Send Us a Man

After the Israelites had finished their forty years of wandering in the desert, Moses said to them,

¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. [Deut. 18.15-18, ESV]

 Moses was reminding them of the time forty years previously, when they arrived at the base of Mount Horeb/Sinai and God appeared on the top of the mountain as fire, smoke, and lightning, and spoke through thunder, and the Israelites were afraid. [Exod 19.16-20] Essentially what the Israelites were saying was that God was frightening, and would he please send them a man who was not frightening. So, God agreed and promised to send a man, and God would put his words in this prophet's mouth.

Fast forward some centuries to the end of the period of the judges, during the time of Samuel the prophet:

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “ ... Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. ... ²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”  [1 Sam 8.4-5, 20, ESV]

And Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. [1 Sam 8.6-7, ESV]

 Effectively what the elders were saying was that God was too remote, so they wanted a man sent to them, whom they could see and hear. So, Samuel first anointed Saul to be their king, and later he anointed David to be king. During David's reign, God said to David:

¹² When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. [2 Sam. 7.12-14]

 God promised to send a man, who would be his own son to reign forever on David's throne.

Twice God the Israelites spurned God's presence among them and his direct leadership, and twice God agreed to meet their expressed desires for a man instead. The Israelites did not know it, but God had already formulated a secret plan before the beginning of time to meet their expressed desires while meeting his own great desire to live among his people, and lead them directly. So a few hundred years later, God started sharing his secret plan with Isaiah:

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. [Isaiah 7.14, ESV]

Immanuel means "God with us". In that infant son, God would be present among his people. A few chapters later in the book of Isaiah, more information is given about this infant:

⁶ For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. [Isaiah 9.6-7, ESV]

The baby boy would be Mighty God himself, and the everlasting king of Israel. So in the fullness of time, the promised man--king and prophet--arrived, robed in swaddling clothes and enthroned in a manger. He arrived with an army of singing angels and was watched over by the shepherds of the Passover lambs.

Jigsaw Puzzle of Life

As we go through life, we all collect bits of information about various things. Some bits come from our own experiences, while others come from stories we have heard or read. These bits of information are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and each of us has the challenge of trying to assemble our own puzzle of life. How we assemble our individual puzzles helps each of us understand where we came from, what our purpose is, what visible and invisible forces affect us, and what our connection is to the people and things and forces around us. Based on our understanding, our world view, we try to live the good life, maximizing our happy experiences and minimizing our unhappy ones. Everybody does this, from penthouse dwellers in New York City to jungle dwellers in Papua New Guinea.

If I go to the store and buy a jigsaw puzzle, there are some things I can be sure about. First of all, the finished puzzle will have a well-defined border and all the pieces in the box will fit inside that border. Secondly, the label on the box will me how many pieces are in the puzzle, whether it be 100, or 250, or 1000. Thirdly, I can be very confident that all the pieces in the box are genuine, quality pieces and all will connect nicely to the other pieces, forming a complete, tidy puzzle. In the store-bought puzzle box, there won't be any pieces that don't belong to the puzzle. The puzzle of life is different. First of all there is no box. The puzzle doesn't appear to have a well-defined border, so I don't know how big or what shape it is supposed to be. I don't know how many pieces it is supposed to have, so I don't know when I will be finished putting it together. Throughout my life, I have accumulated thousands of bits of information, or puzzle pieces, but I don't whether I have enough pieces to complete my puzzle, or whether I have too many. I don't even know if all the pieces I have are of good quality and genuine, or whether some of them are phony, representing false or imprecise information. Some quality pieces that I collected may have gotten faded or deformed by going through the laundry of my brain, and so no longer fit well.

