Tilling and Planting

Tag: Bible

  • Unanswered Questions

    Unanswered Questions

    Intro

    Have you ever asked God questions when life doesn’t make any sense? Or when things go off the rails? I know I have. Often the question is “Why God?” And how many of those questions has God answered? For me personally, it feels like many questions go unanswered. When it comes to questioning God, some say it’s not right while others say God is big enough to handle our questions. So before I dig into why God might leave questions unanswered, I want to address the question of should we question Him.

    Can I Question God?

    In a word, yes! You most certainly can. However, there is this small matter called intent that I need to address.

    Look throughout the Scriptures and you’ll find people who asked God questions all the time – and you’ll see a whole lot of them God left unanswered. For most people, God remained gentle and kind toward them in their questioning. In many of those cases (Abraham, Job, Moses, others), He reaffirmed who He was to them without directly answering their questions. And that was enough for them.

    However, there’s also those whom God rebuked (Israelites in the wilderness, Pharisees, Zechariah – New Testament). So what’s the difference? Why did God rebuke some and respond with love and compassion to others? It comes down to their heart. As God told Samuel, He “looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

    The Heart Question

    Those that God rebuked questioned God (or Jesus) as if they knew better. They actively resisted receiving Him with thanksgiving (Israelites), praise (all of them), and recognition even though they should have known better (Pharisees). And others questioned Him with doubt and bitterness (Zechariah). They had no faith in God and this became the genesis of their questions. Consequently their questions went largely unanswered. Instead the people got rebuked for their questioning. Honestly, getting the answers would not have changed their hearts. Thought at least in Zechariah’s case, the rebuke resulted in a heart change. Praise God that even those whom God Almighty rebukes can get a second chance.

    For those He didn’t rebuke, their questions came from places of honest doubt, confusion, and humility. They genuinely sought God and whether He answered their questions directly or not, they all chose to trust Him. And that’s the key. When we have questions, we need to be prepared to trust God no matter the answer – or lack thereof.

    Reasons

    Before I go on, I do want to address different types of reasons that could be the answer when we say “why”.

    The first type is because of a choice we make. Sometimes I think some Christians assume that they can make careless choices and not suffer the consequences. And then ask God “why” when they do. But God never once promises that we will not suffer the consequences of our choices. In fact, just the opposite. The Bible speaks about people dealing with the consequences of their choices all the time. Paul warns about it quite a bit in his letters. Going 20 over the speed limit? God is not obligated to blind all the police to your dangerous speeding. In fact, God might urge a cop to pull you over so you learn your lesson before you hurt someone or yourself.

    Secondly, if it wasn’t by your choice, maybe it was the choice of someone else. We live in a fallen world where people have free will. Why did that person die in a car crash? Because the other person made a choice to drive drunk. People resist God all the time and make choices that unfortunately hurt His followers.

    The third type would be the ones that are truly not from any choice anyone made. Such as cancer or other diseases and sickness. Why do these happen to godly people? The short version goes back to we live in a fallen world where that just happens to people. We can’t control it. Now to move on to answering the “Why do these things happen to godly people” question.

    Why do These Things Happen?

    Of the three types of reasons that I went over, the second two are the ones that are most relevant here I think. I don’t want to spend any more time on the first one since that one can be summed up as “I made a bad choice and suffered the consequences.” And hopefully I learned a lesson to never do something like that again.

    I didn’t do it

    The second two are a bit more complicated since I (or you) didn’t make any choices and something bad still happened to us. In those cases the question oftentimes comes from why didn’t God protect His children from either the choices of others or the fallen nature of the world. I think one answer can be found in how God’s sovereignty actually works – and is the topic that is often on trial for these things, along with God’s love, goodness, and justice. I address a lot of these in my posts on God’s Goodness and God’s Sovereignty.

    To summarize this position, God is good all the time and only does good things. He never uses evil to “get around to something good”. God chooses to limit Himself in a way by operating primarily through finite beings (us, angels). He wants us to exercise our free will and make the choices that will advance His Kingdom.

    Another possible answer to why some of these things happen can be found in the Bible in Romans and James.

    Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

    Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

    Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

    James 1:2-4 (NIV)

    I wish to reiterate that God will not bring the trials and sufferings upon us (though He will ask us to get outside our comfort zone at times, however that is very different from the trials and sufferings described here). However, when these things happen, God promises to be with us and to fashion in us a more Christ-like character and to work things out for the good. Jesus promised that we will have troubles in this world (John 16:33). After all, the world hated Him first (John 15:18-19).

    War

    And on top of that, Satan hates us Christians so much that he’s going to do what he can to derail us and make us ineffective and turn away from God. We are in a real war with a real enemy. So we can expect all kinds of attacks. Physical, financial, mental, etc.

    I Still Didn’t Answer the Question

    You might be thinking, Cory, you still didn’t answer the question of why God leaves some questions unanswered. And you’re right. Because truthfully, I don’t know why God doesn’t answer all our questions. I can only try to throw out ideas that might help you better understand why things happen. Unfortunately the Bible doesn’t give a clear answer in this area of God’s decision to not answer questions. All I can say is two things: He is God and He does what He will and second, He calls us to trust in Him when we don’t understand. And I believe that sometimes it’s because we don’t have the answers that we have to learn to trust God more and ultimately be drawn closer to Him. That’s the best answer I have.

    Wrapping Up

    I hope I introduced some insight into why bad things happen to good people. Whether by our own choices, the choices of others, this fallen natural world, or straight up attacks from the enemy, the bad things fall into one of these categories. I recognize I cannot give a concrete reason for God leaving questions unanswered, but He never promised to answer all our questions. He only promised to be with us and that we can trust Him always. And that’s something we need to ask God to help us become okay with. That’s one question He’ll gladly answer.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Answers Are Not Necessary

    Answers Are Not Necessary

    Intro

    I’ve got kind of an interesting topic today. Especially given the nature of this blog. For those who don’t know (and as a refresher for those who maybe knew) my tagline for this blog is “Simplifying the Truth”. And on my front page I have “If you’ve ever struggled with understanding the truths found in the Bible you’ve come to the right place.” right in the center of it. In hindsight, this almost sounds arrogant. It almost sounds like I think I have all the answers. I hope no one has gotten that impression of me. It certainly wasn’t my intent when I wrote it. The truth is that I know I don’t have all the answers and I’m okay with that.

    Which leads me to my topic for today. It’s okay to not have all the answers. Why am I writing about this? Because so many Christians fear getting asked a question regarding the Bible, God, or their faith by an unbeliever and not having the answer.

    The Fear

    When it comes to evangelism – sharing your faith with others – there are three major fears I believe that everyone encounters (I know I have/still do). The first is fear of rejection. Let’s face it, no one likes sharing something that they are passionate about only to have the other person go “meh”. The second is fear of judgment and being labelled a “Fanatic” or “Jesus Freak” or mocked and ridiculed in some other way. The third – and the one I aim to address here – is the fear of not having answers for all the questions they might get.

    Ironically, for those of us with substantial knowledge, this is almost worse. Historically, I felt embarrassed when I didn’t have the answer to a Biblical or Theological question. Why? Because everyone around me knew that I had a lot of knowledge and could answer so many questions. Especially in highschool it was always “Got a question, ask Cory. If he doesn’t know, no one does.” At least, that was the perception I had. I don’t think anyone actually thought that, but that’s how I felt. And I was afraid of not having all the answers.

    There was one gal in particular who didn’t know a lot, but wanted to learn more. She asked me questions all the time – usually over Facebook messages. Even after I graduated and started college, she reached out and asked more questions. I was more than happy to oblige. I enjoyed explaining the Word of God to her and others. But I still feared not having the answers. I hated admitting when I didn’t and I hated admitting that I Googled questions to find out the answers.

    The Solution

    So what’s the solution? In a word, God. Okay, but what’s the practical side of it? Practically speaking, it looks like learning to be secure in your identity in Christ. And trusting that with Holy Spirit living inside you, you can overcome any fear and doubt and, when you need them, He will give you the words to speak. Key phrase: when you need them. As my pastor has said when he preached on John 10:10 (paraphrased), “Abundance is not a warehouse that I can go get what I need when I need it. But that when I need it, I’ll have it.” In this case, it’s an “in the moment” speaking of Holy Spirit. Not a massive file cabinet in our head of knowledge that we can rely on.

    But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

    John 14:6 (NIV)

    Over the years, I have learned (by the grace of God) to be more comfortable with saying, “I don’t know”. Learn to use this phrase in your vocabulary. The people who are genuinely curious and searching for truth will greatly appreciate it and will have no problems with you saying, “Let me find out for you”. If you’re mocked or ridiculed for not knowing, then that person really isn’t interested and you should say a prayer for them and not waste any more time with them.

    Honesty is truly the best policy here. People greatly appreciate it and will respect you more for it.

    My Key Verse

    But what about my key verse? If you’re not sure what that is or you just need a reminder, here it is.

    But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

    1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

    This verse sure makes it sound like we need to always have the answers. But that’s not true. The verse says to be prepared to give an answer specifically for the “reason for the hope that you have”. In other words, if someone asks you “how could you have hope even in the midst of chaos?” I think with that question, we don’t need a whole lot of Biblical knowledge to answer. And we should be prepared to answer that type of question. The world searches for hope. Every person in some form craves hope. And we have it. So we need to be ready to share it.

    Remember this: the gospel is simple enough for a child to understand. We don’t need to be theologians to win people to Christ. And we don’t need to dump a load of theological textbooks on people in order to be effective witnesses to them. We just need the simple gospel.

    With Tilling and Planting, I seek to give a bit more knowledge with every post to give you more confidence in your faith so that you’ll become more comfortable with sharing your faith. And God help me, I need to become more comfortable sharing it as well.

    Wrapping Up

    Hey! What’s this? I’m at the end already? Yes you are. This is a shorter post and that’s okay. There aren’t a lot of answers to discuss about this topic. Learning to be okay with not having all the answers isn’t all that complicated. It all comes down to your relationship with God and your security in your identity in Christ. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily that easy, but it is simple. Keep your focus on Him and eventually you’ll find that you really don’t care what other people think about you. This is something I’ve been learning for years. And I’m not there yet, but like Paul, I’m pressing on.

    In case you missed my email (or you aren’t a subscriber yet), this is the first post on the new schedule – 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month. In addition, I’d like to remind you that I want to answer your questions and concerns you have about the Bible and your Faith. So, please, feel free to leave a comment or fill out the contact form on this site with any questions or topics you’d like to see me cover.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Christmas Characters: Part 4

    Christmas Characters: Part 4

    Intro

    It’s taken a while, but I’m finally at the end of my Christmas Characters series. For those of you who prefer to keep Christmas in December, I’m sure you’re quite relieved. For the rest of you who don’t mind Christmas in July, you probably wouldn’t mind a few more Christmas-themed posts. But I’ve got other topics I’d like to cover so I’ll stop here and pick up Christmas again later this year.

    But now on to the main event! Today I’m talking about takeaways from the groups of people that came to visit Jesus unannounced. Yep, that’s right. I’m talking about the lowly Shepherds and the wealthy Magi (or Wise Men).

    The Shepherds

    And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

    Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

    “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

    When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

    So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

    Luke 2:8-20 (NIV)

    We don’t get a whole lot about the shepherds – we don’t even know how many there were. What we do know is that these shepherds lived out in the fields just outside of Bethlehem. And we see that they dutifully watched the sheep – even through the night. Shepherding is a hard job that requires constant attention. It takes a special kind of person to do such a job. Perhaps that’s why – unlike many ancient cultures – the Jewish culture actually respected shepherds to a degree (except for the wealthy, but they tended to look down on everyone). So, the traditional idea of God choosing the lowest-of-the-low to be the first isn’t 100% accurate. Sure, they were still a bit dirty and probably smelled of sheep, but they were fairly respected people.

    Not Ordinary Shepherds

    And that’s especially true if you believe that these were more than just ordinary shepherds. The fact that they lived in the fields is particularly noteworthy since the Mishnah (a group of traditions that governed the Jewish people after the Maccabean revolt) requires that sheep be kept out in the wilderness – not in homes or fields since they’d eat the crops. Of course it’s also noteworthy that the fact they were able to be in fields indicates the time of year had to be during harvest season and the time when there were no crops left (June/July – September/October).

    Back to the requirements found in the Mishnah. The exception to this rule goes to the sheep raised for the Temple sacrifices. Since those sheep needed to be blemish-free, they were raised in the safety of fields and more carefully watched over. In addition, the job of raising these important sheep fell to priests. And lastly, it’s known that the fields around Bethlehem were indeed used for such sheep-raising. So given all this, the first people God chose to announce Jesus’ birth to were actually shepherd-priests. More respected people who would have heard the angel’s message and understood some of the things said more readily than the traditionally imagined uneducated lowly outcast of a shepherd.

    Their Response

    When the angel declared who Jesus was (Savior, Messiah, Lord), these shepherd-priests would have recognized and understood what each of them meant and their significance – far better than any uneducated shepherd. Couple that with the presence of so many angels, and it’s no wonder that the shepherds jumped up and said “we need to see this baby for ourselves!” And when they got there and saw Jesus in a manger as the angel said, they rejoiced and became the first evangelists for Jesus telling everyone they could about it. And even though Luke records that everyone was “amazed” by what the shepherds said, that amazement probably came in the form of amazed that respected priests were running around like this talking about a baby.

    Takeaways

    So what takeaways do I have for you? When God tells you to do something, do it. The angels told the shepherds to go to Bethlehem and they did. No questions asked. Second, when God does something in your life, tell people about it. Your story can encourage others and give them hope. The shepherds told anyone and everyone they could about the infant Jesus and what the angels said. And third, don’t be afraid to do something out of pure joy, even if others say you look foolish. The shepherds probably looked a little foolish running around town like that, but they didn’t care.

    The Magi

    Perhaps the most mysterious of the Christmas characters are the people we call the Magi or Wise Men. We get very little about them from the Bible. Matthew records their story in only a handful of verses. Check them out.

    After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

    When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

    “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
        are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
    for out of you will come a ruler
        who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

    Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

    After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

    Matthew 2:1-12 (NIV)

    We get almost nothing about who these guys are or where they came from. And like the shepherds, we have no clue how many of them there were. We traditionally use three because of the three gifts they brought. But there very likely were more. What we see is that the Magi came from “the East”. Not real descriptive. Probably was east of the Jordan river, but that’s still a large area. Common beliefs include as close as Jordan or northern Saudi Arabia to as far as Persia (modern day Iran).

    A couple of things we can derive from the text is that they were very wealthy. The gifts they brought are a testament to that. After all, not everyone has gold lying around to give as a gift. And same with both frankincense and myrrh – both were very expensive to have around. So we know from their gifts that the Magi were wealthy people. We also see that they paid attention to the heavens and studied the celestial bodies to understand signs and such. Many people in the land of Judea missed the Star of Bethlehem and yet these foreigners come into Jerusalem asking about the king of the Jews.

    A couple of other notes is they travelled a great distance to honor a Jewish king. This might suggest that their people had relations with the Jews already. And lastly, I want to point out that they were religious in some form. After all, God warned them not to return to Herod via a dream and they obeyed.

    Who Were They?

    Persian/Babylonian

    I’m going to discuss a couple of the most prominent theories as to just who the Magi were and where they came from. The more traditional theory is that they were of some order of astrologers or priests that served in the ancient Babylonian and Persian courts. Think back to Nebuchadnezzar and his court. He had a bunch of wise men who couldn’t interpret his dream and then Daniel walked and said, “here it is”. Some have speculated that these Magi studied Daniel’s prophecies and recognized the time as when the king of the Jews (the Messiah) was to be born.

    While this could be true, the evidence isn’t terribly strong. For instance, we don’t know if those ancient orders were still active during the first centuries BC and AD. After all, those lands were under a totally different empire (Parthian) and we’re not sure if they had anything similar in their courts. To be sure, these people would fulfill the parts we do know about them being from the East and being wealthy enough to have and purchase the gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

    Nabatean

    Another theory that’s growing in prominence is that they were Nabataean. The Kingdom of Nabataea encompassed parts of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Sinai. So they’d fit the Easterly requirement. In addition, they had great relations with the Jews. Herod the Great’s mother was Nabataean and he maintained political ties with them through his reign. So it could easily make sense that the Nabataean’s would want to honor a new Jewish king – especially since they were renowned traders and would desire to maintain strong relations with any nation they did business with.

    Furthermore, Nabataean’s held a virtual monopoly on the trade of Frankincense. In fact, they dealt in Myrrh as well and had gold in abundance. So even if the Magi did not come from here, they probably purchased some of their gifts from the Nabataean traders, who, by the way, would have been very familiar with the stars for navigating the desert at night.

    Takeaways

    In the end, it doesn’t matter a whole lot who they were. I personally grew up believing they were from the Babylonian/Persian area and adopted the belief that they were familiar with Daniel’s prophecies. But honestly, I’m starting to lean toward the Nabataean theory. Regardless of where they came from, the takeaways are the same. First, they recognized God doing something significant. They likely knew the positions and types of stars and other celestial bodies by heart and would have noticed the craziness of everything going on during those couple of years leading up to Jesus’ birth and beyond (check out my post on what the Star of Bethlehem likely was for more detail). For us, the takeaway is to be so immersed in know the Word of God and His Spirit that you recognize when God is moving and can respond and partner with Him.

    Second, is that they showed great honor and worshipped the King of kings – long before He did anything. This is powerful. Today we must do the same and show God honor and give Him worship – even before we see any miracles, any answers to prayer, etc.

    Wrapping Up

    The biggest takeaways with these groups of people probably have to do with worship and telling people about Jesus. And not just at Christmas. It seems that people are more likely to talk about Jesus at Christmas and Easter, but not in June. We should be open to talking about Him all year round.

    By the way, did you notice any major themes that links all the Christmas Characters? Some of the most cross-cutting themes were Obedience, Hope, Devotion to God, and Spreading His messages. And I think if we practice all these things, we’ll find the abundant life that Jesus came to give us (John 10:10).

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Christmas Characters: Part 3

    Christmas Characters: Part 3

    Intro

    Sorry, I’m not done talking about Christmas yet. Given that I skipped a post in December, I kinda feel obligated to continue to talk about Christmas and make up for missing that one. The last two posts have been a part of a series discussing the major characters in the Christmas story and what we can learn from their lives. So far I’ve talked about Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna. For part three of this series, I’m going to bring out two of the primary players in this story: Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ parents.

    Who Were They?

    So beyond the obvious of being the parents of the savior of the world, who were these two people? Honestly, they’d be considered nobodies. Neither of them were wealthy or prominent. We know that because Luke records that they brought either a pair of doves or a pair of pigeons (Luke 2:24) and according to Leviticus 12:8, either of these are acceptable offerings if the mother cannot afford a lamb.

    But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons

    Leviticus 12:8a (NIV)

    We also know that they lived in Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 1:26). And they were both descendants of King David – Matthew and Luke both record lineages. But what else can we glean – either explicitly or not – from the Bible? Let’s examine each in turn.

    Mary

    Who was Mary? What do we know about her? Here’s the introduction that Luke gives her.

     In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

    Luke 1:26-28 (NIV)

    So from Luke’s introduction, we can see that she lived in Nazareth of Galilee, she was still a virgin, and she was pledged to be married to Joseph, who was a descendant of David. Another thing we can glean from Gabriel’s greeting is that she found favor with God. When the Bible talks about people finding favor with God, that is a strong indicator that they were upright people who held to the law and had a tender heart to God. God saw them as people He could use more effectively because they’d be more willing to listen and were generally more sensitive to hearing His voice speak. We don’t know if Mary ever heard God whisper to her, but she likely had a more sensitive spirit so when He did start speaking to and through her (I’ll get to that later), she listened and obeyed.

    We also know that Mary was a descendant of David based on Luke’s lineage of Mary as well as Gabriel telling her that Jesus would sit on the throne of his father David. Since no man would be involved in Jesus’ conception, it makes sense to conclude that Mary also came from David’s line.

    Something else we know about Mary is that she was very young. In that day, many cultures married off the women as teenagers, as young as 13. So Mary very well could have been only 13 when the angel paid her a visit. Even if she was a bit older, I reckon not any older than 16. That’s still very young.

    Servant of God

    I talked already a bit about her sensitivity to God and willingness to listen and obey. Here’s a statement recorded by Luke straight from Mary’s mouth.

    “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

    Luke 1:38 (NIV)

    We can see from here that Mary was willing to submit herself to God’s plan even though it would cost her greatly. What do I mean by that? In Jewish law, a woman found to be pregnant out of wedlock was to be stoned. And since she was betrothed, all Joseph would have to do was deny that the child was his and Mary’s life was forfeit. Being pregnant and unmarried set Mary up for long period of hardship where people would shun and reject her. And at this time, she had no clue what Joseph would do. Would he believe her story? If not, she knew he could have her stoned or at least reject her and break off their engagement. Mary probably suspected she would live long enough to give birth – since Gabriel promised as much – but beyond that…

    The last little bit I want to touch on with Mary as a servant of God is found in Luke 2. It’s referred to as Mary’s Song. When Mary visited Elizabeth (her relative, I go over their relationship in my post on her and Zechariah), Elizabeth’s unborn baby leaped within her and she greeted Mary with a Spirit-filled greeting. This prompted a Spirit-filled song (like one of the Psalm’s) to burst forth from Mary. This is a great example of Mary being sensitive to God’s Spirit and hearing His voice and responding.

    Mary’s Confusion

    Luke also records a bit of confusion and seeming doubt on Mary’s part.

     “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

    Luke 1:34 (NIV)

    Mary’s question here is valid. As a teenage girl, unmarried and still a virgin, this makes no sense. So she asked for clarification. And the angel explained to her that Holy Spirit would be the agent by which it would happen. Mary accepted this explanation and accepted God’s plan for her. This is distinctly different from when Zechariah questioned Gabriel. When he questioned the angel, he wanted a sign that it would happen. Despite the presence of the angel, he refused to conceive of the idea that now in his and Elizabeth’s old age after decades of praying for a child, God would show up and do it – despite all the times God has done such things in the past.

    That’s why Zechariah was made silent and Mary got a proper answer to her question. She didn’t doubt that God would do what He said – nor demand an additional sign – she just wanted to understand the mechanism by which He would do it since the concept wasn’t computing. In short, Zechariah just refused to believe because he lost hope (and was probably a bit bitter) and Mary just didn’t understand the how.

    Takeaways

    So what are some takeaways from Mary’s life (at least this part)? First and foremost, submission to God. Mary submitted to God’s plan for her life. She chose to be His willing servant and bear the Messiah. She knew it would not be an easy life, but she was willing to go through with it.

    Second, take courage that God is with you. Several things happened that reminded Mary of God’s love for her and that He was with her. The angel indicated as much by telling her about Holy Spirit coming on her, I believe Elizabeth’s Spirit-filled greeting served as an encouragement to her, and not to mention the encounters with Simeon and Anna in the temple also would have served to remind her that God sees her and is with her. No matter the difficult journey (also hinted at by Simeon).

    Third, it’s okay to be confused. God will not be upset if you are confused the first time He tells you something. God says a lot of things that we just can’t comprehend. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. So if God tells you something and you’re confused, seek clarification. If you honestly don’t understand, ask Him. He may not answer immediately, but He will guide you when you need it. When whatever He spoke to you comes to fulfilment, He will let you know. You can also seek out wiser mentors who might be able to bring clarity. They also might affirm that you just need to wait, but at least you can have greater confidence that God will bring the clarity later.

    Joseph

    So, now what about Joseph? Who was he? I already referenced Luke who says he was a descendant of David. And since we know he met Mary and her family and got betrothed to Mary, he also would be living in Nazareth. The other big thing we know about Joseph doesn’t come from his introduction here, but rather when Jesus preached in Nazareth many years later. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” they ask (Matthew 13:55 NIV). Now, the Greek there actually more accurately translated as “craftsman” rather than “carpenter”. So Joseph – and Jesus before starting His ministry – were some sort of builder. They likely worked in multiple materials depending on the job. We traditionally call Joseph a carpenter and while he probably worked in wood, I imagine he also worked with stone – another very common building material.

    Moving on, Matthew’s intro to Joseph has this to say about him.

    Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

    Matthew 1:19 (NIV)

    Some translations say “righteous” instead of “faithful to the law”. And while they essentially mean the same, righteous does have a connotation that extends beyond simply adhering to the letter of the law. And we see that in the next statement that he did not want to expose Mary to public disgrace. That’s a testament to the kind of man Joseph was. He had every right under the law to drag Mary before the religious leaders, reveal her pregnancy, call her adulterous – because the child wasn’t his – and have her stoned to death. But he didn’t. He instead decided he would simply end the relationship quietly. So like Mary, he was a person who was ripe for God to use.

    Spirit-Sensitive

    Joseph also seemed to be sensitive in some way to the voice of God. But like Mary, we don’t know how much experience he had prior to this time, but I like to think that both of them had some history with it. Joseph, at least, I think had dreams or visions in the past that prepared him for an angel appearing to him in a dream – unlike in the middle of the day like Mary – and telling him to take Mary as his wife because the child was from God. And he listened! He didn’t chalk it up to anything else. He immediately recognized it and obeyed.

    And he had several more such dreams after this. An angel directed him to go to Egypt, while in Egypt and angel told him it was safe to return to Judea, and when returning to Judea, an angel told him to settle in Nazareth again. Man, I would love to have those kinds of dreams. Or wide awake visitations from angels.

    Anything Else?

    There’s not a whole lot else we can glean about Joseph from the Christmas story. Or even from Scripture in general. We assume that he passed away at some point since he never appears again. And Jesus likely took over the family business after that until He started His ministry at 30. At which point His brothers probably took over.

    Takeaways

    So what takeaways do we get for Joseph? First, like Mary, submission to God. He too had a choice and when confronted by an angel and commanded to take Mary as his wife, he obeyed. This put him under fire as well. Nobody would believe that a virgin conceived a child and yet Mary – I’m sure – denied committing adultery. Joseph probably denied being the father and also denied Mary’s affair. But most people would believe that somebody’s lying. And because Joseph still took Mary as his wife, many probably assumed he was actually the father of the child and they just got started a bit early.

    Secondly, showing kindness, compassion, and mercy. Even when someone wrongs you – or you perceive that they wronged you. In Joseph’s case, he initially perceived that Mary had betrayed him, but rather than getting full justice, he chose to show compassion and mercy by ending it quietly. That way Mary could be free to raise the child and even marry the man with whom she had the perceived affair.

    Wrapping Up

    The biggest takeaway in common between Mary and Joseph is their submission to God in the face of trials. They both knew the road ahead would be difficult. But they chose to obey in spite of that. I think we all could do better in that. I know I sure could. God help us all to hear your voice and obey more quickly, more readily, and not let the fear of man overcome that. Amen.

    Despite it being January, I’m not done with my Christmas Characters yet! Lol, stay tuned for my next post where I finally tackle the groups of characters that we all know and love. The Shepherds and the Magi. I’m eager to share with you what we can learn from them – as well as learn about them.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Christmas Characters: Part 2

    Christmas Characters: Part 2

    Intro

    Thanksgiving is over and December is here, therefore Christmas season is in full swing and officially here! (Though it did seem to be in full swing even before Thanksgiving with all the decor in the stores, but that’s another story.) I’m glad you came back to read part two in my four part series: Christmas Characters. Today’s characters I’m looking at are Simeon and Anna. These two people worshipped in the temple daily for decades. Both were incredibly prophetic and had some amazing (and hard) things to say to Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. So let’s jump right into it.

    Who Were They?

    These two Christmas Characters could actually be considered barely a part of Christmas. After all, they didn’t come to see Jesus and it’s 8 days after His birth before they do see him. But that doesn’t really matter. What matters more is that they recognized Jesus as the Messiah while He was still an infant. This is going to be the common thread for all the Christmas Characters.

    Back to the characters, I already hinted that both Simeon and Anna were incredibly gifted in prophecy. And both were also pretty old. Though the Bible only calls out Anna as old. It doesn’t give any indication on just how old Simeon was. But there’s a couple of specific lines in there that I believe suggest he was getting up there in age. I’ll explain more about that later. But for now, ladies first.

    Anna

    There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

    Luke 2:36-37 (NIV)

    We know a bit more about Anna than we do Simeon. For instance, Anna came from the tribe of Asher and her father’s name was Penuel. We also know that she got married and lived with her husband for seven years until he passed away. Plus, Luke records her as a prophetess. And finally, she lived at the temple and prayed day and night until she was 84. The original text could actually be translated as saying she was a widow for 84 years after her husbands death. That would put her over 100 years old by this point! Either way, Anna spent the majority of her live devoted to God, fasting, praying, and worshipping at the temple without ever leaving. That’s powerful.

    I find it interesting that she didn’t actually leave. Did the priests give her living quarters because they recognized her as a prophetess? In those days, widows were supposed to be taken care of by family if they never got remarried. So the fact that she lived at the temple could also suggest that there was no family nearby who could help her. Perhaps her family lived too far from Jerusalem and the temple that she so longed to be near. Or perhaps most of her family wasn’t living or were unwilling to help. Who knows. In any event, she lived in the temple day and night and devoted herself to God.

    The results of being totally devoted to God were that she was regarded as a prophetess by all and she immediately recognized Jesus as being the Messiah. Verse 38 tells us that when she saw baby Jesus “she gave thanks to God” and then proceeded to talk about Jesus to ” all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

    Takeaways

    As with my last post, I will point out key takeaways from the lives of each Christmas Character. For Anna, I think it’s pretty obvious. Living a life of devotion to God. Now that doesn’t mean you should go and live at your church and do nothing else but worship and pray (and eat and sleep, presumably). For one, I don’t know about your church but ours doesn’t have showers, so if you don’t go somewhere else to take one periodically….

    But barring that, each one of us can still live a live of worship that is devoted to God. Walking in step with Holy Spirit and doing all that He calls us to. And when we do, we become more and more sensitive to His leading and His speaking and we will recognize and see things in others that we can call out and encourage them with. That is one of the main reasons the gift of prophecy exists. Did you know that? We are to call out the gifts and abilities that God places inside each one of us and encourage each other to use them. I can only imagine how uplifting this experience was to Mary and Joseph.

    The other key takeaway is that Anna told everyone who would listen that the Messiah had arrived. And that’s another thing that we need to do. Tell people about Jesus. Jesus commands it in Matthew 28.

    Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

    Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

    Simeon

    Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

    “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
    For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
    a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

    The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

    Luke 2:25-35 (NIV)

    As I hinted earlier, we don’t know a whole lot about Simeon. And yet, he gets more verses than Anna does! But what we do know is powerful. First we know he was a righteous and devout man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel – one among many. Luke also states that Holy Spirit was upon him and moved him to go to the temple that day – the fact that Simeon responded suggests strongly that this was not the first time and probably happened with some regularity. We also know that Holy Spirit told him he would not die until he saw the Messiah. When I take this line with what Simeon says upon taking Jesus in his arms – “you may now dismiss your servant in peace” – I see an elderly man who has lived his life and is ready to go home.

    When we read Simeon’s statements, we can also discern that he is a very prophetic man as well. Which makes sense since Holy Spirit is upon him and Simeon is frequently moved by Him. Like Anna, he immediately recognizes Jesus as the promised Messiah and declares Him to be God’s salvation, a light to the Gentiles, and the Glory of Israel. And then his prophetic message takes an interesting turn. He states that Jesus will cause the falling and rising of many (likely indicating that some will see Jesus as the Messiah and others will not), will experience opposition, and will reveal what’s in the hearts of many others. And we can see this throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry. Lastly, he tells Mary that a sword will pierce her soul. Many, including myself, see this as a direct reference to the pain she will bear watching Jesus be crucified.

    Takeaways

    So what are the takeaways from Simeon’s life? I see a few things. First, even though Luke doesn’t state it, we can surmise that if Simeon is so in tune with Holy Spirit, then he – like Anna – must’ve be devoted to pursuing God. Second, we see that when Holy Spirit moved, Simeon obeyed. We need to move and obey God when He directs us to. Third, we should be willing to be used by God. And lastly, never give up hope for the fulfillment of a promise from God. Simeon had a direct promise from God that he would see the promised Messiah before dying. And he held onto that promise and saw its fulfillment. This one is similar with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth held onto hope while Zechariah lost hope. Despite his age, Simeon did not lose hope in God’s promise.

    Wrapping Up

    Have you noticed some themes cropping up from these first two posts about Christmas characters? A lot of old people!

    In all seriousness, there’s a few common themes I see. First, all these people were righteous, devout people who sought God and waited for promises. And there’s a theme of hope woven throughout their stories. Anna and Simeon held hope in the promised Messiah – and both got to see Him before they passed. Elizabeth held hope that she would bear a child. Zechariah had that same hope at one time, but lost it.

    The last thing I see are a lot of prophetic voices. Holy Spirit moved on all these people. We see Elizabeth recognize that Mary carried the unborn Messiah and declare her the “mother of her Lord”. Zechariah prophesied that his son, John, would become a prophet, prepare the way of the Lord, and teach people salvation and forgiveness of sins. Simeon prophesied that Jesus’ ministry would be opposed, would teach truth, would reveal the hearts of many, and would suffer – bringing pain to Mary. We don’t see Anna – a prophetess – declare any type of prophetic message over Jesus or His parents, but – like Elizabeth and Simeon – she immediately recognizes Him as the Messiah through Holy Spirit and proceeded to tell everyone who would listen about Him.

    As I continue through the next two Christmas posts, I think these same themes are going to continue to come up. And these themes of hope in God’s promises, seeking God as righteous and devout people, and being sensitive to Holy Spirit’s leading and speaking are all things we need to day in our lives. Think on them and pray for them in your own lives.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!