May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:14]
I’m sharing these daily devotions in the hope they will inspire you to read God’s word. I’m praying that they will help you find your way to a closer relationship with God. [Read More ….]
The Book of Exodus tells of the many times Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh with the Lord’s message that he should let the Israelites leave Egypt. Unwilling to see his slave labor depart, Pharaoh demanded a miracle to prove that the Israelites’ God sent them. Aaron threw down his staff and it became a serpent but Egypt’s magicians managed to do the same thing. Even though Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs, Pharaoh was unimpressed.
Over a period of time, Moses repeated his request, Pharaoh refused, and a series of plagues or judgments followed. First, Aaron fouled the waters of the Nile with blood but, when his magicians managed to turn clear water dark, Pharaoh remained unmoved. When Aaron brought frogs out of the Nile that covered the fields and invaded the houses, Pharaoh’s magicians also made frogs appear. Unlike Aaron, however, they couldn’t rid the land of the frogs. Nevertheless, Pharaoh remained steadfast in his refusal. When Aaron turned dust into an infestation of lice or gnats, Pharoah’s magicians couldn’t produce a gnat of their own. They admitted defeat saying, “This is the finger of God!” Nevertheless, the headstrong ruler refused to believe the marvels before him, even after witnessing the fourth plague—swarms of flies throughout Egypt but none in Goshen where the Hebrews lived!
The plagues intensified with each of Pharaoh’s refusals. The real damage and destruction began with the next plague when a deadly disease struck Egypt’s livestock. The plagues continued with boils on people and animals followed by a devastating hail storm. Ruining all the flax and barley, it killed anything or anyone not sheltered. Used mainly for clothing and drink, the loss of flax and barley made people’s lives difficult but not unbearable. Because the wheat hadn’t sprouted, it remained safe until swarms of locusts appeared and they ate any remaining vegetation. Famine was on the horizon in Egypt. Even though Goshen remained unaffected by these calamities and Moses could both start and stop every plague, Pharaoh remained intractable and unconvinced by the wonders he was witnessing.
The ninth plague, three days of darkness, should have been enough to convince anyone to let Israel go. Nevertheless, even though Egypt was facing famine, economic disaster, and social collapse, Pharaoh stood his ground. It was not until the final plague, the death of every first-born creature (including his son), that Pharaoh relented and allowed Israel to depart. Even then, he recklessly sent his soldiers after the fleeing Israelites only to have his entire army destroyed.
If the God of Moses could stop and start these plagues at will, why didn’t Pharaoh understand he was up against someone more powerful than he and a God more powerful than all of Egypt’s gods combined? The disasters rained upon Egypt clearly demonstrated that Jehovah, not Pharaoh, was in charge! Before lives were taken, Pharaoh had nine opportunities to change his mind, repent, and turn to Jehovah. The man should have been humiliated by the wonders that he’d seen at the hand of Israel’s God but he remained unwilling to submit to the Lord’s demands.
As horrible as those plagues were, they demonstrated God’s incredible patience. They began with temporary minor inconvenience and discomfort before escalating into destruction of livestock and crops, attacks on people, disaster, and death! Pharaoh was warned and he had opportunity after opportunity to recognize the God of Israel and let His people go. The court magicians ceded defeat after the third plague and, by the eighth, the people, facing famine and death, knew Egypt was ruined and begged Pharaoh to let Israel leave. Foiling the God of the Israelites, however, took precedence over the welfare of his own nation. Disregarding God’s warnings and the suffering of his land, Pharaoh remained unwilling to admit his helplessness against Israel’s God. Perhaps, believing his own press, he thought himself divine and able to win in his battle against the one true God! Pharaoh’s hardened heart resulted in Egypt enduring terrible affliction and loss. What distorted sense of pride kept Pharaoh from consenting to Israel’s request until no house in Egypt remained untouched by death?
Even though the fate of a nation does not rest on us, I can’t help but wonder if we’re a bit like Pharaoh sometimes. Do we ever insist on having things our way while ignoring the consequences? Are there times we are more concerned with winning than being right or with claiming victory rather than doing the right thing? Like Pharaoh, are we ever so arrogant and uncompromising that we’re unwilling to accept the possibility that we could be wrong? Are we ever so committed to a position that we’re unwilling to admit defeat? Do we ever harden our hearts to the truth? Do we ever harden our hearts to God?
