Free To Live and Love Like Christ

1 Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. – Romans 7:1-6 ESV

In this section of his letter, Paul seems to be addressing his words to believing Jews in the church in Rome; to “those who know the law.” To drive home his point about freedom from sin and the law because of our death with Christ, he appealed to their understanding of how the law worked. According to the law, if a woman attempted to marry another man while her husband was alive, she would be a lawbreaker and guilty of committing adultery. But if her husband were to die and she remarried, she would not be committing adultery because his death would have freed her from the condemnation of the law. That particular law would no longer apply in her case.

So it is with those of us who have died with Christ. As Paul stated earlier, “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6 ESV). Not only has the old self been crucified and put to death, but the condemnation of the law has passed away as well. That does not mean that when we sin, we are not breaking God's law. When you lie, you are violating God's command against lying. When you covet, you break God's command: “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17 NLT).

But even when we knowingly or unwittingly break God’s law, there is no longer any condemnation. Paul makes that perfectly clear in the very next section of his letter.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. – Romans 8:1-2 ESV

For the believing Jews to whom Paul was writing, their lives prior to coming to know Christ were marked by a constant need to keep God’s law perfectly. To fail to obey all of His laws was to come under His just and justified condemnation, a fate that brought the penalty of death. Just prior to his death, Moses warned the people of Israel about the gravity of failing to practice perfect obedience to God’s law.

“If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed.” – Deuteronomy 28:45 NLT

Centuries later, James picked up on this warning in his letter to believing Jews.

But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. – James 2:9-11 NLT

That is why Paul refers to it as “the law of sin and death.” The law could not save; it could only expose and condemn. It could not sanctify anyone or make them more holy; all it could do was show them their sin. In fact, Paul states that very fact in verse seven of this chapter.

…am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” – Romans 7:7 ESV

As he stated in Chapter 6, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 ESV). This ties back to his earlier statement in Chapter 5.

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. – Romans 5:12 NLT

Adam’s sin didn’t result in the immediate termination of life, but it did result in the first couple being expelled from the garden and their loss of intimacy with God. Their relationship with God was permanently and irrevocably changed because they had chosen to disobey God’s prohibition against eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

So the death Paul refers to is not just physical; it has a spiritual dimension. Violation of God’s law produces alienation from Him because He is holy. God had made His expectations of the people of Israel clear.

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” – Leviticus 19:2 ESV

“…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” – Exodus 19"5-6 ESV

Their holiness was non-negotiable. As God’s children, the Israelites were to live set-apart lives that clearly differentiated them from all the other nations. But God knew they would never live up to His righteous standards. That was the whole purpose behind God giving them the sacrificial system. He knew they would violate His law, so He provided them with a means for restoring their damaged relationship with Him. He designed the sacrificial system to provide atonement for their sins. The blood of innocent lambs and bulls had to be shed to pay for their sins. Breaking the law brought condemnation and a death sentence. And the author of Hebrews describes the redemptive nature of God’s sacrificial system

…under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. – Hebrews 9:22 ESV

Speaking to his Jewish brothers again, Paul reminds them that they had “died to the law through the body of Christ” (Romans 7:4 ESV). Like the widowed woman in Paul's illustration, they had been freed from the law so that they could belong to another. In their case, their new “partner” was Jesus Christ. They were no longer obligated to keep the law because they had died to it. Through their death with Christ, they had been set free from the law. As a result, they were no longer condemned by the law.

In their case, they were the ones who had died. The law still existed, but their death had nullified their covenant relationship with the law. So now, when they violated God’s law, there was no longer a death sentence hanging over their head. All their sins, past, present, and future, had been paid for by the blood of Christ. He had paid the penalty for their sins with His own life. And their newfound freedom allowed them to “bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4 ESV).

Prior to their salvation, Paul's Jewish brothers found themselves doing battle with the law and the flesh. While they knew what the law demanded of them, “the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death” (Romans 7:5 NLT). Despite knowing God’s laws, they ended up violating them and producing “fruit for death” (Romans 7:5 ESV).

But Paul reminds them of the good news of the gospel:

But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. – Romans 7:6 ESV

Now we have the Spirit of God to convict us when we sin. Rather than condemning us, the Spirit provides us with a new way of responding to our sin.

…we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 NLT

The Spirit also provides us with a new capacity to refrain from sinning in the first place. St. Augustine wrote, “The doctrine through which we receive the commandment to lead an abstinent, virtuous life, is the letter. This kills unless there is with it the Spirit, which makes alive” (St. Augustine, Concerning the Spirit and the Letter).

Without the help of the indwelling Spirit of God, the law can only condemn us to death. But with the Spirit's help, we can live according to the law, not out of a fear of condemnation or the threat of death, but out of love and gratitude for the grace of God as expressed through the gift of His Son.

Father, You haven’t lowered Your standards. You didn’t decide to grade on a curve or dumb down Your expectations. Instead, You offered Your Son as the solution to our longstanding problem with sin. He did what we couldn’t do; He kept Your law perfectly and established Himself as the sinless, unblemished sacrifice, worthy of shedding His innocent blood as atonement for our death sentence. As a result, we are no longer on death row awaiting the just condemnation for our sins against You. Instead, we are fully forgiven and totally acquitted of any and all crimes we have committed — for all time. We stand before You as righteous and pure because we have been covered with the blood of Christ. And You made it all possible. Thank You! Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

All Have Sinned and Need a Savior

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. – Romans 5:12-14 ESV

As Paul continues to defend the doctrine of justification by faith, he draws an interesting comparison, contrasting Adam's sin and Jesus' sacrificial death. It was through Adam's one act of unrighteousness that sin came into the world. While Eve was the first one to give in to Satan’s temptation to eat of the forbidden fruit, Adam was standing by her side and was fully complicit and compliant. As the God-ordained head of his household, Adam was responsible for keeping God's commands and protecting his family. It was to Adam that God gave the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Eve had not yet been created.

The book of Genesis records, “And the Lord commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17 ESV). In the very next verse, God decides to make Adam a companion.

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’” – Genesis 2:18 ESV

So Adam was responsible for communicating God's command to Eve and ensuring that she adhered to it. But he failed.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her. – Genesis 3:6 ESV

The result of Adam's actions was death, not immediate physical death, but spiritual death or separation from God. He and Eve immediately experienced shame and, for the first time, noticed that they were naked. In a sense, their eyes were opened, and they began to view the world through a different lens. Until that moment, they had not seen their nakedness as a problem. But now, they attempted to cover their nakedness with leaves. Suddenly ashamed, they tried to hide from God. But He found them and meted out punishment for their disobedience.

God cursed Adam to a life of labor accompanied by futility, ending in death.

“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19 ESV

Rather than enjoying the fruit of all the other trees that God had provided, they were cast from the garden and left to provide for themselves through back-breaking work. And, ultimately, their lives would end in death. Which is why Paul writes, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12 ESV).

It was Adam's sin (original sin) that brought death into the world. Paul is comparing Adam's one act and its result with Jesus' one act and its subsequent outcome. He contrasts Adam's disobedience with Jesus' obedience. The first brought death. The second brought life. Adam's action resulted in separation from God (spiritual death). Jesus' action brought reconciliation and regeneration (spiritual life).

But Paul's main point in these verses is that men had been dying (suffering the penalty for their sins) long before the law had been given to Moses.

…people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. – Romans 5:13 NLT

Mankind not only inherited death as a result of Adam's disobedience, but they also inherited his sin nature. But their death was due to Adam's sin, not their own. From God's perspective, they sinned “in” Adam. The penalty for his sin was passed down to his descendants. So Paul states, “ everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did” (Romans 5:14 NLT). Long before the law was given, men sinned. They may not have sinned in the same way that Adam did, but they still faced the same penalty of death. They still experienced spiritual separation from God. Why? Because Adam “was a type of the one who was to come” (Romans 5:14 ESV).

Prior to Moses receiving God’s law on Mount Sinai, men still experienced the penalty of death for disobedience. All men knew death was inevitable and unavoidable; they just didn't know why they had to die. They feared death because they were uncertain about what would happen next. Death was an enigma to them, and it appeared to have no purpose. Death was to be feared and avoided at all costs.

But when God gave the law, it revealed the righteousness that God demanded of mankind. It provided a non-negotiable list of God's requirements for escaping the penalty of death. With the giving of the law, God made His righteous requirements unequivocal and non-negotiable. No longer was man allowed to dictate his own set of rules for life. Morality and justice were not subjective and left up to the opinions of fallen men; they were the province of God. 

However, man's sin nature made it impossible for him to keep God's law. Before the law was given, man sinned in ignorance. After God’s law was made known, man sinned knowingly. Like Adam, the Israelites knew God's commands but disobeyed anyway. They knew the consequences for disobedience, but sinned all the same.

But Paul builds on his comparison between Adam and Jesus by illustrating that God provided a way out.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

That is the gospel of God that Paul has been talking about. Adam's disobedience brought death; Jesus' obedience brought life. Death reigned, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God declared an end to sin's control over us. Martin Luther summarizes Paul's contrast quite succinctly.

“Christ has become a Dispenser of righteousness to those who are of Him, though they have not earned any righteousness; for through the Cross He has secured (righteousness) for all men. The figure of Adam's transgression is in us, for we die just as through we had sinned as he did. The figure of Christ is in us, for we live just as though we had fulfilled all righteousness as He did.” – Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans

Adam’s sin did not come as a shock to God. In His providence and sovereignty, God knew that the couple He had made in His image would succumb to Satan’s temptation and rebel against Him. The incarnation of the Son of God was not a knee-jerk reaction by the Father; it was not His Plan B. The fall of man did not catch God by surprise. In fact, Paul reminds us that God’s plan of redemption had been in place even before He made the world or Adam and Eve.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 1:3-5 NLT

Paul reiterated this claim to his young protegé, Timothy.

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. – 2 Timothy 1:9-10 NLT

Long before Adam was created and made the fateful decision that led to death, God had ordained the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son as the solution. Man, left to his own devices, is incapable of living up to God’s righteous standards. Sin was inevitable, and mankind’s need for a Savior was unavoidable. But God had the plan in place before the universe was formed and man was created, and “Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (Romans 5:6 NLT). Adam sinned and brought death. Jesus died and brought life. Adam disobeyed God and was cursed. Jesus “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13 BSB). 

The sin of Adam was restored by the last Adam. 

Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like[i] the heavenly man. – 1 Corinthians 14:47-49 NLT

Father, thank You for Plan A. I don’t fully understand why Adam and Eve did what they did, but I have a feeling that I would have done no better if I had been in their place. Sin comes naturally for us. Even as a believer, I find myself succumbing to the temptations of the enemy. Like the Israelites, I know Your will and have Your Word to guide my life, but I still choose to disobey You on a regular basis. Yet, I stand before You as righteous because of the blood of Your Son. His death paid the penalty for my sins — past, present, and future. He redeemed me out of slavery to sin. He has set me free and restored me to a right relationship with You. I am no longer condemned or under a curse. Without Jesus, I would still be trying to earn Your favor and acceptance through obedience to Your holy law. I would be caught in the dead-end pursuit of righteousness by my own strength. But long before You made me, You had a plan to save me, and all I can say is thank You! Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Fallacy of Free Will

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. – Romans 1:26-27 ESV

What happens when man abandons the truth of God for “the lie?” The lie is that God does not exist at all or that He is a figment of man’s fertile imagination. And if the one true God does not exist, then man is free to be the master of his fate and to choose his own moral agenda. With God out of the picture, man can determine what is right and wrong and create his own laws for life.

Three times in this section of Romans 1, Paul uses the phrase, “God gave them up.” Paul is attempting to demonstrate what life looks like when God releases men to pursue and believe “the lie.” Thinking themselves to be wise, their foolish hearts become darkened, and they lose any ability to make decisions based on the wisdom and righteousness of God. In this moral free-for-all, they find themselves believing and practicing every imaginable lifestyle choice.

“Those who turned against God turned everything on its head. For those who forsook the author of nature could not keep to the order of nature.” – Pelagius, Commentary on Romans

Paul refers to women who “exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature,” and he mentions men who “gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” (Romans 1:26-27 ESV). There are those who attempt to write this off as Paul’s personal opinion. There are others who try to dismiss what Paul says by insinuating that he is only speaking against “improper” homosexual acts, not the act itself. Still others want to believe that Paul is only referring to homosexual acts that were taking place in the context of pagan worship. But these are not the words of Paul; they are the words of God. They are part of the powerful explanation Paul has provided in this letter regarding the gospel of God.

Men are without excuse; they have abandoned the truth about God and His will for mankind. They have ignored His clear revelation of His invisible attributes and divine nature in His creation. Rather than worship God, they have ended up worshiping anything and everything but God. And Paul makes it painfully clear that sinful man always ends up distorting the truth of God. They exchange the natural for the unnatural, what is right for what is wrong, the holy for the unholy, and the will of God for the will of self. They become consumed with passions, all kinds of passions, both good and bad. But the time comes when they can no longer tell the difference, and the lines become blurred. Their consciences become seared, and they lose the ability to discern right from wrong, even becoming rabid defenders of their actions and attitudes.

It doesn't take a biblical scholar to read the words of God recorded in Genesis 1 and to reach a conclusion.

