Proverbs 29
I don’t think I’ve yet seen in the Bible a better description of the fate that awaits the wicked than this: “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.” (vs 1) This is what Romans 6:23 calls the “wages of sin.” It is destruction that comes as a result of a stubborn insistence to continue in sin, not as a result of something God does to you!
Psalm 145
I wrestled for a long time over the title of this blog post. I wanted to be blunt and just title it God destroys the wicked. But I was afraid that might turn some people off before they even read what I had written, so I decided to leave it as a question and, hopefully, invite investigation.
Psalm 105
If you read this psalm in your Bible today, you discovered that it is a recitation of the history of God’s acts in Israel—including a long passage about the ten plagues of Egypt. So, even though this is Psalms, I decided to reiterate a great lesson about God that we learn from the Egyptian plagues: God is a light. Just imagine what it must have been like to be Pharaoh. He was “the” god in a land of gods. The ancient Egyptians had a god for everything—and I do mean everything. They worshiped over 2,000 gods that they believed controlled everything—from the sky to the River Nile to childbirth.
1 Chronicles 10
Well, we made it through the genealogies. Now on to something a bit easier—or so I thought. As someone who is educated in the principles of journalism, I have to say that I encountered a bit of a problem in chapter 10 regarding the death of Saul. There are two seemingly-different accounts of his death within a few paragraphs of each other!
Photo © shutterstock.com/Melnik
The problem with sin is that we
want to have our cake
and eat it too,
just like Pharaoh,
who wanted to have his slaves
and free them too.
But not to decide
is to decide,
and not to give in
is to remain stubborn
and that has an effect.
We all think
/or want to believe/
that no matter
what we choose
we automatically
revert back to
this neutral default place
after each decision,
that our choices
don't have any lasting
consequences.
But that's ridiculous.
If you've lived in darkness
your entire life
and someone suddenly
turns on a light
you are no longer a person
who has only known darkness.
You cannot return
to saying that you do not know
what light looks like.
You may say it still,
all right,
but in your heart
you know it's not true
and that has an effect.
God is the Light of the World,
that Great Confronter who
scouts out
runs down
and passionately pursues
His darkness-dwelling
children.
He would not dream
of letting you remain
forever in your darkness.
He knows nothing of
live and let live,
has no hands-off policy,
and is generally unaccommodating.
He does not prefer to avoid confrontation.
As surely as He lives,
you live,
and as surely as He lives,
you will experience Him.
And when you do,
you cannot return
to saying that you have never
experienced Him.
You may say it still,
all right,
but in your heart
you will know it's not true
and that will have an effect.
And if you persist
in ignoring or avoiding reality
for long enough
you may just find yourself
in a chariot
at the edge of the sea,
unable to bat an eyelash
at the rising walls of water,
unable to wonder how or why the briny deep
is drawing back to reveal dry ground,
unable to think twice
before rushing headlong
into the foregone destruction
of a hardened heart.
Photo © Unsplash/Ed Robertson
by the time
God announced
the plague
on the firstborn
for the /second/ time
didn't Pharaoh know
God could and
would
do exactly
what He said
after the
blood
frogs
gnats
flies
dead livestock
boils
hail
locusts and
darkness
was there anything left
more dark
than Pharaoh's heart
how dark does it have to get
to not understand
that your opponent
controls
the very elements
-all of them-
didn't Pharaoh know
that if God said
his son was going to die
he would /in fact/
be planning a funeral
if he didn't
change course
why wouldn't you change course
in ancient egypt
the only person more important
than the firstborn son of the Pharaoh
was Pharaoh himself
why wouldn't you change course
is there anything
in this world
more powerful
than the human heart
is there anything
more capable
of being more implacable
than the heart
bent on rebellion
is there anything
more wild and dangerous
than the freedom to choose
and the power
it imparts
the power to
so harden ourselves
to truth
that /in the end/
we could sacrifice
what is most important
to us
and be ourselves
swallowed up by
allconsuming
darkness
Photo © Unsplash/Thu Trang Nguyen Tran
The question Egypt's officials
put to their king
haunts me
How was he so blind
or so stubborn
or so arrogant
that he didn't see how
everything he loved
was slowly crumbling around him
Or did he see
Maybe the problem wasn't
that he didn't know
but that he did
Maybe the problem wasn't
that he thought he wasn't ruined
but knew he was
and thought there was
still a chance
still a way
he could fix it
One more opportunity
one more try
one more day
to start over
to redouble his efforts
to get it right
Maybe the problem wasn't that Pharaoh
didn't know Egypt was ruined
but that he still believed
he could repair the damage
But there is only
One
who can restore
There is only
One
who can rebuild
There is only
One
who can recover
all that has been lost
and it’s not us—
To be ruined
is not the problem
The problem is
we no more want to obey
than Pharaoh did
those two little words
God spoke:
Let. Go.
