Tag: Judgment

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Happily Ever After

Daily Reading

2Kings 23-25

Daily Thought

A siege is slow relentless death, and, in the original Hebrew, the fall of Jerusalem is told in one long methodical twelve-verse sentence, 2Kings 25:1-12. (English adds periods to ease the read.) “The ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month” stretches “till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month” and in eighteen months all is done. The wall is breached, the Chaldean army rushes in, and the last king of Judah is chased into the plains of Jericho, the same place where it all began when Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the people shouted and the trumpets blew and the walls came tumbling down (Joshua 6).

There is no emotion in this account. God’s prophet Jeremiah weeps over the fall of Jerusalem in his book of Lamentations, but here in 2Kings is the dispassionate voice of a court reporter recounting the execution of judgment. Judah had her good kings, but not enough, and the country is judged for the whole of her sins. Josiah’s reign (2Kings 22-23) had been a brief righteous reprieve, but he was followed by Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin and Zedekiah and a nation cannot endure evil upon evil upon evil. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land (2Kings 25:21).

“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23) for nations, as well as for you and me. The story seems over, but fairy tales are not the only stories that end with “they lived happily ever after.” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). There will come to Israel and the world a new king, a righteous one whose reign will not be brief, but forever, bringing with him “the free gift of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Daily Prayer

My God, You are righteous and good and holy and just. I am not. Created in Your image, I chose my own way rather than yours, and my sin led to judgment and that judgment is death. There was such hopelessness in life without You. Thank You for rescuing me, for delivering me from death, returning me to hope, and giving me a life that overflows with Your love.

May my thankfulness be evident in a life changed by Your love. May I walk in Your truth, full of grace, sharing Your goodness by word and deed with all who cross my path. May I seek opportunities to share Your love in the same way You sought me. Thank You for so great a salvation, such a wonderful Savior.

Amen

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God and Grandma

Daily Reading

Exodus 22-24

Daily Thought

I hear it all the time, “All sins are the same in the eyes of God.” It is said with good intentions, I suppose. No one is worse than anyone else. God loves us all the same, like Grandma. Ask Grandma whether she loves you or your brother best. “I love you both the same,” her answer every time. God and Grandma–they don’t pick favorites. 

No one is better, therefore no one is worse, they say, and point to James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” See! No one sin is worse than any other. But is that what this verse says?

Every sin, no matter how big or little, is equally effective in separating us from God. That is the point of James 2:10. Why? Because the standard is “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). It does not matter if you miss  by an inch or a mile, you missed. Whether you sin badly or not-so-badly, you miss the standard, and you need saving and you need grace and you need Jesus.

On the scales of God’s judgment, however, we find disparity. Some sins weigh heavy, others not so much, and it may surprise us to see which sins are punished most severely. Exodus 22 is a lengthy list of crimes and punishments. In the first 15 verses, every one who does wrong gets fined. In the next nine verses, they die. The punishments increase because the sins worsen. All sins are not the same, the worse the sin, the greater the punishment. Look what happens when you mistreat aliens or orphans or widows. “My wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless” (Exodus 22:24). Ouch!

Tells you something about the heart of God, doesn’t it?

Daily Prayer

Almighty God, Your ways are truly so much higher than mine. I’m amazed that You are concerned about me, who I am and what I do. You care about my everyday life. It is so good to know what is right and what is wrong, how You expect us to treat each other, what is pleasing in Your eyes. Thank you, Lord, for showing us Your laws that lead to the good life–a life marked by right living. Help me God to remember how personal you are, that You are very close, and that You will lead me. I need to follow!

God, make me keenly aware of those who most need my attention. Give me a heart of compassion for the outcasts, the weak, the poor, and the helpless.  

Amen

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The Lamb of God

Daily Reading

Exodus 10-12

Daily Thought

The tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, introduces Passover, so named because the angel of death passed over homes protected by the blood of a lamb. If God knew which homes belonged to Egyptians and which were Israelites, why didn’t he simply skip the Israelite homes? Why did God require blood on the doorframe of a house to protect it from death? 

Go back to the beginning. When Adam and Eve chose their own desire rather than God’s, they chose death. Judgment was immediate and they were instantly severed from God. They were, therefore, dead, because God is life. Death through sin has been passed on to each and every one of us. We are all dead, separated from God because of sin. But Grace began immediately, as well. The world makes light of sin and misses God’s grace. God allowed Adam and Eve, though dead, to keep breathing, and he launched his plan of salvation. Every breath is a gift of God. We are amazed by grace only so far as we are appalled by sin.

