God in the DEtails

 It is November, how quickly this year has gone!  I invite you to take a good 'dose' of the medicine depicted in the image below.  Do you know that a dose of 'gratitude' will prevent grumbling, anxiety, stress, fear, discouragement?   Are you feeling the symptoms of any of those conditions?   Gratitude, take a spoonful ... its a natural supplement! 

 

A Man we have not Met

The thoughts I want to share with you today concern a Bible character you have probably never heard of. His name is Elishama. Am I right you would not have recognized his name as a Bible character if you heard it?

I am always curious about the characters we don't know much about and yet they were important enough to have their names recorded in our scriptures.

There is a special reason  Elishama's name is mentioned in God's word which I will share at the end.

Okay, who is Elishama?

Elishama was a scribe , a prince , a secretary in the palace of the King in Jerusalem.

He served the ruling king as the head of the council that governed the affairs of the King.

At the point Elishama steps into our scripture timeline there was a new King. A king who concerned Elishama because King Jehoiakim was not proving to be as godly a king as his father Josiah. King Josiah is an interesting character whose story I may explore another time but Josiah was a king who sought God and brought healing and restoration to the people who had suffered under a wicked king, Josiah's father...

And now, I'm sure, Elishama was concerned that everything Josiah had done would be for naught.

The little we know about Elishama is because of the part he played in Jeremiah's life.

The story is found in Jeremiah 36.  

God had told Jeremiah to write down God's words of judgement against Israel and Judah.

A proclaimed fast brought all the people to Jerusalem and at this gathering Baruch, Jeremiah's personal scribe read all the word's he had recorded by Jeremiah's dictation.

A man standing in the crowd,  by the name of Michaiah, listened and heard every word Baruch read.

He realized this was a very important message, one that required a serious response.

He knew who needed to know what was going on, namely Elishama.

 Michaiah knew where to find him - In the King's house, in the scribes chamber or office. He did find him there and found with him his  fellow-scribes, Delaiah,  Elnathan,  Gamariah and Zedikiah.

Michaiahl informed them regarding why he had sought them and they agreed to hear what Jeremiah's message was. We note that  Michaiah had a good memory because he was able to repeat all the words he had heard Baruch read..

When Elishama heard the message he knew the King had to hear it, but first he had to be sure the message was indeed given through Jeremiah.  A servant was sent to bring Baruch and the scroll to the scribes' chamber. 

Baruch came and they asked him to sit down and read it again, which he did.

Now thoroughly  alarmed the scribes looked at one another in fear. What were they  going to do?

First they questioned Baruch if he had truly written down the words Jeremiah had spoken.  Barack was convincing in his answer, yes the words were the words the Spirit gave Jeremiah.

Elishama understood the danger Jeremiah was in. The message would more likely anger the King than make him receptive  to respond in repentance.

Elishama's mind searched for what he could do.   One thing he could do, warn Baruch and Jeremiah. ""Go .." he said to Baruch ,"go and hide   you and Jeremiah, and don't let anyone know where you are."

Elishama then took the scroll and hid it in his chamber. He did not trust what the king would do, when he learned of the message and Elishama wanted to protect the scroll.  He and his three friends went to the King and told him all the words that were on the scroll.

The King demanded  to see the scroll for himself. He sent  Jehudi tp get the  scroll. hidden in Elishama's chamber. 

When Jehudi returned, he ordered him to read it.

The King was sitting in his winter house in front of the hearth where a fire was burning.

Jehudi had read only three columns and the King's anger burned hot! He grabbed the scroll and  a scribe"s knife.

Elishama and his friends begged the king not to destroy the scroll.

But the King and his servant had no fear of God, and had no stirring of repentance in their hearts. 

The King continued cutting up the scroll and threw the pieces into the hearth-fire until it was completely consumed.

The King then ordered the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah, but thanks to the Elishama's warning they were hidden and the Lord covered their hiding place so they could not be found.

Name meanings are important in the Bible and I found the meanings of the names of Elishama and his friends interesting.

Elishama - God hears

Elnathan - God has given

Delaiah -  the Lord delivers 

Gamariah - God has completed

We could put the name meanings together and they tell the story..."God hears, and has given deliverance and has completed His work!"

