The Great War

Posted on July 15, 2019 by russellmckinney

Series: “The Great War” (post #1)

It is difficult to count the number of wars that have been fought throughout mankind’s history. The difficulty lies in the question of what gets classified as an actual war. There are skirmishes. There are clashes. There are battles. There are campaigns. And then there are actual wars.

In a New York Times article entitled What Every Person Should Know About War, a war was defined as “an active conflict that has claimed more than 1,000 lives.” The article also stated that over the past 3,400 years humans have been entirely at peace for only 268 of those years. That’s just 8% of the time. As for how many people have been killed in all the wars throughout human history, the article estimated that the death toll ranges from 150 million to 1 billion.

And just how big does warfare continue to be today? Right now there are well over 20 million soldiers serving in armies around the world. The largest current army is China’s, which has over 2 million soldiers. The United States army is second in size, with over 1 million soldiers. India, North Korea, and Russia also have armies consisting of over 1 million soldiers each. Needless to say, war continues to be a trademark of the human race. It reminds us of what Jesus said in His time some 2,000 years ago: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6).

There is, however, one war that is the longest running one on record, and it still rages today. No official records have ever been kept for this war, but it has covered more earthly territory than any other war and cost more lives than any other war. So what war is this? It is the great war between Satan and God.

This war began at some unspecified time way, way back when the angel Lucifer, who was one of God’s mightiest and most beautiful angels (Ezekiel 28:11-19), not only himself rebelled against God (Isaiah 14:12-14) but led one-third (Revelation 12:7-9) of all the other angels to join him in that rebellion. The rebellion ended in God casting Lucifer and all those other rebel angels out of His presence (Luke 10:18). And so Lucifer — who is better known as Satan or “the devil” — now walks the earth seeking whom he may devour (Job 1:7; 2:2; 1 Peter 5:8). That is how he showed up inside the serpent in the earth’s Garden of Eden to tempt Eve (Genesis 3:1-6). As for Satan’s fellow fallen angels — who are now better known as demons or “unclean spirits” — they too have free run of the earth (Ephesians 6:10-12).

So make no mistake, the ancient war between Satan and God is still raging today and we are all part of it. This brings me to the purpose of this short series, a series I’m calling “The Great War.” Over the course of the next few posts, we’re going to learn that the war between Satan and God produces the same results that human wars produce. There are four of these results, and we’ll devote one post to each result. This is a series that you should find interesting, and it’s one that I know will cause you to think in new ways about not only Satan but also God. So tune in next time as we look at the first result. And until then start thinking of our planet Earth as being the battlefield where The Great War rages every day and every night.

Posted in Adversity, Angels, Death, Demons, God's Work, Heaven, Persecution, Problems, Rebellion, Satan, Series: "The Great War", Spiritual Warfare, Suffering, The Devil, War | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Church Attendance Decline

Posted on July 12, 2019 by russellmckinney

A school teacher told her students to bring an item that represented their religious faith. The little Jewish boy brought a menorah. The little Catholic boy brought a crucifix. The little Baptist boy brought a casserole.

Speaking as a Baptist pastor, I have to admit that this joke hits way too close to home. Actually, it could be a true story! We Baptists do like our fellowship meals. As another joke says, “What do you call a Baptist preacher’s belt? A fence around a chicken graveyard.”

I don’t mean to imply that there is anything wrong with fellowship meals. The early churches held them each Sunday in conjunction with their observance of The Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Jude v.12). Likewise, the Old Testament provides the record of many different times of feasting, and in the New Testament we read about Christ’s last supper, not to mention the prodigal son’s father killing the fatted calf.

But what we must guard against is making fellowship meals our main reason for attending church. We mustn’t let our churches become community clubs or social clubs that have little more than a religious undercurrent running through them. Our primary feasting at church should always be on the living Word (Jesus) and the written word (the Bible), not the fried chicken.

What each church-goer should ask himself or herself is, “What is my motivation for going to church?” If the answer is something that can be just as easily gotten at a ball game, a concert, the local school, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the Kiwanis club, the Ruritan club, the Optimist club, the Lions club, or the Rotary club, then something is very wrong with the motivation. And unfortunately this seems to be the case with far too many church-goers.

Studies are now consistently showing that church attendance is declining here in the United States. The theorized reasons for the decline are numerous: the country as a whole is shifting away from its Christian roots, today’s young people are a different breed who have little interest in attending church, the local church is no longer the focal point of community life, etc. While I certainly wouldn’t dismiss any of these reasons (or some others we could name), I would like to suggest one that I’ve never seen cited on a list. Maybe the reason why church attendance numbers are dwindling is the fact that we have gotten so far away from what church is supposed to be.

Imagine an oven that a housewife has begun using as a clothes dryer. As soon as she gets a load of clothes out of the washing machine, she opens the oven door, puts the clothes in the oven, sets the temperature for 350 degrees, and dries the clothes. She does this day after day, load after load. Then one day her husband buys a dryer and tells her to start using it to dry the clothes. The housewife does so and after just a few loads exclaims, “This dryer is so much better for drying clothes. I’ll never use that oven again. I don’t even need it anymore.” Would you say that housewife was being fair to her oven? Of course not. She wasn’t using it for what it was actually made to do.

