The reward of repentance.

Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'"

Numbers 25:12-13

 

God confirmed the Aaronic priesthood without reservation due to the actions of Aaron’s son Phineas in the matter of ending Israel’s flirtation with Moab’s Baal worship at Peor. This is not an easy account to read. Moab quietly seduced Israel into idolatry. It began as sort of a “cultural exchange” where Israel was invited to participate in feasts. It quickly progressed into idolatry with Baal worship that included prostitution. It got dirty and nasty really fast and Israel was caught in the trap. It ended with 24,000 dead in the camp by judgment of God with a plague. As Israel wept over her sin, a man flagrantly brought a Moabite temple whore into his tent. Phineas made the bold move to strike down these last two sinful idolaters to stave off a relapse.

 

It was this bold faith and action of the priest that led to God’s recognition and reward. God saw Phineas as possessing His feelings on the matter. And that is what made the difference. It saved the day for the entire nation because it prevented a second episode of idolatry and unfaithfulness. Sometimes having God’s heart means we are serious about sin in ourselves and in His people. And we will not sit around and watch God’s worship being defiled.

 

Two quick final observations: 1) Sin can be a slippery slope experience. Once you take a small step a really big fall can happen. What starts as a small choice can quickly become out of control until you are consumed by a driving passion. That is exactly what happened with Israel in this episode. They “met their neighbors” only to quickly be caught up in the exhilaration of a sexually driven false religion that made them forget their God and all He had done for their deliverance. 2) God will reward obedience when we are filled with His heart on the matter. It wasn’t that Phineas got mad that made the difference. It was that His outrage was God’s hurt heart on this matter and it led him to complete obedience for Israel. That was what God chose to reward with this covenant for the Aaronic priesthood.

 

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The lesson of the staff

And the LORD said to Moses, "Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die."

Numbers 17:10

 

 

The Lord created this little object lesson for Israel to prevent any further uprisings against the household of Aaron in the priesthood. The test was a simple one. A staff was collected from the elders of each of the twelve tribes. One staff for each tribe, with Aaron’s standing for Levi. These staffs were placed before in front of the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle for an overnight stay in God’s presence. The next morning Aaron’s staff had miraculously budded, bloomed, and produced almonds. That got the attention of Israel as a confirming sign. This was exactly what God wanted.

 

The response of the people in Numbers 17:12-13 is fearful, respectful and contrite in repentance. They are so overcome by this sign (coming right on the heels of God’s swift judgment at Korah’s rebellion) that they are afraid to even come near the tabernacle to worship. Continued revelation from God in the next chapter will help reassure and lesson this anxiety. For now, it is healthy. God’s goal was to quash rebellion in the worship of Him and the display of His power. And that has happened with this simple yet powerful symbol.

 

The rod of Aaron’s that budded was kept inside the ark of covenant as a reminder of this moment in Israel’s journey. It served to confirm both the power of God and the perpetuity of the priests who would serve Him and the nation at the altar. God will confirm His right to receive our full worship, not because His is bound to do so, but out of His mercy to His people. This brought His people back from the brink of destruction. God knew this. And they said as much themselves. It is right for God to use His power (the staff of Aaron that budded) and His justice (instantaneous destruction of Korah and those who took part in his rebellion) to call His people back to the proper worship that is due to God alone.

 

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Worthless Pursuit

Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.

Haggai 2:19

 

So long ago God’s people learned

a painful lesson of Law spurned

They turned away from worship and praise

for personal rest and home luxuries

 

For a very short time they were at ease

Until drought and famine gave them the squeeze

And backed into hunger and pain

They listened to God’s call again

 

The stuff of this earth failed them

as God’s prophet relentlessly assailed them

Haggai told them judgment would change

to blessing if they obeyed again

 

In their return the truth was heard

And the walls went up… the lesson learned

They came back to the Lord repentant

Found Him forgiving and truth accepted

 

The worthless pursuit of personal ease

will let us down but falling to our knees

we will find God forgives and even restores

so that we can find His blessing once more

 

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One Sinner Who Repents

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:7

I think it is important to think about what Jesus is and is NOT saying with this statement. I think that the force of this story may get misunderstood by advocates of cheap grace. Jesus is spending a lot of teaching time in Luke 15 to establish God’s great love for all people. And Jesus makes it clear that sinners who repent and turn to God are warmly received by Him. So the focus is on God’s heart and not the degree of the sinner’s sinful condition. God is not MORE happy when a really bad sinner repents than he is if a LESS sinful person comes to Him. Both people are sinners in need of relationship and forgiveness from Him.

