The Holy Spirit (Part Eighteen)

2 Peter 1:20-21

Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (ESV).

One of the great questions of humanity involves the study of knowledge. “How do I know?” and “How do I know that I know?” There are only a few basic answers to that question, such as “mankind can’t know,” or “mankind can know through some mystical process,” or mankind has all the ability to know,” or “mankind can only know truly through revelation.” All the first three answers are defective or insufficient for many reasons, which are outside of our theme in this article. What remains is the Biblical position that we can know because God has spoken. This brings us to the place of the Holy Spirit in God revealing himself to mankind.

Revelation has two parts: general and special. General revelation is God revealing himself in creation (Psalm 19:1-6). Special revelation is God revealing himself by speaking to mankind. God chose some of that special revelation to be permanently recorded in written form to speak with God’s authority. The Lord does this so that we might know his person, his will, and his saving activity. This written record God calls the Scriptures, and we often call it the Bible, the Book.

Our focus in this article is the activity of the Holy Spirit of God in giving us the written message. As we begin, it is wise to state that we will encounter mystery here. The Spirit does not answer all our questions in the Bible. In it he gives us true truth, though not exhaustive truth, for a good reason (John 21:25). But though we cannot know fully, we have all we need to know. Consider an example.

The games of the great chess grandmasters have been preserved for people to enjoy and study. If you have some understanding of chess, you can replay them and grasp to some degree how they achieved victory. But sometimes it is a marvel how they could discern the possibilities in a position and bring out its potential sometimes through a sequence of many moves. Watch the movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer, if you want to see some of this. In a similar way, when we come to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures, we can learn what he has done, but he has not made known the full process of how the Scriptures were written. We will have to stop where the Scriptures stop. Be content that the Spirit knows, even though you do not.

The Scriptures are a joint product of the Holy Spirit and people. We see this divine-human interaction in many areas of Biblical teaching.

  • Christ has two natures (one divine and one human) in his one person. Both are clearly attested in the Scriptures, though the exact nature of their interaction is beyond our understanding.
  • God’s sovereignty interacts with human responsibility in salvation. God clearly chooses people to salvation, yet everyone who is saved repents and believes.
  • The mission of evangelism is another divine-human interaction. Our task is to tell others the good news, but unless the Holy Spirit regenerates, all our evangelistic efforts fail.
  • As we shall see, the whole area of growth in grace involves divine-human interaction.

Each of these divine-human interactions varies in different ways. But the product of the Scriptures is closer in kind to the relationship between Christ’s two natures than the others, all of which involve human sin.

The apostolic teaching is that “men spoke from God” or “holy men of God spoke”, as the NKJV reads following the textual variant. In either case, we are clearly taught that the Scriptures came through human instrumentality: “men spoke”. We see this same assertion made in other places: David (Luke 20:42; Ac 2:34), Isaiah (John 12:39), Joel (Ac 2:16), and “the word of the prophets” with Amos in mind (Acts 15:15). Compare also Matthew 13:14; 15:7; 22:43; Mark 12:36. Yet as these men spoke, God spoke through them (Matthew 2:17; 3:3; 13:35; 21:4; Acts 4:25). We can also see this in the differences of style among the various human writers. Ezekiel does not sound the same as Moses, nor does Paul sound like John. Yet in all, we read the same consistent teaching, sense the same heart of the master author, and are presented with the same zeal for God’s glory in the face of Christ. All this occurred in about forty human writers over the space of 1600 years! The observable facts of Scripture attest to this divine-human interaction.

This should lead us to worship the Lord. “Who are you, Almighty God, that you can work in human hearts in such a magnificent way?”

Grace and peace, David

An Illustration of Electing Grace

Genesis 43:15-34

As the Scriptures tell us the story of God’s glory in Christ, some sections are illustrative of God’s acts of grace. Obviously, an illustration should not be pressed at all points, and we should not lose touch with the historic nature of the account. But with that in mind, we can observe some matters about God’s electing grace.

