” … and know that I AM God … (Psalm 46:10). Many beautiful, sincere Christians truly want to know the Lord and to know intimately His “sweet, satisfying companionship” (Psalm 25:14), but they just can’t seem to attain to that blessed relationship with Him. Perhaps stillness is lacking. Then there are others who know that the Bible says that “His Strength is made perfect in our weakness” ( II Corinthians 12:9), but all they are conscious of is their weakness. Perhaps in both situations a necessary “posture” is missing – e.g. quietness before God, an ear ready to hear from Him. The Word of God addresses the human tendencies, especially in our world now, of not spending time alone with God, being quiet, and shutting out all noise insofar as it is possible. If a believer pays attention to what the Lord is saying about this subject, he can find himself infused with inner and even outer strength and become increasingly more confident in the Lord as his Strength.
“In quietness and confidence shall be your strength … ”
The first part of this verse says, “In returning and resting in Me you shall be saved (delivered) … ” (Isaiah 30:15). So first we return to the Lord from forgetfulness of His Presence, and we receive Grace to sit quietly before Him and respond to His invitation as seen in Isaiah 26:20 – “Come, My people, enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you, hide yourselves for a little while … “. The Lord Himself said to His disciples after they had fulfilled His commission in Mark 6:7-13, and after Herod had ordered John the Baptist to be put to death: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest a while … ” (v.31). David likewise spoke to his own soul when it had stopped resting in the Lord: “Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” (Psalm 116:7). We see through these passages that getting quiet before the Lord is not not just a new concern for people living in the 21st century! Let’s look at more examples in the Old Testament of how this stillness of soul was encouraged by prophets and other leaders of that era.
In I Samuel 9 we read about the Lord calling Saul “to be leader over My people Israel” ( v.16). At their first meeting, Samuel gave the king-to-be a directive regarding his present responsibilities (tending his father’s donkeys), and then brought him to “the high place” to eat with him and about 30 other guests. Then in verse 25 the Word of God says that “Samuel conversed with Saul on top of the house”. The next day, however, when Samuel was accompanying Saul on his way out of the city, he instructed him to ‘bid his servant to pass on before them’ – “and he passed on – but you [Saul], stand still, first, that I many cause you to hear the Word of God.” (verse 27). Is this not a great word for us, now, to inwardly and outwardly ‘stand still and hear’ – truly hear – the Word of God? Moses was another leader of Israel who knew the value of standing still in a crisis. He told the people of Israel at the edge of the Red Sea, with Pharaoh and his army hot in pursuit of them, “Fear not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today,” (Exodus 13:14). They stood still. They saw the Lord’s deliverance. I wonder what would have happened if they had not submitted to Moses’ instructions as soon as they heard them (Psalm 18:44). Now, one more posture of stillness to consider …
There are two examples in the Word of God of “lying still” that stand out to me, the first involving a child, the second a king. When Samuel was a child, Hannah, his mother, brought him to the prophet Eli to minister to the Lord before Eli. That is the first mention of the young boy (verse 1) after his mother’s dedication of him to the Lord. The second was in verse 3: “Samuel was lying down.”; and this was his posture of rest when the Lord called to him (verses 4-10). The third time the Lord called him, the boy responded according to Eli’s instructions: “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.” Samuel then went and lay down in his place to listen in silence before the Lord (Isaiah 41:1). The second example of “lying still” before the Lord is David, who, in Psalm 4:4, wrote, “Stand in awe and sin not; commune with your own hearts upon your bed and be silent. Selah.” “Be silent” … why? In this verse, not to eventually fall asleep but to be awake, alert to, undistracted from listening before the Lord, as we saw above in Samuel’s case. But so often we can lie down, or sit still, or stand still, and yet there is so much inward noise, distracting thoughts. How do we quiet ourselves inwardly? Rather, how does the Lord quiet us, for “when HE gives quietness who then can cause trouble?” (Job 34:29). Not surprisingly, He gives clear instruction and strategy in the Scriptures, and through His Word He gives us the power to hush the hindrances to stillness.
When we physically say “Shhhhh … “, it actually sounds like certain white noise that many have going in the background of their bedrooms so they can fall and stay asleep. This also works when for example, we’re attempting to be quiet before the Lord, and a myriad of details descends on our consciousness: things we need to do that day, what I forgot to do yesterday, what I will prepare for the family for Thanksgiving dinner – a seeming endless array of important and not-so-important matters! We can say, in faith, “Shhhh!” to the latter, which are trying to preempt the ones that are weightier at that moment, we can receive Grace to declare, “I’m seeking the Kingdom of God first and His Righteousness, and these other things will be added unto me, severally as God wills!” And to reinforce your “Shhhhh!”, it helps to “Close the door and enter into your closet” (Isaiah 26:20). The Lord even instructed His disciples, “When you pray, go into your private room and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret, and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.” (Matthew 6:6)
There are other distractions and hindrances to ‘listening in silence before God’ that perhaps require a more forceful rebuke. When the enemy comes in like a flood with projections – which are always in opposition to the Nature of God and the Finished Work – we cast them down, as we do all vain imaginations and high things that exalt themselves above the knowledge of God, bringing every one of them into captivity to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). We know that His thoughts toward us are always thoughts of peace and never of evil (Jeremiah 29:11). Therefore, we can be as forceful with our rebuke of the enemy’s accusations and projections as Jesus was with the storm stirred up by satan in Mark 4:37-39, when He “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush now! Be still (muzzled)! And the wind ceased … “.
