Understanding God and Evil

by Bob Burridge ©2022

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People have often wondered how a perfect and all-powerful God created a world where there is evil. Understanding the nature of God should not be thought of as an easy task. Most fundamentally we should only use the information God has revealed about himself in his written word which is preserved for us in the books of the Bible. We need to be careful not to let our imaginations slip in our own ideas which we assume to be true, but have no God-given supporting evidence.

We also need to recognize that we as finite creatures can’t fully appreciate an infinite being who has no limits to his knowledge, presence, and power. God is not simply a physical being. He exists in what his written word describes as a “spirit” realm.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes what the Inspired Scriptures say about God. In Question #4 it defines God in these words, “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” Most copies of that catechism have footnotes showing the Bible verses used by the writers to support each of these statements. In contrast we can say that, “We humans are physical beings with a human spirit, and are finite, temporal, and changeable, in our being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”

When God explains himself and spiritual things to us humans he needs to use terms and examples we can understand since we live in this limited physical world. We say that all of God’s revelations to us are “isomorphic”. That means that he uses things we are familiar with to describe what’s true as God perceives things. This should be kept in mind as we study what God has said. We must be careful not to assume that the actual nature of our Creator can be fully understood in terms of the things we see and experience in this finite world of his creatures. Psalm 139:6, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”

God is Omniscient. He always knew what those he would create would be and do before he actually created them. Consider what God tells us directly in his word. Here are a few verses that deal with this topic:
– Psalm 33:11 says, “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.”
– Psalm 139:1-4, “O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.”
– Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
– Ephesians 1:4, “He choose us in Him before the foundation of the world”

Since God always knows all things, he is aware of the passing of time in the universe he would create. He knows that in his created world some things happen before or after other things. He is aware of how we pass through time and of how his plan unfolds in our physical world. However, with God nothing in his own being and understanding changes since he is Immutable in all things including his knowledge.

God has always known that there would be evil committed by those he would create. His word tells us about the fall in the spirit world when angels he created were led by Satan and rebelled against their Creator (Isaiah 14:12-14, Jude 1:6, 2 Peter 2:4). God also always knew about the fall of humans, that some would be left in their fallen condition displaying God’s justice and wrath, and that he would redeem some of them displaying his grace and mercy.

Why did God create a universe in which there would be evil? The nature of God includes his desire to manifest his glory and power. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Before the creation of the physical universe and of spirit beings such as angels, God’s attributes immutably and eternally included the concepts of forgiveness, justice, grace, wrath, and mercy. God does not change. How did these attributes of God exist eternally before any being existed who could do evil?

His dealing with evil existed in the mind of God the Creator eternally. This was always part of what God is and has always been. Evil was not a surprise to God, and it was not a power that frustrated what he eternally planned for his universe.

Though Satan and evil beings of all sorts, spirits and humans, may think they are messing up God’s plans, they are actually a part of the amazing display of his justice, mercy and grace as he deals with their evil intentions and actions. God did not do evil things through them, but created them knowing that they will be integral parts of openly declaring his glory and perfections. It’s important to understand the distinction between the awareness of evil and the actual behavior of evil.

We should be cautious not to assume that since God intended to let evil exist, that evil is “good” in every sense of that word. It’s “good” only in the sense that it fulfills God’s purpose in permitting it. Evil is not “morally good” because it is by definition the doing of things contrary to what honors God.

Some have tried to deal with this issue by saying that creatures have a “free will“. They assume that God has no control of what his creatures do. This makes them sovereign over God, and able to subvert his plans. Creatures do have a “free will” in the sense that they are able to select what they most desire in each situation. No one is forced to decide contrary to his desires, therefore they are “free” to do as they choose. Since God controls the circumstances we each experience, and he determines the condition of the human heart and mind that chooses, no person can choose contrary to God’s eternal plan for them. God is not unaware of what their choices will be. No one comes to trust in the work of Jesus as his Savior against his true inward desire to do so. No one rejects the work of the Savior while inwardly desiring to come to him in faith. These decisions are made “freely” in that the person is not compelled by God’s power to decide against the person’s true desires. It’s God’s work of Grace that produces the faith which becomes the means by which God’s saving mercy is engaged. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we are saved “by” grace, “through” faith, and that we have nothing to boast about in our coming to him.

It all comes down to understanding these basic principles clearly presented in God’s written word.
1. God knows all things eternally (he is “omniscient”).
2. God is infinite in his power and ability, therefore he cannot be frustrated by his finite creatures (he is “omnipotent”).
3. We need to humbly understand that our creaturely limits give us nothing in our experience to make us able to fully comprehend the nature of God who is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable.
4. We are stricken with a sense of awe as we contemplate the infinite nature of our Creator and Savior. This drives us to humbly worship him and rest in the enablement of our Triune God as we trust in him, serve him, and live as he in his precious word calls us to live.

(Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.)

Study #12 “Siding with God’s People” Hebrews 11:31
by Bob Burridge ©2022

The last study in this series was about the fall of Jerico, a pagan and immoral city. There was a woman in that city who came to trust in God’s promises to Israel. She was a harlot named Rahab. Hebrews 11 now takes us to Rahab who lived in that society.

Hebrews 11:31, “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

The setting is found in Joshuah 2. Joshua was about to begin his conquest of the promised land fulfilling God’s promise. Spies were sent to gather intelligence on Jerico (the 1st fortified city they faced in their conquest of Canaan). They took refuge in the home of Rahab, a house built on the city wall.

Rahab was an unlikely example of
a committed faith in God’s promises.

She was a Gentile, not a descendant of Abraham. What’s more she was an Amorite, a race cursed by God for its wickedness. She was also a harlot, a prostitute. Her life-style made her a part of the corrupt Jerico society.

Rahab changed. She joined herself to the people of God! She betrayed her own evil nation and doomed people.

She was converted by confident faith in the True God She saw the evidence of God’s blessing on His people. The amazing crossing of the Red Sea and the defeat of the kings of the Amorites.

The Holy Spirit gave her understanding and convinced her of God’s truth. She testified to the spies in Joshua 2:9-13 saying, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

Like all the examples of faith, her faith was grounded in God’s promise. It wasn’t anchored in vain hopes. God gave her confidence in his promise to protect his people. Jesus’ parable of sower teaches that the word of God comes to many, but only when the soil is prepared will the seed grow. Rahab, like the other people in Jerico, heard what God was doing. Unlike the others, she loved what she heard. She trusted God.

The others living in Jerico were terrified over the reports. They said, “our hearts melted” (2:11). God told Moses back in Deuteronomy 2:25, “This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

Those opposing God’s people are alarmed when they see God’s judgments fall. They often try to explain it away. They try to suppress their feelings of moral guilt. They try to turn it around by calling God’s people bigots and narrow minded, while they deny reality. They have often fiercely attacked believers with verbal assaults and physical attacks. Those trusting in those promises find comfort and strength to endure.

Rahab shows that even the most base of sinners can be redeemed by grace. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practics homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

No one is so deep in sin that God’s grace can’t deliver him. When true faith is put into a human heart, it will show itself by a desire to obey and worship God, and to show the fruit of the Spirit being evidenced in him.

Rahab’s obedience was evidence that her faith was genuine. James 2:25 “… was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

When faith is a genuine trust in God’s promises, it effects what we do, how we live. We will all be judged by our works. Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” Revelation 22:12, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.”

These verses aren’t saying we earn our salvation. Only Jesus could do that in His death on the cross. It’s saying that a true salvation will be proven, evidenced, by its works. Changed hearts demonstrate the salvation of God at work in them.

So, what did Rahab do? She received the spies with peace, and hid them. The king of Jerico found out that spies had come into the city from Israel. As his messengers searched for them, Rahab hid them among the stalks of flax on her roof.

The laws of Hamurabi demanded the death penalty for anyone not reporting outlaws. We ought to be ashamed before God when we fail to honor him because of our fear of consequences. Puritan John Owen wrote; “those who flee from public profession in times of danger and persecution, shall be no less assuredly excluded from the heavenly Jerusalem than unbelievers themselves (Revelation 21:8)” When times are rough, we learn who the faithful and true believers are.

Rahab lied to the king’s messengers: Joshua 2:4, She said, “I did not know where they were from” (she knew). Joshua 2:5, She said, “when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went.”
(But she had hidden them on her roof.) Then she said, “Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” (She knew they would fail.) When the way was clear, Rahab let the spies down the outside wall from a window by a rope.

Did she lie? No question about that. But we are never to help those intending to harm God’s people. The biblical text doesn’t comment on the lying issue here. She was commended for her faith in God’s word, not the means she used to protect the spies. We sometimes act wrongly when trying to do a good thing. Thankfully those who sincerely trust in God’s promises are forgiven by the work of our Savior. But there’s no indication that God sanctioned their being protected by a lie. Her intent was to not give aid to those intending to do something evil.

Rahab was blessed with the people of God.

She asked the spies for protection for herself and family, Joshua 2:12-13. The spies agreed on three conditions. She had to identify her house by tying a scarlet cord in her window. She had to keep everyone she wanted protected in that house. She was not to tell anyone about their business.

Joshua 6 reports that she was protected, just as they promised. 6:25 “she has lived in Israel to this day”. Hebrews 11:31 she “did not perish with those who were disobedient.” Matthew 1:5 lists Rahab as among the ancestors of King David and Jesus!

The world we live in is a growingly
pagan and secular society today.

Like Jerico; we live in a growingly immoral and pagan society. Our Christian beliefs are strongly opposed or distorted, even in many of our churches. In the case of Stone verses Graham in 1980 the supreme court ruled that Kentucky could not post the Ten Commandments on public school walls. Yet they hung on the wall in the supreme court room where the decision was made.

Some of the most offensive sins against God’s law are being protected by a growing body of federal court decisions, executive orders, and congressional actions. Unbelief and a new-morality are becoming the rule of the land!

Why should the 10 Commandments have become the target of a secular society? Note how our present standards measure up to this simple summary of God’s law:

1. God forbids us from having other gods. Ours is an age of pluralism. The narrow-minded call us narrow-minded bigots who believe God’s revealed truth about himself and about moral behavior. They claim to be tolerant of all beliefs — except those different than their own.

