Driven by Greed

February 2, 2024 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²²But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road. ²⁴Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side. ²⁵And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again. ²⁶Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. ²⁷When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” ²⁹And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” ³⁰And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”

³¹Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. ³²And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. ³³The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” ³⁴Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” ³⁵And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

³⁶When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, on the border formed by the Arnon, at the extremity of the border. ³⁷And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you?” ³⁸Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.” ³⁹Then Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent for Balaam and for the princes who were with him.

⁴¹And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people. – Numbers 22:22-41 ESV

Balak, the king of Moab, had summoned a well-known seer named Balaam and requested that he pronounce a curse on the people of Israel. But this pagan “wizard” had received a surprise visit from Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, forbidding him to say or do anything that might harm His chosen people.

“You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” – Numbers 22:12 ESV

Balaam obeyed God’s warning and informed Balak’s servants. “the Lord has refused to let me go with you” (Numbers 22:14 ESV). But Balak persisted, sending another contingent of dignitaries with offers of financial reward to sweeten the deal. But, once again, Balaam refused, saying, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more” (Numbers 22:18 ESV). Yet Balaam offered to consult with Yahweh a second time to see if he could negotiate a different outcome. His actions would seem to indicate that he was tempted by Balak’s generous offer of remuneration.

It seems that Balaam’s efforts paid off because God responded differently the second time, telling him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you” (Numbers 22:20 ESV). The next morning, Balaam eagerly mounted his donkey to make the return trip to Moab. At this point, it would appear that Balaam was following the will of God. But something interesting happens along the way.

Somehow, Balaam had construed God’s command to go to Moab with permission to curse the Israelites. As he made his way from Pethor to Moab, Balaam must have been considering the financial windfall that awaited him when he reached Moab. He would conjure up the appropriate curse and cash in on King Balak’s fear of the Israelites. But God had other plans. Balaam appears to believe that he still might come out of this a very rich man because the text tells us that God was not happy with Balaam – even after giving him permission to go with the servants of Balak.

But God was furious that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. – Numbers 22:22 NLT

What was the cause of God’s anger? After all, it was God who told Balaam, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them” (Numbers 22:20 NLT). It would appear that Balaam was simply following the Lord’s instructions. But there was more going on in Balaam’s heart and mind than meets the eye. God knew that Balaam had concocted a plan that would allow him to profit from this unique once-in-a-lifetime situation.

Balaam was greedy and hoped to make money by cursing the people of God. He was a false prophet who thought he could turn a profit by disobeying God. The apostle Peter provides some much-needed insight into Balaam’s motivation that helps to explain God’s anger. Speaking of the false prophets of his own day, Peter states, “They have wandered off the right road and followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong. But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice” (2 Peter 2:15-16 NLT).

Balaam’s problem was that of greed. He was attempting to line his own pockets by masquerading as a prophet of God. This pagan diviner was little more than a con man who had made a healthy income posing as a spiritual sage who could level curses – for a price. But Balaam was in for a surprise. Jehovah, the God of the Israelites, whom he hoped to curse, had his number. God knew exactly what was going on in Balaam’s heart. The apostle Paul warned Timothy about the ever-present danger of letting the love of money influence one’s behavior.

…the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. – 1 Timothy 6:10 NLT

God permitted Balaam to go with the servants of Balak, but only as a test, and since God already knew the content of Balaam’s heart, this test was meant for Balaam’s enlightenment. This prideful man was about to get a much-needed lesson about God’s holiness and his own sinfulness.

As Balaam and his escorts made their way to visit Balak, God sent an angel with a sword to block their path, but they were unaware of the divine messenger’s presence. Perhaps Balaam was so blinded by greed that he was unable to see the servant of God standing right in front of him, sword in hand. Yet the donkey on which Balaam rode saw the angel and made a detour from the roadway to a nearby field. Angered by the donkey’s actions, Balaam tried to force the animal back to the road by beating it with a stick but the petrified beast made its way to a narrow path between two walls. When the angel reappeared blocking the way once again, the animal attempted to flee, pressing Balaam’s leg against one of the stone walls. Once again, Balaam beat the donkey in anger. Then something remarkable happened. The donkey spoke.

“What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” – Numbers 22:28 ESV

Rather than reacting in shock at hearing his donkey speak, Balaam defended his actions, saying, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you” (Numbers 22:29 ESV). It seems that Balaam was so angry and spiritually insensitive that it didn’t even register to him that he was having a conversation with an animal.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. – Numbers 22:31 NLT

With Balaam cowering at his feet, the angel told Balaam, “I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me” (Numbers 22:32 NLT). Speaking as an official agent of Jehovah, the angel revealed the nature of his mission. He was there to prevent Balaam from carrying out his plan. A more accurate translation of the angel’s words might be: “The path you are taking is a reckless one.” Balaam had made the decision to go against the revealed will of God – all for a little financial gain. The angel had been sent by God to prevent Balaam from carrying out his ill-conceived plan.

Sadly, the donkey had more insight than the diviner. The man who was supposed to have special access to the gods had failed to see an armed angel of Yahweh standing right in front of him. But once his eyes were opened to the danger he faced, Balaam appears to have repented.

“I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will go back home if you are against my going.” – Numbers 22:34 NLT

But the only sin that Balaam seems to have confessed was his failure to see the angel standing in his way. He confessed the sin of ignorance. He never acknowledged his greed or admitted his plan to disobey the will of God. Balaam offered to turn back, but only because the angel had disclosed the reckless nature of his plan. Everything about Balaam’s intentions was wrong. He was greedy. His whole reason for going with the servants of Balak was to figure out a way to fulfill the request of the king of the Moabites and make himself rich.

Despite Balaam’s insincere confession, the angel gave him permission to continue his journey, using the very same words that God had spoken the night before.

“Go with these men, but say only what I tell you to say.” – Numbers 22:35 NLT

Balaam had his marching orders and they required Balaam to speak only when spoken to by God. He was not to add his two cents or dare to utter a word that had not been given to him by Yahweh. This would prove to be another test for the materialistic-minded and headstrong Balaam.

King Balak was relieved to see that Balaam had arrived and questioned his guest about his lengthy delay. He couldn’t understand why Balaam had not jumped at the chance to pad his bank account with the sizeable reward he had offered to pay.

“Didn’t I send you an urgent invitation? Why didn’t you come right away?” Balak asked Balaam. “Didn’t you believe me when I said I would reward you richly?” – Numbers 22:37 NLT

Even Balak seemed to know about Balaam’s love affair with money. But with the words of the angel still fresh in his mind, Balaam informed Balak that his lips were sealed. Any hope of him issuing a curse was off the table unless he received permission from Jehovah.

“Look, now I have come, but I have no power to say whatever I want. I will speak only the message that God puts in my mouth.” – Numbers 22:38 NLT

The situation will become increasingly difficult for Balaam. He knew exactly what Balak wanted him to do, but he also knew that he could do nothing without Yawheh’s permission. As he joined King Balak in his camp, he could look out over the plains of Moab and see the host of Israelites that appeared like locusts in a field. Balaam likely had no love for these unwanted interlopers, and as he gazed at their vast numbers, he probably saw dollar signs. He couldn’t resist thinking about the rich reward that lay within reach if he could simply figure out a way to do what Balak wanted. The temptation to disobey the will of God was fueled by greed for great gain. He could become a rich man if he would only fulfill the wishes of Balak, but it would risk disobeying and angering Yahweh, the God of the Israelites. The choice was Balaam’s but God would have the final say.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Turning to God Even When Our World Turns Upside-down

October 9, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
    or the ox low over his fodder?
⁶Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?
⁷My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are as food that is loathsome to me.

