Month: February 2012

For the Lord’s Sake

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16)

One may wonder whether James had Daniel’s prayer in mind when he wrote this. The prayer of Daniel recorded in Daniel 9:4-19 seems to exemplify what James wrote centuries later. In brief let us summarise the content of the prayer.

First, this prayer was motivated by reading Scripture, in particular, that written by the prophet Jeremiah (v 2).

Secondly, Daniel was determined to commune with the Lord with a view to understanding Jeremiah’s prophecy and it’s relevance to his present day (v 3).

Thirdly, he majors on the nature of the Lord: The Lord keeps His covenants and is faithful to His word (v 4), is merciful (v 4, 9, 18) and forgiving (v 9, 19). The Lord is righteous in Being (v 7) and therefore righteous in all His actions (v 14).

Fourthly, in contrast to the nature of the Lord, Israel had been quite the contrary. Israel had not been faithful to the covenant on Mount Sinai (v 5, 7); it had not heeded the warnings and word of God that came through the prophets (v 6) and had been disobedient to the word of the Lord that came through Moses (v 10, 11).

To sum up, Daniel affirms to the Lord that the Lord is right to judge Israel as He has for in doing so He has remained faithful to the word that came through Moses and to His Divine Nature (v 13).

Israel had nothing worthy of merit as a reason for the Lord’s favour (v 18) yet Daniel asks for it. Israel had sinned against the Lord (v 8) and there was no reason or means by which they merited any favour in themselves. If Israel was to be forgiven and restored it had to be based solely on the Lord’s nature and expression of that nature.

It isn’t surprising therefore that we find Daniel basing the hearing of his prayer (v 17) and Israel’s forgiveness (v 19) as being for the Lord’s sake, for the sake of the revelation of the Divine Nature in the world, and not for Israel’s name.

Daniel was a righteous man who least needed such a prayer for himself. He did not characterise the nature of Israel as described in his prayer. But it was this very absence that qualified him to pray such a prayer. Besides, who else would? Those who love sin will never even consider praying anything.

In this Daniel is a kind of foreshadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only Righteous One, the one who had no need of suffering for sin, took upon Himself our sin for His own name’s sake and most definitely not because we, even in the slightest, merited any favour.

We do well to keep in mind that God responded to the prayer of just one man, just as James later wrote He would, and gave us one of the most blessed revelations in all Scripture.

Who will be a Daniel today?

Denying Reality

“And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.” (Jeremiah 26:9)

Jeremiah had been called as a young man to prophesy to Judah. On this occasion he had been communicating the word of the Lord concerning Jerusalem’s destruction. To the king, princes, counsellors and people of Judah and Israel it was unthinkable that Jerusalem should be overrun, let alone destroyed. Since their God was the Creator, the God of heaven and earth, the God who had brought them out of Egypt with such great power, they thought it impossible that their holy city should be destroyed. They believed the city and they who dwelt in it were essentially invincible. The relationship that Israel had earlier in its history with God had turned into religion without a relationship.

When Jeremiah reminded the King of Judah and his leaders of their failure to obey God and that God would judge them for it, they didn’t want to hear it. They wanted to hear a fairy tale and not the truth.

People today are no different. Each person knows deep in their being that they will have to give account just as the writer of Hebrews writes, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). No one wants to be reminded of this and so they often respond in anger. In some way or other they will try and silence the messenger. They may do this by creating a distance between them such as imprisonment, by killing them, or by finding a way to discredit the messenger or his message. In our day the most common way men deal with the message of the Bible is to appeal to the theory of evolution. However, even this method does not satisfy the one who really looks into the theory. He knows that the theory is impossible so he still needs to silence the messenger.

This is often done by intimidation through false accusation. The other method is to try and brain-wash oneself into thinking evolution is true, contrary to the evidence, and demand that others be taught and believe that it is true. The hypocrisy is that they are manipulating others to accept as true what they know is not and cannot be true. No wonder they get angry when their lie is exposed!

