Oh Lord, prevent us from sinning!

 Genesis 20:1-14 (NIV):

 

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.” Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?” Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother." Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him.

 

Four categories of sin are present here. There was inadvertent sin because Abimelek did not know Sarah was Abraham's wife. There was hidden sin because Abimelek lusted after Sarah in his heart, and he did so willfully. There was also the potential for great sin. We know this because God told Abimelek that if he followed through with his desires and had sexual relations with Sarah, God would not only kill Abimelek but he would also wipe out his entire tribe. Even Abimelek acknowledged the "great guilt" which Abimelek alleged that Abraham had brought upon him and his kingdom. As further evidence of the depth of the sin, God had closed the wombs of all the women of Abimilek's tribe while Sarah was in Abimilek's household so that they could not bear children. Gen. 20:17-18.

 

What I find to be the most interesting part of this text is where God tells Abimelek that "I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her." We are not told precisely how this happened, but apparently God had arranged Abimelek's affairs in such a way that even though he desperately wanted to sleep with Sarah, he just couldn't get to it. It could be that he was distracted with other matters, or maybe he was sick or had suffered some debilitating injury. In any event, God did not let him sin in this way.

 

Perhaps, therefore, our prayer should be: "Dear Lord, arrange my life in such a way that I do not sin against you." Of course, this is a tough prayer to pray, because it may well mean that God will remove our greatest desires and ambitions and replace them with his own purposes for us, much as he did with Abraham. By the way, nowhere in scripture does it say that Abraham ever ran his little ruse about calling Sarah his sister past God. I wonder if he had, would God have told him to do or say something else instead?

LAZARUS IS US!!

 

Lazarus is us, each and every one of us—the dead Lazarus stinking in his tomb (John 11:39, ”But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, 'by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days'") with his feet and hands wrapped and bound and a cloth over his face is us.  Lazarus is also us when Jesus calls out, "Here!  Outside."  Lazarus is also us when he wakes up and is confused where exactly he is (he was dead when he was put in the tomb), and moves haltingly to the sound of Jesus' voice.  

I think it's fairly easy to imagine how Lazarus came out of the tomb, his tomb.  He blindly shuffled and stumbled along using his body, mostly his shoulders and hips since his hands were bound, to feel his way along the inner walls of the cave where he had been entombed, always moving as best he could toward the sound of Jesus' voice.  See John 11:43, "Jesus called out in a loud voice."  Note that the verb "called out" is the same Greek verb (kraugo) used a few short days later by the crowd calling out to crucify Jesus.  Note also that Jesus called Lazarus by name.  Lazarus in death had not dissolved into the universe to become some anonymous, amorphous, indistinguishable chunk of matter and energy.  He had retained in death his individual character.  We are also, each of us, Lazarus as he shuffles to the door of the tomb, where Jesus' orders the bystanders (as He will someday order the angels) to "untie him and let him go."

 

This is what Jesus' mission on earth was all about—his ministry, his crucifixion and resurrection—calling our stinking, dead bodies out of the grave (where we deserve to be), be it a spiritual or a physical grave, having us untied us and letting us go free.  Lazarus would later die once more, but when Jesus calls him out the next time he won't die ever again. 

Daniel's Godly Courage

 

In Daniel 6 we are told of the plot against Daniel by his rivals in Darius' court.  Notably, when Daniel learned that the King had signed a decree requiring all his subjects to worship him and him alone for thirty days, Daniel did not make a scene or a speech or seek to placate the king.  He simply went about quietly praying to God three times a day on his knees in his room as he had always done.  Daniel 6: 10.  When Daniel survived the night in the lions' den, he did not upbraid the king but instead praised God, asked that the king live forever, and proclaimed his own innocence, "Oh, King, I have done no wrong."  Daniel 6:21. 

                                                            *         *         *

Nebuchadnezzar's son behaved in a far more blasphemous way than his father had ever done, "So, they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.  As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone."  Daniel 5: 3-4.  

 When Daniel was brought in to interpret the writing on the wall, Daniel was not disrespectful to this sinful king, although he did firmly reject the king's bribe.  "Then Daniel answered the king, 'You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.'"  Daniel 5:17.

 Daniel was not shy, however, in publicly convicting the king for his pride, Daniel 5: 22-23,

 "But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this (the humbling his father Nebuchadnezzar received at God's hands). ²³Instead, you have set yourself up against the LORD of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways."

Daniel behaved in a calm and respectful way both in times of plenty and in times of danger and persecution.

FAMILY VALUES OVERRATED?

 The Disciples' View:  Marriage = Stumbling Block = Adultery Trap

 Matthew 19

 In response to a tricky legal question from the Pharisees designed to entrap him, Jesus explained the rules of divorce as they were at the beginning of creation:  "Whoever divorces his wife, except for infidelity, commits adultery."  Matthew 19: 9.  Upon hearing this rather straightforward teaching, we are told that the disciples reacted in amazement:  "If this is the situation between a man and a woman, then it is better not to marry."  Matthew 19:10.   

