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Showing posts with label Waiting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waiting. Show all posts

Monday, December 20, 2021

In Between, part 4 - Divisive Factions

Introduction
God’s 400-year official silence in between the Old and New Testaments was a pause that prepared the world for the most important Word God would ever speak—the Word made flesh, Jesus the Christ.  John 1:14, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” 

We will celebrate the birth of that precious Word, Jesus, this week at Christmas.  But we have one more Sunday of Advent to go.  And so today, we will look at the last 100 years of the intertestamental period and consider the various factions that developed before Christ was born—factions that we read about in the Gospels that bitterly divided God’s people—and we will contemplate the bitter divisions in our own times as we wait for Christ to come fix our divided world.

 Isaiah 49:5-7

5 And now the Lord speaks—
    the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
    who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
    and my God has given me strength.
He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
    I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
    and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

The Lord, the Redeemer
    and Holy One of Israel,
says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,
    to the one who is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.
    Princes will also bow low
because of the Lord, the faithful one,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

God's Chosen People
Israel is often called God's chosen people.  Some think this goes back Moses, because God sent Moses to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land.

God’s choice of Israel goes back even further to Abraham, because God chose Abraham and said, "Leave your homeland and go to a lad I will show you and I will make you the father of a great nation.  You won't even begin to count all your descendants.  And you will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.  God chose Abraham because he was a man of faith who believed God, even when it seemed impossible. 

But really, God's choice goes all the way back to creation.  God chose to create people.  He didn't need people, but He chose to make people so they could enjoy the beautiful world He created and experience God's love and love Him too.    

God loves all people. He doesn't create some for destruction and some for salvation.  God created all people in hopes of sharing love.  And so, in this sense, God chose all people to be HIs people, but we are so stubborn and sinful we urn away from Him.

But God chose Abraham, because he was a man of faith, to be a blessing to all the nations and help people everywhere repent of sin and come back into a love relationship with God.  

And from Abraham, came Israel, a people who were to be a blessing. Israel was to be a kingdom of priest who brought all people back to God.  Unfortunately, Israel became puffed up by their status and blessings as God's people. They became proud and only wanted to satisfy their own selfish ambitions and build their own kingdom instead of seeing to God's mission to bring the whole world back to God.

Israel began to suffer the consequences of their selfishness and idolatry.  little by little, their kingdom eroded away until they oppressed and conquered by foreign empires.  And in their distress, they cried out for a Messiah to save them.  God said in Isaiah 49:6, I "will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.  I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

America seems more divided today than it ever has been. We could learn a lot from the history of Israel's mistakes during the intertestamental period.  If ever there were a divided people, it was Israel by the time Jesus was born. 

Israel Between the Old and New Testaments
From the 500s BC until the birth of Christ, Jerusalem was ruled by a succession of foreign empires.  First, the Persia ruled Israel and allowed the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.  Then, Alexander the Great lead Greek Empire to conquer Persia and take control of Israel.  However, Alexander the Great died unexpectedly and his empire shattered into four smaller kingdoms--Macedonia, Pergamum, Ptolemaic Egypt, and Seleucid Syria. And so Israel was then ruled by Greek Egypt followed by Greek Syria.  Then the Maccabees revolted against Syria and a brutal revolution led to a brief period of independence when the corrupt Hasmonean kings ruled Israel.  Then, in 63 BC, the Roman Empire from the west marched into Jerusalem and took over. 

All these wars and devastations and instabilities gave rise to many different political and religious groups in Israel—each one believing they knew what was needed to make Israel great again.  Let's look at these various groups.

The Pharisee and the Sadducees
The Pharisees and Sadducees were both active political parties—backing different leaders and giving allegiance to various different foreign influencers through the intertestamental period.

Because the Greek Empire had been so successful in the Mediterranean world, people everywhere realized the Greeks had some really good ideas.  Therefore, people in many different countries adopted Greek ideas about government, military, philosophy, and even religion.  This process of becoming more Greek was called Hellenization.

Most people realized, if you wanted to get ahead in life and the global world, you needed to be more Greek.  The Sadducees welcomed Hellenization in Jerusalem and it helped them rise in social status.  However, the Pharisees wanted Jews to remain pure.  They didn't want any foreign cultural or religious influences seeping into Judaism.  The Pharisees were the scribes who copied the Torah.  They believed the Bible faithfulness to the Law of Moses was the way to make Israel great again.  So they set about teaching the Law on the streets and encouraged everyone to follow it perfectly.

While the Pharisees were loyal to the Torah, the Sadducees were loyal to the Temple.  They believed what everyone needed was to worship God with sacrifices in the Temple.  They were the priestly class who controlled the coveted and lucrative positions of the Temple order, including the position of High Priest.

The Pharisees believed in ressurection in the afterlife.  The Sadducees were "sad you see" because they didn't believe in ressurection.  They believed there was no life after death; this life is all you get.  So, they wanted to make the most of this life--earn all you can, gain as much power and influence, and enjoy the comforts of this life--because it's all you get.  The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed you should be willing to sacrifice your life for the sake of faithfulness to the Torah because God would reward you in the next life.

