Episode 274 - "God is not blind to injustice" - Genesis 19:1-11

Gen. 19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Gen. 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

Does anything strike you as unusual about this segment? Genesis 19:1 says, “The two angels came to Sodom in the evening.” Where did these angels come from? This is another opportunity for us to exercise one of the most important principles of interpretation: examining the context. If we back up to Genesis 18:22, we read that the “men” that had visited Abraham (Gen. 18:2) “turned from there (where Abraham was residing) and went toward Sodom. Could these angels be those men?

But wait a minute! There were three men who visited Abraham. (Gen. 18:2) If they are angels, what happened to the third angel? Remember that the story of Abraham’s visitors began with “And the LORD appeared to him.” (Gen. 18:1) I speculated that one of the three “men” might be a Christophany (a pre-incarnation appearance of Christ). This theory has support in Genesis 18:22 when, as the men turned toward Sodom, Abraham “still stood before the LORD.” It would seem that the other two continued on toward Sodom in order for them to carry out their mission to bring judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah while Abraham petitioned the LORD to spare the righteous.

What happens when the two men approach the town is intriguing to me as well. The fact that Lot is at the gate of the city and that he offers hospitality does not seem all that strange. What intrigues me are Lot’s words to the angels and his sense of urgency for them to stay with him and to leave the next morning. Is Lot saying indirectly, “You don’t want to stay here long”? I could be reading that into this text. This may simply be a customary means of showing hospitality to strangers. But it sure seems that the narrative is heightening the tension of imminent conflict.

That conflict develops very quickly in the story. Apparently, others were at the gate or near the city and saw Lot take the angels into his home. Before long, the word got out, and the men of the town, “young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house” (Gen. 19:4). This was not a welcoming committee. They had a collective evil spirit that was common among every male in town. A scene like this, where all the men of the town are surrounding the house, trying to break in and have their way with Lot’s guests, helps us understand Lot’s insistence and urgency for the visitors to stay with him and leave first thing in the morning. Lot knows the culture in which he resides. In verses 6-8, Lot steps outside his home to dissuade them from their intent.

Personally, I find Lot’s speech disturbing. First, he addresses them as “brothers.” He is not. He’s related to Abraham. They are, in all likelihood, Canaanites. The second disturbing thing is that he offers them his virgin daughters for them to gang rape instead of his guests. At the very least, he tells them that their intent is wicked. (v. 7) They respond to this by becoming more violent. They do not recognize him as a brother. They call him a “fellow” who “came to sojourn” and “has become the judge.” (v.9). These people have no regard for Lot, his visitors, or anyone else.

What happened next was the men of the town tried to break into Lot’s house. The visitors pulled Lot back into the house and caused blindness upon the men at the door.

I’m going to pause in the story at this point to call our attention to a few things. First, I want to think back to Genesis 18 when the LORD asked, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Gen. 18:17). The explanation and revealing of his plans are in verse 20. “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave.” My question is, “From who is this outcry coming?” I doubt that it’s coming from the men of Sodom. Perhaps it’s their wives. Maybe it’s from others who witnessed or experienced similar treatment while in the town. I don’t have an answer. But my observation that corresponds to this is that it doesn’t escape the LORD’s notice. God sees injustice. God may not react or address injustice right away. I don’t think this pervasive evil attitude developed overnight. But the LORD does notice, and the LORD cares, and the LORD will act accordingly. Lastly, as the story reminds us, the LORD will not sweep away the righteous with the wicked. Those who the LORD sees as righteous, he will deliver from the judgment that he brings upon the wicked. We often don’t think about God’s grace in the Old Testament. We tend to think of it as a New Testament concept. But we are going to witness God’s grace in this story.

Episode 239 - "Loving discipline for disobedience" - Genesis 3:20-24

Gen. 3:20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Gen. 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Why does the statement, “The man called wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (v.20), matter to us? First of all, scholars debate the meaning of her name, which tells us they don’t really understand how it corresponds to the explanation given. So what do we do? We accept the explanation given by the text. We’ll come back to this in a minute.