“We’ve got … to reach a level of quietness where we can hear Him speak.”
After writing most of this post, I read words in Amir Tsarfati’s book The Elijah Mandate which (1) encapsulate the preceding paragraphs; and (2) beautifully and skillfully confirm the importance of being quiet enough to hear the Lord’s “still, small Voice” (II Kings 19:12):
” … with all the noise of social media, news, life … , we’ve got to fight tooth and nail to reach a level of quietness where we can hear Him speak. Sometimes those barriers come from within us. So many are afraid of silence. It’s uncomfortable, unfamiliar … But as awkward as quiet sometimes feels, it is necessary. Seeking God in this world is a battle … If we are to win this war [against quietness] , we need strategy and preparation … We must intently [and intentionally] set aside listening time … When God spoke to Elijah [in the cave, after the wind, earthquake, and fire], the prophet was ready to listen. As a result, he got his marching orders – ” And he was ready and prepared to obey them. (The Elijah Mandate, Amir Tsarfati, page 175).
Let us then follow suit and receive an abundance of Grace to “study to be quiet” (I Thessalonians 4:11), to listen in silence before the Lord (Isaiah 41:1), and to be a ready listener (James 1:19), so that we will be prepared like those mighty angels in Psalm 103:20 who not only do His commandments but also hearken to the Voice of His Word. Let us do this so intently and intentionally that we can truthfully say as David did in Psalm 131:2, “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child from its mother … “.
Ruth became a gleaner. She and Naomi were two widows living in Bethlehem with little means of support, and they had to be in need of something to eat.
And so Ruth put herself to work. She would enter into the practice of foraging in fields, collecting bits and pieces of fallen ears of grain. These bits could be ground into flour. Add a bit of olive oil, pressed from fruit collected in another plot of ground, and one could make a meal of sorts. It was a way to get the daily bread that was prayed for.
Gleaning was something of a social security policy instituted by the Lord in the Law of Moses. In Leviticus 19 and 23, the prescription from Heaven was for those who possessed fields were to allow for leftovers in managing their harvests. Not every grape, olive, or head of grain was to be scooped up. There wasn’t to be a thorough over-going of the fields so that nothing was left behind.
The instruction bid landowners to exercise a measure of care for those in need. Some bits here and some bits there were to be allowed to drop for the gatherers — those whose only means of provision was to pick up what they could find lying around.
God said that the poor and needy always would be a part of the community (see Deuteronomy 15:11; Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7, John 12:8). Israel as a people was to supply an example for the rest of the nations. As the ones privileged to be rescued from their domination and enslavement by Egypt and also the ones chosen to receive the oracles of the Lord, the Israelites were commanded to reveal holy generosity as people of plenty.
What other nation had been afforded such an identity? None, says Psalm 147: “He shows His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel.He has not dealt so with any nation: and as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise the Lord” (Psalm 147:19-20).
Sadly, as the records of the Old Testament show, the Israelites mostly ignored the responsibilities bestowed on them via the sacred covenants given to Abraham and amplified through Moses.
Dignity in the Details
Ruth headed to the fields and happened upon those that belonged to Boaz. This man is no minor character in the story we’re studying.
Is anyone we read about in the Bible a minor character? I don’t think so. Every bit part played in the redemption record of the Lord carries the weight of glory, even if it seems like that part is just a drop in the bucket.
Think about this: God does instruct in Proverbs 6 that the sluggard is to take note of the ant. Maybe our assignment is to carry just a small crumb back to our colony. Such work matters and it really contributes to the whole health of the community.
Feeling lazy? How can you fix that? How could we develop minds to work as the wall-builders in Nehemiah? (Consider: The workers finished the wall in 52 days.)
Go to the ant. See her march out to snatch up a fragment of bread. She lifts up the crumb and steadily makes her way back home. That crumb shall serve to feed a warrior ant perhaps.
In doing what she does, she helps serve in the defense and advance of her community. Her part in the division of labor seems so insignificant because it is so down to earth. But it is not insignificant in any way. It is precious and it is seen and valued by the Lord, just as the lily of the field is graced with beauty, so the ant is graced with diligence — single-mindedness even.
Small work, little details handled with care and dignity make a holy difference. It is rare thing for sure, for we as a people of this day and age love to mind high things. Small, low-level tasks are dismissed by many as being beneath them.
Capable ones conscious of the purpose of God in all things find something in their hands and they hold it fast. They do the work that is made available to them.
Noticed and Covered
What was life like for these widows during those first weeks back in Bethlehem? We see at the end of Ruth 1 that Naomi did bemoan her fate. She laid claim to a wounded identity. She clung to her sense of victimhood and labeled herself “Mara” — embittered because she felt God had let her down.
I can imagine that Ruth at times got tired of being stuck at home with “Mara.” The quick study that she was, she came to understand that there was a way open to her to do something to help.
Honor for Naomi as her mother figure presents itself in how Ruth sought permission to go and glean. I am certain that Ruth may have been concerned about how leaving Naomi alone with her thoughts could bring on deeper discouragement.
Remember, Naomi did tell Ruth to go home to Moabite relatives and their religion at one point. Now she had a chance to get Ruth out of the house and so she said, “Go my daughter.”
And so Ruth went out to the fields of Boaz. She joined with others in need there because this was field of plenty as far as gleanings go.
