and could not possibly support that kind of lifestyle. Perhaps we need to “let God be true, but every man a liar” when we approach the words of Scripture (Romans 3:4). HMM III   Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.

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March 28, 2017
Job and Friends
“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.” (Job 2:11)

 

When this epic poem begins, Job is wealthy by any standards (Job 1:3). He was likely a tradesman, something of an import-export businessman, with vast livestock and wholesale food supplies, equipping distance caravans for himself and others.

 

His friends lived at different points across the Arabian Peninsula. Eliphaz was from Teman, a city in the northern part of the land later known as Edom. Bildad was from Shuhu, somewhat south of Haran near the southern borders of what is now Turkey. Zophar was from Naamah, which was likely located to the east in the south of Canaan. Elihu, the young man who speaks later in the book, was from Buz, in northern Arabia.

 

These men came to comfort Job from some distance, but although they had a strong conviction about a Creator God, they struggled with a “works” salvation, continually accusing Job of having a secret sin of some sort. But God had said, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” (Job 1:8).

 

In his own defense, Job insisted that everyone knew of his godly behavior. “When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me. . . . I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind. . . . I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth” (Job 29:11-17). Would to God that each of us could have the same confidence in our behavior. HMM III

 

Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.

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March 29, 2017
Satan's Arrogance in Heaven
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job 1:6-7)

 

This startling piece of information does not fit with the common idea that Satan was cast out of heaven prior to Genesis 3 or as described in Luke 10:18. Many suggest that the same event is in view in Revelation 12:7-9 when Michael led the battle against Satan, casting him and his demons to Earth to become “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and confining him to Earth, where he worked feverishly to assemble the ultimate human army to defy the Creator.

 

If that is so, then the rather nonchalant appearance of Satan in Job 1:6 among the “sons of God” in the throne room seems very much out of place.

 

Perhaps the arrogance of Satan is based on the freedom he believes he has as one of the chief angels, “going to and fro” with apparent impunity, “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Whatever may be the actual state of Lucifer’s freedom under the sovereignty of almighty God, Satan responds to God’s question regarding Job with little fear of contradiction or any concern for personal rebuke.

 

Please remember: Satan was a created being with such majesty and beauty (Ezekiel 28:15-17) that he believed he could overthrow the Creator Himself (Isaiah 14:12-14). This short passage, which appears no other place in the Bible, gives us unique insight into the nature of the angelic world and the sovereign confidence of the One who knows “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). HMM III

 

Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.

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March 30, 2017
Satan's Proposition
“Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.” (Job 1:9-11)

 

Satan acknowledges the sovereign power of God, whether in pretense or flattery, by conceding that God has “made a hedge” around Job and that He has “blessed the work of his hands.” Satan had the power to do damage (and he does have great power), yet he appears to understand that no damage could be done unless the Creator Himself gave the permission. Even in his blatant disdain for everything God represents, Satan knows that God must withdraw the “hedge” before any “touch” on Job could occur.

 

The Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand” (Job 1:12). So, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

 

Although God’s “thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways [His] ways” (Isaiah 55:8), He does extend His protective authority on all of His twice-born. “No temptation [has] taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

 

Whatever may happen “to them who are the called according to his purpose” in this life, God is overseeing and protecting every moment so that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). HMM III

 

Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.

 

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March 31, 2017
Satan's Malice
“And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? . . . Still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.” (Job 2:3-5)

 

After Satan suddenly plunges Job into total poverty and rips his children from him, “Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly” (Job 1:20-22).

 

Nonchalantly appearing among the “sons of God” again, Satan callously suggests that if God would strike “His hand” against Job—this time by ruining his health—Job would rebel and disavow his relationship with God. All of heaven must have cowered as Satan maliciously baited God again. But the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown” (Job 2:6-7).

 

As Job moves to the trash heap to scrape the oozing pus from his sores, his wife throws a final slur at his face: “Curse God and die.” But Job simply says, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (Job 2:10). May the example of this good man encourage us to trust God even in times of woe. HMM III

 

Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.

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April 1, 2017
Pain and Suffering
“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him . . . they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. . . . And none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.” (Job 2:11-13)

 

If God is sovereign and omnipotent, why does He permit “bad” to exist? Since pain and suffering exist, God seemingly must not be omnipotent, or not good, or both. Those who have been hurt by evil often conclude that if God cannot stop it, He does not deserve worship. Although this debate won’t be settled in this short devotional, some Bible facts must be considered.

 

When Adam and Eve chose to embrace the lie of self-determination and reject the rule of the Creator over them, God pronounced a sentence of death on all life and the sentence of disorder on all functioning systems in the universe. Death, of course, is the source of all pain and suffering, and “thorns and thistles” represent the ultimate decay of function and order in everything else. Pain and suffering are the result of evil, not the cause (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 8:22).

 

Satan reverses that truth and would have mankind believe that God is the source of evil and must be placated.

 

Since Job was suffering, and God was sovereign, the only solution seemed that Job had violated one of God’s laws and therefore was suffering because he had sinned. Logic dictated that God was good and right, therefore Job was wrong and evil. The trouble was, of course, that human logic could not take into account the inscrutable omniscience of an omnipotent Creator. “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies” (Psalm 25:10). HMM III

 

Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.

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April 2, 2017
Health and Wealth
“If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” (Job 8:6-7)

 

Bildad was reflecting the half truths and logic Satan used with Eve (2 Corinthians 11:3). When theology or philosophy differ from Scripture, the choice is either one or the other. Attempting to amalgamate the differences always leads to error. The prosperity gospel often taught today is an extension of that error.

 

Satan refused to understand that some of the human race were “perfect and upright” like Job (Job 1:1) and loved and trusted God for their eternal destiny. Such godly people cannot be bought by possessions or circumstances. As Job later said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15).

 

Satan’s original lie to Adam and Eve was that they could obtain the power of God by grasping the “secret” of evil. As the human race grew more despicable, embracing Satan’s lie, Satan began using the duplicity of angelic power and human procreation (Genesis 6:1-4) to attempt his coveted coup (Isaiah 14:13). That was destroyed by God with the great Flood.

 

Satan tried again with Nimrod at Babel and was defeated when God confounded human language. Lucifer then attempted to “trick” God into taking away His blessing on Job so Satan would have an example to show of God’s capricious care. All Satan got for his efforts was the testimony of this great man enshrined in Scripture to encourage the rest of humanity. “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11). HMM III

 

Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.

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April 3, 2017
Human Sufficiency
“If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; if iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear.” (Job 11:13-15)

 

Zophar clearly summarized the belief that the human will is all that is necessary to reach perfection. He believed in a Creator God. He knew that God was holy, but Zophar had bought into Satan’s first lie: “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).

 

Satan needed a lesson in sovereignty, but also a lesson in love. Satan’s logic would have it that all love is self-serving. He had deceived himself into believing that he could overthrow the Creator, that he could win the worship of the human race by throwing his largess of power and brilliance on those who follow his leadership. (Sounds suspiciously like the history of political manipulation over the millennia.)

 

Throughout the Scriptures, God presents Himself as sovereign over the affairs of men. “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonor?” (Romans 9:20-21).

 

The theological debate is whether the salvation event is by God’s grace alone (Calvinism) or if mankind must willingly cooperate with God to obtain and maintain salvation (Arminianism). The great mystery of the human will and the choice to submit to and love God is beyond explanation. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). HMM III

 

Adapted from The Book of Beginnings by Dr. Henry M. Morris III.