The word is a prophecy the Lord gave to Isaiah about
Sennacherib. The essential message is,
"Who do you think you are to mock my people?" The tone is similar to Psalm 2, it sets the
Lord on the throne above all things, just as Hezekiah did in his prayer. It is important that we understand that very
thing when we pray. Not only is He our
"Abba", He is also the King of all kings, Lord of all lords, He is
exalted above the heavens, the Lord of heaven and earth, not our cosmic
buddy. There is no cosmos without Him,
there is nothing at all without Him. Sennacherib
and his messengers have boasted about the strength of Assyria but compared with
the Lord this king is nothing at all. His
boast sounds incredibly hollow from the vantage point of the Lord's heavenly
throne. The angel of the Lord struck
down 185,000 of the king's soldiers that night and the king tucked his tail and
went back home where he lived and worshipped until his sons killed him. The angel of the Lord is not to be trifled
with, just ask the Egyptians among whom he slew the first born at the
Exodus.
The crowds were impressed and drawn by the healing of the leper
and the slave of the centurion and now men like scribes and other disciples
come and seek to attach themselves to Jesus and His disciples but Jesus
dissuades them by telling them to count the cost. If you want to follow Me, He says, you need
to understand that I am on the move, I don't have a home of My own, it isn't
some get rich quick scheme, whatever the prosperity preachers may tell
you. In addition, the call is
irrevocable and immediate, you must answer it now and you must leave everything
behind, even your family. The parables
of the kingdom make that same point, you must understand the infinite worth of the
kingdom of God and prove it by seeking it exclusively, willing to let
everything else go to have it. The disciples
privately get an even greater sign about Jesus than the healings when He
commands the wind and waves and they obey.
That will certainly leave you asking their question, "What sort of
a man is this?" Indeed.
When Paul quotes from Exodus 32 about the episode of the golden
calves, and uses the word "play" that is the connection with sexual
immorality. It has long been taught in
Judaism that this playing was sexual in nature like the religions of many of the
surrounding nations. Paul sees the
danger in this and warns the people of Corinth, a place where sexual things
were common in their religion, not to confuse the sexual ethics of other religions
with Christianity. In Acts 15 when the Jerusalem
Council of the apostles determined what was important to teach the Gentiles
this sexual ethic was a primary thing that was required. I have no idea today what sexual ethics are
in mainstream churches in America, where lines are drawn or why they are drawn
where they are. The Bible is clear on
these matters, sex is confined to marriage between a man and a woman. Morals and ethics matter and they are
determined by the Word of God, it is a part of His sovereignty over us that He
defines these things. We either submit
to that sovereignty or we don't, it all comes down to what sort of God is
this. We need a right understanding of
that question, it all begins with fear of the Lord, always has and always will,
that is why in the end every knee will bow.
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