Soldiers Who Don't Know That They're in a War

Imagine for a moment that one morning you awoke from your slumber far away from your bed.  As you open your groggy, sleep-filled eyes you look around to find yourself in the middle of a dark and shaded wood.  Although this is a wholly unfamiliar location you find yourself cal with an unatural sense of peace.  You start to survey the area further, peering around tree limbs and gazing over downed boughs, when suddenly you feel a sharp pain in your shoulder.  You reach across your body to feel the warm wetness, which you know to be blood, on your sleeve and you can feel the protruding arrow that has caused the wound. 

You see a man running toward you screaming and you strain to hear him as the wood becomes bombarded by the strikes of cannon balls and more arrows, where they are coming from you cannot say but you are sure that they are targeting you.  The man running toward you and yelling finally gets within a distance so that you can hear him.  He screams, "Soldier, where is your helmet, your weapon, your armor?!  Don't you know that you're on the battlefield in the middle of a war?!"

How ridiculous would it be for a military officer to not equip and train his/her soldiers before shipping them off to war.  Or consider the preposterousness of sitting in the middle of a battlefield without even recognizing that you were at war.  But, for some reason, Christians continually find themselves in this lopsided predicament.

The reality is that Christians are at war and we are on a battlefield but Christians neglect this reality and lack the necessary training and equipping for success in this dire plight.  But we should take heed to the words of Paul, granted this is a long passion but read it in its entirety with an earnest posture of worship:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." (Ephesians 6:10-20).

The Christ of Christianity

Colossian 1:15-17: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Hm.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

Hebrews 1:3: "He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of HIs nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power."

Philippians 2:6-8: "[Christ Jesus], who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, He humbles Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

1 Timothy 2:5-6: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave HImself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."

John 1:1-5, 14: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The whole of Christianity rests upon the person of Christ Jesus.  He was an actual, historical person who lived a perfect, sinless life, who was put on trial and murdered for His lack of crime, but on the third day after His death, He rose from the grave, as the resurrected Lord and Savior, King over all creation.  The last sentence, while being full of true theological assertions, is rooted in the theology of Scripture.  So, in an effort to always affirm that the Scripture is the authority, today seems a good day to let the Scripture speak for itself so that we could think about such important things as this.  This has been, admittedly, an all-too-abbreviated survey of Christological passages, but they are at least sufficient to get the ball rolling in our hearts and our heads.  And always: thanks be to God that He has revealed Himself in His Son so that we could know Him in redemption!

Sherlock Holmes and Vision

Famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his usual compatriot, Dr. Watson, were out camping on a hillside beneath one particularly moonlit-soaked evening.  Holmes wakes up, shakes his friend and yells, "Watson! Wake up, Watson!"  Watson stirs quickly and sits up in a frenzy.

"Holmes, what is it?" shouts Watson as he wipes the sleep from his eyes.  Holmes asks calmly: "Watson, look up at the stars and tell me what you see and what it all means."

Watson gazes up to the boundless sky and the countless number of stars.  He answers, "Well Holmes, I see a beautiful, starry sky."  Holmes is quick to reply, "And tell me Watson what you can deduce from that." Dr. Watson looks again with some intent at the sky before replying.

"Judging from the number and placement of the stars and the clarity of the sky, astrologically I can deduce that Ganemede is on the near side of Jupiter while the moon's size tells me that the tides are high in the northern hemisphere; meteorologically, I can deduce from the night's clarity that tomorrow should be another lovely, sunny day; and, theologically, I can see that we are two creatures among many in this vast universe.  Holmes, how did I do?"

Holmes snapped back, "Watson, you are an idiot.  It means that someone stole our tent."

The point is that someone, like Watson above, can get all of the answers correct and can articulate with  the finest words, but with all of this can still miss the point.  How often have we ourselves seen even mature Christians who can retort all of the vocabulary and can speak the theological lingo with ease, but in the end still miss the point.

For this very reason, it is necessary, like in the above story, to have people whom we trust around us who have the relational equity and authority to speak into our lives and tell us directly when we are simply missing the point.  We all have blind spots that no matter how self-aware we may be we will still be blind to.  This is what Christian fellowship that is humble and honest is all about.  Praise be to God that we could be made so humble and capable of accepting such discipline for growth.

Faith like a Flower

Across the biological world, many plants exhibit some sort of heliotropism.  Famously, during its budding stages, the sunflower follows the sun across the sky from east to west every day.  Some grasses show this same phenomena.  It is interesting that something in the plant seems to know that it needs the sun to perform the vital process of photosynthesis.

One need only to look at this occurrence to see how creation itself declares the glory of God.  Perhaps we could take our cue in worship from the flowers of the field.  If we would acknowledge that we need God and His Son for our very nourishment and redemption, not in a single once-for-all decision but a daily, from dawn to dusk fix of gaze.

Like the budding sunflower follows the sun, humans should in one symphonic movement to follow its Son, Christ Jesus.  This is what being a person is all about, let alone being a Christian.  Let us then strive to look to Christ for all things as He is our redeemer, our savior, and our nourishment all the days of our life!

The Word of God on the Word of God

Romans 15:4: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might hope."

2 Peter 1:21: "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirits, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the hearts."

2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is breathed-out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good word."

Throughout the New Testament, the Word of God, the Holy Scripture, is exalted for its source and for its worth.  In fact, because Christianity is based on the truth and the authority of the Scripture.  Because of this reality, sometimes its good to be reminded of what the Bible says about itself, and we know this testimony to be true because it is carried by the Holy Spirit for our benefit in faith and in wisdom.  Today, let these verse sink and seep into the depths, every nook and every cranny of our beings as we meditate upon them.  And praise be to God that He has revealed Himself to us by giving us His Word!