The Pharisees were seen as the party of the people, because they could be seen out in the streets teaching the Law to the common person.  On the other hand, the Sadducees the elite upper crust of society, wealthy, holding high positions, and were always in the exclusive temple.

Pharisees were very pious, trying to follow God's law perfectly.  For example, they refused to work on the Sabbath and even forbid people to have too many tacks in their sandals on the Sabbath because walk around with too many takes might be considered carrying a heavy load, which would be work.  The Sadducees, on the other hand, saw religion as a mean to get ahead.  They were often quit corrupt, using their political and religious positions for gain, selling appointments for bribes, cheating people with unfair exchanges in the temple, and getting rich off the people's tithes and offerings.

The Herodians and the Zealots
Another bitter division was between the Herodians and the Zealots.  When Rome marched into Jerusalem in 63 AD, they installed Antipater as their puppet king in Jerusalem.  When Antipater died, his son, Herod the Great, became king in 40 BC.  Herod was a ruthless and savvy king.  He murdered all his Jewish rivals including his sons, his wife, her 2 sons, her brother, her grandfather, and her mother.  This is the same Herod the Wisemen visited in Matthew chapter 2 when they were looking for the infant Jesus, which led Herod to order the murder of every baby in Bethlehem under 2 years old. 

Most people loathed Herod, but he was a savvy political leader who skillfully walked the fine line between being the political leader of Judea and a puppet king for Rome.  Herod’s rule divided Judea further between two opposing groups—the Herodians and the Zealots.

The Herodians supported Herod's rule.  Herod was not of the line of David, Israel's royal line from of old.  However, the Herodians supported Herod's dynasty as the new royal line of Israel.  They also sought to preserve Israel's autonomy by cooperating with the Roman's.  They believed rebellion against Rome was futile and would lead to Jerusalem's destruction.

The Zealots were a militant political party that opposed the Herodians.  The Zealots passion for the national and religious life of the Jewish people led them to despise Rome and even Jews who sought peace through cooperation with the Roman authorities.  The Zealots fiery nationalism meant they hated the Herodians.  They wanted to fight violently for Jewish independence.  They were even willing to resort to terrorist attacks, assassination, and killing their own people to restore David’s Kingdom, which they saw as God’s Kingdom. 

The Essenes
With all the division and strife in Israel’s broken world before Christ, many had given up on this world altogether.  Have you ever felt like that?  Have you ever felt:  "This world is just too dark, too evil.  I don’t even know how to live in this place.  I just wish I could run away to a lonely mountain and live as a hermit."  Or maybe you think, "I'm too social to be a lonely hermit.  I’ll join a commune with a bunch of other truly good people, and we’ll turn our backs on this evil world and start over and make our own good world, where there will be peace and love and happiness.” 

That was how the Essenes felt before Jesus came.  

The Essenes were the “preppers” of the ancient world.  They wanted to leave this world behind.  They realized the systems of this world were so broken, there was no hope for the world to be found in kingdoms and empires and political factions.  Even the established religious systems seemed broken beyond repair.  They rejected the Temple in Jerusalem as corrupt as well.  So they abandoned it all and moved away out into the wilderness.  They wanted to learn how to farm the land and be self-sufficient so they didn't have to depend upon markets and systems and governments of this evil world. 

We have the Essenes to thank for the preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  While they were caching away food for their communities in caves in the Judean wilderness, they also saved the Holy Scriptures.  One day in 1947, a shepherd was wandering through the Judean hills.  He picked up a rock and through it into the mouth of a cave and heard something inside smash.  When he investigated, he found a clay pot with and ancient scroll inside.  It was an ancient copy of the Prophet Isaiah.  People often wonder, "How do we know if the BIble we have today hasn't changed from what was ordinally written?"  Well, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, we see many of the ancient biblical texts, over 2,000 years old, and they are the same as the texts we read in our Bible's today.  Thank you Essenes!

Many scholars also believe John the Baptist was either an Essene or deeply influenced by their religious movement.  And it seems very plausible.  John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, ate locusts and wild honey, and dress in animal skins (many similarities to the Essene's ascetic lifestyles as monks).  The 

The Essenes wanted to forget about the world.  The world could go to hell; the Essenes wanted to start over from scratch.  But by retreating from the world, the Essenes abandoned God's mission for Israel to be a light to other nations.  God doesn't want the world to go to hell.  God wants to save the world.  God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but to save it (see John 3:17).

Conclusion
This was the broken and divided world into which Jesus was born.  He came to bring light into the darkness and to show God came to save ALL people.

God’s Kingdom is not just for Jews or Jerusalem or Israel.  God’s Kingdom is for ALL nations.

And God’s Kingdom is not of this world. In other words, it doesn’t operate by the politics and principles of worldly Kingdoms.  It is not won by political maneuverings or by the might of a sword.  God’s King is a baby born in a manger and His Kingdom is won by a cross. 

It breaks my heart to look around at our broken world—divided between so many factions.  And everyone thinks their way is the only way.  And I feel great kinship with the Essenes, sometimes, and those who want to leave it all behind and move to a remote cabin in the wilderness and just forget about this broken world.  

