Dread Had Fallen

Psalm 105 calls the congregation to remember all the great things God had done for the descendants of Abraham.    Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Aaron are all mentioned, plus most of the plagues, the cloud by day and fire by night, the quail explosion, manna every morning, and water from a rock.

Verses 37-38 are right at the critical juncture of leaving Egypt:

                “Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,

                 and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

                 Egypt was glad when they departed,

                for dread of them had fallen upon it.”

The account in Exodus 12.33-36 paints a picture of the conflict in the hearts of the Egyptians.  They were positively disposed toward the Israelites, because “the LORD had given the people favor in their sight.” So they gave away whatever the Hebrews asked for. 

At the same time, they were afraid of the Israelites’ God, and “were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste for they said, ‘We shall all be dead.’”

So God was operating on both sides of the Egyptians’ mental conflict.  As the psalm says, the dread had fallen upon them.   The Israelites walked away, encouraged and enriched, because God was at work.

Gospel in Hosea

I recently put an old Spartan Christian Fellowship (SCF) t-shirt back in the cycle of wear-ables, the bright green one with yellow letters (and a yellow corn cob) proclaiming “Pray Like a Farmer.”  Two things happened the first day I wore it. First, an elderly black gentleman at the grocery stopped and admired what the shirt said; this makes me think it will be a good conversation starter.  Second, I read the first three chapters of the book of Hosea, which ties mistaken farmers, adultery, strange names for children, and repudiation of the Baals with the good news of a forgiving God.

The modern farmers the SCF t-shirt refers to are praying to the One True God and His son, Jesus Christ.  They know their only hope for good crops lies in the timely rain and good weather provided by a loving Father. 

The farmers in Hosea’s time, however, had included weather-gods – the Baals, who were thought to have control over fertility, rainfall, and productivity – as part of their worship mix. Like Israel, Hosea’s wife Gomer had broken faithfulness by lusting after other men and borne children to them, even while remaining married to Hosea.  Gomer’s first son, by Hosea, is named Jezreel, referring to the house of Ahab and the ongoing confrontation between Baal and the God of Israel.  The next two sons, likely from other fathers, are named by Hosea “No Mercy” and “Not My People,” indicating a loss of the Father’s love/mercy and a repudiation of the nation.

But even though Israel (and Gomer) sinned, God keeps his covenantal promises (and Hosea stays married).  There is hope for restoration (the number of children of Israel shall be like the grains of sand, vs 1.10) and a declaration of the need for repentance (put away your whoring, in vs 2.2).  God promises his actions for the nation with analogies for the wayward wife.  There will be “hedges” to prevent continued wayward activity (vs 2.6); the LORD will show the worthlessness of the Baals by stripping the land bare (vs 2.9-13); and the LORD will tenderly call his people back (vs 2.14-15).

In Chapter 3, Hosea redeems his wife financially with a trade of goods, then commands an enforced faithfulness (like God is doing with Israel) for an unspecified period of time. The future of Gomer and Israel are intertwined with “Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days” (vs 3.5).  The heir of David will be part of God’s glorious future for his people.

More Similies

More winners of the “worst analogies ever written in a high school essay” contest.  See the 8/24/13 post and look forward to 9/28/13 for more.

  Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze. (Chuck Smith, Wooabridge)

 Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center. (RusseIl Beland, Springfield)

 Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.comaaakk/ch@ung but gets T:flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake (Ken Krattenmaker, Landover Hllls)

 He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. (Jack Bross, Chevy Chase)

 The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. (Gary F. Hevel, Silver Spring)

 Her date was pleasant enough but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like “Second Tall Man.” (Russell Beland, Springfield)

If God Is For Us

Romans 8 ends with a wonderful declaration of the strength of God’s love for his children.

In verse 35 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Not

–          Tribulation

–          Distress

–          Persecution

–          Famine

–          Nakedness

–          Danger

–          Sword

And in verses 38-39, none of the following “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”:

–          Death

–          Life

–          Angels

–          Rulers

–          Things present

–          Things to come

–          Powers

–          Height

–          Depth

–          Anything else in all creation

Those are very inclusive lists explaining that “nothing can be against us” (verse 31).

November Odometer

Our 2004 silver Honda Pilot reached 110,000 miles on August 31, and 111,111 on September 4.  In between, 111098 (11 10 9 8) went by unnoticed, but I was ready for 111213 (11 12 13) on September 9.

I try to keep a record of where the vehicle was each time a thousand mile mark passes, so I will be watching for 112000 and 113000.  And this year, if I drive few enough miles, I might be able to show the date on the odometer!  I could park the car for two months and drive just enough miles to reach 111513 (11/15/13) on November 15.