Why is it important that Elishama's name was included in Jeremiah's story?

Because it is included we know that we can trust that even the details in the Bible are true. .

How?

In 1986 archeologists working just outside of Jerusalem, found a seal that had on it the words "Elishama, servant of the King"

I love that the Lord took the care to provide proof that His word is true in the smallest detail. If God is so careful to confirm the truth of His word, can we not also trust Him with the details of our lives?  A God who cares enough to count the hair on our head (which means a new count every morning) can we not trust that He is also faithful to keep all His promises to us ? What an awesome God we serve!!!

 Rehoboam - A Man, A King

There is something about Rehoboam that intrigues me so I thought I would spend some time studying this man who is rarely talked about. 

His name means "an enlarged people'.  So often in the Bible names point to the name-bearer's character or something that defines his life. This is true for Rehoboam. It was under his reign that the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms  -  Israel and Judah. 

Rehoboam was Solomon's son. What a lineage he came from, King David was his grandfather. I'm sure King David died before Rehoboam was born, but I'm sure he heard many stories over and over again  about his famous grandfather. 

His mother was an Ammonite, a people who were not highly thought of by the Israelites. They had sided along with the Moabites to call for Balaam to curse Israel . So why would Solomon allow Rehoboam to marry an Ammonite?  It is thought that  Naamah was the daughter of Shobi, an Ammonite who brought generous supplies to David and the people with him in the desert because Shobi said, "the people are hungry and thirsty and weary in the desert." When you read the list of supplies he brought (II Sam. 17:27-29) we can surmise that he was very wealthy. It is always noteworthy and humbling when an enemy reaches out in kindness, so it is not unreasonable to conclude that David , as he rewarded others, wanted to do something to honor Sobi and so David arranged a marriage between his son Solomon, and Sobi's daughter. Naamah.  

She is the only wife of Solomon that we have a name for - all his other 1000 wives are simply said to have come from all the pagan nations -  maybe Naamah is named only because it was her son who inherited the throne from his father. Interestingly, she is mentioned twice in I Kings 14:21 and 31. 

Rehoboam's name does not go down in history as one of the best kings of Judah but he was not all 'bad',.  At the time that he ruled, Judah "did evil in the sight of the Lord", so he had to deal with a people who were in rebellion against God. 

One of the first things Rehoboam did after he became king is an interesting story.  

A man by the name of Jeroboam had gained favor in the eyes of Solomon who  made him the CEO over all the labour force.  Then one day, a prophet named Ahijah came to Jeroboam and prophesied that God was going to give him 10 tribes of Israel.  When this prophecy was told to Solomon, he became very angry. Not unlike the anger of King Herod when he heard another  king had been born.  It seems out of character for Solomon but maybe he did not believe this prophecy was of the Lord.  In any event, he sought to kill Jeroboam and to escape Jeroboam fled to Egypt and remained there until Solomon's death. 

When Jeroboam heard that Rehoboam was now King, he came to present him with a request and a promise. If Rehoboam would grant his request then Jeroboam and his people would pledge their allegiance to Rehoboam.  The request was that Rehoboam lightened the load of required service and taxes that Solomon had demanded from them. 

Rehoboam listened and to his credit sought advice before making his decision. 

He consulted the elders who had advised his father Solomon, but he also consulted his peers. 

The elders in their wisdom advised that if Rehoboam would treat the people kindly, they would serve him with loyalty and  gladness. 

Rehoboam's peers gave the opposite advice.  They advised him to make the load even heavier, to make the burdens on the people even heavier than Solomon had ever ordered. Solomon had inflicted pain with whips, but Rehoboam should chastise them with scourges. 

This is the part of the story I find intriguing.  Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and followed the advice of his peers - young men who had not yet lived long enough to gain any wisdom. Wrong choice, right? 

BUT ...look at what the verse says (II Chronicles 10:15) "So the king did not listen to the people, for the turn of affairs was from God that the Lord might fulfill His word which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah."   

Remember it was Ahijah that had  prophesied that Jeroboam would rule over 10 tribes.  

