Dev: Dec 10/11 - Genesis 49:10

¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

Genesis 49

The Lion of Judah!

Have you ever heard Jesus being called that?

It comes from Revelation 5:5. Throughout Revelation, Jesus is called "the Lamb" -- a term ripe with prophetic symbolism. The love of God is shown to us as the mighty creator of the universe humbled himself to be our sacrificial lamb. (See the Passover story as just one prophetic link to the role of the Lamb being the God-ordained link to freedom for his people.)

The lion image for Jesus is obvious for another reason. The lion is king of the beasts, and Jesus is our mighty, reigning, ruling champion who fights for us!

But why the term Judah?

Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. The first ten sons were in the line of Leah -- the wife Jacob was tricked into marrying. Judah was fourth in this line. The finally two sons -- Joseph and Benjamin -- were born to Rebecca, Jacob's beloved. 

God, of course, would use Joseph, who rose to power in Egypt, to rescue Israel from famine. But the way that Joseph got to Egypt was because his ten brothers (Leah's sons) sold him into slavery. 

You know the story right. Jacob let everyone know that Joseph was his favorite. He gave him, for example, "the technicolor dream coat." This sparked the initial sparks of jealousy. Joseph then fanned these sparks into flames by telling his brother's that God said that they would all be bowing down to him. 

The brothers didn't like it. 

They plotted to kill Joseph. 

They grabbed him. Threw him in a pit. And they were moments from murder when Judah interceded. It probably wasn't love for his brother that caused Judah to stop the execution. There was apparently no love-loss among any of them. It was rather for the sake of his father. (Judah couldn't commit the ultimate betrayal.) So Judah talked the brothers into a less violent solution for getting rid of Joseph. They "disappeared him" by selling him into slavery to a nearby caravan, heading to Egypt. 

I don't know if it ever specifically says in scripture that the line of Judah was "rewarded" for Judah's action. (After all, he was still a bitter accomplice in selling his little brother into slavery.) Nevertheless, anything we consciously do to guard our father's heart (or our Father's heart) is never in vain. Indeed, just a few verses after today's verse (50:20), Joseph adds the spiritual postscript to what was once betrayal, saying, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Anyway, at the end of Genesis, God adds another post-script ... and a prophetic foretelling. In our verse for today, the Lord points toward the eternal kingdom, saying, "The scepter will not depart from Judah ... until he to whom it belongs shall come." The "he to whom it belongs" was the coming Messiah -- Jesus the Christ -- "and the obedience of the nations shall be his."

In Christ's Love,

a former big brother

who surely thought about

selling his little brothers

Into slavery on more

than one occasion

(Most days, I was more

of a lion than a lamb.

I'm surprised my brothers

still like me)

Dev: Dec 8 - Isaiah 9:4,6

⁴ For the yoke of their burden,

the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken …

⁶ For a child has been

born for us …

Isaiah 9

 

In yesterday’s look at Isaiah 9, we breezed passed an important word. Today, I want to slow us down and consider one important word: “Yoke.”

 

What does this prophecy in today’s passage tell us about the coming Messiah? It prophesies that Jesus, the Christ Child, has come to “br[eak] the yoke of [our] burden.”

 

Well, do you know what a yoke is?

 

A yoke is what connects one ox to another.

 

Now, these two oxen are slaves, pulling a heavy load, side-by-side. And scripture tells us that we are all – eventually and inevitably – going to yoke ourselves to something.

 

·         If we yoke ourselves to the world, we’ll be slaves to the world and get worldly results.

·         If we yoke ourselves to darkness, we’ll be slaves to oppression and despair.

·         If we deceive ourselves and pretend that this yoking is not real, we’ll be like the fool that Proverbs constantly warns us about. We may eat, drink, and be merry, but inevitably, disappointment, hurt, meaningless, sickness, and death will catch up with us.

 

That’s one alternative.

