Conviction

19 And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. (1 Sam 6:19 ESV).

The background for this verse is that the Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant and taken it to their various cities, but the Lord had Chastened them with tumors, mice, and anxiety. Some of them even died. So, they sent the Ark back to Israel on a cart that is pulled by two dairy cows.

When it comes to Beth-shemesh, the people take it off the cart and put it on a rock after they sacrifice to the Lord. Then the Lord kills 70 men in Beth-shemesh because they had looked upon the ark of the Lord. Other versions say they looked into it. Considering that all saw the ark on the cart and when it was placed on the rock, into is a much more likely or better translation.

The thing that struck me is that I consider myself to be one who would have probably looked into it. Whether curiosity or just plain sinful disrespect, it convicts me of being capable of sin against the Lord. This isn't the first place I have seen this kind of conviction in the Old Testament. Often, I see a person doing something stupid, wrong, or sinful and then I think to myself, “I would have probably done the same thing in that situation.” This just tells me that I'm sinful, sin has not been mortified in my body. So, I just keep trusting God and being very, very thankful that he has saved me in spite of my sinful tendencies.

Believe Moses

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? (John 5:46-47)

Where does Moses start writing? Well, he starts in Genesis 1. And where did John start writing? Of course, John 1, which is where he started talking about creation showing Jesus is God and creator.

I've heard that many if not most kids who grow up in the church fall away because they get hammered by “science” telling them that creation took millions or billions of years and the Bible is wrong at the beginning. So, what Jesus says holds true for them. If they don't believe the writings of Moses beginning with creation, how can they believe Jesus?

The implication of believing all of Scripture rests on believing the first three chapters of the Bible. If I pick and choose what I want to believe about that, then the whole Bible is up for grabs. I don't need “science” to prove biblical creation, but it does. I don't need to fear that someone calls me ignorant because I believe this. But if I didn’t, I would have no reason to believe Jesus or the resurrection. I wouldn't know or believe for sure that my sins are forgiven. No wonder people fall away when they don’t have this assurance.

I believe that the Bible is God's Word and is true. I've staked my eternity on it because it points to Jesus.

 

Signs of Faith

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."

49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."(John 4:46-52)

An official of Capernaum goes to Jesus in Cana to ask Jesus to come and heal his son. What does Jesus do? He says that unless you see signs and wonders you won't believe. This sounds pretty harsh to me. But the man ignores what appears to be a rebuke and again asks Jesus to come with him to heal his son. The guy didn't appear to be looking for a sign, just to have his son healed. He must have had faith to even ask. He didn't question Jesus but asked for healing. Then he believed Jesus’ word without seeing the results. He didn't go home right away either. He could have easily got home the same day but didn't head home until the next day.

What was Jesus doing with this guy? Was it a test of his faith or was it something altogether different? Is it more for me and readers down through the ages? I think the man delaying going home was his "sign of faith."

 I don't know how to apply this, but one thing is sure if we want a sign to prove who Jesus is we won't get it. If we come to Jesus in faith and ask not to prove who God is but to just ask for our needs Jesus is there for us even if he doesn't answer right away or we don’t understand the answer.

Workers for The Harvest

Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 3
6 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. John 4:35-38

The context is the Samaritan woman Jesus meets at a well and Jesus has a conversation with her. Then the disciples return, and the woman leaves.

The woman tells the town about Jesus, and they come out to Jesus (this is the harvest). It is hard to determine who Jesus is talking about, who is the sower and the reaper. But possibly the sower is the woman and Jesus is the Reaper. But He tells the disciples that they are reapers.

Application? I am both a sower and a reaper. It depends on who I am engaged with. But Paul clarified that one sows and the other reaps but the Lord is the one who makes the growth (1 Cor 3:7-8). So ultimately God is sower through prophets, teachers, evangelists, and plain old people like you and me. God is the Reaper through the Holy Spirit! What should I do? Just keep on doing what's at hand.

Born Again and the Kingdom of God

 John 3:3, 5 

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Parallelism is often found in the Bible. The Psalms and Proverbs are full of it. The verse speaks of something in one way then it speaks of it in another way in the parallel verse. Nicodemus, being the teacher of Israel (John 3:10) would have been very familiar with this and that is probably why Jesus repeated the necessity of a new birth.

In verse 3, there are two ideas that are repeated in a different way in verse 5. The first is being born again and born of water and the Spirit. Both are ways of saying the same thing. Therefore, the part of being born of water does not mean being baptized as a requirement for salvation as some dictate. While there is much debate over the “of water” part, the main idea of verse 3 is being repeated. Our salvation is only dependent on God’s action as was stated in previously, “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). Being born again and born of water and the Spirit are synonymous. Putting a bookend on this, Jesus explains that we don’t know who will be affected by the wind (Greek pneuma, also Spirit), but we do see the effects and that is how we can see the kingdom.

The second idea being repeated is describing the kingdom of God. Seeing the kingdom of God and entering the kingdom of God are synonymous also. There is no difference. If you are able to see the kingdom of God, you have entered it. If you have entered the kingdom of God you can see it. Before we could only see things from a worldly perspective and could not see how He works or that He is sovereign. When we enter His kingdom, we are His subjects and see each other as part of His kingdom.

Application? I can only be thankful that the wind, the Spirit of God has moved to cause me to be born again. I cannot boast in my decision to come to Christ, but that God has worked in me and give Him the glory.

Resurrected Body

It is interesting that Jesus was able to appear after the resurrection as a perfectly normal person on the road to Emmaus even though His disciples didn’t recognize him. “While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:15-16). Then after entering their home He was able to disappear in an instant. “And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight” ( Luke 24:31). He didn't walk out of the house in Emmaus, he just vanished!

Later, He then suddenly appeared in the midst of the disciples in a room in Jerusalem. “As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you!’” (Luke 24:36). He didn't walk through a doorway or through a wall but just appeared in the room in Jerusalem (he did that twice by the way). I ponder what it will be like for us after our resurrection.

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Look at that, it says we will be like him.

  What will our body be like?  “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:44).

We will have a spiritual body, and I assume it will be like Jesus’ body. Since it is spiritual, it will be able to appear and disappear in the physical realm even though it will also have attributes of a physical body. Will we want to beam around like that? Probably not, since we will be with Jesus. But I do ponder if in the Millennium we will be doing that as we rule and reign with Christ.