the Nearness of Hell

Deuteronomy 32:35 - Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip; for the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.

I recently heard a sermon (check it out, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards) and am considerably blown away when reading this verse to think about the dangerous situation that the unrepentant, unregenerate person finds himself in. For unbelieving sinners, "in due time their foot will slip." It's a slippery slope that those in the world find themselves on. It's simply a matter of time before they slip and fall. It will come suddenly without warning. There is no need for someone to push them over, they will fall completely of their own weight. Furthermore, the only reason they have not fallen is because the "due time" has not yet come. If it were not for God's appointed "due time" sinners would already find themselves fallen into the pits of hell, face to face with God's everlasting, just, furious wrath. It is by the Lord's grace and good pleasure that those in the world live to see another day.

Yet the gates of hell are open wide underneath the lost sinner, you are but floating in the air. All that keeps you from falling into its terrible depths is but air. There is no resistance in air. It is the Lord who keeps you from falling by His grace. Yet how could He? He is angry with sinners (Psalm 5:5). How can His upright justice stand to spare you for even a second? Do not presume on the Lord's grace, do not presume that you even have days left, let alone months and years. The time to turn from your ways is now, repent for judgment is coming (Matthew 3:2). Turn to Jesus by faith and trust in the necessity of His death as the only means by which you can stand justified and forgiven.

If you have turned by faith to God... how sweet it is to be the object of the Lord's grace, to know that Christ's death was for you, to be plucked from certain death, and carried to the glorious riches of eternal life with God. Completely undeserved, absolutely necessary, there is no other way to be justified except through Christ's substitutionary atonement.

Or are you that lost sinner relying on your own schemes to gain eternal life? Your righteous deeds are like filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). You cannot work your way to heaven, you cannot even climb an inch closer.

Or maybe you're the kind of person who does not believe in hell? Then you find yourself in a precarious situation today. Hell is open wide, the Lord keeps you up, but once He lets go, all you have to blame for your great plummet is your own weight... and the weight of your sin will drop you to the greatest of depths, you cannot climb out of hell's fiery furnace. Regardless of what you believe now, you will be convinced that hell is very real and by then it'll be too late.

Failure

Day 1 of my winter break goal... failure. I am trying to finish the New Testament over winter break and so far, I'm only up to Matthew 15. However, it's been very edifying to examine Jesus' life and teaching. Many people have come to mind as I read and experience the Scriptures cutting into my life. Maybe you'll be receiving an email from me.

the Punishment Must Fit the Crime

Deuteronomy 19:21 - Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

As I read through Deuteronomy, I'm daily discovering more of God's character displayed in His laws. In this verse God is not condoning revenge, but rather demonstrating His holy righteousness. He is perfectly just and even in His laws, we can see that the punishment must fit the crime. We have sinned against the sovereign, most high LORD of the universe and the heavy penalty must be paid for our transgressions. The penalty is "eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" (2 Thessalonians 1:9)... hell. No glimpse of God's glory, completely away from His presence. That means no love, no joy, no peace, and no justice. It is a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30 / Luke 13:28). Eternal sorrow, pain, and torment is the penalty for our sins. That's what we deserve.

But the LORD, according to the kind intention of His will, provided us a way. The LORD saw fit to crush His only Son (Isaiah 53:10). Bloodied, beaten, and crucified by men. Separated from the Father, Jesus endured the full weight of God's wrath for our sin. The punishment had to fit the crime.

What are you thankful for this Christmas season?

Laws without Fear

Deuteronomy 22:13-24 - If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then turns against her, and charges her with shameful deeds and publicly defames her, and says, 'I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin, then the girl's father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. "The girl's father shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he turned against her; and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, "I did not find your daughter a virgin." But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. "So the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl's father, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days. "But if this charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death because she has committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house; thus you shall purge the evil from among you. "If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. "If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor's wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

Marriage is serious business in the Bible and it ought to be in the world as well. Look at the heavy consequences for sexual immorality. If you're found guilty of sexual impurity and unfaithfulness, you get stoned in order to "purge the evil from among you." (v21, 22, 24) Now, let's look at the situation today. Surveys have shown that over 95% of Americans have sex before marriage. Research indicates that potentially 40-50% of current marriages have or will end in divorce. More alarming than this is the statistic that 70+% of Americans now are convinced that divorce is morally acceptable. It can only be a matter of time before the actual divorce rate aligns with the general public consensus. The promise to love and cherish your wife/husband is consistently broken, all in the name of love. Real love never ends and real love takes work. We seem to have this notion that love is simply a feeling and when that feeling is gone, we can find someone else who we have feelings for. That cannot be further from the truth, a promise to be faithful is a promise that must be upheld! Making a covenant before God means absolutely nothing in today's world.

What a good reminder the Word of God is. What a stark contrast between God's ways and our ways! This passage may seem a bit extreme and outdated. We don't stone people today for committing an affair, it is not even affirmed as a crime. If anything, you get a light slap on the wrist and that's it. Our laws have no fear and they strike no fear. Is it no surprise that our world is as corrupt as it is today? Look no further than our laws. There is no fear of God before the eyes of men (Romans 3:18)

Amazing Grace

Deuteronomy 19:13 - You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.

The context of this verse revolves around the punishment of the guilty... how they ought to be punished without pity for the shedding of innocent blood. It is clear that God is just and absolutely must punish sin. Jesus was innocent of any crime yet He was crucified by guilty men who deserved the death that He died. God's holy justice demands that no pity is shown for our crime. Yet we stand forgiven. Instead Jesus, the innocent victim of our wretched sin, was Himself the object of God's wrath. Amazing grace how can it be?

Authentic Worship

Deuteronomy 12:1-5 - These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully observe in the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God. But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come.

Is your life free of idols? Authentic worship is in the absence of idols. That's why God specifically commands that His people rid themselves of all distractions and destroy these false, man-made images. Today we're still struggling with idol worship. Idols usually aren't "bad" things... they're really good things that we love more than God, like our family. Most of the idol worship I struggle with is elevating gifts over the Giver.

Deuteronomy 12:29-32 - When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise? You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.

Authentic worship is also completely separate from worldly influences. God commands in 1 John 2:15 to not love the things of this world and to prevent this. "If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in Him." Are you set apart from the world or are you just like the world? Our lifestyle of worship must not be molded by society, morality, and popular opinion. Are you carefully obeying the Lord's commands?

Don't forget the Past

Deuteronomy 8:11-19 - Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth. But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.

There's a warning to Israel in this passage. Here it is... don't forget the wilderness! When there was no water, God provided. When they lacked in food, God provided. He fed them with manna "that He might humble [them] and that He might test [them], to do good for [them] in the end." What a benevolent God and what a forgetful people. Once in the land of plenty, they seemed to think that they had made it on their own power.

Sounds like our story doesn't it? We trust and depend on God when times are rough as we realize our insufficiency... and then when situations turn around, we pat ourselves on the back. Beware, don't forget the past. Don't forget that we were dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and if it was not for the grace of God through Christ Jesus our Lord, we'd still be on that one-way road to eternal separation from God. Watch out for pride and don't forget the Lord's providence in your life. You'd be nowhere without it.

How do you read your Bible?

"…we usually read the Bible as a series of disconnected stories, each with a ‘moral’ for how we should live our lives. It is not. Rather, it comprises a single story, telling us how the human race got into its present condition, and how God through Jesus Christ has come and will come to put things right. In other words, the Bible doesn’t give us a god at the top of a moral ladder saying, ‘If you try hard to summon up your strength and live right, you can make it up!’ Instead, the Bible repeatedly shows us weak people who don’t deserve God’s grace, don’t seek it, and don’t appreciate it even after they have received it. If that is the great biblical story arc into which every individual scriptural narrative fits, then what do we learn from this story?" -Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods, pp. 36-37 (personal emphasis added)

How do you read your Bible? Is your righteousness through faith in Christ (Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11)? Or are you climbing the moral ladder?

Thank You

I received a generous gift yesterday from an anonymous giver. It was shipped to my apartment in a large box. I do not know who he/she is (I have some ideas), but here's what I received... the Expositor's Bible Commentary set! I was already planning on obtaining Carson's commentary on Matthew because I heard it was the bomb. Now I have it! To whoever you are out there... thank you for the encouragement and the awesome gift! It will be put to good use as I seek to rightly divide the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15).

P.S. My bookshelf is almost full! I had to completely rearrange it to accommodate for this 12 volume set. For other mystery givers out there... I will soon be needing a new bookshelf. And then probably a larger study.

Isn't that too much?

Numbers 29:12-40 - Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall observe a feast to the LORD for seven days. You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the LORD: thirteen bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without defect; and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. Then on the second day: twelve bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings. Then on the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. Then on the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. Then on the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. Then on the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offerings. Then on the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without defect; and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering. On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall do no laborious work. But you shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the LORD: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect; their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram and for the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; and one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering. You shall present these to the LORD at your appointed times, besides your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings and for your grain offerings and for your drink offerings and for your peace offerings. Moses spoke to the sons of Israel in accordance with all that the LORD had commanded Moses.

According to my math, that's 71 bulls, 15 rams, 105 one year old male lambs, and a lot of grain, drink, and burnt offering. That's a lot that they offered in about a week!

So much to give... but that's the point. When we think about how much we ought to give back to the Lord, it can seem like too much. Too often, we struggle to give even the very least portion of our wealth to the church, to those in need, for the work of missions, that the Lord's will be done around the world and in our lives. We're called to give ourselves as sacrifices that are set apart from sin and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1). That means, everything that we have we give to the Lord. However, the very fact that we are called to give so much back to the Lord... points to the reality that we have been given so much more. Israel was blessed. God provided for their every need and they were never in lack. We are blessed too. Let's not lose sight of this truth.

All We Have is Manna Again...

Numbers 11:4-6 - The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna."

That's you and me right there! Just like the people of Israel who were grumbling, we too are ungrateful people who daily focus on our own needs and forget to trust in God's provision. And God is not pleased with our selfish hearts. We are to "in everything give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18) because God is always faithful to provide in His time. Sadly, we too often look at what we don't have and forget what we have already been given.

"There is nothing at all to look at except this manna." Without that manna, you'd perish! I don't like my boss and am bored at work... without that job, you'd have no money! I wish I could eat nicer food... some people haven't eaten in weeks! And ungratefulness always reveals itself in our thoughts, speech, and actions. We fail to trust in God, instead take matters into our own hands, and begin to do things out of selfish motives. We cease to be vehicles of encouragement and service to others when we are ungrateful. If that becomes a common occurrence in our lives, that means we're deceived, blind, and have much to learn about the goodness of our faithful, providing God.

Jesus was tempted by Satan in a similar way (Matthew 4). Jesus had fasted for 40 days and nights, and then Satan told Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus must have been hungry and Jesus definitely had the power to make Himself food. However He didn't. Why? Jesus knew that God had brought Him to that place without food, and He knows that God does not make mistakes. There was no need for Him to try to fight God's will, just opportunity to trust.

Who's your priority? Is it God? Or is it yourself? How thankful you are is a measure of how much you prioritize God's will. If your focus is on God's will, you will be thankful for where you're at today because you know you're far better off than you deserve. We deserve eternal condemnation and separation, but instead we inherit every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3) as adopted children. What more could we ever want or need? If your focus is on yourself instead, you will grumble. Put God first, your needs second, and rejoice always in any circumstance!

Our Faithful Guide

Numbers 9:15-23 - Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning. So it was continuously; the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. At the command of the LORD the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the sons of Israel would keep the LORD's charge and not set out. If sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, according to the command of the LORD they remained camped. Then according to the command of the LORD they set out. If sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out.Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out. At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out; they kept the LORD's charge, according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

We can learn a lot about God by observing His faithfulness throughout history. The cloud and fire of God's presence led Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 12:21-22) and whenever or wherever the cloud lifted, the people would set out by God's command. Just like the star which led the magi to Christ, the pillar of fire which led God's people to the promised land, did not only shine, but also went before them. God doesn't just simply reveal Himself to us, He also leads us daily as we walk in newness of life. He isn't a distant observer who watches from a distance as we struggle to crawl closer to Him, He's an intimately involved Father who lovingly disciplines, directs, comforts, and carries us as we falter and halt. It truly is a privilege to follow God because He shows us the way through His Word and enables us to obey through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts!

A Look that Kills

Numbers 4:15 - When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.

Numbers 4:19-20 - But do this to them that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each of them to his work and to his load; but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for a moment, or they will die."

God's holiness is such that if someone even looks at God, he will die (Ex. 33:20). We see here that God's holiness is such that the Kohathite priests of the Levite tribe had to wrap these sacred pieces (the ark of the testimony, table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, the golden altar) in cloth and goatskin because if they so much as touched (v15) or saw (v20) these objects that shared part of God's glory, they would die. This isn't even seeing God directly, simply looking at objects that reflect His holiness is enough to kill. Clearly, God cannot be approached casually. Let's check ourselves next time before we draw near to God in prayer that we would revere and approach cautiously lest we be struck dead where we stand.

The Need for a Sacrifice

Leviticus 9:3-6 - Then to the sons of Israel you shall speak, saying, "Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without defect, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the LORD will appear to you." So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the whole congregation came near and stood before the LORD. Moses said, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you."

It's exciting to see the necessity of the sacrificial system back then and how it speaks to our need today. The nation of Israel was required to offer a sin sacrifice so that the glory of God would appear to them. It took a perfect, unblemished sacrifice and without it, Israel would not be in the presence of God. We also need a sin sacrifice. Without Jesus Christ's perfect sacrifice for us, we could not be with God. What a price, what a cost, only through the Lamb of God can we approach the Father's throne.