Three of the Twelve - How God used a working man to dismantle the myth of bad things happening to good people.

I have always loved Amos as a character. Most prophets were recognized by the people and quite often had access to royalty. These prophets carried the title of Prophet, sometimes belonging to a small band, or guild, of prophets. In the first verse of the book of Amos, the text lays out a beginning unlike any other in the Bible. God gave prophetic words to a shepherd and farmer from Judah. Amos the shepherd then went to Israel, the northern kingdom, and began to prophesy. The name of my weblog sings of this idea. God uses the ordinary and unlearned to speak truth.

Amos 7:10-15 gives a good example of how the rulers in Israel felt about this blue-collar prophet. "Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent this message to Jeroboam king of Israel, 'Amos is conspiring against you there among the people of Israel, and the land can't bear all that he's saying. For Amos says: "Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will be led away from their land into exile".' Amaziah also said to Amos, 'Go away, seer! Go back to the land of Judah! Earn your living there; but don't prophesy any more at Bethel; for this is the king's sanctuary, a royal temple.' Amos gave this answer to Amaziah: 'I am not trained as a prophet, and I'm not one of the guild prophets - I own sheep and grow figs. But the Lord took me away from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel."'"

I like to imagine Amos as the classic John the Baptist looking-dude. Wild hair, hard features, uncommon clothes. It's fun to think of that kind of man walking around the streets of foreign cities talking about their coming destruction. But in actuality, Amos probably looked like an ordinary guy. It's more like a gas station attendant walking around the mall telling people of God's word. Not so romantic an image, but unusual all the same.

God likes to do this. He likes to take unexpected people and use them in unexpected places. I think this is why Jesus answered his critics in Luke 4:25-27, "But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." And just like Amaziah in Amos 7, Luke 4:28 says, "And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things."

But what was it that Amos said that so offended the king and high priest? A lot of things, probably. Here's one. Consider the possibility that God does allow "bad" things to happen to "good" people. Consider even the possibility that God does these "bad" things Himself. In Amos 1, God tells of coming punishment for several cities and nations because of their crimes. These crimes include horrors like cruelty in war, exile, and ripping open pregnant women. I can see it now, the Israelites hearing this prophecy and enjoying numb feelings of self-righteousness. Then in Chapter 2, Amos says, "For Judah's three crimes, no, four - I will not reverse it - because they rejected the Law of the Lord..." And later, "For Israel's three crimes..." Suddenly those self-righteous feelings turn cold. Israel has been indicted alongside their neighbors, their enemies. God was against them all. Sure, Israel and Judah didn't spill pregnant ladies' guts, but their sins were equally deserving of God's wrath. They didn't follow His commands. They took advantage of the poor for business opportunities. They gave in to sexual deviancy.

The past few conversations I've had with unbelievers about God usually start with, "If God were good, why would He let bad stuff happen to good people?" In the Old Testament, who was better than the people of Israel and Judah? They were God's chosen people, set apart from the other nations, enjoying His blessings. But Amos calls them out on their wickedness. The fact is, we've all committed the "three, no, four crimes." Our sin deserves the punishment of death that God promised Adam in Genesis 2. If this is true, and we all demonstrate the wickedness of our hearts to some degree, why doesn't the truly good, righteous, and holy God kill us on the spot? Why do any of us still have the ability to live and breathe?

Amos knows of Israel's sin. He talks about it at length before a series of visions in the beginning of chapter 7. God shows Amos His plan to punish His people. Amos pleads, "Lord God, forgive - please! How will tiny Jacob survive?" Twice, God promises to stay His hand and show mercy. Eventually, though, God tells the prophet how He will soon refuse to overlook Israel's offenses. For the time being, God demonstrates what theologians call "Common Grace". Even for those who God knows will not come to repentance and saving faith, He still blesses both by providing good things and withholding bad things from them. This is much harder for me to understand: God gives good things to bad people. But as we see in Amos, it won't last. Paul says of those who will remain unrepentant in Romans 2:5, "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God".