Photo © Brian Gary
A monstrous storm of hail
fell
such as Egypt had never seen before
and hasn’t seen since.
It smashed trees.
It smashed crops.
It smashed people and flocks.
It smashed everything it touched.
But the one thing it didn’t smash
was Pharaoh's implacable heart,
that dense little rock
beating in his chest.
God could undo Egypt,
but He couldn’t undo the king.
All hail the power
we’ve been given
to fortify or destroy
our own personal dynasties.
Photo © Matthew Fisher
For ancient Egyptians
the frog was a promise
of radiant life
and fertility.
What shock! when finding
just one left alive
proved an exercise
in futility.
I love this river
I have stood on its banks
frolicked in its swell
almost been swept away by its current
But
I won't soon forget
the moment I met You
and I realized
that the mouthful of
—what I thought was—
clear, cold, refreshing water
was nothing more than
coppery, hot, metallic blood
I'd like to say
that since that moment
I've never cupped my hands again
to draw this putrid liquid
up to my mouth
but You know
that personal Niles are hard to abandon
I've been kneeling
at this river
my whole life
and You know just how
deep a canyon
it has carved in my heart
Still You couldn't bear
to leave me here
fervid and thirsty
never having tasted
Water from the Fountain
that will never
run dry
Photo © Unsplash/Peter Sjo
Ah,
the ineludible question
of every person
wise or foolish
(for the Lord does not refrain
from entering uninvited
the lives of idolaters
to introduce
Himself).
Asking the question
indicates neither
wisdom
nor
folly.
But how one responds
to the answer
reveals
a fool
or
a genius.
Once we know
the sun
the River
the frogs
et al
are frauds,
will we
relent
or
will we
refuse?
Who is the Lord that i should listen to him?
said pharaoh, the little transient ruler of egypt.
I'm so glad you asked
replied Almighty God, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
Photo © Unsplash/Carles Rabada
The heathen king of Egypt
was entertained
in the night
by dreams from a divine intruder.
Shocking!
Doesn't God know
you need pastors
and theologians
and a Committee on Missional Vision
to reach the heathen?
We may have God locked up
in the prison of our ideas
about the most proper way/s
to share the gospel,
but He won’t stay there very long.
For where may we go
to flee from His Spirit?
Not even our dreams.
EXODUS 11
Let’s face it. This chapter is problematic for God. On the surface, it doesn’t make Him look very good, does it? What can you say about a God that goes around killing children? (Oh, I wish I had a little more time to write about death today, but I’m sure it will come in time. It’s a large Bible... )
In the past, I have hea
EXODUS 10
I know I’ve read the stories of the plagues in detail at least a dozen times in my adult life. But as I write these daily blogs, I am once again struck by Pharaoh’s audacity. Once again, in chapter 10, it’s his officials who are trying to talk some sense into him: "Pharaoh’s officials said to him, 'How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?'" (vs 7)
GENESIS 47
So, what do we do when confronted with the reality that we are "not our own"? We were created by a God who rules over the entire universe. Everything came from Him, and everything belongs to Him... even our very lives. Every breath we take is a gracious gift from His hand. Without Him, nothing would be. That can be a somewhat daunting reality, huh?
GENESIS 41
Well, it was only a matter of time before this was the blog title! It’s difficult to read Genesis 41 and not just see God in charge all over the place! He’s sending dreams to Pharaoh. He’s got His ready-made interpreter (Joseph) in place. He’s gearing up to save the whole world from a terrible famine, and He knows just how to do it.
