Unclean Lips (Part 3)

Now continuing with the subject at hand–now that we know King Uzziah died a leper the same year that Isaiah was called to be a prophet and that Isaiah served as a court scribe for at least some of Uzziah’s reign–we need to turn our attention to Leviticus 13.

Leviticus chapters 13 and 14 are right in the middle of the book of Leviticus and are about the identification of, and the potential cleansing of, leprosy. Leprosy can infect a person, a piece of clothing, and a dwelling place. It is a terrible disease and must be irradicated. If one has it on his person, he is certainly considered “unclean,” meaning that he cannot participate in Israel’s community or worship freely.

The association of  leprosy with sinfulness has long been recognized. The story of Uzziah we covered in “part 2″ certainly draws a connection between the two. That fact that Uzziah’s death is mentioned in the first verse of Isaiah 6 is significant because it sets a tone about what Isaiah’s recent past is as he has this vision. He saw a very good king succumb to personal pride and be struck on the outside with a disease that showed where he heart was on the inside.

Now, when a person has leprosy they are excluded from community involvement, as we said before. In Leviticus 13:45, the Law gives clear instruction to the one recognized by the priest as having this disease. He is to wear torn clothes, leave his head uncovered, put his hand over his “upper lip” (Hebrew) and yell out, “Unclean! Unclean!” Pretty harsh.

Now return to Isaiah 6 and look especially at verses 5-7 and we will conclude next time by showing exactly where Isaiah has been going with this.

Unclean Lips (Part 2)

We are in Isaiah 6. In order to get a good grasp on this passage, we must take a close look at all things that are going on, noting all the details. This passage is about Isaiah’s call to be a prophet. Notably, this call is received in God’s throne room in the last year of Uzziah’s reign. Believe it or not, it is imperative to understand all this entails if we are to have a good grasp on the meaning of “unclean lips.”

To understand a little about what may be going on in Isaiah’s head, it is important to go back to II Chronicles 26. This chapter is all about Uzziah’s reign on the throne in Judah. He was young when he became king–just 16 years old. But he did right in the Lord’s eyes and sought God faithfully and God prospered him (26:4-5). God led him to great victories over foreign armies and he became strong militarily (26:6-15). But, unfortunately, he became prideful about his own strength and ability (26:16) and took on the priest’s role before God, which a king is not allowed to do. When he was confronted by the priests for acting this way, he became angry with the priests. It was then that God struck Uzziah with leprosy (26:19).

A curse is placed upon Uzziah. It is  a curse that will stay with him until the day of his death (26:21).  Because of his terrible pride which led him to stand in the place of the priests, performing actions that could only be done by them, he will suffer the curse of leprosy for the rest of his days. Essentially, his sin has made him a leper.

Now enter Isaiah in II Chronicles 26:22, writing down the acts of King Uzziah as a court scribe would do. In this position, Isaiah had a very closeup view of what could happen to a good king who followed God’s ways if he let his sinful pride get the best of him. The leprosy was just an outward mark of the evil that pride is within all our hearts.

So, king Uzziah spent his last years as a leper. This is a helpful fact, indeed. Our next very useful piece of information is going to come from Leviticus 13, where the Lord addresses specifically what to do when someone is infected with leprosy. Look especially close at verse 45. We’ll discuss it next time.

Unclean Lips (Part 1)

I’m teaching a course on Isaiah at present. I do love this incredible prophet (but there is nothing that I do not love about God’s Word. Go figure).

We will be in Isaiah 6 this week. It should be interesting. This text is often referred to in Christian settings.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet finds himself having a vision of God’s throneroom. God is enthroned in a most lofty position and seraphim are flying around the throne proclaiming God’s unparalleled holiness.

In the midst of this scene, Isaiah becomes acutely aware of his sinfulness. He is only human, after all, and is now seeing the great hall of heaven opened before him and the One and Only Lord of Hosts presiding majestically over all creation. In the midst of the triple-proclamation of God’s unmatched holiness, Isaiah expresses his own debilitating inadequacies with the words, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips . . .” (v. 5).

We often think of Isaiah saying something about how sinful he is, which he recognizes completely as he sees God in all His holiness enthroned above all things, righteously and magnificently. We should certainly think of this very thing. But I wonder if we think of just how far the sinfulness goes?

What does Isaiah mean by “unclean lips”?

Up to the Editors

Well, I’m back . . . again. It’s been a long time . . . again.

But, at least there was a purpose. I have finally written a full manuscript regarding the kind of interpretation that makes my heart beat fast. I’ve also received three major endorsements for it from bestselling authors–two of whom I’ve never met in person and as for the other, we pretty much just said “hello” at a conference about 10 years ago. Yet, they saw something in the work–a work which one of the endorsers told me would be the kind to “bring the weight of 200 years of biblical criticism down on our heads” (since he thinks and writes similarly).

So here we go. I have a literary agent who has just pitched the work to nine major Christian publishers. Who knows what will happen.