Electing grace is not the result of human effort (43:15-16). Joseph’s brothers were involved in the normal pursuits of this life. Their minds were set on finding food. They were not looking for Joseph. This is a characteristic of the lifestyle of a worldly person, involved in matters of life to the exclusion of God. Jesus calls us to a different way to live. For the Gentiles [the nations] seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:32-33 ESV). As the brothers were not looking for Joseph, so people do not seek the Lord (Romans 3:11). Sin rules over them so that they have no room for God in their thoughts (Psalm 10:4).

Yet Joseph had a plan to work for their good, a plan for a greater good than they could imagine. All that he has done to this point in time has been with a concern for their ultimate happiness, even if they had to have sorrows along the way. The time had come to interrupt their lives. He wanted to restore his relationship with him, though they had greatly wronged him. God interrupts the lives of his chosen people. He meets them as they go their own way. This interruption comes from his grace alone. View Joseph’s method. Were they seeking food? He would use a banquet to begin to teach them his grace! Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4 ESV).

Electing grace uses ministers in its plan. His servant acted according to Joseph’s will (43:17). Obedience to the master’s will is the first concern for proper service. Once R.C. Sproul was asked in a seminary class, “Why bother to evangelize if God has chosen who will be saved?” He answered, “I guess possibly because he told us to.” Joseph’s brothers misinterpreted the servant’s obedience (43:18). For this reason, the servant had to deal with their objections. The brothers stumbled over the events of providence in their lives and tried to justify themselves (43:20-22). But the steward pointed them to God as the true explanation for the event (43:23). God was the first cause, though Joseph was the second cause (cf. 42:25). We must tell people that God is involved in human history.

The servant did the most important thing; he led them to Joseph (43:24). He took them to the correct place. Sinners meet the Savior at the cross. Take them there to Christ (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). He dealt with them kindly. God’s servants ought to show forth the generosity, kindness, and compassion of their Lord. Do sinners see the beauty of the Lord when you speak to them?

Electing grace throbs with love. Joseph’s affections were set on them, even when that was hidden from them. He was interested in their well-being and inquired about it (43:27). Joseph was deeply moved when he saw his brother (43:29-30). Compare Christ’s attitude (Hebrews 12:2).

Joseph was self-controlled in the pursuit of his plan (43:31). He would not directly eat with them until the relationship was restored (43:32). He gave evidence of his great wisdom (43:33). He was discerning in his bountiful provision (43:34). In the same way, we should honor God for his wisdom in electing grace. Read Romans 8:28-30 with joy!

Grace and peace, David

The Holy Spirit (Part 17)

Psalm 104:29-30

When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground (NIV).

On our previous stop on our “tour” in the “dimly lit chamber” of the Old Testament Scriptures, we saw the Holy Spirit’s care in creation and his power to bring God’s plan in creation to full realization. When the Spirit completed the work, everything was “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Next, we see the Spirit of God as Perfecting Presence of God.

The Spirit discloses the presence of God. Please do not confuse God’s “presence” with God’s “omnipresence”. The second is the teaching that God is everywhere throughout the universe, and indeed, beyond it. But the presence of the Lord is “God being present with his people… acting in particular situations to bless faithful folk and thus make them know his love and help and draw forth their worship” (Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, p. 48). See Ex 3:12; 33:14-16; Josh 1:5,9; Is 43:2,5.

In the Old Testament Scriptures, we find that the Spirit makes God’s face or presence known. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Ps 139:7-10 NIV; cf. Psalm104:29-30; Ezekiel 39:25-29). When we’re in the presence of a person, we can see their face. If they hide their face from us, they don’t want to be known by us. God’s Spirit reveals God’s face to us. God wants us to know him personally.

In agreement with this, the Spirit of God rested on people to empower them for important tasks.