⁸“Oh that I might have my request,
    and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹that it would please God to crush me,
    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰This would be my comfort;
    I would even exult in pain unsparing,
    for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?
    And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹²Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
¹³Have I any help in me,
    when resource is driven from me?” – Job 6:1-13 ESV

As might be expected, Eliphaz’s words provided little or no comfort to Job. His response to his friend’s lengthy lecture came in the form of a defense. Job was in deep pain, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. As he weighed out his unexpected losses, he found the burden of them too great to bear. Even all his long-held beliefs about God were coming under attack as he tried to make sense of all that had happened. Job admitted that his earlier words had been rash and impulsive, but he was having a difficult time understanding why God had suddenly turned His back on him.

“For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows.
Their poison infects my spirit.
God’s terrors are lined up against me.” – Job 6:4 NLT

He reluctantly agreed with Eliphaz’s assessment that God was behind his pain and suffering, but he refused to acknowledge any guilt or confess any sin. As far as Job could tell, his losses were arbitrary and undeserved. This led him to defend his right to complain. Like a donkey in need of food, Job was “braying” for relief. His words were nothing more than an expression of his pain and suffering. It was only natural for a man who had lost everything to cry out and demand that someone relieve his agony.

From Job’s perspective, other people seem to have the right to complain about the smallest discomforts or disappointments, but he gets chastised for expressing his dissatisfaction with the deaths of his ten adult children, the loss of his entire fortune, and the failure of his own health. He was a beaten-down man and defended his right to vocalize his frustrations and questions. And Job wanted Eliphaz to see things from his perspective.

As far as Job could tell, he was under attack by God Almighty and he couldn’t fathom why. He had been given ample time to assess his circumstances and search his brain to discover what sin he might have committed to deserve the wrath of God. But instead of a list of sins to confess, Job had derived comfort in his own integrity. Despite all that had happened, Job had not turned his back on God. He was confused but remained faithful.

“At least I can take comfort in this:
Despite the pain,
I have not denied the words of the Holy One.” – Job 6:10 NLT

While Job had not lost His belief in God, he had lost his will to live. He was no longer able to see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. There was no silver lining on the dark cloud that overshadowed his life. Job couldn’t imagine a future without his children or a day when his joy might return. As far as he could tell, his financial losses were too great to overcome, and his health showed no signs of improvement.

In his depressed state, all that Job could think about was death, and he begged God to put him out of his misery.

“Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant my desire.
I wish he would crush me.
I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me.” – Job 6:8-9 NLT

Even in this, Job revealed his belief in the goodness of God. He still believed that God, as the sovereign Lord over all things, was ultimately responsible for man’s fate. Job instinctively knew that his life was in God’s hands and so he appealed to God’s mercy and begged that his unfortunate life be brought to a quick and painless end. And these do not appear to be empty words spoken in the heat of the moment. Job is serious and sincere. His words reflect his abject sense of despair and utter resignation.

“I don’t have the strength to endure.
    I have nothing to live for.
Do I have the strength of a stone?
    Is my body made of bronze?
No, I am utterly helpless,
    without any chance of success.” – Job 6:11-13 NLT

It would be easy to assume that Job is expressing his words to Eliphaz. Through the use of hyperbole, he was exaggerating the extent of his pain and defending his innocence against the unjust accusations of his so-called friend. But Job’s words come across more like a prayer to God than a defense of his own innocence. Even though he refers to God in the third person, he demonstrates a belief that God can hear every word he says. He doesn’t shake his fist in the face of God and demand recompense or restoration. He simply expresses his desire for the pain to end and he calls on God to be gracious and grant his desire.

These are the words of a man in deep despair. Not only is he suffering from the pain of loss but he is also having to wrestle with his confused and conflicted understanding of God. He had spent his entire life walking with God, so much so that God deemed him to be “a blameless and upright man” (Job 1:8 ESV). He was a man of integrity and faithfulness. All throughout his life, Job displayed a healthy fear of God and a strong aversion to evil. And yet, here he was suffering unparalleled pain and having to grapple with its cause and meaning.

Even Job’s wife had struggled to find any semblance of hope in his meteoric fall from grace, so she encouraged him to give up his ill-fated quest for godliness and end it all.

“Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” – Job 2:9 ESV

But Job refused to take his wife’s ungodly counsel. He was not willing to give up on God or his desire to live in a way that was pleasing to God. Job wanted to die, but not enough that he would ever curse His God. Instead, he pleaded with God to take his life. He placed his faith in the faithfulness of God and pleaded for mercy in the form of relief from his pain and suffering. It was all the hope he had left. But even that small glimmer of hope in the midst of the overwhelming darkness of life revealed that Job still believed in God. He couldn’t explain his suffering. He was at a loss as to why his life had taken such a dark turn, but he never stopped believing in the sovereignty of God. He knew his life was in God’s hands and so he turned to the giver of life to request a reprieve from the pain of life.

But while Job waited for God to respond, he took the opportunity to address Eliphaz. He was unwilling to sit back and take his friend’s verbal assault without defending himself. Assumptions had been made. Accusations had been leveled. Now, it was Job’s turn to set the record straight. He was hurting but Job still had a lot of fight in him, and Eliphaz was about to get a much-needed lecture on bed-side manners and counseling etiquette.

Trust in the Midst of Trials

October 3, 2023October 3, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. ²And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ³And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” ⁴Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. ⁵But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” ⁶And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ⁸And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

⁹Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” ¹⁰But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. – Job 2:1-10 ESV

Satan was not satisfied. Despite Job’s surprising response to the last round of devastating calamities, Satan refused to believe that Job would not eventually break. This man had lost everything but had maintained his hope and faith in Yahweh.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Job 1:21 ESV

So, on the next occasion that Satan found himself in the presence of God Almighty, he once again questioned the sincerity of Job’s professed allegiance and vehemently objected to God’s glowing assessment of His suffering servant.

“Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.” – Job 2:3 NLT

Satan simply wrote off Job’s display of “integrity” as nothing more than a case of self-preservation. As far as Satan could see, Job was content because he had remained physically unscathed. He had lost his fortune and his family but he was still alive and well. From Satan’s pride-filled perspective, it appeared as if Job was giving God praise because he was glad to be alive. But if God would remove the protective clauses from His previous command, Satan knew he could get Job to cave.

“Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!” – Job 2:4-5 NLT

In the earlier test that Satan proposed, God had prohibited any direct assault on Job’s physical well-being.

“Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” – Job 1:12 NLT

This led Satan to conjecture that the real key to destroying Job’s faithfulness to God would be a frontal assault on his personal comfort. The rather enigmatic phrase, “skin for skin” has been much debated over the centuries and we will have no way of knowing exactly what it means. But from the context, it would appear that Satan is demanding that God give him permission to get under Job’s skin – literally.

While Job had lost a lot in the first test, he still had his health. He and his wife could have more children and, in time, he could rebuild his lost fortune. But Satan believed that Job would crumple like a cheap suit if the gloves came off and the pain became physical rather than emotional in nature.

For Satan, the goal remained the same. He was out to get Job to curse God.

“…stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” – Job 1:11 ESV

“…stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” – Job 2:5 ESV

Satan was convinced that he knew the secret to Job’s faithfulness and would be able to expose the self-centered nature of Job’s apparent “blamelessness.” But God knew better. He knew Job well and was not afraid to see His servant face another test of his integrity. Yet, once again, God added a prohibition.

“Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” – Job 2:6 ESV

Satan, though powerful, was prevented from doing outside the prescribed will of God. He could test Job but would be unable to kill Job. Whatever physical attack Satan conjured up in his mind could not lead to Job’s death. He could make Job wish for death but he was prohibited from taking Job’s life.

Satan wasted no time. The text states that he “struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot” (Job 2:7 NLT). No timeline is given but Job’s period of mourning after the loss of his ten children was followed by a sudden bout with a crippling skin disease. Job is described as sitting among the ashes, where he “scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery” (Job 2:8 NLT). This once prominent patron of his community is pictured sitting in the midst of the town dump where the refuse was burned. His diseased condition has left him a social pariah with no friends or family members willing to provide him with comfort or care. In fact, even his wife encourages him to throw in the towel and end it all.

“Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” – Job 2:9 NLT

She was essentially telling Job to give up the charade. From her vantage point, she viewed Job’s stubborn attempt to keep a stiff upper lip as a waste of time. She believed Job to be under a curse from God and the sooner her husband admitted it, the sooner his suffering would stop.

Yet, even when he found himself covered with sores from head to foot, Job responded, “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job 2:10 NLT). Through it all, Job held on to his integrity and His God. He understood something about the character of Yahweh. He knew that God was good and that there was a purpose behind all that had happened. It didn’t make it any less painful or any easier to accept, but it provided Job with a sense of peace and a semblance of sanity in the midst of all the suffering.

But that did not mean that Job was out of the woods. All the events that had taken place would provide him with ample opportunity to wrestle with his concept of God, and he would receive unsolicited help from his well-meaning friends. Job’s suffering was going to reveal a lot about himself and a lot about his God. He would wrestle with concepts regarding God’s sovereignty and His love. He would have to come to grips with whether God could be trusted.

As his suffering continues, Job will go from resting in God to blaming God. He will even accuse God of wronging him (Job 19:6-7). But God never blasts him for his doubt or punishes him for his hasty words. Instead, He comforts Job and eventually restores him.

All throughout this story, we see a picture of a faithful, loving God who is active behind the scenes. He is aware of our suffering and has a plan for them. He is not caught off guard or found asleep at His post. He is fully aware and He cares. Suffering is a part of life lived in a fallen world. Will we allow it to change our perception about God, or learn to see Him in the midst of it? “We take the good days from God–why not also the bad days?” (Job 2:10 MSG).

Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings
Yet not welcome any pain
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine
Yet grumble in days of rain
Shall I love You in times of plenty
Then leave You in days of drought
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest
But when winter winds blow, then doubt

Oh let Your will be done in me
In Your love I will abide
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified

Are You good only when I prosper
And true only when I’m filled
Are You King only when I’m carefree
And God only when I’m well
You are good when I’m poor and needy
You are true when I’m parched and dry
You still reign in the deepest valley
You’re still God in the darkest night

It Is Well With My Soul

October 2, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹³Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, ¹⁵and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. ²¹And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. – Job 1:13-22 ESV

We’ve all had seasons of pain in our lives. We’ve all experienced a time when we have had to face extreme disappointment, unexplained suffering, or devastating loss. And in those times of trouble, we’re always tempted to question God regarding His love, power, faithfulness, or at times, even His existence.

So, the story of Job is one with which we can relate. Here is a man who had it all: Wealth, material possessions, a lovely family, and a vibrant relationship with his God. Then tragedy strikes. Not once, but four times. In a series of catastrophic events, Job loses everything. All of his livestock are stolen or destroyed. In a matter of hours, his net worth drops like a rock. He is financially ruined. On top of that, he receives news that every one of his children has been killed in a freak accident. All ten of them.

Job’s world had been rocked, and his life would never be the same. Everything he knew about his God was about to be challenged. Understandably, Job sunk into a deep depression. In time, he would even curse the day he was born.

At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. He said: “Cursed be the day of my birth, and cursed be the night when I was conceived. Let that day be turned to darkness. Let it be lost even to God on high, and let it be shrouded in darkness. Yes, let the darkness and utter gloom claim it for its own. Let a black cloud overshadow it, and let the darkness terrify it.” – Job 3:1-5 NLT

But what was Job’s immediate response in the aftermath of his tragic losses? How did he react after hearing that his entire fortune had been decimated by foreign marauders and his children had been killed in a freak accident?

The text simply states that Job “arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:20 ESV). He mourned and he worshiped. He grieved and he gave glory and honor to Jehovah.

The Hebrew word for “worshiped” is וַיִּשְׁתָּֽחוּ (šāḥâ) and it can literally be translated as “bowed down” or “to prostrate oneself.” Despite all that had happened, Job didn’t shake his fist in the face of God, demanding answers and casting blame; he simply worshiped.

In the midst of all his pain and darkness, Job might be tempted to curse the day of his birth, but NOT HIS GOD. No, Job did not turn his back on God; instead, he bowed before Him in humble adoration. At the loss of all his possessions and his children, Job exclaimed, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The LORD gave me everything I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21 NLT).

He was able to praise God, even though his world had been devastated. And, amazingly, Job didn’t write off his loss to fate, bad luck, misfortune, karma, and some form of kismet. He admitted his belief that his sovereign God was behind it all. He wasn’t blaming God; he was simply declaring his unwavering belief in God’s ultimate control over all things. His wealth and his children had been gifts from God. He had not deserved or earned them. And Job understood that it was the height of hypocrisy to accept the good things that God gives but then curse Him when those things were taken away. In the very next chapter, after suffering an additional unexpected and inexplicable tragedy, he states, “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job 2:10 NLT).

Through it all, Job held on to his integrity and His God. He understood something about the character of Jehovah God. He knew that God was good. He knew that God must have a purpose behind all that had happened. It didn’t make it any less painful or any easier to accept. In fact, Job would spend the next days wrestling with his concept of God. He would be challenged by his well-meaning friends. Job’s suffering was going to reveal a lot about himself and a lot about his God.

This faithful saint would find himself wrestling with his concepts regarding God’s sovereignty and His love. He would have to come to grips with whether God could be trusted. And in time, as his pain and suffering escalated, Job would go from resting in God to blaming Him. The day would come when he would even accuse God of wronging him (Job 19:6-7). But God never blasts him for his doubt or punishes him for his hasty words. Instead, He comforts Job and, as we will see, eventually restores him.

“We take the good days from God – why not also the bad days?” – Job 2:10 MSG

At this point in the story, as Job tries to come to grips with the immensity of his losses, he holds on to his belief in the sovereignty of God. He clings to his confidence in God’s goodness and seeks to view his tragic circumstances through the lens of God’s sovereignty and love. Job didn’t like what had happened. He was not rejoicing in his losses or thanking God for the deaths of his children. He was simply expressing his trust in the goodness of God.

But for those of us reading this story, it is difficult to see the goodness of God when we know that this entire sequence of tragic events is little more than a test of Job’s faithfulness. God had bragged about Job’s integrity and spiritual vitality.

“Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” – Job 1:8 NLT

But Satan had argued that Job’s display of moral fortitude was nothing more than payment for services rendered. According to Satan, Job’s faithfulness was tied to the degree of God’s goodness. As long as God kept Job healthy, wealthy, and wise, Job would continue to worship. But Satan argued that if God suddenly turned off the top of His goodness, Job would turn his back on God.

