A Moabite King?

The author of Ruth ruthlessly reminds us of her heritage. She was from Moab. No, she was not the mother of all [insert any word that starts with "b"]. She was from a land south of Israel through which the Hebrew fugitives fled. A curse was pronounced upon them by Moses that no Moabite even down to the 10th generation could enter the temple (Dt. 23:3).

Unlike other nationalities, the Israelites were not explicitly forbidden to marry with these people. It certainly would have been distasteful, but not forbidden.

What is so amazing about the fact the Ruth is a Moabitess is that King David is her descendant, and sooner than the 10th generation by the lineage at the end of the book. David, by the Deuteronomy command should not have entered the temple. And yet the grace of God, and His choosing changed that. Furthermore, David serves as a picture of the coming King, the true Priestly King Jesus. Also in the line of Ruth, Jesus then is in a sense born outside the temple. He represents a people forbidden from the presence of God. He stands for all of those not allowed to come into the temple, either because of their imperfections or their descent. He too was a descendant of a Moabitess and yet was not only allowed into the temple, but was even greater than the temple itself (Mt. 12:6).

Sin - Irrational Self Destruction

The ancients have always noted that sin is a perversion of the good. As such, it only exists because of the good. However, in seeking the destruction of the good, it irrationally seeks its own demise.

Freely Enslaved - Free to Redeem

¹⁵ If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. ¹⁶ Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him. --Deut. 23:15-16

The Law is clear. Fugitive slaves are to find refuge in our midst. The Jewish people were a bunch of fugitive slaves from Egypt, how could they send slaves back to their masters, when God had not sent them back to Egypt?

In the New Testament, we find Paul, a man well-versed in Scripture, returning a runaway slave, Onesimus, to a brother in Christ at Colossae! Did Paul not memorize his memory verse one week, or was something deeper going on here?

I think there are three reasons why Paul acts in a way contrary to this command:

1. Sent Onesimus back as a brother, not a slave, because

2. He (Paul) took the slave debt upon himself. Therefore,

3. Onesimus was wiling to lose his freedom and become a slave to all for the Lord's glory and the saving of many.

Let's treat each one in more detail.

1. Onesimus was returning as a brother, not a slave.

In Philemon 16, Paul tells Philemon that he is sending Onesimus back, "no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother." Paul was confident in Philemon's kindheartedness and ability to follow the Holy Spirit. He was also confident in the Holy Spirit's work in Onesimus's life such that he was willing to call Onesimus a brother and send him back. But to send him back as a brother, is to restore a family. To send him back as a slave would be treason. But Paul sees this as a different situation than that of a slave and master, a distinction that is relationally lost in the Gospel.

2. Paul paid the slave debt.

Paul starts this letter not on the basis of his apostleship, but on the basis of his state as a prisoner. Not only was he a physical prisoner when he met Onesimus and wrote this letter, but elsewhere he speaks of being a prisoner in another sense. In 1 Corinthians 9:19, Paul says, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible." Paul doesn't send Onesimus back as a slave. He sends him back as brother, because he has assumed the debt! Paul is the prisoner. He has become the slave!

Why would/could he do this. Well, Paul was not the first one to broach this command found in Deuteronomy. The LORD, Creator of Heaven and Earth, desired to save sinful man, who through Adam had become slaves to sin and death. When we sought refuge in Him, he didn't send us back, but He sent His own Son as a slave so that we might go free. In the same way, Paul here mediates a deal where Onesimus' debts are transferred to him, so that Onesimus can be restored to his master as a brother.

3. Onesimus was willing to make himself a slave to everyone.

Finally, Onesimus desired to (or was at least willing to) return to his former master. He had served with Paul to the degree that Paul considered him useful (v11 - a play on his name) and even sent the letter to Colossae via him. That very letter Paul teaches, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it...with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord." Onesimus was likely convinced by Paul and the Holy Spirit to return in faithfulness to his earthly master as a sign of his submission to his Heavenly Master and let the chips fall where they may.

Not only that, but like Paul, he was willing to make himself a slave to everyone so that he might win as many as possible. Onesimus had been discipled by Paul and most definitely had a compassionate and evangelistic heart. He was willing to set aside his new found freedom in order to show grace and mercy to those he served.