Defining Salvation

Christianity is full of its own lingo and vocabulary.  Words like redemption, covenant, holiness, faith, and a thousand others can be thrown around with some flippancy to the tune that these words have been emptied of their theological import.  One such word, that is a foundational brick in the house of Christian faith, is salvation.  The over use of this word has made a whimsical term used to describe a number of things, and for this reason it will be briefly examined here.

First and foremost, salvation finds its closest theological synonym in deliverance, as in, salvation is God's action of enacting His deliverance of those whom He saves.  This is the important, though all-too-often neglected, truth about salvation: it is an act totally of God, imparted to those whom He saves.

Famously, Paul writes: "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:9).  Thus, when we are speaking about salvation, we are dealing with the very heart of the gospel of Christ Jesus.

In the end, salvation refers to a huge theological assertion about God, not only in that He has redeemed humanity but, more so, that He has done it by the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Christ Jesus, and that through faith humanity can enter into that salvation.  There is vast depth and breadth when we use the word salvation, and to trim the word of its theological import would be to strip Christianity of Christ.  Therefore, let us speak of salvation with the reverence, humility, and praise that it so richly deserves, acknowledging that in so doing we will be worshiping God Almighty.

Ephesians 1:3-6 and Profound Grace

Today I was brought to tears by a series of verses penned by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved." (Eph 1:3-6).

How beautiful that God, in His perfect and pleasing will would choose me!  For there is no good thing in me deserving of salvation, but God chose me, not because possessed any worthy quality or because of any good merit that I had done, but because of His grace alone!

This is the very definition of grace.  And, in truth, there is nothing, not one single thing, that is more beautiful, more holy, or more precious.  More than anything, this should compel us to simply pause and worship.  Let us then take a moment today to consider what our Lord has done and that He has chosen us in His Son Christ Jesus before the foundations of the world to be saved by the blood fo the Lamb.

Overcoming Seasonal Thankfulness

As fall comes and the colors of the world change from green and blue to browns and gray, summer warmth is covered with a blanket of cooler air, and the season turns from frolic and play to a time of weekly rhythms and winter preparations.  This time of year always stirs up memories and contemplations.  And on one single American day in November, people gather around the dinner table to offer prayers and thanksgiving for the past year.

However, as this year turns towards the next and we prepare a single day of thanksgiving I am reminded of what Paul says about thankfulness and prayer.  While reading Colossians today, I was struck by this verse: "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Col 3:17).

I'd read this verse before.  Colossians 3 is probably my favorite chapter in all of Scripture.  But what struck me today was that this seemed like I had read it before in other Pauline writings.  Paul exhorts believers to give thanks at every circumstance and at all times.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Ephesians 5:20: "giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Clearly, Paul, and the Holy Spirit who inspired his writings, care that we would give thanks unceasingly and without end.  Therefore, as we enter in on this colder season, may we take a posture of thankfulness in ourselves.  To do this we should make a habit of giving thanks to God in the morning and throughout the day.  Thankfulness does not come by happenstance but needs to be made a priority in our every day.  Let us then praise God by offering thankfulness to Him through His Son Christ Jesus all the moments of every day of our lives!

Judges Concluded

The book of Judges can be simply summarized by the book's final sentence: "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25).  Throughout the book, we see Israel, God's chosen people, fall more and more into unbelief, disobedience, and apostasy.  Once Samson dies the descent away from God becomes complete.

First we see Micah, an Israelite of Ephraim, try to set up his own pagan religion.  He makes an idol, hires some Levites(!) to be the priests.  To which we see the tribe of Dan steal the idol and kidnap the priests in order to "own" the religion.

Then there is the issue with the Levite and the concubine, which culminates in the story of Gibeah, in which there is an old man whose concubine is viciously raped by the drunken townsfolk of Gibeah, to which he responds by taking her home, cutting her into twelve pieces, and sending those pieces throughout all Israel.

Israel then responds by riling up the eleven tribes to commit genocide against the tribe of Benjamin.  They are so effective in their attempt that by the time the tribes realize their sin, they had killed over 18,000 Benjaminites.  There response is to kidnap the daughter of Mizpah, their pagan neighbors.

In the end, the book of Judges represents a gritty and dark time in the history of Israel, but it is a necessary history because it informs much of what comes in Samuel and Kings.  And the stories of the judges reveal profound truths about people.  More so, though, the book of Judges reveals a God who is faithful to His promises despite the unfaithfulness and disobedience of His people.  This, in and of itself, is enough reason to spend some time studying this rich though challenging book.  Praise God that He is always true and always faithful!

Samson Pt. 3

The conclusion of Samson's story revolves around the famous vixen who renders him powerless.  Delilah is the third Philistine woman who enthralls Samson's heart and hands him over to her Philistine brethren.  Clearly, Samson fatal flaw is his passion for forbidden women.

More than that, though, Delilah reveals that Samson so misunderstood God that, except for in his death, Samson never truly knew where his strength actually came from.  Samson's strength did not come from the length of his hair or that they never touched a razor.  To miss this point would be to  miss the major point of his story.  Samson's strength came always and only from the Lord.

In regards to Delilah, she is a Philistine woman who exposes Samson's heart as unbelieving and unfaithful to the Lord.  When Delilah tricks Samson into, finally, telling her that his hair is the source of his strength, Samson unveils his heart that is far from the Lord.  God, then, removes Samson's strength when the Philistines cut his hair.  Know this: his hair never was the source of Samson's strength, but God removed his strength at the cutting of his hair because of his lack of faith.

In the end, Delilah betrays Samson over to the Philistines who gouge his eyes out, bind him in shackles, and bring him out to entertain them at their leisure.  The Philistines stand Samson between the two main pillars of the compound and laugh at him and his sorry state.  Samson cries out to God for one last bit of miraculous strength.  God grants Samson his dying request and Samson pulls down the pillars, crushing himself and everyone else under the rubble: "So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life." (Judges 16:30).

