For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Rom. 9
On what basis does God choose people? What questions does this raise for you? “Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” (Rom. 9:18). This is a hard statement! And quite frankly, I don’t have a solid explanation for it. What I do have, however, is some knowledge of God’s character, revealed to us in His Word, that makes the statement easier to accept and that gives me some guidance in how I should respond to it.
The first truth is Paul’s response to the, “Then why does God still blame us?” question in Roman 9:19. He says, “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?” (Rom. 9:20a). This is a statement of God’s sovereignty, the first truth about God. But it also takes me to the second truth. Paul’s response is similar to God’s response to Job, both of which boil down to, “you don’t know what you’re talking about”. As expressed through Isaiah, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is. 55:9). Truth #2 – God knows things we can’t possibly even imagine.
The third truth about God is a by-product of the second. I see it stated in 1 Samuel 16:7b. “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Because God knows what we cannot know, He sees what we cannot see. We see what’s on the surface. God sees to the innermost parts.
The final truth I apply here is that God is good. Not just good, but ultimate good. Because He is good as well as sovereign and all-knowing, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28). And when I put all that together, why would I want to talk back to God?
Maybe God is the one who ultimately decides who comes to Him and who doesn’t, not leaving us any real say. But what profit is there in throwing up my hands and saying, “Not my fault!”? God commands us to love Him with our whole being and to love others as we love ourselves. If He has blessed me with a heart to seek Him and the faith to obey Him, I will humbly accept that gift, doing my best to live in that obedience and trusting His grace to cover me. Whether that choice is mine to make or not, I still need to rely on God to live it out.
Ezek. 15-16
What two metaphors does God use for Jerusalem, and what is the meaning of each? I was thinking about God’s analogy of Jerusalem as the useless wood of a vine. Of course, the instant I read the word, “vine”, I thought of Jesus, who declared Himself the true vine in John 15. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:5). So the intact, living vine is useful for bearing fruit. However, when separated from the vine the branches become simply wood. And the wood of the vine is pretty much useless. Hence, “apart from me you can do nothing.”
The first and obvious message here is that we are nothing without God. God demonstrated that to us through His unfaithful people. I see another message in God’s demonstration as well, though. The Jews, who had been established by God, had separated themselves from Him, becoming useless vine wood. Yet God used them for the one thing they were good for. He used them as fuel for the fire. The Jews were in every way the starting point for God’s fire. That fire will one day consume all wickedness and purify all who seek shelter in Christ.
Prov. 26
“Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit. Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.” (Pr. 26:24-25). Boy, do I see that truth everywhere I look! It is especially true of people in positions of power. Such people are masters of using sweet speech to manipulate others in order to get what they want. I have seen it in politicians, corporate big-wigs, and even, sadly, non-profit leaders. People hide behind all kinds of good causes and fancy speech. They disguise their selfish ambitions as benevolence and compassion. Just look at what Satan did in the Garden of Eden. He was so concerned that God was holding out on Adam and Eve that he felt the need to benevolently step in on their behalf. Right.
The Bible tells us about the wickedness of the human heart and what people do in that wickedness. So we have heard the warning. The Bible also gives us examples of these things in play; examples that we can compare to what goes on around us, both now and throughout history. So we have seen the truth. If this knowledge does not then drive us to fervently seek wisdom from God that we might discern truth from lie, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.