There are some things which cause trouble. When the oppressed rise to power they become an even worse oppressor. When a fool gets lucky, he will use it to claim that he was wise. When a servant displaces his, or her, master, they become worse than the one they replaced. The common thread in all of these are people who rise to a position upon which none of their experience has bearing. Often they have no desire to truly do a good job, but even when they do, they do not know how to tell if they are doing so.
When we reach the end of our rope and no longer know what to do we can turn to God for guidance. Ideally however we will turn to Him before we reach that point and He will show us how to reach that level of despair. God always knows the actions we should take. He will guide us on His paths so that we can serve Him. If we faithfully serve God we will never find ourselves in a desperate situation because we will know that we have followed the righteous path.
I am unsure what is meant by the 144,000. Is it literally only 144,000? Or is that number purely symbolic? The number is clearly symbolic, but I am not sure if it is also literal. However, there is a message here that is more than symbolic. There will be a number of people who are able to keep themselves pure (or perhaps are kept pure by the Holy Spirit). They will be rewarded by becoming members of the choir described in this passage. While even the most vile of sinners will be forgiven if they repent of their sin and turn to God, there is something to be said for not needing such extreme forgiveness, for struggling to maintain one’s purity to the extent which it is humanly possible.
On a different theme which carries through John’s vision, those who succumb to the temptation and allow themselves to receive the mark of the beast will face God’s judgment. The writer reminds us that those who choose to serve Christ will face persecution and suffering. We must never allow ourselves to be seduced into worshiping the beast or its image. The context here makes me think perhaps I should revisit my understanding of the beast because it suggests that worshiping the beast is something which happens all throughout history, not just at some time just before the end. Let us be on guard so that we do not fall to the temptation to worship the beast.
While this passage was directed at Zerubbabel, I believe that it contains a message for everyone who strives to serve God. We will not accomplish God’s will by our strength, nor by our intelligence, nor by any other ability which we possess. While those things may serve us as we strive to do God’s will, it is only by relying on His Spirit and keeping ourselves focused on Him that we will accomplish anything of lasting value in this world.
This proverb reminds me of something I hear said about how news stories often seem designed to distract us from what is important. While I do not quite subscribe to that, it dovetails with this proverb. We need to keep our eyes focused on what is wise. It is important that we not allow ourselves to be distracted by either the “shiny” or the “train wreck”.
When overwhelmed by your troubles, cry out to God. He will tell you which way to turn. You may think that you are surrounded by traps, that no matter which way you go you will be trapped and destroyed. But if you cry out to God and follow the path He shows you you will bypass all of those traps and escape the fate your enemies had in store for you. I will trust in God and call on Him.
When Paul spoke to Barnabas about going back to visit those who had accepted the Gospel on their first mission trip, Barnabas was enthusiastic about doing so. However, Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark with them again, while Paul felt that John Mark had abandoned them on the first trip. I think we see in this another example of Barnabas’ tendency to care for “strays”. In the end, it was Barnabas who revisited the cities they preached at on the first trip.
Paul went in a different direction. It is interesting that not long after starting his mission trip, Paul recognized that Barnabas had a point when he argued for having John Mark accompany them. I, also, believe that this story tells us something about how God often works. Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over John Mark. It was a shame that two such great men could allow that to damage their friendship, even if only for a short time. However, let us look at what came of this falling out. Barnabas took John Mark with him and revisited the cities to which they had gone on the first trip, bringing encouragement and further teaching to those who believed in those cities. John Mark later worked closely with Paul. Paul, on the other hand, set forth on a new mission trip to cities which had not previously heard the Gospel. He took with him Timothy, who later became a leader in the Church. God used their falling out to reach twice as many people as would have been reached if they had not argued, AND gained training for two future leaders of the Church rather than just one.