Samson exemplifies how utterly declined the best of Israel had become and, in the end, was worth more dead than he was alive.  He did his greatest good in dying.  This should tell us all we need to know about Samson.  He is far from a tragic hero but represents the apostasy and unfaithfulness of a whole nation.  But praise be to God who is faithful to save in spite of our least efforts!

Samson Pt. 2

The second major part of the Samson story deals with Samson's marriage to a Philistine, a repulsive thing for an Israelite to do.  However, God used the incident as an opportunity for Samson to wage war on the Philistines.  This part of Samson's narrative has Samson disobeying God in marrying a Philistine and disobeying his Nazirite oath in eating honey from the carcass of the slain lion.

Additionally, this section reveals Samson's fatal flaw: his lusting for untrustworthy women.  In this case, he marries a Philistine woman who betrays him to her Philistine brethren.  Basically, Samson tries to trick the Philistines into giving him some clothing and other resources by asking them a riddle that they cannot solve.  His new wife, having been threatened by the other Philistines, betrays Samson.

Samson responds to his wife's betrayal by killing everyone and then leaves the area, apparently leaving his wife behind.  When he goes back to retrieve his wife he finds out that she has been given to other men.  Samson responds by tying 300 foxes into 150 pairs, ties a lit torch to their bound tails, and releases them into the Philistine camp.  Needless to say, the whole camp is utterly consumed in fire.

Finally, the Philistines encircle the Judeans, in which the Judeans respond by finding Samson hidden in the cleft of a rock, they ask him to deliver them from the Philistines and he refuses.  In a turn of events, the Judeans bind Samson and deliver him over to the Philistines themselves.  This shows just how little the Israelites thought of Samson.  However, upon Samson's arriving at the Philistine camp, the Spirit of the Lord descends upon him and he kills 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey.

This brings us to the famous story of Delilah and Samson's fatal end, to be discussed tomorrow.  However, up to this point Samson is clearly to be seen as a despicable man who, in spite of his putrid character and complete disregard for the things of the Lord, was used by God to deliver the Israelites.  But to be sure, he is not to be emulated for his flaws.  Rather, God is to be exalted and praised for His unyielding faithfulness to His people and His covenant promises.

Samson Pt.1

The story of Samson, certainly the most well-known of the judges, is a testimony of the utter depravity of Israel that has come as a result of generations failing to teach and train their children in the way of the Lord.  Samson exemplifies this disconnect between what the Lord had commanded Israel and what they actually did.  Samson's story is longer than any of the other judge narratives, indicating his importance in history.  Because of this, Samson's life will be examined in two brief articles.

Samson's story begins in the same context as the other judges: an entire generation did evil in the sight of the Lord, who gives them over to the hand of their oppressive enemies, in this case ht Philistines.  The people then cry out to the Lord for deliverance and God provides for them Samson.  However, Samson's story is unique in that, before he was born, he was prophesied to be born to a barren woman and dedicated to the Lord as a strick Nazirite.

The vow of the Nazirite, as told in Numbers 6, involved three basic things: it was a voluntary vow of intense faithful pursuit of God, it was to last a set amount of time, and the person was to have absolutely no contact whatsoever with the dead.  Additionally, the Nazirite vow of Samson prohibited any consumption of alcohol and any razor touching his hair.

Interestingly, Samson did not volunteer as he was dedicated before he was born, and there was no set time as he was to be a Nazirite the whole length of his life.  Additionally, in regards to the prohibitive requirements of the vow, to never come into contact with death of any sort, to not imbibe, and to never have his locks cut, he disobeyed each of those.

Although Samson was to be the picturesque example of obedience and faithfulness to God, and his Nazirite vow was to form the very core of who he was as a person, but yet he failed in every single area that he was required to be faithful.  In this way, Samson represents a nation that was so disinterested in the things of God that they treated their vows as petty peripheries.  Samson is an example of everything wrong with Israel during the time of the judges.  But praise be to God that the story does not end with Samson!

Ibzan, Elon, Abdan: More Bad Judges

We are getting near the conclusion of our study of the book of Judges.  And the narrative pace is quickening in preparation for the book's final, and arguably worst, judge, Samson.  But before we get to the long-haired brute, there are three seemingly negligible judges: Ibzan, Elon, and Abdan.  The whole of their narratives combined is seven verses, Judges 12:8-15.

The first, Ibzan, is noted for marrying all 60 of his children to foreigners and judging Israel for a meager 7 years.  He did what was expressly forbidden in the Law, which was to intermarry at all.  His judgeship was marred by continued disobedience to the covenants of God and blatant disregard for the things of the Lord.

The second, Elon, has far less.  The only information to be discerned about Elon is that he was a Zebulunite that judged Israel for ten years and, upon his death, was buried at Aijalon.  This is it.  What it implies, however, is that Elon was not remarkable enough, good or bad, to make any real difference or impact during his tenure as judge.

As for the third, Abdan, there is nothing told us about his judgeship, only that he had forty sons and thirty grandsons and each rode a donkey.  While this may seem of little consequence, what it implies is that Abdan was a man whose position as judge was used to garner wealth for himself and his family.  Again, not a great example of leadership.

These three judges, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdan, all represent a dark time in history.  As Israel continued in their decline, nothing good could be said about their would-be leaders aside from their burial grounds and offspring.  To be sure, this is an indictment upon entire generations who lack faith and leadership, which is a recipe for obsolescence and debauchery.  Let us then heed to the examples of what happens when generations fail to teach the next in the ways of the Lord.  Faithlessness and sin grow exponentially with each passing age.  Is it, then, any wonder why the world is in the disorder that it is?