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.” – Genesis 1:27-28 NLT

They were to bear fruit, to multiply their kind. That is why God created a male and a female. It was together, as man and woman, that they were to fulfill the command of God. Adam could not do it alone. Eve was incapable of procreating on her own. God built the ability to multiply their kind into their very nature and physiology. But man, in his sin, determined a “better way,” a preferred way. Natural passions are replaced by unnatural, ungodly passions. Paul calls them “dishonorable passions.” The Greek word he uses is atimia, and it carries a very graphic connotation. It was “used of the unseemliness and offensiveness of a dead body” (Thayer's Greek Lexicon). It was also used to refer to the dishonorable use of a vessel or container. Bodies were meant to contain life. That is why a dead body is unnatural and offensive to our senses. It is lifeless and no longer operating as intended. The same thing is true of those who are consumed by same-sex attraction. They are no longer operating as God intended, and their acts are unnatural and against the ordained will of God.

But in our day and age, any attempt to make this claim is met with disdain, hatred, cries of bigotry and intolerance, and a violent defense of individual rights and freedoms. But, according to Paul, we should not be surprised. Their foolish hearts are darkened. Claiming to be wise, they boast in their enlightened understanding and progressive outlook on morals and ethics. But they are fools who have “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man” (Romans 1:23 ESV). Of course, Paul was referring to idol worship here, but the real issue is that of man-worship. When the best expression we can come up with for God's revealed power and divine nature is the image of man, we are in trouble. When we make a god out of man, we end up worshiping ourselves, sacrificing truth at the altar of our own corrupt passions and desires. Self-satisfaction and self-gratification consume us, and God releases us to pursue our increasingly perverse passions.

We must not lose sight of the fact that Paul was attempting to explain and expound upon the gospel of God. The good news of Jesus Christ must be displayed against the backdrop of man's darkened, sinful state. Paul was showing that man is in trouble. Without God, things always go from bad to worse. In Paul's estimation, it doesn't matter if you're pagan or pious, immoral or a moral icon of virtue. Without God's glorious gospel, all men ultimately receive “the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27 ESV). A man without God is hopeless. Left to his own devices, he will always gravitate toward ungodliness and unrighteousness. But the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV).

Father, You created us and You know what is best for us. But, in our sinful condition, we have determined that we know better. We are like the clay pot telling the potter that he has made a mistake. In our arrogance and ignorance, we have decided that our will is preferable to Yours and so we stubbornly follow our own agendas and rationalize our rebellious behavior as nothing more than our right to free will. But rejecting Your will never results in freedom; it produces slavery to sin. Without Your divine guidance, our passions become self-consuming and self-destructive. The enemy convinces us that self-willed lifestyles are making us god-like, when, in reality, they are making us godless. But the gospel provides an escape from this downward spiral of spiritual and moral enslavement. Through faith in Your Son, we can experience true freedom from sin and the soul-stifling lie of self-rule. Thank You for opening my eyes to the gospel and setting me free from the destructive power of sin. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

All For the Sake of the Gospel

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. – 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 ESV

Paul knew his rights all too well, but he didn’t let his rights get in the way or become a hindrance to his God-given assignment to share the gospel. In fact, Paul says that he made himself a servant to all. The Greek word he uses is δουλόω (douloō), which means “to make a slave of” (“G1402 - douloō - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 16 Aug, 2016. <https://www.blueletterbible.org).

Paul used the word in a metaphorical sense, indicating that he gave himself wholly to meet the needs of another, as in slave to his master. As far as Paul was concerned, he would rather consider himself a slave to everyone than to demand his rights or selfishly flaunt his freedoms in Christ. In fact, while he understood himself to be “free from all” — free from their judgment, criticism, demands, legalistic requirements, false accusations, and unrealistic expectations, he willingly chose to act as a servant to all. He even describes what he means by that. When he was with his fellow Jews, he lived like they did, even though he was free from having to do so. When in their company, he would keep the law out of a desire to win them to Christ. When he was with Gentiles, he would set aside the law of Moses, because they were not obligated to keep it (and neither was he). Instead, he would live under Christ’s law, the law of love.

Paul told the Galatians, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 ESV). This is the exact opposite of how the Pharisees lived. Jesus said of them, “They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” (Matthew 23:4 NLT).

Paul’s philosophy of ministry and life was simple: “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22 NLT). His ultimate goal was their salvation. His freedoms took a back seat so that he might help them find freedom from sin and death through faith in Christ. Everything he did was for the sake of the gospel. To him, it was unacceptable to put his needs above anyone else, including the saved or the lost. He spent his life selflessly sacrificing himself and putting his needs and rights in second place. He describes the impact this attitude had on his life in his second letter to the Corinthians:

I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. – 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 NLT

Why was Paul willing to go through all of this? So that he might share the gospel with those who had not yet heard it. As he so clearly states, “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:23 ESV).

He had experienced the blessings of the gospel firsthand and was not willing for anyone to miss out on hearing the same message that had radically transformed his life. While many Christians are highly appreciative of what the gospel has done for them, they are unwilling to share its life-changing message with others. They allow their rights and freedoms to get in the way and hinder them from telling others of the good news of Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we can develop the attitude that we have a right not to associate with those who don’t believe as we do. But Paul would ask us, “How can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Romans 10:14 NLT).

We are not free to do as we please. We have an obligation, an assignment from God, to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. God has given us a divine task to perform, that of “reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NLT).

We exist for the sake of the gospel. We sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. We die to self for the sake of the gospel. We give up our rights for the sake of the gospel. We forego our freedoms for the sake of the gospel. We do all things for the sake of the gospel. And for the soul-saving, life-transforming sake of a sin-enslaved world.

Father, I love the good news of the gospel because it radically transformed my life. But I have to admit that I tend to treat it like a secret that I refuse to disclose to others. I’m like a gospel horder, filling every area of my life with the blessings and benefits of salvation while others suffer spiritual starvation. I have been blessed so that I might be a blessing to others. I have been given spiritual sight so that I might lead the blind to the One who can open their eyes to the truth of the gospel. I am reminded of the words of Your Son: “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16 NLT). I want to live my life with that kind of purpose and commitment. But I can only do it with Your help and the Spirit’s power. Show me how to do all things for the sake of the gospel and for Your glory. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cleansing Is Always the Key to Blessing

1 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them. On their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

5 So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. 6 And they set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8 And they set out from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9 And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11 And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 And they set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 And they set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19 And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20 And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21 And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 And they set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32 And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33 And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 And they set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. 36 And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37 And they set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

38 And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

41 And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 And they set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. 44 And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. 45 And they set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. 46 And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47 And they set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.” – Numbers 33:1-56 ESV

After doing to rapid-fire recounting of Israel’s trek from Egypt to the banks of the Jordan River, Moses prepares the people of God for their next big task. They are almost at the end of their four-decade-long journey, but they are far from done.  After more than 40 years in the wilderness, they stand on the eastern bank of the Jordan River waiting for God’s command to cross over and begin their conquest and occupation of the land of promise. The day they had long been waiting for had finally arrived. There had been a lengthy delay, but now it was time to enjoy what God had promised so long ago.

But as with most things associated with God, the blessing was tied to a requirement. He had one last instruction to give them before they took possession of the land, and it was a fairly significant one. They must drive out all the people who were living there. On top of that, they had to destroy all the idols and pagan shrines erected to the gods of the land. They were to smash every vestige of idol worship they found. In other words, God expected them to clean up before they settled down.

Sounds simple enough doesn't it? But if you're the least bit familiar with the story of the Israelites, they didn't exactly follow God's instructions to the letter; they took a few liberties. It's almost as if the enemy (Satan) was standing there just as he had been in the garden of Eden, asking the question, "Surely, God has not said…"

I can just hear Satan whispering in their ears, "You don't have to get rid of ALL the idols, just most of them." Or maybe he worded his temptation this way: "You might want to leave one of the pagan shrines intact, just in case Yahweh doesn't come through for you."

As far as God’s command to rid the land of all its occupants, Satan probably did his best to convince the Israelites just how politically incorrect and insensitive this might appear to the rest of the people in the region. They probably thought to themselves, "We don't want to get off on the wrong foot with our new neighbors, do we?"

And God seemed to know that the people would have second thoughts about His command, so He warned them what would happen if they failed to obey.

"But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live. And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them." – Numbers 33:55-56 NLT

“Disobey me,” God says, “and you will live to regret it.” This was not a suggestion, but a command. God expected them to follow His requirements without delay or deviation. He had a good reason for what He was asking them to do, and He knew exactly what would happen if they chose to disobey Him. If the Israelites failed to remove the land's occupants, their enemies would become a constant threat and a thorn in their side. They would never learn to live amicably together. So, cleansing was critical for spiritual survival.

In his commentary on the Book of Numbers, Dr. Thomas Constable writes, "The repetition of 'all' (Numbers 33:52) stresses the importance of completely clearing the land of its inhabitants and their religious paraphernalia. God wanted to clean up the land spiritually and to make it a 'holy land.' The land was a gift from God to His first-born son, Israel (Numbers 33:53). God warned the Israelites what would happen to them if they were not completely obedient (Numbers 333:55-56). The Canaanites would be a constant source of irritation to them, and God would deal with His people as He planned to deal with the Canaanites."

God wanted to purify the land spiritually and make it holy. That reminds me of what God wants to do with my life. He wants to clean it up spiritually and set it apart for His use. He is about removing anything in my life that might defile or defeat me. In essence, He wants to clean house.

But I tend to hang on to certain remnants of my past. I want to give the enemy some footholds in my life where he can live in peace. I want to maintain some of the idols that were there before God came to occupy the land because I find them comforting. They bring me a little bit of peace and assurance. But God wants to purge my life of any vestiges of the past. He wants to make all things new.

To receive all the blessings the promised land had to offer, the people were going to have to obey God fully. The same thing is true for us today. To enjoy all the blessings our new life in Christ offers, we must obey God fully. God makes this clear in His Word.

…throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. – Ephesians 4:22 NLT

Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. – Colossians 3:9 MSG

The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So don’t live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds. Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light. We should be decent and true in everything we do, so that everyone can approve of our behavior. Don’t participate in wild parties and getting drunk, or in adultery and immoral living, or in fighting and jealousy. But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don’t think of ways to indulge your evil desires. – Romans 13:12-14 NLT

God was looking for a change in the lives of the Israelites. He wanted to purge and purify them, and that process began with a thorough cleansing of the land. His desire was to rid the landscape of their lives of any and all vestiges of the past.

Like the Israelites, we must take our set-apart status seriously.  We must remove all the idols and false gods that might draw us away from full reliance upon Him. If we do, we will be blessed. If we don't, we will always find ourselves doing battle with past enemies and tempted to worship the false gods of our former life. Cleansing is always the key to blessing.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Life of Law-keeping is Enslaving

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:13-21 ESV

Freedom from the law results in license. That was one of the accusations the party of the circumcision leveled against Paul and his message of grace and freedom from the law. They most likely used Paul’s own teaching as evidence against him.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “…where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20 ESV). And yet, Paul went on to say, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2 ESV). Grace was not a license to sin. The freedom it provided from the Mosaic Law was not a ticket to live as one pleased. Grace freed people from having to keep the law in an attempt to earn favor with God. The law held men captive to their sin, in bondage to their own weakness, and incapable of doing anything about it. But the salvation offered in Christ set men free. It was William Barclay who wrote, “…the Christian is not the man who has become free to sin, but the man, who, by the grace of God, has become free not to sin.”

That is why Paul warned his readers to not use their new-found freedom in Christ as an opportunity for the flesh. They were free from having to keep the law, but not free from having to live in keeping with God’s expectation of holiness. At one point in His ministry, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of God was, and He responded:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:37-40 ESV

Paul used these very words of Jesus to admonish his readers. Loving God meant living according to His holy will. Loving others required loving them selflessly and sacrificially, which is why Paul said, “…through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13 ESV).

In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul provided an entire chapter on the subject of love. In it, he wrote:

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, ‘Jump,’ and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 MSG

But this kind of love is only possible through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Without His help and our complete reliance upon His power, we will tend to live in the weakness of our own sinful flesh; we will become selfish and self-centered. We will tend to gratify the desires of our old nature, which Paul describes with painful accuracy. These fleshly desires are the exact opposite of what the Spirit wants to produce in us. They are counter to the will of God and reflect a love of self more than a love for Him. They most certainly don’t model a love for others.

Look at Paul’s list: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, and wild parties. Each of these “works of the flesh” reveals a disdain for God and a complete disregard for others.

The moral, ceremonial, and civil sections of the Mosaic Law were designed to regulate the lives of the people of Israel regarding their relationship with God and with one another. But as Jesus said, all of the commandments could be summed up by two simple commands: Love God and love others.

Loving God required a sold-out allegiance to Him as the one true God. The Israelites were forbidden from giving their affections to any other god. Jesus’ admonition to love others required concrete and observable actions. To love another person meant that you could not become jealous of them, get angry with them, lust after them, or take advantage of them. These kinds of actions were antithetical to love.

Notice that Paul’s list has more to do with our relationships with one another than our relationship with God. There is a reason for this. The apostle John wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20 ESV). The greatest expression of our love for God is to be found in our love for those whom He has made. When we love others, we are actually displaying our love for God. Living selflessly and sacrificially exemplifies the very character of God. When our lives are marked by self-control and a focus on the needs of others, we reflect His divine nature and its influence over our lives. But Paul makes it clear that these divinely influenced behaviors are only possible when we live according to the power of God’s indwelling Spirit.

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. – Galatians 5:16 NLT

Paul points out that a Spirit-led life stands diametrically opposed to a flesh-filled life.

…the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. – Galatians 5:17 NLT

In the life of a believer, a battle is always raging between the flesh and the Spirit.

These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. – Galatians 5:17 NLT

Salvation does not eliminate a believer’s sin nature; it provides him with a way to reject its influence over his life. Paul reminded the members of the Colossian church that they had been “raised to new life with Christ” so they were to set their sights “on the realities of heaven” (Colossians 3:1 NLT). At the same time, they were to allow the Holy Spirit to remove all those behaviors that were associated with their old sinful natures.