The same can be said of our churches. If we don’t use them for what they are made to do, we shouldn’t be surprised when attendance declines. The hard, cold truth is that the world can do everything better than the church except those things for which the church is the specialist. This means that the church is never going to be able to outperform the world when it comes to meals, entertainment, community service, sports leagues, Christmas productions, Easter dramas, Independence Day celebrations, and a vast assortment of other activities, No matter how hard we try and how much time, effort, and money we spend, the world’s versions will always be more appealing (at least to average person).

That’s why we are crazy to try to stop the decline in church attendance by making our churches more like the world. What we need to do instead is make our churches less like the world and more like the church ideal that is described in the New Testament. Of course this isn’t something the so-called “church growth” movement cares to hear, but the numbers are beginning to prove that what that movement has pushed for decades as the way to grow a church doesn’t actually work in the long run. How could it when it is so shallow and superficial? And besides, even if it does draw a crowd, just having a crowd doesn’t automatically mean that you are having church, right?

Posted in Bible Study, Church, Church Attendance, Current Events, God's Word, God's Work, Ministry, Worship | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Night in the Barn

Posted on July 11, 2019 by russellmckinney

One day a young boy committed a very serious offense. When the boy’s strict father heard about it, he said to the boy, “Son, no one can commit such an act and still sleep under my roof. You must spend the night in the barn.” The boy knew that arguing with his father was no use, and so he gathered up a few things to make a crude bed in the hayloft and went to the barn.

His crude bed proved to be plenty soft enough for the boy to get a good night’s rest, but he just couldn’t sleep. Over and over again he tossed and turned. His problem was the guilt he was feeling over not only committing the offense but also grieving his father so badly.

It was sometime along about midnight when the boy heard the sound of someone climbing up the ladder to the hayloft. He was frightened by the dark outline of the shadowy figure until he realized that the intruder was none other than his father. The father asked him, “Are you sleeping?” The boy answered, “No.” “Well, I can’t sleep either,” said the father, “so I thought I’d come out here and join you.” Then he added, “Now, don’t think I’m changing my mind about your punishment. As I said, anyone who does what you did can’t sleep under my roof. But I didn’t say that I couldn’t sleep with you. So, move over, son. Put your head on my arm, and let’s get some sleep.”

This story beautifully illustrates what God did for us. The human race had fallen into sin, and God couldn’t just ignore that fact. Punishment had to follow, and follow it did as Adam and Eve were banished from their home in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-24) and left to produce a race of descendants who would each be born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). But God, in the form of Jesus Christ, left heaven, joined the human race by actually becoming human Himself, lived among humans in the “barn” of this world, and ultimately died on the cross as the potential payment for all the sins the human race had ever and would ever commit. So now anyone who places saving belief in Jesus does not have to suffer the eternal punishment that comes as the result of his or her sins (John 3:16-18).

Oh, and by the way, that story about the father who joined his boy in the barn is true. It was one of the stories that F.B. Meyer used to tell about his childhood. And who was F.B. Meyer? He was only one of the most legendary preachers who ever lived. He was an English Baptist pastor and evangelist in the late 1800s and early 1900s who pastored several churches in England, made successful ministry trips to the United States and Canada, wrote dozens of books and commentaries, and fought so hard against drunkenness and prostitution that he is purported to have been responsible for the closing of hundreds of saloons and brothels.

All that causes me to ask, “If we had more fathers who were strict enough to inflict punishment when it was deserved, but loving enough to join their children in the punishment, would we be producing more F.B. Meyers today?” Maybe. One thing is for sure: it definitely couldn’t hurt.

Posted in Belief, Children, Christ's Birth, Christ's Death, Discipline, Fatherhood, God's Holiness, God's Love, Guilt, Parenting, Salvation, Sin, Youth | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Ministering to Lost People

Posted on July 8, 2019 by russellmckinney

And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. (Matthew 5:41, N.K.J.V.)

In its specific scriptural context, this verse has nothing to do with putting in the extra hours required to become a success in the business world. Neither does it have anything to do with outworking the competition in the realm of athletics or even fanatically devoting yourself to church work. No, “going the second mile” is all about one thing: the Christian rendering service to lost people.

In the empire of ancient Rome, a Roman official or soldier had the right to press a common citizen into compulsory service to carry a load or run an errand. This explains why the Roman soldiers who were in charge of Christ’s crucifixion were able to force a Cyrenian named Simon to carry Christ’s cross (Matthew 27:32). But the rule had a limit. The citizen could only be made to perform the task for one mile. Christ’s command to His followers, however, was that they should volunteer to perform the task for an extra mile.

We can just imagine the first time a rough, rugged Roman soldier brutally drafted a follower of Christ into action. “You there, get over here and carry this load for your required mile.” Then, at the end of the mile, the follower of Christ kept going. Perhaps the soldier said, “That’s enough, you’ve done your duty” only to have the follower of Christ say, “I know, but my Lord says that I should go with you a second mile.”

