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Tag: Old Testament

Every knee will bow

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Isaiah, What’s new?.

The phrase “every knee shall bow” comes from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. In the last half of the book (chapters 40—66), God prophesies through Isaiah the coming comfort to His people, Israel, who are in exile in Babylon for their covenant unfaithfulness. The phrase in question is found in Isaiah 45:23, which reads, “By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.” The main thrust of the overall passage is that God is the only one who can save His people, as opposed to the idols that are worshiped by the nations. God is God and there is no other (Isaiah 45:5–6, 18, 22). Those who turn from their idols will be saved. Those who do not will be ashamed. The bottom line is that, before God, every knee shall bow and every tongue swear allegiance to God. The apostle Paul quotes this passage twice in his writings, once in Romans 14:11 and again in Philippians 2:10–11. In the Romans context, Paul is writing about Christian liberty. The Christian is not to pass judgment on his brother or sister in Christ over non-essential issues—the examples given in the text are dietary habits and religious days of observance. In these things to which the Lord gave no specific command, we should not stand in judgment of our brothers or sisters in Christ. The other quote, Philippians 2:10–11, comes in that wonderful Christological passage, the overall context of which is the call to Christian humility and how we should not consider ourselves better than others. Rather, we should look out for the interests of others above our own. In vv. 5–11, Paul uses Christ as the ultimate example of humility that we should follow. It was Christ who, being in the very form of God, emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant. In doing so, He became obedient to God to the point of death. This He did for the sake of His people. It is important to note the overarching theme of this passage—the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. Christ first humbles Himself and then submits Himself in complete obedience to the Father. Afterwards, the Father highly exalts Him above all things. Paul cites Isaiah 45:23 to say that at the feet of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father. In both of Paul’s citations of Isaiah 45:23, he is echoing the truth that there will come a time when “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess” to the glory of God. In the Philippians citation, Paul is declaring the divinity of Jesus when he says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as Lord. This is a clear indication of what will occur at the Second Coming of Christ. During the first advent, Christ came in humiliation and died a humiliating death on the cross for the sins of the world. In His second advent, Christ will come with power as the Conquering King. When that happens, it will be as our Lord Himself predicted in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 25:31–46) and as the vision the apostle John received in Revelation 20:11–15. When the King of kings and the Lord of lords returns to this earth, then will come true what the prophet Isaiah foretold all those years ago: “Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear allegiance.” The lesson for those living in the “here and now” is that we must heed the warning of the writer of Hebrews who said: “So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, “Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.” So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest”’” (Hebrews 3:7–11, citing Psalm 95:7–11). If we have heard and responded to the gospel, then we must live each day in light of its truth, shining the light of Christ into a dark world. Those who have not responded to the gospel are exhorted to respond today and not harden the heart. It is appointed for each of us to die once and then to face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Those who have responded to the gospel with faith and repentance will do so gladly and willingly. Those who have hardened their hearts to the call of the gospel will do so with great fear and trembling.

Redemption price

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Leviticus, What’s new?.

Why was the redemption price for men and women different in Leviticus 27:3–8?

In Leviticus 27, God gave instructions regarding vows made on behalf of various people in dedication to the Lord. When a vow was made, a “redemption price” was paid—and the amount of the offering varied based on the age and gender of the person being dedicated. The redemption price for men and women was different, as shown in the following list:

Males 60 and over: 15 shekels
Females 60 and over: 10 shekels
Males ages 20–60: 50 shekels
Females ages 20–60: 30 shekels
Males ages 5–20: 20 shekels
Females ages 5–20: 10 shekels
Males ages 0–5: 5 shekels
Females ages 0–5: 3 shekels

A shekel is believed to be the value of a worker for an entire month, so even one shekel was a large amount for the average person. For those too poor to pay the set redemption price, the priest would determine an appropriate amount (Leviticus 27:8).

Males were more expensive to dedicate than females, and males 20–60 years of age required the highest redemption price. The difference in redemption price appears to be based on a person’s ability to work in an agricultural society and on how many years that person could work. A man aged 20–60 was seen as a worker who could perform the best labor, therefore resulting in the highest redemption price. Those over 60 and under 20 could do some work, but not as much, traditionally. Those 5 years old and under required the lowest price, as they would have been unable to work much or at all.

It is important to note that the Bible begins with the creation of male and female in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 states, “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” The law of Leviticus 27 recognized that the burden of manual labor fell primarily on the male—and only during the years of his strength. The redemption price had nothing to do with the inherent worth of men and women; it had everything to do with the practicality of production in an agrarian society.

Seek the Lord while He may be found

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Isaiah, What’s new?.

What does it mean to “seek the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:6)?