…put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. – Colossians 3:5-10 NLT

Paul wanted the Colossians and the Galatians to understand that a life continually characterized by the works of the flesh was a life devoid of the Spirit of God. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ have received God’s indwelling and empowering Spirit and, as a result, they are no longer slaves to sin and incapable of living righteous lives. They have been filled with the Holy Spirit and have the power to love God and love others. That’s why Paul told the Romans, “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all)” (Romans 8:9 NLT).

The presence of the Spirit within us does not guarantee that we will live sin-free lives, but it does mean that we don’t have to live sin-dominated lives. Living according to our own sinful flesh will always produce bad fruit. But living according to the Spirit of God produces good fruit that pleases God and blesses others. We have been freed from the penalty and power of sin. Because of Christ’s death on the cross and His Spirit’s presence within us, we are free to say no to sin.

The grace of God has made a sin-less life possible. We are not completely free from sin but we are no longer slaves to its wishes and whims. According to Paul, salvation has broken the chains by which sin once held us captive.

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. – Romans 6:6-7 NLT

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. – Romans 6:14 NLT

Paul’s whole point is that a return to law-keeping is a return to enslavement. The law could not empower anyone to say no to sin; it could only reveal the presence of sin in their lives. The law could only expose and condemn sin but it couldn’t provide a way to resist its influence. That’s why Paul pointed out how his pre-conversion life was marked by a love-hate relationship with the law.

…it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. – Romans 7:7-8 NLT

Paul didn’t want the Galatians to exchange the grace of God for a life of enslavement to the law and a losing battle with sin. He had long ago discovered that “the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead” (Romans 7:10 NLT), and he wanted to keep the Galatians from experiencing the futility of a life ruled by law-keeping instead of grace.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Free to Live By Faith

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
    break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
    than those of the one who has a husband.”

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. – Galatians 4:21-31 ESV

One of the dangers of biblical interpretation is taking what was meant to be literal and making it allegorical. This is most often done when a passage contains a difficult or controversial message. A literal translation may present the reader with certain problems that can easily be rectified by a rendering that is allegorical or figurative in nature.

Since the Bible is comprised of a variety of literary styles, such as history and poetry, and some passages are allegorical in nature, it can be tempting to interpret what God intended to be taken as literal and to force upon it an allegorical meaning. Another thing that can make reading and interpreting the Bible difficult is that some passages have both literal and allegorical messages within them. Paul provides us with a case in point. In his defense of justification by faith alone in Christ alone, Paul uses the historical account of the births of Ishmael and Isaac to explain the true nature of the law and man’s relationship to it.

Paul somewhat sarcastically asked his readers, who seemed to be set on living according to the law, why they refused to listen to what the law said. He then tells the story of the birth of Abraham’s two sons, found in the book of Genesis, located in the “law” section of the Old Testament. When a Jew referred to “the book of the law,” he was referring to not only the Mosaic law but to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible as we know it today.

The Genesis account tells of the birth of Ishmael to Abraham through his wife’s handmaiden, Hagar. This had been the result of Sarah’s attempt to help God fulfill His promise to give Abraham a son. The only problem was that it was not according to God’s plan. Sarah had viewed her barrenness as a problem too big for God to handle, so she intervened and encouraged Abraham to have a child with Hagar. But Paul pointed out that Ishmael, “the son of the slave was born according to the flesh” (Galatians 4:23 ESV).

Paul’s emphasis was that Ishmael’s birth was of the flesh or natural, and as the son of a slave woman, his relationship to Abraham would be completely different than that of Isaac. God had told Abraham that Ishmael would not be an acceptable substitute or stand-in as his heir.

“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” – Genesis 17:20-21 ESV

God had promised to give Abraham an heir through Sarah, despite her barrenness, and God supernaturally intervened and made it possible for Sarah to conceive and bear Abraham a son. Isaac’s birth was the direct fulfillment of God’s long-standing promise to Abraham.

Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. – Genesis 12:1-2 ESV

As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. – Genesis 17:15-16 ESV

And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.” – Genesis 17:18-19 ESV

Ishmael, the son of the slave woman, was not to be Abraham’s heir. That right and responsibility would go to Isaac, the son of the promise. It is at this point that Paul reveals the allegorical or figurative message found in this literal, historical recounting of the births of Ishmael and Isaac.

Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. – Galatians 4:24 ESV

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul provides an analogy or illustration of what these historical events represent or foreshadow. Ishmael represented the covenant of the law given at Mount Sinai. According to Paul, Ishmael was born “according to the flesh,” a clear indication that his birth was not part of God’s plan. Ishmael was the result of Sarah’s ingenuity and Abraham’s compliance, therefore, he was disqualified from becoming the fulfillment of God’s promise.

The law, though given by God, was completely dependent upon man’s ability to live up to it. It was based on self-reliance. God never intended the law to result in man’s justification; it simply revealed and exposed the depths of man’s sinfulness. The law enslaved men under sin. It condemned them for their sin but could do nothing to relieve them from its control over their lives. That is, until Christ came.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. – Galatians 4:4-5 ESV

At one point, Jesus had told the Pharisees, the experts in the Mosaic law, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34-36 ESV).

Paul was attempting to contrast Judaism with Christianity and compare life under the law with a life lived according to faith. Paul wanted his readers to know that they were children according to the promise. They had been freed from the onerous task of attempting to keep the law in an ill-fated effort to earn a right standing before God. Jesus Christ had died to set them free and to justify them before God according to His works, not theirs. So why would they ever want to revert to a life of trying to keep the law?

Ishmael would not share in the inheritance promised by God to Abraham’s heir, and those who attempt to live by keeping the law through dependence upon their own self-effort will not inherit eternal life. That gift is reserved for those who place their faith in the sacrificial death of God’s Son, who was the ultimate fulfillment of the promise. Paul made that point earlier in his letter.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16 ESV

Paul’s entire point is that the promise preceded the giving of the Law, and it came through the line of Isaac, not Ishmael. Jesus would be a descendant of Jacob, the son of Isaac. The opening verse of Matthew’s gospel spells out Jesus’ line of descent.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. – Matthew 1:1 ESV

Matthew goes on to qualify Jesus’ fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham by revealing His direct line of descent from the patriarch of the Hebrew people. He came through the line of Isaac, not Ishmael, therefore, He was a Son of the promise.

Paul’s allegorical take on this historical event does not change any of the details concerning the births of Isaac and Ishmael, but it does provide vital clarification concerning the future implications of this Old Testament story. Ishmael’s birth was the result of Abraham and Sarah trying to help God out. Ishmael was born to Hagar, whom Paul compares to Mount Sinai, where the Mosaic Law was given. Hagar was an Egyptian who served as a personal slave to Sarah. She represents those who were required to live under the law. But Sarah was a free woman who represented all those who lived according to the promise. Hagar is a symbol of the earthly Jerusalem which, in Paul’s day, was enslaved to the Romans and still held captive by the law. But Sarah represents the heavenly Jerusalem, where the children of God live in the freedom provided for them by Jesus Christ.

Paul knew that the temptation toward legalism and self-reliance was alive and well in Galatia. It had been brought in by the Judaizers, who were persecuting the Gentile believers by demanding their conversion to Judaism and their strict adherence to the Mosaic Law.  These Gentile believers were under tremendous pressure to earn favor with God through their own self-effort. But Paul wanted them to remember that they were called to live their lives by faith. They were to trust in God and His indwelling Holy Spirit, not in their weak and frail flesh.

Paul wanted them to embrace the same attitude he had when it came to the freedoms found in Jesus Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Different Kind of Freedom

7 “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money. – Exodus 21:7-11 ESV

As the Israelites stood at the base of Mount Sinai in the middle of the wilderness, they were in a kind of no man's land between Egypt and Canaan. They were no longer living as the slaves of the descendants of Ham, but they were also far from their future homeland. Their exit from Egypt had been relatively easy but their first few months of travel to the land of promise had been marked by difficulties. They had encountered shortages of water and food, which God miraculously remedied. The days had been long and they had begun to grow weary of the monotonous and unpleasant nature of their journey. But God was preparing them for what lie ahead. He was teaching them to trust Him and to understand that He would provide for all their needs. The conquest of Canaan was not going to be a cakewalk.

The land God promised to Abraham as the homeland for his descendants was heavily occupied and the current residents would not give up their property willingly or easily. Their removal from the land was going to be a non-negotiable requirement for the Israelites because God knew that their pagan practices would have a negative influence on His chosen people. And Moses would later give the people an explanation for God’s extermination policy regarding the land of Canaan.

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.” – Deuteronomy 7:1-4 ESV

And Moses went on to remind the Israelites of their unique status as God’s chosen people.

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” – Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV

The giving of the Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant was intended to provide the Israelites with clear guidelines to govern their behavior. God had Canaan in mind when He gave them His legal code of conduct and many of these laws have direct application to the circumstances they will encounter when they enter the land. The greatest temptation they will face will be that of compromise and cultural assimilation. Rather than stand out as God’s treasured possession and live like a holy nation and a royal priesthood, they will be tempted to blend in with the pagan cultures around, adopting their ways and acclimating to their laws and lifestyles.

That is why many of the laws found in Exodus 21-23 sound so foreign to those of us living in the more “enlightened” 21st century. We struggle with God’s commands concerning slavery. We reel at the idea of God condoning a father selling his daughter or son for profit. In these opening verses of chapter 21, people seem to be treated like property rather than those made in the image of God.

The world in which the Israelites lived was far different from the one we occupy. In a way, they lived in a day and age that was similar to the American wild west. Canaan was a place filled with a diverse group of nations that practiced a variety of different religions and lived according to their own set of moral codes. There was no shared “law of the land” and no “sheriff” to help enforce it. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. People were treated like property. Women had no rights or value, except for their child-bearing abilities.

When the Israelites finally entered the land of Canaan, they would find themselves surrounded by people who lived according to their own set of rules. So, long before the people of God arrived at their final destination, God gave them His criteria for navigating life in a fallen and broken world. And the fact that He started with the difficult topic of slavery was intentional. His people knew what it was like to be enslaved. Four generations of Israelites had experienced the devastating reality of this degrading and demoralizing institution. Of all people, they should have had a strong aversion to participating in such a reprehensible practice. But in their world, indentured servanthood was almost unavoidable. In an age when social welfare programs were non-existent, many who found themselves in debt had no other recourse but to use their bodies as collateral, entering into indentured servanthood to escape poverty or possible death.

The Israelites had lived through this sad reality during their days in Egypt. When the seven-year famine that ravaged the land reached its peak, the Egyptians became desperate for food. Having used all their money to purchase grain from the Egyptian government, they were forced to sell their property and possessions. When those things ran out, they were left with nothing else to offer but themselves.

…when that year was ended, they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” – Genesis 47:18-19 ESV

As difficult as it is for us to believe or accept, this was the welfare system Joseph implemented that kept the people of Egypt alive. And rather than seeing Joseph’s actions as punitive or abusive, they expressed their gratefulness.

“You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” – Genesis 47:25 ESV

Yet, as we consider these first few laws, it’s difficult to understand how they could be the work of a holy, righteous, and just God. How could God condone a man selling his daughter as a slave? Why would God make provisions for one man to purchase another man and force him to act as his servant for six years? Our modern sensibilities make it almost impossible to grasp the significance of what was taking place in those days.

“In Israel servitude was voluntary (at least for Israelites). People hired themselves into the service of others. Usually this was because they were poor, and they recognized that the best way to meet their needs while at the same time paying off their debts was to become someone's servant. Servant is the proper word for it. They were not slaves, as we usually think of the term, but something more like apprentices, hired hands, or indentured laborers. They lived in their master’s home, where they worked hard in exchange for room, board, and an honest wage.” – Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved For God’s Glory

When reading these chapters, it’s essential that we factor in the cultural conditions of the time period in which God’s laws were given. The Israelites were living in a day that was very dissimilar to the one in which we live. Cultural mores were distinctively different than those with which we are familiar. And God was giving His people laws that would make sense within their immediate context.

It is difficult for us to imagine any slave making the statement: “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free” (Exodus 21:5 ESV). But the emphasis of the passage seems to be on the importance of the family unit. Even an Israelite in Moses’ day might have second-guessed the decision to exchange freedom for maintaining family unity. But God wants them to know that freedom is not the end-all. Within God’s economy, there are certain things that are of greater value than freedom itself. For God’s people, love for Him and love for others are to trump everything else. Even a slave can love his family well. But a man who sacrifices his family to achieve personal freedom has given up that which God has deemed of greater value.

God knew that the people of Israel were going to view their status as His treasured possession as some kind of exemption from pain and suffering. They were expecting to enjoy all the perks that come with being the chosen people of God Almighty. But centuries later, the apostle Paul would remind his readers that there are some things more important than status and significance.

Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you. Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it. And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ. – 1 Corinthians 7:20-22 NLT

These laws were meant to regulate relationships, including those between men and those between men and God. That is why, when Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, He replied:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:37-40 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Practical Laws For Real Life

1 “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.” – Exodus 21:1-6 ESV

Beginning with chapter 21 and running through the 19th verse of chapter 23, Moses delivers the expanded version of God’s law to His people. He later refers to it as “the Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 24:7 ESV. This more comprehensive collection of commands was intended to be an extension of the Decalogue. It is “an application of the Decalogue to the specific social context of Israel as a nation” (John D. Currid, A Study Commentary on Exodus).

The Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant were not given in a complete moral or legal vacuum. By the time of the exodus, various ancient societies had developed legal codes to help regulate human behavior and interaction. Many of these codes contain prohibitions similar to those found in the Book of the Covenant. These include the Laws of Esnunna, created by the Akkadian civilization located in Mesopotamia. The Sumerian civilization had the Code of Lipit-Istar. And centuries later, the Babylonians would come up with the more familiar Code of Hammurabi.

It is important to note that the Israelites had not been living in a lawless state. Even in Egypt, their lives had been governed by a series of written and oral legal codes. God created humanity with a basic understanding of His righteous standards. The apostle Paul wrote about how God has placed within all men an instinctive understanding of His law.

Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. – Romans 2:13-15 NLT

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they violated a clear command of God.

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – Genesis 2:16-17 ESV

And their motivation for breaking that command was their desire to “be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5 ESV). As soon as they chose to disobey God’s prohibition, “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7 ESV). They gained an immediate awareness of their sinful state. In that moment, their innocence was replaced with guilt, as they considered the ramifications of their actions.

From the very beginning, God’s moral law permeated His creation. And despite the sin of Adam and Eve, mankind maintained a rudimentary understanding of God’s will concerning human behavior. Cain knew murder was wrong, and he understood that there were painful consequences for those who took the life of the innocent.

Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” – Exodus 4:13 ESV

But all the legal codes in the world could not correct mankind’s moral spiral into disobedience and decadence. By the time we get to chapter six of Genesis, the moral state of human society had hit an all-time low.

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. – Genesis 6:5 NLT

Their problem was not a lack of laws, but a general unwillingness and inability to obey those laws. Things had deteriorated so badly, that the text indicates there was only one righteous man left on the earth.

Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. – Genesis 6:9 NLT

This led God to begin again, providing Noah and his extended family with a means of escaping His judgment against the rest of human society. And post-flood, God’s unwritten law continued to hold sway, dictating the behavior of all those who descended from Noah’s three sons. But the generations that followed proved to be no different than their pre-flood ancestors. They also willingly and regularly violated God’s righteous standards.

This led God to begin again with a man named Abram, an elderly pagan from the land of Ur in Mesopotamia. God chose this obscure individual to carry out His divine plan for restoring sinful mankind to a right relationship with Himself. And long before Abram and his barren wife, Sarai, had ever conceived their first child, God made a covenant with them. This legal agreement was intended to set apart Abram and his descendants as a special people, who would enjoy a one-of-a-kind relationship with God Almighty.

“As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.” – Genesis 17:9-11 ESV

Circumcision was a sign of the covenant. It was a legal requirement mandated by God that was intended to signify their unwavering commitment to their newfound status as His chosen people. God had promised to produce from Abram and his barren wife a great and mighty nation. And that promise was passed down from Abram to his son, Isaac, and then from Isaac to Jacob. And the Israelites whom God redeemed out of captivity in Egypt were the direct descendants of Jacob. They were the great nation that God had promised and they were to be His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6).

But after 400 years of living in Egypt, separated from God and influenced by the idolatry and immorality of that land, the people of Israel needed a more concrete and comprehensive understanding of God’s expectations of them. So, He gave them His law. The Ten Commandments were the summary statement of His moral requirements. The Book of the Covenant provided the application of those “ten words” to everyday life situations. These practical and highly specific laws were given to the people of Israel. They were intended to govern their conduct and set them apart from every other people group on the earth. These laws were not to be universally applied or mandated for all cultures but were designed to differentiate the people of God from everyone else.

In a sense, the Ten Commandments are timeless and universal in their application. But the Book of the Covenant was meant to apply to a specific people group living at a particular time in human history.

“…the Book of the Covenant was never intended to address every possible situation. It was more a guide to cases than a statutory code. Whereas the Ten Commandments were expressed as universal absolutes, the laws in the Book of the Covenant dealt with specific situations. They provided a series of legal precedents that wise elders could use in settling disputes. While these case laws could not possibly cover every new situation that might arise, they illustrated basic legal principles for living in community with the people of God.” – Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved For God’s Glory

But why does God begin his Book of the Covenant with laws concerning slavery? The answer is found in the prologue that God gave before delivering the Decalogue to Moses.

And God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” – Exodus 20:1-2 ESV

The Israelites had just been delivered from slavery in Egypt. They had spent several centuries under the heavy hand of the Pharaohs, toiling as indentured servants and enduring unrelenting persecution and suffering at the hands of their masters. But now, they were free. And God wanted them to use their newfound freedom as an incentive to treat others with greater dignity and respect.

It can’t be overlooked that, in His giving of the law, God does not abolish the practice of slavery. Instead, He provides moral guidelines for the treatment of those who find themselves enslaved. In a world where slavery was ubiquitous and universal, God provided a new way of regulating this institution that was of human origin. Slavery, like adultery, murder, incest, lying, and idolatry, was never God’s intention. They are all the result of sin’s entrance into the world. And slavery, as an institution and practice, became a symbol of mankind’s relationship with sin.

Jesus understood this undeniable link between mankind and sin. He described its vice-like grip on humanity in a statement He made to the Pharisees.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” – John 8:34 ESV

The apostle Paul would later declare the remarkable significance of Jesus’ death on the cross, which provided the only means of being delivered from slavery to sin.

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. – Romans 6:6-7 ESV

God had delivered Israel from their slavery in Egypt. And when they exited that land, they brought with them a “mixed multitude” (Exodus 12:38) that most likely included their own personal slaves. In fact, when God instituted the Passover, He gave strict instructions concerning those slaves.

“…every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.” – Exodus 12:44 ESV

God knew that slavery was going to be a permanent part of human society, in one form or another. And it would provide a glaring and ongoing illustration of mankind’s hopeless relationship with sin. Just as there were those who were born into slavery, every human being is born into a state of sin. And just as there were those who sold themselves into slavery to satisfy a debt, there are those who willfully choose a life of sin in the hopes of finding relief from their guilt and shame.

From our current cultural vantage point, it is difficult for us to comprehend these verses. We struggle with the idea of God somehow condoning a practice our society knows to be abhorrent and has worked hard to abolish. But these passages are dealing with a subject that was woven into the social fabric of the times. Indentured servitude was a way of life. Every nation practiced it. And God wanted His people to exhibit a completely different approach to this painful and pervasive part of the human condition. So, He provided His chosen people with binding laws that were to govern their interactions with everyone in their community, including slaves.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Just When Things Were Looking Up

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” – Exodus 5:1-9 ESV

Chapter four ends with the promising statement, “And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction” (Exodus 4:31 ESV). Moses and Aaron had presented God’s message word for word.

“Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, ‘I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you. I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey…’” – Exodus 3:16-17 NLT

Then, as God had commanded, they backed up their words with actions, performing the signs Moses had received in the wilderness of Horeb. And evidently, their efforts proved successful in convincing the Israelites to believe that Jehovah had heard their cries and had come to deliver them from their miserable conditions in Egypt. Encouraged by what they heard and saw, “they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 3:31 ESV).

Having faithfully communicated God’s message to the people of Israel, Moses’ next stop was the royal throne room, where he and his brother hand-delivered an ultimate to Pharaoh.

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.” – Exodus 5:1 NLT

Moses and Aaron were sticking with the plan and, so far, everything was happening just as God had said it would.

“The elders of Israel will accept your message. Then you and the elders must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord, our God.’” – Exodus 3:18 NLT

But God had already warned Moses that Pharaoh would prove to be a hard nut to crack. This powerful, self-deified monarch was not going to play along with Moses’ request. In fact, he would find the very thought of it ridiculous and not worthy of consideration. But even that was part of God’s sovereign plan.

“I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him. So I will raise my hand and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. Then at last he will let you go…” – Exodus 3:19-20 NLT

And as if reading a script written by the hand of God, Pharaoh responded, “Is that so?…and who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2 NLT). Overflowing with hubris, Pharaoh mocked his two visitors and belittled the status of this Jehovah (Yᵊhōvâ) who dared to order him around.

Interestingly enough, back when God called Moses to serve as His deliverer, Moses had expressed concern that the Israelites might know who Jehovah was.

“If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” – Exodus 3:13 NLT

But according to the opening verses of this chapter, it was not the Hebrews who needed a primer on Jehovah’s identity, it was Pharaoh. And, in response to Pharaoh’s sarcastic inquiry, “who is the Lord?”, Moses simply stated, “The God of the Hebrews” (Exodus 5:3 NLT). He uses the generic term ĕlōhîm, which is a Hebrew word used of Jehovah, but also of all other gods. But Moses makes it clear that he is talking about a very specific “God,” the God of the Hebrews. The one true God who created the heavens and the earth.

Moses reiterates his request for Pharaoh to permit the Israelites a take what would be a six-day break from their work so that they can travel into the wilderness and worship their God. In a sense, he was asking Pharaoh to agree to unpaid time off for all Hebrew workers. But he insisted this was not so they could go on holiday, but so that they might worship their God. And then he added a previously undisclosed bit of information.

“If we don’t, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.” – Exodus 5:3 NLT

Moses was insisting that they were obligated to obey the commands of their God. If they refused, Pharaoh could end up losing all his laborers, not just for six days, but for good. The ball was in Pharaoh’s court. He could accommodate Moses’ request and suffer a drop in productivity for about a week, or he could refuse and watch his primary labor force get wiped off the face of the earth. It was up to him.

After 400 years, the Egyptians had become familiar with the strange religious rites of the Israelites. They would have known that the offerings they made to their God involved animal sacrifices, and the Egyptians considered many of those animals to be sacred. They believed their gods manifested themselves through these creatures, and the idea of the Israelites sacrificing bulls and goats within the borders of Egypt would have appalled and disgusted them. That is why Moses asked permission to journey three days outside of the borders of Egypt.

But Pharaoh was not buying what Moses was selling. He was not about to release the Israelites into the wilderness for any reason or for any length of time, for fear that they might try to escape. So, Pharaoh doubled down on his previous answer and rebuked his two visitors for wasting his time and filling the heads of the Israelites with false hope.

“Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.” – Exodus 5:4 NLT

Having drawn a line in the sand, Pharaoh upped the ante and ordered his Egyptian slave drivers to make the lives of the Israelites worse than before. Even the Hebrew foremen who oversaw the chain gangs of laborers were ordered to drive their fellow Israelites harder than before. To increase their suffering and get their mind off of the messages of Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh ordered that all brick production be done without the benefit of straw. It wasn’t that the Israelites were permitted to make strawless bricks, but that they now had to gather the hay and stubble on their own. It added another layer of back-breaking labor to their already difficult task.

Pharaoh concluded that the Israelites were lazy and easily distracted by Moses’ offer of a week off from work to worship in the wilderness. He was going to teach them a valuable and painful lesson they would not soon forget.

“Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!” – Exodus 5:9 NLT

It doesn’t take a psychologist to deduce that this treatment was going to produce and adverse reaction among the people of God. They had been pumped by Moses’ announcement that Jehovah had heard their cries. They were looking forward to seeing how God was going to improve their lot in life. Now, things had taken a very dark turn for the worse. Rather than experiencing deliverance, their pain and suffering had actually increased. And it wouldn’t take them long to decide that they had been far better off before Moses and his brother showed up on their doorstep. 

But little did the Israelites know that this was all part of God’s sovereign plan. Their God was not up in heaven wringing His hands in worry. He had not been caught off guard by Pharaoh’s harsh reaction. God had known all along that this would be Pharaoh’s response. It was built into the whole plan and was part of the sequence of events that would ultimately lead to the release of the Israelites and the judgment of the Egyptians.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

I Am, Are You?

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” – Exodus 3:13-22 ESV

While shepherding his father-in-law's flocks in the wilderness of Sinai, Moses had an unexpected visit from God. This divine manifestation took the form of a burning bush from which the voice of God declared His plan to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. But for Moses, the most shocking thing about this encounter was the part in which God revealed him to be the chosen deliverer.

“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” – Exodus 3:10 ESV

His immediate reaction was to disqualify himself from service.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” – Exodus 3:11 ESV

The thought of going home to Egypt, where he was a convicted murderer with his name on Pharaoh’s most-wanted list, must have scared Moses to death. Despite being Pharaoh’s adopted grandson, he would no longer have any negotiating capital with the Egyptian monarch. He was persona non grata back home. Even his fellow Israelites would refuse to listen to this former member of the royal family, who was more Egyptian than Hebrew.

But God was not buying what Moses was selling. The Almighty refused to listen to his excuses. Instead, God assured Moses that he had no reason to fear because he would not be alone. God would be with him every step of the way. And God provided Moses with an ironclad guarantee that he and the emancipated Israelites would one day return to Mount Horeb (Sinai) and worship Him. And the miraculous burning bush was to be “the sign” that confirmed the veracity of God’s words. Moses could trust God.

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? – Deuteronomy 23:19 NLT

But Moses was still reluctant to accept God’s commission. He was not yet convinced that he was the right man for the assignment, so he asked, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’—what should I say to them?” (Exodus 3:13 NLT). 

Moses knew that his people had long ago lost interest in Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. During their 400-year stint in Egypt, they had acclimated to the ways of their Egyptian hosts. In time, they had assimilated into the surrounding culture, adapting themselves to the local customs and even adopting the Egyptian gods as their own.

In the book of Ezekiel, God confirms that during their stay in Egypt, the Israelites had developed an unhealthy attachment to the false gods of Egypt.