We tend to think in this verse that God is not really happy with the ninety-nine righteous persons. Jesus is not saying that. The point of the parables in Luke 15 is comparative. It is not that God has no joy over His obedient children… as if those who stay true to Him somehow bore Him with their obedience. It is more that God’s heart for repentant sinners brings great joy to Him the moment a sinner repents, and truly obedient children will rejoice with Him at that time! In other words, every act of genuine repentance by a sinner gives God great joy. And whether it is one sinner or a hundred sinners who come to Him, God treasures each one!

I have read some current Christian writers (Donald Miller among them in “Blue Like Jazz”) who seem to think that mucking around in our sin is understood and tolerated by God, perhaps even good for us in the long run, and that we can somehow be better people in that behavior. Miller even goes so far as to say that drug-smoking free-love hippies have more understanding of real love and acceptance than many church-goers. These writers look at the end of Luke 15 and the story of the prodigal and sadly seem focused more on the stuff the prodigal son got forgiven of. The point they seem to make is we can do anything and then return to God, and Has has to take us.

But the focus of the parable is not the son’s depravity. It is the Father’s relationship with both sons to whom He offers the same relationship. And both sons need repentance. The prodigal returns in terms of obedience and conformance to the relationship. He does not want to return to sinful indulgence! The tragedy is found in the elder son’s confident trust in his own obedience and his rejection of relationship with a father who forgives awful sinners. When there is joy in heaven when a sinner repents, it is God Who is rejoicing along with His redeemed. He invites us to be part of His heart for sinners. And when we are truly converted, we can’t help but feel the same thrill. God loves all sinners… returning prodigals and obedient sons.

Technorati Tags: Luke,Jesus,Repentance,Sin

Love Much

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven---for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.

Luke 7:47

Luke 7 tells the story of a woman whose sins were great, but her love fo Jesus was greater. The greatest love this woman had was for her Savior. And it showed. She was controversial in her love for Jesus. At the home of Simon the Pharisee, she interrupted a social dinner with two prominent men to weep at the feet of Jesus, wash His feet with her expensive ointment (earned no doubt from the activities of prostitution, according to the text), and dry them with her hair. This certainly raised the eyebrows of Jesus’ self-righteous host.

Jesus tells the story of the two debtors. One owed much, the other a little, and when their boss chose to relieve the debt of them both, it was the greater debtor who was most grateful. This was what was going on with this woman. She is going to be forgiven much by Jesus (Luke 7:48) and her grateful appreciation and worship was unashamedly, even outrageously unrestrained.

Jesus saw her wild praise and love as an act of faith (Luke 7:50) and remarked on its outcome toward her salvation. It was not slavish devotion to the added requirements of legalistic religion that saved her. She had probably broken more commandments than anyone else in the room. It was her worship of her savior, her sacrificial repentance, and her unrestrained love that showed her faith in Jesus. She knew He was in town. She found out where He was eating. She made the scene out of sheer faith, repentance, and love for the Lord. And that was evidence of her saving faith in Christ.

For those who want to say that faith is a private matter, I look to this unnamed woman. She gave Jesus her uninhibited devotion. She was not ashamed to be controversially repentant. And she did so as a public matter. All knew her a sinner. All would know her as that wild repentant woman! She lowered herself to serve the One Who came to serve. And her sins were forgiven, her faith had saved her, and Jesus gave her a peace no other earthly attempt at love had ever given her. 

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Repentance and Restitution

…if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent for a guilt offering.

Leviticus 6:4-6

This passage deals with ways in which human beings have sinned against other human beings. It focuses on property and transactions. The passage explains that the following kinds of things are serious sins among people: deceiving for financial gain, robbery, oppression of the poor or needy, claiming a valuable lost item for yourself without due process, or in any other way hurting someone and gaining personally from it.

The principles for dealing with these issues involved first of all a willingness to repent of the wrong done, secondly, a readiness to make restitution (20% was the suggested interest value to add to the restoration), and finally offering a significant guilt offering before the Lord to make atonement for the sin. This recognized the personal, societal, and spiritual impact of these crimes and dealt with them accordingly.

