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网上牧师杂志–中文版(简体), SCh Ed, Issue 31 2019 年 春季

2019 春

A ministry of…

作者: Roger Pascoe 博士, 主席,
圣经讲道学会
剑桥, 安省, 加拿大
邮箱: [email protected]

Part I:加强讲解式讲道

“加强例子”

A.为什么使用例子?

1.因为圣经中充满了例子

既然神选择使用故事向我们传达一大部分他的话语,那么这一定也应该成为传道人如何传达神话语的指导。神毫无疑问地使用故事来告诉我们真理,因为故事是一个强有力的媒介,既易被理解又易引起回应。在讲道中不使用例子,不但漏掉了一个已经被神用过而且认可的沟通真理的重要方式,而且没有能够以一个相关的、启示性的方式来传讲真理。

2.因为在例子中 “解释”和“应用”紧密相连。

例子帮助我们能够以相关的、清晰易懂的方式解释和应用真理。因此当我们传讲真理在实际生活中的应用使,你应该能够举例说明!

有些传道人认为,神话语的应用只需留给圣灵,圣灵可以使真理既清楚又与生活相联系。是的,只有圣灵能够使神的话语足够清晰而且有说服力,以至于改变一个人的生活;但是不论怎样,我们不要忘了,圣灵使用讲道作为媒介,把神的话语与生活联系起来而且适于应用;而且圣灵在圣经中已经教给了我们如何使用例子。

我们必须既告诉我们的会众做什么,又要解释怎样做或者一个人的生活怎样被神的话语影响。

3.因为例子帮助克服“那又怎样”的障碍

例子帮助一个传道人跨过听众的注意力,触摸到他们的思想、心灵、意志和良心。例子通常会使一个听众明白他们为什么需要这个讲道;为什么这个讲道适用于他们。

在跨过听众“这和我有什么相干”的问题时,例子通常会成为一个非常有帮助的工具,因为例子没有威胁,没有对抗;它们不会激起听众的反对;它们只是第三方的例子。

B.例子的一些目的和类型

1.使用例子的一些目的

a)使真理清晰

b)使真理简单易懂

c)使真理图像化

d)使真理具体化(比如使真理实际、可见、真实)

e)为了强调真理

f)使信息更权威

g)以一种不同的方式传讲真理

2.例子的一些类型和来源

a)圣经中的叙事、陈述和箴言通常是最好的例子

但是要注意:使用圣经中的故事作为例子要小心。圣经中的故事是为了说明一个要点,而不是为了给后来的传道人提供例子。虽然可以用圣经的故事来说明一个观点,但是一般来说,最好是因为圣经的权威和教导来引用它,而不是阐明一个观点

b) 教会历史、人物传记、见证。

c)世俗的历史、文学、信息。

d)寓言、比喻、反例、故事

e)奇闻、名言、统计结果。

f)个人经历、当代人的见证。最好的例子通常是生活中的一个侧面—一段经历,或者是你的或者其他人的。这些经历之所以是很好的例子,因为…

  • 每个人都能从中找到认同
  • 它们是“真的”
  • 它们是当代的、相关的
  • 它们不需要解释就可以应用于生活

使用生活中的一个侧面做例子,要求你观察…

  • 人们的伤、愿望、需要、关系、职业以及困难
  • 当代的新闻、能触动人们心灵和良知的东西
  • 人们谈论什么、想什么、做什么
  • 人们怎样谈论、思想、行动和反应、
  • 你如何反应、思想、谈论和行动(因此你能够在自己里面找到和其他人认同的地方)。不需要总是特别地谈到自己,通常发生在你身上的事以及你如何行动也同样代表了其他人。

g) 文学手段比如修辞(类比、暗喻、比较和对比)、形象生动的描述、双关语。

h)实物课程比如视觉辅助和幻灯片。

i)当代的新闻、口号、声明、事件。当你看新闻杂志、听广播或看电视的时候,你可以找到这一类的例子—世俗的广播比任何人都知道人们想要什么、哪里受伤以及他们怎么生活。

j)一般的生活观察和经历。

k)大自然中的例子—比如毛毛虫破茧成蝶可能成为基督徒生命被改变的例子。

C.放置例子的地方

1.在整个讲道过程中,它们应该放在那里

决定在讲道的哪个地方使用例子最有益处或者哪个地方最需要例子。并不是你讲道中的每一个点都需要例子来说明。

在哪里使用例子比使用多少例子有更大影响。

然而,这里有几个明显需要你使用例子的地方。

a)介绍。一个好的例子会吸引注意力、提高兴趣、介绍主题以及肯定需要。

b)要点。我并不认为每一个要点都需要举例说明。这样做实际上可能并不理想或者必要。但是在讲道的某个地方,你需要举例说明你在讲的东西,即便没有其他原因,只是为了在讲道的中间给予休息—比如为了给听众一些精神上的放松。

c)如果你能够找到一个合适的例子来结束讲道,会更有影响力而且容易被记住。但是同样地,有时这并不可能,有时不一定是理想的或者必要的。

这里有几个问题帮助你思想在哪里使用例子以及使用例子的次数和类型 [这些问题来自于Ramesh Richard的准备讲解式讲道(Baker),126]

a) 必须要用例子来澄清或解释讲道的一个要点或部分吗?

b) 例子能够回答听众“怎么样、为什么、什么时候”这种不言而喻的问题吗?

c) 例子使这个要点更可靠、可信、更容易接受吗?

d) 什么样的例子能够帮助听众来理解和应用这个要点?

2.如何在讲道中使用例子?

当你按着下面的步骤使用例子,会有更好的联系、更多的影响:

a)说明要点。

b)过渡到例子。一个过渡式的陈述对顺利过渡到例子非常有帮助—例如“最近当…我发现这一事实”或者一些类似的陈述。

c)解释要点

d)虽然这不是必要的,但可以通过应用或者劝导他们对例子做出反应,而过渡到听众,。

e)再次声明这个重点,或者拓展这个要点,或者过渡到下个重点

D. 20个关于例子的做和不做

1.不要总是使用相同类型的例子

例如一般主要对男性或少数男性有吸引力的运动

2.不要用你自己的家人作为例子

一般而言,不要在讲道中涉及家人。他们已经足有曝光率。虽然他们一般会同意你使用个人做例子,但是他们通常不会考虑后果或者可能的影响,所以不要涉及他们。

3.不要使用你会众中的任何人,除非是为了表扬而且得到他们的同意。

4.永远不要使用保密的事情,即使你所使用的语言没有个人指向,也不可以。那个人会在你的故事中看到他或她自己,你会失去这个人对你的信任。

5.简短地说明你例子的出处

如果说明例子的出处分散了听众对例子本身的注意力或者使听众觉得厌烦,你就失去了影响力。一般情况下,我在我的讲稿中会详细记录下例子的出处,但是讲道的时候我只提及作者的名字或者出处的名字。

如果你不知道出处(或者如果你不想说出来),就简单地说“有人说”或者“我从某处读到”。这样你就说明了出自某处而不会试图让它看起来像你自己的。

公共领域的例子通常不需要确认其出处。

6.不要对相同的听众,重复使用相同的例子

如果你重复使用同一例子,你可能会使听众觉得厌烦。

7.不要让你的例子盖过它所要说明的重点

一定要使每个例子都服务于真理,而不是盖过真理。真理的阐释和应用是我们讲道的焦点—也就是圣灵能够用来改变生命的东西。我们是传道人,这是首要的,而不是讲故事的人。

你想要人们通过例子来记住真理。他们一定会记住例子,但是要确保他们也记住了例子要说明的真理。

8.不要因为是一个好例子,就歪曲这个例子使其适合你的讲道

好例子强而有力,传道人往往想使用它们,而这容易造成不正确和不恰当的使用。改动一个普遍的例子(比如那个小男孩的故事)来适应一个故事是一回事;但是不应该扭曲例子使其适合你的讲道。

9.学习如何更好地使用例子

这是一个学习的艺术。观察听众的反应来看它是否有效。

10.有策略地放置你的例子使其有最大的影响

最有策略的放置是在开始或者结尾—在开始,是为了吸引注意力;在最后,是为了使要点清晰,让听众记住。

11.保持例子简短

例子长了容易分散你想要说明的东西。使用长例子必须一次(一旦你开始就停不了,没有第二次机会)就使用对,并且要达到预期的效果,否则你就会失去听众,看起来很糟糕,而且浪费了宝贵的时间。

而另一方面,如果一个短例子没有达到你想要的影响,你可以继续进行而不会感到尴尬或者浪费时间。而且简短的例子容易被记住,也容易脱稿而讲。脱稿而讲的例子最有影响力。

12.确保你的例子在细节和作者信息上准确

如果你做不到准确,就不可靠。历史数据必须准确。文学引用(如诗歌)必须准确。统计数据必须准确。

13.确保你的例子适合你的听众

要考虑文化问题比如修辞、社会实践、历史关联、幽默等。当你面对与自己文化不同的听众讲道时(例如在国外),这一点非常重要。

通用的例子必须与生活经历、自然、历史等等此类的事情有关联。

14.不要使用太多的例子

如果你的讲道充满了例子,听众会厌烦并且会认为你没有好好准备。最多对每个主要观点举例说明通常就足够了。

15.不要使用不可靠的例子

检验每一个例子;“看它是否可信…是否有逻辑…是否现实?”如果不是,不要使用它(哪怕它是真实的),否则你毁了你的信誉。

16.使用幽默要小心

幽默只有在自然的情况下才应该使用—比如不要开玩笑!如果一个例子或者经历很有趣而且适合你讲道的主题,那么可以使用它。这和开玩笑不同,开玩笑是虚构的场景。记住,有趣但听众却不觉得有趣的事情,只会影响你信息的效果,所以要小心。不要使用任何可能被认为不得体或不合适的幽默(比如任何可能被认为是种族歧视的言论)。

17.不要重复提到你自己

人们通常热爱他们的牧师,这已经足够了。他们想知道的不仅仅是发生在你生活中的事情(比如你小的时候,长大之后以及发生在以前教会的事情等等)。我建议你不要提及你以前的教会。如果你谈到,你的听众会很自然地认为你以后也会在别人面前谈论他们。这样做既不专业、也不必要、不恰当。

18.不要过于生动

我们在这里是要将注意力吸引到神和他的真理,而不是生动的例子。通常,太过绘声绘色的语言或者例子让听众厌烦。

19.不要使用陈旧的例子

不要使用每个传道人都用的例子。要原创的。这需要努力和研究,但却是值得的。

20.确保你的例子说明重点。

有的时候你听一个传道人举例子,会想“这和主题有什么关联?”就像幽默一样,一个例子也必须使人能直观地明白它的意思,以及它是如何说明你试图阐明的观点并与之相联系的。

Part II.能带来改变的领导

“一个基督徒领袖的侧面”

一个基督徒领袖看起来该是什么样的?从个人、性格、能力、态度、生活方式以及属灵等方面,他是怎样一个人?显然,提前3:1-7以及提多1:5-9给出了成为教会领袖属灵方面应具备的最基本要求。但是在我看来,这仅仅是最基本的要求。这并不是一个包含所有的列表,如果一个人满足了,就一定有资格成为教会领袖。我并不认为保罗希望我们把这当做一个清单来用,而不考虑其他的标准和要求。这个列表没有提到品格方面,比如谦卑、勇气或者智慧,而这些也是作为一个教会领袖需具备的重要方面;这里也没有提到领导才能(罗 12:8),然而一个领袖必须有这方面的属灵恩赐。

所以,你认为还有哪些方面的品格或者个性是一个教会领袖应该具备的?我认为,除了保罗在提前3章提到的标准,在圣经其他经文中也包含了一些作为教会领袖不可缺少的、必须具备的品格和个性。我认为可以将他们分为三类以便于理解:

A.那些看不到的特征,使他们能够一贯地做出好的决定。

B.那些个性特点,能够影响他们所领导的那些人去跟随和服从。

C.那些促使领袖取得成就的“成功”特性,比如自律、坚韧、忍耐。

A.品格特点

这些特点使领袖能够一贯地做出好的决定。我的列表中,排在前面的五个是:智慧、正直、谦卑、勇气和异象。

1.智慧

智慧排在最前面,就像一把大伞一样,其他所有的都包含在它里面。那么“什么是智慧?”这是我的公式:智慧=知识+经验+成熟

a)知识。知识是我们对事实、真理、原则等的认识。知识与学习相关。特殊知识来自于我们对特定领域的专业知识和学习,无论是学术上的还是在工作中的

b)经验。没有经验便不会有智慧。毕竟,智慧是在生活经历中得到和学习的。在生活这所学校中所经历的挫折,使你更有智慧。

虽然经验意味着年龄,但有些人比其他人更快地获得经验,这是由于他们接触到的生活经历,并乐于从这些经历中学习,无论是在家里、学校、工作还是社会中

你可能会说,经验是我们把知识运用到实践中,就像学徒阶段一样。那么说到底,难道整个的生活在一定程度上不就像做学徒一样吗?

c)成熟。使徒保罗说:“在完全(成熟)的人中,我们也讲智慧”(哥前2:6).那么什么是成熟?成熟是一种很难定义的东西,但是当你看到的时候你会知道。

成熟是行事为人像成年人而不是孩子—例如当你不能按自己的意志行事或者事情出现差错时,不乱发脾气。控制你的情绪。

身体上的成熟很容易辨认,自然发生而不需要我们做任何事。我们只是简单地成长到一定阶段就停止生长,看起来像成年人。

情感和心理上的成熟,不同的人发生在不同时间。有些上了年纪的人从未成熟。六七十岁的时候,他们可能在行为、反应、态度或者言语方面仍然不成熟,而有些更年轻的人可能在这些方面已相当成熟。

成熟与自制、选择以及我们如何表达我们的情绪有关。这是对我们是谁以及和他人之间关系的意识。

成熟关系到为了长期的获得而忍受短期的痛苦。不成熟的人不会如此看待,他们希望自己想要的立刻得到满足。

成熟是使你的话如同契约一般,一致、可靠。

可悲的是,智慧是当今教会领袖相当缺乏的一个特质。而这却是我们教会领导中迫切需要的。注意以下几点:

  • 所罗门没有像上帝求财富,而求智慧(王上3:9)
  • 耶稣“渐渐长大,强健起来,充满智慧”(路2:40和“智慧和身量都一齐增长”(2:52
  • 使徒行转6章中的领袖“七个有好名声、被圣灵充满、智慧充足的人”(徒6:3
  • 使徒保罗祷告“愿你们在一切属灵的智慧悟性上,满心知道神的旨意”(西1:9)。
  • 谈到基督,保罗说,“所积蓄的一切智慧知识,都在他里面藏着”(西2:3
  • 我们也被劝导“你们要爱惜光阴,用智慧与外人交往”(西4:5

智慧人通常会咨询别人,自我评估以及反思。智慧的人欢迎富有挑战性的对话,这能激发他们的思考和观点。智慧的人不喜欢唯唯诺诺的人在身边,而是喜欢主动、独立思考的人

2.正直

什么是正直?正直有时被定义为遵守道德和伦理原则。正直表现在…

a)没有偏见。这意味着做决定从不为了取悦于人,而是取悦于神(弗6:6-7;西3:22-23)。做对的事,不论代价如何。这意味着永远不要陷入利益冲突。这意味着无论涉及到谁,都不要偏袒某个人。这可能意味着拒绝某人的善意,使你不亏欠人情。

b)透明。坦率。不要有隐藏的目的,不论结果如何。这并不代表你要把所有你知道的都说出来(智慧和保密可能会互相制约),但是这确实意味着不要虚假,做真实的自己。

c)正义。处事正直。

d)真诚。不要欺骗。不要有不可告人的动机。不要虚伪。不要装模作样。

e)诚实。真实,坦率。没有欺骗和诡诈。

f)可信。为人处事使人们可以相信或者信任你。

g)道德纯洁。这是正直的一部分。“你要谨慎自己”(提前4:16).为什么?因为除非你在自己的生活中正直且道德纯洁,否则你无法把别人引向信仰,教导别人真理,带领神的子民敬拜或者为别人代求。

一个基督徒领袖必须正直。你的整个生活必须是一个整体—没有缺口,没有不一致,而是一个统一的整体。

3.谦卑

什么是谦卑?谦卑是…

a)谦和。谦和是“不要看你自己过于所当看的”(罗12:3)—例如不傲慢。谦和是“看别人比自己强”(腓2:3)。谦和是“他必兴旺,我必衰微”(约3:30)的态度。谦和是“我原是使徒中最小的,不配称为使徒”(哥前15:9;弗3:8;提前1:15).

b)犯错的可能性。这是指知道并承认你自己不知道每一件事情。你可能也能够犯错误。你没有所有问题的答案。

c)温柔。不要为了达到自己的目的,而欺压别人。

d)服务。不是成为期待别人奉承的名人,而是服事别人的人

e)自觉。愿意了解自己的弱点和长处。

谦卑是骄傲的反义词。在事工中容易变得骄傲,尤其当你的事工取得一些世俗意义上成功的时候(比如教会会众增加或者一间新教会建成)。讲道尤其容易产生骄傲。人们对你讲道的肯定会冲昏你的头脑。

当我们开始把这些和自己联系起来(我们该得的、我们做得好)的时候,我们就陷入了麻烦。记住“神抵挡骄傲的人,赐恩给谦卑的人”(雅4:6;彼前5:5)。“所以你们要自卑,服在神大能的手下,到了时候,他必叫你们升高”(彼前5:6)。到了时候,他必升高你,而不是你自己。

4.勇气

什么是勇气?勇气不是公然的放肆,不是鲁莽,不是说话生硬,不留情面。勇气是不论别人的看法如何,都做对的事情,不顾反对、后果、批评、失败或挫折。勇气是对正确行动方式的确信并付诸实行。勇气是坚持真理。勇气是,相信在神的帮助下,我们能够做成。

注意:“神赐给我们不是胆怯的心…”(提后1:7)。马丁.路德,在他到Worms去面对(针对他教导的)审问的路上,说:“你可以期待从我这里得到一切,除了恐惧和忏悔。我不会逃跑,更不会退缩。”这就是勇气。

