God’s Love

We Left No Survivors

Deuteronomy 2:34 reads, “At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them under divine judgment, including even the women and children; we left no survivors.”

It seems so shocking by today’s standards. God said to do what?! And why?! The questions seek no answer. They are rhetorical. And more than that, they are an open condemnation. A back-handed rebuke of God. A eyebrow-pumping, denunciation of His character.

We understand “God is Love” to mean that God is only love. Firstly, this is not true. But more than that, we misunderstand what love even means. Love is not unquestioning permission. Love is not a life without reproof or admonishment. When I was a child I got into some trouble with a friend of mine. My mother caught us. She tore a strip off of me, but didn’t say a single word about it to my friend. She escorted him home and I was serving my “sentence” for several days to come. I asked why she yelled at me but not at him.

I will never forget her response: “Because I don’t love him”

Love meant a justified anger and associated punishment for wrongdoing. It meant correction. Like Hamlet trying to dissuade his mother from consecrating a marriage to the evil Claudius by telling her hard truths. He summed up his position this way, “I must be cruel only to be kind.”

We assume that this earthly life is the best possible outcome. And that is understandable because it’s what we know. It makes sense to us. But that is precisely why — as I wrote a couple days ago — we must defer to God and ask Him to shift our perspective so we can see things like He does.

Pray for that perspective, friends.

Deuteronomy 1:1-3:11 | 071/365

Blessings, Curses, & Unfailing Love

Reading through the blessings and punishments of God in Leviticus 26 is interesting. As modern Christians under the New Covenant with Jesus the “goods” of obediences and “bads” of disobedience seem much more… temporal and terrestrial. Grounded in the things of this earth. Since Jesus has come we tend to think of God’s blessings and cursings more in light of eternity than in light of Tuesday (Word of Faith preachers excluded, of course). So the contrast of this passage struck me as interesting.

What I noticed after looking at the progression God offers here in Leviticus is that God’s punishment is carried out not by His hand in some spectacular, spiritual way, but rather by the progressive withdrawl of His blessings.

First, disease and military defeat will come. Second, the earth and skies will not cooperate with our work, producing little yield. Third, wild animals will attack, steal, and kill. Fourth, their land will be dispossessed. Fifth, they will live in constant fear as foreigners. But the key comes in sixth…

Sixth, the people will finally come back to God and repent. And so God will restore them. God so badly wants to bless us. Even in His anger His desire is not to punish us, but to draw us to Himself. He continues to hold that blessing, eager to bestow it on a people who love Him and are faithful to him. And yes, that blessing may come this side of heaven, but it very well may also come when we are raised in glory.

I hope that you will be blessed and seek his blessing

Feb 25 | Lev 25:24-26:46 | 056/365

Representative Value

God asks the Israelites to provide the finest materials they have to offer for the construction of the Tabernacle. Worth noting; this is the same fine material they got from the Egyptians when they left. So God is really just asking for some of the blessing He has bestowed on the people to be voluntarily returned to Him. Maybe one of the clearest pictures of the reality of tithing in the Scriptures.

Anyhow, the people do provide these materials and an elaborately ornate set-up/tear-down tabernacle is constructed. But I think what’s worth noting is the Priest’s chestplate. It is covered in stones, each of which represents a tribe of Israel. Those stones are: Ruby, Topaz, Garnet, Emerald, Sapphire, Diamond, Jacinth, Agate, Amethyst, Beryl, Onyx and Jasper.

But what is interesting to me is the value of these stone. All told the priest was wearing approximately $772,828.25 CAD in gemstones over his heart.

Never forget that God sees you as incredibly valuable. He loves you deeply, and He always has. He loves better than we can. He loves deeper than we can. You are not alone. And that person you have been praying for? God loves them more than you do, too. Be blessed knowing that you are valued by God.

Feb 9 | Ex 25-28 | 040/365

What is Your Value to God?

“What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?” (Job 22:3, NIV) The previous questions are part of Eliphaz’s third response to Job. A response in which Eliphaz goes on to tell the grieving Job that there is no limit to his sins, before rattling off a litany of misdeeds Job is likely to have committed to earn such wrath from God.

But the questions remain; What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

God knew, like Eliphaz implies, that no human could achieve these things under their own power. The entanglement of sin is too great. But that only underscores the value God sees in our righteousness, in our blamelessness.

And His desire for us to hold this status was so great that He had to intervene and do something about it. This is exactly what Jesus’ death and resurrection sought to accomplish. His work made us righteous. His punishment rendered us blameless. So, what then does it pleasure or benefit God if these things were true?

You!

God loves you more than you can know. He literally died to make a way for you. Don’t let Satan, or the circumstances of life, or highly questionable council from friends distract you from this fact. And more than that, don’t leave God’s gift unopened or unused. Devote yourself to His teachings, prayer, and fellowship with other believers. Submit your life to God.

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