Rebuild by The Barking Fox

It would be helpful if God gave us a single standard for determining right from wrong. Then again, he did that in the beginning and it didn't turn out very well. 
Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17; Isaiah 54:11-55:5; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:32-36; 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Subjective Wickedness
 
How many genuinely wicked people do we know? Maybe more than we think, depending on how we define wicked.
These days wicked could mean anything from morally reprehensible to mildly out of bounds. It might even mean something desirable, but in a morally questionable way. Consider, for example, a sexually explicit dance. Some who call it wicked think it is bad because it is vulgar. Others might call it wicked as praise for a masterful performance. It’s unclear, however, whether they appreciate the dance for its artistry, or are simply aroused by its erotic nature.
This is only a problem for people with a moral compass. That, too, however, can be subjective, depending on a person’s standard of morality. The appropriate height of a skirt or a neckline, for instance, can vary by culture, or even by one’s stage of life. Young people might prefer more “sexy” attire, but that preference changes years later when they are concerned for their own daughters and sons.
It would help if we had a single standard to guide us in our daily choices. Then again, we do. Our Creator proclaimed his standards in the books of Moses, which we call the Torah, or the Law of God. As he was presenting these standards to Israel, Moses declared,
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 ESV
The plain sense of this is that good things follow when we adhere to God’s standards of behavior, and bad consequences happen when we don’t. However, there’s much more to it than that. The Torah does include lists of correct and incorrect actions, but it’s not designed to be a checklist learned by rote and followed to the letter. The Torah is actually an instruction manual intended to promote critical thinking that enables God’s people to weigh each situation according to his principles. Often that means making difficult decisions that could be the choice between the lesser of two evils. Only a morally mature person with a healthy connection to our Creator can negotiate those difficult choices in ways that might involve hard things, such as executing a hardened criminal, or navigating a divorce. We can’t avoid those hard decisions, which is why we must have a connection to our Creator to ensure even the most difficult choices still point toward life rather than death.
The tendency, though, is to disregard God’s standard, or to make exceptions and qualifications. That can happen either through our own ignorance of God’s principles, or our unwillingness to apply them. Even God’s covenant nation of Israel was susceptible to this tendency. That’s why Moses went on to say,
You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 12:8-9 ESV
When everyone does what is right in his or her own eyes, the community drifts over time into ever greater degrees of lawlessness. The definition of wickedness becomes subjective. One person may say, “I’m not wicked because I don’t steal,” while another says, “I’m not wicked because I only steal to feed my family,” or “I only steal from those who can afford it and won’t miss it.” This kind of reasoning can justify even the most reprehensible acts, especially when those acts are committed against someone else’s family, race, class, or crime syndicate.
Eventually, this tendency will bring humanity to a point of global lawlessness, as Paul explains:
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV
Paul is describing the fruits of wickedness. Notice that the wicked people he describes still consider themselves good, moral, and godly. The problem is that their frame of reference has changed. Instead of learning and living by God’s standards, they take what seems right, but is actually the way of death.
Messiah Yeshua explained this situation as a time when lawlessness increases and the love of many grows cold. In contrast, God’s true witnesses will be known by their genuine love. As Yeshua says:
If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:32-36 ESV
That kind of love is unconditional, but it’s not uninformed. It comes from a lifetime commitment to connect with our God, learn the ways of his Kingdom, and navigate the hard decisions with his standards as our guide. When we do that, we not only receive God’s blessing, but we become his blessing to a dark and heartless world.
 
Cover photo by Tim Mossholder, San Luis Obispo, California, January 22, 2020, on Unsplash.
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.

