Faithfulness: God's desire from us (Jeremiah 38:7 -52)

 When we left Jeremiah last time, he was sitting at the bottom of a muddy well, left for dead. But God........still had more for Jeremiah to do. God touched the heart of one of the king's servants, an Ethiopian named Ebed-Melech. The servant took his own life in his hands by telling the king that allowing Jeremiah to be thrown into the well to die was wrong. Instead of killing Ebed-Melech, the king had a change of heart and told the young Ethiopian to gather some men and pull Jeremiah out of the well.

Sometimes saying the right thing, or telling the hard truth is not easy. God says to do the right thing, not the easy thing. Just as Ebed-Melech risked his life, sometimes we have to risk being made fun of or losing friends. But know this. We always have God on our side when we do right.

So Jeremiah was saved..... well sort of. The king had Jeremiah brought before him. "Tell me what you know!" He ordered. Jeremiah was concerned that if he told him the truth, the king would have him killed anyway. But the king promised that he would not have Jeremiah killed if he told him the truth. So Jeremiah told the king that Babylon would soon attack Jerusalem, but that he should surrender peacefully to them or some bad stuff would happen to the king's family as well as to the king himself. The king was not happy with what Jeremiah said, but he had promised not to kill him, so he had Jeremiah tossed into dungeon.... again.

While Jeremiah was imprisoned, Jerusalem was taken over by the Babylonians, (just as God said) and the king of Judah didn't listen to what God said through Jeremiah. And remember what God told Jeremiah to tell the king... Some bad stuff would happen? Well the king tried to flee the city during the take over. He was caught and his eyes were gouged out! Also his wife and kids were killed in the palace when it was set on fire.

Even though Jeremiah was taken to Babylon during the siege, God protected him. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon set Jeremiah free to live in Babylon. Jeremiah was even given food and some gifts to help him settle in. Since Jeremiah was a prisoner of Judah, and the king of Judah was an enemy of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar showed kindness to Jeremiah. So I guess getting thrown into prison again turned out pretty well for Jeremiah.

Sometimes things don't work out like we planned. I'm sure Jeremiah didn't want to be pulled from a well, just to get tossed into a dungeon. God sees all things. We need to trust Him. Have you ever had something go the wrong way, only to find out later that it was absolutely for the best? I have.

When Jerusalem was taken over by the Babylonians, a lot of the Jews were taken captive, however, the poorest Jews were left behind and a small governmental system was put in place. Many of the Jews saw that the fighting was over and returned to Judah. The Jews that fled to Egypt however, found life very comfortable there and decided not to return. 

Jeremiah returned to Judah with a word for the people. He said that the people in Egypt should return as well. That Egypt would soon fall to Babylon just like Judah did. He said that the Jews that have remained in Egypt are now worshipping false gods. God said that He would pass judgement upon them and anyone else who is worshipping idols. Some of the new leaders did not like Jeremiah and what he was saying. So they captured Jeremiah and took him to Egypt.

While in Egypt, Jeremiah faithfully continued to speak the words that God had put in his mouth. The final 5 chapters of the Book of Jeremiah tell of God's judgement on Egypt, Moab, Philistine and neighboring countries. Jeremiah is not mentioned again in these final chapters. Some say he was killed, others say he escaped Egypt. No one really knows for sure.

So even though Jeremiah spent his whole life trying to get his people to turn from their sin and to turn toward God, the people never listened. The outcome was not in Jeremiah's hands. He simply did what the Lord asked him to do. That is called faithfulness. God delights in our faithfulness. We don't have to "save the world". That is God's job. All we have to do is obey Him, and leave the consequences to Him. If you tell someone about Jesus and they accept Him as their savior, God did that, not you. To Him be the glory! And on the same note, if the person you shared Christ with rejects the message, it's not on you. You did what God asked. Leave the rest to Him.