做基督徒领导不容易,需要勇气。

做艰难的决定,需要勇气—不论后果如何,做对的事情。

倚靠神而做出清楚的、好的决定是一个属灵领袖的标志,比如…

  • 所多玛事件中的亚伯拉罕以及对罗得的拯救(创14:14f.)
  • 摩西,当他决定放弃埃及的享乐和权力的时候(来11:23-28)
  • 风暴中的保罗(徒27)

每一次当你面对一个十字路口的抉择时,你要么成为勇气的榜样,要么成为懦弱的榜样。

处理困难的情况,需要勇气—去面对阻碍、攻击、批评以及反对(从人来的,从撒旦来的等等)。当你这一周中遭受了严厉的批评时,讲道需要勇气(参照耶1:17-19)。批评是打倒你的最大敌人之一。它会放大你的不安全感,把你的目光从手边的任务转移到自己身上,耗尽你的能量和热情,使你自我防卫,孤立你。

这就是为什么我认为负面的、破坏性的批评(论断),是撒旦的一个工具。我相信圣经里面讲到的责备、劝戒以及指出(提后4:2),但是破坏性的批评在神的教会中没有立足之地。批评通常是负面的、破坏性的—关于人们喜欢什么而不喜欢什么,并非关于什么荣耀神或者对神的子民有益。批评会歪曲你对你的事工和你所服事的人的看法。

在属灵低落期,需要勇气来坚持—当沮丧来临时,当你认为自己是个失败者的时候,当你努力工作但好像并没有人听或者回应时,要坚持。

记住:神三次告诉约书亚要刚强,大大壮胆。为什么?因为他知道约书亚将要面对的试探和考验可能会使他灰心丧气,在试探中他可能会走捷径。

5.异象

什么是异象?异象不是一个胡思乱想的幻想世界;不是你自己的愿望。异象是…

a)能够看到什么是可能的。

b) “看见那不能看见的主”,像摩西一样(来11:27),以及先祖,虽然他们没有得着所应许的,却从远处望见(来 11:13)。

c)设立现实可行的目标和方向

d)乐观的态度:“我靠着那加给我力量的,凡事都能作”(腓4:13)—比如我能够也愿意去做的事情,我靠着基督加给我的力量来做。

B.个性特点

说到个性,我指的是那些个人特质,能够影响到你所领导的那些人。这是能够激励别人去跟随或者听从你的能力。这有的时候也被称为“人格的力量”。你要么有,要么没有,但是却学不到。它是一种魅力—不是伪装或者表面的,而是真实的、内在的。

C.成功特质

成功特质是指那些能够促使一个领导者取得成就的特点。这些特点包含,比如自制、坚毅、忍耐。哪怕失望,继续坚持,因为你看到前面的目标。鼓励你团队的人坚持。这来自于要改变你生活的内在动力。这关系到你的动机。

结论

这五点品格决定了一个领袖是否能够一贯地做出好的决定,强有力地影响他所领导的人以及驱使他完成目标。

Part III.讲道大纲

如果想听关于这些的英文讲道,请点击链接: Link 1 - 约 20:19-21; Link 2 - 约 20:21-23; Link 3 - 约 20:24-31

题目: 我看到了耶稣

主题: 复活的震撼和现实

要点 #3:耶稣的复活使恐惧变成勇气(19-23)

(要点1和2请看2019冬季版)

1. 耶稣的复活减轻了我们的恐惧(19-20)

a) 他说的话减轻了我们的恐惧 (19)

b) 他所做的减轻了我们的恐惧 (20)

2. 耶稣的复活激发了我们的勇气(21-23)

a) 他激发了我们的勇气去继续从事他的工作 (21)

b)他激发了我们的勇气去带着权柄讲论 (22-23)

要点#4: 耶稣的复活使不信成为信 (24-29)

1.不信不能被二手的见证说服(24-25a)

2.不信需要具体的证据(25b-28)

a) 耶稣说的话是具体的证据 (26)

b) 耶稣所做的是具体的证据 (27a)

3. 具体的证据需要结论 (27b-29)

a)信心的表达证实了信(28)

b) 从耶稣而来的极大的祝福尊贵了信心(29)

i) 看见而信是好的 (29a)

ii) 没有看见就信的更好 (29b)

结论 (30-31)

Related Topics: Pastors

網上牧師雜誌 – 中文版(繁體), TCh Ed, Issue 31 2019 年 春季

2019 春

A ministry of…

作者: Roger Pascoe 博士, 主席,
聖經講道學會
劍橋, 安省, 加拿大
郵箱:[email protected]

Part I:加強講解式講道

“加強例子”

A.為什麼使用例子?

1.因為聖經中充滿了例子

既然神選擇使用故事向我們傳達一大部分他的話語,那麼這一定也應該成為傳道人如何傳達神話語的指導。神毫無疑問地使用故事來告訴我們真理,因為故事是一個強有力的媒介,既易被理解又易引起回應。在講道中不使用例子,不但漏掉了一個已經被神用過而且認可的溝通真理的重要方式,而且沒有能夠以一個相關的、啟示性的方式來傳講真理。

2.因為例子使 “解釋”和“應用”緊密相連。

例子幫助我們能夠以相關的、清晰易懂的方式解釋和應用真理。因此當我們傳講真理在實際生活中的應用使,你應該能夠舉例說明!

有些傳道人認為,神話語的應用只需留給聖靈,聖靈可以使真理既清楚又與生活相聯繫。是的,只有聖靈能夠使神的話語足夠清晰而且有說服力,以至於改變一個人的生活;但是不論怎樣,我們不要忘了,聖靈使用講道作為媒介,把神的話語與生活聯繫起來而且適於應用;而且聖靈在聖經中已經教給了我們如何使用例子。

我們必須既要告訴我們的會眾做什麼,又要解釋怎樣做或者一個人的生活怎樣被神的話語影響。

3.因為例子幫助克服“那又怎樣”的障礙

例子幫助一個傳道人跨過聽眾的注意力,觸摸到他們的思想、心靈、意志和良心。例子通常會使一個聽眾明白他們為什麼需要這個講道;為什麼這個講道適用於他們。

在跨過聽眾“這和我有什麼相干”的問題時,例子通常會成為一個非常有幫助的工具,因為例子沒有威脅,沒有對抗;它們不會激起聽眾的反對;它們只是協力廠商的例子。

B.例子的一些目的和類型

1.使用例子的一些目的

a)使真理清晰

b)使真理簡單易懂

c)使真理圖像化

d)使真理具體化(比如使真理實際、可見、真實)

e)為了強調真理

f)使資訊更權威

g)以一種不同的方式傳講真理

2.例子的一些類型和來源

a)聖經中的敘事、陳述和箴言通常是最好的例子

但是要注意:使用聖經中的故事作為例子要小心。聖經中的故事是為了說明一個要點,而不是為了給後來的傳道人提供例子。雖然可以用聖經的故事來說明一個觀點,但是一般來說,最好是因為聖經的權威和教導來引用它,而不是闡明一個觀點

b) 教會歷史、人物傳記、見證。

c)世俗的歷史、文學、資訊。

d)寓言、比喻、反例、故事

e)奇聞、名言、統計結果。

f)個人經歷、當代人的見證。最好的例子通常是生活中的一個側面—一段經歷,或者是你的或者其他人的。這些經歷之所以是很好的例子,因為…

  • 每個人都能從中找到認同
  • 它們是“真的”
  • 它們是當代的、相關的
  • 它們不需要解釋就可以應用於生活

使用生活中的一個側面做例子,要求你觀察…

  • 人們的傷、願望、需要、關係、職業以及困難
  • 當代的新聞、能觸動人們心靈和良知的東西
  • 人們談論什麼、想什麼、做什麼
  • 人們怎樣談論、思想、行動和反應、
  • 你如何反應、思想、談論和行動(因此你能夠在自己裡面找到和其他人認同的地方)。不需要總是特別地談到自己,通常發生在你身上的事以及你如何行動也同樣代表了其他人。

g) 文學手段比如修辭(類比、暗喻、比較和對比)、形象生動的描述、雙關語。

h)實物課程比如視覺輔助和幻燈片。

i)當代的新聞、口號、聲明、事件。當你看新聞雜誌、聽廣播或看電視的時候,你可以找到這一類的例子—世俗的廣播比任何人都知道人們想要什麼、哪裡受傷以及他們怎麼生活。

j)一般的生活觀察和經歷。

k)大自然中的例子—比如毛毛蟲破繭成蝶可能成為基督徒生命被改變的例子。

C.放置例子的地方

1.在整個講道過程中,它們應該放在那裡

決定在講道的哪個地方使用例子最有益處或者哪個地方最需要例子。並不是你講道中的每一個點都需要例子來說明。

在哪裡使用例子比使用多少例子有更大影響。

然而,這裡有幾個明顯需要你使用例子的地方。

a)介紹。一個好的例子會吸引注意力、提高興趣、介紹主題以及肯定需要。

b)要點。我並不認為每一個要點都需要舉例說明。這樣做實際上可能並不理想或者必要。但是在講道的某個地方,你需要舉例說明你在講的東西,即便沒有其他原因,只是為了在講道的中間給予休息—比如為了給聽眾一些精神上的放鬆。

c)如果你能夠找到一個合適的例子來結束講道,會更有影響力而且容易被記住。但是同樣地,有時這並不可能,有時不一定是理想的或者必要的。

這裡有幾個問題幫助你思想在哪裡使用例子以及使用例子的次數和類型 [這些問題來自於Ramesh Richard的準備講解式講道(Baker),126]

a) 必須要用例子來澄清或解釋講道的一個要點或部分嗎?

b) 例子能夠回答聽眾“怎麼樣、為什麼、什麼時候”這種不言而喻的問題嗎?

c) 例子使這個要點更可靠、可信、更容易接受嗎?

d) 什麼樣的例子能夠幫助聽眾來理解和應用這個要點?

2.如何在講道中使用例子?

當你按著下面的步驟使用例子,會有更好的聯繫、更多的影響:

a)說明要點。

b)過渡到例子。一個過渡式的陳述對順利過渡到例子非常有幫助—例如“最近當…我發現這一事實”或者一些類似的陳述。

c)解釋要點

d)雖然這不是必要的,但可以通過應用或者勸導他們對例子做出反應,而過渡到聽眾,。

e)再次聲明這個重點,或者拓展這個要點,或者過渡到下個重點

D. 20個關於例子的做和不做

1.不要總是使用相同類型的例子

例如一般主要對男性或少數男性有吸引力的運動

2.不要用你自己的家人作為例子

一般而言,不要在講道中涉及家人。他們已經足有曝光率。雖然他們一般會同意你使用個人做例子,但是他們通常不會考慮後果或者可能的影響,所以不要涉及他們。

3.不要使用你會眾中的任何人,除非是為了表揚而且得到他們的同意。

4.永遠不要使用保密的事情,即使你所使用的語言沒有個人指向,也不可以。那個人會在你的故事中看到他或她自己,你會失去這個人對你的信任。

5.簡短地說明你例子的出處

如果說明例子的出處分散了聽眾對例子本身的注意力或者使聽眾覺得厭煩,你就失去了影響力。一般情況下,我在我的講稿中會詳細記錄下例子的出處,但是講道的時候我只提及作者的名字或者出處的名字。

如果你不知道出處(或者如果你不想說出來),就簡單地說“有人說”或者“我從某處讀到”。這樣你就說明了出自某處而不會試圖讓它看起來像你自己的。

公共領域的例子通常不需要確認其出處。

6.不要對相同的聽眾,重複使用相同的例子

如果你重複使用同一例子,你可能會使聽眾覺得厭煩。

7.不要讓你的例子蓋過它所要說明的重點

一定要使每個例子都服務於真理,而不是蓋過真理。真理的闡釋和應用是我們講道的焦點—也就是聖靈能夠用來改變生命的東西。我們是傳道人,這是首要的,而不是講故事的人。

你想要人們通過例子來記住真理。他們一定會記住例子,但是要確保他們也記住了例子要說明的真理。

8.不要因為是一個好例子,就歪曲這個例子使其適合你的講道

好例子強而有力,傳道人往往想使用它們,而這容易造成不正確和不恰當的使用。改動一個普遍的例子(比如那個小男孩的故事)來適應一個故事是一回事;但是不應該扭曲例子使其適合你的講道。

9.學習如何更好地使用例子

這是一個學習的藝術。觀察聽眾的反應來看它是否有效。

10.有策略地放置你的例子使其有最大的影響

最有策略的放置是在開始或者結尾—在開始,是為了吸引注意力;在最後,是為了使要點清晰,讓聽眾記住。

11.保持例子簡短

例子長了容易分散你想要說明的東西。使用長例子必須一次(一旦你開始就停不了,沒有第二次機會)就使用對,並且要達到預期的效果,否則你就會失去聽眾,看起來很糟糕,而且浪費了寶貴的時間。

而另一方面,如果一個短例子沒有達到你想要的影響,你可以繼續進行而不會感到尷尬或者浪費時間。而且簡短的例子容易被記住,也容易脫稿而講。脫稿而講的例子最有影響力。

12.確保你的例子在細節和作者資訊上準確

如果你做不到準確,就不可靠。歷史資料必須準確。文學引用(如詩歌)必須準確。統計資料必須準確。

13.確保你的例子適合你的聽眾

要考慮文化問題比如修辭、社會實踐、歷史關聯、幽默等。當你面對與自己文化不同的聽眾講道時(例如在國外),這一點非常重要。

通用的例子必須與生活經歷、自然、歷史等等此類的事情有關聯。

14.不要使用太多的例子

如果你的講道充滿了例子,聽眾會厭煩並且會認為你沒有好好準備。最多對每個主要觀點舉例說明通常就足夠了。

15.不要使用不可靠的例子

檢驗每一個例子;“看它是否可信…是否有邏輯…是否現實?”如果不是,不要使用它(哪怕它是真實的),否則你毀了你的信譽。

16.使用幽默要小心

幽默只有在自然的情況下才應該使用—比如不要開玩笑!如果一個例子或者經歷很有趣而且適合你講道的主題,那麼可以使用它。這和開玩笑不同,開玩笑是虛構的場景。記住,有趣但聽眾卻不覺得有趣的事情,只會影響你資訊的效果,所以要小心。不要使用任何可能被認為不得體或不合適的幽默(比如任何可能被認為是種族歧視的言論)。

17.不要重複提到你自己

人們通常熱愛他們的牧師,這已經足夠了。他們想知道的不僅僅是發生在你生活中的事情(比如你小的時候,長大之後以及發生在以前教會的事情等等)。我建議你不要提及你以前的教會。如果你談到,你的聽眾會很自然地認為你以後也會在別人面前談論他們。這樣做既不專業、也不必要、不恰當。

18.不要過於生動

我們在這裡是要將注意力吸引到神和他的真理,而不是生動的例子。通常,太過繪聲繪色的語言或者例子讓聽眾厭煩。

19.不要使用陳舊的例子

不要使用每個傳道人都用的例子。要原創的。這需要努力和研究,但卻是值得的。

20.確保你的例子說明重點。

有的時候你聽一個傳道人舉例子,會想“這和主題有什麼關聯?”就像幽默一樣,一個例子也必須使人能直觀地明白它的意思,以及它是如何說明你試圖闡明的觀點並與之相聯繫的。

Part II.能帶來改變的領導

“一個基督徒領袖的側面”

一個基督徒領袖看起來該是什麼樣的?從個人、性格、能力、態度、生活方式以及屬靈等方面,他是怎樣一個人?顯然,提前3:1-7以及提多1:5-9給出了成為教會領袖屬靈方面應具備的最基本要求。但是在我看來,這僅僅是最基本的要求。這並不是一個包含所有的列表,如果一個人滿足了,就一定有資格成為教會領袖。我並不認為保羅希望我們把這當做一個清單來用,而不考慮其他的標準和要求。這個列表沒有提到品格方面,比如謙卑、勇氣或者智慧,而這些也是作為一個教會領袖需具備的重要方面;這裡也沒有提到領導才能(羅 12:8),然而一個領袖必須有這方面的屬靈恩賜。

所以,你認為還有哪些方面的品格或者個性是一個教會領袖應該具備的?我認為,除了保羅在提前3章提到的標準,在聖經其他經文中也包含了一些作為教會領袖不可缺少的、必須具備的品格和個性。我認為可以將他們分為三類以便於理解:

A.那些看不到的特徵,使他們能夠一貫地做出好的決定。

B.那些個性特點,能夠影響他們所領導的那些人去跟隨和服從。

C.那些促使領袖取得成就的“成功”特性,比如自律、堅韌、忍耐。

A.品格特點

這些特點使領袖能夠一貫地做出好的決定。我的列表中,排在前面的五個是:智慧、正直、謙卑、勇氣和異象。

1.智慧

智慧排在最前面,就像一把大傘一樣,其他所有的都包含在它裡面。那麼“什麼是智慧?”這是我的公式:智慧=知識+經驗+成熟

a)知識。知識是我們對事實、真理、原則等的認識。知識與學習相關。特殊知識來自於我們對特定領域的專業知識和學習,無論是學術上的還是在工作中的

b)經驗。沒有經驗便不會有智慧。畢竟,智慧是在生活經歷中得到和學習的。在生活這所學校中所經歷的挫折,使你更有智慧。

雖然經驗意味著年齡,但有些人比其他人更快地獲得經驗,這是由於他們接觸到的生活經歷,並樂於從這些經歷中學習,無論是在家裡、學校、工作還是社會中

你可能會說,經驗是我們把知識運用到實踐中,就像學徒階段一樣。那麼說到底,難道整個的生活在一定程度上不就像做學徒一樣嗎?

c)成熟。使徒保羅說:“在完全(成熟)的人中,我們也講智慧”(哥前2:6).那麼什麼是成熟?成熟是一種很難定義的東西,但是當你看到的時候你會知道。

成熟是行事為人像成年人而不是孩子—例如當你不能按自己的意志行事或者事情出現差錯時,不亂發脾氣。控制你的情緒。

身體上的成熟很容易辨認,自然發生而不需要我們做任何事。我們只是簡單地成長到一定階段就停止生長,看起來像成年人。

情感和心理上的成熟,不同的人發生在不同時間。有些上了年紀的人從未成熟。六七十歲的時候,他們可能在行為、反應、態度或者言語方面仍然不成熟,而有些更年輕的人可能在這些方面已相當成熟。