9th Judge: Jephthah

Continuing with our study of the judges of Israel, today we take a look at Jephthah, the mighty warrior who desired to be king.  His story is an interesting one because it shows that Israel had ceased to cry out to God for His deliverance, but tried to prop Jephthah up as their judge without consulting the Lord in faith.

Additionally, Jephthah is a character of some interest because he was the illegitimate son of a prostitute, rendering him unfit to judge.  Yet, because of his apparent skill as a warrior, the country turns to him to be their judge.  He acquiesces to their request and determines to save the Israelites from the Ammonites.

Jephthah is canonized, though, for his tragic, ill-conceived vow to the Lord that cost him the life of his only child, his daughter.  Essentially, Jephthah vowed that if the Lord gave the Ammonites into his hand in victory, then whatever comes out of the door of his house to meet him when he returns will be offered as a burnt offering to God.  Yet, when Jephthah returns from victorious battle, his beautiful, only daughter runs out of the door to greet him and, because of his vow, he determined to offer her as a burnt offering.

The point of this story is to highlight, or lowlight, the necessity of seeking God and His counsel at every step.  Also, one should never make vows to the Lord that are not sanctioned or desired by His will.  These two principles from the story of Jephthah have immediate application for the life of Christians.  Let us then always look to God and seek after His will for every decision that we make so as to not trap ourselves by our own idiocy!

7th & 8th Judges:Tola & Jair

The stories of Tola and Jair, the seventh and eighth judges of Israel, are both brief and shallow.  In fact, the whole breadth of their lives is chronicled in a mere five verses (Judges 10:1-5).  To be sure, the apparent absence of information about these two judges points as much to their periphery status in canon as it speaks to their insufficiency in delivering Israel from their growing inclinations to pagan worship and immorality.

In fact, the most striking thing about their narratives is the depth, or lack there of.  God is not mentioned in their narratives, and the only thing that marks them as judges is that the Scripture tells us that they did judge Israel, Tola for thirty years and Jair for twenty two.  The pace of the narrative rapidly moves on past these two judges to the ever-growing apostasy, corruption, and disbelief of Israel that is presented throughout the rest of chapter ten.

The apex of this section actually occurs when, as the people have already grown in their disobedient apostasy and have cried out to God for deliverance, the Lord replies: "Have I not already saved you!" Essentially, God says, "Why should I save you when all you do is turn to foreign gods?"  To which the Israelites respond by putting away all the foreign gods and idols, in order to repent in faith to the Lord Almighty, thus bringing us to the story of the next judge, Jephthah.

At the final analysis, the story of Tola and Jair is, basically, inconsequential in that it is narrative "filler" to explain how, historically, Israel had been constantly descending in a downward spiral of disobedience and apostasy.  Over and again, the story of Judges is one in which each generation fails to teach and train the next in the ways of the Lord, that results in growing faithlessness and sin.  This is what we need to learn from this story as well as the rest of the book.  But praise be to God who is always faithful to those who seek after Him!

Abimelech: the Wanna-Be King

Because Gideon has been discussed at some length, the next major figure in the book of Judges that will be looked at is Abimelech, the son of Gidean and the wanna-be king of Israel.  His story exemplifies two major epochs of Israelite history: their increasing decline into disobedience and apostasy, which carries forward to their eventual desire to herald a king to rule over them.

Abimelech's story is chronicled in Judges 9.  An all-too-brief summary of Abimelech: Abimelech is one of 70 of Gideon's sons.  He tries to prop himself up as king over all Israel by killing all but one, Jotham, of his brothers.  Thus the kingdom of Israel is in his hands, not by the will of God but by his own bloody volition.  His brief reign, just three years, was marked with continual warring and death.  He died drenched in blood and his end came just as his reign had: by the sword.

The story of Abimelech points to the downward spiral of disobedience and apostasy.  Essentially, Abimelech is a product of his environment, but more so, he represents more of what can happen when good, godly men fail to stand up and lead their people.  In this case, Gideon, the previous judge and Abimelech's father failed to train his son in the way of the Lord, and the whole nation suffered for it.

This is a major turning point in the story of the judges as each subsequent judge is more sinful than the last and less sufficient in their delivering while offering fewer years of peace and rest for the people.  Abimelech also serves to foreshadow the story of Saul, in the Israelites' earnest desire for a king.  His story serves as a literary marker in the narrative of Israelite history and an important testimony that man should not seek to assert himself as the leader for selfish ambitions, but needs to wait for God's prompting.

Fourth Judge: Deborah

For lack of information, I will be skipping Shamgar, the third judge, and moving right to Deborah.  Shamgar's entire judgeship is summed-up in a single verse, but the narrative moves speedily to the story of Deborah, Israel's fourth and only female judge.  Her story fill all of chapter four of Judges, while chapter five is comprised of Deborah's song, a beautiful testimony of God and how He has worked through her and through Jael, the other major character in her story.

An all-too brief summary of the narrative of Deborah: the people did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gives the people over to the hand of a Canaanite king, who rules oppressively over the Israelites for some twenty years.  The people then cry out to God for a deliverer, in the form of Deborah, who leads the army with Barak to overcome the Canaanites.  Simultaneously, Jael, the wife of a Kenite, hides the fleeing king in her tent and stabs him in the head with a tent peg.  Thus, the story of Deborah is actually about two woman: Deborah & Jael.

The story of Deborah and Jael is often employed to make a case for women in leadership; however, it must be said unequivocally that this story is more of a severe indictment on the absence of able-bodied, obediently-faithful, and courageous men to take the reigns of leadership in delivering Israel from their oppressors.  

This is really the key to this story.  As much as feminist and liberal theologians would like to make this a story about egalitarian leadership in the Church, this is really a story about God saving His people in spite of their doubting and courage-lacking faith.  This is, in reality, a story of admonishment to vacant men to grab the scepters and lead.  