After 3 days Jeroboam and his people came to hear what Rehoboam had decided and when they heard that Rehoboam was going to make things worse, not better, they rebelled and decided to leave saying, "We want nothing to do with you, Judah, we declare we have no inheritance with you!"   

Rehoboam tried to bring Jeroboam and the 10 tribes back into submission, to reunite them with Judah's two tribes,  but God sent word to Rehoboam through Shemaish, the man of God,  that he was not to fight against Jeroboam and his people because this division was of God. 

From that time on, Israel was two nations,  Jeroboam ruling over the 10 tribes that became known as Israel, as Ahijah had prophesied,  and Rehoboam ruled over the two tribes that became known as Judah. 

Rehoboam took the wrong advice, but it was 'of God' ??  It made me realize that even when we see people in leadership make horrible decisions, God is not out of control.  He has already planned how everything will work into His plan and purposes. 

We know by reading through the succession of kings over Israel and those over Judah  that  both Israel and Judah had wicked kings , Israel had almost NO good kings, we find by far most of the godly kings ruling over Judah. . Even  the Levites deserted their common lands and possessions and came to join Judah because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests before the Lord. 

So we see that God's plan was to separate for Himself a 'remnant' of Israel that He could bring through to the coming of the Redeemer. 
God used Rehoboam,  even his sin and rebellion, to bring about His purposes. 

When Rehoboam had established his kingdom and rule, his success went to his head and  he forsook the law of God and took the people with him. 

It says in his epitaph ((II Chron. 12:14)  that "he did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord" 

Then the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem - God removed His hand of protection-   because they had transgressed against the Lord.  
If we want to go our own way instead of following God's way, we bring upon ourselves the 'evil' that is the result and consequences of choosing contrary to God.  

But God is always gracious and desiring to draw the people back into His 'goodness'.  

So God did not forsake Rehoboam. He sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam and rebuked the king for having forsaken the Lord.

Rehoboam responded to the rebuke with humility and repentance, declaring that the Lord was righteous in all His doings.  God has never turned away a humble heart and here too, He forgave Rehoboam and said He would not allow the King of Egypt to destroy  Jerusalem and its people,  but He would allow Egypt to put them under tribute . They would have to serve Egypt. 

Why did God do that?  He gives us the answer.  He wanted to teach His people to know the difference between serving  God and serving an ungodly ruler/master. 

Often God will forgive and restore but will leave some of the consequences of our sin in place to teach us something we need to learn  or to help us remember to stay in obedience to God. 

The King of Egypt carried away all the treasures of the house of the Lord as well as the king's house - he took everything and we know that would have been an incredible loss.  Solomon's riches are legend.  The king also took the gold shields that Solomon had made.  Rehoboam replaced them, by making bronze shields (obviously didn't have enough to remake them in gold)  and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard who guarded the entrance of the king's house.  So then whenever the king entered the house of the Lord , the guard would go and bring them out, then when Rehoboam finished his temple service, would  take them back again to the guardroom. 

Did Rehoboam end well?  We are told that when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him.  So my impressions is that like Solomon who turned back to God at the end of his life, so also  Rehoboam finally became humble and wise  

(note - someone may wonder at the verse in II Chron. 12:14, We might take it to mean it is a statement about the end of his life -- but it isn't.  It is simply pointing out that he 'did evil' when he turned away from the Lord - it is a look back to before Egypt attacked Jerusalem. His story does not give any indication that his repentance and humility did not last to the end of his life.) 

We find it easy to make sweeping judgements against Bible characters because we are just given the bare bones about them and we judge from our perspective.  We forgot that maybe we are looking in a mirror that puts the finger on failures in our own lives. 
When we look at Bible characters, we can see how human nature is the same in all of us.  We all fail, none of us are perfect. But what God looks at is not if we fall, but if we repent and get back up.  I love the Proverbs 24:16  verse that defines the difference between the godly and the ungodly. "For the righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity."  - meaning the righteous man falls and gets up again, the wicked man falls and stays down! 

 Good and Evil 

The phrase "battle between good and evil" is one we have heard all our lives and it is so common we don't stop to think about it.  Is there really a battle between good and evil?  And who is fighting it?  God obviously would be fighting for the good, that leaves Satan to fight for evil, but can God ever be challenged enough to make it a battle?   

Actually, there is no battle between good and evil.  The battle is between choosing God or choosing against God.  Evil is the result and the consequences of choosing against God. 

We have this thread woven throughout scripture.  Let's take a look!  

Generational Consequences 

The 'battle' begins from the very first pages with Cain and Abel.  Cain chose against God and was banished from the very presence of God and separation from his family.  "Good" did not follow him and we know that the consequences of his actions were felt by his descendants. 

Then we have Isaac and Ishmael.  Isaac chose for God and was blessed and through him the godly  family line was continued. Ishmael chose against God and was sent into the wilderness where we know his generational line did not follow a godly one. 

Then we have Jacob and Esau.  Jacob chose God and was blessed along with his descendants after him.  Esau chose against God and he  lived a life away from God, incurring not only the disapproval of his family but of God who said He 'hated him'.  

National Consequences 

We have so many stories of kings who chose for or against God and their choices either brought peace and blessing to the nation or war and suffering. 

The example that readily comes to mind is the story of King Saul and King David.  Saul  choosing his own way instead of God's lived in mental torment and brought hardship and suffering not only to himself but to the nation.  David chose God and the nation under his rule was blessed and David's throne points to the throne of the coming King of Kings.  David's life still blesses 'God's people' through his beautiful Psalms. 

Family Consequences 

We have the story of Elimelech, who chose to flee to Moab, the country God told His people to avoid.  He lost his life there along with both of his sons and brought suffering to his wife.  The two daughters in law each made their choice.  Orpah chose against God and we never hear from her again.  Ruth chose for God and was blessed - she became the grandmother of King David and is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. 

We also have the example of King David, when he chose against God to take Bathsheba and kill her husband.  The consequences were felt by his family and they suffered because of his sin. 

Personal Consequences 
Even  personal lives are shaped by our choice to either follow God or live in rebellion to him. We have the well known story of Abigail and Ahab.   Ahab was a wicked man who cared only for his own desires and reaped the consequences.  Abigail chose God and was blessed.  When her husband died she became King David's wife. 

We have Abraham and Lot  -Abraham chose God and was blessed in so many ways, not the least of which was having a son in his old age.   Lot while he did not out rightly reject God still made decisions that caused him to live with the consequences.  He selfishly chose the better land when given the choice by Abraham. He moved to Sodom and 'vexed his soul'  living in 'evil' cities.  He lost his daughters to Sodom men,  he was taken captive with all he had - had to be rescued by Abraham - but then he lost him home, his wife was turned into a pillar of salt and his daughters became pregnant by him. 

A Personal Example 

I worked for Eaton's for thirteen years.  It was a very good company to work for. The employees were valued and well treated.  The motto was "the customer is always right".  
Timothy Eaton who founded the department store was a strong Christian and he build his store on godly principles.  One thing he did was decree that tobacco would never be sold in his stores. He put it 'iron-clad' into the original bylaws of how the business would be run.  The business grew and prospered.  It was the only department store that operated consistently in the black.  I looked forward every year to getting the signed Christmas card from Timothy Eaton's daughter - the mother of the Eaton boys that inherited the store on their father's death. 

The business continued to thrive until the mother Eaton died, then the boys thought they could change things to suit their own ideas.  I came in one morning and to my surprise there was a new area set up with a variety of tobacco products.  I asked , "How is that possible?"  
Actually it wasn't possible.  Timothy Eaton's order was held up in court and in a few days the tobacco disappeared.  Other things began to change as well.  The 'customer was NOT always right', and the employees were no longer treated as well.   
And for the first time the department store began to slip into the red financially.  The Eaton boys tried to keep it going, making more and more changes but the farther they moved from their grandfather's godly ideals, the worse things got , until , as we remember, the stores had to close their doors.  
So sad that the Eaton's boys chose against God instead of following the example their grandfather and father set before them.  

Sometimes God's way looks difficult .... and very often our own way looks enticing, offering the very things we desire,  but God's goodness ALWAYS trumps the best we could choose or wish for ourselves.  We cannot lose when we choose God and His ways, just as we cannot win if we choose to go our own way.  There is NO GOOD outside of God's goodness, He created us and He knows exactly what we need.  To choose against Him and His will for us is to open the door to 'evil' because outside of God's goodness that is all there is. 

