Atonement for All You Have Done

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Pete

Hovering over an Old Testament story. In my CSB the translators have entitled the chapter “Parable of God’s Adulterous Wife.” And what a story it is.

A story told by the LORD God in His own words. A story of love told in graphic detail, speaking of the best of love and the worst. A rags to riches story, which tragically ends up again in rags. A story of beauty given and, gut-wrenchingly, beauty exploited. A story of rescue and then of wrath.

But the story concludes with a “but”. You know, one of those “but God” sort of buts. One of those plot-reversing “buts” that we’ve come to recognize in the New Testament where despite our lost rebellion God makes a way for found restoration (e.g. Eph. 2:1-5).

” ‘For this is what the Lord God says: I will deal with you according to what you have done, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a permanent covenant with you.’ ”

(Ezekiel 16:59-60 CSB)

Though her heart would be inflamed with lust, He would still love her. Though she would trust in her beauty and give herself away in her fame, He would remain faithful to the promise He made to her on the day He took her for His own. Though, unlike most prostitutes, she would descend to the depths of debauchery where she would pay her lovers, He would ultimately determine to pay her debt.

I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed.

(Ezekiel 16:62-63a CSB)

Not if, but when — WHEN I make atonement for all you have done.

To be sure, she would know His righteous wrath. She would feel the severe discipline of His hand of justice. She would be ashamed. She would bear her disgrace. But His covenant with her would not cease. She would again know that He is the LORD. He would still be in her midst, and she would again abide in His presence. She would know that He is the LORD, and she would always be His bride.

When I make atonement for all you have done. Not for some of what you’ve done. Not only to a point and then no more. But God shows His faithfulness to His promises in paying in full the debt she would never be able to pay.

Ezekiel 16 is an Old Testament parable. The cross of Christ is a New Testament reality. Atonement for all I have done.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Ezekiel | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

They Feast With You

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Pete

Arrogant people, so full of themselves they have no fear of slandering anyone else or anything else. Creatures driven by base instinct, following the polluted desires of their flesh, and with no regard for authority. Jazzed by doing what shouldn’t be done and doing it in broad daylight, always on the prowl for the next piece of forbidden fruit. With their hearts trained in greed, on the look out for unstable people to seduce. Welcome to church (2Peter 2:10-14).

What!?!?

This morning I was arrested by a phrase of just a few words but with profound implications. Ended up chewing on something quite bitter.

They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions while they feast with you.

(2Peter 2:13 CSB)

They feast with you. That’s what caught my attention this morning. These creepy cads, these despicable degenerates, these sin-driven scoundrels, they feast with you. You, as in the people of God to whom Peter is writing. They, as in false teachers among the people of God who “bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” (2Pet. 2:1).

Say it isn’t so!

If it wasn’t, Peter wouldn’t have written. If it couldn’t happen, the Spirit wouldn’t have said it could happen. If it could only happen somewhere else, then why was this written for our instruction?

And so, I noodle on this disturbing description of those who feast with you and wonder how we could end up at the same table . . . and with me picking up the check to boot?

Well, I think there’s a clue given in this passage as to how spots and blemishes end up feasting and fellowshiping among the people of God.

They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

(2Peter 2:15 CSB)

I’m guessing that not many heretics begin with a decision and determination to be a heretic. That few sit down at a white board to brainstorm their life’s mission statement and come up with “Go to Church and Deny Jesus!” That few meet with a committee charged with filling the pulpit on a Sunday morning and handout business cards with the tag line, “Bringing Something Better than Good News, Bringing Feel-Good News.” Probably not how it happens.

Instead, at least in part, it begins by going astray and abandoning the straight path. Not talking about a seismic shift initially, just a slight “course correction.” Finding the straight path a somewhat restrictive path, wandering just a little bit off the path. Finding the way of the kingdom impractical at times when it comes to navigating the way of the world, willing to improvise and ad lib in order to make things more palatable and enjoyable.

And what fuels which is, at first, but a slight variation of the truth so that it becomes full-blown heresy? Those willing to listen. Those willing to follow. Those willing to buy in (literally) and pay out to these false teachers the wages of wickedness. Remember, they feast with you.