I pray though that I become less and He becomes more. I pray that the work will be  used by God to lead many, many people into an unimaginably deeper relationship with Him through His powerful Word. I pray that eyes are opened just as they were for the disciples after the resurrection, so that His Word could finally be seen rightly for what it was: Nothing but a story about Jesus, over and over and over. I pray that I may have contributed in some way to the great extension of God’s Kingdom and to the infinite glory that He will receive from those who love Him.

The working title is Jesus in ALL the Scriptures, but we’ll see how all this goes. Editing gets messy, by what I hear–and that’s even saying someone likes it :-b.

 

Read the Bible or Study the Bible: Is There a Difference?

I’m not a big advocate of the “read the Bible in a year” undertaking. Not that I think it’s a bad goal–I happen to think it is beneficial on many levels. However, what I don’t really like about it is that it continues to promote the popular idea among Christians that “the more we read the Bible, the better off we are.”

The Church at large is pretty good at admonishing its people to “Read the Bible.” Some people are actually pretty good at keeping a fairly regimented reading schedule. What the Church is not particularly good at promoting and even worse at training its people to do is to study the Bible.

But the Bible is not shy about letting people know that staying in the Word, really meditating upon it and studying it, is  the way we truly grow in the Lord. This is what God admonishes Joshua to do as he takes the role of leading the people into the new land if he is to have real success (Josh. 1:8). Meditating “day and night” on God’s law is a primary part of what separates the righteous from the wicked in Psalm 1 (see v.2). The longest chapter in the Bible is, itself, about how absolutely unfathomable and powerful and life-changing the very Word of God is (Ps. 119). Read it. That’s all it’s about: the greatness of God’s written Word.

Charles Spurgeon–one of the greatest Christian preachers and leaders of the 19th century–said, ”Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!”

I think this quote really captures what it means to study when compared to simply reading. I can’t help but wonder how many people really know this difference and how many really want to know. If you can read the quote above and understand it from experience, please share an experience of meeting God in His Word. If you can read the quote above and simply understand it enough to long for it–long for what it means to let you soul soak in God’s Word and be changed–would you be willing to share something of that as well?

I would love to hear from you . . . and I would certainly be willing to share with you about how I came to better place of being taught by God through learning to study His Word.

I Samuel 24 and 26, part 4

OK . . . this time, we get to the heart of the matter . . . chapter 25.

Again, this story is sandwiched right in between these two almost identicle stories about Saul’s relentless yet unjustified pursuit of David and David’s every opportunity to take Saul’s life, end his running and hiding, and establish himself, once and for all, as the true king of Israel. But the very important part of the stories in chapters 24 and 26 is the clear and unexpected refusal of David (even though already anointed king at God’s direction) to take Saul’s life and end his suffering at Saul’s hand although the opportunity is clearly laid at his feet. The reason David gives in both instances is one in the same: “the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed” (26:11; compare 24:6). David states very clearly in 26:10 that it is up to the Lord as to how Saul should die, not to David, because the Lord chose him to be King and therefore to Saul is due David’s respect until such a time as the Lord chooses to remove him. David’s decision to wait for God’s time and to allow God to do as He will for Saul is an incredible display of David’s willingness to wait for God’s will.

Now, in chapter 25, what we have is a very interesting story indeed to be sandwiched between the other two. In this set of events we have a man whose very name means “fool” (25:25). Although David and his men have never shown anything but kindness and good treatment to Nabal and his men, and a complete respect for all that Nabal owns, Nabal shows an utter lack of knowledge or concern about David (and David’s men; 25:10-11). Nabal is truly a fool in every way.

David decides to take the life of Nabal and all of his men, taking 400 soldiers to complete the task (25:13). But along the way he is met by the “intelligent and beautiful” (25:3) wife of Nabal–Abigail. Abigail pleads her case before David that he should not put a blemish on his righteous record that he might one day regret. She even makes veiled reference to Saul’s pursuit of David and how uprightly David has acted in that regard and then adds that such should be his action in regard to Nabal as well so that David will always be upright and his conscience will be clear of unnecessary bloodshed at his own hand (25:29-31).

The wife of Nabal proves to give excellent advice–advice that sounds very much like what David said to his own men: God is the authority over the lives of David’s enemies; it is not David’s right to take life at his own discretion (compare 25:29 and 26:10). David is persuaded and leaves the punishment to God, not taking it upon himself, even in the case of a “fool.”

Herein lies the point for the author’s arrangement. God is the final judge of all people–whether kings or fools. It is not the right of any of us, no matter how upright, to take matters into our own hands. God must be behind the punishment of all people–must be allowed to reign in our actions and decisions–no matter how ill-treated we have been by those around us. We are not to be people of vengence. We are people of mercy, deferring to our God as the one who is the only true Authority over life and death–no matter how high or low the station of our enemies may be.

Now that is beautiful writing . . . and a beautiful point.

