One

God has an interesting thing He likes to do. From the beginning of time God has made a unity from a plurality. In the Garden of Eden He joined Adam and Eve together in holy matrimony, saying, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).” Through biblical marriage (“a man…his wife”) two individuals become. There was still Adam and there was still Eve, but they were one.

That isn’t possible. How can they be separate, yet still be one? This is something only God can do. In fact, He leads by example. Notice how the same word onecomes up as God describes Himself: “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4)!” The word one is the same Hebrew word in both passages. God or Elohim,is plural (literally “the Gods”). We know He is plural because He is Father, Son, and Spirit, and yet He is one God. This is another unity of plurality. He can be three distinct individuals, and yet be one God. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit who died on the cross, it was Jesus; it isn’t Jesus that seals the believer’s heart, it is the Holy Spirit—but both are a work of God. They are unique, and yet they are one. 

God leads by example in uniting that which is plural, and He does something similar when He unites us in marriage. There is still another way that He does this, and that is in bringing Christians all over the world into one body. In Ephesians 4 Paul uses that word one seven times in verses two through five, and he uses the word all three times in verse five. Speaking to “you all,” he says, “There is one body.” As part of the collective Bride of Christ, believers around the globe comprise one large body, and each local church is also composed of many members, and yet is one. This is what Paul is talking about when he said, “For as the [human] body is one and has many members…so also is Christ…For in fact the body (church) is not one member, but many (I Corinthians 12:12-14).”  

Part of the way we are created in the image of God is in the unity of plurality. If you are in a biblical marriage, God has turned two into one; and as part of the true church, God has made many into one. Your marriage can only work if you are willing to be part of something bigger than yourself, and the same is true of church. Your local church body is counting on you to be faithful and use your spiritual gifts, so don’t let them down. If you aren’t involved in a local body, you need to be. Until then, you are an individual, and God wants to unite you into His plural family. 

Don't Make Me Come Back There!

In honor of Father’s Day, I have been thinking about some of those classic lines our fathers said to us over the years. When riding in the car, how many of us heard our fathers ask, “Do I need to pull this car over?” Maybe you and your siblings were arguing, and he would threaten, “Don’t make me come back there!” Dads don’t have to say what they are going to do when they pull the car over or when they come back there; it is understood. If he pulls over, punishment will soon follow. 

God, the Righteous Father, gave similar threats to His people. Most notably through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings 23:2, KJV).” Through Moses God promised to “visit the iniquity” of those who hated Him (Exodus 34:6-7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:8-10).  When God promises to come for a visit, He isn’t coming for dessert and coffee. He doesn’t need to describe exactly what will happen when He comes; it is understood. When God comes to visit people because of their iniquity, punishment will soon follow. 

Yes, God is a God who is rich in mercy and slow to wrath, but there is a time for everything, and that includes discipline and judgment. Just like a good Father, God first warns His children of the consequences of their rebellion, so they cannot be caught off guard when God “comes back there.” We have been warned, so the ball is in our court. If we do not want God to come to us in discipline, then we simply need to live in accordance with His instructions for us. 

The good news is that God’s corrective action is to make us better people, not to simply inflict pain or suffering. The hardships He may bring into our lives are meant to get our attention, to steer us back into right living. When we repent, God relents. When we stop doing whatever caused Him to visit us in discipline, the discipline subsides. 

Not every visit from God is for judgment. In Revelation 3:20 God says He stands at the door and knocks, and if anyone lets Him in He will come in and dine with them. This kind of visit is a warm one between friends. Jesus wants to have a relationship with us, so if we let Him in now, He won’t have to come in judgment later. 

Trees in the Bible

We put up our Christmas tree a few days ago, which is still one of my favorite traditions (getting on the ladder to hang outside lights, not so much). After thinking about chestnuts roasting on an open fire I got to thinking about trees, and ultimately about trees in the Bible. Did you know there is a theme that runs throughout the pages of Scripture?

From the earliest pages we see Adam and Eve get into trouble because of a tree. They had free reign to eat from any of the multitudes of fruit-bearing trees, but there was a single exception: the tree of knowledge of good and evil was off limits. Once they listened to the serpent and disobeyed God they were evicted from the garden that served as their home. Because they ate of the forbidden tree, they were barred from eating of the tree of life. The tree of life gave them immortality, and if they ate that in their sinful state, there would have been no hope of being forgiven and resurrected to a better life in eternity.

Adam and Eve’s sin meant that something had to be done to destroy the curse. Jesus reversed the curse when He hung on a tree at Calvary. As Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’” Paul was able to say, “It is written” because he was quoting Deuteronomy 21:23. Jesus, who never sinned, became a curse by bearing our sin in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24) so that we can be forgiven of the sin nature we were born into.

It all comes full circle when we realize we will eat from the tree of life in heaven; Revelation 22:2 tells us the tree of life will be present in the New Jerusalem, and each month it will produce a new fruit that will bring healing to the nations. We missed the opportunity to eat from the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, but if we have been forgiven by our Savior on the tree, then one day we will get to eat from the tree of life in the New Jerusalem.

When you look at your Christmas tree this year, let it be a reminder to you of the tree of life from which we will one day eat, and know it is only possible because of the tree that Jesus once hung upon.   

Deuteronomy as Covenant

Some may wonder about the book of Deuteronomy’s placement in the canon of Scripture, as the bulk of the material is a recap of things that occurred in Exodus-Numbers. But research is continuing to shed more light on the purpose of this fifth book of the Pentateuch. I believe there are two very important ways to understand the importance of this book. First, Deuteronomy was written to the younger generation of Israel that was allowed to enter the Promised Land; Moses’ words are what they needed to remember before they crossed the Jordan. Second, Deuteronomy is covenant literature.

We have to understand the Ancient Near Eastern concept of the suzerain (“upper-sovereign”), or the person who had authority over another people group (called vassals). The suzerain would enter into a covenant with the vassal state by having a representative agree to the terms of the covenant, and then explain those terms to the people. Yahweh was establishing Himself as the suzerain, and Moses was the vassal representative, receiving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, and relaying the information to the people. Israel, the vassal state, agreed to enter into the covenant by responding, “All that Yahweh says, we will do (Exodus 24:3)!”

As several ancient Hittite treaties have been unearthed, Bible scholars have noticed that Deuteronomy exactly matches much of the language as well the outline of these treaties. They would begin with a preamble, or an introduction to the main text; Deuteronomy 1:1-5 certainly does that. Next is the historical prologue, which recounts the past relationship between the parties; Deuteronomy 1:6-4:49 recounts God’s dealings with Israel from Egypt to the edge of the Promised Land. The third element of the treaty is the general and specific stipulations, which Deuteronomy contains in 5:1-11:32 and 12:1-26:19. Next are the blessings and curses for obedience or lack thereof, which are found in 27:1-28:68; finally, there are the witnesses who hear and agree to the terms, which Israel does in chapters 30-32.

Deuteronomy, which means “second law,” is not a new set of laws, but a reiteration of the Mosaic Covenant. Before the new generation of Hebrews could enter the Promised Land and posses it, God required them to agree to His terms, just as their parents had done forty years earlier. Every new generation must choose to follow God, for we cannot trust in the relationship between God and our parents; it must be something to which we agree. Let us understand that Jesus is Lord, our suzerain, who we should trust and live our lives for. With Israel at Mt. Sinai let us say, “All that Yahweh says, we will do!”

Garden You Didn't Grow

Last year I added green onions to my garden for the first time. While it wasn’t exactly a bumper crop, I did get a few decent onions. This year, however, I didn’t plant any onions. That’s why I was quite surprised to find the onion, pictured above, growing in my yard this year. The onion is easily three feet high and puts off a great onion aroma.

I couldn’t help but think about how God blesses us by sending the rain and giving food from the ground. More often than not we have to do our share of work, toiling by the sweat of the brow. But at the end of the day it is the Lord who gives the increase.

In Deuteronomy 6 Yahweh told Moses that eventually Israel would enter the Promised Land, and when they did, they would live in cities they did not build and houses filled with goods that they didn’t put in them. They would also drink water from wells they didn’t dig, and eat from vineyards they didn’t plant. Those markers would be the sign of God keeping His covenant obligations.

But there was a warning: don’t forget the God who blesses you. We are prone to do the same thing today. Most of us enjoy freedom that we didn’t fight for, benefit from infrastructure that we didn’t build, and eat food that we didn’t sweat for. God is the progenitor of those blessings, and we need to be thankful for all He gives us.

Let a three-foot onion serve as a reminder that God sends blessings that we do not deserve.

Perfect God

It is good to strive for perfection.

No matter what we are trying to do, anything less than perfect leaves room for improvement. Whether you are playing a sport, working on your GPA, or busy about some occupation, perfection should be a goal.

But please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that we are failures if we don’t become perfect, because the truth is that we will never become perfect. We might have a perfect game, get a perfect test score, or have a perfect day in the office, but we will never be perfectly perfect every day.

But an inability to become perfect does not mean that we lower our standards. Does your boss not want you to strive for perfection? And your teacher? And your coach?

In heaven we will be perfect, but until then we can only make perfection a goal. As imperfect people we should still strive to live as if perfection were achievable rather than throwing in the towel and saying, “What’s the use?”

The only exception to the reality of imperfection is our perfect God. Moses was so moved by the knowledge of God’s perfection that he burst into song in Deuteronomy 32. Listen to how Moses described God:

"The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He. (v.4)”

Isn’t it refreshing to know that we serve a perfect God—a God who is just and upright, who is faithful and without sin? Moses sure thought so.

In a world that is used to being let down and disappointed, Christians should shine like stars in the sky, beaming with radiance that comes from a perfect God. He never breaks a promise, always forgives sin, and will do what is right.

Praise God for His perfection!