成熟與自製、選擇以及我們如何表達我們的情緒有關。這是對我們是誰以及和他人之間關係的意識。

成熟關係到為了長期的獲得而忍受短期的痛苦。不成熟的人不會如此看待,他們希望自己想要的立刻得到滿足。

成熟是使你的話如同契約一般,一致、可靠。

可悲的是,智慧是當今教會領袖相當缺乏的一個特質。而這卻是我們教會領導中迫切需要的。注意以下幾點:

  • 所羅門沒有像上帝求財富,而求智慧(王上3:9)
  • 耶穌“漸漸長大,強健起來,充滿智慧”(路2:40和“智慧和身量都一齊增長”(2:52
  • 使徒行轉6章中的領袖“七個有好名聲、被聖靈充滿、智慧充足的人”(徒6:3
  • 使徒保羅禱告“願你們在一切屬靈的智慧悟性上,滿心知道神的旨意”(西1:9)。
  • 談到基督,保羅說,“所積蓄的一切智慧知識,都在他裡面藏著”(西2:3
  • 我們也被勸導“你們要愛惜光陰,用智慧與外人交往”(西4:5

智慧人通常會諮詢別人,自我評估以及反思。智慧的人歡迎富有挑戰性的對話,這能激發他們的思考和觀點。智慧的人不喜歡唯唯諾諾的人在身邊,而是喜歡主動、獨立思考的人

2.正直

什麼是正直?正直有時被定義為遵守道德和倫理原則。正直表現在…

a)沒有偏見。這意味著做決定從不為了取悅於人,而是取悅於神(弗6:6-7;西3:22-23)。做對的事,不論代價如何。這意味著永遠不要陷入利益衝突。這意味著無論涉及到誰,都不要偏袒某個人。這可能意味著拒絕某人的善意,使你不虧欠人情。

b)透明。坦率。不要有隱藏的目的,不論結果如何。這並不代表你要把所有你知道的都說出來(智慧和保密可能會互相制約),但是這確實意味著不要虛假,做真實的自己。

c)正義。處事正直。

d)真誠。不要欺騙。不要有不可告人的動機。不要虛偽。不要裝模作樣。

e)誠實。真實,坦率。沒有欺騙和詭詐。

f)可信。為人處事使人們可以相信或者信任你。

g)道德純潔。這是正直的一部分。“你要謹慎自己”(提前4:16).為什麼?因為除非你在自己的生活中正直且道德純潔,否則你無法把別人引向信仰,教導別人真理,帶領神的子民敬拜或者為別人代求。

一個基督徒領袖必須正直。你的整個生活必須是一個整體—沒有缺口,沒有不一致,而是一個統一的整體。

3.謙卑

什麼是謙卑?謙卑是…

a)謙和。謙和是“不要看你自己過於所當看的”(羅12:3)—例如不傲慢。謙和是“看別人比自己強”(腓2:3)。謙和是“他必興旺,我必衰微”(約3:30)的態度。謙和是“我原是使徒中最小的,不配稱為使徒”(哥前15:9;弗3:8;提前1:15).

b)犯錯的可能性。這是指知道並承認你自己不知道每一件事情。你可能也能夠犯錯誤。你沒有所有問題的答案。

c)溫柔。不要為了達到自己的目的,而欺壓別人。

d)服務。不是成為期待別人奉承的名人,而是服事別人的人

e)自覺。願意瞭解自己的弱點和長處。

謙卑是驕傲的反義詞。在事工中容易變得驕傲,尤其當你的事工取得一些世俗意義上成功的時候(比如教會會眾增加或者一間新教會建成)。講道尤其容易產生驕傲。人們對你講道的肯定會沖昏你的頭腦。

當我們開始把這些和自己聯繫起來(我們該得的、我們做得好)的時候,我們就陷入了麻煩。記住“神抵擋驕傲的人,賜恩給謙卑的人”(雅4:6;彼前5:5)。“所以你們要自卑,服在神大能的手下,到了時候,他必叫你們升高”(彼前5:6)。到了時候,他必升高你,而不是你自己。

4.勇氣

什麼是勇氣?勇氣不是公然的放肆,不是魯莽,不是說話生硬,不留情面。勇氣是不論別人的看法如何,都做對的事情,不顧反對、後果、批評、失敗或挫折。勇氣是對正確行動方式的確信並付諸實行。勇氣是堅持真理。勇氣是,相信在神的幫助下,我們能夠做成。

注意:“神賜給我們不是膽怯的心…”(提後1:7)。馬丁.路德,在他到Worms去面對(針對他教導的)審問的路上,說:“你可以期待從我這裡得到一切,除了恐懼和懺悔。我不會逃跑,更不會退縮。”這就是勇氣。

做基督徒領導不容易,需要勇氣。

做艱難的決定,需要勇氣—不論後果如何,做對的事情。

倚靠神而做出清楚的、好的決定是一個屬靈領袖的標誌,比如…

  • 所多瑪事件中的亞伯拉罕以及對羅得的拯救(創14:14f.)
  • 摩西,當他決定放棄埃及的享樂和權力的時候(來11:23-28)
  • 風暴中的保羅(徒27)

每一次當你面對一個十字路口的抉擇時,你要麼成為勇氣的榜樣,要麼成為懦弱的榜樣。

處理困難的情況,需要勇氣—去面對阻礙、攻擊、批評以及反對(從人來的,從撒旦來的等等)。當你這一周中遭受了嚴厲的批評時,講道需要勇氣(參照耶1:17-19)。批評是打倒你的最大敵人之一。它會放大你的不安全感,把你的目光從手邊的任務轉移到自己身上,耗盡你的能量和熱情,使你自我防衛,孤立你。

這就是為什麼我認為負面的、破壞性的批評(論斷),是撒旦的一個工具。我相信聖經裡面講到的責備、勸戒以及指出(提後4:2),但是破壞性的批評在神的教會中沒有立足之地。批評通常是負面的、破壞性的—關於人們喜歡什麼而不喜歡什麼,並非關於什麼榮耀神或者對神的子民有益。批評會歪曲你對你的事工和你所服事的人的看法。

在屬靈低落期,需要勇氣來堅持—當沮喪來臨時,當你認為自己是個失敗者的時候,當你努力工作但好像並沒有人聽或者回應時,要堅持。

記住:神三次告訴約書亞要剛強,大大壯膽。為什麼?因為他知道約書亞將要面對的試探和考驗可能會使他灰心喪氣,在試探中他可能會走捷徑。

5.異象

什麼是異象?異象不是一個胡思亂想的幻想世界;不是你自己的願望。異像是…

a)能夠看到什麼是可能的。

b) “看見那不能看見的主”,像摩西一樣(來11:27),以及先祖,雖然他們沒有得著所應許的,卻從遠處望見(來 11:13)。

c)設立現實可行的目標和方向

d)樂觀的態度:“我靠著那加給我力量的,凡事都能作”(腓4:13)—比如我能夠也願意去做的事情,我靠著基督加給我的力量來做。

B.個性特點

說到個性,我指的是那些個人特質,能夠影響到你所領導的那些人。這是能夠激勵別人去跟隨或者聽從你的能力。這有的時候也被稱為“人格的力量”。你要麼有,要麼沒有,但是卻學不到。它是一種魅力—不是偽裝或者表面的,而是真實的、內在的。

C.成功特質

成功特質是指那些能夠促使一個領導者取得成就的特點。這些特點包含,比如自製、堅毅、忍耐。哪怕失望,繼續堅持,因為你看到前面的目標。鼓勵你團隊的人堅持。這來自於要改變你生活的內在動力。這關係到你的動機。

結論

這五點品格決定了一個領袖是否能夠一貫地做出好的決定,強有力地影響他所領導的人以及驅使他完成目標。

Part III.講道大綱

如果想聽關於這些的英文講道,請點選連結: Link 1 - 約 20:19-21; Link 2 - 約 20:21-23; Link 3 - 約 20:24-31

題目: 我看到了耶穌

主題: 復活的震撼和現實

要點 #3:耶穌的復活使恐懼變成勇氣(19-23)

(要點1和2請看2019冬季版)

1. 耶穌的復活減輕了我們的恐懼(19-20)

a) 他說的話減輕了我們的恐懼 (19)

b) 他所做的減輕了我們的恐懼 (20)

2. 耶穌的復活激發了我們的勇氣(21-23)

a) 他激發了我們的勇氣去繼續從事他的工作 (21)

b)他激發了我們的勇氣去帶著權柄講論 (22-23)

要點#4: 耶穌的復活使不信成為信 (24-29)

1.不信不能被二手的見證說服(24-25a)

2.不信需要具體的證據(25b-28)

a) 耶穌說的話是具體的證據 (26)

b) 耶穌所做的是具體的證據 (27a)

3. 具體的證據需要結論 (27b-29)

a)信心的表達證實了信(28)

b) 從耶穌而來的極大的祝福尊貴了信心(29)

i) 看見而信是好的 (29a)

ii) 沒有看見就信的更好 (29b)

結論 (30-31)

Related Topics: Pastors

3. The Slaughter of the Infants and Innocent Suffering (Matthew 2:13-18)

Related Media

Introduction

Matthew presents the student of Scripture with several interpretive problems in the second chapter of his Gospel. As we pointed out in lesson 2 of this series, Matthew refers to the Old Testament Scriptures four times in chapter 2. Only one of these references can be viewed as a direct prophecy which is fulfilled by the events surrounding our Lord’s birth. That would be Matthew’s reference to the prophecy of Micah 5:2 in Matthew 2:6. Micah’s prophecy that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah was so clear and direct that even the unbelieving religious scholars in Jerusalem recognized it for what it was.

The other three references to the Old Testament in Matthew 2 are not direct prophecy as we would expect. For example, the reference to Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2:15 is not regarded as a direct prophecy/fulfillment. Matthew regards the return of Jesus from His “exile” in Egypt as the “fulfillment” of Hosea’s words, “I called my Son out of Egypt.” Matthew 2:23 is perhaps the most perplexing Old Testament reference because there is no Old Testament text that indicates Jesus “would be called a Nazarene.” The text we have chosen to focus upon is that of Jeremiah 31:15, cited as being fulfilled by the events of Matthew 2:16-18:48

13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother at night, and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and nearby from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone” (Matthew 2:13-18).49

Several questions emerge from Matthew’s use of Jeremiah 31:15 in relation to Herod’s slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem. Some of these concentrate upon Matthew’s use of the Old Testament Scriptures. Other questions arise regarding God’s sovereignty and human suffering. How do we explain the suffering that occurred in connection with our Lord’s birth and escape to Egypt? Was this a necessity? Why did God allow it, when it could have been prevented?

How did Matthew intend for his readers to understand the connection between Herod’s slaughter of the infants in 2:16-18 and Jeremiah’s words in 31:15? In some ways, these infants would seem to be about as “innocent” as a person could be. Why, then, did Matthew describe this atrocity as an event that was destined to take place, because God purposed it would happen?

This lesson, while occasioned by the events of Matthew 2:16-18, will seek to find an answer to the problem our text poses from a broader scriptural and theological base. The purpose of this lesson will be to gain a better perspective of suffering and particularly what might be called “innocent suffering.” We shall seek to learn how and why God chooses to include “innocent suffering” in His sovereign will. We will therefore begin our study by looking at other biblical texts, and end by coming back to Matthew’s use of Jeremiah 31:15 in Matthew 2:18.

Suffering is a Part of our Human Experience
Romans 8:18-27

18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.

Paul has demonstrated that man is sinful and deserving of God’s eternal wrath, whether the standard men fail is the revelation of God in nature (Romans 1), or the revelation of God in the Law of Moses (Romans 2). The Law does not save anyone, but only establishes man’s guilt, because no one is able to live up to the Law’s demands (Romans 3:1-20). Since man cannot earn salvation by his works, God has provided salvation apart from works, through faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death for those who trust in Him (Romans 3:21-31). Salvation by faith is nothing new; it is the way Abraham and every other Old Testament saint was saved (Romans 4).

In Romans 5, Paul spells out some of the benefits of the salvation God brought about in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ. It is noteworthy that the first benefit Paul mentions is related to suffering:

1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation (Romans 5:1-11, emphasis mine).

God’s salvation in Jesus Christ endures all adversity; indeed, we can rejoice in our adversity, knowing that it will only strengthen our faith and assurance of eternal life. This salvation in Christ accomplishes the reversal of Adam’s fall and the curse for every believer. What Adam did, God undid in Christ, and more (5:12-21).

God’s salvation in Christ is no license to sin; indeed, it is the motivation and the basis for godly living. After all, we who have been identified with Christ by faith have thereby died to sin, and thus should no longer live in sin (Romans 6:1-14). We should not only understand that we are free from sins’ former bondage, we should realize that the wages of sin is death, so we certainly don’t wish to continue on that path (6:15-23). In Christ, we have not only died to sin, we have died to the Law, which frees us to live in liberty through the Holy Spirit (7:1-7). The Law is not the root problem, however; sin is. Our flesh (our natural human strength) is not sufficient to overpower sin, so sin always gets the best of us when we strive in our own efforts (7:8-25).

The solution to the power of sin is the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who have trusted in Jesus Christ are no longer under condemnation, and they are no longer to be dominated by sin. They have the power to achieve what could not be done in the flesh (the righteous requirements of the Law being fulfilled in us) but can be done through the Spirit. The very same Spirit that raised the dead body of our Lord from the grave now lives in us, and He can give life to our mortal bodies. Everyone who is a true believer in Christ has the Spirit of God living in him, and furthermore He assures us that we are the “sons of God” (8:1-17).

One might think that when we come to Romans 8:18, Paul is about to tell us that all of life will now be a “bed of roses,” that having the Holy Spirit in us assures us that all pain and suffering will end. Such is not the case. In verses 18-30, Paul does exactly the opposite. He assures us that every human being will experience “suffering and groaning” in this life because of the fall of man and the curse that resulted. The “whole creation groans and suffers together till now,” Paul writes (8:22). The chaos and the curse that came as a result of Adam’s sin will not be removed until the return of our Lord and “the revelation of the sons of God” (8:19). At this time, God will “redeem our bodies and adopt us as sons” (8:23). At that time we will, with all creation, be fully and finally freed from our bondage to corruption (8:21).

If the whole world suffers and groans, the Christian does so even more. It is the Christian who has tasted of eternal life, and who already have “the firstfruits of the Spirit” (8:22). We not only long for the time when God will make all things new, but we agonize over the sin-broken world in which we now live. Nevertheless we are to wait for this day with eagerness and endurance (8:25).

Salvation in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit do not keep us from suffering; they keep us through suffering. The Spirit strengthens and sustains us, assuring us of our sonship. The Spirit communicates for us, when we cannot put words to our groanings (8:26-27). The same God who delivered us from the penalty and the power of sin will someday deliver us from the presence of sin. Until that day, His Spirit sustains us in suffering.

To summarize, suffering is the common experience of man, because we live in a sin-cursed world. God has given us all the resources we need to endure the sufferings of life and to bring us to His predetermined goal for our lives. We can endure suffering because God has given us His Holy Spirit, to comfort and to assure us that we are His sons, and to communicate to us and for us. Christians are not exempt from suffering, but because of our new life and eternal hope, we agonize as we “suffer and groan” with all creation, waiting for the day of our Lord’s return. If this kind of suffering does anything for us, it makes us hunger for heaven:

16 Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Not All Suffering is the Direct Result of Personal Sin
John 9:1-7

1 Now as Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man or his parents?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the acts of God may be revealed through what happens to him. 4 We must perform the deeds of the one who sent me as long as it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said this, he spat on the ground and made some mud with the saliva. He smeared the mud on the blind man’s eyes 7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “sent”). So the blind man went away and washed, and came back seeing.

We all remember the story of Job and his “comfortless friends.” They counseled Job on the basis of a false assumption: that suffering is always the direct result of sin. Even our Lord’s disciples seemed to buy into this false thinking. As they were walking along, Jesus saw a man who had been blind from birth. I doubt that the disciples would have noticed him if Jesus hadn’t first taken note of this man.50 The disciples asked Jesus who had sinned, this man or his parents.51 It never seems to have occurred to them that this man might not have been suffering because of some sin in his life, or in the lives of his parents.

This was a tempting explanation for human suffering, and perhaps this is why it was so commonly accepted. On the one hand, it made suffering explainable, even tolerable. It is relatively easy to embrace the explanation that says people suffer because they get what they deserve. It rules out the possibility of innocent suffering, the most difficult kind of suffering to explain. On the other hand, it is an easy explanation to accept because it relieves us of the responsibility to help those who are suffering. If those who suffer do so because they have sinned, then suffering is divine judgment for sin. If God is imposing divine punishment on the afflicted, who am I to come to their aid? I would be resisting God’s purposes.

It is hard to imagine how this blind man must have felt, being the subject of this conversation. How well he knew that most people made the same assumption. Jesus responded to His disciples’ question in a way that must have shocked them. He told them that this man’s blindness from birth was not due to sin, not his personal sin, nor the sin of his parents. Instead, Jesus declared that this man’s blindness provided the occasion for God’s works to be revealed through him.52 If I was that blind man, my ears would be straining to hear what would happen next. After declaring that He was the “light of the world,” Jesus spit on the ground and took some of this “mud” and placed it on the blind man’s eyes, instructing him to wash in the pool of Siloam. He did just that and came away with his sight.

Let this miracle be a word of instruction and of caution to all of us. Suffering is not always the direct result of personal sin. We certainly know of many instances where sin and suffering go hand-in-hand. This seems to be the case with the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda in John 5. Jesus took the initiative in healing this fellow, and then slipped away. The paralytic made his way home with his mat, thus technically violating the Sabbath. For this he was accosted by the “religious police,” who accused him of breaking the law. When he told them about his healing, they insisted on knowing who had done this – that, too, was “breaking the Sabbath” in their minds. The man did not know who it was who had healed him, so he could not tell them. Jesus then found this man, and said to him,

“Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.” 15 The man went away and informed the Jewish authorities that Jesus was the one who had made him well (John 5:14b-15).

