Verses 24 and 25 in today’s reading in Acts immediately captured my attention,
“Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” (NIV).
My takeaway from these verses is that Felix must have recognized the gospel message as the truth, but didn’t want to act on it. Instead, he wanted to pretend like he had never heard it. Reading these verses immediately brought to mind Hebrews 10:31: “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (NIV) Earlier in chapter 10 of Hebrews in verse 26 and 27, we read of the fate of those who know the truth but don’t allow it to change them, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” To be confronted with the truth and then deliberately choose to ignore it doesn’t make us immune from God’s judgment. Hebrews 10:39: “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” (NIV) May we have a bold faith like Paul rather than one that shrinks back like Felix’s.
Reflection Questions
Why might Felix have been afraid of the truth he heard from Paul – about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come? Even with fear, what might have been a better response than his, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you”?
Is there truth that you are too afraid to face? How do you respond to that fear? Even with fear, what might be a better response?
Are there some things God might want us to be fearful of? If so, what and why, for what purpose? Are there some things God does not want us to be fearful of? If so, what and why, for what purpose?
Prayer
Dear God, You are the mighty and wise Creator of heaven and earth and all truth. I pray that You show me what is true – about You, Your Son, Your Word, myself, this world and the one to come. I desire a deeper and deeper faith in You that is bold in believing, sharing and acting upon Your truth. Guide me today in seeing and making the most of every opportunity you set before me, as a Paul and not a Felix. In the name of Your Son, who came and will come again, I pray.
Ruth shows exemplary faith and trust in her mother-in-law, which is an example we can all learn from. Naomi provides a plan to appeal to Boaz to be a family redeemer, a crazy plan that, even by today’s standards, would be radical.
So remember exactly what this is: a marriage proposal. Ruth is fully on board with marrying a man, not her herself, but for her mother-in-law. This is, at its core, an example of a person fully submitting themselves to another.
This reminds me of John 15:13
No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.
In the context of the gospels and this sentence in general, it is about sacrificing your full life for your friends, that is, dying for them. But Ruth shows another way we can lay down our lives for our friends, by giving up our life so that our friends, family, or whoever, might have a better life because of our actions. Ruth could have stayed in Moab (Ruth 1:15) but instead she left security to support her widowed mother-in-law.
Using this context on sacrificial love, take a look at Mark 12:29-31, where Jesus answered the question of the greatest commandment.
29Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lordour God, the Lordis one.30 Lovethe Lord your Godwith all your heart, with all your soul [life], with all your mind,and with all your strength.31The second is, Love your neighboras yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
When we’re told to love Yahweh our God with all of our heart, life, mind, and strength, do you understand what all means there? Ruth is an example of living a life for someone else. She gave up her own wishes and fully submitted to the will of her mother-in-law. And, while Boaz is certainly a perfect example of loving your neighbor as yourself, Ruth is certainly a good example, too. Remember: Ruth is a Moabitess. So any care and love she shows for an Israelite is showing love for her neighbor.
Reflection Questions:
Are you willing to forget yourself for the sake of your friends and family, when they’re in need? Are you fully in submission to your God, that when he sends you a command, will you say, “I will do everything you say”?
PRayer:
Yahweh, our one and only God,
I thank you for your son, who was the perfect demonstration of both,
Boaz has become my favorite man in the Bible, and Ruth 2 highlights the big reasons why.
Ruth 2 opens by describing Boaz as a “man of noble character” (Ruth 2:1), but the first thing we see of Boaz is far more telling. Look how he greets his employees in Ruth 2:4,
Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “Yahweh be with you.”
“Yahweh bless you,” they replied.
Upon hearing that Ruth is gleaning from his field, he finds her, and further shows his noble character. He learns about her first from his chief servant in Ruth 2:5-7
5Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. 7She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”
Then when he goes to Ruth,
8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
And while it’s good to isolate how to be a good Godly man from Boaz, we can also pull a bit of being a good Godly woman from this chapter, when he answers a question from Ruth in 2:10-12
10She fell facedown, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”
11Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
But Boaz continues showing generosity by giving her dinner before sending her home, and dinner for the week by sending barley home with her (Ruth 2:15-18)
Here’s a few more examples of being a godly man or woman from throughout the Bible:
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
13 Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
Psalm 112
1Hallelujah!
Happy is the person who fears the Lord,
taking great delight in his commands.
4Light shines in the darkness for the upright.
He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
5Good will come to the one who lends generously
and conducts his business fairly.