However, God’s call for His people today is the same as it was in Isaiah 49:6,  I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”  And Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 – “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” 

I believe Christ is coming again, just as He came 2,000 years ago. But when Jesus comes again in final glory, our Messiah will finally bring His Kingdom on Earth and all that is wrong will be made right.  In the meantime, in the waiting, I will do His work on earth.  I will take up my cross and follow Him.

And I hope you will too.

Monday, December 13, 2021

In Between, part 3

Introduction
This series examines what happened during the intertestamental period of Christian history.  The 400 year period of God’s silence between the completion of the Old Testament and the birth of Christ was a pause that punctuated the greatest Word God ever spoke:  Luke 2:10-11, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” 

Jesus came in peace, offering God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness.  However, many in Israel were hoping for and expecting a military leader who would violently conquer God’s enemies and drive them from the Holy Land.  What accounts for this dramatic difference between God's plan and the hopes of so many? 

Part of the reason they expected and hoped for a mighty conqueror instead of a suffering savior has much to do with the history of Israel during the 4 centuries between the Old and New Testaments.  I want to explore more of that history today.  In particular, I want to focus on the Maccabean Revolt, which is the inspiration for the modern Jewish holiday Hanukkah. 

Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, was written around 475 BC.  God spoke through the prophet. 

Malachi 3:1-5

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.

“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Briefly Explain Passage
Judgment is certainly a theme of this passage.  God says, the “Lord” the people were seeking would judge sinners (and this refers to Jesus, the Messiah).  God says, the Messiah will come to the Temple and purify like a refiner’s fire.  And God also says there will be a trial and judgment against evil doers—in particular against:  sorcerers, adulterers, liars, people who cheat their employees, people who oppress widows and orphans, and people who deprive foreigners of justice.  What many in Israel didn't understand, is that much of that judgment would be of the Israelites, for they continually failed to fulfill their role as God's people. 

What Happened Between the Old and New Testaments?
After Malachi spoke, no other prophet’s words were preserved in the Bible.  Israel was ruled by the Persian Empire.  Then, Alexander the Great of Greece conquered most of the known world—including Persia.  Israel was ruled by Greece for 13 years, and the Greek Empire changed the world.  Greek became the universal language almost everyone could speak.  But when Alexander the Great died unexpectedly, His empire broke into 4 smaller, less powerful Kingdoms—Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria, and Pergamum. 

The first little Greek kingdom to rise to prominence and rule Israel for 125 years were the Greek Egyptians.  They allowed Israel a certain amount of autonomy, but they encouraged the Israelites to adopt many elements of Greek religion, culture, and language. 

Many Israelites among the upper crust of society accepted these new Greek ideas.  You had to “Hellenize” (become more Greek) if you wanted to succeed and move up the social ladder.  To resist or reject Greek influence was to be seen as backwards, outdated, ignorant, and irrelevant.  

To be sure, there were many positive elements of Greek culture—systems of reason and logic, mathematics, architecture.  If you enjoy using an umbrella or a map, you can thank the Greeks who brought these things to prominence.  However, along with many good things, also came expectations to worship Greek gods and demigods like Zeus, Hercules, Pan, and others.  A rift formed in Israelite society between those who accepted Greek culture in order to move up and those who remained “pure” and faithful only to Yahweh, the God of Israel. 

The second “little Greek” kingdom to rule over Israel were the Greek Syrians.  When they took over from the Egyptians in 198 BC, they started playing hardball with Israel. The Syrians were tired of the stubborn, rebellious Israelites clinging to their Jewish culture and religion.  All the other conquered peoples of the Greek world had welcomed Greek religion.  The Jews were the main hold outs.  The Syrians made it a goal to rid Israel of Judaism and replace it with Greek culture and religion. 

The Syrians tried to transformed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem into a temple to worship the Greek gods.  Jewish sacrifices, circumcision, observance of the Sabbath, and Jewish feasts were forbidden.  Jewish sacrifice in the Holy Temple were replaced with sacrifices to Zeus and included unclean animals, like pigs, that were offensive to Jews.  

One priest in ModiÊ¿im, a small town outside Jerusalem, had had enough.  When a Syrian official tried to enforce heathen sacrifice in his town, Mattathias Maccabeus murdered the Syrian official. He and his sons, the Maccabees, fled into the Judean wilderness and began a 32-year revolt.  They fought against the Syrians and also raided Jewish towns and killed any Jews that sacrificed to Greek gods or who collaborated with the “Hellenists”.  

Little by little, the Maccabee’s guerrilla warfare wore down the Greek Syrian kingdom. The Maccabees recaptured and cleansed the Jerusalem Temple in 165 BC.  Many believed this was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophesy in Malachi 3:1, where it said, “The Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple…”

The Jews gained independence in 142 BC.  Jewish kings once again rule in Jerusalem. The Hasmoneans dynasty were ruthless kings who were not of the royal line of David.  In 128 BC, they raided the northern territory of Samaria and demanded the Samaritans convert to Judaism.  When the Samaritans refused, the Jews destroyed the Samaritan’s temple in Shechem. This and other events like it led to the bitter animosity between Jews and Samarians we read about in the New Testament. 

