A Less-Than-Orderly Transfer of Power

1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

15 Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”

19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. – 1 Samuel 3:1-21 ESV

This chapter forms an important transition between chapters 2 and 4 by chronicling God’s calling of the young boy Samuel. These 21 verses are sandwiched between two events in Israel’s history that showcase the nation’s less-than-stellar relationship with the Lord. 

Chapter 2 introduced the two sons of Eli the high priest. According to the author, these two middle-aged men were worthless and did not know the Lord, yet they served as priests in the Tabernacle. Their penchant for breaking God’s laws and using the sacrificial system as a means for personal gain was well-known. Even news of their immoral sexual encounters with the women who served at the gate of the Tabernacle had reached the ears of their father, but he had done nothing to put a stop to it.

As priests, Hophni and Phinehas should have served as models of righteousness and faithfulness for the people of Israel but, instead, they set a precedence for unbridled decadence and the pursuit of personal pleasure. The apostle Paul provides an apt description of such individuals in his letter to the church in Philippi.

Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things. – Philippians 3:19 NLT

Based on the X-rated exploits of these two pseudo-priests, it’s no surprise that chapter 2 opens up with the rather dire news that “messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon” (1 Samuel 3:1 NLT). The spiritual state of Israel was at an all-time low and God’s interactions with His people were scarce. The Book of 1 Samuel began when the nation of Israel was coming off a prolonged period marked by disobedience and God’s discipline. After arriving in the land of Canaan, they spent hundreds of years living a roller-coaster existence as God’s chosen people. He had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and led them to the promised land, but they had failed to live up to their covenant commitments. The opening chapters of the Book of Judges record the sad state of affairs in those dark days of Israel’s history.

The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD. They abandoned the LORD to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. This made the LORD burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them. Every time Israel went out to battle, the LORD fought against them, causing them to be defeated, just as he had warned. And the people were in great distress.

Then the LORD raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers. Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commands. – Judges 2:11-17 NLT

As the Book of 1 Samuel opens, the nation of Israel is still under the judgeship of Samson, another far-from-perfect individual who, like Samuel, had been placed under the Nazirite vow by his mother. This highly flawed man was serving as a judge over Israel during a time when God was using the Philistines as His chosen instrument of judgment against His disobedient people.

Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years.

In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut. For he will be dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.” – Judges 13:1-5 NLT

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? His story is much like that of Samuel but there are significant differences in the lives of these two individuals. Samson was an impetuous young man of prodigious strength but questionable moral character. He had an eye for the opposite sex and struggled with self-control. He would serve as Israel’s judge for 20 years and his tenure likely began about the time Eli died. According to chapter 4, Eli’s death took place during the battle of Aphek. Upon receiving news that his two sons had been killed during the battle, Eli “fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years” (1 Samuel 4:18 NLT). 

Samson would step into Eli’s vacated role as judge and serve as God’s appointed agent of deliverance from the Philistine onslaught. But his life and leadership would prove to be far from ideal. The story of his untimely and unflattering demise is recorded in Judges 16. He died a humiliating death but brought one final victory against the enemies of Israel.

But before God chose Samson to serve as a judge, the young boy Samuel had his personal encounter with God Almighty. One night, while sleeping in the Tabernacle, Samuel heard a voice calling his name. Mistaking this voice for that of Eli, Samuel ran to his elderly mentor, only to find out that Eli had not called him. This pattern repeated itself three different times with the same result. On the third occasion, Eli deduced that Samuel must be hearing the voice of the Lord, so instructed his young protege to respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:9 NLT).

Samuel returned to bed, only to be awakened by the voice a fourth time. Following Eli’s instructions, Samuel spoke to the voice and heard the following reply:

“I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn’t disciplined them. So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.” – 1 Samuel 3:11-14 NLT

This news came as a shock to the young acolyte, and when he awoke the next morning, “he was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him” (1 Samuel 3:15 NLT). Yet, when pressed by his mentor, Samuel divulged the content of the Lord’s message, prompting Eli to respond, “It is the Lord’s will…Let him do what he thinks best” (1 Samuel 3:18 NLT).

Eli knew that God was going to fulfill His vow to deal with the sins of Hophni and Phinehas. It was all just a matter of time. This elderly priest had resigned himself to the fact that judgment was coming against him and his household, but that God had raised up Samuel to serve a vital role in the future of the nation of Israel. For Eli and his sons, the days ahead would be bleak but God had a plan for His chosen people that would ensure a much brighter tomorrow. He would use Samuel to usher in a new era of spiritual revitalization and nationalistic aspirations. The chapter ends on a promising note.

Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. – 1 Samuel 3:19-21 ESV

But this feint glimmer of light is followed by a dark tale of divine judgment. God was going to fulfill the vow He had made to Eli. The message He delivered to Samuel in the Tabernacle was about to come to fruition. Lacking adequate spiritual leadership and faced with the threat of ongoing Philistine aggression, the people of God will take matters into their own hands and try to solve a spiritual problem through earthly means. Samuel has been called but his ministry has yet to begin. First, God must deal with Eli and his sons, setting the stage for Samuel’s rise to prominence and power.

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.

Light in the Darkness

12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

18 Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.

21 Indeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. – 1 Samuel 2:12-21 ESV

The Old Testament is brutally raw in how it depicts the sinfulness of man. It doesn’t attempt to sugarcoat the facts but presents an uncensored and painfully unflattering portrait of mankind’s moral failings. Even the Jews, having been chosen by God and given His law, couldn't manage to live in faithfulness and obedience to His commands. Their incessant failure to remain faithful to God is chronicled throughout the pages of the Old Testament.

Chapter 1 introduced Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, who served as priests of Yahweh at the Tabernacle in Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:3). These young men were responsible for administering the sacrificial rites associated with the Mosaic Law, and the Book of Leviticus spells out the requirements God placed on their role.

“You must distinguish between what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean and what is clean. And you must teach the Israelites all the decrees that the Lord has given them through Moses.” – Leviticus 10:10-11 NLT

The priests of God were expected to live exemplary lives, modeling righteous behavior and teaching God’s exacting standards to His chosen people. Yet Hophni and Phinehas are described as “scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord or for their duties as priests” (1 Samuel 2:12-13 NLT). This isn’t exactly a glowing job review and its placement immediately after Hannah’s inspiring prayer of gratitude and reverence for God is intentional. 

While Hannah offered praise to God for His power, grace, sovereignty, and mercy, Hophni and Phinehas were busy desecrating His Tabernacle and disobeying His commands. In her song of praise, Hannah unknowingly describes the behavior and fate of these two men.

“He will protect his faithful ones,
    but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.
    Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered.
He thunders against them from heaven;
    the Lord judges throughout the earth.” – 1 Samuel 2:9-10 NLT

Hophni and Phinehas were wicked; they were using their position as priests of God for personal gain and to satisfy their own perverse desires. Samuel’s recollection of these men is far from flattering.

…the sin of these young men was very serious in the Lord’s sight, for they treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt. – 1 Samuel 2:17 ESV

But what had they done to deserve such a damning assessment? The text makes their crime painfully clear. They treated God’s sacrificial system with contempt, using it as a means for personal gain rather than purification from sin. They had come up with a plan that allowed them to profit from their role as priests.

Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. – 1 Samuel 2:13-14 NLT

This was in direct violation of God’s commands concerning the sacrifices. According to the Book of Leviticus, God had prescribed which portion of the sacrifice was to be given to the priest.

“…the priest will burn the fat on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his descendants. Give the right thigh of your peace offering to the priest as a gift. The right thigh must always be given to the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the peace offering. For I have reserved the breast of the special offering and the right thigh of the sacred offering for the priests. It is the permanent right of Aaron and his descendants to share in the peace offerings brought by the people of Israel.” – Leviticus 7:31-34 NLT

But Hophni and Phinehas weren’t satisfied with God’s provision; they wanted more. These two represent everything that is wrong with Israel. As priests of God, they should have lived lives that were set apart to God. Instead, they lived immoral lives marked by greed, corruption, sexual promiscuity, and a total disregard for the laws of God. The text describes them as worthless men who did not know God (1 Samuel 2:12). They were literally "good for nothing." And while they obviously knew who God was, they did not recognize or acknowledge His authority over them. They lived as if they were gods, dictating their own rules and selfishly satisfying their own desires. These men were gluttonous and covetous, unwilling to limit their greed to the consumption of food. They were also guilty of gross immorality, using their status as priests to satisfy their perverse sexual desires, a fact their father knew well.

He knew, for instance, that his sons were seducing the young women who assisted at the entrance of the Tabernacle. – 1 Samuel 2:22 NLT

They had no fear of God, as evidenced by their blatant abuse of the sacrificial system. They used their positions as God's priests for personal gain and pleasure, and their father proved incapable of controlling them.

The story of Hophne and Phinehas reveals how bad things had gotten during the days before Israel had a king; even the priesthood had become corrupt. They were immoral and unfaithful, showing more concern for their own personal pleasure than they did for God and His law. This vivid portrayal of man's sinfulness provides a stark backdrop onto which the coming of the Son of God will be displayed in the New Testament. God will clearly show that man's sin was so great and his need for a source of salvation outside of himself was so necessary, that when Jesus appears on the scene, men should have flocked to His presence, begging Him for salvation from their sins.

It’s important to note that this rather dark and depressing depiction of the sins of Hophni and Phinehas is followed by a faint glimmer of hope. The contemptuous and impetuous sons of Eli are contrasted with the young adolescent Samuel, who has grown to be a young boy in the middle of all this immorality and disobedience.

But Samuel, though he was only a boy, served the Lord. He wore a linen garment like that of a priest. – 1 Samuel 2:18 NLT

The boy served the Lord while the men desecrated His character and defiled His Tabernacle. This young innocent child provides a stark contrast that sets the stage for God’s intervention into the sordid story of Hophni and Phinehas. God’s priests had gone rogue, disobeying His will and defaming the character of His name by their behavior. But God was getting ready to step in and rectify the situation. He had a plan in place and Samuel would be an integral part of it.

It would be easy to demonize Hophne and Phinehas. In our own self-righteousness, we could condemn them for their blatantly sinful behavior and wonder how they could have gone so bad so fast. But as the old saying goes, “But for the grace of God go I.” All of us are capable of the same degree of sins as these two young men. Their story is there to remind us of our own capacity to sin against God.

One of the saddest statements of all of Scripture is the one used to describe them: “They did not know the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:12 ESV). They were sons of the high priest of Israel and served as priests themselves. Yet, they did not know the Lord. This doesn’t mean they had no idea who God was, but that they didn't understand just how serious He was about His commands. They treated God's law flippantly and with disdain. The NET Bible translates verse 12 this way: “They did not recognize the Lord’s authority.” They viewed God's laws as optional, obeying their own sinful desires and passions instead.

That is a risk we all face. When we disobey God we act as if we don't even know Him. As Paul said, “The Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2 ESV), but they failed to obey those oracles. They regularly refused to do what they knew to be the non-negotiable laws of God. And in doing so, they lived no differently than the Gentiles who didn't know God at all. In fact, their guilt was even greater.

But God has raised up a Samuel. He has ordained an unlikely and unexpected alternative to Hophni and Phinehas. This young boy, the byproduct of a miraculous birth, had been dedicated to God’s service and would prove to be a divine ray of hope in the sin-darkened world of his day.

Hannah had dedicated her son to God and, little did she know that God had big plans for him. But her sacrifice was met with grace and mercy, as God provided her with five additional children. Her obedience to God was rewarded with blessings. But the greatest blessing she would ever receive would be the knowledge that her son would become an instrument in the hands of God Almighty. Even from a distance, she would have the joy of watching Samuel grow in God’s grace and become a beacon of light in a world cloaked in darkness 

…the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. – 1 Samuel 2:21 ESV

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.

A Gift Worth Preserving and Appreciating

Her Brothers

8 We have a little sister,
    and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
    we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
    we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

She

10 I was a wall,
    and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
    as one who finds peace.

11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
    he let out the vineyard to keepers;
    each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
    you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
    and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

13 O you who dwell in the gardens,
    with companions listening for your voice;
    let me hear it.

She

14 Make haste, my beloved,
    and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
    on the mountains of spices. – Song of Solomon 8:8-14 ESV

In these closing verses of the poem, there appears what must be the recollections of the woman’s brothers. Long before she was old enough to marry, they were watching over her sexual purity. When she was at an age “too young to have breasts” (Song of Solomon 8:8 NLT), they vowed to do everything in their power to protect her virginity so that she could present herself pure and undefiled to her husband on their wedding night. These loving brothers had agreed to serve as guardians of her purity.

If their young sister proved to have self-discipline and the ability to reject the impure advances of immoral men, they would provide her with an extra measure of protection.

If she is a virgin, like a wall,
    we will protect her with a silver tower. – Song of Solomon 8:9 NLT

The image is that of a battlement or protective wall. If their sister is willing to take all the proper measures to preserve her virginity, the brothers will assist her by acting as a watch tower.

“…if she has kept herself pure under their protective watch, they ‘will build on her a battlement of silver;’ that is, they will reward her virginity with their full blessing and support (‘silver’ perhaps referring to a generous dowry to be given to her husband). They will honor, celebrate, and adorn her self-protection with military splendor. She has fought the good right, and thus she shall be rewarded for her victory.” – Douglass Sean O‘Donnell – Song of Solomon: An Invitation to Intimacy

But what if their sister proved to be prone to promiscuity? Upon reaching puberty, she might decide to give in to the advances of young men who desired to rob her of her purity. In that case, the brothers would up their game and increase their vigilance.

But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door,
    we will block her door with a cedar bar. – Song of Solomon 8:9 NLT

If she was incapable of controlling her sexual urges, the brothers would act as “guardians of the gate.” While she might not fully understand the value of her chastity, they did and were willing to protect it at all costs. It is likely that a few of her brothers were married men and understood the sanctity of the marriage bed. They had been fortunate to marry young women who had preserved their purity for their wedding night and they wanted that same joyful experience for their sister and her future husband.

