August 12, 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:

Do we think God is angry now? Do we dare to think God is not? Would He walk into the hallowed halls of Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House and into the market places of our houses of worship and cry out “My Father’s House is meant to be a house of communicating with God in steadfast prayer but you are turning them all into dens of thieves, robbers and murderers?” Oh, let us not be so foolish as to claim naivete! Listen to the bluntness of God’s word to Zechariah and to Joshua the confirmed High Priest: 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. Of course, the God of the Universe is angry. He is past frustration and dwells now in righteous sorrow. Why shouldn’t God be angry. We have not only not heeded the words of the prophets, those who have spoken the truth of God without malice but submission, but we have sought to mute their words with the tidal wave of our own selfishness.

Selfishness? Are you offended by this word? Will you assume the position of the rich young ruler who said to the King of kings: “I have fulfilled the commandments you have mentioned since I was a youth. I have not murdered. I have not committed adultery. I do not steal. I do not bear false witness. I have honored my father and mother and loved my neighbor as myself.” Will you be satisfied that you are fifty percent perfect? Yes, fifty percent. Jesus offered the rich young ruler who was seeking the means to gain the righteousness of heaven only a fifty percent passing grade on the test before him and us. Jesus mentioned only five of the ten commandments as were given to Moses on Sinai to be guidelines of determining the righteousness of people before God. Five of ten! Jesus only mentioned one of the two greatest commandments, called such even by the Scribes and Pharisees and the teachers of the Law predating even the Decalogue itself. One of two! We can do the math ourselves. Six out of twelve is fifty percent! Yet, even in meeting that measure (take heed you notice which commandments were omitted and see that they are the very ones which stand against us now), Jesus pressed the rich young ruler toward the truth of the matter.

Now will the legalists jump at the chance to run to the front of the pack in the race for the Kingdom of God on earth? What will it be that Jesus alludes to when He suggests there is one thing missing from the accomplishments of the young man either by omission of anything wrong or the commission of everything “by the book.” The legalist and the religionist will boast that “keeping the Law” is being pushed forward and advanced as the means of authentic righteousness. They are whispering on the sidelines and background of this drama being played out in their presence. Some are saying, “It is only by the fullness of the Law (the other five commandments given to Moses) that meets the mark.” Obviously, what is most important are those which speak of God: honor your mother and your father so it will go well with you in the days ahead; honor the Sabbath day and keep a holy twenty-four hours; do not make any graven images depicting God as is you have seen Him yourselves; do not take the name of the Lord in vain nor bandy it about as if you are good friends casually speaking; and have no other gods before the One True God allowing substitute realities to tempt you in thinking there is another way. Still others were saying, so as to speak to some kind of simplicity in being obedient to the Law represented by the Shema: “It is by loving the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, with all your heart and mind and strength” that one will be able to meet the measure of gaining Heaven. Still others, who remain strangely quiet and distant, confide in one another the foolishness of believing in a life beyond the earth apart from prospering themselves with future generations of children carrying their legacy for all their days.

This had never been the intent nor the promise of God to those whom He called “My People.” Such thinking did not confound God but saddened Him to rueful lament as in the days of Noah. If it did in the days before Zechariah, then it most surely did in the days of the greatest prophet of all who was and is and will always be Jesus the Christ. If then, then why would we not consider the depth of His anger now in the days of our lives? For the one thing more which Jesus bore witness to as “that which is needed” pointed to the cross. Having such satisfaction in the moment before truth, the rich young ruler as well as everyone else who was listening (including all those down through the ages up to this point in time) waited in anticipation. What would this “one more thing be”? Was it to be ready to receive the blessing as I have fulfilled my obligation to the Law? Am I merely to hold out my hands and have the blessing of eternal life in whatever manner I believe it to be a reality placed in them? Will it be riches and treasures? Will it be power, dominion and authority over others? Will it be finery of dress and appearance never to be soiled by labor? Will it be the benefit of “say the word and it will be done” and command even the angels so that they will obey? Will it be lands and home all my own returned in double measure as it was in the days of Job? What will it be? Oh, mighty ones, the foolishness of that generation has been visited through each succeeding generation until it now reaches us. As we watch the scenes unfold before us across the various stages and arenas upon which we play them ourselves, there is but one truth that remains. It is the intent and purpose of God which has never changed and can never be overcome.

For those who know the teachings of Jesus, you are aware of the next words. You are privileged to know what the disciples did not know until Jesus spoke them. Their response to His words betrayed the false hope and understanding which had become a part of their culture and climate. They said, “If a rich man of the world cannot be saved, then who?” To what did they respond? Say it yourself as I do many times in my own reality check: “Sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Know that you will have treasures laid up for you in heaven. Setting aside such worldly ambition, come and follow Me.” Nothing would truly please God more and cause Heaven to rejoice than for a lost one of Israel to be saved and brought into the fold of God. His anger is not at the people but the devotion to sin which so easily entangles until the web of deceit we weave captures us. It is sin that God hates and not the sinner. In His perfection, God loves the fallen and cast down Lucifer. Though God knows that Lucifer is so dead set against righteousness and humble service to glorify God he will not repent, God still loves Lucifer regardless of the name he chooses others to call him. If our desire is perfection, then it is only by loving authentically that we can reach it. It comes in pairing ourselves with the fulness of the Law achieved only by grace that we will find the reality of Heaven as our own. We cannot do this alone and on our own, mighty ones of God. Jesus taught it Himself saying “What is impossible for humanity (to save itself) is always possible with God (the author of our salvation.)” ~Matthew 19.26

There is hope for us yet, mighty ones of God, as we dwell in this land of our sojourn and as we look into the not so distant future where we will choose whom we shall follow and what we shall believe. Our hope is in the Lord of Heaven and earth. In Him should we trust and in Him alone. We should not lean upon the understandings of our own passions but be filled with the passion of God’s promise and God’s word. We should commit ourselves to follow Jesus as the Christ who is the Son of the Living God for He is a God of the living and not of those who are dead physically, emotionally, mentally, socially and spiritually. He is God over them and His final word is Law. No amount of grace can change what God in Christ will decide on “that Day.” Shall we hear this teaching today and walk away believing there has to be another way? Does Jesus not continue to say to all generations past, present and future “I AM the way, the truth and the life and by no other means or opportunity shall you enter into the presence of God and dwell forever in peace.“

I pray that the only anger I may experience from God is that I did not heed His truth sooner surrendering my hold on life so tightly which made it impossible to receive the life He so lovingly has wanted to give to me….and to all of 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.