What kind of influence do you think such an encounter would have had on a spiritually lost Roman soldier? I suppose that some of the soldiers mocked Christ’s followers and took even greater advantage of them. Others, however, must have been touched by the encounters and their hearts softened toward Jesus and His people.

Of course, going the extra mile was just one of the ways in which Jesus commanded His followers to act differently than the rest of the world. He also said, “Rather than seek the revenge of an eye for an eye, if an evil person slaps you on your right cheek, take the brunt of the blow and present your left cheek for the person to strike as well” (Matthew 5:38-39). “And if someone threatens to file a lawsuit to take away your tunic, go ahead and let the person have not only your tunic but also your outer cloak” (Matthew 5:40).

To get the full depth of these commands, we mustn’t miss the fact that each of them deals with a cruel injustice that is perpetrated by an evil person. As Jesus put it, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person” (Matthew 5:39, N.K.J.V.). This means that the follower of Christ should perform these difficult tasks as nothing less than acts of service to lost people.

You might be asking, “Russell, are you saying that the only people who do evil acts are lost people?” No, I’m not saying that. I know full well that professing Christians sometimes commit evil acts. As we study the Bible, though, we understand the assumption that the follower of Christ is expected to live in a manner that is holy rather than evil. Therefore, the “evil person” of whom Jesus speaks must be a lost person. You see, when the Christian serves a lost person in this way, the Christian evidences the difference that being a follower of Jesus has made in his or her life and (ideally) creates a thirst for Jesus within that lost person.

Because of this, it is unfortunate that most Christians take an adversarial approach to lost people rather than a service approach to them. I know that I myself tend to say of lost people who do me wrong turns, “How can I get even with them?” rather than, “How can I serve them?” I mean, let’s admit it, these commands from Jesus are pretty hard to swallow and even harder to live out.

And yet here they stand, right where they have stood for 2,000 years. So tell me, Christian, are you obedient enough to put the commands into action? The next time a lost person treats you badly, will you force yourself to think, “What good thing can I do for this person in return?” Again, that’s a difficult assignment. No doubt about that. But if you complete the assignment, you might be amazed at how Jesus uses your actions. Who knows? You might even play a major role in winning that lost person to Christ.

Posted in Adversity, Anger, Attitude, Complaining, Discipleship, Doing Good, Evangelism, God's Work, Good Works, Humility, Influence, Ministry, Persecution, Revenge, Service, Suffering, The Sermon On The Mount, Witnessing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

God’s Mirror

Posted on July 6, 2019 by russellmckinney

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. (James 1:22-24, N.K.J.V.)

A trader from India once asked a European trader to get him a European Bible. The European trader said, “Why? You wouldn’t be able to read it because you can’t read English.” “That’s true,” said the Indian trader, “but I still want a European Bible.”

The European trader asked again, “Why do you want a European Bible?” This time the Indian trader answered by saying, “When a ship brings a trader who is unknown to me but wants to trade with me, I place my Indian translation of the Bible in front of him. If he opens it and reads it, I know that I can trust him. But if he sneers at it or throws it aside, I will have nothing to do with him because I know that I cannot trust him. So, I want to be able to use this same test for the Europeans who come to me to trade.”

Sadly, most of us know that the trader’s simple litmus test doesn’t always ring true. Some of the most devious, crooked, deceptive people in the world claim the title “Christian” and are quick to sing the praises of the Bible when it serves their purposes. Nevertheless, what the trader correctly understood was that the Bible should make a profound moral difference in the life of anyone who reads it.

James 1:22 commands us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. James then illustrates that command by describing a person who merely glances in a mirror and then goes about his business unchanged by what he saw (James 1:23-24). That’s the relationship some people have with the Bible. They read a few verses and then rush off to continue living the way they’ve been living rather than let what they read have a positive moral effect upon their behavior.

The contrast to such a person is the one who doesn’t just read the Bible but lives it out in everyday situations. In keeping with the mirror illustration, this person is like someone who spends quality time in front of the mirror, allows the mirror to do its work of revealing any areas that need work, and then puts in the work to fix the problem areas. Using the Bible in this way allows it to become an effective tool by which God helps the individual clean up his or her conduct. It’s one thing for you to read the Bible; it’s something else for the Bible to read you.

Have you read something in the Bible recently that spoke to a problem area in your life? And if you have, did you apply what you read? You say, “No, I can’t say that I did.” Then what you are telling me is that you glanced at God’s mirror, it showed you your defect, but you didn’t fix the defect. Friend, that’s not making proper use of God’s mirror, and it makes it impossible for you to bring your life in line with God’s word. Therefore, I would encourage you to revisit whatever passage you read, spend some serious time pondering it, and then apply its teachings to your situation. By doing this you’ll make yourself a doer of God’s word rather than just a hearer of it, and you’ll allow God to help you make the appearance of your life more godly.

Posted in Bible Study, Change, Character, Confession, Discernment, God's Will, God's Word, God's Work, Obedience, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, Repentance, Scripture, Sin, The Bible | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Shekinah Glory of God

Posted on July 3, 2019 by russellmckinney

In my previous post, I dealt with the name/word “Ichabod” and how it means “the glory has departed” or “there is no glory.” The “glory” in question is God’s glory, but it’s a specific type of God’s glory. The theological term for it is shekinah.

