Something to Offer

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

 --Hebrews 8:3  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on September 29, 2013 of Proverbs 8:22-31; Hebrews 8; Isaiah 28-29.

Continuing with his proof that Jesus is superior in His person and as our true High Priest over Mosaic Law (please see "Our Sympathetic High Priest"), the author of the letter to the Hebrews paints a brief portrait of Melchizedek and the preeminence of his priesthood. Melchizedek was the King of Salem (and here "Salem" translates "Peace"). He was also a "priest of the Most High God" (please see Hebrews 7:1), appointed directly by God. He blessed Abraham and Abraham gave him one tenth of the spoils from his recent battle (Genesis 14:18-20). This recognition from Abraham, our author notes, shows just how important Melchizedek was considered. This act foreshadows Mosaic Law where all descendants of Abraham (except those of the house of Levi) are required to tithe to the Levite priests so they could serve God. Even though his genealogy could not in any way be traced to the house of Levi, Melchizedek received a tithe from the father of the entire nation of Israel.

Our author then takes the authority and legitimacy of the priesthood of Melchizedek and combines it with Psalm 110, in which David relates a conversation God has with the One accepted as the Christ, with Jesus. In this, God recognizes the Son as being "a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4). Jesus, born of the house of Judah, could never be of the Mosaic priesthood of Levi. Instead, like Melchizedek, He was appointed directly by God into a greater, more superior priesthood, just as exhibited by Melchizedek over Abraham.

Our author notes in today's focus verse that every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices for the remission of their own sins and the sins of the people. So if Jesus is to be considered a legitimate high priest, it is necessary that He also have something to offer. And indeed He does, on both counts.

Jesus, who was Himself without sin, had no need to atone for anything on His part, but He definitely could and did atone for the sins of the people. And not just for the descendants of Abraham but for all people throughout all time. Jesus made one great sacrifice, for once and for all, one time for everyone. He sacrificed Himself, the Spotless Lamb, shedding His own blood upon the altar for the atonement of all mankind's sin. And what He has to offer is the greatest gift of all, the gift of eternal life through the grace of God, our belief in Jesus as His Son, our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Master, and our willingness to live a Spirit-led life. The King of kings, the Lord of lords, the greatest High Priest of all is our Christ Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus, God Almighty, the Creator of everything, appointed You as High Priest over all mankind. You made the ultimate sacrifice of Your own blood on our behalf, as remission for our sins. And You offer us  the gift of eternal life with You and our Father. There is no way mere words could ever thank You, so may we ever strive to show our thanks through the life we live, following You. In Your most holy name, dearest Jesus our Redeemer we pray. Amen.

Fine Gold and Choice Silver

Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver.

 --Proverbs 8:18-19  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on September 28, 2013 of Proverbs 8:12-21; Hebrews 7; Isaiah 26-27.

In chapter eight of Proverbs, Solomon personifies wisdom and gives it a feminine voice. "To you, O men, I call," she cries out, "and my voice is to the sons of men." (Please see verse 4.) Wisdom is depicted as standing beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances of doorways. Anywhere that people might pass she makes herself visible and accessible so that her voice might be heard and her advice heeded. She offers only truth and righteousness, no wickedness nor crooked or perverted word will pass through her lips. All the utterances of her mouth are straightforward to them who will understand and right to those who seek knowledge.

Solomon then tries to express the value of wisdom's counsel in terms his readers, including us, may more easily understand. Wisdom is better than precious gems, he says, and not even comparable to anything man might desire. Kings and nobility avail themselves of wisdom's instruction when ruling and dispensing justice, if they are indeed wise. Today's focus verses perhaps more clearly disclose wisdom's worth to us. Great riches and honor come from following wisdom's voice. But not riches of this world, that can tarnish and deteriorate and that we cannot carry with us into the next life. And not necessarily or only honor from men, that will be forgotten not long after we're gone. No, the riches and honor wisdom brings is not of a material or worldly nature, but is more ethereal and everlasting. Wisdom offers enduring riches in our rewards in heaven, the ultimate honor of righteousness in the eyes of God. Better than the choicest silver, worth far more than the finest gold are words of wisdom, fruits hanging right there for us to take.

