Trust In the Lord

 Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) says:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” 

 

These two verses give us advice on how to live our lives in God’s will. It tells us to do something and then tells us the result of doing it.

 

What is the thing we are to do? We are to place ourselves completely in God’s hands, submitted to his direction. Solomon says it three ways. First, trust in the Lord with all your heart. We place our trust in God. In other words, we place our faith in him to take care us. We have no reservations. We hold nothing back. Our whole heart is given over to him. We submit ourselves to him and his will, committed to go where he sends, do what he commands and even suffer what he ordains.

 

We can do this because we believe that God will do what is best for us. We believe what Romans 8:28 says, that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. We trust him. We trust him to give us eternal life, so surely we can trust him to do the best for us in this life. Romans 8:32 says “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” In other words, if he was willing to sacrifice his son for us, he will surely give us all the things we need.

 

Second, we do not lean on our own understanding. Sometimes, God tells us to do something we think is counter intuitive, or against human logic. We read a command in the Bible, for example, and think “I cannot do that. If I do that, I will go broke, or lose all my friends, or make people think I am a fanatic.” But this verse tells us to do what God says, trusting him to make it right.

 

I am not saying here that we are never to think. God gave us minds to think and gives us wisdom to discern the right thing to do. But, too often our thinking is selfish and not Biblical. It is worldly rather than spiritual. That is why Romans 12:2 tells us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Your mind is renewed by the Holy Spirit, especially through the study of God’s word. 

 

A few years ago, I began trying to read the Scripture without filters. It is hard to do. But it is necessary. I tried not to read the Bible as an American, a Republican, a Texan, an affluent Westerner or any of those things. I wanted to know what the Scripture said and what God meant. It was disturbing to see that many times I had thought and even been taught a spin on the Word, usually explaining why we did not need to do it as God said to do it. Don’t spin. Give in.

 

Third, “in all your ways acknowledge him”. In this context, it particularly means to acknowledge that God keeps us and directs us in his will. We do not steal his glory or presume upon his grace. Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar tried to steal God’s glory. He took credit for his accomplishments, claiming power, glory and majesty for himself. (Daniel 4:28-30). The Lord struck him with madness until he acknowledged God. He said “Then I praised the Most High; I honored him who lives forever.” (Daniel 4:34) Only then did God restore him. 

 

James warns us not to presume upon God’s grace. He wrote “Now listen, you who say ‘today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow…instead, you out to say ‘if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13-16) We prosper only as he allows in his grace. Acknowledge that. You really can say “God graciously allowed us to succeed and we are grateful” instead of “look at what I have done, I’m so great”. 

 

If we do what God says to do, trust him with our lives, what will he do? He will make our paths straight. When you had to walk everywhere, having a straight path was a big deal. If I can walk to the next town “as the crow flies” and it is 5 miles, I am grateful I did not have to walk the long way around and walk 10 miles.

 

When we visited our daughter in West Virginia once, I found myself frustrated that we could not go directly where we wanted to go because the roads all went around the hills. I could see the place I wanted to go, but had to go a long way around to get there. 

 

So, when God says he will make our paths straight, he means he will watch over us, direct us in the way we should go and make sure we get there. This is all conditioned on our placing our trust completely in him and not in ourselves. 

 

Are you worried about where you are going to go, how you will get there or if you will get there “in one piece”? Place your trust in God, ask him to direct your paths. Then relax and walk with him in peace.

 

Godspeed.

JESUS TEMPTED - MATTHEW 4:1-12

 Jesus In The Wilderness

4:1-2

Having been baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is now led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Since Jesus was led by the Spirit, we can assume it was the Father’s will for Jesus to be tempted and tested, and to suffer.

There are a couple of things going on here that are not on the surface.

First, there is a connection Jesus’ baptism and temptation. The baptism account ends with the Father acknowledging Jesus as his Son. The temptations involve Satan attempting to divert Jesus from his mission as God’s Son. 