The man immediately went to the “Jewish authorities” and reported to them that it was Jesus who had healed him. Apparently this man’s suffering was due to sin, and thus our Lord’s warning to him not to persist in his sin. Instead of taking heed and forsaking his sin, he compounded it by reporting that Jesus had healed him.

Sin-related sickness is also mentioned in James 5, where James instructs the one who is sick to call for the elders of the church and to confess his sins (James 5:14-16). Sin is sometimes the cause of our suffering,53 but not always. In the case of the man born blind, suffering provided the occasion for God’s works to be displayed.

God Uses Our Suffering For Our Own Good
2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Philippians 3:7-11; Psalm 119:65-72, 92

1 It is necessary to go on boasting. Though it is not profitable, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know that this man (whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows) 4 was caught up into paradise and heard things too sacred to be put into words, things that a person is not permitted to speak. 5 On behalf of such an individual I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except about my weaknesses. 6 For even if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I would be telling the truth, but I refrain from this so that no one may regard me beyond what he sees in me or what he hears from me, 7 even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me—so that I would not become arrogant. 8 I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).

The Scriptures contain many examples of how God uses suffering in the lives of men for their good. We can see how God used the suffering of the man born blind to bring him to faith (see John 9:35-38). A number of those who came to our Lord for healing went away believing. God also uses suffering in the life of the believer, for his or her good.

In 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul continues to wage war against the “false apostles” (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:13) by reluctantly comparing himself with them (see 2 Corinthians 11:21-29). In chapter 12, Paul speaks of being “caught up to the third heaven” (12:2), to paradise, where he heard “things too sacred to put into words” (12:4). These are the kinds of things in which one might glory and come to take pride in, so God gave Paul a “thorn in the flesh.” This affliction ultimately came from God, but was administered through a “messenger of Satan” (12:7). Paul appealed to God, asking three times to be delivered. Each time, God refused Paul’s request, reminding him that “His grace was enough,” because His “power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).

Paul’s thorn in the flesh not only kept him humble, it kept him humanly weak, so that God’s power would be evident in his life. Suffering kept Paul from the sin of spiritual pride and kept him dependent on the power of Christ through His Spirit. This gave Paul a very different view of his afflictions:

10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).

In Philippians 3, Paul speaks of another blessing that God brought him through suffering:

7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I might gain Christ, 9 and be found in him, not because of having my own righteousness derived from the law, but because of having the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. 10 My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:7-11).

Paul had once been a Jewish legalist, a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” and a zealous Pharisee (3:5). His experience on the road to Damascus and subsequent conversion showed him his sin of self-righteousness and his need for salvation by faith, apart from religious works. As a child of God, Paul now had a completely different outlook. He came to see that all the things in which he took pride were really useless – or to use his words, “dung” (verse 9). While he once viewed suffering as God’s curse on the sinner (much like the disciples did in John 9), he now saw suffering as a blessing. Paul now experienced in his sufferings for Christ a fellowship with Christ which enabled him to know Christ more intimately. How many Christians have testified the same thing about their sufferings? They have found in suffering a greater intimacy with Christ, a greater faith, a greater joy than they had previously known in physical ease. Suffering in the life of the saint is designed to draw us nearer to God because of our enhanced fellowship with Christ, whose suffering brought us to God.

Old Testament saints likewise found comfort and growth in their sufferings. We see this in Psalm 119:

65 You are good to your servant,

O Lord, just as you promised.

66 Teach me proper discernment and understanding!

For I consider your commands to be reliable.

67 I used to suffer because I would stray off,

but now I keep your instructions.

68 You are good and you do good.

Teach me your statutes!

69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies,

but I observe your precepts with all my heart.

70 They are calloused,

but I find delight in your law.

71 It was good for me to suffer,

so that I might learn your statutes.

72 The law you have revealed is more important to me

than thousands of gold and silver shekels. (Yod)

.

92 If I had not found encouragement in your law,

I would have died in my sorrow (Psalm 119:65-72, 92).

The psalmist found that his suffering was a form of divine discipline in his life, which caused him to give closer heed to God’s Word. This psalmist was not an exception. Asaph testified that his suffering drew him nearer to God, while prosperity only made the wicked arrogant and proud (Psalm 73). Job learned much about God in his affliction. Above all, he learned to trust in God’s wisdom and sovereignty. The writer to the Hebrews informs us that the suffering of divine discipline is evidence that we are His sons (Hebrews 12:1-13).

God Uses Our Suffering for the Good of Others
Genesis 41:46-52; 45:7-11; 50:18-21

We all remember the story of how Joseph’s brothers, prompted by jealousy and hatred toward this favorite son of Jacob, sold their brother into slavery in Egypt. There in Egypt, Joseph continued to experience suffering at the hand of others, not because of sin on his part, but because of his faithfulness to God. When Joseph was elevated to power in Egypt, he named his sons in such a way as to indicate that he saw the good hand of God in his life (Genesis 41:46-52). Thus, when his brothers came to Egypt seeking grain, Joseph was free to deal kindly with them, even though it did not appear this way in the beginning.54 When Joseph’s brothers repented of their sin, he revealed his true identity to them. Quite naturally, they were frightened, assuming that he would use his power to get even with them for their sin against him. His brothers did not yet understand God’s good purposes in suffering, even “innocent suffering,” but Joseph did:

7 God sent me ahead of you to preserve you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 9 Now go up to my father quickly and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay. 10 You will live in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everything you have. 11 I will provide you with food there, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor—you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you”‘ (Genesis 45:7-11, emphasis mine).

18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.” 19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. 21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:18-21, emphasis mine).

Therefore, innocent suffering is not only for our good, but also for the good of others.55

Some Suffering is Due to the Sin of Others
1 Samuel 21:1—22:11-23; 2 Samuel 12:1-23

In 1 Samuel 21, David is fleeing from King Saul, who is seeking to kill him. David and his men were in need of food so David went to Nob, where Ahimelech the priest was staying. Ahimelech sensed that something must be wrong when David came to him alone. David deceived the priest, telling him that he had come on a secret mission from King Saul, and that no one was to know about it (21:1-2). David asked Ahimelech for bread, and he was given some of the holy bread. Ahimelech also gave David Goliath’s sword, which he had taken from him when he killed him. It so happened that Doeg the Edomite, one of Saul’s men, was there that day and observed what took place. Later, Doeg reported to Saul what he had seen, and as a result, Saul ordered the death of many priests and their families:

16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house! 17 Then the king said to the messengers who were stationed beside him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord. For they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, but they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants refused to harm the priests of the Lord. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. 19 As for Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down with the sword men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep—all with the sword (1 Samuel 22:16-19).

We know from David’s response to this tragedy that he felt responsible for the deaths of the priests and their families (1 Samuel 22:21-23). The guilt was not due to David asking Ahimelech for bread, for our Lord seems to have indicated this was legitimate (see Matthew 12:3-4). It is unclear whether David’s lie was a factor in this tragedy, but it is clear that all these people ultimately died because of Saul’s jealousy. The sin of one man (Saul) and the attempt of another (David) to feed his men led to the death of many “innocent” people.56

While David may have been guiltless in the death of the priests of Nob, his sin was the cause of the death of his child in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. While the army of Israel went to war, David stayed at home in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). As a result, David happened to look down on a young woman while she was bathing and then inquired about her. Even after David learned she was married to one of his faithful soldiers, David summoned her to his palace and slept with her. He then sought to cover his sin by ordering Joab, his commander, to put Uriah in the hottest part of the battle, and then to draw back from him. David was confronted by Nathan for his sin and was told that the child conceived through this illicit union would die. In spite of David’s repentance and petitions, God did take the life of this child. This “innocent” child died as the result of David’s sin. Innocent people sometimes suffer because of the sins of others.

Suffering is Often Due to a Combination of Causes
2 Samuel 24:1-25; 1 Chronicles 21:1-30

I would briefly point out that it is not always possible to assess a single cause of suffering. Life is not that simple, and neither is sin. In 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, we read of the plague that is sent upon the Israelites because David foolishly numbered the people, even against the counsel of his trusted servants, Joab and the commanders of his army (2 Samuel 24:3-4). On the one hand, we see that 70,000 of David’s men died because of his folly (2 Samuel 24:15). We see also from the account in 1 Chronicles 21 (verse 1) that Satan stood up against Israel, moving David to number Israel. So Satan, too, plays a role in this disaster. But from 2 Samuel 24:1, we learn that the situation was even more complicated than that:

The Lord’s anger again raged against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go count Israel and Judah” (2 Samuel 24:1).

From these words, we see that God was behind this entire event, which should come as no surprise to the Christian. But what we also learn is that God “incited David” because He was angry with Israel. Thus, the Israelites were not really innocent; they were guilty, and God brought this about to chasten the nation for its sin. Suffering is often the result of a complex set of causes, all of which eventually are rooted in man’s sin.

There Is Only One Innocent Person

It should probably be noted at this point that no one, not even babies, are truly “innocent” in the sense that they are completely free of sin. David said it long ago:

Look, I was prone to do wrong from birth;

I was a sinner the moment my mother conceived me (Psalm 51:5).

Paul reaffirms this by citing Old Testament texts in Romans 3:

10 just as it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one,

11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless;

there is no one who shows kindness, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12).

The only man who has ever been born free from sin and who has lived a perfect life is our Lord Jesus Christ. He alone could say,

Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? (John 8:46)

He alone was the spotless, unblemished Lamb of God, whose shed blood cleanses men of their sins:

17 And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence. 18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, you were ransomed—not by perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:17-21).

When we speak of “innocent suffering,” we must therefore do so in a qualified way. Only our Lord suffered innocently. Everyone else who suffers does so as a sinner. When we speak of “innocent suffering,” then, we speak of suffering that is not directly due to personal sin, but sin that is due to the sin of others.

Our Comfort:
God’s Punishment is Just, and He does Not Punish the Innocent
Genesis 18:16-33; Jonah 4:1-11

When it comes to those who suffer in relative innocence, we find great comfort in God’s Word. Consider the conversation between Abraham and God, in reference to the impending judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah:

16 When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom. (Now Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) 17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 After all, Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using his name. 19 I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then the Lord will give to Abraham what he promised him.” 20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 21 that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.” 22 The two men turned and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?” 26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord (although I am but dust and ashes), 28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy the whole city because five are lacking? He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Abraham spoke to him again, “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.” 30 Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak! What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Abraham said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.” 32 Finally Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.” 33 The Lord went on his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home (Genesis 18:16-33, emphasis mine).

God was about to punish Sodom and Gomorrah, but He wanted to share this with Abraham. When Abraham heard that these cities were to be destroyed, he was greatly concerned that there would be no righteous who were punished along with the wicked. He argued that His God would do what is right, and that this would preclude treating the godly and the wicked alike (18:23-25). In the end, he bargained that if there were but ten righteous remaining in the city, God would spare it. We know, of course, that there were not ten left. But even so, God was true to His character. Before God brought down fire upon these wicked cities, He removed Lot and his family (Genesis 19:12-26). Our God is just, and He does not punish the righteous along with the wicked.

This same truth57 is also taught in the fourth chapter of Jonah:

3:10 When God saw their actions—they turned from their evil way of living!—God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and he did not destroy them. 4:1 This terribly displeased Jonah and he became very angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Oh, Lord, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by trying to escape to Tarshish!—because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. 3 So now, Lord, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!” 4 The Lord said, “Are you really so very angry?” 5 Jonah left the city, sat down east of the city, made a shelter for himself there, and sat down under it in the shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 The Lord God appointed a little plant and caused it to grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to rescue him from his misery. Now Jonah was very delighted about the little plant. 7 So God sent a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the little plant so that it dried up. 8 When the sun began to shine, God sent a hot east wind. So the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, and said, “ I would rather die than live!” 9 God said to Jonah, “Are you really so very angry about the little plant?” And he said, “ I am as angry as I could possibly be!” 10 The Lord said, “You were upset about this little plant, something for which you have not worked nor did you do anything to make it grow. It grew up overnight and died the next day. 11 Should I not be even more concerned about Nineveh this enormous city? There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, as well as many animals!” (Jonah 3:10—4:11, emphasis mine)

When Nineveh repented, God relented, and Jonah vented. He was hopping mad! The very thing for which others praised God (“you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment,” verse 2 above)58 Jonah protested against. Jonah hated grace,59 without seeming to notice that it was the only thing that kept him alive. Jonah wanted to see these guilty sinners pay; he wanted to sit and watch while God poured out His wrath on them, even though they had repented. Jonah failed to see the shade plant as a gift of grace, and he was angry when it was taken away, as though he somehow deserved it.

The depth of Jonah’s sin is seen in relation to the children of Nineveh. He wanted to watch (in the words of Abraham) God “sweep away the innocent60 along with the wicked.” God’s justice is seen in contrast to Jonah’s self-righteous anger. It mattered not to Jonah that Nineveh had repented; he wanted to see them all perish. God not only delights to save repentant sinners, God cares about innocent children. He would not punish them even though their parents were evil.

God’s Salvation and the Slaughter of the Infants
Matthew 2:13-18; Jeremiah 31:15

God’s words to Jonah lead us to our problem passage in Matthew 2, verses 13-18:

13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother at night, and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and nearby from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone(Matthew 2:13-18).

The magi had been divinely instructed to go home another way, and they obeyed (2:12). God then instructed Joseph to take the child and Mary and flee to Egypt because Herod was seeking to kill Jesus. Joseph likewise obeyed. When Herod realized that his plans to kill the infant king had been foiled, he was furious. Having learned the time when the star first appeared to the magi and where the child was born from the experts in the law, Herod knew the age and location of the child, even though he did not know his identity. While Jesus could hardly be two years old, Herod thought that was a good, round number at which to destroy all of the boy babies in Bethlehem. And so, at Herod’s instructions, all boy babies in the Bethlehem vicinity who were two and under were slaughtered.

While estimates of the number of babies killed have sometimes been exaggerated, it is generally thought that no more than 20 or 30 babies actually died. This in no way minimizes Herod’s guilt, or the grief suffered by the parents of these children. One must ask why Matthew chose to include this detail about the slaughter of these infants when he did not go into detail about the death of Herod himself. The reader would tend to find a kind of satisfaction in Herod’s painful death but is distressed at the report of the slaughter of these infant boys. What purpose does this account serve in the Gospel of Matthew?

First, the story of the slaughter of the innocent infants serves to cast a certain dark cloud over the otherwise joyous occasion of Jesus’ birth. We should remember that Jesus came to die at the hands of unbelieving Jews and Gentiles. We encountered the name Jesus in Matthew 1:

She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

The way Jesus would “save His people from their sins” was by dying as an innocent sacrifice, on the cross of Calvary. The birth of our Lord was a joyous occasion, as most Christmas cards convey, but it was the birth of a Savior who would die in Jerusalem. Thus, Matthew sets the scene for his readers early in his Gospel. The people of Jerusalem and its ruler were deeply troubled by the report that “the King of the Jews” had been born in Bethlehem.

We would do well to compare Matthew’s account of the birth of our Lord with that of Luke. While each author chose different occasions, events, and personalities, both prepared the reader for the fact that the One who was born in Bethlehem would die for the sins of His people. Matthew prepares us by reporting the slaughter of the infants; Luke does so through the words of Simeon to Mary:

34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: this child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. 35 Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul as well!” (Luke 2:34-35, emphasis mine)

If the events of our Lord’s birth were intended to foreshadow the later events of our Lord’s life, and death, then somewhere in the birth account the reader needed to be alerted to the fact that Jesus would die.

There is yet another dimension to the account of the slaughter of the infants that I believe we should at least consider. Some may find my connection a bit of a reach, but I am not entirely alone in my approach. I had to ask myself a very simple question: What was the reason why Herod had the boy babies put to death? The answer, I believe, is both simple and obvious: Herod had these boy babies slaughtered because of their identification with Jesus. Herod did not kill all the 12-year-old girls in Jerusalem; he killed all the boy babies 2 years old and younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem. Why? Because Herod was trying to kill Jesus, the “King of the Jews.” Herod had only those killed who were born where the Messiah was prophesied to be born, and those of the approximate age that the magi gave by telling him when the star first appeared. In one sense, these infants were the first martyrs for Christ.

We must now ask the question: What is the connection Matthew is seeking to draw between the slaughter of these infants and Jeremiah 31:15? Let me begin with several observations about the passage Matthew cites from Jeremiah 31.

(1) The context of Jeremiah 31 is Israel’s captivity and subsequent return and restoration. In particular, God is assuring the Northern Kingdom of Israel of their restoration after their Assyrian bondage. Notice these comments in the Bible Knowledge Commentary on verses 2-6:

God assured the Northern Kingdom that He will restore her. Those who had survived the sword (probably Assyria’s destruction of Israel) will yet experience God’s favor as He leads them into the desert for their new Exodus 16:14-15; 23:7-8; Hosea 2:14-15). The turmoil of their long years of exile will cease when God intervenes to give rest to the nation Israel. 61

Now notice the comments of the Bible Knowledge Commentary on verses 7-9:

As God leads these people on their new Exodus into Israel He will provide for their every need. He will guide the people beside streams of water (cf. Ex. 15:22-25; Num. 20:2-13; Ps. 23:2) and they will travel on a level path so they will not stumble. God will do all this because of His special relationship to Israel. He is Israel’s father (cf. Deut. 32:6), and Ephraim (emphasizing the Northern tribes of Israel) is his firstborn son (cf. Ex. 4:22). Jeremiah used the image of a father/son relationship to show God’s deep love for His people (cf. Hosea 11:1, 8).62

The “captivity” may very well include the later Babylonian captivity as well. Ramah, we are told, was the staging point from which the people of Judah were sent on their way to Babylon:

Thus Jeremiah was picturing the weeping of the women of the Northern Kingdom as they watched their children being carried into exile in 722 b.c. However, Jeremiah could also have had the 586 b.c. deportation of Judah in view because Ramah was the staging point for Nebuchadnezzar’s deportation (cf. 40:1).63

(2) The mood of this chapter is joyful celebration, because God will bring His people back to the land and restore them, showering His blessings upon them. In this sense, those who weep should weep no longer.

10 Hear what the Lord has to say, O nations.

And proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.

Say, “The one who scattered Israel will regather them.

