Staying Faithful When Things Go Well

 

    In the book of Job, Satan tries to turn Job away from God by making him suffer.  Job is a good man, and God has blessed him.  When God points out Job's faithfulness to Satan, the accuser claims Job would turn away from God if he weren't so well off.  God then gives Satan permission to test Job with the stipulation he can't take Job's life.  Ultimately Job overcomes the temptation to turn away from God, and he is restored.  The story paints a picture that misery would drive someone from God.  Other books in the bible, however, show a different truth.  In fact, they show the exact opposite.  Sometimes it's when we're blessed that we become the most vulnerable to sin.
    You can see this all the way back in the beginning with Adam and Eve.  They lived in paradise, had all that they needed, and God was with them.  They still sinned.  This theme persists throughout history.  Israel is constantly being lifted up by God only to fall again when he has blessed them.  It sums up the book of Judges, and Jesus alludes to it when he warns people about the dangers of wealth.  Even Solomon, in all his wisdom, failed to keep God's commandments, and when God passed the kingdom into the hands of Jeroboam, he failed as well.  The book of Revelation even prophesies that some will turn from God during the thousand year reign.
    People need to be careful and not become complacent with the good he brings us.  God wants to bless us, but we have to stay faithful.  The bible testifies how easy it is to stumble when things are going our way.  Sin is at the door, and it's desire is for us.  Never forget to be thankful and keep on the righteous path, and always hold onto faith in God no matter what.

Clever Courage of the Gibeonites

 

    The story of the Gibeonites and how they fooled Joshua is one of my favorites in the old testament.  When Israel was taking the land of Canaan for themselves the people living there were terrified.  The Israelites were huge in number and with God supporting them they were unstoppable.  Several tribes or cities decided to band together and war against them as one.  The Gibeonites, however, came up with a different plan.
    They secretly sent emissaries to the Isrealite camp.  They wore ragged clothing and shoes.  Their wineskins were torn and patched, and they had moldy bread for food.  When Joshua met with them, they told him they were from far away.  Having heard of Israel and God's might they begged to make a covenant of peace with them.  In return, they promised to become their servants.  Joshua was suspicious at first, but after seeing their battered clothes and gear, he agreed.  
    He was quite upset, three days later, when they came to Gibeon and found those men living so close.  The Isrealites complained to Joshua, but he kept his promise.  He upheld the covenant with the Gibeonites, but also demanded they keep their promise as well.  Joshua declared they would be wood cutters and water carriers for the Isrealites and their temple from then on.  The Gibeonites happily agreed, glad to have saved their lives and city.
    Joshua's mistake was not consulting with God before making the covenant, but I like to think God was pleased with the Gibeonites resourcefulness.  When the combined tribes attacked Gibeon out of retaliation, Israel was forced to come to their rescue.  They surprised the attackers at night and sent them fleeing.  Afterwards, God sent hailstones raining down on them.  The city of Gibeon was saved from both Israel and its enemies.  
    There are many instances in the bible where God rewards courage and resourcefulness, but mostly he rewards faith.  When the Gibeonites were accused of deceit, they didn't deny it.  They admitted they did it to save themselves.  

    Joshua 9:25-26 "And now, here we are, in your hands; do with us as it seems good and right to do to us." So he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them.

    This verse is referencing Joshua when the Gibeonites answer him, but It felt like it could just have easily been attributed to God.  When King Saul would later go on a rampage and try to wipe out the Gibeonites in his zeal, God would punish Israel for it with a three year drought.  To end the drought, David had to deliver Saul's children to the remaining Gibeonites.  
    You could say that Gibeon was grafted into the kingdom of Israel.  It's also telling that the Gibeonites saved themselves by coming to Joshua in the appearance of poverty and weakness promising to be servants.  It's like how Jesus came to the world as a simple carpenter promising living water to anyone who would believe.