Second, there is the theme that Jesus is the true Israel. Each temptation alludes to an Old Testament event involving Israel. Each defense raised by Jesus is from Deuteronomy 6 through 8, which is Moses’ teaching God’s commands to Israel in the wilderness before they entered the promised land. (Deuteronomy 1:1)

Jesus fasted for 40 days. That is about the limit for a human being to go without food and live. At the end of 40 days he would have been hungry, exhausted, and physically weak. He was at his most vulnerable. That is when Satan came to him. 

The 1st Temptation

4:3-4

Satan went straight to Jesus’ physical weakness for the first temptation. He is called “the tempter” in these verses. He challenged Jesus, saying “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread”. Loaves of bread would be wonderful for a starving man. 

And Jesus had the ability, as God, to do this. He turned water to wine. He multiplied a sack lunch into food for thousands of people. He could use his  status and abilities as God’s Son to benefit himself. 

However, it was to his mission to use his divine abilities and prerogatives to accomplish God’s will. Paul explained this. He said Jesus did not grasp his equality with God. Rather, he acted as a servant and was obedient to the suffering prescribed for him, even to death. (Philippians 2:5-8)

That is why he responds as he does, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by God’s word. (4) His devotion to God’s will (obedience) was greater than his desire for physical comfort and having his physical needs met.

This same taunt is thrown at Jesus while he was on the cross. The people said “if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross”. (Matthew 27:40) Jesus had the power to do that. He could have called twelve legions of angels to help him. But that was not God’s mission for him. He chose obedience to God’s word over relief from suffering. He fulfilled the scripture’s prediction of his suffering. (Matthew 26:53) 

The 40 days and nights alludes to the 40 years Israel wandered in the desert. Israel was led by God in the wilderness to be humbled and tested to see if the people would keep God’s commandments. (Deuteronomy 8:2) Specifically, he wanted Israel to know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD”. (Deuteronomy 8:3) 

Israel failed the test. They complained about food & water on more than one occasion. They did not believe and trust God’s provision for them. They did not believe God would keep his promise to them and give them the land of Canaan. And so, all of that generation had to die before God would let Israel into the promised land. (Deuteronomy 1) 

In contrast, Jesus did not fail. He did not complain, he did not succumb to Satan’s temptation, and he did not use his power to satisfy his physical need. He trusted God to provide for him. In other words, he lived by the word of the Lord.

Both of God’s sons, Israel and Jesus, were tested. One son, Jesus, did not fail and, thus, shows himself to be God’s true son. 

The Second Temptation

3:5-7

The second temptation took place in Jerusalem (the holy city). The devil set Jesus on the pinnacle (the highest point) of the temple and said if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down and force God to send angels to catch you.

The devil quoted Psalm 91:11-12 (from the LXX) to justify the challenge. He left out the words “to guard you in all your ways”. This passage was saying that one who trusts God will be protected from stumbling as one would hold up a small child learning to walk.

Satan misapplied it to make it a test of sonship. That is, if God protects those who trust him, how much more will he protect his Son. So, prove that by jumping so God will send his angels to catch you. Test God to prove he will do what he says.

Jesus countered Satan by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, which forbids putting God to the test. The full verse includes “as you tested him at Massah”. This refers to the Israelites rising up against Moses when water was running out. God told Moses to tell the rock to bring water out, but Moses struck the rock and was punished for it. (Numbers 20:1-13) 

It is wrong for God’s people to demand miracles as a proof that God cares for us. Instead, we are to trust him and obey his word. As the old hymn says: “trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”. 

The Third Temptation

4:8-10

In his third, and final, temptation, the devil offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in return for Jesus worshipping him. In Isaiah 14:12-15, the devil is portrayed as wanting to be like God, exalted above all. 

Satan offered Jesus a shortcut, obtaining a kingdom without going to the cross. But Jesus rebuked him with Deuteronomy 6:13 which says we may only worship the LORD our God. This is also the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me”. (Exodus 20:3) 

Later, Peter would offer the same thing to Jesus, that he could avoid suffering and death. And Jesus reacted the same way, rebuking Satan working in Peter. (Matthew 16:21-23)

The Israelites failed in this temptation also. Even while Moses was receiving the law from God, they built an idol to worship. They continually adopted the false gods of surrounding nations, worshipping their idols. Jesus, however, stayed true to the worship of the only God and showed he  is the true son, the true Israel. 