In Isaiah 53, the prophet describes the ordeal of the Messiah who would bear His people’s iniquity and suffer on their behalf (verses 4–6). In the next chapter, Isaiah predicts the coming glory of Jerusalem and the restoration of God’s people, who would know the “everlasting kindness” and compassion of God (Isaiah 54:8). Then, in Isaiah 55, the prophet extends God’s invitation to partake freely of the promised blessings (verses 1–2) and experience God’s “everlasting covenant” (verse 3). This promise of restoration, forgiveness, and blessing would have been especially encouraging to the future generation of battered and bruised Jews returning from their exile in Babylon.

Through Isaiah, God compassionately called the surviving remnant of Israel to spiritual renewal. As part of that renewal, they would have to thoroughly abandon their sinful lifestyles and return to Him to receive the forgiveness the Messiah made possible (Isaiah 53). They would have to “seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

Now was not the time for Israel to drag its feet. There would be a window of opportunity and no room for delay. With the instruction to “seek the Lord while He may be found,” Isaiah stressed the urgency and seriousness of God’s summons. The prophet Amos communicated the same sense of urgency, repeatedly issuing the Lord’s appeal to “seek me and live” (Amos 5:4–7, 14–15). Dedicating our lives to the pursuit of God is a matter of life and death. If we procrastinate, the opportunity to respond to His invitation may run out.

This theme of exigency recurs in the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:12–24) and the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1–14). Just as Isaiah called the remnant to come to the Lord’s table to eat and drink (Isaiah 55:1–2), Jesus urged His primarily Jewish audience to “eat at the feast in the kingdom of God” (Luke 14:15). Through the parables, Jesus explained that the invited guests rejected the Master’s offer, and thus the door of opportunity was closed to them. Since those invited refused to come, everyone in “the streets and alleys of the town, . . . the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” were invited to come and dine (Luke 14:21).

Proverbs 1:20–33 illustrates how God’s patience with fools—those who refuse to listen to the voice of Wisdom—eventually runs out: “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you. When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me” (Proverbs 1:24–28, NLT).

When we hear the voice of the Lord calling us to seek Him, inviting us to fellowship at His table, we must respond immediately while there is still time. “For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2, NLT). We are not promised tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1; Luke 12:16–21). As the psalmist urged, “Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found” (Psalm 32:6). Jesus taught us to stay focused and seek God’s kingdom before and above all else (Matthew 6:33–34).

Seek the Lord while He may be found means to take up our cross and become His disciple (Mark 8:34) at this very moment, today. The command is accompanied by another command and a promise: “Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). We must repent of our sin and return to the Lord right now because there will come a day when our time is up. Scripture tells us to get ready, for the day of the Lord’s return will come suddenly, “like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2; see also 2 Peter 3:10).

While we still have time, before it’s too late, we must seek the Lord. God graciously promises to be found: “You will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29, ESV). Over and over throughout the Bible, God calls His people to repent, return to Him, and seek the Lord while He may be found (Deuteronomy 30:2–3; Leviticus 26:40–42; 2 Chronicles 15:4; Jeremiah 29:13–14).

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive delivered?

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Isaiah, Spiritual Warfare, What’s new?.

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive delivered

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. Isaiah 49:24-26 KJV

No weapon formed against you shall prosper

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Isaiah, Spiritual Warfare, What’s new?.

What does it mean that “no weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17)?

In Isaiah 54:11–17, the prophet Isaiah delivers a message from God about the restoration of Jerusalem after its destruction by the Babylonians. The people would be in chaos and confusion, but the Lord promises a future day when the city will be more glorious than ever. God’s people will return to their land and live there without fear of further devastation: “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,’ Says the LORD” (verse 17, NKJV).

In saying that “no weapon formed against you shall prosper,” God promises the people of Jerusalem that no enemy will be able to produce successful weapons against them. The word prosper here means “succeed.” The previous verse gives context: “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc” (Isaiah 54:16). In other words, God is in charge. He created the one who creates the weapons, and He will see to it that whatever weapons are wielded by Israel’s enemies would be ineffective against them. This promise will see its ultimate fulfillment in the millennial kingdom of Christ (see Isaiah 51).

The promise to Israel is often applied to God’s children today, as we deal with spiritual enemies. No matter what the devil devises to throw at us, in the end it will fail because God is the sovereign ruler of our destiny. He gives us the shield of faith, “with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). The Good News Translation phrases Isaiah 54:17 like this: “‘But no weapon will be able to hurt you; you will have an answer for all who accuse you. I will defend my servants and give them victory.’ The LORD has spoken.”

The primary theme the Lord wants to communicate in this passage is that God is our salvation. Even when bad things happen to us—when we feel defeated and crushed by our enemies—we can trust and not be afraid: “God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths; even if the seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence” (Psalm 46:1–3, GNB). Even if our cities lie in ruins, a deadly disease wreaks havoc in the world, the economy fails, and we lose our job, the Lord Almighty is with us, and He will save us: “God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed; at early dawn he will come to its aid. Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken; God thunders, and the earth dissolves. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalm 46:5–7, GNB).