Don’t bother looking for the word shekinah in either the Old Testament’s original Hebrew or the New Testament’s original Greek because it isn’t there. It’s found in the post-Biblical writings of Jewish rabbis. They use the word to refer to God’s dwelling or abiding. Any place that God chooses to grace with His abiding presence showcases His shekinah glory.

It is fascinating to trace God’s shekinah glory throughout the pages of scripture. The first mention of God’s glory abiding within a place is found in the book of Exodus, which tells us that God’s glory was in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night by which God guided the Israelites as they traveled (Exodus 13:21-22; 16:10). Since God Himself was always in the pillar — whether it was a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire — it makes sense that His glory was in there.

The second mention of God’s shekinah glory is also found in the book of Exodus. In Exodus 24:16-17, we read that the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai. Again, this makes perfect sense because God personally came down to the top of the mountain to meet with Moses and impart to Him the law.

Third, once Moses and the Israelites built the Tabernacle per God’s instructions, God’s shekinah glory moved into it and filled it (Exodus 29:42-46; 40:34-35). The Tabernacle was the portable tent-like complex that served as Israel’s first site of centralized national worship. It was where Israel’s priests offered up Israel’s sacrifices to God.

The Tabernacle complex was completely surrounded by a fence of white linen curtains and consisted of three distinct sections: The Outer Court, The Holy Place, and The Most Holy Place (The Holy of Holies). The Outer Court was where the bronze altar stood. That was the altar upon which Israel’s sacrifices were offered. The Holy Place was exclusively for the priests and held within it The Table of Showbread, the Golden Lampstand, and The Altar of Incense. As for The Most Holy Place (The Holy of Holies) it was where The Ark of the Covenant was kept. Only the High Priest could enter that section, and even he could only do so once a year on the Day of Atonement.

Fourth, God’s shekinah glory remained in the Tabernacle until the time of the story that served as the text for my previous post. For those who didn’t read the post, that story is the one about how the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines during the days when Eli was serving as Israel’s High Priest and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were serving as priests (1 Samuel chapters 2 through 4). Once the Ark of the Covenant was no longer resting inside the Tabernacle’s Holy of Holies, God’s shekinah glory left the Tabernacle.

Phinehas’ widow, as she was dying in childbirth, named her newborn son “Ichabod” (“the glory has departed”). That name symbolized the Tabernacle’s loss of God’s shekinah glory. Even when the Philistines soon returned the Ark of the Covenant to Israel (1 Samuel chapters 5 and 6), there is no mention of God’s shekinah glory returning to the Tabernacle and filling it. I would guess that it did, but perhaps it didn’t.

Fifth, the next time God’s shekinah glory is mentioned in scripture came when Solomon built the Temple to replace the Tabernacle as Israel’s site of centralized national worship. As soon as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Temple and placed inside the Holy of Holies, God’s shekinah filled the Temple (1 Kings 8:1-13). At this point, all was right with Israel’s worship, just as it had once been at the Tabernacle. Unfortunately, over the centuries that followed, Israel’s spiritual state again sunk to a low ebb as idolatry and sin came between the nation and God. This set the stage for the next movement of God’s shekinah glory.

Sixth, the prophet Ezekiel, in a vision, watched God’s shekinah glory depart from Solomon’s Temple in a step-by-step route (Ezekiel 10:1-22). Ezekiel first watched as God’s glory lifted up from between two literal cherub angels (Ezekiel 10:4). The symbolism of this lifting up centers around the fact that on each end of the Ark of the Covenant’s lid (which was called The Mercy Seat) a fashioned cherub angel stood whose wings were spread out to cover the lid. Between the wings of those two fashioned angels was where God met with Israel (Exodus 25:17-22; 2 Kings 19:15; Isaiah 37:16). Therefore, what Ezekiel saw in his vision symbolized God’s glory lifting up from off the lid of The Ark of the Covenant.

Ezekiel watched as God’s shekinah glory lifted up from between the cherub angels and then paused over the threshold of the Temple for a while, as if God was waiting to see if the people would repent and return to Him (Ezekiel 10:4). Then the shekinah glory departed from the Temple’s threshold and was lifted up, along with the literal cherub angels, out of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10:18-19; 11:22-23). The obvious symbolism is that God’s shekinah glory had now departed from Solomon’s Temple and the city of Jerusalem. This departing took place during the lead up to the Babylonians conquering Jerusalem and destroying the Temple.

After the Babylonian’s destruction of Solomon’s Temple, the people of Israel ultimately built another Temple to replace Solomon’s original one (Ezra chapters 1 through 6). Despite the fact that this Second Temple was not nearly as grand or beautiful as Solomon’s had been (Ezra 3:12), God was pleased with it and accepted the worship that took place there. It is significant, however, that the Bible never mentions the shekinah glory of God abiding within or filling that Second Temple. Perhaps not coincidentally the Bible never mentions The Ark of the Covenant being inside that Temple. The fact is, the whereabouts of the Ark have remained unknown since the Babylonian destruction of the Temple.