Needless to say, both Deborah and Jael are more-than admirable women who stood up with courage and faith, believing that God would deliver Israel through the actions of their hands.  Deborah, in leading Barak and the army, and Jael, in murdering the king, both represent the dire time of the judges as well as the means necessary to garner peace in overcoming oppression and sin.  Let us then take the lessons of Deborah and Jael to heart, and step up to the plate when God asks us to take the reigns and lead in faith.  But praise be to God, who delivers us!

Second Judge: Ehud

The story of Ehud keeps in step with the literary cycle of the book of Judges: sin, judgement, people cry out for deliverance, God raises a deliverer (judge), the judge delivers the people from their oppressors, and there is peace in Israel all the days of the judges life.

In the case of Ehud, the people had done evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord responded to their disobedience by empowering Eglon, the Moabite king to the east, to form a coalition and conquer Israel, demanding yearly tribute for some eighteen years until the Israelites cry out to God for a deliverer to save them from the oppressive king.  Enter Ehud.

Ehud is chosen, or chooses, to bring the tribute to Eglon.  While delivering the tribute, Ehud takes advantage of the situation, claiming to have a secret message for the king.  The king, desiring privacy to hear the secret message, sends out all of his servants.  Ehud, seizing the opportunity, pulls out a cubits-length sword that was strapped to his right thigh and stabs the obese Eglon.  Ehud then escapes and leads the Israelites to victory over the Moabites, killing some 10,000 men and overcoming their oppressors.

The two essentials to Ehud are that he is left-handed and that he is chosen to bring tribute on behalf of the Israelites.  His left-handedness, is important for a couple reasons.  First of all, to be left-handed at that time in history was thought to be a disability and if you were left-handed, you would be considered a second-hand citizen.  Because of this, no one would have checked his right side for a sword as any normal person would put their sword on the left side.  Thus, his left-handedness was one of the primary reasons he was chosen to be the judge.

Additionally, only one person would have had the opportunity to be close to the king while bringing the tribute.  In other words, Ehud seized the opportunity when it was presented to him.  Moreover, God utilized a "supposed" disability for His will and to serve His purposes.

Similarly, each one of us has disabilities and weaknesses that the world would look at and see as useless flaws.  But God desires to use those things for His purposes but He asks us to, in faith and obedience, seize those opportunities that are in front of us.  This is what we can take from Ehud.  Also, the book of Judges is replete with entire generations growing up that lack knowledge of the Lord, so an implied teaching of Judges is that it is necessary for older generations to raise up the next generations to know the Lord.  This is another key to the book.

When we look at Ehud, we see a left-handed Benjaminite who took advantage of the situation that was put before him.  We should take this same mind among ourselves: to remember that God has made us for specific purposes that will present themselves at certain times and places.  Our job, as faithful children, is to seek out when those purposes may come to fruition and to seize them as such.  But praise be to God who always has a will and a way for every one of His children!

First Judge: Othniel

Carrying forward from yesterday's discussion, which laid the contextual groundwork of the book of Judges, today will be a brief look into the first Judge Othniel.  His story sets the narrative in motion and also gives us the literary framework for each subsequent judge.  That is to say that Othniel is the first in a pattern of judges.

Each judge story begins with a simple marker, "And the people did did what was evil in the sight of the Lord."  This is the key that opens the door to the judge.  The people do evil, and God disciplines the people for their disobedience and sin by giving them over to the hand of their enemies.  And as Israel is crushed in war and subjugation, they cry out for God to raise a deliverer to save the people.

These deliverers were called judges.  And although they did perform judicial functions, their primary role was as a warrior, a champion who could lead the Israelites to military victory over their oppressors.  This is how we find Othniel.

The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord, turning from His Law and forgetting all that He had done for them in the previous generation(s).  As a result, God judges the Israelites by giving them over into the hand of the warring Mesopotamians to the immediate east.  The oppressive king, Cushan-rishathaim, had ruled over Israel for some eight years, demanding allegiance and tribute.

After those eight years, the cry arose within Israel to the Lord for a deliverer, a judge to redeem the people from the oppressive Mesopotamians.  God, then, responding to the cry of the people, raised Othniel who, with the Spirit of the Lord to empower him, turned weapons to the Mesopotamians and destroyed them.

The section ends as all the other judge stories, "The land had peace for..."  In the case, Othniel's judgeship lasted 40 years.  This story highlights, among other things, the necessity for people to train the next generations in the way of the Lord.  Otherwise, there will arise entire generations that do not know nor please the Lord.  But praise be to God who always raises up champions to fight for the people and to care for them in His power.  Obviously, the time of the judges has long past and will remain so, but we should never forget or neglect to look at that time so as to inform us still today!

Intro to the Book of Judges

The book of Judges is one of the richest books of the Bible.  However, aside from the story of Samson, many of the books more prominent characters are largely unknown if not outright neglected.  Yet, as it is apart of the canon of Scripture because of God's will and design, and therefore, it warrants as equally an energetic examination as the epistles of Paul.

At the onset, the book of Judges comes after the book of Joshua, both canonically and chronologically.  This is the relavant starting place because the book of Joshua sets the stage for the events of Judges, which set the context for the coming of Samuel, Saul, and David.  Therefore, a basic understanding of the events of Joshua are in order so as to prepare us for thinking about the world of Judges.

Following Moses' death (Deut. 34:5-7), the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, began to disposess the Canaanites and inhabit the land.  God gave the Israelites very specific instructions in that regard, instructions that can seem harsh if we read our 21st century context into them.  God commanded the Israelites, uneqivocally, to utterly destroy the peoples that lived in the Promised Land.  They were not to let anyone live.  They weren't to make any treaty with the people and they were certainly not to marry with them.