The Hasmonean rulers of Jerusalem served as both kings and high priests.  They were not pure or holy or even good and they were not of the royal line of David.  A politically savvy group known as the Sadducees, said it didn’t matter.  The Sadducees preferred terrible Jewish rulers to good pagan rulers.  The Pharisees said a true king must be of the line of David and never accepted the Hasmonean royal line.  This became a bitter dispute that divided the Pharisees (who wanted a return to pure Judaism) and the Sadducees (who were willing to compromise for political expediency).  That division persisted into the New Testament where we read about Christian's interactions with both the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

The reconstituted, independent Israel was not a kingdom to be proud of.  There was no justice.  There was no peace.  Violence and chaos was the order of the day.  Leaders said they worshiped God, but their religion was a lie.  They embodied the sins Malachi 3:5 rebukes--people "who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me."

In 63 AD, a new and more powerful empire marched it's legions into Jerusalem and took over.  The Roman Empire’s rule of Jerusalem had begun and the people still yearned for a Messiah to come save them from oppression and finally bring God's Kingdom on earth.  Would this Messiah be like Mattathias Maccabeus—a priest who murdered oppressive officials, waged war on God’s enemies, and violently cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem?  

Many believed and hoped the Messiah would be like the Maccabees, but God had a much better plan.  He foretold the Messiah’s who would be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6).  The true Messiah’s plan is foretold in Isaiah 61:1, where it says, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”

And Jesus came and read these very words from the scroll of Isaiah and said in Luke 4:18, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” 

Conclusion
As we wait for Christmas, we still don’t know how long we need to wait for Jesus to finally return to judge the living and the dead and right all the wrongs of our broken world.

Waiting is hard.

While we wait, it is tempting to skip ahead and put our hope in people we admire.  We might think, "Perhaps this religious leader is the one we can trust." Or we say, "Maybe that celebrity is someone we can truly admire."  Or we hope, "Maybe the next president will be the one who puts our country back on the right track."

Why do we think our help will come from one of these worldly solutions  and not from Jesus, the true Messiah?  

And while we wait, it is so easy to waiver back and forth between compromising important core values we should never compromise for the sake of practicality or being militant idealists who are incapable of any compromise at all.   

Perhaps the best course of action while we wait is to allow Jesus to fulfill Malachi’s words in us:
To allow Jesus to purify us,
refining us like gold and silver,
burning away all the impurities in us.  

Perhaps it is best, while we wait, that we truly live for God in Christ 
by not cheating employees of their wages,
by no oppressing widows and orphans,
by not depriving the foreigners living among us of justice. 

Perhaps, while we wait, we should be about fulfilling Jesus’ mission when he quoted Isaiah 61:1,
The Lord has anointed me to:
bring good news to the poor
comfort the brokenhearted and
proclaim that captives will be released,
and prisoners will be freed.

Waiting is hard.

But sometimes, God Himself is the One who tells us to wait and be faithful.
And while we wait, we should worship and serve God and God alone
by living out the principles and mission of Jesus Christ.

Monday, December 6, 2021

5 Tips On How To Wait Well

Introduction
Do you ever feel stuck in between, like you’re just waiting for something important to happen?  What’s the hardest part of waiting?  I asked that question in a Facebook post this week.  Here are some of the responses:

  • The number one response was “waiting” – haha – or being patient
  • Letting go of control
  • The anticipation
  • To keep doing your daily activities while you wait
  • Sacrificing pride
  • Not knowing how long you’ll need to wait
  • Worrying about what you’re missing
  • Worrying someone else is getting something at your expense
  • The unknown
  • Thoughts in your head
  • Trusting God
  • Knowing there is something you want or want to do but being frustrated because you have to wait to get it.

Forty years of Stanford research found that people able to wait patiently and delay their own gratification are more likely to succeed in life than those who don’t.[i] 

The Bible is filled with long periods of time when people had to wait and delay gratification while enduring hardship.  Abraham and Sarah had to wait until the were old to have their promised son, Isaac.  The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt 400 years before they entered the Promised Land.  David had to wait to become king of Israel.  And there was a 400 year period of waiting between the time the Old Testament was completed and New Testament began with the birth of Jesus, the Messiah.

That long period of silence in between the Old and New Testament leads many to think nothing important happened, but nothing could be farther from the truth.  Case and point: When the OT closes the Persians were in control and everyone was speaking Aramaic. When the NT opens the Romans are in control and everyone is speaking Greek. Apparently, a lot happened in those in between years. 

I want to recap the history of Israel from 475 BC to the time Jesus was born.  But first, I want to read a strange apocalyptic passage from Daniel chapter 8.  I want to read it, because it is a prophecy that God gave to Daniel while he was living as an exile in Babylonia.  And yet this prophecy foretold all the kingdoms that would rule over Israel before the Messiah was born.  Let's look at the passage and then review the actually history of the intertestamental period.

Daniel 8:18-22
18 
While he was speaking, I fainted and lay there with my face to the ground. But Gabriel roused me with a touch and helped me to my feet.

19 Then he said, “I am here to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath. What you have seen pertains to the very end of time. 20 The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire. 22 The four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the Greek Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none as great as the first.

What a strange passage!  But it refers to actual event that happened between 475 BC and 4 BC when Jesus was born.  Let’s look at that history and listen to the parts of Daniel’s prophecy.