“When I chose Israel—when I revealed myself to the descendants of Jacob in Egypt—I took a solemn oath that I, the Lord, would be their God. I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them—a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere. Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, get rid of the vile images you are so obsessed with. Do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt, for I am the Lord your God.’” – Ezekiel 20:5-7 NLT

Having lived in Egypt most of his adult life, Moses was well aware of this problem and knew the people of Israel would be reluctant to obey the commands of a God they didn’t know. It didn’t help that there had been a 400-year period when God had seemed to go silent. Their increasing apostasy had led Him to cut off all communication with His people. But with His appearance at the burning bush, God broke that silence. Now, Moses was wanting to know how he was supposed to reintroduce this long-forgotten God to the people of Israel.

At this point, even Moses is unsure of his visitor’s identity. While he seems to know that he is conversing with a deity, he has no way of knowing that it is Jehovah, the God of his forefathers. So, he seeks a name, an appellation by which to identify the God to whom he is speaking. And God responds:

“I AM that I AM.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” – Exodus 3:14 NLT

The answer Moses receives is not so much a name as it is a declaration of authority. God is declaring that He is the “existing one,” the eternal, all-powerful creator of heaven and earth. He is uncreated and has always existed. Unlike the gods of the Egyptians, God is not the byproduct of man’s imagination.

“I AM is the ultimate statement of self-sufficiency, self-existence, and immediate presence. God’s existence is not contingent upon anyone else. His plans are not contingent upon any circumstances. He promises that He will be what He will be; that is, He will be the eternally constant God. He stands, ever-present and unchangeable, completely sufficient in Himself to do what He wills to do and to accomplish what He wills to accomplish.” – https://www.gotquestions.org/I-AM-WHO-I-AM-Exodus-3-14

Moses is being sent by the one true God. And to ensure that Moses fully comprehends who it is that is speaking to him, God adds:

“You must say this to the Israelites, ‘The Lord—the God of your fathers, 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 is my memorial from generation to generation.’” – Exodus 3:15 NLT

Moses is communicating with the very same God that his forefathers worshiped. The man who asked, “Who am I?” has been talking to the great “I am.” This self-doubting prince turned murderer turned shepherd had questioned his own identity and qualifications for service. But God provided Moses with the assurance that there was no reason to doubt His identity and qualifications. He was Jehovah God.

And with His identity fully disclosed, God instructs Moses to return to Egypt, gather the elders of Israel, and let them in on the news.

“Go and bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, appeared to me—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—saying, “I have attended carefully to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt, and I have promised that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’” – Exodus 3:16-17 NLT

This was great news, but it would have been difficult for Moses to comprehend. After four centuries of life in Egypt, would the people of Israel want to pack up and leave? Yes, things were difficult and they had been crying out because of their suffering and pain. But was a relocation what they had in mind? And how was Moses supposed to carry off this impossible mission? All of these thoughts must have rifled through the mind of Moses as he listened to God’s instructions.

But as Moses wrestled with doubts, God assured him that the elders would eventually listen to what he had to say. Then, having convinced the Israelites, Moses would need to turn his attention to Pharaoh, who would prove to be a challenge. God discloses that the Egyptian king will not allow the people of Israel to leave.

“I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not even under force.” – Exodus 3:19 NLT

Moses was going to face strong opposition from his former adoptive grandfather. But God reveals that Pharaoh’s resistance is part of the plan. His refusal to cooperate will bring about God’s judgment.

“I will extend my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do among them, and after that he will release you.” – Exodus 3:20 NLT

God was letting Moses know ahead of time that his assignment would not be easy, but it would eventually prove successful. So much so, that God assured Moses that not only will the Israelites leave Egypt, but they will do so with great wealth.

“I will grant this people favor with the Egyptians, so that when you depart you will not leave empty-handed. Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters—thus you will plunder Egypt!” – Exodus 3:21-22 NLT

Surrounded by bleating sheep and still staring at the burning bush, Moses’ head must have been spinning as he considered the words of Jehovah. It was all too good to be true. Not only that, it was all too impossible to even consider. He had grown up in Egypt. He had been raised in the royal court and knew what he was up against. The Egyptians were a powerful and proud people. They were not about to let millions of slaves walk away scot-free and loaded down with the riches of Egypt.

But God patiently endured Moses’ questions of concern and expressions of doubt. He wanted His deliverer to be fully on board with the plan and fully convinced of its ultimate success. So, that when the great “I Am” finally asked Moses if was ready, he would be able to say, “I am.”

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Life-Changing Look at the Law

8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. – 1 Timothy 2:8-11 ESV

Paul has warned Timothy about a certain group of individuals who had infiltrated the church in Ephesus and were declaring themselves to be experts on the Mosaic Law. These self-proclaimed teachers of the law were creating confusion among the converts to Christianity, propagating a range of dangerous doctrines based on their misguided interpretation and application of the Jewish legal code. Yet Paul flatly debunks their expertise.

…they do not understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently. – 1 Timothy 1:7 NET

On Paul’s third missionary journey, he made a stop in the city of Ephesus where he found a small contingent of newly converted believers. Paul took these 12 men under his wing, baptizing them and laying hands on them so that they might receive the Holy Spirit. And Paul also spent time in the local synagogue, witnessing to his fellow Jews.

Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. – Acts 19:8 NLT

But the reception Paul received from the Jews living in Ephesus was far from warm. 

…some became stubborn, rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way. So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and Greeks—heard the word of the Lord. – Acts 19:9-10 NLT

Paul had been undeterred by the stubbornness of the Jews and continued to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to any who would listen. It is likely that some of the Jewish converts were among those who were trying to use their knowledge of the Mosaic Law to promote a form of legalism among the Gentile members of the congregation. But Paul insisted that these people, while well-intentioned, failed to understand the purpose of the law. 

As a former Pharisee, Paul was an expert in the law of Moses. He had studied it extensively and could probably recite much of it from memory. Unlike the wanna-be teachers of the law in Ephesus, Paul had the credentials and curricula vitae to back up his opinions concerning the law.

I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. – Philippians 3:5-6 NLT

But Paul’s understanding of the law had been radically transformed by his encounter with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. Since becoming a follower of Christ, Paul had developed a whole new perspective on the law. No longer was the law to be seen as a set of rules to keep in order to have a right relationship with God. That is exactly what he told the believers in Rome.

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. – Romans 3:19-20 NLT

What these so-called experts in the law were teaching was a form of legalism. There were promoting a need to keep the law in order to be truly saved. In their minds, the idea of faith alone in Christ alone was not enough. As far as they were concerned, the Gentile converts to Christianity were required to keep the laws given to Moses and practice all the rites and rituals associated with Judaism. But Paul knew this to be a dangerous lie that destroyed the whole idea of salvation by faith.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. – Romans 3:27-28 NLT

In the letter he wrote to the church in Ephesus, Paul reminded them of the incredible nature of God’s grace.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. – Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

This problem of legalism creeping into the church was pervasive. It seems that Paul encountered it in every city where the gospel gained a foothold. As soon as people began to place their faith in Christ, the legalists would appear on the scene, promoting their false doctrine of faith plus works. These Judaizers, as they came to be known, were adamant in their belief that obedience to the Mosaic Law was a non-negotiable requirement for salvation. Yet, Paul vehemently disagreed with their assertion.

…those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” – Galatians 3:10-12 NLT

Paul went on to explain to the Galatian believers the true purpose of the law.

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. – Galatians 3:19 NLT

The law was never meant to save anyone. In the law, God revealed the righteous requirements He ordained for His people, but He knew that they would fail to live up to His exacting standards. That’s why He gave them the sacrificial system. Their inability to live up to the stringent moral and ethical code He established would leave them in a constant state of sin. So, the sacrificial system provided a means of receiving atonement and forgiveness.

The author of the book of Hebrews reminds us that the sacrificial system was never intended to permanently irradicate sin and eliminate guilt. In a sense, it was a bandaid approach to a much more serious problem.

The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. – Hebrews 10:1-4 NLT

And Paul emphasizes that this understanding of the law’s role does not in any way diminish its value.

Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 3:21-22 NLT

The law was always intended to be a temporary solution to the problem of sin and it was only provided to the people of Israel. God had given His law to His chosen people and it had been meant to be a way of setting them apart from all the other nations on earth. God had given them His code of conduct and demanded that they obey it to the letter. But He had known they would fail. Even as the set-apart people of God and equipped with the law of God, they were unable to live up to His righteous standard. And Paul told the Galatians that the law had always been intended to function as a short-term fix to the eternal problem of sin.

Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.

Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. – Galatians 3:23-25 NLT

And Paul wanted Timothy to combat the lies of the legalists who were infiltrating the church in Ephesus. It was essential that Timothy shut down any talk of law-keeping as a requirement for salvation. According to Paul, faith in Christ provides freedom from the requirements of the law.

Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. – Galatians 5:1 NLT

For Paul, the law was for the unbelieving and unrepentant. It was for all those who had not yet been set free from sin by placing their faith in Christ. And he makes that point perfectly clear to Timothy.

The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God. – 1 Timothy 1:10-11 NLT

It was Jesus who predicted the sin-defeating and life-liberating nature of His death, burial, and resurrection. Faith in Christ provides freedom from sin and liberation from a life of legalism and law-keeping.

“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” – John 8:34-36 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our Great God

17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, 18 and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 The people of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 21 those listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

22 Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 23 those listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

24 Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 25 those listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

26 Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 27 those listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

28 Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 29 those listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

30 Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 31 those listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

32 Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 33 those listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

34 Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 35 those listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

36 Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 37 those listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

38 Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 39 those listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

40 Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 41 those listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

42 Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 43 those listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

44 These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his father’s house. 45 So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— 46 all those listed were 603,550. – Numbers 1:17-46 ESV

Twelve tribes yielded over 600,000 men of fighting age. That is a staggering number, and when you consider that it only included men who were 20-years-old and older, and does not take into account women and children, you can begin to sense the size of the Israelite community. Some scholars have estimated that, based on the size of Israel’s fighting force, the total number of Israelites could have been from one to two million. But those astounding estimates have caused concern among some scholars who question the impossibility of that many people surviving life in the unforgiving wilderness for more than 40 years. The NET Study Bible provides the following summary of their misgivings.

“There has been much discussion about the numbers in the Israelite wilderness experience. The immediate difficulty for even the casual reader is the enormous number of the population. If indeed there were 603,550 men twenty years of age and older who could fight, the total population of the exodus community counting women and children would have been well over a million, or even two million as calculated by some. This is not a figure that the Bible ever gives, but given the sizes of families the estimate would not be far off. This is a staggering number to have cross the Sea, drink from the oases, or assemble in the plain by Sinai. It is not a question of whether or not God could provide for such a number; it is rather a problem of logistics for a population of that size in that period of time. The problem is not with the text itself, but with the interpretation of the word אֶלֶף (’elef), traditionally translated “thousand.” The word certainly can be taken as “thousand,” and most often is. But in view of the problem of the large number here, some scholars have chosen one of the other meanings attested in literature for this word…” – see A. H. McNeile, Numbers, 7; J. Garstang, Joshua-Judges, 120; J. Bright, History of Israel, 144

In an attempt to come up with a more reasonable and believable number, other interpretations of the word אֶלֶף (’elef) have been utilized. And while these rather clever reinterpretations have resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of fighting men and, therefore, the total number of Israelites, they are not without their flaws. One such effort managed to reduce the total size of the Israelite army to about 18,000 men, resulting in an estimated population of 72,000 Israelites. This drastic reduction may make the total number of Israelites more acceptable and believable, but it plays fast and lose with the text.

It is clear that God commanded Moses to “take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head” (Numbers 1:2 ESV). The Hebrew word translated as “head” is actually גֻּלְגֹּלֶת (gulgōleṯ), which means “skull.” Moses had been instructed to count every skull of every man in the Israelite community.

“…the count appears to have been literal, and the totals calculated accordingly, totals which match other passages in the text. If some formula is used to reduce the thousands in this army, then there is the problem of knowing what to do when a battle has only five thousand, or three thousand men. One can only conclude that on the basis of what we know the word should be left with the translation ‘thousand,’ no matter what difficulties this might suggest to the reader.” – NET Bible Study Notes

There is no accurate way of calculating the overall size of the Israelite community based on these numbers. S,o we must be careful when throwing around numbers like one or two million. We just don’t know. But at the same time, we must refrain from questioning the integrity of the text just because we find it difficult to accept the idea of an army of 603,550 men.

While we may find these numbers difficult to comprehend, the text provides no conclusive evidence to doubt their veracity. If anything, the size of Israel’s army supports the fear that drove Pharaoh to begin persecuting the people of Israel in the first place. The book of Exodus reminds us that during their stay in Egypt the descendants of Jacob had multiplied greatly.

…the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. – Exodus 1:7 ESV

The dramatic increase in their numbers had been significant enough to catch the attention of Pharaoh.

“Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” – Exodus 1:9-10 ESV

Exodus 13:18 states that when the Israelites left Egypt they marched out like an army arrayed for battle. They were so large that they were required to line up in regiments or groups, most likely according to the various tribes. They were a vast number of men, women, and children. They were even accompanied by non-Israelites as they made their way out of Egypt. And it’s interesting to note that the book of Exodus reports that the number of men who left Egypt was virtually the same as the number of men determined by the census.

And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. – Exodus 12:37-38 ESV

Unless we can find a convincing reason to dismiss the numbers that Moses recorded, it is best to accept them as proof of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation (Genesis 15:5).

“I believe we should take eleph in census contexts as thousands until further investigation clearly indicates that we should interpret it differently.” – Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Numbers

During their 400 years of captivity in Egypt, God had been blessing and preparing His people for the future conquest of the land of Canaan. He had multiplied them greatly and transformed them from an army of slaves into a military force made up of freemen who were heirs to the land of promise. The numbers should stagger us. The miraculous nature of Israel’s transformation is meant to amaze us. For more than four centuries, God had protected and provided for them. He had multiplied them. And when the time was right, He had delivered them. Now, He was ready to use their vast numbers to conquer the land of Canaan. And just before his death, Moses reminded the people of Israel that their God would go before them when they entered the land.