However, despite the Lord's explicit instructions for the Israelites to sieze the Promised Land, they failed in almost every regard.  They did intermarry, they did let some live, they did make treaties, et al.  And as a result of such blatant disobedience on the part of God, who always knows what He is talking about and always has reasons for His instructions to people, the previous inhabitants of Canaan continually led the Israelites into ever-increasing debauchery and paganism. 

Thus, they did not receive the fulness of the Promised Land and certainly not the Promised Rest that was to accompany the Land.  The net effect was that the Israelites had whole generations that were far more pagan than they were Hebrew in their faith, meaning that they did not believe in the true and living God who had brought them out of Egypt by the power of His mighty outstreched hand, but they fell into Canaanite paganism and turned away from the God who is.

This is the historical context that we find ourselves in as we open the book of Judges and read, following the death of Joshua and his generation, "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work He had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baals.  And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them.  And they provoked the Lord to anger (Judges 2:10-12)."

This is the context when we look at the book of Judges and should serve as the starting point for our continued examination into the major characters of the book.  The major things to take from this are: when God commands to do something, do it utterly without swerving.  But praise be to God who is to be glorified at every turn!

All the World is God's

When in various discussions with a diverse group of people, both inside and outside of the church, one of the recurring statements or terms used is when people start talking about "the real world."  Like, there is a world outside of the confines of the church that is more real than any other socio-cultural construct.  Normally, I shrug my shoulders as if I could smell the smoke resonating from the barrel just fired, however, what I want to do is say this:

There is no real world that is not under the sovereign supervision and sustaining power of God.  And there is no place in all existence in which the Lord Almighty is not God over all.  Although some people would like to say that there is a world apart from what goes on in the body of Christ, there is no such place in which Christ's name is not the highest and most exalted name.

The issue at hand is God Himself.  He, the Holy Lord Almighty, is ultimate reality.  The profundity of this theology carries forward through every nook and cranny of existence.  For without God's willing and creating and sustaining, not one thing would or even could be.

Thus, the real world is the one in which the true and living Lord is worshiped and praised on high for who He is and all that He does.  Because of this basic and fundamental truth about reality, God is the same in church as He is outside of the hallowed halls and sanctuary doors.  There is no "other" real world, because all the world belongs to Him.  Let us then take this mind among ourselves when we consider thinking that anything lies outside of His sovereign hand.

Adam's Original Sin: Neglecting His Wife

Genesis 3 records the Fall of mankind, and by by association creation.  The story is one of the few essential narratives in all the Bible, on par with the story of David killing Goliath, and death of Jesus.  Even non-Christians who have never opened the pages of the Bible know these stories.  For the purposes of this dialogue, the Fall will be under closer examination. 

A brief synopsis: Adam and Eve, the apex of God's creation, have been created and given the whole of creation as their gift and task.  Yet God has given a single command to not eat one thing, the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  At some point, Adam and Eve are sitting around in the cool of the day, and a sly serpent comes and tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.  She then hands some fruit to Adam, who eats, their "eyes are opened," and they are cast out of the presence of God for their disobedient sin.

Breathe.  Something is striking about this story, though, where is Adam while Eve is being tempted.  In the Hebrew, there is a preposition about Adam indicating that he was right next to his wife while she was being enticed by the shrewd snake.  But despite Adam's close physical proximity, he did not speak up, he didn't even think to ask, "Hey babe, what's going on over there?"

Instead, Adam neglected what was going on with Eve and the serpent.  In truth, Adam abdicated his primary task, which was to care for and protect his wife.  Thus, Adam's first sin, which is different than Eve's, was actually neglecting his wife, Eve.  Notice how this sin carries through the bloodline of Adam to today.  Men should take heed, then, to the sin of Adam and think about it every time we hear the television calling us away from our wives.

Bearing the Image of God

The image of God is one of the most important but misunderstood theological doctrines of the Bible.  It is the fundamental characteristic and trait of humanity.  Only mankind is made in the image of God and only man, used generically to mean both male and female, reflect the image of God.  Thus, the image of God is a necessary affirmation of the essential component of humanity.  But what does it mean?

Genesis 1:26-27 states, "Then God said, 'let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

What is remarkable about these passages, among many things, is that God does not say, "let's put our image into man," or, "let's put parts of our character into man," or, "let's put some of our image into man."  No.  God says, explicitly, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."  In a very real way, every bit of the human is the image of God.  

This is important.  There is no bit or component of man that was not made in the image of God.  Therefore, any attempt to compartmentalize the image of God to suit what humanity deems virtuous or godly is not only incorrect in methodology, it does not actually adhere to the biblical account.

The image of God is not a parsed element of God's intellect or a segment of His creativity or a portion of His righteousness.  No.  Comprehensively, in every respect, man is an image of God.  This is a feature that is utterly unique to one of God's creatures, man.  No other creation of God is deemed to be made in this image.  Nor is any other creature given this lofty and royal dignity to be so esteemed over all of creation as to be made, wholly in the image of God.

To be sure, to state that man, comprehensively, is the image of God does not diminish the Creator-creature distinction.  Rather, the image of God that is humanity is as much a reflective distinction of God as is the image that I see in the mirror is not actually the fulness of me but it, in its totality is an utter reflection.  Or, think of a photo copy.  The photo copy is wholly reliant on its source document for its existence, but it is not the totality of the book that it has been taken from--it is but an image, a reflection.

Fast forward: Adam and Eve sin, and the image is tainted.  Now every human, though still image bearers of God, bear that image through Adam and the marring of his sin.  But in Christ mankind is reborn in faith, and the image of God that is through Adam and sin is redeemed and replaced with the perfect and intended image of God in Christ Jesus.  Praise be to God for this reality!

No Substitutions for the Truth of God

Mister Rogers, one of the most well-known people to ever grace the television screen, says this about  the world: "Life is deep and simple, and what our society gives us is shallow and complicated."

