If you become filled with pride, you will end up humiliated. However, if you humbly do your best, recognizing that others are just as important as you, you will be honored.
Let us calm and quiet ourselves. I will not fret about things I cannot understand. I will trust God to make them clear to me in His own time. I will humbly rely on the knowledge that God understands those things. I will not proudly and haughtily declare that I understand things which I do not.
I notice a theme here today. I know that I regularly need a reminder to be humble. Things go well for me for awhile and I promptly begin to think I am better than others. Then God reminds me that all that I have and am is a gift from Him. Today’s proverb and psalm are a reminder for me to not forget that.
The message to the church at Philadelphia commended them for recognizing the opportunity which God had provided them and taking advantage of it. It also commended them for recognizing that they needed to rely on God to overcome. We are called on to recognize our weakness, to remain humble. All God asks of us is that we persevere. He will do the rest. In many ways the church at Loadicea was the opposite of the church at Philadelphia. They thought they had everything they needed. They did not need God’s help. They were not seeking God. The message to them paints one of the great pictures of our relationship with God. God is standing at our door, knocking. All we have to do is open the door and invite Him in. Will you invite Jesus into your life and share a meal with Him?
God sent two visions of the judgment He planned to send against Israel, one of locusts, one of fire. In both cases, Amos plead with God to not do as the visions showed and God relented. However, God sent Amos a third prophecy of the destruction He was going to bring against Israel. This time God declared that He would not be dissuaded. God would no longer put off His judgment against those who were anxious to finish their worship and religious observations so that they could get back to oppressing the poor. God will not forestall His judgment of those who cheat others and oppress the poor just because they follow the correct forms.
This prophecy was not just for the people of Amos’ day. God is bringing His judgment against those who use their power and wealth to cheat and steal from those less wealthy or powerful than themselves. The Israelites were not more important to God than the Ethiopians, or the Philistines, or the Arameans. In like manner, we are not more important to God today than those from other nations. The day is coming when God will shake all of the nations so that He can separate the grain from the chaff.
For today, One Year Bible Online links here. Christmas is coming soon. Let us remember what it is truly about, the birth of Jesus Christ. Let us strive to not be caught up in the commercialism which is what this season is about for many in our society today.
If we allow our pride to drive our behavior we will be humiliated, but if we humbly admit our limitations others will honour us for what we do accomplish.
Let us model ourselves after the psalmist. Rather than be proud and aloof, let us be humble and caring. The psalmist said that he would not worry about matters too great or awesome for him to grasp. When we come across matters which we have trouble understanding, rather than fret over them and allow them to undermine our faith, let us set them aside and focus on those things which we can understand. This does not mean that we accept the interpretations of those who claim to understand such matters. It just means that we reserve judgement on such matters until the Holy Spirit gives us an answer we do understand. Let us trust the Lord and put our hope in Him.
Now John delivers the message for the church in Philadelphia. God has opened a door for them that no one can close. Despite their weakness they have obeyed God’s commands and refused to deny Him. There is an important message for all of us here, we do not need to be strong, we just need to persevere, to remain faithful in the face of opposition. We are not called on to defeat our opponents, nor to win the arguments. We are called on to remain faithful in the face of opposition and persecution.
John has a message for one last church, the one in Laodicea. He tells them that they are neither hot, nor cold. They are confident that their material wealth provides them with all that they need. Their problem is that the things they, and we, truly need cannot be purchased with material goods. Until we recognize that our wealth is of no value to God, nor will it bring eternal salvation, we are spiritually poor. Let us give all of our material wealth in order to gain what God has to offer, if that is what it takes. No matter how much wealth we have, we cannot buy God’s favor. But sometimes we need to give away all of our material goods in order to accept it.
If we go over the message to the churches, they really fall into three categories: two that are remaining faithful, two that are allowing sexual sin to creep in, and three that have become indifferent. In other words there are two traps the church can fall into. It can become enticed by sexual sin and other forms of debauchery. Or, it can become distracted and lose its enthusiasm for doing the Lord’s work (or perhaps, never actually have any enthusiasm for serving God). The latter seems to be the greater danger, but that does not mean we can drop our guard against the former. The two churches which were not condemned for a failing both appear to have been facing suffering, perhaps even persecution (or were about to do so). So, which type of church do we belong to? One faithfully facing opposition and persecution? One dealing with those endorsing sexual sin? Or one which has become indifferent to doing God’s work?