There are two stories in today’s passage which really convey how God controls what goes on in this world. In the first story, the king of Aram decides to deprive the king of Israel of the support of God’s prophet, Elisha. He sends a large portion of his army to capture Elisha. When the king of Aram’s army arrived, Elisha’s servant was frightened. Elisha was not. Elisha realized that the power of God was more than sufficient to protect from the army of Aram. Elisha told his servant that there were more on their side than on the side of their enemy. As I read this I was reminded of when Elijah fled into the wilderness and proclaimed that he was the last man of God, all the rest had been killed, but God told Elijah that He had reserved 7,000 men who had not bowed down to Baal. Here, Elisha’s servant was overwhelmed with fear when he saw the forces arrayed against them. He did not see, at first, the forces arrayed for their defense.
The second story describes a siege of Samaria. Things have gotten so bad that mothers are eating their own children to survive. Yet, Elisha prophecies that by the following day, not only would the siege be lifted but food would be ridiculously cheap. There was no way that such a thing could happen, and yet it did. This story reminds me of the 1980s. The Soviet Union and its Communism was just something we were going to need to live with. Best case scenario, it would take decades to break their terrible power over the lands they controlled. Then in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union soon followed. Our God is a powerful God and history flows according to His plans and no thers.
For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Christmas is coming soon. Let us remember what it is truly about, the birth of Jesus Christ. Let us strive to not be caught up in the commercialism which is what this season is about for many in our society today.
The writer describes four situations that usually turn out badly, although the first and last are variations on the same thing. When those who have not received any training for it are suddenly thrust into positions of authority, they usually make things worse than they were, no matter how bad things were to begin with.
When your troubles seem to be more than you can handle and you do not know to whom you should turn, turn to God. He will give you direction and give you the help which you need. An important thing to remember is that you will need to follow the guidance which God gives you if you want to receive the help He is offering.
John describes three angels who he saw flying over the earth. The first he saw proclaiming the Gospel throughout the entire earth. The second declared that Babylon, the city that had spread immorality throughout the earth, had fallen. The third declared that any who worshiped the beast and received its mark will suffer the torment of God’s judgment. The word translated as “angel” means more generally “messenger”, although in this context it carries the additional connotation of being a divine messenger. I believe that the first angel represents the Church spreading the Gospel throughout the world. The second angel is the message that every world power will fall when it begins to encourage the people of the world to indulge in immorality (although, I am open to the possibility that the “Babylon” in this verse represents a specific world power, but we will not know which one until the end). Finally, the third angel is a warning against joining in the world’s worship of the created rather than the Creator.
Today’s passage starts with a vision which is later referenced by John in the book of Revelation. However, before Zechariah gets to that, he gives a message that is very important. We will not accomplish God’s will by our great strength, military prowess, or political power. The only way in which we will accomplish God’s will is through His Spirit. However, if we rely on God’s Spirit to do His work, nothing will be able to stand in our way. Every obstacle will be leveled in our path. Let us not lose heart just because we are only able to start addressing a big problem is a small way.
Then Zechariah refers to the two olive trees that stand before the Lord. He is told that they are the two anointed ones who stand in the court of God. In the book of Revelation, John expands upon this. It is interesting to see how the themes throughout the Bible tie together.
The passage ends with a vision of two flying women carrying a basket containing all of the sins (the actual Hebrew word translates as “appearance”) of the people of the land. It is revealed that this “appearance” is Wickedness. This wickedness is carried off to “Babylon”. where they build a temple for it and worship it. (I suspect that this passage is in the back of John’s mind when he wrote about the second angel in today’s passage from Revelation). I think that this is a warning for us that the people of this world worship all sorts of sin and that we should be careful not to get dragged into their idolatry.
A sensible person asks themselves, “Is this wise?” about every decision they make. A fool answers the question, “Well, maybe not, but look what I can get if I do this.” A wise person focuses on what is wise, the fool is distracted by glitter and glitz.
The psalmist describes a feeling we have all had at one time or another. Our troubles were so great (or perhaps are right now) that we do not know which way to turn. Every choice we see before us seems to lead to disaster. We have no one we can turn to for help, no one is willing to help us (or, at least it seems that way). When we come to that place, let us cry out to God. If we turn to God and make Him all that we desire, He will show us the way out of our troubles. He will bring into our lives those who are willing and able to give us the assistance we need. But first, we must turn to Him and desire only what He wants us to have.
