Don't Forget the Salt!

Salt. In the ancient times when the Old Testament was being formed it is well documented that salt was seen and used for various reasons; primarily it was used as a preservative therefore in some cultures it was understood to be a holy product as it seemed to extend life as it were. Salt was frequently used in this time when a covenant was struck between two or more parties. This latter use should be placed in the context of Leviticus 2.13; Numbers 18.19; and 2 Chronicles 13.5 to better comprehend what in the world they are referring to. The Israelites—and anyone really--of the time, upon hearing the relationship of salt and the covenant, did not think it strange but understood the speaker’s words. Those involved in a covenant during this time were even known to consume salt to show and symbolize the eternality of the covenant being made.

In the context of Leviticus 2.13 it is important to understand what the LORD was doing. The offering in this context is a grain offering, one that was frequently brought to the place where the LORD dwelled; this offering could be brought in conjunction with other offerings or simply in its own; the grain or cereal offering was also an offering which could and was presented both by the richest of the people of Israel and the poorest. This offering is probably the easiest—financially and time wise—to bring to the LORD and all could do it! It is an interesting insertion then that the LORD says this offering should ALWAYS be accompanied with salt. As referenced before salt was used as a known symbol to remember and recognize covenants; not least of these was the covenant God made with the people of Israel: that God would be the god of the Israelites forever and that the Israelites would be forever God’s people.

It is on purpose that God says this and that the people of Israel followed His words. An offering that could be given daily by any class of people, perhaps the most COMMON and MUNDANE offering, was to carry with it a symbol and reminder of the eternal and most extraordinary covenant ever to exist on the Earth: the perfect divine Ruler, Creator and God relationally loving a highly insignificant and helpless creature, calling them His very own!

Bloody Mercy: Leviticus 15.25-30

Imagine: according to the laws of your day you have a physical infirmity that renders you socially outcast. The very chair you sit in, the bed you lie in, the cloths you wear are all deemed unclean and therefore unusable by anyone else. You cannot host friends or family in your home, none the less go visit others, lest you mar them and their home as well. Who would marry someone unclean? No one should or maybe even could. If you had children they might be given to another for care while you were ill. Normally this infirmity only lasts a few days but you have possessed this disgrace for 12 years!

For 12 years you have been this outcast, unclean even to go offer sacrifices to the God of your people. You have no possessions because you have tried every known treatment to heal you, you have done everything humanly possible to make yourself well . . . but to no avail.

With the background of Leviticus 15.25-33 we find this very individual in Mark 5.25. This very woman who has suffered so hears of him who can heal. She, after exhausting all medical resources and probably praying every day to be relieved of her disease, hears that Jesus is in town. In hope she rushes out her door forgetting who she is, but for a moment. She finds a crowd of people surrounds Jesus but 12 years of misery shoves her to him. Forgetting who she is, she reaches out and touches Jesus’ jacket. 12 years of people unclean and suddenly, miraculously she is healed of her now gone bleeding. Immediately she can become clean, presentable in the temple to worship YHWH, the God of her forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; immediately she can become normal again.

As Jesus stopped in his tracks, her heart, struck by the realization of what she just did, stopped as well. Jesus looked on her and saw her faith in him; her faith that said, ‘HE can heal me!’ She confessed she had a disease and that is why she touched him. The crowd around them was on edge. Remember how Aaron’s sons approached God wrongly and were killed? Or how Uzzah touched the ark and died? she thought to herself, what have I done? But she did not die. Jesus’ holiness did not divide the woman and he, and his holiness did not kill her; rather, Jesus’ holiness made her holy. Her Jubilee had come.

Now is Always the Best Time...

Now is always the best time for Gospel living. There are many I hear say that they must change before they can go to God; Jesus already changed everything in His death and resurrection, go live it out and it's implications now. There are those who say when they have the right plan or strategy they will change; Jesus already fulfilled the plan conceived by the Father before time even existed, and Jesus says only to follow Him. We often think if only we can change our motives, change our feelings, change our thoughts, change our relationships, change our dreams, change our cloths, change our job, change our friends, change our behavior at that time we can go to God; Jesus willingly took on our sins and botches and screwed up motives and motifs of stupidity and rebellion and was put to death in our place not so we could change everything about us but that we could finally and freely love our Heavenly Father and our fellow man NOT IN PERFECTION but with a love that exists only because of what Jesus accomplished.

Repentance does not always mean cease and desist, rather go, now, and live.

Russell Moore on Recent, Public Adultry

The following is a quote from Russell Moore discussing recent failures of marriage by public figures and how everyone is almost already in their shoes:

I don’t know who you are, reader, but I know you are probably not smarter than Anthony Weiner or Arnold Schwarzenegger or John Edwards. And neither am I. Both of us, you and I, are on the verge of wrecking our lives. We’re probably not on the verge of a situation quite like any of those men, but the gospel tells us we have vulnerabilities just the same, and they all can lead to destruction.

The answer isn’t found in talent or in strategy or in brilliance. It’s found in fear, the fear of the Lord and the vision of his future.

Lord have mercy.

To read the whole thing click here

04-21-2011

Wow, a Shepherd, really? Thoughts on the first words of Psalm 23

It is one of the most known passages in the entire Christian Bible, the 23rd Psalm; because of its familiarity it is easy to read the Psalm without thinking about it and understanding what it is saying.

Take for example the line, ‘The LORD is my Shepherd . . . ’ I’m not a shepherd; my father was not a shepherd; the only time I’ve dealt with sheep is either at a fair, petting zoo, or observation on someone’s farm . . . and the television show Lamb Chops.

Many visuals and ideas are present in the Bible that we, centuries later, do not fully grasp, or even slightly so. This is one of them. In our mind we usually have some sort of weirdo who hangs around and smells like sheep way too much; he probably has some sort of long wooden hook, maybe a walking stick, sleeps outside and would be unpleasant to us at our dinner table.

David calls God his shepherd. Hmm . . . either we are missing something or David thinks God is a wimp. Let’s remember some things about David, who authored this Psalm. He too was a shepherd. Remember, he was pretty bummed because he was watching his dad’s flock of sheep while his brothers were shaking in their boots on the battle-field? David also fought off some pretty beastly foes: he fought off lions, bears, wolves, and any other kind of loser who tried to nab his sheep. The Bible gives us, therefore, a much better context for understanding what being a shepherd meant; namely, if you were a sheep and you wanted to stay alive you had better have someone who was a warrior—that is a good shepherd. A friend of mine described the term shepherd more accurately as one who was like a US Marine—he is going to valiantly protect those who are his family or ‘flock.’ We see a couple verses later that God has some weaponry in a club and staff—the first being used for fighting off others. David did not fear in the face of his own death because God was with him!

But a shepherd is not all brass and guts. A shepherd only fights off enemies because he cares for his sheep. The quiet streams; the lush and comfy pastures; the refreshing and restoration of our souls. God is tender and loving; good.

Fierce towards His enemies; loving towards His own. This is a shepherd who I can follow.

Don’t take my word for it, look for yourself in the Bible. Is this your Shepherd?

A Christian is Such Because of Christ, Not Their Own Actions or Inactions

Excellent words from the Lutheran:

Our Heavenly Father attaches no strings to His love. His love for us doesn’t depend on our love for others. Our relationship with the Father was established long ago, in the body and blood of His Son. Jesus Christ erased all our sins and shouldered all our sorrows. Already now we have a solid relationship with our heavenly Father; there’s no need to fret about it. That relationship doesn’t depend on our love for Him, but on His love for us. It hinges on the Gospel of God, not the Law of God…Again, the Old Adam betrays us. Our sinful nature would much rather hear Law than Gospel. The sinful nature is a seasoned do-it-yourselfer. We’d rather know what we should do, yet God insists on telling us who we are. The best way to tell you what to do as a Christian is to tell you who you are in Christ. The sinful nature likes to think it can earn (and keep) God’s favor. Our Old Adam prefers to base security with God the Father on His Law rather than His Gospel.

You can find more excellent quotes in context when you read Harold L. Senkbeil's book Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness. But sorry, not on the Kindle.