I am also thinking that Ruth may have met with some dirty looks and crude talk. Gossip and bigotry didn’t start with the coming of Facebook and Twitter.
The overseers of Boaz’s harvest took note of this woman. Her industrious manner may have been viewed as refreshing to these guys. Proverbs 18:16 does say that your gift makes room for you and brings you before great men.
Eventually, Boaz arrived to survey the operation. He too could see Ruth’s “ant” attitude in her usage of time. He asked about her and took an interest, inviting her to lunch with the other gleaners and workers. “Come dip your bread in the vinegar sauce,” he said. It seems to me he wanted Ruth to enjoy a momentary delight as a reward for her steady labor.
To some readers, Boaz may be seen as a man smitten. The story doesn’t indicate this right off, but he understood her history and her nationality. He knew that she could be someone targeted for abuse and oppression.
Note what he declared to Ruth: “… You left your father and mother and your native and came to a people you did not know before. The LORD repay you for what you have done, and full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (Ruth 2:11-12).
A Kinsman Who Cares
Boaz was more that a man of means. He was a man who remained to true to the Word. And in his practice of Truth, he revealed the heart of the Lord. His fields were open and ripe for the needy. Under his watch, many found a way to feed themselves.
Even more, Boaz also was a relative of Elimelech, the deceased husband of Naomi. This made him a kinsman with the full right and power to redeem.
This man points us to Jesus, the Son. He took on our form. He entered into kinship with us in human flesh. He entered into what He made. He became one of us to save all of us. That is how He spread His wings; He fulfilled all the Law; He gave His perfect life as the Ransom to redeem our souls. His just life was made ready for all justice to be served – on Him and Him alone.
In salvation, we choose to come under the covering of the Son.
Ruth shows us how to respond to such a covering as she experienced. “She kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests” (Ruth 2:23). She discovered the man of God and entered his fields.
May we do the same in obedience to Christ. The fields are ripe and ready. This means there are so many all over the place who need to know the Message of the Gospel.
We may live out our salvation like Ruth did. Let us glean and gather the lines, the sentences, the paragraphs of the Bible.
This is our food. It will give us the strength to bear witness to the Glory of the Lord.
We eat and feast as the Bride of Christ.
When I desire the ministry that I am part of to be blessed, I pray to the God who does things exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that I could think or imagine. I pray for blessing that is greater than what I can calculate.
So, I pray for unity, I pray that we all would be one mind and spirit. God blesses unity, and disunity does not receive blessing. My prayer is for myself first, and then for all: Lord, may we all have Your mind, and Your heart, then we will be one.
As I pray for unity I must pray against familiarity: that temptation to think that I know things as I ought to know them, that temptation to compare myself with others, and favorably of course. I pray like this because familiar people, myself included, can never be one in a ministry.
And so finally, I live day by day, and by the leading of the Holy Spirit, taking beams from my eyes. Why? Because I become familiar by seeing motes in the eyes of my brothers and sisters, but not taking the beams from my own.
When I want a blessing, when I expect a blessing, then I must get busy taking the beams from my eyes as I see the motes in yours. Why can we be confident to live like this? Because it is God who perfects, confirms, strengthens, and establishes us. Praise You Father.
When we open the New Testament, we are met first with the genealogy that is at the beginning of the gospel of Matthew: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).
Included in this family record of Jesus are the names of four women and the mention of one other as “she who had been the wife of Uriah” – a reference to Bathsheba, with whom King David committed adultery. The fact that women are included in this list makes it a rarity among ancient royal record-keeping. The male heirs were the ones emphasized in the majority of cases.
Regarding Bathsheba, none are certain as to why Matthew the Apostle and the writer of this gospel used this designation for the one who bore Solomon to David. Commentators have speculated that this may be related to the nature of the adultery involved in her relation to the throne of Israel. Her original husband was listed among “the mighty men.” Uriah, however, was a Hittite, a man not of Jewish blood from a people group that once ruled over the region of Asia Minor, now Turkey.
We can only guess as to why Matthew did what he did because the other four – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Mary – also carry stigma.
Tamar and her shady tale come to us in Genesis 38. There we read of how she played the role of a prostitute in order to sleep with Judah. She had been married to this man’s two sons, both of whom were struck down by the Lord for evil doing. Judah had promised that Tamar would be married to the third son, but Judah did not follow through and so Tamar made her way back into the family via masquerade.
Rahab’s story is told early in the book of Joshua. She was a prostitute and likely operated a brothel located in one of the apartments cut into the wall of Jericho. She hid the Hebrew spies who sought lodging and expressed a faith in the Lord of Israel as the God of Heaven and Earth. She tied a scarlet thread in her window and all who were found in her home were spared when Jericho fell to Israel.
And then, of course, there is Mary, the virgin girl of Nazareth. She was slandered as a fornicator because it was known that she became pregnant with Christ by the Holy Spirit while betrothed to Joseph the carpenter.
The Woman from Moab
This leaves us with Ruth, a Moabite who married one of the sons of Elimelech and Naomi of Bethlehem. The family had migrated to Moab in order to find food during the severe famine in Israel. According to the Law of Moses, no Moabite could enter the assembly of Israel (see Deuteronomy 23:3). The nation had refused to let the Israelites buy food from it during their days of wandering in the wilderness and so this was the curse placed upon Moab.
But the Lord is merciful and full of loving-kindness. This reality of His character is manifested in what we read about Ruth.
The Ruth story is a great one to ponder and consider in the run-up to the Christmas season. We see in her the activity of the call of God to send out His Light to reach all nations.