Cain and Abel

 

    Why did God accept Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's?  To understand why I think you have to go back to Adam and Eve's first sin.  I think the answer lies in why they sinned.  Adam and Eve were disobedient.  They ate the fruit God told them not to eat.  But there's more going on here than what is immediately obvious.  It isn't just disobedience that's egregious.  It's what is implied by that disobedience.  They didn't trust God, and what he told them.  Instead they chose to believe the serpent.  Instilled in these acts are betrayal, pride, and covetousness of God's majesty and stature.  By the very act of what they did God was presumed to be a liar.  They put their belief or faith in the words of a created being rather than their creator.  It's a whole host of sins committed in one single act.  It wasn't just the lie of the serpent that condemned them, it was the lies they told themselves.  
    The irony is, they already had what the serpent was promising them.  He told them they would be like God, but they already were.  God created them in his image.  He gave them dominion over the whole earth.  If they wanted to know about good and evil, they could have asked.  Instead they were reduced to shame.  Proverbs tells us the beginning of knowledge is fear of the Lord.  I don't think it's a coincidence that Adam gained mercy from God when he admitted to being afraid as he heard God walking in the garden.  It was the appropriate response after what he had done.  God then kills an animal and makes them clothing to wear.  This brings us back to Abel and all subsequent animal sacrifices.  All through the bible God calls on men to be like him, not in power or ability, but in character.  We're called to keep his ways, commands, and statues.  We're told to fear God as Adam did.  Jesus tells us to take up our crosses and follow him.  He is our example and we are expected to be like him.  
    In contrast, the works of man are seen as corrupt.  We cannot save ourselves with works, and when man offers works that God did not ordain they are rejected.  We see this over and over.  When Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God commanded, he is forbidden from entering the promised land.  When the sons of Aaron offer incense that wasn't ask for, in the establishing of the tabernacle, they are killed.  God forbids them from building altars of stone that have been carved or chiseled.  Man's works have been corrupt since he reached out for himself, and took the fruit from the tree of knowledge.
    When Cain and Abel make their offerings, Abel sacrifices an animal like God did when he made clothes for Adam and Eve.  He was imitating God and answering the call for man to be like him.  Cain, however, offered up the fruit of his fields, the works of his hands.  It was rejected, and that rejection was proven to be justifiable when he later murdered his brother with those same hands. 

Abraham and Isaac and all of us

 

    In Genesis Abraham and Sarah are blessed by God.  He tells them they will have a son, and his offspring will become a great and powerful nation.  Both Abraham and Sarah find this hard to believe because they are so old, but God keeps his promise and Isaac is born.  Because of this, Isaac is both unique and un-unique at the same time.
    Isaac is unique because he was ordained by God.  He wouldn't exist if God hadn't caused him to be brought forth.  God had a special hand in his birth.  Paradoxical this also makes him un-unique because we are all ordained by God.  We all exist by God's will.  In Psalm 139, David says, "(You) knit me together in my mother's womb".  In Isaac, you could say all of humanity is being represented as he is being led up the mountain to be sacrificed.  
    The question Abraham and Isaac's journey asks is, why would God do this?  Isaac is innocent, or at least as innocent as a human tainted by original sin can be.  Regardless, one day, whether he is sacrificed or not, he will die.  If God is a just and righteous God as we believe him to be, why would he bring this child into existence just for him to eventually die?  This is the cruel reality for every human being on earth.  From a nihilistic perspective, it would have been better if Isaac had never been born at all.  One day he will die, his children will die, everyone on earth will die, and nothing will have mattered.  It isn't hard to see how people can disregard sin and choose to live however they want under those circumstances.  However, Abraham had a different answer.  His answer was to have faith.
    He does what God commanded him to do.  Isaac is placed on the altar, and Abraham prepares to sacrifice him.  This is the brutal climax of the story.  Just before the deed is done, God stops him.  He blesses Abraham for being willing to do his will.  Abraham then looks up and finds a ram caught in a thicket.  God provided him with a substitute, just as Abraham had prophesized to Isaac earlier.
    God would take this template of events and bring salvation to all people 2000 years later.  Jesus would ride a donkey up to the temple.  The mountain the temple was on is believed by many to be the same one where Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac.  Later that night, the temple priests would have him arrested.  He would be tried and turned over to Pilate who would then crucify him.  The son of God, who is God and man, would be a sacrifice for all the sins of mankind.
    Jesus ascent up the mountain seems almost symbolic.  He is humanity rising up once more, reuniting with God.  It wasn't something we could do by ourselves.  God had to provide, just as Abraham said he would.  Jesus's life and death were a substitute for ours.  We receive it through faith, just as Abraham did.

