Sufferings that Strengthen

Hebrews 12:5-17, “Sufferings That Strengthen”
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“This is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you.” How many of us ever heard that phrase? How many ever believed it at the time? Yet when we get older & have children of our own, we may find ourselves actually repeating the same words & meaning them because they are true. No one likes spankings: neither the kids nor the parents (or sometimes, nor our neighbors!) So why do we give them (or whatever form of discipline you use)? Ultimately, it’s because we love our children. We want them to mature & learn right behavior – and many times firm discipline is necessary for the process to take place.

If it’s so obvious with our own children, then why is it so hard for us to understand with God? The very moment some of us experience a bad day (I’ve been there), we cry out: “WHY God?! I thought You loved me & would protect me from these things!!” If there is one thing every single born-again believer in Jesus Christ can be assured of in the midst of their sufferings, it is that God DOES indeed love you. And He loves you enough to sometimes allow you to get spankings – and sometimes to suffer for reasons we don’t understand yet. But because God does love us so much, we can leave ourselves in His trustworthy hands as He molds us into the image of His Son.

Keep our context in mind: Jesus has been proclaimed & proven to be better than any angel, any prophet, any property, any priest, any covenant, and any sacrifice that was ever shown in the Old Testament. He is superior to all & He perfectly fulfills every promise ever given by God, so the Jewish believers (and us) have been challenged to hold fast to our faith just like the many Old Testament saints who have gone before us. From the moment we are saved, we are placed into a long-distance marathon of faith where we need to fix our eyes on Jesus as our motivation and example – despite any shame or suffering that pops up along the way.

Ended with the encouragement that the Christians who were able to read this may have suffered, but they hadn’t suffered till the point of death. The author is going to transition a bit here – showing how God uses suffering…

Hebrews 12:5-17 (NKJV)
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

A. OT reference – Proverbs 3:11-12… (LXX) Hebrew text a bit different: Proverbs 3:11-12 (11) My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; (12) For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. [] We tend to think of discipline as being “bad” – something given when a child displeases his/her father. Let’s correct that idea: discipline is given by a father who delights in his child. True, discipline is often (not always) brought about by some form of disobedience, but a parent who delights in his/her child loves them enough to bring rebuke when it is needed.
__a. Sometimes it’s not always due to disobedience. (Contextually, those who had been persecuted hadn’t done anything wrong…to the contrary, because of their obedience to Christ Jesus, these Christians suffered!) Gk “chastening” = “child-rearing.” The idea runs the gamut from everything dealing with spankings due to disobedience all the way to simply teaching & instructing a child in the things of life. For believers, sometimes God allows us to suffer as a part of the process of making us more Christ-like – to help us continue to conform to the image of Christ. [Example: Job] Job hadn’t done a single thing wrong! Why did he suffer? Because God in His sovereign love & wisdom allowed Job to suffer – and in the end, Job learned so much of God’s holiness, he couldn’t even question God in the slightest.
__b. God wants us to be more like Jesus! And because Jesus suffered, sometimes that’s what we are going to endure as well. Paul lost everything when he gave his life to the Lord Jesus in repentance…he suffered in innumerable ways But it was worth it: Philippians 3:10-11 (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, (11) if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. [] … Are you enduring suffering right now? If you’re a Christian, than you can rejoice! Why? Because God will USE that suffering for His glory & to help you fellowship even more with your Lord & Savior…

B. The Lord will discipline us. It may take many different forms, but we can be assured He’s going to do it to His children. Chasten = “child-rearing” (noted already)… Rebuke = “convict/admonish” (as in the conviction of the Holy Spirit)… Scourge = “whip/beat” (as in a spanking. We are not to spare the rod with our own children, and God neither spares us.) Keep in mind that even when God does “scourge” us in some way, to be in the hands of our Father is certainly more desirable than being left alone to the world. (David’s sin with the census – 1 Chr 21:13)
__a. Keep in mind there’s a difference between the discipline of the Lord & the wrath of God. A born-again Christian will never experience the wrath of God because that’s exactly what Jesus took on at the Cross on our behalf (1 Thess 5:9). When God allows us to suffer (as harsh as that suffering may be), it is nothing compared to His righteous wrath! Praise God for Jesus!

C. What are we to do with God’s chastening? Receive it! Don’t be discouraged by it… Don’t faint or become despondent under the weight of God’s hand – don’t think that God’s stopped loving you (on the contrary!). Also – don’t despise it (count it as worthless) by thinking God can’t or won’t use it in your life. As believers, we can be sure that God will use all things to work together for good (Rom 8:28)! … Too often we treat God’s working with us according to our circumstances. If we’re having an easy time, God is blessing us. If we’re having trials, then it’s all due to the devil. Not necessarily… Sometimes our trials are due directly to God; it may be His chastening to help us mature and grow in our character…
__a. What about the really bad stuff? Can’t we be assured that at least that stuff is of the devil? Again, not necessarily. Just ask Job.
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7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

A. Verse 6 tells us that God chastens us out of His love for us. Verse 7 tells us to what extent God does love us: as His own children – as His sons.
B. We see this same thing in our own parenting…
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8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

A. It’s not those who are chastened of God that have to worry (we’re not to despise it); it’s those who aren’t disciplined by Him! If you’re always getting away with sin, never experiencing any conviction of the Holy Spirit because of rebellious actions, etc., be concerned! Take the time to examine yourself to see if you’re in the faith. Some people think, “God really blessed me! Can you believe how much I got away with? I just got off with a slap on a wrist. Let’s go do it again!” Are you sure that was a blessing from God? Or simply an indication that you don’t belong to Him? God’s children are chastened by Him in some form… A true Christian is grieved by his/her sin because that is why Christ suffered & died.

B. Question: does it matter what kind of children we are? ‘So what if we’re legitimate or illegitimate, we’re all children of God, right?’ In the sense that we’re all created by God, yes that’s true. But legitimacy comes into play in regards to an inheritance. Culturally, it was common for men to have a wife for child-bearing, and one (or several) mistresses/concubines on the side. Any children that the concubines bore were provided for by the father, but they weren’t properly considered members of the family – they were illegitimate. Thus they had no right to receive anything as an inheritance from his father; it’s the legitimate children that get the privilege. You bet it matters what kind of sons we are in the sight of God! Through the work of Jesus Christ, we are legitimate children! We’ve been adopted by God as His own legitimate sons & we all receive the privilege of being co-heirs with Christ throughout all eternity! …
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9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

A. Argument from the lesser to the greater – contrasts the fathers of the flesh with the “Father of spirits.” The discipline of parents is good & done for the good of their children… And children (most of the time) know to respect their parents (much more so after they become parents themselves!). Family discipline doesn’t always work perfectly, but it’s the best we can do. Not so with God; His discipline is always perfect!

B. God chastens us for our own good. … Specifically, “that we may be partakers of His holiness.” One way in which we share in the holiness of God is through His loving discipline towards us. Those trials that we hate to go through are the very things God uses to shape our character more & more like Christ.
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11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

A. I haven’t yet met the child who is happy to be grounded, or welcomes the spanking, but it is still necessary. Why? There is a benefit of discipline: the “peaceable fruit of righteousness.” After the chastening is complete & we’re experiencing peace, hopefully we’ve learned our lesson. As when a child calms down after having their mouth washed with soap, they’ve hopefully learned not to use filthy language.
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12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

A. Nice poetic way of putting it – probably in reference to Isaiah 35:3, where it says almost the exact same thing. Trials can beat us down or strengthen us. Go back to the analogy of the race: athletes grow stronger by actually breaking down their bodies… [resistance training] This is exactly what Paul found out regarding his thorn in the flesh… 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (9) And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. [] It’s when we have no strength in & of our ourselves that we’re forced to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Too often, we think that we’ll go to Jesus when everything else fails – that’s the exact opposite of what should happen! Jesus should be our 1st response, the 2nd response, the 3rd response, etc.

B. Basically, the author is saying, “Buck up! Get back into the race! You didn’t let sin or weights ensnare you from running; don’t let suffering keep you from the race either!”
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14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:

A. Continues on with the same thought. As we’re enduring the race, as we’re strengthening our hands & knees, once practical way of doing this is to “pursue peace.” As we’re fixing our eyes on Christ in our race, one of the characteristics we’re trying to run after & ‘catch up to’ is peace. This implies effort – and thus to the best of our ability (being empowered by the Spirit) we’re to try to live at peace with those around us.
__a. With whom? With all people. Even the people who persecute us? Yes! Keep in mind that this is one of the primary contexts of this passage, from vs. 4… The Jewish believers of the 1st century were being persecuted for their faith among their former brethren & many had been tempted to cast their faith aside to go back to the old ways of doing things. Now that they had been convinced to hold firm to Jesus above everything else, they were not only to be prepared to endure suffering from other people (passive response); they were to actively pursue peace with them as well…

B. “Pursue…holiness”: Just as peace was something to chase after in our race of faith, so is holiness. This is NOT the idea of being able to achieve a state of “sinless perfection.” The person who claims to be without sin is deceiving themselves (1 John 1:8). The only time we will be forever & completely without sin is when we stand before the Lord Jesus… So what IS this saying? Simply that we’re to pursue ongoing holiness. As we’re being continually sanctified (set apart/made holy) by the Lord, we’re to actively pursue the things that go along with being sanctified. I.e. we don’t engage in sinful lusts, we don’t follow after temptations – but we do seek the Lord, we do worship Him…
__a. Why is holiness so important? Because without it, “no one will see the Lord.” The NT agrees fully on this point. In Galatians 5, Paul writes up a long list of sins that are grouped as “the works of the flesh” & summarizes it by saying, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21). Those sins were the things we used to do; not the things that we as born-again believers ought to be doing. That is not to say that we are saved by our actions or our own good deeds (we’re not!) – but a good indicator of whether or not we belong to Christ is whether or not we’re following after Christ & His holiness.
__b. Praise God that Jesus makes us holy! Ultimately, the ONLY way we will see the Lord is because we’ve been clothed in His righteousness. (2 Cor 5:21)
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15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

A. Watch out! What happens when someone despises the discipline of God & isn’t strengthened for the race? What happens when professed Christians reject peace & holiness? Three warnings here – 2 in vs. 15.

B. “lest anyone fall short of the grace of God…”: Not that God ever withholds grace from those who come to Him through Jesus Christ (He gives it freely & abundantly!). Rather, this refers to those who started running the race & dropped off along the way. Like those in the Parable of the Sower who received the word, but had no root & withered – these are people who professed Jesus, but were not firmly rooted in Him. Thus trials & sufferings come along & they give up altogether.

C. “lest any root of bitterness” spring up: It’s often been said that trials either make us better or bitter. For those who despise God’s sovereignty & goodness (and thus His discipline), suffering can definitely leave them embittered. Why ought the Church to watch out for it? Because bitterness can be contagious: “many become defiled.” Especially if the trials we go through are caused by another person! The one who is hurt & bitter starts backbiting to another who passes it on to another, etc…
__a. So what do you do if you’re the person that’s been hurt? How do you stop from being embittered? How can God use that for His glory in shaping you to be more like Christ? Go back to vs. 14: “pursue peace with all people.” If you’ve been wronged against (even by someone within the church), the best thing is to be reconciled to them & forgive them as Christ forgave us. When we don’t, the person we hurt is ourselves.

D. 3rd warning: beware of the fornicator or profane – see vs. 16…
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16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

A. OT context: Genesis 27. Esau sold his birthright for some lentil stew… Jacob deceived Isaac & Esau wept with “an exceeding great and bitter cry” (Gen 27:34) when he figured out what happened… (And to think that some people believe that Biblical families were never dysfunctional! )

B. How does Esau apply? Esau despised his trials (and thus discipline of the Lord), and the result was he didn’t value what had been given to him (his birthright)… We don’t know for sure that he was a fornicator (though he was definitely a polygamist), but he was certainly profane in that he had absolutely no value for the things of the Lord (as seen through his birthright). Afterward Isaac confirmed the blessing to Jacob, he could ever accept the result & continued in bitterness to the point of wanting to kill his own brother…

C. Is Scripture saying that Esau had no opportunity to repent from his sin? That he was past the point of repentance if he would truly humble himself before God & his father & turn away from his profane ways? No…simply that his tears came too late. The consequences of his actions were set & there was no opportunity to reverse it. Of course it’s worth noting that Esau simply did NOT repent. He was sorry (no doubt!), but it was a worldly sorrow & not a Godly sorrow… (2 Cor 7:10) Even in his sorrow, Esau demonstrates he didn’t value the things of God because he didn’t understand what he had lost. His sorrow was over the earthly blessings Jacob had tricked him out of; not over the covenant with God he had so casually thrown away.
__a. Esau is a good example of what NOT to be. We want to value the things of God! Whether unfettered blessing, or loving discipline, we want to receive what God gives us for the purposes He wants to do in us.

Conclusion:
So what do you do with trials? How do you handle suffering? Do we fall into the trap of thinking, “If it’s good, it’s from God. If it’s bad, it’s from the devil.”? The truth of the matter for every born-again believer in Jesus Christ is: if we’re going through it, God is allowing us to go through it. God will use whatever it is He allows us to go through for His glory & to make us into the men & women He wants us to be.

That’s not to say that we don’t come under attack by the enemy. That’s not to say that trials are not truly trials. That’s not to say suffering isn’t painful. But we can be assured that God uses ALL of these things for His purposes in our lives. God (in His wisdom) uses suffering. Don’t allow suffering to stop you; let is strengthen you! … Especially when the trials we face are the chastening & discipline of the Lord! Those who receive God’s discipline are strengthened; those who reject it are embittered. May we be the ones who receive it & allow those things to produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness in our lives that God desires to bring forth.

The Ark vs. the Idol

1 Samuel 5-7, “The Ark vs. the Idol”
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What do you do when given the opportunity to repent? When you’ve been confronted with your own sin (which perhaps you didn’t even realize you were committing), and then given an opportunity to humble yourself before God & ask for forgiveness through Jesus Christ? Hopefully, the answer is: we take advantage of it! Especially as born-again believers in Christ Jesus, hopefully we are grateful for every opportunity we have that God gives us to trust Him for His abundant grace in humility.

But of course, that’s not always the case. Sometimes are hearts are hardened – sometimes our pride gets in the way – and God (in His love for us) has to discipline us further to get our attention. That’s exactly what both the Israelites and the Philistines are going to find out in Ch 5-7. As God’s chosen people, the Israelites were disciplined out of God’s love to bring them back into a right relationship with Him. As avowed enemies of God, the Philistines experienced a taste of God’s wrath while graciously given the opportunity to repent & convert. In both cases, God shows Himself to be truly good – truly just – and truly patient.

Remember our context: the ancient judge Eli had been lax in disciplining his corrupt sons, so God did the job for him. Eli’s sons had taken the ark into battle against the Philistines in an attempt to use it as some sort of religious charm & God allowed the Philistines to have a momentous victory & Eli & his two sons died in the process. As a result, the ark of the covenant was taken captive by the enemy & the cry among the Hebrews was “Ichabod! The glory has departed!”

1 Samuel 5 (NKJV)
1 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.

A. [MAP]
B. Who’s Dagon? Part man – part fish (somewhat like a mermaid/man), he was thought to have been the father of Baal. Served as a fertility god in the pagan imaginations of the Philistines. They brought the ark before the idol as a trophy of war…the idea was that their god had conquered the Hebrew God. Of course, nothing was further than the truth! God had allowed this all to take place in His providence & He was about to show them who the only true God is.

C. It is an ironic & sad scene though: the ark of the Living God placed before an idol of the enemies of Israel. The symbol of the all-powerful, all-knowing, Creator God was being openly mocked by the heathens because of the pride and carnal whims of the supposed-people of God.
__a. That’s not just limited to ancient Israel. Every time a televangelist falls or some sort of Christian celebrity experiences scandal, there are many among the world who rejoice & laugh at the God of the Christians. May we never give them reason to laugh… Ultimately, God will not be mocked, and His holiness will be known: both to believer & unbeliever alike…
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3 And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. 4 And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it.

A. Must have been quite a surprise to the priests of Dagon… Can you imagine it?

B. 1st night, the idol fell on its face. Worship… Even the demons tremble (Jas 2:19)… It’s interesting that whenever Jesus encountered demons in His ministry, they acknowledged the truth of Who He was… They are in rebellion against Him, but they cannot help but submit to Him.

C. 2nd night, the head & hands of the idol are broken off. Powerless… In the end, Dagon the idol is only made of wood & stone. It is literally a “dumb” idol; it has no power against the Living God. There are no gods but GOD & all the rest are only created demons who are infinitely outmatched by Christ the King & are ultimately subject to His will.
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5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

A. Notice their response. Repent from following Dagon? No. Fear the One True God? No. Instead, they double down on idolatry & treat the house of Dagon as a cursed place. They had ample evidence of the power and superiority of God; they willfully chose to reject it despite the evidence…
__a. People do the same thing today. There is more evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus than any other historical event in antiquity. Yet despite the evidence, people still choose to reject God… This is why the judgment of God is so absolutely just & deserved. People often say, “How can a loving God allow someone to experience an eternity in Hell?” In actuality, that same loving God did everything possible to demonstrate His love and grace for mankind when God the Son came to earth & died on a cross for those who hated Him. People end up in Hell because that is exactly where they deserve to be. They ignore the evidence & truth of the gospel and are without excuse (Rom 1:20).
__b. Does God want them to be saved? Yes! God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked & He desires all men to repent… When people write off God, they do so in their own rebellion and sin; not because God made them.