A lowly person is a teachable person, easily entreated and open to explanation. Many of our spirits are too arrogant: they can teach others but can never themselves be taught. Many possess a stubborn spirit: they stick to their opinions even if they realize they are wrong.[Watchman Nee]
Scripture tells us that Jesus had at least six siblings: James, Joses, Simon, Jude, and two unnamed sisters. Can you imagine what it was like being a brother or sister to Jesus? Both his conception and birth were proclaimed by angels, a star announced His birth, and magi from the East presented Him with expensive gifts. It’s tough to top that sort of entrance into the world.
Having the Son of God as a half-brother couldn’t have been easy for any of them. Without sin, He probably never threw a temper tantrum or tossed a rock through a window. With no sassing, fighting, biting, or naughtiness, Jesus probably seemed the perfect child. While His brothers may have struggled with their religious studies, we know Jesus astounded the rabbis with his knowledge when He was twelve. Did His siblings think Jesus was Mary’s favorite? Such a blameless, intense, and devout elder brother was a tough act for anyone to follow and I suspect there may have been some resentment and jealousy on the part of his half-siblings.
Expecting a Messianic warrior king who would free the Jews from their bondage to Rome and restore Israel as an independent nation, Jews were expecting a very different Messiah from Jesus—one who would be a victorious political leader. No matter how pious and righteous Jesus was, His brothers had seen Him stub a toe, skin a knee, relieve himself, blow his nose, get a splinter, and break a sweat—hardly what one would expect of the promised Messiah. Jesus may have managed to turn water into wine but, to them, He was just a carpenter’s son from Nazareth.
When Jesus left home to become an itinerant rabbi, it appears that his family didn’t support His call. John tells us that, “even his brothers didn’t believe in him.” [7:5] Family honor was of utmost importance at the time. Considering His run-ins with the religious leaders, Jesus’ preaching may have been an embarrassment to the family, especially when he added tax collectors, prostitutes, and other sinners to His entourage.
Mark tells us Jesus’ family, thinking Him “out of his mind,” tried to take Him home. [3:21] Not understanding Jesus’ mission and divine authority, they probably saw His behavior as irrational. Their brother’s claims of divinity and messianic identity could be seen as blasphemous or delusional by the authorities and possibly dangerous to Him. Concerned both for their brother’s reputation and His well-being, Jesus’ family may have wanted a 1st century version of an intervention to protect Jesus from Himself and the Sanhedrin! It’s unlikely that Jesus’ brothers were even at the crucifixion. As He looked down from the cross, rather than entrusting Mary’s care to them, Jesus asked His beloved disciple John to care for her.
In spite of their absence from His ministry, in the first chapter of Acts, we find Jesus’ brothers meeting with the disciples and joining them in prayer after the crucifixion. [1:14] If they didn’t believe their brother before his death, why would they believe the words of His disciples after it? We can safely assume the reason for their change of heart from skeptics and doubters to believers was that they actually saw the resurrected Christ. The Apostle Paul specifically mentions that the risen Jesus appeared to James. [1 Cor 15:7] It was only after seeing their resurrected brother that His family finally believed in the truth of Jesus’ message. Accepting Jesus as the Messiah, they finally understood that He didn’t come to save the Jews from bondage to Rome but to save the world from bondage to sin—that He didn’t come to restore the old kingdom but to establish a new one. Instead of scoffers, His half-brothers became believers! James became a leader in the Jerusalem church and authored the book of James. History tells us that he died a martyr’s death in AD 62.
Jesus’ brothers had lived and worked with Him and yet they failed to see what was right in front of them. Like Thomas, they had to see the resurrected Christ before they could believe in Him. Seeing, however, is no guarantee of belief. Plenty of others saw Jesus and his miracles and never believed. As for us, unless we have a vision similar to Paul’s on the road to Damascus, we’re not likely to see the risen Christ in person. Nevertheless, if we believe in Him in this world, we will see Him in the next.