“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” – Deuteronomy 28:7 ESV

Their future victories would be the result of God’s greatness and glory, not the size of their army. They were not to place their confidence in the might of their military. They were to trust in the unfathomable greatness of God. The words God later spoke to the prophet Zechariah sum up the attitude the Israelites were to have regarding the results of the census.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” – Zechariah 4:6 ESV

Whether their army numbered 60,000 or 600,000, any victory they hoped to have would come from the Lord. He was the Lord of Heavens Armies and their only hope of future success.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

But God…

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV

Paul put a strong emphasis on the future but he never forgot the past. When addressing believers, he strived to stress the eternal significance of their redemption. He wanted them to understand that their faith in Christ had both immediate and long-term implications. They could enjoy the present benefits of a restored relationship with God, as revealed by the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. 
But the Spirit was also intended as a sign or proof of their inheritance to come (Ephesians 1:13-14).  

But Paul knew that, in order for believers to truly appreciate the present and future blessings of God, they must constantly recall their former condition as enemies of God. There was a time when all followers of Christ stood on the other side of the door of grace. As Paul will remind the Ephesians believers in the very next section of his letter, “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope” (Ephesians 2:12 NLT). This is the very same message he gave to the believers in Galatia.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. – Galatians 4:8 ESV

Paul understood the power of recall. He knew that an accurate memory of the past was essential if the Ephesians were going to cultivate an appreciation for all that God had accomplished on their behalf. Looking back could provide a much-needed reminder of just how gracious God had been. Their salvation had been undeserved. They had been enemies of God, living in open rebellion to His will and ways. And Paul pulls no punches in describing the desperate state of their former condition.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. – Ephesians 2:1-2 NLT

Paul believed that having a healthy and honest view of the past was essential for understanding the glorious nature of God’s gift of salvation. Jesus had not come to redeem the righteous. He had not sacrificed His life on behalf of the good and the godly, but for those who were sin-enslaved and recognized their need for a Savior. On one occasion, when the Pharisees ridiculed Jesus for associating with notorious sinners, He responded, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Mark 2:17 NLT).

Paul’s mention of the devil was intended to stress the former enslavement of the Ephesian believers. Before coming to faith in Christ, they had not been free to do as they pleased. They had been the slaves to Satan himself, “the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God” (Ephesians 2:2 NLT). In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul described the sinister role of Satan in sobering terms.

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. – 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT

And Paul’s obsession with Satan’s enslavement of the lost was well-founded. It was based on the message he had received from Jesus at the time of his conversion on the road to Damascus. He shared the details of this encounter in his trial before King Agrippa.

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’” – Acts 26:15-18 NLT

Paul’s commission from Jesus had been to help set captives free. His entire ministry had been to bring good news, to open the eyes of the blind, and to set the captives free. And Paul knew that, in doing so, he was simply continuing the ministry of Jesus Himself. When Jesus appeared at the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth, He had read a passage from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
   and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” – Luke 4:18-19 NLT

And when He had finished, Jesus had sat down and calmly but boldly declared, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:21 NLT). Now, Paul was carrying on the mission that Jesus had begun. He had been tasked with the job of setting captives free and, somewhat ironically, his efforts had earned him imprisonment in Rome. Yet, he continued to use his pen to proclaim the glorious nature of the freedom made possible through faith in Christ. And he reminded the Ephesians that every believer, including himself, had at one time been a slave to Satan and an enemy of God, “following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:3 NLT).

But God…

Those two simple words form one of the most powerful and impactful sentences in the entire Bible. Paul reveled in the idea of God’s undeserved, yet undeniable intervention in mankind’s desperate condition.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) – Ephesians 2:4-5 NLT

Mercy, love, grace. Those three words form the foundation of Paul’s thinking on this matter. God showered sinful, enslaved humanity mercy (undeserved kindness). He poured out His unselfish, sacrificial love on those who deserved His justice and wrath. And it was all a display of His unmerited favor (grace) and lovingkindness.

Paul wanted the Ephesians to understand that their salvation had been totally undeserved. They had done nothing worthy of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Their transformation from enemies of God to sons and daughters of God had been the work of God alone. And Paul is unapologetic in his defense of God’s sovereign role in the salvation of sinful humanity.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. – Ephesians 2:8 NLT

This point is essential to Paul’s argument, which is why he repeats it three separate times.

It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved! – vs 5

So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us… – vs 7

God saved you by his grace when you believed. – vs 8

For Paul, one of the greatest sins a believer can commit is to attempt to rob God of glory by taking credit for something He alone has done. That is why he places so much emphasis on salvation being a gift and not a reward. It is not earned or merited. It is not a form of payment for services rendered.

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. – Ephesians 2:9 NLT

And yet, believers find it so easy to take credit for something over which they had no control. Their only role was to receive that which was freely given. Their blinded eyes were opened by God. The chains that once bound them were broken by God. The sins that once condemned them were forgiven by God. Their remarkable transformation had been the work of a loving, gracious, and merciful God.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13-14 NLT

And there had been a divine purpose behind this radical reformation of their lives. The gift of salvation was not to be wasted or squandered. Their new identity as God’s chosen people was not to be taken lightly or treated flippantly. God had an objective in mind. His redemptive plan was not arbitrary or pointless. And Paul reminds the Ephesians that they were literal works of art, God’s “workmanship” (poieme). They were like priceless masterpieces, created by the hand of the Creator-God, and intended to bring Him glory. And the greatest way God’s people can bring Him glory is by doing what He redeemed them to do.

He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:9 NLT

No longer slaves to sin, the Ephesians were free to do the will of God. With their eyes opened, they could clearly see. With their chains broken, they could freely serve. With their former sins forgiven, they could gratefully obey. They were new creations designed to live new lives in the power of the Spirit of God. And God had important work for them to do.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

The Lord Made It Succeed

19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed. – Genesis 39:19-23 ESV

Angered by Joseph’s repeated refusals to accommodate her sexual advances, Potiphar’s humiliated wife falsely and maliciously accused him of attempted rape. And her husband, shocked but also angered by this news, was forced to confine Joseph to prison. Had the master truly believed in Joseph’s guilt, it is likely he would have ordered his execution. After all, for a common slave to attempt to violate his master’s wife would have been a crime worthy of death. Considered to be little more than personal property, a slave had no rights and his life was in the hand of his master. But rather than having Joseph executed for this egregious crime, Potiphar chose to spare his life by confining him to prison.

This echoes the treatment Joseph had received at the hands of his brothers. When he had shown up in Dothan, their first response had been to put him to death.

“Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” – Genesis 37:19-20 ESV

But Reuben had intervened and spared Joseph’s life. Rather than committing murder, he suggested that they confine Joseph to an empty cistern, where he would be left to die of natural causes. Reuben had hoped to come back later and rescue Joseph. But before he could do so, Judah convinced his brothers to sell Joseph to Ishmaelite traders. And that sale had resulted in Joseph’s purchase by Potiphar, which eventually led to his imprisonment for a crime of which he was completely innocent. But, as before, Joseph was spared from death.

While preferable to capital punishment, Joseph’s imprisonment was still undeserved and would have been a far-from-pleasant experience. Yet, Moses points out that “the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison” (Genesis 39:21 ESV). This theme runs throughout the entire  narrative found in chapter 10. God had been the one to protect Joseph from the murderous intentions of his brothers. And God had been behind Joseph’s sale to the Ishmaelites and his eventual purchase by Potiphar. None of this was blind luck or a case of cosmic karma.

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. – Genesis 39:2-3 ESV

God had orchestrated every facet of this story, including Joseph’s imprisonment in the facility reserved solely for the king’s prisoners. This factor will become more important and pertinent as chapter 40 unfolds. But suffice it to say that each and every sequence of this story took place according to the sovereign plan of God.

Just as God had shown Joseph favor in the eyes of Potiphar, He also elevated Joseph in the eyes of the prison’s warden.

…the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.  – Genesis 39:22 ESV

This innocent young man displayed an uncanny knack for leadership that led the warden to place all the prisoners under Joseph’s supervision. And before long, Joseph found himself functioning more as a prison administrator than a prisoner. He wielded power, authority, and great influence. He had entered as a common criminal but, before he knew it, Joseph was functioning as the second most powerful man in the entire prison. 

The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. – Genesis 39:23 NLT

Prison walls were an insufficient barrier against the sovereign hand of God. The vindictive plans of a bitter woman could not derail God’s plans for His child. God’s love for Joseph was far superior to anything Potiphar or his wife could try to do to him. As the psalmist wrote, “The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (Psalm 118:6 NLT). They could falsely accuse Joseph. They could imprison him. They could even threaten to take his life. But as the apostle Paul so aptly put it:

“If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” – Genesis 8:31 NLT

And Paul would go on to remind his readers that God’s love for His children was inseparable and unwavering.

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39 NLT

God, out of His marvelous love and mercy, was making Joseph a success – even in prison. He was protecting Joseph’s life, expanding his influence, and preparing him for the next phase of his God-ordained journey. The prison would prove to be a doorway to freedom, a portal to salvation, and a divine pathway to Israel’s promised future. No one would have seen this coming, including Joseph. Potiphar and his wife will disappear into the pages of ancient history, never to be heard from again. Joseph’s brothers will go on with their lives, oblivious of Joseph’s fate and ignorant of their own pre-ordained destiny with drought and famine.

Little did Joseph know that his unexpected and undeserved imprisonment would foreshadow another captivity to come. This son of Abraham would become a symbol for the descendants of Abraham who would one day find themselves also living as captives in the land of Egypt. And they too would discover that, despite their unpleasant circumstances, God was with them. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would step into the darkness of their predicament and turn their seeming failure into success.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

The Protection of God’s Grace

36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. 37 For on the day you go out and cross the brook Kidron, know for certain that you shall die. Your blood shall be on your own head.” 38 And Shimei said to the king, “What you say is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

39 But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish, son of Maacah, king of Gath. And when it was told Shimei, “Behold, your servants are in Gath,” 40 Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants. Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath. 41 And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, 42 the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die’? And you said to me, ‘What you say is good; I will obey.’ 43 Why then have you not kept your oath to the Lord and the commandment with which I commanded you?” 44 The king also said to Shimei, “You know in your own heart all the harm that you did to David my father. So the Lord will bring back your harm on your own head. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” 46 Then the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died.

So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. – 1 Kings 2:36-46 ESV

There was one last piece of unfinished business that Solomon had to take care of. Just before his death, his father had charged him with the task of repaying Shimei for the disrespectful way he had treated David while he was evacuating Jerusalem after Absalom had taken over the kingdom (2 Samuel 16:5-14). This relative of David’s predecessor, King Saul, had held a grudge against David ever since he had supplanted Saul as the king of Israel. He was overjoyed to see David having to suffer the indignity of sneaking out of the capital city because his own son had stolen his kingdom. Shimei even threw stones at David, hurling insults and curses as he did so.

“Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!” he shouted at David. “The Lord is paying you back for all the bloodshed in Saul’s clan. You stole his throne, and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, for you are a murderer!” – 2 Samuel 16:7-8 NLT

Some of David’s faithful soldiers, who had accompanied him out of the city, offered to strike Shimei down, but David would not allow it. Instead, he told them, ““My own son is trying to kill me. Doesn’t this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to do it. And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses today” (2 Samuel 16:11-12 NLT). David could empathize with Shimei’s anger and resentment. He understood why Shimei was so upset, and he had concluded that God was behind it all. When Shimei had called David a murderer, he had struck a very sensitive nerve. David would have immediately recalled his complicity in the death of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:14-17). Shimei was right; he was a murderer. And perhaps God was still repaying him for his sinful actions against an innocent man. So, David refused to punish Shimei for his actions.

But some time later, when the attempted coup had been thwarted, and Absalom had been killed, David returned to the city of Jerusalem. And one of the first people to greet him upon his arrival was Shimei.

As the king was about to cross the river, Shimei fell down before him. “My lord the king, please forgive me,” he pleaded. “Forget the terrible thing your servant did when you left Jerusalem. May the king put it out of his mind. I know how much I sinned. That is why I have come here today, the very first person in all Israel to greet my lord the king.” – 2 Samuel 19:18-20 NLT

With the news of Absalom’s death and David’s return to Jerusalem, Shimei had feared for his life. He knew he was a dead man unless he could convince David of his remorse and regret for his previous actions. Feigning sorrow for his emotionally driven display of anger, Shimei begged the king for forgiveness.

Though Shimei deserved punishment, David was unwilling to spoil the joy of the occasion by meting out judgment. He could have had Shimei executed on the spot, but instead, “the king said to Shimei, ‘You shall not die.’ And the king gave him his oath” (2 Samuel 19:23 ESV).

David had kept that oath, but on his deathbed, it became clear that he had never really forgiven Shimei for what he had done. He had allowed Shimei to live but had never stopped dreaming of getting his revenge. So, as he lay dying, David gave Solomon a not-so-subtle hint about what should be done with Shimei.

“And remember Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible curse as I was fleeing to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I swore by the Lord that I would not kill him. But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him.” – 1 Kings 2:8-9 NLT

David didn’t tell Solomon what to do. He simply reminded Solomon of what Shimei had done. And he fully expected Solomon to defend his honor by having Shimei put to death.