Yet for all this, God promises in Amos 9:8-11, "'Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom. I will wipe it off the face of the earth, yet I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob,' says the Lord. 'For when I give the order, I will shake the house of Israel, there among all the nations, as one shakes with a sieve, letting no grain fall to the ground. All the sinners among my people who say, "disaster will never overtake us or confront us," will die by the sword. When that day comes, I will raise up the fallen tabernacle of David. I will close up its gaps, raise up its ruins and rebuild it as it used to be.'"

Amos tells of a day when God will restore the house of David to its kingship, which we now see in Jesus as Messiah, the King who will come again to rule the earth. Jesus will shake the sieve of humanity separating the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3:12). In Christ's kingdom, God will reestablish the people of Israel.

Common grace is all well and good, but it doesn't necessarily mean we have saving faith. God is good to everyone, but only those who put their trust in Jesus will stay in the sieve, so to speak. I know, in my heart, I have committed those three, no, four crimes. And I am so grateful to Jesus for paying the penalty for my crimes. I know that His grace, for me, is more than a mere demonstration of His goodness before the coming wrath. It's a taste of the joy I will one day experience when I am fully in His presence, secure, no more to be uprooted.

Two of the Twelve - Joel and the Valley of Decision

We all know people who wouldn't read a book if it didn't have pictures. Those of us caught up in intellectual snobbery have at one point or another sniffed at their simple view of *sigh* literature. I admit, I've laughed at a lot of people for enjoying what I call "airport books". The great thing about most snobs, myself included, is that we typically commit the same sins for which we condemn others. Our own sins most certainly find us out.

In the book of Joel, the prophet doesn't tell any story to give his prophecy context. It's the only occasion the Bible ever mentions him. No appearances in Chronicles or Ezra or anything. His book lays out straight prophecy. Three intense chapters and fini. As I read and re-read this book, I found myself wishing Joel wrote about the things happening in history around his prophecies. You know, zazz it up a little. Hosea marries a hooker, Isaiah walks around naked for a while, Ezekiel eats poop. That stuff'll keep you turning pages. Joel stands up to spout out some heavy doom then returns to his seat nearly invisible among the other prophets.

I wanted the book to have pictures.

After my last reading of his book, I finally understood that Joel didn't need to give historical context to his prophecy. God's words can apply to nearly every generation. Imagine the people are proud of their prosperity, and as Proverbs 3:34 and 1 Peter 5:5 says, God opposes the proud. Joel 1 tells of an agricultural disaster brought on by swarms of locusts and other bugs. This is the equivalent of our economy suffering from, say, a stock market crash or lack of natural resources. Like everything we built to make money and keep us safe failed in the end. Everything devoured and traumatized. The people suffer disasters meant to shock the coming generations.

In chapter 2, the picture takes the form of something much different and yet equally horrific. Instead of bugs, the picture becomes that of an ruthless, invading army. Then in verse 2:11, Joel shocks the reader by attributing the suffering to the One they'd least expect. "The Lord shouts orders to His forces - His army is immense, mighty, and it does what He says. For great is the Day of the Lord, fearsome, terrifying! Who can endure it?" God sent the affliction. God devastated the land. God leads the army of judgment.

I think a great number of people would readily agree with this. When troubles come, how often do you hear people blame God? "How could a good God allow something like this to happen?" I heard it after nearly every national calamity. Bombings, school massacres, hurricanes. Everyone was willing to blame God as if we were the good guys, as if our everyday sins didn't deserve condemnation and death. It doesn't matter how good of a person, or a Christian, you are. You could suffer from Younger Brother Syndrome or belong to the Older Brother Club and still have the same response. Affliction can cause you to wonder about God's justice and goodness.

The next few verses give a little hope to the reader. A little. Joel 2:12-14, "'Yet even now,' says the Lord, 'turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and lamenting.' Tear your heart, not your garments (that is, an authentic act of repentance instead of a mere outward show); and turn to the Lord your God. For He is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace, and willing to change His mind about disaster. Who knows? He may turn, change His mind and leave a blessing behind Him, enough for grain offerings and drink offerings to present before the Lord your God."

