Desperate Measures

 

Monday, February 1, 2021

Then the people of Israel traveled to the plains of Moab and camped east of the Jordan River, across from Jericho.  Balak son of Zippor, the Moabite king, had seen everything the Israelites did to the Amorites.  And when the people of Moab saw how many Israelites there were, they were terrified.  The king of Moab said to the elders of Midian, “This mob will devour everything in sight, like an ox devours grass in the field!”  So Balak, king of Moab, sent messengers to call Balaam son of Beor, who was living in his native land of Pethor near the Euphrates River.  His message said:  “Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt.  They cover the face of the earth and are threatening me.  Please come and curse these people for me because they are too powerful for me. Then perhaps I will be able to conquer them and drive them from the land.  I know that blessings fall on any people you bless, and curses fall on people you curse.”  Balak’s messengers, who were elders of Moab and Midian, set out with money to pay Balaam to place a curse upon Israel.  They went to Balaam and delivered Balak’s message to him.  “Stay here overnight,” Balaam said.  “In the morning I will tell you whatever the Lord directs me to say.”  So the officials from Moab stayed there with Balaam.  That night God came to Balaam and asked him, “Who are these men visiting you?”  Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent me this message:  ‘Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come and curse these people for me.  Then perhaps I will be able to stand up to them and drive them from the land.’”  But God told Balaam, “Do not go with them.  You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!”  The next morning Balaam got up and told Balak’s officials, “Go on home!  The Lord will not let me go with you.”  So the Moabite officials returned to King Balak and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.”  Then Balak tried again.  This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time.  They went to Balaam and delivered this message to him:  “This is what Balak son of Zippor says:  Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me.  I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me.  Just come and curse these people for me!”  But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord my God.  But stay here one more night, and I will see if the Lord has anything else to say to me.”  That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”  So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials.  Numbers 22:1-21

Balak was the king of Moab, and he could see the cracks in his kingdom’s foundation; Israel’s armies were camped on the doorstep of his land, and it led to desperate measures. 

If you follow the story[1] all the way through, king Balak continually applies political pressure on the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites.  Every effort backfires and the curse turns back on Balak’s head.  The end for Balak and the kingdom of Moab isn’t pretty.  Some days it just does not pay to get out of bed and sit on your throne! 

If you have any kind of leadership role, civic, business, family, education, or whatever, don’t forget that it is God who sets up (and pulls down) kingdoms and kings.  Remember where your “power” originates.  It isn’t up to the leader to dabble in curses to make his enemies weaker; the leader’s real job is to be strong enough to humble himself before God…and let God do the heavy lifting.  And that is a major lesson for any kind of leader – all earthly thrones are just that temporary. 

For You Today

History teaches us that humans do not often hearken to that lesson; they would rather be popular for a New York minute than humbly right with an eternal God.

It is better to bow at the throne of the one, true, and living God, than to sit on a thousand thrones constructed by humanity.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For another post on Numbers 22 see City of David   

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[1] Read it here:  Numbers 22 - 24

 

The Power of a Curse

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Wednesday, June 26, 2019

For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him.  To be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”

They come out at night, snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl the streets.  Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths; their words cut like swords.  “After all, who can hear us?” they sneer.  But Lord, you laugh at them.  You scoff at all the hostile nations.  You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress.  In his unfailing love, my God will stand with me.  He will let me look down in triumph on all my enemies.  Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield.  Because of the sinful things they say, because of the evil that is on their lips, let them be captured by their pride, their curses, and their lies.  Psalm 59:6-12

Captured by your own pride, curses, and lies…what an incredible minefield in which to walk!  What human being isn’t trapped by his own pride?  Who among us hasn’t uttered an idle curse (either with his lips or heart)?  Has there ever been anyone but Jesus who never lied?

We live in an age where truth has gone begging; what has replaced simple truth is obscenity, invective slurs thrown at each other.  It is a mud-slinging contest with the prize of this culture awarded to the vilest potty-mouth.  I do believe my mother would have run out of mouth-washing soap!