Fast forward to Exodus 12. The judgment that would be passing through the land was just. Every family deserving of death would be visited by the destroyer, which means, because all sin, every family would be visited, including the Israelites. That Passover night, the destroyer would not discriminate between Egypt and Israel, all would be judged unless death had already been to that household. A substitute sacrifice, a lamb approved by God would pay the price. Blood on the doorframe was a sign that the sins of this household had been covered by the death of a lamb.  

Fast forward to A.D. 30. “The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29)

Daily Prayer

Almighty God, Your goodness runs deep, but I choose to wallow in the shallows of my desires. Still, despite my rebellion, Your grace seeks me through the loving sacrifice of Your Son. May your righteousness consume my passions and may my desires become Yours. In response to Your overflowing never-ending love, I live thankfully and joyfully in a life made new again. 

What a wonderful Savior. What amazing grace.

Amen

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Hammer It Home

Daily Reading

Exodus 7-9

Daily Thought

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ~Exodus 8:1

Twice, God says to Moses, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 4:21; 7:3), and a hard-hearted Pharaoh refuses to let God’s people go, but what choice does a he have? Is he to blame? If God “hardens whomever he wills,” the apostle Paul asked and (sort of) answered this question, “why does God still find fault? For who can resist God’s will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:18-21). In other words, God is God and you are not, and he does what he wants for his purposes. Not a terribly satisfying answer, but then, God does not have to satisfy me. 

God is sovereign, but that does not mean we are puppets. God does not pull our strings, but God’s sovereignty and our freewill walk together, side by side. Of the ten plagues, the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh’s heart in four of them; in six, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God is in charge and Pharaoh cooperates. He is no innocent; he cannot point to God and claim, “You made me do it.”

But why ten times? Why so many plagues? The answer is in the stubbornness of Pharaoh, but also in the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Israel worshipped God; every other nation worshipped gods. So, the one and only true God used the plagues to demonstrate that he is God like no other. The first couple plagues, the Egyptian magicians were able to mimic the work of God, as if God wasn’t unique. But they couldn’t keep up. By the third plague, they admitted, “This is the finger of God,” and God continued seven more plagues to hammer it home. The Egyptians would never forget the Hebrew God, the God of gods, the only true God, and the Israelites would always remember their God who delivered them from bondage.

God is God. That seems obvious, but it’s good to remember. 

Daily Prayer

My God, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the One and Only Creator of the heavens and the earth, You alone I worship and adore. Your ways are good and there is none like You. Why would I ever seek good from another source?

May Your Name be known always in my house. May You always be God of my family–we seek no other. May my children and my children’s children (someday!) follow You and worship You. You are my Lord and Savior. I will always remember.

Amen

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Sodom and Springer

Daily Reading

Genesis 19-21

Daily Thought

Genesis 19–what a chapter! The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are a carnival of perversity, but their time is up. The depraved men of Sodom clamor for sex with two men/angels staying in Lot’s home. Lot offers to them his daughters instead. Are you kidding me! Their sin has eclipsed the threshold of God’s patience. God’s mercy is drained as he destroys the cities, yet God’s grace endures and Lot and his family are rescued before the downpour of fire and brimstone. Still, as the cities smolder in the distance, Lot’s unrepentant daughters get their dad drunk and take turns sleeping with him. Both end up pregnant.

It’s “The Jerry Springer Show,” the original trash TV. Jerry was asked if it was difficult to find his outlandish guests. “Are you kidding?” he laughed. “They are in every neighborhood in America. Yours too.” He’s right, of course. Millions of people watched Jerry’s show. If you watch the show, you are like the show. Look at our entertainment, our websites, our video games, our politics, or look at the daily news headlines. Nothing stays in Vegas. Lot’s wife looked back with a longing desire. She loved the lifestyle, and we do, too. What’s wrong with the world? In the words of G.K. Chesterton, “I am.” We all are.

And still God’s grace endures. Jesus took our sins, like those of Sodom and Springer, and mine, and made them his own. He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). He took what I deserve. That’s mercy. Then he gives me his righteousness. That’s grace. He became like me so that I can become like him. That’s love.   

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Savior God, Your love is overwhelming. You love me and I am not worthy of it. You love me anyway. Thank you for that, and thank you, as well, for hating sin. I need to hate sin more. What it does to me, what it has done to Your creation. I look forward to Your coming Kingdom, when sin is removed, when holiness is the way of the world, when Jesus reigns. Turn my longings toward You, my desires toward Your ways.

Amen