He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”

11 For the Lord will set the descendants of Jacob free.

He will secure their release from those who had overpowered them.

12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.

They will be radiant with joy over the good things the Lord provides,

the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,

the young sheep and calves he has given to them.

They will be like a well-watered garden and will not grow faint and weary any more.

13 The Lord says, “At that time young women will dance and be glad.

Young men and old men will rejoice.

I will turn their grief into gladness.

I will give them comfort and joy in place of their sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:10-13).

(3) The place referred to in Jeremiah 31:15 is Ramah, and the person is Rachel, weeping over her children. We are first of all reminded of the death of Rachel, recorded in Genesis 35:16-19. Rachel has great difficultly giving birth to her son, whom she names, Ben-oni, “son of my sorrow.” In the end, Benjamin (“son of my right hand”) is born, but Rachel dies in childbirth. Rachel is the mother of Joseph (whose sons were Ephraim and Manasseh) and Benjamin. She was looked upon as the “mother of Israel.” She would be very closely associated with the Northern Kingdom of Israel. How easy it was to describe the mourning of the mothers of the Northern Kingdom as “Rachel weeping for her children” when the Assyrians led them away in captivity. The same words would be an apt description of the mothers of the Southern Kingdom mourning as they watched their sons carried off to Babylon.

(4) The context of Jeremiah 31 is also the “new covenant”:

27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. 28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. At that time I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. I, the Lord, affirm it. 29 “When that time comes, people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have grown numb.’ 30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb. 31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the old agreement that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. For they violated that agreement, even though I was a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord. 33 “But I will make a new agreement with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. And I will be their God and they will be my people. 34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. That is because all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “All of this is based on the fact that I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done” (Jeremiah 31:27-34, emphasis mine).

I find it especially significant how Jeremiah describes the effect of the New Covenant in verses 29 and 30. His point seems to be that while, under the Old Covenant, children bore the penalty for their parents’ sins, this would no longer be true under the New Covenant. Given these words in such close proximity to Jeremiah 31:15, I would find it difficult to say that the innocent suffering of the baby boys of Bethlehem was due to the sins of their parents. Given the results of our study earlier in this lesson I would also find it difficult to conclude that these infants were somehow under divine condemnation as a result of the death, in a way little different from that of Herod, who also dies in Matthew 2.

How do all these “dots” connect? I believe Matthew is telling us that Jesus is the new Israel. Jesus was subtly linked with Moses, whose life (among others) was sought by Pharaoh, but who God spared. Jesus was like David, who jealous King Saul sought to kill because he was a rival to his throne. Jesus was all that Israel failed to be, so that His journey to Egypt and back could be likened to the exodus, as Hosea referred to it in Hosea 11:1.

Jesus’ journey to Egypt and back was like Israel’s captivity (both the Assyrian captivity of the Northern Kingdom and the Babylonian captivity of the Southern Kingdom). Thus Matthew draws the connection between Rachel’s weeping over the departure of her children. Though she wept, thinking they would never again return, God had promised they would return and would be restored to blessing. Does this not imply that the weeping of the mothers (and fathers) of Bethlehem, whose sons were slaughtered by Herod, would be short-lived as well? And all of this because of Jesus, the new Israel. As these infants were identified with Christ in their death, so I believe they are going to be identified with Christ in His resurrection and return in glory.64 Herod died, opposing the “King of the Jews;” these infants died because of their identification with the “King of the Jews.” How different their destinies will be.

Final Thoughts on Suffering From Romans 8

In this lesson, we have seen that there are various causes of human suffering, and there are also varied effects. While we may wish for simple answers to our questions regarding suffering (answers like that of the disciples in John 9, or by Job’s friends), such answers are often not to be found. It was many years before the man born blind learned the reason for his suffering, and he certainly must have concluded that it was worth it all. Job was not given the answer to his suffering. He was simply reminded of who God is, and that was enough for him. While simple, easy answers to our questions regarding suffering may not be available, there are some assurances which enable us to endure in faith. For a summary of these assurances, I would like to return to Romans 8.

(1) Suffering is part of our common experience as human beings (Romans 8:18-25). In 1 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul wrote:

13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried too much, but with the trial will also provide a way through it so that you may be able to endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Living in a fallen world means that we must experience some of the after-effects of the fall, and thus suffering is a part of our lot, not just as Christians, but as human beings.

(2) Our Lord is always with us through His Holy Spirit. He assures us that we are God’s children and that we have the certain hope of eternal life. He also communicates for us in our times of suffering. Jesus assured us that He would be with us, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). He told us that He would never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We are never alone in our suffering. Indeed, God often draws us near to Himself through our sufferings (see Psalm 73:21-28).

(3) Christians are assured that any suffering that comes their way has come from the hand of their loving God, for their good, and for His glory:

28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).

(4) We can triumphantly face our sufferings, in the light of the fact that Christ, our Savior, suffered infinitely for us, that we might have eternal life:

31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31-39).

Praise God that we have a loving, sovereign God, who administers our afflictions for our good and for His glory!


47 This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 3 in the Studies in the Gospel of Matthew series prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on March 2, 2003.

48 I have included verses 13-15 to supply some needed context.

49 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.

50 I had an experience in India which helps me understand the way many people look at those who are blind or in some other way are infirmed. I was just entering India with my blind friend, Craig Nelson. We were being interviewed by a customs official when he seemed to take note of my friend’s handicap. Turning to me, the official asked, “Is he a sick man?” My friend Craig responded, “I’m not sick; I’m blind.” From that moment on the official refused to look at or to talk with my friend; he only talked to me. It was just as if a blind person did not even exist. No wonder the lame beggar outside the temple in Acts 3 expected to receive something, once he noticed Peter and John looking at him.

51 This man was born blind, so it would have been hard for him to sin first, and then experience blindness as divine punishment.

52 See Luke 4:18-19.

53 See, for example, the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus returned to this man and said, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14).

54 Joseph’s harshness was a disguise (Genesis 42:7). His true feelings are revealed by his private tears (42:24; 43:30).

55 Note also 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, where Paul teaches that the comfort which we gain in our suffering enables us to comfort others in their affliction.

56 It should be noted that the death of these priests may also be related to the curse on Eli’s family, found in 1 Samuel 2:27-36.

57 In Genesis, Abraham argued on behalf of the righteous; in Jonah, God argues on behalf of the “innocent” – children and animals.

58 See Exodus 34:6; Nehemiah 9:17, 31; Psalm 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; 116:5.

59 The one thing self-righteousness despises is grace.

60 The reader will note that I have exchanged the word “innocent” for the word “godly,” which Abraham used (Genesis 8:23). The situation here is not identical with Sodom and Gomorrah, but it is similar.

61 Walvoord, J. F. Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. 1983-c1985. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Victor Books: Wheaton, IL. Emphasis mine.

62 Ibid.

63 Ibid.

64 This conclusion is very closely related to my understanding that babies who die go to heaven, a view which I deal with in much greater detail in my sermon on 2 Samuel 12:

Related Topics: Suffering, Trials, Persecution

Abraham: His Faith and His Failures (Expository Sermons On O.T. Characters)

This series of sermons will cover some of the main O.T. characters, beginning in Genesis with Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. These sermons will not cover every account or incident in the lives of each person, but are selected (1) to give an overview of how God worked in their lives to accomplish his purposes; and (2) to learn important lessons about character and conduct as it relates to the people of God.

Amongst many other lessons in this series, one thing becomes abundantly clear, that the human heart does not change: it remains deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). Nonetheless, God in his grace continues to reveal himself, often in remarkable ways, to finite, frail, and failing human beings whom he uses to represent him, to communicate his instructions and plans, to provide leadership to others, and, generally, to carry out his purposes as the drama of redemption unfolds through the progress of salvation history.

We will study characters like Joseph, who was ridiculed, sold as a slave, falsely accused and imprisoned, yet, ultimately, he was vindicated and exalted. We admire him and aspire to emulate his faith, patience, and steadfast endurance despite the circumstances, and, more importantly, we grow in our understanding of God and his ways with us. Conversely, we will study characters whose behavior and responses may surprise us, but in whom God still displays his grace and through whom God still sovereignly acts.

I hope that this series will bless you as much as it has me. It was a pleasure to preach these sermons and it is now a pleasure to share them with you in written form. May the Lord use them to encourage and inspire you as you serve him and faithfully “preach the word.”

Related Topics: Character Study, Failure, Faith

1. Hagar, Pt. 1: When Running Away Is Not the Answer (Gen. 16:1-16)

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Introduction

As you read the Bible you discover that life is not always a bed of roses - things don’t always turn out the way you expect or want. Sometimes it’s because of our own ambition or disobedience. Sometimes life just seems to take a twist in the road. What do you do when that happens? Where do you turn?

Kay Arthur tells the story of her friend’s father while he was deer hunting in the wilds of Oregon. He was following an old logging road, nearly overgrown by the encroaching forest, cradling his rifle in the crook of his arm. It was nearly evening and he was just thinking about returning to camp when a noise exploded in the brush nearby.  Before he even had a chance to lift his rifle, a small blur of brown and white came shooting up the road straight for him. It all happened so fast that he hardly had time to think. He looked down and there was a little brown cottontail rabbit, utterly spent, crowded up against his legs between his boots. It just sat there, trembling all over; it didn’t budge. This was all very strange because wild rabbits are frightened of people and it’s not often that you’d ever actually see one, let alone have one come and sit at your feet.

While he was puzzling over this, another player entered the scene. Down the road, maybe 20 yards away, a weasel burst out of the brush. When it saw the hunter, and its intended prey sitting at his feet, the predator froze in its track, its mouth panting, and its eyes glowing red. That’s when he understood that he had stepped into a little life-and-death drama in the forest. The cottontail was a fugitive on the run, exhausted by the chase, only moments from death. This hunter was its last hope of refuge. Forgetting its natural fear and caution, the little animal instinctively crowded up against him for protection from the sharp teeth of its relentless enemy.

The little creature was not disappointed. The man raised his powerful rifle and deliberately shot into the ground just underneath the weasel. The animal seemed to leap almost straight into the air a couple of feet and then rocketed back into the forest as fast as its legs could carry it. For a while, the little rabbit didn’t stir. It just sat there, huddled at the man’s feet in the gathering twilight while he spoke gently to it. Soon the fugitive hopped away from its protector into the forest.

Where does a fugitive run when the predators of trouble, worry, and fear pursue you? Where do you hide when your past pursues you like a relentless wolf, seeking your destruction? Where do you seek protection when the weasels of temptation, corruption, and evil threaten to overtake you? Where do you turn when your life is full of darkness and you can’t see the light of day (Kay Arthur, Stories for the Heart, 251).

Know this: God turns our darkness into dawn. That’s the theme of this series on the life of Abraham. We’re going to see in the story of “Hagar: The flight of a fugitive” that in the darkest experiences of life, that’s where we discover God. The lesson in this passage is that even when you act in self-will, your life is still controlled by God. Notice first that…

1. When you act in self will, your life is infiltrated by the world (1-6a).

Sarah’s frustration dominates her thinking and actions. Her frustration, combined, I suppose, with a certain fear, stems from the fact that she is childless. As she laments her barren condition, she expresses her frustration: “And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children (16:2a). This was a desperate predicament for a woman of that day. To be barren was to be under the judgement of God. For a woman to be infertile was to incur the disfavor of your husband.

Sarah’s frustration produces Sarah’s folly. Without any consultation with God, she proposes a foolish plan. She says to her husband: Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her (16:2b). She decides to produce a child through her maid, Hagar. We don’t know anything about Hagar’s family background. We know that she is Egyptian, perhaps an Egyptian slave girl. Most likely Sarah had acquired her when she and Abraham went down to Egypt because of the famine, when Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister (Gen. 12:10-13). Sarah’s logic here is that, “God has promised me a child (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:5), and since I have no child, cannot bear a child, and am too old to have a child, it must be God’s will to use another woman to fulfill his promise.”

Do you see what logic can do to you? It’s so easy to justify your actions of self-will as being God’s will, based on logic, human reasoning, circumstances, feelings, self-justification. Human beings have an enormous capacity to rationalize their decisions, actions, desires, and beliefs. Be very careful when you’re tempted to take matters into your own hands without consulting God. When faced with a dilemma, God should be the first person to turn to for wisdom and direction, not to our own resources.

Sarah’s folly advances to Sarah’s fulfillment. She puts her plan into action. 2cAnd Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abrams wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife (16:2c-3). She was legally entitled to do this with her servant and she was acting well within the customs and moral standards of the day. But she was acting in self-will, entirely independently of God, and wholly contrary to God’s standards for marriage and sexuality. This was entirely worldly thinking and behavior. This is what can happen when you act in self-will: your life can be infiltrated by the world’s standards, priorities, and values.

How much better it would have been if Sarah had trusted God to carry out his promise to make of Abraham a great nation. She certainly shouldn’t have considered giving a pagan, idolatrous Gentile to her husband to bear God’s promised child. This was a worldly alliance if ever there was one. The shame is that Abraham becomes an accomplice. Rather than exercise his leadership and express his trust in God, he agrees to Sarah’s plan: And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived (16:4a).

Abraham should have refused Sarah’s scheme. He should have obeyed God’s law and believed the divine promise. To attempt to produce the promised child through Hagar was lack of faith in God’s power and lack of trust in God’s word. So, be careful who you are influenced by. Abraham was influenced by Sarah, his wife, but her perspective was worldly, humanistic, self-willed. She wasn’t spiritually mature. She was concerned more with having a son than doing God’s will. She wasn’t a very good role model for Abraham to listen to.

Just when the plan seemed to be working, the plot thickens. Sarah hadn’t counted on Hagar’s reaction. Hagar had her own agenda. She used this unholy alliance to further her own interests. Nonetheless, we are somewhat sympathetic to Hagar because she appears to be the innocent victim of Sarah’s scheme. She acts as any worldly, unbeliever might act, with no regard for God’s moral standards and ready to better herself through selfish ambition. The flesh, the world, and the devil play themselves out through her but out of it all she comes to know God as her personal Saviour, her Redeemer.

Now Sarah’s plan began to unravel, because when (Hagar) saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress (16:4b). Even before she gave birth, Hagar’s attitude to Sarah changed, from subservience to scorn, from obedience to opposition. She saw that she could do what Sarah could not - i.e. conceive. This made her, in her own estimation, more valuable to Abraham than Sarah.

Hagar had been in this household now for, probably, at least 10 years. For 10 years she had worked as Sarah’s maid. Now she sees an opportunity to get ahead, to become more than just a servant. By having a child by Abraham she would become his wife! If she became his wife, she would have influence, control, freedom, power, and, more importantly, equality with Sarah. Do you see what happens when you fail to rely on God and act in self-will? 

(1) When you act in self-will, the world infiltrates your life. Abraham and Sarah had gone to Egypt 10 years before to satisfy their hunger during the famine instead of relying on God’s provision. And while they were there, the world infiltrated their life when they acquired Hagar - pagan thinking and pagan ways entered their home. Even though they had been back from Egypt for 10 years (16:3), the impact of dabbling with the world still remained.

(2) When you act in self-will, you adopt worldly thinking, like scheming, rationalizing, self-centeredness, selfish ambition.

(3) When you act in self-will, you practice worldly ways. The culture said it was alright for Abraham to have Hagar as a concubine. Everybody was doing it. But whenever a sexual relationship is established on any other basis than God’s plan for marriage, it causes irreparable harm. Abraham’s relationship with Hagar caused an immediate problem not only between Sarah and Hagar but also between Sarah and Abraham.

(4) When you act in self-will, you succumb to worldly ambition. It’s a fearful force in some people’s lives – to get ahead at any cost.

(5) When you act in self-will, you practice the works of the flesh. It’s impossible to live for God in the power of the Spirit when you’re living for self in the works of the flesh. If you act in the flesh you will probably react in the flesh as well.

Sarah certainly reacts in the flesh. She reacts in the flesh by blaming Abraham. And Sarai said to Abram, May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt (16:5a). She says: “Abraham, what were you thinking? I gave Hagar to you to produce a child – that’s all. But instead you’ve turned Hagar against me! Poor me! She hates me now.”

Sarah reacts in the flesh by blaming Abraham and she reacts in the flesh by passing the buck to God. Listen to her phony pious language. She says: May the Lord judge between you and me (16:5b). She says: “Let God judge whether I am at fault for suggesting the idea or whether you are at fault for heeding my advice.” Why didn’t she consider God before this? Where was her reliance on God’s judgement when she dreamed up the whole scheme to start with? Religious language is often used as a cover for thoroughly irreligious thoughts, motives, and actions.

Hagar also reacts in the flesh by scorning her mistress, despising the one whom she formerly honored and obeyed.

And Abraham reacts in the flesh by becoming callous and irresponsible. But Abram said to Sarai, Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please’” (16:6a). He says, “She’s your servant; you deal with the problem.” Whatever happened to all those 10 years of Hagar’s faithful service? Where is the relationship, the compassion and care for this servant? And what happened to taking responsibility for one’s own actions?

How easily we shirk responsibility! We take matters into our own hands and leave God out. Then we don’t like the consequences. One minute we’re acknowledging, like Sarah, that God has done such-and-such, and the next we’re acting independently in self-will. If she acknowledged that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, why didn’t she consult God as to what to do about it? Why not wait on God for guidance? Why not recognize the providential hand of God?

When you mess up you need to repent, not blame somebody else for it, certainly not God! How often do we want to take the easy way out and let someone else deal with the consequences of our actions? How easily we cast people aside with no concern for their welfare, dispense with them like so much household waste.

Sarah’s folly could not be that easily remedied. Do you know that this one act started a rivalry between two people groups (Israelites and Arabs) that has lasted throughout history and which has caused oceans of blood to be shed ever since? All the result of Sarah’s folly.

When you act in self-will, your life is infiltrated by the world. And ...

2. When you act in self-will, your life is turned upside down (16:6b-9).

The folly of Sarah’s misguided plan precipitates Hagar’s flight. Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her (16:6b). Previously, Sarah feared being despised by Abraham for her infertility and she misused Hagar to carry out her sordid scheme. Now, Sarah is despised by Hagar and she mistreats Hagar, again. In fact, she mistreats her so badly that Hagar flees as a fugitive. Hagar’s life has gone from riches to rags, from being a maid to the wife of a wealthy man, to a single, pregnant, homeless, despondent woman on the run. All of these conditions are hard and depressing. Being single and pregnant is hard and depressing. Being homeless is hard and depressing. Being on the run is hard and depressing. Being single, pregnant, homeless, and on the run is a recipe for  disaster.