 

I Samuel 24 and 26, part 3

Now we have to ask ourselves the hard question–Why? This is the question the author is wanting us to ask. Of course, whether you think the author is an “author” or an “Author” may have something to do with just how important you believe this question to be; but, either way, the fact that there is something going on here on a literary level seems evident.

If we are thoughtful, we are asking questions such as the following:

1. Why are the stories in chapters 24 and 26 so similar?

2. What is the mutual MAIN point of the stories in chapters 24 and 26?

3. How does that mutual MAIN point somehow work in concert with the point made in the story told in chapter 25? (This is an especially important question. It is very common in ancient Jewish writing to place parallel stories on either side of a central literary piece. The central piece had a point that was thoroughly interwoven with the very similar stories found on either side. When we find ourselves reading a portion of Scripture that bears such a striking similarity to something we’ve recently read, we had better take note of how the two connect and what piece is most likely in the middle waiting to be identified.)

So, it’s time to read very carefully I Samuel 25–the story of David’s meeting with Abigail, her easing his hostility toward her foolish husband, David’s mercy, Nabal’s death, and the subsequent marriage of Abigail to David. Why are we to see these three stories together? What do they say, together?

If we are going to give the W/writer credit for having a real point, we have to ask these kinds of questions. That is why we call it Bible STUDY . . . .

I’m back . . . But first, a brief aside . . .

I’ve been away . . . OK, I know that really doesn’t bear saying.

But, in my defense, I truly have had a crazy year. Of course, I’ve never stopped teaching and I have taught in several venues during this time that my blog has been noticably mute. The blog gave way to multiple other issues in life, as happens with so many of the “flexible” things with which we tend to fill our schedules. But I feel a strong compulsion that now is the time to return to the blog. I wish I could say it is because of the email I received asking me to continue the study that I was actually in the middle of when my blog was prematurely curtailed. Sadly, not the case . . . :-b  But, on the other hand, maybe not so sadly.

I know that Bible study is not really at a premium these days in most circles. Still, I find that real “studies” are few and far between, even when they supposedly occur. I certainly do not mean to throw rocks, I simply think that going  into Scripture in the way that Charles Spurgeon describes below is a rarity–likely always has been:

“I would rather lay my soul asoak in a half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters.”

I certainly wouldn’t say I know THE only way to really study–or that there is only one real way to study Scripture. But I simply know that we Christians rarely open the Bible to “study.” We open the Bible to glance along casually as the speaker makes a point, or perhaps to read a chapter (or more, if we’ve set the goal of reading the Bible in a year–a worthy goal, to be sure). But what does it mean to “lay [one's] soul asoak?” I believe those who have been there can certainly testify to the validity of the approach. Unfortunately, most have not been in this place and so have hard time understanding what Spurgeon is getting at. Until you’ve gone, you would have a very difficult time imagining being there (maybe like sitting on the edge of the Grand Canyon–but I wouldn’t know). Here is a link that describes the difference in Bible reading/parsing and “laying one’s soul asoak” quite well.

All of this is to say–let’s take this thing a bit slower. No need to rush God to hurry up and give us insights because we might lose interest if we just have to keep looking at the same passage for a few days, weeks . . . or whatever. We need to get a better grip on what He is doing with His timetable and then submit to it.

So back to our David passage in the next post . . . it will be part 3 since we still need to bring this thing together. The Author (the Holy Spirit, essentially, if we are those who believe in such a mystical thing as divine inspiration) is writing as He does for a reason. Let’s see if we can’t be still enough to let Him show us what it is . . .

I Samuel 24 and 26, Part 2

We ended last time by alluding to the fact that I Samuel 24 and 26 have several very clear similarities. In fact, to read these stories and miss the clear literary links is certainly reading too fast. There are some markers included by the author that are so obvious and intentional, it is simply unthoughtful reading not to notice.

Consider just the following few examples:

1. Both stories begin with clear reference to Saul going after David with 3000 able young Israelites.

2. In both cases, Saul is unknowingly in an extremely vulnerable position before David.

3. In both cases, David is told by underlings that this is the day the Lord has given his enemy into his hand.

4. In both cases, David rebukes Saul from a distance for chasing him in an attempt to take his life even though David holds no animosity toward Saul.

5. Both stories end with Saul’s reference to David as a “son” and with Saul’s return home.

These stories are intended to be seen together, obviously. But what is the point? That is something we can delve into further next time.

I Samuel 24 and 26, Part 1

I’ve been looking a lot at the life of David lately. Obviously, the greatest earthly king ever to lead Israel and the man who was after God’s own heart from such an early age has a life recorded in Scripture with all sorts of intriguing and meaning-laden details.

One of interesting literary aspects that comes to the fore is the undeniably clear similarities in the way the two instances of David’s sparing of Saul’s life are recorded. With only a simple read, several almost verbatim correspondences are noted. In both cases, David has a clear opportunity to make quick work of killing Saul and thus, removing the one big roadblock between himself and the throne in Israel.

Just note some of the similarities and we will discuss them more next time. Remember that there is a reason why these two stories sound so much alike . . .