How unsettling is this concept? Maybe God will show mercy and give you "enough". Think about this. If God saved the people from death but didn't restore their fortune, would that make Him unjust? I think not. If I deserve to die and spend eternity in Hell, I should be happy with the idea of having "enough". If God spared my life and instantly give me all the riches and comfort of the world, wouldn't I run the risk of turning back to my old idols of prosperity, worshiping the blessing instead of the One who blesses?

Just after verse 2:23, where Joel tells the people to praise God for giving them the "right amount" of rainfall, he says in verse 2:24-27, "Then the floors will be full of grain and the vats overflow with wine and olive oil. 'I will restore to you the years the locusts ate, the grasshoppers, shearer-worms and cutter-worms, my great army that I sent against you. You will eat until you are satisfied and will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has done with you such wonders. Then my people will never again be shamed. You will know that I am with Israel and that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other" (emphasis mine).

Listen to this, I firmly believe that God can use affliction to teach us how to truly worship Him. I'm not saying that God wants us to become gluttons for suffering and so compare Him to an abusive dad. But look at what God wanted the suffering to produce. He wanted to teach them how to seek Him in all circumstances so they would still worship Him as God, Him and nothing else, when He did restore their prosperity.

The outstanding picture of Jesus I see in this book happens in the Valley of Y'hoshafat (The Lord Judges). Verse 3:14 also calls this place the Valley of Decision. After God restores the fortunes of Israel, He calls the nations into this valley for final judgment. In Romans 2, when Paul describes God's coming judgment, he says in verse 16, "This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares" (NASB). Yes, Jesus came to save the world. Yes, God loves the whole world. But God also hates sin and must eventually execute perfect justice. Joel's "Day of the Lord" will come when God judges men through Jesus. Revelation 19 talks of Jesus returning with a sword, wearing clothes soaked in blood, striking down those who remain in the rebellion of sin. What an awesome picture. Like the cover of some brutal metal record.

But Justice isn't exactly synonymous with "punishment". Those who have accepted Jesus as Lord are justified. Joel 3 talks of God judging the nations for their wickedness and vindicating His people, calling Himself our refuge. God makes this promise in 3:21, "I will cleanse them of their bloodguilt which I have not yet cleansed." In other words, Joel tells the people "Don't freak out. God will cleanse you of your sin one day." That day came when Jesus died on the cross. When we accept this truth, it doesn't mean we haven't sinned, but rather it should remind us how Jesus cleansed us of our guilt. If Jesus will judge me as righteous because of His righteousness, then I look forward to the Day of the Lord in the Valley of Decision knowing exactly what I have decided.

Worthiness and Reward - Avoiding younger-brother-syndrome.

My friend Ken asked an old girlfriend and I the question, “Do you think you’re a good person?” I said, “Yes.” She hesitated before replying, “Well, it all depends.”

Ken asked me to explain my answer. I shrugged my shoulders and said matter-of-factly, “The Bible says I have died and risen in Christ, that I am hidden in Him. So God sees me as perfect and blameless. I’m good because Jesus is good.” Ken and his wife smiled and showed my girlfriend and I how the Bible explains Christ’s righteousness is given to us when we accept Him. My girlfriend got upset at this and went into a fury about how she knew her own sin and she didn’t think of herself as very good “on those days.” Then she turned to me, “I think you know it, too. You always have the right answer that’ll make everyone happy. You’re just a people pleaser.” We didn’t last much longer as a couple. Even so, she was partially correct at the time.

During that conversation with Ken, I truly believed what I said. I still do. I am not good on my own. But Jesus is good and I am in Jesus. He calls me good, so I am good. However, my attitude sometimes drifts from Christ’s righteousness to self-righteousness. Many of you have heard stories of God leading me to do strange acts of obedience that later become testimony of His goodness. After a certain time of service, I wonder when God will give me the big rewards. You know, a wife and family, a reliable car, or a best-selling book. That sort of thing. “If I do a good job for the Lord,” I’ll think, “then I should get the blessings I want.” It’s like I’m trying to do and say the right things to make God happy with me forgetting He is already pleased with me because of Jesus.