When we sin against others there are impacts. We are weakened as people. The sinner is made worse by his sin, which is why repentance is a good start and restitution a good act. It makes an effort at confronting fallen natures and stirring them toward something good. The hurt that is done to the other person can never fully be taken away. We cannot eliminate it. But a fair and uniform system of compensation (120% value is a great start for tort reform!) can go a long way toward society being impacted by restoration and restitution to the victim. Of course, the biggest need is spiritual. The reason the pain or the oppression or the loss occurred in the first place was because a sinner acted on sinful impulses and sinned like sinners do. To find forgiveness with God as well as restitution with society helps set the person on a new ground of forgiveness. He cannot make restitution to God, only to man. But God can grant forgiveness, and that grace changes hearts.

Technorati Tags: Leviticus,Sin,Repentance

Repent, return and be renewed

Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.

Zechariah 1:3

God is always ready to receive the repentant sinner. There is never a time where He says, “Sorry, you have turned back to me, but I am done.” His grace always extends the offer of forgiveness to the repentant one. He is not limited in its expression. He will not receive an unrepentant sinner who challenges Him. But He will receive one who humbles himself to God.

This offer in Zechariah was extended to the exiles in Babylon. God was preparing to bring Israel’s remnant back to their land. Jerusalem would be repopulated. The captivity would end. But it had to start with a people who were willing to come to Him. Hence this call for repentance was a necessary part of the message of renewal. Nothing new was going to come to Israel unless they turned from sin, turned to God, and let God turn them around.

God loves to change hearts. That much I know is the story of my life. But I also know that my heart does at times resist this. That is why His Word still carries prophetic calls such as this one to me. I need to hear the cry of the prophet in the darkest allys of my heart, shaking me to the fear of the Lord and calling me to return to Him in repentance of my sin. It is that cry that brings me back to new life and renewed relationship with my Lord.

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Unrepentant

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation 9:20-21

This may be one of the saddest verses in the Bible. As God continues His relentless revelation through judgment, the human race continues on its course against Him. Even as the very demons of Hell torture humanity, the people of the earth will not turn away from the worship of demons nor will they see that their worshiping hearts have been worshiping the wrong things. They refuse to take moral responsibility either.

There is a strength in disobedience that staggers the imagination. As I read a passage like this, I am amazed at how people can willfully continue in sin. Until I look deeply at my own heart. And I know that sin is a cruel master. And although I am now under “new management” in Christ, I find that sin can still be deceptive and my sinful choices can want to circumvent God’s truth. Self-deception is common in my own sinful struggles. So in that understanding, this continuance in a logically defeating religion is expected human behavior. We love sin too much.

The difference in the book of Revelation is that God is moving much more overtly. There is greater light. And His “witnesses” are on the earth as well, as well as those who bear His mark. So the world is not entirely Hell on earth during this time. Humanity may be characterized by open rebellion and unwillingness to turn from sin, but some have done so. There is a remnant, and a strong one, even during the scorching judgments of Revelation. So unbelief and lack of repentance do not ultimately go unchecked. It is sad to see them so flagrant. But God will continue to get the attention of rebel hearts, even if they refuse Him.

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Change of Heart.

For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.' Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.
Genesis 44:32-34

Changed hearts are seen in Judah's appeal. The ESV Study Bible describes the change succinctly:
"Building on what he has already said, Judah petitions Joseph to let Benjamin return to his father in Canaan in order to prevent him from dying of grief at the loss of a second son. To make this possible, Judah offers to take Benjamin's place and become Joseph's slave (Gen. 44:33). For Judah, this would be preferable to witnessing his father's distress if Benjamin remained in Egypt (Gen. 44:34). The selfless attitude of Judah stands in sharp contrast to what he previously displayed when arguing that Joseph should be sold into slavery (see Genesis 37:26-27). On that occasion, Judah cared little about the impact that this would have on his father."

God has used the plans of Joseph to test his brothers in such a way as to prove their character and convince Joseph that there was real change that had gone on in them since his separation from him. Witnessing Judah's appeal made Joseph aware of what was happening in the mean hearts of his brothers. They had changed. The biggest evidence has to do with their relationship with Israel, their father. They had little regard for how Joseph's faked death would affect him. In fact, part of what they did in selling Joseph into slavery was meant to get back at their father's partiality to him. But know, as they have lived with their father's grief over many years, they are hurting for the old man. Judah's intervention and offer of himself in Benjamin's place shows that they had grown to care for their family, their father, and his feelings.

This represented everything that Joseph longed to see in them. And it will set the scene for what will occur in the final chapters of Genesis, where a happy family reunion is made. It is that sort of real-life drama that makes this book so interesting and compelling to read. It is rooted in who people are as they relate to God and one another. And the tale of Joseph is a wonderful and rich tapestry of human experience.

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