Insights from the Bible - "Better is..." from Proverbs

My Bible reading plan has me reading a chapter each day from Proverbs, right now. One of the things that has been of interest to me has been this phrase that is repeated over and over in the Proverbs - "Better is..." Usually, it's a statement about how it is better to have what the world considers the lesser things with honor and peace than to have what the world considers the greater things without honor and peace. There are a bunch of these in Proverbs, some with slightly different variations in the wording. I want to draw your attention to 3 of them and then comment briefly.

Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. - Proverbs 15:16

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. - Proverbs 15:17

Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. - Proverbs 16:8

Each of these is basically saying it is better to be poor and have 1) fear of the Lord (which is the beginning of wisdom, remember), 2) love (which is better even than faith and hope!), and 3) righteousness than to be rich and lack these things.

The thing is, I see all around me, as one of the dominant messages of our culture, that being rich is the most important thing. Sometimes, this even invades my heart, where I wonder, at times, how my life might be better if I had just a little more (or a lot more). By faith, we must believe what this Scripture says, and we must follow up that belief by taking steps toward fear of the Lord, love, and righteousness, even if it means giving up on the wealth of the world. And, so often, we absolutely must choose between the two. Choose well!

Daily Insights from the Bible - Proverbs 14:11

In my reading this morning, this one verse from Proverbs stood out to me. It's Proverbs 14:11:

The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
    but the tent of the upright will flourish.

This verse has several things we need to learn today.

First, see the comparison between the present condition of the wicked and the upright. The wicked are presently dwelling in houses, while the upright are presently dwelling in tents. This speaks to their relative place in this present world. The wicked seem to get ahead in this world, and that is because this present world is currently bent toward wicked things. God will soon return and will set this right by destroying the present world and placing all of His people in a new heaven and new earth joined together forever. But, for now, this world is the sort of place where wicked people get ahead, or seem to. Likewise, the upright seems currently to be falling behind, to be losing the games of this world. Those games, like measuring who has the most money or who has the most influence or popularity, are games the upright will always seem to lose for the simple reason that the upright have discovered those games aren't worth playing, much less winning.

But there is more to this house versus tent imagery. The wicked have invested in this world, this present life, in such a way that they are betting that there is nothing else afterward. They need their house now because, to them, there is no future reward. But the upright can be content with a tent today because they are trusting in Christ's promise of a place in the Father's house forevermore after this life. The upright don't need a reward now because they know their reward is waiting for them.

Finally, see the outcome of these decisions in the lives of the wicked and upright. The wicked have invested in the present life, but their house will be destroyed. This doesn't have to be a direct judgment of God, although that is certainly waiting for all who reject the Son. So long as the Lord tarries in His coming, everyone will come to the end of their life, whether rich or poor, strong or weak. In this way, all who invest in this life will lose, in the end.

The upright will have a very different experience. Their lives will flourish, even though they still dwell in tents. This is something the world never understands. They think you can only enjoy life if you have the "good things" this life offers. They marvel at the upright who are able to enjoy life so much more than the wicked even though they go without the "good things" of this life. They know nothing of the deep and abiding joys of the upright life. There are pleasures forevermore in the hand of the Lord, and they are not all waiting in heaven!

Like so many things, this comes down to a decision on your part and mine. Will we repent and believe in Christ and be counted among the upright or will be continue among the wicked?

Daily Insights from the Bible - Are We Foresaking the Gathering of the Saints?

I have seen some people wondering if the decision of most churches (nearly all that I know of by now) to close down all in-person meetings and services is a transgression of the command we find in Hebrews 10:24-25 to not neglect the gathered church body:

²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Let's be frank, the issue is important because if this is a sin, we are committing it on a vast scale. And we believers are a people who have claimed to be repentant toward sin. It's our desire to turn from sin to God, no matter the cost. So, are we sinning?

I believe another story from Jesus' ministry speaks to this issue very well. You can find it in Matthew, Mark and Luke, but I've decided to show you the passage from Mark because I just recently completed a study of that Gospel with our church on Wednesday evenings.

