Episode #8 of our study of the book of Joshua now up on Youtube.

 Episode #8 on Joshua 3:1-4 now up on Youtube. Join us as the young leader instructs the Israelite on how to cross the Jordan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZiKCevudDE

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Breaking Faith and Not Treating God as Holy has its Just Deserts -- Deuteronomy 32:44-52

[ photo: jimthornber.com -- check it out ]

After the Song of Moses, God Delivers Moses' Fate -- Deuteronomy 32:44-52

So Moses spoke the whole song to the people of Israel, with Joshua present. Matthew Henry makes an interesting comment about this exact moment:

"Moses who was laying down the government, and Joshua who was taking it up, they would see they were both in the same mind, and that, though they changed their commander, there was no change in the divine command; Joshua, as well as Moses, would be a witness against them if ever they forsook God."

Once he finished, he told the Israelites to take to heart all that was in the song, with this warning:

"It is not an idle word -- it's your life. By it, you can prolong your days in the [promised] land you are about to enter."

So many people take God's Word as an idle thing, and his warnings as idle threats. Moses and God warn us against doing that very thing here. Unfortunately, like 'know-it-all' children, many will not listen and they will bring destruction upon themselves. They better be ready for the consequences.

This whole thing reminds me of the big issue right now about taking the covid vaccine.  Whether you are for it or against it right now is not our concern here.  The point I want to make is that if you take it, you have to be prepared to accept the risks of taking it.  If you don't take it, you have to be able to accept the risks of not taking it. The choice is clearly yours (and mine).  Similarly, our ultimate state of affairs depends on the decision we make about God and His Word and our obedience to it. We have to be able to withstand the consequences of that decision. But know this, it is a lie of the devil that it is a futile thing to serve God and obey His Word.  It is not. There are rewards and there are great consequences in not doing so.

Then God speaks to Moses that very day and says,

"Climb Mt. Nebo and view the Promised land from afar. Then die on that mountain and join your people, as Aaron did, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel." [emphasis mine]

This is Moses' last act of his 120 year old life. But once again Robert Jamieson reminds us thus about Moses:

"Notwithstanding so severe a disappointment, not a murmur of complaint escapes his lips. He is not only resigned but acquiescing; and in the near prospect of his death, he pours forth the feelings of his devout heart in sublime strains and eloquent blessings."

Matthew Henry says this:

"The remembrance of his sin might make death terrible, but the sight God gave him of Canaan took off the terror of it, as it was a token of God's being reconciled to him, and a plain indication to him that though his sin shut him out of the earthly Canaan, yet it should not deprive him of that better country which in this world can only be seen, and that with an eye of faith. Note, Those may die with comfort and ease whenever God calls for them (notwithstanding the sins they remember against themselves) who have a believing prospect and a well-grounded hope of eternal life beyond death."

Here's what we need to ask ourselves.

1. Are we "breaking faith" with God? Are we disobeying Him? That is a sin that will count against us here and now as it did for Moses, although it will not ultimately cause us to lose our salvation.

2. Are we somehow "not treating God as Holy"? Are we not trusting His Word and obeying it? Are we doubting Him? 

3. Finally, are we doing these things in the presence of others? Are we bad role models for our families, our friends, our Christian brothers and sisters? God says He doesn't appreciate that.

These are crucial questions we must ask ourselves. And if we don't like the answers, we must do something about them. My prayer for you and for me, if we realize our sin and repent and stay the course like Moses, is that God would treat us as well as He did Moses. May it be so.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

 

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"Obedience leads to true freedom. . . ." captures the essence of this Old Testament passage.

Leviticus 26:1-13 Basic Requirements, Conditions, and Results of Obedience

Day 28. Celebrating (not sure that’s the right word) 4 weeks of self-isolation, the first two of which were mandatory self-quarantine. Today I had the privilege of teaching the first day of a three-day on-line class to Human Resources personnel in Canada and the U.S. So, my socializing was via Zoom. It was a welcomed relief. My study in Leviticus continues even if later in the day. The stress of family and friends beyond our immediate household continues due to the isolation, the loss of work, etc. But God is still there and He upholds us. Thanks for joining me today and read on.

I do not often quote leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I thought this quote of James E. Faust, a famous Mormon religious leader, lawyer, and politician, well reflected the contents of our passage today:

"Obedience leads to true freedom. The more we obey revealed truth,

the more we become liberated."