False teachers thrive where there are followers open to false teaching. Those themselves who, either deliberately or ignorantly, are willing to abandon the straight path. Those ungrounded in the Scriptures, or too grounded in themselves, who are willing to follow their own instincts rather than commit to knowing and obeying God-breathed instruction. The fact that these false teachers feast with you is not just a warning about deceptive sellers of truth but also a warning about being an unawares, or unconcerned consumer of what’s being sold as truth. They feast with you.

O that we would be so grounded in what’s true we would discern immediately what’s false. So committed to the straight path that we have no interest in those who talk of some new and improved path. So abiding in the shadow of the Master’s cross that we would repel anything which hints of wavering from the Master’s call.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

Posted in 2Peter | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Two Words of Wisdom

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Pete

It’s wisdom literature — sometimes I forget that. That Proverbs is wisdom literature is a gimme. So too with Ecclesiastes and the Psalms. All of these clearly providing divine insight for the meaning and maneuvering of life. That Song of Songs is wisdom literature might be less intuitive because it’s more focused on celebrating one specific facet of life, a facet which foreshadows the greatest love story ever written. But Job? That Job is wisdom literature is sometimes lost when I read it. Maybe because the facet of life it focuses on can hit so close to home and can be so overwhelming. Hard to learn from suffering when you are in the midst of suffering. Hard to understand what God’s purposes are when you’re wondering where God’s presence is.

But wisdom literature it is. And so, amidst the destruction, the depression, and the dialogue that carries Job’s storyline, you shouldn’t be surprised if along the way there’s a gem or two worth taking note of. Something to observe about God. A diamond amidst of all that’s so rough, worthy of being added to wisdom’s treasure chest, kept for future reference, reflection, and rejoicing. Came upon one of those this morning.

After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born.
He said:
May the day I was born perish,
and the night that said, “A boy is conceived.”
If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it, or light shine on it.
May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it.
May what darkens the day terrify it.
If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.

(Job 3:1-6 CSB)

Job’s at the end of his rope. Though he would still bless God after losing fortune and family (ch. 1), and though he would not sin and curse God under the adversity of severe bodily harm (ch 2.), in chapter three, he’s done! Curse the day of my birth. Strike it from the annals of history. Oh, that the day had never been marked on any calendar. If this is what I was born for, then I wish I’d never been born.

Yet in the midst of Job’s lament, a gem. A truth about God to be observed. A divine reality to be pondered. Something worth chewing on. A word of wisdom. Actually, two words of wisdom. God cares.

May God above not care about it . . .

Job’s discourse is calling for things that are true to not be true. That the night he was born, didn’t happen. That the light that was seen by a small baby on that day had never occurred, but had been enveloped with the darkness of a miscarriage or a still birth (3:11, 16). But the night did happen. The light did shine. And so when Job despairingly wishes that God above did not care about the day he was born, it’s because God did care. God cared about the day Job was born.

He who fearfully and wonderfully formed Job in the womb cared when Job emerged from the womb. God who is Sovereign and had determined Jobs days before even one came to pass was deeply, personally invested in that day when Job breathed his first breath. And God would continue to care until Job breathed his last. Did God care amidst Job’s suffering. O yes, He cares.

There’s a hymn that comes to mind as I meditate this morning on these two words of wisdom. A hymn that has come to mind at least 8 times during my morning meals over the past 6+ years, first appearing in one of these musings shortly after my wife went home to be with the Lord. A sacred song able to comfort the storm-tossed soul.

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song;
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief I find no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve said goodbye
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks
Is it aught to Him? does He see?

O yes, He cares, I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

(Frank Ellsworth Graeff, 1901)

Job, in His sorrow, wished that the day of his birth had never happened, that God hadn’t cared about that day. But God did.

Does God care? O yes, He cares!

Pouring out His abundant, all-sustaining grace, even as we seek to walk in wisdom for His all-deserving, everlasting glory.

Amen?