 

²³ One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

So, the hungry disciples were "harvesting" and "processing" grain on the Sabbath, which the Pharisees, with their legalistic views of the Law were quick to point out as a sin. When they ask Jesus why His disciples are doing what is not lawful, they are calling it sin. But Jesus pointed to an event in the life of one of Israel's greatest national heroes - King David. David was fleeing for his life from King Saul and was hungry. He stopped in at the place where the ark of the covenant was located at the time to get something to eat (and he also retrieved the sword of Goliath that he won in battle). There was nothing to give him to eat but the bread of the Presence, which is the bread that had just been replaced from before the Lord in the Holy Place and was, by Law, only to be eaten by the priests. But the high priest, Abiathar, gave it to David and his men because they were hungry.

I think the simplest reason to explain why Abiathar could rightly set aside God's Law on who could eat this special bread, and which makes the most sense of Jesus' explanation in verse 27, is that human need trumped this command. God's highest commands, Jesus taught, were to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. He said all of the Law and Prophets can be summed up in these two commands. So, it was love for neighbor that allowed Abiathar to feed David and his men, and it was love for neighbor that allowed the disciples to eat some of the heads of grain that day. And it is love for neighbor that allows us to set aside the physical gathering of the people of God, for a season only, to protect so many who are threatened in this time.

I pray that this temporary separation will be lifted sooner rather than later, but I am glad so many have decided that love for neighbor is worth more than what we might rather be doing on a Sunday morning.

Daily Insights from the Bible - Exodus 35

As I was reading my Bible this morning, I was directed (by the reading plan) to Exodus 35. Moses calls for a free-will offering from the people of all of the materials needed to create the Tabernacle and its implements for worship. Then, in verses 30-35, Moses lets it be know that God had already called out two skilled artisans to direct this work - Bezalel and Oholiab. Bezalel seems to have been the primary leader, which Oholiab his second-in-command, although we don't really need to worry about power structures here - they were a team.

What I was drawn to here was a little different from my earlier post on the "skillful" people all around us, although Bezalel and Oholiab were definitely skillful, with skills gifted to them by God for God's work. What I was drawn to share with you today comes from verse 34: And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab...

So often, we who find ourselves in positions of authority or leadership, whether we're talking about parents or CEOs, we focus so much on our own performance of the tasks that we sometimes forget this vital leadership responsibility - teaching others to come after us. I'm sure this is a need in every arena of life, but, being a pastor myself, I see an incredible need for this in the church. How can you teach someone this week?

Daily Insights from the Bible - Proverbs 9

If you'll take a moment to read Proverbs chapter 9, there is something I'd like to point out. Notice that both Wisdom and Folly cry out the same invitation: “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” In the rest of the chapter, we see that Wisdom actually has something to offer, whereas Folly only sets one on the road to death.

What I think is important about this is that it shows our responsibility in this life. From one perspective, when we discuss salvation, we must agree it is all a work of God, and we do nothing to save ourselves. But from a different perspective, we are held accountable for whether we listen to Wisdom or Folly. We are the "simple" who they are calling to, all day long. And it matters, in the extreme, who we listen to.

Daily Insights from the Bible - John 11

I want to start today by admitting that I sort of hit a wall this morning, emotionally. I was heading to the grocery store, first for my in-laws and then for my own family, and I was just wavering. My mother-in-law prayed over me at her front door after I picked up their shopping list, for which I am so thankful. But, then I walked into the store and saw the empty shelves and the eyes of the people around me. Everyone was serious. We were all cordial, but I saw lots of reddened eyes, probably people on edge - people like me.

Thankfully, I was able to get almost everything I needed for our two households, except some eggs.

But this experience left me sort of washed out. But the Lord knew what I needed and had our church's retired pastor give me a call and pray for me, and one of our deacons came by to drop off his tithe and prayed for me, as well. God sustained me in these ways today. I hope you've been experiencing much the same. And then I read His Word. The thing that stuck out the most for me today was at the beginning of John chapter 11.

This is the story of the temporary resurrection of Jesus' dear friend Lazarus (I say that it was temporary because Lazarus died, again, but there is a different resurrection coming that will be permanent - our hope in Christ!). There are so many wonderful things here, but what stuck out to me was this in verse 4: But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now, I'm not saying that our current experience with the coronavirus is totally analogous with the illness Lazarus experienced. I think that would be bad interpretation. What I am saying is that we can be completely sure that the end result and purpose of this epidemic is the same as Lazarus' illness - "the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

This is going to take much longer than any of us want it to - getting past coronavirus. I am now certain of that. And there will be repercussions of this that will be large and long-term. But God will be glorified and Christ will be lifted up, I am even more sure of that.