How quickly your life can be turned upside down! One minute you’re living in the lap of luxury; the next, you don’t know where your next meal is coming from. One minute you have a kind boss and good job prospects; the next, you’re cast aside, out on your ear. One minute you’re part of a loving family; the next, you’re caught in the middle of a family feud. One minute you’re single and free; the next, your pregnant and tied down. One minute everything is looking rosy; the next minute your world is dark and bleak.

How do you deal with that? Where do you turn when your life is turned upside down? One thing you don’t do is run away into the wilderness. That’s an act of self-will, taking matters into your own hands. The wilderness is no place to be when you’re in trouble, distressed, desperate; when you’re vulnerable, isolated, despondent. That’s when you need protection, care, support, community.

Hagar flees into the wilderness of Shur where the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur (16:7). There are times in our lives when we find ourselves in the wilderness, in a lonely place. Sometimes people act foolishly towards us. Sometimes we act foolishly towards God and other people. And sometimes we react by fleeing as a fugitive, only to find ourselves in the desert, abandoned and alone. When we hit rock bottom, those are the times when God steps in, assuring us of his favor and showing us that he is still in control.

And (the Lord) said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’” (16:8a). She knows where she came from but she doesn’t know where she’s going. “She said, I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai’” (16:8b). Life for her was full of uncertainty; she didn’t know the future. She had started down a one-way street and now it’s turning out to be a dead-end with nowhere to turn. The only way Hagar can turn with certainty is backwards. “The angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress and submit to her’” (16:9). All that Hagar had and was came from being Sarah’s maid. That was her identity, her position in life. She had left that position without notice or permission and she must return to that position. It wouldn’t be easy to return but it would be right. It was wrong to be rejected, but it was right to go back and face the music. Though Sarah had wronged her, she must not retaliate with another wrong. That’s the result of self-will and personal ambition, not God’s direction. Hagar was as ambitious as Sarah was independent and both character traits lead to trouble.

When you carry out your own independent plans without consulting God, you can expect your life to be turned upside down. When you’re ambitious to improve yourself and get ahead without God’s leading, you may suddenly find yourself in a desert place - lonely, isolated, depressed, desperate. When you act in self-will, the only solution is to repent, turn back to God, and be obedient. It may not be easy but it’s right.

First, then, when you act in self-will your life is infiltrated by the world. Second, when you act in self-will your life is turned upside down. But know this…

3. When you act in self-will, your life is still controlled by God (16:10-14).

After Sarah’s folly and Hagar’s flight, then we see God’s favor. When everything looks black, God turns darkness into dawn. “10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyones hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen’” (16:10-12).

God is the One who hears. That’s what “Ishmael” means. God is the One who cares for and comforts the desperate and the homeless, who pours grace into troubled hearts, who turns darkness into dawn. He pours his grace into Hagar’s heart by giving her a promise of his favor, that she would be the mother of a great nation. Her child would not be the child of the promise made to Abraham, but the child of a promise made directly to her. But there would be consequences to her actions - her son would be a “wild” man.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; it cannot be controlled. Ishmael was the product of an utterly fleshly, worldly union. He was the product of a blatantly unequal yoke between a believer and an unbeliever. You cannot mix faith and flesh, law and grace, promise and works.

In the midst of our darkness and despair, God is “the One who hears” and God is the One who sees. 13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing, for she said, Truly here I have seen him who looks after me. 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered (16:13-14). God had “heard” Hagar and he had “seen” her. He knew all about her. And Hagar had “seen” God, even in the desert and darkness of her life. No wonder she called the well Beer-lahai-roi, “the well of him who lives and sees me.” This idolatrous, unbelieving Gentile now knew that God was alive and active in her life. He is not the God of the Jews only but of the Gentiles also.

Concluding Remarks

In the darkest experiences of our lives, that’s where we discover God, his constant care and sovereign control. Remember: Even when you act in self-will, your life is still controlled by God. In the deepest extremities of desolation and brokenness, we come face to face with God and we find fellowship, nearness, instruction, comfort, hope, communion, acceptance, and relationship. In the places where we least expect to meet God, he manifests himself to us - he bestows his favor on us; he strengthens us, comforts us, and encourages us to face the hardest and darkest experiences of life; he hears our cry and sees our circumstances. In his presence the desert becomes an oasis where we receive refreshing, spiritual renewal that enables us to go back and face the realities of life. And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram (16:15-16).

If you’re not a Christian, you’re in the desert without God. You need God. He  knows all about you and he is in full control of your life. You need God for salvation through Christ.

If you are a Christian, you may also be in a desert place today, but you are not alone. Perhaps you’ve acted in self-will and your life has turned upside down as a result. Perhaps you’re experiencing dark circumstances in your life. You don’t know where to turn. You feel abandoned and desperate. Perhaps you’re facing a health crisis, or financial obligations you can’t meet, or sexual temptations that won’t go away. Perhaps you’re struggling spiritually with your relationship to God, with what the Christian life is about, with what God wants you to do with your life. Perhaps you’re making a heavy decision about a marriage partner or career. Whatever your situation, Christ turns darkness into dawn. He is with you to instruct you and encourage you. The barriers of darkness can be broken today. You can receive Christ’s comfort, strength, encouragement, and care.

If you need to meet with God, why don’t you take this moment to confess that sin that has caused darkness in your life, to cast yourself on the Lord for his direction and protection and provision, to repent of your self-will and neglect of God in your life, to ask God for relief from the dark circumstances of your life, or to pray for friends and family who desperately stand in need of God. Will you do that today?

Related Topics: Character Study, Failure, Faith

2. Hagar, Pt. 2: When Troubles Won’t Go Away (Gen. 21:8-21)

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Introduction

In the last lesson from Abraham’s life (Gen. 16:1-16), we learned the principle that “even when you act in self-will, your life is still controlled by God.” We saw that Sarah’s frustration and folly led to the fulfillment of her ill-conceived plan, choosing to rely on her own scheme to overcome her barrenness by having a baby (Isaac) through the illicit union of her husband, Abraham, and her maid, Hagar. The plan backfired and caused nothing but turmoil and resentment in the household. So Sarah treated Hagar harshly, causing her to flee from the household like a fugitive. But then, God’s favor turned toward Hagar in her hour of darkness, because God is the God who turns darkness into dawn.

Now we move on to another dark experience in Abraham’s and Hagar’s lives. By now, Isaac has been born and Abraham’s household becomes a place of euphoria and celebration (21:1-7). First, there was euphoria over Isaac’s birth in Abraham’s and Sarah’s old age. Now, some 3 years later, there is great celebration over Isaac’s weaning. But how quickly everything changes. The euphoria turns to conflict (21:9), indignation (21:10), and finally Hagar’s banishment (21:14).

In the December 31, 1989, edition of the Chicago Tribune, the editors printed their photos of the decade. One of them, by Michael Fryer, captured a grim fireman and paramedic carrying a fire victim away from the scene. The blaze, which happened in Chicago in December 1984, at first seemed routine. But then firefighters discovered the bodies of a mother and five children huddled in the kitchen of an apartment. Fryer said the firefighters surmised, “She could have escaped with two or three of the children but couldn’t decide who to pick. She chose to wait with all of them for the firefighters to arrive. All of them died of smoke inhalation.” (From the story: “Times When It Is Hard to Leave”).

Sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye to those we love. You see it in the TV images of people heartbroken for loved ones, not giving up hope that they may still be alive, and desperately not wanting to say “good bye.” It’s hard to let go of those you love, whose company you enjoy. Sometimes family members come for a visit. You look forward to them coming for so long and all of a sudden it’s over, and you’re sad to see them go. Time moves on so quickly; things change so suddenly.

That’s how it was in Abraham’s household in this story as he bids goodbye to Hagar and Ishmael. We will see once more that God turns darkness into dawn. But notice this principle carefully that as darkness comes before the dawn, so trouble often precedes triumph. Trouble comes from all kinds of sources…

1. Trouble often finds it source in our bad attitudes (21:8-10): Sarah’s resentment.

Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing (21:9). Evidently, Ishmael has been tantalizing Isaac (whether verbally, physically, or both we don’t know), ridiculing him, scoffing at him, and this has caught Sarah’s attention. Ishmael is a teenager by now, probably 16-17 years old. According to Gen. 17:24, Abraham was 99 when he was circumcised and Ishmael was 13 at that time. Isaac was born the next year (when Abraham was 100 and Ishmael 14). Isaac would be weaned at about 2-3 years old. Therefore, Ishmael would have been 16-17 at this time.

Ishmael can see what is happening in the family. All his life he had probably been told that he was the child of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah. But when he found out that Sarah was pregnant, perhaps he knew that it was not so. Now Isaac becomes the centre of attention. This incites Ishmael’s jealousy and anger against Isaac. Ishmael feels victimized and deceived, supplanted. Unfortunately, he has adopted his mother’s attitude. Just as Hagar despised Sarah (16:4), so now Ishmael despises Isaac. You can see how much a child’s environment affects their behavior and attitudes - like mother, like son.

But the problem isn’t so much Ishmael’s scoffing as it is Sarah’s bad attitude. She has never judged her resentment toward Hagar and Ishmael, so that when conflict occurs in the family home, the same emotion quickly resurfaces and the same solution is quickly demanded again: “Get this slave woman and her son out of my house!”

Some people become bitter very easily and then they find it hard to repent of it. They continue to express their resentment, sometimes even years later. Bitterness and resentment are powerful emotional forces. If you become resentful, know this: the same feelings and reactions can quickly rise to the surface again. They always seems to lie just beneath the surface, ready to explode. The apostle Paul says, Be angry and sin not. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath (Eph. 4:26). In other words, do not let anger become sin by nursing it, enjoying it, using it for selfish purposes, or by becoming angry over things we ought not to be angry about. Instead, put a limit on your emotions; put a time limit so that your anger is judged and finished. “Don’t go to bed mad”; bring it to an end. Our emotions are powerful forces in our lives. God has given them to us but not for them to be used sinfully or to go unchecked. It’s sad that our anger is often misdirected. We don’t become angry about things we should and we become angry about things we should not. We should be angry over things that make God angry, but we usually become angry over things that we don’t like.

Sarah’s bad attitude now boils over into her deep-seated resentment. She orders Abraham to cast out this slave woman with her son(21:10a). The word Sarah uses here for slave woman indicates that Hagar’s position in the family has advanced. Hagar is no longer merely a shiphhah, a female slave (16:1-3), but now she is an amah, a maidservant. For all practical purposes Hagar is Abraham’s second wife (16:3b), whose son, Ishmael, under cuneiform law, has a legal claim to Abraham’s estate.

Sarah’s resentment evidently focuses on the family inheritance. She isn’t merely indignant about Ishmael’s scoffing at Isaac, but, more specifically, about the matter of the inheritance, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac (21:10b). Perhaps that was always at the root of her bad attitude, and now she gives expression to it. She says: “There’s no way that this son of a maidservant is going to share in the inheritance with my son.” Sarah is actually asking Abraham to disinherit Ishmael, his firstborn son.

Resentment can cause us to have a bad attitude. And a bad attitude can cause us to be very critical, to say things we wouldn’t normally say. Resentment tends to do that. It loosens your tongue to say things that are very caustic, vitriolic. Sarah had not raised the matter of the inheritance before but her bad attitude causes her to find and see things that weren’t issues previously.

Resentment over money often divides families. So often money issues lie at the root of squabbles and resentment. The Bible says that The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Tim. 6:10). So, be sure that it doesn’t get hold of your heart as it did Sarah’s.

Trouble often finds its source in our bad attitudes. And…

2. Trouble often finds its source in our bad decisions: Abraham’s predicament (21:11-14a).

Abraham’s bad decision, when he agreed to Sarah’s scheme with Hagar, is now affecting his state of mind. The thing / matter was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son (21:11). His attitude is now deteriorating. He also has undoubtedly witnessed Ishmael’s ridicule of Isaac, on account of which he is most disturbed and distressed.

Notice the predicament that one bad decision can initiate. His bad decision initiates Abraham’s tense relationships. Now he has a blended family, which often causes conflict. Ishmael is as much a son of Abraham as Isaac is, but not so for Sarah. Abraham is caught in the middle between Sarah and Isaac on one hand and Hagar and Ishmael on the other; between what is legal and illegal; between what is right and what is hard; between his love for Ishmael and his love for Sarah. What Abraham thought was long past comes back to haunt him.

In the midst of his predicament, we see Abraham’s remorse over the bad decision he had made earlier. He must have said to himself a million times: “I wish I had never done what Sarah asked me to do with Hagar. If only I could relive that part of my life. Won’t this problem ever go away?” He sounds like David in Ps. 51:3b. Now he is reaping the consequences of his previous irresponsibility, lack of leadership, and distrust of God.

Bad decisions sometimes produce lifetime scars. Most of us experience the results of past sins (either our own or the impact on us of others’ sins). Abraham sinned in his intimacy with Hagar and he was deeply impacted by Sarah’s bad attitude – her scheming, bitterness, jealousy, resentment. We reap what we sow: it’s the law of the harvest (Gal. 6:7). Sins committed in haste and self-will often continue to haunt us. We get caught in the web of our own weaving. Sins that are forgiven often have consequences that live on. “Though every act of sin is forgivable, the effects of some are not erasable” (Chuck Swindoll, “Abraham”, 110), such as drug abuse, promiscuity, criminal acts. Nonetheless, if we repent, God takes the burden and brings relief. He turns the darkness of our lives into the dawn of his deliverance.

In the midst of his remorse, God brings Abraham’s relief. “God said to Abraham, Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named (21:12). Sarah is right, but for the wrong reason. Abraham is to banish Hagar and Ishmael not because Ishmael has done anything to deserve disinheritance, nor because of Sarah’s resentment, but because of God’s sovereign decree that his promise to Abraham will take place through Isaac. So long as Hagar and Ishmael live in Abraham’s house there would be no peace, nor would Abraham be able to focus on raising Isaac, the child of promise.

Sometimes obedience to God involves letting things go - things that we don’t even know are a hindrance to us; things that are sometimes very dear to us (as Ishmael was to Abraham); things that weigh heavily on our consciences, which we have to deal with and let them go. For some 14 years, Abraham had been under a false impression that Ishmael was the promised child (15:5; 16:10; 17:18). Now he knows otherwise. Nonetheless, it’s still hard to let Ishmael go. Undoubtedly, Abraham must have thought: “He’s still my son. Hagar is my second wife. And they have nowhere to go. How can I do this? I can’t let them go!”

Sometimes the way to correct our bad decisions means making hard decisions. Many times God’s ways aren’t easy for us to accept. Sometimes he uses our bad decisions for his purposes. Perhaps you have an Ishmael in your life. You’ve held on to something for years, as Abraham had held on to Ishmael and it’s hard to let it go because it’s dear to you. Sometimes, obeying God isn’t easy and it is particularly not easy when we have to do something hard to correct something we did wrong. Our affections and desires get in the way and our past keeps coming back. We don’t understand how it will all work out. We keep asking: “Why? What’s the purpose of this experience? It all looked so good at the beginning and now you’re taking it all away. This is a burden too great for me to bear.”

But Abraham wouldn’t have to live the rest of his life under this burden of guilt. Notice how God brings relief to Abraham’s burden by giving him a promise about Ishmael: And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring (21:13). God, not Abraham, would take care of Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham could let the burden go, roll it off onto God. Ishmael would lose his family rights as a son but he would gain a national right as the father of the Arab people. Ishmael would lose his inheritance of property but gain an inheritance of a nation. Ishmael would be cut off from what is his by legal right but be connected to what is his only by God’s promise. Why? Because he is your offspring. Such is the grace of God to Abraham. Despite Abraham’s failure to live up to his responsibilities last time, God will fulfill his promises to him concerning both his sons.

No matter what the consequences of our past sins, God brings relief. If we accept the consequences of those sins and wait upon God, he pours his grace into our lives. Sometimes God removes the cause of the problem so that we can live happily in his will. Sometimes the cause of the problem can’t be removed because we have taken actions which are irreversible and to try to reverse them would be to commit another sin. But God forgives when we accept responsibility and confess our sin, so that we no longer live with the burden of guilt even though we may live with the burden of reality and its  consequences.

Abraham’s remorse turns into Abraham’s relief and finally to Abraham’s responsibility. So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away (21:14a). He is distressed over Sarah’s excessive demand but he responds in obedience to God. Little does he know what God is going to require of him in the next chapter – to sacrifice his son of promise. And yet again Abraham will act in perfect obedience. So here, he does what he has to do but with care and concern for the two of them.

He gives Hagar the basic staples of life (bread and water) and entrusts Ishmael to her care. But bread and water will provide little solace either for their physical or emotional well-being in the life-threatening rigors of the desert. Undoubtedly heart-broken by this tragedy, he sends them away but not in the way or with the anger that Sarah displayed. Instead of hostility there is love. Instead of resentment there is remorse and regret.

Trouble often finds its source in our bad attitudes and in our bad decisions.  And…

3. Trouble often finds its source in our bad circumstances: Hagar’s banishment (21:14b-16).

Sarah’s resentment produced Abraham’s predicament and, finally, Hagar’s banishment. She departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba (21:14b). These were bad circumstances to say the least.

Maybe Hagar forgot God’s promise about her son (16:10). After all that was some 16 or 17 years ago, when God had spoken to her at the spring in the wilderness on the way to Shur. By now she probably believed, like Abraham, that Ishmael was the son of promise. She is probably unaware that God just renewed his promise about Ishmael in 21:13 in order to bring comfort to Abraham. In any event God’s promise probably seemed patently absurd to her now. After all, that was then and this is now. That was the dim and distant past and this is the here and now. She needed to deal with the reality of the present.