As I write this, It’s too late for any date prior to November 12 (11 12 13), and I usually drive about a thousand miles each month, making it unlikely to eke out 113013 on November 30.  But I will watch and hope. 

It will also be a low mileage feat to match the date next year; the first possible opportunity would be 120114, for December 1, 2014.  If somehow I hit that day, then I would just have to drive 100 miles each day thereafter to show the date on the odometer for the whole month (120114, 120214, 120314, …, 123114).  That would be very cool!  After that, the mileage runs out of months, and I don’t want to switch to a European Day / Month / Year display.

For anyone with a brand new car, the first future odometer day you can look for would be 1114, 1/1/14, January 1, 2014.  That’s because any day left in 2013 will have at least five digits (e.g. 9/10/13 is 91013; 10/1/13 is 10113).  In any case, stay alert and check your mileage; there may be a cool odometer number combination just around the corner.  Literally.

Elevator Magic

An Amish boy and his father were visiting a mall.  They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and back together again.

The boy asked, “What is this, Father?” 

The father, never having seen an elevator, responded, “Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don’t know what it is.” 

While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, an old lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched the small circular numbers above the walls light up sequentially. They continued to watch until it reached the last number and then as these numbers began to light in reverse order.

The walls opened up again and a beautiful 24 year old woman stepped out.

The father, not taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to his son, “Go get your Mother.”

Church Prayer Walk

The idea for a prayer walk is simple – keep your eyes open and pray for what you see.   An individual can choose a path and pray they go.  For a larger group activity, there are some logistical directions that will be helpful.

Meet in a central location (usually the worship area) to have an opening song / prayer and give instructions.

Suggest small groups (4-5) because too large a group will make it harder to hear and make it easy to spend too much time at one spot.

Publish a set of (numbered) stopping points where a small group can concentrate on specific ministries: Worship, Staff (officers), Sunday School, Youth Group, Prayer Room, Maintenance and Grounds, Fellowship (Kitchen and fellowship hall), etc.  The document can be augmented to include a few prayer topics, such as upcoming events or ministry participant’s names.

Using the numbering scheme for a “shot-gun start” – assign each small group a different starting point and have them move consecutively through the building.  This will give some direction and alleviate congestion.

If the weather is nice, suggest that groups might want to walk around the building or parking lot or even into adjoining neighborhoods.

Designate a spot in the central meeting area for a “virtual” walk, for those for whom the physical activity will be hard.  Arrange ahead of time for a designated leader for this group who will be at the location where the group will gather and lead the group by describing ministries and inviting prayer for each.

Set a report-back time when all small groups gather to share results and close in prayer.  Groups will usually have exciting prayer discoveries, blessings, adventures. 

What the Spies Missed

Moses sent twelve spies to Canaan in Numbers 13.  He gave them a charge in verse 17-20 and they reported back, after a 40 day trip, in verses 25-33.  Here is a brief summary of what the spies were to look for and what they found:

–          See what the land is  –  it flows with milk and honey

–          Are the people strong or weak  –  stronger than us

–          Are there few or many people  –  more than us

–          Is the land where they dwell good or bad  –  the land is good

–          Are their cities camps or strongholds  –  fortified and very large

–          Is the land rich or poor  – the land is good

–          Are there any trees  –  yes

–          Bring back some fruit  – these grapes are huge!

–          Be of good courage  – but there are giants out there!

Then Caleb said, “let’s go take the land; we can do it.”

The Ten faithless spies said, “Oh no, we can’t! Those giants are BIG!”

And the people cried all night.  The next morning they grumbled, wanted a new leader, and wished they would have died in Egypt or in the wilderness rather than die trying to move into Canaan.

Then Joshua said, “The land is good.  Don’t fear those people, because God is on our side.”

And the people wanted to stone Joshua.

But the LORD intervened.  His Shekinah Glory showed up in the tent and he threatened to wipe out the nation and start over with Moses as the new Abraham. Moses interceded and God forgave.  But, as punishment for rejecting the land, (a) the Israelites would be in the wilderness forty years (one year for each day of the spy mission); (b) all adults over age 20 (except Caleb and Joshua) were doomed to die in the wilderness, as they wished; and (c) the ten faithless spies died of a plague.

So, the promised land was exceedingly fine but the inhabitants were big and numerous.  Those who trusted the LORD knew He was able to clear out the Canaanites; those who did not trust Him could not see past the giants. Trust, faith, and sight are linked together.