B. “to this day”: How long ago had it happened? It depends on when the book of 1 Samuel was actually written – but whenever that date was, it was generations removed from the actual event (since 1-2 Samuel last till the end of the reign of David). It had a lasting impact! … When someone has an encounter with the Living God, it has a lasting impact! Even if someone refuses to repent & receive Jesus as their Lord, they cannot ignore what they experienced. They can deny it – they can refuse it – but it cannot be erased from their memory & they will be called into account for it on the day of judgment.
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6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

A. Sound familiar? Not unlike what God did with the plagues in Egypt. (Boils – Exo 9)

B. Question: was God just doing this out of vengeance & His righteous wrath? Surely that was part of it – but if it was anything like Egypt, then God also did it to get their attention, so that people would acknowledge God as God… (Exo 7:5)
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7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” 8 Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away.

A. Man’s solution to God’s conviction: pawn it off on someone else. Today we do this by ever-shifting the blame. We certainly can’t take responsibility for our own sin, so we blame our parents, the job, our kids, our friends, the government, etc…anyone but ourselves.
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9 So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them. [no change…same thing happened in the next city] 10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” 11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

A. Solution attempt #2: send it back to Israel. Much better choice…

B. Problem: the Philistines (like Israel) saw the ark as the source of power/destruction… As if the ark was toxic, and that was what was killing the people. Not true! The ark is just a box…a holy box, designed by God (true), but still just a box. The source of power is GOD.

C. What would have been the best solution? Send it back to Israel while repenting to follow the One True God! The Philistines had the ark in their midst. Instead of just hearing of the power of God from the stories regarding the Egyptians, they saw it with their own eyes. But instead of surrendering themselves to God & receiving Him as Lord, they chose to reject Him altogether, trying to put a bad memory behind them.
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1 Samuel 6 (NKJV)
1 Now the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it to its place.” 3 So they said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.”

A. Did they know what a biblical trespass offering was? No – which is apparent from what they actually chose to send back. But at the very least, they knew they had to offer something, so they did what they knew best: engaged in more idolatry.
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4 Then they said, “What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land.

A. So in their trespass offering, they’re breaking the 2nd Commandment by making graven images of tumors & rats. The tumors make sense due to the plagues that broke out, but why the rats? Some think that the type of plague that actually erupted was the bubonic plague, which (as Europe learned in the Dark Ages) is transmitted by rats. Obviously the Philistines weren’t worshipping the images, but the idea is that they would be used in idolatrous worship where the images could be placed before the Hebrew God & physically offered to Him.
__a. Pagans act like pagans. We ought not be surprised.

B. Among other things, it serves to illustrate the futility in trying man’s methods in an attempt to please God. Scripture makes it plain that all our righteousnesses & attempts at righteousness are like filthy rags in the sight of God…and that’s what happened here. The Philistines were trying to offer a valid sacrifice – they were sincerely trying to apologize & offering the best they had to give. But their best was still nothing but sinful idolatry.
__a. Likewise, the best we can possibly offer without Jesus Christ is still utterly tainted and stained with sin. Our own attempts at righteous are ridiculous – we can’t even understand it in our minds because (as unbelievers) we haven’t a clue what real righteousness is. It’s only after we throw ourselves upon the mercies of God & receive the righteousness of Christ that we can look back and understand how hopeless we were without Him.
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6 Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart? 7 Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them. 8 Then take the ark of the LORD and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go. 9 And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.”

A. Not exactly like Gideon’s fleece – but they were definitely looking for some sort of sign confirming all these events were of God. You’d think they would have gotten the hint with Dagon! Instead, they put out milk cows who had just borne calves & waited to see which direction they’d go. Normally, the cows would search out their calves; they certainly wouldn’t have headed off in a unified direction if they were not used to carrying a yoke. If they moseyed (they’re cows, after all  ) over to Israel, it would have been a miraculous intervention. The modern equivalent would be to put it in a box truck that was placed in neutral without a driver, push it & then see if it ended up where it was supposed to go.

B. Interesting that the Philistines knew of Egypt (they had said as much in Ch 4:8 before fighting the Israelites in the 1st place). They even knew to the detail that Pharaoh had hardened his heart against God…
__a. Had they read Exodus? Only God knows – but they knew enough to understand that they shouldn’t make the same mistake. What they didn’t understand was that Pharaoh didn’t go far enough. God was showing Pharaoh that the Lord is God; the Philistines should have picked it up from there.
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10 Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they set the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. 12 Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh. [God guided the cows] 13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14 Then the cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and stood there; a large stone was there. So they split the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone. Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices the same day to the LORD.

A. Gotta love that! The Israelites didn’t care much about the gold; they took the cows & cart the Philistines used as transport to offer a sacrifice unto God. Technically, they were only supposed to offer male animals & only at the Tabernacle, but God certainly honored their hearts as they did it in order to worship God & give Him glory. But it is interesting that the Philistines thought the gold would appease God, when what He was given was the truck they sent it on.

B. What does the world value vs. the Lord? The gold is valuable to the world; to the Lord it’s nothing but street asphalt. The sacrifice of worship is far more valuable to Him… [later to Israel] Joel 2:12-13 (12) “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” (13) So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. [] External vs. Internal worship…
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16 So when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. 17 These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned as a trespass offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 18 and the golden rats, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and country villages, even as far as the large stone of Abel on which they set the ark of the LORD, which stone remains to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

A. So they saw the whole thing – yet they still didn’t repent.
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19 Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.

A. They should have stopped after the sacrifices. Apparently the people became curious and started breaking the Law regarding the use of the ark… There’s some discrepancy of whether or not 50K men died, or out of 50K men only 70 died. Either way, it’s a huge act of discipline from the Lord regarding their sin.

B. Never take the holiness of God lightly! …
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20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up with you.”

A. Good question! Only Jesus can stand… We’ve got to be clothed in His righteousness, or we wouldn’t be able to stand…

B. In the end, the Israelites of Beth Shemesh acted no better than the Philistines. They had to get rid of the ark as well…it ends up staying in Kirjath Jearim until David has it brought to Jerusalem (when David is going to learn some lessons about the holiness of God as well).
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1 Samuel 7 (NKJV)
1 Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. 2 So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

A. How sad is it that Israel laments for 20 years after the Lord?! There’s no mention of repentance throughout all this time. All they’re looking at is a religious artifact they’re not allowed to touch & take to battle anymore & they’re upset because they lost their God-toy. …

B. When we say we’re putting our trust in Christ, are we actually putting our trust in Christ? Are we seeking after HIM? … Or are we seeking after the things we think He can do for us?
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3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

A. Samuel has the solution: repentance! (Go figure.  ) What IS repentance (as shown here)? Returning to the Lord with all your heart…

B. What did repentance involve? It always involves action; it’s never just words…
__a. Putting away foreign gods
__b. Preparing hearts for the Lord
__c. Serving God

C. What would be the result of repentance? God would deliver them from the Philistines. IOW, God would remove His hand of discipline from them…
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4 So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only. 5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.” 6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the LORD. And they fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

A. They followed through…
B. Why a drink offering of water? (Guzik quoting Chaldean translation) “They poured out their heart like water in penance before the Lord.” It symbolized their cleansing & commitment to follow the Lord God.
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7 Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Then Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.

A. God was faithful to His promises! Israel repented & God delivered them…
B. We can always trust God to be faithful to His promises – especially His promises concerning forgiveness and relationship with Him (1 John 1:9 (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.)…
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11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

A. “Ebenezer” = “stone of help.” The Lord is our Rock! … [David thanking God for deliverance from Saul] Psalm 18:1-3 (1) I will love You, O Lord, my strength. (2) The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (3) I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. []
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13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. 17 But he always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the LORD.

A. Summary of Samuel’s tenure as judge. Reigned over a primarily peaceful time (after the initial event with the ark)…

Conclusion:
So is there anything you’re waiting for when it comes to repentance? Too often we make repentance out to be a one-time act: “God, thank You for saving me through Jesus Christ! I’m so glad I never have to repent again!” Not true! Repentance is ongoing – repentance is continual – repentance takes place every time it needs to take place. We all go through times where we leave off from following Christ or when we get weak spiritually speaking because we’ve not spent any time in prayer or in the Word. In those times when we stop relying on Christ & start relying on ourselves, it’s so easy to mess up.

Failing in sin isn’t the unusual part. That’s expected…after all, until the day we die we will always war against the flesh & the old man… The question isn’t IF we’re going to sin as Christians; it’s WHEN. So when we do mess up & sin, what do we do about it? Do we try to ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit? Do we try to deny the loving discipline of our Heavenly Father? … Or do we do what it takes to put away the sinful things – to prepare our hearts for the Lord – to serve Jesus alone through the power of the Spirit?

Don’t wait – don’t put it off. If there’s something in your life tonight that you need to leave at the foot of the Cross, leave it there!

Enduring for Christ

Hebrews 12:1-4, “Enduring for Christ”
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Introduction:
[Starting to run again…] These things take time & work, but after a while we do see some changes & progress. [2+ miles, almost 3] The NT often uses a similar analogy when it comes to our life in Christ. Granted, many times it’s called a walk – but it’s also often referred to as a race…it was one of Paul’s favorite analogies to his own life in Christ. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (24) Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. (25) And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. [] (Go for it!) During his ministry, he didn’t want to run in vain (Gal 2:2). At the end of his life, he said he had finished the race (2 Tim 4:7)

We don’t know that the author of Hebrews was Paul – but the author definitely took up the same analogy here in Hebrews 12. Although our life isn’t a sport or a game, we have a race to run. We’re to run with focus – we’re to run by faith – we’re to run with endurance. We have an example of how to endure: it’s in Christ Jesus! We endure for Jesus in faith because He endured for us.

Hebrews 12:1-4 (NKJV)
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

A. This could have been placed easily at the end of Ch 11. The whole point of the Hall of Faith was to show us how the saints of the past endured in faith, by holding on to Christ & looking forward to the future…

B. And it’s not just those listed in Ch 11. We are “surrounded” by so many…a huge “cloud”! Whether they are recorded in the pages of Scripture, or simply etched in our memories – all of us know of many instances of believers who truly demonstrated their faith. If there’s one thing we cannot claim, it’s that we have a lack of examples of how to walk!

C. “witnesses”: Are they witnesses of us, watching our walk? Some have suggested that’s exactly what’s being portrayed here. Like a giant sporting arena, they think the saints of the past are spectators of the main event for what’s going on down on earth. No doubt, that’s part of the analogy the author of Hebrews is painting – but is that the point of what is being taught? No. More properly, the saints of the past are “witnesses” of Jesus Christ. Literally they are “martyrs” (Gk μάρτυς). Original meaning of the word was just “a witness/someone to testify” (not “spectator”). Took on a different meaning over time with more persecution. But the past saints witnessed of God to the world in their faith & demonstrated their witness through their deeds. We have numerous examples of being witnesses for Christ through the great cloud of former witnesses that went before us.
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…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

A. When you run, you don’t want a lot of weight. You wear loose & light clothing so that nothing trips you up or holds you back from continuing on. (In ancient Greece & Rome, they didn’t even wear ANY clothes!) But the idea is that you don’t want anything getting in the way of your run. Taking off in boots & jeans isn’t very conducive to running multiple miles! It’s no different in our spiritual race with Christ!

B. Is the weight different from sin? Yes – the Greek makes a clear separation. Sin does ensnare us (as we’ll see), but sometimes there’s other stuff that just gets in the way. Maybe it’s a job with too many temptations – maybe it’s an act which you have freedom to do, but tends to get in the way of your witness. Whatever it is, we ought to lay it aside. There are some things in which we have liberty to do – but in the end, just aren’t worth it. (Newell quoting Ridout) “We often hear, alas, the question: What is the harm or the sin in my doing this or that thing… The question is answered just here. Is the thing a weight, or is it a wing? Is it that which speeds you on your course, or does it hold you back?” Don’t let anything hold you back!

C. How does sin get in the way? It “easily ensares us…” Like a vine climbing a tree, it easily encircles us. Imagine trying to run & having something tied around your legs holding you back…that’s what sin does in our race for Christ. And it’s not just one sin (as in our own particular besetting sin) – it’s sin in general. What do we do about it? We put it aside…we get rid of it.
__a. Dealing with sin can sometimes indeed be a huge struggle. We’re at war with sin where our flesh fights against our mind (Rom 7:23). The process may be a struggle; the solution is simple: to not let sin get in the way, we lay it aside & we don’t go back to where we placed it & pick it up again. As Paul writes, we reckon ourselves dead to sin (Rom 6:11); we don’t leave it open as an option to return to. We say “no” in our mind first…if we don’t do that, we’ve already lost the battle against the temptation.
__b. It’s simple (not complicated); but not easy – we do it through the power of the Holy Spirit!
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…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

A. Laying aside weight & sin is the negative command. What’s the positive? To run! Whether or not we realize it, we’re in a race & we’re to run it. The starting whistle has blown – and we’re off!

B. We’re not just to run; we’re to “run with endurance.” Most anyone can run for a short amount of time; athletes are trained to run for long amounts of time and/or long distances. They run with patient endurance pushing through tiredness, thirst, and trials to get to the goal. Actually, “endurance” is often translated “patience” throughout the NT – the idea is one of perseverance, doing what it takes to remain firm in your goal (in this case: running).
__a. Why do we need endurance? Because we have many temptations along the way. Those same weights and sins we laid aside earlier have a habit of popping back up as temptations later (which is why to say “no” in your mind!). We need endurance to be able to pass them by without being pulled aside in the midst of them & becoming ensnared all over again.

C. The fact that we need endurance tells us that our Christian race isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. There are many who can show a little change over a short period of time – but they lack the endurance to continue with Christ. [Parable of the Sower: birds, rocks, thorns, good soil] Matthew 13:20-22 (20) But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; (21) yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. (22) Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. [] We don’t want to be those who only endure for a while, or get choked up & entangled… We don’t want to quit the race early or ‘burn out’ along the way. Instead, we want to run with endurance for as long as Jesus calls us to run…
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2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

A. When the author of Hebrews writes “look,” he’s not writing in a general sense. The Gk word indicates an intentional act: to look away from one thing & set our attention upon something else. I.e., we were looking at ourselves, our selfish desires, and our sinful gratifications; but now we’ve been born again and we’ve been made new creations – now we’re looking at something (someone) different! Who are we looking to? The Lord Jesus!
__i. Look to Jesus! He is our motivation… Why ought we lay aside sin & run? It’d be much easier to indulge in sin & our flesh & just stay still! Because we’ve been saved! Because we have a new Lord: the Lord Jesus Christ! We look to Him & because of what He’s done in our lives, we want to run!
__ii. Look to Jesus! He is our goal… [Mom teaching me to swim – had to keep looking to her] Jesus is waiting at the end of our race & we want to see Him face to face!
__iii. Look to Jesus! He is our example…as we’ll see from the rest of vs. 2. Jesus knows what it’s like to endure because HE endured.

B. Who is Jesus? “the author and finisher of faith.” Note the “our” is italicized…it’s assumed by the translators to make it easier to read in English. Literally, Jesus is the chief leader/source/author & finisher/perfector of faith…i.e., not just our individual faith, but faith itself! Salvation finds its existence in Jesus Christ & no other. He is the Alpha & Omega – the beginning and the end (Rev 1:8). Regarding our faith, Jesus: loved us before we loved Him (1 John 4:19) – foreknew us & called us (Rom 8:29-30) – was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) – came in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4) – humbled Himself and became obedient unto death (Phil 2:8) – rose again in victory & took away the sting of death (1 Cor 15:56-57) – ascended to heaven & sat down at God’s right hand (Mark 16:19) – gave the Holy Spirit to the Church (Acts 1:8) – awaits to receive the Church to Himself (John 14:3) – will return in might & power, defeating the devil (Rev 19:15) – will reign for 1000 years in righteousness here on earth (Rev 20:4-6) – will be forever glorified throughout eternity (Rev 22:1). Whew!  Which part of that did any of us accomplish? Nothing – zip… ALL of it is dependent upon Jesus Christ. From eternity past to eternity future, everything about the glory of God & salvation of man is utterly put upon Jesus Christ. HE is the author – HE is the finisher. It’s all about HIM.
__i. Do you understand why we are to gaze upon Him? It’s not an egotistic thing for Jesus…He certainly doesn’t need anything that we can give Him. It’s because we’ve got nothing better in the entire universe to gaze upon! Nothing compares to Christ Jesus! For the work He did for us, why wouldn’t we gaze upon Him to run the race set before us?!
__ii. Again, Jesus is the ultimate example! He offered a far better sacrifice than Abel – showed infinitely more righteousness than Noah – obeyed God to a far fuller extent than Abraham…etc. To go down the list in Heb 11, Jesus outdoes them all. There’s no better example of holding fast to God in faith than what we see in the Lord Jesus!
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…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

A. If anyone knows what it means to endure suffering, Jesus does. The cross was nothing BUT suffering! Remember that Jesus had already been tortured prior to actually being nailed to the cross – the Roman whips would have shredded His back & the crown of thorns surely didn’t help Him retain any blood. The nails for His hands/wrists would have crushed His medial nerves – the drop of the cross in the ground would have dislocated most (if not all) His bones – He would have needed to push His entire body weight upon the nail in His feet (and scrape His shredded back against the wood) in order to breath. And in this midst of all this, wait as shock & asphyxiation caused Him to experience a massive heart attack. This was mind-numbingly awful suffering that Jesus endured.