Israel’s Second Temple actually stood longer than Solomon’s had and remained unchanged for centuries until the Romans conquered Jerusalem and installed Herod the Great as the ruler of the city and the surrounding territories. Herod was a prolific builder, and he oversaw a major expansion and renovation of the Second Temple in an effort to make it as impressive as Solomon’s had been. This Temple, often referred to as Herod’s Temple, is the one that is spoken of in the New Testament. Again, though, there is never any mention in scripture of God’s shekinah glory abiding within or filling that second Temple either before or after Herod’s renovation work.

This shouldn’t be taken to mean, though, that God didn’t honor that Temple. Jesus actually called that Temple “My Father’s house” (John 2:16) and “My house” (Matthew 21:13). Therefore, the point is not that the Second Temple was illegitimate in the eyes of God. Scriptural evidence indicates that it wasn’t. The point is that the Bible makes no specific reference to either The Ark of the Covenant or the shekinah glory of God ever being inside that Temple.

Seventh, where the shekinah (abiding) presence of God first shows up in the New Testament is found in Matthew 1:23. There the angel Gabriel quotes a Messianic prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 in saying of Jesus, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.” The verse then points out that Immanuel means “God with us.” You see, as long as Jesus was with us on planet Earth there was no need for the shekinah glory of God in the Jewish Temple. As John 1:14 describes the situation:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

And now, with all this in mind, we come to the question of where God’s shekinah glory currently abides in this world. Is there such a place? Absolutely!

Following Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven, He kept His promise to send God the Holy Spirit to indwell the body of each saved believer (John 14:26-27; Acts 1:4-8; Romans 8:9-11; Ephesians 1:13-14). What this means is that each Christian’s body is now God’s “temple,” the place in which God dwells and abides in this world (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:14-16). Because of this the Christian should honor God with what he does with his body, puts in his body, or puts on his body. To do anything less is to defile God’s temple. Remember Christian, with every breath you take you are carrying on an ancient tradition of God’s abiding presence. That is an awesome responsibility, and it’s one that you dare not take lightly.

Posted in Angels, Bible Study, Christ's Birth, God's Holiness, God's Work, Holiness, Scripture, The Ark of the Covenant, The Bible, The Holy Spirit, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ichabod

Posted on July 1, 2019 by russellmckinney

Ichabod is an odd name. When you mention it the average person’s mind goes to Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster character in Washington Irving’s famous short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Students of the Bible, however, know that the name actually has a Biblical origin. The birth of the Bible’s Ichabod is recorded as part of the sordid story of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, and it’s one of the saddest tales in scripture.

In the days when the prophet Samuel was young, Israel’s high priest was a man named Eli. Eli was almost 100 years old (1 Samuel 4:15), obese (1 Samuel 4:18), and virtually blind (1 Samuel 4:15). Because of his physical condition he delegated to his two sons the responsibility of sacrificing the offerings the people of Israel brought to the Tabernacle (Israel’s site of centralized national worship). Those two sons were named Hophni and Phinehas.

Unfortunately, Hophni and Phinehas were spiritually lost unbelievers (1 Samuel 2:12) whose wickedness was evidenced in not only the unholy way in which they conducted their priestly duties (1 Samuel 2:13-17) but also in the rank sexual sin that marked their lives (1 Samuel 2:22). How bad were the two men? They were so bad that the Bible actually says the Lord desired to kill them (1 Samuel 2:25).

Their deaths came by way of a battle with the Philistines. As priests Hophni and Phinehas carried Israel’s Ark of the Covenant into the battle, the idea being that Israel’s army couldn’t possibly lose as long as it had the Ark within the ranks. But that assumption proved to be a wrong one as the Philistines won a resounding victory in which Hophni, Phinehas, and 30,000 Israelite soldiers lost their lives (1 Samuel 4:10-11). As for the Ark the Philistines captured it and took it to Philistia.

When all this tragic news reached Eli, he fell off his seat backward and died by means of a broken neck (1 Samuel 4:18). It is at this point that the story turns its attention to Eli’s daughter-in-law, who was the wife of Phinehas. She was far along with a pregnancy on that fateful day, and the news of all the happenings caused her to go into hard labor (1 Samuel 4:19-20). She was able to give birth to a son, but she died as a result of the delivery. Just before she died, she named the boy “Ichabod” and said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark has been captured” (1 Samuel 4:21-22). “Ichabod,” you see, means “the glory has departed” or “there is no glory.”

The Bible’s only other reference to the man Ichabod comes years later when Saul was reigning as Israel’s first king. Even then Ichabod’s name is only used in reference to him being the uncle of a priest named Ahitub (1 Samuel 14:1-3). Other than that single reference, though, we know nothing about the actual person. Perhaps that’s why the name itself has become more well known than the man who originally bore it.