Daniel 8:19 says, “I am here to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath.”

Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC by Babylon and the Jews, including Daniel, were taken into captivity.  However, Babylon was destroyed by the Medes and Persia.  Daniel 8:20:  The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia.”

The King of Persia sent the Jews home to Jerusalem and they rebuilt their temple in 515 BC and then the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, was written about 475 BC. 

The Jews remained under Persian Rule until a guy from Greece named Alexander the Great tried to conquer the whole world.  The “whole world” included Israel and Jerusalem. 

So from 336-323 BC, Israel was part of the Greek Empire & they learned to speak Greek.  Greek became the universal language of the world (the way English is today), which is why the New Testament would eventually be written in Greek.  Daniel 8:21 says, “The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire.”  The king of Greece was Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great died unexpectedly in 323 BC.  After his death, the Greek empire splintered into four smaller, less powerful kingdoms—the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in Syria, the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and the Macedonia Kingdom in Greece.  Daniel 8:22 says, “The four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the Greek Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none as great as the first.”

After Alexander the Great’s death, the Israelites were ruled by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 323-198 BC.  The Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek, giving us the Septuagint.  It was also during this period that Jews began to separate themselves into two major schools of thought.  There were the Hellenist who wanted to welcome Greek culture and philosophy into the Jewish religion.  On the opposite side were the Hassidic Jews who wanted to keep Jewish culture and religion pure and undefiled.  These “pious ones” as they were called, eventually evolved to become the Pharisees of the New Testament.

We will look more at the other Kingdoms that ruled Israel in the coming weeks.  But very quickly, we see Syrian Kingdom conquered Israel from the Egyptians in 198 BC and ruled until 165 BC.

The Maccabean Revolt of 168 led to 100 years of independence (and is the event that inspired the modern Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which lasts eight days and ends this year on December 6th).

However, independence was short lived and tumultuous and never lived up to God’s standards for His Kingdom.  And the Romans conquered Israel in 63 BC and ruled for 400 years until 313 AD.

Waiting is Hard
Waiting can be hard—especially when you don’t know when the waiting will and you feel like you’ve lost control.  However, God is in control.  Daniel’s prophecy shows that God knew everything that was going to happen in Israel in between the Old and New Testaments.  And, God also knew how all these events would shape the world to get us ready to receive the Messiah.

Some will wonder, “Why didn’t God just send the Messiah? Why wait 400 years?”  Well, I don’t pretend to know the mind of God and all His purposes and plans.  I do know that there were huge differences between the world of 500 BC and the time Christ was born.

First of all, those 500 years of the Intertestamental period allowed time for the Greek language to spread so that people across the world could understand each other from one end to the other.  Also, new roads and international trade routes and diplomatic agreements made travel more possible.  In 500 BC, people were using scrolls and clay tablets.  The New Testament was written in books and letters in the first century AD.  Books and letters were a new technology that made sending written information about Christ easier.  Thus, the Good News about Jesus was able to spread across the world in the first century AD in ways that weren't possible in 500 BC.  Israel wasn’t ready for the Messiah in 500 BC. The world wasn’t ready either.  

Learn How to Wait Well
Studies show that people who know how to wait well are more successful and happy than those who need immediate gratification.  Whether or not you feel like you have the discipline to be patient, there are things you can do to improve your ability to wait well.  You can train your patience just like you can train your muscles in the gym. 

Here are a five tips that can help you practice being patient.

5 Tips To Improve Your Ability To Wait Well
First, don’t worry. Jesus said, “don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)  He taught His disciples to simply seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and trust God to take care of the rest.  Stay focused on doing God’s will and everything will fall into it’s proper place and you won’t be letting your thought be dominated by worries about things you can’t control anyway.

Second, enjoy the moment.  When your thoughts are consumed by what might happen next, you can miss out on the beautiful life you have right now.  Learn to appreciate the many, many blessings God is giving you today.  Tomorrow will be here soon enough.  They say, "A watched pot never boils."  If you dwell on waiting for something to happen, it will seem to take forever.  However, "time flies when you're having fun."  If you focus on enjoying the blessings God has for you right now in this moment, those times will fly by and your waiting for whatever's coming next will soon be over.

Third, practice being uncomfortable.  There are going to be times in life when you experience pain, hurt, sickness, and many other uncomfortable circumstances.  You might well practice getting used to it.  Practice denying yourself.  Skip a meal (fasting).  Spend some time being bored (on purpose).  Exercise hard and make your body sore.  Learn to deal with the pain and discomfort in a controlled environment.  It will help you deal with being uncomfortable later.

Fourth, wait before you make a big purchase.  Rather than making an impulse buy, set a rule that you have to wait 24 hours before you buy something.  If you see it today and you want it today (and you can get it today), make yourself wait 24 hours.  It’ll still be there tomorrow.   So wait until tomorrow.  Two things may happen if you wait.  First, you may discover you really didn't need or want that thing you almost bought on impulse.  Second, you will train yourself to delay gratification.

