Bible in 90, Day 10: Purity and the New Temple

Leviticus 27-Numbers 8

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 34: His faithful love endures forever

2 Chronicles 35-Ezra 10

*image courtesy of bosela at www.sxc.hu

While 2 Kings ended on a rather sad note, with Jehoiachin king of Judah in the court of Babylon, 2 Chronicles ends on a high note.  Being written later than Kings, Chronicles has more information, and flashes forward about 70 years to the time of the return from the Babylonian Captivity.  God had prophesied specifically about this return through both Isaiah and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:12, 29:10; Isaiah 44:24-45:13).  As usual, God kept His word.  He swayed the heart of king Cyrus (Proverbs 21:1)to send the Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, even decreeing that the costs should be covered by the royal treasury (Ezra 6).

There is a neat connection made between Chronicles and Ezra.  If you notice, the last words of Chronicles and the first words of Ezra are identical.  There is a definite seam or joint here.  The writers of both had a point they were trying to make – Judah was removed from the land because of sin, and restored because of God’s faithfulness.  It was not that Judah was full of great people, or that they did some marvelous thing while in Babylon and Persia.  God had prophesied in advance that a king named would send His people back into the land.  He receives all the glory for the return!

This hasn’t changed over time, and into the New Covenant.  Despite our failures, even as believers, God’s faithful love for His people endures forever (1 Chronicles 16:34, etc.).  Paul scolded the Galatians for thinking that they could keep themselves saved and make themselves holier, even though they had only been saved by the working of the Spirit (Galatians 3).  We do the same thing today.  We come to Jesus with nothing in our hands, we throw ourselves on His mercy and grace, and receive forgiveness and salvation through no work of our own but by the sacrifice of Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Then, we pick ourselves up, dust off a bit, and think we can carry it from there.  But it is not our goodness that prompts God to action.

It’s His love.

Let’s live in light of this.  Let’s not think that we can make ourselves holier on our own power.  We need the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the mercy of Jesus, and the forgiveness of the Father.  Since we began in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17).

originally appeared at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 31: Faithful in the waiting

1 Chronicles 24 – 2 Chronicles 7

*image courtesy of andreyutzu at www.sxc.hu

Almost 40 years ago, Jerry Falwell had a dream.  He dreamed of a school that would be the Notre Dame of the evangelical world.  He dreamed of a school, right there in his hometown of Lynchburg, that would have the highest Christian moral standards while still offering excellent academics and competing in NCAA sports.  The news reporters at his first press conference laughed aloud.  Undaunted, he continued to explain that this university would one day soar to 25,000 students.  Despite the nay-sayers, he started that school in 1971.  When I enrolled, some 4-5,000 students were on campus and Jerry preached at convocation on a regular basis.  Today, over 11,000 students are on campus, and Jerry Jr. is the new Chancellor.  The school is well on the way of realizing that original goal of 25,000 students on campus, and already offers a wide array of excellent programs, has competitive sports teams, and still upholds a high moral standard.  On May 15, 2007 Jerry died suddenly, in his office, before seeing his full dream come to fruition.

Several hundred years ago, King David had a dream (1 Chronicles 28-29).  He dreamed of building a magnificent Temple to house the Ark of God.  God gave him detailed plans right down to the blueprints and materials list.  Yet, at some point, God told him it wasn’t for him to build.  I can’t discern whether the detailed plans came after this revelation that David would not build the Temple, or before.  Either way, God placed a specific vision in David’s mind about how the Temple would look and even what it was to be made of.

David made ample provision.  He stockpiled the gold, sliver, bronze, iron, and wood that would be necessary to accomplish the task.  He gathered the elders of Israel and told them of the plans for the Temple, and instructed them to support young Solomon in this great task.  He told them about his vision for the construction, the plans God had given him by His Spirit’s instruction, and about all the provisions being laid aside for the right time.

He was faithful in the waiting.

David could have reacted differently.  He could have gotten upset that God had not chosen him for this great task.  He could have been very upset that his son was going to do it instead.  But David agreed with the word of the Lord spoken through Nathan, and submitted himself to God’s plan.  Then he went one further.  He did just about everything but build the Temple.  Instead of growing bitter against his son, Solomon, he helped him on his way.  He shared the vision with Solomon, passing it on to the next generation and preparing them for the task he knew he would never do.

How do we react when things don’t move as fast as we’d like?  Are we faithful in the waiting?  I hear about guys in my seminary all the time who aren’t serving in, or sometimes even attending a local church!  (By the way, this is against the seminary’s policy.)  They are too busy “preparing for the ministry!”  How absurd!  What better way to prepare for the ministry than to serve a local church while studying to lead a local church?  While I was in a period of waiting before I came to the church I currently serve, I got involved in an AWANA program at the church we were temporarily attending so that I could learn all I could about the program because I knew it would probably be a big part of my next ministry.  I got to meet some great kids, and some great leaders!  I know a pastor who is in a time of waiting right now and let me tell you, there’s no moss gathering on that guy!  Not only is he preaching everywhere he can, he and his family decided to set up a booth and do face painting and tell people about Jesus at a local community event.

Faithful in the waiting.

I recently got a call from the youth pastor who came after me at my previous church.  He wanted to tell me that a guy I had shared the gospel with relentlessly for my last nine months at that church had just accepted Christ.  This was more than a year and a half after I’d left.  I worked so hard to share Jesus with him, I prayed for him, we got to know each other pretty well.  He actually stopped coming to church just a few months before I left.  I never got to see him become a Christian, well not directly.  Sometimes, it’s not about that.

Sometimes we must be the ones to stock-pile the gold, silver, and bronze.  Sometimes we’re the one that gets all the nails together, and finds all the marble.  We might not get to see the Temple in all its glory, but we’ve read the floor plans.  We may never see it with our physical eyes, but we can see it by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Let’s be faithful in the waiting.  Let’s trust God to finish whatever plans He may have begun in our lives.  Perhaps we’ll get to see the end result.  Perhaps we’ll never see it even begun.  But God is faithful to complete everything He starts (Philippians 1:6).

Originally at https://wordsofreason.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/bible-in-90-day-31-faithful-in-the-waiting/