The Rock of Ages Brings the Water of Life

Wisdom is the ability to respond appropriately to given situation. Folly is to respond to every situation in the same way. Psalm 78 presents a wonderful juxtaposition which exposes God's eternal wisdom.

He split the waters to bring them across on dry rocks. Then, later, he split the dry rock in order to bring them water to drink.

If our God is so wise and so powerful, can he not also use all things together for our good?

Careful It Might Blow Your Mind

Detonate

Rest with God - The Crown of Creation

Whether its marriage books, theological discourses on the role of women in the church, or Christian's stating the value and wonder of women in the world, many present women as the glorious culminating jewel of creation. And they are right...to a degree.

The train of thought usually goes something like this: in each step of creation God creates something of higher order or beauty. Woman is the last thing he created. Therefore, women must be the highest or most beautiful creation of all. She is not to be disregarded as inferior, but regarded as the crown of creation.

The deduction is flawless, the premises are not. I agree that the beauty of women is something so captivating that only the glory of the Lord can trump it in the hearts of men. However, she is not the last thing the Lord created. On the seventh day, He rested. He made the seventh day a day of rest. The text says, He made it holy. He set it apart. He had another purpose in mind. Something so glorious that even woman in all her beauty could not compare. He made us for resting with him. It is the rest to which we look forward to and await in the return of Christ.

Not convinced? Unlike all of the previous days, which had a day and night, this day had no night (Gen 2:2). In Revelation 22, we see that in the eternal city there is no more night. The Lord Our God is our light. In addition Revelation 14:11, presents the opposite (eternal torment) as being a lack of rest day and night.

It took God six days to finish his work, and then rest. He has given us (mankind) all of history to complete our work, so that at its end, we may finally sit and rest with Him. So that we might too enjoy the eternal Sabbath rest. The great news is that Christ through his work on the cross, and already purchased us the right to enter into that rest now. We have the right to partake of the Spirit's rest-giving work from our merit-gaining labors. We have a blessed hope indeed.

So, sorry ladies. You really are great, but let's admit rest with God is what we were made for.

Our takeaways:

1. The Sabbath is created for us to remember how God rested

2. The Sabbath is to remind us of what we have to look forward to

3. The Sabbath reminds us of what we were really made for

Keep Your Clothes On!

Do you remember Joseph? No not the carpenter, the patriarch remembered more broadly as the star of a musical (which I've never seen).

What was so special about him anyway? Well his mother was Rachael the finer of two sisters and later wives of Israel (Jacob). She gave birth to Joseph later in life and thus Joseph became the apple of Israel's eye. Well through a course of jealousy-sparking dreams, and lack of p.c. commentary, Joseph ends up sold into slavery. His brothers then take his multi-colored cloak, dip it in blood, and present it as evidence of Joseph's death to their father.

Then, as Joseph rises to a place of privilege in Potiphar's house, his runs into the same issue. Potiphar's wife gets the hots for him and tries to lead him down a path of destruction. Joseph preferred death to sin, and so left his cloak in her hand and fled. Then, she presented his cloak to her husband as proof of Joseph's iniquity. Making Joseph as good as dead one more time.

Lesson number one: keep your clothes on. When it doubt don't let people steal your clothes.

Lesson number two: may we be reminded of the true and better Joseph, who was the favored Son of His Father. He didn't just wear a cloak of colors, he wrapped himself with all the colors of light (Ps 104:2)! And like Joseph, Jesus was sold into the slavery we deserved. Like Joseph He was stripped of all his honor. And like Joseph, because of the sin and pride and jealousy of his brothers (Heb 2:17), he was presented as dead to his Father. But unlike Joseph, Jesus actually died. He was actually turned over to the slavery of sin on our behalf. It wasn't the blood of an animal that stained his cloak, it was his very own. It was his blood presented on our behalf, that we might now share in the honor of the beloved soon.

And like Joseph's second encounter, Jesus was thrown into prison on our behalf. Like Joseph his did not love his life so much as to give into the demands of sin. No, he preferred death to sin, and lived a life that lead him to that death. So remember, keep your clothes on. Not just those fading garments of cotton and polyester, but clothe yourselves with the New Man. Clothe yourselves with the honor and love and majesty given to you by the One who set aside his cloak on your behalf.