B. But Jesus did it. WHY? Because he had “joy…set before Him.” What joy? What could possibly be joyous in a situation when He was wracked with pain & taking on the sin of all mankind throughout all history?
__a. The joy of glorifying His Father: In John 4, the disciples left to go find food in Samaria. Meanwhile, Jesus has been ministering to the Samaritan woman who’s now convinced He’s the Messiah… Tells the disciples He doesn’t need to eat because His “food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” (John 4:34) Jesus delighted to do the Father’s will! Psalm 40:7-8 (7) Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. (8) I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” [] As it was the Father’s will to bruise Jesus & make Him a sin sacrifice (Isa 53:10), it was Jesus’ joy to willingly submit & fulfill it.
__b. The joy of purchasing our salvation: Jesus didn’t go through the Cross because He enjoyed pain. He didn’t take on the wrath our sin deserved because He was a masochist. He went to the Cross as a demonstration as His love for us. We did not deserve His love – but He desired to give it (Rom 5:8)
__c. The joy of defeating the enemy: We can only imagine what kind of motivation it was to crush the head of the Devil at Calvary’s cross! But make no doubt, that He DID defeat the enemy. Not just Satan – but the result of Satan’s most effective lie in history: death. Death has no more sting because Jesus went to the cross & rose again.
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…despising the shame,

A. When thinking about the cross, we often think of the physical suffering – but Jesus endured much more than that. It was a shameful experience – stripped naked and left exposed to the world in your weakest moment. Dying on the cross was a cursed death, yet Jesus became that curse to redeem us from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13).
__a. It was shameful because He died the death of a common criminal. This wasn’t some glorious death because of battle, like a warrior would crave. Although there was much heroism in Jesus’ death, it certainly wasn’t recognized at the time. People hit Him – spit at Him – pulled out His beard… This wasn’t the way to treat a King; it was the way to kill a despised, traitorous criminal.
__b. It was shameful because He was rejected by the very people He came to save. Those who ought to have received Him gratefully as King turned their backs upon Him & refused Him.
__c. It was shameful because the Father turned His back on Him. The fellowship Jesus enjoyed with God from before time began was somehow mysteriously broken because of the sin He became. Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [] When Jesus cried out from the cross, it wasn’t because He was trying to enforce some symbolism & provide a teachable moment from Psalm 22…it was because He meant it! Undoubtedly, this was some of the worst suffering that Jesus had to endure – we cannot even imagine the depth.

B. How did Jesus deal with the shame? He “despised” it – He hated it & looked upon it as worthless. Not quite the same thing as “ignoring” it. Sometimes we get the idea that we can just pretend like the suffering doesn’t exist & go on with our lives – but it DOES exist. Jesus wasn’t pretending anything when He cried out from the cross! Jesus hated the shame; but He didn’t let the shame stop Him. He didn’t let the shame and suffering become of greater value than the joy that was set before Him. He pressed on to endure despite all the shame He had to walk through in the process.
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…and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

A. Jesus may have walked through shame, but He sat down in victory! Saw this image earlier in Heb 10:12 when He offered one sacrifice for all time & then sat down. What’s the importance of sitting? Jesus sat down because there was no more work to be done.

B. The right hand? Place of honor… Place of power… There’s no more honorable position than the right hand of God Almighty – and that’s where Jesus is. Notice the contrast here. Jesus went from deep shame & terrible suffering, to the most magnificent place imaginable: the “throne of God”! This is the same contrast Paul makes in Phil 2 when he shows Jesus humbled Himself to come as a man, was obedient to the cross, and as a result God highly exalted Him & gave Him the name that is above every name! (Phil 2:8-9)
__a. There’s application here for us, too. For the Christian, all suffering is temporary. Jesus endured immense suffering, but not any longer…today He sits in victory. We may endure immense suffering as well (though not to the extent of Jesus) – there may be terrible things we have to endure that even last us the rest of our lives. But even if it takes our dying breath, we know that our suffering is strictly temporary, because we’re going to see Jesus! We’re going to be in His presence where He is at the right hand of God…and that’s going to last & last & last!
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3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

A. Do you ever feel weary? It seems that the author of Hebrews expected that we might from time to time… We don’t want to grow weary in doing good (Gal 6:9)… We don’t want to grow weary in our love for God & one another – yet sometimes we do… “Weary” & “discouraged” are synonyms & could be defined as “sick – fainthearted.” Like the runner who is overheated and weakened from the sun… The longer we suffer, the more likely we’ll feel weary. That’s natural – that’s to be expected. It doesn’t mean you’re somehow “less” spiritual; on the contrary – it means you’re actually running the race!

B. How does Scripture tell us to deal with that soul-weariness? By considering Jesus! Verse 2 challenged us to gaze upon Jesus; vs. 3 challenges us to “consider” Him – to think upon Him in contrast with other examples (such as ourselves). He endured much hostility & opposition – yet He still did what God sent Him to do. Jesus knew what it was like to be weary & tempted to throw in the towel & in fact was precisely tempted to NOT endure (both in the wilderness temptation & Gethsemane…). Yet He pressed on! He desired to do His Father’s will & He patiently endured.

C. If Jesus endured, we can endure. “Wait a second. Jesus is God. Of course He can endure.” True, but Jesus is also man. Hebrews already made it perfectly clear that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin (Heb 4:15)… Thus if Jesus was tempted in our same ways, we can be sure that if it was possible for Jesus to endure hostility & soul-weariness, we can as well. How? Look to Christ – Remember the joy – Despise the shame – (not listed here) Be filled with the Spirit.
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4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

A. We may understand the weariness of the soul; but it’s unlikely any of us have shed blood in our walk with Christ… For the readers of the letter, the fact that they were actually reading the letter meant that they had not yet been killed for the sake of the gospel. (“striving against sin” best thought of striving against the sinful people who would try to persecute believers…)

B. This is one of the few verses in the Scripture that don’t apply to everyone. There ARE some within the Church that have “resisted to bloodshed” – there are as many (or more) martyrs in the 20th-21st centuries than the centuries before. Brothers & sisters in Christ today (even as I say this) are dying for their faith. They need our prayers for endurance – and we can learn from their example.

C. Even though we’re not being killed for our faith, are our struggles still a struggle? Yes. And God uses those things in our lives to continue to shape our character (as Ch 12 will go on to explain).

Conclusion:
Bottom line, we have a race to run – and it’s not going to be over any time soon, so we need to be prepared to run with endurance. It’s not always going to be easy, but we have a perfect example of what to do through Jesus Christ: fix our eyes upon Him, remember the joy, despise the same, and run.

Not only do we have the perfect example, we have the perfect motivation: Endure for Christ for He endured for us! What better reason to we have to persevere in our faith than knowing that Jesus is not only with us here & now, but that He’s waiting for us at the end? Like a child who runs past everything to jump into the arms of his/her daddy, so we have our Savior waiting for us at the end of our race. Let us press on & endure until we see Him face-to-face!

Judging Judge Eli

1 Samuel 3-4, “Judging Judge Eli”
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Introduction:
Often we start a Sunday morning with: God is good, all the time… Question: do we really believe that? Do we really believe that at every time and in every circumstance, that God is good? That’s not to say that every circumstance we walk through is good (sometimes we have severe trials!) – but can we say with certainty that the God Who allowed us to walk through those circumstances is good? Yes & Amen!

Even in times of discipline, we can be assured of the goodness of God. After all, if God wasn’t good, He wouldn’t care about our actions…but yet He DOES care & thus He does discipline us as children. That’s exactly what Eli is going to find out in Ch 3-4. What we’re going to witness is a major spanking. One that’s absolutely deserved, but one that demonstrates the goodness & glory of God.

Context: how Samuel came to be at the temple with Eli… Eli’s sinful sons… Eli’s own sin…

1 Samuel 3 (NKJV)
1 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.

A. Boy Samuel is already in ministry…his young age was no obstacle. Notice he wasn’t just doing chores; he “ministered to the LORD.” … When we serve the Lord, we’re serving the LORD! It’s not just ‘stuff we do at church;’ it’s sacred ministry unto the Lord God who saved us. It’s not just folding bulletins; it’s folding bulletins for Jesus. …children’s ministry for Jesus …church cleaning for Jesus, etc. There’s nothing “minor” about anything we do if we’re doing it as to the Lord Jesus!
__a. Keep in mind that ministry is not just limited to things done at church functions! Whatever we do, we’re to do it unto the Lord (Col 3:23). Your job is a ministry – your family is a ministry – even recreation can be a ministry. And all of it ought to be done as to the Lord…

B. What kind of time was it in Israel that “the word of the LORD was rare…”? A bad time! They had gone from Moses who spoke with the Lord as a man does with his friend, face-to-face – to Joshua, one who had a very similar relationship with the Lord – to the Judges, who had occasional visions of the Angel of the Lord – and apparently finally it died out to almost nothing. Very few people were seeking the Lord – everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. And when Man becomes Man’s own ruler & judge, what need is there to seek God? Thus God stopped speaking to them as well. A very sad place for God’s “chosen” people!
__a. But God can change all of that in an instant! It was a similar situation before Jesus was born. The prophets had been silent for 400 years & then out of nowhere comes John the Baptist & the Messiah Himself! Just because God seemed to be silent didn’t mean He wasn’t active & working – He was just waiting for the fullness of time to come.
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2 And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, 3 and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the LORD where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 4 that the LORD called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” 5 So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

A. Imagine the scene: Samuel’s a young boy who just finished a long day’s worth of work at the Tabernacle. He has probably spent time in prayer & participating in the worship there as people brought sacrifices. He works hard & lays his head down for the night (by the Holy Lampstand/ Menorah no less!) – and all of a sudden hears his name. I doubt the Lord’s voice sounded very much like Eli – but to Samuel, who else would be calling him at this time?

B. Do we listen for the voice of the Lord? Not that we need to go out of our way to try to experience the mystical… But do we get so fixed to our routines that we neglect to listen for the voice of the Lord? “Ok – I’ve done my Bible reading & prayer…I did my ‘Jesus’ duty for the day…” … Many times God will speak to us through the Scripture – but sometimes we forget to even listen for Him there! Maybe other times God wakes us up in the night to pray – do we seek Him, or just get annoyed that we can’t sleep? Be mindful in prayer not to just talk to God; but to listen as well.

C. How do we know if what we’re hearing is actually from God? Obviously we can be tempted by our own flesh & even the enemy. Easy: God will never contradict Himself. He won’t tell one person one thing & another person something completely different… He won’t ever contradict His revealed Word… He won’t ever go against His own nature… The best way to know what God is saying to the church? Open the Bible & read it!
__a. The same principle applies for people who walk up to you with “a word for the Lord.” If it contradicts what the Lord has already revealed through His Son, His nature, and His word, it’s not of God!
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6 Then the LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 (Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.)

A. Samuel had served the Lord (no doubt, per vs. 1); but he did not yet know the Lord… BIG difference! There are many, many people who spend their lives serving God – dedicating their time, money, and resources in way or another to their “religious” devotion – and many of these people NEVER know the Lord. It’s not that what they’re doing is necessarily bad; it’s that they don’t have the proper foundation to begin with. Matthew 7:21-23 (21) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ [] It’s imperative that we know the Lord!!

B. The wonderful thing here is that although Samuel did not yet know the Lord, the Lord was continually calling out to him! God was calling Samuel by name & reaching out to him.
__a. What a wonderful picture of the gospel call! God Himself was calling to Samuel – just as He calls to us. No one comes to Jesus unless the Father first draws them (John 6:44), and Jesus made it clear that those who are His sheep know His voice (John 10:27). Praise God that He called you! That in itself is an amazing thought! Of all the people on the planet, God called YOU to save you for His glory through Jesus Christ!
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8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

A. Eli finally understands what’s going on & tells Samuel what to do…

B. What does he tell Samuel? To listen to God! Eli has his faults, but this is good advice! When we are listening to God, we’re not listening to friendly advice that we can choose to follow or ignore; we’re listening to GOD. HE’s the Lord; we’re the servant. If we’re truly listening to God, then we’re prepared to obey what He says.
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10 Now the LORD came and stood [Christophany?] and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” 11 Then the LORD said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. 14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

A. How’s that for a 1st word from the Lord? Heavy responsibility! God tells Samuel that the time has come for God to fulfill the prophecy He spoke to Eli regarding his sons… His sons had sinned (“made themselves vile”) & Eli himself had sinned (“he did not restrain them”)…

B. How bad was their sin? So bad that it “shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” IOW, there’s no act of repentance – no animal sacrifice that could possibly be brought that would satisfy God’s anger regarding their sin. Eli & his sons were past the point of repentance; God’s discipline & judgment was now coming.
__a. Interestingly enough, we don’t read that same sort of restriction from the prophet in Ch 2 – the 1st time Eli heard of God’s coming judgment on his sons. It seems that Eli had every opportunity to repent for his sins & his families, yet allowed it to pass by.
__b. This is why it’s so important to respond to the gospel when we hear the gospel! We don’t know how many days we have left on this earth – nothing is guaranteed. Every day God gives us is a new merciful opportunity to repent & trust Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins… TODAY is the day of salvation!
__c. What made this sin so bad in the sight of God? Not only were Hophni & Phinehas abusing their privileges as priest – not only was Eli allowing them to do so by neglecting to discipline them – but in the process the people were being led astray & they abhorred the offering of the Lord (Ch 2:17). Teachers are held to a stricter judgment (Jas 3:1) & God was applying that to Eli.
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15 So Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He answered, “Here I am.” 17 And he said, “What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you.” 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

A. No wonder why Samuel didn’t want to say anything…
__a. Don’t hide what the Lord has told you to say! We’ve been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ…don’t hide it!

B. Note Eli wanted to know. God had already told him about the judgment that would come upon him & his sons & Eli probably figured it was about that. But he still wanted to know what God’s word had been on the matter. Even a word of judgment was still a word from God – and thus inherently valuable.

C. Note also that Eli accepted what was said. He didn’t attempt to weasel his way around it, nor accuse God of wrongdoing… It was God’s judgment & by definition, it is good.
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19 So 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 had been established as a prophet of the LORD. 21 Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

A. Growth of Samuel & his work as a prophet…

B. Did you notice the change? As Ch 3 began, the word of the Lord was rare; by the end of the chapter, it’s commonplace via Samuel. …
__a. We HAVE the word of the Lord! God’s person has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ… God’s will has been revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures… The word of the Lord ought to be frequent among God’s people! When it’s not, it’s not the fault of God – it’s the fault of the people for not reading the words of the Spirit in the Bible & seeking Jesus Christ!
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1 Samuel 4 (NKJV)
1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. 2 Then the Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.

A. [MAP] Big loss for Israel…but it’s only the set up to a much larger loss.
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3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.”

A. Good idea or bad idea? BAD idea! On one hand, it sounds reasonable: “Let’s go get the representation of God & place it before our enemies.” After all, Joshua had done this in the past (Jericho)… The problem? (1) God didn’t tell them to bring the ark, as He did with Joshua… (2) It demonstrated that the people’s faith was in an object & not in God! The reason why Uzzah fell over dead when he touched the ark wasn’t because the ark had some sort of magical mystic powers; it’s because he didn’t understand the holiness of God. The elders of Israel (!) are looking to the ark for mystical power; they’re not seeking the God who made the ark holy.

B. This is the essence of idolatry! They were looking to an object for power rather than God. Anytime we try to conform God into our own preferred image – anytime we value a ‘thing’ more than God – this is idolatry. What Israel should have done was to seek the Lord in repentance (they were in violation of the covenant); instead they sought some sort of fleshly means to try to ‘work-around’ God & exchanged the truth of God for a very costly replacement of Him.
__a. Idolatry can come in many forms – even innocent-looking religious acts. Some people assume that if they pray a certain way in a certain place, that automatically makes them righteous… Some people assume that the amount of money they give can bribe God into looking the other way… In the end, they’re putting their trust into their actions & not in Christ Jesus!
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4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook.

A. Hophni & Phinehas should have known better – they were priests! Goes to underline how reprobate these guys were. They had no regard for the word of the Lord; but instead they were perfectly willing to go along with whatever the crowd wanted them to do. Rather than encouraging Israel to seek God for victory, they just bring out the religious trinket-du-jour…

B. The people were excited that it was there. Unfortunately, their shouting was all show. It seems their excitement was due to the presence of the ark; not because they had sought the Lord in worship & repentance.
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6 Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. 7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. 9 Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”

A. Little insight into the Philistine pep talk…apparently the shouting & commotion over in the Hebrew camp frightened them & made them even more determined as they were going into battle.

B. Sad to see that they knew more about God Almighty than the Hebrews! The Philistines were pagan, but at least they had a better respect & fear of God than God’s own chosen people… The Philistines got many of the details wrong (the plagues were in Egypt; not the wilderness… Only 1 God, etc), but at least they had a fear of God. (Not enough of a fear to actually repent, but more fear than the Hebrews.)
__a. Reminded recently of Penn Jillette… “If you believe that there’s a heaven or hell…and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward, … How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?” (12/9/2008 youtube clip) An atheist understands this better than many Christians! Sometimes the unbelievers get it absolutely right. We get comfortable in our understanding of God & our preferences & sometimes we need to be woken up a bit. …
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10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

A. Huge victory for the Philistines! (So they think so far. Wait until Ch 5…)
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11 Also the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

A. In the people’s idolatrous presumption, they lost the ark of the covenant in battle…
B. Yet this was the very act God used to fulfill His prophecy regarding Hophni & Phinehas…
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12 Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 13 Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out.