  • Moses and the elders of Israel (Numbers 11:24-30)
  • Joseph (Genesis 41:38)
  • Daniel (Daniel 4:8-9; 5:11-14)
  • Bezalel (Exodus 31:1-11; 35:30-35)
  • Saul (1 Samuel 11:6-7)

The Old Testament Scriptures prophesied that the Spirit would rest on the Messiah to help him in his work (Isaiah 11:1-5; 61:1-3). When God is at work to fulfill his will for his glory, there you will find the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6). Therefore, we must seek the gracious presence of the Lord in the Person of the Holy Spirit of God.

With this in mind, we can begin to grasp something of the Spirit’s relationship to the people of God in the old covenant. The Spirit was the Guiding Person. By this phrase, we mean the Spirit was the executive in charge of carrying out God’s purpose of grace.

  • The Holy Spirit worked among the people of God as a whole (Isaiah 63:7-14).
  • The Spirit is linked with Moses in the working of miracles. Compare Exodus 8:19 with Luke 11:20; Matthew 12:28.
  • The Spirit guided the people into the blessings of being in covenant with the living God.
  • The Spirit carried out the redemption from Egypt, which is typical of our better redemption from sin. Notice that they “grieved his Holy Spirit” (Isaiah 63:10; cf. Ephesians 4:30). You cannot grieve an impersonal force or breath; you can only grieve a person.

The Spirit of the Lord worked with old covenant believers. David sensed the great benefit of the Holy Spirit’s ministry—to have the Spirit is to have the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:10-12). Yet what David had does not measure up to what we now have (John 14:17).

God willing, in the articles ahead we want to explore this greater blessing of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant. But for now, think about the Spirit as the One leading or guiding God’s people into the experience of God’s blessing. What do you know of this mighty Comforter and Guide? You only receive his blessings through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 7:37).

Grace and peace, David

Jacob’s Trial of Faith (Part Two)

Genesis 43:1-14

Nobody likes to admit their mistakes, especially if it is a major issue and if we have been stubborn in holding to a position. Jacob had resisted his sons’ arguments about taking Benjamin to Egypt that they might be able to buy food. Some older men will never admit their wrongs, even if plainly shown to be in error. They’re like the captain wanting to go down with the ship. But Jacob made a wise turnabout (43:11-14). Two qualities stand out in his change.

Jacob exercised prudence (43:11-13). He thought through the possible consequences to the best of his ability.

  • He recognized that his sons were telling the truth, and so he changed his mind and acted decisively. He listened to reason, even from his own children. A wise man will alter his opinions when confronted with the truth. Previous statements he may have made do not matter. It is better to be correct than consistent. Learn to agree with the Scriptures instead of your own old opinions.
  • He did what he could to appease the governor and earn his favor. After all, his sons’ lives were at stake! A gift given in secret soothes anger (Prov 21:14a NIV). Here was a strange providence. The family had plenty of honey and spices, but they had no grain. American churches have fancy buildings and plenty of money, but what of the preaching of the word of God and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?
  • He acted to make known their honesty. He sent the money back! Jacob had done this before with his brother Esau. Sometimes we must buy peace with others, and the cost may be very high. Faith in God also uses means.
  • He sent them at once. Having seen his error, immediately he set out on the proper course. Further delay was pointless.

Jacob acted in faith (43:14). He prayed. Having done what he could, he sought God’s blessing on the outcome. Perhaps the Lord will be merciful and all eleven sons will return.

Prayer is important. Recently he had complained, “Everything is against me” (42:36). Now he more wisely sought God’s blessing. He resigned the situation to God’s providence. The former schemer and wrestler bowed himself to wait for God’s will. Faced with a dangerous situation, godly people trust God. Remember what Esther said in a crisis moment. “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16 NIV). Do not be mistaken. This was a costly moment for Jacob. His enduring love for departed Rachel, which was expressed in his attachment to Benjamin, was finally sacrificed.

