Deuteronomy 28:4-5 – “Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.”
Deuteronomy 28:38-42 – “Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.”
So what makes the difference? How do we ensure the blessings and avoid the curses? Is it the amount of sweat put into the sowing, planting, and begetting? Is it the number of waking hours devoted to such tasks? Is it the magnitude of sacrifice or self-suffering that we offer? No. It’s obedience. It’s faith in God’s commandments. It’s faith in God’s promises. He promises blessings for obedience (to the commandments); He promises curses for disobedience.
It’s not the stone that kills the giant. It’s not the loud horns and shouting, the shattering pitchers, and the bright torches around the camp that cause the enemies to destroy themselves. It’s not the harmonic frequency of marching feet that makes thick walls fall down. It’s obedience. Faith-full obedience.
So do we then just lie back and refrain from idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, and dishonesty? Is that the only obedience required for the blessings to come rolling in? No. Because It also says, “Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work” (Deut. 5:13), and “If any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thes. 3:10).
But again, Men, Pastors, Elders, Deacons, & Ministers in training, successful ministry does not depend on your spending 14 out of 18 waking hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, serving the church. It’s not your sweating, it’s not your planting, it’s not your watering, it’s not your fertilizing, it’s not even your “passion and heart” for those many sowing and harvesting ministries to which “so few others seem committed” that pulls the tree out of the acorn. God calls you to be obedient. Your wife, your children, your family need you to be obedient. Your church needs you to be obedient. Your community, your culture needs you to be obedient.
“So then neither is he that plants any thing, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase.” – 1 Corinthians 3:7
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Thursday, October 11, 2007
Symbolism
May it not be said, especially of us ministers, “You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things? … I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” – John 3:10, 12
What’s more important: the symbol or the thing symbolized? the image or the real? the wedding ring or the marriage? the photograph or the wife? man or God? The answers are obvious.
Symbols are not unimportant, however. Disrespect for the symbol translates as disrespect for the thing symbolized. Spitting on my wife’s picture insults my wife’s person. Murder defaces the image of God and thus expresses disdain for God Himself. Disregard for your spouse, i.e. for your marriage, reflects your perspective of Christ’s relationship with His Church. To shun participation in water baptism and the Lord’s supper is to shun the Lord Himself.
Symbols are important. However, it is possible to idolize a symbol while still scorning the thing symbolized, which is why Hezekiah destroyed the brass serpent. It is also possible to overreact to such idolatry with a total disregard for the symbol while claiming an emphasis on “what’s really important.” But both extremes are likely the result from failing to appropriately connect the type with the antitype.
A fuller understanding of the greater real often results in a deeper appreciation for and participation with the symbol. Those who deeply love God are more inclined to evidently love their neighbor, the image of God.
They appreciate the symbol, but they also remember its place. The sewer guy who lost his wedding ring at work will not assume that, when he gets home, his wife will be missing. Solomon spent 7 years building a temple for the LORD that was likely the grandest of his day, yet he recognized its inadequacy. I Kings 8:12-13, 27 – “Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. … But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?”
Though not insignificant, symbols can eventually become unnecessary; but until the reality becomes full and complete, the symbol remains important and appropriate. Symbols abound in the Holy Scriptures and in our lives. Symbols speak. – Indeed, they cannot be silent. – What are they saying about God? What are we saying about God? -- Read, observe, study, learn, grow, explore, and discover.
I Corinthians 9:9-10a – “For it is written in the Law of Moses: ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely He says this for us, doesn’t He? Yes, this was written for us, ….” (See also reference from Deut. 25:4)
What’s more important: the symbol or the thing symbolized? the image or the real? the wedding ring or the marriage? the photograph or the wife? man or God? The answers are obvious.
Symbols are not unimportant, however. Disrespect for the symbol translates as disrespect for the thing symbolized. Spitting on my wife’s picture insults my wife’s person. Murder defaces the image of God and thus expresses disdain for God Himself. Disregard for your spouse, i.e. for your marriage, reflects your perspective of Christ’s relationship with His Church. To shun participation in water baptism and the Lord’s supper is to shun the Lord Himself.
Symbols are important. However, it is possible to idolize a symbol while still scorning the thing symbolized, which is why Hezekiah destroyed the brass serpent. It is also possible to overreact to such idolatry with a total disregard for the symbol while claiming an emphasis on “what’s really important.” But both extremes are likely the result from failing to appropriately connect the type with the antitype.
A fuller understanding of the greater real often results in a deeper appreciation for and participation with the symbol. Those who deeply love God are more inclined to evidently love their neighbor, the image of God.