Lastly, challenge yourself.  If you truly feel stuck, like you’re not going anywhere, then do something proactive to improve yourself.  Times when you’re waiting are great times to get training that will give you new skills.  Go back to school or take a course.  Read a book.  Listen to a podcast.  These things will give you new skills and insights and may also inspire you about the next steps you could take.

Jesus is With Us
The Good News is, we aren’t waiting alone.  Jesus is there with us in those in between times too.
Jesus is not dead.  He is risen.  And He is with us while we wait.  So Jesus helps us find new strength and courage.  He will nourishes your soul and fill you with hope as you wait patiently for His return and for whatever important changes you are may come.


[i] https://jamesclear.com/delayed-gratification?fbclid=IwAR2XpwUq2x6V4W0IUBKGgxJ78cB4I9D5GlguqC8g6C0fsfPiU8lXYHvzZVQ

Monday, November 29, 2021

Living In Between

Introduction
Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  Advent is a season of waiting and preparation.  We are preparing for Christmas—the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  But we are also waiting for the second coming of Christ, for it was promised Jesus would return to judge the living and the dead, and to right all that is wrong with the world.  Then God will recreate the heavens and the earth, and we will live with God forever in Paradise. 

But in the meantime, we are waiting.

Waiting is an important part of God’s plan for His people.  It can feel like nothing happens while you wait, but God is at work. This series will examine what happened to God’s people in the period in between the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament while they waited for the Messiah to be born.  This series is also design to help you in those times when you feel stuck in between, waiting.

Timeline of the Old Testament
The Bible is divided into two Testaments – the Old Testament & the New Testament.  The Old Testament primarily deals with God’s covenant with Israel.  The New Testament primarily deals with God’s new covenant with all people, made possible through God’s only begotten Son, Jesus, who was the Messiah the Jews longed for.

Here’s a quick review of the Bible.  
First there was Abraham (circa 1900s BC).  About 400 years later, one of Abraham's decedents, Joseph, went down to Egypt.  Then the Israelites became slaves in Egypt for 400 years.  Next, Moses delivered the Israelites (circa 1300s BC).  About 400 years later, David was annointed king of Israel followed by David's son King Solomon (900s BC).  After Solomon, there was a civil war between the northern and southern tribes of Israel.  Israel split into two kingdoms--Samaria in the North and Judea in the South (we get the name "Jews" from Judea).  In 586 BC, Judea was conquered by Babylon and all the inhabitants were taken away into captivity in Babylon.  about 70 years later, the captives were allowed to return and rebuild Jerusalem & the Temple (515 BC).  Finally, the last book of the Old Testament was composed about 475 BC.

Nothing else was added to the Bible until the New Testament detailed the events from the first century AD after Christ was born.  What happened during the 400 or so years between the Old and New Testament?  We find a clue in the Book of Nehemiah, which was written close to the end of the OT.  In particular, Nehemiah 9:36-37 was written about events that happened about 515 BC.

Nehemiah 9:36-37
36 
“So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! We are slaves here in this good land. 37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our livestock. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.”

Nehemiah Rebuilds Jerusalem
Nehemiah was living as one of the conquered Jewish exiles in Persia when the king of Persia (Artaxerxes) decided to let the Jewish exiles return home to Jerusalem.  The king of Persia  commissioned Nehemiah to govern Jerusalem and help oversee the rebuilding of the city and the Temple.

It was a time of great hope for Jews.  They hoped that Jerusalem might return to the glory of Solomon’s days.  They hoped to achieve religious freedom, peace, and prosperity.  They longed to rebuild and worship in their own Temple once again.

Unfortunately their hopes were never fully realized.  The Temple was rebuilt, but it was a shadow of its former glory.  In fact, the Bible record that the people who had known the glory of Solomon's Temple wept because the new Temple was only a shadow of it's former glory.  The reality is the Jews were “slaves in the land” of Israel (Nehemiah 9:36). They remained vassels, subjugated to the more powerful Kingdoms around them.  Throughout the 400-500 year period between the Old and New Testaments, the Jews were passed around between the various empires that rose to power in the region.  They were not treated with dignity or respect. They were merely pawns in an international chess match. They were disposable, vulnerable, and a commodity to be used by more powerful people.  Nehemiah 9:37 says, “We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.” And that about sums up the Jewish people’s 400 year experience from the time they returned from exile until the time when Jesus was born—the entire period between the Old and New Testaments.

And while in former times, God had sent prophet's like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Hosea and Micah to speak His word to them--words so powerfully inspired people collected them in our Bible--no one spoke inspired words worthy of being included in the Bible for 400 years after the completion of Malachi.  It seems as if God was silent.

This was not the first time God was silent.  It also wasn’t the first time God’s people had to wait.
Remember, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for 400 years before God sent Moses to deliver them.  At least during the intertestamental period they were slaves in their own land.

Still, it’s hard to patiently suffer and wait on God when it feels like He is being silent and doesn’t care.  God does care, but sometimes, He has to let us wait and ripen until the time is right to fulfill His plan.

In the meantime, we have to be patient and wait on the Lord.  Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”

And James 5:7 says, “Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return.”