Having made his decision, Jacob had to wait for the outcome. That wait would last at least several weeks, perhaps a couple months. A believer must live by faith to the end of his days. Let us learn the patience of faith instead of striving with God.

Grace and peace, David

Evil Questioners

Matthew 22:15-40

In our Bible studies, we encourage people to ask questions. This increases understanding, as people explore the passage or subject under discussion. Hopefully, they learn how to put the teaching into effect in their way of life. We ought to always remember that the teaching of the word is not simply to gain factual knowledge, but to increase wisdom and the personal application of the Word to our lives. We also should remember that doing is much more important than knowing. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22 CSB). It is good to memorize Matthew six, but it is better not to worry and to trust God.

In our text, Jesus received three questions from people whose motives were evil. They spoke evil from the evil in their hearts (Matthew 12:34). None of them wanted to learn, so that they could repent (change their minds) and then live for the glory of God and good of others. Their goal was to make trouble for Jesus. Let’s look at each.

The first group tried to cause political problems for Jesus (22:15-22). The question concerned paying taxes to the Roman emperor. They attempted to soften him up with flattery. It seemed that either way that Jesus answered, he would have serious problems. If he said yes, the Jewish zealots could condemn him as traitorous, and he would lose the support of the crowds. If he said no, the Romans could condemn him as rebellious, and the Romans had a habit of crucifying Jewish rebels. Jesus’ answer put the burden on them. Would they fulfill their duty as Caesar’s subjects? More importantly, would they give themselves to God?

The second group tried to embarrass Jesus with a question that seemed that any answer would make him look ridiculous (22:23-33). They presented an improbable scenario from the inheritance laws of the law covenant to make the idea of a resurrection appear unbelievable. (The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, 22:23.) Jesus responded that they were the ones with two serious problems. First, they didn’t know the power of God to resurrect people and to provide them with a higher level of life. Second, they didn’t know the Scriptures. Jesus took them to the account of the burning bush, in which God said I am (not was) the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (though all had died hundreds of years previously.) How could they be religious leaders if they did not believe in God’s power and word?

The third group tried to drag Jesus into religious controversy (22:34-40). That the Pharisee had an evil intent is made known by the word “test” (22:35). The rabbis held a variety of opinions about the greatest command in the Torah. Whatever answer Jesus gave might entangle him in debates with the other rabbis and their followers, causing Jesus to be discredited as a prophet in the eyes of the people. This time Jesus answered in a way that exposed them to discreditation. If they denied the first great command, they would be denying God’s supremacy. If they denied the second, well, Jesus had already taught them a few lessons on their need to love their neighbors and show mercy to them.

It is good to ask questions, if we desire to know and love God, his word, and people better. It is evil to ask questions that attempt to show up the teacher or to entrap him. And let’s ask ourselves, “Why do I want this question answered? Do I want to see Biblical change occur in my life? Do I want to walk in love? Do I have a teachable spirit, or am I trying to show off?”

Grace and peace, David

On the Pilgrim Way (Part Two)

Hebrews 6:11

Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end (CSB).

Our subject is the Christian way of life. We are on a journey from this world to the heavenly city. God has provided great helps to us on the journey. We have his word to tell us the story of his glory and to set forth wisdom in the light of that story. The Spirit of God is our ever-present Friend to provide the presence of Christ, power to serve, and purity of life, and passion to communicate with God (cf. Romans 8:9-17). We also have brothers and sisters in Christ and their gifts for mutual benefit. With all these benefits, our progress to the city of God might seem to be automatic.

However, spiritual leaders understand that those in their local assembly need to demonstrate diligence. In the previous verse, the initial readers of this book were commended for demonstrating work and love as they served the saints. (A saint is someone set apart for God, which means a follower of and believer in Christ.) The Lord does not hesitate to congratulate people for diligence in their works of faith, hope, and love (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:3).