Ecclesiastes Part 1 (Chapters 1-6)

  Well we have reached the 21st book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. In Hebrew, the word ecclesiastes means to preach. It was written about 975 years before Jesus was born, by King Solomon.  It was written near the end of King Solomon's reign as king of Israel. If you remember from our journey through the Book of 1 Kings, he was given great wisdom at the beginning of his reign. But now, at the end of his regime he has accumulated years of experience. He has written down his observations in this book.... and it may not be what you'd expect.
 Have you ever won a game that you are playing with one or more of your friends? It feels good, right? At that moment you feel the rush of victorious joy, but a few hours later, it doesn't much matter who won. You have to play and win again to feel that same feeling. Then, if you win every time, even that feeling wears down nothing. Why is that? Well King Solomon, the wisest and richest man ever, tackles that very question plus a few more. And who better than the man who could have anything, do anything or command anything to share his quest for "the meaning of life."
 Basically the book of Ecclesiastes talks about the frustrations, futility and unanswered questions of life, then the teacher (King Solomon) wraps it all up in the very last paragraph by encouraging us to live a God-centered life. We will go through the first six chapters in this post and the last six chapters in the next post. I just wanted to let you know ahead of time that there is a light at the end of the eccliasastical tunnel.:)
 The teacher begins the book and chapter 1 by saying that everything is meaningless. He points out the monotony of nature, instead of God's incredible creation (Psalm 95:4-5). Then he points out how useless it is for men to work, instead of how work is a God-ordained blessing (John 5:17) He ends the first chapter talking about how being wise and searching for wisdom amounts to nothing.When God clearly says that wisdom is a gift from Him to glorify Him (James 3:17)
 In chapter 2, the teacher starts off by saying that enjoying life and laughter is totally futile. He built parks and vineyards and large houses, but it was all just a waste of time and resources. But God says in his word that He has made this day, everything good in it is a gift, and we should rejoice in it.(James1:17) (Psalm118:24) Then in chapter 2 he also repeats the fact that wisdom and work are meaningless.
 Chapter 3 starts off with a beautiful poem (it was even made into a song by the Byrds in 1965) then the teacher continues by acknowledging God's purpose and living our lives in the light of eternity.

1For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

2A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

3A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

5A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

6A time to search and a time to quit searching.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7A time to tear and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak.

8A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for peace.

9What do people really get for all their hard work? 10I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

14And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. 15What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.

  Then the teacher returns to the negative script and talks about how life is not fair. Well he is right about that. Sin is in our world. Bad things happen to good people, but God promises to never leave our side.(Deuteronomy 31:8)

   The teacher continues about the unfairness of life in Chapter 4, Then he adds a positive side note. He says that two people together can get more done together than they can seperately. If one falls, the other is there to help him get up. If a man falls alone, he is in trouble. Then he states the fact that three are even better. "A chord of three strands is not easily broken." (vs. 11) Then as a king, he says that he sees the futility of political power. God tells us to pray for our leaders and that He has placed them there for His purpose.(Romans 13:1)

  Chapter 5 begins with an exhortation to approach God with reverence. And if we make any promises to God, keep them, and keep them as quickly as possible. For it is better to say nothing, than to make a promise to Him and not keep it.(vs 5) He finishes up the chapter talking about how useless it is to be wealthy. God talks about money a lot in the Bible. Wealth is not useless and money is not bad according to God. Wealthy people who give to bring God glory can bless so many people.(Matthew 6:21) But we don't have to be wealthy to give. God can use a little to accomplish much. And it doesn't just have to be money. It could be our time and our talents as well.

 In chapter 6 the teacher talks some more about being rich verses being poor. He says that t both rich and poor get sick and they both die, the only difference is that the rich man leaves more behind that he never got the chance to enjoy. God tells us through Paul to be content whether rich or poor because God gives us the strength to live a fulfilled life in Him. (Philippians 4:12-13)

          Thanks to Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales) for this clip from whatsinthebible.com

Against All Opposition, The Wall Is Completed (Nehemiah 4-13)

