Trinity Evangel Church

The point of this part of the story is simple: boot the bad queen and make room for a new one. The book is named after the new one.

But not only is the royal breakup and banishment not necessary, did we really need to know about it? The author of the book could have easily picked up when Esther was already the queen; saved some papyrus and ink. There certainly is some entertainment value. There is also some insight into the kind of trouble that could happen when you lit the fuse of a Persian potentate. And also there is an appreciation for the kinds of things God does in His providence to get players into position.

Verse 19 is the key verse: "let the king give her (that is, Vashti's) royal position to another who is better (that is, more obedient) than she." The fact that this is the advice, and the fact that this advice pleased the king, are facts that reveal the power of a king's foolishness.

Ahasuerus (known in Greek as Xerxes) is the head of a vast kingdom covering parts of three continents, the largest superpower up to that point in history. In his third year he held a six-month exposition of "the splendor and pomp of his greatness" (verse 4). All the VIPs in the empire got a taste of the royal riches. And then Ahasuerus threw a week-long feast in his palace courtyard in Susa, decorated with the most expensive materials (verses 6-7). It was like a beer garden where everyone drank from a cup of gold, and the bar was open. He apparently had to make a decree that you did not have to drink so much (verses 7-8).

On the seventh day Ahasuerus' heart was "merry with wine" and he had his personal attendants fetch his wife (verses 10-11). She'd been giving her own feast for the women and Ahasuerus wanted to show off her beauty to the men. "But Queen Vashti refused to come" (verse 12). The king was big mad, and it was a big embarrassment. He's been angling to go to war with Greece and he can't even get his wife to come across the hall.

Rather than get our outline from the sequence in the paragraph, let's consider three parts of the king's power.

Vindictive means desiring to punish. He was enraged, and he wants revenge not reconciliation.

The king is only quoted once in the whole chapter, and it's a question (verse 15). But his question isn't for Vashti, his question isn't for the eunuchs, it is for his royal advisors. They are the wise men who knew the times (verse 13), his intelligence cabinet. There were seven of them, those who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom (verse 14). They have access to the king, they give counsel to the king, and they help make up the mind of the king.

Even if you lived next door, you would not likely ask the Supreme Court justices to make a decision about what to do with your wife who didn't do the dishes when you told her. And even if the justices were in the room at the time, not only would your wife's refusal not rank as a political problem, you'd probably figure that you could (and that it would be less complicated if you would) deal with it yourself.

Ahasuerus is in a room full of fumes, a toxic mix of alcohol and arrogance. He asks, According to the law, what is to be done…? (verse 15) Of course there was no existing law. He's looking for help to deal with this slight of his position. He's exerting power in order to deal with his apparent-to-all lack of power.

He even talks about himself in the third person; she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus. There’s no view toward working it out with her, he wants to take his bad feelings out on her. It’s not a diss track, but it is a diss decree, and it’s vindictive.

Vast means extensive, and Ahasuerus' power covers a lot of ground both legally and geographically.

As I said, there was no existing case on the books for this situation. Those “proficient in laws and legalities” (verse 13 NET, in Hebrew pronounced dāt and dîn) were going to have to make something up.

Perhaps they cover the king’s weak spot for a minute, but they de-escalate nothing. Memucan ramps it up from a personal affront to a wrong...also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus (verse 16). All women are going to hear about it and it will cause them to look at their husbands with contempt (verse 17). Even the seven argue, either from fear or for flattery, that the noble women...will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty (verse 18). These women are going to be out of control. Talk about vast contempt.

The king's power is vast enough to make a law, and that sort of law will at least be pretended to be unalterable. The rule will be legal, but it's barely rational. This is a rule based on an exception, a one-time dilemma. What’s more, it’s a rule based on the emotional embarrassment of barely a minute. And now Vashti won’t even be in the same room as him ever again (verse 19).

This new decree gets top priority and an immediate press release to all parts and provinces in the empire, proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast (verse 20). There were 127 provinces; who knows precisely how many people groups and particular languages there were. But in the capital city there were translators and scribes, and this news was going out to all of them (verse 22). It’s vast.

Vain means in this case not just selfish but self-defeating. His power is useless for what he says it's for. He’s trying to cover his butt, now everyone knows the emperor has no clothes.

What was the reason for involving the Seven? To run some interference for the king's reputation. Vashti's behavior called Ahasuerus' power into question, right? But this way of handling it would make sure to broadcast throughout the whole realm not only about her refusal, but about Ahasuerus' petty and vindictive use of power.