For a man who made a career of entertaining and teaching simple life truths to children, this is such a great way to describe a simple but profound truth.  With the widening spread of the internet and the growing-by-the-moment access to the global network of the world's information, the person is becoming less personal and ever more shallow.

This being a true assessment of the state of the world, it is essential to note that when the world continually seems like a swirling whirlwind of data and stuff that spins vertiginously like a billowing tornado that sweeps away humanity into meaninglessness, reality, in its utterly truest sense, stems from a different source altogether: God.

The Holy Lord Almighty, the giver of life and source of all wisdom, is ultimate reality.  Thus, ultimate truth and ultimate reality stem from God.  And, apart from God, reality is but a vale, a mist compared to the solidity and certainty of God Himself.  Because of this basic and fundamental truth, any attempt by the world at large to make or create any semblance of reality outside of God's is counterfeit and, quite frankly, sin.

As Christians, we need to be on guard against the potential snares of the world which attempt to replace the reality and truth of God with forgeries.  The world is an ocean of information that is an inch deep, while the truth of God is infinitely vast and infinitely deep.  This, God, should always be the truth that we rely upon as it is, ultimately, the truth.  Not a truth but the truth.  Let us then always keep this at the center, always.

Whose Blood Saves?

There is a story of a man named Bill.  Bill was well-known for being an avid and consistent blood donor.  He was very proud of this fact.  He gave, for nearly every year of his adult life, over a hundred pints of blood.  Untold people have been helped by Bill's kindness.

One day, a reporter who was doing a story on Bill, asked him why he donated blood.  To which Bill replied, "Well, when I get to the pearly gates and ole' St. Peter checks my account, I figure I'll be able to point out how I've given my blood and that'll be enough.  I mean, if you add it all up I've given a couple thousand pints of blood.  That ought to get me in."

And while it is unclear whether he is joking or not, it is not that far from how many people still think about matters of heaven and of salvation.  But, in truth, no matter how great or numerous are the works of goodness that a person does, salvation comes by the name of Christ Jesus and by no other means.  Grace alone received through faith.

As for Bill, if he thinks that giving over a hundred pints of blood a year is going to save him, then he is trusting in the wrong blood.  Only the blood of Christ Jesus saves. This is essential, foundational, fundamental, and immutable.  Let us then spread the word that Jesus and only He saves.  But praise be to God for revealing Himself to us in this way, that while we were still sinners He sent His Son to die and to pay propitiation for the iniquities of mankind.  Praise God!

Abiding for Fruit

Desire does not necessarily determine truth or reality.  For instance, one may sincerely and zealously desire to be a musician, but if they never pick up an instrument they will not make the mandatory step from aspiration to fruition.  Or think of a person who, with every beat of their heart and every pulse of their mind, believes themselves to be an artist, but if they never create any art they are no more of an artist than the canvas is a masterpiece.  Intention and desire do not equate to actualization and position.

Obviously, to claim reality based upon desire is both incongruent with truth and dangerous.  However, many people avow to this very thing in reference to Christianity.  For this, one need only think of all of the Christians who profess faith but lack fruit, who claim Christ but neglect His Word, who declare salvation but deny sanctification.  This is like a person who claims to be an athlete without ever playing a sport.  Or as James writes: "For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he looks like (James 1:23-24)."

Consider Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who was known not only because of His claim to be the Son of God but He backed-up that preposterous claim with signs and miracles, works of the Father that attested to who He was.  In a real sense, who He was became evident by the works that He performed.  Should this be any less true for the Christian?

Jesus spoke directly, "You will know them by their fruit (Matt. 7:16)."  Indicating that the difference between a Christian and an unbeliever should be a sharp one like that of the difference between a raspberry bush and an apple tree.  Know one would ever look at a raspberry bush and expect an apple or look at a banana tree and expect a peach.  The implications for us as believers is clear and should prompt us to an honest but certain assessment: what kind of fruit am I bearing?

At the final analysis, desire to be a Christ-follower is not the same as being a Christ-follower.  If we claim Christ but we continually defile Him in word and deed we are no more Christians than water is not steel; the intention does not match with the reality of being.  If we, on the other hand, desire earnestly to be a Christ-follower and we follow that up with the requisite pursuit of Him, then our desire is confirmed as cohering to reality and, subsequently, we will bear fruit as in keeping with righteousness.  Let us then set our sights and fix our fire upon this, that we not only want to belong to Christ, but we will do what He asks us to so as to confirm that desire and bear fruit inline with that desire!

We Have Been Made Holy in Christ

Holiness has a two-fold definition encompassing, in the very least, the concepts of moral purity and utter uniqueness.  In the latter, which will be under examination today, this uniqueness is not to be thought of as a uniqueness of a different degree, as in, one is holy when they do something more, better, etc.  Instead, holiness in this sense is best thought of a difference in kind, akin to, say the difference between water and sand.

It is this form of holiness that has particular importance for believers, for we are called to be holy as He is holy.  And, while it is certainly true that this exhortation refers to moral purity, it simultaneously speaks to the fact that believers are to be set apart and of a different kind of human from unbelievers.

This is in no way to seem elitist or arrogant, instead it is a reality.  Much like a dead person is different from a live person, due to his/her absence of life, so is the unbeliever different in kind from the Christian due to his/her lack of life in Christ, who is the One who is and gives life.  In this sense, holiness is not something that needs to be sought out, but claimed and accepted as an already-evident truth: the Christian, by confession, repentance, and belief in Christ Jesus, is made alive from death, reborn into holiness that sets them apart from who they were before.  This is what is meant by the idiom, in the world but not of the world.

Scripture speaks substantially to this effect.  One such passage that struck me today was Psalm 4:3, "But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself."  Or consider the words of Paul, who writes about his calling, "But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace (Gal. 1:15)."  Although these are two seemingly dissimilar verses, they both point out that it is, in fact, God who sets apart those whom He has been pleased to love and bestow His grace upon and make holy by the washing of His Word, which is the blood of His Son, Christ Jesus.  This is, among many exclaiming adjectives, amazing.  Let us then claim the holiness that God has given us in His Son!  Praise God!

Training in the Word of God

Imagine you were a soldier ordered into battle by your commanding officer.  However, amidst the orders being given and the tussle to grab supplies, your base is fired upon and attacked.  During the scuffle, you realize that your weapon has gone missing and, apart from terrifying you due to your apparent impotence, you find your self defense-less and without any weapon to handle the oncoming attacks.

Or imagine that you were a doctor entering the emergency room to perform surgery.  Yet after you wash your hands, put on your cap, and pull the rubber gloves over your wrists you find that not only are their no scalpels to be found but you do not even remember how to do the surgery either.

Needless to say, both of these scenarios would be terrifying and are to be avoided at all cost.  But for some Christians, this is exactly how they live their lives.  Scripture states explicitly that the Word of God is the a two-edged sword, the offensive weapon of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12).  Therefore, when Christians neglect reading and studying the Holy Scriptures, they are like a soldier going into war without a gun or a doctor trying to perform surgery without a scalpel.

It might be most accurate to say that the Christian who does not study the Word of God is like a headlining professional musician who has never learned how to play a single note: an utterly preposterous proposition.  Instead, Christians should fulfill the exhortations of the apostle Paul, who writes, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...(Col. 3:16)."  To conclude, let us look to the word of Paul again in his first letter to his friend Timothy:

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17)."

Let us then treat the Word with all the respect and reverence that it deserves, acknowledging that it is the very power and truth of God Himself, and the authority for our very lives.

Born Again in Christ Jesus

One of the most fundamental and monumental things that Jesus ever said, that is so foundational for the life of Christians, is: "Truly, truly, I say to you that a man must be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)."  This is a remarkable statement and it is dense with theology.

For starters, to be born-again is a necessity.  This seems obvious considering Jesus' words in the Gospel of John.  However, the depth of the statement begs a diving board for understanding.  Consider that Jesus was answering Nicodemus, an already-wise teacher of the Law, was totally baffled, replying in bewilderment, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

So what is Jesus saying?  It starts with a basic assumption that until people become confess and believe in Christ Jesus they are dead.  A dead person is unable to do anything but be dead.  In reality, this is the present state of everyone who does not profess and confess and commit to Christ Jesus in faith: walking dead.

Because this is reality, we must be born again in order to be made alive in Christ.  Amazingly, this is exactly what occurs when we believe in Christ: we are born again.  Peter, in his first epistle, writes, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pet. 1:3)."  Praise be to God that He has chosen to raise us from the dead in Christ Jesus, begetting us in His Holy Spirit!

Clothing ourselves with God

I, like most adults in the world, put on clothing everyday.  And everyday I look through my closet and sift through the clothes that fill my dresser (my wife would say armoire) to decide what I will wear that day.  The scene looks like a tornado of tossed trousers and hurled sweaters as I choose one outfit, quickly become unsatisfied with it and cast it off, repeat this several times, until I finally find some sort of fashion that I feel reasonably comfortable in, and I continue on my day.

This is the scene that came to my mind today as I was recollecting the words of Paul in his letter to the church at Colossae, when he writes: "If you have been raised with Christ...Put on then (that which is godly and righteous)."  Or in his letter to the Romans, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14)."

I cannot help but ask a reasonable though challenging question: What/Who have I put on today?  What/Who will I choose to put on tomorrow?

Then, like a plank of wood, it stuck me: If putting on Christ and His nature is akin, even metaphorically, to my morning torrent of deciding what to wear, then I need to take more time to put on the Lord and the new self that I have be given in Christ.  Wow.  But how does this occur in space/time?

The Word of God, applied to the believer by the indwelling illumination of the Holy Spirit is how we put on Christ and wear Him as clothing.  Because of this truth, this utter and total reality in God and Christ Jesus, believers would do well spend time every morning worshiping in prayer and in study of the Word.  This is as foundational to real life in Christ as getting dressed is to going out in public: not an option, a necessity.  Let us then strive to make this a daily routine for the love of Christ!

Seeking After God and His Wisdom

The book of Proverbs is all about wisdom.  Over and over, the book can be summarized by the repeating phrase, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."  This is a challenging concept in a world that thinks of fear in a negative sense.  Luckily, Solomon gives us clear and inspired instruction about how a person may learn about what is the fear of the Lord and what it means.

For this, one need not look much further than Proverbs 2:1-5.  In this sequence of verses, Solomon, the wisest man aside from Christ Jesus to ever live, lays out the path for a person to learn about the fear of the Lord.  Proverbs 2:1-5 reads as such:

"My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandment with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise you voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."

The words have been italicized to emphasize the point of this passage.  There are preconditions that need to be met in the reception of wisdom from God.  Although there are multiple facets to these preconditions, they can be summarized in a single phrase: intentional pursuit.  The prominent word in these verses is then, for it indicates that what has been called for previously must be fulfilled in order for anyone to understand the fear of the Lord and to find the knowledge of God.

If we understand this as such, then what these verses say is astounding.  Basically, God does not reveal Himself to people who do not seek Him and He does not reveal Himself to latent, static, or passive observers.  Instead, God reveals His self, bestowing His infinites wisdom and knowledge, to those who treasure His commands, who listen attentively and incline their hearts to understanding, who cry out for insight and understanding, and who seek after it as if seeking buried treasure.  These are the necessary preconditions for knowing God that must be met before God reveals Himself.  Let us then take seriously our pursuit of the Lord God Almighty!