He will purify the sons of Levi and then the offering of
Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as
in former years. The work of
purification begins with the priests and Levites and if the spiritual and
religious leaders are purified then they will teach truth and will uphold the
glory and holiness of the Lord whom they serve.
When they do, true religion, in its best connotation, will flourish
among the people. The leaders' job is to
make the Lord known among the people.
When the leaders don't know Him, no one will. The Lord will not come in judgment until the
work of purification and restoration is done.
Those judged will then have no excuse, they cannot shift blame, for they
will have known and rejected the truth.
He makes the promise that if the full tithe is brought then He will pour
out blessings. Too often that is taught
as a principle in the church, that if you tithe you will receive more and it
isn't always true. Many times in both
the Old Testament and the Gospels we see that tithing as religion without heart
transformation and without being willing to give it all up is not pleasing to
God. If you're tithing in order to
receive more you've missed the point.
There is a simple promise here. If you want justice pray for it. The parable is comparable to pretty much
every teaching Jesus gives on the power of prevailing prayer. Prayer is based in the character of God and
so to pray aright requires us to know Him aright. In other places Jesus compares God to a
parent who knows how to give good gifts to his children and here it is to a
judge who is not a good man in any way so far as Judaism is concerned, but even
this judge will do the right thing to stop the woman nagging him. God wants His people to ask for justice to be
done and to trust Him that it will be done.
To expect justice is also to know what is just. It often means we have to accept the reality
that we are sinners and that we live in a world broken by sin, our sin, others'
sin. The only appeal for true justice
has to be made to the only one who is truly just. He alone knows what justice is.
Be patient in suffering.
Not only do I not want to hear that, I don't even want you to say
it. Saying it brings suffering into
being. Oh, wait, I am not a word-faith
believer. That means I have to deal with
the fact that suffering is promised by Jesus to those who follow Him and seek
after righteousness. I also have to deal
with the fact that Paul and most of the apostles suffered for their
proclamation of Jesus. I thought there
was a correlation between believing, tithing and blessing. There is, but the blessing may not be
material. Jesus enjoyed the blessing of
obedience which is to be seated at the right hand of God but He also died on a
cross after being rejected by those He came to save, beaten, mocked and pierced
in His side. Paul spent years in prison
and died there but He was given the gift of eternal life and in this world
received the blessing of seeing many come to know Jesus. The blessings we count and look for tell us
some uncomfortable things about ourselves.
Our ability to be patient in suffering tells us much the same thing.
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