service genset jogja
Isaiah 1:9

Israel Proves There Is A God!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 7, 2023

God brought the consequences for Israel’s failure to them through the Babylonian and the Assyrian armies. Assyria destroyed the Northern Kingdom around 721 BC. Babylonia destroyed the Southern Kingdom, including the Jerusalem temple, around 586 BC. The destruction was horrible, and the invading armies were vicious and unmerciful in their treatment of the Jews. But there are still Jews today! Although scattered throughout the world, the Jews managed to maintain their national identity. This is the only case in history where such a people kept their heritage intact after being so thoroughly conquered. Some have argued that this in and of itself is evidence that there is a God. The odds of them surviving were so against them that their survival was seen as a miracle. Isaiah seems to agree with that as he tells of Israel’s survival. In Isaiah 1:9, we read, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.” They credit their survival to the “Lord of Hosts.”

In Genesis, during the days of Abraham, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were powerful cities that God wiped off the earth in a single evening. It’s reminiscent of God’s destruction using the flood waters in Noah’s day. But God has recently promised not to destroy the world with a flood again, so he chose a different method for dealing with Sodom and Gomorrah. He used fire and brimstone. One website says, “Careful study of the Bible reveals that these two cities devolved into debauchery and violence. There was nothing they would not do, no person they were not willing to violate.” Further, they rejected all of God’s offers to repent. “God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as punishment for their wickedness, their lack of repentance, and to stop their evil from spreading.”[1] Sodom and Gomorrah were totally wiped out, and there is no remnant of the inhabitants other than Lot and his incestuous offspring, the Ammonites and the Moabites. But even those who survived after their flee from Sodom no longer exist today. This was the hand of God at work. He left no survivors.

The hand of God was also at work in the preservation of His people Israel. He did leave survivors. Just as prophesied, Babylon was conquered by the Persians. The rise of a new power contrary to Babylon arose to decide the future of nations according to the plan of God. Just as Biden reversed the policies of the former president, so to did Cyrus reverse the policies of Nebuchadnezzar. He sent captives back to the land to rebuild the city, the walls, and the temple of God in Jerusalem.

The work of the “Lord of Hosts” is still seen today. Although they were in exile again from 70 AD until the end of World War II, they still exist. Israel’s return to its homeland after 2,000 years of exile is a unique story in world history. It is miraculous. They are alive and well and occupying their own land again. There is huge resistance to their existence, but they are alive, flourishing with the support of most of the Western world powers. Their revival as a nation was totally dependent on immigrants. We have a major problem with immigration today. The mistreated masses are seeking asylum or a better way of life in the USA as well as other countries. But the immigrants to Israel in 1948 had spiritual motives. They wanted to help rebuild the place for God’s people.

A deeper dive into some of the details of what happened in 1948 reveals just how true that is. There were over a million Jews who made that move. A third of them were penniless Holocaust survivors whose entire families had just been murdered. To protect themselves from the hatred of the Arab world around them, 23,000 of them were conscripted into Israel’s new army as they landed and were given two weeks of military training. The others who came were refugees from Muslim countries where they had lived for centuries under severe persecution. They arrived destitute and devastated. Israel airlifted fifty thousand Jews from Yemen and a hundred and twenty thousand from Iraq. We have a very difficult time absorbing immigrants to the US today. But Israel has absorbed more immigrants per capita than any other country in history. The rebirth of Israel as a Nation proves there is a God and that God is the God of the Bible.