In this passage, Paul and Barnabas fought over taking John Mark with them on their next trip. We often read this and think what a shame it was that two such men of God had a falling out. What we often fail to realize is that God was working in this falling out. As a result of this disagreement, instead of one missionary journey by two men there were two missionary journeys by four men. Even if Barnabas had gotten his way and Paul and Barnabas had traveled with John Mark, John Mark would have merely been a pupil of the two men. In the actual event, John Mark went with Barnabas as his partner. In addition, if Paul and Barnabas had traveled with John Mark, Paul would almost certainly not have gotten Timothy to join him in his travels.
So, while yes it is a shame that two such great men had a falling out, God’s kingdom was served by the event more than if they had patched things up. Paul and Barnabas each went to separate places to minister, thus doubling the number of people who could be reached. John Mark was raised to a level of greater responsibility at a time when he was ready for that. Timothy began training to be a leader in the Church. Even Silas was taken out of his comfort zone and caused to apply his gifts in ways he would not otherwise have done. We should recognize that sometimes a falling out between two Christians, or two groups of Christians, are a result of God calling them into different directions, paths that they would not otherwise follow.
We have two stories here of how God works in ways that seem impossible until they happen. In the first story, the king of Aram sent an army to capture Elisha. Elisha’s servant was afraid because the king of Aram’s army was much greater than the defenders (or at least the defenders he was aware of). Elisha calmed his servant by showing him the forces of God arrayed on their side. Elisha’s response to the young man is always one which wells within my heart, and is one which we should always remember, “Don’t be afraid! For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Let us never forget those words of comfort.
The other story is about Samaria under siege. Things had gotten so bad that people were resorting to cannibalism. When the king learned of this, he determined to kill Elisha, rejecting Elisha’s call to wait for the Lord’s deliverance. Elisha told the king that by that time the following day, not only would the siege be broken, but food would be ridiculously cheap. One of the king’s officers told Elisha that such a thing was impossible, even for God. Elisha’s prophecy did indeed come true, and the officer who doubted God’s power was trampled by the people going to gather the spoils God had given them. Let us not make the mistake of thinking that anything is impossible for God. In both of these stories, God overwhelmed armies without resorting to force of arms.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Zechariah has another vision in which an angel gives him a message from God concerning Zerubbabel’s task of rebuilding the Temple. However, this message is for everyone whom God has called to a task (which is everyone). No matter how simple or how daunting that task is, let us remember God’s word concerning the tasks He has given us: “It is not by force nor by strength, but by My Spirit says the Lord.” We will not accomplish any task God has set us by force, nor by our strength. We will only accomplish the tasks which God has set us by relying on His Spirit.
Zechariah’s vision next included an image of a basket containing the sins of everyone throughout the land. Those sins were represented by a woman named “Wickedness”. The basket containing Wickedness was carried to Babylon, where a temple will be built for it to be worshiped. The implication here is that there are lands and peoples who build temples and worship wickedness in the same way in which the people of God worship God and His righteousness. Are we building a temple to wickedness today? Or is it already built? Let us not worship at the temple of wickedness.
John recounts how the Lamb (Christ) will gather the 144,000 (a symbolic number), who had His name and the name of the Father on their foreheads, and present them as a first fruits offering before God’s throne. Following this, three angels will fly over the earth proclaiming God’s messages. The first will proclaim the Good News over all of the earth. People of every nation, tribe, language, and people will hear the Gospel message and have the opportunity to turn to God and worship Him. The second angel will announce the message that “Babylon” has fallen. In this case, Babylon represents those dominant cities and nations which encourage the people of the world to embrace immorality. Actually, it goes beyond merely encouraging to using force to get people to accept immorality. Finally a third angel will pass over the earth announcing that those who have accepted the mark of the beast will suffer God’s judgment.