Jesus banished Satan from his presence at that point. He had defeated the tempter. He had authority over him, as he would repeatedly demonstrate by casting out demons. 

And Jesus’ trust in God was validated, as angels came and ministered to him. (11)

The primary point here is Jesus, but we do see how temptation may be defeated by God’s word. When we are tempted, we should think “what does the Bible say about that?”. And whatever the Bible forbids, we avoid. We do not rationalize and give ourselves permission to disobey God. Like Jesus, we are to be obedient, even to death. 

 

The Double Cure

 In 1763, Augustus Toplady wrote a hymn which we still sing today. it is entitled "Rock of Ages". The first stanza is:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood

From thy riven side which flowed

Be of sin the double cure.

Cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Our salvation, won by the death of Christ, is a double cure for sin. 

First, as Toplady wrote, it relieves us from the guilt of our sin because Jesus bore that guilt on the cross for us. "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace..." (Ephesians 1:7) When we receive him by faith, God declares us righteous. This is justification. 

Second, Christ's death also relieves us from the power of sin. Once justified, we begin the journey of sanctification. Having repented of our sin, we seek to avoid sinning and to embrace living for Jesus in holiness. We "put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness". (Ephesians 4:24)

Do you want to know God's plan for your life? Here it is: your sanctification. This is what Romans 6 is about. "We were buried therefor with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4) 

So, salvation is about both justification and sanctification. Jesus is your savior from sin and your Lord over the power of sin in your life.   It is your "double cure". 

 

TO EGYPT AND BACK AGAIN - MATTHEW 2:13-23

 

The Flight To Egypt

 2:13-15

After the wisemen left Bethlehem, an angel again appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. The reason was that Herod was “about to search for the child to destroy him”. God, in his omniscience, knew the mind of Herod. “The Lord knows the thoughts of man”. (Psalm 94:11) 

Joseph was to stay in Egypt until the angel reappeared and told him he could return. The angel, as a messenger, relayed God’s instructions so that Jesus would be protected. Herod would continue trying to find Jesus and kill him. 

Egypt was a natural place to which to flee. It was nearby, about 70 miles to the border. It was a well-ordered Roman province outside Herod’s jurisdiction. 

Phil wrote that Egypt’s population included approximately one million Jews. Philo, was a prominent Hellenistic Jewish philosopher and theologian who lived in Alexandria, Egypt from 20 B.C.to 50 A.D.He, like Matthew, wrote in Koine Greek. 

Egypt was a common place of refuge for fleeing Israelites.

Genesis 42 - Jacob and family

1 Kings 11:40 - Jeroboam

Jeremiah 26:21–23 -  Uriah the prophet; 

Jeremiah 43:7 - those who fled Israel to avoid exile in Babylon

The angel’s command was urgent. So, Joseph left at once, setting out by night to begin the seventy-five-mile journey to the border. Matthew’s focus is on God’s protection of “the child”. He wrote that Joseph took “the child and his mother”, which is not the normal order of priority. (14) He kept his family there until Herod died and the angel told him to return. Joseph again is obedient.

Behind Herod is the more sinister character, Satan, opposing God. It is the “battle of the seeds”. Remember, in Genesis 3:15, God told the serpent:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,

        and between your offspring and her offspring;

    he shall bruise your head,

        and you shall bruise his heel.”

Satan knew the will and work of God and sought to frustrate it. But, God did not let him. Look at this from the point of view of Revelation 12:1-6:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. [3] And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

Matthew ends the section with another scripture fulfillment. He wrote that this escape to Egypt fulfilled the words “Out of Egypt I called my son”. These words are from Hosea 11:1. The full verse says: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son”. 

This is a reference to God loving the early Hebrews that, under the leadership of Jacob\Israel, took Jacob’s family to Egypt to survive a famine. The way had been prepared for them by Jacob’s son, Joseph. Likewise, this new Joseph, son of another Jacob, went to Egypt to protect his family. 