The only two miracles recorded in all four gospels are the resurrection of Jesus and His feeding of the 5,000. Since the gospel writers only told us the number of men at that al fresco meal, Biblical scholars estimate the actual number eating those loaves and fish to be more than double that figure. Perhaps it’s because of the magnitude of that miracle that people often want a logical (meaning earthly) explanation of how Jesus did it and skeptics love to offer their own version of the events.
In an effort to explain away this miracle, some disbelievers suggest that everyone just had a small bite of food. When I’ve had unexpected guests, I’ve made some pretty thin slices in the roast to fill everyone’s plates but there is no way even the most experienced butcher could slice those loaves and fish thin enough to feed fifty, let alone thousands. Some skeptics posit that there was a massive fish kill that day in the Sea of Galilee but that fails to explain the bread. Others claim that the whole things was just a psychological trick. Rather than God’s son, Jesus was a hypnotist who hypnotized the entire crowd (and the disciples) into thinking they were eating. Hypnosis, however, doesn’t work on everyone and hypnotizing thousands (including unbelievers) at one time would have been a miracle in itself! Some skeptics explain this event as an example of the amazing charisma of Jesus. They speculate that He managed to convince anyone who happened to have food to share with everyone else and that a massive impromptu potluck picnic took place. Indeed, getting a crowd that size to share their provisions with strangers would be a miracle. Nevertheless, if enough people had brought their own food, feeding the crowd wouldn’t have been a concern to Jesus or the disciples. Moreover, none of these scenarios explain those twelve baskets of leftovers!
In the television show Penn & Teller: Fool Us!, aspiring magicians perform their best illusions for the famed duo who then try to figure out how they are done. As experienced and skilled as Penn Jilette and Teller are, they often are fooled. If expert illusionists can’t figure out how a magic trick is done, as mere mortals, we shouldn’t expect to understand how God manages an actual miracle!
By its very definition, a miracle can’t be explained. Unlike a scientific experiment, it can’t be duplicated and, unlike a magic trick, it’s not sleight of hand or illusion. Essentially, a miracle is an unusual manifestation of God’s power designed to accomplish a specific purpose. On that hillside nearly 2,000 years ago, not only were thousands fed, but there were twelve baskets full of leftovers. Why did so much food remain? That miracle demonstrated Jesus’ power and His divine provision. Our God is a more-than-enough God!
If we insist on figuring out how Jesus managed this miracle, do we also want a plausible explanation for His raising of Lazarus, the virgin birth, wine at Cana, walking on water, calming a storm, or the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mountainside at the transfiguration? Jesus was God and our creator God is not bound by the laws of nature. When He created the world, He made something out of nothing; feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish probably was child’s play for Him. Try as we will, there are no plausible explanations for the supernatural. The logical explanation for the feeding of the multitude is the obvious one: it was a miracle!
About miracles, one of my pastors is fond of saying, “You either believe it or you don’t!” As for me, I choose to believe!
Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature. [Augustine]
The man who does not know where he is is lost; the man who does not know why he was born is worse lost; the man who cannot find an object worthy of his true devotion is lost utterly. [A.W. Tozer]
A firm with whom we do business sends us a newsletter every month. After asking their associates what accomplishment in the last year made them most proud, January’s newsletter shared some of the answers. One man was proud that, after reading up on motors, he managed to repair the family boat by changing the starter motor, another was proud that he expanded his horizons by hiking and rock climbing in various national parks during the year, and a third man was proud that a case he pled had been cited in several law review articles.
The response that touched me, however, was from a man who had just been inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame and named as one of the ten most influential people in his industry. While pleased by those honors, they were not his point of pride. This man was most proud of the fact that he’d made a positive impact on other people’s lives through his work—that people came to him with issues to clarify, problems to solve, or obstacles to surmount and he helped them. He shared that bettering the lives of others is the force that drives him to do what he does. After reading his response, I wondered how I would answer that same question. How would you? Of what are you most proud?