9 He distributes freely to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.
His horn will be exalted in honor.
Micah 6:8
Mankind, he has told each of you what is good
and what it is the Lord requires of you:
to act justly,
to love faithfulness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
From Ephesians 5
15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— 16making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Reflection Questions:
Ruth 2 is a chapter that is filled with positive examples for improving yourself in any relationship you’re in. Both as an example in how to be yourself, but also in creating expectations for those with whom you want a relationship (whether friend or romance). Are there any ways you can improve in yourself to be a better friend or partner or spouse? Is there any way you can better help your friend be a better friend or partner be a better partner?
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
Thank you for the demonstration of your love in Jesus
Please guide us to being the best person we can be
While Ruth is so titled for the woman who shows great bravery in following her mother-in-law to unknown land, she is not the main character of the story. Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, is the lead driving character in the whole story.
This book has many themes, the most prominent being love, however this isn’t the theme that I’d like to dive into today. Instead we will follow Naomi as she falls into bitterness for events for which she blames God. Then, we’ll look at how we or those close to us have experienced this same bitterness, events that make us turn to God and say, “Why? Why me?” and we’ll look at how Naomi and a couple others turned from this negative view.
The cause of Naomi’s bitterness is described in Ruth 1:1-5.
1During the time of the judges, there was a famine in the land. A man left Bethlehem in Judah with his wife and two sons to stay in the territory of Moab for a while. 2The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife’s name was Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the fields of Moab and settled there. 3Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about ten years, 5both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two children and without her husband.
Running down what Naomi has gone through so far, we see:
A famine forces her, with her husband and her sons, to flee to Moab, leaving her familial home behind.
Her husband dies.
While she experiences the joy of seeing her sons marry, she then loses both her sons
So, having been forced from her home, losing her husband, and also both her sons, Naomi is now a widow in a foreign land with no men in her life. Bear in mind, in the culture of the ancient near east, a woman has no social power without a man. Her life is in a massive upheaval and with this, Naomi makes a choice – her only choice, really. She will return home to Israel.
It’s easy while reading the Bible to forget that we’re reading about the lives of real humans. But, to put yourself in Naomi’s shoes for just a moment, you can probably imagine what she might be feeling in this moment. Naomi will answer for herself in Ruth 1:19-21, which says,
19The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20“Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,” she answered, “for the Almighty has made me very bitter. 21I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has opposed me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
Ruth’s mother-in-law doesn’t feel like “pleasant” Naomi anymore. All these events have, understandably, made Naomi quite bitter towards her God. (This line in verse 20 is a play on words easily lost in the translation from Hebrew to English. “Naomi” means “pleasant”, while “Mara” means “bitter”. )
Naomi’s feeling that God has left her isn’t a unique instance in the Bible. The psalmist of Psalm 42-43 held a similar sentiment (these two Psalms are likely one psalm, based on the repeated refrain in 42:5, 42:11 and 43:5). He was likely someone during an exile whose psalm held two main prayers: first, help me against my enemies and second, why have you [God] abandoned me?
Psalm 43:2
For you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?
The psalmist asks God to recall him to Jerusalem so he can worship once again. Continuing the psalm in 43:3-4:
3 Send your light and your truth; let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
4Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.
I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God.
This bitterness and abandonment that the psalmist and Naomi feel may easily be felt by us too. Through the woes of this world, whether it be the loss of good friends and family; seeing close friends walk away from the faith; or seeing the state of the world, a world which serves itself as god, it can be very easy for us to become dejected, to be in such turmoil. To become bitter as the people ask, all day long, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:3).
But throughout this song and prayer, the psalmist repeats this refrain. It is a refrain of hope and faith. Though feeling abandoned by God, he still chooses to praise him. Psalm 43:5 says:
Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Following from the psalmist’s words it may seem easy to say: Why, Naomi, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Put your hope in God, still praise him, your savior and your God. However, as with most things in life; it is easier said than done.
So how do we do it? How do we continue to show our faithfulness and love for God when times become turbulent?
Let’s start small and look at how the psalmist talks about God. 42:1-2 (which is the basis for my favorite hymn) tells us:
1As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so I long for you, God.
2I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?
He begins with the longing to see his God (where he can see his God – at the temple). The psalmist speaks only faithfully of his God, remembering leading the festivities in the temple with joyful and thankful shouts. He is depressed though he does not wish to be.
Finally from this psalm, he calls Yahweh by name once in this whole psalm (42-43), which he uses intentionally, as a part of remembering Yahweh’s faithfulness. The singer remembers that Yahweh sends his faithful love, his hesed, by day, and His song is with him by night (Psalm 42:8). All day and all night, Yahweh is with you.
Now, bringing it back to Naomi, she doesn’t have some epiphany, nor does she come back to the joy of her God on her own. No, instead, she is brought back to joy by those around her. The titular Ruth, in a brilliant act of bravery, chooses to follow her mother-in-law to, to Ruth, a foreign land, choosing the unknown path of life over the safer path as Orpah did, in staying in Moab (Ruth 1:15-18). Because Ruth went with Naomi, God was able to work good in her life, through the path of a redeemer, Boaz, who would be the second major factor in restoring Naomi to a pleasant life (Ruth 4:15).
REflection Questions
Have you experienced the bitterness of life, as Naomi and this psalmist have? If you have, how’d you get through it? Did you do as the psalmist, choosing to praise God even when it was hard? Or did your friends and family help you through it, bringing the joy of God in their actions?
Prayer
Here’s a short prayer based on the psalm we read:
God, our God of heaven, how I long for you
Be with me in this life, that we might not forget
For those who seek you, asking “Where are you God?”
This verse from today’s reading is particularly poignant to me. When I read it, I imagine the person feeling like they are drowning in sorrows and troubles and calling out to God for their deepest rescue in their deepest time of need.
Earlier this week I alluded to the passage in Matthew when Peter stepped out in faith to walk on water. “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ (Matthew 14:30, NIV). In this moment, Peter was literally scared he was going to drown and those three little words—”Lord, save me”—were so simple yet so powerful.
When we fail to find the right words, maybe we can remember those three little words —”Lord, save me”. Or, if we find ourselves struggling so much to keep our heads above water that we are at a complete loss for words, Romans 8:26 reminds us that the Holy Spirit will intercede for us when we feel like we are drowning and can’t even form the words: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (NIV) I am grateful for a God who loves us so much that He meets us where we are with a lifeboat. When we can’t find the words, He finds the words for us. How great is our God!
Reflection Questions
What is one of your favorite verses in Psalm 42? Does an image come to mind when you read it? Explain.
Kristy gives a powerful image when she writes: “I am grateful for a God who loves us so much that He meets us where we are with a lifeboat.” How else might you complete the sentence – God meets us with a __________. Thank Him.
When have you felt stuck in the crashing whitewater at a loss for words? When have you said, “Lord, Save Me!”? How have you experienced God’s rescue? What do you need saving from now?
Prayer
Dear Lord God – You are a God who saves! Over and over You meet we where I am with what I need, including salvation through Your Son, wisdom, understanding, courage, patience, Christian brothers and sisters, and hope for the future in Your perfect Kingdom of God on earth. Thank You! Please keep providing and saving! Thank you for Your Word where I find You and so many of Your gifts. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit which comforts and empowers and gives me words. You are so good, God! Help me see You at work and give me all I need today to do the work You have prepared in advance for me to do.
Psalms 42 is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. This song of the Sons of Korah is replete with suffering and lamenting coupled with a deep yearning for God’s rescue. I appreciate how the subject of this song is recognizing his downcast and disturbed emotional state and is questioning why he feels that way and then reminds himself to put his hope in God and then makes a conscious choice to still praise Him in spite of how he feels.
In verse 6, the Psalmist decides to manage these downcast feelings by remembering better times. In verse 8, it seems to me that this person uses daily prayer to try to stay close to God:
“By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.” (NIV)
In spite of these efforts, doubts start to creep in during verse 9. The person feels forgotten by God, taunted by their foes who ask “Where is your God?” As they notice their faith wavering, we see them circling back in verse 11 to the same questioning we saw in verse 5 about why they feel so downcast and disturbed. This questioning is then once again quickly followed by a reminder that they will put their hope in God and still choose to praise Him. It’s a resounding chorus that comes around at just the right time.
This roller coaster of feelings is so relatable to me. We can get so bogged down in our trials that God can start to feel so very far away, but that’s when we need to take a cue from the Psalmist here and remember to put our hope in God and make a choice to praise Him. We need a resounding chorus at the ready that reminds us that we can trust God to care for us in our time of need. What would your resounding chorus sound like?
Reflection Questions
What do you generally do when your soul is in despair? Do any of those things put your soul in deeper despair?
What does it look like and sound like to put your hope in God?
When does God deserve our praise? When was your hardest time to praise God, but you did it anyway?
Prayer
Dear God, You are a great God! My desire is to put my hope in You, fully and completely, even and especially on the days my soul is in despair. I want to praise you well all of my days. You are worthy and deserving, my Savior and my God, the giver of all good gifts, including Your Son and salvation. Help me see, feel and remember with deep gratitude. I love you, LORD.
Acts 16:25: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (NIV). I am always deeply moved by this passage and always wonder what those hymns consisted of. According to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, “As the word here employed is that used to denote the Paschal hymn sung by our Lord and His disciples after their last Passover (Mt 26:30), and which we know to have consisted of Ps 113:1-118:29, which was chanted at that festival, it is probable that it was portions of the Psalms, so rich in such matter, which our joyous sufferers chanted forth; nor could any be more seasonable and inspiring to them than those very six Psalms, which every devout Jew would no doubt know by heart.”
Of course I had to rush to read Ps. 113-118 to try and imagine what that might have sounded like. I noticed several lines from these passages that are found in modern-day worship songs like
“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.” (Ps. 113:3, NIV)
and
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever”. (Ps. 118:1, NIV)
Further down on Ps. 118, I spotted some great words of comfort that no doubt really resonated with the other prisoners:
5
When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.
6
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
7
The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
I look in triumph on my enemies.
What an incredible witness they were to the faithfulness of God and their faithfulness to God! They were so kingdom-focused that they didn’t dream of taking the opportunity to escape when their shackles fell off. Not only were they a tremendous witness to the prisoners, but to the guard when they refused to escape. Their faithfulness to their God-given mission resulted in the guard and his household becoming believers. Praise in the midst of hardship is a recurring theme in this week’s readings. Many are watching us and listening to us and we have the opportunity to be a great testimony by how we react to our trials and struggles. Do we reflect the faith of Paul and Silas?
Reflection Questions
When faced with a difficult (or worse) day, what are some of your first responses? Are there times you let worry, fear, complaining, blaming, self-pity, negativity, shutting down, lashing out, or other harmful responses take over?
How might praying, and singing hymns and worship songs (especially those created from Scripture, so I will even add recalling and reading the Bible) be helpful to you? And beneficial to those around you?
Do you reflect the faith of Paul and Silas? What could you commit to working on this week to boost your faith and your testimony of God’s faithfulness, even when your life has some challenges along the way?
Prayer
Dear God, Thank you for being a faithful God. You do not desert Your children. I am sorry for the times I have neglected to turn to You first with prayer and worship and filling my mouth and mind and heart with Your perfect words of hope, comfort, righteousness, correction, mercy, love and faithfulness. Help me see that You and all of the good gifts You have already supplied are sufficient for my needs, even on days I experience trials. May I forever be a faithful witness of Your faithfulness to me.
“And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’ “(Judges 11:30-31, NIV)
Today’s reading in Judges contains a very disturbing account in chapter 11 of Jephthah making a reckless vow before God that if He gives him victory against the Ammonites, he will sacrifice the first thing that comes out of the door of his home. Sadly the first thing out of his door ends up being his beloved daughter. His daughter supports him in honoring this vow to the Lord, but asks for him to first grant her time to roam the hills for two months and spend time with friends. After the two month period, Jephthah carries out this vow.
In Pastor Andy’s Wednesday night class at Guthrie Grove Church, he recently covered some of these troubling stories in the Bible. He noted that some people can read these passages and feel very disturbed that God would allow such an atrocity to occur and ask why He would not intervene. Our class had some thought-provoking discussion about it and came to the consensus that it came down to Jephthah and his daughter ultimately not knowing the Lord and not hiding His word in their hearts.
If they had known God intimately, they would have realized that such a vow by a human was contrary to the heart of God. Jephthah would have never made this vow had he known God, and his daughter would have been able to speak against it if she had known God. We all agreed it underscored the importance of really understanding God’s character and recognizing His goodness. We can read His word to have a better understanding of His heart and each time we read it, that understanding can grow deeper. Consider what this week’s readings are showing you about the character of God.
Reflection Questions
What is the danger of making vows to God? Are you known to be true to your word – both to men and to God? Should you more often adjust your words – what you have said you would (or wouldn’t) do, or your actions – what you did (or didn’t) do?
What are some of the wrong assumptions about God prevalent today? Can you give Scriptural evidence to show that these views of God are not true? What is the danger of basing your own ideas about God on your own thoughts, and preconceived and borrowed ideas, instead of on Scripture?
What are your Bible readings revealing about the character of God? Keep searching daily to answer this question!
Prayer
Dear Almighty God – I praise You for Your greatness. In so many ways Your greatness and goodness goes far beyond my comprehension. And yet, You want to be known. And, I want to know You more and more. Thank You for Your Word, where throughout Scripture You reveal Your heart and character. Thank You for Your Son Jesus who also shows us his Father and God and the way to You. Help me see more clearly who You are and what pleases You and reject the world’s “wisdom”. Help me be a person of my word who speaks well and does well, all for Your purposes and to Your glory.
Judges 6:14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (NIV)
Has God ever called you to do something for which you felt very ill-equipped?
Make no mistake, on your own you probably were ill-equipped indeed. I was watching The Chosen recently and Matthew and Jesus were in conversation about Jesus having chosen Peter as his rock and foundation upon which his church would be built. The show takes a little creative license with imagining conversations that might have ensued and in one such conversation Matthew says, “I guess I am finding it hard to accept that the person you would formally assign leadership to of a group, with the keys to the kingdom of heaven, would be someone so…temperamental. I know the term’s a metaphor, but he does not act like a rock.”
Jesus chuckles and then replies, “I make people what they aren’t.”
I loved that line and we can certainly see examples of people throughout the Bible who by their own merit were not up to a God-assigned task (e.g., Moses, Jeremiah, the Apostle Paul, etc.). Some even tried to persuade God to find someone else, but we know God would not lead us to something simply to watch us fail. He always has a plan and He is always up to the task. Do we have enough faith that God will see it through? 1 Thessalonians 5:24 reminds us, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (ESV).
God assures Gideon that he need not rely on his own strength in Judges 6:16: The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Our weaknesses are not a deterrent when it comes to carrying out a mission God has called us to do. Accordingly, 2 Corinthians 12:9 reminds us that our limitations should not prevent us from stepping out in boldness, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (ESV).
REflection Questions
Has God ever called you to do something for which you felt very ill-equipped?
Do we have enough faith that God will see it through?
Why did Gideon feel weak? What made him a mighty hero? Why do you feel weak? What can make you into a mighty hero? What happens when you refuse to let God strengthen and use you?
How do you put yourself in a position where “The Lord is with you”?
Prayer
Dear God, I thank You for giving strength and making heroes where there was only weakness and fear. You are a great God with a great plan! Your desire is to see people saved from the enemy and sometimes You do that in some pretty creative ways. Help me see Your battle plans and realize the role You want me to play – which I can only do when YOU are with me. Help me always draw closer to You so Your strength & Your Spirit runs through me. Thank You for Your Son who is our perfect example and Savior.
Today we’re going to talk about some deep things. We mostly like to kind of brush past some of the harder bits of truth, but sometimes we need to acknowledge that they exist in order to appreciate the overwhelmingly high favor that we have been given without cause, and through no merit of our own.
**As a side note, I would also like to strongly encourage you to check it out every time scripture is quoted. Look up every bible verse anyone ever quotes (including me!) just to make sure they’re not mistaken, quoting partial truths, or being misleading: be a good Berean and check. Examine context, make sure it’s quoted correctly, and that it’s used properly.
I sometimes wonder at how much I should share, but this might be important to someone. This is the extremely edited version of a true story. An old friend of mine, back in the bad old days (see 2/5 devotional) and I were having an inebriated conversation. During this conversation talk turned to God, and he started saying the actual name of God, and I got scared (because we weren’t behaving properly), which amused him. He continued to do it a few times, then I bowed up and let him know that the next time he drew attention to us in our current state that he and I were going to have a full on brawl (I was a little scrappy in my youth). He laughed and moved on to other topics. A few months later, I had escaped from that life and was safe in a different state, no longer a criminal but attending a Bible college (talk about a culture shock!). A month or two after that I received word that he was dead. Let him who has ears, hear.
The name of God (YHVH, Yahweh, Yehovah) is a sacred name, and not to be used frivolously. It absolutely should be used in reverent prayer and meditation, but never frivolously. God will be treated as holy, and honored before all people (Lev 10:3). I believe part of the reason I’m alive today (aside from my parents’ constant intervention through prayer) is detailed in Malachi 3:16, and I remember Joel 2:32 as well, but I wonder at times at the cost of my freedom from that life that I was in. It is very sobering and very humbling. The price of soul is costly and beyond your ability to buy (Ps 49:8).
In our reading of Acts 12 today, we see this concept written painfully in blood, but most people miss it because it’s just a little blurb in the neat and somewhat funny (at points) story about Peter being freed from jail by an angel. We start out the chapter very seriously indeed with Herod beginning the first (but certainly not the last) persecution of the believers, the “ecclesia”, or what some would call “the church”. This would be Herod Agrippa I, the last “client king” of Judea, the grandson of Herod “the Great” (who was in actuality not so great). Herod (Agrippa I) was a skilled diplomat who gained favor in Rome by backing Claudius’ imperial succession, who leveraged his friendships with emporers Caligula and Claudius to reunify the territories of Samaria, Judea, and Galilee under a single rule (his).
Being a skilled politician who had just reunited rule on the territories around Judea, he sought to solidify his power by any means necessary. So while he maintained his Roman alliances and friends, he zealously sought and enforced orthodox Jewish policies in order to secure the loyalty of his Jewish subjects of that territory. So with that historical knowledge in the back of your head, now read in Acts 12:1-2 that after persecuting the early believers and killing James “and when he saw that it pleased the Jews” (Acts 12:3 LSB), he arrested Peter.
Remember that this is an ambitious politician, ruling over a territory of Jews, attempting to solidify his political strength in the land; so when he has Peter arrested, we can only assume it was to have him publicly killed later (since that is what pleased the Jews with James). What was the cost of one man’s life to him, in order to gain power? Just some fisherman, not anybody politically important, not even wealthy; a small price to pay to solidify your power over the territory, right?
So when Peter is arrested, he takes extra steps to secure his prisoner, because this is political gold for him. This is one of the leaders of that new upstart group causing dissension among the Jews, his subjects now. In Acts 12:4 it says, “When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to 4 squads of soldiers, to guard him…” (LSB). The actual word here translated as “squad” is “quaternion”, and a quaternion was composed of 4 soldiers each, so: 4 quaternions (of 4 soldiers each) equal 16 soldiers, trained and hardened professional Roman soldiers. When sleeping, Peter was chained with 2 chains between 2 soldiers, and there were other soldiers in front of the doors. Stop and think about the level of force here for a moment, Herod is not taking any chances. You don’t secure a prisoner that securely if you’re planning on giving public high fives when you bring him out, Peter was going to die here. It says at the end of 12:4 that he was “intending to bring him out before the people”, to kill him publicly in other words.
There follows an inspiring and miraculous tale of victory when an angel comes to free Peter, releasing him from prison, leading him through multiple obstacles safely and then departing. The story then becomes slightly amusing as Peter is left standing outside the gate of his friend’s house while the amazed servant forgets to let him in and rushes to tell the other believers that Peter is there, and after some disbelief, all of the believers rejoice. This is detailed very well in Acts 12:6-17.
In Acts 12:19, though, there’s a tiny little blurb that states: “And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution...”. Let me clarify that for you. A Roman examination was, simply put, torture. It consisted less of a close examination of facts, and more of horrific slow and painful torture until you confessed; less fingerprinting and more of a painful removal of the fingers, followed by death. 16 men were tortured and died in order that 1 man might go free. This is what I want you to consider today, because the cost of a soul is high.
That is why it is so important as slaves of The Christ, as servants of The Messiah, to know that when our lives were bought, we were bought at a price (1 Cor 6:20, 1 Cor 7:23); an overwhelming price higher than we could afford or deserved, the blood of God’s innocent servant (1 Pet 1:18-19), His Anointed One, whose blood was given for you. I remember my dead friend, I remember even more God’s chosen Messiah, the son of God, who willingly shed his blood for me. How much was my sorry life worth? The price of a soul is high, but my King, my innocent and humble King, paid it willingly for us. It makes me cry. Father God have mercy.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Do you think that Peter ever humbly meditated on the fact that 16 men died in his place when he escaped?
If you had the same experience, how would it make you feel (even if you knew that if they hadn’t died, you would have)?
Are we daily living in a manner that honors and respects the (too high) price that was paid for us?
PRAYER
Oh my Father God, have mercy on me. I am completely unworthy of the price that You paid for me. Please forgive me, help me to honor You in every word, in every action, in every thought. Thank You for redeeming me; without cause, and at too high a cost, but thank You. Please help me to live every moment from this point forward reflecting that overwhelming love and generosity towards You and Your creation. In the name of Yeshua, Jesus the Christ whom You sent, Amen.
Seek Grow Love 