In our Bibles, the book of Ruth comes after Judges, a series of turbulent stories about a fragmented and fractured nation. The phrase repeated many times in Judges is this one: “There was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes.”
What Elimelech thought was right in his eyes was to get his family to someplace where they could find food even if it meant leaving the Promised Land to do so. The cares of this world can entangle us and push us to make poor decisions – Jesus said as much in His parable of the sower about seed that takes root in weedy soil (see Mark 4:19).
This husband and father died in Moab, leaving widowed Naomi with two boys who married Moabites. Within 10 years, these men were dead as well.
Three widows were alone in Moab, vulnerable and exposed and without means of support or provision in a troubled time.
What was Naomi to do? She heard news from Bethlehem: “…that the Lord had visited His people and given them food” (Ruth 1:6). Home was the place she decided she needed to be. Back to Judah, she would go – with two daughters in law in tow.
This traveling party proved to be too sizeable for Naomi. She begged the women to stay in Moab, to return to their families and their gods: “… it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me” (Ruth 1:13).
Bitterness bites deep into hardened hearts. Naomi, whose name means pleasant, lost all sense of feeling for the Lord of her people. She told her daughters-in-law that Moab’s gods would do better by them.
What a thing to say! Especially when Chemosh ranked among the idols worshipped among this people group. A bull-horned warrior deity was feted with human sacrifices during major crises. This was what Naomi bid her sons’ widows to return to.
Orpah hesitated at first but then kissed Naomi goodbye. To Moab and Chemosh, she returned.
A Heart for God
Ruth, however, was of another heart. “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
This woman had treasured something about the God of Israel during her days around the dinner table with Naomi. She wanted nothing of her old Moabite lifestyle. She wanted to live among God’s chosen ones.
What did Naomi do? She rebuffed Ruth at first and then “left off speaking” to Ruth. It seems these two widows traveled to Bethlehem in silence.
Ruth knew what she believed about the Lord, even if Naomi believed otherwise at this point.
How do you help a friend’s unbelief? I think it is to keep on believing. People who helped me to find Jesus drifted from Him. Their lives got difficult and they made choices in their thoughts about Christ. A couple of these old friends have turned themselves back to a life of faith in the Son.
Every one of us has to work out our own salvation. What God does in our hearts is to be revealed by Him and according to His purposes for each of us.
Following Jesus is a relationship of trust and love, not a formula followed in uniformity.
Ruth knew God and she was not going to let Naomi convince her otherwise. She would stay with her mother-in-law and grow into the best believing friend anyone could ask for.
The point here in Ruth 1 is that we come to decisive points in following after God. This was Ruth’s testing moment. She could have turned back from what she knew to be true. The dark mood of Naomi could have swallowed her.
Ruth refused to allow this happen to her. She went forward. She was saved, and as we read through this short book we will see how she helped to reconcile Naomi to the God she had revealed to her daughters-in-law.
The passage tells us that Ruth was “steadfastly minded” (Ruth 1:18).
We, too, must determine in ourselves to have settled minds. Our Redeemer is faithful and true. May our hope be sure and active in these days. Those all around us need the witness of our living Faith.
One man slept in his reclining chair. An elderly gentleman, he woke to our singing with annoyance written all over his face. He was a captive participant forced to surrender or walk out of the room. He chose staying. With no expression showing, I sensed he was slowly tuning in to our reading — the foot washing of Jesus’ disciples. I emphasized the personal invasiveness of this activity and how it aggravated the disciples, especially Peter. However, the deep-reaching effect of Jesus loving actions penetrated them all, and also my elderly friend. He shook my hand and smiled brightly.
Our little team left the assisted-living home. It was raining so we ate at the restaurant. One of our fellowship group shared the good news of Christ’ redemption with our waitress. She started into tears. It touched her deeply.
I’m reading “The Baseball Brain” by Aaron Weinstein, M.A. Learning some “thinking” tips from players, I liked this one shared by a college hitter. Speaking with reporters he remarked, “I don’t know what you guys are talking about with only one double (one hit); I went four (hits) for five (at bats) today. I count all my hard hit balls as hits.”
If any know how the game of baseball works, only hit balls that result in the player gaining a base really count. This player instead, counted his “hard hit” balls; base gained or not. What was he doing? He was approaching more realistically what to focus on. Often folks are so “big results” oriented that they skip over the great value of the all important fundamentals. Realistically, you can’t control the results of hitting a baseball, but can try to do what you do best, hit the ball hard.
Translating this to Christian evangelistic thinking, a smile is precious, a shed tear, blessed. In fact, any inkling of God penetrating souls is enough. Did either of our examples receive Christ, make a profession, become a disciple? I don’t know. We focused on doing our best.
Moving on in the Testimony, we decided to knock on a few close-by neighborhood doors. Raining still, we took our umbrellas. Two men at separate residences prayed with our team to receive Christ. Did they get saved? Were they born-again? I don’t know for sure. We got their information and headed to the next Bible study at the church. I counted our efforts as “hard hits” nevertheless.
Bible study was sparsely attended. A homeless man wandered in late. A young man he was, and we had already started. A song, a short introductory message, and then I started my Bible teaching. I felt I must explain all “big” words for the sake of the new person. I wanted him to get something from what I said. I spoke about “hypothetical faith.” I read again from Jesus’ foot washing episode. I came to the part of Peter’s objection and Jesus’ response.