[1] Why Did God Destroy Sodom and Gomorrah – The Real Reason (biblestudytools.com)

Tags:
Permalink
Song of Solomon 1:6-7

The Lover Of My Soul

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 6, 2023

Solomon’s lover is not a resident of the Palace in Jerusalem. She seems to be a farm girl charged with the responsibility of looking after her brothers’ crops. Unlike the girls in the palace, she is an outdoor girl who has been darkened by the sun. You can tell her status just by looking at her. Yet, she has reached the age where men look at her differently. This may explain Chapter 1, verses 6-7, “My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept! Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?” Garrett says, “She does not explain why her brothers were angry at her. It is certainly possible that this is a determination by her brothers to keep her chaste.” He refers to the later mention of her having “small breasts” in chapter 8. Garrett also looks at verse 12 of chapter 8, which implies “her sexuality is the issue here.” He then concludes, “At the least, one can say that the brothers represent authority figures who intrude into the lives of young lovers and prevent them from coming together.”[1]

Solomon is not writing this song as the rich son of the King of Israel. He’s just another shepherd boy experiencing his first love. He speaks for the girl in this verse of his song. This young lady wants to work on her own life. While she is charged with contributing to the prosperity of her brothers, she longs to begin her own life and cultivate and care for her own interests. She wants to start her own life. She looks forward to having her own family and raising her own fruit. Yet, the family doesn’t seem to want to let her go yet, but her heart is set on this guy, and she isn’t interested in anyone else. It reminds me of Katie from Trisha Yearwood’s song, “She’s in Love with the Boy.” There is no mention of Katie’s brothers, but her father doesn’t like the boy. “Her daddy says, “He ain’t worth a lick. When it comes to brains, he got the short end of the stick. But Katie’s young and man, she just don’t care. She’d follow Tommy anywhere. She’s in love with the boy. And even if they have to run away, She’s gonna marry that boy someday.”

Doesn’t this all sound like another rendition of the “Romeo and Juliet” saga? Shakespeare got that story from Arthur Broke, who got it from Matteo Bandello. It comes from an ancient Greek tragedy. It seems that nearly every culture has its story of young lovers who cannot bear to be apart even though their love is anathema for one reason or another. Solomon captures this story in the Song of Solomon. Since Solomon is such a young man in this song, it must be long before he is named King David’s heir. He was just the youngest of many half-brothers and sisters of the king. It is a saga of star-crossed lovers who will defy all the social conventions to be with one another. Others disapprove of their love for one reason or another, but nothing will stop them from pursuing each other. Their unwavering devotion to one another is often used to picture God’s unwavering love for sinners. I think that Jesus may have had this kind of devotion in mind when he talks about the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep in the field to go after the one who went astray. He doesn’t give up until he finds the lost sheep. The Shepherd theme that Solomon uses in his song is not lost in the New Testament. Ryken observes, “This is a reminder that Jesus is the kind of shepherd who goes out to look for lost sheep and bring them back home. This is the meaning of the ‘Parable of the Found Sheep’ (Luke 15:3–7). The Good Shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep out in the open country to go and find one lost sheep. Psalm 23 records the testimony of that sheep once he has been found: ‘He restoreth my soul.’”[2]

[1] Garrett, Duane. 2004. Song of Songs, Lamentations. Vol. 23B. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word, Incorporated.

[2] Ryken, Philip Graham. 1999. Discovering God in Stories from the Bible. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.

Tags:
Permalink
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11, Mark 8:36

Nothing New Under The Sun

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 5, 2023

Everything in life continues without paying any attention to us and our particular situations. We “tow that barge” and “lift that bail,” and all things of the world just keep rolling along. The world around us couldn’t care less about us and our circumstances. We like to think that we’re different and special in some way. Our contribution is special. At least our generation is seeing things in a new and better way. I think of the songs of the 60’s that purportedly identified the “love child” generation as having the answers to life’s problems. Scott Mackenzie sang, “There’s a whole generation with a new explanation.” So, if you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. Sorry, Scott, but there is ancient wisdom that denounces your claim. Besides, if you’re going to San Francisco today, in 2023, you better carry a loaded pistol with you because crime has driven many retailers from the city. Many residents have also left the city for safer places. Whether it’s the summer of love, 1967, or the summer of crime, 2023, it doesn’t matter. Nothing is new. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has already been in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.”