Posted in Job | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Awaken with a Reminder

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Pete

I wake up in the morning with music. No beeping electronic alarm sound for me, jolting me into consciousness. Instead, I want to be gently awakened by one or more songs from a favorite playlist. Melody is what I want to make me aware of the day’s beginning, to let me know it’s time to rise from rest.

But what about being awakened from a slumber of neglect, or a slumber of distraction, or a slumber of misplaced priorities, or a slumber of discouragement? What’s gonna work when you’re snoozing at the wheel while you’re supposed to be following Jesus? Chewing this morning on Peter’s approach, on being awaken with a reminder.

Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.

(2Peter 1:12-15 CSB)

The Lord Jesus had let Peter know his days were coming to a close, he would soon lay aside his earthly tent. But before he left, this fellow elder of God’s flock (2Pet. 5:1-2) would continue to shepherd his sheep so they wouldn’t be left to aimlessly wander after his departure. And so, he’d write one more letter. One more recap of who they were in Christ, what they possessed through the Spirit, and how they should live for God. As he had always done, he would continue to always do — I will always remind you about these things.

Peter knew how easy it was to take your eye off the prize and start drowning when you should be walking on water (Mt. 14:28-33). He knew the reality of finding himself suddenly denying Jesus when his intention had been all along to defend Jesus (Mt. 26:33-34). He knew the weariness that could lull you into passing out on Jesus instead of praying with Jesus (Mt. 26:37-40). He knew the need, from time to time, to wake up with a reminder.

And so, he again presents to these precious sheep a reminder of some precious promises. Tells them repeatedly the truths they already knew.

I will always remind you about these things, Peter says, to wake you up with a reminder.

His desire was to arouse them afresh to faithful living. His goal was to stir up within them the divine power granted them in order to live fully into the divine nature gifted them (2Pet. 1:3-4). He would combat every tendency within them to float with the facts that they were born again to bear fruit (2Pet. 1:8). He’d wake them up with a reminder.

Like I said, I wake up with music in the morning. But then, on most mornings, with the help of the Spirit’s prompting and a cup of coffee, I make my way to my desk, open my bible, and get ready to be awaken with a reminder.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in 2Peter | Tagged | Leave a comment

Grace Multiplied

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Pete

Okay, so this morning’s devo was interrupted by an unplanned hunt — a hunt for a beeping smoke detector. Ugh! Found it. Kinda of. There were two in the room. Swapped out the battery in the most accessible one first. Nope. Not it. Go get the ladder. Ugh, again! All to say that while my reading time this morning stayed mostly in tact, writing time was severely compromised. So, here’s a quick attempt to bullet point what I’m chewing on in 2Peter 1:1-11.

  • While we have been translated into the kingdom of light, our lives now are about entering that eternal kingdom (1:11).
  • The way we enter the kingdom — which is also the way that mitigates stumbling as we follow Christ — is to make every effort to confirm our calling (1:10). Make every effort! We can’t work our way into heaven, but we can work our way into the kingdom. Hmm . . .
  • By making this effort, it keeps us from being “useless or unfruitful” in our experiential knowledge of Jesus. Head knowledge is intended to translate into life practice which is intended to bear fruit for Jesus (1:8).
  • The “every effort” we put in to confirm our calling is the same “every effort” we are to put in to “supplement” our faith. While we are saved by faith alone, we are not saved for faith alone. We are to add to our faith. Faith + goodness + knowledge + self-control + endurance + godliness + brotherly affection + love (1:5) = confirming your salvation.
  • Our effort? Yup. Our ability? Not so much. It’s His divine power that’s given us all we need to participate in the divine nature that we share in through the “precious promises” He has given us (1:4-5) which sources the effort, that adds to our faith, that bears the fruit, that confirms our calling, that allows us to enter into the eternal kingdom now.
  • But, while it might be we who are adding, it is He who is multiplying!

To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

(2Peter 1:1b-2 CSB)

Grace multiplied. Struck me as kind of unfamiliar. Abundant grace? Abounding grace? Amazing grace? Pretty familiar. Multiplied grace? Not so much. Only found here and in 1Peter and in Jude.