They appreciate the symbol, but they also remember its place. The sewer guy who lost his wedding ring at work will not assume that, when he gets home, his wife will be missing. Solomon spent 7 years building a temple for the LORD that was likely the grandest of his day, yet he recognized its inadequacy. I Kings 8:12-13, 27 – “Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. … But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have built?”
Though not insignificant, symbols can eventually become unnecessary; but until the reality becomes full and complete, the symbol remains important and appropriate. Symbols abound in the Holy Scriptures and in our lives. Symbols speak. – Indeed, they cannot be silent. – What are they saying about God? What are we saying about God? -- Read, observe, study, learn, grow, explore, and discover.
I Corinthians 9:9-10a – “For it is written in the Law of Moses: ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely He says this for us, doesn’t He? Yes, this was written for us, ….” (See also reference from Deut. 25:4)
Confess Your Sin
When Israel was defeated in battle by the small town of Ai, Joshua fell on his face before the LORD and basically asked, “Why did this happen to us?” (Joshua 7:6-9) “The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Stand up! Why are you lying on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, ….’” (Joshua 7:10-11) Was this new news to Joshua? It shouldn’t have been. Before the conquest of Jericho, Joshua himself had warned the Israelites not to take from the spoils that which was to be consecrated to the LORD. Joshua should have immediately suspected sin in the camp. He didn’t know where the sin was, but he could have at least recognized its presence.
In Luke 13:4-5, Jesus says, “Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, No! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
We in the church of God do not always know where the sin is; and, like Joshua, we hardly seem to recognize its presence. Even worse, we are unlike Joshua in that we fail to at least fall on our faces before God and ask, “Why?” We ought to have some suspicions. Somebody needs to ask the church, “Do we think that when the towers fell in New York, or when a hurricane ruined a big party town in Louisiana, or when wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes in the western United States, that these things happened because they were sinners more than us all? Why are these things happening to us?”
The answer is something like the following: God is grabbing us by the scruff of the neck and saying, “Confess your sin!”
In Luke 13:4-5, Jesus says, “Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, No! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
We in the church of God do not always know where the sin is; and, like Joshua, we hardly seem to recognize its presence. Even worse, we are unlike Joshua in that we fail to at least fall on our faces before God and ask, “Why?” We ought to have some suspicions. Somebody needs to ask the church, “Do we think that when the towers fell in New York, or when a hurricane ruined a big party town in Louisiana, or when wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes in the western United States, that these things happened because they were sinners more than us all? Why are these things happening to us?”
The answer is something like the following: God is grabbing us by the scruff of the neck and saying, “Confess your sin!”
Truth in a Contradiction
There is hardly a sane man, I should hope, who considers himself to possess all knowledge. There are, however, only a few more men who concede the likelihood of inherent contradiction within the knowledge they think they do have. That is, people think that all their beliefs are consistent and in agreement with one another. For probably a number of reasons, into which I do not wish to go just now, they fail to acknowledge the incompatible underpinnings of their ideas. This is why the same woman can hug a tree and murder her unborn child.
But a contradiction implies an acceptance of, at least, some truth. For a contradiction is created by affirming each of two opposing ideas or statements as true, while both, in reality, fall under the same category of discussion. For example, given identical contexts, the following statements are contradictory: To live, food is necessary. To live, food is not necessary. Given identical contexts, both statements cannot be true. One is; one isn’t. Thus, when you meet a person who believes and affirms both, you walk away scratching your head and wondering, “That person is goofed up! How do they function in the world? More curiously, how do they approach mealtimes on a daily basis without going crazy?”
Therefore, when you discourse with someone whose contradictions you’ve identified, start with that part of their contradiction which is on the side of truth and, working from there, lead them to the Source of that truth – JEHOVAH, the triune God. “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:23-26 (italics mine).
But a contradiction implies an acceptance of, at least, some truth. For a contradiction is created by affirming each of two opposing ideas or statements as true, while both, in reality, fall under the same category of discussion. For example, given identical contexts, the following statements are contradictory: To live, food is necessary. To live, food is not necessary. Given identical contexts, both statements cannot be true. One is; one isn’t. Thus, when you meet a person who believes and affirms both, you walk away scratching your head and wondering, “That person is goofed up! How do they function in the world? More curiously, how do they approach mealtimes on a daily basis without going crazy?”
Therefore, when you discourse with someone whose contradictions you’ve identified, start with that part of their contradiction which is on the side of truth and, working from there, lead them to the Source of that truth – JEHOVAH, the triune God. “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:23-26 (italics mine).
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