A voice then tells John that those who die in the Lord are blessed, they will rest from their hard work and their good deeds will follow them. Our reading today ends with two angels harvesting the earth. The first harvests the grain to be gathered into heaven’s storehouses, the second harvests the grapes which are ripe for judgment to be crushed in the wine press of God’s wrath. The grain represents those who have served God in this life. The grapes represent those who have sought out the pleasures of wickedness rather than serving God.
I will pour out my troubles to the Lord. When I am overwhelmed He knows the path I should turn and will guide me to it. Even if no one cares what happens to me, God will help me. He will rescue me from my persecutors. The wonderful thing is that even if I fell alone and uncared for, if I turn to God and listen to Him, I will realize that the godly have crowded around me seeking to help me in any way that they can.
The writer tells us four things which cause problems. When a servant becomes king or displaces her mistress(this is two of the four). When a fool becomes wealthy. When a bitter woman gets married. Sometimes people are upset by this because people are unfair and think that those who receive this good fortune do not deserve it. However, more commonly the problem is because when these types of people receive this good fortune, they do not know how to carry out the responsibility that comes with their new station and cause great misery for everyone around them.
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for over a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
The king of Aram was raiding Israel, but every time he sent a raiding force the Israelites were ready and waiting for them. As a result he asked his top officers to figure out who the traitor was who kept revealing his plans to the king of Israel. His officers told him that none of them were a traitor. Rather, God was revealing his plans to Elisha who then told the king of Israel, The king of Aram sent scouts to find where Elisha was. He received word that Elisha was in Dothan. So, he sent a large force to capture Elisha.
When Elisha got up in the morning there were troops everywhere. His servant cried out in fear. Elisha told him not to worry because there were more on their side than against them. Elisha than prayed that God might open his servant’s eyes. The servant’s eyes were opened and he saw that the hills around Elisha were full of horses and chariots of fire. Elisha then called on God to blind the forces of the king of Aram. Elisha then went out and told the enemy forces that they had gone the wrong way and were at the wrong city. He told them that he would lead them to the man they were looking for. He then led the force from Aram in to the middle of Samaria, where they were surrounded by the army of Israel. At that point God opened their eyes and they realized they were surrounded. The king of Israel wanted to kill them, but Elisha convinced him to throw a feast for them and send them home.
After this the king of Aram stopped raiding Israel. However, some time later, the king of Aram launched a full-scale invasion of Israel and placed Samaria under siege. The starvation in the city got so bad that some of the people resorted to cannibalism. When the king of Israel learned that people were resorting to cannibalism, he went to Elisha, intending to execute him. Elisha told him that by that time the following day, food would be ridiculously cheap. One of the king’s officers told Elisha that what he was predicting was not possible even if God supplied food directly from heaven. Elisha responded that the officer would see it, but would not get a chance to eat any of it.
That night, just as the sun was setting, four men with leprosy who were sitting at the city gate. They decided that they had nothing to lose by going to the Arameans because if they stayed where they were, or went back into the city, they were going to starve to death. When they got to the edge of the Aramean camp, they discovered that it was empty. The Arameans had heard what they thought was the sound of a large army approaching. They concluded that the king of Israel had hired the Hittites and the Egyptians to relieve the siege. As a result the Aramean army had fled without even packing up their camp. When the lepers discovered that the camp was empty they went in and began eating and drinking. After a bit, they had an attack of conscience and realized that they needed to give this news to the city. They realized that if they were greedy and waited until morning, they were likely to suffer some calamity.
When the king heard the news, he was sure it was a trap, so he sent scouts out to see if they could locate the Aramean army. The scouts found a trail that the Arameans had left as they discarded clothing and equipment as they fled. They followed the trail all the way to the Jordan River. When they reported this back to the king, the people of Samaria rushed out of the city to plunder the camp. As a result, the prices were what Elisha had prophesied. The king had appointed the officer skeptical of Elisha’s prophecy to manage the people going through the gate, but they had trampled him to death.