It is good to live expectantly in the hope of resurrection. It's even better to get ready for life beyond the resurrection by learning to live God's ways now. 
Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25; Isaiah 49:14-51:3; Matthew 4:1-11; Galatians 2:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14; Titus 2:11-14
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Beyond Redemption
 
A pastor friend of mine recently got me thinking about our future in eternity. He was speaking from Paul’s letter to Titus:
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11-14 ESV
The “blessed hope” is the focal point. Paul is writing about the resurrection every saint from Abraham to now has expectantly awaited. That’s the same hope he addresses in his first letter to the Thessalonians:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 ESV
Our hope is that this life is not the end for us. It’s the hope that there is something more, and that those who have passed on before us are already experiencing it.
If God is reliable, then this is not just a hope, but a certainty. So how do we know God is reliable? We could point to historical, archaeological, and theological proofs, but the greatest evidence is in the testimonies of God’s providence in our lives and the lives of those we have known. Those testimonies flow from our identity with our Creator, which Paul explains this way:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 ESV
This is the model God intended all along. He made us humans in his image, as living expressions of himself in his creation. He didn’t make us to be his pets or playthings, nor some kind of museum exhibit to be admired for all eternity. He made us to work, to rule and bring order, and to carry his presence wherever he directs us.
This whole six-thousand-year story of human history is the process by which God is making us ready for this divine purpose. One day we’ll know more perfectly why our first ancestors fell to Satan’s temptation and bartered away the dominion God gave them, but for now it’s enough to know that God started fixing that problem immediately. His redemption process required a vessel of revelation through which he could educate humanity about his ways, and through whom eventually he would rule the world. That’s why God called Abraham and Sarah to receive his covenant of redemption and plant the seed of his covenant nation of Israel. In time, that covenant nation produced the Jewish people, to whom God committed his oracles, and through whom he brought the Christ, or Messiah, who would gather all nations and restore the world to what it was created to be.
It has been said that Messiah Yeshua established something new in the church, and that the old ways of Israel are no longer relevant to Christians. Now God is correcting that misconception. Yeshua came to declare God’s established Kingdom order, to give it the redemptive power of his blood, and to open it to everyone who would accept his invitation and join the remnant of Israel in the commonwealth that is expanding to include all nations.
The continuity of this divine process is the testimony of scripture. One example of that is in Matthew’s account of Messiah’s temptation, which begins with this:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:1-4 ESV
Yeshua’s answer was not a random Bible verse, but a specific reference to Moses’ explanation of Israel’s suffering in the wilderness. Moses said:
And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 ESV
As we study this in context, we realize that those forty years in the wilderness were a training program in which God perfected his chosen people of Israel to be the vessels of his established order in the earth. In the same way, Yeshua’s forty days in the wilderness were the testing period to ensure he was ready to empower that order and carry it to the next stage. Thus, we could interpret his answer to the devil not merely as a comment on nutrition, but a declaration saying, “God’s government has come and is pushing out your corrupt order.”
We are now about 4,000 years since God called Abraham into this covenant order. Could it be that there is no coincidence in that number? If the Creator tested his Messiah for 40 days, and his covenant nation for 40 years, could he have been testing all of humanity these 40 centuries? Only time will tell. What is certain is that our story will continue. That’s the hope of resurrection: that we will transcend this present limited reality and become what our Creator envisioned.
 
Cover image: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado, USA, February 24, 2024. Photo by Tim Arterbury on Unsplash.
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.

What do we do when God is unfair? Maybe the first question to ask is whether the Creator of everything can be unfair. If the answer is yes, then we need to know why. If the answer is no, then our perspective needs adjustment. 
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11; Isaiah 40:1-26; 2 Samuel 9:1-8; 16:1-4, 19:24-30; Job13:15; Luke 22:39-46; 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Identificational Grace
 