A. Runner had typical sign of grief…

B. Eli’s “heart trembled for the ark”: Even Eli knew the ark had no place being on the battlefield. It’s not that he was afraid God couldn’t protect the ark; it’s that he thought God would choose not to do so. And that’s exactly what God allowed.
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14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were so dim that he could not see. 16 Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.” And he said, “What happened, my son?” 17 So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

A. Horrible news to Eli… Told of Israel’s defeat, the death of his sons, and the capture of the ark. The day could not have gone any worse. As a result of shock or a heart attack or some other ailment, Eli fell over backwards & broke his neck. He had been blessed with a long life (98 years), but he didn’t die of old age; he died because of the justice of the Lord God.

B. Remember this is exactly what God said would happen. In Ch 2:34 a prophet told Eli that both his sons would die in one day & the prophecy was confirmed through Samuel in Ch 3. We may not know exactly how much time passed in the meantime, but we can be assured that it came true. God always keeps His promises: both for blessing AND for judgment! Just as sure as we can be thankful for the promises we have in Christ Jesus as Savior, the world can be sure of the promises they have regarding God as judge.
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19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it.

A. Phinehas’ wife was apparently pregnant & the stress caused her to give birth. Sadly, it seems she died in childbirth…

B. Never think that your sin doesn’t affect other people! Phinehas’ sin caused his wife to die from early childbirth & his son to be born an orphan…
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21 Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

A. Tragic end & cliffhanger to the chapter. The priests & judges of Israel have died – the army have been massacred by the Philistines – the ark has been captured by the enemy.

B. Question: had the glory of God really departed from Israel? True, the ark was gone – but God is bigger than a piece of furniture! … But – the symbol of His glory had definitely departed – which is what is indicated by the boy’s name. Hb“chabod” = “glory”…the “I” is a negative = “no glory.” Remember that the ark was where the 10 Commandments were kept (the Law/covenant) – where the manna was kept (bread of life) – where the blood of sacrifice was poured out (the Mercy Seat). Everything about the ark pointed back to the God of Israel: His righteousness, His provision, and His grace…ultimately showing a picture of Jesus Christ. … In their foolishness, the Hebrews had forgotten all about God & allowed this symbol to be taken by the heathen. It wasn’t that GOD was lost; it was symbolic that the Hebrews had forgotten about God long before…thus the glory (in a sense) was gone. God Himself was sovereign over all this & allowed Israel to go through the consequence of losing the ark. [Israel had tested God & turned their back on Him] Psalm 78:60-64 (60) So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men, (61) And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy’s hand. (62) He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance. (63) The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage. (64) Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation. []

Conclusion:
Are we listening to God? (young Samuel)
Are we trusting God? (instead of an idol, are we trusting Jesus)
Are we following God? (Eli & sons died of disobedience)

We do all of this through Jesus Christ!

What Faith Helps Us Do

Hebrews 11:23-40, “What Faith Helps Us Do”
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Introduction:
We’ve been looking at a museum of sorts in Hebrews 11: the famous Hall of Faith. After a brief definition of what faith is, we launched into a description of how faith works in the lives of believers. All the way through the OT, God provided example after example of men & women living in faith: from Abel to Abraham… All of them looked forward beyond their circumstances to something better… They relied on the promises of God at the time – but they also looked forward to the hope of God in the future.

We’ve covered the patriarchs & now Ch 11 finishes out by looking at the prophets (beginning with Moses). If the patriarchs only had the promises of God, the prophets (and judges & kings) saw the beginning of the fulfillment, but they still looked forward to something else as well. They experienced mighty victories – they went through terrible affliction, yet they endured. How so? By faith!

Hebrews 11:23-40 (NKJV)
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.

A. Obviously this is about Moses, but this isn’t a reference to Moses’ faith; it’s a reference to his parents’ faith. The Hebrews were under an edict from Pharaoh to have all the male children killed & Moses’ parents refused to do so upon Moses’ birth. Why? Because he was “beautiful” & they had faith in God. Did they just save him cuz he was cute? No – thinking your baby is beautiful isn’t faith; it’s bias.  Besides – Scripture consistently tells us God looks at the heart as opposed to our physique. Most likely, Moses’ parents looked at him & just knew that God had something more in store for him…so they saved him from death.

B. Question: did Moses’ parents break the law by keeping his birth a secret? Yes…no doubt. Was it right for them to do, knowing that we’re expected to honor those in authority over us (Rom 13..)? Yes…without question. When we’re put into a position of obeying God vs. obeying man, we ought to obey God every time…
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24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

A. Moses chose identification with God. Keep in mind (unlike movies you may have seen) Moses knew his Hebrew heritage from an early age. His mother Jochebed was hired by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse the baby. Jochebed would have surely told Moses of his background for the 1st several years of his life. Tradition suggests that as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was actually in line for the throne of Egypt. The point of the writer of Hebrews is that Moses actually renounced the claim to the throne because of his faith in God.

B. Moses chose affliction over sinful pleasure. As Egyptian royalty, Moses would have had access to everything that the most powerful empire at the time had to offer. Instead of choosing to indulge in those things as an Egyptian, he chose to suffer affliction along with his Hebrew brothers and sisters. This led to Moses murdering an Egyptian… Moses obviously didn’t handle it well, but it was faith that led him to suffer affliction with Israel.

C. Moses chose reproach over treasure. Again, Moses had it all. Stephen affirmed that Moses “was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds,” (Acts 7:22). He had wealth, power, & pleasure all at his fingertips. Instead, he chose the reproach (insult, abuse) that came with being a servant of God.
__a. Note: his reproach was “the reproach of Christ” – 1500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The sufferings Moses endured belonged to Christ – and ultimately found their fulfillment in Jesus at the Cross. Just as we can know the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings (Phil 3:10) 2000 years after the cross, Moses joined in the same fellowship millennia prior.

D. WHY? What would cause Moses to choose affliction over pleasure & prestige? Moses “looked to the reward.” Jumping ahead a bit to Ch 12. Moses was looking forward to the author & finisher of our faith. He looked around at Egypt, compared it with the promises of God, and Egypt came up severely lacking! Nothing compares to the glory & goodness of God!
__a. When we look to Jesus in faith, it becomes incredibly easy to choose Him over sin…there’s simply no comparison. I suggest that in those times when we do slip & choose sin for a season that we’ve taken our eyes of Christ & forgotten Who He is. During those times that we shake our fist in rebellion, we haven’t for a moment thought logically about Who God is & what He did for us in Jesus Christ & what we’ve been offered & given in grace. There’s simply no other response than to choose Him in faith!
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27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

A. Usually we think of acts of faith as being huge & heroic, but notice a key difference here. “By faith he forsook Egypt…” IOW, Moses fled in faith. Remember the context: Moses had just killed a man & Exodus 2:14 makes it clear that Moses was afraid. “So how is THAT faith?” Moses may not have acted in faith in Exodus 2:14, but he did in 2:15. Exodus 2:14-15 (14) Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” (15) When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. [] Moses didn’t sit around in Egypt waiting to see what would happen to him. He didn’t try to use his influence with Pharaoh or try to find someone else to blame for his crime. Instead, he chose to leave Egypt (Greek implies he “abandoned” Egypt – he left it behind for good), and according to Heb 11:27 this was an act of faith as Moses put himself completely in the hands of God.
__a. Sometimes the most least likely actions turn out to be tremendous acts of faith. Joseph had faith enough to flee Potiphar’s wife, knowing the likely consequences. Moses fled Pharaoh. Maybe to hold fast to Christ in faith you need to flee a job that’s tempting you to sin. Maybe you need to abandon people who would tempt you with sinful pleasure in order that you can remain pure to your family. To deny these things is foolishness to the world; but it’s a solid proclamation of your faith in Christ Jesus!
__b. BTW – there is some debate whether or not this is a reference to Moses fleeing Egypt or the Exodus itself. With all due respect to those who claim this is the Exodus, the context makes it absolutely certain this is a reference to fleeing Egypt. Chronology of events… “forsook” = “abandon”… “wrath of the king” vs. the command of God… etc.

B. How could he make this choice in faith? Moses feared God more than he feared Pharaoh. He saw God in faith as “Him who is invisible.” This is the very definition of faith from Heb 11:1! … [READ]
__a. ‘Wait a second. Moses did see God – or at least an appearance of Him in the burning bush. How can we say Moses saw the one who is invisible? His faith must not have been that great.’ On the contrary. When Moses fled Egypt, this was before he got to Midian…the burning bush didn’t come until 40 years later! Moses had faith in the God of Israel before he ever met the God of Israel…
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28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

A. Keeping Passover was an act of faith… Not just a ritual; it took faith to put the blood on the doorposts… Keep in mind that even though God had performed many miracles & given 9 plagues to this point, that nothing like Passover had ever been experienced by the Hebrews before. Why was faith necessary? Because if they didn’t keep the Passover the way God commanded it, even the Hebrew firstborn children would have been destroyed…

B. Faith was necessary for that original Passover especially for what it represented. Passover looks forward to the Cross of Calvary! We don’t come to Jesus except through faith. No religious ritual can bestow faith upon someone…
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29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

A. Does it take faith to walk through the Red Sea when God has already piled up the waters as a heap (Ex 15:8)? You bet! If we were walking through, there’s no doubt we’d wonder when the waters would come crashing down – how long would the miracle last? Would the Egyptian soldiers catch up to them? The whole event took faith – even in the middle of God’s active miracle…

B. Note the primary reason that the Egyptian army drowned: the Hebrews had faith; the Egyptians didn’t. Their bloodline didn’t matter when it same to the miracle – there was a mixed multitude among the Hebrews. Their presence didn’t matter when it came to the miracle – the army saw the exact same thing Moses & the Hebrews did. What made the difference was that the Hebrews trusted God’s person, power, promise, and provision; the Egyptian army just saw slaves running away under the power of “just another” God. When it comes to God, there is NO other! They didn’t have faith in the One True God & they drowned in the Red Sea as a result.
__a. Red Sea vs. Reed Sea…
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30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

A. Moves from Moses to Joshua… 1st major battle after crossing the Jordan River was Jericho… God’s battle plan was absolutely ridiculous from a military standpoint… But it was GOD’s plan (and He’s a better strategist than Gen. MacArthur any day)! By faith, Joshua followed through with it…

B. Can’t look at Jericho without looking at Rahab the harlot… … Even her act of hiding the Hebrew spies was an act of faith in the one true God…
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32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
__A. The interesting thing about this partial listing is who we’d normally think should NOT be included. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David are one thing. Their exploits of faith are what fill our children’s Bible storybooks & Sunday Schools. It’s the judges that surprise us. These guys weren’t exactly profiles in godly character:
__a. Gideon: He was hiding out in the threshing floor when God called him to be a warrior… And even then he wouldn’t go to battle until God performed the miracle of the fleece…
__b. Barak: He wasn’t even the hero of the battle…or the reigning judge at the time. The prophetess Deborah was the judge; Barak was just the general. And he was too scared to go to battle unless the woman went with him.
__c. Samson: He had courage, but he was a scoundrel. He constantly broke his Nazirite vows – he lusted after numerous women – he went looking for troubles & fights.
__d. Jephthah: This guy experienced a huge military victory, made a rash vow & (most likely) ended up sacrificing his own daughter. Doesn’t sound a like a man of faith!

B. So why ARE these judges included in the hall of faith? We wouldn’t judge them faithful at all! But that’s the problem. It’s not up to us to judge whether or not they were faithful; that’s left up to God. And God in His grace and mercy sees them as faithful even where we do not. Even what little faith they had is commended by God because it was faith in Him.
__a. That’s the power of the cross! That’s exactly what happens to us through Jesus Christ. Because NONE of us are faithful on our own! NONE of us deserve to be found worthy of God’s blessing! But because of what JESUS has done on our behalf, God can look at us & call us “faithful!” … That’s how much we have been washed & cleansed by Christ. We, who were once stained by sin have been declared by God to be white as pure snow…
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33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again.

A. Huge overview of the prophets & kings here. Touches everything from military victory to miraculous interference by God. With Daniel, God stopped the mouths of the lions. With Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego, God quenched the violence of fires. With Samson, God made him who was weak in the captivity of the Philistines strong again to bring down an entire stadium. With Gideon & Jonathan (on different occasions), God used a handful of men to set whole armies to flight… With Elijah & Elisha, God raised people back from the dead (in anticipation of the greatest resurrection to come in Jesus!)… God healed the sick, destroyed armies, and showed His righteousness throughout the OT! (Not just a NT thing…)

B. These were all things seen because of faith – which emphasizes that these were all things done by the power of God. Faith shows us God’s power! Luke 17:5-6 (5) And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” (6) So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. [] That’s not something that we can get cocky about… Faith is a gift from God (1 Cor 12:9), the power we see is the power of God – all we did was apply what God gave us to apply & saw what God wanted to do. But we don’t see these things without faith. Peter never would have walked on water if he didn’t have faith – even if it was just a little.

C. Not only does faith help show us the power of God through victories; it also shows us the power of God to endure during suffering and tribulation. See the rest of vs. 35…
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…Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

A. Which prophets were tortured? Possible reference to martyrs during the Maccabean time. (“tortured” describes being stretched & distended over a rack to be beaten) Certainly many prophets were mocked & jailed – Jeremiah being a prime example. Jesus made a point of chastising Jerusalem as being the city that killed the prophets & stoned those who were sent to her (Matt 23:37). Experiencing persecution as a prophet wasn’t the exception; it was the norm!

B. Could those who were being tortured found relief? Apparently, yes – if they recanted. But they chose to stay faithful “that they might obtain a better resurrection.” Which resurrection is the better resurrection? The one provided by the Lord Jesus! The one in which we’ll all be transformed in the twinkling of an eye…
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37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

A. Horrendous executions for some of these saints! Zechariah was stoned to death (2 Chr 24:21) – as was the NT deacon Stephen (Acts 7:58). Isaiah is thought to have been sawn in two… James was killed by the sword (Acts 12:2), as was the OT prophet Urijah (Jer 26:23). Others wandered about destitute with no place to live & only animal skins to keep them warm (Elijah & John the Baptist).
__a. Of course martyrdom didn’t stop there. Animal skins were used for something worse under Emperor Nero. (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs) “Nero even refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for the Christians that the most infernal imagination could design. In particular, he had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them.”

B. Key point: having faith in God does not guarantee an easy life. Having abundant faith in God does not mean we experience what many would label as “victory.” Sometimes people think that to “live in victory” means to never have a bad day, to command away illnesses, and to have a full bank account no matter how much money is spent (like the widow of Zarephath & her oil)… As long as everything is fine, they’re in victory, but the minute a trial comes along, they’re no longer blessed by God. Not true! Many of God’s faithful prophets suffered immensely. Does this mean they were not victorious? On the contrary! These people were sawn in two, yet held tightly to their faith in God! They certainly were victorious in the sight of God!

C. Does the fact that these men were demonstrating faith mean that what they experienced was right judgment? Of course not…they were sinned against. They (like us) serve the only righteous & just God. The “world was not worthy” of them; but God obviously commends them as His saints. The ironic thing here is that the world didn’t think the prophets were worthy to be received (otherwise they wouldn’t have been persecuted); according to Scripture, it is the world that wasn’t worthy to receive them!
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39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

A. What did the patriarchs & prophets receive through all their sufferings and victories through faith? “A good testimony.” No medal…no Academy Award statue…not even a winning lottery ticket. But I submit to you that a good testimony in the sight of God is worth far more than anything the world has to offer! The Holy Spirit thinks well of these people (even people like Samson & Jephthah) – and He records their actions here for us as a good testimony of what God does through people via their faith in Him.
__a. How good is a good testimony? If you’re a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, what’s the 1st thing you want to hear from your Lord & Master when you see Him face to face? “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” !!

B. For everything that these people endured, we’d naturally think, “Well surely they would at least see the fruit of their suffering.” No…apparently that wasn’t the case. They “did not receive the promise.” Or we’d think, “But they did receive many promises from God. God promised to bring them through the wilderness & He did. God promised to give them the land, and more.” True – God was faithful to many of His promises throughout the entire Old Covenant (per vs. 33)…but those promises aren’t what the author is looking at here. Note the singular number: “the promise…” There’s one particular promise in view here. There’s one event that God had been leading up to throughout history. What was the promise? See vs. 40…
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40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

A. WE received the promise because we saw the incarnation of Jesus Christ! HE IS THE PROMISE!! …

B. We’re only made perfect through Him. Their sufferings didn’t make them perfect in the sight of God. Their victories didn’t make them perfect. Their choice to follow God over pleasure didn’t even make them perfect. ONLY Jesus Christ!

Conclusion:
So many examples here! No wonder it’s called the “Hall of Faith!” But just like any museum exhibit, there’s a great diversity in what’s being shown, even if there’s an overarching theme that groups them all together. There aren’t too many listings that would name men like Abraham and Moses along with guys like Barak and Jephthah. That alone underlines and demonstrates the grace of God. Even a little faith is commended, because even a little faith has us relying on Jesus.
A. Faith helps us choose the things of God…
B. Faith helps us to experience the power of God…
C. Faith helps us to endure sufferings with God…

So which is God going to equip you to face with faith? The victory or the sufferings? From a temporary perspective, that’s all left up to God…no doubt God will be faithful to equip you for whatever you face at the time that you’ll go through it. But from an eternal perspective, every single born-again Christian has been equipped to experience victory!

