relationship with God

The New Covenant

God revealed to the prophet Jeremiah that he was going to establish a new covenant with his people hundreds of years before Jesus came to fulfill that promise. The Hebrew word that is translated covenant, bᵉrîyth (ber-eethˊ) means a treaty or alliance. “This word is used to describe God’s making a covenant with humankind. It may be an alliance of friendship (Psalm 25:14). The covenants made between God and humans defined the basis of God’s character in the Old Testament” (H1285). God told Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

“This is one of the most important passages in the Old Testament and contains several specific aspects of the new covenant. It is a covenant with the whole, reunited nation of Israel, not the church, which is “grafted in” to Israel’s promised covenant (Romans 11:17-27). The realization of the covenant is based upon the full and eternal atonement secured by Christ’s death (cf. Matthew 26:26, 27, 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25; Hebrews 9:15), which is the only means by which God can forgive sins and remember them no more (Jeremiah 31:34). The covenant will be based on individual, personal knowledge of God (Jeremiah 31:33-34) and characterized by the indwelling of God’s Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26, 27; 37:14). It will be an everlasting, eternal covenant of peace, administered by the Prince of Peace who is in the line of David (Isaiah 9:6; 55:3; Ezekiel 34:23-25; 37:24-26)” (note on Jeremiah 31:31-34).

The first persons to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit after Jesus instituted the New Covenant (Matthew 26:26-29) were his disciples. After Jesus’ resurrection, it says in John 20:19-23, “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any it is withheld.”

Hebrews 8 focuses on Jesus’ institution of the New Covenant, referring to it as a better covenant because it was “enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). Jeremiah 31:31:34 is referenced in this section of Scripture, and a comment is made about the Old Covenant being obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Hebrews 7:18-19 explains that the objective of God’s covenants with mankind was to make it possible for us to have a relationship with him. The Old Covenant wasn’t able to do that because it didn’t provide a means for the forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 7:18-19 states, “For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God.”

God described the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:33-34, stating, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, for the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” An individual, personal knowledge of God is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This transaction takes place at the time a person is regenerated by God or what Jesus referred to as being born again (John 3:3). God said in Ezekiel 36:26-27, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

The New Covenant’s provision for forgiveness of sins was a central point of Jesus’ teaching and ministry. Paul emphasized this in his message of salvation to the Jews at Antioch. Paul stated:

And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:32-39)

Paul used the term “good news” to describe his message about the New Covenant’s provision for forgiveness of sins. The Greek word that is translated good news, euaggelizo (yoo-ang-ghel-idˊ-zo) is where the English word evangelize comes from (G2097). An evangelist is someone who tells people about God’s provision for the forgiveness of sins.

Paul concluded his message of salvation with a declaration that the New Covenant’s forgiveness of sin could free a person from everything that you could not be freed from by the Old Covenant (Acts 13:39). Justification is to declare someone to be just as one should be, to pronounce right (G1344). Justification is bestowed by God on man through Christ and is the complete absolution from the consequences of our sin. Paul explained why God did this in his letter to the Romans. Paul stated, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace, as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:22-26).

Rapture of the Church

Not long before his death, Jesus established the fact that he would return to earth at some point in the future. Jesus told his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3). Although Jesus assured his followers that he would come back for them, the timing of Christ’s return was not revealed to them. Jesus said:

But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:36-44)

Jesus described the future rapture of believers in terms of being taken or left. The Greek word that is translated taken, paralambano (par-al-am-banˊ-o) means “to receive near i.e. associate with oneself (in any familiar or intimate act or relation); (by analogy) to assume an office” (G3880). Paralambano is the word Jesus used when he said, “I will come again and will take you to myself” (John 14:3). Paralambano is derived from the words para, which means “immediate vicinity or proximity” (G3844), and lambano, which means “to take” (G2983).

Jesus encouraged his followers to stay awake because they did not know when he would return. In his parable of the ten virgins, Jesus indicated that the ten virgins represented the kingdom of heaven and explained that because the bridegroom was delayed the virgins became drowsy and slept (Matthew 25:1-5). Jesus had previously identified himself as the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15; John 3:29) and indicated in his parable of the ten virgins that the bridegroom’s return was linked to the marriage feast (Matthew 25:10). The marriage feast represents the physical union of Christ with his church. This event takes place in Revelation 19:7. Immediately following this event, Revelation 19:11-21 tells us that Jesus will return to the earth and will “strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron” (Revelation 19:15). Revelation 19:16 states, “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Revelation 19:9 suggests that those who participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb will receive God’s favor in ways that others do not. This may have been why the “Thessalonian believers were concerned that those believers who had already died would miss Christ’s coming. Paul assured them that those who had died would be be caught up to meet the Lord just like those who are alive at his coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)” (Introduction to the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians). Paul stated:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Paul used the term fallen asleep or koimao (koy-mahˊ-o) in the Greek to refer to those who had died after believing in Christ. Paul was referring to the body being asleep, not the soul (note on 1 Thessalonians 4:15). Paul explained in his letters to the Corinthians that the believer’s body is a temporary home that will be replaced by an eternal one when the rapture occurs (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). Paul said, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

Paul indicated that the rapture of the church will take place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). Paul also stated that “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16). This critical transition will not only signal the end of the age of grace but will also usher in the great tribulation and the beginning of God’s judgment of the world. This time period is known as the Day of the Lord. Paul said, “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). The sudden shift from God’s grace being freely offered to judgment and destruction will catch everyone off guard and will result in a great multitude from every nation turning to Christ and the final harvest of the earth (Revelation 7:14; 14:14-20).

