Justice and Obedience

December 5, 2021 Background Scripture: Deuteronomy 5; 10; 27; 28:1 - 2 Lesson Passage: Deuteronomy 5: 1b - 3; 10:12, 13; 27:1 - 10 Deuteronomy means "second Law". The Book of Deuteronomy is not an additional law, but rather a repeat of the Law given to the people of Israel almost forty years earlier at Mt. Sinai. In essence, it was the second giving of the Law. God gave the Law to Moses for Israel not long after He had delivered Israel out of Egyptian bondage. It was not just a list of "do's" and "don'ts" concerning the expected behavior of people who have been delivered by God. The Law defined righteousness—or what it means to live in right standing with God. Put another way, the Law describes holiness as a state of being, or character. The Law allows us to understand some aspects of God's character that we would otherwise not know. In addition to helping us understand some aspects of God's character, the Law also allow us to understand much about the fallen state of humanity. Mankind was created in a state of holiness, in the image and likeness of God. After receiving the Law at Mt. Sinai, Israel spent forty years in the wilderness complaining and falling short of the righteousness of the Law. The Law allowed them to gauge their own spirituality. They made it clear on numerous occasions they did not trust God to look out for their best interest. As a result of them not trusting God, God allowed a generation to perish in the wilderness. All the adults who came out of Egypt, except two, died in the wilderness prior to going in to take possession of Canaan. Even Moses was not allowed to go into Canaan. While camped on the east bank of the Jordon River, Moses was preparing the new generation of adults to go into Canaan. If they were going to be successful, they needed to understand what God expected of them. This could not be done without sharing the elements of the Law with them. Moses instructed them to set up two things after they entered Canaan. They were to erect an altar and offer burnt offerings to God. And they were to whitewash large stones and write all the words of the Law on them. The righteousness that God defined in the Law would be on display on Mt. Ebal in Canaan as a reminder to them. Moses charged Israel to live to serve and please God. If they would commit to live in accordance with God's instructions, and to rejoice before God, God promised that blessings would overtake them. Literally, they would not be able to get out of the way of blessings from God. The Law God provided for Israel, was guaranteed to transform them into unique people in the world if they obeyed the instructions. They would become God's peculiar treasure. Not only would the Law transform the people of God to be in right standing with God, obedience to the Law would also make them collectively a just society. Laws transform societies only when people obey the laws. All persons within the society must be obedient to the laws or justice will not prevail. The first generation of adults in Israel who died in the wilderness did not live in obedience to the Law. To make matters worse, they exhibited an open distrust of God. Therefore, Moses warned their children against repeating the errors of their parents. Their parents' faithlessness caused them to not be allowed to enter Canaan. It takes faith for one to believe that God's instructions are for his good. Without faith in God, they would not embrace God's instructions. The Law shows the fallen nature of mankind. It does not correct it. But with the knowledge of the Law and faith in God, they would establish a just society and their hearts would be predisposed towards obedience to God. Robert C. Hudson November 11, 2021

Good News for All

November 28, 2021 Background Scripture: Acts 10:34 —47 Lesson Passage: Acts 10:34 —47 I believe it is a rare opportunity when one can declare that something is good news for everybody. Over the years, people have recorded songs to remind us that "somebody's gotta win and somebody's gotta lose". To a large extent, many people adopted that as the norm. We live in a society where there seems to be opposition to everything that is proposed. This is not a new phenomenon. In today's text, Peter preaches an unlikely sermon to an unlikely group in an unlikely place. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, took great pride in his Jewish heritage. Peter's pride caused him to maintain social separation from non-Jews, or Gentiles. As a devout Christian, Peter might have felt justified in doing so since Jesus was a Jew. All of that changed when God sent Peter to the home of a Gentile— Peter even told the Gentiles at the house that it was not lawful for him to be in their house; more on that later, Peter took his separation from Gentiles very seriously. Yet, Peter acknowledged that God told him to go to the house and to not consider anyone common or unclean. Meanwhile, God had sent a messenger to Cornelius to tell him to summon Peter to his house. This is another example of God being in total control of the circumstances. (We should remember this when we pray. Not only does God's hand guide us, but He also guide others who we interact with—or avoid interacting with.) The divinely arranged meeting in Cornelius' house was not going to be a one-on-one meeting. Cornelius had invited his relatives and close friends to join him for the meeting, When Peter observed the crowd in the house, he reminded them that Jews were not supposed to socialize with non-Jews. Peter acknowledged that God had rebuked him for his self-righteous attitude; so, he came to the house without objection. The question Peter asked was, "Why have you sent for me?" Cornelius shared the testimony of his encounter with an angel God sent to him as he was fasting and praying. The angel told Cornelius to send for Peter and he would speak to him. Therefore, Cornelius gathered his family and friends together to hear what God would say to them through Peter. Peter summarized for them the person, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter also told them that the apostles of Jesus were witnesses of what happened and had eaten and drank with Jesus after his resurrection from the dead. The good news: Jesus sent them to preach to people and declare that Jesus is the one who will judge the living and the dead. And whoever believes in Jesus will receive remission of sins. Before Peter could finish talking, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard Peter and they spoke with tongues and glorified God. Peter and the Jews who traveled to the house with him were astounded that God had poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles. Peter declared that they should receive water baptism to acknowledge that God had saved them from their sins. They baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus as new converts into the Christian faith. Many people today, like Peter and the Christian Jews then, relish being part of something exclusive. We like being part of a select group that's set apart from the masses. True evangelism never seeks to maintain this status, but rather to constantly reach others for Christ. We, like Christians of the first century, have been given a mission to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth so that all people will have the opportunity for the remission of their sins. And that's good news for all! Robert C. Hudson October 27, 2021

Marriage of the Lamb

November 21, 2021 Background Scripture: Revelation 19 Lesson Passage: Revelation 19:1 8 The main theme of the book of Revelation is the return of Jesus to the earth. Jesus' return, or second advent, is a major tenet of the Christian faith. All Christians who died during the past two thousand years did so with this hope in mind, All believers who lived before Jesus' first advent, died with the hope of both events occurring on earth. The believers who saw Jesus during his first advent hoped to live to see his second. Many died believing that Jesus was coming back while they were yet alive. Today, Christians understand that Jesus has not come back yet, but we are confident that he will return to the earth—even if it's after we too have died in the faith. The book of Revelation gives us the assurance of this, Today's Background Scripture records the second advent of Christ on earth. Our Lesson Passage gives the preparations that will take place prior to it. There is celebration in heaven because God had destroyed the evil earthly government that had corrupted itself before God. (This is clearly a future event!) The earthly government had caused much pain, suffering, and death of the saints of God. God had avenged His own and judged the wicked. Heaven erupted with celebration and praises to God. Heaven was now prepared for a divine Wedding. This is truly a match made in Heaven. We need to point out some distinct differences between some typical marriage arrangements in Eastern cultures versus those that are typical of Western cultures. In Western cultures, we tend to romanticize marriage beginning with the traditional "boy meets girl and boy falls in love with girl". Later, after a period of blissful courtship, the gentleman proposes to the girl that they make a lifelong commitment and get married. And the script normally says, "and they lived happily ever after". Many cultures of the East have understood and accepted that marriage is an arrangement made by two families for the benefits of a couple who are often infants or youth at the time. After the two individuals come of age, the families will then plan a wedding to consummate the prior agreement. I was exposed to this early in my professional career when a co-worker was all excited about traveling back to India to his wedding. I asked him to tell me about his fiancé. His response sounded like he was reading a resume'. When I inquired further, he informed me that he had not met the lady. In fact, when they were both children, their parents had agreed that they would marry each other after they became adults, had finished their schooling, and began their careers. Yet, he was the most excited groom-to-be I had ever met. Over the years, I have observed how many such arranged marriages tend to be more successful than those of Western culture. (Success from the perspective of not ending in separation or divorce after a brief time.) Those marriages were not based on feelings or physical appearance, but rather on a commitment to travel through life together. I have also read about numerous marriages of this type in the Bible. That brings me to the subject of today's lesson. The "Marriage of the Lamb" is an arranged marriage; again, typical of Eastern culture. The church is not in a courtship with Jesus Christ; we are betrothed to him. God is orchestrating the whole thing. Christ has prepared His bride for this eternal commitment never to be separated by death, again. Heaven will be rejoicing and festive. The scene unfolds in our Background Scripture. The righteous actions of Christians are the apparel that the bride of Christ will be arrayed in. The church had been made ready for the return of her Lord and Savior. The Church and Christ were prepared to be united forever. This is prophetically called the marriage of the Lamb. God is the wedding Coordinator, and we all have invitations to be there. Robert C. Hudson October 25, 2021