As soon as I, Nehemiah, had assigned each person or family a section of the wall, they immediately began construction.  And as soon as Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem saw that the people were beginning to build, they became furious. "We have already tried to discourage them." Geshem said.
"Yes, Nehemiah prayed and talked to the people and they were not discouraged." Tobiah added.
"We need to get others on our side." Sanballat said as he pounded his fist on the table.
  So the three men went to a section of the wall that we were building. I could see they were up to no good as they stood among a crowd of onlookers and began to make fun of us, hoping the others would join them. Tobiah pointed and shouted, "That wall is so weak that if a fox tried to walk along the top of it, the wall would crumble to the ground!" I prayed that my people would ignore the comments and that the crowd would not go along with Tobiah. And so we continued to build the wall.
 After a few weeks, the wall was about half complete. Saballat, Tobiah and Geshem were fuming! They sent messengers to the wall and handed me a letter. Here is what it said. "We have the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites on our side. If you do not cease in your attempt to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, we will attack." I prayed to the God of heaven that the threats were only just threats and that God would give me wisdom. So I stationed half the men as guards with shields and swords along the wall and armed the men that were working  on the wall with swords as well.

 The three evil men saw that we were not deterred. Progress on the wall continued and the they devised another plan. Again they sent messengers and handed me a letter. Here is what that letter said. "It has come to our attention that you are building the wall in order to rebel against your king in Persia and then name yourself as king over Jerusalem. If you do not stop construction of the wall immediately, we will inform the king of Persia of your plan and he will have you arrested and the people charged with treason." I sent a message back saying it was all lies and then I prayed for strength. Then we continued to build.
 We finally had the wall up, but still had not put up the gates and doors, which were important to secure the city. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem knew they had one last chance. They managed to bribe a man I knew named Shemaiah to try to trick me into meeting him inside the temple. I prayed, and God revealed to me that Shemaiah was working for Tobiah and Sanballat in order to discredit me. We continued to work on the wall. We hung the gates and doors. The wall was complete. And in only 52 days! The neighboring countries became fearful because they knew it was impossible to complete a project that would normally take a few years in only 52 days, and that God must be on our side. They were right!

  I called the prophet Ezra to read the law of God in front of the wall. Then the Levites reminded the people about how God was with us. Not only in the building of the wall, but throughout our history. From Abraham to Moses to the promised land until now, God has been with us the whole way. The people began to weep and confessed their sins. Then they made a vow to love God with their whole body, soul strength and mind, and to obey Him. Then we dedicated the wall to the God of heaven and rejoiced with songs, music, dancing, praying, worshiping and praising our God.
  I became governor of Jerusalem for 12 years the finally returned to king Antaxerxes. He was very happy to see me. I shared stories with him about how God has inspired, protected and been with us. I don't know if he realized that I would be gone for 12 years when I first left, but he received me back with open arms and he let me return to Jerusalem for a visit whenever I wanted. On one return visit, I found out that Eliashib the priest had emptied out one of the temple rooms and rented it to Tobiah for some of his personal belongings. As soon as I found out. I threw all of Tobiah's things out of the temple and replaced Eliashib with a Levite, a scribe and a priest, I knew all three men and trusted them. I also found out that some of the people and merchants were not honoring the Sabbath day. Before I returned to Persia, I prayed and then implemented some new rules.
  During the building of the wall, something that God inspired Nehemiah to do, there was so much opposition. There was an attempt to discourage the workers and they were made fun of, threatened, lied to and tricked. Notice what Nehemiah did each time. He prayed, then he planned and then he pushed forward. We should remember these three Ps when we are doing things for God and opposition arises (and it will). Pray, Plan, Push forward. God is on our side when we are called according to His purpose. He will guide you, protect you and give you wisdom.

Nehemiah Goes Back to Rebuild the Wall (Nehemiah 2-3)

  Last time Nehemiah was before the king of Persia, asking for permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall around the city. It was a request that could have landed him in the dungeon or put to death. Let's return to the story and let Nehemiah continue to tell you in his own words.