The Passage

26 ‘You shall not make for yourselves ^[a]idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down ^[b]to it; for I am the Lord your God. ² You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord. ³ If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, ⁴ then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. ⁵ Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your ^[c]food to the full and live securely in your land. ⁶ I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. ⁷ But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; ⁸ five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. ⁹ So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. ¹⁰ You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new. ¹¹ Moreover, I will make My ^[d]dwelling among you, and My soul will not ^[e]reject you. ¹² I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

Footnotes:

1. Leviticus 26:1 Or graven images
2. Leviticus 26:1 Lit over
3. Leviticus 26:5 Lit bread
4. Leviticus 26:11 Or tabernacle
5. Leviticus 26:11 Lit abhor

Thoughts on the Passage

David Guzik says that as a literary form, “this chapter is similar to ancient treaties between a king and his people; this is God the King, making a covenant with His people, Israel.

Idols or inanimate objects (pillars, stone, etc.) are out. Robert Jamieson says this about these pillars of stone:

[A pillar of stone] is, an obelisk, inscribed with hieroglyphical and superstitious characters; the former denoting the common and smaller pillars of the Syrians or Canaanites; the latter, pointing to the large and elaborate obelisks which the Egyptians worshipped as guardian divinities, or used as stones of adoration to stimulate religious worship. The Israelites were [urged and warned] to beware of them.

You don’t bow down to anything. You keep the Sabbath and reverence the Sanctuary of God. You walk in His statutes and keep His commandments.  That’s the input.

Here’s the outputs: In verse 4, God promises enough rain to yield corps and fruits. And these will be so good that your whole year will be taken up with the associated activities (verse 5). He also promises that we will have sufficient food and live securely in our land.

In verse 6, God promises peace – the kind of peace that allows us to sleep at night. [Unlike the sleep people had during WWI and WWII – being awakened by sirens when the bombing was about to start.] But not only peace from human enemies, but also peace from wild beasts.

In fact, God says (in verses 7 and 8) that the Israelites, His people, will be able to chase our enemies and conquer them, even if they outnumber us twenty to one, or 100 to one.

But better still, God says (verse 9), He will turn towards the Israelites and make them fruitful with offspring and confirm His covenant with them.

Verse 10 is an interesting verse which states that the Israelites will “eat the old supply and clear it out” because He will keep giving them a new supply. Jamieson puts it another way when he says the Israelites will have so much grain that they won’t be able to exhaust it before the next year’s crop is ready to store – so they’ll have to throw some out. That’s bountiful supply.

And then it gets better in verse 11. God will dwell among them and I love, His “soul will reject” them. Wow. Can you imagine that kind of assurance? That kind of promise? A promise that He will walk with them and be their God and they His people. What more could anyone with any amount of smarts would want?

And why would He do all this if they keep His commandments? Simple: Because He is the Lord their God Who brought them out of slavery, freed them, and broke their chains so they would never be slaves again, but instead they could walk “erect” like free men. You have to love that kind of God. Guzik says this about the verse:

This final blessing speaks of freedom and dignity. This passage almost feels like the New Testament, God proclaims the liberty of His people and then invites them to walk in it.

Chuck Smith points out the things that God promised the Israelites here are the very things men are looking for today – security and peace and growth. Jesus says we can have all these things but not if we seek them, but only if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

Matthew Henry points out that in His promises, God covers all of man’s basic needs in one or another. This is amazing. God knows the man He has created and knows our needs. And His promises take care of all we need. From physical protection, to food, to family growth, and to respect or dignity.

And amazingly, even though this chapter is in the Old Testament, the same promises have been applied to God’s children today – through His Son, Jesus Christ.  What a passage this is.  Do the five things God wants us to do, and God will the myriad of things He promises. In business we would call this a “no-brainer”.  But yet so many miss out of the deal of eternity.

So just remember as you wait out this Covid-19 storm, as a Child of His, you are well taken care of. Throw the worry away. Throw the fear away. Today I saw this image on social media and I think it fits well here.

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Fear survives at the expense of Faith in God. Increase your Faith in God as your Provider of all your needs and reclaim your lost peace that your fear has stolen. 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

When Defense of One Makes All Suspect

The Defender of the Faith

Author: Prakash Lothe

Publisher: Archway Publishing, Bloomington, Indiana, 2019

Full disclosure: I was duped. I honestly thought this book was non-fiction when I agreed to review it. Instead, I found myself engaged in a story that not only kept me interested in knowing how it would end but also learning a lot of history with respect to India, Hinduism, and Pakistan – all substantially verified when I did my checking with historical accounts. Prakash Lothe, a winner of the Best Marathi Novel Award of 2017 (presented by the government of Maharashtra, India), has done an excellent job of engaging his readers throughout the book, and giving, me at least, a surprise ending that I never expected. More about that later.

The plotline comes, to a certain extent, from the author’s own family experiences. The main character of the story, the Defender, was based on his grandfather. The hero of the story is based on his own father. The author himself is worked into the storyline as the astute son of the hero. All this in an early twentieth century India, under the rule of the British.

Lothe has much to teach us. We learn how the caste system actually plays out in everyday Indian life. We see how some traditions of the Brahmins literally left some women, especially widows, marked for life. We see the full extent of the wider family’s responsibility in the welfare of other members. Poverty seems to impact so many aspects of life. It determines the degree to which one lacks a proper diet, accommodations, mode of transport, education, medical care, and a career.

There are other well taught lessons that are more universal in their application.  These deal with the inter-relationship of a stepparent, parent, and child, as well as parental and sibling in-laws. As is to be expected, the root cause is ‘money’ and its manifestation as such is magnified where poverty is prevalent.

Having black sheep in the family, hiding the truth and/or bad news from one’s elders allegedly for their own good, and the typical disagreements between parent and child (primarily father and son) with respect to tradition, national politics, and ideologies – all are front and center throughout the book. Also major as a theme is the treatment of women in two different societies. 

The most predominant thread, however, is clearly woven as both a personal and societal drama between the ideologies of two different religions – Hinduism and Christianity, with Islam playing a supporting role. The hero battles the self-induced urge to abandon the faith of his father, the “Defender”, and convert to the religion of his own heroes. The outcome is not what you would expect, but I won’t spoil it for you here.

That said, the book is recommended for those who care about the plight of others. In it, one will find much to identify with and much to pause and consider with respect to how he/she relates to the issues involved.

p.s. Readers may find this account from Wikipedia of interest: “The title "Defender of the Faith" reflects the Sovereign's position as the supreme governor of the Church of England, who is thus formally superior to the archbishop of Canterbury. The original Latin phrase Fidei Defensor is represented on all current British coins by the abbreviations, F D or FID DEF.”  Lothe, has applied this title to the title character of his book, with the faith being Hinduism. 

n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, December 26, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

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Want My Vote? Camouflage Your Faith.

According to a recent Angus Reid Institute poll as reported in the National Post, voters don't want their politicians to have personal religious beliefs -- at least that's my take from their findings.  But let's look closer.

The poll was conducted one month after the recent Canadian federal election and focused on the leader of the Conservatives, Andrew Scheer, who lost to Liberal Justin Trudeau even though many thought Pierre's son had screwed up so badly that there was no way he could win.  But win he did.

Among those polled who knew Scheer was Catholic, 51% said his religious beliefs had a negative impact on their view of him.  But did all 51% translate that into voting for his opponent?  We don't know. It is true that the two key issues were his positions on same-sex marriage and abortion rights.  It is also true that Trudeau and the Liberals emphasized that more than anything they had to offer.

It's also possible that Scheer had a non-positive (or at the very least a non-exciting) image to begin with. He certainly wasn't prepared to take on those who would argue his faith was the problem.

Interestingly, the poll found that 67% of Canadians knew about the deep religious beliefs of both Scheer the Conservative and NDP (New Democratic Party) leader Jagmeet Singh, a devoted Sikh. But they treated them differently.  While 51% counted it against Scheer, only 24% counted it against Singh.  Why?  Maybe it wasn't the person after all, but rather the specific faith that made a difference.  These days, if it looks, swims, and quacks like a Christian, it must be a Christian -- and it's unacceptable to have a Christian behaving like a Christian in government, especially in the ruling party.  However, if the leader can camouflage his/her Christianity, say like Justin Trudeau does, then only 31% would even know about his Catholic faith (same faith as Scheer's) and only 36% deemed it as a negative impact on their views towards him.

And of course, the liberal, left-leaning, media does not help a candidate like Scheer.  They continuously pelt questions at him about his stand on the two issues mentioned above knowing his responses would likely cause more voters to move away from him.  And this goes on even while 55% of Canadians believe that questions about a person's faith or religion should be "off-limits" during election campaigns (and only 45% say it should not).  But since when does the media today listen to the majority when it doesn't suit their agenda?

The fact Scheer promised he would never allow legislation that would change the status quo of the federal government's position on the issues did not matter.  I mean after all how can you trust a politician when he won't stick by his own ethical and religious beliefs?  [An excellent question by the way.]. And the poll actually bears that out -- 32% believe a politician who makes those kind of promises, but 41% doubt its truth, and 27% say there's no way they'd keep their word.

And we can argue all we want that having faith as a guiding light is much more than having a position on same-sex marriage or abortion and that politicians with faith are much better for society than those without -- it doesn't matter because these days it's all about those two issues and those two issues almost exclusively.

In fact, among Liberal and NDP supporters, over 80% said that a candidate's views on those two issues had a strong impact on their vote.  For Conservatives, it was only 46%.

Angus Reid polls also provide an index on "public faith" for Canadians -- the degree to which those polled believe that having, knowing, and sharing faith and its importance in society.  Currently 36% are for it; 30% are uncertain; and about 35% dead against it.  That's the election mentality field in which anyone tries to win an election.

Nevertheless, the fact remains -- faith worn on your sleeve is not a vote-getter these days.  How then shall the Christian run for office, or should he?

First, I believe we need more Christians in office, not fewer.  But Christians running for office must realize that winning is not the be all purpose of their life.  God can use your run for office to open other doors and touch the lives of individuals and groups in new ways.

Second, as a body of believers, the Church of Christ must realize that while God is fully aware of who wins and who loses in elections and who forms the governments of the world, He does not need the political playing field to conquer sin and set up His Kingdom.

Third, and most importantly, if God has given us strong convictions about the various issues causing division in our society today, we should stick with those convictions, being very careful to demonstrate total love towards those that disagree with us.  We have not done that well as Christians to this point. If we are to make a difference, we need to.

Fourth, our votes should go to people who have faith and are willing to tell their voters that their faith will indeed guide their actions and decisions.  And let's leave the results to God.

-- Ken Godevenos, writing from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

p.s. please tell me what you think by leaving a comment below.  And also if you haven't already, please subscribe to the blog on the right so you won't miss a single issue.  And feel free to pass this one long.

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No, You Can't Do It ALL.

Catching Faith 2: The Homecoming (2019)

Directed by:John K.D. Graham  Produced by: RLJE Films

Official Website: http://www.catchingfaith.com

No, You Can’t Do It All

Here’s a film you can watch with the whole family. And you can stop it just about anywhere and commence a discussion that is bound to be beneficial to all participating. It’s the story of a family, more specifically Alexa -- a mother, wife, daughter -- who is struggling to “do it all” on her own.  As is true for many of us, while thinking she is a ‘superstar’, she starts failing miserably.

The film is a sequel and stars many of its original (2015) cast including 

Lorena Segura York (Hollywood Heights), Bill Engvall (“The Bill Engvall Show”, “Last

Man Standing”) and Garrett Westton (Buried Secrets). The lead cast does its job, but you won’t be seeing some of the supporting actors on the big screen just yet.

Promotional material claims the plot is about a family trying desperately to keep their faith afloat, but as I watched it, I could only see this, and that unexpressed, in the life of Alexa.  And even there, references to her faith were basically depicted only when she met with her girlfriends for support and the group’s leader kept taking them back to scripture for answers to life’s troubles.  While the other characters were faced with personal challenges, there was no indication that it was a spiritual battle for any of them. Some viewers might even take objection to the women’s Bible study footage. The scenes lacked credibility.

However, the production did have many redeeming features and well worth the 95 minutes it requires to watch it.  These ‘pros’ can be summarized nicely by saying the film covers areas that many of us face or have loved ones that do. We all know of someone dealing with an aged parent that makes life difficult.  Losing one’s job, or worse still a career, is something that many people experience. Having disappointed children is an experience many parents live with. Injuries are always a setback. And sooner or later many of us have to deal with the planning of a wedding – either our own or that of a child. A potential or actual in-law who doesn’t know her (his) place can test the patience of any woman (or man, for that matter).

The film, through its main character, Alexa, requires us to stop and think of others as we pursue our goals and desires, or as we try to prove we are self-sufficient. It helps us realize we are not. It forces us to realize our actions have a significant impact on those we love very much.

Catching Faith 2does an excellent job of addressing the topic of older women returning to today’s workforce after taking several years off, perhaps to raise children. That aspect of the film deserves a miniature Oscar.

The world needs productions like this that we can watch and discuss with all our family-members. And it’s a bonus when such a film makes us laugh (Alexa’s aged mother gets into some real pickles).

The movie is Available on DVD, On Demand, and Digital HD from September 3^rd, 2019. 

FREE DRAW: FOR THOSE LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES, WE ARE RUNNING A DRAW -- POST A COMMENT BELOW WITH YOUR NAME, AN EMAIL WHERE YOU CAN BE REACHED, AND A MAILING ADDRESS.  WE'LL DRAW ONE NAME AND THE WINNER WILL BE SENT A FREE DVD VERSION OF THE FILM BY RLJE FILMS.  ENDS September 10th, 2019.

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n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, August 31, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

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