Category: Saturday Study

Saturday Study

King Nebuchadnezzar (10-8-16)

As we look back over our reading about King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2-4:

The setting is the Babylonian court shortly after Nebuchadnezzar had a troublesome dream that led to insomnia (Dan. 2:1). Ancient Babylonians strongly believed in supernatural forces and looked for omens in the stars, dreams, and even the shapes of animal livers. Nebuchadnezzar could not understand its message, so he called his “magicians … enchanters … sorcerers” and other wise men to help him understand his vision (v. 2).   Anyone could invent a meaning they could attach to the dream, but to give the dream itself without help from the dreamer was a sign of clear inspiration of understanding. That is why Nebuchadnezzar demanded to hear both the dream and its meaning (vv. 3–11).

When no Babylonian wise man could help him, Nebuchadnezzar threatened to kill all of his wise men including Daniel and his friends. But Daniel prayed and God revealed the dream to him.  Before Daniel runs to the king with the interpretation, he sets his heart in the right place by proclaiming the sovereignty of God in his most famous words.

Daniel 2:20-23 “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.

21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;

22 he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

23 To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might,

and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was concerning the empires that would succeed Nebuchadnezzar. Most likely, we are to understand the kingdoms represented by the various part of the statue as follows: head of gold—Babylon; chest and arms of silver—Media- Persia; middle and thighs of bronze—Greece; legs of iron and feet of iron mixed with clay— Rome (vv. 25–43). But the end of the dream is the most remarkable part—a rock not cut by human hands would destroy all these kingdoms and become a mountain so large as to fill the whole earth (vv. 44–45). God’s kingdom, not established by human initiative, would rise victorious during the Roman era. Here we have a clear prediction of Jesus Christ.

In verses 46-49, King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

As we turn to Daniel 3 we read about King Nebuchadnezzar’s self-worship and how he made a huge image of gold and set it up where everyone could see it.  What a blatant move of sinful idolatry.  Mankind is so prone to make ourselves the center of our universe.   The command on the people was that whenever you hear music to bow and worship the image of gold and whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.

Next, we read how Daniel’s three appointed friends would not bow when the music played.

Daniel 3:14 …and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?”

This is a direct attack on God’s command to not have any other gods before him.

It is a direct attack on the exclusivity of Christ who claims that he is the only way, truth and life.

Let me show you how center this is in our culture today.

If you are in the business world: whether you own your own or are in sales or marketing or labor.

The culture plays by the rules that you must be ruthless and ride the line of ethics and honesty in how you do business if you are going to overcome your competitors and make it.  If you are a Christ-bled-for child of God, this is an incredible pressure on you.   Because to not play by the same rules is to likely mean you lose clients or bids or even your job because you are not willing to do what the next guy is. So now this affects your conscience, your livelihood, your character.

This is not just a “WORK” thing. This becomes as core as it gets in your daily life.

If you don’t feel this pressure, then you have likely given into the pressure and are compromising yourself more than you know. You have likely figured out a way to bow to the image at the market center without seeing it or feeling it.

If you feel this pressure, then that is a sign that you understand you are an exile in this land and serve another God whose kingdom is very different than this one.  You embrace the struggle that comes with not bending to the twisted rules of this world in order to honor the God of the kingdom you are in.

In our passage today, we see that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had none of it.

Now, we assume that because they stood so strong against the cultural pressure that they must have been like the Amish set out and removed from the city life.

But they weren’t. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all lived in the center of the city and worked for the very leaders that conquered them.  Daniel was one of the highest advisors to King Neb that there was (much like Joseph was to Pharaoh as the one interpreting his dreams).

But when they were asked to privatize their faith and to compromise their worship of the one true God, they say, “NO and we don’t care what the consequences are”.  Listen to their response…

Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Their response in the face of pending painful death is awesome.

-They believe that God can save them.

-They believe that God will save them.

-But if in his sovereign plan he does not, they still will not bow down to that false image.

This is an awesome example of true devotion and faith.

Despite the level of threat, despite the ability and authority of the rule they are conversing with to carry out their penalty for disobeying, they hold fast full of faith and devotion to God alone.

Now, what is so key in this that we must see here today is that:

they are saying “we do not trust in our God, worship our God, live for our God, suffer for our God because of what we get out of it”, but simply for who he is.

We love God for himself!    Not just for what he can give us!

This unveils for us one of the biggest controversies we have in the church today.

People who claim faith and devotion to God alone.  People who claim to worship God alone

but in the end, when life doesn’t go the way they want it to, they are furious with God.

WHY?  Because deep down, God was just the means to an end.  A greater affection of the heart.

In the end, they want to be God and determine what they need and the way it should be.

Do you see the deception in that? The hypocrisy?

Do you know what you are truly devoted to?  What you truly trust in to live and enjoy life?

The apostle Paul understood this kind of devotion for who God is and not for what he does for us.

“To live is Christ. To die is gain.”    You have heard or said this before.    But do you really get it?

It means the most important thing is God. Not this life. Not my stuff. Not my status, my health, my family.

If I have to lose it all, if I die, if God himself determines I must go into the blazing furnace, then so be it.  WHY?  HOW?

Because I have God.  Because God is my end!  TO LIVE… IS CHRIST!  To die is gain because I get to enjoy and feast with Christ all the more.

Do you see that when these three said, if God doesn’t save us from the fire we still will not bow down.  NO matter what happens next they have already won!   WHY?

Because they are spiritually FIRE PROOF.   They are not clinging to something that they might lose. They are not trying to earn something they still need.   They have God.  They are satisfied in GOD!

These guys said, “You can have it all, but You can’t separate us from God.  So turn the heat up… let’s do this!”

What happens next?  King Neb is furious with these three.  He is steaming. So, what does he do?

He has his men turn up the heat 7 times its normal temperature and has them bound fully clothed and tossed in.   The fire is so hot that the men who put them in die from the heat!!!!

NEXT, Neb sees two shocking things:

1. He sees Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walking around in the blazing furnace.
2. He sees not 3 but 4 men in the fire. The 4^th he says, looks like a son of the gods.

What can we glean from here:   In the Bible, furnaces are a metaphor for trials, suffering and trouble.

Exile doesn’t mean comfort. It doesn’t mean HOME!

When you are in captivity or stuck in a strange and foreign land, you are not comfortable at HOME!

A few things to take away here:

1. While in this life, you will suffer, struggle and experience great trials!  It is inevitable.

Job 5:7- …man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.

1 Peter 4:12- Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.

As Americans, we really struggle with fully accepting this as true. Americans deep down believe if you do life right you will not and should not suffer. The simple answer to that is:   Jesus lived a perfect life and he suffered greatly during his life and in his death.

We need to hold to the truth the apostle Paul gives us “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

1. If you truly trust in God and hold nothing as more valuable than him.  Then WHEN the fire of this life comes you will not burn up but instead it will be to you what FIRE is to GOLD. 

It will refine you at your very core.   Changing you from the inside out. Producing in you a character of the fruit of the spirit that you and I cannot produce ourselves.

But, if you hold onto something as more valuable to you than God the fire will consume you.

Why? Because it has something to cling to and consume!  But in God, you cannot be consumed by the fiery trials. You will instead be refined!

1 Peter 1:7 – These trials have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

The good news for us today is: “God says if you trust in me I will walk with you in the furnace of your trials and suffering”.

Isaiah 43:1-3 “…Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

2 …When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…”

I will be with you. Jesus said it to us before ascending to heaven.  “I will always be with you.”

How is he with us? The same way he was with the three men in the furnace.

We see in this encounter- the appearance of THE ANGEL OF THE LORD.

Did you catch it?     King Neb said it himself in verse 28:

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him.”

The angel of the Lord in the Old Testament can be appreciated only if we understand him as a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ himself.

Why is this good news to you and I today?

How does this help us walk through the fires and trials and struggles of our lives here and now?

You will feel Jesus Christ walking with you through the furnaces you face in this life to the degree that you know that Jesus was willing to be thrown into the ultimate furnace for you!

Now at the very end of this passage, King Neb says it right. Verse 29- …no other god can save in this way…

If you cling to any self-righteousness… any other God… any other power and try to walk through the furnace, it will not be able to save or sustain you.  You will be forever consumed with agony.

Jesus Christ suffered for me not that I might not suffer, but so when I suffer I might become like him who is victorious over suffering unto eternal LIFE with Yahweh!  No other god can save in this way.   AMEN?

Even though King Neb got it he still struggled making it all about himself!  Daniel 4:28-30 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

Even with warning from Daniel about the coming judgment and his need to humble himself and be merciful to the oppressed, the King remained in his pride as we see him testify in verse 30!

Our knowledge of Babylon at the time indicates that, humanly speaking, the king had every right to be proud. Isaiah 13 alludes to Babylon’s reign over a huge empire that encompassed the area (in modern terms) from Egypt to Iran and Syria to Saudi Arabia. Nebuchadnezzar’s city was incredible. The king certainly had no shortage of reasons to be puffed up with pride.

But this never justifies a haughty prideful attitude.  We must not make this life about us.  It is all God’s. It is all from him and for him.

In Daniel 4:31- 33 The word of the Lord came to King Neb and his judgment came quick and complete.

Only in humble judgment did King Nebuchadnezzar see God for who he was and honor him for it.

Read Daniel 4:34-37

“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Apparently, only a drastic humbling could convince the King of his proper place and so God brought him to his knees. To paraphrase one writer, a man who thought himself a god was made a beast to learn that he was but a man. Those who will not humble themselves in the sight of the Lord will be cast down, not lifted up (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:6–7).

May we live humbly before our God. May we not bow to any idol or manmade thing but only to the living God.

May we cling to nothing to be our hope or our joy but God alone so that when we face the furnace of this life’s trials, we will say bring it on and remain faithful to our living and eternal God.  To him be the glory forever and ever.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Olive Drive Church

Saturday Study

Major Prophets (10-1-16)

This week and next, we have a different task with the prophets in that we are not focusing on one person but many. In this we are covering an important and large span of time. Today’s going deeper is an effort to give you an overview of the major prophets and their stories.

1. What and who are the major prophets?

This week you have had a brief sampling of the major prophets of the Bible in your reading. They are not called the major prophets because they were greater men than others, but because their books in the Bible were longer. These prophets span a large amount of time as well as locations. Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted the coming exile. Ezekiel was deported off into Babylonian captivity. Daniel was deported as a young man and lived through the rise and fall of two other empires.

A prophet is someone who declares the Word of God. This can be a foretelling of events or a forth telling which is declaring God’s words or commands. God has given us His Word through many different men, declaring Himself to us, by making promises about the future and telling us what is expected of us in the revelation of the Bible. These prophets spoke words directly from God, usually with a ‘thus says the Lord’. We should be thankful for the testimony of these men.

That is, “The significance of a Bible preacher or prophet is not the man himself but is the message he delivers.” At the end of the day, the biography of a preacher or prophet is much less important than the message from God that he brings.

2. Isaiah

Isaiah was a great prophet. Israel and Judah are on the verge of judgment. The Assyrian army is growing in strength. Isaiah was sent to call Israel and Judah to repent of their sins and unbelief and to trust God alone for personal and national salvation (deliverance).  In chapters 1-35 we see Isaiah speaking to a nation awaiting God’s judgment. This occurred in 722 B.C. for the northern kingdom (Israel), and 586 B.C. (100 years after Isaiah) for the southern kingdom (Judah). Isaiah warns of judgment, but also gives comfort in that God would deliver the faithful ‘remnant’ of His people. Isaiah gives prophecies of judgment that are interspersed with prophecies of the coming kingdom where everything is made right.

In chapters 36-39, King Hezekiah is lifted up as an example of someone who trusted God and saw the kingdom miraculously delivered from Assyria. This was short lived as 21 years later they fell to the Babylonians in judgment by God.

Chapters 40-66 give comfort and hope. God promises a return from exile. Isaiah gives us some of the most revealing passages about the coming messiah. Some of the greatest passages on Christ come from this section such as Isaiah 42 & 53. Isaiah 53 is the clearest gospel presentation of the Old Testament. We see its fulfillment in the death, burial and resurrection of our savior.  Take a moment to read it.

We start in Isaiah chapter one with the vision Isaiah is given. God calls the earth and heavens to hear what He is saying. God is sitting in judgment over the wickedness of Israel. In the Old Testament, we see the example that anytime there is a judgment people are to witness or act as witnesses. This should bring to mind that of a court room. God proceeds to then list off the sins of Israel. Israel, specifically Jerusalem and Judah, are on trial here. God’s case is stated all the way down to 1:16, then God proceeds to give comfort making this statement, “If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land” (1:19).  Prior to this in verse 18, God makes a promise to wash their sins.

See the beauty in this: the gospel is rich in this book! There is punishment for wickedness. God will not let it stand, He will punish it because He is holy. This is the vision of Isaiah in chapter 6. Isaiah gets a vision of the holiness of God. The text states this three times – holy, holy, holy, in Hebrew a doubling is an intensifier. This is like a couple exclamation points at the end of a sentence. God’s holiness is so great!!! Isaiah realizes his problem in this vision and he realizes he cannot stand before the God of the universe. God in His mercy and grace purifies Isaiah. This theme of salvation from God and by God is throughout Isaiah. As you read the book you can see the beautiful Messiah, the branch of David, brought forth- as a suffering servant who gave himself to redeem a people to himself. You can also see, even though Israel doesn’t deserve it, God comfort even while disciplining; telling them of the future and that His promises will still be fulfilled.  Have your sins been washed white as snow? Have you trusted in the Servant broken for the remission of sin?

3. Jeremiah

Jeremiah begins his ministry 60 years after Isaiah. The Northern Kingdom had already fallen in 722 B.C. Assyria is at the end of her glory days and a new super power is on the horizon -Babylon. Most of Jeremiah’s ministry was showing Israel that they needed to repent and have faith. Jeremiah longed for a nation that trusted in God.

Jeremiah was the most persecuted of the Old Testament prophets. He was forbidden to pray for his nation (Jer. 7:16-27). God tells Jeremiah that his ministry will be tough, that people, even kings and priests will not listen to him but will fight him. Jeremiah gives an eyewitness account of the fall of Jerusalem. Even in the midst of judgment God gives hope. It is in the middle of Jeremiah that we have one of the greatest passages in the Old Testament that looks forward to the hope in the coming Messiah.

Jeremiah 31:31-40 proclaims the New Covenant. Even though Israel is in the middle of judgment, God proclaims that He will make a New Covenant. This is hope that even though Israel has failed miserably, God is going to make a covenant with his people. God not only promises a New Covenant, but it will not be like the last. God says He will put His law on our hearts and all of his chosen people will faithfully walk with and know the Lord. If this is not great enough, the Lord proclaims that this will happen as surely as the sun and the moon run their courses.  God gives hope in the midst of trials and judgment for His people. This is a great blessing of being a child of God, part of the elect. God does not leave us without hope and this hope is in the form of promises. What God says He will do, HE WILL DO. He has never broken a promise. In your trials and struggles take comfort in God. That is one of the great lessons of Jeremiah. God’s arm is not short so that He cannot save, but is working His perfect plan. He is helping you to see sin as He sees it: heinous and deserving of punishment. He is working sanctification in you all the while giving you precious promises in His Word.

4. Ezekiel

The prophet Ezekiel was taken down several years before the destruction of Jerusalem. He was the son of a priest. Ezekiel had a unique role as a prophet in that much of what he did was an illustration or word pictures to the people of Israel. For example: in Ezekiel 3:24 Ezekiel is commanded to be tied up in his house. Chapter 4:1-3 Ezekiel is to take a brick and engrave ‘Jerusalem’ on it and set siege works about it. Ezekiel is also told by God that God is going to take his wife and he is not allowed to mourn for her. This was a sign to Israel that the sanctuary will be profaned and that there is going to be death and destruction. Many visual illustrations are used throughout the book to teach Israel about their sin and its consequences.  Ezekiel has one of the saddest chapters in the Old Testament, chapter 10. In chapter 10 the glory of the Lord leaves the temple.

The book of Ezekiel can be broken into two sections- chapters 1-24 which contain prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem and 25-48 after the fall of Jerusalem. The purpose of Ezekiel is to help the Jews understand that their captivity and the destruction of their homeland are because of their rebellion against God and disobedience to Him. The second reason for the book is to show us how God is merciful and He intends to restore holiness and that He will take care of His people.

The promises of the New Covenant are throughout the book of Ezekiel. In these promises we are given a new heart- not of stone, but of flesh- and that God will breathe new life in us. In Ezekiel 37, we have one of the greatest displays of God’s grace. This chapter is known as the valley of dry bones. The dry bones are representative of Israel, but they are also a shadow of what God does in the gospel bringing new life to us. God is going to bring the exiles back and breathe life into them. This will be better than before because they will know that ‘I am the Lord’.

God has not left. He is doing a work. So many times in our life we become despondent with trials. Ezekiel gives us hope. God does not leave His people. He will carry us through the trial giving us hope and giving us His precious promises that this trial is not the end, but that He is doing something and in His wisdom and power it is something great. Are you looking to the precious promises of God? Are you relying and trusting in Him?  Do you see the work He is doing? His Word declares it. One day it will be complete.

5. Daniel

Daniel is the last of the major prophets. Daniel is an amazing character. He was taken into captivity at a young age.      Daniel 1:8-9 “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

             9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs”

 Daniel set the pattern early on for obedience. God gave Daniel and three other men learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. The works of God among a pagan nation by His servants is amazing in the book of Daniel. Many of us remember the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, the handwriting on the wall.

There are many lessons we can learn from Daniel. He lived in a pagan culture and was a devout man of God. He was trapped by his religious zeal. He did not get upset or rail against the king or God. He still prayed and was obedient to God, but accepted his punishment for defying the kings decree (Daniel 6). The pattern for Daniel is to respectfully disobey when things went against the commands of God. His strength surrounded by pagans is amazing.

In Daniel 9, we have an amazing prayer. Several things we can glean from this chapter. 1. Daniel was aware of the promises of God. He knew how long they were to be in captivity. 2. Daniel based his prayer on the promises of God in Scripture. This is a great way to pray by lifting up and clinging to the promises of God. 3. Daniel came in great submission to God in prayer: by fasting and prayer in sackcloth showing an outward state of inward debasement. Sometimes it is helpful to put the outward in a posture for the heart to follow (try praying on your knees or lying flat as an outward sign of an inward position). Fasting is the giving up of a physical item as a way to focus on our dependence and satisfaction in God. 4. Daniel was open in laying out sin to bear. If you go through the text and highlight everywhere Daniel acknowledges and repents of the sin of Israel, you will see how Daniel had a right vision of the breaking of the Law of God and how horrible it is. 5. Daniel relies on the character and attributes of God: God’s steadfast love.

Use Daniel’s prayer as an example of how to pray. It is helpful to remember that what Daniel has prayed for has been fulfilled. The people started returning. Gabriel the angel (messenger of God) came and gave Daniel insight and understanding. Gabriel speaks of the spiritual return. James says the prayer of a righteous man has great power as it is working. Confess your sin and lay it before the Lord. Walk in righteousness: trusting in the righteousness of Christ. Do what is right. Prayer is important. It is a way for us to commune with God. How is your prayer life? See the example of Daniel. Read through the prayer. Read a verse or two and pray what comes to mind. Pray out loud. Don’t just keep it in your head.

We have seen some major themes that flow across the major prophets. The heinousness of sin, God will punish sin, and that God gives hope for His children and we must cling to it. Reading the major prophets will help you grow in these things.

May the Word of God move in our hearts and cause us to trust in God and obey his commands.  May we not take lightly the cost and lessons of those who have gone before us but grow and learn from them.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Olive Drive Church

Saturday Study

Job (9-24-16)

The book of Job is an powerful portrayal of the sovereignty of God in our suffering.

In Chapter 1 we are introduced to Job and the permission God gives to Satan to test Job’s faith.

A God fearing upright man

Job 1:1-3 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

Job had a good life. He was a very successful and wealthy man. He had a loving wife and kids. He was known and was doing well in life.  Best of all, he was a man who feared God and turned away from evil.  So much so that he is declared to be blameless and upright. Now, we know he was not perfect as only Jesus lived without sin but like others we see in the scriptures he lived a life that honored God and fought back the temptation to sin.  While we all would love for this to be said about us, the only way this becomes a marker of ones life is to truly be faithful in the study of God’s word, diligent about what we expose ourselves to in regards to temptations of the world and our flesh and accountable to brothers who can walk with us as we seek to honor God in all we do.  Are you making a practice of these things?  They are critical for a lifetime of God honoring uprightness.

A Faithful Father.

Job 1:4-5 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 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.

Job was diligent in his leading and loving his children.  He went before the Lord faithfully on their behalf.  Parenting is so much more then providing physical food and physical protection and direction.  Are you fighting for our and raising our children with spiritual food and spiritual protection and direction?   How are you investing into your family and raising them in the Lord. How are you going to God in prayer over them regularly and faithfully?   I believe Job’s focus on the spiritual state of his kids was also a God given foundation for the unplanned loss of his children.  When our eyes are on the eternal and not just the temporal we are prepared to understand and endure loss and hardship that we will face in this life.

Have you considered my Servant, Job?

Job 1:6-8 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

Now, you could say that this feels like God is selling Job out.  What we have to remember is that we are God’s. When he refers to him as “my servant” that could not be more true. We are servants or slaves of the most High God.  It is absolutely his right to do with us as he pleases.  God is the one who gives us life and is the one who takes it away. Our ability, our body function, our everything is gift from the Lord.  He owes us nothing and we have no rights over Him.  So, if God ordains that Job being put in a place of great suffering is something that serves his eternal purposes then who are we to say to him that it is not right or good for him to do this.  The apostle Paul says this best in Romans 9:20, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

Additionally, we see here that God says there is no one the earth like Job.  What a proclamation and endorsement.  Oh, how we sell ourselves short looking for the approval and accolades of man when what God thinks of us is so much more important.  Are you living your life to please man or are you living your life to please God.  These are two very different roads one can travel.  As suffering is headed towards Job it is essential that he is a man of great faith. For if his identity was only in his fleshly accomplishments and circumstances he would be totally undone in the coming trials.  If our faith is and identity is grounded in God then we can sustain great loss and trials like Job did.   Recognize, you cannot wait for the storm to hit to make this the framework of your life.  You must practice yielding all you are and have to God every day and grow in your complete trust in him despite what you face for he is good and worthy of our everything.

Untested Faith

Job 1:9-11 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

The reality is, we will suffer in this life.  Maybe you have yet to face great hardship but you will.  It is an inevitable reality of the sin filled broken world we live in.  What we see all throughout scripture is that God will use suffering in his people to do great and eternal things. Satan believed that because Job had not been tested with real prerecession or suffering that his faith and trust in God was easy and the natural byproduct of an easy and successful life.  What Satan didn’t understand is that the true believers, the real faithful in God will endure what ever you put in front of them because God is their rock and no fleshly or worldly enemy can separate them from God. Do the true faithful in God struggle at times? Absolutely, we see the best have their struggles but what we also see is that in the end their endure.  They do not sell out or give up. Their faith in God presses through what they can’t understand or see.  This is true faith.  Job is about to be tested like he never has been before.

The worst day of his life

Job 1:12-19 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. 13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

God said, Satan could affect all that Job had but he just couldn’t physically affect Job.  So Satan, brought a hell storm of attack on Job by destroying his wealth and livelihood and killing his beloved children. This was truly the worst day of his life. To lose so much in a moment should have left him utterly paralyzed and broken. Living in the USA, we don’t know this kind of global loss like much of the world does in a regular way.  But we must not be naive or think that a good God will not allow us to experience this level of suffering in this life.  God can and will use great hardship to do eternal things that we cannot see or understand. We need not look any further then most of the scriptures to see this.  The prosperity gospel has infiltrated much of modern day Christianity to think that God will only bless us with health and riches when  we follow him rightly.  This is not the teaching of the bible.  Are we who are in Christ “Blessed be the God …with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”?  Ephesians 1”3 Absolutely, but God’s word is clear that the people of God will “now for a little while, if necessary, we are grieved by various trials” 1 Peter 1:6.   We are told to “not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test us, as though something strange were happening to us” 1 Peter 4:12

The fact is, we will suffer, but God is faithful and will sustain us and keep us.  We cannot be separated from God. He will not waste any of our hardship but “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” -Romans 8:28  So, the question is, what will we do with the worst day of our lives?

Let’s see what Job does with his…

God honoring Mourning

Job 1:20-22 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Tearing of your robe was a sign of lament and mourning in that day. It was a right response to something terrible that was said or done.  The saving of his head is a sign of stripping himself down. He is acknowledging his loss and nakedness in this moment.  What is so awesome is that Job worships God instead of curses God.  It is a sin to curse God at any time and for anything. WHY? Because he is good and right in all he does. It is only worthy of our respect, our obedience and our praise.

What is Job says next is one of the most important truths and single scriptures in the bible in my opinion.  Job recognizes what he brings to the table in his life which is nothing. He doesn’t deserve anything for he produced nothing that God didn’t give him.  He will take nothing form this life that he earned or made either.  In this he is saying that God alone is the one who is over these things. Mankind has no say.  For mankind to feel we have say is to not rightly understand who we are and or who God is.  He builds on this when he says that God is the one who gives life and the one who takes it away.

Psalm 139:16 says, “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them”. Job will later say that man’s “days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). Paul, says that God “had set me apart before I was born” (Gal. 1:15), and Jeremiah said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5).  All of our lives from beginning to end are under God’s providential care, for “in him we live and move” (Acts 17:28).

It is with this understanding that we do not put God in our debt and feel in our hearts that he owes us anything.  This is an important foundation under our feet when we face great loss in this life so that we do not sinfully look at God with distain and say, what have you done?  Instead what God has done or allowed to happen is good and right and no matter how hard it is for us, God is still worthy of our worship and our praise. This is why job “did not charge God with doing wrong” but instead acknowledged his sovereignty over all things and then worshipped him. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21

It is in this heart and faith in God that Job can still say, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25), even during the depths of agony.  How have you responded to great loss or hardship in this life?  Are you guilty of cursing God or being angry at him?  If so you need to see your error in this perspective and confess this sin and repent unto an attitude toward God of worship and praise for all he does is good and right and holy!   How are you entrusting all you are and have to God in your daily prayers so that if you were to lose them you have already set the table that they are ultimately his and for his purposes and not yours?

Wow, all of that is just in chapter one.  What we read as we continue in Job is that it gets worse and the temptation only increases for Job to deny God.  For example, in Chapter 2 Satan comes back to God and says he believes Job will break if he is allowed to affect his physical life.  So God grants him permission but says he can not kill him.  IN verses 7-10 we read bout the physical nightmare of his sores from head to foot.  He is in utter agony and yet he does speak ill of God. 

Good Friends but bad counsel

In Job 2:11-13  we are introduced to Good Friends of Job who show up to sit in the Ashes with him and bring support and counsel.  God doesn’t want us to go through our trials alone. That is why he saved us into the Body of Christ.  We are to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). We are to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).  We are to help each other and give good counsel to each other.  While these friends where loving in there presence it is their counsel that fails to honor God rightly.  The next 38 chapters is an account of their conversations and counsel for Job.

Man up

In Job chapter 40 we see God bring good and right truth and counsel to Job.  This is what God’s word does for us today.  We must hold all counsel up against God’s word which is always true and right and good.

In Job 40:6-7 God is stern and straight with Job and tells him to man up as he is about to remind him the way things work.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 7 “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and             you make it known to me.” Job 40:6-7

Then in verses 8-24 God lays it out that he is the one who is over all things. That nothing in creation is over him.

Repentance

Finally in Job 42 we hear Job acknowledge that God indeed can do all things and non of his sovereign purposes can be thwarted.   He acknowledges that he is guilty of uttering things that he did not understand.  He proclaims that God has done things that are wonderful in a way he did not know.  Job shows again his willingness to submit to God and not let his pride lead him or keep him from God.

IN verse 10-17 we read how God restored Job and gave him twice as much as he had before. He had support, friends, more livestock then before and seven dons and 3 daughters.  He lived 140 years and got to see 4 generations of his family grow.  Job remained faithful and God sustained him and blessed him as it says “Job died, an old man, and full of days”

May we always trust in God no matter what we face.  May we remain full of faith when we cannot see straight or know of no way in which the suffering we face is for any good.   God is worthy of our praise all the time.

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Olive Drive Church

Saturday Study

Esther (9-17-16)

Grab your Bibles and let’s go deeper into the life and testimony of Esther.

Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia, rose from humble beginnings to become the deliverer of her people from certain death during the reign of King Ahasuerus. To save the Jews living in Persia while many of the children of Jacob were still living outside the Promised Land even after the exile, she had to overcome her fear of what might happen to her own life. But to overcome her fear, she had to be convinced to trust in the Lord’s invisible hand of providence and the truth that His people are always under His watchful eye even when we must risk everything for Him (Matt. 10:29–31).

We read the story of Esther in the book that bears her name.

Esther 1 gives us the story of a grand banquet that the king of Persia held. In the midst of the celebration, the king decided to call forth his beautiful queen, Vashti, to come and dance before his friends at the feast. When Vashti refused, King Ahasuerus banished her from the court.

In Esther 2, we learn that after Vashti was sent away, the king embarked on a search for a new queen. After searching high and low in his realm, the King’s advisors found a Jewess named Hadassah, who was being raised under the name Esther by her cousin Mordecai. After many months of preparation, Esther won the king’s favor and became queen.

Esther 3 describes the plot of Haman, one of the king’s important advisors, to annihilate the Jews in Persia because of Mordecai’s refusal to bow to Haman. He bribed the king with a huge gift of money if given permission to send the summons to have the Jews wiped out.  The king took him up on his offer and the order was sent out. Truly, this was a key turning point in the history of redemption. If Haman succeeded, the Jews would have been wiped out, and there would be no Messiah and no salvation for the world. So what happens next was critical for the Jewish people.

Mordecai and the Jews in the area went into great mourning that lead to Mordecai’s plea for Esther to intervene in her people’s behalf. Fearing for her own life, Esther initially refused (Esther 4:1–11). But Mordecai warned her that if she did not involve herself, the Jews would be rescued by the hand of another. However, Esther herself would not escape death if she thought she could preserve her life by doing nothing (Esther 4:12–14). Upon hearing that, Esther vowed to go before the king upon threat of death (Esther 4:15–17).

Her courage is even more remarkable especially when we consider that the name of God is not mentioned one time in the book of Esther. Surely, God’s hand of providence was working in ways that are not immediately discernible to us. Esther trusted this providence even when she had no idea how things would turn out for her.

This is often true for us as well.  God’s hand of providence remains hidden from us, and we do not know how things will turn out before they actually occur. Still, we must trust the Lord and do what honors Him even if it will cost us greatly.  Why? Because we trust in God and we obey his commands. We need to do this especially when what is ahead is out of sight for us.  To do it our own way is to deny the sovereign hand of God and wisdom of God and be so arrogant to pursue our own wise ways even though the future is unknown by us. It is during these times that we must remember that God is ever working for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28), and we must trust Him and lean not on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The Lord accomplishes His will despite His people’s sin. Yahweh never covenanted to destroy His people Israel completely, even if they were unfaithful (Lev. 26:43–45). Esther expands on this, showing us He may freely use even the questionable motives of His people to save them. Esther and Mordecai are compromising figures (Est. 2:10), and yet God makes use of the positions they obtained by dubious means to rescue His people in Persia (chap. 8). Sin is never praiseworthy, but our transgression cannot bind the Lord’s hand.

King Ahasuerus’ reign is viewed as lavish and extensive (1:1–9), but, ironically, this king who was sovereign over the most powerful world empire in his day cannot even get his own wife Vashti to follow his wishes (vv. 10–22). He is the ruler of the known world, but he cannot even rule his own house!

The Pride of Man’s Flesh is his Demise

Thinking Ahasuerus wants to honor him, Haman suggests a fitting way to exalt himself (Esther 6:1–9). Yet Haman ends up honoring the one he detested (Esther 6:10–13). Our plans are so inferior to God’s. While we may think we have it all together we must realize who truly rules all things.

For the history of mankind, human rulers and governments have often considered themselves infallible, sovereign, and omnipotent, and therefore worthy of undue honor. The book of Esther is a display of the faultiness of this delusion.

“The king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman” (Esther 8:2).

Clearly, the author of Esther wants us to understand that God is invisibly, but sovereignly, present in the events he recorded in his citation of the ancestry of Haman and Mordecai. Haman was an Agagite (Est. 3:1; 8:3), a descendant of Agag, the ruler of the Amalekites during Saul’s reign (1 Sam. 15:8). The Amalekites were the first to attack Israel after the exodus (Ex. 17:8–13), and God pledged to destroy Amalek and his offspring because of their evil (vv. 14–16). In his day, God commanded Saul to finish wiping out the Amalekites, but he disobeyed the Lord and preserved Agag alive for a time. Thus God rejected him as king over Israel (1 Sam. 15).

Like Saul, Mordecai was a Benjaminite with an ancestor named Kish (1 Sam. 9:1–2; Est. 2:5–6). When reading Esther, the exiled Jew would have readily recalled God’s promise to destroy the Amalekite enemies of His people and Saul’s failure to be the instrument of destruction. Recall that Esther, Mordecai, and the other Israelites lived in Persia because they failed to keep the Mosaic covenant. Since the Lord’s chosen people did not obey God, they naturally wondered if He would keep his pledge to destroy their enemies.

The book of Esther shows again that God keeps His word even when His people do not. Even in the exile, our Father sovereignly orchestrated history to give His people a second chance to destroy their foes. Saul failed, but another Benjaminite named Mordecai, with the help of his cousin Esther, accomplished God’s purpose against Agag and the Amalekites (Est. 7:7–10).

God was in the details of all of these events working his ultimate will. When we look back over our lives, we often find that the Lord was at work in those times when we thought He was absent. During the times when we suffer from doubts about God’s love and faithfulness, we should not focus on whether or not we “feel” His presence. The Lord may be revealing himself, but He is there.

In Esther 7, Haman is hung in the gallows he intended for Mordecai. And Esther is given the house of Haman.

Esther 8-10

Esther 8:2 And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

What a huge turn in events.

Esther 8:3-8 The order to wipe out the Jews was reversed.

In Esther 8:16-17 it says, “The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.”

Esther 9:16 Now the rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also gathered to defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies and killed 75,000 of those who hated them, but they laid no hands on the plunder.

Esther 10 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2 And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

By His grace and for His glory,

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Olive Drive Church

Saturday Study
Nehemiah (9-10-16)

Grab your bibles and let’s dig back into Nehemiah and see what God has for us today!

After the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians, they became the new world power. Persia often allowed exiles to return to their homelands. This included the Jews following Cyrus’ proclamation in 538 BC (2 Chron. 36:22–23). Since the restoration of Israel did not get off to a very good start, God sent prophets and leaders to encourage the people to rebuild the temple and prepare for the Messiah. Nehemiah was one of these key leaders. Nehemiah, a Jew serving in the Persian court, was facing the loss of his traditions as Jerusalem lay in ruins and the people of God were held in reproach. He had to learn how to be faithful to the Lord while under the rule of a king who did not know the God of Israel.

We are faced with a similar dilemma with the current state of our nation. The moral decay of our youth and the aggressive invading of worldly agendas into everyday society is more and more prevalent. It is too easy to get caught up in focusing on the demise of the culture, but we must never forget that this world is demised in sin. Only salvation in Jesus brings true and lasting obedience to God. We must lead in all we do with the gospel of Jesus Christ and never set it down to play only in the political realm. Our greatest weapon is the good news. Let’s be sure to keep it in the center of all we do. Our hope is not in this kingdom or in our next leader or the next laws we will vote on. Instead, our hope is in Jesus. Do we need revolution? YES! But the only true and lasting reformation will come when the church leads with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Nehemiah 1:4-11, we read Nehemiah’s prayer! This is a remarkable prayer for its emphasis on the Lord’s covenant faithfulness, which God displayed not only in blessing His people, but also in bringing about the curses that He warned of in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. God is by nature faithful and thus keeps His promises, so when Israel boldly violated the terms of the covenant and refused to repent, they reaped the consequences. Nehemiah was not afraid to acknowledge both sides of God’s covenant faithfulness and so this prayer stands as a model to us. The faithfulness of God to His word also involves disciplining us for sin, so we ought not think that He is being less than true to His covenant when we feel the hard but loving hand of His discipline (Heb. 12:3–11).

Assassinations via poisoning were common in the ancient world and kings would take precautions to ensure that their food and drink were safe. Often they would employ cupbearers who would taste their food and wine ahead of time to make sure that it was not poisoned. A cupbearer held an important place in the royal court and had to be a trustworthy individual. The fact that Nehemiah served as the cupbearer to the ruler of Persia shows he was trustworthy. Nehemiah understood that confidence in the sovereignty of God does not mean that we say a prayer and then sit around waiting for Him to move. Instead, those who rightly understand the Lord’s sovereignty pray and act at the same time knowing that any risk they take for the kingdom will not finally derail the plan of God. He went to work and God used his faithfulness to set the table for big things. In Chapter 2, we read that Nehemiah shared his sadness over the poor condition of Jerusalem and asked the king for help in returning to the Holy City and rebuilding the wall. Amazingly, the king granted Nehemiah’s request, providing him with letters of safe conduct and materials to use in reconstructing the wall around Jerusalem (vv. 3–8). On his way back to his home, Nehemiah heard of the opposition of Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite to his efforts (vv. 9–20). These men would threaten the progress of rebuilding the wall, but that should not be surprising to anyone who has ever served in the church. Satan does not like it when the people of God are in the process of returning to Him and he often stirs up people to speak and act against the work of God honoring reformation. There is always a cost to serving the Lord and Jesus Himself warns us of the price to be paid in this world for following Him (Luke 14:25–33). Let us not underestimate this cost, but be willing to pay it for the glory of Christ.

In Nehemiah 5, we see it is easy to become wearied and feel like giving up after a long period of suffering. This is what happened during Nehemiah’s wall-building project. Eventually, the people complained that they were unable to continue their work because of money problems — famine had made food scarce, families were in over their heads financially maintaining their farms, and so on (Neh. 5:1–5). Some of the people did not give because they were too focused on storing grain for themselves (vv. 1–2). This is the faulty thinking that plagues many in the modern church today. It is often not a lack of funds that keeps them from giving regularly and sacrificially but an unwillingness to give up a certain lifestyle in order to obediently give God his first fruits. We need to see it as our joy to be saved and get to participate in the building of God’s kingdom. Here is a practical look at what happens when we get too focused on building our own kingdom.

Having rebuilt the wall, Nehemiah recognized that a physical defense for the city wouldn’t matter without a change in the hearts of the people. So he gathered the people together to hear Ezra read the law of God and express repentance for the sins that had put them into exile in the first place (Neh. 6–11). There was also a great celebration at the dedication of the wall around Jerusalem, for the Lord had been faithful to grant the people success in their important endeavor (Neh. 12:27–47). Nehemiah chapter 13 notes that there was much going on that could have led to the reintroduction of idolatry into the covenant community. Nehemiah kicked Eliashib the priest out for he was related to Tobiah the Ammonite and had been trying to make the house of God into a house for the pagan ruler. (vv. 1–9). Intermarriage with forbidden and foreign people was a significant problem for the restored exiles (vv. 23–27). God had commanded Israel not to intermarry with the Ashdodites, Ammonites, and Moabites because of the temptation that they would lead the hearts of the Jews to follow other gods (Deut. 17:17; 23:3–6). Other violations in Nehemiah’s day included the breaking of the Sabbath and the failure to provide for the clergy (Neh. 13:10–22). Evidently, these sins were renounced in public, but the hearts of a majority of the people remained hard. Thus, Nehemiah’s effort for reformation did not last, and things faded out until the coming of Christ. The gospel must be recovered anew in every generation.

Let’s be sure to obey God’s word in all things and keep the true and living gospel at the center of our words and testimony. We need to be reminded of the gravity of our sin and the greatness of our Savior in order to live in grateful obedience to His word. Our prayer is that many will realize their sin and their need for Christ alone, so that they repent and believe and be saved and their lives transformed.

By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Joshua Kirstine
Olive Drive Church