“If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.”
Jesus was saying in effect, I cannot change, Peter, I cannot became someone or something else. You must adjust to Me if you wish to continue with me.
In closing, our homeless friend, a professing Christian, saw that he must live in the objectivity of Jesus person and His Words and actions. Feelings, opinions, guilty conscience, self consciousness, deceitful heart instructions, and all subjectivity must give way to Jesus’ and foot washing, right now. God is cleansing our walk.
So, what matters in our lesson of life? Don’t think of yourself and your work more highly than you ought. Think soberly, because all get a measure of faith. What means “Soberly?” — to be of sound mind; that is, sane (Roman 12:3).
Finally, any hard hit counts if done with curbed passions and in your right mind. We love people and these are our hard hits, God works in the results. love ya
At the end of the gospels, we see Christ appearing to His deeply discouraged and troubled disciples. In Mark 16:14, we read, “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”
In His post-resurrection appearances, Jesus would appear to His disciples and then disappear. This happened in Jerusalem and on the road to Emmaus, where two disciples were walking. He came alongside them and spoke to them. He rebuked them and exhorted them, expressing His disappointment in their unbelief. At another time, He appeared to them on a mountain, which some Bible commentators believe was Mount Tabor, on the north side of the Jezreel Valley. He also appeared in the northern part of the Sea of Galilee region, when the disciples had returned to fishing, as recorded in John 21.
Helping Unbelief
For 40 days after His resurrection, He was with these men, coming and going. Consider how the devil had worked against Christ throughout His ministry. After Christ was raised from the dead, the focus of the attack shifted to His disciples. The devil could not overcome Christ, but he could work against the disciples through their unbelief and instability. When Jesus met with them, appearing and disappearing, He was concerned about their unbelief.
It is much like us. He appears, and then He seems to be gone, and we begin to worry. Sometimes we imagine that once the disciples saw the empty tomb and Christ appeared to them, everything was wonderful. But in a way, His resurrection brought a new kind of stress. They had experienced the stress of His death, and now, with His resurrection, they faced new questions: What does this mean? What is going to happen now? Where do we go from here? Why does He appear, warm our hearts, and encourage us, only to leave us feeling alone with our own thoughts, ideas, and problems?
Relationship
In the closing chapters of the gospels, it seems that Christ is teaching His disciples some important final principles. During this period, He is concerned about their instability, just as He is concerned about ours. There is one thing they need that we also need: relationship.
We were made for a relationship with God. Our stability does not come from always understanding what He is doing or from constantly feeling His presence. It comes from knowing Him, trusting His Word, and learning to walk with Him even when we cannot see what He is doing. The risen Christ had not abandoned His disciples when He was no longer visibly present with them. He was preparing them to live by faith, in a relationship with Him that would continue beyond His physical appearances.
The same is true for us. When Christ seems distant, we can remain close to Him through faith. Our circumstances and feelings may change, but His faithfulness remains the foundation of our lives. Our relationship with Him does not depend on our works or performance, but on His grace and the finished work of the cross. We are not striving to earn His presence or maintain His love through our own efforts. He is teaching us to trust Him even when we cannot see Him, resting in the assurance of who He is and what He has done for us.
Photo by Jennifer Lynch
The viper slithered out from a pile of wood arranged for a bonfire. The serpent struck fast. It sunk its fangs into the hand of the one gathering sticks. The gatherer was wet and weary after surviving a shipwreck at a beach on Malta, an island in the Mediterranean.
The islanders gasped and murmured at the sight. They understood that the doomed ship was being employed to transport prisoners to Rome. To their minds, a killer had just gotten what was due to him. He may have escaped the sea and the storm, but they were sure that fate cast its cold hard eyes on a dark criminal heart.
They watched and waited for his body to swell and for him to die as the venom did its work. For some reason, executions stimulate morbid curiosity and attract hundreds of eyes. Hangings in the wild, wild frontier of the American West were events that drew crowds. Some even carried picnic baskets as families made a day of supposedly seeing justice served.
Death did not come for this man. Rather, he merrily busied himself with the task at hand. His mind was on those in the crowd of survivors from the ship who struggled to get warm and dry in a biting rain.
Paul, the missionary apostle of Jesus Christ, “shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm” (Acts 28:3).
The whole scene had to have been a wonder to the inhabitants of Malta. They had witnessed shipwrecks before. Bodies that washed ashore were stripped and buried as a matter of course.
What they saw here was new, a miracle even, something supernatural.
Gospel Island
Some 276 people survived this catastrophe. They came all at once splashing and clinging to flotsam after their vessel wedged itself deep into a sandbar and became violently disassembled by waves agitated by a weeks’ long Nor’easter.
Malta residents, as Luke the writer expressed it, showed “unusual kindness” to the group of newcomers. Still, they were wary of them, especially Paul.
Where was the bloating that came with these kinds of bites? Hours passed and this man was still on his feet. Smiling and praising the Lord, I am sure. The promise made to him and his shipmates had been fulfilled. God had told him that all aboard would be saved from the depths.
A new opinion circulated among the native people concerning Paul. “A god,” they reasoned he must be. How else to explain his ability to ward off the poison put into him?
A god? More than this was Paul. He was not like any deity crafted by human imagination. He was a saint, saved by grace and joined to the Christ, the Son of the Living God, made One with Him through salvation by faith.
Malta received a surprise visitation, and the island would never be same for it. For three months, Paul and the others lived there as they awaited a season more suitable for sailing.