It is unclear why the father is never mentioned in these verses, but it could be that he was deceased or simply unwilling to perform his parental duties. Whatever the case, the young woman was blessed to have brothers who took up the mantle of responsibility and served as her loving wall of security.

The efforts of the brothers proved to be effective because the young woman confesses, “I was a virgin, like a wall” (Song of Solomon 8:10 NLT). As an adolescent young girl, she had maintained her purity like a wall – with the loving assistance of her brothers. As a result, she was able to present herself to her husband as pure and undefiled on their wedding night.

…now my breasts are like towers.
When my lover looks at me,
    he is delighted with what he sees. – Song of Solomon 8:10 NLT

In verses 11-12, the former adolescent girl provides a powerful defense for protecting one’s virginity. She describes her purity as a valuable vineyard that one must protect and preserve. It is not for sale to the highest bidder. To drive home her point, she compares her “vineyard” with one owned by Solomon the king. Due to his great wealth, he possessed many vast estates and vineyards. He describes the extensive nature of his land holdings and material possessions in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. – Ecclesiastes 2:4-8 ESV

He readily confessed his unbridled love affair with self-gratification.

…whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure… – Ecclesiastes 2:10 ESV

But his wife pointed out that much of what Solomon possessed was not his to enjoy. Even his vineyards were nothing more than income-producing properties.

Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon,
    which he leases out to tenant farmers.
Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver
    for harvesting its fruit. – Song of Solomon 8:11 NLT

He was paid by others for the use of his vineyard. In a sense, it no longer belonged to him. These men had bought the rights to enjoy the benefits of its fruit. Solomon could count his money, but he couldn’t eat the grapes or enjoy the wine they produced.

Yet, his wife points out that her “vineyard” was hers to give because she had refused to sell it off for temporary pleasure or profit. Because she had walled out her virginity, she had been able to give it to Solomon on their wedding night – at no cost to him. It had been a gift of priceless value, one that even the wealthy and pleasure-obsessed king could never have afforded.

Solomon had been completely unaware of the diligent care with which his wife’s brothers had protected her. He had been oblivious to the hard work they had put in to preserve this “vineyard” of vast worth and unparalleled beauty. But now, he was grateful that they had put in the effort.

In the closing lines of this poem, Solomon and his wife revisit the early days of their relationship. They reminisce about those carefree, love-obsessed moments when their marriage began. It is impossible to know the ages of these two when the poem ends, but they are still deeply in love and express the same passionate longings to be together. Solomon expresses his desire to hear his bride’s voice, and she calls out to him with an invitation to join her one more moment of sexual pleasure. Her vineyard is still hers to give and she willingly offers it to the love of her life.

The poem ends, but their love continues. The eight chapters of the Song of Solomon provide a brief glimpse into the relationship between one man and one woman. But their love story is meant to be the experience of each and every one of God’s children. He created marriage to be a blessing to mankind. The marriage bed was meant to be his gift to be shared by a husband and a wife. The poem provides glimpses of the love lives of these two individuals, but it is not comprehensive or complete. The poem closes with no glowing description of how their marriage ends but the reader is left with the impression that their love for one another never diminished.

What makes this poem difficult to understand is the knowledge that Solomon was far from a monogamous and faithful husband. The Book of 1 Kings reveals that by the time his kingdom came to an end, Solomon had amassed a harem of 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). Not only that, many of these women were pagan princesses who brought their false gods with them. 

God had warned His people to avoid any intermarriage with the people who occupied the land of Canaan. Yet, Solomon had chosen to disobey God’s command.

King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.… And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord. – 1 Kings 11:1-2, 3 ESV

Did the Shulamite woman become just one among the many? Did Solomon’s deep love for her diminish over time? It is difficult to imagine that Solomon’s sexual attraction for his “beloved” remained strong when he had 999 options from which to choose. But none of this diminishes the message contained in the Song of Solomon. There was a moment when Solomon enjoyed and embraced God’s plan for marriage. But somewhere along the way, he allowed his pursuit of unbridled pleasure to replace his dedication to his bride. This man, who had experienced the joys of his bride’s “vineyard,” had become dissatisfied and distracted by the pleasures of this world. He had allowed a love affair with materialism and vanity-fueled pleasure-seeking to rob him of the joys of the marital relationship.

It’s interesting to note that Solomon included a proverb in his collection that contained the following words of wisdom from a man named Agur.

There are three things that amaze me—
    no, four things that I don’t understand:
how an eagle glides through the sky,
    how a snake slithers on a rock,
    how a ship navigates the ocean,
    how a man loves a woman. – Proverbs 3018-19 NLT

Solomon had a harem that contained a thousand women, but he still didn’t understand the love between a woman and a man. God had given him to opportunity to glean all the lessons available through a loving relationship with one woman, but Solomon had squandered it. He had been given an invaluable gift from God but had failed to fully appreciate its worth.

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 Fight of Faith Is Never Easy

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. 4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. 7 They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9 And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. 10 All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, 11 and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 12 Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19 Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.”

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: 22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.” – Numbers 31:1-24 ESV

This is a difficult chapter. As I read it this morning I was struck by the seeming violence and barbaric nature of the scene it portrays. Something about it jars our modern-day sensibilities as we read about an entire civilization being wiped out as seemingly innocent women and children are slaughtered. It seems reminiscent of the tribal warfare and genocide taking place in remote places around our contemporary world and chronicled by the media.

Yet this is the story of the people of God doing the will of God. In reading this story we run the risk of being repulsed by the violence and becoming judgmental of a God who would justify such actions. If we’re not careful, we can become callous and insensitive to the very real battle the people of God found themselves in as they attempted to live as people of faith in the midst of a fallen world. Either extreme is wrong. Many have rejected the God of the Old Testament because He is portrayed as a blood-thirsty god who slaughtered indiscriminately and rather heartlessly. Others have reduced the details surrounding the lives of the Old Testament characters to nothing more than moralistic stories that have lost their vitality and any sense of reality. Yet these were real people living real lives and having to engage in very real battles of life and death. The fight of faith was anything but a metaphor.

To understand what was going on, we have to step outside of our modern context. We must immerse ourselves in the culture the Israelites would encounter as they prepared to take possession of the land of Canaan. This was not Disneyland; it was a hostile environment inhabited by pagan people groups who were vehemently opposed to Israel and their God. The NET Bible makes the following comment regarding the nature of the war that God commanded Moses to wage against the Midianites:

"The command in holy war to kill women and children seems in modern times a terrible thing to have been done (and it was), and something they ought not to have done. But this criticism fails to understand the situation in the ancient world. The entire life of the ancient world was tribal warfare, necessitating warfare. God's judgment is poured out on whole groups of people who act with moral abandonment and in sinful pursuit." – NET Bible Study Notes

The relationship between the Midianites and Israelites was a strained one. As the people of Israel made their way to the land promised to them by God, they had to pass through the land of Midian. However, the Midianites feared the Israelites and saw them as a threat to their safety and autonomy. So the Midianite king, a man named Balak, hired a seer named Balaam to place a curse on these unwanted intruders. Motivated by a sizeable reward, Balaam had repeatedly tried to fulfill the king’s wish but failed. God prohibited him from following through on his plan.

So, having failed at his assignment, the pagan soothsayer returned home without his reward. But the story didn’t end there. It seems that Balaam came up with a workaround. Since Yahweh wouldn’t allow him to curse the Israelites, he developed a simple, yet ingenious plan that would cause them to curse themselves. Moses described it in great detail in chapter 25.

Balaam convinced King Balak to use the Midianite women as weapons against the Israelites. But rather than wielding swords and spears, these women used their feminine wiles, successfully seducing the men of Israel and encouraging them to engage in sexual immorality. This ingenious plan eventually resulted in the Israelites worshiping the false gods of the Midianites. In doing so, these Midianite women caused the Israelites to turn their backs on God. They were a moral threat, rather than a military one but that is what made them so dangerous.

Balaam’s objective was to destroy the people of God from within, without ever having to raise a sword. So, God commanded Moses to deal harshly and mercilessly with the Midianites, ordering their complete destruction. While this directive may come across as a gross overreaction to our modern sensibilities, God knew that the continued presence of the Midianites would pose a constant threat to the spiritual well-being of His chosen people. The danger was real and the solution was sobering. The Midianites had effectively infiltrated the Israelite camp and caused God’s people to commit the unpardonable sin of idolatry, and God knew that the presence of the Midianites would threaten Israel’s moral health as a nation. So, He gave Moses one last assignment.

“On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.” – Numbers 31:2 NLT

Moses obeyed God’s command and ordered the wholesale destruction of the Midianites and their cities. A force of 12,000 men carried out the mission, killing all the Midianite men and burning all their towns and villages. They even executed Balaam for his role in the whole affair. But the text reveals that the Israelite soldiers couldn’t bring themselves to kill the Midianite women.

Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. – Numbers 31:9 NLT

Still driven by lust, the men saw the Midianite women as too valuable to kill and brought them back as plunder. In doing so, they poured gasoline on the fire of their own sinful desires. They actually made matters worse, and Moses reacted with disbelief and anger.

"Why have you let all the women live? These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the LORD at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the LORD’s people." – Numbers 31:15-16 NLT

The men of Israel were willing to allow the Midianite women to live even though they posed a threat to the nation’s safety. They were the very women who had caused them to rebel against God, to begin with.

But when God called the people to action, demanding that they deal with the threat to their spiritual safety, they obeyed. This was an act of faith. In fact, every battle the Israelites fought was an act of faith. They had spent most of their lives as slaves and shepherds and were unaccustomed to war. For the last 40 years, they had been wandering vagabonds. They had no real military training, and their battle experience was minimal. So, to form an army and fight against the Midianites was an act of faith. But God rewarded them for their obedience.

It’s interesting to note that the preceding chapter outlined the sheer number of sheep, goats, and bulls the people were required to offer in sacrifice to God each year. Then this chapter outlines the number of sheep, cattle, and donkeys the people took as plunder from the Midianites: 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, and 61,000 donkeys.

It seems that the sacrifices were all about faith. They were to offer to God their best, even though it cost them dearly. The battle was all about faith, and trusting God to lead them in an endeavor for which they had no skills or experience. But the result was the reward of God. He repaid their faithfulness with abundance. God gave them back far more in the way of livestock than they would ever have to give to Him. He was testing their obedience. He wanted to see if they would step out in faith and obey what He told them to do.

Moses knew what needed to be done and ordered the soldiers to complete their mission.

“Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.” – Numbers 31:17-18 ESV

To modern readers, this all seems so extreme and unnecessary. We tend to judge the actions of the Israelites through what we believe to be our more enlightened understanding of justice. But the land of Canaan was like the Wild West, filled with disparate people groups all vying for control and willing to do whatever was necessary to solidify their hold on the land. The Israelites were one nation among many but they had been chosen by God and awarded sole possession of the land of Canaan.

Yet, even more important than their possession of the land was the need to preserve their purity and demonstrate their faith in God. They were a set-apart people, wholly committed to Yahweh, and must be willing to follow His commands whatever the cost. No compromise. No concessions. No subtle softening of their convictions. The battle was real and the fight of faith would be anything but easy.

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 High Cost of Compromise

1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.” – Numbers 25:1-18 ESV

There is no way to escape the fact that this is a graphic and disturbing text, and its close proximity to the oracles of blessing pronounced by God through Balaam makes it all the more difficult to reconcile. In what appears to be a relatively short period of time, King Balak’s hopes of placing Israel under a curse seem to take place without the help of Balaam or any other seer or sage. The amazing thing is, the Israelites bring it on themselves.

Moses describes the situation in less-than-flattering terms: “…the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab” (Numbers 25:1 ESV). It seems that the residents of Moab had done what their king had been unable to do. They managed to find a chink in the armor of God’s chosen people, and it involved the two evils of immorality and idolatry. While Balaam had been unsuccessful in pronouncing a curse on the people of God, the citizens of Moab came up with an ingenious plan for destroying the Israelites from within.

But where did this idea come from? Who was behind the strategy that motivated the Moabite women to “whore” with the men of Israel? According to Moses, it was Balaam. Later in the book of Numbers, after the Israelites defeated the forces of Midian, Moses pointed out an apparent problem with their victory.

…the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. – Numbers 31:9 ESV

As far as Moses was concerned, this was not a positive outcome. The very source of the temptation that had caused the men of Israel to sin went unpunished. The Midianite women were allowed to live and taken as plunder. This decision only made matters worse and Moses pointed out the error of their ways.

Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.” – Numbers 31:15 ESV

Moses made it clear that Balaam had been the driving force behind this entire plan to get the Israelites to compromise their convictions. While the Israelites had been encamped in the plains of Moab, waiting for the next phase of their conquest of Canaan, the men became distracted by and attracted to the women of Moab. But the women had been encouraged to throw themselves at the Israelite men, in a last-gasp attempt to diminish the danger posed by this vast host of former slaves.

Before long, “the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women” (Numbers 25:1 NLT). But this was actually a military strategy concocted by none other than Balaam. If the Lord wouldn't let him curse the Israelites, he would simply use the old-fashioned tactic of temptation and sexual sin.

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John records the words that Jesus spoke to the church at Pergamum, comparing their actions to that of the immoral Israelites.

“But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.” – Revelation 2:14 ESV

He accuses the believers in Pergamum of making concessions and compromises, the same thing that happened to the hapless Israelites. Because of the inability or the unwillingness of the Israelites males to deny their sexual desires or avoid the allure of idolatry, in no time the set-apart status of the Israelites was eventually jeopardized. What began as illicit sexual encounters between the men of Israel and the women of Moab turned into spiritual adultery and apostasy.

These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. – Numbers 25:2 NLT

Uncontrolled sexual desires led to compromised convictions. Suddenly, the Israelites’ physical allure for the Moabite women created a spiritual attraction for their rogues’ gallery of deities. Forbidden fruit created an insatiable appetite for false gods.

What makes this whole affair so egregious is that it comes fresh on the heels of God’s promise to bless the people of Israel.

“No curse can touch Jacob;
    no magic has any power against Israel.
For now it will be said of Jacob,
    ‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’” – Numbers 23:23 NLT

Balaam had not been allowed to curse them; his “magic” had proven unsuccessful. But the women of Moab had managed to cast a spell on the unsuspecting men of Israel. They simply used their feminine wiles to bewitch the hapless Israelites and cause them to turn their backs on Jehovah. Because men were responsible for the spiritual oversight of their households, it wasn’t long before the apostasy spread throughout the camp and got the attention of God.

Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people. – Numbers 25:3 NLT

The fallout from this act of unfaithfulness was immediate and widespread, but God quickly intervened, ordering Moses to take immediate action.

“Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.” – Numbers 25:4 NLT

There would be no compromise on God’s part. He would not tolerate sin in the camp of Israel, especially that involving immorality and idolatry. The guilty were to be made examples of, delivering a sobering warning to the rest of the nation of Israel.

Moses was quick to follow God’s instructions, calling on the judges of the tribes of Israel to carry out the executions of all those who had taken part in this act of rebellion against God. This is where the story earns its NC-17 rating. What happens next is both shocking and unimaginable. As a result of this corporate act of sin and God’s prescribed solution, the people had been called to gather before the Tabernacle. Moses describes the tone as sorrowful, likely because of the deaths of some of their sons, fathers, and husbands. Yet as the people wept over their sin and the loss of their loved ones, one of the guilty men did something difficult to believe. He brazenly took a Moabite woman into his tent, in full view of Moses and the rest of the assembly. He exhibited no shame and, completely controlled by his sexual desires, displayed a total lack of self-control.

He did the unthinkable. Either he was flaunting his personal preferences in the face of Moses and God, or he was so consumed by his physical appetites that he could no longer control himself. The apostle Paul describes such people in condemning terms: “Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth” (Philippians 3:19 NLT).

As Moses and the rest of the people looked on in shock, this moral reprobate flaunted his disdain for the holiness of God and rejected his own personal guilt. He showed no regret, remorse, or repentance. But his unprecedented display of disrespect for God got the attention of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the high priest. This young man,  the grandson of Aaron the former high priest, took his role as a servant of God seriously. Unwilling to stand back and watch this affront to God’s holiness take place, he took matters into his own hands – literally. 

…he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. – Numbers 25:7-8 NLT

This was about far more than an uncontrolled sexual encounter with a pagan woman. This couple was engaged in an act of worship associated with Baal, the false god of the Moabites. Sexual promiscuity was a regular feature in the rites and rituals associated with this pagan deity. But Phinehas refused to turn a blind eye to their immorality and idolatry, executing the guilty couple on the spot. Moses indicates that the quick action of Phinehas brought an end to a plague that had already ravaged the lives of 24,000 Israelites.

As a result of his efforts, Phinehas received a covenant promise from God.

“Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.” – Numbers 25:11-13 NLT

Phinehas was rewarded by God. This young man executed the righteous judgment of God and, in so doing, spared the nation from further deaths. God’s anger was satisfied and the nation's sins were atoned for. But God was not done carrying out His judgment. Because the woman found in the tent was of Midianite extraction, God ordered that the Midianites be completely destroyed for the role they played in Israel’s rebellion against Him.

“Attack the Midianites and destroy them, because they assaulted you with deceit and tricked you into worshiping Baal of Peor, and because of Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed at the time of the plague because of what happened at Peor.” – Numbers 25:17-18 NLT

In a sense, Cozbi had accomplished what Balaam had failed to do. She and the other Midianite and Moabite women had successfully cursed a portion of the Israelite camp by luring them into immorality and idolatry. While this resulted in the deaths of 24,000 Israelites, it did nothing to thwart God’s plans to bless them and provide them with the inheritance He had promised to them. It would be the Moabites and Midianites who suffered the greatest losses due to this fateful event. But God would prove faithful to His covenant promises to Israel.

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 Self-Destructive Nature of Self-Determination

10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17 “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.” – Leviticus 20:10-21 ESV

Once again, chapter 20 mirrors chapter 18 but with one very important difference. While the earlier chapter contains a series of laws prohibiting immoral sexual activity, chapter 20 provides God’s judgments against any violations of those laws. To ensure that His covenant people took His commands seriously, God let them know exactly what the punishment would be if they chose to disobey.

That God had to go cover such a wide range of sexual sins reveals that He knew the scope of the dangers facing the Israelites when they arrived in Canaan. Yahweh was well aware of the decadent and depraved lifestyles of the land’s pagan inhabitants who regularly engaged in everything from adultery and incest to homosexuality and bestiality. He also knew that His chosen people would find the Canaanite’s no-holds-barred approach to sex to be highly alluring. Despite His clearly defined bans on such behavior, the Israelites would be tempted to adopt the more “progressive” ways of their more liberal neighbors. So, God let His people know the deadly consequences they would face if they chose to ignore His commands and emulate the ways of the lawless and licentious Canaanites.

In each case, the penalty was the same: Death. In the case of adultery, both the man and the woman were to face capital punishment. Their violation of God’s command concerning the sanctity of marriage was not to be taken lightly. From the very beginning, God had proclaimed, “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24 ESV). Jesus picked up on this theme when He spoke to the Pharisees concerning divorce.

“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” – Matthew 19:4-6 ESV

The apostle Paul also quoted from Genesis when he called the believing husbands in the city of Ephesus to love their wives as Christ loved the church.

In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” – Ephesians 5:28-31 ESV

The author of Hebrews provides further insight into God’s views on the sanctity of the marriage relationship.

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. – Hebrews 13:4 ESV

God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman. But a host of aberrations involving human sexual activity had sprung up ever since the fall. Mankind had come up with all kinds of ways to take what God had ordained and pervert it. And the apostle Paul describes how God allowed the deviant desires of fallen humanity to run their course, eventually resulting in the very behaviors outlined in this chapter.

God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. – Romans 1:26-27 NLT

But the Israelites were to be different. The laws given to them by God were to regulate their behavior and keep them from going down the same sordid path as the rest of the world’s inhabitants. They were not allowed to be promiscuous or perverse in their pursuit of sexual pleasure. Adultery was off-limits. All forms of incest were strictly forbidden. Homosexuality, while acceptable among the pagans, was not to be practiced by God’s people. And something as grotesque and off-putting as bestiality was to be viewed as a direct violation of God’s order of creation.

The important thing to consider is that these activities were being practiced among the inhabitants of Canaan. They were not imaginary or hypothetical cases but real-life examples of human behavior apart from a relationship with God. With no guidance or oversight from the Creator God, mankind was left to operate according to its own selfish and self-satisfying passions.

God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. – Romans 1:24 NLT

In Canaan, adultery was de rigueur, an everyday part of daily life. It was acceptable and even preferable. Any and all boundaries on sexual activity had long ago been abandoned. Mankind had made recreation the primary purpose behind sex instead of procreation. God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” had been replaced with the more self-serving mantra of “if it feels good do it.” Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes and according to their own perverse passions.

This free-for-all behavior among the pagans is what led God to provide His people with detailed laws that prohibited their emulation and carried a high price for any violation. Disobedience was punishable by death because God knew that if this kind of behavior was left unchecked it would spread like cancer among His people. Sexual sin is insatiable and those who engage in it are never satisfied. What was once considered perverse becomes preferable and pleasurable. The taboos of yesterday eventually become tolerable and normal. Nothing is off-limits. No desire is left unmet and no rules are allowed to deny one’s passions.  

As always, for God the issue was holiness. His people were to live set-apart lives that mirrored His will and demonstrated His divine plan for humanity. All of the perversions mentioned in this chapter are meant to illustrate just how far the human race had fallen from grace. These immoral behaviors provided ample evidence that humanity had followed the example of the first couple, who in their desire to be like God, succumbed to the enemy’s lies and ate of the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve sought to know good and evil, the capacity to determine their own moral fate. They longed to be the autonomous arbiters of righteousness, making their own decisions about what was right and wrong. And that dangerous desire for self-determination had plagued mankind ever since. This is why God provided His people with a new and expanded set of laws designed to make it clear that He alone held the right to regulate human behavior. 

And in the closing verses of this chapter, God will reiterate His call to holy living. The Israelites had been set apart by God so that they might demonstrate what righteousness looks like in everyday life. Adam and Eve had failed to live in obedience to God’s commands. Now, the nation of Israel had the opportunity to “be fruitful and multiply” in the land of Canaan, demonstrating to the world the benefits and blessings of living according to God’s will rather than the desires of the flesh. But for their lives to stand out, they would have to wholeheartedly buy into God’s commands or suffer the consequences.

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 Higher Standard

6 “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. 9 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18 And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive.” – Leviticus 18:6-18 ESV

We live in an age in which sexual boundaries and mores seem increasingly non-existent or simply ignored. What was once normal and accepted insights into human identity and sexuality have been turned on their heads. The once non-negotiable taboos of the past have been rejected as antiquated and out-of-touch with our modern sensibilities. And as the people of God, we find ourselves pressured to compromise our convictions just to remain relevant and avoid rejection by our more enlightened neighbors.

The Israelites were in a similar situation – whether they realized it or not. They had no idea what awaited them in Canaan, the land that God had promised to them as their inheritance. None of them had ever set foot in the “promised land,” and it had been four centuries since their ancestor, Jacob, and his family of 70 arrived in Egypt as refugees from the famine in Canaan. After more than 400 years in Egypt, they had long ago forgotten what things were like in their former homeland. They had no idea what the moral and religious atmosphere in Canaan was like. But God knew and He was preparing them for the worst. 

“You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you.” – Leviticus 18:3 ESV

They had just come out of a far-from-ideal situation in Egypt. There, they had experienced the indignity of living as slaves, but that had not always been the case. For decades, they had lived as the guests of the Pharaoh, occupying choice acreage in the lush and fertile land of Goshen. The original 70 Jacobites expanded rapidly and filled the land. And as their numbers grew, they became increasingly more amenable to their new surroundings. They acclimated to the ways of Egypt, accommodating themselves to the local customs and social conventions, even adopting many of their false gods as their own. So, by the time they left the land of the Pharaohs, they had become fully Egyptianized and quite content to carry their acquired tastes and customs with them when they crossed the Red Sea on their way to Canaan. In fact, years later, long after they had conquered and occupied the land of Canaan, Joshua would warn them:

“Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell” – Joshua 24:14-15 ESV

God had known all along that His people would struggle with idolatry. That’s why the very first commandment He gave His people contained prohibitions against idolatry.

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…” – Exodus 20:3-5 ESV

But there was another pressing problem facing the Israelites: Their propensity for immorality. And it’s no coincidence that idolatry and immorality seemed to go hand-in-hand in the ancient pagan world. Gross sexual sins were often associated with the worship of the false gods of Egypt and Canaan. In the process of trying to satisfy their gods, the Canaanites and Egyptians concocted rites and rituals that also satiated their sexual desires. Cult prostitutes plied their services in the pagan temples, providing a rather bizarre form of worship that was quite popular among the male population.

But all of this was off-limits to God’s people. He had given them His Tabernacle and a stringent set of laws concerning its proper use. There was to be no borrowing from the Egyptians or Canaanites. Their rituals and rites were unacceptable and had no place in the worship of Yahweh. But in order to drive home the need for His people to remain distinctively different from the rest of the nations of the world, God gave them a list of banned sexual activities. And the very fact that God had to put these prohibitions in writing accentuates the fact that His people were already predisposed to living this way. What stands out is that, in this passage, God deals with everything from incest to bestiality. These were not simple moral indiscretions, but gross sexual sins of the worst order.

And it’s interesting to note that there is a direct link between this passage and Genesis chapter 9, which outlines the sin of Ham, the son the Noah.

“This passage tells how Ham, the father of the Canaanites, acted with moral abandon when he saw the nakedness of Noah and for his lack of filial respect a curse was pronounced on his descendants, who would act with the same moral abandon.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

According to Genesis 10, the sons of Ham were “Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan” (Genesis 10:6 ESV). So, the Egyptians and Canaanites were the descendants of Ham, and the descendants of Canaan, Ham’s son included “the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites” (Genesis 10:16-18 ESV). In other words, most of the occupants of the land of Canaan were descendants of Ham and would mirror his immoral behavior.

Ham had been guilty of uncovering his father’s nakedness. There has been much debate as to the exact nature of Ham’s sin but it seems that he had walked into his father’s tent and viewed him in a drunken and naked state. It is not so much that Ham viewed his father's naked body but that he dishonored his father by gossiping about it to his two brothers. And when Noah sobered up and realized what his son had done, he was angry enough to curse Canaan, the son of Ham. Ham’s moral indiscretion proved costly.

And in chapter 18 of Leviticus, God repeatedly uses terms like “nakedness,” “uncovering,” and “seeing” when describing the sins of the Canaanites that the Israelites were to avoid. No Israelite as to “approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness” (Leviticus 18:6 ESV). And God drove home His point by using that phrase over and over again.

“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife…” – vs 8

“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter…” – vs 9

“You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter…” – vs 10

To put it bluntly, God’s people were forbidden from having sexual relations with any of their relatives. Throughout Leviticus 18, God uses the term “uncover the nakedness” as a euphemism for sexual intercourse. The relatively innocent-sounding sin of Ham had turned into unmitigated moral excesses of the worst kind. While Ham had been guilty of seeing his father naked, his descendants were guilty of committing every sort of sexual perversion the human mind could come up with. And it is sad to note that God had to provide such exacting detail to His list of unacceptable sexual activities. He was blatantly graphic in terms of His description of the sexual sins that were off-limits for His people.

The possibility of these sins taking place among His people was real. In fact, there is a good chance that some of these sins were already prevalent among the Israelites while they were in Egypt and as they made their way to Sinai. But the temptation would only increase when they arrived in the land of Canaan. So, God laid out His law in great detail so that His chosen people could never claim, “We never knew!” From this point forward, they would have no excuse.

When it came to sexuality, the Israelites were to live according to a higher standard; once provided to them by God. Every area of their lives belonged to Him and He expected their behavior to reflect their status as a royal priesthood and a holy nation. They were not descendants of Ham, but if they followed the example of their distant relatives, they would live to regret it. Disobedience would bring curses. But obedience would bring the blessings of God – in every area of their lives, including their sexuality and social interactions. During their years in Egypt, God had blessed them so that they increased in number. And He would continue to do so as long as they remained faithful to Him and obedient to His stringent standard of behavior.

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.

Holiness On God’s Terms

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. 3 And this is the law of his uncleanness for a discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is blocked up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. 4 Every bed on which the one with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean. 5 And anyone who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 6 And whoever sits on anything on which the one with the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 7 And whoever touches the body of the one with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 8 And if the one with the discharge spits on someone who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 9 And any saddle on which the one with the discharge rides shall be unclean. 10 And whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries such things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 11 Anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 12 And an earthenware vessel that the one with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

13 “And when the one with a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes. And he shall bathe his body in fresh water and shall be clean. 14 And on the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and come before the Lord to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest. 15 And the priest shall use them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.

16 “If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. 17 And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.” – Leviticus 15:1-18 ESV

Most Christians avoid this chapter like the plague (no pun intended). In any attempt to read through the Bible, the book of Leviticus is the first place where most people bog down and renege on their commitment. But if they’re persistent enough to make it this far in the book, chapter 15 usually ends up acting as a dead-end sign, causing them to slam on the brakes altogether and abandon their quest.

This chapter’s rather awkward subject matter makes us uncomfortable. The topic of bodily emissions and secretions seems inappropriate and overly personal for inclusion in the Holy Scriptures. These aren’t subjects one talks about in polite society, and no one expects to read about them in the Spirit-inspired Word of God. Yet, immediately after wrapping up His list of laws concerning the remediation of mold and mildew in a home, God turns His attention to bodily discharges.

Once again, God’s emphasis is on the issue of uncleanness, and He uses a variation of the term 35 times in 33 verses. Everything in these verses deals with the human body but in a very specific way. God has already addressed the topic of skin diseases. These ailments or conditions were abnormalities that were readily apparent to everyone. They represented a lack of wholeness or health in the life of the one infected. But the conditions addressed in chapter 15 are more private and personal in nature.

While it may be difficult to discern, God is continuing to deal with all those things in human life that are incompatible with His holiness. The sensitive subject matter in these verses is intended to reveal that even normal human bodily functions can end up separating God’s people from their Creator. Every aspect of human life was being put under the gaze of God’s divine microscope and examined for any role it might play in rendering His people unclean and unacceptable in His sight. 

Much of what is addressed in these verses has to do with normal bodily functions such as a man’s seminal emissions or the discharges associated with a woman giving birth. Why would these normal and highly natural aspects of human bodily functionality render the people of God unclean? What was it about these seemingly healthy characteristics of human sexuality that rendered a person unclean?

The main issue has to do with the difference between the holy and the common. When God ordained the two sons of Aaron to serve as priests in the place of their deceased brothers, he warned them… “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses” (Leviticus 10:10 ESV).

In the very next chapter, God warned the people, “You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 11:47 BSB). There were certain animals that were to be considered off-limits and unfit for human consumption. But this prohibition was only placed upon the people of Israel. These dietary restrictions were intended to set them apart from all the other nations. And the priests were to help them understand that all the laws God had given them were meant to differentiate them from their unbelieving neighbors. The Israelites were to consider themselves to be holy or set apart by God. They were no longer “common” or ordinary. They were God’s treasured possession and, as such, they were expected to conduct their lives in keeping with His laws and regulations. In doing so, they would distinguish themselves as holy (qōḏeš), a Hebrew word that conveys the idea of separateness or apartness. 

The only thing that would distinguish the Hebrews from the rest of the world was their commitment to keeping God’s laws and living according to His will. Their belief was to show up in their behavior. And God applied His law to every area of their lives, including that of human sexuality. For the rest of the world, bodily secretions were viewed as normal and natural. But for God’s people, they were to be viewed as either holy or common, clean or unclean. What was right and acceptable for other nations was to be closely examined by God’s people to determine whether it helped or hindered one’s status as a holy person.

Centuries later, the apostle Paul wrote to the believers in the city of Thessalonica and reminded them about God’s expectation of holiness, and he directly associated it with the misuse of God’s gift of procreation.

For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality… – 1 Thessalonians 4:3 BSB

And Paul went on to describe the danger of ignoring God’s laws concerning not only sex but the sacredness of marriage.

…each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God; and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness. Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit. – 1 Thessalonians 4:4-8 BSB

In essence, Paul was calling his audience to distinguish between that which is holy and that which is to be considered common. What was right and acceptable to unbelievers was off-limits for them. Their old lifestyles were no longer permissible because they were unacceptable to God. Promiscuity, adultery, lust, and impurity of any kind were to be considered common and unworthy of those who had been set apart by God.

So, these laws concerning bodily emissions deal with a wide range of issues common to all men and women. Some are normal and natural, but they still represent the things of this earth.

“To be sure, these things were all earthy and physical, and so they could never be included in the category of holy – they were in the category of common or profane. On that basis alone they were not compatible with holy places.” - Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

It is vital to remember that all of the laws in Leviticus are directly tied to the newly constructed Tabernacle, the house of God. It was there, in that sacred place, that God had promised to place His glorious presence. He had set apart that dwelling as His earthly dwelling place. But everything about it was common and ordinary, having been built by human hands and constructed from “earthy” materials. But God had consecrated it for His use through an elaborate series of sacrifices that purified and prepared it for His presence. God had taken what was ordinary and common and transformed it into a suitable and acceptable place for His glory to dwell.

And, in a sense, that is what these laws concerning bodily discharges and emissions were meant to do. Some of what is described in these verses is natural and normal; in other words, quite common. But there are also aberrations or abnormalities listed that involve chronic or unhealthy aspects of the human body. Any and all of these things were to be looked at from the basis of the holy versus the common and the clean versus the unclean. And it should not be overlooked that so much of the pagan practice of worship was associated with human sexual activity. When the Israelites arrived in the land of Canaan, they would find that the occupants of that land had integrated sex into the worship of their gods. A gift given by Yahweh was being used to satisfy human lust and glorify non-existent gods that were nothing more than deified versions of fallen men.

“It is important to remember that sexual activity was so prominent in the religions of the ancient world, especially in the land of Canaan, that it was part of the ritual services of fertility in the temples and shrines. This world into which the Israelites were moving had to have some significance to these laws. God was saying very clearly that sex, any aspect of sex, any bodily functions connected with sex, had to be help completely apart from the holy place. He was not saying that sex and bodily functions were dirty or sinful, as some see in this passage. God created male and female and sexuality. Fertility came from God through creation, not through ritual sexual acts asin a sanctuary. The law was simply restricting sexual acts from the sanctuary, keeping the boundaries between the physical and the holy.” – Allen P. Ross, Holiness to the Lord: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus

The list of potential problem areas in this chapter is long and difficult to read, and the laws requiring purification are quite detailed. As always, God leaves nothing to the imagination. He doesn’t allow for any grey areas for the Israelites to decide for themselves. The goal was holiness. But for that objective to be achieved, the Israelites had to know the difference between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean. And the criteria for each had been established by God, not men. What the rest of the world deemed acceptable and even holy was not to be the standard for God’s people.

As the apostle Paul made clear, God’s will was that His people be holy and only He had the right to determine both the definition and expression of holiness.

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.

Taking Sin Seriously

1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father's house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.” – Numbers 25:1-18 ESV

There is no way to escape the fact that this is a graphic and disturbing text. And its close proximity to the oracles of blessing pronounced by God through Balaam makes it all the more difficult to reconcile. In what appears to be a relatively short period of time, King Balak’s hopes of placing Israel under a curse seem to take place without the help of Balaam or any other seer or sage. And the amazing thing is, the Israelites bring it on themselves.

Moses describes the situation in less-than-flattering terms: “ the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab” (Numbers 25:1 ESV). It seems that the residents of Moab had done what their king had not been able to do. They had managed to find a chink in the armor of God’s chosen people, and it involved the two evils of immorality and idolatry. While Balaam had been unsuccessful in pronouncing a curse on the people of God, the citizens of Moab had come up with an ingenious plan for destroying the Israelites from within.

While the Israelites were encamped in the plains of Moab, waiting for the next phase of their conquest of Canaan, the men became distracted by and attracted to the women of Moab. And before long, “the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women” (Numbers 25:1 NLT).

Concessions were made, compromises were considered, and in no time the set-apart status of the Israelites was eventually jeopardized. What began as illicit sexual encounters between the men of Israel and the women of Moab turned into spiritual adultery and apostasy.

These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. – Numbers 25:2 NLT

Uncontrolled sexual desires led to compromised convictions. Suddenly, the Israelites’ physical allure for the Moabite women created a spiritual attraction for their rogues’ gallery of deities. Forbidden fruit created an insatiable appetite for false gods.

What makes this whole affair so egregious is that it comes fresh on the heels of God’s promise to bless the people of Israel.

“No curse can touch Jacob;
    no magic has any power against Israel.
For now it will be said of Jacob,
    ‘What wonders God has done for Israel!’” – Numbers 23:23 NLT

Balaam had not been allowed to curse them. His “magic” had proven unsuccessful. But the women of Moab had managed to cast a spell on the unsuspecting men of Israel. They simply used their feminine wiles to bewitch the hapless Israelites and cause them to turn their backs on Jehovah. And because men were responsible for the spiritual oversight of their households, it wasn’t long before the apostasy spread throughout the camp.

Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people. – Numbers 25:3 NLT

The fallout from this act of unfaithfulness was immediate and widespread. But God quickly intervened, ordering Moses to take immediate action.

“Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.” – Numbers 25:4 NLT

There would be no compromise on God’s part. He would not tolerate sin in the camp of Israel, especially that involving immorality and idolatry. The guilty were to be made examples of, delivering a sobering warning to the rest of the nation of Israel. And Moses was quick to follow God’s instructions, calling on the judges of the tribes of Israel to carry out the executions of all those who had taken part in this act of rebellion against God.

And this is where the story earns its NC-17 rating. What happens next is both shocking and unimaginable. As a result of this corporate act of sin and God’s prescribed solution, the people had been called to gather before the tabernacle. Moses describes the tone as sorrowful, likely because of sorrow for the deaths of some of their sons, fathers, and husbands. Yet as the people wept over their sin and the loss of their loved ones, one of the guilty men did something that is difficult to believe. He brazenly took a Moabite woman into his tent, in full view of Moses and the rest of the assembly. He exhibits no shame and, completely controlled by his sexual desires, he displays no self-control.

He does the unthinkable. Either he was flaunting his personal preferences in the face of Moses and God, or he was so consumed by his physical appetites that he could no longer control himself. The apostle Paul describes such people in condemning terms: “Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth” (Philippians 3:19 NLT).

As Moses and the rest of the people looked on in shock, this moral reprobate flaunted his disdain for the holiness of God and rejected his own personal guilt. He shows no regret, remorse, or repentance. But his unprecedented display of disrespect for God got the attention of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the high priest. This young man was the grandson of Aaron the former high priest and he took his role as servant of God seriously. Unwilling to stand back and watch this affront to God’s holiness take place, he took matters into his own hands – literally. 

…he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. – Numbers 25:7-8 NLT

The actions of this man were more than an uncontrolled sexual encounter with a pagan woman. They were engaged in an act of worship associated with Baal, the false god of the Moabites. Sexual promiscuity was a regular feature in the rites and rituals associated with this pagan deity. But Phinehas refused to turn a blind eye to their immorality and idolatry, executing the guilty couple on the spot. And Moses indicates that the quick action of Phinehas brought an end to a plague that had already ravaged the lives of 24,000 Israelites.

And due to his actions, Phinehas received a covenant promise from God.

“Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.” – Numbers 25:11-13 NLT

Phinehas was rewarded for his efforts. This young man had executed the righteous judgment of God but, in so doing, had spared the nation from further deaths. God’s anger was satisfied and the sins of the nation were atoned for. But God was not done carrying out His judgment. Because the woman found in the tent was of Midianite extraction, God ordered that the Midianites be completely destroyed for the role they played in Israel’s rebellion against Him.

“Attack the Midianites and destroy them, because they assaulted you with deceit and tricked you into worshiping Baal of Peor, and because of Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, who was killed at the time of the plague because of what happened at Peor.” – Numbers 25:17-18 NLT

In a sense, Cozbi had accomplished what Balaam had failed to do. She and the other Midianite and Moabite women had successfully cursed a portion of the Israelite camp by luring them into immorality and idolatry. And while this resulted in the deaths of 24,000 Israelites, it did nothing to thwart God’s plans to bless them and provide them with the inheritance He had promised to them. It would be the Moabites and Midianites who suffered the greatest losses due to this fateful event. But God would prove faithful to His covenant promises to Israel.

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.

Listen, Learn, and Live

20 My son, keep your father’s commandment,
    and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them on your heart always;
    tie them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will lead you;
    when you lie down, they will watch over you;
    and when you awake, they will talk with you.
23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
24 to preserve you from the evil woman,
    from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
    and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,
    but a married woman hunts down a precious life.
27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest
    and his clothes not be burned?
28 Or can one walk on hot coals
    and his feet not be scorched?
29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
    none who touches her will go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
    he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
    he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
    and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy makes a man furious,
    and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
    he will refuse though you multiply gifts. – Proverbs 6:20-35 ESV

We live in a society that is constantly trying to buck the system. And by the system, I mean the one that God has put in place. God has standards. He has rules for living that apply to all men, not just those who consider themselves God-followers. But ever since the fall, man has been trying to get around God’s standards and establish his own set of guidelines for living.

If God says that something is wrong or sinful, we go out of our way to justify it and convince ourselves that it is actually perfectly acceptable. To get there we either have to reject what God has said altogether or twist it in such a way that it no longer carries the meaning it once did. That is exactly what we have done with the subject of adultery. Once taboo, even among non-believers, it is not only acceptable but has become a regular part of daily life in America. In an effort to satisfy our own selfish desires and justify our sinful actions, we have played fast and loose with God’s laws and created an environment where we get to decide what is sin and what is not. It has all become highly subjective. The mantra, "If it feels good, do it" reigns supreme.

Yet Solomon warns his son, and us, "but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life" (Proverbs 6:26b NLT). Far too many in our society, including Christian men and women, don’t believe that statement. They have convinced themselves that God wants them happy and, therefore, if they find another person who fulfills them better than their current mate, then there is nothing wrong with "falling in love" with that other person. They justify their actions by claiming that they were never really in love in the first place. They made a mistake. Surely, God wouldn’t want them to spend the rest of their lives miserable and unhappy just because they married the wrong person. Yet Solomon clearly states, "So it is with the man who sleeps with another man’s wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 6:29 NLT).

One of the things that have happened is that, as a society, we have removed the disgrace and shame that used to accompany adultery. It has become so commonplace and acceptable that there is no longer any stigma associated with it. Oh, we may be shocked for a time, but we have learned to go with the flow and accept adultery as the inevitable outcome of living in a fallen world. And while it is true that adultery, like all sins, is inevitable because of the fall, it is never to be acceptable. It should still shock and concern us. We should still view it as a sin against a holy God and an unjust crime against our fellow man.

Adultery is nothing less than stealing. Those who commit adultery are taking something that does not belong to them. And in doing so, they destroy that which God considers holy and sacred: A marriage between a husband and wife. Not only that, it destroys the adulterer’s marriage and violates a covenant made before God – even if the couple who made the covenant were outside a relationship with Christ at the time. 

God views ALL marriages as sacred and holy. He does not apply His rules only to the marriages of believers. God’s standards apply to all men and women. None are excluded or exempt. Yet, it is within the body of Christ that willful obedience to His commands should be displayed most clearly. It is within our marriages that faithfulness and fidelity should be most readily visible. He has given us the power to live lives in keeping with His standards. He has placed His Spirit within us and equipped us with the capacity to live godly lives in the midst of an ungodly culture.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. –  (2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT

Because we share in the divine nature, we can escape the influence of this world and its constant encouragement to live according to our own standards, without shame and unrepentant.

The life of godliness was never meant to be impossible or impractical. It is impossible only if we attempt to live it in our own strength or on our own terms. It is impractical if we fail to apply its lessons to our daily lives. We always run the risk of becoming so heavenly-minded that we're no earthly good. In other words, we fill our heads with all kinds of pious-sounding religious platitudes but never apply them to our daily lives. Yet, Solomon reminds us that righteousness is to be highly practical. It is to be visible to those around us, impacting every area of our lives and changing the way we live, altering the way we think, and influencing our decisions. Righteous living is wise living. It is living according to God's standards, and God is a highly practical God.

When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. – Proverbs 6:22-23 NLT

Solomon attempted to take what he knew about God and apply it to everyday life. He pleaded with his son to listen to and apply the commandments he was sharing. They were not simply moral platitudes in the form of fatherly advice. They were divinely-ordained requirements that were intended to promote and preserve human flourishing.

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
to preserve you from the evil woman,
    from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. – Proverbs 6:23-24 ESV

Knowing the commands of God but failing to obey them is like having a lamp filled with oil, yet refusing to light the wick. The one who knowingly disobeys the commands of God is nothing more than an unlit lamp in the darkness. They receive no benefit from their knowledge because they refuse to apply it.

So, Solomon encourages his son to listen to wise counsel, from parents, peers, friends, and from the Word of God. Piety that is not practical is useless. It becomes hypocrisy. Our beliefs must impact our behavior. Our righteousness must result in right living. The way we live should reflect the God in whom we believe.

But for the commands of God to have their full effect requires listening. And there is an art to listening. All of us can hear, but not all of us know how to listen well. And the few of us who do know how to listen sometimes struggle with doing something with what we hear – especially when it has to do with obeying the wise counsel we receive from others. This is especially true of young people. This is why so many of the Proverbs are addressed to sons (and daughters). Solomon wants his children to know the value of listening to godly counsel. In Proverbs 6 the assumption is that the commands and instructions given by the father and mother are godly and worthy of compliance. The son is told to obey the commands of his father and not neglect the instructions of his mother. He is to value them and personally apply them to his life, hiding them in his heart and keeping them close like a valuable necklace or an expensive ring tied to a cord and hung around his neck.

Solomon is not suggesting that we wear these commands like ornaments designed to make us appear more righteous. He is simply accentuating their incredible value and worth. They are priceless treasures that provide life, not decorative trinkets that make us look more holy to our peers. He stresses their life-preserving nature.

Wherever you walk, they’ll guide you; whenever you rest, they’ll guard you; when you wake up, they’ll tell you what’s next. – Proverbs 6:22 MSG

Godly counsel can provide guidance on life's journey. It is based on the wisdom of God and has been proven in the crucible of life. Wise counsel tends to speak from experience. It is able to say, "Do as I do, not just as I say."

The godly counsel of parents and other well-traveled Christ-followers can save us a lot of pain and trouble, and prevent us from taking wrong turns and ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. But not only does godly counsel guide, but it also guards and protects us – even in our sleep. Even when we're inactive, godly counsel makes sure we’re safe and sound. We can rest easy and sleep well knowing that we have made the right choices and followed the right path in life. We don’t have to live anxiously or nervously waiting for the other shoe to drop and the walls of our life to cave in. We can know that we’re on the right path and headed in the right direction.

Finally, godly counsel speaks to us. It’s amazing how the wise advice of others can crop up and pop into our minds at just the right moment. When we wake up in the morning, we have a repository of wise advice to which we can turn. It speaks to us. It counsels us. It prepares us for the day ahead. Like a lamp, it lights our path and shows us the right way to go. It keeps us on the straight and narrow and out of the high weeds of life.

Wise counsel is like good, nutritious food. It not only feeds us for the moment, but it equips us for the journey. It gives us the strength, energy, and stamina to face all that lies ahead. It encourages, educates, and equips us for life in this world. Without it, we are lost, vulnerable to attack, and clueless as to what we should do and which way we should go.

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.

Blinded by the Light

1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. – Genesis 19:1-11 ESV

Moses indicates that after Abraham had completed his rather strange conversation with God, “the Lord went his way” (Genesis 18:33 ESV), and Abraham returned to his tent near Hebron. But that very same evening, the two angels of the Lord arrived at Sodom and discovered Lot “sitting in the gate” (Genesis 19:1 ESV). This phrase will take on special importance as the story unfolds. Typically, it was used to refer to someone who served in the capacity of a municipal judge. The city gate was where the community conducted its business. Markets were located at the entrance to the city where vendors plied their wares. But it was also where disputes among the city’s residents were settled by the appointed judges.

Lot, who had initially “moved his tents to a place near Sodom” (Genesis 13:12 NLT), had eventually relocated his family to more permanent housing within the city’s walls. And, apparently, Lot had become an active member of the community, even managing to garner the coveted position of a judge. His title and job description would have exposed Lot to all the immoral and unethical behavior taking place within the city. He would have well aware of the ungodly lifestyles of his neighbors. Which would explain his rather determined insistence that the two visitors spend the night under his roof.

“My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.” – Genesis 19:2 NLT

There is no indication that Lot was aware that these two men were actually angels or messengers from God. He simply discerned them to be strangers who appeared to be men of importance.

But when the two visitors turned down his gracious offer of hospitality and revealed that they were planning to spend the night in the town square, Lot became insistent. He knew that decision would not end well. So, at his extreme urging, the two men made their way to Lot’s home, where he had a meal prepared for them. 

It’s at this point in the story that the plot takes a dark and perverted twist. As Lot and his guests feasted inside his home, the men of Sodom gathered outside the door. The rumors had quickly spread that there were two prominent and well-to-do visitors spending the night with Lot. Moses goes out of his way to reveal how the perversity within Sodom was all pervasive. He indicates that “all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house” (Genesis 19:4 NLT). Every red-blooded male Sodomite had flocked to Lot’s doorstep with one thing in mind. And it was not to shower Lot’s guests with a display of civic hospitality.

Moses foreshadowed this scene when he earlier indicated the moral state of the men of Sodom.

…the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. – Genesis 13:13 ESV

And the diverse makeup of the crowd reveals that the wickedness of Sodom spanned the generations and was evident within every strata of Sodomite society. From the young and the old to the rich and the poor, every single male had made their way to Lot’s house, each driven by the same immoral passion. And they quickly made their intentions known.

“Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!” – Genesis 19:5 NLT

This is not a case of hyperbole. Moses is not utilizing literary exaggeration to drive home a point. He is revealing the full extent of Sodom’s wickedness. It was all-pervasive and far beyond the scope of acceptable behavior for any society. And, sadly, none of this came as a surprise to Lot. His fervent efforts to house the two men in his home reveal his awareness of the dangers that lurked just outside the walls of his home. But despite all he knew about his adopted hometown, Lot had chosen to remain in Sodom, even becoming a prominent and well-respected city leader.

And, in his role as judge, Lot attempted to arbitrate a “cease fire” with his impassioned, hormone-driven neighbors. In an effort to prevent any harm coming to his guests, Lot even offered them a shocking compromise. He offered up his two virgin daughters as substitutes. As the story will reveal, both girls had both been betrothed Sodomite men, but they had not yet consummated their marriages. To the Middle Eastern mind, hospitality was a sacred responsibility. To fail to care for and protect someone taking shelter in your home was considered to be a crime. And Lot’s behavior, while shocking to our modern sensibilities, was in keeping with the relational protocols that ruled his day. These men were his guests, and he was personally responsible for their well-being.

But Lot’s negotiations proved fruitless. Driven by their uncontrollable sexual urges, the mob refused his offer and increased their efforts to gain access to the two visitors. And they revealed their disdain and dislike for Lot.

“This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” – Genesis 19:9 ESV

This sentence says a lot about what they thought of Lot. They claim that Lot came to “sojourn.” The Hebrew word carries the idea that Lot had shown up in Sodom, intending to “dwell for a time.” He had planned on being a temporary resident but, instead, he had become a permanent fixture in the community. Not only that, he had “become the judge” or law-giver. They express their frustration with this outsider who had set himself up as the sole determiner of right and wrong. Who was he to decide what was acceptable behavior in Sodom?

Things were getting out of hand. Tempers were flaring. Hormones were raging. And Lot found himself in a difficult and potentially deadly predicament. But little did he know that his guests were angelic beings. As the angry crowd pushed in on Lot, threatening to do him bodily harm, a hand reached out and pulled him inside.

And then something incredible took place. The text simply states, “And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great…” (Genesis 19:11 ESV). But the wording in Hebrew is vital to understanding the miraculous nature of what took place. As soon as the angels drew Lot into the safety of his own home, they “struck with blindness” those outside the door. The way this sentence reads in Hebrew is that the angels struck the men and the result of blindness. Whatever happened left every member of the unruly crowd unable to see. They were left groping around in darkness. But notice that their altered state did not alter their desires.

…they wore themselves out groping for the door. – Genesis 19:11 ESV

They had arrived that night, under cover of darkness, with the intentions of doing something grievous. Their hearts darkened by sin, they were incapable of seeing the error of their ways.  No amount of pleading or bargaining on Lot’s part was going to prevent them from fulfilling their perverse desires. But now they found themselves suffering from literal blindness. Now their physical state matched their spiritual state.

It was Jesus who said, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind” (John 9:39 NLT). What the angels did to the spiritually blind men attempting to beat down Lot’s door was remove their capacity to fulfill their sinful desires. But the sinful desire remained. Their hearts were unchanged. And their pitiful groping for fulfillment and satisfaction would continue unabated.

So, how did the angels blind these men? While the passage does not answer this question, there will be clues provided as the story unfolds. This story brings to mind another encounter between a messenger of God and the ungodly. It is recorded in the book of Acts and involves a man named, Saul, who was a Pharisee and paid bounty hunter who made his living rounding up and arresting followers of “The Way.” In other words, he was a professional persecutor of Christians.

But one day, as he was making his way to the city of Damascus to arrest Christ-followers, he was suddenly exposed to a very bright light, in the middle of the day. As he later told the story: “…about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me” (Acts 22:6 ESV). This unexpected encounter left Saul blind.

“I could not see because of the brightness of that light…” – Acts 22:11 ESV

This persecutor of the church was blinded by the light of Christ’s glory. He had encountered the resurrected Son of God, the very light of life (John 1:4) and the light of the world (John 8:12). In the midst of the darkness of his sin-controlled life, Saul encountered the light that shines in the darkness (John 1:5) and was changed forever. He walked away blind, but later lived with an enlightened awareness of God’s goodness and grace as revealed in His Son.

It could be that the very thing that left the men of Sodom blinded and groping for the door was the light of God’s glory. But unlike Saul, their encounter with “the light of the world” left them blinded but unenlightened and unchanged. They remained stubbornly persistent in their desire to live according to the desires of the flesh. And, as the story will reveal, their spiritual blindness would be the death of them. 

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 Inevitable and Inescapable Judgment of God

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. – 2 Peter 2:4-10a ESV

Peter has made it clear that those who heretical doctrines and lead God’s people astray will not go unpunished. God’s track record of disciplining the rebellious, ungodly and immoral is well established and the false teachers will suffer a similar fate.

God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. – 2 Peter 1:3 NLT

To prove his point, Peter reached back into history and brought forward three significant examples of rebellion against God that each ended poorly for all those involved. And he presented the various scenarios by utilizing a conditional statement, each sentence beginning with the word, “if.”

…if God did not spare angels when they sinned… – vs 4

…if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah… – vs 5

…if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction… – vs 6

In Greek, these sentences are in the first class condition, which assumes for the sake of argument, that what Peter has written is true. You could replace each “if” with the word, “since.” Peter is not questioning whether these events happened. Instead, he is claiming that they did and, as a result, they provide proof of how God deals with the rebellious and unrighteous.

Peter begins with a case that involved angels, heavenly beings created by God who determined to rebel against His authority. Some scholars believe that Peter was referencing the same event described in the book of Jude.

…the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day… – Jude 6 ESV

And many of the same scholars believe this brief verse was an allusion to the fall of Satan from his place of glory and prominence in heaven, as described in the book of Ezekiel.

On the day that you were created
    they were prepared.
You were an anointed guardian cherub.
    I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
    in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
You were blameless in your ways
    from the day you were created,
    till unrighteousness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trade
    you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
    and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
    from the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
    you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
    I exposed you before kings,
    to feast their eyes on you. – Ezekiel 28:13-17 ESV

In the book of Isaiah, there is another reference to this angelic rebellion against God, led by someone designated as “Day Star, son of Dawn” (Isaiah 14:12 ESV).

“How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’” – Isaiah 14:12-14 ESV

Peter appears to be picking up on this story of Satan’s fall from grace, prompted by his ill-fated decision to make himself like the Most High. Evidently, Satan convinced a host of angelic beings to join him in his rebellion against God and, as Peter points out, God punished them all. And Peter’s inference is quite clear. Since God did not refrain from judging angels who bought into the lie of Satan and attempted to overthrow Him, He most certainly would not spare human beings who chose to follow the lies of the false teachers and reject the truth of His Word.

The second conditional statement involves the destruction of “the ancient world” at the time of the great flood. Peter is clearly referring to the story found in the book of Genesis.

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. – Genesis 6:5-8 ESV

Since the fall of Adam and Eve, the state of affairs on earth had degraded to the point where God was no longer willing to put up with mankind’s sinful disregard for His glory. They had completely abandoned their God-ordained mandate to be His image-bearers. And, once again, Peter points out that God did not spare them. Their rebellion against God resulted in their destruction at His hands, and His divine judgment took the form of a worldwide flood that destroyed all humanity – except for Noah and his family.

Peter brightens the dark news with a reminder that God spared Noah because he was “a herald of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5 ESV). Through his faithful fulfillment of God’s command to build the ark, Noah proclaimed the righteousness of God to his unbelieving neighbors. By obediently constructing the massive boat that God had ordained, Noah was “preaching the gospel” to those facing God’s wrath. Noah’s actions display his faith in the undeserved and unmerited salvation that God had ordained and, as a result, he and his family were spared. It seems evident that Peter was reminding his readers that they too had been spared from God’s judgment by placing their faith in the unmerited salvation provided by God through Jesus Christ. He had become their ark of sanctuary and salvation. But just as Noah’s unbelieving neighbors had ridiculed his ark, the false teachers of Peter’s day were attempting to downplay the judgment of God and minimize the saving nature of Jesus Christ.

The third conditional statement involved the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, two ancient cities that suffered the righteous judgment of God for their blatant and egregious immorality. Peter reminded his readers that God refused to spare these two cities, choosing instead to turn them both into a heap of ashes. And Peter doesn’t hide the point of this story.

He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people… – 2 Peter 2:6 NLT

The people who lived in those two cities got what they deserved. But, once again, Peter points out that God spared one man and his family.

God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. – 2 Peter 2:7 NLT

Lot was the nephew of Abraham. And while he had made some poor decisions in his life, Peter makes it clear that Lot was “a righteous man” who was grieved over the immorality and decadence of his neighbors in Sodom. Yet, against his better judgment, he had chosen to remain within the walls of the city. He had compromised his convictions and, as the story recorded in Genesis makes clear, he exposed his daughters to the effects of Sodom’s immoral culture. But Peter wanted his readers to know that God still spared Lot. He rescued this righteous, yet flawed man, providing him with a way of escape and sparing him from the judgment to come. And that is the hope of every follower of Christ. While the world in which we live faces the coming judgment of God, we have been exempted from that inevitable fate because of our faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, false teachers would have us believe that a loving God would not destroy mankind. Instead, they would refute the reality of sin and reject any need for a Savior.

But Peter’s whole point in retelling these three stories was to remind his brothers and sisters in Christ that God cannot and will not spare the unrighteous and ungodly. The rebellious, ungodly, and immoral will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But God will rescue those who remain faithful to Him.

…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials… – 2 Peter 2:9 ESV

God spared all those angels who refused to join in Satan’s rebellion. God rescued Noah and his family from the deadly effects of the flood. And He graciously removed Lot and his two daughters from the city of Sodom before His righteous wrath was poured out on its immoral inhabitants.

Peter has in mind two groups of people: Believers and unbelievers. And his primary point seems to be that there are two kinds of suffering. The temporal suffering of God’s children as they experience the trials associated with life in a fallen world, and the eternal suffering of all those who reject Jesus Christ as the sole source of salvation and the means of reconciliation with a holy God. Peter points out that the unrighteous will be kept “under punishment until the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9 ESV). In other words, they will remain under God’s holy and righteous wrath until the final judgment comes. This doesn’t mean that all unbelievers always get their just desserts in this life. Many of them seem to prosper while God’s children suffer. But while they may appear to be living the good life now, they remain under God’s pending and inescapable judgment to come.

One day, their temporal joys will be replaced by eternal suffering. And Peter adds that God’s judgment lies “especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority” (2 Peter 2:10 NLT). This appears to be a direct attack on the false teachers who Peter will go on to describe in highly unflattering terms:

They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. – 2 Peter 2:14 NLT

These people were immoral, ungodly, and rebellious. Like Satan and the angels who follow him, they despised the authority of God. Like the people of Noah’s day, their wickedness was great. And like the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, their love of immorality was insatiable and incorrigible. Yet while the wicked may appear to live charmed lives, they will all one day face the righteous judgment of God. But, as Peter points out, the Lord will rescue the godly.

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.

A Life Gone to the Dogs

29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31 Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” 32 And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is surely the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34 But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 35 And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. 36 And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”

37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken. 39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. – 1 Kings 22:29-40 ESV

Despite being warned by the prophet Micaiah that his attack of Ramoth-gilead would end in disaster and his own death, Ahab had chosen to go through with his ill-fated plan. But in an attempt to thwart the will of God, Ahab had come up with the brilliant idea to wear a disguise that would keep the Syrians from recognizing him as the king. He knew he would be a target of Ben-Hadad’s wrath because his attack on Ramoth-gilead would be in violation of their long-standing peace agreement. And he was right to be worried because Ben-hadad had commanded his troops to focus their attention on Ahab.

Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” – 1 Kings 22:31 ESV

Ahab’s decision to go through with the battle despite Micaiah’s warning clearly indicates the rebellious nature of his heart and his blatant disregard for the will of Yahweh. He truly believed he could devise a plan that would allow him to escape God’s wrath and accomplish his will at the same time. Ahab was conniving and manipulative and, evidently, quite persuasive because he was somehow able to convince King Jehoshaphat of Judah to go into battle wearing his royal armor while he wore a disguise. He hoped that, in the heat of battle, the Syrians would mistake Jehoshaphat for himself and focus all their attention on him. Somehow, he convinced the king of Judah to go along with this blatant display of self-centered self-preservation.

And his plan almost worked. As the battle began, the Syrians spotted Jehoshaphat and gave chase, but they soon realized they were pursuing the wrong man. Ahab had managed to fool the Syrians, but he would not be able to hide his identity from God Almighty. And he would not be able to escape the judgment God had decreed against him.

As the battle raged, one of the Syrian archers loosed an arrow that flew through the air and ended up striking Ahab “between the scale armor and the breastplate” (1 Kings 22:34 ESV). But this seemingly lucky shot had been sovereignly ordained and directed by the hand of God. Ahab had tried to escape God’s will but had failed. His disguise had been unable to hide him from God’s all-seeing eye, and his armor had proved to be insufficient protection from God’s all-powerful judgment.

And as the battle continued all around him, Ahab slumped in his chariot, his blood pouring from his wound and his life slowly ebbing away. At sunset, he took his last labored breath and died, and the news of his demise quickly spread across the battlefield.

 …at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!” – 1 Kings 22:35-36 ESV

Micaiah had warned Ahab that his death was inevitable because his actions were in direct violation of God’s will. If he chose to go through with his attack on Ramoth-gilead, Ahab would suffer the divine consequences. And when Ahab died, lying in a pool of his own blood on the floor of his chariot, his troops abandoned the battle. The sheep found themselves without a shepherd, so they returned to their homes in peace, just as God had predicted they would.

“I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” – 1 Kings 22:17 ESV

With Ahab’s death, the battle for Ramoth-gilead came to an abrupt end, and the armies of Syria, Israel, and Judah abandoned the field and returned home. Ahab’s body, still lying in his chariot, was returned to Samaria. Amazingly, this wicked and rebellious king was given the honor of a royal burial. But the author describes a rather macabre scene that stands in stark contrast to the state funeral given to this unrepentant and undeserving king. As Ahab’s body was interred with all the pomp and circumstance that comes with a royal funeral, servants went about the unpleasant task of washing his blood from his chariot.

…his chariot was washed beside the pool of Samaria, and dogs came and licked his blood at the place where the prostitutes bathed, just as the Lord had promised. – 1 Kings 22:38 NLT

This scene took place in direct fulfillment of the words of Elijah the prophet. He had warned King Ahab that his complicity in the death of Naboth would result in his own death.

“And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’” – 1 Kings 21:19 ESV

It would seem that the place where the servants chose to wash Ahab’s blood from the chariot was the same place where the innocent Naboth had been stoned to death. Ahab’s body was buried in a royal tomb, but his life’s blood was unceremoniously poured out in a place recognized for its sin and degradation. It was a site within the walls of Samaris inhabited by those who were considered unclean and immoral. And the king’s blood was literally licked up by scavenging dogs.

Ahab’s reign as king of Israel came to an abrupt and violent end. And while he would be remembered for many of his achievements, he would go down in history as one of the most wicked of all Israel’s kings. His legacy would be marked by apostasy, rebellion, idolatry, and immorality. He had proved to be a competent king, but his stubborn refusal to honor God would forever mar his reputation and leave a permanent stain on the northern kingdom of Israel. And when the author states that “Ahab slept with his fathers” (1 Kings 22:40 ESV), it is a thinly veiled inference that Ahab died unrepentant and unforgiven, just like his predecessors. While alive, Ahab made no place for God in his kingdom. In death, he would discover that he had no place in God’s kingdom. In life, he had chosen to replace God with false gods, and that decision would prove to have eternal consequences.

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

More and More Part 2

9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. – 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 ESV

It’s interesting to note how, in this passage, Paul contrasts love and lust. In verses 1-8, he points out the need for the Thessalonian believers to “abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV). They were to refrain from practicing sexual sin or, as the word means in Greek, “to hold one's self off.” As believers, they had been given a new capacity to refrain from their old desires, driven by their sinful natures. Upon placing their faith in Christ, they had received the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And, as a result, they were able to say no to lustful desires.

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. – Galatians 5:17 NLT

The sinful nature lusts or desires the wrong things. And Paul pointed out to the Galatian believers that those who allowed their lives to be driven by the desires of their old nature, rather than the Spirit, would produce ungodly fruit in their lives. And the first three he mentions are tied to sexual sin. 

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. – Galatians 5:19-21 NLT

And Paul has warned the Thessalonian church: “each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 ESV). John Piper defines lust as “a sexual desire that dishonors its object and disregards God” (John Piper, Battling the Unbelief of Lust, www.desiringgod.org). And he expands on that definition by adding:

“Sexual desire in itself is good. God made it in the beginning. It has its proper place. But it was made to be governed or regulated or guided by two concerns: honor toward the other person and holiness toward God. Lust is what that sexual desire becomes when that honor and that holiness are missing from it.” – John Piper, Battling the Unbelief of Lust, www.desiringgod.org

Paul wanted the Thessalonians to understand that they had a new obligation to live their lives in such a way that everything they did brought glory and honor to God. With the Spirit’s help, they were to learn to control their bodies, not allowing their natural, God-given desires to become perverted or distorted by sin. Sexual desire is not a sin, but it is actually a gift from God. But like everything else in life since the fall, this godly gift can be stained by the presence of sin. Rather than being an expression of self-sacrificing love for another, it turns in on itself, demanding that someone satisfy our selfish desires for sexual pleasure. God gets left out of the picture. And love gets replaced by lust. That is why Paul points out that their lives were to be marked by holiness, not impurity. 

For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. – 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 ESV

And this was not a message Paul reserved for the Thessalonians. He shared the same warning to the believers in Rome.

Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. – Romans 6:12-13 NLT

Lust versus love. One dishonors the other person by using them for purely selfish reasons. And, in the end, this disobeys and dishonors God. But when we truly love as God has called us to love, sacrificially and selflessly, the other person is treated with value, dignity, and honor. And God receives glory. 

A Christian marriage is to be a proving ground of the Spirit’s life-transforming power, where the selfless, sacrificial love of Christ is modeled in everyday life. In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul wrote: “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21 NLT). Then he provided them with specific application of what that mutual submission would look life in the marriage context.

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. – Ephesians 5:22-26 NLT

While we find it easy to get hung up on Paul’s call for the wives to submit, it is essential to understand that he is calling both the husband and the wife to practice selfless submission – out of reverence to Christ. And earlier in the same chapter, Paul provided a call for the Ephesians to imitate God and to follow the example of Christ.

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. – Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT

And then he added a what-not-to-do element to his instructions.

Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. – Ephesians 5:3 NLT

Love, not lust. That is the call placed on the believer by God Himself, and the kind of love God had in mind was modeled by Christ. And this selfless love was not just reserved for marriage. It was to be displayed in all their relationships. God has called His children to love others in the same way He has shown love to them.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. – Romans 5:8 NLT

And He expects them to follow the example of Christ.

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. – 1 John 3:16 NLT

And Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they don’t require any more instructions regarding the kind of love God has in mind “for God himself has taught you to love one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9 NLT). And the apostle John lets us know just how God had taught them.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. – 1 John 4:9-11 NLT

Paul compliments the Thessalonian church for having displayed the very kind of love he was writing about. They had already given evidence of their selflessness and willingness to sacrifice on behalf of others. In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul bragged on the tangible expressions of love displayed by the Macedonian churches, including the fellowship in Thessalonica.

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do. – 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 NLT

But Paul didn’t want them to rest on their laurels. In fact, he begged them “to do this more and more” (1 Thessalonians 4:10 ESV). They were to keep loving. They were to stop lusting. And then Paul adds three characteristics or marks of a life lived in love.

1. Their lives would exhibit peace and calm, rather than strife and turmoil. Paul told the Romans, “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18 NLT). Peaceful lives create an atmosphere in which others feel safe and secure. And that is an expression of love.

2. They were to tend to their own affairs, refusing to meddle in the concerns of others. This is not a call to disregard the needs or life circumstances of others, but it is simply an extension of Jesus’ admonition to “get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (Matthew 7:5 NLT).

3. They were to be diligent workers, using whatever skills they had to provide for themselves, and refusing to become a burden to others. There was no place for laziness or a spirit of entitlement in their lives.

And Paul had a purpose behind his call for selfless, sacrificial living.

Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others. – 1 Thessalonians 4:12 NLT

At the end of the day, Paul was interested in seeing the Thessalonian believers live out their faith in tangible ways that exhibited the power of the Spirit and gave proof of their status as God’s children.

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

God’s Godless People

1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
    the oppressing city!
2 She listens to no voice;
    she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the Lord;
    she does not draw near to her God.

3 Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
4 Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
her priests profane what is holy;
    they do violence to the law.
5 The Lord within her is righteous;
    he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but the unjust knows no shame. – Zephaniah 3:1-5 ESV

God has issued His warnings of judgment against the nations that surrounded Judah. But now He addresses His own chosen people, revealing the sorry condition of their spiritual state. And this comes immediately after His indictment of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire.

“This is the exultant city
    that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
    “I am, and there is no one else.” – Zephaniah 2:15 ESV

God used the city to describe the state of the people who occupied it. They were characterized by pride and arrogance, viewing themselves as invincible and without equal. That magnificent city, renowned for its beauty and splendor, was filled with people who were enamored by their own power and prominence. But God warned them that they, like their city, would one day find themselves the brunt of everyone’s jokes, rather than the envy of the world.

“But now, look how it has become an utter ruin,
    a haven for wild animals.
Everyone passing by will laugh in derision
    and shake a defiant fist.” – Zephaniah 2:15 ESV

Yet, the great city of Jerusalem, the capital of Judah and the former royal residence of the great King David was also in for a rude awakening. Once again, God uses the city as a proxy for the people who lived within its walls. He describes Jerusalem as “rebellious and defiled” (Zephaniah 3:1 ESV). In Hebrew, these two words are rich in meaning, carrying a much deeper significance that gets lost in translation.

First, God describes Jerusalem as mara', a word that can mean “filthy” or “lifted up.” It can also convey the idea of maltreatment of another through whipping or beating. This latter definition seems more fitting because God describes Jerusalem as an “oppressing city” (Zephaniah 3:1 ESV). The city is defiled because it is characterized by the oppression of its own people. The Hebrew word for “defiled” is yanah, which means “to suppress” or “maltreat.” The very name of the city means “possession of peace,” and yet the description given to it by God reveals the true nature of its inhabitants. They were marked by injustice, immorality, and rebellion. And yet, God had given them clear instructions regarding the kind of behavior He expected of them.

He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8 ESV

The prophet Micah goes on to record God’s further indictments against the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

What shall I say about the homes of the wicked
filled with treasures gained by cheating?
What about the disgusting practice
of measuring out grain with dishonest measures?
How can I tolerate your merchants
who use dishonest scales and weights?
The rich among you have become wealthy
through extortion and violence.
Your citizens are so used to lying
that their tongues can no longer tell the truth. – Micah 6:10-12 NLT

But along with these accusations of injustice and corruption, God provides four pieces of evidence or proof of Jerusalem’s guilt and well-deserved judgment. First, He states that “She listens to no voice” (Zephaniah 3:2 ESV). In other words, she is disobedient, having refused to hear and obey the commands of God. And it is not as if God had been silent. Over the centuries, He had spoken through His prophets, calling the people of Jerusalem to repent and return to Him. But God’s people had rejected His messengers and their message. This leads to His second indictment: “she accepts no correction.”

The people of Judah had a long track record of rejecting God’s correction.

“…but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or accept my discipline.” – Jeremiah 17:23 NLT

“My people have turned their backs on me and have refused to return. Even though I diligently taught them, they would not receive instruction or obey.” – Jeremiah 32:33 NLT

As the proverb states, “the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:12 ESV). But rather than accept God’s discipline, His people repeatedly rejected it, choosing to live according to their own standards, rather than His.

And this refusal to accept His loving discipline stems from a lack of trust, which God makes painfully clear: “She does not trust in the Lord.” In spite of all that God had done for them, they doubted His goodness, grace, mercy, and power. And their distrust was evidenced by their propensity to place their hope in false gods. When times got tough and they found themselves in difficulty, they would turn to nations like Egypt or Assyria to come to their aid. And their actions revealed that their God was not enough. He was insufficient to meet their needs and incapable of solving their problems.

And this lack of trust in God led the people to distance themselves from Him. Sadly, we read the sobering words, “she does not draw near to her God.” This is not simply a statement of distance or disconnectedness. It conveys their refusal to seek God’s counsel or advice. They had reached the point where they were turning to other sources for guidance. They neither desired or sought input from Yahweh. In a sense, He was out of sight, out of mind.

And this growing distance from God had led to an ever-increasing degree of godlessness among them. Zephaniah pulls no punches when describing just how bad things had gotten in the city.

“Its leaders are like roaring lions
    hunting for their victims.
Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time,
    who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.
Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.
    Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God’s instructions.” – Zephaniah 3:3-4 NLT

Greed, avarice, and injustice were prevalent – from the halls of government to the inner recesses of the temple. Everyone was out for themselves. The rich took advantage of the poor. Judges no longer dispense justice. Prophets, posing as messengers of God, spoke lies rather than truth. All for personal gain. The city had become a cesspool of self-indulgence and selfishness.

And yet, Zephaniah provides a much-needed reminder: “The Lord within her is righteous; he does no injustice” (Zephaniah 3:5 ESV). God has not vacated the premises. He has not yet abandoned them. He was still there, in all His glory and exhibiting all the facets of His character, including His unwavering, undiminished righteousness. So, they were without excuse.

Zephaniah contrasts God with the unrighteous inhabitants of the city, stating, “every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame” (Zephaniah 3:5 ESV). There was never a day that God failed to display His righteousness and justice. Under no circumstances could they ever point a finger at God and accuse Him of being unjust or unfaithful. And His coming judgment of them would be well-deserved and fully justified. He had every right to be upset with them. He had shown them mercy time and time again. He had spared them from destruction more times than they could remember. He had put up with their ingratitude and infidelity. The only reason they still existed as a nation was because God was faithful to keep the covenant He had made with Abraham.

Their continued existence had nothing to do with them. They were undeserving of His grace and mercy. Their actions were no more righteous than those of the Cushites, Moabites, Ammonites, or Philistines. In fact, they stood before God as more guilty and deserving of His righteous indignation because they had been the beneficiaries of His unmerited favor and then had chosen to disobey His commands, reject His correction, withhold their trust, and ignore His counsel.

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

Rejected and Despised.

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
    who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: “Let him be quick,
    let him speed his work
    that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
    and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
    and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    and deprive the innocent of his right!

24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
so their root will be as rottenness,
    and their blossom go up like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts,
    and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
    and the mountains quaked;
and their corpses were as refuse
    in the midst of the streets.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

26 He will raise a signal for nations far away,
    and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
27 None is weary, none stumbles,
    none slumbers or sleeps,
not a waistband is loose,
    not a sandal strap broken;
28 their arrows are sharp,
    all their bows bent,
their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
    and their wheels like the whirlwind.
29 Their roaring is like a lion,
    like young lions they roar;
they growl and seize their prey;
    They carry it off, and none can rescue.
30 They will growl over it on that day,
    like the growling of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
    behold, darkness and distress;
and the light is darkened by its clouds.  – Isaiah 5:18-30 ESV

Isaiah has an additional four “woes” to pronounce against the people of Judah. Not only are they guilty of greed and debauchery, they seem to enjoy it. Isaiah describes them as leading their sins behind them like a favorite pet. He says that they “draw iniquity with cords of falsehood.” The Hebrew that is translated as “falsehood” is shav' and it can mean “emptiness, vanity or worthlessness.” The New Living Translation reads, “who pull evil along using cords of emptiness.” There is an emptiness or meaninglessness to their efforts. Nothing good will come of it. And it’s as if they]re the weight of their sin is so great, that they are forced to use a heavy rope, like one designed for hauling a cart. 

And all the while they sinned, they goaded God, almost daring Him to act.

They even mock God and say,
    “Hurry up and do something!
    We want to see what you can do.
Let the Holy One of Israel carry out his plan,
    for we want to know what it is.” – Isaiah 5:19 NLT

No shame. No remorse. No fear of God. In fact, they were openly rebellious and blatantly disrespectful to God. Their sins weren’t accidental, but willful. It was as if they pulled them along behind them in broad daylight, virtually challenging God to do anything about it.

And they displayed no sense of right or wrong. Isaiah accuses them of confusing the two. They were guilty of saying “that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20 NLT). They were living morally subjective lives that contradicted the expressed command of God. He is the one who decides what is right and what is wrong. It is not something that He leaves up to mankind. We don’t get a vote. And with God, there are no grey areas in which we get the opportunity to apply our own personal opinions or outlooks. “God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 1:5 NLT). And yet, the people of Judah were saying just the opposite, promoting darkness as the norm and light as something to be avoided at all costs. The apostle John put it this way:

God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. – John 3:19-20 NLT

Sinful man loves to justify and rationalize his sin. He goes out of his way to paint his actions as acceptable and thoroughly normal. But in doing so, he contradicts the truth of God.

If we say we have not sinned, we make him [God] a liar and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:10 NLT

The next two woes have to do with pride and injustice. So, not only are the people of Judah greedy, hedonistic, rebellious and morally subjective, they’re arrogant and unjust. Isaiah describes them as being “wise in their own eyes” (Isaiah 5:21 NLT) and proud of their own inherent cleverness. But the apostle Paul would have told them, “If you think you are wise by this world's standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise” (1 Corinthians 3:18 NLT). Human wisdom is insufficient and a lousy source discerning the will of God. Once again, Paul would remind them, “So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish” (1 Corinthians 1:20 NLT). No one ever came to know God based on their own intellect or reasoning powers.

God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom. – 1 Corinthians 1:21 NLT

A man who boasts in his own wisdom is no better off than a drunk who brags about how much liquor he can hold. There is no redeeming value in either boast. 

And because they rely upon own their own faulty and misguided wisdom, marred by moral subjectivity, they end up committing acts of injustice. They see nothing wrong in taking a bribe that lines their own pockets while allowing the guilty to go unpunished. In a world ruled by their brand of wisdom, they guilty prosper, and the innocent suffer. It is a topsy-turvy, upside down world that is nothing like what God intended. 

Therefore…

That word marks the transition point in this passage. As a result of all that Isaiah has just described, God is going to act. He will no longer overlook their blatant disregard for His will and arrogant rejection of His ways. Isaiah compares God’s judgment to a fire that burns up everything in its path. Why? Because “they have rejected the law of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies; they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 5:24 NLT). Isaiah leaves no doubt as to the reason for God’s coming judgment. They had rejected and despised. Those two words carry significant weight and meaning. In Hebrew, the word translated as “rejected” is ma'ac. It carries the idea of disdain or rejection based on contempt. They had rejected God’s law because they had no respect for it. And the second word, “despised,” is the Hebrew word, na'ats, and conveys the thought of rejecting God’s Word because it brings admonition and feelings of guilt.

The law of God was intended to bring conviction on the people of God, exposing their sins and calling them to repentance. Conviction should lead to confession. But the people of Judah rejected and despised God’s methodology, preferring to justify their own sins and turning a blind eye to God’s point of view.

And this was not the first time. God had punished the people of Judah before. He had been forced to judge them for their sins on numerous occasions over the years. And Isaiah warned his audience that God was not done yet.

For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still. – Isaiah 5:25 ESV

Past discipline would not cover their present state of sin. Their lack of repentance was going to require God to judge His people yet again. And Isaiah gave them a less-than-pleasant description of what was to come.

He will raise a signal for nations far away,
    and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
and behold, quickly, speedily they come! – Isaiah 5:26 ESV

Just as He had done in punishing the northern tribes of Israel, God was going to use a foreign power to bring His judgment upon Judah. Israel had fallen to the Assyrians hundreds of years earlier. Now it was Judah’s turn. And, in their case, it would be the Babylonians who would show up on their doorstep. In verses 27-30, Isaiah provides his audience with a graphic description of what they have to look forward to, and it is not a pretty picture. It all ends in darkness and distress.