You can’t live just on memories of the “good old days”, you know. The reality is that she and her son are both about to die and she is about to face the deepest darkness of her life. Wandering in the wilderness” doubly underscores her darkness. It’s bad enough to wander hopelessly, like a straying animal, lost, not knowing where you’re going. But to wander in the wilderness would fill you with abject terror.

When I flew to Zambia a few years ago, I looked out of the window of the plane and saw the Sahara desert stretching out as far as the eye could see, nothing but mountains of sand, no sign of life. To be abandoned in the wilderness would be a scary prospect.

Soon the moment of total abandonment and darkness comes. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes (21:15). Under the scorching heat, with no shelter and the water supply exhausted, Hagar places Ishmael in the only shade she can find - a desert shrub. What can be more bleak and hopeless than for a mother to place her son under a desert bush and then watch him die. Obviously, she could not carry Ishmael for he is a teenager, but she could help place him in his weakness under a shrub. She takes the very best care of Ishmael that she can, denying herself the only shade that was available.

Powerless to stop the inevitable she sits at a distance awaiting Ishmael’s death. “Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said,Let me not look on the death of the child.And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept (21:16). All she could do is sit and wait. She can’t even bear to watch, incapable of preventing certain death. Surely she doesn’t deserve this treatment, this fate, despite her attitude toward Sarah and Ishmael’s attitude toward Isaac.

Sometimes the promises of God ring hollow in our experiences, don’t they? They must have been so for Hagar at this moment. “Where is God when I need him? It’s all very well for God to make these grandiose promises, but I need action!”

Trouble often finds its source in our bad attitudes, in our bad decisions, and in our bad circumstances. But remember: As darkness comes before the dawn, so trouble often precedes triumph. And in this lesson it is so, for…

4. Trouble always finds its solution in God’s intervention: Hagar’s encouragement (21:17-21).

For the second time in Hagar’s life God displays his goodness to her. Sarah’s resentment has led to Abraham’s predicament, to Hagar’s banishment and, finally, to Hagar’s encouragement as God intervenes in her life again to disclose to her a promise concerning Ishmael’s future. First, God hears again: “And God heard the voice of the boy” (21:17a). “Ishmael” means “the God who hears”.  God heard the cry of the dying boy and the wail of Hagar’s heart. Then, God speaks again: “And the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is” (21:17b). These are words of comfort: “What’s wrong, what troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid.” Just as God assured Abraham that he need not fear in sending Hagar away (21:12), so now God assures Hagar that she need not fear. Then, God promises again: “Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation” (21:18). Ishmael is not going to die as Hagar expected. Just as God fulfilled his promise to Abraham concerning a son of promise, even when Abraham was as good as dead (Heb. 11:12), so God fulfills his promise to Hagar (16:10) when Ishmael is as good as dead also. Now, in the midst of the ordeal, she hears God’s promise again that Ishmael will become a great nation. What God had told Abraham to give him assurance in sending them away, he now repeats for Hagar’s encouragement.

This is the principle of how God works. First the ordeal, then the revelation. First the suffering, then the solution. First the trouble, then the triumph. First the darkness of defeat, then the dawn of victory. And that’s when God takes action again. “Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink” (21:19).God is active and in control even in such a dark situation. God became a husband to Hagar (cf. Isa. 54:5) and a father to Ishmael (cf. Ps. 68:5-6). He not only promises the future but provides for the present. He gives them not only a promise but practical provision – the water of life. Just as he provided Elijah with a cake and a jar of water (1 Kgs. 19:6), so he blesses Ishmael with a drink and a destiny. The well was there all the time but Hagar couldn’t see it. As soon as God opened her eyes, she satisfied her son’s thirst - he is her first concern and responsibility.

When we exhaust our resources, our tendency is to sit down and cry. Well remember, God still has a lot of options left. Our bad circumstances blind us to the provision God has made. In order to see God’s plan, all we need to do is open our eyes. And when we open our eyes, we see that God was involved all along.

God hears, God speaks, God promises, God acts, and, lastly, God blesses again. “20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt” (21:20-21). The story begins with Isaac’s growth as a child (21:8), but now Ishmael grows from a youth to a man. God is with the boy, and he grew up. There is intimacy, care, divine presence - not merely a voice from heaven – and there is nourishment. What was once a place of dark banishment into a hostile wilderness / desert, becomes Ishmael’s home.

To survive in the wilderness requires skill and Ishmael’s skill is that of an archer. The bowshot that once marked the distance between him and his mother (21:16) now becomes his means of survival in the Wilderness of Paran (21:20). In this little detail we see the wonderful literary skill with which this story is written.

In Hagar’s final responsibility to Ishmael, she chooses a wife for him (21:21). He would never be left alone in the desert. Isn’t it ironic that Hagar, who had no choice of a husband and was thrust into a relationship with someone of a different race and religion,  now takes a wife for her son from their own people, the Egyptians? She had far more spiritual discernment than Sarah did in giving an Egyptian to her husband.

Final Remarks

Remember: As darkness comes before the dawn, so trouble often precedes triumph. God is the God who turns darkness into dawn. The God who heard Ishmael’s cry is the God who hears us when we cry. The God who spoke from heaven is the God who speaks to us through his Word. The God who renewed his promise to Hagar is the God who daily renews to us his precious promises. The God who took action in the wilderness is the God who acts in our wildernesses. The God who blessed Ishmael is the God who blesses us abundantly in and through Christ.

Our privilege and resource in the darkness of our lives is to cry to God, to listen for his voice, to be comforted by his promises, to watch him act, and to receive his blessing. When the circumstances are the darkest, God hears our cry and speaks words of comfort and encouragement; God takes action and opens our eyes to see his power; God is with us even when we can’t see him.

Perhaps you are passing through particularly dark times. Perhaps there are things in your life that you aren’t facing up to. Perhaps there is unconfessed sin in your life of which you have not repented. Perhaps you haven’t changed what needs to be changed. Perhaps you haven’t appropriated God’s grace in your life. Perhaps you see other people as the source of all your problems. Whatever it is, make sure that you deal with it before God today; be reconciled to God through faith in Christ. Don’t allow bitterness and resentment to control your life. Be willing to forgive others. Embrace the grace of God in all its fullness. Trust his precious promises.

Remember the lesson of this story, that as darkness comes before the dawn, so trouble often precedes triumph. Sinful consequences may disturb us but they need not defeat us. Marital conflicts may disrupt us but they need not destroy us. Personal confusion may disarm us but it need not demoralize us. No matter how dark the days may be, God never changes. He is always there when we turn to him. In those times when we can’t see his hand, we can trust his heart.

P. Gerhardt (1607-1676) wrote a hymn that John Wesley translated which sums up how we need to trust God through the dark times as well as the good.

Through waves, through clouds and storms,
God gently clears the way;
We wait His time; so shall the night
Soon end in blissful day.

He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve His might;
His every act pure blessing is,
His path unsullied light.

When He makes bare His arm,
Who shall His work withstand?
When He His people’s cause defends,
Who then shall stay His hand?

We leave it to Himself
To choose and to command,
With wonder filled, we soon shall see
How wise, how strong His hand.

We comprehend Him not,
Yet earth and heaven tell
God sits as sovereign on the throne,
And ruleth all things well.

Related Topics: Character Study, Failure, Faith

3. When Faith Passes the Test (Gen. 22:1-19)

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Introduction

Most of us don’t like tests and we certainly don’t like failing them. I grew up in England and at eleven years old we had to write an exam called the “Eleven Plus.” This exam determined whether I would go to a grammar school or a technical school. I remember my dad’s relentless tutoring in the evenings to prepare me for this exam. Surprisingly, I passed! Then, a few years later, I remember writing another set of important exams at sixteen years old called “O” (ordinary) levels. This time the results were miserable. Then came university undergraduate exams, then seminary graduate exams followed by post-graduate exams. I think the worst kind of school tests were those surprise tests that teachers sometimes give. You can probably remember when the teacher would come into the classroom and, without warning, announce: “Today we’re going to have a quiz” and your heart would sink.

God gives tests and usually without warning. More than likely you can pass a test if you prepare for it, but the real test as to whether you know your stuff is if you’re tested without warning. That’s what God does sometimes. Sometimes God tests us when we’re unprepared, off-guard, when no one’s looking, to see if in private we’re the same as we look in public; to see if we truly believe what we say or whether it is just a good show for others. Sometimes God tests us with circumstances or challenges that make no sense to us, to see if our love for him is really what we say it is; to see if we trust him the way we say we trust him. In that situation, do you really trust the providence of God; do you really believe in the sovereignty of God?

Just when we’re hanging onto something tightly, that’s often when God comes in with a test. That’s when God asks: “Do you love me more than these - more than this car, this house, this career, this hobby, this sport?”

How tightly are you holding onto “things”? It’s easy to say “I give everything to you, Lord”, without really meaning it. It’s easy to sing “all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood,” but do you? Sometimes “things” get such a hold of us, we can’t let go. Those are the times when God checks up on us to test the authenticity of our faith and our love for him. Sometimes those tests are hard. Sometimes we pass them and sometimes we fail them. Sometimes life makes no sense. That’s the way it was in the life of Abraham.

After these things… (22:1a). After the miraculous birth of the promised child, Isaac; after the banishment of Ishmael and Hagar into the wilderness; after the restoration of relationships in the family; after finding peace with God about God’s promise through Isaac. Just when Abraham thought that everything had settled down, that the past was finally past, that he could look forward to a glorious future, that he had it all figured out, After these things God tested Abraham and said to him,Abraham!And he said,Here I am(22:1).

God is a jealous God. He demands our absolute affection and loyalty. He won’t tolerate idols in our lives, even things that are good. He tests Abraham to see if God is first in Abraham’s life or whether Isaac means more to Abraham than God himself.

God had tested Abraham before and Abraham had failed three times. He tested Abraham’s obedience to God with a famine (Gen. 12) and Abraham failed in his obedience by going down to Egypt. He tested Abraham’s faith in God when the birth of the promised son was delayed (Gen. 16) and Abraham failed in his faith by having a son by Hagar. He tested Abraham’s fear of God when Abimelech took Sarah (Gen. 20) and Abraham failed in his fear of God by lying that she was his sister.

When you fail a test three times, it doesn’t look good for the fourth try, especially when that test will involve all three tests you’ve already failed. That can be a very dark time in your life: “Will I pass or fail?” But know this: When your faith passes the test, God renews his blessing. Notice firstly that…

1. When God Tests Our Faith, He Frequently Defies Our Logic (22:1-2).

You’ve all probably suffered the agony of buying something in the store that you had to put together when you got home, only to find that the instructions didn’t make any sense and you had to phone an 800 number to figure it out. God’s threefold instruction makes no sense to Abraham.

Gods instructions defy logic about who to take.He said,Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love’” (22:2a). Notice how this instruction gets progressively more intense. “Take your son… your only son… your only son Isaac, whom you love.” Here’s the issue: this child was becoming an object of affection in Abraham’s heart that was competing with God’s exclusive claims on Abraham’s heart.

By this time, Isaac is probably late teens to mid-twenties. He’s certainly no baby anymore. Over the years Abraham’s love for his son has grown and intensified. First,  he loves the baby promised from God. Then, he loves a son born in his old age. Now, he loves the progenitor of a great nation. Why would God now ask Abraham to take this special child of promise to offer him as a sacrifice? God’s instructions defy logic about who to take.

Gods instructions defy logic about where to go. …go to the land of Moriah (22:2b). Abraham had followed God’s instruction where to go years before when he left his home in Ur of the Chaldees to go to the unknown land of Canaan (Gen. 12). Now once again, he must travel from his home in Beersheba to the unknown land of Moriah, a place known only to God. Why would God ask Abraham to go to this unknown place?

Gods instructions defy logic about what to do. …offer him (Isaac) there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you(22:2c). A burnt offering was a sacrificial offering. It cost the worshipers something. It made atonement for the sins of the worshipers. It produced a sweet aroma to God. It signified total commitment, the only offering that consumed the entire animal on the altar (cf. Lev. 1). That’s the kind of offering God wants - an offering that costs us everything, nothing held back.

These instructions beg two important questions: (1) Will Abraham obey God and offer his son, knowing full well that Isaac is the only person who can perpetuate the promise of God? Abraham has just lost one child, now he is about to lose the other. He lost Ishmael to the wilderness, now he is about to lose Isaac to the altar. He has just banished Ishmael at Sarah’s command, now he is about to banish Isaac at God’s command. (2) Will God protect and provide for Isaac as he did for Ishmael? Will God resolve this dilemma?

It raises an additional corollary question: Why a child sacrifice? Wasn’t this pagan and contrary to God’s own law (Lev. 20:2-3; Deut. 18:10)? Perhaps God demanded this of Abraham to make the test even harder to understand and obey. But the question resolves itself if we focus on the whole narrative, not just the command. God never did require the slaying of Abraham’s son, because he provided a substitute.

Certainly, none of this made any sense to Abraham. It was contradictory to and inconsistent with (a) Sarah’s miraculous conception; (b) the banishment of Ishmael; and (c) God’s promise of descendants through Isaac. And now God was telling him to sacrifice this promised son? It defied logic: it  made no sense.

When God tests our faith, he often defies our logic. Perhaps your own life makes no sense sometimes. Perhaps your future seems to hinge on one momentous test or decision. “Should I marry this person, or take that job, or go out in missions, or take a course of action which could change my life forever.” Perhaps you’ve suffered great sorrow and your life goes into turmoil. You can’t figure out what to do or where to turn.

Or, perhaps you feel the direction of God so strongly in your life but it makes no sense. You thought you knew where your life was headed and now it’s taking a completely different course. Remember, God’s thoughts are not your thoughts nor his ways your ways (Isa. 55:8-9).

When God tests our faith, he often defies our logic. And…

2. When God Tests Our Faith, He Repeatedly Reveals Our Hearts  (22:3-11).

Abraham’s heart is revealed in his threefold reaction to God’s threefold instructions.

First, God reveals our hearts by testing our obedience to him (22:3-4). Abraham only had two options: to obey God or disobey God. And by the morning’s early light, he knew what he would and must do. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him(22:3).

If you react in true obedience, youll take immediate action - no bargaining with God, no rationalizing, no arguing, no resisting, no doubting.

If you react in true obedience, youll take God at his word. So Abraham gathered what was needed - a donkey to carry the load, two men to take care of them on the way, his son, and the sacrificial wood. As he split the wood, can you imagine what was going through his mind? Every stroke of the axe must have plunged into his heart, reminding him of the knife that soon would plunge into Isaac’s heart.

God’s tests demand unwavering faith in God’s word. That’s the bottom line: “Do you really believe God’s word or not?” That’s why it’s important to read, study, and memorize the Bible. If you want to pass an exam, you must know your material, in this case, God’s Word.

If you react in true obedience, you’ll take immediate action, you’ll take God at his word, and…

If you react in true obedience, youll face reality with courage. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar(22:4). Just as Jesus set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51), unswervingly going to The Place of a Skull (Jn. 19:17), so Abraham saw the place afar off and faced the reality of the situation with courage.

The true test of obedience is to see the reality of what God demands and to face it without turning back and without complaint. Perhaps you’ve been there - you’ve seen the test coming in the distance, you knew what it would cost you, and you faced it without doubt.

So, God reveals our hearts in our reaction to tests of obedience, and …

Second, God reveals our hearts by testing our faith in him (22:5-8). If you react in true faith, you’ll have the right perspective.Then Abraham said to his young men,Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you’” (22:5). He had the right perspective: the sacrifice of his son was worship! He had the right perspective: “We will come back - God will keep his word. If Isaac is slain God will raise him up again.”

If you react in true faith, you’ll have the right determination.And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together (22:6). Before, Abraham had placed the bread and water on Hagar’s shoulder. Now he places the wood on Isaac’s shoulder. Both actions must have torn his heart. But despite all that is happening, there is unity between them; the two of them went together - one in purpose, bond, trust, communion.

Isaac is big now, strong enough to carry the wood but young enough to ask a childlike question: And Isaac said to his father Abraham,My father! And he said,Here I am, my son. He said,Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’” (22:7). If you react in true faith, you’ll have the right perspective, you’ll have the right determination, and, if you react in true faith, you’ll have the right answer. Abraham said,God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.So they went both of them together(22:8). Many times before, Isaac had probably seen his father sacrifice a lamb. He knew the procedure, but this time there is fire and wood but no lamb. He knew the pagan sacrificial practices of the Canaanites who offered their firstborn sons as sacrifices to placate the pagan gods, so his question is very valid and real: Might this be what his father is doing?

When tough questions are asked, true faith has the right answer. You can’t explain everything but you respond out of deep faith in God - no wavering, no bitterness, no despair, no rebellion; just trust and serenity. Abraham’s answer completely satisfies Isaac. He has complete trust in his father, complete confidence and reassurance. Besides, he had heard his father tell the servants: We (I and the boy) will come again to you (22:5). What a great relationship Isaac had with his father!

A person’s true character comes out when the chips are down. It’s easy to trust God when everything is going well, but it’s much harder when life is falling apart. It’s easy to express faith in God when everything is rosy but much harder when things look bleak. When Abraham’s world fell apart, he trusted the promise of God (Gen. 21:12), he trusted the power of God (Heb. 11:19), and, here, he trusted the provision of God. When our world seems to be falling apart, we need to trust the promises of God, trust the power of God, trust the provision of God.

God reveals our hearts by testing our obedience to him, by testing our faith in him, and…

Third, God reveals our hearts by testing our fear of him (22:9-10). 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son (22:9-10).

If you truly fear God, you’ll show it in your actions. It took faith to gather the donkey, the servants, and the wood three days ago. But it took fear to build an altar, arrange the wood, and bind Isaac. That’s why the angel of the Lord said: Now I know that you fear God (22:12).

What does it mean to fear God? It means to reverence him totally, trust him implicitly, obey him unquestioningly; to fear offending him by sinning against him. When you fear God, you obey him no matter what the cost, despite natural instincts, human logic, and unknown consequences. When you fear God, you hold him above everything else - supreme, sovereign - and trust him above all else. When you fear God, you take him at his word. The fear of God is the result of knowing God, loving God, trusting God (Ps. 11:10; Job 28:28; Eccl. 12:13).