2. God forbids us to make images of any member of the godhead. Yet many think they know what Jesus looked like, how he acted, even his facial expressions. God tells us little about such things in the Bible. They rely on images of Jesus in plays, movies, statues, paintings, and illustrations. The Westminster Larger Catechism makes the Biblical position clear. It explains that the second commandment forbids, “making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever” (LC #109). The Bible doesn’t just tell us not to worship such images. God says don’t make them at all!

3. God forbids us to take his name in vain. Yet everyday we hear people use the words “God”, “Jesus Christ”, “Lord” in casual exclamations, not meaning anything by it, that’s what “in vain” means. At the same time people have been sued and charged with breaking the law when they have dared to pray in Christ’s name in school assemblies.

4. God commands us to keep his weekly Sabbath Day holy. Yet it’s become the prime day for businesses such as restaurants, stores, golf courses, pro-football to earn their money. Many churches, under the influence of modern dispensationalism, make excuses as if the coming of Jesus eliminated one of the 10 commandments (without ever actually telling us)! In Exodus20:10 it says of the Sabbath, “On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.”

5. God commands us to honor the authority of parents. Today, the upbringing of children is being taken over by the schools and government. God gives that authority to the parents to determine what they’re taught, how they’re to be raised and disciplined. Children are taught to question their genders and to be judged by the color of their skin. Homosexual parenting is openly promoted in books like the elementary school text “Heather has Two Momies”.

6. God forbids us to commit murder. Yet the media and our corrupt legal system excuses attacks by mobs and individuals if they can show they are only reacting to the unfairness of society and feel oppressed. Since 1973 many millions of unborn babies have been killed. Most of them because they inconvenienced their parents. One doctor reported that in his community in Los Angeles 99% of the babies were aborted because they weren’t the gender the parents wanted.

7. God forbids adultery. Divorce and adultery have become common-place tragedies to live with. Marriage has been reduced to just a mutual agreement based on feelings and are dissolvable at will. Intimate sexual activity outside of marriage is accepted as normal by many today. Today many American children are born to mothers who were never married!

8. God forbids stealing. But we’ve taken a wrong direction on crime and punishment. Our judicial system has more compassion for criminals than it does for the victims. Early release of convicts from prison is responsible for an explosion in violent crime. The courts see prison more as a state sponsored rehab for criminals than a place to punish them for what they’ve done, and to protect society.

9. God forbids lying. Yet it’s become the accepted way of life in politics, most of the media, and everyday business. When you buy something or listen to the news and political speeches we’ve come to wonder if someone is lying to us.

10. God forbids coveting. But without a moral foundation people lust after what others have. They fail to appreciate what God’s given them and prefer what others have. People covet money, power, reputation, talents, and intimacy with someone not their spouse.

By his covenant pledge, God promises to be with and to bless his people, when by faith they follow his ways and live by his principles. Our duty is to distinguish ourselves as his people, to stand boldly and joyfully with those God has pledged to love.

Those who hate the ways of God, ought to be terrified. Their attempts to silence us and attack God’s values, are destined to bring about their own destruction.

Those who stand with God’s people and obey by a sincere faith, openly confess God’s promises and live for his Sovereign glory. They humbly honor what God has said, even though its not popular. They will be comforted, encouraged, and stirred to obey God above the cost it may bring to them.

Rahab was a harlot, yet she cut her ties with her corrupt city and corrupt life, and joined with the kingdom of God. Her life changed dramatically!

Can a prostitute be a good example of a sincere faith for us to follow? Yes! Because she was a converted prostitute. She shows us the power of God to transform lives. She’s an example of how we need to abandon the corrupt ways around us and determine to do all for God’s glory.

Note: Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Hebrews 11 index: “Faith and What Flows From It“

Study #10 “The Rush to Self-Destruction” Hebrews 11:29
by Bob Burridge ©2022

Churches that stand firmly upon what God says in his written word are not well liked by the rest of the world. They’re tolerated by some, but outright hated and attacked by many. Churches are under attack if they are against killing unborn children by abortion, or if they call it sinful to be a homosexual, or transgendered, or an illegal drug user. The world is offended when they hear us teach that there’s only one way to salvation, just one God, and that without a sincere faith in Christ we’re all destined to an eternity of torments in hell.

Some in the world call God’s people bigots, while they focus on racial differences and promote a confused genderism. Churches faithful to what the Bible says are considered the enemy. Some churches have been forced to be closed for not going along with current political views and practices. God’s people have often been a favorite target of the world’s attacks. Some of the most vicious hatreds in history have been directed against those who believe what God’s has said.

In the days of Moses, Egypt’s Pharaoh grew to hate the Jews when Moses asked him to set God’s people free. God sent a horrible judgment on those in Egypt not doing the Passover sacrifice showing faith in God. At midnight death moved over Egypt, taking the life of the first-born child in each unbelieving family. Exodus 12:30 says, “there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.”

Earlier that day Pharaoh stood defiant and stubborn, glorying in his own power. But that night Pharaoh couldn’t deny that there was one far greater. The God of Moses could strike dead the firstborn in every home in moments. His heart was gripped with terror and fear.

Pharaoh not only agreed to let God’s people go. He demanded that they leave his country. Exodus 12:31 says of Pharaoh, “Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, ‘Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said.’ ” The Egyptians feared that if Israel stayed, “we shall all be dead.” (verse 33)

Israel left clinging to the promises of God. Earlier, God promised that Israel would leave with the treasures of Egypt! In Exodus 3:21-22 God told them to ask the Egyptians for their silver, gold, and clothing: He said, “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” God moved the Egyptians to gave them what they asked for.

Hundreds of years before, God told Jacob not to be afraid to go to Egypt. Not only would they be brought back one day to Canaan, but God would make them a great nation (Genesis 46:3). These clear promises of God were the foundation of Israel’s faith.

God appeared as a pillar of fire at night and of cloud by day and lead them out. He brought them to a place where they would camp alongside the Red Sea.

While they were journeying, Pharaoh’s heart became hard again. He realized that he had not only lost his contest with Moses, he also lost his population of slave labor. So he readied his chariots and horses and sent Egypt’s powerful army to recapture the people he had just sent away.

When the people of God saw the army coming after them, they became afraid. Moses reminded them of God’s promise in Exodus 14:13-14, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” When it seemed that God’s people were trapped and doomed the pillar of cloud moved between Israel and the attacking army holding back Pharaoh’s fierce revenge.

Then, God told Moses to hold his hand out over the sea. The LORD sent a strong east wind that blew throughout the night. It heaped the waters up into towering walls on each side with a path of dry land connecting the shores! That night Israel passed through the sea between the walls of water.

It was faith in God that gave them the courage to walk on that riverbed. If the walls of water should collapse while they were crossing, they would all be horribly drowned. What if the strange wind stopped? All they had to go on was the Word of God.

God calls his people to trust and do exactly what He tells them to do. Already, in our studies of Heb 11, we have seen faith in action in the lives of: Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and now in all Israel. But the faith seen there is of one specific kind: It’s an obedient, humble trust in the promises God has made.

Once Israel had passed through the river, God withdrew the pillar. Egypt indulged its foolish obsession and its army pursued Israel right into the sea!

Hebrews 11:29, draws a sharp contrast for us.

“By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.”

Israel passed through in faith, trusting in God’s promise. Egypt had no such promise. The army entered the sea trusting in themselves, and perhaps in their false gods.

“Faith” is not simply trusting that things will work out in a certain way. Both Israel and the Egyptians believed they would reach the other shore. But that’s not what a true Biblical faith is. Faith is when we confidently trust what God has said, and we act on it.

The Egyptians trusted in themselves, in their chariots and horses. In Psalm 33:17 God gives a sober reminder, “The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.” Psalm 20:7 reminds us, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

Egypt arrogantly presumed that if Israel made it across the Red Sea, they could too. Its army charged ahead into the path between the walls of water. But those walls were held up by the power of the God of Israel whom they were defying. God hadn’t promised to give safe passage for Egypt to pursue Israel.

The Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea once more. This time the walls of water broke down on the Egyptians. They were drowned, every one of them. They recognized all too late that they entered where they shouldn’t have gone.

Exodus 14:31, “Israel 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.”

Faith begets faith. When we take God at his word and act confidently on what he promises, our faith becomes even stronger!

God’s Covenant Promise assures us of two things.

1. There is that unquenchable hope for the people of God. God calls his people to live confidently by the principles he’s revealed.

He promises inward blessing and spiritual fruit when we obey. Do you want to be characterized by, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control;” as it says in Galatians 5:22-23. Then trust that these blessings only come by taking God at his word. We need to do things God’s way when we deal with sin, come to worship, deal with out neighbors, our finances, do our daily work, and try to satisfy our desires and cravings.

He doesn’t ask us to step down between the walls of water through the Red Sea. But there is a path he calls us to follow. He says here’s where you should go, here’s how you should live.

God’s way may not always look like an inviting path to us by often confused minds. We can be tempted to lie, ignore our neighbor’s needs, try to satisfy our cravings immorally, labor unnecessarily on God’s Sabbath day, or not share the Gospel when we have an opportunity.

God says this isn’t the way. He tells us the way to go, and promises to deliver us through our challenging and tempting moments. Sometimes that right path might seem like going between the challenging walls of water in the Red Sea. But Psalm 23:4 reminds us of God’s promises, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” (KJV)

2. There is inescapable terror for those who dare to be the enemies of God. They find God’s way of life hinders their liberty to sin. So they reject God’s truth and may even try to silence Christ’s church that teaches it. But when they do they foolishly strike at the hand of the Almighty God who sustains them and all things!

Back in 1993 we had a very friendly pet cat we named “Hobbes”. I made him a little “2-story condo” out of plywood, 2-by-2s, and chicken-wire. In there he had a food and water dish, his sand box, a warm rug to curl up in on his little loft. He generally seemed very secure and happy in there. One night I was putting him away into his “cat-condo” as I have often done. But this time he was having one of his “weird” moments as cats often do. Who knows what goes through their little cat brains sometimes. I reached in to fill his food dish and he started to bite and scratch at me! I wasn’t about to get my hand maimed while trying to do him a favor, so I decided his food could wait. It’s not smart to attack the hand that feeds you, that provides all your life’s nourishment and comfort.

