Let My People Go

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh.  They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”  “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh.  “And who is the Lord?  Why should I listen to him and let Israel go?  I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”  Exodus 5:1-2

If you’ve hung around God’s people for a minute or two you’ve heard how Israel was in bondage to the Egyptians, and God sent Moses to lead them away from slavery to the Promised Land.  If you’re a believer, you’ve also probably shaken your head over the way Pharaoh was so hard-hearted (and hard-headed). 

These two verses give us God’s Heavenly understanding about why Pharaoh was so cruel…and why people of all generations do such mean stuff.  The bottom line of it all is when God said (through Moses) let my people go.  Pharaoh answered with a defiant scowl:  Is that so….why should I listen…I don’t know the Lord…and I won’t let Israel go.  Pharaoh wouldn’t listen or obey, because he had no clue Who he was dealing with, or the consequences. 

The Psalmist understood this well:

Why are the nations so angry?  Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one.  “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”  But the one who rules in heaven laughs.  The Lord scoffs at them.  Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury.  Psalm 2:1-5

I’ve known some angry and violent people, a few who directed that hostility towards me.  I’ve looked into the defiant eyes of those who would have taken my head off with little (or no) remorse.  I have seen hatred which I could only describe as demonic.  I’m not an exorcist…I don’t even like movies that deal with that stuff…but I’ve seen too much to deny that spiritual evil is real.  One such violent man was part of my life during early ministry days.  After wreaking havoc on our church for a few months, his alcoholic stupor and violence ended with him committing suicide in a police standoff.  I’m no psychiatrist, but this was more than booze, and much more than angst over life’s smaller questions.  This was a man who had shaken his fist at God for so long…so angry…that anger led him to the brink of despair, and, finally over that brink into the abyss.  His last act of pulling the trigger was desperation, the mark of one who had lost all hope.  Why do the heathen rage?  Why are the nations angry?  Why is life filled with such an absence?  A void?  A tasteless treadmill of nothing? 

Let’s do the math…it is entirely the lack of knowing the Lord.  Pharaoh wasn’t the only one…name any serial-killer in history…start with Cain, make your way through Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and all the conquerors of history, Alexander the Great, Atilla the Hun, Stalin, Hitler, Tojo, et al.  What is the thread that binds all that violent behavior?  They didn’t know the Lord of Heaven.  They would not bow before anyone but their own thrones.

Knowing the Lord is more than knowing about God; rather it is a personal relationship of friendship, based on understanding God’s love, and responding appropriately.  Cain is the chief poor example.  When he killed his brother out of envy, God’s love for Abel was assaulted.  God’s love for Cain held him responsible:

You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out!  Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. Genesis 4:7a

For You Today 

Let’s finish Moses’ words:  Let my people go….to worship God.

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Images:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain. Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Deepening

Monday, March 30, 2020

Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea!  Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.  Don’t put your servant on trial, for no one is innocent before you.  My enemy has chased me.  He has knocked me to the ground and forces me to live in darkness like those in the grave.  I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.  I remember the days of old.  I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done.  I lift my hands to you in prayer.  I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.       Interlude   Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens.  Don’t turn away from me, or I will die.  Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you.  Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.  Rescue me from my enemies, Lord; I run to you to hide me.  Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.  May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.  For the glory of your name, O Lord, preserve my life.  Because of your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.  In your unfailing love, silence all my enemies and destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.  Psalm 143:1-12

Young David had been the rising star of Israel, having defeated Goliath, called to the palace to be advisor, spiritual mentor, and chief music therapist to King Saul.  When David later wrote this Psalm, he was remembering the aftermath of Saul’s paranoiac rage that drove David not only from the palace, but from any kind of life at all.  David was hounded by Saul’s armies, forced to live with the spiders and scorpions in caves, or just anywhere out of Saul’s reach.  In light of his reputation, position, calling, service and his very life hanging by a thread, we can understand the future king’s deepening into the downward spiral of depression!

If you’re one of those A-type, always up, optimistic persons who has never had a down moment, blessed with an always-full-and-running-over glass – on behalf of 99.75% of the world…you’re really annoying to the rest of us who live in reality!

Now, admittedly, that is not very pastoral sounding!  (Ya think, Russell?).  The only problem with a pastor not saying that would be an ethical disconnect from truth.  The fact remains that depression, either occasionally, or as a lifelong battle, is part of the typical experience of fallen humanity.  If you doubt that, you’re behind on your Bible reading, and/or need a reality check.  We live in an anti-depressant saturated society.  And it’s deepening!

