August 11, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the Law nor to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. In response to their choice, the Lord Almighty was very angry.” (Zechariah 7.12)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

“Are we learning and putting into practice those things which are intended to fulfill our meaning and purpose in life? Test time isn’t coming, mighty ones of God. Test time is here!” Many of you may read the portion of these reflections posted on Facebook, but I am not sure how many actually read all the way through. Today, it is important to see the conclusion for the reflection on God’s word on Friday which addressed Zechariah 7.11. It is important because the part of the body of Christ which is in America is charged with its most important mission to date. We are being put to the test for what we believe, why we believe and how we “walk the walk and talk the talk” of being followers of Christ. Our time is NOW! Before, we may have felt the time for America was when there were world wars being waged around the globe. America, as a nation, responded with the grit and tenacity of defending “freedom, liberty and justice” as the right of every person who lived on the face of this planet. We were not defending America as much as we were defending the attacks on “freedom, liberty and justice.” Perhaps I will reflect more on that later but for now, I do not want to wander far from the original point of this reflection as it pertains to “testing.” We are at the greatest point in our history as Americans to “pass the test” now with acceptable low marks but with integrity, vitality and intentionality reflecting the purpose of the gospel and our calling to be citizens of a kingdom that is not of this world. The greatest battle is, as it has always been, an internal conflict.

Why do I say this? For those who are mighty ones of God, we know that “sin” is never external. “Sin” attacks the internal mechanisms of the heart, mind and soul. The collateral damage may leak out to external evidences and vice-versa, such external “evidences” may be associated (and for the great extent) as signs of internal failures. Even those who do not ascribe to the Judeo-Christian body of faith in Yahweh Elohim certainly have within their own understandings of faith that the greatest enemy of all is the one who seeks to pollute the heart, mind and soul with a spirit of deceit, deception and chaos. Within the Word of God we believe that the true enemy of God and humankind is Satan who capitalizes on such a spirit of darkness so as to consume the light. We also know of the failure of the enemy to do so as is evidenced with the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth who is the Messiah of Israel and the Christ of the world. In the witness of both the Old and New Testaments, we see where chaos exists with a desire to stop eternal life in the fullness intended by the glory of God from being known and realized. Sadly, for many throughout the course of history, there are those who ascribe to accepting such futility and desire merely to measure the value and quality of life by the days which they exist on earth. Any sense of “life beyond life on earth” is immaterial to this way of thinking because it doesn’t seem real. It seems unreal in spite of such evidences to the contrary. Even belief in God is subjected to the prioritizing of the experienced negativity of justice, that is-anger, and thereby pushes others to consider this is the only attribute of God. They do not understand the nature and character of God which is love because the belief that in order to avoid anger we must simply “please” ourselves and others. Such “pleasing,” evidenced as entitlement and capitulation, has rapidly become the dominant understanding of authentic love. Nothing could be further from the truth.

That is why, even now as I posted the passage from Zechariah 7.12, I know that many will focus on the final word of this verse and shut down from reading further. The great majority of those readers will discount altogether what follows or read further to affirm their belief that God is indeed only an angry and bitter God and thus should be discredited. However, my reflection on this verse which ends speaking of the “anger of God” is posited on another word. That word which is the crux of this verse and this chapter is: HIS SPIRIT. God’s great desire is that we realize our place within His Spirit. Every living thing is infused with His Spirit. In truth, nothing that exists could exist without His Spirit. Nothing that has been created could exist without HIS Spirit. Direct community and communication with God happens when we recognize the indwelling of His Sprit within us. We are able to do so more, it seems, because we can actually put words to it. Sometimes, I wonder if the rest of nature is far ahead of us in this sense. A frequent reminder of this would be Jesus’ comments to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who demanded that Jesus silence His disciples on their march into Jerusalem. He responded, as I have mentioned previously, “Even if I did get them to be silent, the very rocks alongside of the road would cry out Hosannah!” (Luke 19.40) This is significant a teaching because it would be those kinds of rocks that would be used to stone false prophets, teachers and sinners. Who would be stoned in that moment? It would not be Jesus or His disciples. Those who confronted Jesus were afraid because “all the people were with Him.” Jesus brought order and sense to the chaotic thinking of His accusers and they went back to the shadows out of which they had momentarily emerged. Jesus, of course, was speaking of the words of the prophets who preceded Him and spoke of His coming. One need only to read Luke 13 (and Matthew 23) and hear the lament of Jesus over Jerusalem saying “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” It is a reference to the words of King David from Psalm 118.

It is God’s Spirit, the same Spirit which spoke to and through the prophets of Israel that was speaking in the days of Jesus, on the Day of Pentecost and desires to do so today. We know of the prophecy of Joel, “On that Day, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old will dream dreams, those who are young will see visions.” We would also hear in the echo of this prophecy “And a little child shall lead them. For out of the mouths of babes is ordained perfect praise.” There is a beckoning now for the same revolution and revival of the Spirit of God to happen as there was in the days of Zechariah. The way of foreign nations and an unholy kingdom sought to destroy the very fabric of those whom God had called to be His witnesses to the nations. Why is the work of Daniel so poignant and powerful? It is because Daniel and those whom he led in the days of exile trusted God in an unerring and unfailing fashion. The attacks of the enemy came hard against them, but they remained firm and fervent throughout the test. From dietary restrictions to worshipping idols to the trial by fire and wild beasts, those faithful to God and who trusted in the Spirit of His Word prevailed. They not only prevailed but transformed the culture around them to believing in the reality of God even if they did not accept Him as their one true God. They did not make their hearts like flint to be struck against steel. Instead, they were the ones against whom others who were steeled against them were struck upon. You cannot create a fire in this way. Instead, it is the steel struck against the flint which creates the fire. When God spoke of the people who turned away from His Word and His Spirit as in the proclamations of the Prophets and they became like flint, the result was that they crumbled against those steeled against them. They resisted the contact of the steel and in its place found the blessing stolen from them. Yes, it is a play on words but the result is the same. When the Israelites played against the Word of the Lord they crumbled. For those who remained “firm” in their resolve to trust the Lord, the blade of the enemy only created a spark of spiritual power which consumed them, deterred them or inspired them to believe in the awesome power of God. For the faithless Hebrews, God’s will became the steel against them. Striking with such power so as to resonate to the depth of their heart and soul, or David’s “deep calling unto deep,” the spark of judgment was the result. Those who were true would survive. In fact, they became purified and undeterred. For those who were false, there was only sorrow with the weeping and gnashing of teeth. They were consumed and reduced to ashes scattered by the winds of time.

Is God angry? Of course, God is angry. He has sent countless opportunities to the world and to His people to embrace the truth of how this life, this life in this world on earth, is to be lived. Not only is it the truth on how to live this life but how to capture the full benefits of it. Does God want to be angry? Only at the one who wields sin as a weapon to “steal, kill and destroy.” We saw such a report of this anger in the clearing of the Temple during the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Call it a “righteous anger” but do not use the term to justify your own actions of judgment against others who do not agree with you. Jesus was defending the honor of God and not Himself. Our lives are intended to be lived in the same way. If we refuse, then there is a severe penalty to be paid. Why would we choose that for ourselves or any other. Mighty ones of God, we are in the most critical time of our history to date. We must internalize the Word of God and attack the sin not the sinner to bring about righteousness. Live righteously. Serve righteousness. Praise God and let the Spirit speak for us whether it is through us or around us.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.