In Luke 15:11-31, Jesus tells a story. “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.’”

The first son, like my ex-girlfriend, knew how wretched he had been. He didn’t feel worthy to have the title of “Son” again. Whether she meant it this way or not, my Ex had essentially said the same thing. “I’m not good enough for Jesus to give me Grace, so I’m going to base my goodness on my merit and only accept His forgiveness.” She saw herself as a sinner-turned-servant instead of God’s princess.

On the other hand, there are times I pout because I don’t immediately experience all of the blessings I expect God to give His hard-working son. I’ll compare my experiences of blessings with others and begin to think somehow I’ve been snubbed. I’m not always in that state of mind, I’m just saying it happens.

People have a tendency to pick on the older son. What a crybaby, right? Can’t he be happy for other people? And we’re right to give this brother a hard time. However, we overlook the fact that the younger brother also had an incorrect view of his relationship with the father. He wanted to work for dad as a servant but didn’t get that far in his rehearsed apology. He said, “I’m not worthy to be called your son.” Then the father interrupted with gifts and joy.

The older son had a twisted sense of entitlement as if his work and obedience warranted blessings as wages. But the father told him, “No, everything of mine was always yours. What’s more, you were never apart from your father.”

Both sons needed the father to tell them, “You’re not my servant, you’re my son. You don’t have to earn my favor because you’re my son.” Does that mean the younger son wouldn’t maybe help dad clean up after the feast? Of course he would, sons do that to honor their fathers. Did the older son never see blessings and gifts from dad? He probably understood that he could ask for those blessings instead of passively waiting for them. Dad obviously liked blessing his kids.

I felt compelled to tell you this so that you might avoid two traps of the enemy. First, for the older-brother-club, be careful that you don’t worship and obey God for what He might give you. Worship and obey God because of who He is. The single greatest blessing He gave was the opportunity of a personal, intimate relationship with Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Scripture says in Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” As sons, we enjoy all of the Father’s benefits. A servant may have to earn favor, but sons have it as members of the family. “You are with me, and all that is mine is yours.”

For people suffering from younger-brother-syndrome, what would you have thought if the prodigal son insisted on taking the role of a servant and turned down all of the gifts the father gave? You’d call him an idiot. I think the father would have felt grievously wounded. Such a scenario wouldn’t have been an example of righteousness, but pride and stubbornness. When the younger son asked for his inheritance, this communicated that he wished his dad would just die and give him the money. This was intentional estrangement. If the son came back as a servant, he may have admitted his sin, but there would be no healing of the father/son relationship and the distance between them would still exist. This wouldn’t be a story of a homecoming but a boy continuing to demonstrate foolishness.

My second point is this. Younger-brother-syndrome can make a person accept a false attitude of unworthiness that despises the blessings of the God. James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father,” and the rest of the Bible says you can’t earn any of them. But because of Jesus taking the penalty for the sin in your life, you are free to receive every one of those gifts.

So let God bless you. Don’t feel bad about it. And don’t, under any circumstances, sulk at your own party.

Tithing – Giving to God what He gave to us so He can give us more to give to others.

From the day I saw it and for the rest of my life, I will love Fiddler On The Roof. The father, Tevye, has a habit of weighing his decisions with the phrase, "but on the other hand…" I like the idea of balance. So instead of moving on from my last post, I'm going to give my opinion on the other side of the issue. Usually, I refer to the New American Standard Bible online, but today all of my scripture references will come from the translation I read every morning, The Complete Jewish Bible.