Meanwhile, that hand that the viper attacked was being put to use in ministry. A man suffering from fever and dysentery was healed through the prayers and the touch of Paul. News of this circulated and all those diseased on the island came and were cured.
At last, a ship bound for Italy and Rome was secured. The last leg of Paul’s journey was to begin. The whole traveling company was abundantly supplied by the Maltese people and the visitors were sent off with fanfare.
The grace of God was proclaimed and Malta became an early bastion of Christianity. Publius, the son of the man healed of dysentery, is said to have become a bishop. Even today, more than 80 percent of the population of 545,000 claim to be Christian. There are 359 registered churches on Malta.
The Defeated Serpent
I like the word picture given to us at the beginning of Acts 28. The serpent that fastened itself to Paul wound up getting tossed into the fire. The bite produced no lingering effects on the man of God.
We can turn toward the end of our Bibles and there discover a parallel passage: “… the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).
Satan, the accuser, deceiver, liar, murderer, faces a destiny of torment. His end is determined and sure. The Lord shall put him away once and for all. Our deceiver is marked for total defeat.
Let us keep that in mind when we get bitten by the details of life. Our troubles and trials are things that Hell tries to use against us as preoccupations and over-occupations.
Cast your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you.
Back to Paul and his arrival at Rome as we finish our look at the book of Acts. News reached the believers in Italy and the apostle was greeted by brothers and sisters in series of towns en route to the imperial capital and the home of Caesar.
Again, imagine the wonder that fell upon the neighbors of those who welcomed Paul. This prisoner of the Empire proved to have celebrity status. As it happened on Malta, testimonies and witnesses were given all along the way. The seed of the Gospel was being sown.
Once in Rome, Paul found accommodations and was “allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him” (Acts 28:16).
I don’t think this apostle could have been any happier at that point in his life. Consider what he wrote in his letter to the Romans: “… I have longed for many years to come to you. … I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ” (Romans 15:23. 29).
Open Door, Bold Message
Almost at once, Paul sent word to the Jewish community in the city. He expected that sinister reports of him and Christianity had preceded his arrival. But this was not the case, according the city’s Jewish leaders. “…We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against” (Acts 28:23-24).
These Jews were curious and they showed up in great numbers to hear Paul speak of “the Kingdom of God, trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.”
Some did believe the message; others did not. Paul chided them. God’s own Chosen people had grown dull of hearing and cold to the Holy Spirit. “Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen,” he said.
Just months before Paul watched Malta embrace the gift of grace. It surely saddened him to see that so many of his Jewish brethren were still confounded over the Gospel.
Still, Paul pressed on in his work for the Lord. He opened wide his doors “and welcomed all who came to him,proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28: 30-31).
Unhindered boldness – this belongs to all of us who are called saints of God. May we be strong, and may our hearts take courage. We walk on holy ground because the Lord lives in us.
Shake off the snakes. Imagine them falling into fire. Hear in your hearts the words of the Lord to Joshua: “… Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
“… The sea was no more” (Revelation 21:1). This is one of the promises made in Revelation about the ultimate New Creation.
No more night. No more tears. And no more sea.
That fact may disappoint those of us who cherish ocean views on summer evenings, but the words are there for us to read and consider. All of the restored Creation shall be most breathtaking, I am convinced. Therefore, I doubt that things that we hold so dear and wonderful today will be things we really miss in the Light of God’s glorious and gracious presence.
In the Scriptures, the sea often represents turbulence in and on the waters and among the peoples who challenge the authority of the Lord. The storms rise and winds blow frail vessels across powerful waves. Similarly, riots and mob actions and revolutions flare up and bring turmoil to cities and nations.
When the Lord’s purpose for the earth is at last fulfilled in total, all shall be at peace. No more sea shall there be.
One day all shall be quietness and confidence. Shalom is the Hebrew word for it. All shall be whole and complete. Holy, holy, holy shall be the heavens and the earth and the waters. Hurricanes and typhoons – meteorological or political – will not be a part of that glorious world order.
A crystal sea is described by the Apostle John in Revelation 4:6 and again in Revelation 15. That sea is before the Throne of Heaven. There, all is calm and all is bright – brilliantly afire. Whatever the status of our circumstances here and now, we have the assurance that anxiety has no place in the atmosphere of Heaven.
Boat Stories
I think it was with these thoughts in mind that Paul was made ready for his great sailing adventure recorded for us in Acts 27 and into Acts 28. He was thinking with God as he was committed to the custody of Julius, “a centurion of the Augustan cohort.” One of the Empire’s most decorated and accountable officers was assigned to bring this preacher and pastor to his date with the high imperial court.
Yes, Paul at last embarked for Rome and his long requested audience with Caesar. The wheels of the justice system turned ever so slowly. Wrongfully and unjustly accused, he had been detained for close to four years by this point in time.
Along with Captain Julius, he boarded a ship accompanied by a detail of soldiers and a small collection of friends, some of his fellow followers of Jesus, their Lord and Savior.
Boat stories are among my favorite stories in the Bible. And the story of Paul’s wild ride to Rome is the final boat story we read in the Scriptures.
The interesting thing about each of these reports is that no one perishes. You can check it out in the pages for yourself. Every person on a boat survives – no matter the situation.
The original boat story involved Noah, the Ark, and the Flood. This man heard from the Lord. He lived among a despicable society where every thought and imagination in hearts was only evil continually. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Here was the one guy God could count on to do His will.