Even if you suffer while you wait, God can use it to bless you when you trust Him & are faithful.  God gives you time to think and grow while you wait for the right opportunities and pass on the wrong ones.  God helps you when you are really hungry and waiting for good food. He teaches you, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God."  Waiting for God gives you time to realize, He is Your only hope.  


Sometimes, people pause for effect before they say something really important.  After the Old Testament, God paused to let people know He was about to speak the most important Word He woudl ever give--the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.


The Israelites had to wait for 400 years before their Messiah came, but that 400 years was time for important work in the hearts of HIs people.

 

First, the pause between the Old and New Testaments gave Israelites time to exhaust all their own schemes and realize, they were hopeless without God.


Israel was a small, insignificant land stuck in between massively powerful empires.  They were never going to have enough resources or a powerful enough army to dominate others.
Their only hope was the Lord.  
Again and again the Jews tried to establish their own kingdom by their own hands, but again and again they failed.  By the time Jesus came, most people realized their only hope was the Lord.  It would only be by the direct intervention of God Almighty that they would find salvation.  The name “Messiah”, means the one chosen by God to save.  Jesus is the Messiah.

 

What about you?  Do you realize your only hope is the Lord?
Have you been trying to make your own plans work by your own hand?
Don’t you realize, any “kingdom” you build will not stand.  It will fail.
But the plans of the Lord will last forever.  Learn to wait on the Lord.

 

Second, the time of waiting in between the Old and New Testaments gave the Israelites time to discover their “line in the sand”.

Since Israel had to compromise on many things in order to survive in a hostile world surround by more powerful nations, they really had to learn their core values—the essentials of being faithful to God that they could not compromise.  Not everything is worth fighting about.  But some things are worth dying for.  It's critical to know the difference.

What about you?  Do you know who you really are? 
What are the core values you can’t compromise?  What are the deal breakers for you? 
How do you deal with people who cross the line?
Romans 12:18 says, “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” 
How do you live that out?  How do you know if it’s time to compromise or take a stand?
How do you avoid sin and honor God when you take your stand?

Third, the time of waiting in between the Old and New Testaments helped many Israelites grow closer to God.

Waiting for something important can either drive you away from God or draw you closer.  Some Israelites tried to build their own kingdoms.  In the weeks ahead, we will learn about some of the different political and religious groups in Israel and how they tried to build their own kingdoms of Israel.  Thanksfully, there were also many people (like The Wisemen in the East, and Simeon and Anna in Luke 2) who grew closer to God by waiting on God, praying, worshiping, and patiently trusting God's plan.

How about you? 
How can you grow closer to God as you wait faithfully through prayer, study, fasting, and serving?

Closing Thoughts to Contemplate
Contemplate how
you can grow closer to the Lord as you prepare for Christmas?
What will it take for you to finally realize you are hopeless without God?
What are your core values?
What practical steps could you take this season to truly depend upon God, discover who you really are, and prepare for the coming of the Lord?

 

Monday, December 4, 2017

Real Hope

Introduction
            It's never easy to wait, but waiting implies you have hope.  Over the Thanksgiving break, I found I was waiting with hopeful anticipation for my son to make it home from college in Huntsville.  I was looking forward to seeing and spending time with him.  It was a similar feeling we had with each of our children as we waited for them to be born.  The pregnancies were a long wait--nine months--but they were full of an expectant hope.  We knew they would result in great joy when the waiting is over.
            Advent--the four weeks leading up to Christmas--are a season of waiting as we prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth.  However, Advent is also a reminder that we are waiting for Christ's second coming and that we are to prepare so we will be ready when he comes.  As we wait, as we prepare, let's consider if our waiting includes real hope.
          
 Luke 2:25-35 25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
    as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31     which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
    and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” 


Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
            As I read that passage about Simeon meeting the baby Jesus, a song comes to mind that we often sing--not at Christmas--but at patriotic times.  It goes, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”  The song is the Battle Hymn of the Republic and it speaks of the second coming of the Lord, but it also echoes Simeon's sentiments as he held baby Jesus in the Temple.
            Simeon was a man of hope.  When he looked around, he saw a broken world.  However, Simeon believed God would not leave the world a broken mess.  Simeon hoped for a Savior and the Holy Spirit ensured Simeon he would not die until the Messiah came. Simeon believed.  His hopeful words to Mary and Joseph reveal the kind of Savior Messiah Jesus is.
            Simeon said the Savior Messiah was "...prepared for all people" and "a light to reveal God to all nations."  Simeon was a Jew, a child of Abraham, God's chosen people.  However, Simeon testified that the Messiah was not just for the Jews; He came to give light to all people from every nation and race.
            Simeon said the Messiah Savior was "the glory of Israel".  Many religious people today like to say the Israelites are "God's chosen people."  But what were they chose for?  Was it simply to enjoy God's special treatment at the expense of others?  Were they chosen to get a pass to do whatever they like?  No.  Israel was chosen to be a light that reveals God to all nations.  Jesus is the glory of Israel because he is the fulfillment of their purpose.  Jesus is THE LIGHT that reveals God perfectly to all nations.
            Jesus was born and lived a perfect life to show us the way.  Jesus died on the cross to atone for our sins.  Jesus rose from the grave to conquer the power of sin and death.  Jesus ascended to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God to rule in glory.  However, the story doesn't end there.  We believe Jesus will come again. 
            As the Disciples watched Jesus ascend to Heaven in the first chapter of Acts, a man robed in white appeared before them and proclaimed they would see Jesus return in the clouds just as they had seen him ascend.  Christians profess our faith in this second coming even in the 21st century as we recite the Apostles' Creed.  We say: "...He will come again to judge the living and the dead."
           The second coming of Christ will occur in two senses.  First, Jesus will come in a communal sense.  As he ascended in the clouds, so he will descend again for the whole world to see.  This will be his final second coming and it will be for the whole world all at once.  We don't know when Jesus will come again in this way.  We wait with expectant hope for Jesus to come and finally fix all that is broken in our world, but we don't know if it will happen in our lifetime.  We have been already been waiting some 2,000 years and it has not happened yet.  It could be another 2,000 years before he comes; however, it could also be within the next few moments.  "No one knows," as Jesus said in Matthew 24:36, "the day or hour these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows."
            However, we can also think of Jesus coming in another sense, in a personal sense.  Jesus also comes for each of us personally.  His personal coming happens many times and each of us can be sure he will come for us individually in our lifetime--for no one lives forever.  Every person is going to have to face Jesus at some point.  Again, we don't know if this will be today, tomorrow, or years from now, but you can be sure you will not escape it any more than you can escape physical death.  Jesus is coming.  Is your heart full of hope as you wait or are you filled with dread at the thought?  Your answer depends greatly on how you prepare.

Real Hope Brings Peace
            Real hope in Jesus Christ brings peace.  Simeon's greatest hope was to see the Christ child before he died.  His hope was fulfilled and he was able to die in peace.  What a blessing!  Oh that we could all find a peace like Simeon’s because we place our hope in Christ.  Christ came to bring the Good News that all who trust and follow him as Lord and Savior shall not die, but have eternal life.  Jesus didn't come to condemn us, but to save us.  Everyone who has faith in him shall be saved, but those who reject Jesus have already judged themselves to be unworthy of God's grace.
            How awful it would be to achieve your life's ambition only to find it was empty and worthless and unfulfilling.  Perhaps that is the definition of hell.  There are many in our world who place their hope in all the wrong things:  money, careers, power, or people.  They strive, sacrificing their time, their families, their health, their lives, working their fingers to the bone all in the hope that their idols--their little gods--will bring them real satisfaction and fulfillment.  Some work their whole life chasing these false hopes.  Others release their dreams only to find them empty and so start to chase something else in hope that it will do the trick.  Nothing will bring real peace except a relationship with Christ.  He is the only real hope we have. 
            My hope as a minister of Jesus Christ is that everyone will realize their misdirected hope before it is too late, before they waste even one more ounce of time and effort on them.  My hope is that we will all come to Jesus and lay down your dead hopes before him.  Place your hope in Jesus and you will find peace.  Even when you come to the end of your life, you will be able to say with Simeon, "Now I can die in peace."

Real Hope Can Be Painful
            Our hope in Christ does not exclude trouble and suffering.  We still live in a broken world and Jesus said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Sometimes we face resistance and trouble because we trust in Christ; the world opposes Christ and those who follow him.  Sometimes we have pain simply because life in a broken world can be hard.
            Simeon’s words to Mary are very telling.  He said at the end of verse 35:  “And a sword will pierce your very soul.”  Mary, as the mother of the Messiah Savior, was not spared suffering.  She faced perhaps the worst suffering a mother can ever face.  Even though her son was perfect in every way and did nothing but love and help people, she watched him despised, rejected, denied, betrayed, arrested, disrespected, tortured, and ultimately murdered on a cross.  No parent should ever have to witness the death of their child, let alone in such a cruel and unfair manner.  Yet Mary's greatest pain turned out to be her greatest glory--the salvation of the whole world.  Death was defeated!  Eternal life opened to all!  Jesus rose in glory!
            Sometimes real hope also includes the promise of real pain, but our hope is God will redeem all our pain and not an ounce of it will be wasted.  Our hope is that our most painful wounds will—like Mary’s—turn out to be the source of our greatest victories in the end.  So we join with the Apostle Paul's hopeful proclamation of faith, "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later." (Romans 8:18)

Real Hope is Always With Us
            Our hope in Christ insures that any pain and suffering we experience in this life is infused with a sense of expectant hope.  It is like the pain of child birth.  It is said that giving birth is the most painful experience the human body can endure.  I was with my wife at the birth of each of our children and I can testify that what I saw looked intensely painful indeed!  However, the pain of giving birth is also infused with hope.  You know it will end in great joy as you meet your child for the first time face to face.  So the greatest pain of life culminates in its greatest joy.  So it is with the greatest sufferings we face in this life.  Have faith that our great suffering will culminate in the great joy of seeing Christ face to face.
             Also, have faith you do not go through any of it alone.  For Jesus said, "It is good that I go to be with the Father in Heaven.  For if I go, the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) will come and live inside you."  So the Holy Spirit of God lives inside every person who truly trusts in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  You do not walk through this life alone.  When you are facing your toughest battles, understand that Jesus is right their with you--living inside you--giving you strength to press on with real hope.