These stories have a common theme: no matter how powerful the forces arrayed against, and how bad the situation appears, God is capable of rescuing us and bringing us into a time of plenty. We need to always remember what Elisha told his servant, “Don’t be afraid! For there are more on our side than on theirs!” This idea is phrased in another way in the book of 1 John: “You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” We need to remember this whenever the troubles we face in this world threaten to overwhelm us. In the first of these two stories, Elisha was surrounded by a large armed force and all he had in physical terms was himself and his servant. Yet God gave him the ability to lead that large armed force to a place where it was surrounded by an overwhelmingly superior armed force and it surrendered peacefully. In the second story, an army was besieging Samaria and Samaria had no force strong enough to break the siege. Yet God caused the besieging army to believe they were about to be overrun by the armies of both of the two superpowers of the day. If we have faith, God will do the same for us. There is also a cautionary tale in the second story. The Israelite officer who told Elisha that his prophecy was impossible saw the prophecy fulfilled but did not get to experience the good times. Let us never fall into the trap of thinking that something is beyond the ability of God to deliver.
Some time after returning from the Jerusalem Council, Paul suggested to Barnabas that they revisit the cities they had preached in on their first trip. Barnabas agreed and wanted to take John Mark with them again. Paul vehemently disagreed to taking John Mark along. Their disagreement was so strong that they ended up parting ways over it. Each went out on their own. This separation worked out to spread the Gospel even further, but it reflects poorly on Paul. Paul was upset that John Mark had left them part way through their first mission trip and was unwilling to give him a second chance (although we know that they were later reconciled). It is worth noting only as a reminder that even Paul occasionally failed to live up to the standard to which we are called.
Barnabas took John Mark and sailed to Cyprus, while Paul chose Silas and went to Derbe and then Lystra. In Lystra, Paul asked Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman believer and a Greek man, to join them. Despite Paul’s opposition to requiring Gentiles be circumcised, Paul arranged for Timothy to be circumcised. Paul, Silas and Timothy (and whoever else was with them at the time) traveled through Phrygia and Galatia intending to go on into the Roman province of Asia. However, God arranged circumstances to prevent them from doing so. When they came to the province of Mysia, they headed north towards Bithynia. However, once more they were unable to continue as they planned and were forced to travel through Mysia to the seaport of Traos. The first night in Traos, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia asking him to come to Macedonia.
At this point, Luke starts using the first person plural to refer to Paul’s travels. The group boarded ship and went over to Macedonia, where they traveled overland to Philippi. In Philippi, there was apparently no synagogue and they went outside the city to a place by the riverbank where they expected to find some worshipers of God gathered for prayer. They found some women gathered there, as they had expected, and they began to preach the Gospel. At least one of the women was receptive to the message they preached and accepted Christ. Her name was Lydia and she was baptized along with her household. Luke notes that she was a wealthy merchant and that she invited them to stay at her house while they were in Philippi. Luke’s wording suggests that she was insistent on them staying at her house.
We have in this passage two lessons. The first is how God used the strife between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark to multiply his mission workers. Not only does God divide Paul and Barnabas so that there are now two mission trips where before there was only going to be one, but He has Paul take Timothy under his wing so that there are two young men (John Mark and Timothy) being groomed for future leadership positions in the Church. The second is that God used obstacles to doing what Paul and those with him viewed as their mission to guide them into a new mission field. There is a little more to it than that. When Paul and Silas ran into an obstacle to their plans, they did not stand still and keep trying to find ways around those obstacles. They kept moving along the ways that were open to them. God then made clear to them His plans for them. The key to following God’s plans for our lives is to keep moving. I like to use this analogy: it is much easier to steer a car that is moving than one that is standing still.
This psalm ties together the first two passages from today. When we are overwhelmed by our troubles, let us cry out to God. He is the one who knows which way we should turn. He will guide us when we do not know the direction we should take and He will rescue us when those who oppose us are stronger than we can face. Remember that when we face trouble, God will nevertheless be good to us.
It is foolish to allow ourselves to be distracted from wisdom and from God. If we keep our eyes focused on God, He will reveal to us the wise course. Once He has shown us the wise course, we should follow it and not allow ourselves to be distracted by other possible paths. As today’s passage from Acts makes clear, if God wants us to follow another path, He will block our way on the path we are on.