An ungodly lifestyle

Paul’s ministry to the Thessalonians was focused on grounding these Gentile believers in the gospel and giving them the appropriate doctrine to live in a manner that was worthy of God (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Paul told the Thessalonians that the word of God was at work in them (1 Thessalonians 2:13) enabling them to live a life that is pleasing to God. Paul said, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8). Paul differentiated the born again Thessalonians from their Gentile past and indicated that God had not called them for impurity, but in holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:7). The Greek word that is translated holiness, hagiasmos (hag-ee-as-mosˊ) is also translated as sanctification in verse 3 of this passage. Holiness is the resultant state produced by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Hagiasmos refers not only to the activity of the Holy Spirit in setting man apart unto salvation and transferring him into the ranks of the redeemed, but also enabling him to be holy even as God is holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

The Israelites, who were delivered from slavery in Egypt and given possession of the land that God promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:7), were sanctified or made holy by being set apart to God. The Israelites devotion to God was the basis of this sanctification. When Jeremiah began his ministry, he brought God’s charges against the Israelites. Though they had enjoyed a special relationship with God, the people failed to acknowledge what he had done in the past and had turned instead to idols (note on Jeremiah 2:1-19). Jeremiah 2:1-3 states, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD and the firstfruits of his harvest.”’” The Israelites were devoted to God initially, but as time went on, they became more and more corrupt like the people around them and eventually, forsook the LORD altogether. The extreme sinfulness of God’s people is emphasized in Jeremiah 3:1-4:4 as “both Israel and Judah are characterized as unfaithful wives (Jeremiah 3:1-13) and are urged to return to the Lord (Jeremiah 3:14-4:4)” (note on Jeremiah 3:1-4:4). Jeremiah 3:6-10 states:

The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”

Israel’s ungodly lifestyle was a result of their unbelief. Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that Israel was broken off because of their unbelief and said, if they do not continue in their unbelief they will be grafted in, “for God has the power to graft them in again” (Romans 11:23). It was also explained in the letter to the Hebrews that the people of Israel had become hardened in their sin (Hebrews 3:13). Hebrews 3:12-19 states, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

Unbelief leads to an ungodly lifestyle because the unbeliever’s heart is attracted to evil rather than that which is pleasing to God. Paul associated sanctification with abstaining from sexual immorality and knowing how to control your own body in holiness and honor (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4). Paul elaborated on the process of sanctification in his letter to the Colossians and described it in terms of putting off the old self and putting on the new self. Paul said believers are to, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:5-15).

God encouraged the unbelieving Israelites to return to him, stating, “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:12-13). Josiah, the king of Judah, who was reigning at the time that this message was delivered to Israel, did turn back to the LORD with all his heart, soul, and strength (2 Kings 23:25; Jeremiah 34:15), but God’s judgment against the Israelites had already been set in motion and shortly after Josiah’s death, Jerusalem was captured by Nebuchadnezzar and the people of Judah taken into captivity (2 Kings 24-25). Jeremiah prophesied about this disaster, stating, “Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles—woe to us, for we are ruined! O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim. Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah. Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, because she rebelled against me, declares the LORD. Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart’” (Jeremiah 4:13-18).

An ungodly lifestyle originates in the individual’s heart. Jesus explained to his disciples that it was not what they ate that defiled them, “but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person” (Matthew 15:11). When Peter asked him to explain the meaning of the parable he was using to illustrate his point, Jesus asked, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone” (Matthew 15:16-20).

“The word repent means to ‘turn or to change.’ It is best illustrated by the picture of someone who is walking one way (towards sin) and out of conviction turns 180 degrees in their spiritual heart attitude and heads in the opposite direction of that sinful thought, word, or deed” (Fundamentals, Guilt and Repentance, p. 78). When God encouraged the people of Israel to return to him, he was expecting them to repent or turn from their sin and head in the opposite direction toward him. God said he would not look on them with anger because he is merciful (Jeremiah 3:12). God’s mercy makes it possible for a person to change their ungodly lifestyle into a godly one because it provides a pattern, model, and the strength for the godly person’s life to be directed toward God (H2623). Many of the people that Jesus encountered during his ministry on earth cried out to him for mercy (Matthew 9:27, 15:22, 17:15, 20:30). In his parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus illustrated the difference between an ungodly lifestyle and a godly one. Jesus said:

 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)

Jesus said the tax collector went down to his house justified. The Greek word that is translated justified, dikaioo (dik-ah-yoˊ-o) is spoken of character and means “to declare to be just as one should be, to pronounce right” and is “spoken especially of the justification bestowed by God on men through Christ, in which he is said to regard and treat them as righteous, i.e. to absolve from the consequences of sin and admit to the enjoyment of the divine favor (Romans 3:26, 30; 4:5; 8:30, 33; Galatians 3:8). The tax collector’s statement, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13), is what the LORD was referring to when he told the Israelites, “Only acknowledge your guilt” (Jeremiah 3:13), and then promised, “I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding…At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:17).

Forsaking God

Not long after the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt, they forgot about the things that God had done for them and began worshipping idols. Even while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the commandments from God, the people turned away from the LORD and made a golden calf. “And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt’” (Exodus 32:4). Throughout their history, the people of Israel kept abandoning God until finally they were taken into captivity and cured of their idolatry. The prophet Jeremiah was given the task of pronouncing judgment on God’s chosen people and was told, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:9-10). The messages that Jeremiah received from the LORD foretold of an imminent disaster that would overtake the people of Judah sometime in the future. Jeremiah 1:13-16 states:

The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

The imagery of a boiling pot was intended to convey the intensity of what was going to happen. “These external circumstances and the sadness of his message, coupled with Jeremiah’s own periodic depression, contributed to the style with which Jeremiah wrote (Jeremiah 4:19-22; 20:7-18). For this reason he is called the ‘weeping prophet’” (Introduction to Jeremiah). Jeremiah’s reluctance to be God’s spokesperson was due in part to his young age. He told the LORD, “Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” (Jeremiah 1:5), and later Jeremiah complained to God because the wicked seemed to be prospering in spite of the judgment that the LORD had told him to pronounce against them (Jeremiah 12:1-4).