So, let's be looking for how the Lord is doing this. He is doing this within your home and mine, and He is doing this among the nations and peoples waiting to hear the Gospel.

Daily Insights from the Bible - John 1:49 (Greek!)

When I first surrendered to God's call on my life to vocational ministry, I was a freshman at Baylor University. Before that, I had been working toward a teaching degree, which I did complete and used until I left for seminary, and had expected to study Spanish as my second language to fulfill my degree requirements. One of the changes I made, starting that next year, was that I shifted to study ancient Greek (amazingly, ancient Greek still fulfilled the requirement!), and I have loved Greek ever since. Hebrew was much more difficult for me, but Greek has always been natural and enjoyable to me.

A few years ago, I found out about something that a professor at one of our Southern Baptist seminaries, Dr. Rob Plummer at Southern Seminary in Kentucky, was doing to help students of Greek (and, therefore, the Bible). This was Daily Dose of Greek. Since then, I have included a daily Greek lesson almost ever working day. If you are interested in learning Biblical Greek, (and who doesn't have the time right now!) I would highly encourage you to check it out.

That all leads me to today's lesson from Daily Dose of Greek from John 1:49

 ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Ναθαναήλ, Ῥαββί, σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, σὺ βασιλεὺς εἶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ.

Now, what I want to point out today is something fairly simple, but I hope beneficial to you. This verse is translated fairly simply as Nathanael's response to Jesus knowing him without having ever met before in the previous verse - Nathanael answered him (Jesus), "You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel!"

First, this is an awesome and accurate profession of faith! These words should often be on our lips in praise of our Savior and King. Far too often, we forget that Jesus is King. Yes, He is our best friend. Yes, He loves us. Yes to so many other truths about Him. But we must never forget that He is also our reigning King.

But what drew me to this today is a little bitty thing - in the Greek, there is no definite article before the word for "king." Now, there is a good grammatical reason for including the definite article ("the") before king in the English translation, as Dr. Plummer explains in his video today. But the internal contextual evidence is much stronger. For, if Jesus is the Son of God, who else could ever be on par with Him? Who else could ever claim to be a king of Israel like Him? The answer is obviously, no one could.

When it comes to rule, authority, power, right, majesty, glory, honor, no one else can compare to Jesus Christ our King! Remind yourself of this often!

Daily Insights from the Bible - Exodus 28

Well, it's been a while since I blogged, but I suppose the coronavirus quarantine is a good time to get back into it, especially if I can use this means to spread a little light, instead of the darkness I am feeling right now.

So, I may write some other things going forward, but I want to commit to a short, daily post that comes from my own daily Bible reading, just an insight I received as I read this morning. For anyone who might be wondering, I am using a Bible reading plan this year called the M'Cheyne One Year Reading Plan (you can read about it here).

For this first post, I am going to go back a couple days to when I first had this idea. In the future, I'll be working from the day-of, so to speak. I truly hope this blesses someone.

Exodus 28

This chapter is about the making of the priestly garments worn by the high priest, Aaron, and his successors. There is a ton of symbolism here that points to Christ, which is good, but the thing I was drawn to is just 2 verses:

² And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³ You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.

Perhaps it is because I am married to one of the "skillful" and serve a church that has many of the "skillful" that I am struck by this statement from God. I am NOT one of the skillful, not in the ways of working with my hands or in terms of artistic beauty. I'm OK with the big stuff, but am terrible with finish or detail work. I recall once doing a tessellation project in geometry class in 9th grade. We were to produce something like the following picture over a poster board, by hand.

My poster board was supposed to look exactly like that, but I got off somewhere in the middle. It looked like it melted. My teacher was quite disappointed in me, and I didn't get a great grade, at all. I tell you this story so you'll believe me about me not being among the "skillful."

But many of you are. And where does this passage teach us this skill comes from? It comes from the Lord. Why did He give it? He gave it to serve Him, ultimately. So, for you "skillful" out there, serve the Lord with that skill. Make holy things for beauty and glory to point to God's beauty and glory!