Later, the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, are called out of Egypt. Similarly, Jesus,  under the leadership of Joseph, is called by God, through an angel, out of Egypt.

There were times in the Old Testament when God referred to Israel as his son. For example, and most relevant to our study, in Exodus 4:22-23:

Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son’.” 

Why is this important? Matthew is showing us that Jesus is the true Israel. That being true, those who are in Christ are also the true Israel. As Paul wrote: “Know then that it its those of faith who are the sons of Abraham”. (Galatians 3:7) 

Matthew also shows us that Jesus, as the true Israel, is the true son of God. 

The Slaughter Of The Innocents

2:16-18

Having been thwarted by the wise men from finding out where the King of the Jews was specifically located Herod, in anger and paranoia, killed all of the boys in Bethlehem, and the areas around it, who were two years old and under. He used the time frame for the king’s birth calculated by the wise men.

Matthew again shows this to be a fulfillment of prophecy quoting Jeremiah 31:15. There it originally referred to the grief experienced in the Babylonian exile. Rachel was the wife of Jacob, used as a symbol of grieving the loss of children in the defeat and exile of Israel via Babylon. It became a symbol of the abuse of Jewish children and Matthew applies it to Herod’s murder of Jewish children.

And, as pointed out earlier, it was Satan’s attempt to stop God’s plan of redemption through Jesus. 

Back To Nazareth 

2:19-23

Once Herod’s threat was removed by his death, an angel released Joseph to take Jesus back to Israel. He did this, probably hoping to return to Bethlehem. However, Herod divided his kingdom into three parts and put Archelaus over Judea, Samaria and Idumea. He was ruthless like his father and might attempt to carry out his father’s wishes toward Jesus. 

Therefore, Joseph went instead to Nazareth in Galilee, his home before Bethlehem according to Luke. (Luke 1:26-27) Herod Antipas ruled  in Galilee. He was considered cruel, but weak. 

Matthew tells us this was also to fulfill that which was spoken by the prophets that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. (23) Those words do not appear in the Old Testament. So, what does he mean? 

Nazareth was a despised place. We see this in Nathaniel’s words: “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”. (John 1:46) Christians came to be known as the Nazarene sect as a criticism or sneer. (Acts 24:5) So, it may be that Matthew was not so much saying that Jesus would live in Nazareth as saying the prophets foretold that Jesus, as the Messiah, would be despised. That is said in several places. 

The best known of these is Isaiah 53:3, which says: “He was despised and rejected by men…he was despised and we esteemed him not”. Matthew will show this to be true in several passages. 

This passage shows us that God will accomplish all of his purpose. (Isaiah 49:10) 

 “The more you read the Bible, and the more you meditate upon it, the more you will be astonished with it. He who is but a casual reader of the Bible does not know the height, the depth, the length and breadth of the mighty meanings contained in its pages.”  – Charles Spurgeon  

Matthew 2 – The King Revealed, Revered, and Rejected

Having shown us the birth of Christ, Matthew now shows us how Christ is received. He presents a startling contrast: while Gentiles go to great lengths to worship Jesus, the leaders of his people reject him.

The Arrival of the Wise Men 

Matthew 2:1–2

Some time after the birth of Jesus, some men came from the east looking for him. The only date given for this is “in the days of Herod the king”. Since he reigned from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C., that does not help us much. But, given Herod’s later actions, it would appear that this event occurred about two years after Jesus was born. He and his family are still in Bethlehem. 

These men are called wise men. Some versions (NIV) call them “Magi”, transliterating the Greek word “magoi”. They specialized in obtaining knowledge. This included astrology and ancient religious texts. They were probably from Babylon or Persia. 

They came to Jerusalem and asked “where is he who has been born king of the Jews?”. They had followed a star to Judea. Jerusalem was the capital and a residence of the king, so it was a logical place to look.

Much has been written about this star, trying to explain it in natural terms. The point Matthew makes, however, is that it is a supernatural, divine, event to guide the wise men to Jesus.

So we see, beginning with the birth of Jesus and his early life, God reached out beyond the Jews to reveal Jesus to the nations, the Gentiles. 