Little Things

 . I want to express this thought on your heart today.  YOU are important to someone simply because you are alive!!!  Just by being who you are, you make a difference in someone's life - whether you are aware of it or not !!  EVERY .... SINGLE....ONE...OF... YOU !  And of course, it goes without saying that you are important to God - If you weren't He would not have 'created you' !!  

Little things like....

The smile of a baby...

A young man holding the door for you...

A phone call, "how are you?"

A text from a grandchild...

A hug...

A sweet taste in your mouth,  the fragrance of a candle...

Little things  can make your day...

But Little things can also ruin your day...

An angry word...

Forgotten vanilla in a white cake...

A single misstep...

A dropped china cup..

Someone pulling into the parking stall you were waiting for...

And for those of us that are old enough....- Remember how embarrassing it was to discover you had a run in your stocking...or  the back seam was not perfectly straight??

We laugh today realizing it was a very little thing that should never have been allowed to be as important as we made it!!

But it is still true that often it is the little things that make or break our day! 

A Tiny Powerful Word

There is a little tiny two letter word that is perhaps a word we should be careful to pay  more attention to.

That little word is "IF".  Have you ever counted how many times you use it in a day? Or hear it? Google couldn't find anyone who had counted...BUT someone did count how many times it is used in the Bible.

1,637 times - 993 in  the OT  and 602 In the NT.

Just as a comparison the word Faith is used 336 in KJV bible - a hundred or so more times in various other translations, so what is so important about this little word ?

It is interesting to note that 'if' appears as the middle 2 letters of the word 'life'. Could it be that important as to influence our very life? Both now and for eternity?

Let's consider....

The dictionary defines the word 'if' this way...

" introducing a conditional clause or supposition that will happen should a certain event occur"

How many of you appreciate road signs when you are travelling , especially in an unfamiliar city?

That is what this little word IF has the authority and power to do - point  to instruction and direction.

Look at Deuteronomy 11:26...Here the Lord is using this little word to show His people the way to live  under blessing....or the way to live under a curse!

I John 1:6-10 - I John 2:1

I want to focus on this  passage  where the  word 'if' appears 6 times.

The first 'if' points to a 'no exit'. IF our walk does not match our talk, then we are liars living in darkness...whoa...let's not go down that street!!

But immediately following there stands another 'IF' ,this one pointing in another direction. IF we walk in the light as He is in the light it will take us down a good path - one where we have fellowship one with another and Christ' s blood cleanses us from all sin.

Good path !!  

The next  IF is pointing to another ' no-exit - if we deny that we have sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

BUT....Have you noticed how this little word always points one way - then turns to point out another way? Showing us 2 directions we can go in?

Look at the next IF ...IF we confess our sins- own them, acknowledge them, repent., then. He is  faithful and just to forgive us AND ti cleanse us from all sin.  Our confession encounters God's just response. God is.not only willing and faithful to forgive but He forgives because He is JUST- He has bound Himself to have to forgive us because not to do so would prove His unfaithfulness.

Note that not only does He promise to forgive but also to cleanse. Do you appreciate the difference?

We attended a family picnic last weekend. It had rained  before we got there. My great-niece,  who is 3,  could not resist playing in the mud the rain had created and got dirty - mud in her hair, on her clothes.

Her mother could have simply forgiven her and the mud would have dried. But no...when we got there the mother was 'cleansing' her daughter. She came back outside with freshly washed hair and clean clothes.

Aren't you thankful Christ doesn't just leave the dried sin on our hearts, but He 'cleanses' us ?

The next  "IF" is in verse 10 where again the road-sign points to where not to go....not to lie about our sin. - unconfessed  sin clings to us and isn't pretty! 

BUT if we look for  the next IF we find it in the first verse of chapter 2 where it points to the promise that Jesus is on our side and He brings us before the Father advocating on our behalf!! What a friend we have in Jesus!!!

So....pay attention to that little word  IF when you come across it in your Bible reading. Its power and authority can be trusted to keep us safe along our life's-journey. And bring us to our final destination!