That’s the whole point of the author of Hebrews. These great men & women in the past had (sometimes) huge expressions of faith & saw miracles took place – yet even the greatest of those miracles didn’t make them perfect. They received a good testimony, but they didn’t receive the promise. The promise wasn’t fulfilled until Jesus came in the flesh, died on the cross, and rose from the grave! But that’s often what we forget. We look for the temporary miracles: we want mountains to be moved & oceans to be parted for us & miraculous healings to be commonplace. There’s nothing wrong with any of those things – and we should be faithful to ask for them. But ALL of those things are only temporary! Yet in our salvation, faith in Christ Jesus accomplishes the eternal. Thus it’s not the temporary miracles we need to be fixated upon; it’s Jesus. He’s the ultimate promise of God & we’re to have our faith in Him. For our temporary circumstance and the eternal ones.

Hannah’s Blessing; Eli’s Curse

1 Samuel 1-2, “Hannah’s Blessing; Eli’s Curse”
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Introduction:
If 1 Samuel were a novel, it might have several appropriate names: “The Rise & Fall of King Saul”… “The foundation of King David”… “Israel’s United Kingdom”… All would be appropriate because all takes place in the book. 1-2 Samuel seems to have been originally composed as one book (Samuel), with the book of the Kings following. LXX changed that by combining them all into one series of books (1-4 Kings), and our canon eventually gave the Hebrew name back to the book, but kept the Greek division. Regardless – there’s uniformity in theme: the beginnings of the monarchy – the reign of David – the fall of David’s sons – the divided kingdom & eventual exile.

All the way from 1 Samuel to the end of 2 Kings, there’s a feeling of “Is that all there is? What about the glorious promises made to David by God?” That’s probably exactly what we’re supposed to feel, because there IS someone greater-than-David in which those promises are fulfilled! In His 1st coming, Jesus suffered for sin & conquered death – in His 2nd coming, Jesus will reign on David’s throne, finally fulfilling every jot & tittle of prophecy given by God.

But before we get to David, we have to get a monarchy. And before we get a monarchy, we have to transition away from the judges – and that’s exactly how 1 Samuel begins. The nation of Israel is in moral & spiritual decline, and though not every Hebrew is an apostate, many are (including some priests!). And it’s in this environment that God brings forth the last (and greatest) of the judges: Samuel.

1 Samuel 1 (NKJV)
1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

A. All the main characters in the 1st few chapters are introduced here…
__a. Elkanah: going to be Samuel’s father. He’s actually a Levite (1 Chr 6:26). To say he was an “Ephraimite” here only means that is where his Levitical city was located.
__b. Hannah: One of Elkanah’s wives – going to be Samuel’s mother. To this point, she’s been childless.
__c. Peninnah: Another of Elkanah’s wives. She did have children, and caused Hannah much pain.
__d. Eli: The priest of the Tabernacle at Shiloh – perhaps high priest at the time.
__e. Hophni & Phinehas: Eli’s sons. They were priests, but disobedient & evil…

B. Why Shiloh? That was where the Tabernacle of the Lord eventually came to rest. It didn’t get to Jerusalem until the command of David. [PIC]
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4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb. 6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat. 8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

A. Yet one more example of why God allowed multiple wives but did not endorse anything except one man & one woman made into one flesh in marriage (which Jesus makes plain in Matt 19:6, “So they are no longer two, but one flesh”). Jealousy between spouses would be inevitable (as seen between Rachel & Leah) & it wreaks havoc with the picture of marriage that we see between Jesus & the Church.

B. Hannah was suffering. Being childless was a stigma in the society (and in some places, still is), and when someone has a desire to be a mother, very few things can fill that void. Elkanah attempted to comfort her, but couldn’t. Husbands can fill a lot of needs for their wives, but this isn’t one of them.
__1. Elkanah obviously loves Hannah, but he almost comes across as callous here. “Why are you sad?” He knows why she’s sad; he just doesn’t get why Hannah wanted something more than him… Sometimes if we don’t know the right words to say in comfort, it’s best not to say anything at all. Silent hugs can say a lot more than flippant words of advice…

C. Peninnah didn’t help matters. She flagrantly attempted to sow seeds of jealousy in Hannah by flaunting her own children. But it’s possible that her taunting of Hannah was a result of Elkanah’s favoritism towards Hannah & was acting out in jealousy… (Again, polygamy always leads to bad results!)

D. Question: had Hannah done anything wrong to be childless? That’s how the culture would have viewed it. Answer: No! “the LORD had closed her womb…” Why God allows some women to go childless is a mystery (and likely a result of the Fall)…in this case, it was to bring about the right child at the right time. Whatever it may be, it certainly wasn’t Hannah’s fault.
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9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD. 10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. 11 Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”

A. Intense prayer! She wept – her soul felt bitter to her – she prayed fervently with her lips moving & no sound, pouring her heart out to the Lord. This is good prayer!
__a. It’s ok to weep in prayers – or let God know of your anger – or share your anguish with Him. God has given you freedom as His child in Christ to come boldly before the throne of grace to find help in your time of need. We don’t have to be uptight & formal in our prayers – we just need to be reverent & real. (Still unsure? Read the Psalms! There are passionate prayers there!)

B. What was Hannah promising? Basically to give her baby to the Lord as a Nazirite. The vow Hannah promises is virtually identical to what Samson’s mother was told to do when the Angel of the Lord told her about her pregnancy (Judg 13). It’s quite possible that Hannah was familiar with the Scriptures (Elkanah seemed to be a Godly husband who worshiped the Lord rightly) & that she was taking the Scriptures surrounding Samson’s birth to herself for her own prayers to the Lord.
__a. We obviously don’t want to take Scriptures out of context – there are some promises God gives that are simply not to the Church. But the principles that are there that are available to all who are in Christ Jesus. Pray through the Scriptures – it’s God’s perfect Word & you can be sure you’re praying the things that are on God’s own heart…

C. Basically talking about complete & total dedication to the Lord from birth to the grave. Not unlike what happens to us in our salvation… The Holy Spirit gives us a new birth & we are sanctified & set apart as God’s saints to minister to Him until our dying day (and beyond)…
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12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!” 15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.” 17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.” 18 And she said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

A. Eli thought she was drunk & initially chastised her… (Which doesn’t speak highly of the folks that usually came to worship at the Tabernacle! This was an immoral time in Israel.)

B. Hannah firmly corrects him, but she did it in humility of heart. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Hannah sticking up for herself (it was the truth!), but she did it in a way that maintained respect for the priest & ultimately the Lord. The stage is being set here – this is a Godly, honorable woman.

C. Eli blessed her & did so prophetically (though we don’t know if he realized it). She received the blessing in faith (Heb 11) & her whole countenance changed. What her husband could not provide for her, the Lord could. And she was confident that the Lord heard her prayers.
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19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

A. Translation of “Samuel” = “asked/heard of God” – which is exactly what happened.

B. Just as with Ruth & Boaz, we see that conception begins with the Lord. …
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21 Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will take him, that he may appear before the LORD and remain there forever.” 23 So Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him. Only let the LORD establish His word.” Then the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli.

A. Was Hannah looking to go back on her vow? On the contrary! She wanted to fulfill it in total the day she went back to the Tabernacle. She couldn’t do it if the baby wasn’t yet weaned… 3 years old

B. Elkanah wanted to ensure the vow was kept as well… Says a lot of his spiritual maturity & his trust of his wife… This was HIS son as well that was going to be leaving home at 3 years old. Keep in mind Elkanah had the right to annul his wife’s vow, if he thought it was rash (Num 30). He didn’t, so obviously he wanted to honor the Lord in this way as much as Hannah did.

C. When they did come back, they didn’t come empty-handed. They brought a large sacrifice…basically what the law required about the fulfillment of the Nazirite vow (Num 6). Obviously Samuel’s vow was a life-long commitment – so they seem to have brought more than what was required.
__a. What do we bring to the Lord? Obviously the one true sacrifice has already taken place at the cross. As Christians, our only logical/reasonable response to what Jesus has done for us is to bring a lot more than bulls & meal offerings: it’s to bring our lives! Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. []
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26 And she said, “O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD. 27 For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. 28 Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD.” So they worshiped the LORD there.

A. The day she gave Samuel back to the Lord… Was she truly “lending” him to God? Not really – this was an expression to denote a gift back to God. Obviously Hannah was not going to just take Samuel home one day saying, “Ok, my time of lending is up!” She was giving him to God, because God gave him to her.

B. This is not a day of sadness, but a day of praise & worship! She came offering sacrifices & thanking God for answered prayer… Often, that’s the part we forget. We’ll plead in prayer to God for the need – we’ll continue to pray during the trial – but as soon as it’s all over, we’ll often forget to give God thanks. May we be a praise-filled people – ready to give God thanks for what He’s done for us through Christ Jesus!
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1 Samuel 2 (NKJV)
- The song of Hannah…beautiful psalm & seems to have been referenced by Mary in the Magnificat…
1 And Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 2 “No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.

A. We find our victory in God. The “horn” was symbolic for strength (often used by David in the psalms). For Hannah, she who was once weak was made strong – she was lifted up by the Lord.
__a. We who are weak in sin & prey to death find our victory in Jesus! Our horn is exalted in Him!

B. We find our salvation in God: In Hebrew, “salvation” is the idea of “deliverance.” (And is where Jesus gets His name: Yeshua, “Yahweh who saves”) Hannah needed a deliverer, and she found One in the Lord God! And in Him she could rejoice!

C. Only God is like God: There is truly none like the Lord because there are no other gods but God. He is above all creation & He is the only rock of salvation!
__a. Those aren’t merely statements of faith; they’re statement of fact. Those who try to find salvation in any other god other than the One True God are sorely mistaken. There is NONE like God – even if we want it to be otherwise…
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- God is merciful…
3 “Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. 4 “The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength. 5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble.

A. Peninnah had been proud, but without cause… Those who are proud will have to answer to the Lord, who is “the God of knowledge…”

B. Several paradoxes laid out… Mighty men are humbled in battle, but those who stumble are made strong. The rich are hungry & the hungry are full. The barren are mothers & the mothers are childless. Sound familiar? It should – Jesus frequently affirmed the same thing. (1st last. Save life lose it…) Things are turned upside-down in God! Those who would exalt themselves & find comfort in their own flesh & abilities will eventually come to naught… The only things that will last are those things the Lord does… see vs. 6…
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- God is sovereign…
6 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. [Resurrection!] 7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. 8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, And He has set the world upon them.

A. Ultimately, everything in the universe is in the hands of our Lord God! In Him we live & move & have our being… He is absolutely sovereign over His creation…

B. Not only is God sovereign over the mundane things (like money, etc.); He’s also sovereign over spiritual things. WE were the ones who were poor & in the dust! WE were the beggars in the ash heap, spiritually speaking. And God HAS set us among princes – especially the Prince of Peace! We are co-heirs with Jesus & we’ve received the right to be called children of God…
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- God is just…
9 He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. “For by strength no man shall prevail. 10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed.”

A. Hannah knew what it was like to experience injustice – but God turned everything around for her. So will it be with all injustice. ALL injustice either has or will be answered by God. Either it has been answered at the Cross of Jesus Christ… Or it will be answered at the Great White Throne Judgment seat of God…

B. Note the Messianic promise at the end. To this point (aside from one rebellious judge), there had been no king in Israel. In fact, Samuel was the prophet & judge that would establish the monarchy… So vs. 10 couldn’t possibly be speaking about Samuel; it has to be speaking about Christ! “anointed” = Mashiach = Messiah…the chosen one of God – the King of Kings & Lord of Lords…
__a. God has given Jesus strength… God has exalted Jesus’ horn (position)… Just as Hannah rejoiced in what God had done for her, God has done (“will do”, from Hannah’s perspective) for Jesus.
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11 Then Elkanah went to his house at Ramah. But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

A. We’ll come back to this in a bit – but note how Samuel ministers before the Lord, even as a child. Remember he was probably 3 years old at this point – and he’s already being used by the Lord to glorify God.
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12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the LORD. 13 And the priests’ custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling. 14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires,” he would then answer him, “No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force.”

A. Huge contrast between young Samuel & the sons of Eli! Samuel was faithful to minister before God; the sons of Eli were only faithful to their own greed & lust for power…

B. The sad part here is that God still had a provision for the priests; but God’s provision wasn’t good enough for Hophni & Phinehas. Instead of taking a portion out of what a person had already given unto the Lord as sacrifice, they wanted to take what rightly belonged to the Lord for themselves…they were enriching themselves by stealing from God.
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17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.

A. Hophni & Phinehas had sinned, no question. But what was it that made their sin worse? Because they were priests (and sons of the priest), their actions made other people abhor to offer anything to God. …

B. How sad it is for us (not just pastors; but anyone claiming the name of Christ) who acts in such a way that it causes someone else to say, “Well if THAT’s what Christianity is all about, I want nothing to do with it!” …
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18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. 19 Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “The LORD give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the LORD.” Then they would go to their own home. 21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD.

A. Even as a child, Samuel is ministering to God… Awesome! … Does this mean that Samuel was offering the sacrifices, etc.? Probably not – there was some age-appropriate work that Samuel would be doing. BUT no matter how menial it may have seemed to someone else, it was still seen by God as ministry unto Himself…
__a. Our ‘minor’ ministry is never minor when it’s received by God!
__b. You’re never too young to start ministering to the Lord…

B. Hannah obviously hadn’t abandoned her son never to see him – she came to Shiloh once per year with the sacrifice & always brought new clothes…

C. Eli’s blessing was prophetic…Hannah apparently bore many more children.
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22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the LORD’s people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the LORD desired to kill them.

A. For anyone who’s ever had a child in prodigal living, it’s easy to relate to Eli. Eli wasn’t a perfect father (as we’ll see), but he did grieve over his sons’ sins against the Lord & the Lord’s people. Parents want to see their children glorify God & Eli was no different. Especially as a chief priest, it must have torn him up inside.

B. Their problem? They weren’t just being greedy for themselves; they were causing the Lord’s people to transgress… And beyond the issue of the meat & sacrifices, apparently Hophni & Phinehas were taking physical advantage of the women who had come to the tabernacle to sacrifice!
__a. God has harsh words to say to those who claim to be “ministers” & yet cause others to sin. Ezekiel 34:9-10 (9) therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! (10) Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.” []

C. He poses a great question in vs 25: “If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” Will a man contend with God? He’s GOD! If we commit a criminal sin, there’s always a higher court we can appeal to – and if nothing else, we have a possibility of pardon. But when a man sins against the LORD? (Heb 10:21) “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Left on our own, we have no hope.
__a. But praise God He hasn’t left us on our own! He’s given Jesus Christ! Only Jesus can be our intercessor!
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26 And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.

A. Again – huge contrast between young Samuel & the sons of Eli…
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27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’

A. Who was the “man of God”? We don’t know – obviously a prophet. There were many unnamed prophets in the Scriptures… What the prophet SAYS is far more important!

B. God is referencing the choosing of Aaron as Eli’s “father”… God gave the Levitical priesthood perpetually to those of Aaron’s line. Eli was of the line of Ithamar (1 Chr 24:3), Aaron’s 4th son…thus he served as priest. What an honor! What a privilege! How did Eli (through his sons) respond to this honor? By despising it & kicking at the sacrifices of God… By making themselves fat off the sacrifices of the people… Instead of treating it like the grace it was, they trampled it underfoot & thought the priesthood was their deserved status. God’s going to change that misconception!
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30 Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them.

A. Is God ripping the priesthood away from Levi? No. Samuel is also a Levite & Levites are seen attending to the temple of the Lord far into the future (including Ezekiel’s temple – the priests of Zadok… ) … Instead, God is taking the priesthood away from the house of Eli – “there will not be an old man in your house.” Eli’s descendants would die out & be unable to serve as priests. The sign that all these things would take place? Eli’s 2 sons would die on the same day…(1 Sam 4)
__a. Bad news! Can’t imagine Eli’s grief over this… Is God unjust? Absolutely not…God is good. He won’t allow sin to continue forever…

B. Why does God punish Eli for the actions of his sons? Because even though Eli is not shown directly sinning & even though he’s shown to be grieved over his children’s sin, he’s also not shown actually doing anything about it. As high priest, Eli had a responsibility to maintain the holiness of the sacrifices of the Lord – and that included disciplining his own sons before God had to. Plus – as a father, he spoke words to his sons, but didn’t take action. He could have removed his sons from the priesthood – he could have made restitution – he could have done many things, none of which are mentioned here. Eli had a responsibility to teach his children the fear of the Lord, and that begins with personal example…in this area, Eli failed.
__a. At a certain point, parents cannot be responsible for their children’s actions. But they ARE responsible for how they respond to their children’s actions…
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35 Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever. 36 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and say, “Please, put me in one of the priestly positions, that I may eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”

A. What’s God going to do instead of Eli? Raise up a different priest… In the near future, this will be the house of Zadok (who takes the primary position of the priesthood during the reign of Solomon). But eventually this seems to speak to the new order of priesthood altogether: the order of Melchizedek, when Jesus serves as the ultimate High Priest.

Conclusion:
Quite a contrast here:
A. God blessed one who sought the Lord (Hannah)
B. God chastened one who ignored the Lord (Eli & sons)

What does that tell us? Seek the Lord!

