Tag: advent

Born to Die (Judges 13:2-24)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The angel and Manoah, by Sadao Watanabe, 1972

There was a man from Zorah named Manoah. Manoah was from the family of Dan. His wife was not able to have children. The Messenger of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You’ve never been able to have a child, but now you will become pregnant and have a son. Now you must be careful. Don’t drink any wine or liquor or eat any unclean  food. You’re going to become pregnant and have a son. You must never cut his hair because the boy will be a Nazirite dedicated to God from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

The woman went to tell her husband. She said, “A man of God came to me. He had a very frightening appearance like the Messenger of God. So I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. He told me, ‘You’re going to become pregnant and have a son. So don’t drink any wine or liquor or eat any unclean food because the boy will be a Nazirite dedicated to God from the time he is born until he dies.’ ”

Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord, “Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come back to us. Let him teach us what we must do for the boy who will be born.”

God did what Manoah asked. The Messenger of God came back to his wife while she was sitting out in the fields. But her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman ran quickly to tell her husband. She said, “The man who came to me the other day has just appeared to me again.”

Manoah immediately followed his wife. When he came to the man, he asked him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

“Yes,” he answered.

Then Manoah asked, “When your words come true, how should the boy live and what should he do?”

The Messenger of the Lord answered Manoah, “Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her to do. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevines, drink any wine or liquor, or eat any unclean food. She must be careful to do everything I commanded.”

Manoah said to the Messenger of the Lord, “Please stay while we prepare a young goat for you to eat.”

But the Messenger of the Lord responded, “If I stay here, I will not eat any of your food. But if you make a burnt offering, sacrifice it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize that it was the Messenger of the Lord.)

Then Manoah asked the Messenger of the Lord, “What is your name? When your words come true, we will honor you.”

The Messenger of the Lord asked him, “Why do you ask for my name? It’s a name that works miracles.”

So Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and sacrificed them to the Lord on a rock he used as an altar. While Manoah and his wife watched, the Lord did something miraculous. As the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the Messenger of the Lord went up in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they immediately bowed down with their faces touching the ground.

The Messenger of the Lord didn’t appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that this had been the Messenger of the Lord. So Manoah said to his wife, “We will certainly die because we have seen God.”

But Manoah’s wife replied, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He would not have let us see or hear all these things just now.”

So the woman had a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him. (God’s Word Translation)

The Sacrifice of Manoah, by Charles Blanc (1813-1882)

In the anticipation of Christ’s birth, we are reminded today that there have been extraordinary births in history – a sign that the delivery of a baby will lead to a deliverance of the people.

The ancient Israelites were yet again in one of their downward spirals into apostasy. As a result, their arch-nemesis, the Philistines, had domination over them. The tribe of Dan – from which Samson was born into – was geographically situated in such a way that they would have borne the brunt of Philistine oppression.

In the case of miraculous births in Holy Scripture, an angel comes to announce the coming child. These sorts of situations always have an infertile woman who was not planning on becoming a mother. And in many cultures, including Israel, a son born to a woman who was childless for a long time is recognized as a particularly special gift from God.

There are typically, therefore, high expectations that such a special child is destined for great things in this life. Indeed, Samson would become an extraordinary person by initiating the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines.

Samson, according to the angel, was not only to make sure he never eats any unclean food, but also was to be set apart from his very conception as a Nazirite – one who has the special rules of abstinence from alcohol, cutting the hair, and touching corpses. (Numbers 6:1-8)

From the very beginning of Samson’s existence in the womb of his mother, the Spirit of God was with him and began empowering him for his destiny of deliverance.

Since we know the rest of the story, as contained in the Bible, we understand that the way the deliverance of Israel came was not by any sort of conventional means. It was a rather circuitous and complicated set of circumstances and decisions which brought about Israel’s freedom from oppression.

In a similar way, the deliverance which Jesus secured – not only for Israel, but according to Christianity, for all nations – came about through unexpected and tragic circumstances. This is why many Christians will state that Jesus was born to die – because his death, like Samson’s, brought about a great saving event that vastly outdid anything done during life.

Perhaps you existentially know something in this season about such bittersweet circumstances and events. It could be that you are experiencing a situation that is both very sad and quite joyous at the same time.

So, may you, especially, in this time of year, find satisfaction in your grief, and contentment in your lament. May the angel’s announcement stir in your soul the peace that passes all understanding. May the Lord be with you, my friend.

Soli Deo Gloria

The Son (Hebrews 1:1-4)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. (New International Version)

For Christians everywhere, we are only a few days until the culmination of Advent season: observing, remembering, and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Christianity discerns that all of history hinges on it’s midpoint of the incarnation and birth, life and ministry, death and resurrection, and ascension and glorification of Jesus. Everything in the Bible looks to Christ.

The entire Old Testament Scriptures point forward to the time of Christ; the Gospels focus upon him; and all the rest of the New Testament points back to Jesus as the fulfillment of all God’s good promises to people.

Indeed, the Lord Jesus is central to everything in the Christian’s world and life view. Jesus Christ is the center of all Christian worship, Christian belief, Christian practice, Christian ethics, and the entirety of the Christian life.

The New Testament book of Hebrews has a lot to do with this approach to life. It’s overarching theme and focus is to point out and demonstrate the superiority of Jesus over everything and everyone in all of history.

And the reason the author of Hebrews takes pains to do this for a lengthy thirteen chapters, is that his recipients needed the reminder and the exhortation that their difficulties and hardships in living the Christian life is worth it. Jesus is worth completely centering our lives around because he is indeed the central figure of literally everything.

Historically, God spoke through many prophets. Yet, Jesus is the ultimate prophet, because he is not merely a servant of God; Christ is the very Son of God who is over all of God’s big world – and even participated in making the world.

Like Father, like Son. Jesus Christ exemplifies and shows us the very nature of God. He is the light of God’s glory, representing God in all his words and ways of being in the world.

What’s more, Jesus not only came to reveal God to us, but also to get involved in saving us from ourselves by actually becoming one of us. And after all his work was done, and his earthly life over, he sat down in his rightful place – showing us that it is finished, once and for all.

We need no longer try and purify or perfect ourselves, to try and fix all that we have messed up in this life, or to prop up our fragile egos to make it at least look like we have it all together. None of this is needed because the Lord Jesus Christ became our Savior, delivering us from a hole so deep that there was no way we could ever climb out of it on our own.

So, it is rather ironic that people (even and especially Christians) can let Jesus get pushed out of the Advent and Christmas seasons as less than superior to our worries about finances, discouragements about family, and wonderings about the future. Advent is intended to put our focus and our delight where it rightly belongs, in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Embedded within the season of Advent are a message and a mission. The Gospel of John begins with the great proclamation that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. God enters into human history in the person of Jesus. It is a message of grace and hope, completely centering around Christ. 

It is also a story – the greatest ever told – of the Creator God loving the creatures so much as to become one of them. This redemption narrative gives shape to our own witness. We simply tell the story of God’s love to humanity through the sending of the Son, Jesus, to deliver us from sin, death, and hell and bring us into a kingdom full of grace, joy, wholeness, and love.

Some may believe that Jesus laid aside his glory in order to be among us. I disagree. I believe that coming to this earth was the logical and loving thing to do in order to show and live into the radiance of God’s glory.

The word “glory” in the Hebrew Scriptures literally means to be “heavy.” In other words, God carries a lot of weight, namely because God is able to do so. That is, God is glorious. To enter this world and bear the great burden of human suffering and sin is perhaps the most glorious thing that God could ever do.

So, when we talk of the glory of God in Jesus Christ, we are really talking about the ultimate burden bearer showing who God is really like. The God, who is Love, is the God of glory, and the two are actually both sides of the same coin.

Therefore, Christians, the little Christs who walk about this earth, show the light of the glory of God in Jesus Christ when they carry one another’s burdens:

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2, NIV)

In a few days, gift giving and receiving will take place. And that is appropriate. What is also more than appropriate is to be able to relate to each other in such a way that we are showing the radiance of Jesus Christ in helping others carry their heavy emotional and/or spiritual loads.

As light comes into this world through the birth of the Son, so also let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) Amen.

Peace Be Upon Us (Psalm 125)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
    which cannot be moved but abides forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
    so the Lord surrounds his people
    from this time on and forevermore.
For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
    on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
    their hands to do wrong.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
    and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways,
    the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
    Peace be upon Israel! (New Revised Standard Version)

I am profoundly grateful that God is a rock solid mountain who is strong. The Lord is never altered in the basic divine character of merciful grace, steadfast love, and abiding security. The main reason I so deeply appreciate this about God is that this old fallen world is awfully fickle, terribly unreliable, and forever changing.

So, to trust in God is to tether oneself to the ultimate anchor for life. Relationships come and go. People have their own agendas and listen to other people who, in turn, have their own agendas. But God’s plan is purely good, always right, and consistently just. The divine agenda has our best interests at mind.

Being linked to the Lord in faith establishes divine protection, provision, and presence. It’s as if the righteous believer has an invisible security blanket wrapped around them at all times. We are kept in the gracious arms of a loving God.

None of this, however, means that we shall never face grueling circumstances that might even feel like a hellish existence. If the Christian’s Lord Jesus had to undergo suffering before experiencing glory, then how much more do his followers need to expect the same?

Having injustice and wrongdoing in this world is one thing; but having it come from those close to you is quite another thing altogether. Again, the Lord Jesus endured wicked betrayal from Judas Iscariot, one who was within the inner circle of disciples. Yet, the heavenly Father was continually there, surrounding Jesus like the mountain chain, even though it may not have felt like it at many points, especially in the final week of Christ’s life on this earth.

God is good, all the time. Therefore, God knows who is truly good, and who is not. The Lord sees the heart, and clearly discerns the intents and motivations of each person and every group of people on this planet. And since God understands the real nature of a person’s life, the Lord is not fooled by pious sounding and slick talking persons with darkness in their hearts.

The wicked will not endure. God shall eventually lead them away. Like a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats, the Divine Judge will divide the righteous from the wicked. Those who think they can have a secret agenda of crookedness will find out that it’s not so secret after all.

This world, with all it’s inhabitants and systems and societies, needs peace. Sometimes, it seems to me that everyone right now in our contemporary world is upset about something; and they have the rudeness to back it up.

Nations fight nations. People groups attack other people groups. One ethnicity accuses another, and vice versa. Family members are estranged. Lawsuits abound. The judicial courts are beyond full. Unethical practices masquerade within ethical systems and thrive in the shadows. And persons are harmed – lots of them. Lives are destroyed.

I once came home from a day of interacting with patients at the hospital and said to my wife, “You could never dream up the atrocities that one person can do to another.” The short of it is that there is no harmony, no mutual understanding, and thus, no peace, no fulfillment or wholesome way of life for so many.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul once cried out concerning the muck of sin, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” He then went on to answer his own question by saying a simple phrase, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:24)

Yes, for me it’s Jesus. And, for me, that is what this very season of the year is all about. I anticipate the birth of the Christ Child, who came willingly to save us from this manure pile of a situation that is without peace. He became the Prince of Peace, so that we might have the light of life. It was the Apostle John who let us know:

The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish. (John 1:14, MSG)

Humility, meekness, righteousness, purity, mercy, love, and peace-making – yes, peacemaking – were the hallmarks of Christ’s ministry. These characteristics surrounded him like the divine mountains and shaped every word and each action of Jesus.

It is the time for peace. In fact, it’s high time for it! We have gone long enough provoking others and being provoked. There is a way – the way of peace. And for me, peace is achieved through the ultimate Peacemaker, Jesus Christ, my Lord.

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:17-18, NIV)

May you find peace this season because you have discovered the Peacemaker. Peace be upon Israel, and peace to all.

Soli Deo Gloria

A Great Restoration (Psalm 126)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves. (New Revised Standard Version)

I personally think that God is amazing. The Lord not only brings restoration and wholeness to people; God also reverses people’s fortunes so that what was lost is found again. Indeed, reversal has a prominent place in today’s psalm, inviting us to recognize that God does more than compensate persons in a loss, but also brings about a complete reversal of reality.

God is the expert at restoring people’s fortunes. For a nation who was overrun by the Babylonians, sent into exile, and then had the ability to return from that exile back to Jerusalem, it very much indeed, felt like a grand restoration. The effect it had on the people was profound. The psalmist describes it like this:

It’s like waking from a dream and realizing that it’s reality.

It’s like the best party – full of celebration, singing, and laughter – that anyone has ever experienced.

It’s like being a real live miracle.

Being invaded, attacked, violated, taken away from your home and traumatized – and then living in oppression and having forced suppression in living your life the way you believe you ought to, is an awfully sad and discouraging way to exist.

But then, fortunes are restored. The grieving and lamenting give way to laughter and joy. That feeling of a 500 pound weight on your shoulders is lifted; you now feel light as a feather. And it isn’t only a personal reversal of tangible resources; it’s also a psychological turn around.

The nations frequently mock and ridicule God’s people. They look at the suffering, as if God has abandoned them – or wonder even if there is a God, at all. The thinking of other nations, is that Israel’s God is nothing but a local god who is impotent outside of Judah. Besides, he probably doesn’t care about a bunch of losers anyway, they reason.

Don’t give the other nations a reason to say,
    “Where is their God? Can’t he help them?”
Let us see you punish those people.
    Punish them for killing your servants. (Psalm 79:10, ERV)

But the God of the Bible is no limited territorial being; the Lord is sovereign over all the earth. And this God is able to effect a radical reversal of body, mind, and spirit – even to those other nations. The disrespectful mouths that once mocked are reversed to giving praise to Israel’s God and acknowledging that the Lord has done great things for the people.

This God has both the will and the ability to intervene and effect real change that completely reverses a person’s and even a nation’s life. Once someone has experienced what God can do, they forever know that God can do it again.

One of the things which personally motivates me is that the Lord has changed my life and my fortunes on many occasions – and even used me to help effect a reversal in other people’s lives, as well. So, no matter how bad things get (and sometimes they get awfully darned bad!) I have confidence and trust that a good, merciful, and loving God sees it all, knows it all, and has the power to do something about it. I may have to wait for a while – maybe even an agonizingly long time – yet I am convinced that the same God who restored the fortunes of Israel can reverse my situation, too.

And the change is so wonderfully dramatic, that it’s like a wadi in the desert, a life-giving river that emerges in the bone dry desert, bringing new growth and sustaining animal life, after the rains finally come and reverse the landscape and the environment completely.

We are, however, reminded that a great reversal and a complete restoration does not happen immediately. When the farmer plants in the Spring, it will be months before there is a harvest of crops. It takes time for the seed to germinate, break the soil, and grow into a mature plant, ready for the harvester.

Get-rich schemes rarely work in life, and never really happen in the spiritual life. Renewal, restoration, and a reversal of fortunes is not an instantaneous event, but rather a process that develops and eventually happens. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears go into any meaningful and sustainable process of change. Yet, where there is weeping, the end will be shouts of celebration and joy.

Believers can live expectantly, and fully convinced, that their suffering will eventually give way to glory. Grief and tears will not have the last word; God’s restorative and reversing grace will.

Many of you long for restoration – either for yourselves or for others you love and care about – because you recognize there needs to be a great reversal of fortunes. Advent is the season for waiting, the time for anticipation, knowing that deliverance will come in the form of a baby. And our waiting shall not be in vain.

O Lord our God, accept the fervent prayers of your people; in the multitude of your mercies look with compassion upon us and all who turn to you for help; for you are gracious, O lover of souls, and to you we give glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.