Echoes

     

 

    The bible does something interesting.  In the new testament we see Jesus fulfilling old testament scripture.  He is constantly drawing from it in his teachings, but also validating it in his actions.  This also happens throughout the old testament.  You have events and people that seem to echo one another throughout scripture.  More than prophecy, it's like there is a pattern or patterns being followed.  A good example is Abraham taking his son up the mountain to be sacrificed before God stops him and provides him with a goat instead (Gen 22).  It's a common belief that this is a representation of Jesus riding into Jerusalem before the priests gave him to the Romans to be crucified.  It was also prophesized by Zachariah.
    It's amazing how these things line up, but it isn't the only time this happens.  The bible does this constantly.  Continuing with the Abram (Abraham) example, he is called by God to leave his father's lands and go west to a land that God will give him.  His nephew Lot goes with him.  Then a series of familiar events take place.  There is a famine and they go to Egypt to escape it then they leave and return to Bethel.  This seems to mirror the brothers of Joseph coming to Egypt to escape famine, and the Israelites subsequent return in exodus.  Sound farfetched?  How about when Lot takes in the angels and feeds them a feast of unleavened bread before being forced to flee Sodom?  That sounds like Exodus, when God tells the Isrealites to take only unleavened bread before fleeing Egypt.  Lot is also told to flee into the mountains to escape destruction, a recurring theme throughout scripture.  The story seems loaded with meaning that references future events, but then it gets even stranger as it begins to make comparisons within itself.
    In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abram is sitting in the door of his tent when the Lord appears before him.  Similarly, Lot is seated in the gate of Sodom when the angels appear to him.  Both men give them hospitality, shelter, water to wash their feet, and food.  On the other hand Abram tells them to rest beneath a tree, but Lot, fearing for their safety in the streets, brings them into his home.  Sarai laughs when God tells Abram they will have a son.  Lot's son-in-laws laugh when he tries to warn them of coming danger.  Sarai tries to lie when God calls her out.  Lot's son-in-laws accuse him of lying when he tries to wake them.  God and his angels come down to judge the cities on the plain and Abram tries to save them.  Lot is accused of being a judge by the men banging at his door.  The differences are as profound as the similarities.
    Again, things seem to be following some kind of pattern.  It makes you wonder what parts of it you're missing.  What's the significance of only two angels appearing to Lot instead of three?  Is what Lot's daughters did to him connected to his willingness to give them to the men trying to reach his guests?  Could it have been circumvented if he stayed in Zoar?  Lot didn't trust God to keep is word that he wouldn't destroy Zoar.  Could the sinful ending have been a result of this final failure of faith?  
    I don't even know where to begin with Lot's wife.  There are plenty of interpretations of the story.  All of them make sense on some level, but none of them feel comprehensive.  It's all too big to fully wrap your head around.  There are more examples I didn't include.  I kept coming up with them as I wrote this, and I'm sure there are more throughout the bible.  The book is like one of those science fiction paradoxes where the inside is much larger than it is outside.

Sin for Us

     

    The bible says that Jesus became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).  To me this was an odd phrase, and was something I didn't understand for a long time.  I only really came to understand it recently while reading the old testament story about the fiery serpents (Num. 21).
    In the story, God sends fiery serpents to punish the people of Israel.  People are dying from the bites, and the Israelites repent.  They come to Moses and ask him to intercede with God on their behalf.  Moses does so, and God gives him instructions to create a bronze serpent and put it on a pole.  Anyone who comes and looks on it will be spared, and they will live.
    Like many stories in the bible it can seem kind of strange, and only really makes sense when it's viewed symbolically, or in this case, how it relates to Jesus.  I think most people agree that the serpent on the pole is an image of Jesus crucified for our sins.  He even makes this comparison himself (John 3:14-15).  From that, we can infer that people coming to see the serpent on the pole is representative of people coming to Christ and believing in him for salvation from sin.  But what about the fiery serpents, and why is Jesus being portrayed as one by the bronze serpent on the pole?
    I think, at least in this context, the fiery serpents are representing sin.  This story equates the serpent's bites with death in the same way sin condemns us to death.  Only Jesus's crucifixion can save us from that.  His crucifixion was a substitutional atonement.  He took our place and died for us on the cross.  In doing so, he also became a replacement for our sins.  The story of the fiery serpents is an image of this.  It's why Jesus is represented by the serpent on the pole.  It was a supernatural replacement for the serpents that had been killing the Israelites.  The attacks by the fiery serpents didn't matter.  They had been replaced.  In the same way, our sins no longer matter once we're saved.  Jesus replaces them.  It doesn't mean Jesus is sin or sinful.  He's a new part of us, replacing the old broken one.
    One of the most interesting facets of the story about the fiery serpents is how sin is portrayed.  It's shown less as something we do and more as something that is being done to us.  I think that's really interesting.  I doesn't mean we aren't responsible or don't have a choice in the matter.  I sure we've all chosen to sin at some point or another, but I think it's a picture of God's grace that he chooses to look on our sins this way.