EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

I always admire people who can quote from books or movies in conversation. Sometime it doesn’t matter if you have read the book or seen the movie, but other times you don’t get it – but nod agreeingly because they obviously know what they are talking about. When we read Matthew we will get so much depth and understanding if we take the time to study the books that he is quoting from.

This year has been insightful, eye-opening and challenging on multiple levels. This was a great book to end with – though I wish I wasn’t so busy getting my things packed to have spent more time wrestling with Jesus’ interpretation of the law.

Mark, who taught this book, challenged us to live the kingdom in our society. He challenged us to prove this generation wrong about what they think that Christians are like. Our generation has become “dechurched”: spent significant time around Christians and in our churches but have left them unimpressed. My general impression is that Christians respond the wrong way to this kinds of information. I usually find Christians are either pessimistic or optimistic about changing the minds of this generation. There are the pessimists who are content to keep things the way they are because they think that their efforts will not succeed. There are the optimists who have lots of energy and enthusiasm to fix the PR problem that Christians and the church have and try to be the most loving and accepting people in their neighborhoods. Then there are others who have tried to avoid calling themselves “Christians” in order to leave behind the baggage that comes with the term Christian.

Frankly, I think that all these ideas are not the right approach. The pessimists are partially right because they realize that Christianity will always have PR problem and the world will always hate us. The optimists are also partially right because the witness that Christians are giving to non-Christians generally is extremely lousy and fake. The “others” are partially right because they recognize that real Christians need to distinguish themselves.

Unbelievers however aren’t impressed for long with our clever ways of calling ourselves by names other than “Christian”. This doesn’t really do anything for us but confuse unbelievers. The best way to help the church be a witness have a godly witness to the world is to take seriously the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29) and the rest of Jesus’ teachings and live it out. If you are concerned with the church’s bad witness, then be concerned with your own bad witness… a bad witness is simply a witness that is other than the witness that Jesus calls us to have.

It is fitting that since this is the last prophetic book of the Old Testament that one of the main themes is a call to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. There are both passages prophesying of John the Baptizer and Jesus of Nazareth.

We find recorded near the end of the book that “those who revered the LORD” repented and “thought on [God's] name.” God promises that they will receive a reward in the last day, which is salvation and relationship with him. This phrase though “thought on [God's] name” stuck out to me, because it means to study and meditate on God’s character. How did they do this? “Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him.” We study the Bible from Moses to Jesus because we want to learn about the character of God.

We want to know the character of God because we revere him and fear him. The fear of God is loving what God loves and hating what he hates. We take his words seriously in our lives when we revere him.

I thought of a good analogy the other day… fearing God is kinda like when you meet someone that you think is really cool and a wonderful person, but way out of your league. You don’t expect them to want to be close friends with you, but it turns out that they want to hang out with you this weekend. When you are with them you naturally want to like everything they like and dislike everything they dislike – you may even tell a few white-lies … saying you like certain bands or sports that you previously disliked. This is because you have such a high opinion of them (revere them). This is how we know that we fear/revere God – we want our likes and dislikes to be exactly what his are. We become obsessive over figuring out how he is wired so we can please him and change ourself to match him.

Sometimes I wonder this. In the book of Esther we get a very clear answer in the case of God’s plans for the nations.

Mordecai, a godly Jew, gets word that there has been an edict published throughout the empire that it will be open season on all Jews in 11 months (4:1ff) – they will be all killed! He sends a message to his adopted daughter Esther who is Queen in the royal palace, asking her to plead with the king to change the edict. Queen Esther responds that the King has not called her for over a month and she has no idea when he will call her … as well she will be risking her life by entering the palace without being summoned.

Mordecai responds,  ”Do not think that in the king’s place you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

Mordecai states that if Esther does not seek to save her people then God will use another person and way of delivering his people. But at the same time his final statement implies that it was God’s plan to use Esther to save her people. God knew the end result as well that Esther would be obedient and go to the king in faith. God’s universal plan for history is never thwarted by our disobedience.

In a different sense, God’s plan for our life is that we would receive salvation and if we reject him then “his plan” is “ruined” in one sense – though universally God’s plan of salvation is successful… many will be saved and God went over and above what is expected from him out of his love to bring people into his family.

