Psalm 31; Haggai 1:1-15; Rev. 2:18-29; Matt. 23:27-39
When the people returned from their Babylonian captivity their first order of business was re-establishing themselves and their own houses. David was told to do exactly that, the Lord prohibited him from building the temple, it wasn’t a problem for David to build his own house. Here, however, the people are told that their failure to thrive in their return was due to their neglect of the rebuilding of the temple. There was a causal relationship between that neglect and their own difficulties. That isn’t always the case, but we should always be in prayer, asking the Lord if there is something He is calling us to for the kingdom. The people listened to Haggai and obeyed the voice of the Lord and received the blessing of His presence.
Jesus continues to pronounce woes on the leaders in the style of a prophet. His main accusation here is that these leaders are exactly like the leaders who ignored the prophets or who put them to death, presaging His own death in these comparisons to Abel and Zechariah who were put to death for righteousness’ sake. Those who believe themselves to be righteous while they inwardly despise true righteousness are the most dangerous people. Paul likewise is forced to contend with such problem children in his work of bringing in the Gentile harvest. Legalism is the enemy of the freedom of relationship. Jesus set us free in love to follow Him and to know and do true righteousness, not simply obey the rules. The leaders were more interested in outward observance than in dealing with the resentment and pride that drove their performance. They hated Jesus for His freedom and for His spiritual understanding and observance. They could not argue with Him or refute His arguments and when they tried it only exposed them as charlatans and that they, in fact, knew nothing of Yahweh at all.
Why is sexual immorality always a problem in society and the church? Biblical sexual ethics seem incredibly clear don’t they, so why the constant tension? We don’t know what it means to truly love and so we are promiscuous and fickle in our affections and sooner or later that will play itself out in sexual immorality. We find it difficult to persevere and be loyal and faithful in our lives. We make relatively little effort to truly control our desires by submitting them to the power of the Holy Spirit. Modern psychology teaches us that we do ourselves damage by suppressing our desires and yet that isn’t the technique by which Christians are intended to deal with such desires. We are not to suppress anything, simply confess to the Lord that they are sinful and ask Him to deal with them. It requires diligence and intolerance for sin to defeat it and the battle is never won completely. The important thing with desire is to realize that our desires must be re-ordered, sin has deep roots and it requires nothing less than a work of the Holy Spirit to transform us to a God-orientation rather than selfish orientation.
I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.
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