Looking Forward in Faith

Hebrews 11:8-22, “Looking Forward in Faith”
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Introduction:
There’s a hall of fame for just about anything you can think of nowadays. There’s the Baseball Hall of Fame – Football Hall of Fame – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – Gospel Music Hall of Fame, & more. Most of that is pretty trivial, but sometimes you run across a Hall of Fame that actually matters – and that’s exactly what we find in Hebrews 11. The Hall of Faith…or perhaps the Faith-in-God’s-promises Hall of Fame.

We began Ch 11 with a definition of faith & the beginnings of its description. According to Heb 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” IOW, it’s not blind imaginings of a person when they have a complete lack of evidence; instead faith is the evidence itself – it is what God gives a person to get a foretaste on those things that can not yet be seen. [sense of smell: aroma; sense of taste: spice] Faith helps us interpret the evidence of creation – faith makes us righteous before God & gives us acceptable worship – faith makes us pleasing to God & He rewards it – faith makes us obedient to God & God delivers us.

Understand faith is absolutely essential to a pleasing walk with God; without it, it’s impossible to please Him at all. That’s important to remember…a lot of people would try to substitute that with knowledge. Knowledge is important (!), but there are many men & women with only the barest knowledge of the Scriptures that have infinitely more faith than some “pastors” & Ph.D’s who even doubt the resurrection of Christ. There are many who can recite the creeds word-for-word, but have zero faith… We must have faith! So it behooves us to examine what faith “looks like” in those who have gone before us.

This time we continue the Hall of Faith with the grand patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (and one “matriarch”: Sarah). It’s not the author’s intent to do an in-depth study of each character (he’s writing to Hebrew Christians, who were well educated in Torah); but rather he hits some of the high points here, specifically in regards to how they showed their faith…and for all of them, it included believing the promises of God – having faith in His covenant & His word.

Keep in mind that the time of the patriarchs was a unique time in Israel’s history. There were many promises given about a nation, a land, and a Messiah – but although the foundation was laid for these promises to come about, nothing was actually answered. It’s not until after their slavery in Egypt & through their instruction at Mt. Sinai that the Hebrews actually became a nation…and that was well over 400 years from the time that the covenant was made with Abraham! Thus the faith shown by the patriarchs was demonstrated by how they took God at His word & how they looked forward in faith.

Hebrews 11:8-22 (NKJV)
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

A. At the time, he was 75 years old and his name was Abram (Gen 12). Abram had heard the call of God, and brought his father & nephew out of Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran. For some reason Abram delayed there until his father was dead, and then picked up & left for Canaan. However long it took him (and for whatever reason he waited), Scripture affirms that Abraham “obeyed” God when he did this. In the grand scheme of things, it seems pretty minor. Moving is rarely “minor” in personal inconvenience (much less when U-Haul won’t be invented for several thousand more years!), but it’s not like Abraham had to build an ark or anything… Yet this “minor” step of obedience was the 1st step to bringing forth the Messiah Jesus! Obeying in faith is anything but “minor”!

B. How did he do it? “By faith”. Faith was the means by which Abraham obeyed God. Faith with his left foot – faith with his right foot – repeat. The point? Abram didn’t do this on a whim (it would have seemed crazy); he did it because God told him to do it. He believed that God told him to do it – he believed that God would keep His word to make Abram a great nation (Gen 12:2), and thus faith left him no other choice than simple obedience to God’s word.
__a. Faith moves us to action. … James wrote the same thing – James 2:17-18 (17) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (18) But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [] If Abram had responded back to God, “I believe you spoke to me & promised me a wonderful covenant – I really do! I just don’t feel like doing anything about it. How about giving it to me right here in Ur?”, obviously he wouldn’t be showing he believed God in the 1st place. If I’m told, “Lightning is going to strike right here in 2 seconds,” & don’t move – then obviously I don’t believe the report. Faith will always move us to action.
__b. If you say you believe the gospel – that you have faith that Jesus is the Son of God, then there better be some action taking place in your life. What it is may look different for every person (for Abraham, it was walking), but no doubt it’s there. There will be repentance away from sin – there will be a desire to please God – there will be grief when we fail & receiving God’s forgiveness. If that’s not in your life, you need to re-examine whether you have “faith”…

C. The result of his obedient faith? Abraham followed God – not even “knowing where he was going.” We don’t go to new Starbucks without plugging it into our GPS (or at least looking it up on a map)! All Abram had to go on was God’s promise that God Himself would show Abram the land – and he started walking. … Is this “blind faith”? Not really. Blind faith implies unreasonable foundations for questionable actions. Abraham had an informed faith. How so? Even though he once was a pagan (likely moon-worshipper), Abraham eventually had an encounter with the Living God who spoke to him & gave him very clear directions. Thus Abraham’s obedience was not unreasonable at all – God spoke to him & he obeyed!
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9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

A. What else did Abraham do by faith? He lived in the land of promise as a foreigner… Keep in mind that God had promised the whole thing to Abraham’s descendants – from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates (Gen 15:18). If Abraham had acted like some real estate moguls today, he’d have started forcing people to move & built himself a giant building right in the center of Canaan. Yet he didn’t own a lick of land – the only piece of property he bought (bought it outright – he didn’t demand it by right of ownership!) was a burial plot in which to entomb Sarah (Gen 23).

B. Instead, what did Abraham do? He waited for a city he never saw… (Going to be referenced in Heb 12-13) What was the city? Some believe it’s a reference to the New Jerusalem (Rev 21 – the church), others believe it’s a reference to heaven. But considering that the New Jerusalem is God’s provision for the Church for all eternity, to parse “heaven” beyond the general term is probably splitting hairs. Either way, Abraham wasn’t consumed with the “right-here-right-now” mentality; he had eternity in perspective – he was heavenly-minded.
__a. Some have criticized folks in the church for being “so heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good.” With all due respect – that statement should be rejected. Granted, we need to be responsible with what God has given us to do here & now – but if all we’re focused on is the here & now, we won’t be any good for anyone! Keeping heaven in view keeps other things in perspective…
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11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

A. At 1st glance, it may not seem like Sarah had much faith. (Gen 18:9-15) But apparently she did! After initially doubting the Lord, she placed her faith in His promise & she conceived Isaac via a miracle of the Lord. Where she once chuckled in doubt, she now laughed in joy – and named her son “Laugher” as a result!

B. Did she have reason to doubt? Yes! She was at least 90 years old by the time God told them that Isaac would be born. … This was an impossible thought…yet as God told them both, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen 18:14) Just as it was possible for God to bring a son to a 90 year old woman, it was possible for Him to bring a Son to a young virgin in Bethlehem – because with God all things are possible!
__a. It’s in those times when we have reason to doubt that we have even MORE reason to have faith in God! It’s easy to trust God in the good times…and as a result often we end up trusting ourselves. It’s when things look impossible & we’re forced to trust in God’s faithfulness & goodness that it becomes even more important to cling to Him in faith!

C. What helped Sarah overcome her doubt? “She judged Him faithful who had promised.” God is faithful! God never lies! Every word God has spoken, He will accomplish. There’s no being in all creation that is more faithful than God – we can trust Him completely! Deuteronomy 7:9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; []
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12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

A. Talk about faithfulness! Not only did God deliver His promise to bring forth a child; He delivered on His promise to bring forth an entire nation! And not just one nation or people group! Ishmael brought forth 12 princes – Abraham’s sons through Keturah brought forth several more nations (inc. Midian, Sheba, Dedan, etc) – his grandson Esau brought forth the Edomites. God’s name change from Abram to Abraham was accurate! But in addition, all those who have faith in Jesus Christ are children of Abraham because we have been grafted into the promises of the covenant (Rom 11:20), and because of that we are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:26). That takes us far beyond the Hebrew nation & to all those who received the grace of Jesus Christ by faith – truly an innumberable multitude of people!

B. Keep in mind the main reason this is a miracle. One man bringing forth a nation isn’t all that unusual (we see a lot of examples of it in Genesis); it’s the fact that God brought forth abundant life from one considered dead… And from that abundant life, God also brought forth in the fullness of time, Jesus Christ – the One who gives life to those who once were dead!
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13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

A. Who are “these”? Actually looking ahead a bit here to all the patriarchs – who all died without “having received the promises.” IOW, they had been given promise of the land, nation, and Messiah, but they hadn’t yet seen any of it prior to their death… Abraham of course just had the grave site deeded to him – but that didn’t change over the next few generations. Isaac wandered through the land digging wells & was continually a pilgrim. Jacob spent a minimum of 14 years away from the land growing a family, and then wandered from place to place upon his return – and then ended up leaving during a famine & dying in Egypt. All of them were pilgrims.

B. Faith gave them assurance of the promises… Faith enabled them to embrace the promises… Faith helped them confess they trusted God’s promises despite their circumstances… Through faith, they trusted the covenant of God which had been passed down to each generation & they believed God was going to do as He promised, and deliver a land, and nation, and a Messiah to bless the world.
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14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.

A. The proof of their faith? They didn’t go home… They were certainly seeking a permanent homeland, but never had one; they wandered all their lives. Did they have to do so? No – each generation had the opportunity to pack up their bags & move somewhere else where they could have put down roots. But instead, they chose to trust God & place their faith in His promises.

B. Another term for it? They persevered in their faith! Remember, this is basically what the author of Hebrews was warning them about in Ch 10. There were some who had cast aside their faith & gone back to what they had previously come out of…only what they had come out of didn’t offer them any hope. Just as if Abraham had gone back to Ur, he would have been rejecting the promises of God – so would be those who left the sufficient grace of Christianity to go back to Jewish sacrifices & rituals…they would be rejecting the promises of God. But that wasn’t the example given by the patriarchs – they persevered!
__a. So ought we to persevere! Each of us likely has people in our lives who would rejoice the minute we tossed Christianity aside for some other substitute (even atheism being the substitute). But we need to persevere in faith. Just like Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, we also have a homeland – and we’re just pilgrims passing through until we get there. So keep on passing on!
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16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

A. Faith helped them not settle for less than what God had for them. They desired what was “better…” What’s interesting about the context is that not even earthly Israel was the “better” country they desired. If they had set up a city in Canaan prior to God’s timing, it would have been a work of the flesh; not a move of faith as they waited upon the Lord. And God had something FAR better in mind for them – so they waited for the “heavenly country” God had prepared for them. They weren’t going to settle for anything less than seeing God face-to-face and worshipping their covenant God for all eternity!
__a. It’s no different with us. Jesus has prepared a place for you & me! John 14:1-3 (1) “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. [] THAT’s our home! THAT’s the place we’re looking forward to – being with our Lord Jesus! Why bother getting so consumed with the things of this life that will perish away? (Always the better house – the better car – the better TV – the better…) There’s nothing inherently wrong with “stuff”; but there is something wrong when we forget its place in our lives. The best any of us own here is just motel furniture [] – we’re leaving it behind for what is far “better.”

B. How did God respond to their faith? He was “not ashamed to be called their God…” Interesting choice of words. As believers, we want to be able to join with Paul & not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:16)…we want to not be ashamed to testify of Christ when given the opportunity & not deny Him (Matt 10:33)… Yet we never really think of it going the opposite direction. Not that the Scripture declares that God ever feels shame about anything. He is surely angry with His people many times (just read the minor prophets!), but in their sin (and ours) they bring shame upon themselves; not God. God will discipline His disobedient people, but He Himself is always glorified. That said, there is an implication here that God would not want to be known as their God if they weren’t walking in faith towards Him.
__a. Takes us back to vs. 6. If God is not ashamed of us; then conversely – He’s pleased with us. And without faith it is impossible to please God! Faith makes all the difference. Because the patriarchs showed God, God took on as His title, “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” – that’s exactly how He introduced Himself to Moses, because God wasn’t ashamed to be their God.
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17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

A. [Genesis 22]

B. Was Isaac really Abraham’s “only begotten son?” What happened to Ishmael? Yes – in the sight of God, as a result of His promises, Isaac WAS the only begotten son of Abraham. Ishmael was born out of a fleshly attempt to ‘force’ the will of God by Sarah giving her handmaiden Hagar to Abraham… Isaac was the son of the promise & Isaac was the 1st born son of Abraham & Sarah… Why? The promise was directly related to Isaac (quoting Gen 21:12), because Isaac was the genealogy that God would use to lead to Jesus!

C. So how did Abraham show faith here? Wouldn’t faith have kept Abraham from putting Isaac on the altar? After all – he would have been proclaiming his faith that this son was the son of the promise & Abraham wouldn’t compromise that promise for anything. … Of course, if he had withheld Isaac, he would have been put in a position of direct disobedience of God, thus disproving his faith. … Double-bind – catch-22? No. The only way Abraham could demonstrate his faith in both God’s promises & God’s direct command was to turn his son over to God & trust God to work a miracle. Thousands of years before Christ, Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead – and he believed it long before he even put the boy on the altar! Genesis 22:3-5 (3) So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (4) Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. (5) And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” [] Abraham trusted God’s promise that Isaac would be the seed of promise, so he knew that whatever God told him to do, God will still make Isaac the seed…even if it meant raising him from the dead.
__a. Will God ever test your faith like that? Probably not to the same extent – the picture that was painted of a father offering his only son for sacrifice has been perfectly fulfilled in Christ Jesus. … But no doubt, God will allow you to get into situations where your faith is tested. Not that God will ever tempt you with evil (He doesn’t! – Jas 1:13), but God might allow your faith to be proven. That’s not something to fear; but rather rejoice in! God often glorifies Himself in the most unlikely of circumstances: an Egyptian prison cell with Joseph – closed in at the Red Sea with Moses – in a Babylonian fiery furnace & lion’s den – and most obviously at a Jerusalem tomb. Every one of these situations looked absolutely bleak & hopeless at one point – but then God moved & people saw the glory of God!
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20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

A. Even in Jacob’s dishonesty, when he tricked his father Isaac into thinking the blessing was being given to Esau (Gen 27…) – Isaac still displayed faith in God’s word. God had told Isaac & Rebekah that the younger child would be the blessed one (Gen 25:23) & after Isaac realized he’d been tricked, he reaffirmed that the blessing had been given to God’s chosen descendant & Isaac blessed him again as Jacob was leaving to find a wife (Gen 28:3-4).
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21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

A. By his own admission, Jacob lived his life primarily as a carnal, evil man (Gen 47:9). Yet after the night he wrestled with the Angel of the Lord (the Lord Jesus), he showed flashes of immense faith, including when he blessed the sons of Joseph: Ephraim & Manasseh. It wasn’t by accident that Jacob had switched his hands to give the younger son the greater blessing; it was according to the leading of God – and prophetically absolutely accurate.
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22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.

A. Joseph had spent only the 1st 17 years of his life in Canaan; yet after a lifetime in Egypt in which he experienced all the blessings of royalty & influence, he still desired that his bones rest forever in the land of the covenant. Egypt – as good as it ended up being for him – was not his home. It was never his home. His faith was squarely in the promises of God, and he wanted his bones to be a witness to God’s faithfulness according to His promise.
__a. Which is exactly what happened! 440 years (+/-) after Joseph died, Joshua honored this promise & buried his bones in Shechem – smack dab in the middle of the promised land. (Josh 24:32)

Conclusion:
These men & women of God had faith! They acted upon God’s call – they trusted God’s word – and they looked forward to God’s promises.

But it wasn’t always that way! With the exception of Joseph, all of them experienced great lapses of faith at some point. Abraham had his deception in Egypt… Sarah laughed at the promise of God… Isaac had his deception with Abimelech… And Jacob was just a scoundrel – he has too many failures to mention! Yet how did God reveal Himself? As the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even more so…with what name did He label His people? Jacob = Israel. God is most definitely NOT ashamed to be called their God! The Holy Spirit tells us that each of these people (even with their failings) are people of faith & they are people that pleased Him.

Have you failed in faith lately? Do you feel as if God has tried to prove your faith as gold & you’re coming up as aluminum foil? Don’t give up…it’s not over yet. … Keep walking in faith – keep persevering in the power of the Holy Spirit! No doubt there are days when faith seems impossible, and those days are many…don’t give up faith! You may not know this side of heaven why you’re going through what you’re going through – BUT keep in mind that as a born-again child of God you’re going to heaven! You’re trusting in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. He’s promised to be with you till the end of the age – He’s promised to endue you with power through the Holy Spirit – He’s promised to receive you to Himself when He returns. Whatever it is you’re going through, keep your eyes on Christ Jesus! That’s how you look forward in faith…

Millennialism – Chapters 7-8

Ok…so I know what you’re thinking: “Ummm…where exactly have you been? It’s been a month since the last recap of Dr. Charles Feinberg’s ‘Millennialism’?!?” I know, I know. To be fair, this is exactly what I thought might happen when I posted the 1st article on it. But enough excuses…let’s get on with it.

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Millennialism – Ch 7, “The Kingdom in the Old Testament”

Chapter 7 is aptly named, as Dr. Feinberg traces the promises of the Kingdom throughout the Old Testament. After all, if the entirety of Premillennialism stands or falls on whether or not the Bible teaches a literal kingdom period, then it behooves us to find where it is listed. So, Dr. Feinberg takes us on a ride through the covenants. He shows traces of the promises beginning on the proto-evangelion (which I personally find a little bit of a stretch to apply it to the Kingdom; those were direct promises of Jesus Christ & the victory over sin & death) – through Abraham & the patriarchs – through Moses – through David, the prophets, etc. Over & over we see Scripture after Scripture detailing different aspects of the promised Kingdom.

The point? A literal kingdom period is not solely mentioned in the millennial verses of Revelation 20:4-6. The kingdom is *routinely* portrayed as literal throughout the whole of the Old Testament. It’s no wonder that at the Ascension of Christ, the disciples were still asking about a literal kingdom (Acts 1:6); they had every reason to expect it. After all, the prophecies regarding Jesus were fulfilled literally; why not the Kingdom?