Jeremiah’s account of Israel forsaking God included details of both the high and low points in Israel’s history. God said, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest” (Jeremiah 2:2-3). The LORD continued, “But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit” (Jeremiah 2:7-8). The stark contrast between Israel’s devotion to the LORD in the wilderness and the apostasy that developed after they entered the Promised Land demonstrated their unwillingness to seek God for the sake of the special relationship they had with him as opposed to the material blessings that they received as a result of being designated the heirs of God’s kingdom.

The LORD chided the people of Israel for their unfaithfulness and seemed to be mocking them when he asked:

Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord your God,
    when he led you in the way?
And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
    to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Your evil will chastise you,
    and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
    for you to forsake the Lord your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 2:17-19)

The LORD said there was no fear of him in his people, meaning that they did not show him the proper respect or give him the reverence that was due to him as the person who had saved their lives by rescuing them from slavery in Egypt.

The people of Judah’s forsaking of God involved a slow, gradual process of replacing their worship of the LORD with the worship of idols. Their primary reason for forsaking God was a desire to worship as they pleased (Jeremiah 2:20, 31). The people of Judah saw the religious service that was prescribed to them in the Mosaic Law as toilsome labor rather than a joyful celebration of their liberation from slavery in Egypt (H5647). The LORD asked them:

How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
    I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
    know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
    a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
    Who can restrain her lust? (Jeremiah 2:23-24)

The LORD pointed to Israel’s unfaithfulness as an explanation for the trouble that had come upon his chosen people and rebuked them for blaming him for the demise of their nation (Jeremiah 2:26-28). The LORD asked, “Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me…In vain have I struck your children; they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion” (Jeremiah 2:29-30).

The LORD’s charges against the Israelites centered around the fact that even though they enjoyed a special relationship with God, the people had failed to acknowledge what he had done in the past and had turned instead to idols, bringing judgment on themselves as a result (note on Jeremiah 2:1-19). The LORD told Jeremiah to proclaim in Jerusalem his case against the people of Israel. Jeremiah prophesied:

Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13)

God identified himself as the fountain of living water when he talked about the people of Israel forsaking him. Jesus referred to this when he told the Samaritan woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

The topic of Israel forsaking God was addressed in some of Jesus’ parables, in particular the parable of the tenants. In this parable, Jesus illustrated how God, who was represented by the master of the house, had expected the people of Israel to use their possession of the Promised Land as a means of establishing Christ’s kingdom on earth. God’s prophets, who were represented in the parable by the master’s servants, were rejected by Israel. Jesus said, “And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance’” (Matthew 21:35-38). Jesus concluded his parable by asking, “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (Matthew 21:40). The chief priests and the Pharisees that Jesus was talking to replied, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their season” (Matthew 21:41).

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that Israel forsaking God was intended to make it possible for the Gentiles to become a part of God’s plan of salvation. Paul stated, “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous” (Romans 11:11). Paul went on to explain that God’s chosen people were experiencing a partial hardening of their hearts so that God’s plan of salvation could be fully realized. Paul told the Romans:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
“and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (Romans 11:25-32)

Paul indicated that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, meaning that God wasn’t going to change his mind about who would receive his gift of salvation. Paul indicated in his letter to the Ephesians that God decided who would be saved before the foundation of the world and predestined them to be adopted into his family through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5).

The Apostle Paul was a Jew who initially opposed Christianity. Paul was making a concerted effort to get rid of the church that was beginning to be established after Christ’s ascension, when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and called him to preach the gospel (Acts 9:5, 15). Although Peter was the first apostle to preach the good news to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-43), Paul is credited with preaching the gospel to all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, over a period of two years (Acts 19:10). Paul established several churches prior to going to Asia, one of which was located in Thessalonica. “After Paul and Silas were forced to leave Philippi, they traveled along the Egnatian Way to Thessalonica (Acts 16:39-17:1) where Paul taught in the synagogue for three sabbaths. They were forced to leave the city when antagonistic Jews, after stirring up the people of Thessalonica, brought some of the believers before the city officials and accused them of promoting treasonous ideas (Acts 17:5-10). The believers there came under great persecution following this uproar” (Introduction to the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians).

Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for their work of faith, labor of love, and the steadfastness of their hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3), and told these Gentile believers, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). The Thessalonians were completely convinced that Jesus had died for their sins, just as much as he had for sins of the Jews. Rather than forsaking God because of the persecution they were experiencing, the Thessalonians became an example to all believers of what it looks like to have faith in God (1 Thessalonians 1:7). Paul indicated that the Thessalonians had turned to God from idols and were serving the living and true God and waiting for Jesus’ return (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

God told Jeremiah that he was being set over the nations and over kingdoms, “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). Israel’s forsaking of God was not the end of their story. “Jeremiah also received some great visions of promise, the return from captivity (chapters 25, 29), the new covenant (chapter 31), and the ultimate return of the Messiah to Jerusalem (chapter 23). These visions were meant to encourage the people of Israel to turn back to God and receive his mercy. God pleaded with the people, stating, “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD. Return, O faithless children declares the LORD, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jeremiah 3:12-14).

The love of God

The love of God is talked about throughout the Bible, but it is the main focus of the gospel message that Jesus taught his disciples, and that the Apostle Paul proclaimed to the Gentiles. Jesus stated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus later told his disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The Greek word that Jesus used to describe his love for his friends was agape (ag-ahˊ-pay). Jesus used the same word when he told the Jews, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you” (John 5:39-42). The love of God or of Christ “means the love which God or Christ exercises toward Christians. The love that is derived from God (Romans 5:5; Ephesians 2:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:5)” (G26). John stated in his first letter, “God is love” (1 John 4:16), indicating that God is the source of love. Any love that we experience in our lives comes from God.