So, while I am to make every effort to ADD, He enables me to add by MULTIPLYING. While I work to enter into what I have been translated into, He supplies, and supplies more and more and more and more, what I need as I participate in the divine nature by His divine power.

How’s that for some divine math?

Grace multiplied. All for God’s glory.

Posted in 1Peter | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Great Sender

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Pete

Repetition. It’s the great megaphone in Scripture. It emphasizes what heaven wants emphasized when it’s found within a few verses concerning a specific point. But it shouts out the eternal truths heaven wants to shout out when it is found within an entire book. The reverberating rhythm of an often-mentioned reality is laying down something the Spirit wants us to pick up on. This morning I’m chewing on the wonder of the Father being the Great Sender.

As He was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out,”You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me is true. You don’t know Him; I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent me.” . . . “I am only with you for a short time. Then I’m going to the One who sent Me.”

(John 7:28-29, 33 CSB)

Sent Me . . . Sent Me . . . Sent Me. Three times in my reading this morning it, He sent Me echoes the truth that God the Father is the Great Sender.

Not just found in these few verses, but encountered 14 times so far in John’s gospel. To be encountered another 20 times before John is done writing his telling of the good news so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (Jn. 20:31).

By way of comparison, “sent me” is found once in Matthew, once in Mark, and only three times in the detailed, historic account of Jesus’ life provided by Luke. Each of those gospel writers were inspired to emphasize other things. John, however, would make sure we understood something of Messiah’s deity, that He is God in heaven. But beyond that, because a God in heaven is not what the earth needed, John would be led of God the Spirit to make sure we knew that, because of our sin, God the Father sent God the Son. That’s just part of what the Father does best — “He sent Me.”

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

(John 3:16-17 CSB)

God gave His Son. God sent His Son. That’s one distinguishing act that makes the Father the Father. That’s one of the unique roles He plays within the dynamics of a Triune God — the Father is the eternal Sender. While the Son is eternally begotten, the Father is forever the Giver. He is the Great Sender.

Thank you, oh my Father
For giving us Your Son
And leaving Your Spirit
‘Til the work on Earth is done

(Melody Green, There is A Redeemer)

The Great Sender. Oh, what an act of amazing grace!

The Great Sender. To God be all the glory!

Amen?

Posted in John | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Good, Good, Good!

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Pete

Hovering over some shadow verses this morning. You know, those lesser-known passages immediately following those other passages we tend to remember, quote, and claim. Lesser known, lesser remembered, often lesser chewed on Scripture because the inspired word just before it so . . . well, inspiring!

Hovering over Lamentations 3. Immediately many of us think, “Oh, oh, oh! I know! His mercies are new every morning! Great is His faithfulness!” That’s the mighty oak in Lamentations 3, verses 22 and 23. It’s the great reversal bringing much needed revival after two-and-a-half chapters of lamenting the carnage and collateral damage of God’s judgment on an unfaithful people. It’s the “aha!” the prophet calls to mind which helps refuel within him hope (3:21).

But just after this great hymn is a lesser known chorus. In the shade of new mercies and great faithfulness is a passage that tells us what’s good, good, and good about being in the midst of what’s bad, terrible, and awful.

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
to the person who seeks Him.
It is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the LORD.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is still young.

(Lamentations 3:25-27 CSB)

James says we should “consider it great joy” whenever we experience various kinds of trials (James 1:2). Maybe because James spent some time in the shade.

Consider it great joy because GOOD is Jehovah. Consider it great joy because GOOD is waiting quietly. Consider it great joy because GOOD is bearing the yoke of discipline.

There’s something about struggling in the desert which tends to revive the thirst for Living Water prioritizing it above all other thirsts. Something about waiting and seeking while you’re wandering and wondering that provides afresh an opportunity to taste and see that the LORD is good. Yes, and amen — the LORD is indeed good! Not just to those who wait, He is good period. But there is a unique depth of goodness revealed to those who wait on Him in the wilderness, to those who seek Him in their suffering.

