The Bible

No More, No Less

/ brianhilton9 / Leave a comment

I had a bad habit as a kid of embellishing things.

My parents would graciously respond to all of my exaggerated hyperboles the same way.

“Okay. What really happened?”

Part of it might be because I’ve always loved a good story. Or maybe it’s because I wanted to influence their view on something rather than just present the facts. Either way, my family quickly learned to take what I said with a grain of salt.

Even today when I recount something, I have to fight the strong urge to add in or enlarge certain details. It’s quite easy to do and (sometimes) hard for the listener to detect. After all, can they really disprove the size of the fish I caught last summer? Or can they see my bank account to verify I make as much as I said I did? We perceive an easy benefit without a likely cost. This is not reality.

This simple equation is the principle behind lying or manipulating the truth. We place a premium value on a fabrication while setting the truth aside as if it were an old orange peel. Of course, such a scenario manifests in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most staggering is in the dissemination of God’s words.

Recently, I have been reading through the book of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. The ancient nation of Judah, God’s chosen people, rebelled against their God in pursuit of false gods which resulted in all kinds of appalling behavior – such as sacrificing their own children. God speaks through His anointed prophet Jeremiah announcing the land He gave Israel will be invaded by Babylon as He judges the land for its sin. The people had many chances to return to God and receive mercy, but at the time of much of Jeremiah’s writing, the Babylonian exile is set in stone after numerous rejections of His merciful offers.

Jeremiah is tasked with bringing this terrible news to his fellow countrymen. So much so, that I’ve started to think that the phrase “don’t shoot the messenger” comes from this account. There are many attempts on his life, even by his own family. Everybody hated this dude.

Why? He spoke just what God told him to say. Words of defeat, death, and desolation. He urged the people to relent of their wicked ways and return to the God who made them to avoid the impending destruction. They didn’t like that message. So, they tried to silence him. Rather, they tried to silence God.

Alternatives to Jeremiah’s words began to sprout up like weeds in a garden. The first was by a guy named Hananiah. Jeremiah had prophesied that the Israelites would be in exile 70 years, Judah’s old king named Jeconiah would die in Babylon, and that those who brought their necks under the “yoke” of Babylon would survive. Hananiah announces later that same year that the exile would only last two years as the yoke of Babylon was broken and that Jeconiah would be brought back into Judah. Hananiah’s prophesy contradicted Jeremiah’s at every point. Obviously, Hananiah’s message was a little more palatable than Jeremiah’s and required no remediation of behavior.

While Jeremiah ironically hoped Hananiah’s message was true, he wisely reminded the people to examine a true prophet by seeing which actually happens. After 37 years of Babylonian captivity, Jeconiah aka Jehoiachin was freed – but he did not return to Judah. He lived in Babylon till his death, well cared for by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar’s son and successor, Evil-merodach. Hananiah didn’t see the end of that same year he made the false prophecy. He died because he turned the people from God and made them trust in a lie he created.

Even after, more weeds arose. Two men named Ahab and Zedekiah (not to be confused with the kings of Judah with the same names) spoke lies claiming to be from God while sleeping with their neighbors’ wives. In judgement, God consigns them to be “roasted in the fire” by Nebuchadnezzar. A so-called prophet named Shemaiah rebukes the priest Zephaniah for not chiding Jeremiah with stocks and neck irons for telling the people that their exile will be long, and they should settle in Babylon by building houses and planting gardens. Just like Hananiah, Ahab, and Zedekiah, God judges Shemaiah for making His people trust in a lie. Shemaiah’s family line is ended, and he is forbidden from seeing the redemption of the land that comes after the exile.

We see many here with a position of religious standing and influence proclaim something different than what God has actually spoken. The result is that people are ALWAYS driven AWAY from God. Had they listened to God’s words through Jeremiah, they would have repented of their sin, returned to God, and been saved from God’s wrath imposed through Babylon.

While those reading aren’t citizens of Judah and the nation of Babylon no longer exists, God’s words still do. He tells us that though all things will pass away, His words never will. His true word ALWAYS leads us TOWARDS Him. To change His words or claim He said something he hasn’t may not always be obvious, but it always results in death. Yours and those listening to you.

So, this begs the question– what is God’s word? What does it say?

The central message is one of His glory and our salvation through belief in the death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son Jesus Christ. Open it up to see true justice, amazing grace, and eternal hope. Sin is not justified. Instead it is explained in great detail and always exposed as leading to death. Judgement is promised, yet so is a way out for those who humble themselves before the Lord.

God’s word. It always points us to Jesus Christ. It always points us to our desperate need and His gracious supplication. It’s my prayer that you hear and see it in every post, action, and word I speak. No more, no less.

Scripture References:

Jeremiah 22:24-27 – Jeconiah won’t return to Judah but will die in Babylon

Jeremiah 25:12 – Babylonian exile will be for 70 years

Jeremiah 27 – Yoke of Babylon, death for those who rebel, life for those who submit and obey God

Jeremiah 28 & 29 – Hananiah, Ahab, Zedekiah, and Shemaiah’s false prophecies

2 Kings 25:27-30 – Jehoiachin dies in Babylon, but thrives under Babylonian captivity after surrender

Isaiah 13:9, Jeremiah 51 – Babylon destroyed (539 B.C.)