When we read and digest these words of Solomon, the wise teacher, we may begin to see that the Holy Spirit living within us is the voice of wisdom. He can always be found standing at the gate to our soul, the doorway to our heart, ever speaking to us that we might hear and heed His counsel. This is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us: to guide us, to advise us, to speak words of His wisdom to us. And our rewards for obeying His voice and believing in and following Jesus are far greater and more desirable than any earthly treasure. Through Him we can receive riches and righteousness that will endure forever. Amen.

Father in heaven, Your Son Jesus sent Your Holy Spirit to live within those who believe in Him, to be our Guide and Counselor. In Him You speak Your divine wisdom directly into our hearts. Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to follow His advise, when we ignore Him, when we refuse to hear His voice. Please never take Your Spirit from us. In the beautiful name of Jesus our Savior we pray. Amen.

Wipe Away Our Tears

He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken.

 --Isaiah 25:8  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on September 27, 2013 of Proverbs 8:1-11; Hebrews 5:11-6:20; Isaiah 23-25.

As a prophet, Isaiah made some amazingly accurate predictions about future events. Some included what would occur very close at hand, such as Judah being carried off into captivity by Babylon. Some were a little further out, like the people's return to Jerusalem and the restoration of the nation. Some would not be fulfilled for hundreds of years, including the birth, life, and death of Jesus the Messiah. And some have yet to come to pass, over 2500 years later. Isaiah was used by God to speak His message to man. His prophecies came directly from God, and God knows what will happen yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Since the events foretold by Isaiah that have already come to pass unfolded just as Isaiah said, we have no reason to believe that those events yet to be fulfilled won't also occur just as he says. After all, it's really God doing the talking.

Isaiah spends four chapters, 24 through 27, giving us just such a glimpse into that future, foretelling what is still to occur. We don't know when these events may unfold, nor are we intended to. These predictions may begin to come true within the next few seconds, or maybe not for thousands of more years. We do not know because this sequence starts with the return of Christ, and we are not meant to know just when that will occur. In these four chapters Isaiah shows us the Great Tribulation and even beyond that to Jesus' Millennium Kingdom.

Today's focus verse comes from that vision of Jesus' Thousand Year Reign of peace on earth. It forms the promise that all believers hope for, the basis of that hope as revealed by Jesus to the Apostle John, a time when "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Please see Revelation 21:4.) God, through Isaiah, assures us there will come a time when there will be no more need for tears, when death will be vanquished and cast into the lake of fire. No more pain, no more sorrow, just a thousand years of peace living with Jesus. Who would not want this, hope for this, long for this? Believe in Jesus and receive it. For the Lord has spoken. Amen.

O Father God, You made a promise to us through Isaiah, a promise repeated by Jesus, that there will come a day when all our suffering will come to an end. No pain, no sorrow, just happiness being with Jesus. Our faith and belief will be rewarded by Your grace and Jesus' sanctification to grant us eternal life. Thank You, Father! Thank You, Jesus! In the most precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

Our Sympathetic High Priest

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

 --Hebrews 4:15  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on September 26, 2013 of Proverbs 7:24-27; Hebrews 4:14-5:10; Isaiah 21-22.

The author of Hebrews tells us that God extends us an offer to enter into His rest - peace from trouble and woe, relief from pain and suffering, no more grief or distress... to enter heaven - but that some of us may fall short of His grace because of our unbelief. Fortunately there is a cure for unbelief. Our author reassures us that "the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword" (please see verse 12). We know from the Gospel of John that Jesus is that living Word of God (John 1:1), who is described in Revelation as the words from His mouth being like a two-edged sword (Revelation 1:16). He is able to cut through any facade we may raise to get to the truth of our being; we can hide nothing from Him. This Jesus ruled in heaven as God's Son, yet allowed Himself to be made a little lower than the angels (please see "A Little Lower Than the Angels") so that He could come to earth to live among us, as one of us. He came into the world a small baby just as we do. He studied and learned and grew like we do. He walked the same dusty roads we travel. He suffered persecution, beatings, trial, and execution. And He was buried. For most of His life on earth, other than having a divine Father, Jesus lived pretty much like we do and experienced life like us. Of course, what happened after His death and burial makes all the difference in the world, but right now our author is only concerned with Jesus' time on earth.

Jesus is not some distant god sitting in an ivory tower looking down on us from afar. He is the God who came right to where we are to live among us, to eat what we eat, to live as we live, to feel what we feel. Jesus was tempted by Satan just like we are (Matthew 4:1-11). It wasn't that Jesus experienced every temptation that man does, but rather He was tempted in every area that man is tempted: in lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And these temptations were specially devised by Satan just for Jesus, just to lure Him. Jesus resisted them all and Satan failed. But this trial allowed the Son of Man to know exactly what it is like when Satan entices us, how hard it can be to resist those temptations.

Jesus, our one true High Priest and Redeemer, knows just what it is like to be human. He has felt the physical pain of beatings, the emotional pain of betrayal. He has loved and been loved, been disappointed and been despised. The Holy Spirit helped Him resist Satan, the same Holy Spirit He sent to live within us and that can help us resist as well. And through it all Jesus remained sinless, committing no wrong against God or man. He had to, for otherwise He could not have taken all of our sins upon Himself, sanctifying us before God. This is our High Priest who can sympathize with us because He was one of us. This is Jesus, the Son of God, in whom we can believe. Amen.

Dear Jesus, You came to us to know us, to be one of us, to live like we live and feel like we feel and be tempted like we are tempted. You came to us to offer salvation. In You we have a sympathetic High Priest. In You we have redemption. Thank You, O Lord. In Your glorious name, our Jesus we pray. Amen.

Enticing

For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice, and saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of understanding.

 --Proverbs 7:6-7  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on September 25, 2013 of Proverbs 7:6-23; Hebrews 4:1-13; Isaiah 17-20.

In chapter seven of his Proverbs, our wise teacher greatly dramatizes his warning against adultery. The opening lines of his short morality play, including today's focus verses, paint a very bleak picture, making it obvious that the outcome will not be good. The stage is set for a bad ending. Looking through his window, our narrator spies a young man, seemingly a simpleton, headed directly to the house of one known at least to our narrator to be an adulteress. She admits to the youth that her husband is away and will not return that night. She has plenty to eat and has decorated her bed. She entices her intended prey with kisses, flattery, sensuality, and even reassurances that nothing bad will come of their liaison. Blindly he follows her to her bed and succumbs to the pleasures of the flesh she offers.

God did not give us this cautionary tale through the hand of Solomon just to warn us not to commit adultery, not to break the seventh commandment. Yes, adultery is a sin to be avoided, but the obvious topic of this passage in Proverbs also symbolizes a broader underlying concern. Too often we all act as the young man of this story: simple-minded and without understanding. We don't listen to wise counsel, perhaps from those who have done what we are about to do and learned from it, those watching through the windows of their own experiences. We walk right into temptation's open arms. Satan is the adulteress. He beckons us to his bed, decorated so pleasingly to our senses. He entices us with kisses to our lustful urges, flattery to our prideful egos, sensual caresses and offerings of earthly pleasures of the flesh, and reassurances to quiet our conscience that this is all okay, it is all good, if it feels good do it. Too often we succumb to his wiles and follow him to his bed, falling victim to his temptations.

Satan even tempted Jesus, but He was able to resist with the help and strength of God's Holy Spirit. When He ascended back into heaven, He sent that same Spirit to live within us. The Holy Spirit is our Wise Teacher, our Counselor, our Strength to resist Satan's charms and seductions. If we believe in Jesus and fully repent of our sin, the Spirit will guide us safely through a life filled with Satan's snares. But we must listen to what He tells us and heed His warnings. Satan is crafty, but God's Holy Spirit dwelling within us is both wise and strong. Obey Him, heed Him, and escape Satan's clutches. Amen.

Lord Jesus, our Father gave You the Holy Spirit to help strengthen You during Your days as a human to resist the temptations of Satan. After Your resurrection and ascension, You sent the Holy Spirit to live within us, so that we might listen to His voice and turn our backs on the evil one. Thank You so much for this great gift, second only to Your sacrifice on our behalf. Forgive us when we fail to heed the Spirit's warnings. In Your precious name, dear Jesus we pray. Amen.

Fallen from Heaven

"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!"

 --Isaiah 14:12  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on September 24, 2013 of Proverbs 7:1-5; Hebrews 3; Isaiah 14-16.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the invading forces of Assyria, its people carried off into captivity. Judah, the Southern Kingdom, seemed to be following the Northern Kingdom's example of apostasy and disobedience of God's voice. King Ahaz, against Isaiah's counsel, foolishly sought protection for Judah from Assyria shortly before they attacked Israel. His God-fearing son Hezekiah instituted spiritual reforms during his reign, but it was only by divine intervention that Judah did not fall victim to the same fate as Israel. His successor Manasseh reinstated idolatrous practices, again mimicking Israel before their fall. Into this mess Isaiah shouted, a voice of reason in a sea of national spiritual insanity. Through this great prophet, God told of His Son's coming to man, but He also warned Judah of their own impending defeat and captivity at the hands of Babylon. God, through Isaiah, softened the blow a little by assuring the people that their nation would not be utterly destroyed, a remnant would be preserved.

The Book of Isaiah opens with a condemnation of Judah but includes the promise of its salvation, the coming Messiah. Isaiah goes on to denounce other nations and their actions, such as Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, and Egypt. He notes that God will have compassion on His people and the house of Jacob would outlast those that would conquer them and take them captive. The oppressors of God's people will all fall, even the great Babylon, which Isaiah describes as "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride" (please see Isaiah 13:19). In today's focus verse, Isaiah is speaking for the people, looking ahead to what they will say on that day after Babylon has fallen and they are released from captivity. The people will mock the dethroned King of Babylon and say, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer!" Isaiah isn't saying that the king is really Lucifer, but that the spirit of Satan is embodied in the king. The references to the fallen angel are clear in the following verses, and his presence in the oppressors is evident in their actions, in their treatment of others, and especially of the chosen of God.

Sadly, Lucifer can still be seen in action today, embodied in petty dictators, living inside all those who would take advantage of the weak and defenseless. Satan stalks our world looking for any he can persuade to do his bidding. We can do like Israel and Manasseh and the king of Babylon, allowing Lucifer a home in our hearts. Or we can understand that the Savior promised by God and Isaiah has already come to us and offers us redemption. We can choose who we give ourselves to, who we allow to live and work within us. Choose Jesus and live. Amen.

Father in heaven, Your prophets spoke for You to Your people in their day. But then You sent Your Son and everything is said through Him. He is the promise You made so long ago. Thank You, Father, for the gift of Jesus and Your grace that by our belief in Him we might be saved. May Lucifer never find a home in us, Lord God we pray. In the glorious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

A Little Lower Than the Angels

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

 --Hebrews 2:9  (NKJV)

From the daily Bible reading on September 23, 2013 of Proverbs 6:30-35; Hebrews 2; Isaiah 11-13.

We know very little of the background of the Book of Hebrews, with most of our information coming from inference and clues from other sources. Some think its author was Paul, but it often differs in style from Paul's writings and makes no mention of him by name or to his apostolic authority. It is more likely that the book was written by one of his followers or close associates, such as Barnabas or Silas, but we just don't know for sure. Nor are we certain of who this letter was addressed to, its intended audience, but references and theology, including numerous quotes and allusions from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, seem to indicate it was intended for Jewish converts living in Italy. Even the date the book was written is in question, with most evidence supporting its creation sometime in the mid to late sixties, likely after Paul's death but before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

One thing we can be certain of is the good theme of this book, the superiority of Christ and so of Christianity. This central theme is developed by proving that Christ is superior in both His person and His priesthood and in "so great a salvation" (please see verse 3) that He offers to everyone. The book offers encouragement to its readers, believers who suffered some level of persecution though not to the point being martyred but were at risk of abandoning their faith and becoming apostate. This letter assures them that Jesus and His teachings are superior in every way to the Mosaic Law.

Today's focus verse centers a passage exemplifying just such a superiority of Jesus' priesthood as how His sacrifice for us allows for the restoration of what God intended for man. Man, who was created just a little lower than heaven's angels in rank, was given dominion over all the earth and everything in it, but this role was forfeited when man sinned. Jesus was willing to lower Himself to our level, a little lower than the angels that He ruled over in heaven, Himself having no sin so that He could take all the sin of the world upon Himself, that we might be washed clean by His blood. And by suffering and dying on our behalf He is crowned with glory and honor by God the Father. By the wondrous grace of God, Jesus tasted death so that we no longer have to fear death, that we might be spared the second and lasting death, that we might be saved. Believe and be restored by Christ's salvation. Amen.

Glorious Jesus, You came down to earth as one of us, born to woman as a small and vulnerable baby, allowed Yourself to be lower that the angels that serve You in heaven. And You did all this, precious Master, just for us, just so we have the chance to receive God's grace for ourselves and not perish but have everlasting life. Thank You, dearest Lord Jesus, for making such a sacrifice for us, for me. We pray in Your holiest name, Jesus our Savior. Amen.