God’s relationship with the nation of Israel was unique in that God thought of Israel as being married to him. The prophet “Hosea was called to exemplify the relationship between God and Israel through his marriage to a harlot” (Introduction to Hosea). It says in Hosea 3:1, “And the LORD said to me, ‘Go again and love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” Israel’s unrepentant idolatry resulted in God declaring “I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more” (Hosea 9:15), but the LORD’s love for Israel kept him from permanently abandoning his chosen people. Hosea’s book ends with a promise that God will again bless his people after he has purged them of their apostasy. God said, “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them: (Hosea 14:4).

Paul compared the relationship of a husband and wife to that of Christ and the church in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul wrote:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. (Ephesians 5:25-30)

In this passage, Paul used the Greek word agapao (ag-ap-ahˊ-o) which means “to love (in a social or moral sense)…as referring to superiors and including the idea of duty, respect, veneration, meaning to love and serve with fidelity (Matthew 6:24; 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 16:13; Romans 8:28; Sept. 1 Samuel 18:16)” (G25).

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that the love of God is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us (John 14:17). Paul said we have obtained access into the grace of God by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and, “not only this, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5). Paul connected suffering with the love of God and made it clear that God’s love is meant to counteract the negative effects of believers living in a fallen world.

The love of God is a strong force that overcomes the unbeliever’s sinful human nature and causes him to turn to God for salvation. Paul said, “For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). Paul experienced this personally when he was converted on the road to Damascus. Luke tells us:

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” (Acts 9:1-6)

Paul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord when Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and asked him the question, “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul’s response indicates he didn’t recognize the voice, but Paul knew that the person speaking to him had absolute authority over his life. Rather than striking Paul dead or berating him for his bad behavior, Jesus commissioned Paul into his ministry (Acts 9:6, 20).

Jesus told his disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). Paul explained Jesus’ commandment in his letter to the Romans. Paul said:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Paul said that love is the fulfilling of the law in the sense that if you love someone, you will not want to harm that person. Loving people prevents you from doing something wrong to them. Jesus took this one step further when he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Jesus realized that love doesn’t come naturally to human beings and he doesn’t expect us to give something to others that we haven’t first received from him. Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you…If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:16-17, 23). Paul talked about God’s everlasting love in the context of our future glory. Paul asked:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Paul said that believers are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37). The Greek word that is translated more than conquerors, hupernikao (hoop-er-nik-ahˊ-o) means “to vanquish beyond, i.e. gain a decisive victory” (G5245). Paul indicated the things that Christians are able to more than conqueror are “tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword” (Romans 8:35), therefore, it can be assumed that the love of God enables believers to overcome any and all negative circumstances in their lives.

We know that Peter’s denial of Jesus was a devastating circumstance for him because afterward “he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). John’s gospel describes an encounter between Jesus and Peter after Jesus’ resurrection. John said, “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these”’ (John 21:15). The word that Jesus used for love was agapao, suggesting that Jesus wanted to know if Peter thought of himself as being faithful to the Lord even though he had recently denied three times that he knew him (Matthew 26:69-75). Peter responded to Jesus, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you” (John 21:15). Peter didn’t use the word agapao for love, but rather phileo (fil-ehˊ-o), which means “to be a friend to” (G5368). Phileo specifically refers to “a kiss” and is used in Matthew 26:48 where it says, “Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” The love of God is not like an affectionate kiss that is based on sentiment or feelings that can disappear overnight, but rather “the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety…it is an unselfish ‘love,’ ready to serve” (G5368). John tells us that Jesus asked Peter a second, and then a third time, “Do you love me?” (John 21:16-17). John said, “Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love (phileo) me?’ and said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (phileo) you’” (John 21:17). Peter loved Jesus, but not in the same way that Jesus loved him.

Peter’s ability to love others as Jesus loved him likely increased after he was filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). In his first letter, Peter said about Jesus Christ, “Though you have not seen him, you love (agapao) him” (1 Peter 1:8). Paul associated the love of God with spiritual strength and prayed for this in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. According to Paul, our ability to comprehend God’s love is dependent on our spiritual maturity or strength. As we grow in our knowledge of God, we will be able to grasp more and more how truly amazing the love of God is.

The will of God

Paul thought it was important for the believers in Rome to know what God’s will was for their lives. Paul spent most of his letter explaining the gospel to the Romans and making it clear to them that receiving God’s gift of salvation was the first and most important step in the life of a Christian. Paul went on to explain how God’s plan of salvation was intended to make salvation available to everyone (Romans 10:5-21) and how Israel had been used to accomplish this goal (Romans 11:1-24) and would eventually be brought back into God’s family through faith in Christ rather than through the Law of Moses (Romans 11:25-36). Paul then talked about believers becoming a living sacrifice, the gifts of grace and the marks of a true Christian. Within this section of Paul’s letter was hidden a key biblical truth that could easily be overlooked if not for the fact that Paul emphasized this point so strongly, it was like a knockout punch that left the reader wondering, why didn’t I see that coming. Paul introduced his point with the statement, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). Paul made note of the fact that spiritual worship involves a sacrifice, but instead of this sacrifice involving death, a living sacrifice had to be presented to God. Paul stated:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Paul indicated that God’s will is revealed to believers by testing. The Greek word that is translated into the phrase by testing you may discern in Romans 12:2, dokimazo (dok-im-adˊ-zo) means “to make trial of, put to the proof, examine by any method (G1381). The New Living Translation version of Romans 12:2 says it this way: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” According to this translation, the goal is to develop a new way of thinking and the way that believers get there is by learning to know God’s will. God uses testing to teach believers lessons about how he works. God said in Isaiah 55:8-9, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts…And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (NLT).

