Dec. 21 – Thoughts on Micah 4-5 & Rev. 12

Every villain has an origin story.  And in scripture Satan seems to have at least two.  When we read the opening of the book of Job, Baalam’s story in Numbers 22, and even Jesus’ wilderness temptation, we find a Satan who works for God.  Satan, a name meaning simply, “Adversary”, needs God’s approval to mess with Job, and seems to even need God’s guidance in that direction.  For Baalam, he of the talking donkey, Satan is an “angel of the Lord” sent to kill Balaam for his upcoming cursing of God’s people.  And for Jesus, He is sent into the wilderness “by the Spirit of God” to be tempted, and then is tempted by Satan.  Sure looks “henchman-ish” to me.

But the more popular view of Satan, and I say that in the true meaning of “popular”, is that of God’s enemy.  We find this version in Genesis 3 when the serpent (who is not called Satan at any time in that story, by the way) tempts humans to sin.  We find him in the gospel accounts when we see Jesus pitted against Satan and his hordes.  And we find it today in Revelation when this “ancient enemy” stands against the heavenly host.

The important point in any Satanology is the overarching theme of both of these views.  Satan may be God’s enemy, but he is NOT His equal.  Whether a servant of the Most High, which is in keeping with most Old Testament theology, or an enemy of equal rank not with God, nor with Jesus, but with Michael, the general of the heavenly host (please note this is not a choir but an army!), Satan is so much less than God that he is not to be a terror for us.  In anything that happens in life, whether attributed to life circumstances, to bad luck, or to Satan himself, God is in control and God’s got this.  “Be not afraid,” as the angels always say.

 

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Dec. 20 – Thoughts on Micah 1-3 & Rev. 11

A friend who has lived decades in Mexico shared an interesting worldview he has noticed there.  The Mexican people hold civility in much higher regard that we in the United States do.  They want you to be pleased and content – this is hospitality in their eyes – and so when asked, they will give you the answer that will make you the most pleased and content.  This means that if you ask them directions to the nearest hotel, telling them that you have to get there quickly, they will give you directions with reassurance that you have plenty of time.  The problem is that they will do this even if they have no idea where the hotel is.  They will point you down the street and around the block, knowing that they calmed your frayed nerves.  And when you get there and find out your hotel is twice as far in the opposite direction, you may start this rigmarole all over again.

When people ask me questions, I too want to give them an answer they will like.  But my reasons are far more selfish – I want them to like me, to show my camaraderie, and to avoid their anger.  But this is a problem, for the work of the prophet, a work we are all called to as the “priesthood of all believers” is seldom to bring good news.  We have to bear truth even if it makes someone uncomfortable or even angry.  And so we learn, and grow, and age into these encounters lovingly.

Whether Micah or the prophets of Revelation, we have to be prepared for a harsh if not deadly reception when we bring God’s message.  Joy and hope and love and peace are all good and true, but God’s message is also Repent and confess and change and grow, and these messages may well be met with unease, anger, or even violence.  “Blessed are you when people hate you for my sake, for so they treated the prophets of old.”

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Dec. 19 – Thoughts on Jonah & Rev. 10

Ah, Jonah, one of my favorite stories.  It reminds me every time I read it that no matter who we are or what we do for God, there is always room for a really selfishly sinful reaction at the end.

Jonah was a prophet, not because he’s ever called one in this story – he’s not – but because you’re a prophet if you bring a message from God to the people.  And this is exactly what Jonah is called on to do.  And he fails about as badly as you possibly can.  After nearly killing a boatload of men, he is nearly drowned and then nearly eaten by a giant fish (cue Jaws music now).  He repents (who wouldn’t inside a giant fish? (cue Jaws music now)) and agrees to take on the task.  Again, who wouldn’t when the alternative is, well, all of that?

He goes to Nineveh in fear and trepidation, travels nearly half way into the city, and proclaims their doom.  They IMMEDIATELY repent as completely as possible (even the animals are forced to a position of repentance) and are spared.  Get that?  Jonah takes a boat ride, a typhoon, a near drowning, a giant fish (cue Jaws music now) and a projectile vomiting (and you thought being the vomit-er was bad?  try being the vomit!) before he repented.  The Ninevites, sworn enemies of all things God, take one word from a foreigner they’ve never met before.

And then, AND THEN, Jonah is angry!  “How dare you be YOU, God!  I knew You would forgive them and that’s why I wouldn’t go.  See?  I was right!”  Jerk.

Jonah is certainly not the hero of his own story.  But neither are the Ninevites.  Nor the sailors, nor the plant, nor the sackcloth-covered animals.  If there’s a hero to this story, it has to be God.  And that’s just how it should be.

Unless it’s the fish (cue Jaws music now).

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Dec. 18 – Thoughts on Obadiah & Rev. 9

In 597 B.C., Edom helped the Babylonians to sack Jerusalem and carry off their wealth and people.  Though Edom was a vassal state to Jerusalem, they were all too happy to gain favor with the all-powerful Babylonian Empire by opening the way to Jerusalem.

Founded by Esau, Jacob’s brother from the Genesis account, Edom was a nation who dwelt in the mountains.  This elevation gave them a good defensive position, but they were still too small to be a military threat.  This was why they had existed in Israel’s shadow and why they needed Babylon’s good will.

Obadiah, however, proclaims God’s wrath against Israel’s enemies, and specifically against Edom.  Likening them to eagles in their nests, still God will bring them down and make them nothing, Obadiah proclaims.  Calling them Jacob’s brother, as their founder literally was, he proclaims shame for abandoning him in his need.  And in verse after verse, he proclaims their immanent downfall.

It is hard for us today to read the prophets with all of the doom and gloom.  We like hope, joy, and peace much more, and it takes some deep reading in the prophets to find any of these.  Though they often tell of a future hope, but only of return AFTER exile, of hope AFTER pain.  Yet with the balance between doom for Israel for their disobedience and doom for their enemies, the prophets do bring hope for God’s people.  Sometimes, you just have to dig deeper than our usual quick reading to find it.

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Dec. 17 – Thoughts on Amos 7-9 & Rev. 8

Truth is under attack in our culture today, but not in the way we are all hearing from the media.  News stories are full of more and more lies coming from every sector of the world – entertainers, government, sports, religion, etc.  Faith in our own judicial system is at an all time low.  People manipulate facts and figures to make them whatever they want reality to be.

But this current attack on Truth goes much deeper than this.  It is not that people are ignoring Truth in favor of opinion – if this were the case, we could call them out of it and back to the truth.  Instead, we are dismantling the very idea of Truth.  Phrases like “my truth” have more than simply reflected the reality that opinion matters far more than truth and has become the basis for how we deal with this world; they have changed what “Truth” means.

If I try to debate with someone over a topic, the debate does not end with one person convincing the other of the Truth of the thing but with each sharing their opinions about it and going away happy that both of them are true.  This cannot logically be, yet we do it every day.

For Amos, this idea of Truth was represented by a Plumb line.  Before the days of levels, which told you if a wall was straight up and down, they simply put a weight on the end of a string and called it a plumb line.  Since the line would hang straight due to gravity, they could know whether a wall was “true”, or straight.  But Amos’ image is not about a measure for a wall but for God’s people.  God would supply the measure, the “Truth”, against which His people would be judged.  And that Truth still holds today, however we manipulate our own language and concept of truth.

Oh, that the world might know the measure, the plumb line, of God’s truth.  Life would be so much easier then.

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