God’s universal plans of protection, judgment and salvation cannot be thwarted by man or demon.

Have you ever wondered if God set the world in motion and now sits back and watches it all unfold wondering what might happen?

If you have you really need to read Daniel side by side with a history book of the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires.  Daniel is given such a definitive vision of what is going to happen in history in the Ancient Near East that people doubt if he could have possibly been the author.

This book makes me appreciate the wonder of serving a God who is all power, who knows the future, who sets up and takes down kingdoms and who loves to be involved in peoples lives!

YES GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE

YES GOD KNOWS MY FUTURE

YES GOD IS SOVEREIGN IN THE MIDSTS OF THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD

He is the only one worthy of our allegiance, our trust and our worship

Ezekiel took me a bit by surprise at how much I actually enjoyed this book.  I don’t think I have ever read it before and with the benefit of some historical background and the rest of the Old Testament as a backdrop I was pleasantly surprised!

The Israelites are in exile and are wondering if God is confined to Jerusalem.   They also think that there are many visions but God is not acting on the visions he is giving through his prophets.

We can see that God uses Ezekiel to show them that he is not confined to one place and that the judgement that has been prophesied is coming and soon!!  Those who are already in exile should consider it Gods grace that they are there and not in Jerusalem when it is burnt to the ground.

BUT the thing which really touched my heart with this book was the idolatry of the Israelites.  God reminds them how he can and call them to be his people with such compassion and tenderness because they were like an abandoned baby with no hope of life.   He takes care of them and loves them and gives them good things and yet some how as time passes they forget all that God has done for them and turn to idols and behave like a prostitute turning to anything and everything else for love and security.

It really hit home with me how much God has done for me and  how often I don’t turn to him in my weakness.    So God is reminding me of my need to turn to him in every day moments and remember how he rescued me, how he loves me and how he wants to be there for me.

Two big things I saw in Ezekiel was 1. God wants all people to know him and 2. God is powerful. He can do the impossible.

God shows his power over and over again throughout Ezekiel. One that stuck out to me, one that we sing about in church, is the one of God turning dry bones into flesh. I don’t think I actually knew what I was singing about before when I would sing this in church. What a cool story! I can imagine Ezekiel must’ve been feeling at least a little freaked out!

I have been thinking about these two things together since studying Ezekiel. 1. God wants all people to know him. 2. He is able to do the impossible. Like we talked about in class, I keep thinking, if God can turn dry bones into flesh, he can bring the many unbelievers I know to salvation. If God can do the impossible, he can save my friends. This gives me hope when I pray for them. This is something that God does want! He wants people to know him! He wants people to be saved! He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. (Ezekiel 33:11) Even something that seems so impossible to us, God is able to do.

But do you want to know the answer?   Many of us have a lot of unanswered question which we would like God to answer.  Habakkuk was no exception.  He wanted to know why God was allowing evil to run rampant and not solving the issue.

He got more than he bargained for when God replies and shows him what the judgement will look like.  Suddenly he turns from crying for justice to asking for mercy.

This book shows me that:

• God is ok with questions if they are asked in humility
• Sometimes we don’t understand how God works
• We need to continue to worship God regardless of situations and circumstances but simply because he is God and worthy of my worship

Zephaniah paints a beautiful picture of the restoration and salvation that comes through Jesus but it also shows us WHY we need that salvation.

The people of Judah were doing their own thing and going their own way.  They paid lip service to the ways of God but really they didn’t care at all about his commandments or even about being in relationship with him.  Likewise the surrounding nations were also filled with pride and arrogance over their own ability to live without God.

Left to my own devices I will often leave God out of the picture!  This book shows me so clearly that I need to acknowledge that God is more powerful and may have a different way of doing things that I do.  When I just keep on doing things my way and leave him out I am missing out on knowing his thoughts and actively aligning my thoughts with his.

Why would I do this??

Somewhere deep inside of me is a thought I  know what I am doing and can go this alone.  But why would I want to when I can do life with God.   So the  challenge of Zephaniah is to involve God in my life and realize he has the big picture, he knows more than me – I should go his way!