The process that Paul associated with discerning the will of God is not identified in Romans 12:2, but in his first letter to the Thessalonians Paul said, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-6, NKJV). In this passage, Paul stated plainly that for a believer, the will of God is your sanctification. In other words, God’s will = sanctification. Sanctification is the process in which a believer is transformed by the renewing of their mind into the image of Christ. Paul gave us the details of this process in Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:8-14. Paul indicated in Colossians 3:10 that the model used for the renewal of the believer’s mind is “the image of him that created him (KJV). It says in Genesis 1:27 that God created man in his own image, but when sin entered the world, that image was marred. Sanctification results in the restoration of the divine image. Paul said in Romans 8:29 that believers were predestined by God “to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Paul described the will of God in Romans 12:2 as that which is “good, and acceptable and perfect.” Each of these words conveys a different aspect of God’s character that can identify someone as a Christian or more specifically, as a child of God. Good refers to someone or something that is profitable or useful (G18). When a rich young ruler asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16, NKJV), Jesus pointed him back to the source of goodness, God: “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17, NKJV) and then, Jesus added, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). The Greek word teleios (telˊ-i-os), which is translated perfect, means “finished, that which has reached its end, term, limit; hence, complete, full, lacking nothing” and is used in a moral sense of persons (G5046). Something is acceptable when it pleases the person or satisfies the need for which it was intended. Paul said that believers are to be a living sacrifice, “holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1).

Jesus modeled for us what it means to do the will of God and told his disciples, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Later Jesus told a parable about two sons to make it clear to his disciples and others what doing the will of God looked like. Jesus asked:

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.” (Matthew 21:28-32)

Jesus indicated that believing sometimes requires you to change your mind and linked this effort to doing the will of God. According to Paul, changing your mind involves a complete transformation, what he described as a renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2).

Renewing your mind so that you can discern the will of God is a lifelong process that brings you closer and closer to Christ. Moses is the only person in the Bible who had face to face communication with God before Jesus entered the world. It says in Exodus 33:11, “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Because of the intimate communication between Moses and God, it says in Exodus 34:29 that the skin of his face shone. The people were afraid to come near Moses so, “he put a veil over his face” (Exodus 34:35). Paul explained in his second letter to the Corinthians that for those whose minds are hardened, “that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:14). Paul went on to explain that turning to the Lord results in the veil being removed. Paul said, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:16-18). The phrase turn to the Lord refers to conversion or what Jesus described as being born again (John 3:3). When this occurs, Paul said “the veil is removed” (2 Corinthians 3:16) and we are able to discern the will of God from that point forward.

Being able to discern the will of God does not guarantee that we will do it as was illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). Jesus made a conscious decision to do his Father’s will rather than his own in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus didn’t want to die on the cross, but in obedient submission to his Father, he did what was necessary to accomplish God’s will. Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). Giving up our will in order to do the will of God is comparable to losing our life because the will is what drives our daily actions. The Greek word that is translated deny, aparneomai (ap-ar-nehˊom-ahee) means “to disown and renounce self, to disregard all personal interests and enjoyments” (G533). After Jesus had discussed the concept of being united with Christ, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). John went on to tell us, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66). Knowing that they had doubts about their commitment to follow him and to doing God’s will regardless of the personal sacrifice, John tells us, “Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’” (John 6:67). Jesus’ direct question resulted in a declaration by Peter that “we have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69), and yet, when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, “then all of his disciples left him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).

Arguing with God

Job’s suffering made him want to argue with God. Job told his friends, “Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! For then, it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash, For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me” (Job 6:2-6). Job continued, saying, “Therefore, I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 7:11). Job described his inner struggle as the anguish of my spirit and the bitterness of my soul. Man is viewed as consisting of two parts (or substances), material and immaterial, with the body being the material and spirit and soul denoting the immaterial. “Animals are not said to possess a spirit; this is only in man, giving him the ability to communicate with God” (G5590).

Job’s friend Zophar believed that Job was suffering because he had committed some horrible secret sin for which he was being punished (note on Job 11:1). Job denied that he had done anything wrong, indicating “that the hand of the LORD has done this” (Job 12:9), and then, Job stated, “Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand. I know as much as you do. You are no better than I am. As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself” (Job 13:1-3, NLT). “Job was deeply discouraged. He felt like God was against him (Job 13:21), was intentionally silent (Job 13:22), had turned away from him (Job 13:24), and was dredging up past sins (Job 13:26). Further contributing to his discouragement, Job’s friends became misguiding voices (Job 42:7). Attempting to defend God they actually misrepresented him, speaking lies (Job 13:4), using faulty arguments (Job 13:7-8), and talking in clichés (Job 13:12). They should have kept quiet (Job 13:15; cf. 2:13) and simply listened. Job felt as worthless as rotting wood or a moth-eaten coat (Job 13:28). Job didn’t realize God was aware of his suffering (Job 40:2), yet he stayed hopeful (Job 13:15). [1]

God wants us to be honest with him. “It takes faith to pray when you are in pain. Belief in God creates challenging questions, and lament provides the opportunity to reorient your hurting heart toward what is true.” [2] Many of the psalms that David wrote were laments. David poured out his heart to God with desperate candor, giving believers an example of what it looks like for us to truly lament. David began with a confession of his faith, stating, “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous” (Psalm 25:1-3). David’s argument for God being gracious to him was that he took refuge in the LORD. David said:

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

Consider how many are my foes,
    and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you. (Psalm 25:16-21)

David asked the LORD to forgive all his sins. The Hebrew word that is translated forgive, nasa (naw-sawˊ) means “to lift…especially in reference to the bearing of guilt or punishment of sin (Genesis 4:13; Leviticus 5:1). This flows easily then into the concept of the representative or substitutionary bearing of one person’s guilt by another (Leviticus 10:17; 16:22). David understood that he needed a redeemer, someone who could pay the penalty for his sin on his behalf. David lamented, “Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD…For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Psalm 25:6-7, 11).