  As I stood nervously before Antaxerxes, the king of Persia, he turned to his wife the queen, then back to me and said, "Yes, Nehemiah, you can go back to the land where your ancestors are buried and rebuild the wall."
  I had found favor in the eyes of God, and thus in the king's eyes as well. So I continued my request. "If it pleases the king, I will be traveling through many territories on my way to Jerusalem, can you write letters to the governors of those territories giving me safe travel through their lands? And also can I have permission to bring along the lumber I will need from the royal forest?" The king granted me these things, for God had touched his heart. The king also sent along some of his army and horsemen to protect me along the way! Isn't that just like God to urge the king to give me far more than I had asked or even hoped for? (Ephesians 3:20)
  So I set out on the 800 mile journey from Persia to Jerusalem. No one knew my purpose, for I had not mentioned it to anyone except the king. However, three men, Sanballat from Horon, Tobiah from Ammon, and Geshem the Arab heard that I was on my way to help the Jews with something and they were not very happy.
 Three days after arriving in Jerusalem, (I still had not mentioned to anyone, not even the city council why I was there) I  took a couple men with me and slipped out one night after dark to survey the area around the city where the wall once stood.  The rubble was so treacherous in some places that even the donkey that I was riding was unable to navigate it and I had to go around those areas.
  As I lay in bed that night, praying for wisdom (James 1:5) and contemplating the task before me, I worked out a wall reconstruction plan in my head. So by the time morning had arrived, I called all the city councilmen to a meeting. I told them about how God had put it in my heart to build the wall, how God had touched the heart of the king, and the plan God had given me to build the wall.

  When God has something for you to do, He won't leave you hanging. He will be with you every step of the way. Continue to pray, ask for guidance and wisdom. God promises to  be your guiding light (Psalm 119:105) and to give you the wisdom to carry out His will.

  The councilmen replied all at once. "Good! Let's rebuild this wall!"  They were excited to begin and so was I, so we started to rebuild immediately. It wasn't long before Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem heard what we were doing. The scoffed and hurled insults and tried to discourage us, but I told them that God was with us and the wall would be rebuilt. Of course they didn't like my response, but it was the truth.
  Being in charge of the rebuild, I designated the men to work on different sections of the wall, and I had each family rebuild the part of the wall that was behind their own home. I knew this would save time and the men would make sure that the wall was built well near their homes. Everyone pitched in to help. Even the priest help build a part of the wall. The work was running smoothly.... but then...

Elisha, the Floating Ax Head and God's invisible Army (2 Kings 6 & 7)

 The place that Elisha and the prophets would meet, was getting too small. So they decided to go down to the Jordan River, chop some logs and build an addition onto their meeting place. One of the men was chopping down a tree, when the ax head flew off his ax and landed in the water. The man was very upset. "That was a borrowed ax!" He cried. Elisha could see how upset the man was. He walked over to him, put his hand on his shoulder and told him not to worry. Elisha picked up a stick and asked the man to point to where the ax head went into the water. Then he tossed the stick into the river. The heavy ax head floated to the top! "Now reach in and grab it." Elisha told the man. So he did. God cares about us and He cares about the little things. Don't ever decide not to pray about something because you think it is too small for God.
   Meanwhile the king of Aram was up to his old tricks. He planned to attack Israel. He sent his troops in, but Israel was waiting for them and the Aramean army retreated. The king of Aram waited a couple weeks and tried again, but the Israelites were waiting again! This happened again and again. Finally the king of called all his officials together and demanded that the traitor step forward. But one of his men said to him. "It is not one of us, my lord. It is that prophet in Israel, Elisha! Apparently he is hearing from his God and relaying the message to the king!"
 "Alright! We know what we have to do. Get rid of the problem! I want one of our spies to find out where that niusace is staying, and tomorrow all our troops will decend upon him and destroy him!"
The next day, all the Aramean troops headed to where Elisha and his servant were staying. Early in the morning Elisha's servant heard a thundering off in the distance and went to the rooftop to see what is was. He screamed in fear for Elisha to come to the roof! "Look master! There are more horses, chariots and men than we can count and they are advancing toward us!"

