-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)
Today is 9/11, it’s appropriate to remember and reflect. In today’s Revelation reading we’re continuing on with some of the things from yesterday, so if you’ve not read through that, go ahead and take a second to get caught up. Today as we start reading on Revelation 9, the 7th seal has been broken, and 4 of 7 trumpets have sounded, and things are about to get worse for those on the earth. Even still, during all of this man won’t repent but continues to “worship demons, idols of gold and silver, nor repent of their murders or sorceries or sexual immorality or their theft” (Rev 9:20-21).
That being said, our primary focus today isn’t going to be the apocalyptic events that are going down, but more a study of “how we got here” to this dark time, and how we might be (possibly) spared from the righteous wrath of God in that day (see Rev 9:4).
So let’s take a step back and look at things. We know that God, our creator, owns not only us but the entirety of the earth and everything on it (and the heavens, etc, etc, see Ps 24:1 for reference). He’s proud of His creation, because He thinks (and I agree) that He did a good job when He made it (see for reference: Gen 1:4, 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, 1:25, and 1:35). I think any reasonable being looking at the beauty of the creation would agree, particularly if you overlook the glaring ugly things that we’ve done to the planet, the giant tacky roadsigns along the freeway of creation. God did an amazing job. The creation, as it was and as it was intended, is beautiful.
We also know that, as the proud Father of this creation, one of the biggest pet peeves that God has is that His creation gives the praise and glory that is due to Him to something or someone else. That’s why when God warns the people about idolatry, He let’s them know right off the bat that it’s because he is a (rightfully) jealous God (see Ex 20:5, 34:14). Imagine for a moment if you spent a long time planning, designing, and then building a beautiful (insert anything you’d like to imagine here). You finish it, it’s fantastic and beautiful, and absolutely surpasses all expectation. You nailed it!
Then a group of folks come up and admire your (whatever it was), and they are just brimming with praise: “Great job! Lovely work! Beautiful!” and you are justifiably happy, because you really did a good job and it’s being acknowledged. Then one of them goes “Yea Bob, great job!” and they all turn, pat one of the folks on the back repeatedly, and walk off talking about what a great job Bob has done. WAIT A MINUTE! Who’s this Bob guy? YOU did all the work, Bob wasn’t even nearby. What the heck?! Now stop for a moment and think: how do you feel right now? That’s probably kind of how God feels when we give the praise and glory that is due Him to any other thing, or being. When we do such things, we may be worshipping demons.
A very good portion of the Old Testament before the Exile was essentially an object lesson against idolatry. Here in Isaiah 17:10-11, we see again as a warning: “10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your strong defense. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine branches of a strange god. 11In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you cause your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain.” (LSB). So, the branches of a “strange god” can seem “delightful”. We can hedge and fence it in and think it’s pretty, and we can cause these fabrications to flourish, but the harvest of such an abomination will be “sickliness and incurable pain”.
I believe no man can know the mind of God, or fully understand Him. That being said, there are things that God reveals about Himself. He has feelings, He’s offended when we act rebelliously, and He loves us fiercely. He’s proud of what He made. There is only one of Him, and He made us and everything we can see. Through the ages, men have planted delightful plants, and set them with the vine branches of a strange god, fenced them in, and made them look appealing. God has warned us about this, so it is the absolute height of folly to worship any other God than has been revealed to us in scripture. That’s why it’s so important to be discerning when reading scripture.
When Jesus is asked what the greatest commandment was, he said “the greatest commandment is this: Listen! God (YHWH) is the only God, and you should love Him with your heart, mind, and soul. Second to this, you should love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29 and following). In his ministry, Jesus gave all glory and credit to God. Be like Jesus. Give God the credit He is due, love Him for it, and exhibit that love as an action by loving the other people that God created as much as you do yourself, that’s how to honor God. We don’t need to add strange stuff to the bible to make the story beautiful, it’s already beautiful. When we add to what is written, we’re planting “delightful plants with vines of a strange god”. It’s just not what God told us, He’s actually specifically told us not to do such a thing. Don’t do that. The word of God is enough.
In our Ps 112 reading today we see a number of critical understandings on how to give God the glory (all following from LSB). Firstly: “1Praise Yah! How blessed is the man who fears Yahweh,“. Secondly: “4Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; Who sustains his works with justice.”. This would fall under that “love your neighbor as yourself” bit that Jesus quoted just above. Be compassionate and gracious, righteous and generous to your fellow creation. This is reiterated, and noted additionally that this type of behavior will be rewarded here: “9 He has given freely to the needy, His righteousness stands forever; His horn will be raised in glory.” Set yourself up for success, and begin trying to love your fellow creation, radically. Conversely and by comparison, “10The wicked will see it and be vexed. He will gnash his teeth and melt away…”.
So, we need to honor, fear, and love the God who made us. We see that we can do this by listening to God, honoring God as He has revealed Himself to us (and without adding bits), and by loving the rest of the humans He created as much as we love ourselves. It’s simple, and it’s important. Listen now though, and I will tell you a great secret, an opportunity for you to help cover any foolishness and sin that you have done.
I have 2 dogs, and 1 is named Bo. Whenever something is destroyed, when something is chewed up or broken, when my bread is gone off the top of the counter, we always know: “it was Bo.” It’s always Bo. He is just terrible, he eats our food, he tears up our trash, he chews up things we need. He is also the most loving dog I’ve ever met. When I prostrate myself on the ground to pray, Bo will come and lick my head until I get up. Then he’ll try to wiggle his head under my head and lick my face, and lay down with me, trying to get his head in a position where he can (continue to) lick me all over my face profusely. My point in bringing this up is: Bo is the bad dog. Bo is the one who destroys things. It’s always Bo. It’s also almost impossible to be mad at Bo when he’s so loving and he’s licking your face repeatedly for about half an hour. Take the hint. We need to “be like Bo” in the manner of our affections towards God – also, stop stealing the bread.
REFLECTION QUESTION
What are some practical things we can do to ensure that we aren’t planting strange vines in our garden, and to be more loving toward God? Try to think of at least 3.
PRAYER
Father God, You have made me and all things in this place. All glory belongs to You. Thank you. Please forgive me when I fail you, and help me. I love you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Seek Grow Love 