Amos proclaims that God will bring judgement against Israel for those who follow the forms of religion, but as soon as they are able return to cheating the poor and robbing from the helpless. In particular he condemns them for using false measurements and inaccurate scales. This is not just about those who use false measure, but about all who use misleading advertising to get others to buy what they are selling. God will bring judgement on any society which is dominated by those who mislead others into spending their money in ways which are foolish.
Those who do wrong are eager to hear gossip about what others are doing wrong so that they can justify their wrongdoing to themselves. Liars readily accept the lies told about others. Seeking out gossip and readily accepting slanderous accusations against others are signs of someone of dubious character. If we do these things, others will judge us accordingly and we should be careful around those who do them.
Mocking the poor for their poverty is an insult to God, who made them. If we rejoice in the misfortune of others, we will suffer for it. It is one thing to point out that someone’s poverty or other misfortune results from their actions in order to teach them, or others, to avoid such self-destructive behaviors (this can be a good thing). It is quite another to be happy that others have suffered such unhappiness. Let us strive to empathize with those who suffer, even when they have brought that suffering on themselves.
I will not be proud or arrogant. I will not become distracted from doing God’s will by thoughts about things which I cannot change. I will not seek to make myself look more important in the eyes of others by my explanations of difficult theological issues. I will calm and quiet myself as I put my trust in God. I will choose to echo the man born blind whose sight Jesus restored. “One thing I know, I was blind, but now I see.”
This passage gives us an example of the power of the Holy Spirit to change people. Saul was a fervent persecutor of believers. Yet, when the Spirit struck him, he became one of the most fervent evangelists the world has ever seen. The very skills and gifts which had made Saul a persecutor of the Church made him a target of persecution when he became a believer. As I read this today, I realize that all too often we focus on Saul in this story, but the example we are asked to follow is that of Ananias. God told Ananias to go to Saul and lay hands on him in order to restore his sight. Ananias had heard of Saul’s mission to arrest the believers in Damascus, but followed God’s leading and went to Saul anyway. Ananias went into harm’s way in order to follow the Spirit’s leading and bring healing. Many people list Saul/Paul as the most influential man in the history of the Church, but if it was not for Ananias (who we often overlook) Saul would never have come to the faith he spent so much of his life promoting.
Despite God’s warnings against marrying women from the surrounding people’s Solomon took many wives from among them. I have many times heard it said that Solomon had these many wives because, as king, he made political marriages to seal alliances. While that might be partially true, I think the passage hits more closely on it. Solomon loved women, especially those he viewed as somewhat exotic, and perhaps a little dangerous. Certainly, if Solomon had married these women for political alliance, he appears to have chosen poorly. As a result of his involvement with these women, Solomon began following the religious practices of the surrounding peoples. He worshiped Ashtoreth, Molech, and Chemosh. He built a shrine for Chemosh, and a shrine for Molech. Ashtoreth is known for her temple prostitutes, while Molech and Chemosh are noted for the various forms of human sacrifice practiced in their worship.
Solomon’s actions, and failure to heed God’s word, left his son, Rehoboam, with a poor understanding of how to rule. When Solomon died and Rehoboam became king, the people asked Rehoboam to ease the tax burden which Solomon had imposed on them. Rather than listen to their request, or take the advice of his father’s advisers, Rehoboam chose to tell the people that he would increase the burden and rule more harshly than his father. As a result of Rehoboam’s stubbornness the people of Israel revolted against him. Like so many before and after him, Rehoboam thought that leadership was doing what he wanted, rather than serving those whom one was leading. Let us remember that if God calls us to leadership, it is in order that we may serve those whom he has called us to lead.
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Today’s passage censures Solomon for his many wives. Not only did Solomon marry many wives against God’s instructions, they were from nations with which God had told the Israelites they were not to intermarry. Solomon did as God had warned would happen if the Israelites married women from those nations, he began to worship gods other than God. Solomon began to worship Ashtoreth, Molech and Chemosh. He even built places for worship at the high places for these foreign gods. I believe that, as worship of God gradually became more centralized at the Temple which Solomon had built, Solomon and others among the people of Israel replaced His worship at the high places with worship of idols. As a result of Solomon’s idolatry, God caused two kings to rise up in opposition to Solomon in nations which had formerly been pacified by his father David.