Matthew 24:35 – All will pass away, except for God’s words

Communication Factor

/ brianhilton9 / 1 Comment

 

The past two years I was blessed with the opportunity to work on the grounds crew of a golf club who hire migrant workers all the way from Mexico to come up and work every March through November.  Hailing from Vera Cruz, Mexico, a place riddled by drug cartels, most of these men speak very little to no English which presents some interesting challenges during the course of the work day.  However, all these guys are hilarious and awesome people, so the miscommunication was usually very entertaining for both English and Spanish speakers alike.  Despite the language barrier between the Americans, Mexicans, and single Jamaican on the crew (shout out to Gopie) everything that needed to be done, always was finished by the end of the day.  There were some days where I was absolutely blown away by the efficiency that was displayed, with such an inefficient method. 

 

                One day this past fall, I was working side by side with a man from Mexico named Samuel.  Samuel is a small, skinny man who sports a grey goatee off of his wrinkly face.  Smoking about a pack of cigarettes a day while being in his sixties having done manual labor his entire life, the man musters up the strength each day to weather the elements and earn money for his family back home.  Serious respect.  Anyway, we got to talking on this blustery fall day.  I asked “You excited to go back Mexico and see familia?”  Wow.  Who would have known something as simple as that would spark such a grammatically incorrect yet involved conversation?  Samuel started telling me about his daughters, and how one of his daughters was a widow because her husband was murdered by the cartels.  She had 3 kids to raise with no job and no husband to provide.  Samuel knowing my minimal grasp on the Spanish language simply said it was “No Bueno”.  He got that across to me amidst the massive wall separating us conversationally, so I decided to tell him about something’s that were going on in my life.  I realized how I hadn’t had a good conversation like this with someone who even spoke ENGLISH in a while!  Everything was straightforward, to the point and perhaps most important, we both really had to think about what the other was saying in order to understand.  Later on in the day, Samuel, out of the blue came up to me and said “We no good understand each other for Tower of Babel!”  I just started laughing hysterically, partially because of how funny he sounded saying it (a common occurrence for us to laugh at the language barrier), and because of how blown away I was!  We then started talking about various Old Testament occurrences including The Tower of Babel, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, The Battle of Jericho, and also talked about Paul from the New Testament a little.  It then hit me like a bag of bricks, there still is a universal language…The Gospel!!

 

In Genesis chapter 11, the first verse states that at the current time, there was only one language.  Then people travelling from east find this big plain in the land of Shinar (most likely modern day Iraq) and decide to build a gigantic tower “with a top that reaches the heavens so we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the whole earth”. (v.4). God decides to punish them for their pride and protect them from dangerous unification by “confusing” their language.  This was the origin of miscommunication between Samuel and I, and millions of others!

 

If God eliminated having only one language, but wants us to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt.28:19), then how do we do so when the other countries speak a different language then we do?  The Gospel isn’t bound down by words, its living.  The Holy Spirit lives in us and communicates to others through our actions.  Even if there is a physical language barrier, there will never been a spiritual language barrier between us.  The Gospel is for everyone!  Not just English speaking Americans, or Spanish speaking Mexicans.  The consistency of our sinful hearts needing to be saved that will exist in all of us until we accept Jesus Christ into our lives by faith transcends words.  Which is why through hand motions, broken words, and tears there is amazing ministry going on all over the world, because it is Spirit led, sincere, and truly from the heart.

 

Jesus says we should let our Yes be Yes and our No be No in Matthew 5:37.  How often do we communicate like Jesus though?  He was always truthful, honest and loving with his words.  Mark 1 and 2 provide a good lesson on how to communicate with one another. 

 

  • Mark 1:15…short, honest, and sincere.

 

“The time has come,” he said.  “The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!”

 

  • Mark 2:17…truthful, and patient with the wishy washy Pharisees after they questioned him about eating with “sinners” and tax collectors.

 

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but

 

sinners.”

 

                Unlike us, he had every right to be harsh with these people and to flip things around and judge them as we often do with people who do things contrary to what we think they should do.  Jesus was without sin though, and we are overflowing with it.  It puts things in perspective to know that we never have the right to judge anyone yet we always do, and he had every right to, and was calm, patient and slow to anger.  Another way we need a savior.

 

The latter half of Matthew 5:37 says that “anything beyond this (simple, truthful answers) comes from the evil one”.  Sadly, rarely are people upfront about things.  Or if they are, it’s out of bitterness and sin, not truth.  Instead, they choose to people please and aim to earn the acceptance of man rather than of their Savior.  Ironically, people pleasing really is only done with self-glorification in mind…we only do it to make things easier on ourselves, rather than thinking about the others best interests.  Our yes’s are not yes’s and no’s are not no’s, and this is a very devastating place to be for everyone, nobody wins! 

 

We can be strong though, when our confidence isn’t in compliments from others or approval of man but resting solely in God and his word.  It’s an amazing freedom, and serves as an opportunity to build better more meaningful relationships with people when we are bold in Christ and learn to communicate as he would.  He’ll provide amazing ways, just like he did with Samuel and I, but most importantly, he’ll teach you how to better communicate with him!  He’s the best person to talk with around.