When I assemble a store-bought puzzle, I usually start by sorting the pieces into little piles of  pieces that seem to go together. I assemble each pile winding up with a bunch of  disconnected "islands" like a house, a mountain, a cloud, a tree, a face, or a fish. After arranging the islands how I think they ought to be arranged, I use the remaining pieces to connect the islands, until there are no more gaps. Likewise with my puzzle of life, I have assembled a hundreds of islands of understanding--American history, how to use a credit card, the Kingdom of God, what food is good for me, God's love for me, astronomy, Sudoku, my wife, and so on. Some islands have been connected to other islands, but some are still not connected to anything. Many of my islands have a lot of holes in them, because I haven't found the pieces that fit into the holes. And I have a lot of loose pieces left over that don't seem to fit anywhere yet. On top of all that, I am not 100% sure that I have correctly assembled the islands that I have.

But I am not alone in my struggle. The apostle Peter told about the Old Testament prophets, who  "searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing." Even though God gave them some very special pieces to their puzzle of life, he did not give them all the pieces, so they ended their lives with unconnected pieces.

There is a special Greek word mysterion that occurs a few times in the New Testament that is usually translated "mystery." In the ancient Greek world, it was sometimes used in a military sense to describe a general's complex battle plan. The general would share parts of the plan with each of his officers, so each officer would know enough to do his own part, but not enough to understand the whole plan. Each officer would then implement his part in faith, trusting that the general had a winning plan. It was not until the battle was won that the entirety of the secret plan was revealed to all the officers.

Paul uses this term in Ephesians 3:

the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. [Eph 3.4b-6, NIV]

God formed a secret plan at the beginning of time, and has been working on it ever since. In each age, as his plan is implemented, he shares additional pieces of the puzzle with key people, but he has yet to share all the pieces. That won't come until the end. Until then, I have to be content with the fact that I will never have all the puzzle pieces in this lifetime. But the Lord will make sure I have the pieces that I need to implement my part in his plan. So, even though I will never finish, I have the joy and challenge of working with the pieces I have.

There is one very key puzzle piece, a part of the mystery of God's will which Paul shares in his letter to the Ephesians which is "to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." [Eph 1.10, NIV] In my puzzle metaphor, that means that Jesus Christ needs to be in the center of my puzzle, and I need to eventually connect all of my disconnected islands directly to Jesus. If I am committed to this, then my life puzzle will come together a lot easier.

Panting for Living Water

There is a song by Martin J. Nystrom that is special to me because my last name is Herchenroeder. It starts like this:

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee

This song is special because the first three syllables of my last name means "deer in a glade". A glade is a clearing in a forest, so I have this picture in my mind of a deer in a glade or clearing between the forest and a stream of water, and the deer longs for the water--he is thirsty. A glade is not the normal habitat for a deer; it prefers the thickets of the dark forest, where it can easily hide from predators. In my picture the deer is standing in the clearing at the edge of a forest, eyeing the stream and debating whether to risk being vulnerable and go down to the stream to satisfy its thirst, or return to the security of the dark forest.

My mind tends to wander, so this mind picture of the deer frequently blends with a memory of a scene from the story of The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis. In this scene, a girl named Jill Pole is standing near a stream, and she is very thirsty, but there is a lion next to the stream, so she tries to figure out how she can get a drink without risking a close encounter with the lion. [If you are interested, this story of Jill and the stream can be found here.] In my blended picture, the deer is debating whether to go down to the stream risking an encounter with the lion, or to return to the forest. The stream with the living water and the lion are connected, the deer can't drink the living water without trusting and facing the lion, who, by the way, is not tame, but he is very good.

The deer is me. I am spiritually thirsty. I long for intimacy with God, but too often I run from the lion into the dark forest, where there is a false sense of security. However, true security and quenching of my thirst only comes from being close to the Lion. So I sing to him, "You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee..."