Pharaoh’s army wasn’t much smarter than our cat! He charged into the midst of God’s sea while attacking God’s people!

At Christmas time we turn our thoughts to the Birth of our Savior. We remember the attempt on the life of Jesus at his birth. When Herod heard that one called “the King of the Jews” was born, he wanted him found and killed. Herod had paid for his own title “King of the Jews” with costly political favors. So he coldly ordered all Bethlehem’s children under 2-years old to be killed!

If it wan’t true that this baby was sent by God to be the Promised Messiah, King of the Jews, then why should he try to kill him, and all the babies of Bethlehem? It would just enrage and alienate the Jews he was trying to control. If this was the Messiah God sent, how stupid to attempt to murder him! Did he really think he could frustrate the plan of God? But like the Egyptian Pharaoh, he didn’t believe in the God of Israel. It was Herod, not Jesus, who within the year, was dead! The unbeliever in his fallen nature is obsessed to oppose the progress of God’s Kingdom.

Why did Egypt risk its army to charge in between the walls of water held up by Israel’s God? Had they already forgotten all the plagues? the Passover? the death of their first-born? Had they forgotten the miraculous pillar of fire and cloud that held them back? Had they ignored the power that had divided the Red Sea for Israel?

They were driven by a blind rage that makes unbelievers charge into what was obviously danger. They hated the message of God. They hated the people who lived by it.

God’s coming judgment hangs over our world again.

Most of our world defies and hates God’s word and ways. They redefine marriage and gender differences, kill unborn children by the millions every year, desecrate the Sabbath, use God’s name in vain, and lie for political and personal reasons. They turn worship into entertainment, and the church into a social club.

But they are arrogantly and ignorantly marching into the Red Sea! They angrily try to silence and subjugate the Church of God, and to promote what God forbids. The walls of destruction loom up on each side ready to collapse in God’s judgment — but they press on. Each individual at the end of his life will discover that what he opposed was true. And a day will come, no one knows when, when a final judgment of our world will come.

When we see wickedness, immorality, instability, and hatred of God’s word building up in the world around us, and when the church of God becomes the target of hatred and contempt follow the path God lays out for us through the Sea of oppression. He always provides the way to escape, that we will bear up through it.

When the wicked pursue us while we are trusting and obeying God, they do so to their own condemnation and destruction.

Keep marching in the path God has laid out for us in his word. Leave the enemies of God to the vengeance of the God they defy. He won’t let them succeed as they imagine. They will fall by the weight of their moral corruption and hatred of God.

God’s Covenant Promise assures us of these two things. There’s an inescapable terror for those who dare to be God’s enemies. There’s an unquenchable hope for the people redeemed by God grace by the work of the Savior.

Note: Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Hebrews 11 index: “Faith and What Flows From It“

The Omnis of God

by Bob Burridge ©2019

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Three “omnis” are ascribed to God in the Bible. As Creator of the entire universe and all that’s in it, God is “omnipotent”, “omniscient”, and “omnipresent”.

The Merrium Webster Dictionary defines the prefix “omni-” as meaning “all, universality”. These terms mean that God is “All Powerful”, “All Knowing”, and “Everywhere Present”. They are each clearly taught in Scripture. To deny any one of them is to deny the God of Scripture. Our understanding of God must reflect these attributes as they apply to all God is, does, and promises.

1. Omnipotence: God is all-powerful. There is nothing that has power over the God who made everything. This is stated directly in many places all through the Bible. It’s summarized in the verses quoted below.

Psalm 135:5-6, “For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.”

Proverbs 16:4, “The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. ”

Acts 17:26, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,”

The omnipotence of God even extends to his ability to redeem the lost souls of all he intends to make his beloved Children in Christ. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit that enables the soul to recognize it’s need for salvation from God’s judgment and to sincerely trust in the Savior. Left to his own abilities no one is able to do these things. When God moves in the lost heart, the person is given that saving faith and will come to Christ fulfilling God’s gracious plan for his life.

John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:44-47 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me– not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

Romans 3:10-12, “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ ”

If God is totally sovereign and always able to do whatever he desires to do, do humans have a “free will”? That depends upon what is meant by “free will”. If God is really all powerful it can’t mean that our decisions can frustrate what God wants to happen. Our will is totally free in that we are free to do whatever our desires move us to do. However, since God controlls all that happens, he shapes the events in our lives and the disposition of our hearts so that our desires will cause us to freely choose to do what God desires us to do in any situation.

Therefore we conclude:
– God orchestrates all the circumstances and infallibly influences how each person perceives and understands them.
– No one is ever forced to do something he doesn’t freely choose to do.
– A person freely chooses what is the most compelling choice at the moment.
– God never makes someone choose to sin when he doesn’t truly desire to commit that sin.
– The unredeemed soul isn’t on its own, in its fallen nature, able to sincerely and knowingly choose to do what God has commanded, and to do it for the right reason, that is: for the glory of God.
– People are never compelled to come repentantly to Christ by faith against their will. They come most freely as God transforms their souls and puts the desire and true faith in their hearts by saving grace.

2. Omniscience: The Bible makes it clear that God is all-knowing. He knows all things all the time, including what’s yet to happen. There can’t be any surprises for him. Jesus explained in Luke 12:6-7, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” In Acts 15:13-17a James explained how the prophets of the Old Testament were made able to predict how God’s plan would unfold in history. Then in Act 15:17b-18 he continued and said, “… says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ ”

God is unchanging. James 1:17 referres to God as “… the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God doesn’t get new information or new insights.

Nothing else existed when God’s plan was already fully formed. His eternal plan couldn’t have been formed by advice or input from anything or anyone other than himself since there was nothing else then. He has always known all things as they are and ever will be. Psalm 33:11 tells us, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.”

In Acts 2:23 Peter told those gathered on the day of Pentecost about God’s plan in the crucifixion of Jesus. There the Apostle said, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” It was all in God’s plan to redeem his people which displays his amazing redeeming grace and his power over evil.

The redeeming of each person who comes to Christ for salvation was ordained by God from all eternity. This is stated very directly in many Bible passages. This is summarized welll in these New Testament verses:

Romans 8:29, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.’

Ephesians s1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”

Romans 11:2, “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew…”

Some try to get around the plain meaning of these passages by modifying what’s meant by God’s “foreknowledge”. They imagine God basing his plan upon what he saw would happen in the future. That can’t possibly be what those verses are talking about. It makes no sense to think that that the Eternal Unchangeable God looked ahead to see what his creatures would do if he didn’t decree their actions, then he decreed them from all eternity based on what he saw looking into the future. This means that his decree was to make happen what would happen if he didn’t decree it. The mind that wants to be independent of a Sovereign God can accept such self-contradictory ideas.

The word foreknowledge simply tells us that God knows with certainty before hand exactly how his plan will unfold. The Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 3, section 2 explains this when it says, “Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, …”

God doesn’t decide what to do based on what we would do if left to ourselves. The Creator isn’t the slave of the creatures who make up history as they decide things. The Bible says it’s the other way around. Those who move history are first of all moved by God. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” (see the article “God’s Use of the Ungodly” based on Habakkuk 1:5-11)

As Jesus taught us, even our prayers are to be presented humbly. We say, “Thy will be done …” We do not say, “God, you have your plan, but please change your mind and do it my way. It’s better.”

If God knows all that will happen, and is more powerful than everything that can effect what will happen, God must have a plan and purpose in all that happens and is totally sovereign. Of course we as mere finite creatures can’t know all that’s eternally known in the infinite mind of God, therefore we must do what God tells us to do and believe what he tells us is true regardless of our full underestanding of how it all fits together. We are told in Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

3. Omnipresence: God is all-together everywhere all the time. Though God at times shows himself by means of some physical manifestations in specific places, his entire being permeates all of space continually. The theological term for this is “Ubiquity”. Psalm 139:7-9 says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea”

Since we live in this physical world, we understand “space” in terms of measurable places. Since God is spirit, the idea of how he operates in what we call “space” takes on a different meaning than our finite minds are able to comprehend. In those far off galaxies, many of which we have not yet detected, God is entirely there. He sustains the atoms and subatomic particles of which they are made. He forms and upholds the gravitational fields surrounding the stars and planets. He guides the radiation streaming through the space between those cosmic bodies.

God has often revealed his glory to individuals in specific places for special purposes. His presence was seen by Moses in the burning bush. His glory was manifested in the ancient Tabernacle. There are other events described in Scripture where something of God was displayed in a physical way. The Holy Spirit is often said to “fill” someone with his special presence, or to enter a person’s heart, but it doesn’t mean he was physically absent before that. It means that he specially revealed his presence and operations in that place at a particular time. These events don’t isolate God’s presence to those places. Though he shows himself here and there, he is in his whole being present everywhere always.

When we enter into God’s special presence when the church is gathered in worship, we should not imagine that outside the sanctuary God is not there just as much as inside where we gathered as a congregation. But in that time of assembled worship God is present with his people in a special way as each person directs his thoughts and attention to the wonders and promises of their Creator and Savior. Since God is always everywhere, nothing is done that is not done directly in his presence.

We ought to work on being conscious of the Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of the one by whom and for whom everything was made. It should renew our sense of awe as we realize the reality that surrounds us and of which we are a part. It’s a reality that centers on the glory of our Creator, Sustainer, and Good Shepherd to those who are his by grace.

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(Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.)

Studies in First Corinthians

by Bob Burridge ©2019
Lesson 48: 1 Corinthians 16:1-4

God’s Managers

Management isn’t easy.
As a college student I worked in a commercial laundry where we had huge machines. We cleaned linens, uniforms, and towels for some of the largest hotels and motels in the area. It was hard hot work in a steamy building with dangerously toxic chemicals.