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Millennialism – Ch 8, “The Kingdom Offered, Rejected, and Postponed”

From the Old Testament, Dr. Feinberg goes to the New…and directly into the Gospel according to Matthew. After all these prophecies showing that a Davidic King was to come, Matthew takes pains to show that Jesus is the appointed Son of David. And this Son of David preached repentance & the kingdom. And just as John the Baptist, the people would have expected (from their Old Testament prophets) that the “kingdom” would have been a literal kingdom. As Dr. Feinberg writes:

… Jesus departs into Galilee in fulfillment of the prophetic word and begins to preach: “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). That is exactly the same message as John.
Have we any right to assume that Christ meant something altogether different in the employment of those words than did John? Nor did Christ explain what was meant by those words; His hearers knew full well their import. How unwarranted is the assertion, then, of those who find that Christ’s ideas and conceptions of the kingdom involved something far removed from the thought of His hearers. Yet they declare that Christ never held to the essentially earthy or material character of the kingdom. (pg. 132)

From there, Dr. Feinberg moves though the entire book of Matthew. The Law (as given in the Sermon on the Mount, “it is the law of Moses raised to its highest power.” Pg. 133), the works of the King as shown in Matt 8-9 & the miracles, the proclamation of the kingdom to the house of Israel (through the sending out of the 12 disciples in Matt 10), the rejection of the King’s forerunner (John the Baptist – Matt 11), the rejection of the King in Matt 12. Even the parables (Matt 13) point to how the kingdom was given to some, and rejected by others.

At this point, Dr. Feinberg goes into detail on the parables – which I’ll leave to the reader to absorb. Needless to say, the parables say much about the kingdom.

But so it continues throughout Ch 8. Dr. Feinberg shows example after example of Jesus pointing to the kingdom, and not once does Christ correct any notion of the kingdom other than a literal idea. There are many spiritual aspects to be sure – but not once did Jesus say, “Stop thinking of a literal kingdom.” That is what the Old Testament prepared them to look for, and Jesus supplemented that teaching tremendously.

We’ve got a ways to go yet in this book – and I promise I will try to make the reviews more regular in their appearance. I might also begin summarizing a bit more.

To God be the glory!

Receiving Redemption

Ruth 4, “Receiving Redemption”
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Introduction:
When we last left our heroes, they were bristling with the anticipation of redemption. At Naomi’s instructions (good little matchmaker she was!), Ruth went to Boaz by night while he was threshing his harvested wheat, she laid down at his feet, & basically proposed marriage by asking Boaz to spread his wings (or skirt) over her. Boaz was happy to do it & blessed Ruth for her kindness (hesed) that was displayed towards him (and by extension, Naomi & even God!)… There was only one hitch: Boaz wasn’t the nearest of kin to be the kinsman-redeemer! There was another man, and legally he had to be offered the opportunity for redemption 1st. Yet even with that tension, Boaz assured Ruth that the matter would be taken care of that very day & he sends her off with abundant blessing.

So now what? Now the act of redemption has to actually take place. Keep in mind that this day (specifically this event) is THE event that the entire book has been leading up to. In Ch 1, Naomi & Ruth found themselves in need of redemption: they were left in a Gentile land mourning their dead husbands, and upon coming back to Israel they were facing death & starvation. In Ch 2, they started having hope in redemption as they were introduced to Boaz, who showered them with favor & instructed Ruth to come only to his field for gleaning. Naomi instantly recognized who Boaz was as family & they begin to hope. In Ch 3, they acted on that hope, and waited for their redemption as they brought their request to Boaz. Now in Ch 4 the time has come to receive that redemption. At this point, the only question is: will the redeemer be Boaz – the one whom they trusted? Or will it be someone else?

Ruth 4 (NKJV)
1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

A. The basic significance of the gate is that this is where business was done. It was a place where witnesses could easily gather, and that’s exactly what they did when transactions or contracts needed to be made. They didn’t exactly have town hall where public records could be xeroxed & accessed – this was their version.

B. Who met there? The “close relative” Boaz has mentioned earlier. Ruth had apparently gotten back to Naomi without being seen & Boaz was able to arrange a public meeting with him. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew labels him as the “goel” – the redeemer…or at least, this is who it was supposed to be. Legally, this was his 1st right, and so he bore the title of “kinsman-redeemer” (even though he never redeemed anything).

C. Boaz’s name for him is interesting. “Friend” = Hb “peloni almoni” – a phrase used to refer to any generic person. (Clarke) “Hark ye, Mr. Such-a-one of such-a-place!” … Did Boaz know his name? Of course – they were close relatives living in the same small town of Bethlehem. But in the inspiration of Scripture regarding a story where every person’s name is significant, this other relative remains anonymous. He’s not worthy of being named. Keep in mind that one of the primary purposes of levirate marriage was to carry on the name of the person who died. This 1st relative is going to try to protect his inheritance by not taking the redemption; yet his own name is blotted out for all history.
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3 Then he said to the close relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, sold the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 And I thought to inform you, saying, ‘Buy it back in the presence of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem it; but if you will not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is no one but you to redeem it, and I am next after you.’ ” And he said, “I will redeem it.”

A. Boaz offers the right (and responsibility) of the kinsman-redeemer to this other relative… [BIBLE – Lev 25:23-28] Two things about the law:
__a. The land ultimately belongs to God (Lev 25:23). Thus their responsibility to redeem it isn’t solely for family honor & inheritance; it’s a command from their King to distribute the land as He sees fit.
__b. No matter what happens regarding relatives, the land was automatically to be restored to the man (or his surviving children). Why? Because the land belongs to the LORD. (Re-emphasized for a reason! This was God’s perpetual provision for His people.)
__c. Basically what we see is not some casual real-estate deal. This is a Royal Divine Command in order to preserve His people…Boaz treats it with the utmost respect.

B. Note: Boaz definitely does want to redeem Ruth, but he’s being completely honest & up front here. Some think Boaz is being shrewd by not mentioning Ruth upfront, but that seems to be an inference from the text. By all appearances he’s legitimately offering the redemption up to the other relative. Why? It’s the right thing to do according to the law, and Boaz does things by the Book.
__a. Keep our typology in mind. Boaz adhered to the letter and the spirit of the law. So does Jesus regarding our own salvation & redemption… Matthew 5:17-18 (17) “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (18) For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. [] And that’s exactly what He did! Jesus was born of a woman, born under the law (Gal 4:4) – He was tempted in all ways we were, yet without sin (Heb 5:15) – Jesus was in every respect well-pleasing to the Father (Luke 3:22). Jesus completely honored the law in our salvation. He didn’t go find a loophole to deny the law (because the law is good! He wrote it!), but instead perfectly fulfilled the requirements of the law – even the parts that required death due to sin.

C. Mr. So-and-so actually agrees to redeem the land! Is this a good thing? Yes & no. Yes, in that it honored God by the letter of the law – this was his moral & spiritual duty & he was supposed to redeem the land. No, in that (as we’ll see in the next verses) he certainly wasn’t honoring the spirit of the law. He had a very selfish motive (to maintain & increase his own inheritance & lands) & he seemingly was only obeying the law in order to gratify his flesh.
__a. God cares about our motivations! He wants us to do the right thing, but (as we saw in Ch 3) He wants us to do it the right way as well. Both the end AND the means give glory to God; we want to glorify Him in every aspect.
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5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance.” 6 And the close relative said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I ruin my own inheritance. You redeem my right of redemption for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”

A. Boaz fills in the rest of the picture regarding Ruth. This redemption didn’t simply involve the legal aspect of the land, but also the levirate marriage responsibilities of the kinsman-redeemer. [BIBLE – Deut 25:5-10] Why this law? Because culturally, women had very little means of providing for themselves – and there was the matter of the inheritance to pass along. Thus God provided for both the widow & His covenant through the law of the levirate marriage. Those who denied their responsibility were to be shamed as a result.
__a. To modern ears, this may sound pretty weird – and even taboo. But we need to keep the culture in mind & not judge them from a 21st century mindset. There were very few (if any) jobs available for women – rarely did they own land to grow crops – and without a son to help support them, they had little hope.

B. At this point, the man refuses to redeem, and his motives become crystal clear – he’s only concerned about himself & the inheritance he’d pass on to his own children. Some scholars refrain from attributing too much motive to the 1st relative, thinking perhaps he was simply too poor to purchase the property & care for the Naomi & Ruth (and any offspring). That seems pretty unlikely (to me) in that he was perfectly willing to purchase the land (and presumably redeem Naomi); his answer only changes when Ruth gets introduced to the mix & it becomes evident that any offspring between them would receive an inheritance of the redeemed land. IOW, he had the money to purchase it; but he didn’t have the money to purchase it & then give it away to another child upon his death. It definitely illustrates that his original desire to purchase the land was for selfish gain – not for anything dealing with Naomi’s benefit or honoring God.

C. Some see a parallel between the unnamed man & the OT law. People try to use the law to redeem themselves, but they can’t. It’s simply not something the Law is capable of doing. The law makes nothing perfect (Heb 7:19) & no one is justified by the law (Gal 3:11). To be redeemed, we must go to the One who has the power to redeem: Jesus Christ!
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7 Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging, to confirm anything: one man took off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation in Israel. 8 Therefore the close relative said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself.” So he took off his sandal.

A. Also part of the law (Deut 25:9). [Cultural aspect of feet…considered dirty] This was more than the “closing of the deal”; it was also an admission of disgrace… If so, why didn’t Boaz (or the elders) spit into the face of Mr. So-and-so? Hard to say – possibly because the honor of the one needing redemption was still upheld; it was simply upheld by the 2nd in line & not the 1st. Some scholars also speculate a different reason for the sandal: that by taking off his sandal, the relative was symbolically giving up his right to walk on the land of redemption…

B. Whatever the case, the deal was confirmed. Mr. So-and-so forever relinquished his right to the land (and the women) & Boaz forever redeemed them to himself. The other relative no longer had any say or sway in the matter or their lives…
__a. Again, to use the comparison of the law, this is what happens with Jesus. We are redeemed by Him, and the Law has no more hold on us. We have become dead to the law through the body of Christ (Rom 7:4). In Christ, we are free to serve God in newness of life!
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9 And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. 10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.”

A. Boaz redeemed it all! Elimelech – Chilion – Mahlon – Naomi – Ruth – the land & any inheritances lost through sin & death, Boaz redeemed it all…

B. Jesus redeems it all! There is nothing left lost or undone when He redeems someone. It is absolutely complete. There’s no sin you committed that hasn’t been paid for; there’s no sin you will commit that hasn’t been paid for. There’s no wrath of God that’s “left over” for you to experience later; Jesus paid it ALL!
__a. What has He redeemed us with? Nothing less than His very own blood. Boaz paid a price (some unknown amount of money); Jesus paid so much more than money! 1 Peter 1:17-19 (17) And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; (18) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. [] There is no more precious price!
__b. What has He redeemed us from? Death… What has He redeemed us for? Life! Specifically, life with Himself…we’re His bride. He purchased us as His own special possession – He’s purifying us to Himself – He’s cleansed us from sin & made us into new creations & His body. Why? So we can glorify Him forever as the Bridegroom as we spend eternity in His presence.

C. BTW – notice the order. Boaz redeemed Ruth, but to do so, he had to redeem the land. Did Boaz need the land? No – of course not. Outside of the law requiring that he purchase the land, he had no need of it. He had plenty (as demonstrated by the gleaning). He bought the land to get the bride. (Smith) “In that he becomes a very beautiful picture of Jesus Christ, who bought the world in order that He might purchase His bride, the church, out of the world.” Matthew 13:44-46 (44) “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (45) “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, (46) who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. []
__a. We’re the treasure to Jesus! He gave all He had – He left His glory in eternity with the Father to humble Himself as a man in the flesh…He was humiliated & rejected by those He came to save…He died the death of a curse (the cross). He gave everything in order that the price might be paid for us.
__b. ‘Wait a second…I’m not worth anything. I’m certainly no treasure!’ Outside of Christ, you’re absolutely right. But in Jesus, you’re washed, clean, and precious to Him. As Peter writes, we’re a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people” (1 Pet 2:9). That’s not because of who WE are; it’s everything because of who HE is. Jesus called us apart & made us His saints. THAT is definitely a treasure!
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11 And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said, “We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the LORD will give you from this young woman.”

A. The elders & people confirm the redemption transaction & the wedding – and in fact, the wedding is the major focus. This is one more indication that the 1st relative missed the whole point. He was looking to increase his land without personal cost & Boaz saw the land as just the means to share his love with his bride.

B. They give a blessing. And what a blessing it is! That God would make:
__a. Ruth “like Rachel & Leah”: to go from widowhood & childlessness to life & motherhood. That she would bear many children to the glory of God…
__b. Boaz “prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem”: 2 names for the same city/region. God certainly answered that! Boaz has been famous for thousands of years & far beyond Bethlehem. 
__c. Boaz’s house “like the house of Perez”: This is particularly interesting, considering the circumstances of Perez’s birth… [Judah & Tamar – Gen 38] Yet even after that infamous beginning, Perez was still considered blessed. He was originally the 2nd child, but came out with the birthright – Genesis 38:27-29 (27) Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb. (28) And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” (29) Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” Therefore his name was called Perez. [] Consider the parallel here for the blessing…the 1st redeemer withdrew his hand & the 2nd redeemer received the blessing & honor. Perez was considered to be the father of those in Bethlehem, so it naturally fit.
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13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son.

A. Redemption was consummated. (Obviously NOT at the gate! )
B. Somewhat off-topic, but we see something pretty interesting here: “the LORD gave her conception.” We know the physical mechanics of conception, but from where does the conception of life actually begin? The LORD! … … And if the Lord brings forth life at the moment of conception, that speaks volumes about our so-called “right to abortion.” It’s not OUR right. Outside of providing the environment, WE didn’t do anything to create life. Conception is from the Lord & that life is HIS.
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14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! 15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”

A. Naomi also received a blessing…but 1st they praised the Lord. Every good & perfect gift is from above (Jas 1:17), and that especially applies to children!

B. They also prayed for Naomi’s “close relative”/redeemer. Note here, it’s not a reference to Boaz, but to Boaz’s son Obed – “has borne him”. Him = “a close relative.” How is baby Obed a redeemer? They prayed he would be:
__a. “a restorer of life”: Naomi’s husband & 2 sons were all dead & gone. She had come back to Bethlehem, not as “Pleasant” (Naomi), but “Bitter” (Mara). But out of the depths of her mourning, there is new life in the form of her grandson & heir. Truly he restored life to her.
__b. “a nourisher of your old age”: Just as Boaz as a redeemer helped to feed & care for Ruth & Naomi during the gleaning, Obed would have the responsibility of caring for his grandmother in her old age when she could no longer provide for herself.
__c. Is this a prayer for Obed? Sure – but it seems likely it’s not just a prayer for Obed, but prophetically for the One who would come from Obed’s line: Jesus. Jesus IS a restorer of life… Jesus IS our nourisher…

C. Ruth is praised as well! She was “better…than seven sons.” High praise! Ruth cleaved to Naomi through the worst of times & because of her faithfulness, she was the vessel God used to provide for Naomi’s inheritance & old age.
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16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. 17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

A. Naomi was the child’s nurse/primary caretaker. Common practice for the time – but considering Obed was legally the heir of Elimelech, he was also considered Naomi’s son, so this is quite appropriate on several levels.

B. Translation “Obed” = servant (or worshipper…short for “Obadiah” – servant of God) – wonderful name for the boy who was brought about through this redemption! It’s a recognition that through their redemption, they are servants of the Most High God & worshippers of Him. And this servant ultimately leads to the “Suffering Servant,” the Son of David, Jesus Christ.
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18 Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; 19 Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; 20 Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon; 21 Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; 22 Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

A. Ending genealogy. Potentially some generations are skipped (not unusual), but here we see 10 generations leading from Perez to David…which of course makes this a wonderful bridge to 1-2 Samuel where we see the rise of the Davidic Kingdom. Interesting people here:
__a. Perez – who was born out of wedlock from Tamar’s relationship with her father-in-law Judah.
__b. Salmon – who married Rahab the harlot (Josh 2) & begot Boaz.
__c. Boaz – who married the Moabitess Ruth.

B. So what? So this isn’t just David’s genealogy; it’s Jesus’. And Jesus had Gentiles, prostitutes, and near-incestuous relationships in His family tree. … … Talk about the grace of God!

Conclusion:
Talk about your happy endings! Naomi is redeemed & has an heir for her late husband. Ruth is redeemed & brought into covenant relationship with the people of God. Boaz gains a wife & family. The Messianic line continues several more generations until God brings Jesus forth in the fullness of time. Keep in mind, it didn’t start out looking like it was going to be this way. If the historical record had stopped at Ch 1 – we would have mourned with those who mourned. But God wasn’t done with them yet. God wasn’t done until they were redeemed!

So what do we do now, once we’re redeemed? One thing’s for sure: we don’t go back to gleaning! [Ray Stedman – no “second book of Ruth”] We have been freed from the law of sin & death – we have been bought with a price & made the bride of Christ. We need never doubt His word, nor try our feeble attempts to please Him through the law. Instead we rejoice as His chosen & purchased possession – we worship Him in spirit & truth – and we live for His glory every day!