View from My Ceramic Throne

Daily I sit on my ceramic throne. From this lofty perch I gaze over the bathroom floor of our rented home. The floor is covered by laminate with an imitation wood finish. (For those who are not familiar with it, laminate comes in 6" x 36" planks with adhesive tabs for easy installation.) When I look at the flooring, I see the flaws. There are a couple of places where there are significant gaps between the planks. In other places, there are no significant gaps, but the seams are quite noticeable. As I look with a scornful attitude, the Lord reminds me of a particular tile on another bathroom floor that I laid with great pride few years ago. In the months that followed, due to environmental factors, "significant gaps" appeared on all four sides of that tile. Everybody sees those gaps when they walk into that bathroom.  Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged." [Mat 7.1-2]

I am temporarily humbled, but my haughty spirit did not give up. I think, "the laminate is just cheap plastic, and wood finish is fake." As I gaze, I start thinking that this laminate looks awfully familiar, and then I remember, it is very similar to the laminate that my wife and I laid on our dining room floor in our house on Merribrook Trail. We chose it because it was durable, water resistant, easy to clean, easy to install, and quite affordable. And it looked nice too. My attitude was very different when it was my floor material. Humbled again. I now remember the challenges of laying that laminate, and many of the seams did not turn out as well as I would have liked. The honest truth is that I didn't do any better with my dining room floor than those who installed the laminate at my feet. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged."

I now look away from the seams and turn my attention to the actual wood grain pattern which covers 99.9% of the floor. It looks very realistic, complete with knots and shifting colored contours. Each plank looks like an accurate photograph of a real plank, cut from a real pine tree, growing in a real forest. Dendrologists tell us that the knots and contours in the wood give us a history of the tree. So, here at my feet are faithful representations of complex stories from the past lives of real pine trees. Wow.

Praise God for the complex trees he has created. Thank God for the durable, water resistant, easy to clean, and nice looking floor at my feet, by which I benefit through no effort of my own.

New Name, Same Disease

I have a disease. It was first diagnosed in 1986 as Glandular Fever. In 1988 it was diagnosed as Epstein Barr Virus Syndrome. Then in 1995 I was told I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I just learned that my disease has a new name, Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease. It is a new name, but I still have the same disease I got in 1986. The symptoms vary a little, but it is still the same disease.

The intensity of the disease has varied over the decades. When the intensity is high--like now--I spend a lot of time lying on my back doing nothing, or at least trying to do nothing. During this time, I am never really alone. There is someone else who is known by many names--the great dragon, the ancient serpent, the devil, Satan, and the deceiver of the whole world [Rev 12.9]--who is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion, trying to devour my soul. He sows into my mind seeds of guilt, bitterness, lust, pride, despair, fantasies, or whatever fancies him at the moment.

Why does the dragon bother with someone so insignificant as me? Because of the other person who is always with me whom the dragon hates. This person has more names that anybody--King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Son of Man, Son of David, Son of God, Lamb of God, Word of God, Redeemer, Savior, Healer, Judge, Rabbi, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with Us. He is with me. [Rev 17.14; Isa 9.6; etc.]

There is a battle over my soul. The dragon seeks to destroy, while Emmanuel seeks to redeem. Emmanuel uses different weapons than the dragon. Recently he has been using phrases of hymns or worship songs that I am familiar with: "Majesty, worship his majesty," ... "who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of men," ... "singing until the evening comes." ... Sometimes just a fragment of a tune and one or two words play over and over in my head, and I wrack my brain trying to  remember what song the fragment is from, so I can sing more of it. (Sometimes I have to resort to the internet.) All these songs are rooted is scripture, the Word of God. As long as I receive these musical fragments graciously and meditate on them, the dragon is kept at bay.

The battle has many names and takes many forms throughout history from Gen 3 to Rev 20, but it is the same battle through the ages. Remember, keep on singing until the evening comes.

The New Covenant as Relationship

God has offered us a covenant, which is summarized in Heb 8.10-12:

¹⁰ This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
¹¹ And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
¹² For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

When I compare this New Covenant with the Old Covenant, which is written in the Torah [Gen-Deut], one of the things I notice is that the difference in focus. The Old Covenant focused a lot on specific activities that God would do and what Israel would do, while the New Covenant has a greater focus on the relationship between God and his disciples. In fact the phrase in verse 11, “all shall know me,” could easily have been translated “all shall have a relationship with me.” Verse 11 also says, “I will be their God, and they will be my people.” This is also about relationship. This  one sentence is very brief has often left me wondering what it means, and how is it to be lived out--being God's people. I have found Jesus' discourse in John 13.31–17.26 to be very helpful in understanding this verse. In this discourse, which is located in John's gospel between the Last Supper and Jesus' arrest, Jesus talks to his disciples about the relationship that he wants to have with them after he leaves.

Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” At first glance it might appear that the focus here on loving each other is a focus on activity, but it is really about relationship with Jesus. Our loving others is an outworking of our relationship with Jesus, and evidence that we are his disciples. How he loves me is how he wants me to love others. I am to love others as his representative.

Jesus also said,

I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, ...[John 14.16-17] ²⁶ the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. [John 14.26] he will guide you into all truth, [John 16.13]

This is all about relationship. Jesus prays, the Father gives, the Spirit teaches and guides, and the disciple receives. God's relationship with me is an extension of the preexisting relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In John 15, Jesus talks a lot about the relationship he wants with his disciples, and uses the metaphor of a vine. He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” [John 15.5]. Abide is an interesting word. It is what you do in an abode or house--you live there. You do your daily activities like cooking, eating and sleeping there. That is what Jesus wants, he wants you and me to live in his presence. He wants to be part of our daily lives. And if we do that, we will bear fruit. The question is, “What fruit?” That's up to Jesus. If we abide in Jesus and his word, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will bear the fruit that Jesus wants. I have always wondered, who is actually producing the fruit? Me or Jesus? I think it is a joint effort between Jesus and me, the vine and the branches. It is a relationship.

There is a statement that Jesus says over and over in this discourse, and that is “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.” He says this in various different ways 6 times over three chapters. [John 14.13,14; 15.16; 16.23,24,26] Jesus wants us to do what he does. He asked the Father to do something audacious, like sending the Holy Spirit to us, and he wants us act in a similar fashion. Jesus wants me, as his representative, to ask the Father to do audacious things that are relevant to what Jesus is doing.

In John 15.16, Jesus says, “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” Bearing fruit that lasts and praying in Jesus' name are tied together. Since Jesus appointed us to bear fruit, he expects us to boldly go to the father under his authority to ask for things pertaining to fruit bearing. If I don't pray like that, I might not bear much fruit.

I have barely scratched the surface of this discourse in John's gospel, but just from the little that we have looked at so far, the New Covenant is an invitation to join Jesus in his relationship with His Father and the Holy Spirit to do what Jesus is doing.

God Values Covenant

What does God value? One of the ways to discern what a person values is to see what makes them angry. In this post I will look at three situations where God was angry at Israel.

But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things; for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things; and the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel. [Josh 7.1 RSV]

Was God angry at the entire nation of Israel just because one man got greedy? It is not that simple. God was angry because he had a special agreement with Israel concerning the city of Jericho, and the terms of that special agreement were broken. In the broader context of the Old Testament, God had made a covenant with Israel, where he would take care of Israel, and part of their response was to give to him the first fruits of any of their endeavors. First fruits included things like the first sheaf of grain from a field or the first born of every womb. In the more immediate context of the book of Joshua, God had promised to give the entire land of Canaan and all of its contents to Israel, but he claimed as first fruits the first city they conquered--which was Jericho. In Josh 6.17-19 [NET] God explicitly stated that all the gold and silver in Jericho belonged to him and said of anyone who took any of these things, "you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster." God did his part and made it easy for Israel to conquer Jericho, but Achan disregarded the general covenant regarding first fruits and the special agreement regarding Jericho, so God was angry with Israel and brought a disaster to them as he had promised. His covenants and special agreements were very important to God.