In his first letter to Timothy, a young church leader, the Apostle Paul makes an interesting statement about a few members of the congregation. The second paragraph of the sixth chapter begins in verse two. “Teach and exhort people about these things. If anyone teaches differently and does not agree to the sound precepts of our Lord Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah and to the doctrine that is in keeping with godliness, he is swollen with conceit and understands nothing. Instead, he has a morbid desire for controversies and word-battles, out of which come jealousy, dissention, insults, evil suspicions, and constant wrangling among people whose minds no longer function properly and who have been deprived of the truth, so that they imagine that religion is a road to riches.” This is already starting to sound like a few men I’ve seen on television. Swollen with conceit, having a morbid desire for controversy and arguments, and convincing people that religion is a surefire way to become wealthy. It’s enough to make a guy feel secure in his distaste for televangelism.

But then, to my surprise, Paul tags this bit on the end of his tirade, “Now true religion does bring great riches, but only to those who are content with what they have. For we have brought nothing into the world; and we can take nothing out of it; so if we have food and clothing, we will be satisfied with these.”

This calls to mind Jesus’ exhortation to his followers in Matthew 6:25-33. “Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life – what you will eat or drink; or about your body – what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Then Jesus goes on to give examples of God’s provision. At the end of the chapter, He says this: “So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?,’ ‘What will we drink?,’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’ For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus said that God will give us everything we need to live, such as food and clothes. And Paul says that we should be content with these. But the point Jesus made in Matthew 6 was not to seek the material needs God promises to fulfill. The point is seeking after Him and His righteousness. The point is service because, as Paul said, we didn’t bring anything into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. Nothing was ours to begin with, and we don’t get to keep it as our own in the end. Every good thing comes from God (James 1:17) and we get to take care of it while we’re here on Earth.

But in a later passage, Jesus teaches the significance of a servant’s stewardship of the master’s property. Consider the parable of talents told in Matthew 25. Beginning in verse 19, the master of an estate entrusts five talents to one servant, two talents to another, and one talent to a third. I’m not sure how this converts into modern currency, but I think that one talent was at least one year’s wages. After a while, the master returns from his journey and reviews the servants’ stewardship of his property. The first two servants used their talents wisely, and the master replies to them each in verse 21 and 23, “Excellent! You are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your master’s happiness!” The third servant doesn’t do so well. Actually, out of fear, the guy buried his master’s talent in the ground. The master punishes him for his poor stewardship and gives the one talent to the first servant, who had proven himself most faithful.

The third servant did what many people in our culture do. They hoard their money. They hide it away. They put it in secure places. They try to prevent loss and “keep what is theirs”. But if nothing is ours, and God gave us everything, then we have a responsibility to give portions of our money back to Him as a sacrifice. It’s a way for us to say, “I serve you, not money.” And the language used in Malachi 3:8-9 is pretty direct. “Can a person rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tenths (tithes) and voluntary contributions (offerings). A curse is on you, on your whole nation, because you rob me.” Yowzer. When I read those verses, I’m pretty convinced that God means business. But then dig what God says in verse 10, “‘Bring the whole tenth into the storehouse, so that there will be food in my house, and put me to the test,’ says Adonai-Tzva’ot (The Lord of Hosts). ‘See if I won’t open for you the floodgates of heaven and pour out for you a blessing far beyond your needs.’”

In respect to my earlier post, there are conditions to giving in 2 Corinthians 9:5-13. Paul says that gifts and offerings shouldn’t be “exacted by pressure” or given “grudgingly or under compulsion”. And when God does bless us, His blessings are for the purposes of charity and generosity as well as personal needs. So in a sense, we do “give to get”. But 2 Corinthians 9 says that we should give cheerfully, not greedily. And those blessings aren’t for us to hide away and bury in the ground. We take what we need and use to rest to bless others. Verse 13 says, “In offering this service you prove to these people that you glorify God by actually doing what your acknowledgement of the Good News of the Messiah requires, namely, sharing generously with them and with everyone.”

The fact is that God does bless people who take care of what they’ve been given. It starts with a total surrender to Him. Then, maybe, the blessing starts with food and clothes. We learn how to trust and be content with His provision there. Then He blesses us with increase, more than the basic needs of food and clothes. Remember what Paul said, this increase is meant for more than our pockets. It is also meant for helping others and it enables us to glorify God.