What God told Noah was specific. Build an Ark. Use these materials. Follow these dimensions. Cover the outside with pitch to make it unsinkable. The project took 100 years to finish. Consider that in light of the fact that there had never been a rainstorm on the planet to that point.
What were those days like for Noah and his family? How much scoffing and mocking did they endure? Then the rain came and fell for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters rose above all the mountains. The Ark with this family and the animals inside floated along for five months.
The Lord washed the earth and gave this family the same commission given to Adam and Eve – “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1).
The next boat story comes from the prophet Jonah. He booked passage to Spain seeking to outrun the call of God, who had told him to preach salvation to Nineveh, a wicked and brutal Assyrian city.
Why did he book his cruise? Because he understood that the merciful Lord would withhold judgment from the Ninevites at the very hint of repentance. In Jonah’s mind, these people were unworthy of the grace of God.
Once at sea, Jonah went below the deck and found a quiet place to nap. Meanwhile, the Lord sent a violent storm that drove everyone aboard to seek intervention from his god or goddess.
Jonah was located by the captain and ordered to wake up and pray. Found out, the prophet told the crew and passengers that he was responsible for the weather for he had turned his back on God.
He gave them a specific solution that came to him from God – “Toss me into the waves and the storm will stop.” At first, the others on board saw this as craziness. To their minds, a deity would never ask someone to give up his life.
The human answer from their perspective was to row, row, row, harder and faster. The storm only became more fierce. Finally, they obeyed the prophet.
Jonah went into the water and the storm ceased. The people on that ship worshipped the Lord and reached their destination.
Jonah did not drown. Instead, he was swallowed by a great fish and spat up on shore. Next time God told him to go to Nineveh, he obeyed and the city turned to God and was spared for a season.
In the Gospels, we read of another Sleeper on a boat in a storm. Jesus was the one snoozing this time and the disciples were freaking out as the vessel was swamped. They woke up the Savior and marveled as He spoke to the winds and waves – “Be muzzled” and the Sea of Galilee was like crystal, calm, like a mill pond (see Matthew 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25).
Again, everyone on that boat made it to the other side.
It Will Be as God Said
Paul had been riding the waves for decades. He had wisdom about the times and seasons. He counseled Julius the centurion and the ship’s owners to wait until the Mediterranean weather patterns were more suitable for sailing.
His advice was ignored and it wound up being a most costly journey. A Northeaster battered the ship for more than two weeks. Eventually, it wound up wrecked on a beach belonging to the island of Malta.
There were 276 on the ship and every one of them made it alive to the beach.
It came to pass just as the angel of the Lord had promised it would. Paul had gotten a visitation in the midst of that brutal storm. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Paul stood and spoke of what God had said to him: “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,Saying, Fear not, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given you all of those who sail with you.Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me” (Acts 27:23-25).
Believe God. We have the message of hope, the same kind of message that Paul had for his shipmates. God has told us of things to come just as He told His man on that boat.
We are safe in the boat – something built and fashioned by God. It is the Ark of the Lord’s salvation. Nothing formed against us shall prosper ultimately. Sure, tribulation and persecution will make themselves felt now and then. And yet things done to us or said of us by people or by demons can never, no never, no never tear us out of the everlasting arms of God.
We are safe and secure in the love of God, sailing along on His good old Gospel Ship.
We will make it to the shore, the beach of the Promised Land, and to the eternal home Jesus is making ready for us (see John 14:2-3).
Believe that it will be as the Lord has told us it will be. His promises never fail.
Self-Esteem, a much overused designation, finds its roots in cultural thinking.
Earnest Becker, in his book, “The Birth and Death of Meaning,” addresses the subject:“… when people do not have self-esteem, they cannot act, they break down.”“When the inner-newsreel begins to run consistently negative images of one’s worth, the person gives up.”
“When the child poses the question, ‘who am I,’ he is really asking…that he be recognized as an object of primary value in the universe. Or, where do I rank as a hero?”Becker says that sibling rivalry is common and also ‘competitiveness’ due to the drive for self-esteem.But, here comes an exposing, glaring, fact based on all said so far,
“Cultural-heroes have to have available to them some kind of heroic action system in which to realize their ambitions, and this symbolic system is what we call ‘culture.’ … Culture is a structure of rules, customs, and ideas which serve as a vehicle for heroism.”So, let’s summarize with Becker’s insight:“One of the great and lasting insights into the nature of society is that it is precisely a drama, a play, a staging”!
Status, role play, predictive-ness, control, competition are all in there. Good luck! No wonder that suicide is on the rise. In contrast, no wonder narcissism is on the rise.
Becker places narcissism in the context of man’s desperate effort to cope with existential anxiety. He says, “In man, a working level of narcissism is inseparable from self-esteem.
But Baker’s book of psychology responds, “… those familiar with the creation story will also see in narcissism the glorious terrible dilemma in which man found himself after biting off a piece of divinity and casting himself, a poor bare creature into the contest of the powers and principalities of the air. Without armor or weapons he had undertaken the central theme in history, the agonizing interface of good and evil.
Now lets hear what the apostle Paul says:
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14, 15, 17, 18.
In closing, although we must live in this world, but not of this world as using this world but not abusing it, we must find our acceptance in our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, as getting along with our neighbors is vital, so also is entering into levels of competition sometimes. We learn with Paul to become “all things to all men.” However, our goals are not identical. If I lose my job, I am loved of God; if I fail all appearance requirements, I am loved of God. If I have a besetting sin problem, I am loved of God; if I fail at duty or work, I am loved of God.