It’s also good just to wait. When in a season or situation that you know you’re not going to be able to resolve or redeem on your own, there’s something enlivening to the soul that comes from being dependent wholly upon the Savior. Something pleasant which comes from experiencing your impotence, as experientially you know that His power is made perfect in our weakness (2Cor. 12:9).

And it’s even good to bear the yoke attached to the hard work of enduring patiently. To be trained in the time of trial. To be disciplined in the midst of what seems like only destruction. For in our suffering “God is dealing with you as sons”, leveraging hardship for our “benefit, so that we can share His holiness.” While the yoke seems painful at the time, later “it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:7, 10-11).

Good is the LORD. Good is waiting. Good is enduring.

Good because His mercies never end. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. Oh, what blessed shade!

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Lamentations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Finished with Sin

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Pete

This morning Peter lays out a bottom-line for his audience. For those who are chosen but living as exiles (1Pet. 1:1), it’s sin or suffering.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding ​— ​because the one who suffers in the flesh is finished with sin ​— ​in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

(1Peter 4:1-2 CSB)

What that “therefore” is there for encompasses a pretty big ask. While the immediate reference is to Christ’s suffering in the flesh, I think that’s but the illustration to contextualize the exhortation that Peter makes of his “dear friends.” “As strangers and exiles,” he urges, “abstain from sinful desires. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles” (1Pet. 2:11-12).

And since chapter 2, Peter’s been laying out what honorable living looks like. It will mean everyone submitting to human authority, even bad human authority. It will mean slaves submitting to masters, even cruel masters. It will mean wives submitting to husbands, even unbelieving husbands. It will mean husbands living with, and loving their wives according to understanding, even when they’re struggling to understand. And it will mean living together as a community of believers, even when the family tends to be dysfunctional at times. You’d like to think that living honorably comes with reward. And it will “on the day He visits.” But until then? Don’t count on it. Because the world doesn’t get honorable living.

Honorable living — living according to God’s will, living for Christ — also means a high likelihood that the culture about them would respond to their “good conduct” with slander and accusation, disparaging their good as evil (2:12b,3:16b). So much so that their sanctified living would bear the fruit of unjust suffering. Just like Jesus.

Therefore, says Peter, since Jesus suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same understanding . . . live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.

And that choice to suffer as followers of Christ reveals another choice, “I’m done with the ways of this world — I’m done with sin.”

Not that I’m perfect, not that I don’t sin or won’t sin, but that I’m finished with living for sin. Finished with “carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and lawless idolatry” (1Pet. 4:3). Finished with being like the world around me pursuing “the same flood of wild living” (1Pet. 4:4). Finished with the ways of this world being my ways.

Instead, I choose to follow Jesus. And so, even if it means suffering like Jesus, I’m finished with sin.

That’s the holy determination of a holy people who view themselves as wholly in exile. That’s the desire of disciples wanting to walk in the way of their Master. That’s the aspiration of those who count themselves dead to this world and alive to a better kingdom.

Finished with sin.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

Posted in 1Peter | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Eating is Believing

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Pete

To say that I’m chewing on the latter part of John 6 this morning is an understatement (actually, it’s more like a pun).

Jesus has fed five thousand (6:1-11) and the crowds are pressing Him for more (6:22-26). Jesus seizes on the opportunity of their belly-lust to point them away from “food that perishes” to “food that lasts for eternal life” (6:27). What is this wonder food? Well, it’s “the true bread from heaven” (6:32). But the wonder food is not a what, it’s a who.

“For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” . . . “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.”

(John 6:33, 35 CSB)

Chewing on the Bread of Life this morning (see, told you it was kind of a pun). Actually, I’m chewing on what it means to be chewing on.

“Truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

(John 6:47-51 CSB)

Eat this bread, live forever. Check. This bread is My flesh. What?!? The Jews didn’t get it (6:52). Many of Jesus’ disciples didn’t accept it (6:60). But Jesus didn’t back off to try and make it more palatable (pun intended . . . I kill me).