In regards to how the name is used today “Ichabod” has come to symbolize any situation in which God’s glory has departed. The name is most often used in reference to a church or a denomination that has abandoned its Biblical moorings in favor of liberalism and worldliness, but it can be applied to any circumstance that reeks of a lack of God’s presence. And if you are looking for a classic tell-tale sign of an “Ichabod” circumstance, look for a circumstance that is operating without God’s word, in direct contrast to God’s word, or completely outside of God’s word. Remember, God’s presence and God’s word always walk hand in hand. Therefore, if God’s word isn’t part of a situation, it stands to reason that God isn’t part of that situation.

Posted in Backsliding, Church, Coming Judgment, Discernment, Disobedience, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, God's Word, Problems, Rebellion, Scripture, Sin | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What Would You Give Up for Jesus?

Posted on June 28, 2019 by russellmckinney

One day a certain ruler, probably a ruler in a local synagogue, came to Jesus with a question. This ruler was young (Matthew 19:20), wealthy (Matthew 19:22), and lived a moral life by striving to keep God’s commandments (Matthew 19:17-20). Still, even with all that going for him, he wanted to make certain that he had the “salvation” box checked on his life’s to-do list. So, his question to Jesus was, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16, N.K.J.V.).

Jesus responded by first attempting to get the young man to think more deeply about Jesus’ Messiahship and divinity. The young man had called Jesus “Good Master,” but did he truly believe that Jesus was actually God in the flesh? As Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is God” (Matthew 19:17, N.K.J.V.).

Interestingly, though, Jesus didn’t even wait for a response. Instead, He forged right ahead and answered the young man’s question by saying, “But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17, N.K.J.V.). Now the young man’s curiosity was really piqued, and so he quickly asked, “Which ones?” (Matthew 19:18, N.K.J.V.). Jesus then listed a sampling of the multitude of commandments from the Old Testament law: you shall not murder (Exodus 20:13), you shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14), you shall not steal (Exodus 20:15), you shall not bear false witness (Exodus 20:16), honor your father and mother (Exodus 20:12), and love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).

Confidently, the young man asserted, “All these things I have kept from my youth” (Matthew 19:20, N.K.J.V.). Did he truly think that about himself or was he just bragging? The tone of the story suggests that he truly thought his record was spotless. Either way, he then asked Jesus, “What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20, N.K.J.V.).

At that point, Jesus didn’t rebuke the young man or say to him, “Uh, no, you haven’t always kept those commandments.” He just kept the conversation moving by saying, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21, N.K.J.V.). This, as the story soon proves, is the harpoon that Jesus had been loading up since the onset of the conversation.

And, oh, how that harpoon struck deep into the heart of that young man! Once it landed, he had no more responses, no more comebacks, no more questions. The next verse simply says:

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:22, N.K.J.V.)

Obviously, the young man was lacking in the department of loving his poor neighbors as much as he loved himself. As for whatever happened to him, the New Testament never revisits his story. What we can say for sure, though, is that Jesus’ command certainly rocked the guy’s world.

What I want to draw your attention to, however, is the primary lesson this story presents. That lesson is: You will never be the follower of Jesus that He wants you to be as long as anything or anyone stands taller than Him in your life. I’m sure that it wasn’t an oversight that Jesus, in His conversation with the ruler, didn’t list the first of the ten commandments that began the Old Testament law and served as its moral center. That first commandment was: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3, N.K.J.V.). You see, it seems clear that the ruler was placing his wealth ahead of God. Jesus, of course, always knows what’s really going on with us and what is standing between us and full devotion to Him.

Looking at the young man’s life another way, we can say that not only was his wealth his god, it also gave him his identity. Here, it will help us to remember that the Jews of that day believed that God blessed the righteous by granting them worldly wealth. In the Jewish way of thinking, a wealthy person must be a godly person and a poor person must be cursed of God. This mentality made perfect sense to the young ruler because he thought of himself as someone who kept God’s commandments. But what if he lost all his wealth? That would surely be a major blow to his identity as a “godly” person.

With this in mind let me ask you a very personal question: What is it about you that most gives you your identity? Phrasing the question another way, what are you known for? Okay, whatever it is, are you willing to give it up for Jesus if He asks you to? That’s a question that drags each of us out into the deepest waters of dying to self.

Will the businessman abandon the business world if Jesus asks him to? Will the registered nurse quit being a nurse? Will the athlete give up sports? Will the pastor forego the ministry? Will the writer stop writing? Will the school teacher resign? Will the salesman stop selling? Will the chef stop preparing meals? Will the politician get out of politics? Will the policeman quit the force? Will the fireman quit the department? Will the musician give up music? Will the artist give up art?

Someone might argue, “But Jesus would never ask for such a sacrifice.” Oh really? Tell that to James, John, Peter, and Andrew, four men who gave up their fishing profession to follow Jesus. Tell it to Matthew, who gave up his job as a tax collector. Tell it to Saul of Tarsus, who abandoned his identity as a zealous Jew who persecuted Christians when Jesus floored him with the question, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And tell it to the rich young ruler whom Jesus asked to sell all his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow Him. Each of these examples offers vivid proof that Jesus does sometimes ask for such a sacrifice.

So, you say that you love Jesus and will do anything He asks of you? Okay, if your assessment of yourself is accurate, good for you. But then again, could it be that Jesus just hasn’t hit you with the right harpoon yet by asking you to give up that one thing from which you draw your identity, that thing that makes you “you”? I’ll leave that for your consideration the next time you start thinking of yourself as being such a radically devoted follower of Jesus. For the record, it’s a question that I myself must ponder, and I’ll admit that there are times when I’m not so confident in my own answer.

Posted in Backsliding, Brokenness, Business, Change, Choices, Commitment, Decisions, Desires, Discipleship, Dying To Self, Faithfulness, God's Will, Greed, Idolatry, Individuality, Money, Obedience, Politics, Priorities, Prosperity, Sacrifice, Service, Sports, Stewardship, Submission | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Times When God Blessed Lying (post 2 of 2)

Posted on June 26, 2019 by russellmckinney

The Jews, led by Joshua, were at last ready to cross over the Jordan river and start claiming Canaan, the land that God had given them. The problem was that various races of people had been entrenched in that land for centuries and had no plans to relinquish it. This meant that warfare was inevitable. If the Jews wanted to possess their land and settle it, they would have to take it through battle.

The greatest test for Israel’s army would be the first one: the city of Jericho, with its massively thick wall surrounding it. To make preparations for the battle, Joshua sent two men to spy out the city. After making their way into the city, the spies hid out in the house of a prostitute named Rahab (Joshua 2:1). This was good cover because, as sordid as it might sound, two men visiting a woman of ill repute wouldn’t create much suspicion. Furthermore, Rahab’s house was located literally on top of a section of Jericho’s wall (Joshua 2:15). That location would make for a quick getaway if the spies were discovered.

As events soon proved, the hideout came in very handy. Somehow Jericho’s king got word that two Jewish spies had entered the city and were at Rahab’s house (Joshua 2:2-3). So, the king sent messengers to Rahab demanding that she bring out the men. Rahab, however, hid the men atop the roof of her house (Joshua 2:6). When the king’s messengers asked her about the men, she said, “Yes, they were here, but I didn’t know they were spies, and they left at dark as the gate into the city was being shut for the night. I don’t know where they went after they left the city, but you should be able to catch them if you go after them (Joshua 2:4-5).

Once the messengers were gone Rahab said to the two spies, “Since I have shown you kindness, please spare my life as well as the lives of my father, my mother, my brothers, and my sisters when you conquer this city (Joshua 2:12-13). The spies agreed to the request on the condition that Rahab and her family would keep their secret until after God had given Israel the victory (Joshua 2:14). Rahab then used a rope to let the men escape down the wall beneath her house (Joshua 2:15). She also advised them to hide in the local mountains for three days until the king’s searchers gave up on finding them (Joshua 2:16).

Famously, the sign that would let Israel’s soldiers know to spare Rahab’s family would be a scarlet cord hung in the window from which Rahab had lowered the spies down the wall (Joshua 2:17). Rahab was to bring her entire family inside her house. As long as they were there, they would be spared (Joshua 2:18-21).

All of this, of course, played out per the agreement. As for how Rahab’s house wasn’t destroyed when God brought down Jericho’s wall (Joshua 6:20), there are different explanations. Probably the best one is that the section of the wall that God brought down was specifically the section that held the city gate. In other words, God might not have leveled the walls in total. Perhaps He left standing the small section where Rahab’s house was located.

But now let’s get back to Rahab’s boldfaced lie. Unlike the story of Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15-21), where there might be a possibility that those two women didn’t actually lie, there is no doubt whatsoever that Rahab told a big one. Still, despite her lie — to say nothing of her means of employment — the Bible sings her praises. Hebrews 11:31 says of her:

By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she received the spies with peace. (N.K.J.V.)

Similarly, James 2:25 says of her:

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? (N.K.J.V.)

Okay, so what are we to do with this in light of the following passages (all from the N.K.J.V.)?

  • These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue… (Proverbs 6:16-17)
  • Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. (Proverbs 12:22)
  • A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies shall perish. (Proverbs 19:9)
  • Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25)
  •  Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him… (Colossians 3:9-10)

The best way to understand the story of Rahab is to say that God blessed the woman’s actions rather than her words, just as He had previously done with the actions of Shiphrah and Puah. Whatever else we might say about Rahab she had full faith that Israel’s God was going to win the victory over Jericho. She even told those spies, “…the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11, N.K.J.V.). Frankly, she had more faith than some of the Jews did. You don’t get listed in the “hall of faith” in the book of Hebrews if you don’t have an uncommon level of faith in the true and living God (Hebrews 11:31).

The hard, cold fact of the matter is that even though God is very much against lying, He oftentimes has to hit a straight lick with a crooked stick if He wants to get anything done in this world. Therefore, in the cases of Shiphrah, Puah, and Rahab, He chose to focus on the greater good that allowed His will to get done rather than the less-than-ideal details of how that good came to pass. What would be really fascinating to know is how God would have accomplished His will in both situations if all three women hadn’t lied. Unfortunately, that is information we don’t have.