This is immediately followed by the statement, “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Wait a minute! Didn’t Adam and Eve already have garments? When their eyes were opened after their disobedience, and they saw that they were naked, the text tells us they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. (Gen. 3:7) This Scripture has raised all kinds of questions and debates. The first issue is that some people see this as God initiating the first sacrifice because the garments were made of animal skins. Many people argue strongly against this by saying that this is reading back into the text something that is established later, and that the author does not intend to communicate the idea of a sacrifice. In response to this argument, I would concede that I cannot recall anywhere in all of Scripture that identifies this incident as a sacrifice. Furthermore, I believe it’s entirely possible that the author, the human author, that is, does not recognize God making garments of animal skin as a sacrifice. But what about the divine author? Is it possible that in God’s inspiration of the Scriptures, there is meaning embedded in what is written, which will not be perceived and understood until the LORD reveals more understanding of his divine plan? I think so. I am inclined to think and suggest that God, through this act, is establishing an example of the shedding of blood and substitutionary atonement for sin. In Christian theology, we understand that we have sinned like Adam and Eve and we are unable to adequately cover our shame through our own effort. The blood of Christ was shed on the cross through the divine will to meet our needs. In our modern society of electronic games, developers of games will often create hidden surprises called “Easter eggs.” I understand the risk of reading my theology back into the Hebrew Scriptures. But Jesus himself told people those Scriptures spoke of him. Essentially, Jesus stated that the Hebrew Scriptures had “Easter eggs” of revelation concerning him.

At the very least, I think it’s appropriate to understand this act of God to reveal that Adam and Eve’s efforts to cover their nakedness and shame were inadequate, and only God could appropriately address it. This leads me back to the question of why the naming of Eve and the garments of skin matter to us. I believe that what we are seeing revealed here is God’s grace. Adam and Eve had just disobeyed the LORD’s one prohibitive command, and the LORD had just revealed the consequences of their sin. Like a loving father disciplining his children for disobedience, he also shows his care for them. He is not disowning them. He still has a purpose for them. Adam acts according to the role God gave him and gives Eve a name to reflect the honor she has in becoming the mother of all living. Finally, God is giving them the covering they need for the broken world they will now live in. We need this reminder at this point in the text because God is about to expel them from the garden. We need to be reminded that when we sin, God’s discipline may be painful, but we are not disowned, and we are still valued and cared for by God.

The conclusion of this segment of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and the consequences pronounced by the LORD is found in verses 22-24. For the first time, it’s clearly revealed that the serpent used some truth in his deception of Eve. In Genesis 3:22, the LORD says, “the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.” So, he resolved to prevent the man from eating the fruit from the tree of life and living forever. In verses 23-24, the LORD expelled the man from the garden and made it impossible for him to reenter. That sounds mean and vindictive, doesn’t it? Actually, it’s quite the contrary. The LORD intended for humanity to enjoy life and all of his creation eternally, but not in a cursed world and a condition that is a far cry from that in which the people were created. How awful it would be to live forever in such a condition. Again, as strange as it may seem, this was an act of grace and not sadism.

The first few chapters of Genesis clearly reveal God’s power, goodness, patience, justice, mercy, value, and purpose for humanity. These are important principles to remember and embrace in our daily lives to encourage us and sustain our faith.

Episode 182 - "Our treatment of other believers sends a message to the world" - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4 So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!

Well, Paul has certainly been taking these believers to the proverbial “woodshed.” In the preceding texts we’ve looked at the past few weeks, Paul has admonished them for their arrogance and unwillingness to discipline a brother in the church for living in an immoral relationship that Paul says is not acceptable even among the culture around them.

Notice that Paul does not expect these people to be perfect. He understands that there are disagreements, conflicts, and grievances in this world and life. He does not suggest these are avoidable. The problem Paul is addressing here is how they handle it. This is consistent with the situation Paul addressed prior to this. The man’s immoral relationship with his father’s wife was wrong. It needed correcting. But, just as important was the testimony and integrity of the church, the community of faith. By ignoring it, they were sending a message that they didn’t have a problem with this. Outsiders would rightly question what is different or better about the Christian faith if they didn’t live any differently than everyone else. This is an important principle for this situation as well.