But Solomon had other plans. Rather than subjecting Shimei to capital punishment, he had him confined to the city of Jerusalem. Shimei, as a Benjamite, lived within the territory of his tribe. But Solomon ordered that he relocate within the city walls where his actions could be carefully monitored. And Shimei was given strict instructions never to venture outside the walls of the city for any reason, under penalty of death.

“Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there. But don’t step outside the city to go anywhere else. On the day you so much as cross the Kidron Valley, you will surely die; and your blood will be on your own head.” – 1 Kings 2:36-37 NLT

Solomon graciously spared Shimei’s life but placed him under house arrest. And this arrangement seemed to work well for Shimei. For three years, he enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous life. But then, the unexpected happened. Two of his servants ran away and, without thinking about it, Shimei saddled a donkey and pursued his missing property. But when he had recaptured his runaway servants and returned to Jerusalem, he was surprised to learn that he had been summoned to the king’s palace.

By this time, Shimei must have understood the gravity of his situation. He had broken his oath to the king. And Solomon reminded Shimei of their agreement.

“Didn’t I make you swear by the Lord and warn you not to go anywhere else or you would surely die? And you replied, ‘The sentence is fair; I will do as you say.’ Then why haven’t you kept your oath to the Lord and obeyed my command?” – 1 Kings 2:42-43 NLT

Notice that Solomon describes Shimei’s oath as having been made to the Lord. When he had agreed to the stipulations handed down by the king, he had been swearing an oath before God. Solomon had been acting as God’s appointed leader, and when Shimei had agreed to the terms of the contract, he had made a binding covenant with God Almighty. And now, he had broken that vow. He had failed to keep his word and would have to suffer the consequences. And Solomon made sure that Shimei understood the gravity of his situation.

“You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the Lord now bring that evil on your own head. But may I, King Solomon, receive the Lord’s blessings, and may one of David’s descendants always sit on this throne in the presence of the Lord.” – 1 Kings 2:44-45 NLT

David had kept his word and had allowed Shimei to live. Now, Solomon was going to keep his word and have Shimei executed for the violation of his oath. Shimei’s death would not be because he had left the confines of the city of Jerusalem. The death sentence that hung over his head was due to his unlawful treatment of and rebellion against the Lord’s anointed, King David. He deserved to die because he was a rebel. But Solomon had shown him grace and mercy. And the city of Jerusalem had become a city of refuge, a place where he could find release from the condemnation of death he so richly deserved. As long as he remained within the walls of the city, he would be spared. The city was not a prison; it was actually a form of protection. As long as Shimei remained faithful to reside within the confines of the city, he was spared the penalty of death. But as soon as he walked outside the gates, he violated his oath and forfeited his right to life.

In so many ways, this narrative foreshadows what Jesus Christ would do for guilty sinners. He would become the place of refuge, the living Jerusalem, where those condemned to death could find mercy, grace, and life. As long as Shimei remained within Jerusalem's protective walls, he would be spared the penalty he deserved. But when he allowed himself to be distracted by the cares of this world and went in pursuit of his runaway servants, Shimei revealed his true heart. He placed a greater value on material things than he did on the gift of life he had been offered by the king.

Jesus would later remind His disciples about the necessity of abiding in Him. He would challenge them to remain faithful, recognizing that their hope of eternal life was found in Him alone.

“Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” – John 15:5-7 NLT

Shimei had failed to remain in Jerusalem, and it cost him his life. He had seen the walls of the city as a prison rather than a protection. He had seen his agreement with the king as restrictive rather than redemptive. And how often do those who are offered the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ come to see that offer as a burden rather than a blessing? They prefer the “freedom” of sin over the emancipation from death that is offered within the protective walls of God’s gracious love. And, like Shimei, they end up forfeiting their lives.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Are We Also Blind?

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. –John 9:24-41 ESV

The Pharisees were beside themselves in frustration and anger. Standing before them was a common street beggar, claiming to have had his congenital blindness miraculously healed by Jesus, their arch-nemesis. They had already threatened to excommunicate from the synagogue anyone who claimed Jesus to be the Messiah. And while this man had only proclaimed Jesus to be a prophet, they essentially accused him of blasphemy for having given glory to Jesus rather than God. They seriously doubted the veracity of this man’s story, but they still found him guilty of attributing to Jesus what only God could have done.

The formerly blind man was perplexed by their reasoning and their declaration that Jesus was nothing more than a sinner. Their logic made no sense to him. But in his simple way of thinking, it didn’t even matter. He responded, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25 ESV).  All he knew for certain was that he used to blind, but now he could see. And it was all because of this man named Jesus.

Unable to coerce a confession out of the man, they resorted to further questioning, hoping to expose a hole in his story. But the man responded with a hint of exasperation mixed with sarcasm, “Look!…I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” (John 9:27 NLT). The content of his statement and the tone with which he said it produced an immediate and intense reaction from the Pharisees.

Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.” – John 9:28-29 NLT

Their response revealed their complete disdain for Jesus and His followers. In their estimation, Jesus was a rogue Rabbi whose teachings contradicted those of Moses. In their minds, Jesus was nothing more than a Sabbath-breaker who associated with sinners. His miracles were the work of Satan, not Yahweh. And all His talk of being the Son of God was nothing less than blasphemy, a crime punishable by death.

But once again, this passage juxtaposes the light with the darkness. It contrasts those who are blind with those who have eyes to see. The Pharisees, so proud of their discipleship to Moses, had failed to understand that Moses wrote of Jesus’ coming. The great emancipator and law-giver had received a promise directly from God.

“I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.” – Deuteronomy 18:18-19 NLT

And Jesus was the fulfillment of that prophecy. But the Pharisees were too blind to see. They “loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19 ESV). But the lowly beggar, who had received his sight from Jesus, saw the absurdity of their position.

“Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.” – John 9:30-33 NLT

It was as clear as day to him. There was no way that Jesus was a sinner. And it was idiotic to think that Jesus was able to do what He did without the full support and authority of God. You didn’t have to be a religious scholar to know that the giving of sight was an act of God. And because this man could now see, he knew that Jesus had the ear of God. But sadly, his message fell on the dear ears and sin-darkened hearts of the Pharisees, who angrily responded, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” (John 9:34 ESV). Who was he to lecture them? He was nothing more than a man who had been cursed to blindness because of sin. And with that, they banned him from the synagogue.

This was to become a common occurrence among those Jews who aligned themselves with Jesus. In fact, Jesus would later warn His disciples, “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you” (John 16:2-4 ESV). The Jews, in their religious zeal, would end up persecuting all those who became followers of Jesus. The Book of Acts reveals that the apostle Paul, prior to his conversion, had been a Pharisee whose job it was to hunt down Christians. 

Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. – Acts 9:1-2 NLT

It was going to become increasingly more dangerous to be a follower of Jesus. And His death and resurrection would not make it any easier. But this lowly beggar was about to have a second “chance” encounter with Jesus. The one who had healed him sought him out and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” (John 9:35 ESV).

From the overall context of the passage, it seems that this was the first time the man had actually seen Jesus with his own, newly restored, eyes. So, when Jesus spoke to him, he had no way of knowing that this was the same man who had healed him. He also had no idea that Jesus was referring to Himself as the Son of Man. Which is what led him to ask, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Even with his restored sight, he was still spiritually blind to the reality of who Jesus was. He most likely understood that this stranger was referring to the man who had healed him, and he desired to know more about him. “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”

And John states that, with this revelation from Jesus, the man expressed his belief and worshiped Him. It is at this point that Jesus reintroduces the metaphor of darkness and light.

“For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” – John 9:39 ESV

As the light of the world, Jesus judged the world by His very presence. He illuminated the darkness, but there were those who chose to remain in the darkness. They rejected the light and, in doing so, they judged themselves. They already stood condemned for their sins, and God had graciously sent His Son to provide them with atonement. But because they refused to “see” Jesus as the Son of God, they remained in their darkness. But those who “saw” and believed received forgiveness and freedom from condemnation.

The Pharisees, overhearing Jesus’ words, were offended by what He said, and objected to His inference that they were blind. But Jesus said their real problem was their belief that they had spiritual insight. They believed themselves to be enlightened and informed. But Jesus informed them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt” (John 9:41 ESV). In other words, if they would only see and confess their blindness, they would receive sight. Jesus would later accuse these very same men of viewing themselves as in need of nothing He had to offer. They did not believe they were sinners, so they had no need for a Savior.

“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” – Matthew 9:12 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Heavenly Calling

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).

25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:22-30 ESV

Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus ended somewhat abruptly, with John providing no details concerning the Pharisee’s final reaction to all that he had heard. The next time John mentions Nicodemus is in chapter 7, in reference to a meeting of the Sanhedrin, the high council of the Jews, of which Nicodemus was a member. They had called a meeting in order to discuss the disturbing reactions of the people regarding Jesus. 

…some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?” – John 7:40-41 ESV

Even the high priest’s personal guard, who had heard Jesus speak, reported, “No one ever spoke like this man!” (John 7:46 ESV). But Pharisees reacted angrily, shouting, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed” (John 7:47-49 ESV). These men, who prided themselves in their superior knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures believed themselves to be too astute to be fooled by this charlatan from Nazareth. But the people were fools and easily deceived. But John adds an interesting note concerning Nicodemus, “who had gone to him before, and who was one of them” (John 7:50 ESV). Nicodemus risked his reputation by speaking up on the behalf of Jesus.

“Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” –John 7:51 ESV  

It seems clear that Nicodemus’ nighttime discussion with Jesus had made an impression on him. The words of Jesus had been bouncing around in his head and he was wrestling with what he believed about this man from Galilee. The next time we hear about Nicodemus is in chapter 19, in reference to the death and burial of Jesus. John records that Joseph of Arimathea, who he describes as a disciple of Jesus, had sought permission from Pilate to bury the body of Jesus. And John adds that Nicodemus, “who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight” (John 19:39 ESV). This prominent member of the Pharisees took the risk of bringing spices and oils to anoint the body of Jesus. This does not prove that Nicodemus believed Jesus to be his Messiah and Savior, but it is hard to imagine that Nicodemus did not have the following words of Jesus in mind.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” – John 3:14-15 ESV

After his late-night encounter with Jesus, Nicodemus had returned to his life as a Pharisee, but with much to think about. But John describes Jesus as returning to the Judean wilderness, where He had been baptized by John the Baptist.

John sets up another contrast between these two men. He describes both Jesus and John the Baptist as baptizing all those who came. In the very next chapter, John points out that Jesus “was making and baptizing more disciples than John” (John 4:2 ESV), but adds the following point of clarification: “although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples” (John 4:3 ESV).

John the Baptist had appeared on the scene first and he had garnered his fair share of disciples. But with the arrival of Jesus, things began to change. The disciples who had chosen to follow John the Baptist were confused by the notoriety of Jesus and had begun to see Him as competition. And they brought their concern to John the Baptist.

“Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” – John 3:26 ESV

With the arrival of Jesus, John the Baptist had not shut down his ministry and sought early retirement. He had continued to preach his message that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and he baptized all those who were willing to repent and seek forgiveness for their sins. But further down the Jordan River, Jesus and His disciples were doing the same thing.

The disciples of John the Baptist have just had a discussion with a Jew concerning the exact nature of the baptisms they were performing. The Greek word John uses is katharismos, and it refers to the practice of ceremonial cleansing or washing with water. It seems likely that the debate or discussion between John the Baptist’s disciples and the unnamed Jews had centered around a question of just what kind of baptism Jesus and His disciples were performing. John the Baptist had made it clear, “I baptize you with water for repentance” (Matthew 3:11 ESV). But what was the nature of the baptism or ceremonial washing that Jesus and His disciples offered?

The real issue seems to be the practice of ritual and completely external ceremonial cleansing. Jesus had come offering something completely different. He had told Nicodemus that entrance into the kingdom of God would require birth from above. His ministry was focused on heart purification, not some form of external and temporary physical cleansing. And what Jesus was saying and doing could have been seen as contradictory to the accepted teachings of Judaism. So, this could be what motivated John the Baptist’s disciples to bring their concerns to him.

But he responded by reminding his disciples that “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27 ESV). As far as John the Baptist was concerned, Jesus was doing what He was doing by the sovereign will of God. And if God wanted to make the ministry of Jesus more impactful and successful, so be it.

John the Baptist reminded his disciples that he had never claimed to be the Messiah. He had simply been the faithful witness, preparing the way for the one “the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:27 ESV). He wanted his followers to know that his star was fading because the one he had been proclaiming had finally appeared. The focus was shifting away from John the Baptist and onto the ministry of Jesus, and he was perfectly at peace with that transition.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30 ESV

John the Baptist was fully convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. Which is why he told his disciples, “It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success” (John 3:29 NLT). He had never been the star of this show. He had simply been the first act, preparing the way for the principal protagonist in God’s divine play. And now that Jesus had appeared on the scene, John the Baptist was willing to fade into the background, having played his part and completed his divine task.

But it’s interesting to note that, a short time later, John the Baptist would seem to have a change of heart. His confidence in Jesus’ identity as the Messiah would be put to the test by an unexpected change in his own circumstances. He would find himself arrested and imprisoned for having accused King Herod of committing adultery with his deceased brother’s widow. Suddenly, his optimistic outlook began to fade and he sent two of his disciples with a question for Jesus that reveals his growing doubt.

“Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” – Luke 7:19 NLT

His less-than-satisfactory circumstances were causing him to question whether Jesus really was the Messiah. You can sense that John the Baptist had been expecting Jesus to fulfill the commonly held view that the Messiah would restore the Davidic kingdom. Things would get better, not worse. And with his arrest, he had questions as to whether Jesus really was the one they had been expecting.