 Let us consider this rather startling statement, or more to the point a confession, from Jesus' disciples. They were essentially saying that from the standpoint of the Jewish Law, as originally and properly interpreted, by getting married you were just asking for trouble.  In other words, if what Jesus said was true, which of course it was, marriage was basically an adultery trap. But all that Jesus said in the prior verse was that (1) marriage was for life and (2) don't cheat on your spouse. Is that so outrageous a demand?  Despite all the challenges of modern-day life, don't we all know married couples, and know of plenty more such couples, who have managed to stay together for life without being unfaithful to each other and without having affairs during their marriage?  I am sure that this was also true in Jesus' day. If so, then why did the disciples react as they did?    

 

Family Values from a Biblical Perspective—The Heart of the Matter or Way Overrated?  

It might be helpful to take a Biblical view of what is generally known today as "family values". In the Old Testament family life was generally characterized by what I would call the three P's: Polygamy (see Abraham's amorous adventures with his new wife and "concubines" after the death of Sarah in Genesis 25:1-7); Promiscuity (See David's response to the Priest concerning ritual purity when David asked that he and his men be allowed to eat the Bread of the Presence, 1 Samuel 21:5, "Then David answered the priest, and said to him, 'Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out'", as if not having sex for three whole days was quite the notable achievement!; and Pandemonium (see Genesis 34 describing how Jacob's sons slaughtered the Canaanites by trickery in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah). There are plenty of other examples in the OT of similar dysfunctional episodes. In other words, even by today's loose standards, family life in OT times was generally a chaotic mess.

 But the example of the NT teaching on marriage is more uplifting, right?  Yes, it is, but a rigorous review of NT scripture reveals that Jesus really didn't talk all that much about traditional family life, and when he did it was largely in the negative ( see e.g., Luke 14:26, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be My disciple" and Mark 3:35, "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother".)  Paul does discuss in some detail family life at the tail end of some of his epistles, but I think it's fair to say that Paul's overall view of marriage was that you're better off remaining single so as not to be distracted in your earthly service to God (see 1 Corinthians 7:8, "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.")  Indeed, we know very little about the family life of the Apostles because the writers of the NT apparently didn't believe that such details were important enough to record. It would not be unreasonable to assume that many of the Apostles left whatever family life they had in order to preach the Gospel in faraway and dangerous places.

 The bottom line is that from a purely Biblical perspective the overriding emphasis in modern American Christianity, and especially in some Evangelical circles, on the whole notion of "family values" is not warranted. It is a helpful message to be sure, but it is not, as some would have us believe, at the heart of Biblical Christianity, which is rather salvation by grace through Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. 

WHAT DEFILES US?

 

In our time, where pornography and violence are ever present in our media, Jesus is telling us that it is not this corruption around us which we see on a daily basis that causes us to sin, but rather our hearts that so easily succumb to the temptation to sin.  See Mark 7:15, "Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them."

 In other words, don't blame God or our individual circumstances, for which we also often blame God, for our sin and shameful behavior and the often terrible and painful consequences we suffer as the result of such behavior.  See James 1:13-15, " When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

What Jesus is telling us is that our only recourse for salvation is to throw ourselves into his everlasting arms and let him guide us minute-by-minute in our lives so that we can eventually present ourselves spotless before the Father.  See e.g., 2 Corinthians 3:18, "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit," Romans 8:29, "For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers," Romans 8:4,7, "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," and Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."    

 

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

 

Matthew 1: 18-25 (What's in a name?)

 

The angel in verse 21 instructed Joseph to call the child's name Jesus, "because he shall save his people from their sins."  But in verse 23, we read of another name for Jesus:

"Behold, the virgin gives birth to a son, and they shall call his name Emanuel, which means God is with us."

There is no contradiction or inconsistency here.  Jesus had many names or titles; each of which describes a certain function of his ministry, or aspect of his character, or a specific revelation associated with his presence.  Names are useful guides because they help us sinners grasp, however weakly, God's nature and grace as revealed in his son.  See 50 names or titles for Jesus here, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe/jesus/50-names-for-jesus

 See also, Genesis 2:19, "And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name," and Exodus 3:13-14, "Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?  God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

 Notably, Joseph did as he was told without muttering or complaining or doubting (see Matthew 1:24 and 25), even though the message was given to him not in person but in a dream. He took Mary as his wife (no doubt opening himself up to charges of cavorting with an adulteress and the like), and he named their child Jesus (which was probably viewed as somewhat odd by his friends and relatives, compare Luke 1:59-61, the naming of John the Baptizer).

No Schadenfreude, but Thanksgiving

 

When the Babylonian King made a decree to worship a golden image, the prophet Daniel's three friends did not make a big scene about how they intended to defy the King's order.  They simply worshiped God as they had always done.  When confronted directly by the King, they did not insult him or make some boisterous speech but calmly stated that they would not serve the King's gods or worship his graven image.  They also stated that God is able to deliver them (not that they believed that God could deliver them), but if God didn't choose to save them, they would still not worship pagan gods.  Daniel 3:16-18.

 In Daniel 4 we are told of Nebuchadnezzar's dream predicting his seven years of madness and Daniel's interpretation of it.  Daniel did not experience "schadenfreude" when he heard the dream but was "dismayed" by it.  See Daniel 4:19. Daniel did not rejoice at the humiliation and downfall of his pagan king.

Christians should not rejoice over the troubles of their enemies but continue as always to praise God for all the good things He has done for us.