Rather than the light of God, they would experience the darkness of defeat. Instead of enjoying the blessings of God, they would undergo unbearable distress. They had allowed their own greed, love of pleasure, rebellious tendencies, moral subjectivity, pride and injustice lead them down the path of destruction. And Isaiah makes it painfully clear that “no one will be there to rescue them” (Isaiah 5:29 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

Hold Tightly To What You Have.

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”  – Revelation 2:18-29 ESV

John is told to address the next church by referring to Jesus as the Son of God, and describing Him as having “eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.” This is the exact imagery John used when describing his vision of Jesus in chapter 1. The eyes of the Son of God are like burning fire, indicating the penetrating nature of His divine judgment. As the Son of God, Jesus is all-knowing and able to see into the hearts of men. In the book of Daniel, we find a similar description of Jesus in one of the visions Daniel was given by God. Upon seeing Jesus, Daniel states that “his eyes flamed like torches.” Here in the book of Revelation, Jesus is described as having feet like burnished bronze. This image is a bit more difficult to comprehend, but it may refer to his purity and holiness. The feet are the means by which we navigate and make our way from one place to another. Jesus does so in perfect purity and righteousness. His way is always marked by holiness. The very designation, “Son of God”, speaks of the deity of Christ. The title, “son of man”, which was used in chapter one, emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, and ties Him to His role as the Messiah. 

As the all-knowing, holy Son of God, Jesus lets the church in Thyatira know that He knows. He tells them, “I know your works.” He is fully aware of all that is going on in this congregation. He sees their “love and faith and service and patient endurance” (Revelation 2:19 ESV). Nothing escapes His divine notice. If you recall, Jesus had warned the church at Ephesus to “do the works you did at first” (Revelation 2:5 ESV). Now, He commends the believers in Thyatira because their “latter works exceed the first” (Revelation 2:19 ESV). In other words, they were progressing, not regressing in their faith. They were loving better, believing more, serving faithfully, and enduring patiently.

But Jesus, with the aid of His penetrating vision, saw something going on in the fellowship in Thyatira that He could not commend. He tells them, “you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols” (Revelation 2:20 ESV). This is likely a reference to an actual woman in the local congregation. It is doubtful that her name was actually Jezebel, but that it is used here by Jesus to accentuate the wickedness of this woman’s actions. The original Jezebel had been the wife of Ahab, one of the most wicked kings of Israel. And Jezebel had played an important and influential role in her husband’s sin-plagued reign. The book of 1 Kings tells us that Ahab “took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria” (1 Kings 16:31-32 ESV). Jezebel had a polarizing and demoralizing influence on the nation of Israel, even attempting to rid the nation of the prophets of God. And evidently, according to Jesus, there was a woman in the church in Thyatira, who was deserving of the designation “Jezebel” because of her wicked influence on that local congregation. She was leading them astray by encouraging them to commit acts of immorality and backing up her words by claiming to be a prophetess for God. Like Balaam, mentioned earlier in the condemnation of the church at Pergamum, Jezebel had been guilty of causing the people of God to sin against God, by violating His commands for sexual purity and against sexual immorality of all kinds. One of the greatest threats against any church will be the attack that comes from within, perpetrated by someone claiming to be a Christ-follower, but who propagates and promotes ungodly behavior.

This woman had been given time to repent of her sins, but had stubbornly refused. So, Jesus warns that judgment was coming. Her sinful behavior would have dire and devastating consequences, for her and for all those who bought followed her lead. Jesus describes all those who willingly participate in her immoral activities as her children or offspring. And He warns that they too will face divine judgment, possibly even death, for their actions. Jesus is deadly serious. And He warns every church in every age to take heed to what He is saying.

“And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.” – Revelation 2:23 ESV

This “Jezebel” and her followers would become lessons for what happens to those who commit spiritual adultery, violating their covenant commitment to God. That is the heart of the issue here. The sexual sins that these people were committing were in violation of God’s commands, but the more devastating aspect of their sin was that they were doing so in connection to the worship of false gods. They were practicing immorality as part of their worship of idols. So, in essence, they were committing adultery against God Almighty. What we see here is a reenactment of the sins of the people of Israel and Judah that ultimately led God to send them into captivity as punishment for their sin and unfaithfulness.

But Jesus realized that there were many in the congregation in Thyatira who had remained faithful and unstained by this woman’s influence, and He commends them. And He tells them, “I do not lay on you any other burden” (Revelation 2:24 ESV). He is assuring them that He is not going to ask anything more of them than that they hold fast until He comes. He simply asks that they remain faithful. He wants them to keep their eyes focused on their future reward, not immediate gratification through sinful behavior. Jesus is calling them to endure to the end and He offers them a reminder of what they can expect for doing so.

To them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star! – Revelation 2:26-28 NLT

It is the one who conquers who will receive these rewards. But as we saw earlier, the term conqueror is more a designation referring to our future condition. When we stand with Christ in heaven, we will be conquerors, those who have conquered. We will be called conquerors at that point in time, not here and now. To be called a conqueror, one must have already conquered. He must have won the final victory. And that is what Jesus describes in these closing verses. We will receive authority. We will rule alongside the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus had told His disciples, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world" (John 16:33 ESV). It is Jesus who is the conqueror, the overcomer. And He is reminding the believers in Thyatira that the only burden they have is the one requiring them to remain faithful to the end. Their faithfulness will have the reward of standing alongside the conquering Christ in His Kingdom. Paul and Barnabas encouraged the churches to whom they ministered by reminding them that faithfulness in this life has its reward in the next life.

…they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. – Acts 14:22 NLT

The final promise Jesus offers the believers in Thyatira is the gift of the morning star. We know from the closing verses of this book that Jesus is that morning star.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.” – Revelation 22:16 NLT

So, Jesus is offering them the gift of Himself. But in a real and physical sense. They will, as the apostle John wrote, “see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2 NLT). All those who endure to the end, refusing to give in to the temptations to compromise, will receive the reward of uninterrupted intimacy and fellowship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. And Jesus closes out His address with a message to all believers throughout all time, to hear what He has said to the church at Thyatira. It applies to us and should encourage us to hold tightly to what we have until He come. And come, He will.

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

Words Worth Heeding.

Proverbs 5

"Drink water from your own well – share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?" – Proverbs 5:15-16 NLT

These are the passionate words of a father to his son. He is pleading with him to remain faithful to his wife. It would appear that his son is not yet married, but that as a father, he is trying to teach him the time-tested value of faithfulness. As a man, he knows the temptations his son is going to face. And if this particular proverb is being written by Solomon, he of all people knows quite a bit about unfaithfulness and a whole lot about marriage. The book of 1 Kings tells us that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. In spite of God's prohibition against kings multiplying wives for themselves, "Solomon insisted on loving them anyway" (1 Kings 11:2b NLT). Solomon didn't just have sex with just anyone, he practically had sex with everyone. He was far from faithful to his 700 wives and 300 concubines. So it is a little ironic that he is giving his son this counsel, but we have to recognize it as the wisdom of God. Solomon, while not exactly an icon of virtue when it came to marriage and fidelity, was still the wisest man who ever lived and knew that he didn't want his own son following in his footsteps.

Yet even today, Solomon's words sound old-fashioned. He sounds so out of touch with reality. When he says, "Drink water from your won well – share your love only with your wife" (Proverbs 5:15 NLT), it sounds so antiquated and puritanical. In a do-whatever-feels-right kind of society in which we live where everything is driven by our passions, it comes across as so restrictive and unnecessary. Faithfulness has seemingly become a thing of the past. And Satan is constantly attacking marriages in an attempt to thwart God's plan for faithfulness. We see it modeled for us on TV in the fictional lives of the characters and in the tabloids in the real-life experiences of celebrities and stars. Unfaithfulness is big news and a popular pastime among all kinds of people. Yet God has called us to live out our lives in faithfulness. And He is watching. "For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes" (Proverbs 5:21 NLT). God is aware of not only our unfaithful actions, but our unfaithful hearts. He sees our adulterous behavior, but also our equally adulterous thoughts. And He knows that both are driven by ungodly desires and aided by our lack of self-control. Left to our own devices, we are no match for the sinful passions that are hidden away in our hearts. Faithfulness can't be manufactured. It is a gift from God. Recognizing our propensity toward unfaithfulness and our own lack of self-control, should drive us to God for help. He alone can make us faithful. He alone can give us the love for our mates that we need to remain at their side through thick and thin. He alone can provide us with the strength to say no to temptation and to refuse the urges to give in to our sinful desires. Faithfulness is a gift from God. It is part of the wisdom He provides as we learn to seek Him and serve Him. He teaches us the value of faithfulness and then equips us with the strength to live it out in our daily relationships. It isn't old-fashioned. It's a new way of living life provided by a loving God and made possible by the Spirit of God living within us.

Father, I want to remain faithful to the wife of my youth. And I know that only You can make that possible. I admit to You my need for You. Open my eyes to my own weaknesses, and draw me closer to You for strength, wisdom and the desire to live in faithfulness in every area of my life. Amen

World Gone Wild.

Proverbs 29

“When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.” – Proverbs 29:18 NLT

Take a look around you. The world has gone wild. It has cast off the restraints imposed on it by God by rejecting His Word and His will and refusing to acknowledge Him as God. There are few, if any, restraints to public morality any more. Everything is acceptable, tolerable and normal in society. In the New International Version, this verse reads, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." The idea is that there is no longer any word from God from the lips of the prophets of God. They are no longer speaking because God is no longer talking. Without God's divine guidance and righteous rules for living, the people literally, "let loose." They throw caution to the wind and embrace anything and everything as morally acceptable. The mantra, "If it feels good, do it" becomes the rule of the day. Everyone becomes motivated by their own pleasures and desires. Whether God's restraining hand gets removed or the people simply reject it, the outcome is always the same. There will be unchecked, unrestrained immorality and rebellion against God. They will run wild.

But there is another side to this proverb. It says, "But whoever obeys the law is joyful." Those who choose to listen to the Word of God and obey it, will find joy. Rather than restrictive, they will find the Word of God restorative and rest-producing. Throughout the Word of God we are given clear indications of what God expects from His people. He does not save us, then allow us to live according to our own standards or some arbitrary set of guidelines set by the majority of our peers. No, God has righteous and holy standards which are designed to guide His people in their daily interactions with Him and with one another. Unlike during the days of the Jews, who were required to try and keep God's law in order to live righteous lives, as believers we do not obey God's Word out of some sense of earning favor or brownie points with God. Our righteousness is not based on the effectiveness of our obedience, but on what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross. We obey because we have been redeemed. We gladly keep God's law because we love the One who gave it. We obey because we know how much He loves us and wants what is best for us. That is what produces joy.

If we choose to disobey, which we all do at times, we "run wild." We end up casting off the loving restraints put there by God and choose to live according to our own selfish, self-satisfying standards. We do what is right in our own eyes, not God's. We become driven by our passions, rather than God's Word. But God has called us to a life of obedience. He has set His divine rules over the world, not as some kind of cosmic kill-joy, but because He knows what is best. His standards are righteous and right. His rules have a restraining and restorative quality to them. They bring peace and joy. But when they're ignored, the people run wild.

Father, may we learn to be a people who cherishes Your Word and obeys it. May we recognize the joy found in Your divine standards. We see the world running wild because they have cast off all restraints and rejected Your Word. May we as Your people remain a restraining and restorative factor in society because we value and cherish Your commands. Amen.

High Fidelity.

Proverbs 5

"Drink water from your own well – share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?" – Proverbs 5:15-16 NLT

fidelity: strict observance of promises, conjugal faithfulness

We live in a world where little is certain or sure any more, including moral absolutes. Everyone does what's right in his own eyes. Tolerance is in, conviction is out. There seem to be no standards of right or wrong, and the idea of putting any kind of expectations on behavior is old-fashioned and intolerant. We are constantly reminded not to try and legislate morality or force our standards on others. So what we end up with is a society drowning in sea of uncertainty.

But God has standards. He has rules and expectations for keeping them. Yes, He is a God of grace, mercy and forgiveness, but none of that diminishes the fact that God is holy and requires His people to be the same. Over in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Paul reminds us, "God's will is for you to be holy…" And he goes on to say, "…so stay away from all sexual sin." A big part of our holiness or separateness, the thing that should make us stand out from the crowd, is the way we behave. Paul continues, "Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor – not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins…God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives" (1 Thessalonians 4:4-7 NLT). Paul is making the same point that Solomon makes in Proverbs 5. We are to live lives of fidelity and faithfulness that shows up in our behavior, both sexually and socially. Men are to be faithful to their wives. Wives are to remain faithful to their husbands. But in our society, that is seen as an antiquated, out-dated virtue that no longer has a place. So adultery is common place and a normal part of everyday life. Infidelity is in. You see it in movies, on TV, in the lives of celebrities, and even in the homes of godly Christian couples. Solomon describes those who embrace this lifestyle as evil, and he says they "will die for lack of self-control" (Proverbs 5:23 NLT). Those who turn their back on fidelity are held captive by their own sins. Their passions control them, causing them to abandon their commitments and default on their faithfulness – to one another and, ultimately, to God.

We have been called to a higher standard – to lives of high fidelity. We are to model what it means to live in holiness, separateness, uniqueness, and distinctiveness. Our lives are to be different, because we have been changed by the life-transforming power of God. We have been given the capacity to live according to a higher calling, and it should show up in our behavior. God's will for us is holiness. God's desire for us is fidelity.

Father, give me a growing desire to remain faithful. Not just to You, but in all my relationship. Especially with the wife you have given me. Don't let me get sucked into believing the lie of the enemy or allow myself to be driven by my passions. May my love for You motivate my desire to obey You and live in fidelity, each and every day of my life, in both my actions and attitudes. Amen