Denying reality was the great error of the King of Judah and his advisors but it did not change the outcome. Indeed, it opened the door for fulfilment. The same is true for any who refuse to believe God’s word regarding His judgment against sin and their ultimate accountability; they will face God and be held accountable for their unbelief.

There is, and will be, no excuse.

Living Together

“We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20)

On a few occasions I have seen cars with the following sign in their rear window;

“No Jesus, no life

Know Jesus, know life”

This statement matches the several that John makes regarding an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In chapter two of the same letter, verses three and four, John declares that a person who is in such a relationship with Jesus Christ will be keeping His commandments. This should not be interpreted as slavishly obeying a set of rules externally as we do with our nation’s laws. This kind of obedience comes from a desire within to bring pleasure to the one we love.

John also makes several other references to “knowing” Him in his Gospel. There is one important negative statement in Matthew’s Gospel in this matter. Speaking of people who outwardly appeared to know Him because they preached and did miracles in His name, Jesus says that they had not entered into this intimate relationship of “knowing” Him and in spite of their activities they are rejected. They had not received and entered into a relationship with Jesus who is eternal life (Matthew 7:21-23).

The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ defines the gap between heaven and hell in terms of an intimate relationship with Himself ought to be sufficient evidence for anyone since all judgment has been given to Him (John 5:22).

If we want to know about someone, we read their biography but if we want to know them intimately we will have to live with them. This is true of all relationships. It is through sharing lives that intimacy grows. This equally applies in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Many people know about Jesus, perhaps quite a bit, because they have read and studied the Bible. They may even have developed a strong attachment to the image of Jesus that is formed in their mind from this knowledge and believe they are Christians. But Jesus has made it clear that this is insufficient for salvation and entrance into His everlasting presence. Intellectual knowledge only may lead to a moral but legalistic life.

Philip and the other disciples of Jesus had been with Him for some time when Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus’ response is helpful with our present subject, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:8, 9). It is the time that the disciples had been with Jesus and the activities that they had shared with Him that brought about revelation and intimacy. It will be the same for us. We will grow in intimacy when we spend time with Jesus and we share lives with Him.

A Remnant of Israel

“Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?” (Ezekiel 11:13)

Ezekiel was not the first person and will not be the last to ask this question. It is still being asked today. In this respect nothing has changed through the centuries. As in the days of Ezekiel there are people who claim to speak for God who have not heard from Him.

As the Lord says, “They hope that the word may be confirmed” (13:6). That is, they prophecy according to their own wisdom and then wait to see if it comes to pass. A true prophet does not act in such a way. He speaks that which the Lord puts in His mouth to speak. The test of a true prophet that people have had for a long time is given in Deuteronomy 18:22. However we also have the Bible, God’s own word to us, as a measure.

Israel had a choice to listen to the prophets who spoke from their own wisdom or to a prophets who told them what God said. The choice is no different for us today. We can either use our own wisdom to answer life’s questions or we can rely on what God has said.

How many times does God have to say something for it to be so? The revelation of the Bible is that once is absolutely sufficient. There are many occasions and circumstances in which God affirms His patient and longsuffering purpose for Israel and affirms that He will accomplish it. This is the reason God gives for Israel’s repeated and continuing refining through tribulation. The very fact that Israel, while in unbelief, is suffering tribulation gives assurance that a glorious day lies ahead for the nation.

Among the many occasions that the Lord affirms that He will never bring an end to Israel is the one in answer to the above question:

“Thus says the Lord God: ‘Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel’” (11:16, 17).

The context of this passage (and all similar passages in the Bible) dictates that it is meant to be taken literally. Verses 19 and 20 affirm that this is tied to the fulfilment of the New Covenant as recorded in Jeremiah 31:31-34.

We watch in anticipation as the “bones” of Israel returns and the “flesh” is added (ch. 37). This was the expectation of Jesus (Matthew 24, 25) and Paul (Romans 11:26, 27).

Anyone who believes that God cannot or will not literally fulfil His Covenant with Abraham and David must of necessity live without assurance of salvation because that one sees God as either impotent or unfaithful. He is neither!