 "Don't worry." Elisha said with a slight smile. "There are far more on our side than on theirs."
 The servant looked confused. He looked again, but all he saw were the Aramean troops.... and they were closing in! Then Elisha prayed. "Oh Lord! Please open my sevant''s eyes so he can see." When the servant looked up, the hillside was filled with heavenly horses and chariots of fire!
  We are in the middle of spiritual warfare.  We cannot even imaginine the angels and demons that are around us each day. But just as Elisha told his servant. " There are more on our side than against us.  Greater is He who lives in us than he who is in the world (1John 4:4)  Remember, when you are feeling fearful, God is on your side!
 Then Elisha prayed that God would blind the Aramean army. The Aramean army became confused and Elisha led them to Samaria. The king of Israel saw the army being led into Samaria by Elisha ansd he was so surprised. "What should we do with them?" The king asked Elisha. "Should we kill them?"
"Of course not!" Elisha answered back. "Feed them and give them something to eat and send them home." So the king fed them well and sent them back to Aram.
 In the first part of today's post, we see that God cares about the little things. In the second part we see that He cares about the big picture as well. In any situation we are in throughout the day....God cares. (1 Peter 5:7)

Samson the Lion and the Wedding (Judges 14)

 So Samson grew into a very strong young man. God had great plans for Samson. He was going to use Samson to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. Remember how God used Moses and his leadership skills to free the Israelites from the Egyptians? Now God was going to use Samson and his physical strength to free them from slavery again. This time from the Philistines.
 Samson travelled back and forth from his home to the city of Timnah. One day while in Timnah he saw a beautiful Philistine woman there. He went home and told his mother and father that he wanted that woman for his wife. Samson’s parents tried to talk him out of it because the Israelites were only supposed to marry Israelites. Especially since Samson was being raised as a Nazirite for God.  Some of the rules for Nazirites were 1. No alcohol. 2. Not to touch anything dead. 3. To never get a haircut. So Samson, being set apart for God, surely should not marry a Philistine woman, but his parents finally gave in and said yes.

 One day while Samson was going back to Timnah, a lion attacked him. Samson killed the lion with his bare hands! He continued to Timnah and talked with the woman that he wanted to marry. Things went well and Samson left with joy in his heart.
 Some time later, Samson’s parents were in Timnah making the final wedding preparations. As Samson was walking toward Timnah, he decided to check out the dead lion that he had killed. He noticed that bees had made some honey in the carcass. He stuck his hands into it and scooped out some honey and ate it. He brought some to his parents to eat, but didn’t tell them where he got it because he wasn’t supposed to touch anything dead.
 While Samson’s father was making some last minute wedding preparations, Samson decided to throw a party. He invited the 30 men in his wedding party. He told them a riddle. He made them a bet that they couldn’t guess the answer in seven days.
The men actually threatened Samson’s wife if she didn’t get the answer to the riddle and tell them. For seven days Samson’s wife cried. “If you loved me, you tell me the answer to the riddle. You must not really love me!”
 Finally, Samson gave in and told her the answer. She went right to the 30 men and told them. The next time they saw Samson, they answered his riddle. Samson was furious because he knew that he was tricked! He killed 30 Philistines. Then he left Timah and went to stay with his mother and father.







 After a few weeks, Samson cooled down and went back to Timnah with a young goat to make up with his wife. A young goat back then, was like a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. I don’t think a young goat would would melt a woman’s heart now a days.

 Samson knocked on his father-in-law’s door. His father-in-law answered and said. “I didn’t think that you were coming back so I gave my daughter in marriage to your best man.”
Now Samson was really mad! He burned the Philistine grain fields and the piles of grain that had been stored. He burned their olive trees and their grapevines.
 “Who did this?” The leaders inquired. “Samson!” The people replied. And so the leaders of the Philistines took Samson’s wife and her father and burned them to death. This is how the Philistines and Samson became bitter enemies. Samson was determined to get revenge. He went out and killed many of the Philistines.
 Do you see God working in this story? Even though Samson made many mistakes, God is using his mistakes to work out His plan of freeing the Israelites from the Philistines.. The word for this is God’s sovereignty. God has a perfect plan. We are not perfect, but He wants to use us anyway. Isn’t that amazing! Now I’m not saying that we can do as we please and God will use us anyway. There are consequences to disobedience as we will soon see in Samson’s life.
 A lot of people discover that God has a plan for their lives as they get older. Samson’s parents knew that God had a plan for Samson before he was even born. The fact is. God had a plan for you before you were born ... just like Samson. Discovering God’s plan for our lives is an exciting adventure!