A weapon is anything designed to inflict harm. In 2 Corinthians 10:4, the apostle Paul tells us that we have been given tools to fight against our enemy, but our weapons are not ordinary armaments: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Often, the enemy hits us with spiritual strongholds of confusion, depression, anger, anxiety, fear, temptation, and loneliness. But the Lord has given us His Word as our sword and faith as our shield (Proverbs 30:5; Hebrews 4:12), and we have His spiritual armor to protect us (Ephesians 6:10–18).

God is in command. He controls both those who make weapons and those who use them. The battle is not ours, but the Lord’s (2 Chronicles 20:15; 1 Samuel 17:47). He has already won the contest. Through Jesus Christ, He has defeated the final enemy, who is death, and purchased for us eternal life (2 Timothy 1:10; see also Isaiah 25:8; Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 1:18). The Lord will protect and uphold His children, no matter what we face, and help us through to the final victory (Isaiah 41:10). As God’s people, we can be confident in the Lord’s ultimate triumph over every enemy. In Isaiah’s time, as in all of history, and in the future in its fullest sense, every child of God can say, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper!”

Plead my cause before the Lord

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Jeremiah, What’s new?.

How do I plead my cause before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12)?

Jeremiah had a difficult ministry and was persecuted severely for doing what God had sent him to do. In Jeremiah 20 we discover an episode in which Jeremiah is beaten and arrested. In that context Jeremiah pleads his cause before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12).

As Jeremiah was presenting God’s message of impending judgment on the people of Judah (Jeremiah 19), a chief priest named Passhur had Jeremiah beaten and placed in stocks not far from the temple (Jeremiah 20:1–2). After being released, Jeremiah prophesied that God would judge Passhur for rejecting God’s Word and for Passhur’s own false prophecies (Jeremiah 20:3–6). After that, we read of Jeremiah’s frustration with God and how he goes on to say, “I have pleaded my cause before You” (Jeremiah 20:12, NKJV).

After experiencing mistreatment at the hands of the temple official, Jeremiah cries out that he feels deceived by God (Jeremiah 20:7). Jeremiah presented God’s Word to the people, but, rather than respond in submission and respect, the people treated Jeremiah poorly. He is a laughingstock who is mocked constantly by seemingly everyone (Jeremiah 20:7–8). Jeremiah also seems deeply frustrated that he has to constantly bring the people bad news about coming judgment—violence and destruction—and the people receive those messages with reproach and derision for Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:8). But, despite the difficulty of being God’s messenger, Jeremiah can’t bring himself to turn away, as God’s Word (Jeremiah’s message spoken in God’s name) was like a fire within him, and he could not be silent (Jeremiah 20:9).

Because Jeremiah was constantly proclaiming God’s judgment (“terror on every side,” Jeremiah 20:10), the people denounced Jeremiah. Even his friends were waiting for him to fall, hoping he was simply being deceived so they could reject him as a false prophet (Jeremiah 20:10). Rather than receive Jeremiah’s words as a message from God, they wanted to do violence to Jeremiah. The prophet takes the matter to God, to plead his cause before the Lord, and he waits for vindication from heaven: “Let me see your vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you” (Jeremiah 20:12, NLT).

Despite the constant rejection that Jeremiah felt, he refused to quit. He recognized that God was with him like a dread champion or a terrifying mighty one (Jeremiah 20:11a). Jeremiah knew that, because God was with him, his enemies would not prevail over him and would one day be ashamed and disgraced (Jeremiah 20:11b). Jeremiah knew that God determined whether someone was righteous, and it was God who could see what was in the mind and the heart (Jeremiah 20:12a). Jeremiah had confidence that God knew what was in Jeremiah’s mind and heart, that he was indeed being faithful to the task God had given him. While everyone resisted Jeremiah for the message he presented, Jeremiah asks God for His vengeance on them, for they had rejected God and persecuted Jeremiah. Jeremiah adds that he has pled his case before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12). Jeremiah then reminds his readers that God is worthy of praise. Jeremiah breaks into song, praising the One who delivers the soul of the needy from the hands of those who do evil (Jeremiah 20:13). As he awaits God to show Himself faithful, Jeremiah laments the day of his birth, that he should see such sorrow in his life (Jeremiah 20:14–18).

Jeremiah provides an important example to all of us that serving God is not always easy. Sometimes, obedience can be most difficult and painful. But even in the midst of life-threatening difficulty, Jeremiah recognizes that he can plead his cause before the Lord (Jeremiah 20:12). Jeremiah shows us that, even though we might face great difficulty, we can bring our concern to the Lord, standing on His promises and trusting Him to bring about justice in His own time.