In conclusion, as I bring this post and this two-part study to a close, the takeaway from these two stories is not that the ends always justifies the means or that God winks at the sin of lying. No, there are far too many other passages and stories that disprove both notions. The takeaway is that God is a merciful God who understands inner motives just as much as He understands outer deeds. You see, if you think about it, the lies of Shiphrah, Puah, and Rahab weren’t spoken to cover their sins, attain wealth, or prevent God’s will from happening. They were spoken to save lives and to bring God’s will to pass. God places great value upon each of those motivations

Lastly, another takeaway is that God is great enough to not be restricted by His own moral standards when He wants to get something done. This is how He was able to bless the polygamous marriages of the Old Testament era and use the offspring from those marriages in His plans and purposes. It’s also how He was able to use and bless other less-than-perfect individuals such as Samson, David, Peter, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, and Saul of Tarsus. For that matter, He even used idol-worshiping rulers such as Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar and Persia’s Cyrus the Great to accomplish His purposes. All of these examples show us that God can use (even bless) anybody He chooses, and that includes lying women who have good intentions. This doesn’t give any of us a get-out-jail-free card to lie, but it at least helps us to understand God and His written word a little better.

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Two Times When God Blessed Lying (post 1 of 2)

Posted on June 24, 2019 by russellmckinney

Egypt’s new Pharaoh was dealing with what he believed was a national crisis. Years earlier a race of non-Egyptians — Jews to be precise — had settled in Egypt and had since multiplied so prolifically that they had become a threat to national security (Exodus 1:7). Pharaoh’s fear was that if an enemy nation went to war against Egypt, the Jews would align themselves with the enemy and in so doing make Egypt easy pickings (Exodus 1:9-10). While the Jews had showed no evidence that they would do such a thing, the freshly minted Pharaoh wasn’t about to take any chances.

His plan was to make the Jews the slaves of Egypt and use them as free labor to build two new supply cities in Egypt. To force the Jews to do the work, Pharaoh appointed cruel taskmasters to oversee the labor (Exodus 1:11). Evidently, in his way of thinking, this plan had the potential of accomplishing three important goals. First, if the Jews worked hard all day, they would be too tired to go to war against the Egyptians. Second, if they were too tired to have sexual relations at night, that would curtail their population increase. Third, if nothing else, the plan would get a couple of needed cities built.

But a funny thing happened with Pharaoh’s plan. The more the Egyptians afflicted the Jews and made them work, the more the Jews multiplied (Exodus 1:12). This increase caused the dread of the Jews to settle even more heavily upon the Pharaoh and his fellow Egyptians (Exodus 1:13). Consequently, Pharaoh doubled down on his plan by having his taskmasters inflict even more cruelty upon the Jews by forcing them to do all manner of menial jobs, particularly anything having to do with making bricks, making mortar, and laying bricks (Exodus 1:13-14). To the Jews, doing this work in the Egyptian heat was akin to working inside an iron furnace (Deuteronomy 4:20).

In addition to the increased workload, Pharaoh also met with Shiphrah and Puah, the two Jewish midwives. (Many believe these two women were the “supervisors” of an entire group of Jewish midwives.) Pharaoh’s command to Shiphrah and Puah was simple. If a Jewish woman gave birth to a daughter, the child could live, but if the woman gave birth to a son, the son was to be killed (Exodus 1:15-16). Despite the fact that Pharaoh’s plan, if carried out to the letter, would eventually result in no Jewish males for the work force, he figured that was a price worth paying if it capped the population of the Jews.

So, did Shiphrah and Puah carry out the plan? The answer is found in Exodus 1:17:

But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. (N.K.J.V.)

As you might expect, it didn’t take Pharaoh long to figure out that there were some new Jewish baby boys in Egypt, and so he summonsed Shiphrah and Puah and demanded an explanation (Exodus 1:18). And how did they answer him? Exodus 1:19 tells us:

And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.” (N.K.J.V.)

Okay, you Bible scholars, does this response from Shiphrah and Puah amount to a lie? Before you answer perhaps I’d better point out that the next verse, Exodus 1:20, says:

Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. (N.K.J.V.)

Keep in mind now that we are dealing with the same God who would later strike Ananias and Sapphira dead for lying to the early church (Acts 5:1-11). What do we do, then, with this answer from Shiphrah and Puah? Well, generally speaking, there are only two possibilities. They are:

  1. Shiphrah and Puah didn’t lie because God supernaturally saw to it that the Jewish mothers gave quick births that allowed the mothers time to hide their baby boys before the midwives even arrived on the scene.
  2. Shiphrah and Puah did lie but God blessed them for their life-saving actions rather than their lying words. Putting it another way, He blessed them because they obeyed Him rather than Pharaoh (Acts 5:29).

While the temptation is to conservatively err on the side of caution by believing that Shiphrah and Puah didn’t lie, there is another Biblical story that seems to contradict that interpretation. I say this because in that second story God clearly blesses the telling of a definite lie. That’s the story that we will look at in the next post, and so I’ll ask you to please stay tuned until then. And in the meantime, I’ll also ask you not to run off too far with Shiphrah and Puah’s actions by citing them as your excuse for telling any lies of your own. (lol)

Posted in Choices, Communication, Decisions, God's Will, God's Work, Lying, Personal Holiness, Truth | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment