Amalek, Agag, and Ahmadinejad

This Sunday, Feb. 28th is a special day. It iss a day of celebration known as “Purim,” a Jewish holiday that marks the historic and courageous actions of a young girl named Hadassa 2470 years ago- actions that saved a nation. Of course, you know her better by her other name: Esther. Her story is one of the most exciting in all of the Bible. It has everything a great story needs: A beautiful heroine who rises from obscurity to become queen, an evil villain who is out to destroy her and all her people, spies, intrigue, a desperate chance to thwart the wicked plot, unexpected twists, and a great ending where good triumphs and evil is vanquished! If you have never read the book of Esther, read it this week - or better yet, read it to your kids for their bed-time story!

The hero of our story, Esther, was a Jew living in exile in Persia. The evil villain’s name was Haman who was filled with demonic hate for Israel bent on genocide. The Bible says Haman was an “Agagite” which means he was a descendant of Agag. (Es. 9:24) Remember him? Agag was the king of the Amalekites that Saul was supposed to utterly destroy about 600 years earlier. (1 Sam. 15) Because Saul failed to obey God and completely wipe out the Amalekites, Saul was rejected as king of Israel and some descendants of Agag survived to perpetuate his line which would eventually extend all the way to Haman. But why did God want Saul to wipe out the Amalekites? Because God knew what they intended for his people. The Almalekites were filled with hate for God’s people and were intent on wiping out Israel. Amalek was a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12) and you know the history between Jacob (Israel) and Esau, the father of all the surrounding nations. Four hundred years after Jacob and Esau, Moses would bring Israel out of Egypt on the exodus back to Israel. The descendants of Amalek who had now grown into a nation of their own, were one of their first adversaries. The Amalekites attacked Israel even before they reached Mt. Sinai. (Ex.17) There Joshua led the army against them while Moses interceded on the mountain and after the battle, Moses makes an interesting comment. He reveals a new name of God, “Jehovah Nissi,” meaning “God is my banner,” and proclaims that the LORD would be “at war with the Amalekites” – this people filled with hate for God and the Jews- “from generation to generation.” (Ex. 17:16) Fast forward 450 years to Saul: God commands the destruction of Amalek to prevent the slaughter of the Jews, but Saul fails, so the cycle continues. Now jump 600 more years to the time of Esther. The descendants of Agag the Amalekite have now been assimilated into Persia as revealed in the person of Haman. The same devilish plot to destroy the Jews is still afoot. What did Moses say? “From generation to generation!” Again God intervenes, this time through Esther, and God’s people are miraculously saved! The desire of Satan to kill the Jews has been evident from the beginning, since “Salvation is from the Jews.” The Devil wants to destroy the “mother” of Christ… Israel! (Rev.12:13-17)

King Solomon wrote “There is nothing new under the sun” and Cole Porter reminded us that “Everything old is new again!” ….the pattern continues! Two generations ago it was Hitler with his “final solution” to exterminate the Jews and right now a Persian leader, named Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is hatching a plot to, in his own words: “Wipe Israel off the map.” In the very near future the Amalakites will strike at Israel again. They will try to utterly destroy God’s people. But you can be assured that God will miraculously and supernaturally intervene. God has used military might in the past, Joshua’s army over 3000 years ago, the 82nd Airborne 65 years ago and the IDF in ’48, ’67, and ’72. There were kings and leaders who obeyed God and were used as instruments of deliverance for Israel, and others who, for political expediency like Saul, refused to obey, and failed. God even used a young girl named Esther to stop the evil plot. What will he use now? Who will he raise up today? That remains to be seen, but you can be sure that God will accomplish it! And next week, next month, next year, when you see it unfold on CNN and FOXnews remember all this history. Remember God told us what would happen before it took place. ..and now you know…. The rest of the story!

A Snowy Day

For some odd reason, I decided to write to you this week about snow! I don’t know why, but it’s just been on my mind somehow? Did you know that the Bible mentions snow about 25 times? Usually, snow is used as a standard to compare something else to. Ten times we read, “as white as snow,” twice, “as cold as snow,” and once, “as pure as snow.” Five times the word snow is used in a poetic sense to refer to the winter season, as in: “She is not afraid of the snows,” and once to indicate the mountains by calling them “the snows of Lebanon.” Three times God asks Job unanswerable question about snow to show Job that God sees the big picture while we humans see very little, and two times the Bible speaks of a specific snowy day in history. Do you know what day that was? I’ll put the answer at the bottom of the article! But I told you all that to tell you this - my favorite “snowy” verse in the Word. “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” Did you get that? Not “as white as snow,” but “whiter than snow!”

King David pens these words in Psalm 51. Do you know the context of that Psalm? After being confronted with his sins of adultery and murder, David confesses and repents of his sin. With a contrite heart and a broken spirit, he seeks God’s forgiveness in faith, believing that God will forgive him, restore him and purify him to the extent that he will be whiter than snow! Did you know that it is possible to be whiter than snow, even though snow is the very thing that is used as the standard of cleanness and purity that all others are measures against? Every snow flake is an ice crystal that forms in the upper atmosphere. Each crystal forms around something – a tiny microscopic speck of dust! At the heart of a clean pure snowflake is dirt! When God forgives us he takes away all sin, all guilt, all punishment, all fear, all condemnation, even the “stain” or “left-over” residue of sin! He removes our sin from us as far as the east is from the west! In other words, infinitely removed! The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, completely removing it so that, as Isaiah put it, “though our sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow!”

Does that excite you? Does that give you hope? Does that give you peace and joy and motivation to serve such a great and loving God? Jesus said that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees we would not enter the kingdom of God! The Pharisees were a group of guys who spent all day every day trying to figure out how to be holy! Can we be better than that? YES! Because when we come to faith in Christ, we no longer have to “try to be good.” Instead we receive by grace through faith, His righteous record of perfect holiness…and without holiness no man shall see God! So Christian, don’t let the devil condemn you. “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!” Neither should we continue in our sin. For we have been set free, made holy, washed clean! Let us not go back to the pig pen of sin! Rather, let us live pure and holy lives. Would a bride wallow in the mud while wearing her clean white wedding dress? Would a man let vandals destroy his prize classic car that he just detailed? No, they would prize them and fight to keep them beautiful and clean. Let us do the same with our great salvation that cost him so dearly. “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light!” (Eph.4;1, 5:1-3,8)

P.S. You’ll find that particular snowy day in 2Samuel 23:20 and 1Chron. 11:22.

Lessons Learned from a Grouchy Lady

If you missed “The View” two weeks ago in the newspaper, it’s because we used our space in the paper to advertise an upcoming event at Hanover Friends: The Love and Respect Marriage Conference, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20. I am really excited about this conference and encourage you to think and pray about participating! For more information, go to http://www.friendlychurch.org/. Even though I didn’t have a column in the paper, I did write one…and I encourage you to read it on the web site too. You can also subscribe there to receive “The View” via e-mail. It will help you understand this week’s “View” of you read that one in its entirety.
I was asked an interesting question this past week about my last two articles. A reader asked how I could write my first article of the year entitled “Prediction – Pain!” which detailed some of my ideas about negative things which might happen in 2010, and then the write my very next article in response to the Haitian earthquake making the case that God is NOT pouring out his wrath on the world through earthquakes, storms, fires, mudslides, tsunamis or any other natural disaster. Her question was, “How could I reconcile the seeming conflict of these two positions?” The answer is easy! In the first article I predicted war, economic crisis and persecution of Christians, among other unpleasant things. But in each case, I spoke of disasters that were all man-made. Every one of these things result from the choices of people – men acting from their God-given free will in opposition to God’s revealed will in His Word resulting in painful circumstances for the earth. God does not take our choices from us, but neither will he remove their consequences. Thus, my prediction for 2010? Pain!

In the second article, I spoke of events that were NOT man made, but were natural disasters, like the Haitian earthquake. These come upon the earth because the earth is no longer perfect since the advent of sin. (see Gen. 3) The whole creation is groaning, awaiting its redemption from the curse of sin and death. (Romans 8:20-22) Until that day, we will have sickness and disease and all kinds of natural disasters! (For a detailed, Biblically reasoned argument on this, read last week’s “View From Here” at http://www.friendlychurch.org/) I hope that clears things up for anyone else who was wondering!

I also received a nasty phone call from an anonymous grouchy lady reader who took issue with the article of Jan. 6, 2010, “Prediction? Pain!”  She told me that I was the most negative person she had ever heard and if I believed all these bad things were coming I must be miserable and I ought to go ahead and take a gun and shoot myself! (No kidding, that's what she said!) She also blamed me and “people like me” for society's rejection of “organized religion”…and a lot of other rubbish. And you know, she’s got a point…. almost. Paul makes it too. “If in this life only, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” In other words, if this life is all there is, and the only “benefit” we get out of being a Christian is to be found here on earth, then we might be happier by not turning the other cheek, not putting others first, not forgiving those who hurt us, etc. But the truth is…this life is NOT all there is! Hallelujah! Get this: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1Cor. 15:13-22)

I suppose if I didn’t believe in the resurrection of Christ, I’d have the same opinion of me as the cranky lady who called. But I believe in the Living Lord! And that makes all the difference! I am not miserable. My heart is filled to overflowing with joy, even as I see hard things coming. For my God has overcome the world! He is more than able! Do you know Him?