The concept of the substitutionary bearing of one person’s guilt by another was established in the Passover when the LORD passed over the houses of the Israelites that had the blood of a lamb on the lintel and two door posts during their Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:21-23). When John the Baptist saw Jesus for the first time, he announced to the people around him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Jesus acknowledged his role as the redeemer of Israel when he told his disciples, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). The Greek word that is translated ransom, Lutron (looˊ-tron) means “something to loosen with, i.e. a redemption price (figurative, atonement)” (G3083).

John explained in his first letter that we must confess our sins in order to be forgiven by God. John said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10). John went on to explain Jesus’ role as our advocate. It says in 1 John 2:1-2, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” A propitiator is one who appeases anger and brings reconciliation with someone who has reason to be angry with us (G2434). Jesus did this when he paid the penalty for our sin by shedding his blood on the cross.

The Greek word that is translated advocate in 1 John 2:1, parakletos (par-akˊ-lay-tos) means “an intercessor…one who pleads the cause of anyone before a judge” (G3875). Jesus used the word parakletos when he told his disciples shortly before his death, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). In the same way that Jesus is our advocate with the Father, the Holy Spirit helps us by interceding on our behalf through prayer. Jesus identified the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, and said the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. And then, Jesus said, “You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

Job wanted to speak directly to the Almighty. Job said, “I want to argue my case with God himself” (Job 13:1-3, NLT). Job later stated, “God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him” (Job 13:15, NLT). Job’s suffering brought him to the point where he was willing to risk his own life in order to be justified before God. It says in Hebrews 4:16 that we should, “With confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” because “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus’ sinless perfection wouldn’t mean much if he were only God, but Jesus Christ came to earth and lived as a human so that his death on the cross would fulfill our need for a human sacrifice, someone like us with a human nature, who was able to live his life according to God’s standard, complete submission and perfect obedience to God’s Word (Matthew 5:48).

Job’s internal conflict reached its highest point after his friend Eliphaz accused him of not having a relationship with God (Job 15:4) and Bildad implied he was going to hell (Job 18:14-21). Job pleaded, “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!” (Job 19:21). Job had “yet to realize that sorrow and trials in the lives of believers come from the hands of a loving God” (note on Job 19:8-22). Job finally cried out in desperation:

“Oh that my words were written!
    Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
    they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth. (Job 19:23-25)

Job had been arguing with God and his friends because he believed he had a redeemer, but up until this point, Job wasn’t aware that his Redeemer was God (note on Job 19:25-27). The Hebrew word that is translated Redeemer, ga’al (gaw-alˊ) means “to be next of kin” or “to act as a redeemer for a deceased kinsman…this word is used to convey God’s redemption of individuals from spiritual death” (H1350). Jesus’ ability to act in the role of the kinsman redeemer was based on his relationship to King David (Matthew 1:1-17) to whom God promised, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

When the LORD answered Job (Job 38-41), he pointed out that “no man has any authority to judge God” (note on Job 40:8). God asked Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” (Job 40:2, NLT).  Job responded, “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say” (Job 40:4-5, NLT).

[1] The Spiritual Growth Bible, Dealing with Discouragement, p. 495.

[2] Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, p. 38.

A perfect man

Moses told the people of Israel before they entered the Promised Land that the reason God was driving out the inhabitants of the land before them was because of their abominable practices (Deuteronomy 18:12). The Israelites were warned not to learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations (Deuteronomy 18:9), but to “be perfect with the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 18:13, KJV). The Hebrew word that is translated perfect, tamiym (taw-meemˊ) was “used of one’s relationship with another person (Judges 9:19; Proverbs 28:18; Amos 5:10); and of one’s relationship with God (Genesis 17:1; Deuteronomy 18:13; 2 Samuel 22:24, 26). Moreover, this word described the blamelessness of God’s way, knowledge, and Law (2 Samuel 22:31; Job 37:16; Psalm 19:7[8])” (H8549). Tamiym is derived from the word tamam (taw-mamˊ) which means “to complete…At its root, this word carries the connotation of finishing or bringing closure” (H8552). Another word that is derived from tamam is the Hebrew word tam (tawm), which also means complete. Tam is “an adjective meaning integrity, completeness. This is a rare, almost exclusively poetic term often translated perfect but not carrying the sense of totally free from fault, for it was used of quite flawed people” (H8535). One of the people described by tam is Job. It says in Job 1:1, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright.”

Job is believed to have lived during the time of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because of the length of his life (Job 42:16). “The fact that Job acted as the priest for his family (Job 1:5) implies that the Mosaic Law had not yet been given” (Introduction to Job). Job had seven sons and three daughters and was considered the greatest of all the people of the east (Job 1:2-3). It says in Job 1:4-5, “His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ Thus Job did continually.”

Job’s reputation as a perfect man was not only acknowledged on earth, but also in heaven. God told Satan there was no one like Job on the earth, “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8). Because Satan challenged Job’s reputation, God allowed Satan to test Job. It says in Job 1:9-12:

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

“Satan’s question ‘Does Job fear God for no reason?’ challenged the motive behind Job’s reverence for God. Satan claimed that Job lived as he did because God had blessed him. This was not the case, for Job reverenced the LORD sincerely. God’s purpose in allowing these trials to come on Job was to purify and strengthen Job’s faith in him” (note on Job 1:9-12).

The Apostle Peter, of whom Jesus said, “Satan has demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31), wrote about the various trials that Christians must go through. Peter said trials occur, “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). Peter talked about suffering as a Christian and told believers, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). Peter also warned believers about Satan’s tactics. Peter said we must, “be soberminded; be watchful,” because “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” and then he, instructed believers to, “resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Jesus reiterated and affirmed the standard of perfection that was established by Moses. Jesus explained to his disciples, “You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Lover your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48). Jesus used the Greek word teleios (telˊ-i-os) figuratively in a moral sense to refer to us being perfect as God is perfect. Like tamiyn in the Old Testament, teleios means “complete” and is used “specifically of persons meaning full age, adulthood, full-grown. In the NT, figuratively meaning full-grown in mind and understanding (1 Corinthians 14:10); in knowledge of the truth (1 Corinthians 2:6; 13:10; Philippians 3:15; Hebrews 5:14); in Christian faith and virtue (Ephesians 4:13)” (G5046).

A word that is derived from teleios is teleioo (tel-i-oˊ-o). Jesus used the Greek word teleioo when he told his Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4). The King James Version of the Bible translates the word teleioo in John 17:4 as finished and the New Living Translation states, “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4). Another word that helps us to understand what it means to be perfect is telos (telˊ-os), which means, “(to set out for a definite point or goal); properly the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state” (G5056). Jesus used the word telos when he said, “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22).

Satan’s attempt to break Job involved him taking away everything that Job had in one fell swoop. Job 1:13-22 tells us:

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said,

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
    and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
    and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”

In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. (NLT)

The phrase ‘while he was still speaking’ “indicates that all the events took place one right after the other. This afforded Job no opportunity to prepare himself or regain his composure and made each one harder to bear” (note on Job 1:16-18), and yet; we are told that Job made it through this experience without sinning against God.

Job’s story continues with Satan making a second accusation against Job and God giving him another opportunity to test Job’s faith. Satan struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head (Job 2:7). “Job’s sores may have disfigured him so badly that he could barely be recognized by his friends. They shared in his sorrow (Job 2:12, 13) but did not understand that affliction does not always signify punishment (see John 9:3). Much of what they said in their conversation with Job (chs 4-37) was true but was misapplied to Job’s situation. They did not recognize  that God was testing Job and instead assumed that Job’s suffering was proportionate to some sin he had committed. It may even be that they were unknowingly used by Satan in his attempt to cause Job to sin” (note on Job 2:11-13). Job’s friend Bildad thought that he needed to repent (Job 8:5). “Job responded to Bildad’s reasoning by declaring that no man is righteous in God’s sight (Job 9:2, 20) or able to dispute with him (Job 9:3, 14). Job did not claim to be perfect but recognized his need for God’s mercy (Job 9:15) (note on Job 9:1-10:22). Job said about God:

Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
    I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
If I summoned him and he answered me,
    I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
For he crushes me with a tempest
    and multiplies my wounds without cause;
he will not let me get my breath,
    but fills me with bitterness.
If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
    If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. (Job 9:15-20)

Job understood that he could not claim to be a perfect man based on his own merit. The burnt offerings that Job made for his children (Job 1:5), and likely for himself on other occasions, did not justify him in God’s sight. Romans 3:20 tells us, “For by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Job realized he needed God’s mercy because as it says in Romans 3:23-25, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

Confession of sin

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that righteousness is something that is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22). Paul said, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25).  The Greek word that is translated propitiation, hilasterion (hil-as-tayˊ-ree-on) refers to the mercy seat that covered the Ark of the Covenant where the tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them were kept (Exodus 25:17-21). God told Moses about the mercy seat, “There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people” (Exodus 25:22). Hilasterion in Romans 3:25 refers to the “propitiator, one who makes propitiation” (G2435). The propitiator is the one “to atone for (sin)” (G2433); and in so doing, Jesus provided the means for reconciliation between God and all who have sinned.

The Apostle John explained in his first letter that we must first confess our sin in order for God to forgive us. John said, “If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). “To ‘confess’ (homologeo [G3670]) means to agree with God that sin has been committed. Even though Christ’s death satisfied God’s wrath toward the believer’s sin (1 John 2:1, 2), the inclination to sin still remains within man (vv. 8, 10). Therefore he must realize the need to continue in a right relationship with God by confession of sin. God grants forgiveness in accordance with his ‘faithful and just’ nature” (note on 1 John 1:9). An example of confession and forgiveness of sin can be found in the life of King David. It says in 2 Samuel 12:1-13:

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

“Nathan used his parable (2 Samuel 12:1-4) to skillfully bring David to condemn himself, and David painfully realized the consequences of his sin. He had violated four of the ten commandments in one rash sin: you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal, you shall not commit adultery, and you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Although it was about a year later, David sincerely repented of his sin (cf. Psalm 32:5; 51:1-19). While his repentance brought about forgiveness from God, it did not prevent him from suffering the consequences of his sin. God revealed that because of David’s sin, the son born from his adulterous relationship would die (vv. 14, 18), the sword would never depart from his house (v. 10), evil would come upon him from his own family (v. 11; see chapters 15-18), and his wives would be publicly shamed (v. 11, cf. 2 Samuel 16:22). While true repentance does bring forgiveness from God, it does not necessarily eliminate the consequences of sin” (note on 2 Samuel 12:1-14).

David talked about confession of sin in Psalm 32. David described in detail for us the emotional experience he went through and the relief he felt after Nathan confronted him with his sinful behavior. David wrote:

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah (Psalm 32:3-5)

David used the Hebrew word yadah (yaw-dawˊ) to describe his act of confession. The essential meaning of yadah “is an act of acknowledging what is right about God in praise and thanksgiving (1 Chronicles 16:34). It can also mean a right acknowledgment of self before God in confessing sin (Leviticus 26:40) or of others in their God-given positions (Genesis 49:8)…This rightful, heavenward acknowledgment is structured in corporate worship (Psalm 100:4; 107:1, 8, 15, 21, 31), yet is also part of personal lament and deliverance (Psalm 88:11 [10]).

In Ezra 10:1-17, the returned exiles who had married foreigners confess their sin and vowed to separate themselves from their foreign wives. It says in Ezra 10:1-3, “While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: ‘We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the people of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. Therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law.” Shecaniah said the people had broken faith with God, meaning they had willfully disobeyed him (H4603).

Faithlessness or being unfaithful to God was the primary reason the people of Israel did not experience God’s rest after they entered the Promised Land, and because of it, God allowed them to be taken into captivity. It says in Hebrews 3:19, “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” Jesus rebuked his disciples on more than one occasion because of their unbelief. When his disciples were unable to cast a demon out of a man’s son, Jesus asked, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Matthew 17:17). Afterward, the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” (Matthew 17:19). Jesus’ reply, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20, NKJV), indicated that our reliance upon God is measured and validated by the supernatural manifestation of his power in our lives.

Paul confessed to Timothy that he was acting in unbelief when he persecuted the church before he was converted on the road to Damascus. Paul said, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:12-13). Paul compared his former life as a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent of Christ to his current state of being judged faithful to serve in Jesus’ ministry. Paul attributed his transformed life to “the grace of our Lord” which “overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14). Paul went on to say, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul wanted Timothy, and everyone else to know, that he was a prime example of how confession of sin transforms your life. Paul explained that the reason God forgives sinners is so that he “might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16); and then, Paul concluded his topic of God saving sinners with a tribute to his Savior, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Competing priorities

God set in motion the rebuilding of his temple in Jerusalem by stirring up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation that the Jews were free to go home and rebuild the house of the LORD after having lived in captivity in Babylon for 70 years (Ezra 1:1-3). Over the course of almost 100 years, thousands of Jews returned to their homeland and rebuilt the city of Jerusalem and God’s temple. The Jews progress was slow and was sometimes interrupted by interference from their enemies, as well as, competing priorities in their day to day lives. It says in Ezra 4:1-5:

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra said that the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build. The Hebrew word that is translated discouraged, râphâh (raw-fawʿ) means “to slacken” (H7503). The Jews rebuilding effort slowed down because they were afraid that their adversaries would harm them. Even though the Jews were doing what God wanted them to, they thought their lives might be in danger and chose to reduce their effort in order to avoid being attacked. Eventually, the Jews stopped working all together and for sixteen years they did nothing to fulfill their purpose of returning to the land, to rebuild the house of God (Ezra 4:5, 24).

God sent the prophet Haggai to Jerusalem in 520 BC to remind the Jews that rebuilding his temple was supposed to be their number one priority. Haggai’s first message was a stirring challenge that was delivered directly to the political leader, Zerubbabel and spiritual leader, Joshua. Haggai said, “’Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.’ Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, ‘Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?’” (Haggai 1:2-4). Haggai confronted the Jews about their competing priorities. “The people emphasized the decoration of their own houses while doing nothing for God’s house.” Haggai went on to inform the Jews that their neglect of the temple had resulted in God’s judgment on them (Haggai 1:6-11) and explained that, “their self-centered lives could not satisfy because God was not blessing. Their first priority should have been that God would be honored (v.8, cf. John 15:8; Ephesians 1:6)” (note on Haggai 1:1-11). Haggai said:

 “Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.” (Haggai 1:5-11)

Haggai twice exhorted the Jews to “Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:5, 7). The Hebrew words that are translated consider, suwm (soom), which refers to “God’s sovereignty over all creation, especially that of humankind” (H7760) and lebab (lay-bawbˊ), which is “used to describe the place where the rational, thinking process occurs that allows a person to know God’s blessing” (H3824) suggest that Haggai was appealing to the Jews on the basis of their professed allegiance to God.

The Jews struggled to put God first in their lives and seemed to easily forget that they had a responsibility to honor God in all that they did. In addition to this, God’s chosen people faced continual opposition from the people around them that often undermined their commitment to God. Ezra indicated that one of the reasons no work was completed for sixteen years was because during the reign of Ahasuerus, a letter was written with an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. The people of the land said if the city was rebuilt, the Jews would not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue would be impaired (Ezra 4:6-13). As a result, a decree was issued that the rebuilding of the temple had to stop (Ezra 4:21). “Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshei the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease” (Ezra 4:23).

The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were able to reinvigorate the Jews efforts to rebuild the house of God, but the local opposition continued. It says in Ezra 5:1-5:

Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” They also asked them this: “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Zerrubbabel and Jeshua were not intimidated by Tattenai and Shetharbozenai’s threats because “the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews” (Ezra 5:5). This meant that God was involved in the situation and was not allowing Tattanai and Shetharbozenai to get the upper hand. God wanted work on the temple to continue and was bolstering the leaders’ efforts to keep the rebuilding project in Jerusalem going.

Haggai’s four messages, which were delivered between the months of August and December in 520 BC, focused primarily on the importance of the Jews obedience and spoke of the people needing to have a firm resolve in order to do what they had intended to when they returned from captivity in Babylon. “Haggai pled with the people to keep in mind the motives for their labor. The Israelites were guilty of being slothful in their service (Haggai 2:14-16), and the result was God’s punishment (Haggai 2:17). The prophet called them to renew their vigor in accomplishing the task that God had called them to do: the rebuilding of the temple” (note on Haggai 2:18). In his final message, Haggai used the word consider three times to draw attention to the negative consequences that had resulted from the Jews letting competing priorities get in the way of them doing what God expected them to. Haggai asked:

“If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what they offer there is unclean. Now then, consider from this day onward. Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, how did you fare? When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid, consider: Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.” (Haggai 2:13-19)

Haggai’s message concluded on a positive note with a promise from God that he would bless the Jews because they had finally gotten their priorities straight. Even though the birth of Israel’s Messiah was still a long way off, God added a footnote to Haggai’s message stating that the covenant he made with David had not been negated by the Jews captivity in Babylon (note on Jeremiah 22:24-30). God preserved the birth line from King David to Jesus through Zerubbabel (Haggai 2:23). Zerubbabel is listed in both of Jesus’ genealogies (Matthew 1:12; Luke 3:27), indicating that Jesus’ physical birth, as well as his spiritual heritage, were linked to Zerubbabel.