The problem is that believers are not settling their conflicts among themselves. They are taking the problems to the courts overseen by the “unrighteous.” What is Paul’s first attack against this? He says in verse 2 the “saints will judge the world,” and if that’s the case, can you (as saints) not handle issues that are trivial? Then, he adds in verse 3 that “we (the saints) are to judge the angels.” Whoa! I’ll be honest with you. I don’t have a clue how this would/will look. It’s difficult for me to imagine how or why God would want me to judge the world or angels. Perhaps there are things that God works in my life for the world and even angels to observe, and they serve as a witness for that to which they are held accountable. Whatever it is, at the very least, the message is that Christians following Christ should grow in God’s wisdom for the purpose of being a testimony of God’s holiness, wisdom, love, truth, righteousness, justice, mercy, and all good things that come from God. We should not fail to be able to address the “matters pertaining to this life” (v. 3) when God is preparing us for a life in his kingdom.

Paul’s counsel is to let other believers in the church help you settle your disputes with your brothers instead of sending a message to the world that Christians are foolish and can’t handle their own problems.

Paul digs a little deeper in verse 7. He says, “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” His point is that it is even better if you just let it go instead of suing your brother. Your loss is better than having even a Christian third party decide on the matter. Why is that? Isn’t that allowing injustice not to be addressed? Well, the fact of the matter is Paul is just following Jesus’ instruction on the matter. In Matthew 5:39-40 Matthew records Jesus saying, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” (Matt 5:39-40 ESV) Wow! I must admit that I need some maturing in this area. It is so easy to become upset at some perceived injustice, especially from those who call themselves Christians. I want it to be made right.

Paul is not finished and adds in verse 8 that they are also guilty of defrauding their brothers in the faith. This highlights the fundamental problem he’s been addressing from the beginning of the letter: these believers at Corinth are thinking of themselves first and foremost and not Christ or their fellow believers.

Prayer: Lord - Give us the mind of Christ and let it change our values and thoughts so that our highest desire is to be a testimony of your grace, truth, mercy, and righteousness to the world that they would want to receive Jesus1

Episode 162 - "Don't use your privilege to oppress others!" - James 5:1-6

James 5:1   Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

It has dawned on me that careful reading and interpretation of this letter is a good exercise in the process of hermeneutics. That’s just a fancy word for the process of interpretation. Why is it that this letter is such a good exercise in the process of interpreting Scripture and literature in general? Because James says things in ways that, if we take them very literally and define the boundaries of meaning from our own culture and perception with little consideration of other factors, we could easily misinterpret the intended meaning.

For example, could we not interpret the first three verses of this section to say that rich people are evil or that it’s wrong to have wealth? But, then we have a problem when we think about people we’ve known or been familiar with who are financially successful and are wonderful people of faith. How do we reconcile that conflict? I would suggest that we make a habit of returning to the text and reading more broadly through the work of literature and see if there are clues from the context.

James begins by saying the rich will “weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you (deservedly).” (v. 1) He continues by stating matter-of-factly that these items of earthly value have corroded, and they will testify against them (implied as evidence of judgment as if these items could speak) and will eat their flesh. Already we should recognize a problem with such an absolute, literal interpretation. These are inanimate objects. They cannot speak or eat. For that matter, they even tend not to corrode so quickly. Yet, James speaks as though it’s already happened. But, then there’s the question, what is so wrong with gold and silver that James speaks of it in such a way, and how or why does it speak judgment against its owner? The context helps us interpret what James is really after.

The end of verse 3 says (of the rich), “You have laid up treasures in the last days.” (v.3b) This is not so bad in and of itself. In Proverbs 6:6-8 we find the wise teacher speaking against those who are lazy and don’t want to work and speaks of the ant that stores up for the winter when it cannot find food. There is wisdom in planning for times when provision may be lean. But that’s not what is happening here. James continues in verse 4 that these rich people have been defrauding, not paying, their less fortunate employees. Now we’re getting to the root of the problem.

Did you notice that both groups of people are crying, both the rich oppressors and the defrauded workers? But, the rich oppressors will be crying because of the judgment that will justly come upon them. The defrauded workers are crying to the Lord out of their need and the injustice. Guess who the Lord hears? Verse 4 says it’s the latter group's cry that reaches the ears of the Lord.

James continues his indictment of the wealthy oppressor in verse 5 when he speaks of his self-indulgence. Then in verse 6, James says the rich oppressor has “condemned and murdered the righteous person.” 

Clearly, the issue James is addressing is not how much money one makes. The issue is whether you use what the Lord has blessed you with for righteous and just purposes. If the Lord has blessed us with more than what we need, then we ought to use that abundance to help others with their needs. 