“You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” – Job 1:9-10 NLT

And God agreed to put Satan’s hypothesis to the test.

“All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” – Job 1:12 NLT

But why would God allow Satan to touch one of His servants? How could this be the will of a loving, gracious God? It seems out of character and incongruent with our understanding of God. And yet, we know that there is a spiritual battle waging behind the scenes that pits the sovereign God of the universe against Satan, the prince of this world.

Ever since the fall, Satan has been attempting to thwart the redemptive will of God. He has been waging a relentless war against humanity, those made in God’s image, in a vain attempt to steal their allegiance and displace God’s authority over their lives. Even the apostle Peter warned his first-century readers that this battle was still going on in their day.

…humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. – 1 Peter 5:6-9 NLT

Job was experiencing the very real presence of a spiritual battle that had been taking place since the beginning of time. The presence of Satan in the story of Job’s life should not surprise or disappoint us. No human being is immune from the attacks of the enemy. His hatred for humanity is immeasurable and only surpassed by his hatred for God. He views Jehovah as a manipulative and oppressive overlord whose followers worship Him out of fear and only for the hope of reward. Satan can’t imagine worship that isn’t bought and paid for.

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, one of his ploys was to offer payment for services rendered.

…the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” – Matthew 4:8-9 ESV

Hungry, tired, and seemingly alone in the wilderness, Jesus responded to Satan’s offer of wealth for worship by stating, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Matthew 4:10 ESV).

That was the last of Satan’s temptations of Jesus. He went for broke and lost. He offered Jesus his kingdom and Jesus turned him down. And what we must realize is that this test of Jesus’ faithfulness was the will of God. That very same chapter in Matthew opens with these words: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1 ESV).

It was part of God’s plan that His Son be tested, and it was part of God’s plan that Job be tested. But these tests were not intended to reveal anything to God. He was well aware of the outcome in both cases. God did not doubt His Son’s faithfulness and He did not doubt the faithfulness of Job. It was Satan who had doubts. It was the enemy who could not fathom faith even in the face of suffering. Satan had a lot to turn about the goodness of God and the effect it can have on God’s people. True worship is not a form of payment for services rendered. It is a willing response to the goodness of God that shows up in times of tragedy as well as blessing.

God’s people are not fairweather friends, but faithful followers who strive to trust and obey even when God’s presence seems unapparent and His power seems insufficient. When the trials and temptations of life come, may we sing the praises of our great and good God.

When peace like a river, attendeth my wayWhen sorrows like sea billows rollWhatever my lot, thou hast taught me to sayIt is well, it is well, with my soul

It is wellWith my soulIt is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should comeLet this blest assurance controlThat Christ has regarded my helpless estateAnd hath shed His own blood for my soul

It is well With my soul It is well, it is well with my soul

It Is Well with My Soul lyrics © So Essential Tunes, Integrity’s Hosanna! Music, Cfn Music, Be Essential Songs, Streetvoice International Limited, Mercy/vineyard Publishing, Julian Reid Publishing Company

When Times Get Tough…

October 1, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁶Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ⁸And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” ⁹Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? ¹⁰Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” ¹²And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. – Job 1:6-12 ESV

Having established Job’s spiritual credentials and material status, the author suddenly transfers the scene from Earth to heaven, where a divine council is taking place between the Lord (Jehovah) and the “sons of God.” This abrupt change in locations provides the reader with a stark reminder of the spiritual and supernatural scope of this entire story. In every man’s life, there is always far more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye. As Job lives out his seemingly blessed but rather pedestrian life on Earth, there are events taking place in the heavenly realm to which he is completely oblivious. As Job offers his morning offerings to the Lord on behalf of his children, he has no idea that he is the topic of a discussion taking place in heaven.

The text states that “the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord” (Job 1:6 ESV). The phrase “sons of God” has been much debated over the centuries, but is generally believed to be a reference to angels.

The “sons of God” in the OT is generally taken to refer to angels. They are not actually “sons” of Elohim; the idiom is a poetic way of describing their nature and relationship to God. The phrase indicates their supernatural nature, and their submission to God as the sovereign Lord. – NET Bible Study Notes

The fact that God has periodic meetings with His angels is not surprising, but what should catch our attention is the description of Satan being among them. His name in Hebrew is śāṭān, and it means “adversary” or “one who stands against.” Our concept of Satan usually associates him with the fallen angels who were cast out of heaven for their rebellion against God. The Book of Ezekiel provides what is believed to be a reference to Satan’s former beauty and vaunted position as one of God’s divinely created beings.

“You were the signet of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” – Ezekiel 28:12 ESV

Yet, this “anointed guardian cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14 ESV) grew discontented with his divinely ordained status as an angel and chose to lead a rebellion against God. Ezekiel goes on to describe what happened.

You were blameless in your ways
    from the day you were created,
    till unrighteousness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trade
    you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God… – Ezekiel 28:15-16 ESV

The prophet Isaiah provides further insight into the downfall of this pride-filled “son of God.”

“How you are fallen from heaven,
    O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
    you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God
    I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
    in the far reaches of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
    I will make myself like the Most High.’” – Isaiah 14:12-14 ESV

As a result of his attempted coup, Satan and all those who joined him in his failed rebellion were cast out of heaven.

“Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground…” – Ezekiel 28:17 ESV

But this doesn’t mean that Satan no longer had access to God. This passage in Job would indicate that Satan continues to have the freedom to enter into God’s presence. The Book of Revelation reveals that Satan’s permanent fall will not take place until the end times. The “accuser of the brethren” will not face his full and final punishment for his earlier crime until Jesus Christ returns in His glory.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” – Revelation 12:7-10 ESV

So, the arrival of Satan in the throne room of God should not surprise us. How else would the accuser of the brethren level his charges against God’s people? And, as Job 1:6-12 reveals, Satan used his access to the Almighty to accuse the seemingly faithful Job of duplicity and disingenuousness. According to Satan, Job was only in it for what he could get out of it. As long as God blessed him, Job was a happy camper. So Satan proposed a test of Job’s allegiance to God.

“Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” – Job 1:9-11 NLT

Satan can’t fathom any other reason to explain Job’s faithfulness to God. As far as he can tell, Job is nothing more than an opportunist who will quickly turn his back on God as soon as things take a turn for the worse.

But God knows the truth about Job. He can see into His servant’s heart and discern the true nature of Job’s obedience. So, God agrees to allow Satan to test the faithfulness of Job but He places limits on how far Satan can go.

“Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” – Job 1:12 NLT

This part of the story makes us uncomfortable. The idea that invisible, supernatural beings might be discussing our faithfulness and debating our allegiance is more than a bit disconcerting. While we go about our daily lives, could there be divine discussions taking place where our future well-being is at stake? But the real point of this story is not that God is having arbitrary conversations with angels regarding the faithfulness of His human followers, but that there is a spiritual battle taking place in the unseen realms. The apostle Paul reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).

Satan is real, and his hatred for mankind is great. He especially loathes all those who worship God and remain faithful to Him regardless of the circumstances of life. He cannot imagine how anyone would serve God in the face of difficulty. He has no concept of allegiance or faithfulness. He sees men as nothing more than groveling servants hoping for a handout from the Almighty but always ready to turn their backs on their Provider as soon as the pipeline of blessings dries up.

“Cynicism is the essence of the satanic. The Satan believes nothing to be genuinely good—neither Job in his disinterested piety nor God in His disinterested generosity.” – Lloyd Anderson, The Hidden Beauty of Hebrew Genealogies

Job was about to be tested. His season of unbridled success and problem-free existence was about to come to a screeching halt. And like Job, we’ve all faced seasons of pain and unexpected suffering in our lives. We’ve all experienced a time when we have had to encounter extreme disappointment or devastating loss. And in those times of trouble, we are always tempted to question God regarding His love, power, faithfulness, or at times, even His existence. So the story of Job is one with which we can relate. Here is a man who had it all: Wealth, material possessions, a lovely family, and a vibrant relationship with his God. Then tragedy strikes. How would he fare? What would he do? They say that when times get tough, the tough get going. But will that be true of Job? Only time will tell.

The Path to Holiness

July 10, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. ³I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. ⁴And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, ⁵then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

⁶“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ⁷Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you. ⁹For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.” – Leviticus 20:1-9 ESV

The laws outlined in chapters 18 and 19 declare all those things that the Israelites were forbidden to do. But in chapter 19, God provides the consequences that were to accompany the violation of some of those very laws. Back in Leviticus 18, Moses recorded God’s ban on the practice of child sacrifice.

“You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 18:21 ESV

Now, in chapter 20, God provides the penalty for violating this command: Death.

“Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.” – Leviticus 20:2 ESV

The law prescribed in chapter 18 clearly prohibited the Israelites from offering their children as human sacrifices to the Canaanite god, Molech. This law was incontestable and binding. But the only outcome for violating this law was the profaning of God’s name. Yet chapter 20 adds the deadly consequences for daring to break this particular command.

God was making it painfully clear to the Israelites that He was serious about their obedience and holiness. He expected His people to distinguish themselves from the nations of Canaan by adhering to His laws and avoiding any temptation to assimilate their pagan practices and customs.

It seems strange that God would place so much emphasis on forbidding child sacrifice. After all, the very thought of willingly putting your child to death to appease a god is repugnant to our modern sensibilities. It seems barbaric and inhumane. How could any loving Israelite parent ever consider the thought of sacrificing their child to a foreign god? Yet, God knew that His chosen people would eventually find even this repulsive act to be acceptable and even preferable. The Scriptures reveal that the day came when infant sacrifice became common practice among the Israelites, with the king himself setting the standard for this egregious behavior.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. – 2 Kings 16:2-3 ESV

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.…And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. – 2 Kings 21:1-2, 6 ESV

Even the great king, Solomon, the son of David, promoted the worship of Molech along with a host of other false gods introduced to him by his many foreign wives.

So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. – 1 Kings 11:6-8 ESV

These injunctions by God were absolutely necessary because the people of Israel were predisposed to disobedience and fully capable of committing sins of the worst kind. Upon hearing God’s ban on child sacrifice, it’s likely that the Israelites were appalled that God would consider them capable of such a heinous sin. But God knew His people well and He understood the depravity of the human heart.

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” – Jeremiahs 17:9 NLT

The path to apostasy begins with a single step, a minor concession that, at first glance, appears innocent enough but that eventually leads ends in death. No self-respecting Israelite would have ever considered himself capable of committing such a despicable sin, yet God knew it was not only possible but inevitable. Even with His commands carefully articulated and the consequences for disobedience clearly communicated, the people of Israel would still choose to disobey and suffer the penalty for doing so, and that penalty was severe. The guilty individual was to be stoned to death. No questions asked, no excuses accepted, and no exceptions made. And God gives the reason this sin was unforgivable and demanded death.

“…because they have defiled my sanctuary and brought shame on my holy name by offering their children to Molech.” – Leviticus 20:3 NLT

Any pagan religious practice the Israelites incorporated was an affront to God because it diminished the sanctity of the Tabernacle and cast doubt on the all-sufficient nature of God Himself. By offering sacrifices to false gods, the Israelites were demonstrating their lack of faith in Yahweh. He was not enough. By sacrificing their children to Molech, they would be denigrating God’s gift of the fruit of the womb, one of the many blessings the Israelites could expect to receive from Him in the land of Canaan.

“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.” – Deuteronomy 28:1-6 NLT

To take a gift given by God and to sacrifice it to a false god was the ultimate slap in Yahweh’s face. These kinds of actions revealed a lack of belief in God’s goodness and demonstrated an underlying doubt in the efficacy of the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system He had provided.

The primary issue, as always, was holiness. God’s people were to live set-apart lives, determined by God’s laws and regulated by His sacrificial system. God knew His people would fail to keep all His laws. That’s why He provided the sacrificial system as a means of receiving atonement and forgiveness for sins. But there were certain sins that, when committed, were unforgivable and for which atonement was unavailable. These included child sacrifice as well as any involvement with mediums and necromancers.

“I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.” – Leviticus 20:6 NLT

“The prohibition here concerns those who would seek special knowledge through the spirits of the dead, whether the dead in general or dead relatives in particular.” – NET Bible Study Notes

God was placing off-limits any of the cultic practices of the Canaanites. This included the worship or veneration of the dead. Canaanites believed that following physical death, the soul departed from the body to the land of Mot (Death). Through the use of mediums and necromancers, they believed they could communicate with deceased relatives, offering them food and drink in return for help. God forbade these kinds of superstitious practices among His people because they displayed a blatant disregard for His sovereignty.

How ludicrous it sounds to seek help from the dead when you have the power of the living God at your disposal. But the author of Hebrews reminds us just how easy it is to turn your back on God and seek assistance from the dead and powerless things of this world.

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. – Hebrews 3:12-13 NLT

God alone brings life. He is the only reliable source of hope and help. And He calls His people to keep His commands so that they might enjoy the ongoing blessing of His presence and the benefit of His incomparable power.

“So set yourselves apart to be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep all my decrees by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord who makes you holy.” – Leviticus 20:7-8 NLT

The worship of Molech would not make them holy, but it would cut them off from the community of faith and place them under the judgment of a holy and righteous God. Rather than enjoying life, they would experience death. The ways of the Canaanites might appear attractive and potentially beneficial, but they would prove to be dangerous and deadly. The path to holiness was paved with the commandments of God and led to a life of blessing and joy. But the world always offers alternative routes that promise a shortcut to the desired end. But as Jesus articulated in His sermon on the mount, the ways of the world may seem tempting and tantalizingly easy, but they all lead to the wrong destination.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” – Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

Father Knows Best

August 18, 2022 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ²You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. – James 4:1-10 ESV

James ended the last chapter with the declaration, “where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:16 ESV). Now, he reveals what lies at the heart of the problem. He discloses the root cause behind the jealousy and selfish ambition that are wreaking havoc on the congregation to whom he is writing.

James appears to drop the pastoral tone of his letter and takes his readers to the proverbial woodshed with a strongly worded disciplinary message. He calls them out and airs their dirty laundry right in front of them. He has received word of their unhealthy penchant for quarreling and infighting and is more than a bit unhappy about it. As a congregation, they have allowed their love for the world to take precedence over their love for one another.

He has already dealt with their practice of showing partiality to the wealthy and influential within their fellowship. This blatant display of favoritism was rooted in greed and jealousy. While flattering and fawning over the well-to-do, they were dismissing and mistreating the less fortunate among them, all in a vain hope that the rich would somehow reward them for their actions. There was an ulterior motive behind their attempt to give the high-capacity donor the best seat in the sanctuary.

Evidently, their worship services had become a competitive event, with everyone jockeying for position and fighting for prominence. But, sadly, their infighting was a byproduct of a much more serious problem. They were suffering from a heart condition. James reveals that the cause behind their quarreling and fighting was internal, not external.

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? – James 4:1 NLT

The pleasures or desires to which James refers are evil because they drive human behavior until they are fulfilled. They are like an addiction that incessantly demands its needs be met, regardless of the price or consequences. These evil desires were worldly and out of step with the godly wisdom that God offered.

…the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. – James 3:17 NLT

But James describes a far different atmosphere within this local body of believers.

You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. – James 4:2 NLT

There was no evidence of peace, gentleness, mercy, sacrifice, or selflessness. Their “fellowship” had become a hotbed of strife and destructive self-promotion. Everyone was operating by the myopic mindset: What’s in it for me? The love of self had replaced God’s call to love one another. And James has already told them “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well” (James 2:8 ESV). Yet, they were actually making love of self their highest priority. All in a vain attempt to satisfy their individual cravings for power, pleasure, and prominence. And James rebuked them for trying to take matters into their own hands. Rather than taking their needs to the Lord, they were trying to fulfill them through worldly and ungodly means.

Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. – James 4:3 NLT

Even when they did pray, they did so with the wrong motives. They asked God for those things that would bring them personal pleasure and satisfaction. And He refuses to answer those kinds of requests.

This is where James pulls no punches and displays his disgust for their ungodly behavior. He accuses them of spiritual adultery. They had proven themselves to be unfaithful to God by unashamedly flaunting their love affair with the world. And in doing so, they had made an enemy of God.

You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. – James 4:4 NLT

The philosophies of this world stand diametrically opposed to the will and the ways of God. Satan, the prince of this world, uses every weapon in his arsenal to tempt the child of God to abandon his relationship with the Almighty. His goal is to lure the believer into a life marked by unfaithfulness and spiritual infidelity. And he cleverly uses the pleasures and perks this world has to offer as bait. He knows we crave significance. He fully understands our need for self-importance. He is well aware of our insatiable appetite for forbidden fruit, and he is more than willing to offer us whatever our heart desires – in exchange for our affections.

When Satan tried to distract Jesus from His God-ordained mission, he made Him a highly tempting offer.

Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will worship me.” – Luke 4:5-7 NLT

But Jesus refused. Instead, He reminded Satan that God alone is worthy of worship.

“You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” – Luke 4:8 NLT

And Jesus would later warn His disciples about the danger of duplicity in the life of a child of God.

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” – Matthew 6:24 NLT

God longs to have an unbroken relationship with each of His children. He is a jealous God who will not tolerate infidelity and unfaithfulness. He has displayed His unparalleled love by sending His Son to die in our place and by placing His Spirit within our hearts. He has more than proven His love for us and expects us to return the favor. And through His grace, He makes it possible for us to say no to the overtures of the world and the temptations of the enemy.

But His grace is only available to the humble. The presence of pride blocks the flow of God’s grace and prevents us from experiencing the fulness of His love. As long as allow our love for the world to lure us away from God, we demonstrate that we really don’t need or want what He has to offer. Our desire for worldly pleasures indicates that He is not enough. He cannot satisfy our deepest longings or fulfill our insatiable passions. We know what we want and, if He won’t give it to us, we will seek it from the world. And the apostle John warns us about seeking our satisfaction from the things of this world.

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. – 1 John 2:15-17 NLT

And James gives us the key to rejecting the enticing allure of the world: Humility.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. – James 4:7-10 NLT

God knows what is best. His will for us is always right and His love for us is always pure and selfless. But we have to trust Him and believe that He knows what we need. The world is about to steal our hearts and affections. It offers us a range of tempting treasures and pleasures designed to appeal to our sinful natures. But they are empty promises that never deliver what they offer. Instead of pleasure, they produce pain. In place of significance, they leave the gaping hole of futility and despair. Rather than joy, they produce a fleeting form of happiness that disappears as soon as the pleasure fades. But when we humble ourselves before the Lord and rest in His love for us, we find fulfillment, joy, satisfaction, and the immeasurable honor of being His child.

Trials, Troubles, and Trust

August 12, 2022 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. – James 1:9-18 ESV

So often, we judge the success of our lives based on the circumstantial evidence that surrounds us. If our lives are free from trouble and trials, then we assume that God is pleased with us. But should any kind of difficulty come our way, we jump to the opposite conclusion and assume that God is punishing us for something we have done or something we have failed to do.

But James has been encouraging us to see life through a different lens. We must learn to view our circumstances with the clarifying help of God’s wisdom. And James gives a few examples of what this looks like in real life. First, “the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position” (James 1:9 NLT). Notice who the referent is in this verse. It is a believer who just happens to be poor. But James declares that this individual actually enjoys a “high position” or standing because of his relationship with Jesus Christ. He is a child of God and an heir to the Kingdom of God. His lack of social standing is inconsequential when compared with his status as a royal subject of heaven.

In James’ day, the average person believed that poverty was a curse from God. To be poor was considered a sign of God’s displeasure and discipline. Wealth was considered a sign of blessing. If you were rich, you must have done something to please God and warrant His outpouring of physical blessings. But James puts that fallacy to rest by stating, “the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow” (James 1:10 NLT).

In other words, the person of means should always maintain a healthy does of humility by remembering that his wealth is temporary. As the old saying goes, you can’t take it with you. At death, his 15 minutes of fame will come to an abrupt and unavoidable end. And James provides a very eloquent description of this inevitable outcome that every wealthy individual faces.

For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away. – James 1:11 NLT

This thought brings James back to his original charge: “consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials” (James 1:2 NLT). But now he adds a further point of clarification that encompasses the fate of every believer, whether they are poor or wealthy.

Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. – James 1:12 NLT

It all goes back to the issue of the trials that God uses to test the spiritual condition of our lives. Trials are not punishments, but they serve as divine purifying agents that help to burn away the dross of sin that contaminates our lives. They help to purify and prepare God’s children for the future reward that awaits them: the crown of life that He has promised. Temporal wealth is not a sign of God’s blessing. Poverty is not evidence of His displeasure. And the presence of trials in the life of a believer is not an indication of God’s divine discipline. They should be viewed as instruments in the hands of a holy God who is lovingly purging the impurities and imperfections from the lives of those He loves. That is what led the apostle Paul to encourage the Corinthians to maintain a long-term, future-focused perspective regarding their present sufferings.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

The apostle Peter shared Paul’s perspective and echoed his call for humility and faith in the midst of present difficulties.

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. – 1 Peter 5:6-10 NLT

Notice that both of these men stress the future glory that awaits the children of God. That is where we should set our sights and focus our attention. The promises of God concerning our eternal heritage are intended to instill hope and produce endurance. The trials of this present age have a shelf life. They will come to an end. And we are to set our hopes on the glorious future that God has planned for us.

But James warns against confusing the tests that God brings into our lives with temptations. He has made it clear that trials are tests. They are intended to expose sin and lead to confession, purification, and further sanctification. But for some, the presence of an unwanted trial can result in sin rather than sanctification. We can become angry and lash out. We can allow the trial to produce envy, lust, and resentment. We may even find ourselves shaking our fists in the face of God and refusing to respond in repentance. Instead, we allow the trial to produce further sin and then blame God for our actions.

Yet James will not give us that out.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. – James 1:13 NLT

Trials are tests but not temptations. God would never encourage one of His children to sin. Yet, the temptation to do so is always there. The Old Testament story of Job is a perfect example of a test that could have easily become a temptation. God had allowed Satan to test the righteousness of Job by inflicting him with a debilitating skin disease.

Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.

Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. – Job 2:7-8 NLT

In the midst of suffering from this horrible condition, Job’s wife confronted him with far-from-comforting words.

His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” – Job 2:9 NLT

At that point, Job faced a temptation. He could have listened to the counsel of his wife and blamed God for his unpleasant circumstances. But instead, he called out his wife for her foolish advice and declared his commitment to trust the will of God.

But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong. – Job 2:10 NLT

For Job, the source of his temptation was not God but his own wife. It was an external source. But James states that, more often than not, the temptation is an inside job.

…each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. – James 1:14 NLT

It starts in the heart. Had Job not been a righteous man who had a love for God, he could have easily bought into his wife’s errant advice and lashed out at God for his devastating circumstances. Had his heart not been in the right place, Job could have made the wrong decision. And James points out the inevitable outcome of an impure heart that gives in to ungodly desires.

…when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. – James 1:15 NLT

We can’t blame God for our poor choices because, according to James, He is the giver of good gifts.

All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. – James 1:17 NLT

God may test, but He never tempts. He doesn’t cause us to sin. What He does is give us the capacity to respond to the tests of life with faith that allows us to experience His life-transforming power that eventually leaves us “perfect and complete, not deficient in anything” (James 1:4 NLT).

God is not fickle or capricious. He doesn’t tease or tempt His children. But He does lovingly discipline them so that they might experience the full force of His sanctifying power in their lives. God is consistent and unchanging. His character doesn’t fluctuate and His sovereign plan for us remains unwavering and reliable.

By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. – James 1: 18 NLT

God preordained our salvation and He has planned out every aspect of our sanctification and future glorification. And no amount of trials can prevent God from completing what He has begun. This glorious promise is what prompted the apostle Paul to write:

…we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently). – Romans 8:23-25 NLT

Deadly Desires

June 4, 2022 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹My son, keep my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you;
²keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
³bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
⁵to keep you from the forbidden woman,
    from the adulteress with her smooth words.

⁶For at the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
⁷and I have seen among the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man lacking sense,
⁸passing along the street near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
⁹in the twilight, in the evening,
    at the time of night and darkness.

¹⁰And behold, the woman meets him,
    dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
¹¹She is loud and wayward;
    her feet do not stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the market,
    and at every corner she lies in wait.
¹³She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with bold face she says to him,
¹⁴“I had to offer sacrifices,
    and today I have paid my vows;
¹⁵so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
¹⁶I have spread my couch with coverings,
    colored linens from Egyptian linen;
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
    aloes, and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹For my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with her smooth talk she compels him.
²²All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast
²³    till an arrow pierces its liver;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
²⁵Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
²⁶for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death. – Proverbs 7:1-27 ESV

When I was a child, whenever we would visit my father’s family in rural Pennsylvania we would always take one night to go out and look for deer. My dad had a high-powered flashlight that plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car and had a beam on it that would seemingly go for miles. At dusk, we would pile into our old station wagon and head out into the country in search of deer. My dad would cruise slowly down those one-lane roads with all of us kids hanging out the window, waiting in silence as he worked the powerful beam of that spotlight back and forth across the fields. Then suddenly, they would appear.

Pairs of glowing orbs mysteriously floating in the darkness. Then the spotlight would reveal their source: hundreds of deer standing like statues, ears up, tails twitching, and noses nervously sniffing the air for signs of danger. I was amazed by the power the spotlight held over them. It was like they were in a trance, transfixed to the spot on which they stood, unable to stand. It’s why, in most states, it is illegal to hunt deer using any kind of light source. It’s unfair. They can’t help themselves. They’re defenseless. And I can’t help but think of that scene every time I read the warnings that Solomon gives his son regarding the immoral woman.

He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter. He was like a stag caught in a trap, awaiting an arrow that would pierce its heart. – Proverbs 7:22-23 NLT

The innocent young man was transfixed and seduced by the mesmerizing allure of forbidden fruit and false flattery. Each and every day, young men AND old men get caught in the headlights of lust. The enemy trolls the highways and byways of life looking for men AND women who he can transfix with the bright light of sin. And unlike most law-abiding hunters, Satan ignores any and all rules, taking down as many innocent victims as possible, like stags caught in a trap. He finds his work easygoing because most men are easy prey.

But there is another factor involved in this scene that sets it slightly apart from my childhood memories of “deer spotting.” It’s subtle but significant. Solomon describes seeing a naive young man who lacked common sense. He is one of the simple ones, open-minded and foolish. He is gullible and lacking in common sense or moral character. He is incapable of making good choices or recognizing the danger of his situation. So he crosses the street near the house of an immoral woman. In other words, he puts himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. “It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell” (Proverbs 7:9 NLT). He had no business being there, but he also had no sense to know better. He was a fool. He was like a deer strolling smack dab into a camp of hunters.

Deer are naturally wary. They have a built-in defense mechanism – a fright and flight response wired into them by God. But due to the effects of the fall, men have had their spiritual senses deadened. Our spiritual receptors have been dulled by sin and we no longer have the capacity to sense danger or know what to do about it if we do. And we become easy prey for the enemy, like deer tied to a stake with a target painted on our side. So, Solomon warns his son. He begs him to listen to his words of warning. He says, “Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path” (Proverbs 7:25 NLT).

Stray away from what? Wander away from what? It is when our hearts stray from God that we become prey for the enemy. It is when we wander off God’s path that we find ourselves in the high weeds or like a deer in the headlights. The words of an old hymn summarize our situation well.

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

Be warned. Be worried. Be wary. Keep your heart close to God. Walk His path. Keep close to His side. He will give you wisdom, discernment, and the sensory perception to see danger and run from it. His way is the way to true life.

You see, Godly wisdom has its benefits. That may sound like an understatement or an extreme case of overstating the obvious, but in either case, it’s true. When we seek God and follow His ways, we gain an extreme advantage in this life. Without Him, we are left vulnerable to the temptations that are guaranteed to come our way as we live our lives on this planet.

Solomon knew that and so he went out of his way to teach his sons to seek the wisdom and insight God had to offer them. In this Proverb, he warns his sons in very graphic detail about the one temptation that faces just about every member of the male side of the species: The adulterous woman. He uses a story to illustrate for his sons just how susceptible they will be without the wisdom and insight that God provides. He describes “some naive young men, and one in particular who lacked common sense” (Proverbs 7:7 NLT). The Hebrew word translated “naive” here can also mean “open-minded, one easily persuaded or enticed.”

These young men lacked the capacity to defend themselves from temptation. They were naturally open-minded or, in a way, empty-headed, and unable to say no to the tempting offers this world throws at every young man. One of the young men, who becomes the focus of Solomon’s story, was “void of understanding” according to the King James Bible. He lacked common sense. He didn’t have any wisdom from God that would warn him of the dangers that lie ahead. So when the adulterous woman spotted him walking by her house, she pounced. One of the first things that should jump out at us is the fact that this young man was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It says, “He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman, strolling down the path by her house” (Proverbs 7:8 NLT). He had no business being there. Yet Solomon describes him as “strolling” along, completely unaware of just how much danger he was in. Without the wisdom of God, he was going to find himself defenseless to the temptations headed his way. He was going to buy into the flattering words from this woman’s lips that to a wise man would have been obvious lies. “You’re the one I was looking for!” she would say, and “like an ox going to the slaughter,” he would allow her to lead him to his own demise. He would be easily seduced by her “pretty speech” and suffer the devastating consequences of his mistake.

But he would not be alone. “For she has been the ruin of many; many men have been her victims” (Proverbs 7:26 NLT). The list of names of the men who have become victims of this temptation is long and continues to grow. All because men continue to reject the wisdom that God offers. Even so-called godly men fall prey to the adulterous woman because they reject the wisdom God offers them. They refuse to listen to His Word. Instead, they choose to give in to their desires and satisfy their natural pleasures. They live for the moment and seek to meet the needs of their flesh, rather than live in the power of the Spirit. The wisdom of God could protect them, but they refuse to listen. Wisdom has its benefits, but only if we take advantage of all it has to offer. We have to want the wisdom of God more than we want the pleasures of this world.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Wisdom of Experience

May 31, 2022 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    incline your ear to my understanding,
²that you may keep discretion,
    and your lips may guard knowledge.
³For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil,
⁴but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
    sharp as a two-edged sword.
⁵Her feet go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to Sheol;
⁶she does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
⁸Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
⁹lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
¹¹and at the end of your life you groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
¹²and you say, “How I hated discipline,
    and my heart despised reproof!
¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
¹⁴I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
¹⁶Should your springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water in the streets?
¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
¹⁸Let your fountain be blessed,
    and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
¹⁹    a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated always in her love.
²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he ponders all his paths.
²²The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
²³He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is led astray. – Proverbs 5:1-23 ESV

This sounds like strange, if not hypocritical, advice coming from a man who had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). It would appear that wise sayings weren’t the only things that Solomon made a habit of collecting. This king with the overactive libido had an eye for the ladies. So, it seems a bit disingenuous for Solomon to be giving his sons a lecture on avoiding the “forbidden woman.” How could he presume that he was the right man to give counsel not to “drink water from your own cistern” (Proverbs 5:15 ESV).

Yet, Solomon was the perfect person to be passing on his life experiences to his as-yet-unmarried sons. He wasn’t simply spouting pious-sounding platitudes he had discovered along the way, but he was sharing the painful life lessons he had been forced to learn as a result of his own pride and stupidity. Verses 12-13 are actually Solomon’s personal testimony.

“How I hated discipline,
and my heart despised reproof!
I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.”

Solomon is offering up a painful confession. And yet, Solomon’s admission would not have been news to his boys. In fact, it is likely that, while they all shared Solomon as their father, they each had a different mother. They suffered from no delusions that their father was a one-woman man. Each knew that their dad had been less-than-faithful to their own mother. And the older they became and the more knowledge they gained about the Word of God, they would have known that their father’s actions were out of step with the will of God.

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The LORD had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD.

In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been. – 1 Kings 11:1-4 ESV

Somewhere along the way, Solomon had made the decision to violate the command of God. His personal preferences and passions took precedence over God’s will. He would have been very familiar with God’s command concerning the kings of Israel.

The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the LORD. – Deuteronomy 17:17 NLT

But Solomon had decided that he knew best and he began to fill his home and his harem with beautiful women, collecting them like treasures to showcase his power and prestige.

But over in Proverbs 14:12 we read, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” That phrase “in the end” seems to pop up on a regular basis in the Proverbs. It refers to a day of accountability, not necessarily the day of the judgment of the Lord, but of a day of consequence. Every action has an outcome. Every path we take in life has a destination or an end. If a young man or woman chooses a life of immorality, it will have an outcome, and probably not the one they were expecting. Sin never does.

Solomon is speaking from experience when he states, “the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil – in the end she is as bitter as poison” (Proverbs 14:3-4 NLT). He knew what he was talking about and he wanted his sons to know that what appears to be tempting and tantalizing doesn’t always turn out quite as advertised.

One of the characteristics of foolishness or a lack of godly wisdom is the inability to foresee consequences. We are either oblivious to them or simple choose to ignore them. But more than likely, it is just a case of ignorance. A child touches a hot stove because they don’t know any better. They are ignorant of the consequences. But there comes a time in all of our lives when we become aware of the consequences of sin and still stubbornly continue to commit them. We think those consequences won’t apply to us. We refuse to consider “the end.” We choose to live in the pleasure of the moment, putting off any thought of the consequences, or simply refusing to believe there will be any negative ramifications for our actions. But to think that way is not only foolish, it’s deadly. We can end up losing everything – our honor, all we’ve achieved in life, the fruit of all our labor, the blessings of God, and the love and respect of those we once held dear. Like Solomon, we will find ourselves sadly looking back at our actions and saying, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace” (Proverbs 5:12-14 NLT).

In the end, you will have regrets because the path you chose had consequences. But nobody thinks about the potential consequences when facing the alluring temptation of sin – except the godly. But obviously, Solomon is an example of the godly man who took his eyes off the Lord and began to seek satisfaction and significance somewhere else. It began with the allure of the forbidden fruit of many wives, but it wasn’t long before that sin produced an even greater one: the worship of their false gods. Solomon’s lust for women turned into a loss of love for God.

Sin is so tempting, and it’s allure is real, making it a constant problem for men and women alike. And while Solomon wrote his proverbs a long time ago, some things never change. We still need to hear his words of wisdom and warning. He spends an entire Proverb warning his sons against the dangers of the immoral woman or prostitute. It was a problem then and it remains a problem today. Promiscuity is alive and well, and it may be even more acceptable today than ever before. The increase in casual sex and a growing comfortableness and complacency with sex outside the confines of marriage make this message particularly timely for our sex-saturated society. Solomon’s warning to his sons was necessary in his day and it is needed in ours as well. But it sounds so antiquated and puritanical! At least that’s what many in our society would say. But it is a warning against the lies of all temptations. Satan is the father of lies and the great deceiver. He loves to package his product in such a way that it hides the dangers within. He is the master of manipulation and deception, creating the allusion of pleasure, but all the while hiding the true consequences. The prostitute is a perfect illustration of his methodologies. She is attractive, flattering, enticing, and appeals to man’s basic instincts. She knows man’s weakness and aims right for it. The apostle John warned us, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions” (1 John 2:16 NLT).

That is Satan’s strategy. Everything he offers is designed to appeal to what we crave and desire, to fulfill our insatiable need for pleasure, and to satisfy our hunger for significance. A prostitute goes out of her way to make her “client” feel wanted, important, and significant. She offers to provide him with physical and emotional pleasure and to satisfy all his needs. But in the end, “her feet go down to death.” Like all sin, the consequences are dangerous and deadly. It never delivers as promised. It is the ultimate in false advertising, yet we fall prey to it each and every day in so many ways. We take the bait and suffer the consequences of broken marriages, unfulfilled expectations, destroyed reputations, and shattered lives.

So what’s the solution? Wisdom, wise counsel, and discernment. Solomon warns his sons in graphic detail of the dangers facing them. He doesn’t sugarcoat or ignore it. He paints a vivid and compelling picture of the dangers of sin. He talks openly about the consequences. He wanted them to know the truth and he was willing for his sons to learn from his own mistakes.

Our congregations need to hear the truth. The enemy is filling their minds with lies day after day, and he has more resources available than ever before. The media provides him with a constant venue for propagating his lies and distributing his message of falsehood. We need to speak truth. We need to share the wisdom of God’s Word. We need to promote the non-negotiable requirement of living according to God’s way – unapologetically and boldly. The dangers are real. The consequences are devastating. Wisdom, wise counsel, and discernment are needed more than ever before.

Devotionary

The Bible Made Accessible and Applicable

temptation