Zephaniah wrote with an emphasis on pride versus humility. His call to repentance in 2:3

“Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility”

shows this well. The most interesting and exciting thing I learned while studying today in his prophesies about the church age. Zephaniah says that the proud “will be removed from [the remnant's] midst” and God will only “leave in the midst of [the remnant] a people humble and lowly.” The remnant that Zephaniah is speaking of is the church.

Now, if I look at this prophesy from a practical view point then I would say that it has not been fulfilled yet, since the church doesn’t act humbly. When I say church I am mean myself included. This was the final teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples before he went to the cross: humility. We know it is important then. But how important? It’s interesting to note that Zephaniah doesn’t define the remnant by faith or love, but by humility. We know that no one can have faith without a portion of humility, so I think it works. But Zephaniah is putting a very great emphasis on humility.

How do we get humble? One simple way is to go embarrass yourself in front of a crowd… you’ll lose most of your pride for a few days.  I’m not recommending this, not because it would be painful, but because that is not what Zephaniah implies for walking in humility. Zephaniah tells us to seek the LORD and obey his commands for humility. This is awesome because relationship with God brings about the fruit of humility in our hearts. This is a general rule from scripture, relationship with God and understanding of his character produces good works. This is the case again… but isn’t that too easy!? Too wonderful, but not too easy. My heart continues to run from the LORD (maybe because it wants to keep its pride).  Continue on in your friendship in the LORD.

Once again, Zephaniah is God’s tool he uses to warn the people of Judah of the coming judgment for their sin. God’s mercy is so evident to me once again. He totally could’ve given up on his people, let them go their own way, the way they chose, and started over. Instead, he continually loves them, is faithful to them, and shows them mercy. He doesn’t want them to be judged. He wants them to turn from their ways, repent, and live a holy life that will lead them on a good path!

In Zephaniah the big problem of the people is their pride. It almost seems to be a blinding shade over their eyes. They can’t see that the path they are taking is leading them to destruction. God even TELLS them this. They still deliberately choose to go their own way. They seem to be blinded by their pride, they can’t even see that they are being stupid. This book clearly shows that walking in pride leads to destruction, but walking in humility leads to blessing from God.

What are the results of walking independently from God? From Zephaniah we see that it leads to judgment, and destruction; definitely not good things. Through the Old Testament over and over I have seen this, and Zephaniah’s message is no different. Walking in God’s ways leads to good things….to life. I think when I realize this more and more, that walking in God’s ways is for my good, then it gives me a much different motivation for why I am living the way I am living. History has proved itself. The Bible has proved itself. God’s way is best.

Habakkuk asks God questions. He invites him into his frustration, and opens himself to God’s answer. He doesn’t ask with a cynical attitude, but with humility. He genuinely wants to know God’s answer, and is honestly crying out for it.

God doesn’t reject Habakkuk. God shows that he wants Habakkuk to know him, and thus chooses to answer his questions. God isn’t intimidated or annoyed by his questions, but wants Habakkuk to know the truth, and answers his questions.

This showed me again something I have been thinking about lately. That is, inviting God more into my daily life. I want to be able to honestly share my feelings with God. Not just surfacy ones, but my feelings of pain, frustration, and my hard questions. I want to come to God with these, knowing that he wants to reveal things to me. I want to come with humility like Habakkuk, open and willing.

Habakkuk possibly still doesn’t understand God’s answer once it is given. He chooses to remember God’s character. He recites it to himself, reminding himself that though he may not understand all of God’s ways, he can still trust in His character.

This is so cool! We have a faithful God, that we can come to and ask questions, and not be rejected. He wants us to know more about him. Though we may not understand everything he does, we can trust him. He is good, faithful, and a secure foundation. He is God, we are not. He does know best, and he does want the best for us. Though we may not understand why he does everything the way he does it, we can trust in Him, that he does know best. We can rejoice that he is a good God! Habakkuk ends by saying, no matter what happens, though the earth falls apart and things go wrong, he will rejoice in God, his strength and salvation. When everything goes wrong, we can rejoice, because we have God. (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

The book of Joel is an example of God reaching out to his people and trying to call them back to himself.