This is exciting! God, who had long worked only through and with the Israelites toward the restoration of the creation, now begins a new phase, working with the Gentiles, the rest of the world. And that leads to us! 

Paul would later write “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ”. (Ephesians 2:13)

The question arises, how did the wise men know there would be one born king of the Jews and that there was a star to guide them? The Bible does not to answer that question for us. 

We know, however, that the Jews were in exile in Babylonia, then in Persia when it conquered Babylonia. We know that many of them did not return to Israel when Cyrus let them. We also know that Daniel, the Old Testament prophet, rose to a prominent position in the Babylonian government and stayed in Persia when the exile ended.

So, it is likely the wise men had access to the Jewish writings, including Daniel’s prophecies, and realized one would be born who would have the throne of David, rule Israel as king, and be divine. As astrologers, they believed in signs in the heavens. When they saw one at the time they believed the king would be born, they took off to find him and worship him. 

Matthew alludes to Numbers 24:17, part of an oracle from Balaam: “a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel”. The Jews regarded this prophecy as messianic. 

Herod’s Disturbance and Religious Indifference

Matthew 2:3–8

Matthew paused telling the story of the wise men to tell about King Herod’s reaction. When Herod hard about what the wise men were doing and saying, he was troubled. (3) He was the King of the Jews, appointed by the Roman Emperor. He was very jealous of his position and authority. he murdered his wife and some of his sons when he believed they plotted against him. He did not want to see a usurper born and recognized by other countries, much less his own.

All Jerusalem was troubled as well. This would have been a combination of those who might lose their power and wealth with a change of regime, and those who just knew that a troubled Herod could spell disruption and death for many others. And it did.

Herod was not actually a Jew. He was an Idumean, meaning he was of the line of Esau. Edom ceased to exist as an independent entity after being pushed out of its land in southern Jordan by the Nabateans in the 5th century B.C. This was prophesied by Obadiah and others. They migrated to southern Judah (Idumea). 

Not knowing scripture himself, Herod summoned all of the chief priests and scribes and asked them where this king might have been born. They told him it was Bethlehem, citing Micah 5:2. 

So Herod had a secret meeting with the wise men and sent them to Bethlehem to look for the child and tell him where he was, under the guise of worshipping him. But, he intended to kill him. 

The Wise Men Find Jesus

2:9-12

So, the wise men left Jerusalem for Bethlehem. Notice that the Jewish leaders did not go. 

The star reappeared and came to rest over the place the child Jesus was living. The wise men “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” when they saw the star. As opposed to Herod’s jealousy and the people’s apathy, these Gentiles had immense joy just seeing the star that would lead them to Jesus!

We see that Jesus and his family were living in a house in Bethlehem. (11) The wise men went in, saw the child Jesus and his mother. Joseph is not mentioned. He might have been out working to support them.

The reaction of the wise men to seeing Jesus is breathtaking. They fell don on the ground (prostrated themselves) and worshipped him. They gave him lavish gifts. This reflects Psalm 72:10-11:

May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; 

may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!

May all kings fall down before him,

all nations serve him!

And, likewise, Isaiah 60:6:

A multitude of camels shall cover you,
    the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
    all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
    and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.

Some say the Greek word for “worshipped” does not mean worship, but paying homage to an important person. Yet, the KJV, NKJV, RSV, NIV, NASB, and ESV all say “worshipped”. 

Additionally, it is difficult to imagine these men following a star for hundreds of miles over many weeks, at great expense, to come and pay homage to the king of a small country that was nothing more than a vassal of the Roman Empire.   

It is a dramatic contrast to the Jewish leaders who did not even bother to go to Bethlehem.

God, in his wisdom and sovereignty, warned the wise men through a dream not to return to Herod. They obeyed and took another route back home to Persia. 

God protected his Son until the time he was appointed to die for our sins. 

As Jesus would later say, God is working. (John 5:17) He continued his work toward the new creation whose people worship him because of the work of his Son.  

More On The Virgin Birth

 The virgin birth is also confessed in the creeds. 

It is confessed in the:

1. Apostles’ Creed (“conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary”) and;
2. the Nicene Creed (“he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary”).