In addition, God sent the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam, a man whom Solomon had put in charge of the labor force from the descendants of Joseph. Ahijah told Jeroboam that God was going to tear ten of the tribes from Solomon’s son because of Solomon’s failure to faithfully follow God’s commands and decrees. God told Jeroboam that he was going to punish David’s descendants, but not forever, because of Solomon’s sins and that if Jeroboam followed God faithfully, God would establish his descendants on the throne of the ten tribes. Solomon made an attempt to have Jeroboam killed, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt until after Solomon’s death.
When Solomon died and his son Rehoboam took the throne, Jeroboam returned to Israel. Rehoboam went to Shechem to be crowned king of all Israel. The leaders of Israel asked Jeroboam to be their spokesman as they approached Rehoboam with a petition about his reign. They asked Rehoboam to reduce the labor demands and taxes which Solomon had imposed. If he was willing to do this, the people of Israel would agree to making him king. Rehoboam requested three days to formulate an answer. Rehoboam first consulted with his father’s advisers. They told him that he should agree to the request of the people of Israel, that if he did so, the people would become his devoted followers. Rehoboam did not like this answer, so he asked the advice of the young men he had grown up with. They advised him to answer with arrogance and braggadocio, to tell the people of Israel that, not only would he not reduce the burden his father Solomon had placed on them, he would increase it. As a result of his answer, the people of the northern tribes rejected Rehoboam as their king. When Rehoboam, still at Shechem, sent his official in charge of forced labor out the people of Israel stoned him to death. Rehoboam immediately fled back to Jerusalem, just barely escaping the enraged people.
After the stoning of Stephen, Saul started seeking believers and dragging them out for persecution, eager to kill those who professed belief in Jesus. He obtained letters from the high priest to the synagogues in Damascus requesting their aid in arresting believers in order to bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners. As he approached Damascus on this mission a bright light shown down on and around him. Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him why he was persecuting the speaker. Saul asked who the speaker was. The voice said, “I am Jesus…” and told Saul to get up and go into the city, where he would be told what to do. The men traveling with Saul heard a voice speaking to him, but saw no one. When Saul opened his eyes, he was blind. The men with him led him into the city. Saul fasted for the next three days.
Meanwhile God spoke to a believer named Ananias (not the one who died for lying to the Holy Spirit). God told Ananias to go to the house where Saul was staying and lay hands on him so that he could see again. Ananias replied that he had heard about Saul and the terrible things he had done to believers. He had even heard that Saul had come to Damascus to arrest believers. God answered that Saul was his chosen instrument to take His name to Gentiles and their rulers. Ananias did as God had commanded.
Saul’s sight was restored and he ate some food. He stayed with the believers in Damascus and began preaching in the synagogue. He began preaching in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Everyone who heard him preach was amazed because they knew that up until a few days prior he had been persecuting those who preached in Jesus’ name. Saul’s preaching became ever more powerful and none of the Jews in Damascus could refute his arguments that Jesus was the Messiah. Some of the Jews decided to kill Saul, but the believers in Damascus caught wind of this and lowered Saul over the wall in a basket.
This story gives us a reason to never give up hope for the salvation of those we know who have not accepted Christ. No matter how strongly someone opposes the message of the Gospel, if there is a chance that they will listen, the Holy Spirit will strike them in a way they will find impossible to ignore.
This psalm is one which we would do well to strive to live by. First it gives us this guidance:
Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
or too awesome for me to grasp.
I do not need to concern myself with the reasons why God does or allows the things He does, that is a matter to great for me. Rather, I should calm and quiet myself and put my hope in the Lord. I know that He will do that which is best for those who love Him. I have confidence that what He does is that will bring me the greatest joy.
Magrat poses
The first proverb tells us that it is the wicked and liars who pay attention to gossip and slander. Do I pay attention to gossip and slander? If so, perhaps I am not the person I claim to be. I need to keep this in mind when I find myself listening to gossip and slander.
The second proverb tells us that mocking those who are poor is an insult to God who made them. If we rejoice at the misfortune of others, we will suffer for it eventually. I strive to sympathize with those who suffer misfortune, no matter how much I might have wanted to see them taken down a peg.