Jesus did not have a single word of praise for such.  However, the Lord did pass a searing word of warning about how we use words:

And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.  Matthew 12:36

Now, if an idle word can get you in trouble on judgment day, imagine what judgment will happen for the mean-spirited nastiness that floods like a torrential downpour from the mouths of people in everyday life.   

Paul understood the difference between vile language and helpful language.  In Acts 9 the Apostle is breathing out words of death and destruction to Christians, followed by the deeds of oppression and execution.  In a heartbeat Paul’s soul is converted when he met Christ, and the conviction that brought down the enemy of Jesus and His church, becomes the instrument of building up that same church he persecuted.  Here’s good advice from this once foul-mouthed Pharisee, who’d learned how to clean up his act (and his mouth):

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29

For You Today

A little more advice from a formerly trench-mouthed apostle of doom, who had learned what really should proceed from our lips; he learned that if you want good stuff to come out of your mouth, you need to fill the heart with that good stuff, because that’s where all the words have their birthplace.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Philippians 4:8

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

Explicit Language

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Monday, January 7, 2019

Don’t use foul or abusive language.  Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.  Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)

…in 1915, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that movies were not considered protected speech under the First Amendment and thus were subject to regulation.[2]  After wrestling with what the movie industry could show on screens for a decade and a half, the 1930 Hays Code became the first ratings system to alert the public as to content in a movie.  That code evolved into the modern-era ratings system (1968 MPAA) created by the movie industry itself.  That system now includes explanations of why movies are classed G (general audiences), R (restricted audiences), and so-on.  Violence, Sex, and Language are the main considerations. 

But it is the why that always catches my attention.  When Elizabeth and I are trying to decide which movie to watch, I look at the ratings.  Explicit language always gets a pass for me.  I just don’t want to hear it.  I threw my lot in with the Apostle long ago, that being a foul-mouth just isn’t helpful to living a Godly life, and being taken seriously as a follower of Jesus Christ.  Foul language displays hatred, and anger; it also conveys a sense of distaste for others, including disrespect and denigration. 

I also have to laugh when I see movies that earn a more restrictive rating (like “R” or “NC-17”) because they contain what is termed explicit language – it’s anything but explicit!  That word means “clear” or “obvious” or “plain”.  What Hollywood calls explicit is simply vocal shock filler, replacing the need for elevating ideas with genuinely-intelligent vocabulary by polluting the atmosphere.  Let’s face it, if you haven’t got the brains to say something clearly, profanity can deflect attention from your ignorance…and if it’s yelled louder, you’ve got a real shot at hiding gross stupidity!

There is a story about the 19^th century author Samuel Clemmens (also known by his pen name, Mark Twain[3]), a man committed to the constant use of profanity, and his wife, Olivia, a godly woman who was always trying to get her husband to clean up his foul-mouthed ways.  She had little success.  

One day Olivia decided to pull out all the stops.  She figured if she demonstrated for him just how awful profanity sounds, he would quit.  Walking into the room where Samuel was writing, she stubbed her toe against the door jamb (on purpose), and then let fly a string of locker-room curses that would have turned any air blue.  Without looking up, or missing a beat, the legendary Mark Twain blew out a puff of cigar smoke and said:  My dear, you oughtn’t talk like that.  Smugly, Olivia replied:  You don’t like the sound of those words, Samuel?  Said the author:  Oh, they’re great words, but you just don’t have the music to go along with it.  In an ironic and perverse way Samuel Clemmens nailed the Apostle Paul’s point, that cussing, foul-mouths are a strange fit for God’s family. 

In Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus Paul gave us the higher level for speech, letting every word dropping from your lips be helpful and encouraging.  It’s hard to do that with an alphabet that is only 4 letters strong!

For You Today

Hollywood does nothing but push the limits of culture’s envelope when it comes to holding-up profanity, obscenity, and violence as normative or trendy-cool.  And that means exactly what it sounds like, you can expect next year’s Oscars, Emmys, and Music awards to contain worse than this year’s! 