This next situation takes place in the book of Exodus.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; 8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” ... now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; [Exo 32.7-8, 11 RSV]

It had been just a few months since God had led the people of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness up to the base of Mount Sinai.While at Sinai, the Israelites heard God's voice, and he gave Moses the terms of a covenant, the core of which was that he, Yahweh, would be the God of Israel, and they would have no other gods besides him. [Exo 20-23] Then Israel agreed to the covenant:

[Moses] took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.” 8 Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.” 9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. 10 They saw the God of Israel...and ate and drank. [Exo 24.7-9, 11]

 Right after all this happened, Moses went up the mountain alone to be with God, and was gone for forty days. While he was gone, the Israelites got impatient and told Aaron to make them gods to go before them, and Aaron complied. He made a gold statue of a calf, of which the Israelites declared,
“These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” [Exo 32.4] They did this when the miracles of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea were still fresh in their memories. They did this while they were still eating manna that God provided them daily. They did this just a few weeks after they had all agreed to the covenant, and Aaron and seventy other leaders had seen God and had eaten in his presence. Not only did they make an idol with their own hands, and worshiped it, but they gave the idol credit for all that God had done for them. It is no wonder that God was angry. Not only had they trashed the covenant, the basis of their relationship with him, but they had insulted him in the process. I suspect God was feeling a lot of different emotions, and anger was just one of them.

The third situation that I want to talk about is in Jeremiah 3.1-3. God said to the kingdom of Judah:

¹ “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again.
Doing that would utterly defile the land.
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.
So what makes you think you can return to me?”
says the Lord.
² “Look up at the hilltops and consider this.
You have had sex with other gods on every one of them.
You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert.
You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.
³ That is why the rains have been withheld,
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute.
You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done. [Jer 3.1-3 ESV]

God is not happy with Judah's worship of other gods. To help Judah understand how he feels, he compares the covenant relationship he has with Judah with a marriage relationship, and depicts Judah as an unfaithful wife who has chosen to become a prostitute, selling herself to all the gods around her. He is angry that she has broken the covenant once again, but he is also jealous and brokenhearted.

However, there is one thing that God values more than covenant, and that is relationship. A covenant after all is just a framework in which a relationship takes place. Even though his covenant with Israel spells out in detail the disasters that will come upon her, he would rather extend mercy and restore the relationship, than destroying her, but she must first repent.

¹² ‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure.
For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not be angry with you forever.
¹³ However, you must confess that you have done wrong,
and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.
You must confess that you have given yourself to foreign gods under every green tree,
and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord. [Jer 3.12-13 ESV]

Into the Wilderness

I have recently entered the wilderness. The wilderness, or desert, is a common topic in the Bible. It is literally a dry place without much water or vegetation or food. It is a lonely and uncomfortable place. The people of Israel went into a literal wilderness (Exodus), and so did Jesus. The Woman clothed with the sun in Rev. 12 went into a metaphorical wilderness. I have entered a metaphorical wilderness.

In Exodus God led Israel into the Wilderness. The Scriptures give several purposes for Israel to be there. The first is to sacrifice to God. Moses' message to Pharaoh was, "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God." (Exo. 3.18) God did not tell the Israelites ahead of time what the sacrifice would be. It was something they learned after they got there. In the desert they were hungry and thirsty, and did without many of the things they were accustomed to. They were homeless, and not in control. When Jesus went into wilderness his sacrifice was "fasting for forty days and forty nights." (Matt 4.1-2) When Hagar went into the desert she left everything behind. (Gen 21:14) Their sacrifices were defined by their situation.

In my wilderness, I have had to give up many of the things I was doing on a regular basis. I am living in place that is not my home. My body is not functioning as I would like it be. My response is to willingly offer my situation as a sacrifice. Paul said, "Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God." (Rom 1.1-2)

The second purpose for Israel to go into the wilderness was to be tested. Moses said to Israel, "you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not." (Deut 8.3) Likewise, "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." (Matt 4.1) It is interesting to note that the Greek word that is translated "tempt" in this verse, peirazo, could be translated either "test" or "tempt". In English the main difference between "test" and "tempt" is one's attitude concerning the outcome of a situation. A person says "tempt" when there is an expectation of failure, and "test" when there is an expectation of success. In the situation of Jesus in the wilderness, Satan expected Jesus to fail, to give up and sin, whereas God expected Jesus to succeed and overcome the situation.

They key is attitude. I can conform to this world, being full of bitterness and complaining, seeking ways to cover up my discomfort with the pleasures of this world, or I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind, trusting that God still loves me, and striving to give God the glory in every situation.

The third purpose for Israel to go into the wilderness, was simply to be with God and to be cared for by him. The Mountain of God, also called Mt. Sinai or Mt. Horeb, is in the middle of the wilderness. Israel met God there and heard his voice. (Exo 19.17-19) There the Israelites drank from water from the rock and ate manna from heaven. (Neh 9-19-21) There they became God's special possession. (Exo 19.5-6) When Jesus went into the wilderness, he was served by angels. (Mrk 1.13) The Woman clothed with the sun flew to a place in the wilderness prepared by God to be nourished for a time. (Rev 12.6,14) Hagar spoke with an angel in the wilderness and was given water and a promise for her son. (Gen 21.17-19)

In my own wilderness, I am safe and well taken care of. I have a lot of unscheduled time that I normally do not have. God is here, I have a wonderful opportunity to spend time with him, to see this situation through his eyes, and to get to know him better.

p.s.
David had good thoughts about the desert. Psa 55.4-7; 78.52-54;

God sees opportunity in the wilderness:

Behold, I will do a new thing.

It springs out now.

Don’t you know it?

I will even make a way in the wilderness,

and rivers in the desert.

20 The animals of the field shall honor me,

the jackals and the ostriches;

because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my people, my chosen,

21the people which I formed for myself,

that they might declare my praise. 

(Isa 43.19-21)

His Power and My Weakness

God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2Cor 12.9

This verse is comforting to me, because right now I feel weak. But what does it mean when I say "I feel weak"? In of itself it doesn't say much other than I feel less strong than something. Less strong than what? Less strong than other men my age, or less strong than I was a month ago, or maybe just less strong than I want to be. But the reality is that no matter how strong I am, my strength is nothing compared to God's power. God doesn't need my strength. God created me for his glory, and he gives me the level of strength he wants me to have to achieve his purposes. That is humbling, but it is also very comforting.

What does it mean that God's power is made "perfect" in my weakness? Maybe it means that because I am weak that I am not using my strength to interfere with what God is doing with his power. Or it may mean that I now have to let God do his job because I don't have the strength to do it for him. Or maybe it means that I will now have to stop wasting my time and strength doing things God is not interested in, and will now cooperate with God in doing what he wants to accomplish. Jesus alludes to this in John 15.1-2, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” God has pruned my strength. I believe he wants me to bear new fruit, fruit that I would not otherwise have borne if I'd had more strength. And I think He wants to get the glory from this fruit.

Introduction to Blog

I like God. Not just any God, but the God who introduced himself to Moses as "I am", and the God that Jesus called "my father". I like to learn about God and from God. I like spend to spend time thinking about God and talking to him. I like the Bible because it helps me learn about God and learn from him. I like talking about God. That is why I am writing this blog. I want to talk about what I am learning and thinking about God.

In my life I have read a lot of theology--the study of God. Some theology books treat God as if he were a specimen to be analyzed and his characteristics catalogued. Others treat God like a machine and read like a users manual informing users how to use the machine to get the best results. I would rather talk about God as a person with a personality, values, plans, projects, relationships, and even incomprehensible quirks. I want to write about the God I am getting to know. So, this brings us to the title of this blog, TheoKnowance. It is word that I just made up with three parts: theo from Greek meaning "God", know from English meaning "to know", and ance from French meaning "an ongoing activity". So TheoKnowance is the ongoing activity of knowing God.

I doubt if anything I say in this blog will actually be original. I suspect that everything I say has been said multiple times over the past few thousand years. So right up front I am going to give credit to the human race for all my ideas, but also acknowledging that the God's Holy Spirit has had a big influence on the good things said by humans. I will quote and paraphrase a lot of scripture, but many times I will neglect to name the translation that I am quoting from. Mostly it will be from the World English Bible (WEB), the English Standard Version (ESV), or the Revised Standard Version (RSV).

This blog is dedicated to the glory of God.