Later, even after seeing the destruction that he had prophesied take place, Jeremiah wrote that he had hope because God’s lovingkindness is everlasting. God’s compassions never fail, and His faithfulness is great (Lamentations 3:21–23). Jeremiah understood that, even though people may reject him, his value and his very life are found in God (Lamentations 3:24). When we plead our cause before God like Jeremiah did—if we draw the same conclusions that Jeremiah did—we will have the same hope, because His lovingkindness and compassions are still everlasting. God’s mercies never fail.

Bridegroom of blood

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Exodus, What’s new?.

What is a bridegroom of blood in Exodus 4:25?

Moses’ wife, Zipporah, calls Moses a “bridegroom of blood” in Exodus 4:25. To understand the appellation and the circumstance leading up to Zipporah’s use of it, we will look back about 400 years:

Genesis ends with Joseph as the prime minister of Egypt who, by God’s providence, saved Egypt from the famine and welcomed all his father’s household to live in the land of Goshen.

Exodus begins, centuries later, with the Israelites having become a great nation. They were persecuted by a Pharaoh who did not care what Joseph may have done and was afraid that so many foreigners in the land presented a security risk (Exodus 1:8–11). He ordered that all the male Israelite babies be killed, but the infant Moses was saved by his mother and eventually adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:1–10). He grew up as Egyptian royalty but never forgot that he was an Israelite. One day he defended an Israelite slave but killed an Egyptian in the process. Pharaoh wanted Moses killed, so Moses fled the country (Exodus 2:11–17). He became a shepherd in the land of Midian.

Moses lived in Midian for 40 years and married and had children. We don’t know what he may have told his wife and her family about his past, but, by all indications, he planned to be a shepherd the rest of his life and simply put Egypt and the captive Israelites out of his mind.

Then God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told him to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of slavery. Moses objected but eventually resigned himself to the task (Exodus 3:1—4:17). We can imagine that this would represent a major disruption in his family life, and his wife may not have been happy about the new direction he was taking.

On Moses’ trip back to Egypt, God intercepted him and “was about to kill him” (Exodus 4:24). Moses’ wife, Zipporah, “took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it” (verse 25). At that time, she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me” (verse 25)—“‘bridegroom of blood’ referring to circumcision” (verse 26). After that, God relented (verse 26). In this way, Zipporah saved her husband’s life.

The “bridegroom of blood” incident sounds strange to most readers. Why would God send Moses on a mission and then try to kill him? Why did circumcising the son satisfy God? First, we must recognize that there is perhaps some anthropomorphic language here because, if God really tried to kill Moses, He would have succeeded. It appears that God opposed or threatened Moses in some way (perhaps by severe illness), and this was apparently because Moses had not circumcised his son. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant between God and the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 17:9–14). Any uncircumcised male must be “cut off from his people” (verse 14). This could mean banishment or even death.

Moses, as a shepherd in Midian, had apparently completely given up being an Israelite, as shown in the fact that he had not circumcised his son. Perhaps Moses assumed he was already “cut off” from his people, so why should he bother to maintain the sign of the covenant? For whatever reason, and possibly even because of his Gentile wife’s objections, he had not circumcised his own son.

God did not press the issue until it was time for Moses to go back to Egypt and become the leader of God’s covenant people. Before he could assume leadership, Moses would have to get his own house in order. We are not told the backstory, but we assume there had been some discussion about circumcision between Moses and his wife because Zipporah knew exactly what to do. After circumcising her son, she touched Moses’ feet with the foreskin—which would make sense if Moses were extremely ill and near death and therefore unable to perform the circumcision himself. Touching his feet with the foreskin was the act that “healed” Moses because it was tangible evidence that the sinful situation had been corrected.

Zipporah’s exclamation, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me,” is a complaint or a lament. She had to do something to her young son that was very painful and also very bloody. It was something that no mother would necessarily want to do, and she expressed her frustration with the way things had developed. Perhaps she, even more so than Moses, had planned to live out her days on the plains of Midian as a shepherdess and mother. Instead, her family had been completely uprooted to go on a journey she never expected to take. Additionally, she found herself doing something that she objected to. She is angry at Moses about it and calls him “a bridegroom of blood.” In English it might be paraphrased as “a husband of horrors,” “a mate of misery” or “a groom of gore.” The sentiment is, “If I had not married you, I would not have had to do this awful thing to my son.”

Zipporah is hardly mentioned again after the “bridegroom of blood” incident. We do not know what her relationship with Moses was like or if she ever truly accepted his God. Likewise, Moses’ children are not mentioned after this, and it is clear that they did not rise to leadership in Israel. It is not even clear that Moses’ family lived with him during the time he led Israel. This was not God’s ideal, but God used Moses in spite of his family dynamic. In the New Testament, church leaders are supposed to have their own houses in order, including having faithful wives and children (1 Timothy 3:1–12; Titus 1:5–9).