The question begs:  Is this what we really want our children to see, hear…and become?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com

^[2] The Meaning of Movie Ratings

[3]Image:  Pixabay.com

Elevate Your Game

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Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.  So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires.  Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.  You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.  But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.  Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.  Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.  In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free.  Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.  Colossians 3:1-11(NLT)

Paul used athletic illustrations to talk to the early church about how to live the Christ-life.  He called it a race, chasing the prize of crowns (as in the Olympic games), and doing training like a prize fighter.  But here, to the Colossian crowd, Paul points to the seminal, most basic disciplines for elevating our game – getting rid of the kind of raw crudeness that so permeates our culture today.

Anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language; my, oh, my, one would think Paul is talking about political campaigns in recent memory…or Hollywood movies!  And, I think, one would be correct.  But don’t be too quick to jump to the conclusion that Paul is missing the mark on every-day, normal, not-so-famous people like us. 

It is said that culture reflects art, and vice-versa.  It’s true; both the behavior of people and the art produced out of that culture inform and influence each other.  Seeing an image of a shooting plants an indelible image on a person’s brain.  Producing “art” that reflects a violent act increases the influence of that image to others.

If “pure” art (painting, video, photo) has power to influence people who view the art, imagine how much influence our actions, which are also an art form, possess to influence people.  It’s like a tornado’s cone – the more the wind and pressure build, the bigger it gets.  The more seedy our behavior, the worse the total effect on those around us. 

This is why Paul encourages us to strip off all the crude, rude, harmful behavior.  We may feel independent and perfectly justified to act, talk, think like we want, but a Christian is never free to exert any influence except Christlikeness, the agape’-love of God.  Elevating our game means passing over the base nature and setting our sights on higher things.  We are to aspire to the honor of Heaven in the way we treat people, talk to people, and lead people with our influence (our actions). 

Granted, this is a lot harder than just acting the way that pleases you most; a whole LOT harder!  But, this is the kind of living which pleases Christ, and builds others up.  The only other choice is to tear down and destroy.

For You Today

That new nature you were given when you gave your heart to Jesus means you’ve said goodbye to the old nature.  But don’t forget this:  that old rude, crude, and destructive nature will still try to come back home and have its influence over you.  So, just like you get ready to meet each day by dressing with physical clothes, elevate your game; keep stripping-off that old nature garment, and putting-on Christ as your new nature garment.

You’ll be best-dressed wherever you go!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

God Sovereign - Part 4

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Thursday, May 25, 2017

Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged.  For look—the Judge is standing at the door!  For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  We give great honor to those who endure under suffering.  For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance.  You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.  But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else.  Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.  James 5:9-12^(NLT)

We are looking at practical applications of living in an intentional way as people who serve a sovereign God, and therefore what our attitudes and actions must reflect.  Today we see three more instructions from James, the most practical apostle.

Witness – We Must Proclaim the Kingdom like a Prophet

Living your life in a manner worthy of eternity means you will stand for that which will stand in eternity.  That means sharing your faith in God with people.

It’s never been part of my comfort zone to go out on a limb with my faith.  Nobody likes being thought a fool or being mistaken for an offensive religious bigot.  Sharing your faith is hard work; it’s not an activity for the faint of heart.  But then, farmers and prophets are not lazy people!

Perseverance – We Must Have an Attitude like Job

Job had it all; then he had it all taken away.  He went from hero to zero in an afternoon.  His wife got so discouraged she told her husband, why don’t you just curse God and die?  But Job hung in there.  He wasn’t patient like some say – he was actually ticked, and wanted an answer. 

But he did hang in there, and that’s what perseverance is all about.  You know that God is in charge, so you play by His rules, and leave the results to Him.

Language – We Must Keep Our Speech Clean

James said a word about our words.  Folks, what proceeds out of the mouths of even Christians these days would have made our grandparents turn purple if they’re alive, or turn over if in their graves. 

All of your words are worship.  What James is saying is, don’t offer slop to our Lord!  He is the sovereign God of the universe – not the man upstairs.  He hears our words and attributes each of those words to us as our contribution to either praise or putrification of His name. 

Be careful with your words!

For You Today

Proclaiming the Kingdom of God with clean mouths and persevering hearts and minds – this is anything but self-serving or bigoted; this is work for children of the King!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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 ^I Title image: Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons