The second chapter of second Kings kicks off a series of miracles performed by Elisha, the Lord’s prophet who has succeeded Elijah.  In 2 Kings 2.23-24, Elisha is walking past the city of Bethel when he is accosted by a band of boys who jeer at him, calling him a “baldhead.”  Elisha turns around and curses them in the name of the LORD, causing two bad bears to come out of the woods and maul 42 of the boys.

This story always gets a good laugh when it is noted that this is the first recorded biblical instance of youth group ministry. 

Unfortunately, there are darker undertones to the story.  Bethel was one of the sites where Jeroboam had constructed golden calves (1 Kings 12.25-13.10) to lead Israel astray.  Subsequent kings of Israel were judged on this particular standard – they did not take down the idols called the “sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat” (2 Kings 3.3).

It is therefore sad but not surprising that young people from apostate Bethel would be so disrespectful toward adults. A pack of fifty or more unsupervised, name-calling, older children roaming the region reflected poorly on their parents and probably presented a safety concern to all travelers.

Even worse, their insolence toward a prophet of God was to dishonor God himself.  Hopefully the swift response to the curse “in the name of the LORD” woke up some of the youth, letting them see that the One True God is not to be trifled with.

At Christmas two years ago our family prayed “big” prayers for each other.  We hassled Jesse a bit, forcing him to prioritize between buying a house and getting married.  It seemed good to us that he made getting married his first choice, even though he had accumulated money for a house but had never dated anyone besides high school proms. 

Next Saturday, June 29, Jesse Clark Knapp and Amber Laneé Cross will exchange wedding vows.  In the nature of God’s providing more than we could ask or imagine, they will close on their new house July 3. 

Why did the Israelites sing the Song of Moses, found in Exodus 15? Short answer: Change of fears. 

Chapter 14 of Exodus is about crossing the Red Sea.  The people knew the plagues the LORD brought upon Egypt, including the Passover protection of their firstborn.  They had seen the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.  But they had not yet lost their fearful slave mentality; they were still in bondage.  When Pharaoh with all his chariots and soldiers drew near to the Israelite encampment, they “feared greatly” and complained bitterly, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”  Moses called them forward, “Fear not, stand firm, be quiet, watch how the LORD fights for you.”

God’s fight included at least two miracles, lumped together to produce the famous parting of the Red Sea waters.  Miracle One was a cloud that separated the pursuing Egyptians from the fleeing Israelites all night while Miracle Two could work – a strong east wind that blew many hours to back up the sea waters and make a dry path.

The Hebrews hustled across.  After they cleared, the waters started leaking.  As the cloud moved, the Egyptians pursued.  Their chariots and horsemen were bogged down in the newly re-moistened riverbed.  God called Moses to raise his hand, causing the full waters to return, covering and destroying the entrapped Egyptians. 

When Israel saw the Egyptian army dead on the shore, they realized they had truly been set free.  They grasped the irrevocable reality of their deliverance; they understood the commitment of God to save them.  They “saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.  Then Moses and the people sang.”

They had their dreadful fear of the Egyptians removed and gained an awe-filled fear of the LORD.

Thanks to Pastor Dale Vandyke.

I was at a conference the last couple of days where Derek Thomas and Kevin DeYoung spoke about the authority of scripture.  One of the main passages Dr. Thomas developed was 2 Timothy 3.14 – 4.5.  I realized I had made a mistake in my post of June 5 – I had called the exhortation to Timothy at the beginning of chapter 4 a WARNING. It is really a COMMISSION to Timothy to preach the word, with a warning imbedded in the commission.  In either case, “itchy ears” used in the ESV translation is a wonderfully descriptive phrase.

I was struck also at the conference with a “fear of the Lord” understanding of two things.  First, God is the potter and we are the clay.  God made us and the universe the way He wanted to.  The omnipotent , all-powerful One COULD have done anything he wanted (except violate His own character) and THIS is what He decided to do.  The creation is to glorify God, not satisfy my design specs. It is major impertinence to think I would know better how to set up the universe.

Second, God tells us the truth about Himself in the Bible, where we can read exactly what He wants us to know in exactly the way He wants to, at exactly the right time for us to know it.  Again, it is major impertinence to think that the arms of the Almighty are shortened when it comes to directing human writers, keeping Biblical content intact for centuries, and enlightening the hearts and minds of believers.

Unfortunately there are many heretics today – just like there have always been heretics –  who claim to be believers in Jesus Christ but make mistakes or adjust the meaning to suit their own ends.  When nice-sounding arguments assail the truth, how can we possible know the difference? The COMMISSION that Paul gives Timothy points the way:

–        “Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed.” History is full of prior heresies and the arguments used to disapprove them.  God and His Biblical truth have not changed just because man’s cultures have.

–        “All Scripture (Old and New Testament) is breathed out by God.” The Bereans were commended for testing Paul’s teachings against scripture (Acts 17.10-12).  God said what he meant to say.

–        “Many people will not endure sound teaching and will accumulate teachers to suit their own passions.” The Holy Spirit works to give sight to the blind, to those who repent and believe.  Even though the Evil One works to deceive, He who is with us is greater than he who is in the world. 

There are good sound teachers who can explain the truth and refute the lies.  I was happy to hear from a couple of them over the last two days.

It is mind-boggling to consider that the universe is still expanding after 16 billion years.  What is it expanding into?  And there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the earth. We are talking gi-nourmous size, distance, and time measurements.

On a much smaller but still staggering scale it is astounding to see God’s design in the relative locations of the earth, moon, and sun.  The sun is 400 times bigger than the moon, and it is 400 times further away from the earth.  This makes them look the same size in the sky even though the sun is much bigger.  AND it allows for a total solar eclipse.

Einstein’s theory of relativity included a prediction that the gravity of an object can bend light (and space).  The problem of proving the theory was that the results of the bending were too small to measure on earth.  Early last century scientists used a total solar eclipse to prove that the sun’s gravity bent the light coming from a distant star.  Imagine the grand scale of this experiment.  They knew the exact position where certain stars should be at a particular time.  When the sun was eclipsed by the moon, the light from the further star could be seen; it was observed to be where Einstein said it would be, not where the scientists agreed it should be.

The moon is moving slowly away from the earth, affecting the distance/size ration needed for a total solar eclipse.  Don’t worry; total eclipses won’t stop for 500 million years or so.  But it is significant that 100 years ago, when scientists needed one, a total solar eclipse was available.  Without God as the grand designer, the odds against men on earth being able to detect (bent) light from a far-away star because the moon could completely block the sun’s rays… are astronomical.

Job 38.22-23

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,

or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

which I have reserved for the time of trouble,

for the day of battle and war?

 These verses are near the beginning of God’s long rebuttal list in Job – His creative acts, deeds that are plain for all to see but for which Job has no clue as to how or why they were done. 

I am reminded of the massive power in the army’s latest weaponry.  And the huge amount of time and energy it took to produce them: research, design, testing, manufacturing, deployment strategies. The weapons are fearful. 

But, the One who created the universe out of nothing can create even more fearful weapons instantly, at his command.  Snow, hail, rivers, locusts, earthquakes, and tsunamis, not to mention solar flares, supernovas, and colliding galaxies.

All those weapons that man makes need to be stored somewhere.  God keeps his battle-hail in storehouses beyond our understanding.  Wow.

 God keeps his promise to work with my prayers (Romans 8.26), even a whiny, complaining lament.  I had a hard time identifying with the Psalms of Lament (like Psalm 28, 55, 56, 57) – full of opponents, pits, traps, and attacks, until I recognized MY silent assailant was having so many assignments that I could not possibly accomplish them.

 Last Wednesday night I once again reached the tipping point on too many things to do. Several days of meetings and emails piling on additional jobs had overwhelmed the switchboard; the kitchen was slammed with too many orders; the web site couldn’t handle the traffic; the rivers overflowed; the highways were gridlocked.  The nightmare came back in the night where I am walking around Berkey Hall on the MSU campus, trying to find the room where the final exam is being held for the class I forgot to attend all semester long.

So I just started making a list.  All the work projects, all the church responsibilities,  all the phone calls to make and emails to send – write down everything that needs doing very soon. Pray, “God, there are too many things to do.  How am I ever going to get out from under this long list?  Please help!”

 Here is how God answered my lamented (demented?) list:

–          There is something therapeutic and peaceful in having everything on a list, gathered in one place.

–          Something funny happens when categorizing the list.  Half are work, half are church, half are family – too many halves makes light of the problem.

–          The right order for attacking the list becomes clear.  Usually a few small tasks to get started, then the most pressing, then a realization that not everything has to be done TODAY!

–          A four hour slot of time opens up!

–          Attacking the list becomes a challenge rather than a weight.

 Thank you, LORD, for hearing my complaint and guiding me past it.