That question brought to mind A.W. Tozer’s words about a wealthy English aristocrat whose obituary read that he had “devoted his life to trying to breed the perfect spotted mouse.” While Tozer didn’t argue with the man’s right to breed spotted mice, he was troubled that a man of means and position would have devoted his entire life to such a task. Of this nameless man, Tozer wrote, “Made in the image of God, equipped with awesome powers of mind and soul, called to dream immortal dreams and to think the long thoughts of eternity, he chooses the breeding of a spotted mouse as his reason for existing.…Surely this is a tragedy.”
Apparently, breeding rodents is not as far-fetched as it sounds. There’s a National Mouse Club in England, the Rat & Mouse Club of America, and a Rat & Mouse Gazette. Every November 12 is Fancy Rat & Mouse Day and every April 4th is World Rat Day. While some people keep mice and rats as pets, I hope they aren’t devoting their lives to their rodent companions. Although mice are often bred and genetically modified to study genetics and human diseases, I hope that even the most zealous geneticists and researchers are not devoting their entire lives to that project.
We’re probably not trying to breed the perfect spotted mouse, but are we devoting our lives to its equivalent? People dedicate their lives to making money, becoming famous, getting frequent flyer miles, climbing mountains, having fun, setting or breaking records, shopping, going to casinos or playing the ponies, having a pristine house, decorating and redecorating, or building collections of art, cars, and Star Wars figures. While nothing is inherently wrong with those activities, none are worthy of our devotion! As Christians, Tozer points out that we have no right to dedicate ourselves to anything that can “burn or rust or rot or die.” We are not to give ourselves “completely to anyone but Christ nor to anything but prayer!”
Rather than having our obituaries tell of our commitment to breeding spotted mice, collecting Labubus, or attending every Grateful Dead concert, wouldn’t we rather have them speak of our devotion to God and of our love for His children? Rather than being remembered for the perfect spotted mouse or an immaculate house, I’d rather be remembered for making a positive impact on the lives of others.
One of the glories of the Christian gospel is its ability not only to deliver a man from sin but to orient him. … The spirit-illuminated Christian cannot be cheated. He knows the values of things; he will not bid on a rainbow nor make a down payment on a mirage; he will not, in short, devote his life to spotted mice. [A.W. Tozer]
When my grandchildren were little, our guest bedroom was their playroom. Whenever they played house or school, the dolls and stuffed animals were the “children” in their imaginary world. For the most part, the dolls were well-behaved and helped in the play kitchen, sat attentively in their chairs, and were nice to the other children. But, sometimes, those pretend children misbehaved and needed to be put in “time-out.” In their world of make-believe, why did my grands choose to have children who sometimes disobeyed? I suspect they enjoyed the opportunity to do the disciplining instead of always being the one getting disciplined! Then again, without benefit of theological discussion, perhaps they simply understood the concept of free will and gave their dolls the ability to choose.
The grands gave their dolls free will just as God did with mankind. If He hadn’t given us free will, God wouldn’t have needed to tell Adam not to eat from the tree and we’d still be in Eden. Knowing Adam and Eve would disobey, why did He put that tree in the garden in the first place? How could a loving God design a world in which man could and would make bad choices? While Genesis tells us what God did, it never really tells us why.
Genesis, however, tells us that, of all of God’s creatures, mankind is the one made in His image. God has the ability to make choices and, being made in His image, so do we. He gave us the ability to reason and make decisions. Without free will, we’d be more like mindless puppets than distinctive individuals. What kind of god would create intelligent beings who had no willpower—who had no choice but to serve him without question? Certainly not our God of love. He wanted a relationship with mankind, not some version of animatronic “Stepford” people or robots. If we could do nothing but love and obey, it wouldn’t be real love or obedience; the love would be obligatory and the obedience meaningless. God wanted man to choose to love and trust Him not because he has to, but because he wants to. So, why the tree? A choice can’t be made without having at least two options—something had to be prohibited. The problem was not in God’s faulty design of the garden; it was in man’s failure to make the right choice. Mankind abused the gift of free will.
Our good God designed a good world. In fact, He saw everything in the garden and said it was good, including that tree. The tree itself was not wicked; it was the knowledge of good and evil that was bad. By partaking of the tree, mankind knew what evil was. It wasn’t the tree that introduced death – it was our disobedience.