Diligence is a quality that people admire from a safe distance. For the third year in a row, the NBA Finals will feature two teams that have battled for the championship. Each has won once. They will compete again because they have great talent, but they also have diligence, which is indispensable to win a championship. Diligence involves hard work, commitment to a goal, endurance of hardships, and the ability to resolve conflicts. People admire the diligence of these two teams, but most don’t want to pay the price of diligence, especially the first two “four letter words”: hard work.

Diligence on our spiritual journey is not a casual stroll in the park. Yes, it is a life of joy and peace, but those blessings come as we “walk with the Lord, in the light of his word”. Diligence is required in the following ways:

  • Prayer (individually, with one’s spouse/family, with other saints)
  • Reading of the Scriptures
  • Putting sin to death
  • Putting on God’s armor and spiritual graces
  • Meeting together
  • Sharing your faith

All these can seem overwhelming, and they are unless you believe in their importance, make them a priority, and build them into your life. Trade less important things for matters of spiritual and eternal importance. Value people more than things and personal entertainment. A holiday weekend is an opportunity to reflect. As you enjoy life with family and friends, set apart some time to evaluate your spiritual diligence and how you can change according to this verse.

Grace and peace, David

A Principle of Trust

Isaiah 31:1

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord (NIV).

We all are dependent. Self-sufficiency is a myth clung to by those who have failed to think deeply about life. We all receive help from others in many ways. Crises can unmask live-shaking experiences of this reality, but our need for trust is constant. For a common example (for those over fifty!), I just received a message to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy. I trust that the pharmacist puts the correct medication in the bottle. I also trust the prescribing physician, the drug manufacturer, etc.

More pressing needs, like severe illnesses and terrorism, compel people to exercise faith, to pray. Or perhaps they do. Our text teaches that people seek other solutions besides trust in the Lord. Israel, God’s old covenant people, serves as a teaching example for us in the new covenant age (cf. Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:5, 11). Isaiah spoke to Israel’s desperate situation. Strong nations encircled them, and they had an obvious need for protection from attacks and conquest by foreign powers. Need was not their problem or ours. God knows what we need. (See Matthew six.) It was what to do about the need. This brings us to a principle of faith.

  • We need to avoid attractive, plausible alternatives. In Israel’s situation, the substitute for trust in God was to go down to Egypt for help. What made the alternative appealing was the power they could see, rather than the greater power that was invisible. Horses, chariots, and horsemen could be seen. Today, people depend on military might, on wealth and prosperity, on people of skill, and on the latest technology. Part of our difficulty is that we get caught up in the latest and greatest. For example, “Don’t give me an iPhone 4; it’s not even functional. I have an iPhone 7, but there’s so much it can’t do. I need the next version soon!” We long for what we can see with more power. We spiral down and away from God.
  • We ought to understand God’s judgment on those who go down to Egypt for help. The Spirit of the Lord gave a terse verdict on those who put their trust in other things: Woe. It was a course of action that was doomed, that the Sovereign Lord would ensure was doomed. The Spirit wanted them to see the “poison” label and shun the alternative. To seek other help besides the Lord invites God’s judgment and ruin into our lives. What might look like a good solution becomes the portal to deeper and more destructive consequences.
  • We should act in the way of God’s wisdom: look to the Holy One of Israel and seek help from the Lord. What is the point? From many passages in the Bible, it is clear that we are to use human means, since they are all gifts from God. So, this verse is not teaching some sort of passivity in which we do nothing. Instead, the Lord wants us to seek him first and to rely on him in the use of proper means. Yes, go to the doctor, take your medicine, and get proper rest and exercise. But first, depend on the living God for your health and other needs. We are to actively trust: seek help from the Lord.

The question is, “Will we trust in the Lord first in our next predicament?” God wants us to desire him first and above all. This is an important principle of trusting God.

Grace and peace, David

Psalm Nineteen (Part Seven)

Psalm 19:12-14

But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer (NIV).

The last three verses of Psalm Nineteen show David’s response to God’s revelation. We should always remember that Biblical knowledge has been given to affect the way we live. It is one thing to know the truth about the God who speaks through his creation and in the Holy Scriptures and even to sing about this in worship. It is another to humble oneself before God and his message and let it teach, correct and rebuke us. David closes this psalm with the practical application of the knowledge of the Scriptures.

“Who can discern his errors?” To ask the question is to answer it. Those who know God and his message best will have some understanding of their errors, but none of us can truly discern all our errors in the complexity of all that we are: heart, soul, spirit, mind, conscience, etc. As we view ourselves Biblically, which means in Christ and his grace, we make progress in self-discernment, but still much escapes us. Perhaps this is a reason that the saints who have walked with God the closest have the most tender conscience of their sinfulness. Repeated living in the light produces a richer fellowship with God and the forgiveness of sins (1 John 1:7). “Many books have a few lines of errata at the end, but our errata might well be as large as the volume if we could but have sense enough to see them. Augustine wrote in his older days a series of Retractions; ours might make a library if we had enough grace to be convinced of our mistakes and to confess them” (Spurgeon).

“Forgive my hidden faults.” This one phrase speaks volumes about the spirituality of the believer’s experience and our absolute need to be saved by free grace alone. First, let us consider the meaning of hidden or secret faults.

  • Some sins are hidden because of our ignorance of God’s will (whether through spiritual inexperience, sitting under inadequate or false teaching, laziness, distraction, etc.) or of an unwillingness to acknowledge an attitude or action as sinful. Too often we try to paint our sins as virtues. “I’m not stingy, but prudent and thrifty!” This hides them to ourselves and to the less spiritually discerning. “Many have unknown sins, as a man may have a mole on his back and himself never know it” (Thomas Adams, quoted by Spurgeon).
  • Some sins are hidden because others do not see them. They are sins “behind closed doors” that others might see if they were present.
  • Some sins are hidden from any physical observation because they are spiritual sins, such as lust or greed. A rules-centered spirituality never touches these, because there is no need to change inwardly and still maintain an outward religious or spiritual testimony. However, consider Matthew 5:27-28; 23:25-28; Ezekiel 14:3-4,7.

Grace and peace, David

Jacob’s Trial of Faith (Part One)

Genesis 43:1-14

Jacob was human like you and me. He had the same basic needs that we have. He had to face the facts of life like we do. Every human who does not partake of food will eventually die. Jacob had to face that fact. Neither formal prayer nor wishful thinking could change the fact. The famine was severe. He and his family must find food, or they would die.

Jacob was also a believer in the living God. He had received the promises of God (Genesis 28:13-15; 35:11-12). We who know the Lord have also received his precious and very great promises (2 Peter 1:4 ESV). Yet like Jacob we are called to live in times and situations that challenge our faith in God’s promises. So, then Jacob is a good example of the trials of faith that we all must endure. Let’s review Jacob’s situation and then see how he acted as he waited for God’s purpose to be accomplished.

Jacob was in a melancholy predicament (43:1-2). Its source was the continuing famine. Even the best of believers want to be delivered from this kind of trial. In God’s mercy, famine has been unknown in our nation. God has blessed us with an abundance of food, and in most places, water. We ought to give thanks and pray for the continuance of this blessing. Most of us think that an unpleasant course of events will never come, and if one does, it will eventually end. “Better days will come.”  But death by starvation is a hideous prospect (Lamentations 4:1-9). God had decreed seven years of famine. There would be no letup, although Jacob could not know that.

The family came to the end of their food supply. Regardless of their thrift and prudence, the famine was victorious over their resources. In God’s providence, we can easily come to the point where our own resources are exhausted. Jacob, as the head of the family, looked to provide for his own. Leadership is not as glamorous as weak minds imagine. Oh, if life is upbeat, the leader can bask in the applause. But in times of trouble, turmoil, and tragedy, everyone blames the leader.

The father and his sons had a serious confrontation (43:3-10). Judah reminded his father of the full nature of their problem. He reminded Jacob of the conditional permission he and his brothers had to return to Egypt (43:3-5). They could only see the governor’s face if Benjamin was with them. (By the way, this illustrates that we can only approach God the Father through His Son.) The other nine sons would not hazard their lives unless Benjamin could go with them. In this way, Jacob had locked himself into a position where he would have to eat his own words (cf. 42:38).

People often do not speak rationally during an emotional discussion. Jacob blamed his sons (43:6) for the apparent loss of another son, Simeon. They attempted to clear themselves of blame (43:7). They might well have gone back and forth on this issue for a long time. People can require outside mediation to break a blame and defense cycle.

Judah offered a solution (43:8-10).

  • He reminded his father of the real issue: life or death.
  • He offered himself as a guarantee for Benjamin’s safety.
  • He warned his father of useless delay.

At this point, we can pause to consider a horrible truth. People do not automatically accept wisdom, especially God’s wisdom. Sin, which rejects God and his authority, will fight even the wisest and most tender plans for change. Many families have desperately tried “interventions” with little success. The one needing help fights wisdom. It is what sin does. Wise counsel is one of God’s means for help. However, grace from the Spirit with the wisdom is the only way of real, lasting change.

Grace and peace, David

The Attributes of God (Part Eight)

Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy! (Psalm 99:9 ESV).

God is holy. The truth of God’s absolute, total and pure holiness is extremely crucial to a proper understanding of God and his attributes. Though we shrink from ranking God’s attributes in an order of importance, it is clear that the word “holy” is not only central to what God is, but the word can be used as a modifier or qualifier of all God’s other attributes. For example, God is worshiped unceasingly for his holiness (Revelation 4:8; cf. Isaiah 6:3). When the question is asked, “Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name?” the answer is presupposed that all must reverence him, “For you alone are holy” (Revelation 15:4). Holiness is more often joined to God’s name than any other name or quality. You never read of God’s mighty name or his wise name or his loving name, but you do read of his “holy name” (Leviticus 20:3; 22:2, 32; 1 Chronicles 16:10, 35; 29:16; Psalm 33:21; 103:1; 105:3; 106:47; 111:9; Ezekiel 36:20-21; Luke 1:49).

The idea of God’s holiness is that he is “set apart” from everything else. God is set apart or holy in his being. He is Creator, absolute, and unlimited. Everything else is created, dependent, and finite. God is holy or set apart from sin (rejection of God as God, refusal to love God supremely, and rebellion against God and his ways; cf. Habakkuk 1:13; James 1:13; 1 John 1:5). God cannot sin because it would be contradictory to all that he is and destructive of his majestic glory.

“There are some attributes of God we prefer, because of our interest in them, and the relation they bear to us: as we esteem his goodness before his power, and his mercy whereby he relieves us, before his justice whereby he punisheth us; as there are some we more delight in, because of the goodness we receive by them; so there are some that God delights to honor, because of their excellency… Power is his hand and arm; omniscience, his eye; mercy, his bowels [emotions]; eternity, his duration; his holiness is his beauty (2 Chronicles 20:21)….” (Charnock, The Attributes of God, Vol. 2, pp. 112-113).

God intends for us to live holy lives in conformity with his holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16), though in the fullest sense, only God is holy (Revelation 15:4; Exodus 15:11; 1 Samuel 2:2). God is forever perfect in his holiness (Revelation 4:8). “Goodness, truth and justice are moral attributes of God. Holiness is not an attribute distinct from these; but a name which includes them all, in view of their opposition to contrary qualities” (Dagg). We must show the fame of God’s name by acting, choosing, thinking, and talking in conformity with God’s holiness. This will mean that we walk in truth and in love. How are our passion for God’s holiness, truth, and love being shown in our gatherings for worship and fellowship? May you see God exalted for his holiness as you meet with your brothers and sisters in Christ!

Grace and peace, David