But Jesus had an interesting answer to John the Baptist’s inquiry.

“Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.” – Luke 7:22-23 NLT

In a sense, Jesus told His imprisoned friend to take his eyes off his own circumstances and to look closely at what was happening all around him. Jesus used prophetic terminology to describe His earthly ministry. He was doing the very works that the prophets had ascribed to the coming Messiah.

“I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.
    I will take you by the hand and guard you,
and I will give you to my people, Israel,
    as a symbol of my covenant with them.
And you will be a light to guide the nations.
   You will open the eyes of the blind.
You will free the captives from prison,
    releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.” – Isaiah 42:6-7 NT

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
    for the Lord has anointed me
    to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
    and to proclaim that captives will be released
    and prisoners will be freed. – Isaiah 61:1 NLT

Jesus was pointing to the evidence of His works. He was doing the very ministry that the prophets had predicted the Messiah would do. But notice that Jesus leaves something out. He does not stress that He will “free the captives from prison” or release “those who sin in dark dungeons.” He doesn’t tell John the Baptist that  the “captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” Because John the Baptist would never experience freedom from his imprisonment. He would be beheaded by Herod.

Jesus had come to bring spiritual healing to people who were spiritually blind, lame, poor, and imprisoned by sin. He had come to provide something far more significant than ceremonial cleansing from sin. His ministry was from above and His miracles were intended to point to a form of healing that would be eternal and not temporal in nature. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Your God Reigns!

1 Awake, awake,
    put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
    O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
    the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
    be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
    O captive daughter of Zion.

3 For thus says the Lord: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord God: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

7 How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
    together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
    you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God.

11 Depart, depart, go out from there;
    touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
    you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
    and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
    and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
    his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations.
    Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand. – Isaiah 52:1-15 ESV

There are times in life when it is difficult to imagine God sitting on His throne and ruling in unparalleled power and sovereignty. We look at the circumstances surrounding us and see no signs of His presence or power. The world appears to be in a state of chaos. The enemies of God seem to hold the upper hand. Righteousness looks as if it is on the wane, while wickedness spreads like a cancer through the land. Immorality runs rampant and injustice prevails. People call good evil and evil good. And, it appears as if God is going nothing about. Either because He can’t or because He doesn’t care.

But Isaiah 52 extends to the people of God, in every generation, a much-needed wake up call. This particular message is directed at Zion, the holy mountain upon which the city of Jerusalem sat. It is a call to the people of Judah, but it is timeless in nature. The situation in which they found themselves was unique to them but, at the same time, universal. They were facing difficult days and wrestling with strong feelings of doubt regarding God’s involvement in their circumstances. Which is why, in chapter 51, they had extended their own wake up call to God.

Wake up, wake up, O Lord! Clothe yourself with strength!
    Flex your mighty right arm!
Rouse yourself as in the days of old
    when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile. – Isaiah 51:9 NLT

From their vantage point, it appeared that God was the one who had fallen asleep on the job. The evidence was all around them that God had either abandoned them or simply forgotten all about them. But their perspective was skewed and their conclusion was wrong. Not only was God there, He cared, and He was going to act on their behalf. But, as we have seen, His intervention into their difficulties was going to be on His schedule and according to His divine plan, not theirs. He knew what was best and He was going to do what needed to be done at just the right time – no sooner or later. And, they were going to have to trust Him.

Salvation comes easy to God. It requires no effort on His part. He doesn’t even break a sweat. Which is why He told the prophet, Jeremiah, “I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27 NLT). Which is the same thing God said to Abraham when Sarah had laughed at His announcement that she would bear a son, in spite of her barrenness

“Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” – Genesis 18:14 NLT

It is the same message Jesus conveyed to His disciples when they had asked Him, “Who then can be saved?” He responded, ““With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 ESV).

The problems facing the people of Judah were not a problem for God. In fact, He is the one who had sovereignly ordained each and every circumstance in which they found themselves. The Assyrians and Babylonians had been instruments in His hands. The fall of Judah to the Babylonians had been His doing. Their 70 years of captivity were part of His divine plan for them. And, just as God had found it quite easy to bring His judgment upon the people of Judah, He would find it just as easy to bring about their salvation. The 800-pound gorilla in the room was not God’s lack of power, but the peoples’ lack of faith. They didn’t trust God.

Now, God addresses the people of Judah in their captive state – in the midst of one of darkest days of their corporate history.

Remove the chains of slavery from your neck,
    O captive daughter of Zion.
For this is what the Lord says:
“When I sold you into exile,
    I received no payment.
Now I can redeem you
    without having to pay for you.” – Isaiah 52:2-3 NLT

Just as no one had forced God to sell the people of Judah into slavery, no one would coerce or bribe Him to redeem them. He would act according to His own divine will.

The truth was, that the people of God had a track record of finding themselves in difficult situations. Generations earlier, Jacob and his family had willingly sought shelter in Egypt, in an attempt to escape the famine in Canaan. But they ended up enslaved to the Egyptians and had to be rescued by God. Centuries later, when they had occupied the land, they found themselves harassed by the Assyrians, and the northern kingdom of Israel was defeated and deported as slaves.

And hundreds of years later, the southern kingdom of Judah would find itself living in captivity in Babylon, enslaved once again and crying out in despair. Their captors would mock the name of God, declaring their false gods to be superior in strength. And even the Jews would end up blaspheming the name of God by failing to trust in His word and rely on His covenant faithfulness. Their wailing and moaning would be a visible sign of their lack of faith. And yet, God tells them:

“But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.” – Isaiah 52:6 NLT

And the following verses contain a powerful song of praise from the lips of Isaiah as he considers the incredible nature of God’s promise of redemption.

How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” – Isaiah 52:7 ESV

Don’t miss what Isaiah is saying here. The key to the salvation of God’s people was the fact that God reigns. He is in complete control of all things. He is the ruler over all the earth. He is final determiner of all that happens. God is not only powerful, He is ALL powerful. And, as far as Isaiah is concerned, the salvation of the Lord is as good as done because He reigns over all.

The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God. – Isaiah 52:10 ESV

God would one day return a remnant of the people of Judah from their captivity in Babylon. But there is an even greater deliverance foreshadowed here. This passage predicts an even more remarkable day when the people of God experience release from their captivity to sin. Look back on verse 7 and consider the significance of what is conveyed in its words.

How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of the messenger who brings good news,
the good news of peace and salvation,
    the news that the God of Israel reigns!

Now fast forward to Paul’s letter to the Romans. He picks up on this very same passage when addressing the Roman believers about their need to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the lost in their community.

But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. – Romans 10:14-17 ESV

The release of the people of Judah from their physical captivity in Babylon did nothing to restore their broken relationship with God. They remained stubbornly unfaithful and persistently inconsistent in their obedience to and worship of Him. Sin still plagued their lives. Immorality and injustice remained a constant part of their individual and corporate existence.

But one day, God would send His Son to remedy their true problem: Their slavery to sin. And, He would do it by sending His Son. In the closing verses of this chapter, Isaiah is given a vision of the coming Messiah, God’s servant who “shall be high and lifted up,  and shall be exalted” (Isaiah 52:13 ESV). In these three verses we have a prophecy concerning Jesus and His incarnation, crucifixion and ultimate glorification, as described so eloquently by the apostle Paul.

…being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:8-11 ESV

Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Savior of the world, came to earth in order to provide sinful mankind with a means by which they might be restored to a right relationship with God the Father. It required His death. It also demanded His resurrection and ascension. And it will include His eventual return to earth to consummate God’s redemptive plan for the earth and for His people, Israel. And all of this will take place because our God reigns, whether we see it, believe it, or place our trust in it.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Learning to Live in Unity.

22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. – Acts 15:22-41 ESV

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus spent time in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying to His Father. And one of the topics He covered had to do with was unity:

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” – John 17:20-21 NLT

Jesus knew that one of the greatest challenges to the church, which would form after He left and the Holy Spirit came, was maintaining unity. Jesus was fully aware that His church would eventually be comprised of people from every tribe, nation and tongue. There would be Jews, like His 11 disciples, but there would also be Gentiles, who would bring their pagan mindsets and non-Jewish instincts along with them. The church would become a melting pot made up of people from all walks of life, every conceivable ethnic group, and a wide and disparate array of backgrounds. And while Paul could say, from a theological perspective, that “there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Acts 3:28 NLT), the everyday reality would be quite different. This early in Luke’s chronicle of the life of the church, we have already seen division taking place. With the gospel beginning to make its way outside the walls of Jerusalem and beyond the cultural context of Judaism, we have seen the inclusion of Gentiles into the family of God. This exciting, yet somewhat unexpected aspect of God’s redemptive plan, was creating a bit of tension within the church. What had begun as a predominantly Jewish-focused and influenced ministry, had quickly morphed into a much more eclectic and egalitarian movement. And this shift had not taken place without incidence or difficulty. Some of the Jewish Christians in Antioch had been Pharisees, just like Paul had been. That means they had a high regard for the Mosaic law. These men had spent their entire adult lives studying, revering, and attempting to keep the law. They were the religious rule-keepers of Judaism. And they would have brought that legalistic mindset with them to their newfound faith in Christ. They didn’t suddenly stop being Pharisees or forget all that they had been taught. So, when they heard the news that Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ, they were shocked that these people were not first being required to convert to Judaism. Their strong pride and belief in the Hebrew nation as the people of God, made it difficult for them to imagine anyone being able to have a relationship with the God of Israel outside the context of the religion of Israel. Therefore, they campaigned aggressively for these Gentile converts to become Jewish proselytes so that their salvation would be complete. This was the whole reason the council had been called together in Jerusalem.

With all the wonderful things taking place in those early days of the church, there were problems and issues that came along with its rapid spread and growing ethnic diversity. It was going to be impossible to bring together all of those people from such diverse backgrounds and not have conflict and disunity be a natural byproduct. Which is exactly why Jesus had asked His Father to bring about unity. It was going to take divine intervention. Men, when left to their own devices, will almost always find reasons to disagree and divide. Even as redeemed individuals, Christians will find that their sin natures lead them to respond to one another in less-than-Christlike ways. James, the half-brother of Jesus addressed this in his letter.

1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. – James 4:3 NLT

Paul would have to write a letter to the church in Corinth, dealing with a divisive matter taking place within their local congregation. It all had to do with disagreements over food sacrificed to idols. There were some in the church who knew that there was nothing inherently wrong with eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols, because idols don’t really exist. Now, the whole reason this issue had come up was because, within the pagan religions, there was a practice of taking the animals that had been sacrificed to an idol and selling it in the marketplace. It was high-quality meat. And there were some of the believers in the church in Corinth who, having been saved out of that pagan context, knew that the meat was good and the idols were false, so they saw no reason not to take advantage of this ready supply of high-quality food. But there were others in the church, referred to by Paul as their weaker brothers and sisters, who were new to the faith and who didn't understand that their former gods were false. They saw the eating of this meat as a way of validating or honoring these gods, so they were appalled at the idea of anyone in the church doing such a thing. And a conflict arose. But Paul addressed the issue in fairly simple terms: “Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that ‘we all have knowledge’ about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church” (1 Corinthians 8:1 NLT). There were those who knew that the meat was perfectly fine to eat. They were free to eat and enjoy, because while idols are real, the gods they represent are not. But Paul was going to trump their knowledge of the truth with an appeal to love. It is love that strengthen the church, not our knowledge of right or wrong. Paul went on to elaborate on his thoughts regarding this matter.

4 So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God.…7 However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. 8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do. 9 But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. – 1 Corinthians 8:4, 7-9 NLT

Again, love trumps all. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Paul was a huge believer in the rights of the Christian and would fight for the freedoms we have in Christ. But He was also demand that we be willing to die to our rights in order to protect the spiritual well-being of another brother or sister in Christ. Paul’s attitude was fairly simple and straightforward: “So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13 NLT).

Unity was going to be an ongoing struggle within the rapidly growing and diversifying church. There were going to be conflicts and disagreements. We even see Barnabas and Paul disagreeing over whether or not to include John Mark on their next missionary journey. If you recall, John Mark had originally traveled with them on their trip to Cyprus. But when Paul and Barnabas had determined to go to Pisidian Antioch, John Mark had left them and returned to Jerusalem. Paul never forgave him for bailing on them. And when Barnabas suggested that they take John Mark with them again, Paul balked at the idea. This disagreement would end up with Paul and Barnabas parting ways and headed two separate directions. But rather than viewing this as a sad and unnecessary outcome, it seems that this was yet another God-ordained and orchestrated event that would result in an expansion of the gospel ministry. Now there were two teams. Paul chose Silas and made his way to Antioch and Cilicia. Barnabas chose John Mark, and returned to Cyprus. God would take what appeared to be a case of disunity and use it to further His Kingdom. Paul and Barnabas couldn’t agree on what to do with John Mark, but they were in complete unity over the need to continue the spread of the gospel. We may not always agree with everyone in the church, but we must never let our disagreements harm the cause of Christ or do damage to the name of Christ.

It was King David who wrote, “how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1 ESV). But the members of the early church were going to learn just how difficult it was to pull off that kind of unity. It seems that everything was stacked against them. They were all so different. Their backgrounds were so diverse and life paths, so divergent. But God was choosing them and placing them within His family, making them members of the body of Christ. Their unity was not going to be a byproduct of their shared ethnic identities or inherent similarities. They had none. It was going to be the work of God. He was going to have to unify what was inherently different. And the words of Jesus regarding the unity of a man and a woman in marriage, apply just as well to the God-ordained union of believers within the body of Christ. “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together” (Mark 10:8-9 NLT).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson