Thinking in 3’s - Joshua 14:8,9,14 - Wholehearted

Caleb is a good name; a really good name. Not everyone named Caleb was named after the Biblical character found in Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges. Not every person named Caleb is like the Bible character. But one characteristic of this Caleb is that “he wholeheartedly followed the Lord.” That’s what we want for our sons and daughters. It’s what we aspire to ourselves.

“Wholehearted” is the Revised Standard translation. New American Standard has “followed .. fully.” It is an easy understand, though it is not easy to live that way. Sometimes we best understand a term by thinking about its opposite. We might think of “half-hearted” as a possibility. In the New Testament, we find the term “double-minded.” “Wholehearted” is amplified in the Great Commandment: Deut. 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” It makes clear that there must be no distraction from devotion to God; no diversion in our first love. It is rare. Caleb had it. Most don’t.

We find this description of Caleb 3 times in Joshua 14. We will find in these three instances three applications. 

First, in Joshua 14:8, we find that Caleb’s wholeheartedness was in contrast to the majority of the other spies who were sent in to spy out the land, and thus, he had to stand alone, except for Joshua, against all the rest of the people. Wholeheartedness comes from one’s own commitment to God, and does not find its strength by going along with the crowd. If we cannot stand for God alone, then we most likely will not stand for God at all. We need more Caleb’s.

But my companions who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. Joshua 14:8

Second, in Joshua 14:9, wholeheartedness is rewarded. God will bless in an unusual way those who are wholehearted. And yet, this blessing, a gift, is earned. That’s a little confusing, because we don’t “earn” gifts. But God fills the wholehearted person with a delight in exercising his faith in laying hold of the promise. Caleb was not a passive man. Nor was he self-sufficient. He was excited to go forward in the strength of the Lord to secure his inheritance. Our inheritance today is not physical, but spiritual. But one who would be a Caleb needs to exercise this same faith-initiative.

And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’ Joshua 14:9

And third, in Joshuas 14:14, Caleb the wholehearted was able to rest in his inheritance. He was able to secure it, order it according to his design and plans, and fill it with his family. He was able to share it. He was able to enjoy its fruit. It was his home. Again, we experience these things in spiritual ways, and they may be reserved for the future, but they are even more real, and more valuable than what the Bible’s Caleb experienced. 

So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. Joshua 14:14

May God give us more “Caleb’s.” May he surround us with more who are wholehearted. May God develop in each of us this wonderful and rare quality - those who can say along with Caleb, “I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.”

A Tunafish Thanksgiving

I’m a little worried about Thanksgiving. There was a special on tunafish at the grocery store (10 for whatever$), and my wife, who loves tunafish, bought all ten. She knows that you get the same deal even if you buy two. It made me wonder, “Why do we need so much?"

I suppose it was a good price, though, since I really don’t like tunafish, I think the grocery store should have to pay the customer to walk out with it. I’m rightly skeptical about this product. We all know there is a fish called “tuna,” and I have no trouble eating it in that form - a nice slab of grilled tuna. But in the can, they don’t call it tuna. They call it tunafish. It’s as though they are trying to convince you of something that is not true. When you have turkey for Thanksgiving, you never see the word, Turkeybird. It’s either turkey or it’s not. And, the can strongly resembles cat food.

And so, I fear my wife is secretly planning a tunafish Thanksgiving. Yeah, tunafish with all the fixin’s. I have to ask the question, if she does so, is it even Thanksgiving? And then I have to ask myself, “Will I even be thankful?”

It’s been a tough year. We’ve “cancelled” Easter, Mother’s Day, 4th of July parades, family vacations, and now, even Thanksgiving? And who knows about Christmas. None of us want to think about “a cold, dark winter.” If we let this be the whole story, we make a serious mistake. Covid didn’t cancel the resurrection of Jesus. Covid can’t dampen our appreciation for our mothers. Our love of country persists whether we gather in crowds or not, and we can be thankful whether the church basement is packed with people, or if we gather with so few people we don’t even have to bring up extra chairs from the basement. Thankfulness is not on the calendar. It is in our hearts.

And so, if we in fact have a tunafish Thanksgiving, I’m going to be thankful anyway. I’m going to be thankful for the care and provision of our heavenly Father, who has more than met our deepest and spiritual needs. I’m thankful for the loving sacrifice of Christ, and the presence of the Spirit. I’m thankful for the fellowship of believers, and for this place and time in which we live, locally and nationally. And maybe I’ll even be thankful for the cat I’m thinking about buying, that can sit on my lap during the meal and eat the main dish that I slide its direction.

Thinking in 3’s - Joshua 1:6,7,9 - Be strong and Courageous

In the first chapter of Joshua, in the first paragraph, The Lord speaks to Joshua directly, giving him instructions as He assumes Moses’ role of leadership among the Israelite people as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. Three times the Lord says, “Be strong and courageous.”

In the first case, God repeats the broad scope of the promise that He had given to His people, through Moses, and now repeats to Joshua. This is a tremendous gift, if the people will obey and pursue their enemies to the full extent, which they proved later not to do. But the promise is real, though conditional. Further, God assures Joshua, “As I was with Moses so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.” He then follows up the admonition to “Be strong and courageous” with one more assurance: “you shall put this people in possession of the land.”

In the second instance (v. 7), we understand that the call to “only be strong and courageous” is tied to other acts of devotion:

• Be careful to act in accordance with all the law
• Do not turn for it to the right hand or to the left
• Meditate on (the book of the law) day and night

We understand then, that mere human boldness, - perhaps we could call it audacity - is not what is called for. It is rather a determination to walk with God according to His Word, dependent upon His fulfillment of the promises, but keeping in step with His call and commandment all along the way.

Once again, the Lord gives a concluding command: “Be strong and courageous” (v. 9). It is here coupled with a negative command: “do not be frightened or dismayed;” and then with a word of great assurance: “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We also ought to “be strong and courageous.” Yet we must understand that we must not resort to audacity or presumption. Our biblical boldness must be based on the promises of God, and our actions must be in accordance with the commands of God. Certainly Joshua was called upon to exercise wisdom and strategy. But the ingenuity was not Joshua’s; the successes would belong to the Lord. We are always to recognize our dependence, and to act in obedience. And we can do so in this way: “Be strong and courageous.”

Thinking in 3’s - John 14:21,23 Those Who Love Jesus

As Jesus engages with His disciples in this last, long conversation before His death, He emphasizes several themes, such as His own union with the Father, and the gift of the Spirit. But the other theme, which is emphasized right at the beginning of this section (Jn 13:1 - “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end”), - that other theme is Jesus’ love for us, and our need to be those who love Jesus.

Three times in John 14:21,23 we find this description of the true Christian: “those who love me.” We cannot imagine a real Christian who does not love Jesus, even though we often confess that our love grows cold or our hearts are distracted by other things. This set of 3, then, is designed to help us to reaffirm and put into practice our love of Jesus.

The first reference to “those who love me,” in v. 21, is linked to those “who have my commandments and keep them.” Now this will be clear to anyone who thinks about it, but let’s be clear: we do not love Jesus because we keep His commandments. Rather, we keep His commandments because we love Jesus. That is, our devotion to Jesus produces the fruit in our lives of wanting to do things His way; of seeing things from His perspective; of following in His steps. This order of things, loving Jesus and thus keeping His commandments means, then, that His commandments are not heavy and burdensome. Rather, they are a delight. Our hearts are re-fashioned to be Christ-like. How important it is for us to love Jesus!

The second reference to “those who love me” is also in v. 21, back to back with the previous reference. When we are born again and thus fall in love with Jesus, we are drawn into what I will call “a circle of love.” We know that there is an unbreakable bond of infinite love between the Father and the Son, in both directions. Now, when we, by God’s grace, believe and love Jesus, that love of the Father which Jesus enjoys is also bestowed upon us. Jesus loves the Father; He also loves us. The Father loves the Son; He also loves us. And we love Jesus, and our love for Jesus also allows us to truly love the Father, whom we could not know without knowing and loving Jesus. 

The third reference to “those who love me” (v.23) follows Judas’ (not Iscariot) question about how the Father and the Son is able to distinguish between the “loving community” and the world. Jesus, reaffirming the Father’s love to us, says that it is like being adopted into a new family. The Father certainly “knows those who are His.” And this family will be united, now, in the present, through the Spirit, but also in a much higher, deeper way, when Jesus comes to bring us to the place prepared for us (cf. 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there may be also.”). Our verse says, “we will come to them (those who love Jesus) and will make our home with them.” 

At home with the Jesus whom we love. At home with the Father, in His presence forevermore. Let’s affirm and practice our love for Jesus.

My Jesus I love Thee, I know Thou art mine

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign

My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou

If ever I loved Thee my Jesus 'tis now

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow

If ever I loved Thee my Jesus 'tis now

If you click the link above, it should take you to a rendition of this song

Thinking in 3’s - Deuteronomy 8:2,3,16 - Humbled

The rock and roll of life in this world apart from God is one of “doing well for oneself” or “climbing to the top.” Certainly there are many others who are “just trying to get by.” But much of the pursuit of success and comfort is based on one’s best efforts, which depends on self-esteem, and often results in pride.

The path for the Christian is much different, as illustrated in the experience of the children of Israel in “the great and terrible wilderness.” One would think that their self-esteem would need to have been pumped up in order to face the daily and approaching enemies. But no, God’s design was to humble them, that they might rely upon God, and God alone. He often does the same with us.

In the first of three instances of “humble” in Deuteronomy 8, the long experience of the wilderness is the setting. The text in v. 2 says this: “that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart.” Now, to be sure, God already knows what is in our hearts. This humbling carries with it the benefit allowing us to know our own hearts, to know how dependent upon God that we actually are. We don’t seem to learn that lesson easily. And the learning takes a lifetime (or, in this illustration, a 40-year lesson).

Right away, we come to the second instance of “humble” in v. 3: “He humbled you by letting you hunger.” God actually brought the children of Israel to the point of their need. He did not supply before they were aware of their predicament. He brought them to the edge, even just beyond the edge, to show that He could provide, and perhaps so that He would do so in the midst of their calling out to Him (or, as it turned out often, in the midst of their grumbling and complaining). Part of being humbled is being driven to our knees.

The third instance of “humble” follows after the admonition, “do not exalt yourself,” found in v. 14. Then “humble” follows in v. 16: “to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good.” Throughout this time, we had discovered our neediness; God had proven His faithfulness; we had come to learn the folly of self-sufficiency; God established a clear record of provision and deliverance. And beyond all this, we could now, by faith, in the hope of the promise, look forward to a “good” that we could never have constructed ourselves. “It is the gift of God, lest any man should boast.”

 

Praise God, He is not just like us!

We human beings are rather strange creatures. Sure there are many other non-human creatures that are pretty strange. But we have special kinds of strange-ness.

One strange-ness is this: We have this adversarial relationship with God where we think we can play a game, and win. One side of the game is for us to pretend that we are God; pretending that the world actually revolves around us, and supposing that our words should have the force of divine fiat. We are surprised and often angry when these things do not happen. At times, God might actually put us in our place. He might humble us.

The other side of the game is that we bring God down to our level. We ascribe to Him our kind of anger; our kind of vengeance; even our kind of love. Now to be sure, God possesses an anger and vengeance and, of course, love. But none of these are patterned after how these things tend to function in our human world. We have to share these words at both our level, and God’s. But we should know that, at each level, they are quite different. And the problem is not new! Psalm 50:21 says, “You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.”

Men lie. All men lie. Psychologists say that we start lying as infants. We lie on purpose, and we lie accidentally. We lie when we don’t know all the facts, and we never know all the facts. But God does. I’ve underlined Titus 1:2 in my Bible: “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, ..”

God’s purposes do not change, and thus He does not change His mind (repent). In His interactions with humans, He works with us, or through us, certainly for us, sometimes against us - and so God can certainly change directions, but not His purposes. But, we do. Few people there are who are single-minded, perhaps even more so in this frenetic age. But God is constant; never late; never in a hurry, always on course.

Someone says, “Will you pray for me?’ And you say, “Sure, count on it.” But sometimes, maybe only once in a great while, you forget. God keeps all His words, even the ones we don’t know about.

So let’s not play games with God. But let’s instead, worship the One who is, thankfully, not just like us.

Thinking in 3’s - Numbers 16:9 - The Privileges of Pastoring

It is a privilege to be involved in pastoral ministry. It is different from many other professions, in that it’s not just a job; not really a profession; it’s more of a calling. It is a step away from how most people live their lives.

In the Book of Numbers, in the account of Korah’s rebellion, Moses recounts some of the benefits of Levitical ministry. In the Old Testament, to be a Levite, you had to be from the tribe of Levi (I’m guessing you had already figured that out). The Israelite priesthood was from the tribe of Levi, but not all Levites were priests. Priests were specifically descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses. There are many who are descendants of Levi who are not descendants of Aaron.

Levites, the whole tribe, was separated from Israel. They were dedicated to the care of the tabernacle. They did not receive a land inheritance. 

In the New Testament, all believers are priests. Pastors are not more priestly than any other believer. I think a more likely parallel would be the more general Levite, separate in some ways from the rest of the people. It is not a direct parallel, but similar in some respects.

Korah, who was rebelling against Moses’ (Aaron’s) authority, is a Levite, not a priest. He rallies the people against Moses, and Moses says this to them:

“Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi, is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;” (Numbers 16:8–9 NAS95)

1. “To bring you near to Himself.” We are brought near to God in Christ, and that would apply to every single believer, pastor or not. We cannot get closer to God than that. The way I would phrase this is that pastors are called to be heavily involved in “the things of God,” including in prayer, in God’s Word, and with God’s people. Our time is to be devoted to those things, while the time of many other believers involves responsibilities that carry you many other directions. It is a privilege to be devoted to “the things of God.”

2. “To do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord.” The Old Testament tabernacle was wood and cloth - material objects. And certainly many pastors spend some time caring for aspects of the church building (lots and lots of folding chairs). But more importantly is caring for the spiritual concerns of people, and interacting with church family who are involved in various areas of church ministry, whether inside the church, or outside.

3. “To stand before the congregation to minister to them.” This is a privilege. Others from the congregation “stand before” the congregation, but I am thinking here of the preaching of the Word, ordinarily done by the pastor. It is a great responsibility, and a high privilege, to seek to dip deeply in God’s Word each week, and then to share and challenge from that Word of God.

The final point is that the pastor is to never usurp the authority, or the honor, that belongs to the High Priest, Jesus Christ. Our job is to take care of details so that the functioning of Jesus Christ among His people is unhindered. And that would be true of all of us, pastor or not.