Abraham believes God

After God confused the language of the men building the Tower of Babel, the people moved to different lands. Hundreds of years later, God talked to a man named Abram. (God changed his name to Abraham .. we'll find out why later)
So God told Abraham to gather up his family and all his belongings and go. He didn't tell Abraham where he was going, He just said to head east. So right away, Abraham took his wife, his nephew Lot, his servants (Abraham was pretty rich) and all his stuff. Wow! Abraham really obeyed God! It was probably pretty hard leaving the place where his father had made a home for them. Abraham was 75 years old when he left his home. He followed God for hundreds of miles to a place called Canaan. When they arrived, God told Abraham, "See all this land, I will give it to you and your children and their children." But Abraham didn't have any children. But he didn't question God, instead he built an alter to thank God for all the blessing in his life.

Abraham couldn't stay in the land however. It hadn't rained for a while and it was hard to find food. So Abraham took his family and all his belongings to a place a couple of hundred miles away along the Nile river where there was plenty of food. When food became a little easier to find back in Canaan, Abraham took his family again and headed back toward the land that God has promised.

So let's see. God tells Abraham to leave is comfortable home and travel for months to a place where there is no food. So Abraham has to travel for a few more months to a place where there is food.... then he has to travel for a few more months back to the place that God promised to Abraham's kids... and he doesn't even have any kid's. On top of that, Abraham is about 80 years old! If I was Abraham, I'd be thinking " God... are you sure?"

We are so blessed that we get to see the whole story in the Bible. We know that God ALWAYS knows what He's doing. He ALWAYS keeps His promises and He's ALWAYS good and he ALWAYS will be good.

Ok back to the story. Remember that Abraham took his nephew Lot along with him. Abraham took him along because Lot's father, Haran, had died and Abraham had taken care of Lot as he was growing up. Well Lot was a man now, and as Lot and Abraham headed back to the promised land, they realized that they had to go their separate ways. It was too hard to travel together since both men were very rich and had a many cattle and sheep. Abraham gave Lot a choice and Lot decided to go toward the best looking land, so Abraham headed in the other direction.

Sometimes the best looking things are not really the best. That's why we should pray about our choices. We see the outside but God sees the whole picture. He knows best. As it turned out, the land that Lot chose was full of a lot of evil men. Also there was a war going on there and Lot was taken prisoner. Abraham was living peacefully with his wife Sarah when he heard about what happened to Lot. Abraham got 318 of his men together and they rescued Lot and all the other people that were taken prisoner. Abraham gave God all the credit and the king praised God. We should always give God the credit. That's called glorifying God and then other people may realize what great things that God does and give Him the credit too.

So Abraham went back home. He was living just outside of the land that God promised. There were people living in the land at the time. Finally Abraham asked God. "Remember when you said that this land would be my children's and their children's? Were you saying that I am going to have children? Or did you mean my servant's children?"

God answered Abraham by taking him outside. "Look up at the stars Abraham." God said. " If you could count every star, it still would not be as many as your own descendants." Abraham believed God and because he believed, Abraham was now in God's family.

We can learn a lot about trusting God, following God and believing God from Abraham. The Bible is God's word. First we have to trust what He says in His word. Second we have to do what He says in His word. That's what following is all about. Finally God want's us to believe that he sent His son Jesus to die for our sins so that we can spend eternity in heaven with Him. When we believe Him, we become part of God's family... just like Abraham.

Next time we will find out how long Abraham had to wait for a son and why God changed his name from Abram to Abraham.