 

Here’s the other: Jesus says, “Come to me all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” ^{Matt 11:28-30}

 

Yes, we can willingly submit ourselves to Christ – who helps carry our load for us – or … we will be submitted to the burdens of this world. (Guess which is the better option!)

 

The Apostles described being yoked to the world like this: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” ^{Titus 3:3}

 

I say it again: That’s one option.

 

Do you want to know the other option?!

 

·         It’s to willingly become a slave of Jesus Christ!

·         It’s taking the yoke of Jesus upon ourselves – willingly – and letting him pull for you and with you.

 

With great irony and wondrous faith, the Apostles Paul and Timothy counted submission to Christ as the most freeing thing in all creation. Indeed, as they begin their letter to the Church in Philippi, listen to how they describe their relationship to Jesus: “[This letter is] from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. To all those in Philippi who are God’s people in Christ Jesus.” ^{Phil 1:1}

 

Jesus wants to break the yoke of your burdens. That’s why he – the Messiah – came to this world. And he says, indeed,

 

“Come to me

all who are weary and

carrying heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you,

and learn from me;

for I am gentle and

humble in heart,

and you will find

rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy,

and my burden is light.”

^{Matt 11:28-30}

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s figured out

what to get himself

for Christmas

(I’m not going clothes shopping.

I’m going yoke shopping.

It’ll be my style statement

for the New Year!)

 

Dev: Dec 7 - Isaiah 9:2-6

² The people who

walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land

of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
⁴ For the yoke of their burden,

the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken …

⁶ For a child has been

born for us …

Isaiah 9

 

For the last several days, we’ve been looking at the prophecies in Isaiah 9.

 

In the passage above – and to set this in context – I left in verse 6, which is the wonderful, Christmas prophecy of “a child [being] born for us.”

 

But look at the rest of this prophecy. What is it saying to us? What is it proclaiming 700 years before Jesus the Messiah was born?

 

First, humanity is walking in darkness. Why? Because of sin. Because of sin there’s anger, greed, violence, persecution, and division. Because of sin there’s also death.

 

We hear rumors that “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all” ^{1 John 1:5} But we don’t always see much light. (Because of sin!) But with the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, the light of the world is stepping down into darkness. ^{As the familiar song sings}

 

The prophet describes what would one day happen like this: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light … on them light has shined.” Well, when “what would happen” did happen, John in his Gospel described the coming of the Messiah like this: “What has come into being ⁴ in him [in Jesus the Messiah] was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” ^{John 1:4-5}

 

Seven hundred years before the coming of Jesus the Messiah, God prophesied that it would be light. And John the Evangelist testified that it was light.

 

But Jesus’ coming was more than just mere illumination; it was the kind of light that conquered darkness.

 

Think of it like this: You have a closet in your house. When you open the door, does light from the bright family room spill into the dark closet … or does the dark closet spill out and conquer the bright room? Light conquers darkness! The dark closet is illumined. And with the coming of Christ, his light conquered the darkness of this world.

 

And conquered is the proper word. It’s a battle metaphor. And we’ll never understand what’s going on in this world until we understand that this world is a war zone and we’re not hopeful or free until the “rod of [our] oppressor” is broken.

 

That’s what Jesus came to do. He came to do battle. He fought with his blood to break the cruel oppressor’s rod. ^{A line from A Mighty Fortress} He is the Light of the World, continually conquering the darkness that seeks to swallow us.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who decorated

two Christmas trees

this holiday season

… and both times

I had to stop halfway

and go buy more lights.

(Celebrating the

Light of the World

takes a lot of lights!)

 

Dev: Dec 6 - Isaiah 9:6

⁶ For a child

has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests

upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

John 9:6

 

I can’t hear this passage and not hum the Hallelujah Chorus in my head!

 

I hope that’s true for you too!

 

Therefore, with the strains of Handel’s majestic masterpiece lifting our praise, what does this passage foretell about the Messiah?

 

·         First, he was come as a “child.” Indeed, Mary, we are told, “brought forth her first born child and laid him in a manger.”

 

·         Second, the one who will be “born” will be “for us.” Most of us live for ourselves. The Messiah will live for others. Indeed, he lives “for us” – for you and for me and, indeed, for “all people,” as the angels proclaimed on the holy night when the Christ child was born.

 

·         Third, this “son” has been “given” “to us.” “For God so loved the world,” says John 3:16, “that he gave his one and only Son.”

 

·         Fourth, what does it mean “authority rests upon his shoulders.” Wait … upon whose shoulders? On his shoulders even when he was a child. What does that mean? It means eternal and sovereign authority was part of his innate being. It’s not based on anything he did – yet (he’s just a babe) – it’s based on who He is! (Which leads to the next point …)

 

·         Read the titles of the coming Messiah in this passage. This is Trinitarian! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God. They are three, yet one. They are coequal and yet distinct. They’ve existed together eternally (in fact, you can’t call God “love” if he didn’t have anyone to love. Thus, love existed within and defines the bonds of the Trinity.

 

It’s easy to see in this passage that “God” is the Father and Jesus (the coming Messiah) is the Son. It’s easy to envision that the Father is the King, and the Son is the Prince (Prince of Peace). But where is the Spirit?

 

When Jesus is called the Wonderful Counselor, this points forward to Jesus’ final teaching to his disciples before his arrest. In John 14:16, the Son says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever.” Depending on how you translate that Greek word, parakletos), the Holy Spirit – as a primary role – is the Counselor, the Comforter, the Helper, the Advocate.

 

We like to assign a role to each person of the Trinity. That’s the way our simple minds work. We’re most comfortable when we can put the right peg in the right hole. Thus we say, God the Father is the Creator, Jesus the Son is the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier. Three pegs. Three holes. Right?!

 

But with God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the roles are fluid.

 

Yes, the Father is the Creator … but Son and Spirit were part of creating too!

 

Yes, the Son redeems … but Father and Spirit are redeeming too!

 

Yes, the Spirit sanctifies … but Father and Son make us holy too!

 

Yes, Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor of Isaiah 9 and Handel’s Messiah … but the Holy Spirit is “another comforting Counselor” too!

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s singing,

“Hallelujah!

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah, hallelujah,

Hal - le - - lu - jah!”

 

 

 

Dev: Dec 5 - Isaiah 9:7

⁷ Of the greatness of his

government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9

 

“If you are to win this beauty pageant crown,” goes the standard old question, “what is your goal?”

 

“World peace,” says the beautiful young lady.

 

And that’s the standard – clichéd – beauty pageant answer, right?

 

So much so that the Sandra Bullock movie, “Miss Congeniality,” spoofed this cliché perfectly. In the movie, a police woman goes undercover at a beauty pageant. In the question and answer portion of the gala, contestant after contestant answers this question, saying, “World peace.” “World peace.” “World peace.”

 

So the judges ask Gracie, “What is the one most important thing our society needs?” The police woman answers, “Harsher punishment for parole violators.”

 

The crowd is shocked. An awkward, stunned silence falls over the pageant hall.

 

Gracie then cracks an awkward smile and says, “and … world peace.” And the crowd erupts in cheers.

 

We all desire world peace, right? And that’s what Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was supposed to bring, right? I mean, it says it our lesson for today. The one who “reign[s] on David’s throne … forever” will be “establishing and upholding [his Kingdom] with justice and righteousness” and “of … his … peace there will be no end.”

 

Peace! Isn’t that what the Prince of Peace is supposed to bring? (I mean, isn’t that bold and beautiful word on half the Christmas cards arriving in the mail this mean?) “Peace on earth. Good will toward men.”

 

So … here’s the question: How come there isn’t peace on earth?!

 

I mean, Jesus came 2000 years ago, and most of the time it seems like things aren’t getting any better all. As the 20^th Century rolled around, didn’t the world believe that we were evolving into a wise and progressive, peaceful and harmonious utopia? And yet wasn’t the 20^th century filled instead with more bloodshed than almost all the other centuries combined? There were too world wars. Fire bombing and atomic bombs. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao exterminated up to 150 million of their own people. Where’s the promised peace?

 

No wonder so many grew disillusioned with the Prince of Peace.

 

And yet, was that the peace that Jesus came to bring?

 

If we want to understand true peace, we need to ask why there is not peace on earth and harmony even in many families. Why? Because of sin. And as long as there’s sin, there’s going to be anger, hatred, division, violence, and war.

 

But didn’t the Prince of Peace conquer sin and death on the cross. Yes! Absolutely. But the peace he made upon the cross was between us and God. Now there was no longer the hopelessness of guilt and shame. Now there was forgiveness and grace. Now there was hope. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

 

But there’s still sin on this earth. And as long as there sin, there’s going to anger, hatred, violence, and no peace … unless and until people of goodwill start reflecting the light of Christ. People of goodwill – whether Christian or not – can lead with forgiveness and bless with grace.

 

Even people in other religions are impressed with the character of Jesus. He led with forgiveness. He blessed “the least of these” with grace. And that’s where earthly peace finally comes from. It comes one person at a time.

 

So … what truly adds wind to the sails of earthly peace? It’s people who have discover peace with God. They’re forgiven and so they forgive. They are love in spite of their foibles, so they love even their enemies.

 

·         Those who are in the family of this Prince don’t have to justify themselves … because we trust that God has already justified us.

·         We don’t have to pridefully or insecurely prove our worth … because God continually bestows upon us mercy and honor.

·         We won’t be cynical gadflies in ages of frustration …because our God infuses this world with meaning and purpose.

·         Those who know the Prince of Peace have their anger tempered and the fear soothed.

·         We’ll love others, rather than hate.

·         We’ll be generous, rather than selfish and greed.

·         We’ll be wise and winsome, rather than arrogant and foolish.

 

Sure, people can be generally nice without the Prince of Peace, but only because God created a standard of good that trumps survival-of-the-fittest and dog-eat-dog. Neither of those produces peace! That’s all we are without him. But because of him, we strive for the greater gifts.

 

That people hunger for peace really means they’re hungering for God – though they may never fully admit it. They are indeed hungering for something more glorious than a world of dog-eat-dog and sin. And we only fully find that in relationship with the Prince of Peace.

 

So … Mr. or Ms. Beauty Pageant Contestant, what do you want for this world?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who visualizes

whirled peas

(say that outloud

a few times

until you get it)

 

 

Dev: Dec 3-4 - 2 Samuel 7:12-13

The Lord promised King David …

¹² When your days are over and

you rest with your ancestors, I will

raise up your offspring to succeed you,

your own flesh and blood, and

I will establish his kingdom.

¹³ He is the one who will build a house

for my Name, and I will establish

the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 7

 

I was at a wedding recently, and I watched a young man and an old man meet.

 

As these two talked, it was fun to watch as they figured out that they shared the same unique profession. They both worked in companies that developed the technical equipment that makes heart transplants possible. One, now retired, was in the pioneering generation of this field. The other, now, is in the perfecting generation. But they know all the same people!

 

In the midst of this conversation, I heard the elder man tell of a famous friend who invented a piece of medical equipment. He said, “He sold it for $400 million … and he gave it all away to charity!”

 

“Wow!” said the young man. (Listening in, I said, “Wow,” too!)

 

“And then,” said the older statesman, “this fellow invented another piece of equipment, sold it for $1.2 billion, and gave all that away too!”

 

This time the response wasn’t just “Wow”; it was “Why?” too.

 

And somehow between us we realized that giving our children too much isn’t always wise. In stories like these, the first generation creates the wealth. The second often maintains the wealth. But the third generation is usually a mess! They’re often arrogant and entitled. (So perhaps, we concluded, this man was saving his grandkids!)

 

It’s funny. That was the pattern of King David. He “created the wealth.” He was the conquering king.

 

His son, Solomon, maintained it. He built the temple. (An obvious advancement!) Nevertheless, if you read the story of the rest of his life, he increasingly compromised his integrity. Soon noticeable cracks were forming in the foundation of the kingdom.

 

By the time the third generation came along, it was chaos and division. (How could there not be … with all of Solomon’s children from all his hundreds of wives!) By the time this third generation rolled around, the mighty kingdom was literally torn in two. Evilness and corruption soon defined an earthly kingdom that was once dedicated to God.

 

Now, why do I tell you this? Because God said to David, “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.”

 

Hmmm. If we stopped the telling of this story of David and his offspring here, then God was flat out wrong and prophecy was dead. Indeed, if we focus downward upon things of this earth, there appears to be no God, no power, no hope, and no light. It’s all just human chaos. And that would have been the epitaph of David’s kingdom. (And that could be the epitaph of our family tree, too. “They were successful, but their grandkids are a mess.”)

 

Fortunately, God wasn’t talking about a human kingdom! (Though you can easily understand why people would have thought that he was.)

 

No!

 

God was talking about “a house for [God’s own] Name.” He was talking about a spiritual rather than a physical kingdom. An eternal realm rather than a temporal principality. He was promising to “establish the throne of [the Messiah’s] kingdom forever.”

 

The billionaire who gave away his fortune was trusting God that there was a better future for his family without the trap of earthly riches. Are you trusting God that he has in store a Kingdom greater than any earthly kingdoms, riches, or priorities?

 

God was telling David to look up, because life for David’s line and lineage would come through a spiritual King, the eventual Messiah. Are you trusting God for that too? That life for you, your line, and your lineage come through the eternal King, Jesus the Messiah?

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’d love to

have a billion dollars …

so that I could have

the privilege of

giving it away!

 

Dev: Dec 2 - Micah 5:2

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small

among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,

from ancient times.”

Micah 5

When I was in high school, the greatest comedian of a generation came to Wilmington.

Bob Hope!

The whole coliseum was sold out.

 

The funny thing is, several decades later, I only remember one thing that he said. In the midst of a joke about small town hicks, Bob Hope mentioned the neighboring borough of Burgaw. Making fun of the country bumpkins just up our own country roads? Now that was funny!

My parents said afterward that Mr. Hope must have had a standard stable of jokes, and his team just helped him fill in a few local references. (And I thought about that. And, you know, what impressed me more than Bob Hope’s humor was this 85-year-old’s memory! He was like a trapeze artist who works without a net. He rattled off town history without any notes … all while standing in front of 20,000 people. And he nailed it!)

Now, here’s the funny thing about today’s prophecy: When the people heard the words of Micah, they must have thought that this prophet was his generation’s greatest comedian. “Yeah, right! The great and coming king will hail from that tiny, hick, back roads, borough of Bethlehem? That’s hilarious.”

Yet that’s what Bethlehem was. A little, hick town. Nothing grand could come from there, right? Well … not unless you’re God of surprises!

Our God constantly shatters earthly pretense. Sing the Magnificat – Mary’s song when she comprehended God’s gift to the world that would come through her. This poor young girl sang: He humbles the mighty. He lifts up the lowly.

Read any page of the Gospels! Our God continually weaves a story that no one could have predicted.

Indeed, no one would have predicted that that peasant girl, riding into Bethlehem on a lowly donkey, would have been part of God’s plan to change the world.

When you’re tired of laughing at the image of a poor teenager changing the world as she rode into the backwoods burg … then fall on your knees and worship! And when you lift your head from worshiping … pause long enough to laugh again!

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s more comfortable

in hick towns than mighty cities

(It’s easier to see the stars)