The story of the rebellion by King David’s son, Absalom, says a lot about our God and his relationship to his people. It also says a lot about Messiah’s first and second coming. When much of Israel followed Absalom in the revolt, David chose to go into exile rather than fight at Jerusalem.
On the way into exile, David met Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who had come with provisions for the king’s entourage. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, son of King Saul. Because of their covenantal relationship, Jonathan had advocated for David when Saul declared him an enemy of the state and mobilized all of Israel to try and kill him. When God elevated David to the throne, he repaid Jonathan’s kindness by bringing Mephibosheth out of exile, giving him a place at the king’s table in Jerusalem, and restoring to him the lands of his grandfather.
This remarkable kindness David gave to the descendant of one who tried to kill him was also an act of mercy for a disabled man who had no hope of livelihood. Mephibosheth had been crippled as a child, and as the only surviving heir to the former king, he had to rely on the charity of others. That’s what moved him receive David’s gracious mercy with the exclamation, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” (2 Samuel 9:8)
Imagine David’s distress when, at his lowest moment, Ziba met him with the story that Mephibosheth refused to go into exile with the king and instead was plotting how to profit from Absalom’s rebellion. The devastating news moved David to remove his grace from Mephibosheth and give all his lands to Ziba.
The story took another twist upon David’s return:
And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came back in safety. And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?” He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me, for your servant said to him, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame. He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you. For all my father's house were but men doomed to death before my lord the king, but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to cry to the king?” And the king said to him, “Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.” And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Oh, let him take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home.”
2 Samuel 19:24-30 ESV
Why didn’t David commission an inquiry into the matter to determine the best way to achieve justice? At least one of the men was lying, so it would be right to find out the truth. However, as the absolute monarch, David had already issued an irrevocable decree when he stripped Mephibosheth of his possessions on the accusation by Ziba. He couldn’t reverse that decree, particularly since Ziba had supported the king during the rebellion, and before that had served Ziba faithfully for many years. That’s why he did the best he could by dividing the land between the two of them.
How Ziba received this decree is not recorded. Perhaps he was satisfied with receiving title to his own estate. What is more important is Mephibosheth’s response. He spoke as one who knew his very identity was bound to the King. At the King’s word, he would live or die, prosper or perish. If the King was merciful once, he would be merciful again, even if Mephibosheth had to start over with nothing. Or, if the King chose otherwise, he had no defense, because he owed his very life to the King.
We’ve seen this elsewhere in the Bible. It’s not a fatalistic acceptance of the decree by a capricious deity, but the complete surrender of one who knows he would not exist if his sovereign willed otherwise. That’s what moved Job to declare,
Though he slay me, I will hope in him;
yet I will argue my ways to his face.
Job 13:15 ESV
It’s what moved Paul to declare that God’s grace was sufficient even when the Almighty chose not to relieve him of the mysterious “thorn in the flesh.” It’s also what moved Messiah Yeshua to accept and obey the Father’s will even though he prayed fervently that he might be spared the ordeal of the cross.
They learned this attitude from Moses. He also pleaded with God after receiving what seemed a harsh and unjust judgment:
And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, “O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.” But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, “Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.”
Deuteronomy 3:23-26 ESV
This tells us much about why the righteous suffer. It’s not that they have suddenly become wicked, but because they are already clinging tightly to their Redeemer. The wicked and those with a casual religion might not even know how to cling to him, or why they should. Thus, when suffering inevitably comes, it often falls on those who are able to bear it because their identity is in the one who will bring them through it.
 
Cover image: Mephibosheth and Ziba. Image generated by Grok, created by xAI.
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.

What happens when people are cut off from their history? That would be like wiping the memory of a computer network, only worse. That must be why God's book devotes so much space to telling the story of his people.  
Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22; Isaiah 1:1-27; Job 12:23; Acts 7:1-60, 17:26-28; 1 Corinthians 15:32
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Connecting with Our Collective Story
 