So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

(John 6:53-54 CSB)

What does it mean, then, to eat His flesh and drink His blood? Do the math. You know, that math that says: IF A=B AND B=C THEN A=C. So, IF anyone who believes has eternal life AND the one eats My flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life THEN the one who believes is the one who eats His flesh and drinks His blood. Seeing isn’t believing –eating is believing.

Believing that Jesus is God come in flesh. Believing that Jesus gave His body and shed His blood as a once for all atoning sacrifice for my sin. Believing that Jesus bodily rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and now reigns at God’s right hand and intercedes forever for God’s people. Trusting in what is conveyed through the body of Christ and the blood of Christ is eating of Christ. Eating is believing.

And it’s not a one-and-done thing.

“The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.”

(John 6:56 CSB)

Remaining, or abiding in Christ is an eating thing too, a believing thing as well. For to live for Christ is to have to acknowledge that we fail for Christ; that we are weak even though He who lives in us is strong; that we repeatedly find ourselves weary even though He has promised us rest. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). And so, I need to eat again of His flesh, claiming again by faith that He paid the price for my failure. I need to drink again of His blood, believing with all my heart that the blood of Christ continues to cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:9). I need to feed on the risen Christ, believe on the risen Christ, knowing that it is no longer I who live, but the risen Christ living in me and through Me (Gal. 2:20).

Eating is believing. Believing is eating.

“Sir, give us this bread always!”

(John 6:34 CSB)

O, taste and see that the Lord is good.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in John | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Jacob’s Portion

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Pete

It’s the second time I’ve encountered this name for Jehovah while reading in Jeremiah. A few weeks ago it didn’t register much on the “chew-o-meter.” This time? It spikes the needle.

Hovering over a a two-word moniker (in the CSB) for God. An alias for the LORD of Hosts, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. A way to refer to the One Jeremiah has just reminded his people is He who

made the earth by His power
established the world by His wisdom,
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
When He thunders,
the waters in the heavens are tumultuous,
and He causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from his storehouses.

(Jeremiah 51:15-16 CSB)

And what is the Name of the Creator? How might we address the Source of thunder and lightning? In contrasting Him to the lifeless, inert, carved images of Babylon, Jeremiah refers to Him in this manner;

Jacob’s Portion is not like these
because He is the one who formed all things.
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
the Lord of Armies is His name.

(Jeremiah 51:19 CSB)

Jacob’s Portion. Huh?

Jacob? Like in Jacob the “heel-catcher”? Jacob the supplanter? Jacob the schemer?

That Jacob, who scammed his brother’s birthright (Gen. 25), has a claim on the Creator God? The Almighty is part and parcel of his share? Even though Israel is the LORD Almighty’s inheritance, the LORD Almighty is Jacob’s portion? Yup. (And who said grace was a New Testament thing only?)

Is there a sense in which God has given Himself to His people? Yeah. Promised in Genesis as part of the Old Covenant (17:7-8) and declared three times in Jeremiah as Jeremiah reveals the New Covenant (24:7, 31:33, 32:38), though God says those He redeems will be His people, He also declares, “I will be their God.” Thus, He is our Portion. Huh!

How do you take that in? Try making sense of that wisdom. Jacob, though he became Israel, was still Jacob, still the schemer. He didn’t earn a stake in the Creator. Yet, He was made in the image of the Creator and thus pursued by the Creator and promised of the Creator to be redeemed by the Creator. That God was Jacob’s Portion was not something to boastfully assert but to humbly wonder at.

I am His. I get that. Because of the work of the cross, I have been purchased with the price paid for my sin. But that He is mine? In a sense, it makes no sense apart from a grace which is amazing beyond comprehension.

Jacob’s Portion, not because of Jacob’s prowess, but only because of God’s promise. Jacob’s Share, not because Jacob earned it, but because God determined it. Jacob’s Part, not because God owed Jacob something, but because God unconditionally and eternally gifted Jacob something.

To mess with John Mark McMillan’s words a bit:

So He is our portion and we are His prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

Jacob’s Portion.

My Portion, too? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

Posted in Jeremiah | Tagged , , | Leave a comment