Prefer Death to Sin

Most of humanity (I think) would take a wage instead of the work. To get paid and not have to do the work required for the payment has become the American Dream.

The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Does our America Dream reach to the spiritual application? Do I desire the wage without the work? Do I desire death instead of sin?

Wayne Grudem, in discussing death and the intermediate state, notes that the martyrs of old preferred to die rather than sin. The sin presented them was typically denial of Christ, but the general application struck me. Would I rather die than sin? If someone stuck a gun to my head and told me to steal a piece of bread, would I do it? Or out of such shear hatred of sin and godlessness would I refuse to commit even the smallest atrocity and ask for death rather than sin?

O God that you would give me the resolve to choose death over sin. That I would resist sin to the point of shedding my own blood. That if an arm or eye causes me to sin I would pluck it out, preferring to lose that part than let sin take hold of me. Let me not love my life so much as to hold it back from honoring you in resisting and conquering sin.

Redeemed by Guilt

Four years later, I finally read it. In an attempt to avoid TV and online time wasters, I went to the library to lay hold of a story that laid hold of me. Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner is a self-ascribed sad story. It has its bitter swoops and a life full of melancholy dips remedied only by the dull waves of time. I leave this book with two profound thoughts:

1. A father's love is unfathomable to the childless. Throughout the tale, Amir, the legitimate but weak Jacobian son of one of the richest men in Kabul, wrestles to gain his father's approval and affection. He would do anything. ANYTHING. As long as it would lead to the smile of approval, the embrace of acceptance, the glance of attention. In fact, he did. He, in his weakness, left his illegitimate brother (whom he thought to be a servant) to be abused and wounded so that he would gain the approval of the father. Amir was always jealous of Hassan, and the equal treatment he received. Always aware of how this Isaac of a father loved the Esau in Hassan, and desperate for even a bit of exclusive attention from his baba.

In America, they find their roles changed. the father becomes weak, unable to speak English. Nevertheless, he pushes himself to provide. He endures lowliness, humility, embarrassment. All for the good of his son. His weak-stomached, novel-reading, story-writing son.

And then, Amir meets a girl, and has baba call her parents. Things go well, and Amir is married. His baba looks at him that day and says "This is the best day of my life". Oh, how I long to know the heart of a Father who loves his weak children so much, that the proudest moment of his life, the culmination of years of laboring, providing, disciplining, comes in a single event. O How Deep the Father's Love.

2. We so desperately want to buy our own redemption, that we hope our guilt will lead to it. Despite the sadness of the story, there is redemption. There is a way to make amends, and be healed of our self-inflicted wounds.

"I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, wen guilt leads to good...I know that in the end, God will forgive..."

This is our natural reaction. We seek to cover our guilt, to bury our wrongs with a thousand offerings. If only I can outdo my sin by doing good. If only I can balance the scales. But our hearts know better. Our consciences never let us rest. We are forever indebted to the haunting reality that our good deeds do not fit us. Our guilt will only be satisfied when it kills us. It will drive us to the grave, and Amir KNEW it. He didn't feel redeemed even in the beating he got for going back for his nephew. We will only be given back value (redeemed) in the transfer of our guilt to one who was guiltless.

It is only by the blood of Jesus that we find redemption. I try to do plenty of good to cover up my iniquities, but it doesn't last. I am too weak. I am the novel reader. I am the motion sick one. I am the one incapable of standing up for those in need. I need One who stood up for me. I need one who made a way for the Father to smile at me.

Thank you Jesus for the embrace you earned, not through your guilt, but because of ours.

Abortion the new Racism

See the Table below and the abortion rates in the Black and Hispanic communities as compared to White.

Or read the whole report or maybe even just glance at some of the facts.

Amusement - Freedom from Thought

The hotly disputed Super Bowl ad purchased by Focus on the Family and starring Tim Tebow, has drawn out fierce commentary in the press. The opinions of writers (of multiple political and religious convictions) have spoken against this feature during the most-watched event on TV. Many object to the mixing of entertainment and religion as they put it. Mr. Rutten for the Los Angles Times said,

"There ought to be places in our lives that are free from profound confrontation...There are moments when we open ourselves to moral persuasion, and moments when we're entitled to simple recreation. It's the sort of distinction on which civility relies."