When God tests our faith, he frequently defies our logic, he repeatedly reveals our hearts, and…

3. When God Tests Our Faith, He Constantly Confirms His Faithfulness (22:11-19).

The knife is poised, ready to be plunged into Isaac’s heart, and at the climax of the drama we discover God’s faithfulness.

First, God confirms his faithfulness by withdrawing the penalty (22:11-12). What a relief it must have been for Abraham to hear God’s voice. God speaks from heaven at just the right time. The God who would one day slay his own Son, and whose hand no one would withhold, now withdraws the penalty: 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said,Abraham, Abraham!And he said,Here I am.12 He said,Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me’” (22:11-12).

God confirms his faithfulness by withdrawing the penalty. The penalty for sin is withdrawn when we trust Christ as our Saviour by faith. The penalty of testing is withdrawn when our faith passes the test. He turns our nighttime of testing into the dawn of relief.

God confirms his faithfulness by withdrawing the penalty, and… 

Second, God confirms his faithfulness by providing a substitute (22:13-14). Just as Abraham had assured Isaac (22:8), so God now provides a substitute. 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place,The Lord will provide; as it is said to this day,On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided’” (22:13-14). Abraham’s part in the story is completely subordinate to God’s part. Abraham’s faith is not memorialized, but God’s faithfulness is. The Mount of the Lord becomes a permanent witness to the gracious provision of God.

Through all of this, Abraham came to know God in increasingly more precious ways. First, he knew God as “Jehovah” – I am that I am (Gen. 12:1). Then, “El Elyon” – most high God, possessor of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19). Then, as “El Shaddai” – God almighty, the One who can do what is impossible with men (Gen. 17:1). Now, as “Jehovah-Jireh” – the God who provides.

In the darkest circumstances of our lives, when faith triumphs God confirms his power, his love, his trustworthiness. He is the God who provides. He provides a Savior as our Substitute. He provides the faith to believe, to overcome temptations, to endure tests, to carry burdens, to go on when you feel like quitting, to trust him at all costs. If you’re passing through a deep test of your faith, remember that God is Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD will provide and your dark place will become a memorial to his faithfulness. When you look back on the experience, you will call that heavy burden, that deep sorrow, that prolonged sickness, The Mount of the Lord, the place where God provided.

God confirms his faithfulness by withdrawing the penalty, by providing a substitute, and…

Third, God confirms his faithfulness by renewing his promise (22:15-19). The voice from heaven comes a second time to finish the story. 15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said,By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba(22:15-19).

First, God attributes praise to Abraham for his faithfulness: (1) Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son (22:16); and (2) Because you have obeyed my voice (22:18). Now, God confirms his faithfulness by renewing his promise to make Abraham’s descendants plentiful (17a), powerful and successful (17b), and influential throughout the earth (18).

The ultimate consequence of this test is not the sparing of Isaac but the renewal of God’s promise about Abraham’s descendants. They will prosper because Abraham was obedient and faithful – he passed the test. You will never know the impact you will have on future generations because of your obedience and faithfulness.

Concluding Remarks

1. God’s tests often defy our logic. They usually come when you least expect them. One day everything is great, the next your world is upside down. This is where we meet and learn about God in the extremity of our need, in the suddenness of our total dependence on him.

When everything is going well, look out for God’s test! When you’re going through it you won’t like it and it may not make any sense to you. God’s tests often appear incongruous, illogical, because our perspective and understanding are limited. God’s tests may cause you immense grief and you may even think God has abandoned you, because the darkness often obscures what we know by faith.

2. God’s tests repeatedly reveal our hearts by touching intimate, private areas of our lives, by confronting us with a choice between our dearest possessions and him, by forcing us to decide what’s most important to us, by determining where our security lies, by proving our hearts, by demanding that we give up what we love the most to put him first. God wants your heart, 100% of it. He wants you to trust him no matter what. He wants your heart because he cares for you and loves you enough to die for you.

Is your heart totally committed to God? Would you give up your dearest possessions for him? Is he first in your life? Or, does something or someone else hold first place in your heart? How deep is your love for God? When put to the test, will you come forth as gold tried in the fire? Can you truthfully say: “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee”?

3. God’s tests constantly confirm his faithfulness. He is the God who turns darkness into dawn. He is the One who provides. When you can’t figure it all out, when you think everything is hopeless, when you struggle all alone, God steps in at just the right time to reveal the next step, to confirm his faithfulness, to renew his blessing.

Do you really trust him to provide for you, to bless you even when things look dark, and when your faith is tested? Remember: When your faith passes the test, God renews his blessing.

In the final analysis, God’s tests draw us closer to him because in our darkest experiences God becomes more personal and real to us, and because we hear him speak in ways we would otherwise never hear. He relieves our burden, affirms our faith,  provides for us, blesses us, and renews his promises to us in ways too wonderful for us to imagine.

Related Topics: Character Study, Failure, Faith

God's Plan of Salvation

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1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life.

This passage tells us that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, the way to possess eternal life is to possess God’s Son. The question is, how can a person have the Son of God?

Man’s Problem

Separation From God

Isaiah 59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

According to Romans 5:8, God demonstrated His love for us through the death of His Son. Why did Christ have to die for us? Because Scripture declares all men to be sinful. To “sin” means to miss the mark. The Bible declares “all have sinned and fall short of the glory (the perfect holiness) of God” (Rom. 3:23). In other words, our sin separates us from God who is perfect holiness (righteousness and justice) and God must therefore judge sinful man.

Habakkuk 1:13a You are too just to tolerate evil; you are unable to condone wrongdoing.

God's Plan of Salvation

The Futility of Our Works

Scripture also teaches that no amount of human goodness, human works, human morality, or religious activity can gain acceptance with God or get anyone into heaven. The moral man, the religious man, and the immoral and non-religious are all in the same boat. They all fall short of God’s perfect righteousness. After discussing the immoral man, the moral man, and the religious man in Romans 1:18-3:8, the Apostle Paul declares that both Jews and Greeks are under sin, that “there is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:9-10). Added to this are the declarations of the following verses of Scripture:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not of works, so that no one can boast.

Titus 3:5-7 he saved us, not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.

Romans 4:1-5 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? 2 For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about (but not before God). 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.

God's Plan of Salvation

No amount of human goodness is as good as God. God is perfect righteousness. Because of this, Habakkuk 1:13 tells us God cannot have fellowship with anyone who does not have perfect righteousness. In order to be accepted by God, we must be as good as God is. Before God, we all stand naked, helpless, and hopeless in ourselves. No amount of good living will get us to heaven or give us eternal life. What then is the solution?

God’s Solution

God is not only perfect holiness (whose holy character we can never attain to on our own or by our works of righteousness) but He is also perfect love and full of grace and mercy. Because of His love and grace, He has not left us without hope and a solution.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is the good news of the Bible, the message of the gospel. It’s the message of the gift of God’s own Son who became man (the God-man), lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sin, and was raised from the grave proving both the fact He is God’s Son and the value of His death for us as our substitute.

Romans 1:4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 4:25 He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification.

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made the one who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the right-eousness of God.

1 Peter 3:18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.

How Do We Receive God’s Son?

Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross, the Bible states “He that has the Son has life.” We can receive the Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior by personal faith, by trusting in the person of Christ and His death for our sins.

John 1:12 But to all who have received him--those who believe in his name--he has given the right to become God's children

John 3:16-18 For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in Him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

This means we must each come to God the same way: (1) as a sinner who recognizes his sinfulness, (2) realizes no human works can result in salvation, and (3) relies totally on Christ alone by faith alone for our salvation.

Paul writes in Romans 10 :9-11,13. verse 10:9 reads- because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

If you would like to receive and trust Christ as your personal Savior,and  and cross the gap from being outside the fellowship with God to being with the Holy God in fellowship. You may want to do what Romans 10:9 says (because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.)You can express your faith in Christ by a simple prayer. Something like" God I know I am a sinner and I want to cross the gap and be in fellowship with you. I am now doing what you said to do: I know that Jesus is my Lord and I believe you raised Him from the dead and now according to your scriptures I have salvation and will live forever with you.”  If you prayed that prayer we would like you to email us at KnowingGod-email and then join us at our KnowingGod.org website



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Related Topics: Soteriology (Salvation)

Why Does Power Corrupt?

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“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”1

Written in 1887, the words of Lord Acton ring proverbial by the witness of history and experience. On a grand scale, great power creates great tyrants. Even religious authorities and institutions tend to act worse when they gain power. And closer to home, compare the service and attitude of people that must compete for your business versus those of a monopoly or government agency where you have no choice or recourse. We could multiply examples. So why, then, does power have such a negative effect on people?

An Original Problem

To answer this important question, we need first to examine “original sin,” or our innate tendency to evil that began with our legal participation in Adam’s sin when he stood and fell in our place. Some reject the doctrine or struggle with how we can justly be punished for something we did not physically do. Yet, we all affirm Adam’s fall every time we sin, while Scripture says we are born with a sinful bent: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me,” cries the Psalmist (Psalm 51:5 NAS). Moreover, “all sinned” in Adam; and by his one sin we all “died,” were judged and condemned, and were “made sinners” (Rom. 5:12,15,16,19). Indeed, “There is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10 NAS). Thus, we are born into the world with the need to be “born again” (John 3:3-8).

A Universal Problem

Additionally, our universal tendency to sin as soon as we are able points to a universal heart defect.2 Yet, when theologians cite this tendency as evidence for original sin, opponents cry foul. For instance, a contemporary of Jonathan Edwards and opponent of the doctrine, wrote, “We must not take the measure of our health and enjoyments from a lazar-house [hospital], nor of our understanding from Bedlam [insane asylum], nor of our morals from a gaol [jail].”3 In other words, don’t ignore the good and point to a small batch of bad apples to represent all of humanity. Edwards admitted that people often behave quite well, but added that the fallen heart is best understood when we consider the many hindrances to its sinful display, including negative consequences for bad behavior, rewards for right behavior, and the grace of God that restrains sin and produces good in people. Remove these things and you will have a more accurate picture of the heart.

To illustrate, pick a city, maybe New York, Philadelphia, or Los Angeles. Then, turn out the lights, abolish all laws, penalties, courts, and jails, and send away the police. Moreover, remove every constraint, every negative consequence for bad behavior, every reward for good behavior, including the positive influence of the Spirit of God, and you will have evidence aplenty for original sin and the fallen nature of humanity.

The Deeper Question

Now, consider the question, does power corrupt? If we mean by this that power makes people more prone to arrogance, ill treatment of others, despotism, and tyranny, most would agree that it does. “The poor man utters supplications, but the rich man answers roughly” (Prov. 18:23 NAS). But, if by the question we mean, does power corrupt a good heart, the answer is no. More power to a good heart produces more good works, while more power to an evil heart produces more evil works. God has infinite power and He always uses it for good, while Satan has great (but limited) power and always uses it for evil.

Opportunity and Consequences

What, then, accounts for power increasing evil behavior in people? For one, more power to a fallen nature provides greater opportunity for its expression by removing restraints and negative consequences. In this sense, power corrupts. For example, consider why we make harsh comments on the internet that we would never say to someone’s face, or why we act better standing in line with others than when driving unrecognized on a busy highway—anonymity eliminates accountability, embarrassment, and a great deal of negative fallout for poor behavior. This also explains why the loss of shame is so destructive to a culture—it removes a critical deterrent to bad conduct as people care less about how they act.

Briefly consider why Hitler and the National Socialists (“Nazis”), as well as Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot did such horrific things. Unless someone had a bigger and better military and was willing to use it to punish their behavior, they did whatever their wicked hearts desired because they perceived little to no negative consequences. They assumed they could get away with it—even before God, whose existence they conveniently denied. Without delving into the many ways wickedness justifies itself before the judgments of our God-given conscience, every evil act in history, when restraints to bad behavior are reduced or removed, vindicates Scripture’s description of the fallen heart.

And if you need more evidence, imagine raising children by giving them whatever they want, whenever they want it, and that without discipline and instruction about right and wrong. You will soon have a headache and more evidence for original sin.

Conclusion

Power “corrupts” because we are born corrupt and because power gives the opportunity and impetus to act without fear of negative consequences. Power merely allows a pre-existing condition to appear in a more obvious, forceful, and destructive way. This explains why God withdrawing His grace to allow people to do whatever they please comprises one of the most terrifying judgments in Scripture. Left to our own devices, we will sink to lows we never dreamed possible. May God preserve us from such a fate as we run to Christ and abide in Him. And should He bless us with greater responsibility and service, may He grant us humility and grace to resist the temptation to petty arrogance, for “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6 NAS). “Power belongs to God” (Psalm 62:11 NAS), but it is “perfected in weakness….for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9,10).

© 2016 by Craig Biehl. For a deeper discussion of this topic, see God the Reason: How Infinite Excellence Gives Unbreakable Faith, Carpenter’s Son Publishing, 2015.


1 http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165acton.html, accessed 7-7-16.

2 Jonathan Edwards, Original Sin, Yale Works, 3:136ff.

3 John Taylor, quoted in Jonathan Edwards, Original Sin, Yale Works, 3:109.

Related Topics: Apologetics, Hamartiology (Sin), Worldview

NET Bible Maps

About the NET Bible Maps

See the samples below. This is the first time that data recorded by a satellite has been used in a Bible to illustrate the Holy Land. When you compare these images to other satellite imagery or photographs, you will immediately notice their unique resolution and quality. This gives you, the reader, a great deal of information--relative altitude, topography, vegetation, available mountain passes, travel routes, etc.--and this information is often vital to understanding the Bible. As we searched for maps to include in the NET BIBLE, we found that the high quality map lithographs included in 16th century Bibles had not been surpassed by the maps in contemporary study Bibles. Now they have. The images provided with the NET BIBLE are far better than any maps that have ever been included in any Bible.

What you see is essentially a photograph in the sense that all of the colors shown derive from a single satellite photograph, but it is so vastly improved that we feel we owe you an explanation. The process to create these images was quite complex. Every image began as a photograph taken by a U.S. LandSat 5 satellite on a cold, crystal clear morning in January. Every color is thus true and contextual, not a mixture of images from different days. It was a rare and specifically chosen day because there were virtually no clouds anywhere in the entire region. Because LandSat images are taken from directly above, contain no altitude data, and have only a 30 meter resolution--far worse than the result you see here--more needed to be done to make the images better. A resolution of 30 meters means is that a building which is 30 by 30 meters would appear as one single dot on the image, so objects smaller than this size would not be visible at this resolution.

To improve the images, data from a French SPOT satellite was integrated in order to increase the resolution to 10 meters, so that smaller features of the landscape could be seen. This was complicated because the SPOT satellite data is black and white, but has 10 meter resolution. Thus there are 9 pixels of data (9 dots) in the SPOT data for every single colored dot in the LandSat data. Since these two satellites took their pictures from different altitudes and different locations in the sky, combining the two images required continuous compensation for differences in altitude, focal length, and image skew-because these two images sources were never intended to be combined into a single image. Therefore it was required that the combined images be precisely aligned, that the edges of every mountain and valley be identical and not blurred, resulting in an extensive investment of money, love, time, and technology. Along the way, two photographic exposure settings were required so that the desert south was not overexposed and the vegetation of the north was not underexposed. So the base image had to be an integration of two exposure settings shot at the same time by the same satellite in order to achieve the photographic exposure perfection you see. Once the SPOT and LandSat photographs were integrated, the image was still a topographically boring look from above with no altitude data.

The next step was to "drape" these two-dimensional images over a 3-D relief model of the terrain which added topographical data. This required relatively complex math and a significant amount of computer time. On some maps, this kind of data is shown as contour lines overlaid onto the images and labeled with altitude numbers for each contour line. Using this approach, locations where the contour lines are very close represent steep slopes. This method is fine for hiking maps, but obscures a photographic image and certainly detracts from the beauty of high resolution color satellite images like these.

The final step, therefore, was to develop software which would remove the need for contour lines by rendering the entire image as if it had not been taken from directly above in space, but as if the observer was viewing the scene from a commercial airliner. In this manner, altitude information would appear photographically as height in a natural way rather than as numbers on a vertical view from above. One draw back of this oblique scene projection is that the opposite sides of large mountains and valleys are obscured. For this reason, there are two views presented for each scene to allow you to "see behind" each of the mountains-one looking from the southwest and another from the northeast. In this manner, none of the original data is lost in these photographs. You can see both sides of each mountain from 180 degree opposing photographs of each region. In addition, the natural distortion that occurs when projecting an oblique image is also accounted for by looking at the same region from two different perspectives.

Why these particular viewing perspectives (northeast and southwest)? Since the computer could have projected each image from any angle, these photographs could have been rendered as if shot looking in any compass direction--looking north or east for example. But these particular perspectives have been chosen for a specific reason. Depth perception and contour imaging clues interpreted in the brain are hinted at by shadows in photographs. Although the original photographs were taken from above, the sun was not high overhead at the same time, so the shadows included in the original satellite photos dictate the optimum viewing angle of the scenes. Since the original photographs were taken early on a winter morning, the sun was low on the southeast horizon, casting long shadows to the northwest from the southeast. The eye understands an image best when viewed perpendicular to the direction of any shadows. Therefore, in order to produce the most illuminating three dimensional image, the observer must look at right angles to these shadows. These circumstances dictate that the best viewing perspectives for the reader will be looking northeast and southwest.

These images took more time and technology than have ever been used before in the creation of images for biblical studies. They are the result of over thirty years of diligent effort by Röhr Productions Ltd. whose goal is to create unsurpassed images of the Holy Land, images which enable the reader to better understand the land of the Bible--and provide teachers a far better than normal reference for guiding students through biblical narratives in their proper geographical context. Although we have modified these maps to suit the smaller format of the NET BIBLE, they are all derived from the Holy Land Satellite Atlas: Volumes 1 and 2 (and the related 3-D Animation CD of the Holy Land), published by Röhr Productions Ltd. We are grateful for permission to use them in the NET BIBLE. The effort that went into the procurement and production of these images deserves your support. We encourage you to obtain Röhr's family of imagery reference materials in order to support both your studies and Röhr's ongoing efforts. ([email protected])

Samples:

Maps © Copyright Biblical Studies Press. All Rights Reserved.

Satellite maps are copyright by Röhr's Productions. ([email protected])

Index to Maps

Related Topics: NET Bible

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