I love old sayings (not just because I’m old – I’ve loved hearing them all my life).  One of those sayings is MISERY LOVES COMPANY – but, frankly, who wants another depressed person around when you’re already hanging on for dear life?  Answer:  just about everybody.  And with good reason; when you’re depressed who wants a Jack Russell Springer jumping up and down with a dog-toothy smile, wanting to play?  No, we want a Bassett Hound, willing to just lay next to us with body heat and a slow pulse we can feel in rhythm with our own.  We want someone who has, or is, walking where we’re drowning.  We don’t want to be told cheer up…it’s a beautiful day; we want to be understood, because whatever beauty God’s created to see out there, on our inside it’s darker than midnight!

For You Today

King David walked there, and he thought deeply about it, and gives us the kind of lifeline that brings a little refreshing rain on the parched ground of souls that have been ground down like powder and swept away with the wind of chance.  And David knows the only genuinely sane way out is the way of the upward; it’s to take the deepening sense of depression and own it before God.  Only there is the beginning of restoration.  Let’s face it, you can’t climb out of the pit; you must be led-out, by the Hand of One who has conquered it!  So, if you’re ready, He is!

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

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on battling depression Psalm 143:  see Zombie No Longer

When the Elephant Goes on a Rampage

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Thursday, January 23, 2020

The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?  When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid.  Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.  The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.  For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary.  He will place me out of reach on a high rock.  Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.  At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music.  Psalm 27:1-6

In 2007 I took a little trip with a group of Baptists, Methodists, and Assembly of God folks to Zimbabwe, Africa.  Our mission was to teach End Times theology to pastors in a seminary, build a building in 10 days for future students, and (in our spare time) hold a Vacation Bible School for 150 kids in 110^◦ heat.  I learned a lot in that 10-day adventure, particularly about dealing with adversity.  On that trip I met people whose daily tasks were dictated by whether there would be food somewhere in the coming week.  When you live in American culture, adversity is only having a 4G network.  By the end of the week I was feeling guilty about missing the comforts of my home when my new friends were grateful just to have a roof over their school building to shade them from the relentless midday sun.

We got one day being tourists; we got to ride in an open, jeep-like vehicle for a mini-safari into the bush.  Seeing wildlife in the wild is spectacular!  Our ride through the African plains to an engedi of a watering-hole was surreal. 

On that little excursion I learned something very important to the life of following Jesus as a disciple when we were threatened by a beast that could have squashed our huge jeep wagon and the dozen occupants without even breaking a sweat.

The elephant blocked our pathway through the brush as we were headed towards the oasis/watering hole…not quite a lake really, more like a mudhole.  But that elephant considered it his mudhole, and he stood firmly unmovable, ready to defend his home and herd.  We hadn’t seen him until we only 20 feet away.  Suddenly being nose to trunk with a 10-foot tall, ten-ton behemoth with an attitude, our guide stopped the vehicle and said in a low, steady voice:  be very quiet and still[2].  I had no problem with that; my legs wouldn’t have moved if you beat me with a baseball bat!

After several looks at us with eyes that resembled something I’ve seen on a tv show about zombies and devils, the mountain of grey with a tail at both ends snorted and lumbered off, leaving a dozen American sets of eyes frozen open in disbelief at how fragile our lives were…and how calmly our African host remained when borderline rage was staring us down, and fear had imprisoned his passengers.

That was the first time I’d connected the dots with King David’s Psalm, and how, if attacked (or even just threatened), he would remain confident.  Perhaps this confidence grew from years of being protected in the wilderness from bears and lions as he protected the sheep he was tending.  David understood the power of his God to keep him, no matter the circumstances. 

There is a difference between presenting a confident image for others to see, as opposed to having a non-anxious spirit because you’ve entrusted your life, past, present, and future, to the God nobody sees.  David could rest his spirit in the presence of the Lord, because that presence was always there. 

For You Today

When you’ve lived long enough and sinned big enough to know how much you are in need of God’s forgiveness, providence, and protection, like David, you’ve probably discovered God’s been doing that for you since long before you even suspected it!

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

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[1] Title Image:   Russell Brownworth (original photograph)    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

[2] See Psalm 46:10

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