If we could only make right turns, we’d go in a circle, but God gave us the ability to take our own individual journey and turn both left and right. Loving and obeying Him was not the only choice in that garden and it’s not the only option now. It is, however, the only option that will give us joy and an abundant life, both now and forever.
If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. [C.S. Lewis]
When reading the narratives of the Old Testament, it’s tempting to think that some of the stories are more legend than history. Take the story of Balaam, the pagan prophet hired by King Balak to curse the Israelites, who ended up blessing the Israel and pronouncing disaster on its enemies. Since this took place around 1407 BC, it’s easy to question the story’s accuracy. Balaam’s existence, however, has extra-biblical non-Israelite confirmation.
Over 2,800 years ago, the story of Balaam, “a divine seer,” who pronounced doom to his own people, was written in red and black ink on the plaster wall of a building in the ancient city of Deir ‘Alla in present day Jordan (about 25 miles from where the incident recorded in Numbers 21 took place). The building collapsed as the result of an earthquake around 760 BC (an event referenced in the books of Amos and Zechariah). In 1967, 119 fragments of Balaam’s story were found in the building’s rubble. Probably written about 800 BC, the text begins with the title, “Warnings from the Book of Balaam the son of Beor. He was a seer of the gods.” It continues with, “The misfortunes of the book of Balaam son of Beor. A divine seer was he.” Two more times in the first four lines, the prophet is referred to as “the son of Beor” just as he is in the Hebrew Bible. Referencing “the Book of Balaam” indicates that the wall’s words were copied from an earlier text and that the original material was older than the writing on the wall. While the Deir ‘Alla story mentions pagan gods, the God whose visit caused the prophet to weep bitterly is referred to as “El Shaddai,” which is how the God of Israel was referenced during this time.
The wall’s text tells us that Balaam was well known as a “cursing prophet” and much of the Deir ‘Alla text is given to the prophet’s many curses. These ancient wall fragments help explain why King Balak’s representatives traveled 400 miles to hire Balaam to curse the Israelites. Although the story on the wall, with its mention of other gods and goddesses, doesn’t exactly match the version in Numbers, one would expect a pagan people to put their slant on it and, with only a portion of the wall existing, we have only part of the story. Nevertheless, we know Balaam did exist.
When archeologists wondered why Balaam’s book would be written on the wall of a building in Deir ‘Alla, their answer was found in eleven clay tablets found in the same area. Dating from 1200 BC or earlier (the time of Balaam), they identify Deir ‘Alla as Pethor (Balaam’s home in the Hebrew Scriptures) and speak of the “smiters of Pethor.” If this “divine seer” lived in what is now Deir ‘Alla, it is not surprising that his story would be preserved in his hometown. While these fragments of wall and tablets don’t prove Balaam’s story in Numbers, they certainly back it up. However, there is no doubt that Balaam existed; he was a real prophet, well-known for casting curses, who lived on the east side of the Jordan, and was revered for centuries after his death.
While more ancient artifacts are being discovered every year, archeology is based on what’s been left behind, discovered, and deciphered. Many pieces are missing in the puzzle and the fragmentary nature of archeological evidence makes it impossible to recreate the Middle East’s complete history. Fortunately, we don’t need every biblical event to be confirmed by archeology because we accept the Bible as the Word of God. Scripture doesn’t need proof because it comes with the authority of God; saying archeology proves the Bible gives it more authority than that given to Scripture. Let us remember that, long before there were archeologists, Jesus accepted Scripture’s authority, cited it frequently, and attributed its words directly to God. If it was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for us!
Nevertheless, as time goes on and bits and pieces of ancient history are discovered and analyzed, we find that archeology continues to support the Bible. Extra-biblical evidence for Scripture’s people, places, and events continue to be found and verified. Archeological findings like those at Deir ‘Alla pose a problem for skeptics who’d prefer to think of the exodus, Israel’s wilderness wanderings, and the conquest of Canaan as things of legend. Since there is extra-biblical verification that Balaam was real, they should be cautious of dismissing other people like Balak, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and the Israelites! Who knows what archeological treasures are hidden under the feet of those who walk in the Holy Land today?
Devotions of the Heart 