Joel calls to the priests of Judah to call all the people to fast and mourn and turn back to the Lord.  He has a real sense of urgency for the people to act and return to the Lord because he can see that their current state is going to lead them down the path of destruction quickly!   However it seems that the people are not aware of how far they have drifted from God.

Despite the locusts and judgement passages what stands out to me about this book is how much God desires to be with his people and how he wants them to acknowledge him as Lord and worship him alone.   He disciplines them in a desire to have them see their need for him and return to him.   He restores them because he is merciful and compassionate and truly wants  them to know how much he cares for them.

This book looks forward to the New Testament era and shows us the reality that if we turn to God we will find refuge in him but if we turn away there will be judgement.  God longs to show his mercy to me and has in Jesus!

God said that he would pour out his spirit on all flesh, not just his prophets. And this would happen when the Messiah came. It was fulfilled in Acts 2:17-21 when the disciples were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues that the foreign Jews could understand.

My challenge this week is to believe that prophesy, dreams and visions and other manifestations of the spirit are meant for all of us. God can do this for anyone of us who are believers and at any point in our relationship with him.

Right now I am trying to seek the LORD’s guidance in my life, but at times feel as though he is silent. I need to trust him that he can speak to me, and he will do it in his timing. My call is to trust and wait – but he himself will provide the guidance clearly.

I am reminded of Saul’s encounter with trusting the LORD in 1 Samuel 13… He was told to wait for Samuel to come and make a sacrifice before he went out into battle. But as the enemies approached in great numbers and his soldiers began leaving him he acted rashly and did the sacrifice himself. Then Samuel arrived and rebuked him for his faithlessness. Saul however claimed to have acted righteously and in line with biblical principles. The faith that God wanted from Saul was a faith that would wait for the guidance of the LORD even if he was the last one standing on the hill with a great army closing in on him. Maybe God is asking me or you to have this kind of faith as we wait for his guidance.

Jeremiah is a solid reminder to us all that God values obedience and devotion to him above all else.  He clearly uses the life of Jeremiah to show that is not results that matter but obedience.  The people of Judah are so far away from his heart that even Gods constant attempts to call them back to him are meet with contempt.  Jeremiah shows great emotion for the people of Judah – he weeps over their rejection of God and their refusal to take the offers of restoration that God holds out to them.

There is a contrast between the trust that Jeremiah has in God and the lack of faith of the Israelites.  Jeremiah has put his trust in God time after time and has not been let down,  yet the Israelites are fearful of the Babylonians and refuse to put their trust in God.  They don’t test God and see if he is really who he keeps telling them he is.

Jeremiah is also a good example of someone who is honest in their relationship with God.  Jeremiah’s warts and all approach to relationship with God is refreshing and challenging to me.  I often want to skip the nitty gritty and get to the fix it parts but God wants us to put it all out there and be real with him.  I think this is a key for a sustainable relationship with God.  It seems to be in these moments that God meets Jeremiah and reminds him of who he is; when he brings perspective and even courage to continue to face the trails of life.

JEREMIAH SHOWS US THAT GOD IS AFTER OUR HEARTS!

Jeremiah was a man of his word. He would speak the truth even if people did not believe him and wanted him to speak a different message.  He spoke the what God gave him to speak no matter if it was dangerous, embarrassing or shameful. Several times people accused him of lying. And other times very powerful people threatened to kill him if he kept speaking the truth.

This book is full of stories about “lies” and truth. Why so much talk about truth and lies?

Well, this is a prophetic book and in the historical context of the writing there were many false prophets (prophets who prophesied something that did not come true, thus not from God). The people were very confused and skeptical of prophets. Many probably thought that they were like politicians: saying whatever they wanted to to win favor. The author wants to show that Jeremiah was a man of his word.  Jeremiah was a stud at keeping his word and telling the truth with integrity.

I think that I can learn from this. There were many powerful people around him threatening him to shut up or prophesy something good instead of destruction. Jeremiah stuck to his message. I think that people working in the science and technology fields need to learn from Jeremiah to speak the truth about their findings – be honest about what the data is implying and how certain they are about the results. Distorting data is easier than it many of us think.