May 1- You Want To Marry Her?!

May 1, 2011

Scripture Readings:
Judges 13:1-14:20; John 1:29-51;
Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16

No object is so beautiful that under certain conditions, it will not look ugly. 
~Oscar Wilde

Judges 13:1-14:20

It is a story as old as the hills.  A young man sees a beautiful young lady.  He doesn't really know her, but he is attracted to her physically.  Regardless of her family background, education, personality or spirituality, he wants her.  Today, we read the story of a judge in Israel who wanted a good-looking lady.  There was just one problem, she was a Philistine.  ...or was it a problem?

Well, we are still reading the book of Judges, so that means that the Israelites are still stuck in the cycle of disobedience, slavery, cry out, judge revealed, and deliverance by God.  Our reading begins with the phrase,"Again the Israelites did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord."  This time, God hands them over to the Philistines, who keep them in subjection for forty years.

The story of how God raised up the next judge is a great one.  We have another infertility situation.  This time, a man named Manoah has a wife who is unable to get pregnant.  Have you noticed that Jesus pre-incarnate loves to come and announce good news about having a baby to women who are barren?  Here, the angel of the Lord comes to tell Manaoh's wife that she will have a child and he must be a Nazarite from birth.  Numbers 6:1-27 describes the Nazarite vow and being set apart for God in this way. As a result, she is not to eat grapes, raisins, grape juice or alcoholic drinks.  She must also follow the dietary laws of Moses, strictly, while she is pregnant with this child.

Her husband is not present for this auspicious event, so Manoah prays that the man of God will return and give further instruction on how to raise the boy.  Notice that he and his wife have faith that the man will return in answer to their prayers.  The angel of the Lord reappears and gives Manoah the same instructions.  Instead of staying for a meal, the angel tells Manoah that he can present a burnt offering to him.  Manoah obeys and then Christ goes up into the flames of the burnt offering and disappears.  It is then that Manoah and his wife fall on their faces in awe.  They have seen the Living God. 

They do have the son that God predicted and they name him Samson.  Samson is the next judge of Israel.  He will be the key to defeating the Philistines.  But first, he falls in love with a beautiful Philistine girl.  His parents are distressed.  This is not good.  It appears that life is not going the way they had hoped.  For goodness sakes, Samson is supposed to be set apart for God's work and now he wants to sleep with the enemy.  The Bible tells us that this is precisely what God wants!!!  Look at chapter 14:4, "His father and mother did not realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to disrupt the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at the time."

Does it surprise you that God is in the midst of what looks like a really bad situation for Samson's parents?  They can smell trouble and they have a good sense of smell!  Trouble is brewing and that is just the way God wants it.

Next,  Samson miraculously kills a lion with his bare hands, eats honey from the carcass, has a bachelor party, loses a riddle contest because his Philistine fiance is a trickster that can't be trusted, and finally, goes to a Philistine town, kills thirty men in order to steal their robes, and uses their robes to pay the bet to his thirty Philistine friends.  Wow.  Set apart for God, huh?  Some kinda Nazarite...

Does his behavior shock you?  This is no monk in a monestary.  But, this is just the kind of man that God needs in order to kill a bunch of godless Philistines.  Think about it.

The story ends with Samson's best man taking the beautiful, untrustworthy Philistine babe as his wife, instead of Samson.  Although Samson does not realize this. Tomorrow the fun continues and Samson still has lady troubles.  Some guys just never learn...

John 1:29-51

Have you ever taken an etiquette class and learned how to properly introduce someone? What you decide to call that person is important.  You can decide to name their title, for instance, "This is Dr. Smith," or you could just say their first name, " This is Joe."  How you introduce them sets the tone for how other people will view that person. Today John the Baptist picks a title to introduce Jesus to the world.  Here is what he says, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Calling Jesus "The Lamb of God" would have had incredible significance to the Jewish audience who were coming to John the Baptist to be baptized.  Remember that even the religious leaders of the day were watching John's baptisms.  When Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to God, Cain's grain offering was rejected, but Abel's animal sacrifice showed faith in a future Messiah whose death would cover his sin.  There was also Abraham, who was asked to sacrifice Isaac.  Abraham obeyed, but God intervened and provided a ram for the sacrifice.  Finally, each Passover, a Jewish family would take a lamb that they had raised and sacrifice that animal as a sign of their belief in sins being paid for by the death of One who would come forth from Israel and save the world through Israel.

John the Baptist is telling this community that the One they have been waiting for is here.  The perfect savior who will die and be the final sacrifice for sins has come.  John makes sure that everyone understands that Christ existed before him.  It should be noted that John was born before his cousin Jesus, so John is not talking about their physical births.  He is talking about Christ existing before the foundation of the world.

John explains that God told John who the Messiah would be by a method of showing John the Spirit of God resting on an individual.  God told John that when he saw this happen to a person that person would be the Messiah.  When Jesus goes to get baptized, John sees the Spirit descend on his cousin, Jesus.  That is when John makes his pronouncement.

Today we also see the account of some of the twelve apostles being chosen by Christ.  Please note that Jesus chooses his apostles.  They do not choose Jesus.  They choose him, after he chooses them.  This is an important Biblical concept and mystery.  We also choose God after He chooses us.  Hard to wrap your head around this, but it's true.  We will see this concept discussed in the New Testament Epistles.

I will jump to Jesus' encounter with Nathanael.  Nathanael has a discussion with Philip, who is telling him that they have found the Messiah, his name is Jesus, and he is from Nazareth.  Nathanael sarcastically states, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"  Do you have places in your community that you would say that about?  I like this guy.  So does Jesus. 

When Jesus meets Nathanael, he states that he is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.  He then tells Nathanael that he will see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down upon the Son of Man.

What is Jesus talking about?  Well, my friend, because you have been reading your Bible this year, you are able to understand Jesus' reference.  Do you remember Jacob?  Do you remember how deceitful he was in taking Esau's birthright and blessing?  Do you remember how Jacob had to leave his home and go to Haran because Esau was going to kill him?  Do  you remember that on that journey on the first night Jacob had a dream and saw a stairway to Heaven?  Jesus is telling us that Nathanael is an Israelite, but he is not deceitful like his forefather Jacob was at that time.  God had to give Jacob dreams, hardships, and wrestling in order to turn him into a man of faith, but Nathanael is ready to follow God right now!  Jesus is the stairway to heaven.  The angels of God come to earth and go to heaven as messengers and helpers through the power of Jesus.  He is the ladder to heaven.  What a beautiful picture Jesus has just given to his new apostle!

Are you climbing the stairway to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ?  He is your access to God.

Psalm 102:1-28

Here are some verses I love.  Vs. 18 "Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a nation yet to be created will praise the Lord." 

vs. 25-27 "In ages past you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will fade away. But you are always the same; your years never end."

Proverbs 14:15-16

"Only simpletons believe everything they are told.  The prudent carefully consider their steps."

What did you see?

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton
© 2011