There is often an expressed problem with Solomon’s statement that there is nothing new under the sun. This seems contrary to science as new medicine and new operating procedures are discovered. It’s contrary to technology also. Throughout the past, there have been numerous innovations from fire, the wheel, automobiles, airplanes, computers, and numerous other things. God also says in both Isaiah and Jeremiah that He is going to do “new things” in the world. We even call the last half of the Bible the “New” Testament. Geisler is right, “Solomon is not speaking about these, but as to how a human being can be satisfied ‘under the sun’ (v. 8). All the regular means of wine, wealth, wisdom, and works have already been tried and found wanting.”[1] Solomon will go into detail regarding this in Chapter Two.

It’s truly futile to live our lives solely for the “rat race.” Were like the hamster on his wheel. He just goes faster and faster, but he gets nowhere. But each generation under the sun thinks they have the answer to it all and keep the wheel spinning. Orr correctly observes, “Life is filled with a multitude of voices, duties, opportunities, each clamoring for our time and attention. But life is brief and must come to an end someday. We must give our attention to the things which are most important. What, then, is most important?”[2] This is where Solomon goes with his thesis for the whole book. He only mentions it a couple of times. Without God, there is no meaning to life. We are lost and alone in an alien, empty, heartless world. But God so loved the world that he sent His only son. But Solomon mainly focuses on the futility of a world that is cold and uncaring for us as human individuals. Solomon explains that each generation goes after the things they believe will make life significant and meaningful for them. All the things on earth, under the sun, will never fulfill the emptiness in man’s life for love. Only God can do that! Jesus asked, in Mark 8:36, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” The expected answer to that question is nothing. It’s all empty. As Solomon will say, it’s like trying to catch the wind.

[1] Geisler, Norman L., and Thomas A. Howe. 1992. When Critics Ask : A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

[2] Orr, William W. 1948. “The Most Important Thing in Life.” Bibliotheca Sacra 105: 364.

Tags: ,
Permalink
Proverbs 1:10-14

Resisting Temptation

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 4, 2023

When there is no fear of God, anything goes. When there is no accountability for one’s actions in this life or the next, violence will become the norm. Look at what is happening in many of the larger cities in America. Liberal prosecutors have let criminals walk without any consequences. It has created chaos in our cities. People are afraid to walk down the streets alone anymore in many places. There is no peace in the land. It is only when we live under the rule of law that we might live a peaceful life. Paul tells Timothy that he should teach his congregation to be obedient to the laws of the land in order that they live a calm and peaceful life.  Solomon is acting as a wise parent as he instructs his son that the world is not always calm and peaceful. There are evil people in it, and they will prey on you one way or another. In Proverbs 1:10-14, Solomon warns his son. He says, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, ‘Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol, let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse.’”

This passage does not deny the fact that all of us are sinners. We all do fail, but this passage looks to the career sinners. Ortlund says, “In the extreme, this kind of person is a professional criminal, like the bad guys in The Godfather. Bullying is how some people make their way through the world. The key to this human profile is anyone who gets ahead by his own devices, anyone who is out for number one. They are the ‘sinners’ of whom we must be aware. They are out there. You will encounter them.”[1] If they want something another has, they take it. If they want to hurt someone, they do it. Morey observes, “When men no longer fear God, there is no restraint upon their lusts. The fear of the Lord is the recognition that God is holy as well as loving, and thus He is to be feared as well as trusted. God is the Righteous Judge of all the earth who sits upon His throne, judging the nations with equity. If we make the mistake of neglecting or denying this biblical view of God, we will suffer…”[2] When evil persists in any country, it’s the innocent who suffer the most. Sinners do not focus on who they hurt. They focus on what they can get for themselves.

Just like those in misery, sinners love company. They will promise all kinds of rewards and profits, but the end result is never what it was presented to be. The wise person does not fall for such enticements. Solomon wants his son, and us as his readers, to be wise with regard to enticement to evil. As Ortlund Says, real “Wisdom pays attention to the realities built into us by God our Creator. Wisdom humbly gives in to God’s design; it adapts and adjusts. A wise person notices, picks up on the clues, cuts with the grain, and tears along the perforated line. Unwise people can be gifted, but they are trying to be healthy on junk food, run high RPMs on low-octane gas, get home by the wrong road, or swim against the stream of the universe. Sin is trying to succeed by ignoring reality.” As the ultimate source of enticement to evil, the Devil is not as bright as he thinks he is. Actually, it “makes the devil the ultimate fool. He wants to reengineer the creation his own way. He is both evil and dumb. C. S. Lewis wrote, ‘The Devil is (in the long run) an ass.’ But the book of Proverbs is where God speaks to us as our life coach, guiding us into the only real success that’s out there.”[3] A hundred years ago, William Trench wrote a great poem.

Still, they plead, and still, they promise; wilt thou suffer them to stand?

They have pleasures, gifts, and treasures, to enrich thee at command.

Heed not thou, but boldly strike them; let descend the faithful blow.

From their wreck and from their ruin, first will thy true riches flow.

[1] Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr. 2012. Preaching the Word: Proverbs—Wisdom That Works. Edited by R. Kent Hughes. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

[2] Morey, Robert A. 1999. Fearing God: The Key to the Treasure House of Heaven. Yorba Linda, CA: Davidson Press, Inc.

[3] Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr. 2012. Preaching the Word: Proverbs—Wisdom That Works. Edited by R. Kent Hughes. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Tags:
Permalink
Psalm 5:9-10, Romans 1:22-27

No Truth In Their Mouths

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 3, 2023

David acknowledges that his only claim to the right to enter into the presence of God is the abundance of God’s steadfast love. It’s God’s grace to sinners that make it possible for a man to come into His presence. David seems to speak a lot about God’s “steadfast love.” This is because David is well aware of his own sinfulness before God. He was an adulterer and a murderer. Paul also speaks of God’s “steadfast love.” He uses the idea of the “Grace of God” in his understanding of God’s steadfast love. Paul, too, recognized his own sinfulness. He calls himself the least of the apostles. He later calls himself the least of all the saints. Then in his last letters, he refers to himself as the greatest of sinners. But in his letter to the Corinthians, he says, “I am what I am by the Grace of God” (1 Corinthian 15:10). Both David and Paul acknowledge that there is a God to whom they are accountable. Both confess their sins and look to God for forgiveness. They know that God is a gracious God, always ready to forgive. But, both David and Paul live in a world where God is not acknowledged. The public denies God and His authority to direct their lives. Their only god is the lust of their flesh and the opinion of the crowds. David prays for God to deal with them. In Psalm 5:9-10 he says, “For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions, cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.”

There is no “truth” in their mouth. The nature of our culture today surely presents this in many ways. The Bible is clear on the gender issue. God created man in his own image, “Male and female created He them.” It’s argued today by some liberal theologians that this verse teaches that God created man without gender. No, God created mankind intentionally in two genders to be a blessing to them and to give them compatible partners with which to experience life together. The translators of the New English Translation of the Bible say, “There is no possibility that the verse is teaching that humans were first androgynous (having both male and female physical characteristics) and afterward were separated. The mention of male and female prepares for the blessing to follow.”[1] Even the obvious presence of the two genders in our world, as observed by everyone, is rejected. There is even a Supreme Court Justice who can’t or won’t answer the question, “What is a woman?” She said she wasn’t a biologist.

David prays that God will let them fall by their own counsels. I’m sure that Paul has this in mind when he writes to the Romans regarding homosexual and transexual issues. In Romans 1:22-27, He says, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

[1] Biblical Studies Press. 2006. The NET Bible First Edition Notes. Biblical Studies Press.

Tags: ,
Permalink
Job 1:7, 1 Peter 5:8

Our Adversary

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 2, 2023

Things were going on well for Job. He had a great family, ten kids that got along well with each other, lots of wealth and health. He had just about everything one could ask for. He’s a good man and is noted as such in the text. But then the “accuser” of the brethren shows up before God to cause trouble. The exchange between God and Satan begins in Job 1, verse 7. It says, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’”

 Why does God ask Satan a question? The question could be looked at as a pointed question to Satan asking about his origin. What brought you into the world? Or maybe it was a question prodding Satan to consider how he’d become the adversary that he was. God’s question might be something like, “Where did you come from?” If the emphasis in that question is on “you,” it would indicate some kind of surprise. I don’t think we would understand that God was surprised to see Satan. If we believe God is omniscient, He knows that Satan would appear in his court of heavenly beings. It has been suggested that Satan was a regular attendee at the heavenly court. Neither does the question indicate that God did not know where Satan had been. According to the book of Genesis, God asked Adam, “Where are you?” It wasn’t asked because God didn’t know already. It was asked to push Adam to consider his situation himself. It appears that the question was asked to reveal both to the character and the readers of the story the nature of the person being questioned. Jesus once asked his followers, “Why do you call me Lord and don’t do what I say?” Most of the interpreters I’ve read on this verse see it as a question designed to shame a person into better behavior. We have all heard questions motivated by this from our parents, teachers, and others in authority. But I’m inclined to think that Jesus asks that question because he wishes his readers to think about the question. When contemplated as a legitimate question, one must ask himself why he keeps sinning even though he believes in Jesus. The truth is that God wants us to recognize the reality of our sinfulness. God does not want us to raise our heads to heaven, thanking Him for not being like other sinners as the Pharisees did. He wants us to bow our heads before him and recognize our sinfulness as the tax collector did.

The question is not asked of Satan so that God would be informed of Satan’s activity. It was asked of Satan so that we would be informed of Satan’s activity. We hear it in his own words. He goes “to and fro” throughout the whole earth. He not only goes “to and fro” but also walks “up and down.” There’s no place he hasn’t visited. David Allen writes, “Satan is a world traveler. He could sing the Johnny Cash song, ‘I’ve Been Everywhere.’ You can almost picture Satan as he saunters into the heavenly council from his recent random world tour, one hand in his pocket, the other picking his teeth, disdainful of all the other angels, waiting for an opportunity to stir up trouble. Satan’s job description includes inspection and examination. He’s an unspiritual detective, we might say, who hurries up and down the earth with a clipboard in hand. Like an emperor’s spy, Satan has been looking for any secret disloyalty to the crown.”[1] God’s clever question to Satan might be worded, “What have you been up to?” Satan answers God’s question pridefully, not realizing he is giving himself away to us all. Peter takes Satan’s answer and turns it into a lesson for you and me. Knowing Satan’s tactics helps us prepare for his attacks. He says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

[1] Allen, David L. 2022. Exalting Jesus in Job. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.

Tags: ,
Permalink
Esther 1:19, John 14:1-3

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
November 1, 2023

Sometime around the fifth century BC, Ahasuerus, the king of the Medes and the Persians, held an open bar party for his friends. They had too much to drink, and the king decided to stroke his ego by parading his wife, Vashti, before them to show off her beauty. She wouldn’t go along with it, and the king elevated a domestic dispute into a national crisis and asked his fellow partiers what “legal” action would be most appropriate for her disobedience to the king. His advisors gave him horrible advice and elevated the issue to the level that the kingdom was at stake. They argued that all the women in the nation would disrespect and therefore disobey their husbands as a result of Vashti’s actions if she was allowed to get away with it. So, they tell Ahasuerus, “If it pleases the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.”

 This verse contained a familiar phrase that most of us have heard. The saying “the law of the Medes and Persians” is still referred to in our own culture. It is used to refer to something that cannot be changed. Manser tells us that the phrase “The law of the Medes and Persians” is retained by all the contemporary versions of the Bible except the New International Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the Revised Standard Version. But those versions still retain similar phrases that are indistinguishable from “The law of the Medes and Persians.”[1] The phrase has its roots in the Book of Daniel. Chapter six uses the phrase several times, always referring to an irrevocable law. The King regretted his decision to make the decree but ended up throwing Daniel in the lion’s den because he could not undo his proclamation, which was also made at the suggestion of bad advisors. When the King regretted making such a decree, he wanted to rescind it, but the same advisors reminded him that once signed into law, it could not be changed. Daniel ended up in the lion’s den.

The integrity of the king was at stake. He could not go back on something he had decided without losing the authority and respect of the nation he ruled. God, the great King of Kings, had passed laws as well. They came in the form of promises. He promised the nation that even though they would end up in captivity in Babylon, He would bring them back to their own land after 70 years. Of course, that is what happened because God’s integrity and honor were at stake. Jesus made promises to his followers as well. The promises that God made to Israel in the time of their captivity were to inspire them with hope for a bright future yet to come. This is the kind of promise Jesus makes to his followers. As Jesus was preparing for his crucifixion and leaving his followers alone in the world, he passed a law ever much as binding and irreversible as the laws of the Medes and Persian. In John 14:1-3 we can see this promise. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.” So, fellow followers of Jesus, “Let not your heart be troubled.”

[1] Manser, Martin H., Natasha B. Fleming, Kate Hughes, and Ronald F. Bridges. 2000. I Never Knew That Was in the Bible!. Electronic ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Tags: ,
Permalink
Nehemiah 2:1-2, Various

The King’s Heart

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 31, 2023

Nehemiah acknowledges that the situation of Israel as slaves in Babylon was a result of their own sin while they occupied the promised land. Nehemiah confesses and identifies with the sin of his people. His only hope is God’s mercy. After accepting responsibility for Israel’s captivity in Babylon, Nehemiah prays that God will show mercy by moving in the heart of the king to show mercy to the captives. Then, Nehemiah informs his readers of his relationship with the king. He ends Chapter 1 with the statement, “Now I was cupbearer to the king.” We’re not sure how long Nehemiah’s prayer of confession lasted or how long he prayed for God’s compassionate intervention on their behalf. But when the time was just right, Nehemiah used his role to invoke the mercies of the King. Nehemiah 2:1-2 says, “In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence.  And the king said to me, ‘Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.’ Then I was very much afraid.”

Nehemiah claims that he maintained the courtesy every servant must show to the king by never being sad in the king’s presence. I’m sure he did his best to hide his fallen countenance. Some think that the wine the king drank made him melancholy and aided his recognition of Nehemiah’s sadness. Others argue that God opened the eyes of Artaxerxes to see the true demeanor of Nehemiah. This would align more logically with the outcome of Nehemiah’s request. He was about to ask the King to let him go back to Israel. I can imagine how difficult this might have been for him. We see how hard he prayed about this situation in Chapter One of the Book. One commentator says, “This reminds me of a friend of mine who wanted to go on a short-term mission trip but was worried that her boss would not give her the time off. Before asking for this favor, she felt exceedingly nervous, if not quite “dreadfully afraid.” But I am sure that Nehemiah found himself in a much more delicate position than my friend, for if he displeased the king, he could lose more than his job—his very life was on the line!”[1]

Nehemiah heard about the dire circumstances in Israel four months earlier. His heart was grieved, and he wanted to do something about it. All he could do was pray. He did that for four months. He trusted God to initiate the action. I suspect that Nehemiah might very well have been a biblically literate individual. He might have thought of Moses’ fear of Pharaoh as he faced the Red Sea on his East and the Egyptian army on his West. He had nowhere to run, and I’m sure he was panicking. God simply told Moses to “stand still,” and he would see the salvation of the Lord. Maybe he knows the verse from the book of Ruth where she is told to “sit still” while Boaz works out the situation for her. Maybe he remembers this Psalmist’s exhortation to “Be Still” and “Know that I am the Lord.” Wiersbe says, “When you wait on the Lord in prayer, you are not wasting your time; you are investing it. God is preparing both you and your circumstances so that His purposes will be accomplished. However, when the right time arrives for us to act by faith, we dare not delay.” God opened the eyes of Artaxerxes to see Nehemiah’s sadness. Once again, the truth of Proverbs 21:1 is confirmed, “The king’s heart is in the hands of the Lord. He turns it any way He wishes.”[2]

[1] Roberts, Mark, and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1993. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Vol. 11. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

[2] Wiersbe, Warren W. 1996. Be Determined. “Be” Commentary Series. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Tags:
Permalink
sewa motor jogja
© Chuck Larsen 2019. Powered by WordPress.