God of Power

November 14, 2021 Background Scripture: Revelation 11 Lesson Passage: Revelation 11 — 19 When we look at the world around us and its intricate details and order, we should be convinced that there is a God Who created all of this. We can go beyond that and look at the elements beyond earth that can be seen in a clear sky at night. God created that too. The God Who created everything is obviously very powerful. The scripture says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." In other words, there is enough evidence in nature to declare the existence of a Creator. Indeed, there is enough physical evidence for us to be in awe of God whether we know Him or not. The power He possesses should frighten us. Yet, there are some people who will push the limits until God demonstrates some of His power in correcting them. We have proof in the Book of Revelation that some of those people will continue to exist until the world, as we know it, is destroyed. In our Lesson Background, God sent two witnesses to cry out against the evil powers in the earth. Their names are not given but the power from God that they wielded was described. Their power was like that given to Moses and Elijah during their earthly ministries. According to Israel's history, the departure of these two from this world was controlled by God in an extraordinary manner. Moses was on top of a mountain with God when he died, and God buried his body in an unknown grave. God sent a chariot of fire that carried Elijah into the sky while his protégé, Elisha, looked on. So, there is no wonder that these two unnamed witnesses would appear to be these two faithful prophets of God. Despite the powers they possessed to fight against those who would harm them, they did succumb to the beast from the bottomless pit that killed them. Their bodies lay in the streets while the wicked people of the earth celebrated their demise. They were so overjoyed by the destruction of God's two witnesses that they celebrated by sending gifts to each other; their death was treated like a special holiday on earth. Then God sent the breath of life back into their dead bodies and they lived again to the wonder of those on earth. Then God called them back up and they ascended in a cloud as their enemies watched. Afterwards, God sent an earthquake that killed thousands. The survivors gave glow to God out of fear. At the sound of a trumpet, there was an announcement that John heard in Heaven. The announcement was that God had retaken control of the kingdoms on earth. Twenty-four elders prostrated themselves and worshipped God. Much of the Lesson Passage is the text of the elders' testimony of worship. They praised God for His eternal being and the display of His power to rule the universe. They also anticipated the judgement of the wicked dead and the rewarding by God of the righteous who trusted in Him. The enemies of God who fought against Him by destroying the earth would be destroyed by God. Then John saw the answer to a great earthly mystery. No one has known the whereabouts of the ark of God's covenant for centuries. The ark's location was revealed to John. It was safe in the temple of God in heaven. With its revelation to John, nature responded with earthquakes, lightning, thunder, and hail. God's engraved covenant has been perfectly preserved and secured in God's presence for many years, It has been kept by God's power; the same power that was demonstrated in the destruction of God's enemies on earth. He is a God of power. Robert C. Hudson October 16, 2021

United in Praise

November 7, 2021 Background Scripture: Lesson Passage: Revelation 7:9 17 The Book of Revelation is the only New Testament book of prophecy. As such, one must be careful to not treat all its contents as historical narrative. Put another way, much of this writing is not recording what has already happened but what is to come. There is much to learn from Old Testament prophecy to guide us through this. The reason is that most of the Old Testament prophecy has now been fulfilled. In looking at Old Testament prophecy and examining the fulfilment of it, we can see that the written prophecy included images, symbols, and statements. We can also see that the written prophecy rarely had a timeline included although the events were given in the proper sequential order. So, when Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah, the prophecy included what we today know as His first advent and second coming. Isaiah's prophecy did not disclose to us the great expanse of time that would separate the two events. Today, we are living between the two advents of Christ. As we consider unfulfilled prophecy, we can take comfort in the sequential order of events, but we must take care to try to pinpoint where we are on the timeline. In considering the Book of Revelation, we should note that Chapters 2 and 3 tell of events involving the church in the world. There is no more mention of the church until after the final judgement. And then, in Chapter 21, the church, the bride of Christ, is seen descending from above. We note this because at the beginning of Chapter 4 the writer, John, is called up to Heaven to view the culmination of life on earth. With this school of interpretation in mind, we believe the church is raptured from the earth at the beginning of Chapter 4 and the events of Chapter 4 through Chapter 20 occur after the church is no longer in the world. With this as our perspective, we now turn to today's Lesson Passage. John, in Heaven, was shown a multitude of people dressed in white robes and holding palm branches. The multitude was too large to be counted. It was composed of people from every region, nationality, and language. John's guide, one of the elders, asked him to identify the group. John admitted to not knowing who they were. Then the elder informed him that the members of that group were delivered out of the Great Tribulation on earth. This group was not part of a rapture but had lived during the time of Great Tribulation on the earth. I feel confident in saying that this group is not the church. This is a countless number of individuals who will accept Jesus as their personal Savior after the church is no longer in the world. Today, when I hear someone say they want to be in that number that John saw that no man could number, I respectfully disagree with that. I want to be in the number that is raptured from the earth before the time of tribulation and Great Tribulation. The world is a sinful and difficult environment to live in. I don't want to live in this world without the church, But it is encouraging to know that God's mercy will extend beyond the Church Age. Even when there is no church in the world, the grace of God will still be available to lost souls who cry out to Him. As the church today strives to be united in praise to God, there will be other believers who will come after the church is no longer here and they too will find themselves united in praise! Robert C. Hudson October 16, 2021