All the way back in Genesis 12:1-3, we see this principle in the Lord’s call of Abram. The Lord promised to bless Abram and that he would be a blessing to others. So, this principle becomes more evident as we read the context in which this indictment is set, but it also is consistent with what is revealed outside of this letter but within the scope of God’s revelation through time. 

Our God is consistent, and he consistently desires that we act justly toward others. The Lord desires to bless us. We must pass on the blessing to others to the measure we are able to according to those blessings.

Prayer: Lord, help me be a blessing to others to the ability that you have made possible.

Episode 151 - "Show no partiality!" James 2:1-7

James 2:1   My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

In reading this, I was tempted to offer no commentary and only a simple prayer. The message is clear. Christians are not to show partiality based upon appearances or economic status. Let’s take a brief look at this, not to suggest that it means anything different, but rather to savor the nuances in James' message that it may make an impact in our lives.

As he has already done multiple times through the first chapter, he addresses his audience once again as “brothers.” (2:1) James is setting an example that he wants his readers to follow. James was a leader in the early church. However, he does not talk down to these fellow Christians. He treats them as fellow siblings in the faith. 

The next thing that is not so obvious in our English translations is that James’ instruction in verse James 2:1 is actually an imperative (command): “Do NOT hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory!” What? Is James telling them NOT to have or hold faith in Jesus? Well, not exactly. He qualifies this imperative by prefacing it with “in partiality.” So, a better translation might read, “Do not hold faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality.” (My interpretation) The point here is that showing partiality toward people based on their appearance or financial status is in direct contradiction to being a Christian. 

In verse 2, he spells out what this looks like. Notice that he speaks of two men “coming into your assembly.” One of them appears wealthy and the other poor. The insinuation is that if these people are coming to worship with you, they are professing to be believers. This is an important note for what he will soon add. Verse 3 explains partiality as giving favor to the wealthy person while disregarding or even deriding the poor man.

James explains in verse 4 that in showing such partiality, you have “become judges with evil thoughts.”  This is certainly not how the Lord wants to make us complete. It does not demonstrate wisdom or justice that James is telling them is consistent with God’s character. 

In verse 5, James says, “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?” This reveals the foolishness and evil in showing partiality. If God values the poor, who are we to treat them poorly?

James reminds these “brothers” that it is the rich (so-called) brothers who treat them poorly and oppress them through their financial power. (v. 6) In doing so, “they blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called.” (v. 7)

Do you see the connection there? A professing believer with means commits blasphemy if they use their power to oppress others. Yet, we are no different if we show partiality and disregard or deride others. 

Prayer - Lord, humble us to treat everyone in the way that you treat us, with mercy and grace.

Episode 29 - In "light" or in "darkness?"

John 3:19-21

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John has just told us that those who have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God are already condemned to perish. But, those who receive God’s love and receive eternal life are those who believe in His name. In case one might think that this could be arbitrary and perhaps unfair, our text for today makes it clear on what basis are this judgment and condemnation. 

Verse 19 says that 1) the light has come into the world and 2) people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. So, based upon what we’ve already been told in this book, we know that the “light” or rather “true light” that came into the world is the Word which was in the beginning with God and was fully God and that the light and Word is Jesus. Remember, John has already told us that he did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The point here is that God is not only demonstrating His mercy and compassion to mankind, but He’s also making it painfully obvious. Think of this picture being given. Consider what happens when light is brought into a dark room. The darkness is dispelled and much is illuminated with even a little light. Jesus is the true light that came into the world. 

So, why doesn’t everyone believe in Jesus? Why aren’t people clamoring to find out more about him? John tells us right here; “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” They don’t want God’s light. If that’s the case, it is not so difficult to understand why there is judgment. God alone is the source of what is good and right.

Notice how verse 21 helps us understand more about others; those who do come to the light. It says, “whoever does what is true (or faithful) comes to the light.” Don’t overlook the fact that some people come to the light. Why is this important? Because this is revealing that they weren’t always in the light if they are coming to the light. They themselves have done evil things and have been in the darkness. 

So why would they come to the light? John tells us, “So that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” There is a two-fold benefit in coming to the light. The first is so that our own evil is exposed by the light and secondly, so that we and others around us recognize that the truly good things we do are actually from God working in us. 

Do you see the amazing freedom there is in that? God sent His only Son into the world to provide us an escape from the judgment for our evil works, but He is also working good within us. There is a concept that should inspire our praise and worship.