Here’s something from Moses that I have always appreciated because of the unusual names he mentions:
And the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.” (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.)
Deuteronomy 2:9-12 ESV
Moses goes on to say:
Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession. (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.)
Deuteronomy 2:18-23 ESV
Once we get past the odd names, we realize that Moses has summarized the history of the Middle East up to the point when the people of Israel are about to take possession of Canaan. Most of his opening remarks in Deuteronomy tell the history of Israel, starting with God’s Covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He reminds the second generation of Hebrews who came out of Egypt what their parents should have told them: that they are the people of God, chosen to carry his Covenant of redemption to the whole world, starting with the base of operations God will establish through them in the Promised Land of Israel.
The transmission of collective memory is more important than we may think. Without it, our tendency is to default to a visionless—and hopeless—outlook of “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” If there is no point in our existence, and no hope of anything better for the future, we might as well make the best of things right now. Or, as some might say, “He who dies with the most toys wins.”
That’s a sad commentary on what throughout history has been the default setting of God’s highest creation on earth. Even the Covenant people of Israel tended to think about themselves that way, which is why Moses, the Prophets, and the Apostles frequently reminded them about their identity, heritage, and future. That’s exactly what Stephen was doing when he made his defense before the Sanhedrin. Judea’s leaders in his day hadn’t forgotten their special place in God’s plans, but they needed help connecting the great events of Israel’s past with the greater events happening right in front of their eyes.
We still need such reminders. All nations do. Eventually we’ll all come under the global Commonwealth of Israel when Messiah reigns from Zion, but until then the most consistent record we have of God’s involvement in human affairs is our history. It’s clearest in the history of Israel and the Jewish people down to our time. When we study that history, and when we teach it to our children and churches and communities, we are telling them that there really is a God who made us and who is redeeming us just as he promised.
That, by the way, is why Moses mentioned the history of the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and even those peculiar Zamzummim. God had plans for each of those nations, just as he has plans for all nations. Job tells us that:
He makes nations great, and he destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
Job 12:23 ESV
Paul expanded on that thought in his dialogue with the men of Athens:
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for
“In him we live and move and have our being”;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“For we are indeed his offspring.”
Acts 17:26-28 ESV
Our responsibility is to teach our children our own national stories, both good and bad. Spanish children must learn about the Inquisition and expulsion of the Jews, but they also must learn of the heroic struggle of 800 years that freed their nation from Muslim occupation. American children have to understand the stain of institutionalized slavery, but they must also understand the godly principles built into our national fabric that compelled us to correct that and other injustices. Children in Ghana can’t ignore the struggles of post-colonial independence, but they gain dignity and hope in learning about the powerful kingdoms like the Asante Empire that preceded the colonial era.
Every nation and people have stories like this, and every child must learn those stories. It’s how we connect with our fathers and mothers extending back to the beginning, and how we connect with the Author and Finisher of our collective story.
 
Cover image generated by Grok, created by xAI.
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.

Paul made a lot of quotes and references to Moses and the Prophets. Maybe we should study Moses and the Prophets if we want to understand what he really meant. 
Numbers 30:2-36:13; Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:4, 30:10-11, 31:31-34; Romans 8:26-30, 11:25-32; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 8:8-12
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Guaranteed Inheritance
 
It would have been helpful in my high school years if I had known that Paul was a Jewish scholar who based his writings on Messiah Yeshua’s living example of what Moses and the Prophets taught. We didn’t learn that in my Presbyterian school, nor in my Southern Baptist church. Instead, we learned soundbites from Paul, such as the verse that says all things work together for good for God’s people.
There’s nothing confusing about that unless we want to find out why things work together for good. That’s when we read the context of the verse, and we find this:
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:26-30 ESV
So does God give us free choice, or has he predetermined everything from the beginning? Whatever the answer is, Jesus must be at the center of it, because Paul says so here:
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV
We know about the promises of new life in Christ, eternal salvation, and peace that passes understanding, so having Messiah’s death and resurrection as the guarantee of these things is comforting. It’s when we try to make sense of Paul’s references to Israel’s prophets that we get confused. After all, Christ made all things new, starting with a brand new covenant. So why do Paul and the other New Testament writers spend so much time quoting Moses and the Prophets and telling us about Israel?
It’s because the New Covenant is all about Israel. The New Covenant is spelled out in Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8. In Jeremiah 30, which sets up the New Covenant passage, we find this:
Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord,
nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
For I am with you to save you,
declares the Lord;
I will make a full end of all the nations
among whom I scattered you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
I will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
Jeremiah 30:10-11 ESV
This is why Israel is so important – not just to native-born Jewish people, but all people everywhere. God intends to have his Covenant world order, which is Messiah’s Kingdom. He decided long ago that he would establish that Kingdom by and through Israel. All other tribes and peoples and nations and tongues eventually come under it, which is why Israel will be the only nation still standing in the end. That’s why Israel’s Messiah opened the way for us all to be adopted into the family of Abraham, along with the native-born.
Another way to look at this is through inheritance. Israel’s tribes were to receive their inheritance after liberating God’s covenant land, which was called Canaan at the time. Before the tribes entered Canaan, Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh asked to receive land on the east side of the Jordan River, which was ideal for their flocks and herds. I surmise that God allowed that since that territory also had been promised to Abraham. However, there was a condition:
So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”
Numbers 32:28-30 ESV
That was a reasonable condition, and the tribes carried out their promise. But notice that, even if they hadn’t, they still would have inherited land. God had predetermined that Canaan, the core of his holy territory, would be settled by Israel. The only question was who would settle where. The people would make that choice. Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh chose to inherit on the east side of Jordan and help their kin secure their inheritance on the other side. Yet even if they hadn’t helped their brothers, everyone would still have inherited something. Whether that included every individual is another matter, because individuals could remove themselves from the equation by refusing to participate. The nation, however, and the foreigners who joined them, did receive an inheritance, just as they and we will receive an inheritance when Messiah’s Kingdom is established in Zion.
The question for us is the same as the question for the tribes long ago: do we want to help our brethren gain their inheritance, or will we sit at home while God comes through for them? All Israel will be saved in the end, but it’s better if we work together.
 
Cover image generated by Grok, created by xAI.
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.

If certain people were forerunners of Messiah, could certain nations be forerunners of Messiah's Kingdom? What might that look like if it were possible?
Numbers 25:10-29:40; Jeremiah 1:1-2:3; Leviticus 25:8-12; Isaiah 54:9-10; Ezekiel 37:24-28; John 14:20-29; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Philippians 4:4-7
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: A Shadow of the Kingdom
 
When the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, it probably never occurred to them that the date on the Hebrew calendar was Tammuz 17 in the year 5536. It probably also never occurred to them that the bell in the Pennsylvania State House where they were assembled bore an inscription from Leviticus 25, the full reference of which is:
And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.
Leviticus 25:10 ESV
That inscription was chosen by Isaac Norris, Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, in 1751 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Pennsylvania. As a Quaker who knew the Bible, Norris understood the spiritual significance of his choice of inscription for what we now know as the Liberty Bell. So also were the Signers of the Declaration aware that their actions were based in the authority of the Creator and humanity’s relationship to him. That’s why the Declaration began with an affirmation that all men are created equal, and that their rights come from the Creator, not from human government. That’s also why they appealed to the Creator in the closing words of the Declaration:
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States. . . .
Reflecting on the Declaration, Samuel Adams of Massachusetts said,
We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.[1]
This is the context in which the United States of America came into existence as a nation dedicated to proclaiming liberty. The Founders realized that the liberty they proclaimed was imperfect. Within the borders of the new nation were many thousands of enslaved persons, as well as indigenous nations whose sovereignty in their own territory was in question. The America of 1776 also reflected the global civilization in which women generally had less status and freedom than men. Nevertheless, the Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence, and those who adopted the Constitution as the supreme law of the land after the Revolution, understood something many Americans in our day have forgotten: that our system is self-correcting.
What makes our system self-correcting is its establishment on the biblical truth that God created every human being with intrinsic value. As his images, or representatives, in the earth, we humans have the capacity to think for ourselves, to make judgments, and to act on our conclusions.
With such great freedom comes great responsibility. We submit to the Sovereign Creator, but we have license to dialogue with him and even argue our ways before him. Who knows but that he might take our views under consideration and alter his decrees, as he did in the matter of Zelophehad’s daughters? The Torah as originally given specified only males could inherit. That established an injustice for families like Zelophehad’s, in which the only offspring were daughters. God found their complaint justified, and adjusted his commandments to allow for female inheritance.
Arguing a case before the court of heaven, however, is not the same as defying that same court. Zimri of the tribe of Simeon did just that when he led the way in an idolatrous sexual revolution with the women of Midian and Moab. That same kind of revolution brought disaster on Israel on the 17th day of Tammuz, when Moses discovered the Golden Calf and broke the tablets of the Torah God had just given him. God pronounced judgment on those who had joined the rebellion, and the tribe of Levi responded to carry out his sentence. In the same way, God pronounced judgement on Zimri and his followers, and Phinehas the Levitical priest carried out the sentence by executing Zimri and the Midianite woman with him. In both cases, the righteous response to the evil that could have destroyed Israel resulted in a greater good. The Levites became the priestly tribe responsible for the holy things of God, and Phinehas the priest became the first recipient of God’s Covenant of Peace.
God promised to establish the Covenant of Peace with the entire Commonwealth of Israel. That Covenant, empowered by the Spirit of God, operates in the Torah principles that are the framework of our Judeo-Christian civilization. It is the Covenant Messiah Yeshua bestowed on his disciples, saying,
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14:27 ESV
This kind of peace is far more than the absence of conflict. It’s the shalom of God – the wholeness that comes through identity in him, both for individuals and for nations. That kind of peace endures even in times of war and violence, and even when the need arises for people of peace to take righteous action against those who would rob the world of peace. It’s the kind of peace that Paul meant when he wrote, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7).
This is why our Republic is worth defending. It is not perfect, but it is a representation of the Kingdom of God, just as certain individuals in the Bible are representations of Messiah. We still await the full manifestation of Messiah’s Kingdom. In the meantime, we work through human institutions to uphold God’s peace and shine its light into the realm of darkness.
 
[1] Excerpt from a speech attributed to Samuel Adams, August 1, 1776, quoted in Rev. Charles E. Kistler, This Nation Under God: A Religious Supplement to American History (Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1924), 71, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uva.x001180994.
 
Cover photo: Liberty Bell inscription (National Park Service photo).
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.

Messiah Yeshua gave us power to trample over scorpions and serpents. Does that mean the ones slithering on the ground, or the ones crawling through our hearts?
Numbers 19:1-25:9; Micah 5:7-6:8; Genesis 3:1-24; Psalm 140:1-3; Matthew 23:33-36; Luke 10:19-20; John 3:13-15; Acts 28:1-6; Romans 3:9-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-9
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Watch for Snakes
 
When Messiah Yeshua said he had given his disciples authority over serpents and scorpions, did he mean that literally? If so, then maybe there is some truth to the legend of Saint Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland. 
It’s true that the Apostle Paul suffered no harm when a Maltese viper bit him, but that actual event doesn’t give us the full picture of what Yeshua meant. The literal is important, but it’s only the start of our understanding. Actual events and characteristics are the basis for symbolic and abstract meanings that in time develop transcendent meanings of their own. Thus, the legend of St. Patrick and the snakes of Ireland isn’t really about reptiles, but about the man of God’s impact on the pre-Christian pagan culture of Ireland. That becomes clear when we look into the biblical symbology of snakes, or serpents.
Let’s first look at Yeshua’s statement about giving his disciples authority over serpents. It’s in Luke’s Gospel:
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Luke 10:19-20 ESV
This isn’t a statement about some mystical power, but about the identity of Yeshua’s followers. They are no longer identified with the world, but with the King of the world. That means they are no longer susceptible to the world’s woes – as in, they can’t be conquered by the world anymore, even though we all know that in this life we still suffer trials and troubles. As for the serpents, it helps to remember that Yeshua and his cousin John the Baptist both referred to the spiritual leaders of Israel in their day as serpents and a brood of vipers. So maybe Yeshua wasn’t actually conferring power over rattlesnakes, but over religious systems that have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power.
The transcendent status of identity with the King is something that only the Creator can bestow. Only the Creator is above all things. That’s why the Messiah must somehow fuse the divine nature of the Creator with the mortal nature of humanity. How that happens is a topic for another time. For now, it’s enough to understand that this is what Yeshua’s followers proclaimed of him, and what he said of himself. He even said this in the context of his connection with a serpent:
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
John 3:13-15 ESV
This is a reference to something that happened to Israel as they wandered in the wilderness:
From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Numbers 21:4-9 ESV
Anyone who has spent time in a desert knows that serpents are part of the landscape. Thus, the first thing we should understand about this account is that the fiery serpents weren’t an innovation God created specifically for the occasion of smiting the complainers among the Hebrews. They were there all along, but for some reason they weren’t a problem until that moment. What changed?
This is where we look at the meaning of symbols. The first serpent mentioned in the Bible is the one Satan chose as his instrument of deception in the Garden of Eden. That serpent spoke enticing lies to Eve and her husband, weaving in bits of truth to disguise the venom in his message. That was enough to persuade our first ancestors to depart from the Creator’s way, and as a result be ejected from his presence.
That is why serpents and the venom of serpents are associated with lying lips, violent hearts, and wicked motives. The unwary, gullible, and self-indulgent person is easy prey for such reptilian tactics. Actually, no one is immune, and everyone falls prey to serpents from time to time. The cure is to cling to God – not by holding up a bronze snake as a talisman or charm against sickness, but by proclaiming allegiance to the Creator of the Universe, learning his ways, and obeying his commands. That’s the lesson Paul teaches from Israel’s woes in the wilderness:
We must not put [Messiah] to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
1 Corinthians 10:9-10 ESV
This is the dilemma: we either rise above the serpents in the power of Messiah, or we fall prey to them. Worse yet, we might even become the serpents and end up biting our brethren.
 
Cover image generated by Grok, created by xAI..
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.

Somewhere between self-esteem and self-abasement is the place where we learn who our Creator made us to be.
Numbers 16:1-18:32; 1 Samuel 11:14-12:22; Ezekiel 36:24-28; Luke 17:7-10; Romans 13:8-10
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: The Credit We Should Care About
 
Why should we love our neighbors? Paul puts that commandment in context in his letter to the Romans:
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Romans 13:8-10 ESV
If we don’t understand love, we are in danger of missing the godly power contained in this commandment. Consider, for example, this 20th century American proverb:
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”
This bit of folk wisdom is often attributed to President Harry Truman. President Ronald Reagan had his own version of the proverb inscribed on a plaque that rested on his desk in the Oval Office. Neither of them originated the quote, but both had a hand in popularizing it. It’s a solid observation on human nature, but in typical American fashion, it reduces the matter to the question of productivity.
If all we want are results, then we’re going to miss what God is doing in our lives and the lives of others. We’re also in danger of missing the larger perspective of God’s plan of redemption and our part in it. This is why we can’t get away from that divine concept of love.
It’s not a design flaw that people want to get credit for what they have done. Praise and recognition motivate us to do better, and that is as God intended. As in all things, however, self-love can be toxic if we indulge in it. That’s why we must learn to love our Creator, the Author of love.
It’s really a matter of who is at the center of our esteem. That place is reserved for our Creator, not for ourselves or for anyone else. That’s the point of this lesson from Messiah Yeshua:
Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and recline at table”? Will he not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink”? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”
Luke 17:7-10 ESV
If our Creator isn’t in the picture, then we’re simply doing the work for the work’s sake. Taking pride in our accomplishments, whether we get the credit or not, is commendable, but it’s not enduring unless it’s done in honor of the Creator. We live and breathe for his sake, not our own. We hope that he will give us credit, and we rely on his promises of eternal reward in a better place, but he is worthy to be served regardless of what we get out of the bargain.
This is the kind of attitude that helps us endure tremendous adversity. We’d like to walk immediately into that land flowing with milk and honey, but would we know what to do with such a paradise? In our present fallen state, we might think it was made solely for our comfort. Before long, we would squander its resources and begin fighting one another over what’s left.
That’s exactly what happened to God’s Covenant people of Israel in the wilderness. Things didn’t turn out the way they expected, and instead of rising to the occasion, they chose time after time to grumble, complain, and rebel. Men like Korah took issue with Moses and Aaron, asserting that they could do a better job at leading the people. They cared very much about who got the credit for whatever good things happened, and who got the blame for the bad things. Of course, they had their own ideas of what was good and bad – meaning that things would be bad if anyone other than themselves were in charge.
That’s the problem of having anything or anyone other than our Creator as the focus of our lives. He is taking us somewhere and he wants to make sure we succeed when we get there. That’s a big reason why troubles and trials happen. It happened to our Hebrew ancestors in the wilderness, and it’s happening to us right now. In fact, we’re going through the process God explained to Ezekiel long ago:
I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 36:24-28 ESV
This process has been happening to both halves of God’s Covenant people of Israel for quite some time. It’s how God is redeeming his holy Name, even after we have brought shame to him. Which means that he alone gets the credit for all that’s being accomplished, and that’s what we should really care about.
 
Cover photo by Photo by Vitaly Gariev, September 22, 2025, on Unsplash.
Music: "Song of Glory,” The Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, 2016.