Putting aside my convictions about the moral obligations of any one to stand against social injustices as great as slavery, I have a few objections to the line of reasoning spread so rapidly against this use of television time. May the story below reveal the absurdity of such reasoning [or you can just skip down to see what I think below].

Steve and his wife Amy had been planning for this trip all their lives. The kids had finally all graduated college, the house was paid off, and they had worked hard. Steve often worked overtime and long hours to make sure he kept his job. Amy always found a way to pick up a house cleaning job here, a nanny position there. But now, now, they were free from all these cares. They were looking out on the placid waters of the Pacific from the shade of rented beach umbrella. As they sipped their pina coladas, Amy thought she heard a faint whisper. She thought it was one of her kids calling from the yard.

"Did you hear that," Amy nudged Steve. "It sounds like somebody calling for help."

They turned around to see one of the resort's lovely beach attendants being wrestled away by some ill-intending john. Immediately, Amy reached for her purse. Frantically dumping its contents on the sand she found her cell phone and begin to dial the police.

Steve grabbed her wrist, and demanded her gaze. "We've waited too long for this," he said. "This shouldn't be happening. We have a right to relax and not be confronted with saving that woman. We are entitled to our moment of recreation at last. Put the phone down and let's enjoy the view."

As absurd and trite as this story is, it reveals the absurdity of demanding convenience and recreation in the midst of terrible events. Along this line of reasoning, I would rather not hear about the devastating earthquake in Haiti that has killed millions of people while I'm trying to watch my cartoons and eat my cereal.

Here are my issues:

1. We don't live in a peaceful perfect world - our "right" to be free from profound confrontation on comes with the freedom of the world from profound issues. Because there are people dying of earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, there is no "right" to be free from being confronted with this issue. We don't get to choose when we are told about such events, because we don't get to choose when and where they happen. Mr. Rutten's expressed desire for freedom from such concerns is simply all of our desire for the promises of Heaven.

2. Recreation is not a right. It is a privilege. - To have free time to think, play, and enjoy life is nothing ever promised to us by anyone. Our country (which hasn't been perfect on this note) recognizes three inalienable rights: Life, Liberty, and the PURSUIT of Happiness. It does not say that we have the right to recreation or happiness. It is a privilege, something we are given. Maybe even something we earn. But it is not a right. So, to claim that we are entitled to such a thing as freedom from profound confrontation is only to betray the arrogant sense of entitlement cultivated among many well-to-do Americans.

3. Privileges bring responsibility. - Because our recreation is a privilege there come times when we need to sacrifice it for the good of others and society at large. Let us not forget this lesson. We have a chance to watch a football game for a couple of hours. The fact that millions of humans lives are flushed down drains, burned out back, crushed from the start, should be a reason for giving a few minutes of consideration in the midst of athletic entertainment.

4. Thoughtlessness is not the rock on which civility stands, but the torrent that brings it down. - The kind of thoughtless existence that Mr. Rutten supports, or at least the ability to choose when it comes, is not the backbone of society. What kingdom was made great because a King was able to choose when he was attacked and when he wasn't? What great work of science or art or achievement came from the ability to suppress big issues or be free from profound concerns? What quaterback became great who got to choose when he was free from a blitz? We should condemn such attitudes as the demise of our beloved Democracy, because if the people won't consider profound issues then who will?

I've digressed from the issue of Focus on the Family and their right (or not) to purchase an FCC approved, CBS sold commercial spot to make some people think into the realm of rebutting anti-intellectualism.

Please, America, don't stop thinking.

Saving the Bad for the Good?

Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" - Genesis 18:23-25

In a bold stance on behalf of a people he has saved before (see Gen. 14), Abraham presents an interesting stream of logic to the Lord. His train of thought is something like this:

1. Sweeping away the righteous with the wicked is wrong, because...

2. Treating the righteous and wicked alike is wrong. THEREFORE,

3. Don't judge the city. Which is really,

(4. Treating the righteous and wicked alike.)

The merciful irony of this is that God will not destroy the righteous because of the wicked, but will save the wicked because of the righteous. What a glorious double standard! And we, broken failures, are so prone to dismiss someone because of a single flaw. We throw out all the good because of the bad. O, I don't like the way she dresses. I hate the way he is so full of himself. Why don't we go with God on this one and let the good outweigh the bad.

After all, He did it for us in Christ Jesus.