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“My supplicants, My dispersed people,
will bring an offering to Me.” [Zephaniah 3:10 ESV]
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Working through Zephaniah 3, one comes across an interesting word choice in verse 10. God describes the people who in His later kingdom will gather to worship and enjoy Him, calling them the Hebrew term עֲתָרַ [atara]. In English, it’s most often translated “worshippers” or “supplicants.” The etymology is from incense burned volitionally; thus atara has to do with a willing sacrifice. These are people who want to worship the Lord.
David Wade, valued member of my pulpit team, wrote me a great note as I was wrestling through the meaning and impact of atara in verse 10:
That’s a key to real worship – both in the millennial kingdom and now. One must know that we are nothing without the Triune God. Accepting that, we can revel in God’s acceptance of us through Jesus. We become willing worshippers, supplicants, in everything we do.
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August 25, 2016 | Supplicants
August 18, 2016 | Promises
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“The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.”
[Zephaniah 3:17 ESV]
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Back in the saddle
Our far-flung community of Christ-followers is such a blessing! I am so grateful for those who wrote to check on me while I was away on sabbatical. Thank you! Next time I have a protracted absence, I plan to alert everyone so there is no unnecessary concern.
Promises!
Back from sabbatical, I have begun teaching through the book of Zephaniah. Knowing that many of us enjoy preparing our hearts with background information, I have made my personal study notes AVAILABLE HERE.
Zephaniah is built around some of God’s incredible promises, and I look forward to hearing what you learn from the prophecy. Though the series will not appear on All The Difference radio for a while, all who study with me online and at Frisco Bible Church can begin the conversation now. Just drop me a line so I can grow along with you.
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June 30, 2016 | Save the Children
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May he vindicate the afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy
And crush the oppressor. [Psalm 72:4 NASB]
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If and only if
The Supreme Court of the US ruled this week that female Americans don’t need the basic requirements of a hospital when they engage in surgery on their bodies – if and only if the surgery involves killing an unborn child. This decision was not unexpected but exemplifies the tragic culture of death that permeates much of the modern west (with apologies to Ireland, Finland, Mexico, and Poland, who likely don’t deserve to be lumped in with the rest of us worshipping at the altar of Molech.)
Molech was the first spokesperson for “choice” (look it up)
I received a number of fascinating comments in response to the court’s decision. Here are my favorites:
We battle not against flesh and blood
He’s right. The war against this culture of death continues. In fact, the outcome looks brighter every day, despite legal setbacks. Frankly, when you win acceptance of your definition, you are assured eventual victory. For example, when “gay” became accepted in place of “sodomy,” the cultural die was cast. In the same way, nearly every American refers to an “unborn child” instead of “foetus.” That all but assures the eventual protection of babies in the USA.
Of course, the most important battles occur in our own hearts. We who know YHWH must rejoice in Him, especially as He transforms us into destroyers of our own “high places” of idolatry. (See Habakkuk 3). Starting with self, may we see idolatry, selfishness, and nonsense defeated daily. Then, may truth spread heart by heart – a process that makes all the difference, even in the lands of Molech.
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June 23, 2016 | Aliens
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“If a foreigner resides with you and wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may participate; he will become like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat it.” [Exodus 12:48 HCSB]
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Open door policy
Exodus 12:48 introduces a shocking proviso: aliens can partake of the Passover celebration. Of course, they have to first become Jews. That’s why they must be circumcised. This is a remarkably unique provision in the ancient world. Anyone could become a part of Israel and receive full redemption as pictured in the Passover. No other ancient peoples allowed anything like this kind of complete acceptance. It shows that the YHWH relationship is what matters, not race. If you trust in the God of grace revealed through His word to Abraham’s family, then you are in.
The door must be marked with blood
However, an imposition is sometimes pressed on to this text today. This part of Moses’ Law is often misused by people who likely mean well. They call for modern countries to take in refugees and cite the Passover acceptance as a biblical precedent. While scripture commands that compassion be shown to all in need, one can’t claim that Exodus 12 says to give all of a society’s benefits to an alien.
If one really wants to apply the OT standard, then those who are allowed in must become citizens and repudiate their old life in order to receive full benefits. That’s why verse 45 excludes the temporary resident. The uncircumcised are not vested in the community. To receive full benefits of the Passover, the alien must trust YHWH and join His covenant community which is open to all.
The door leads to heaven
Of course, the most important application of this has nothing to do with earthly nations, but rather with God’s heavenly kingdom. The Apostle Paul magnificently builds on Israel’s Passover, displaying how inclusive salvation comes to all who believe in the ultimate Passover Lamb. He writes to the majority Gentile church in Ephesus:
At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world…When the Messiah came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away [Gentiles] and peace to those who were near [Jews]…So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household. [Ephesians 2:12, 17, 19 HCSB]
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June 16, 2016 | Barnabas
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Pharaoh said to him, “Leave me! Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.” [Exodus 10:28 HCSB]
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Recently, a passage we were studying raised the uncomfortable reality that those who speak God’s truth will very often face harsh opposition. Powerful governments and cultures will threaten and persecute, as Jesus predicted. Yet, God’s speakers, knowing the love of the Lord for all, cannot remain silent.
While soberly considering all this, I received an email from a missionary friend – a note that captures the spirit of ambassadorship bestowed on Christians. He wrote about a friend of ours, code-named Barnabas, who has for years been a powerful force for Jesus in the Middle East:
Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” See why he was given that name? Whatever our situation, may we be like that.
* Note: In the phraseology of that place, “Christian” refers to a family name, not necessarily a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus.
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June 9, 2016 | Sovereign God
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But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go. [Exodus 8:32 HCSB]
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had told Moses. [Exodus 9:12 HCSB]
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I recently taught on the fascinating juxtaposition in Exodus regarding Pharaoh’s hard heart. 10 times the text declares that Pharaoh hardened his own heart while 10 times Exodus reveals that God hardened Pharaoh. Many of us were astounded by this bi-partite truth, wowed that scripture shows complete human responsibility at the same time it displays God’s utter control of all.
We simply cannot reconcile these into a tidy system without violating one or the other. To illustrate the useful and necessary tension in this kind of biblical truth, my old teacher Stan Toussaint draws a house with a pitched roof so steep that it cannot be seen except one side at a time. One side is a tin roof. The other is tile. The human observer can only see one at a time and is convinced that the surface he perceives is the whole. As Dr. Toussaint said to me, “Only God who is above it understands how the true roof is both at the same time.”
Interestingly, much of my mail after the lesson came from dear Christians wrestling with God’s sovereignty. To help those who struggle seeing this “tile” side of God’s roof, here are a couple of logical distillations of scripture from John Piper’s book Doctrine Matters.
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