While we burned our hands on the hot washer and dryer doors loading tons of laundry all day, the bosses seemed to have it easy in their air-conditioned office and comfortable chairs. A few times every day they’d walk through the plant with their coffee and clipboards checking up on things before disappearing back into their office to make phone calls. The laborers used to complain that the managers had it easy, while they did all the real work.

However, from the other side of the glass wall that separated the offices from the machines, things weren’t as easy as they seemed. There was a lot of pressure on the managers to keep all the bills paid, to collect what customers owed them, to keep all the jobs filled with trained and faithful workers, to see that government papers were all filed, to keep the machines operating well, to order all the chemicals, keep a fleet of trucks on the road, and to be sure the sales department kept us busy with clients so they could pay all the workers. In the laundry room we went home when our shift ended, and didn’t think about work until the next day. But the managers lived with the pressure of how to keep the company running.

God calls us to manage our important responsibilities. We need to realize how serious they are.
God gives us all a lot to look after as his representatives on earth. We each need to be sure we take care of our bodies with enough rest, good nutrition, regular physical activity, and to make sure we avoid unhealthy habits and foods.

We each have 24 hours every day to manage for God’s honor. We need to budget some of it for providing for our needs, for worship, for sleep, for giving encouragement to our families and friends, and other things.

We have to manage all the belongings we own so they’re used wisely in godly ways. We also have to manage our talents and skills well. What we earn is usually in the form of money, a temporary thing that represents our work. That money can be exchanged for things other people make or do. All of what we have needs to be managed responsibly for God’s glory.

The first century Christians faced a serious problem in Jerusalem.
They were being persecuted by the religious leaders that dominated the city. The Jews who didn’t recognized Jesus as God’s Messiah became cruel. They excommunicated any followers of Jesus. They threw them out of the synagogues, and wouldn’t let them come to worship. The Priests nationally disinherited believers and their entire families. So some rejected their own family members who became Christians. The community even refused to do business with them leaving many Christians without income.

The synagogues were the way the needy were cared for in the community. Part of the tithes and offerings went to supporting the widows and orphans and disabled. Those who became Christians had their loved ones cut off.

When famines came to Jerusalem, the Christians were hit the hardest. There was no community help available to them. It’s hard to imagine being isolated like that in a society that hates you, and that’s run by an elite council with ties to a dictatorial empire like Rome. There were no real freedoms and everything was controlled by corrupt men. Extreme poverty became a way of life for the believers in Jerusalem.

In this time before the resurrection there are material needs that have to be met.
We have to work to get what we need. But that’s not a bad thing. God told Adam that he and the whole race should labor for 6 days every week. That was commanded before there was sin in human hearts.

After the fall in Eden the problem of sin had to be contended with. The fallen human nature tends to be greedy and self-centered. That’s why we have so many distorted ideas about how the world’s economy should work.

When biblical principles of managing things are taken out of the picture things get confused.
To some the answer is Materialism. In materialism people believe that everything they make, grow, or earn is 100% their own. They get to decide what’s right and wrong about how they use their own things. To the materialist, everything is just here for their own personal goals and gratification.

Some try to manage things in a different way. They turn to various forms of Socialism. In that basic system, everything everybody makes, grows should be managed for the community’s good, but somebody has to decide what’s good. In Pure Communism the people collectively decide how to manage what they have and do. That’s Democratic Socialism and it never worked for long anywhere. Sinful hearts can’t agree to remove their greed and selfishness from their choices. In State Socialism a panel of the supposedly wise and benevolent decides about everything for everybody. But of course the powerful get to decide what’s wise, and what they see as benevolent. State Socialism usually ends up being a harsh and oppressive dictatorship.

The Bible teaches a very distinct kind of economics. I call it Biblical Covenantalism. It’s the way God made things to work. In the Biblical system, God is King over everything. He made it all, so it’s all his. He also graciously includes us in his plan. By a special covenant we are children of the King. He tells us in his word what should be done with all we make, grow, and earn. It’s up to us individually to be sure it’s used to serve God in the way he made us to live.

Basically: Everything is God’s, and what’s ours is our responsibility to manage in his way for his glory.

The redeemed in Christ know that
part of good management
is to care for the needy.

1 Corinthians 16:1. Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.

There have always been two categories for giving to and through the church.

First is the Tithe.
God is the ultimate provider of everything. He created all things so they’re first of all his. He provides us with health, skills, and opportunities to labor to earn our provisions.

The first 10th of what we earn is for the work of God through his covenant ministries. That’s what the word “tithe” means: “the tenth”. This principle was clear even before there were Jews, before the time of Moses, For example, Abraham brought a tithe of everything to the High Priest Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:2).

The tithe is to provide for the regular organized ministries of God’s Earthly Kingdom. The duties of the organized kingdom aren’t classified as labor in God’s law. The ministries of the Old and New Testament churches are to be supported by the tithes, not by church sales, raffles, or business enterprises.

Jesus didn’t cancel the tithing principle when he corrected the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:23-24. He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” He said, “These you ought to have done”, but they were neglecting the ministries they should be carrying out.

The churches are to care for the spiritual needs of their members, conduct faithful and sound worship every Sabbath, teach new members, train Christian leaders, and show the people how to live for Christ. The churches have to administer the Sacraments, and the ordinances such as marriage, counsel people when they need advice from God’s word, and they need to influence society toward godliness.

Beyond the tithes there are the offerings.
When special material needs come along, it’s our duty to try to meet them without taking from the tithes. These are the gifts given by individuals after their tithe is fully paid. There’s no set amount. They are free thank-offerings brought to the church.

These offerings aren’t used for the usual operations of the church. They enable the church to reach out to care for special needs. Hearts changed by Christ ought to have real compassion for others, specially for others in the spiritual family, the church of Jesus Christ.

This wasn’t just aimed at the Corinthians.
Paul gave the same advice to Galatian churches. It’s a general principle that should always stir us to joyfully give for things that honor Christ.

This thank-offering shouldn’t come out of the tithe. That’s not yours to give away. The tithe belongs to the Lord, and it’s for the work of the local church alone. To give part of the tithe as if it was your own, or to misrepresent your offerings is to reject God’s principles. That’s a very serious offense. It was that kind of sin that caused God to strike Ananias and Sapphira dead in Acts 5.

The tithe and offerings are both part of the God’s economic system.. Together they make the church able to carry out its mission to believers and to the world. God expects you to tithe from all you earn, and to give more for God’s glory what you’re reasonably able to give.

There was a particular way this collection was to be taken.

1 Corinthians 16:2. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

Each person was asked to lay aside what he was going to give. Your charitable giving should be what you can afford, depending on how God prospers you. But this giving comes from your own money — what’s left after tithing.

This doesn’t mean you gave away what you need to feed your family or to pay your bills. That would end up making you needy and dependent on others. But don’t be selfish either. It’s morally wrong to extravagantly pamper yourself when some of it could be used to help those truly in need.

You’re free to decide on your own what you can reasonably give. But don’t try to see how little you can get away with giving. Try to figure out how much you’re able to give as part of the family of Christ.

The first day of the week is when this amount should be set aside. That was Sunday on the Roman calendar. It was the day Jesus rose from the dead. The Apostles, under God’s direction, set this as the Christian Sabbath Day. It became their day for weekly worship, and the day for ceasing from their labor.

That wasn’t easy in the culture then. Then, Sunday was like our Monday: the first big day of business for the new week. The Creation Sabbath Law was given even before sin came into the human race. We’re to work 6 days, then cease working on the 7th. There was no calendar then, so the day wasn’t attached to one day as we know it now.

In the time of Moses God gave Israel a special calendar. But there was a double Sabbath each year, so the days of the work week shifted each year. The idea that Jews celebrated the Sabbath on Saturday in the Old Testament is simply wrong. There was no such day then. The Roman Calendar wasn’t invented until after the Old Testament was completed.

Under Rome, the Jews rejected the calendar of Moses. They made the Sabbath to always fall on the week day dedicated to the god Saturn. He was the deity of agriculture and harvest, it was Saturn’s Day — or “Saturday”.

With the resurrection of Jesus and his completed atonement, the already abandoned calendar of Moses didn’t apply anymore. So the Apostles directed the church to honor the Sabbath on Sundays. That’s when they met for worship, and refused to work on Sunday, the first day of the week.

From the beginning of time it was a day to cease working because God ceased from creating. It’s sinful to labor on the Sabbath or to pay others to labor for you or to serve you on that day. It was a perfect day to give your tithe in worship, to set aside money as a thank offering to God, and to build up a fund for God’s needy people who were being persecuted.

Paul wanted them to be busy with this before he arrived in Corinth. When he was there, he would have other things to deal with. He wouldn’t want his time taken up with fund-raising. The giving for the Jerusalem Christians was supposed to be finished by the time he got there.

Then Paul explained how their gifts
would be delivered to the needy.

1 Corinthians 16
3. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.
4. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

God holds each local church responsible to see that what it gives is used responsibly. Paul told them that they would have a say in who would go along to make sure their gifts got to the needy saints in Jerusalem.

It’s the local Elders and Deacons who oversee the use of the tithes and offerings of the church. They might get help from bookkeepers or others in the church, but they bear the responsibility. Pray for your church officers and support them in any way you can, even volunteering to help out. They have many serious jobs to carry out and they need to take them seriously.

There needs to be some kind of oversight because there is still sin in our lives. The officers of the church report at regular meetings, and act as a check against one another. In this case in Corinth, Paul said he might even go along with them if it was fitting for him to do so. Maybe he meant that it might fit in with how the Lord was sending him to take his word to other places. Or maybe he was just leaving it up to them so they would know he had no personal financial interests. In either case, Paul was letting them know that if it worked out and it was appropriate, he would go along to Jerusalem with them.

Sadly, some take advantage of the charity of others. There are dishonest people trying to get money without working.

I remember when I was a Pastor a man came to the church asking for money. I got in a conversation with him and he bragged about only working 3 days a week. He went from church to church asking for money – that was his “work”. And he told me he got a pretty good income from it. He didn’t get any from me. I prayed with him and told him I had to be careful about how I distributed the Lord’s money. He didn’t have any real need, just a lot of lazy greed.

A while ago a news report showed a woman in a wheelchair with a cardboard sign. She was sitting on a street corner begging for money. At the end of the day she stood up, put the wheelchair in the trunk of her car, and drove home to her apartment.

Some believe that society owes them for some reason. So they expect others to do all the real work instead of them

We shouldn’t let the con artists keep us from helping out where it’s really needed. Paul’s concern here was for those who are truly unable to provide for their own needs. Believers should care about those who are unable to work, struggling single mothers, children without parents, people disabled physically, those being persecuted, and those in communities struggling to overcome massive natural disasters. This is why churches support natural disaster relief. It’s why believers support local pregnancy centers. It enables them to counsel, help, and provide supplies for women with crisis pregnancies. This is why churches maintain a Deacon’s Fund or Benevolence Fund. The Deacons can use these funds to help out when there are real needs.

There are many kinds of stewardship. God’s given each of us a lot of things to manage for him.

We have 24 hours every day to budget for God’s glory. We should use every minute wisely. We ought to see if we can budget some time to help those in need. God’s given each of us special interests and abilities. We need to think about how we can best use what we have, know, and can do. We should think of how we might be able to use what we own to help out.

One thing we can always give to those in need is our love, prayer, encouragement, and friendship. We can help them through their struggles and comfort them. We should ask God to help us wisely manage all we have in ways that honor him.

This personal duty should be done
with the right attitude.

Later Paul wrote back to the Corinthians in his Second Epistle. He reminded them about this need and encouraged them to give. He wanted to be sure they knew how important it is to give with the right attitude. He said in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

When things are understood the right way our values begin to change. When we know that we’re going to spend a whole eternity with God in heaven, and when we remember the awesome work Jesus completed when he paid for our sins, and we understand the undeserved grace that gives us our life and blessings, our belongings take on a different set of values. We remember that they are God’s things. He trusts us with them to manage them for his glory. That’s a high honor and a wonderful privilege!

When we earn something, it makes us immediately glad to have something to use responsibly. We become thankful we can tithe to provide for Christ’s church, and thankful for any extra we can get together to help the church help the needy.

That’s a different attitude than the way the world looks on charitable giving. But it makes all the difference in the world — when God is the center of all our thoughts.

(Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.)

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Fatherhood: Beyond the Obvious

by Bob Burridge ©2019
(Download as a PDF or Listen to the Sermon)

In Luke 11:9-13 Jesus used our earthly fathers as a lesson about God, the Father we have in Heaven.

9. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
11. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
12. or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Parents have a purpose in God’s plan.
It goes beyond just the obvious reasons
for having them.

In May we celebrate Mother’s Day. Of course we know God made motherhood so we could be conceived and born. And mothers are there to take care of us until we’re able to take care of ourselves. But there’s a deeper level behind motherhood in God’s plan. They’re there to display special things about God. In Isaiah 66:13 God says, “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”

God comforts his children, as a good mother comforts those God entrusted to her care. Mothers should encourage, care for, and train their children as God does for us who belong to him. Everything was made, each in its own way, to display God’s nature and wonder. Motherhood serves this special purpose: it displays some of God’s important attributes.

So what about fathers? Like our mothers, fathers give us life, and are there to care for us until we can go out on our own. But there are special duties God assigns to fathers so they can show more about our Creator and his care for us.

Throughout the Bible God’s often called
“our Father”.

When Moses was reminding Israel about how she rebelled, he said in Deuteronomy 32:6, “Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?”

In Isaiah 63 the prophet prayed in verse 16 saying, “For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.” Again in Isaiah 64 he said in verse 8, “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

In the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 Jesus taught us to pray to God as “our Father” in Heaven.

The whole family structure is organized very purposefully in God’s world. It’s that way so we can learn how to live as part of God’s family. Colossians 3:18-21 summarizes the roles we have in our own families representing the family of God. It says,

18. Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
20. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Wives should help their husbands in the responsibilities and leadership God assigns to them. Husbands are to be loving and kind leaders putting their wives’ and family’s needs above their own comforts. Ephesians 5:25 “husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Children should honor the authority God gives to their parents. Fathers are to handle their leadership role with the same loving tenderness God shows toward us. Ephesians 6:4 expands on this advice to fathers. It says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Fathers often have to discipline us, but it should be without provoking us. It should be to help us grow responsibly. Even the hard times God brings us through are there to teach us so we grow more and more in Christ-likeness.

God as our Father provides for us, protects us, and directs us in godly living. Our human fathers are commissioned to be agents of God in these things, though they aren’t able to do them perfectly.

First: God our Father provides for us.

In James 1:17 the Bible says,”Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

This means that everything we ever had, have now, or ever will have is a gift of God. He gives us whatever health we ever had, our opportunities, and abilities. He’s even the source of our motivation when we do something right and good. He causes whatever success we have in our efforts and work. Whatever we have comes originally from him. He might use fathers and others as his agents, but all they provide originates in God enabling them.

Our fathers here on earth are to be like God our Father by providing for their families. They’re one of the means God uses in meeting our daily needs. When our fathers work it reminds of how how God called our first parents to work 6 days every week. When fathers cease from regular work on the Sabbath, it’s as God our father ceased creating new kinds of things after all he intended was made.

When fathers work to earn their living it’s not just to get paid or to please bosses or clients, it’s to please God. Ephesians 6:6-7 says they should work, “not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,”

When fathers fail to be good models of God our provider their families suffer. 1 Timothy 5 says in verse 8, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

In our text from Luke 11 Jesus says in verses 11-13,

11. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
12. or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

When fathers go off to work, their children should understand that they’re first of all being servants of God. We should pray for all the fathers, understanding their responsibility and the demands on their time. When their labor brings in family provisions we should humbly thank God as well as appreciating our fathers. Our Heavenly Father provides the job, gives them strength, and causes every success in their work.

Fathers might rent, buy, or build us a home. They might try to furnish it for our safety and comfort here on earth. They might make repairs and fix things up to make our homes more enjoyable. Our Father in Heaven has prepared an amazing eternal dwelling place where we will be with him in glory. It will last forever as our safe and comfortable home.

God also commissions fathers to provide for the spiritual enrichment of their families. They’re to pray for their children, teach them to be faithful in the local church family, and to make sure they’re learning God’s word and ways.

In Job 1:5 we have a good example of a father back in ancient times. It says, “And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.”

Today since the death of our Savior, we’re no longer supposed to bring burnt offerings to God. Jesus was the Lamb of God, the final sacrifice for the sins of his people. But good fathers still pray for their children, for their salvation, and their holy walk in the Lord.

God our Father also protects his family.

We’re reminded in Psalm 23 about the way our Good Shepherd watches out for us. It says in verse 4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” God, our Father, watches over us day and night, moment by moment.

So many times in the Bible we read about fathers who protected their families. They defended them from attackers, helped them through famines and disasters, and led their families in the right way to deal with their sins. Noah built the great ark to obey God which included protecting his family from the coming flood. Job got up extra early every day to intercede with God for his family. Abraham defended his family from enemy attackers, even going to war to protect them.

Our Heavenly Father is there for us even through the disasters and crimes committed against us. He doesn’t always see it best that we never go through difficult times. But he prepares us to endure them with his care and comfort. And he assures those who are his that even the hard times work together in his plan for good. Many have found great comfort in those hard times from Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Our fathers here on earth are called to protect us as God’s agents. Our earthly fathers should be there to see us through our earthly calamities and challenges. Their job is not so much to keep us from ever experiencing them, because our human fathers can’t. But God calls them to prepare us to endure through them, not to run from the challenges, but to deal with them in God honoring ways.

When our fathers are protectors, though imperfect ones, they illustrate God’s perfect protection of us through whatever challenges that come along.

God our Father also directs his family.

Our Heavenly Father gives us his perfect direction in his word. He knows perfectly what’s going to happen. His word prepares us for whatever comes along. It shows us what’s right and best for us in all our decisions.

God’s word is where our human fathers should get their principles for the home. They teach their children to read and study their Bibles. They help them learn to pray, worship, and serve Christ in the way God’s word teaches us. When our own fathers carry out their responsibilities as they should, they’re showing how God as our Father is our teacher and guide for life.

Our human fathers should give us direction in the best way they know how. They can advise us about budgeting the time and money God gives us. They can help us learn what’s right and wrong in the eyes of God. Good fathers try to prepare us with God’s word and give us good examples to follow. That’s why they might not always let their children go along with popular trends. They should introduce them to more godly heroes than the world idolizes. They need to realize that certain movies, games, or songs aren’t good things to fill their heads.

No earthly father knows for sure what lies ahead for his children. But he’s called to prepare them as best he can for the things they might one day face.

Our own fathers might help us plan for our careers and financial future. They might plan family outings and vacations. They might even help us learn to drive, balance a bank account, and learn to fish. Above all, our fathers should teach their children the way of salvation in Christ, help prepare them to be admitted to the Lord’s Table, and do their best to show how to live for God’s glory. But behind all their efforts is the guidance of our Heavenly Father.

When we see what fathers are called to do, we should pray for them.

We should appreciate all that God is
as our Heavenly Father.

In 1 John 3:1 the Bible says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; … ” It’s God our Father who moves us to understand, trust, and obey him by his work of grace in our hearts. This is far more than the most persuasive human father can do. It’s not that we deserve God’s care and provisions. It’s by God’s grace, an idea the world can’t comprehend. Even us as God’s children understand it so imperfectly. Grace is the undeserved love that redeems us and makes us God’s children forever.

As good fathers continue to be there for their children, even when they disappoint them, so much more our Father in Heaven will not give up on those he chose eternally. In fact, it’s for our failures that Christ came and died.

That’s what fatherhood should teach us. It points to the Father of all our fathers, and should show us something of his amazing care and love. We should appreciate the amazing love our Heavenly Father has for us, though it’s undeserved.

We should want to live as those who bring honor to him, and to show our humble gratitude. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

In June we celebrate Father’s Day. It’s not a biblical holiday, but it’s a good time to show some special appreciation for our fathers. God set up human fatherhood as one of his means for providing for, protecting, and directing his people. Behind all that these earthly fathers are called to do, we should remember the perfect loving concern our Heavenly Father has for us.

How will we show our special thanks to our God our Father every day? We should shine for him, show our love for him, and show our dedication to the rest of his family. It’s our duty to honor our Heavenly Father who has loved his children forever. He gave his Son to suffer and die for us who know him. And he will always be there to provide for us, to protect us, and to guide us through even those hardest of times. Call upon him. Look to him. Trust that he’s there for you as one of the children he eternally and perfectly loves.

(Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.)

by Bob Burridge ©2016, 2019
Lesson 5 of Our Reformed Heritage

Some of the things I treasured instantly were the little hand made cards, pictures, and things my children made for me. There were those little traced hands, Father’s Day and Birthday cards, some interesting drawings Brian did for me, and that little clay dragon (or dinosaur) Amy made that sits in my office to this day.

Sadly most of them were lost in the tornado that destroyed our house in 1992. But I still have a few tucked away that are very valuable to me. I even have some of the letters my wife Lois wrote to me before we were married. I’ll always consider them among my most important possessions. We’re not talking about great art from the kids, or award winning literary prose from my wife to be. But no work of artist or poet could measure up in value, because these were expressions of personal love.

That’s why the Bible is so important to us as God’s people. It’s a book of love written by the one who made us and who redeemed us. It’s the promises he made, and the price he paid to make sinners into beloved sons and daughters.

We treasure God’s word. It gives us what the world has openly given up on: a firm foundation for truth, hope and morality.

Scripture is God-breathed …
it’s as if it contains his
actual spoken words to us.

2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

Many translations say, “All Scripture is inspired by God”. The word translated as “inspired” is “theopneustos” (θεόπνευστος). The ESV is very accurate here because this word literally means “God-Breathed” (θεό-πνευστος).

We often use the English word “inspired” in a very different way. People say poets, composers, or artists are “inspired” when they breath-in a higher perception of something and they’re enabled to create a wonderful poem, book, song, or painting of what they perceive. But Scripture comes into being as if it was breathed out of God’s mouth. More exactly the word “theopneustos” (θεόπνευστος) means to breathe out, “to expire”. Obviously if we translated it that way here it would give the wrong idea. People would think it means that Scripture is expired – lapsed like an expired driver’s license. It doesn’t mean that at all here.

Speech is the expiring, the breathing out of air through the larynx. Scripture is as if it was directly breathed out of the mouth of God. That’s its authority. The Bible is God’s word to us whom he loves. It’s God talking to us when we read the Bible.

2 Peter 1:20-21 explains the origin of Scripture very clearly.

20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
21 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.

Verse 20 is often misunderstood because of some English versions of the Bible. The King James Version says, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.” The Roman Catholic Church interprets this to mean that individuals should not privately interpret the Bible. Interpreting the meaning of Scripture should be left up to the Priests and trained scholars.

The ESV more accurately translates it, “… that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.”
Literally, word for word, it reads, “… that every prophesy of Scripture by one’s own interpretation does not come into being.”

The words “come into being” is the meaning of the Greek word here, “ginetai” (γίνεται). It’s translated poorly in those translations by the words “is of” private interpretation. The verse is about where the interpretation came from originally, not about the reader’s interpretation of it.

Verse 21 clarifies this.

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.

Peter explains that the Bible writers were “carried along by the Holy Spirit,” and that they spoke from God. They didn’t decide what to write by their own will. Or decide what it meant on their own,

It’s about the interpretations given by God to the writers of the Bible. When you read Moses, or David, or Luke, or Paul you read what God moved them to write.

Scripture originated as a special act of God at work on the human writers. It made their interpretations absolutely perfect and accurate. The resulting Bible is a prophetic word even more certain than the direct testimony of fallible human eye-witnesses.

Peter was a direct witness to all Jesus said and did, but still in 2 Peter 1:16 he wrote, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

Instead what he wrote came from God, not by human interpretations. God kept the writers free from incorporating inaccurate human interpretations as they wrote. The Bible did not come into being by humans interpreting events. God gave the interpretation.

The verb translated “carried along” in verse 21 is “phero” (φέρω). It means “to bear something (as one would a burden)” or “to carry along.”

The men God used to write the Bible were “carried along, born up” by the Holy Spirit. That word was used at that time to describe how a flying bird is supported by the wind, and how a ship is born along on the water as the wind fills its sails.

So also, these chosen writers were carried along by the Holy Spirit himself. They “spoke from God.”

A classic definition of biblical inspiration comes from Dr. Allen MacRae. “Inspiration is a special act of the Holy Spirit by which he guided the writers of the books of the Scriptures so that their words should convey the thought he wished conveyed, should bear a proper relationship to the thought of the other inspired books, and should be kept free from errors of fact, of doctrine or of judgment.”

There are different views about how God
and the human writers worked together.

On the one hand it’s clear that the Bible says exactly what God wanted it to say. The very words are 100% right for expressing the message. Every interpretive thought or fact in the Bible is 100% accurate and true. Technically we call this view “Verbal-Plenary Inspiration.” It means the Bible is totally accurate, right down to the choice of each word.

In Liberal Theology the Bible is seen as just inspired literature like Shakespeare, or John Bunyan. They say God moved the writers hearts but they were influenced by local customs and myths. They even say the historical books in the Bible are just fiction written to teach lessons.

On the other hand, God didn’t just dictate the words to men who acted like mere word-processors for God. We see the individual personalities and backgrounds of each human author in their writings. Luke was a physician. As expected he used technical medical terms. He wrote in a more academic and formal style. John used a vocabulary that often reflects his background and experience as a fisherman. His writings use a very simple common style.

The style of each writer varies with his personality, background, the age in which he lived, the circumstances of his writings, the political and cultural setting in which he wrote, and so on. But what they wrote was kept perfectly accurate, and said exactly what God wanted said.

I chose two men from American Church History who helped promote this important biblical teaching. They are both Benjamins …

Benjamin Morgan Palmer was born in Charleston, South Carolina in January of 1818.
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (usually referred to as B. B. Warfield) was born in Grasmere, Kentucky – not far from Lexington, in 1851.
Palmer was about 33 older than Warfield, so they were about a generation apart.

Benjamin Morgan Palmer’s parents
had a Puritan background.

When he was young, Benjamin did very well academically. He was accepted into Amherst College in Massachusetts when he was only 14 years old. But he didn’t last long there. He had some difficulties with the teachers and quit after 2 years.

His life turned around in 1836 when he put his full trust in Christ as his Savior. He returned to college graduating with honors from the University of Georgia in 1838 at age 20. Then he graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary and was licensed to preach in 1841.

One of his greatest teachers was his Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia. It was James Henley Thornwell. He became one of our nations all-time top Theologians. When Thornwell left the church to become more involved as a teacher, Palmer succeeded him as Pastor.

He served for a while as a Chaplain to the Army during the Civil War, and took over as Professor of Theology at Columbia Seminary after the death of Thornwell. Palmer used the notes of Thornwell as well as those of A. A. Hodge showing the link between the Old-school orthodox Calvinists in both the Northern Presbyterian churches and the Southern ones. He was elected the first Moderator of the Southern Assembly of Presbyterian Churches.

He produced many important writings at a time when he could see some seeds of unbelief creeping into some Presbyterian Churches. There have always been men with weak convictions who try to turn things away from biblical truth.

Palmer eloquently defended the full inspiration of God’s word until he died in 1902.

Benjamin Palmer said about the Bible: “the revelation to which Christ bears witness as final and permanent, is reduced to record in the dialect of men.”

He spoke of a connection between the members of the Trinity in the writing of Scripture: “The Son as revealer lifts from concealment what eternally lay his in the divine counsel. The Holy Spirit wrought the vast conception into the texture of finite and fallible minds, so that it could be rendered into speech and made intelligible to man.”

“The words of the Father are delivered by the Son, through the power of the Spirit”

“The subject matter is always and exclusively divine, while the medium of conveyance is not only distinctively human, but also characteristic of the author whose name it bears.”

B. B. Warfield was another
of the strong defenders
of the inspiration of the Bible.

His teachings, writings, and editorials presented the facts when the liberal movement attacked.

His middle name Breckinridge was his mother’s maiden name. Her father was the famous Robert Jefferson Breckinridge. He was the moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1841, the president of Jefferson College, and founder of the Theological Seminary in Danville, Kentucky.

Benjamin went to the College of New Jersey which later changed its name to Princeton. He graduated with high honors in 1871 when he was only 19 years old.

Nobody expected him to become a minister because he was deeply into science as a young man. He collected bird’s eggs, butterflies, rocks and learned all he could about math and physics. He became an avid evolutionist. But God had a special plan for him.

While studying in Edinburgh, then in Heidelberg, he changed his views about many things. He became a Christian. He shocked his family by writing home that he’d decided to become a Presbyterian minister. When he was finishing his seminary degree in 1876 at Princeton Theological Seminary he married Annie Pierce Kinkead. They went to Germany on their honeymoon and were caught out in a dangerous thunderstorm. Annie was struck by lightning and was permanently paralyzed.

Warfield’s career was busy, but he gave his disabled wife very good and loving care. He pastored a church in Baltimore for a short time but soon took up teaching. He became professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, PA. Then in 1887 he took over as professor at Princeton Seminary after A. A. Hodge died.

During this time he wrote articles and books clarifying and defending the basic Reformed Faith. He was a strong Calvinist, and was brilliant in developing evidence from Scripture.

One of his best known works is his book on The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. In it he writes, “… entire trust in every word of the Scriptures has been characteristic of the people of God from the very foundation of the church. Christendom has always reposed upon the belief that the utterances of this book are properly oracles of God. The whole body of Christian literature bears witness to this fact. We may trace its stream to its source, and everywhere it is vocal with a living faith in the divine trustworthiness of the Scriptures of God in every one of their affirmations. This is the murmur of the little rills of Christian speech which find their tenuous way through the parched heathen land of the early second century. And this is the mighty voice of the great river of Christian thought which sweeps through the ages, freighted with blessings for men.”

His writings clarified every passage of Scripture about it’s being God’s word of love to his children.

God has greatly used Warfield’s books, writings in the Presbyterian and Reformed Review magazine, and in the Princeton Theological Review.Many of his articles are printed in encyclopedias and Bible dictionaries.

He personally and devotedly cared for his paralyzed wife Annie. With all his duties and responsibilities he would seldom leave her home alone. When he did, it wasn’t for more than two hours at a time. He tended to her lovingly until she died in 1915. B. B. Warfield died in Princeton on February 17th, 1921.

Great Treasures

Though students of the Bible treasure the writings of these great Christian writers, the best writers mainly teach us to treasure the Bible even more.

We should prize the word God gives to us in the Scriptures even more than we prize getting an autograph of a famous person, or cling to the little notes and drawings of our children, grand-children, and spouses.

We should read the Bible as eagerly as a parent reads his child’s hand drawn note, or as a girl reads a love note from her boy friend, or as a mother reads a letter from a grown up child who is no longer living in the home.

We should read God’s word personally with great interest and determination to know and understand every sentence. We should appreciate the love that gave it to us, and made our hearts open to its promises. If we love God truly, it will be clear to those who know us that we treasure his word above all else in our lives.

(Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.)

Back to the index of Our Reformed Heritage

The Prophesy of Micah

Study by Bob Burridge ©2019
Study 13: Micah 7:14-20

Who Is a God Like You?

Bringing together the great themes of his book Micah concludes by turning attention to the great God of Scripture. Before we look at verses 14-18, the last part of this book is an amazing look at amazing grace.

Micah 7:18-20
18. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
19. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

Micah is a book of contrasts and comparisons.
The prophet began chapter seven by looking at his own guilt. His response was, “Woe is me!” But now, looking away from himself to God he says, “Who is like you?” By turning his eyes to the incomparable God of Scripture, his grief is replaced with wonder.

Man’s god’s are no match for the Creator of all the universe. The deities invented in man’s mind are like the people themselves, frivolous, weak and petty. When they looked at Israel, struggling and weak, they laughed at her claim to be the people of the Almighty God, who they said was the King of Kings.

The problem wasn’t with Israel’s God, it was with Israel. Though blessed and privileged, the Jews rebelled. They fought each other for power and wealth. They broke God’s laws and lived to satisfy their desires in perverted ways.

God’s long-suffering had come to an end. His patience had served its purpose and the time of judgment had come. He will not bless forever where his ways are ignored.

But the pagan nations shouldn’t get too proud and cocky. And Israel shouldn’t get too discouraged. One thing had remained the same — God always blesses those who humbly come to him in repentance and his long range plan never fails.

What pagan god does that? With the god’s invented by man there is no hope or consolation. But that’s not the way it is with the God of Scripture, Who is a God like that?

It’s very likely Micah was thinking of what David had written in Psalm 40:5, “You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.”

What makes the God of the Bible so different? What is so wondrous about Him? Micah shows us …

God pardons the moral guilt of his people.

Unlike the invented god’s of human culture, the Bible doesn’t divide humanity into good people and bad. Scripture teaches that there is no one good, not even one (Psalm 53:3). God told Moses that Israel wasn’t chosen because she was better. He chose the undeserving and made them worthy to show his power, mercy, and grace. Instead of claiming innocence God’s true people admit their disobedience.

The amazing thing about our God is the way he deals with our sin. Notice the verbs used here: God pardons iniquity, passes over the rebellious acts of his people, treads underfoot our iniquities, casts them into the depths of the sea. Psalm 103:12 says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” God made spiritual sons out of moral criminals.

The foundation of God’s forgiveness is his steadfast love.
This “steadfast love” is mentioned twice in this paragraph. The Hebrew word translated that way is “khesed” (חסד) which is usually translated as “mercy” or “kindness”. It appears in this section first at the end of verse 18. God doesn’t retain his anger forever because he delights in this merciful kindness toward his people. He loves them unfailingly. It’s also used in verse 20 where Micah points to God’s mercy toward Abraham. He didn’t choose Abraham because he was so good, but because this merciful love of God moved him to save Abraham. This amazing love of God is revealed to us in his gracious covenant.

Some ask, “If God doesn’t ‘retain his anger forever’ does that mean he changes? Isn’t God unchangeable?” The context clarifies this. To move his people to repentance, God for a time reveals his anger which they deserve. When he moves them to repentance he reveals the pardoning of their iniquity. Both the showing of his anger, and then of his mercy are part of the one eternal and unchangeable Plan of the Creator. It is all done consistently to manifest the nature of God, the seriousness of sin, and the amazing grace of redemption.

This pardoning grace isn’t granted to everyone descended from Adam. No human deserves God’s blessing. He would have been totally just if he let all of the fallen human race pay for their own sins. To reveal both his attribute of mercy and his attribute of justice, in this amazing act of love he determined to rescue some undeserving people and pardon them.

God made that love known by giving his ancient covenant promises. Verse 20 also tells us that God demonstrated his faithfulness to Jacob, and gave his solemn word to the forefathers. God made his plan known. He pledged by a solemn oath to carry out His plan.

In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews 6:13-14 explains: “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ ”

Hebrews 6:17-19 tells about the certainty of God’s word and promise, “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,”

The promises to Abraham were a hope to Micah, and they are still a hope to us today, because the God who made them remains faithful to his word.

But how can God do that? How can he forgive sin without violating justice? If a judge today just forgave criminals and let them loose we would be appalled. We would wonder if the judge had any compassion for the victims of their crimes. The answer is profound. It’s another reason why there is none like God. He satisfied justice by the work of Jesus Christ. He did not set justice aside.

His pardon is just and fair because of his plan to send the Messiah.
The real victim, the one offended by our immorality and idolatry, is God. Yet his steadfast mercy moved him to love the morally repulsive. That love moved him to swear an oath to the ancient fathers that God himself, the injured party, will pay their debt.

Jesus was born as the promised Messiah to save His people. This Christ suffered and died to meet the demands of God’s justice. On the cross He took their place. He satisfied the demands of the divine court. Pardon could be made for all those given to the Son by the Father. As Jesus said in John 6:39 “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

“Who is a God like you?” There is none that compares!

Toward his redeemed people
God is their shepherd.

Micah 7:14-15
14. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old.
15. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things.

Like needy sheep Israel had a shepherd, their God. He provided and cared for them. As God’s flock, Israel was separated out from the other sheep. Good shepherds kept their flocks where they are safe from dangers, and free from the spread of infectious diseases.

Gilead and Bashan were rich pasture lands on the East of the Jordan. That’s the kind of field where God makes his sheep to lie down. In fruitful fields he feeds them and watches over them. Just as God cared for them when he brought them out of Egypt, when he used the miracles of plagues to convince Pharaoh to let his people go.

The promise of the good shepherd is most completely fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ.

There is great hope in this promise: our God is like no other.
There’s hope for the lonely and discouraged. It’s tragic when we feel isolated and alone. When we feel that there’s no hope and things couldn’t get worse.

That’s how the prophet Elijah felt in 1 Kings 19.14. He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Yet God didn’t reject his discouraged prophet. He came to him, reminded him of how powerful his God was, then the Lord called him to get to work on a few projects. Having remembered who his God was, and by getting to work for him, Elijah found his answer: “Who is a God like you?”

There is hope for those who suffer when someone they trust and love turns against them. These things happen in our sin infected world. If it wasn’t for God’s grace any of us would do the same.

King David knew the God who is unlike any other. When his son Absolom rebelled David was devastated. Absolom lied to the people, then revolted making himself king. He made his father into a fugitive in the caves of the wilderness hunted by armies led by his own son’s commanders.

Yet David remembered that his God was like no other. While he hid from Absolom David wrote Psalm 3. In verse 3 he said, “But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.”

In God’s promise, there is hope for those betrayed by those they trusted. “Who is a God like you?”

There is also hope for those who face a terrifying future. When we anticipate surgery, a job loss, or threats against us, where do we turn for hope?

One of the best examples in Scripture is when three captured Hebrew teens were being forced to worship an idol during the Babylonian captivity. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were told that if they didn’t bow down and worship the golden image they would be cast into a blazing furnace. Since there was no way they could act against their God and conscience, they would not bow down. So they faced a torturous death. God had not given them any special message that they would not die.

They said as it’s recorded in Daniel 3:17-18, “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

There is no reason to think they weren’t terrified of what was about to happen to them. They understood that they might be burned to death. But they knew one more thing — their God was not like any other god. He would be with them, even in the fire. And he was!

In a way they hadn’t expected. They were delivered physically! But first, they were delivered spiritually, comforted by God’s promise that even in suffering or death, they would not be alone.

Who is a God like that? There is no other.

But what about those who are NOT God’s people?

God will judge the nations.

Micah 7
16. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf;
17. they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God, and they shall be in fear of you.

“Nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, their ears will be deaf. They will lick the dust like a serpent, like reptiles of the earth. They will come trembling out of their fortresses; To the Lord our God they will come in dread, And they will be afraid before Thee.”

Judgment is a terrible reality. Those who mock the people of God will one day witness God’s deliverance of those they attacked. They will see those they treated so cruelly again blessed by God.

Notice the contrast between these two groups of people in this section of Micah 7. God feeds his people in fruitful fields, but the nations that persecuted them lick the dust. God brings miracles to deliver His people, but to the nations he brings dread. The unbelieving nations have no hope in times of trouble. They experience shame, trembling, dread, and fear. Their gods are nothing like the God of Scripture.

But it’s too narrow to just distinguish between the Jews and gentiles. Micah’s message was to warn disobedient Jews that God would withdraw his blessing from them if they didn’t humbly turn to Him. He also taught that when Messiah comes he will establish a new Zion. It’s not just the physical Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, It’s a spiritual hill that will become a refuge not only for Israel but also for believers from all the nations. Even gentiles who repent and trust in God’s promise are counted as sons of the true God. This prophesy is fulfilled in the New Testament church. One day all will know that there is no god, like the God of scripture.

Micah was “no prophet of doom”. He brought a message of great hope. Though Israel, in her disobedience, will fall for the moment, she will be restored and become a greater, more glorious Zion. Though her people will be scattered in captivity, she will be reconstructed and multitudes from all nations will come in. Though her foolish king will be overthrown, the throne of David will be restored and remain forever in the person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

John Calvin, offered a prayer following his lecture on Micah 7, “May we daily solicit thee in our prayers, and never doubt but that under the government of thy Christ, thou canst again gather together the whole world, though it be miserably dispersed, so that we may persevere in this warfare to the end, until we shall at length know that we have not in vain hoped in thee, and that our prayers have not been in vain, when Christ shall exercise the power given to him for our salvation and for that of the whole world. Amen”

We live in that greater age! We have seen the hope of Micah fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. “Who is a God like you?” There is no comparison.

We have reason to dare to take God at his word. Today we sing the hymn, “Great God of Wonders” based on this passage from Micah. The tune was written by John Newton (author of “Amazing Grace”). In his comments on God’s promises in the prophets he once wrote, “… it is our duty to believe the promise, so to expect the good things promised. To be continually in a waiting frame, looking and hearkening after the accomplishment of this excellent work of his, spying if we can see the daybreak, and the Father’s name shine forth to other nations who never had a glimpse of it by any gospel revelation, till in the end, ‘from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, his name be great among the Gentiles,’ according to the prophesy relating to these latter times and ages of the world.”

Micah is long dead, but we have his message. The hope and promise of God that he delivered was based on the most ancient promises, carried on through the time of Abraham, Moses and King David, applied in the last days of Israel and Judah, and pointed to the last of the ages, this church age.

We live in that age! The hope and assurances should be more clear to us. If they’re not, its no fault of God’s. As John Newton told us, we have a duty to believe God and expect the good things He has promised us.

When lonely, discouraged, afraid, terrified — hope in God for there is no other God, like the God of scripture.

(Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.)
Index to the Studies in Micah

The Names of God

by Bob Burridge ©2017

Psalm 91:14 has a very special set of promises by God to those who are his redeemed people.

Psalm 91:14, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.”

One of the blessings God promises is to give his people special deliverance and protection. Then God gives a reason for that protection. He says, “because he knows my name.” As his covenant children, we are set in a safe place and are confident there because we know the nature of God. His nature is our assurance, our confidence and certainty that he can never fail us. This is why we love him and hold fast to him. It’s evidence of hearts transformed by God’s redeeming grace.

Certainly atheists and pagans can know the names used for God in the Bible. But that’s not what’s meant in this Psalm. Just being aware of the words used for “god” in any particular language only means you have those words in your vocabulary. But to really “know” the name of God means that you personally understand what his names mean about who he is and what he reveals about himself.

The first petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9) asks for our Heavenly Father’s name to be “hallowed”. The Greek word for “hallowed” in the original text of Matthew is “hagiasthaeto” (ἁγιασθητω). It’s based upon the word “hagios” (ἁγιος), which is usually translated by the word “holy”. When something is holy it is set aside or marked out as special in a good way. In this case, Jesus tells us that when you pray you should ask for God’s name to be respected as very special.

Every language has general words used for “god”.

They often refer to the True God of the Bible. But at times they are used to refer to human leaders with authority over communities or nations, or to angels, or to other supernatural beings dreamed up by false religions and the imaginations of the lost soul.

In the Old Testament the general Hebrew word for God is the singular noun “el” (אל). It’s often used in the plural form “elohim” (אלהים). The plural doesn’t mean there are more gods than one. Elohim is a “majestic plural”. It’s usually used with singular rather than plural verbs. The Hebrew majestic plural indicates that its object is of a high order. For example, the common Hebrew word for “heaven” is in the majestic plural, “Shamayim” (שׁמים).

When the word for God is in this form, it means the person referred to is of a higher order. Some use this form to support the idea of a Trinity in the Old Testament. Though well intentioned this interpretation reflects a lack of awareness of Hebrew grammar. More importantly the Trinity is not made up of three gods. It is One God eternally existing in three persons equal in power and glory.

Since these were general words for “god” the context has to clarify who is meant by each use of the term. Psalm 82 begins by mentioning God taking his place in the midst of the “gods” to hold judgment.

Psalm 82:1, “… God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment” (ESV)

My expanded translation of Psalm 82:1 attempts to be more carefully literal, “God (elohim) stands (stations himself) in the assembly of God (el), he judges among (in the midst of) gods (elohim).”

These general Hebrew words for “god” are sometimes used to mean an angel, or a person with high authority such as rulers of some kind over nations or other assemblies. For example in Exodus 21:6 the word “elohim” is translated as “judges” (King James Version). In Psalm 8:5 the King James translates “elohim” as “angels”. In each case the context clarifies who is being referred to.

Commentator John Gill explains about the use of “elohim” in Psalm 82:1. He points out that some translate it as “angels” as in Psalm 8:5. But here he says it refers to civil magistrates, the rulers and judges of the people. They are referred to by this word “elohim”, or “gods”, in Exodus 21:6. Gill says that these in Psalm 82:1 are called “elohim” because they are human leaders commissioned by God. They are to be God’s representatives, “viceregents and deputies under him.”

In the New Testament the common Greek word for God is “theos” (θεος). It’s from that Greek word that we get the word “Theology” the “Study of God”. Again, the context tells what kind of person the word refers to. Though not always, it’s most commonly used in the Bible as the word for the True God, Creator and Lord of all things, our Redeemer and Good Shepherd.

God revealed his special covenant name to Moses.

God’s Covenant name is the Hebrew “tetragrammaton” (four consonants: יהוה) which corresponds with “Y-H-V-H”. The original vowels weren’t written in Ancient Hebrew, just the 4 consonants. It’s often translated as “Jehovah”.

European Scholars writing in German used different consonant letters because their Alphabet is different than the one we use for English. The “Y” and “V” sounds were represented by the German letters “J” and “W”. This produced an academic pronunciation of the name which differs from scholar to scholar. It was sort of a “re-brew” of Hebrew. They range from “Jehovah” to “Yahweh” and some other academic variations.

When Israel was set up as a modern nation after World War 2, a lot of research went into restoring the ancient Hebrew pronunciation. More accurate research in the field of Orthoepy shows that the ancient Hebrew pronunciation was probably “yăh-VĔH”. (See: “Ben-Yehuda’s English-Hebrew Hebrew-English Dictionary” first printed in 1961 based upon the pronunciation guide in the “Merriam-Webster Dictionary” of 1947, 1951 – “Conversation Manual – Hebrew” a Living Language Course text book first printed in 1958, and “Hebrew in 10 Minutes a Day” by Sunset Series printed in 1992. Article at “Hebrew for Christians” about pronouncing this name of God. Video on the pronunciation of “vav” as opposed to “wow” by Nehemia Gordon.)

Out of respect, God’s people in the Old and New Testaments generally didn’t pronounce this special name. It was read as “Lord” [In Hebrew “adonai” (אדני), and in the New Testament the Greek “kurios” (κύριος)]. For example: Jesus in Matthew3:3 said “Lord” when quoting Isaiah 40:3. The same with Paul in Romans 9:29 when quoting Isaiah 1:9. There are many more examples where the Holy Spirit led the New Testament writers to use the Greek word for “Lord” when the word “YHVH” appeared in the Old Testament text they were quoting. This is why most English translations represent this covenant name as “LORD” written in all capitol letters (KJV, NKJV, NASB, ESV, ASV, ERV, ISV, and so on …).

It’s not the words themselves that are important or that need to be hallowed. It’s what these names represent. In Exodus 34:6-8 God explains his own name. The name “YHVH” is represented here as “LORD”.

6. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7. keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
8. And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. (ESV)

Moses was humbled and moved to worship when he was reminded of all that God is. God’s name is to be hallowed because he is unique above all else. We reverence the words because of what they mean and represent.

Both Testaments sometimes refer to God
by a variety of appropriate titles.

He is called: Lord, King, Savior, Judge, Creator, Sustainer, and many other titles. He is our Father, our Good Shepherd, our BrideGroom, and life giving Holy Spirit.

The simple words for “God” were sometimes used in combination with other words describing God’s attributes. The list below shows five of the compound names in the Old Testament combined with the Hebrew word “El” (אל):
El Elyon (אל עליון): “God Most High” (Genesis 14:19)
El Gibor (אל גבור): “Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6) describing the Messiah
El Olam (אל עולם): “God Everlasting” (Genesis 21:33)
El Ro-i (אל ראי): “God Seeing” (Genesis 16:13)
El Shaddai (אל שׁדי): “God Almighty” (Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; Exodus 6:1; Psalm 91:1)

This next list shows ten of the compound names in the Old Testament combined with the Hebew Covenant name of God, Yahveh (יהוה)< which was commonly read as "LORD" Yahveh Elohi Yisrael (יהוה אלהי ישׂראל): "LORD God of Israel." (Judges 5:3; Isaiah 17:6) Yahveh Maqaddesh (יהוה מקדשׁ): "The LORD Sanctifies" (Ezekiel 37:28) Yahveh Nissi (יהוה נסי):"The LORD my Banner" (Exodus 17:15) Yahveh Rapha (יהוה רפא): "The LORD Heals" (Exodus 15:26) Yahveh Ro’-i (יהוה רעי): "The LORD my Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1) Yahveh Sabbaoth (יהוה צבאות):"The LORD of Hosts." (1 Samuel 1:3; 17:45; Isaiah 1:24; Psalm 46:7) Yahveh Shalom (יהוה שׁלום):"The LORD is Peace" (Judges 6:24) Yahveh Shammah (יהוה שׁמה): "The LORD is There." (Ezekiel 48:35) Yahveh Tsidkenu (יהוה צדקנו): "The LORD our Righteousness." (Jeremiah 23:6, 33:16) Yahveh Yireh (יהוה יראה): "The LORD provides" (Genesis 22:14)

God’s name is precious to us as his people.

These names of God give us great comfort and encouragement to know he is all these things for us his people. The 23rd Psalm reminds us that the comfort, forgiveness, and direction God gives us is for the sake of his name. We are here and redeemed to display the amazing nature of our Creator and Savior.

Psalm 23:1-3, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Bob Burridge ©2017
Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted