Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 1 Samuel 15:25 ESV  Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.”  If we took this verse at face value we might give Saul the benefit of the doubt. In the context of Scripture however, we see that King Saul wasn't genuine. He just didn't want to lose face before his subjects. From the outset, Saul lacked confidence. Yet he didn't seek to put his confidence in the Lord. Instead, he attempted to 'aura farm' from the prophet Samuel who had genuine integrity. Thankfully, not only was Samuel consistent, but he was also perceptive. He saw through Saul's insincerity. He refused to grant Saul's request. God doesn't want religion that is all show. Samuel told Saul that 'to obey is better than sacrifice'. It's not enough to pay God lip service if our hearts aren't right before him. 'God, forbid that we would lack sincerity. Please prove us genuine, for we pray in Christ's name, and for your glory, ...

 John 10:11 ESV I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  This is a familiar phrase, but the danger is that familiarity may breed contempt. Like a sheep that strays from the shepherd, so we may stray from a pure, unadulterated devotion to our Lord. At first glance, this is a very humble statement. Shepherding is a hard, smelly, despised kind of job. Yet Jesus isn't ashamed to shepherd smelly, silly sheep like us.  With some Bible knowledge, we will appreciate the magnitude of what Jesus is claiming. 'The Lord is my Shepherd', stated King David famously in Psalm 23. Jesus claimed here to be none other than God himself, the Lord in the flesh. Of course, Jesus wasn't some empty braggart claiming to lay down his life for his flock. We know he literally was crucified by the Romans, by the will of God, for the sins of the world. He was prophesying of his death. 'Good Shepherd of our souls, we praise you for giving your life for us. May w...

 Jeremiah 51:12 ESV  “Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon; make the watch strong; set up watchmen; prepare the ambushes; for the Lord has both planned and done what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. I thought I was pretty knowledgeable about the Bible, but this verse has taught me something new. I thought of watchpeople as defensive, as in 'watching daily at Wisdom's gates'. I thought of watchpeople as purely like security guards or defenders of a fortified city. This verse reveals to me that watchpeople can be offensive as well as defensive, like scouts to scout out the enemy. Babylon symbolises the enemies of God's people, who are symbolised by Israel. I'm reminded of Jesus's saying that he will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. If I remember correctly, one of the key gates of the city of Babylon, the Ishtar Gate, has been reconstructed in the British Museum. Of course, the British Museum isn't th...

 Psalm 85:2 ESV You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah Forgiveness is one of humanity's greatest needs. As part of our reconciliation to God it is essential. Almost all of us would admit that we're not perfect- which makes us sinners in need of forgiveness. How can the Holy One forgive our sins? He can't just brush them under the carpet. He's not just loving and forgiving, he is also righteous and just. How do we reconcile God's holiness with his forgiveness? We can't presumptuously hope that our good deeds outweigh our bad, because God can't tolerate any badness. Only by the blood of Jesus can our iniquitous stains be washed away. It's the broken body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus that are the means by which our sins can be forgiven. 'Not the labour of our hands, can fulfil Thy Law's demands... Thou must save, and Thou alone' (from the hymn Rock of Ages). All we need to do is to claim Christ's sa...

 Isaiah 7:14 ESV Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  Apparently the Hebrew word 'virgin' is perhaps more properly translated 'young woman'. In moral Jewish culture however, young women tended to be virgins. Also, the Greek translation of the old testament is clear that this is indeed a young woman who hasn't known a man. If Isaiah hadn't have meant a virgin, this wouldn't have been much of a sign. Also, God promised Eve that her Seed (not Adam's) would defeat the devil. That was another promise of the virgin born Son of God. The context to this verse is interesting. Isaiah offered evil king Ahaz a sign to encourage him. Seemingly sanctimoniously, Ahaz said that he wouldn't ask God for a sign. Isaiah gave Ahaz a sign anyway! When the virgin has a Son, he will be Immanuel: God with us. The Lord Jesus Christ, Son of Mary, is the Son of God by the Holy Spiri...

 Dear readers, If you're not AI chat bots, please comment on this post!  The stats tell me I have lots of readers (and/or readers who read a lot). I don't get any comments though which I would really appreciate, so please do comment!  Thanks, and God bless,  Robert

 Jeremiah 33:14 ESV “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  Maybe at first glance, you might assume as Gentiles that this verse doesn't apply to us. Yet as Paul says in Romans 2, being a Jew spiritually is about having our hearts circumcised, not about physical circumcision thankfully! So if we belong to the Jewish Messiah, we're grafted into spiritual Israel. As Paul says elsewhere, 'in Christ Jesus all the promises of God are 'yes and amen'. So even Gentiles believers who trust in the Lord can claim this promise for themselves. Yet what is the promise? We need to contextualise. The promise is of the advent of Jesus, who will be the righteousness of all who put their faith in him. Though we are naturally unrighteous, we can be made right with God through the blood of Jesus. Having been made right with God, we won't carry on 'business as usual'. He gifts us hi...

 Proverbs 4:23 ESV  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Solomon isn't just saying to not let any old person whisk you off your feet. I think there's an element of that. He's writing more widely though. This is a better quote than the famous secular quote, 'I think, therefore I am'. Just because I think I'm a monkey doesn't mean to say I am. If I did, there'd be something wrong with me at a heart level. If God purifies our hearts, we'll be a blessing in this life, whatever stresses we go through. If our hearts remain impure, our 'springs' will be polluted. We need God to cleanse our hearts. We're not basically good, but do bad things. We do bad things because we're basically bad. We need God to set us right. 'Holy God, please set us right. Make our hearts pure and may we bless others as you bless us. In Jesus' name, amen'.

 Romans 8:36 ESV  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” This bleak verse is sandwiched between two of the loftiest peaks of positivity within the whole of Scripture. Nothing can separate us from God's love. That doesn't mean to say that the devil won't try in vain to tear us from the heart of God  Paul goes on to say that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. We're not like Roman conquerors, or those of any other empire. Our victory will be everlasting. In this life, we face much persecution. The global church faces much persecution, in places from Nigeria to North Korea. Christians are easy prey because we tend to be peaceable and are convenient scapegoats for despotic rulers. The Bible is realistic about the difficulties that Christians face. Our victory is in eternity. In the meantime we face many difficulties in this life. 'Lord our Shepherd, please help us to be realis...