Friends, perhaps we must experience the personal end of our own ego; after all this is where the games began.
We face the blows of societies woes which are crafty and measured, but stay the course regardless. We’re tough and tougher, we know nothing yet, we can win no longer; but not just yet. Around and around, the next corner promises, at last some joy and satisfaction; But, its just a Broadway play, and now I must go home. Please, please, His arms await you, you have found your desired haven in Christ. He will hold your soul in life. Love ya
“I appeal to Caesar.”
Paul made a final, clean, and total break with his past. His choices were go to Jerusalem or be sent to Rome, face the chief priests or face the emperor.
Under whose authority would he choose to stand?
“I appeal to Caesar.”
This was Paul’s answer to the question posed to him by Festus, the new boss in town. He was appointed by Rome to take over for Felix. The fresh governor wanted to get Paul back to Jerusalem, where he and his own people could sort things out.
Paul’s case and status had lingered for more than two years under imperial jurisdiction. A new face brought the same old pattern of dealing with Jewish matters. The empire would rather have the people of Israel settle their religious arguments among themselves.
However, at times, unscrupulous and frustrated leaders in Jerusalem were more than willing to let Gentile justice do their dirty work when they found someone whom they thought needed to be eliminated.
Recall John 19 and the account of Jesus before Pilate. The ruler asked aloud why he should “crucify their King.” The response of the chief priests and officials was chilling: “We have no king but Caesar” (see John 19:15).
Jesus was framed as an enemy of the emperor, and that left Pilate wringing his hands. His loyalty to Rome and his very “friendship” with Caesar had been called into question. Exasperated, Pilate capitulated and ordered Christ to be sent to Calvary.
An August Audience
Similarly exasperated perhaps was Festus in Acts 25. Paul had appealed to Caesar, so he decreed: “To Caesar, you shall go.”
Now Paul was on his way to Rome. He was going to see the king … of Rome, that is. And this journey became a real furtherance of the Gospel, for along his way the Lord would provide more and more moments for testimony.
His appeal and the process it set in motion required some documentation. What was the exact charge made against Paul? Had this man really violated Roman law?
Festus was flummoxed on this point. Nero, the emperor, was going to have Paul in his court. What would he put in the paperwork to define the case brought against him? Again, the Roman citizenship Paul possessed did provide a frame of reference for his treatment and proceedings.
These administrative details moved Festus to consult another of the Herod dynasty in Judea, King Agrippa. The Jews and the Messiah Jesus were embedded in the story of the Herods.
Agrippa and his predecessors were most familiar with the ways and the many controversies that involved the Chosen People. Herod the Great, the original family ruler, had orchestrated the construction of the grand, gaudy Temple in which Jesus spoke to the people — this represented the very complex where Paul had been taken captive.
Agrippa came to Caesarea along with his wife, Bernice. Her presence indicates another characteristic about this strange and manipulative royal family.
The Herod wives were always deep involved in the affairs of the state. Herodius was the woman who demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter (see Matthew 14:1-12).
Drusilla was a Jewess and confidant of Felix as we learned in Acts 24. Now, here is Bernice with Agrippa, making an entrance before the leading people of the region.
An event of much pomp was facilitated because Agrippa said of Paul, “I’d like to hear him.”
Leaders of the military, government, and business community showed up. They really had no choice but to be there given that the king and queen were to be present.
There and then, Paul stood front and center. All eyes and ears were on him.
“… Agrippa said unto Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself” (Acts 26:1).
The Reach of God
“Paul stretched forth his hand. …” I have always purposed in my heart to pause at this statement.
Surrounded by the brightest and best people in the community, this apostle stood chained in body, but truly free in the Spirit. He had something for them.
Paul reached toward his hearers. The man of God extended the hand of God to them. Those listening were about to receive the Truth. Salvation would be made known for “all the ends of the earth shall see the saving power of God” (see Psalm 98:1-3).
What would Paul tell them? He simply related the story of his heavenly vision of God, the Son.
Christ chose him: a railing, rampaging enemy of Jesus and His people. He called him out of his darkness. And Paul answered that call in obedience. He went forth and preached throughout the provinces of Rome.
Small and great alike got the message that Paul delivered there. It went like this:
Repent and turn to God. Open your eyes.
See the Light and be delivered from the power of Satan.
“Receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith” in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul reached his point of conclusion, the place where he proclaimed the validating element in the Gospel story: “that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:23).
The Resurrection, without it nothing really matters. This Paul made this clear in his letter to Corinth: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Here in Acts 26 we read that Festus lost it, shouting, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”
Be Like Me
Paul stood fast in his defense. He was not a crazy man. He was convinced and certain that Jesus was alive. He had seen Him and he knew the record of the others who had seen the Resurrected One.
He turned to Agrippa and pleaded with him to hear the Word and receive it. The king chuckled at the thought, sort of laughing it off: “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28).
Undeterred, Paul finished with this: “… I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”
In other words, Paul said “I want everyone to be like me.”
That’s my message too. It should be your message as well. We have what the world is looking for; we have the peace and protection of the Lord – things that can never be separated from us.
Being a Jesus follower is the best thing anyone can be.
Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Salvation is found only in Him. No other message on earth makes such a claim. The Son did come that “I might have life and have it abundantly” (see John 10:10).