Faith That Pleases God

Hebrews 11:1-7, “Faith That Pleases God”
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Introduction:
[Hebrews 11:1-7] To this point, the author of Hebrews has argued that Jesus is indeed the Son of God Who is superior to every angel, every prophet, every priest, every covenant, and every sacrifice that came before… Now that he’s proven that to any (honest) 1st century Jewish Christian, what does that person do with it? By this point, this person knows to hold on to Christ & not to cast off his faith for anything (because there’s absolutely no substitute for Jesus – no other option). But what would it look like practically to hold onto Christ? Keep in mind that Judaism by this point wasn’t so much the faith of Moses & David as it was a highly technical & legalistic derivative of it. All the 1st century Jewish people knew to do to please God was to bring offerings, sacrifices, and do other good deeds (ritual washings, fastings, etc.). What was a Jewish Christian to do once he/she was convinced that Jesus’ work is the only sufficient work to be done?

Answer: have faith! Believe God through faith – worship God in faith – walk with God through faith. The ONLY way to please God is through faith in Jesus Christ, and that’s what the Scripture teaches in this chapter. What’s one of the best ways to teach? By example! And that’s what the author of Hebrews does throughout Ch 11. 1st he defines faith; then he describes faith by using examples that stretched through the gamut of the history of Israel. We’re not going to get too far into the examples today; just the 1st three. But those 1st 3 demonstrate MUCH about faith! Faith in God makes us righteous to God. Faith in God makes us pleasing to God. Faith in God makes us obedient to God.

Hebrews 11:1-12 (NKJV)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

A. When it comes to a definition of “faith”, this is the opposite of what many people would expect to find! After all, to many people’s point-of-view, we only make a leap to faith when we don’t have hard evidence to hold on to. The atheist often argues that because science has not found conclusive evidence of the existence of God, that the believer is forced to “retreat” to faith in order to believe that God is real. … (There are many things wrong with that idea – if nothing else to say that Creation is itself one of the most powerful & prevalent evidences of a Creator that can possibly be found. Simply because the atheist chooses to ignore the obvious doesn’t mean that evidence doesn’t exist.)

B. Scripture claims the opposite. Not only is faith NOT a retreat away from evidence; but faith is the evidence itself. Just as our sense of smell verifies the perfume of a rose & our sense of taste verifies the sweetness of sugar, so faith is like a “sense.” But instead of sensing & verifying what can be seen, it’s a verification of what cannot yet be seen. We do not yet see the scars in Jesus’ hands, but faith tells us one day we will see Him face-to-face. We do not yet see heaven, but faith tells us that we have a confident hope that heaven is exactly where we’ll be for eternity. God tells us these things through His Scriptures – we believe His word & promises, and thus our faith informs our mind of what we would not otherwise comprehend.

C. Question: if faith is itself the evidence, then what stops other religions/cults from claiming the same argument? Mormons typically claim a “warming” in their spirit – and they place their faith in the writings of Joseph Smith. On the other side of the spectrum, there seems to be no lack of supply of Islamic terrorists willing to strap on explosives & become suicide bombers. Say what you will about their doctrine, the one thing we cannot accuse them of is to say they don’t have faith… What makes the difference for the Christian? Answer: the difference is the object of our faith! This isn’t a he-said-she-said argument where we can randomly choose which religion is correct. Truth is truth. Either Christianity is correct, or some other religion is correct, or NO religion is correct…but one of those options MUST be true. So can the Christian know that our faith is a well-informed faith? Yes!
__a. We have the testimony of Creation (which we’ll get to in vs. 3)
__b. We have the testimony of the Law, written on our hearts (Rom 2:15)
__c. We have the testimony of the Resurrection, without which our faith would be futile (1 Cor 15:17)
__d. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit, Who is our seal & guarantee of eternity (2 Cor 1:22)
__e. We have the testimony of the Church gone before us (which is one of the points of the rest of Ch 11). How else would Peter have gone from denying Jesus to bold proclamation? Would murderous Saul have become the apostle Paul? Would the apostle John be dipped in boiling oil & still willing to rejoice & write of Christ in exile? Would Polycarp (the Bishop of Smyrna) be willing to be burned solely because he would not deny his Lord? And the list goes on.
__f. We have a well-informed – a well-attested faith!

D. Faith is described in 2 ways here:
__a. “substance”: Gk word is actually a compound, “under” + “stand/establish”… Could think of it as “undergirding” or the “essence” or “substance” of something. (Same word “hypostasis” comes into play later with the Nicene Creed showing that Jesus is of the same essence/substance as the Father). With that in mind, we think of the things “hoped for” = salvation, heaven, etc. and our faith is THAT substance. It’s the foretaste & assurance of what’s to come.
__b. “evidence”: Other translations may have “convictions.” The Gk has the idea of “proof” – as in the proof in an argument or debate. There are many things about our salvation that remain unseen, and our faith is the convicting proof/evidence that those things exist.
__c. Put these ideas together, and we have faith being the substantive sense – the logical evidence that the unseen things are true. It’s not talking about proof as in “I gotta prove it to someone else,” but rather, “How do I keep walking in Christ, even though I’m dealing with unseen things? What do I have that is solid to hang onto during unsure times?” The answer: FAITH!
____i. What this looks like exactly is the same question most of this Chapter is concerned with! We get example after example of what faith looks like in real life…

E. What is this NOT saying? [Word/faith – positive confession] Just because we might really want to believe something to be true doesn’t mean that it IS true. Our faith/belief doesn’t make it reality. You can ‘declare’ yourself wealthy all day long, but if you’re not working for extra, there won’t be another penny in the bank when you go to bed. The problem people get into here is that (just like the cultists) they put their faith in the wrong object. Instead of trusting Jesus & simply putting their faith in Him, they’re putting their faith into their own faith. It’s what THEY proclaim – it’s the words THEY say – it’s how much THEY believe that matters. None of that has anything to do with Jesus. Our faith must be in HIM; not ourselves.
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2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

A. “Elders” = those Hebrew believers that had come before. The rest of Ch 11 outlines the testimony of these elders in the faith…

B. Brings up an interesting point: to the author, the elders of the OT Hebrews are also the elders of the Church. Obviously he’s writing to Jewish Christians, so we’d expect him to pull examples from their cultural heritage. But don’t miss the fact that he’s (via the Holy Spirit) is pointing to them as examples of people who had genuine faith that pleased God (vs. 6). IOW, he’s talking about people in the OT who were saved. … We tend to think that people just were saved after Jesus went to the cross – but keep in mind that Jesus was slain for our sin from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). Thus for OT saints, they could look to the sin sacrifice of the Messiah just as we can. They may not have understood everything as well as we do – they were dealing with types & shadows – but just as we look back to the Cross, they looked forward. … (Eph 2:8-9)…
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3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

A. What’s the 1st thing we understand by faith? Creation… [no excuse] Romans 1:20-21 (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (21) because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [] Believers & non-believers alike should be able to look at the visible world & understand it has an invisible Creator. Christians then know by faith that its Creator is the God of the Bible. “The worlds” = Gk αἰών (“eons”) – sometimes used as a reference of time, but contextually here speaking of everything in the known universe. The planets, stars, cosmos – even time itself. All of it was created by the word & the will of God. And we understand that by faith.
__a. “But I thought you said Creation was ‘evidence’; not faith!” It is evidence, but it takes faith to draw the conclusion from the evidence to understand that God created everything. Despite its protestations, evolutionary science is no different. They start with the presupposition (faith) that there is no God & no supernatural & then proceed to interpret the known evidence in light of that presupposition. That is an act of faith; only their ‘god’ is glorified human knowledge & Darwin is its prophet.

B. What do we understand about the worlds? That they “were framed by the word of God.” Not random chance – not carbon atoms randomly combining in a primordial mess. God had a specific design & that specific design came into being by His word. How specific is our universe? Very! Just looking at planet earth, we find that life could not exist if the planet was 2-5% closer to the sun or 2-5% further away – if the oxygen/nitrogen ratio in the atmosphere was changed at all – if we got any less than a 1% change in the amount of sunlight that reached the earth (changing the global temperature), and more! And that’s only the macro scale – if you take it down to the micro, it becomes even more astounding. Dr. John Marcus (biochemist), “If the DNA of one human cell were unraveled and held in a straight line, it would literally be almost one meter long and yet be so thin that it would be invisible to all but the most powerful microscopes. Consider that this string of DNA must be packaged into a space that is much smaller than the head of a pin and that this tiny string of DNA contains enough information to fill almost 1,000 books, each containing 1,000 pages of text.” (In 6 Days, pg 174, ed. Ashton) We have been framed/designed/created by God!

C. How were the worlds framed? “By the word of God.” Gk ῥῆμα – specifically the “spoken word” of God (per Gen 1). The things that are visible came into existence via invisible means: the sheer will and word of God. Even today, we are dependent upon the will of God: “in him we live, move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28) – Jesus is “before all things & in Him all things consist” (Col 1:17)… God spoke, and that’s all it took!

D. Not only is His spoken word invisible, the word of God brought all matter into being using building blocks which are virtually invisible. On the face of it, science backs this up completely. The universe is not made up of visible fire, air, earth, and water (per ancient scientists, including Aristotle), but rather all matter is composed of atomic particles far too small to be seen by the naked eye (and vast amounts of space in-between). Truly the Scripture is amazingly accurate (especially for its day) by proclaiming “the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
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- We have two major categories of testimony regarding God, demonstrating Whom in which we should have faith. One is obviously what we see around us: creation. The other is a great cloud of witnesses, which is the subject of vss. 4-40.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

A. We often speak of Stephen being the 1st martyr of the church, but in one sense, the 1st person ever killed for his faith was Abel. Genesis 4 tells us that both Cain & Abel (the 1st sons of Adam & Eve) brought sacrifices to God, but that God respected Abel’s offering & did not respect Cain’s (Gen 4:4-5).

B. Genesis is silent on the matter, but here we’re told why was Abel’s sacrifice “more excellent” than Cain’s. Many people speculate that it had to do with Abel bringing an animal & Cain bringing what he grew from the ground – or that Abel brought the prime of his flock & Cain gave what was left over. Certainly some of that may be true – but specifically we’re told that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted because “he was righteous.” IOW, it wasn’t what Abel brought that made him righteous; his sacrifice was acceptable due to his righteousness. Jesus affirmed that Abel was righteous (Matt 22:35)…that was simply how God saw him.

C. Question: “Don’t the Psalms (and Rom 3) tell us that none is righteous, no not one? How could Abel be righteous?” That’s the point of the passage. Abel wasn’t righteous in & of himself; he was made righteous through faith in God. That was the lead-in to Ch 11 – the just shall live by faith… Because Abel had faith in God (probably the promise of the coming Messiah given to his mother – Gen 3:15), it was exemplified by the offering he brought to God. The fact God received Abel’s sacrifice is a witness that God had already made him righteous by faith.
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5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

A. Enoch was a larger figure in Jewish culture than he is today (several apocryphal books written by or about him). NT affirms that Enoch was indeed a prophet, but the church did not recognize his books as inspired Scripture. Our account for him is virtually all in Genesis 5:21-24. He was the father of the oldest man in the Bible (Methuselah) & the grand-father of Noah. Other than that, all we know is that he missed his appointment with death because God took him. (1st rapture in the Scripture!)

B. Again, we get more information here than what’s found in Genesis (best commentary on the Bible is the Bible!). In the Hebrew version of Genesis, we’re not told why God took Enoch; but in the LXX, it says it was because “he pleased God.” “And Enoch was well-pleasing to God. And he was not found, for God transposed him.” (Gen 5:24, LXX) Obviously the NT affirms that thought here in Hebrews. What work could Enoch possibly have done to please God? None. The only thing Enoch had was faith! His faith alone was pleasing to God.
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6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

A. Don’t miss out on this; this is a vital part of the gospel! When it comes to ‘religion,’ this is where many people fall short, including many professed ‘Christians’. To some, they think that as long as they walked forward at an evangelistic meeting, and prayed a prayer, that they could be pleasing to God if they walked as moral, upstanding citizens from that day forward. Hear me carefully: that is not the gospel. … When someone is grieved over their sin, and they throw themselves upon the mercy, grace, and love of God because of the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ, it’s because they are placing all their faith & trust in HIM – in Jesus alone for forgiveness from sin & new life. It’s not about trying to do enough good deeds to try to please God – that’s works-righteousness. It’s all about pleasing God through faith in His Son. And when we do that, then our lives & actions are changed as a result… Do you understand the difference? We’re not pleasing to God because of our work (ever!); we’re pleasing to God because of faith in Jesus’ work. … This verse makes it perfectly clear: without faith in Jesus Christ as a foundation, pleasing God is not just a difficult task; it’s an impossible one.
__a. Does this mean that works are useless? Absolutely not! Works borne out of faith are a powerful testimony to our faith (as we’ll see with Noah). James affirms that without works, our faith is dead (Jas 2:17). But faith is the starting point! And without faith, it is impossible to please God.

B. So what does faith in God look like? Knowing that we come through Jesus Christ (the door – the way, truth, & life), how do we come to God? Two aspects:
__a. 1st, we “must believe that He is” – seems pretty basic & it is. We must believe that God exists. But this is far more than mental assent that ‘there is a God somewhere – any God’; this is a belief in the One True God – the God of the Bible revealed through Jesus Christ. We must believe that God is the I AM.
__b. 2nd, we must believe “that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” I.e., we must believe that God is a God of His word – that He is faithful to His promises & does what He says He will do. Jesus told us to ask for the Holy Spirit & God would give Him (Luke 11:13) – Jesus told us that all who come to Him for salvation, He will by no means cast out (John 6:37). God is absolutely faithful! We can trust Him to be true to His promises, so we can seek Him diligently.

C. But what about Romans 3? Romans 3:10-11 (10) As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; (11) There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. [] The fact that no one seeks God is an essential part of Paul’s argument that all (100% of mankind) is in need of salvation. Is this a contradiction in the Bible? No – quite the opposite. Romans 3 & Hebrews 11 go hand-in-hand on this point. Left to ourselves, we don’t seek God. We are born with a sinful nature & go on sinning day by day. But through the grace of God, we are convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment through the Spirit (John 16:8) – through the grace of God someone is sent to share the gospel with us (Rom 10:15) – through the grace of God, the Father draws us to Jesus (John 6:44) – and THEN we respond in faith, by seeking the Lord Jesus in repentance…
__a. In addition, notice that faith is not a one-time event for any of the men & women listed in the Hall of Faith. The author isn’t only writing of the act of justification from sin; he’s writing about our ongoing walk with Christ Jesus. And the only way our walk with Him can be pleasing to God is through faith. Through faith, we continue to seek after God day by day: in prayer, worship, & the Scriptures… We continue to seek His face in faith receiving the grace He offers us for daily life.
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7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

A. Noah picks up in Gen 5 & lasts through Gen 9. Hebrews just hits the bare highlights.
__a. Should we believe the Genesis account regarding Noah? Jesus did, and referred to it in literal terms & a parallel to how people would act in the end times (Matt 24:37-39). If you consider yourself a Christian, that alone should take away any doubt whatsoever!

B. What was “not yet seen” by Noah that he was warned about? Obviously the destruction of the earth through global flood – but this could even be a reference to rain itself. To this point, there seems to have been no rain on the earth; just a mist that arose every morning to water the ground (Gen 2:5-6). Talk about having faith in the word of God! Before any rain existed, God told Noah to build a boat on dry land. Imagine the ridicule Noah must have endured…it took faith to follow through!

C. Why did Noah build the ark? To save his family, for sure – but most of all because he was “moved with godly fear.” Not talking about terror & shaking in his boots for what was coming, but Noah had a reverent, pious awe of God. He believed that God was, and that God kept His promises. God promised to destroy the earth, so Noah acted upon that promise, per the word & enabling of God.

D. In the end, what is Noah known for? Obedience. Noah’s obedience demonstrated his faith in God. He “became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Because of Noah’s faith, he built the ark – and through the events on the ark, he became a physical heir to the promises in that God delivered him through the flood.

Conclusion:
There are many more people to see in Ch 11 – but we get started with three:
A. Abel: His faith made him righteous in the sight of God & his worship was acceptable.
B. Enoch: His faith made him pleasing in the sight of God & God rewarded him.
C. Noah: His faith made him obedient to the word of God & God delivered him.

What do they all demonstrate? Walking with God in faith. There is simply no other way possible to approach Almighty God other than faith – specifically faith in Jesus Christ. So let’s take it back to where we began today: are you like that 1st Century Jewish Christian who’s lost on how to approach God if you can’t do it through good deeds? So many people get the idea that someone’s a “good Christian” if they do XYZ, and as long as you do XYZ, then that’s what makes you a Christian. Wrong. Someone’s not a good Christian because they help old ladies cross the street & bake an apple pie for their neighbors. That’s something a Christian might do; but that doesn’t make them a Christian. Baking a pie will go a long way to please your neighbor, but without Jesus, it won’t do anything to please God.

The ONLY way to please God is through faith. We must believe that He is: that He is truly the God of the Bible who sent His only begotten Son to the world to die for our sins & rise again from the grave… We must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him: that He is true to His promises & those who seek Him by placing their faith & trust in Jesus Christ will be born again of the Holy Spirit & will spend eternity with Him in heaven. THAT is pleasing faith in the sight of God.

Christian: you know you believe that; now what? Keep walking in faith. Keep worshipping God in faith. Keep obeying God in faith. Keep on believing – keep on trusting – keep on knowing that God is faithful to His word.