September 19, 2010
Scripture:
Scripture:
Ministry:
I’d just like to connect a couple of verses.
John 12:24
Isaiah 53:11
The one who travailed is, of course, the Lord. He is the one who will see of the fruit (Darby translation) of the travail of His soul. If we are the fruit of the corn that died, then He will see us and be satisfied.
But I also was thinking of what we sang: “Thou shalt to wondering worlds display, that we with Thee are one”. Ephesians 2:6-7. It’s speaking here of the Lord who died and is now satisfied with the fruit of His work, but think of the wondering worlds who will also be looking at that work and it’s fruit in awe. He suffered alone, but we’ll be together forever.
Hymn 109 - O the Love of God is boundless
Prayer
The first animal that I’d like to talk about today is:
The Chameleon.
Leviticus 11:29-30
The Chameleon was a lizard; and was an unclean animal that the Jews weren’t supposed to eat. It has the remarkable ability to change it’s colour to match it’s surroundings.
People can be like chameleons. Non-Christians can act like Christians, even though they aren’t saved. And then there are Christians who act like Christians when they’re with Christians, and act like the world when they’re with worldly people. This isn’t right. We shouldn’t be Chameleon Christians.
The Chamois
Deuteronomy 14:3
The chamois was a clean animal that the Jews could eat. It has a very soft hide. The Jews could eat it because it had a cloven hoof and it chewed the cud. The cloven hoof shows us that we should have a strong footing on God’s Word. Chewing the cud is like meditating on that word; it’s a very important activity.
Cockatrice
Isaiah 11:8
Jeremiah 8:17
A cockatrice seems to be a deadly snake of some sort. The passage in Isaiah referred to the time of the Millennium, when animals’ habits will change. At that time, a cockatrice won’t bite. It was a serpent that tempted Adam and Eve. They fell and were bitten by sin, and now we are all born with an old nature that wants to sin. We shouldn’t obey it, but reckon it dead and obey the Lord Jesus and our new nature.
May we learn the important lessons that these animals teach us.
We looked briefly last week at how the Jews were robbing God. However, we can see these verses in relation to ourselves as well. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1 & 2). If we do so, God will bless us (v. 10), He will keep us from the enemy (v. 11), and we will be a testimony to those around us. Our blessings are primarily spiritual, unlike the physical blessings of the Jews (although God may give us those as well).
The Jews were required to give God a tenth of what they earned; since they were farmers, this was largely vegetables or animals. For us, everything that we have is the Lord’s, and we should use it all for Him.
V. 12 is referring to the Jews in the Millennium. It is amazing to see that all the nations shall call them blessed. That will be very different from Israel’s position today. Israel is so troubled right now; they are oppressed nation with no peace. But in this future day, they will be blessed, fruitful, and honoured. (We have no need to be jealous, however; we will be enjoying our closeness with the Lord in Heaven).
However, Israel still has a lot to go through before they get to that place. It’s because they did not listen to God’s appeal in this book. They had some bright spots in their history, but they continually fell away from the Lord. In v.13, we find that they were arrogant against Him (New American Standard Bible).
V. 14: is it vain to worship the Lord? Is there any profit in it? If we are worshipping Him in spirit and in truth, we will receive a blessing in our souls and for eternity. If we feel it is a drudgery, that is a sign that our old man has not been reckoned dead. It is sometimes hard to reckon our flesh dead, but if we truly understood the blessings of obedience, then maybe it would be easier. It’s been said that we should “live today in the light of eternity.” It’s a poor exchange to sacrifice our future blessing for present gratification. The Lord has said “Them that honour me, I will honour.” The Jews here didn’t see the blessing that would come if they obeyed the Lord; may we not be the same.
Here in Malachi, the Lord is giving the Jews one last appeal. He’s begging them to return to Him. But they refuse. They couldn’t see it, and they criticized God, because it seemed that those who didn’t do right were better off. It was a bleak scene in Israel’s history. And this makes the next verse so much more incredible: it starts with “Then”, in the middle of all that disobedience, we have. v. 16. It turns out, there was a remnant in that backslidden remnant. How similar to our situation.
Hymn - I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold
Prayer