For that matter, you can punish external displays of contempt, but you can't enforce true honor in the heart. This kind of control is grasping oil; the tighter you clench the more you lose. It’s vain, futile.

The final summary of the decree aims that every man be master in his own household (verse 22) …, ha, like Xerxes? Every man will just banish his disrespectful wife out and get a new one?

It took an act of Congress to deal with a husband's humiliation, and in so doing, he guaranteed that more people would know about his weakness: all the royal provinces, every province and every people. As Warren Weirsbe wrote in his commentary, this is “an edict that was unnecessary, unenforceable, and unchangeable.” It is vanity of vanities.

This isn't fault-finding against the patriarchy, but it does show how hard it is to rule the world and not be an idiot. When you have almost limitless power then you also have an almost limitless platform to display your foolishness. Typically the people closest to you will help you do it. Ahasuerus enshrines his vanity more publicly and more permanently than it would have been had he laughed it off. Talk about blowing your marital spat out of proportion.

Power is still power, even if it's contemptible. We never hear from or about Vashti again, though the details of history demonstrate that she is very likely the mother of Artaxerxes. Ahasuerus is arrogant, somewhat arbitrary, surrounded by advisors who apparently want him to be happy more than just, and this is the kind of ego and temperamental administration that Mordecai and Esther and the rest of the Jews have to deal with.

Contrast this with God's power. It is vast, but not vindictive and never vain.

Even God's power over Ahasuerus and the Persian empire stands in contrast. What Ahasuerus meant to save face, God used to save the Jews. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who can give you worldwide platform to be a joke. The law of royal vanity made for vast contempt, against Ahasuerus.

Three narrative reminders: 1) Pretentious men become punchlines. 2) Demanded respect earns none. 3) Rules made to cover insecurity work in reverse.

Psalm 37 reminds us: Don’t be distressed by evil men. Fret not! Trust in the Lord and do good. Delight yourself in the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Fret not! The Lord delivers those who take refuge in Him.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18 ESV)

There is a phrase that describes people who live like there is no god, even if they say that there is one: practical atheism. The story of Esther is the opposite. God’s name never appears in Esther, but His hand is behind every move. We wouldn't call it practical theism, but we could call it practical providence.

Providence is God’s sovereign and active governance of all creation, guiding everything toward His wise and loving purposes. In The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith referred to “an invisible hand.” Though we don’t see it directly, God’s hand is personal, not a force or fate, not chance or luck. Providence is the word that describes God’s work in ordinary means, though He can also work in extraordinary miracles.

The reason for reading and re-telling the story of Esther is given near the end of the book (Esther 9:23-28). It explains the origin of the Feast of Purim, and purim refers to a kind of casting of lots, similar to our dice. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” The Feast of Purim isn't commanded in the books of Moses, but it continues to be celebrated almost 2500 years later by orthodox Jews. Esther is not only about providence, but of providential protection.

It takes place when Ahasuerus reigned over the Persian Empire. That's his name in Hebrew, though history books typically refer to him by his Greek name, Xerxes I. This puts the story of Esther on the timeline between Ezra chapters 6 and 7. We didn’t stop in the middle of the Ezra series because, while an appropriate chronological interruption, Ezra-Nehemiah is one account and Esther probably wasn’t even written by the same author.

Remember that Cyrus decreed that captives could return home (Ezra 1:1-4), including any Jews that wanted to return to Israel and rebuild their temple. The first wave left with Zerubbabel, while Ezra and then Nehemiah came on the scene 70 years later. Ahasuerus was mentioned in Ezra 4:6, the recipient of a letter trying to stop the Jews from building in Jerusalem. And we meet Nehemiah in Susa as the cup-bearer to Xerxes’ son, Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:1).

The book of Esther is about 55 years after Cyrus’s decree and reminds us that most Jews did not go home. They were scattered in different places throughout the Persian Empire, including a large population in Susa, one of the capital cities. What about those Jews who stayed behind? God had promised to deliver His people from captivity and return them to the land, but would He protect Hie people who remained outside the land? Esther answers, after dramatic and perilous tension, a resounding Yes.

One of God's frequent, and so we can surmise one of His favorite, story-telling devices is reversal of fortune. Also included are ironies, coincidences, foreshadowing, warning characters, and unlikely heroes. The story begins with a banquet, ends with a banquet, and refers to at least two or three banquets in the middle.

As for the main divisions in the book:

And again the theme of Esther is: The covenant people protected by Providence

Every good story starts with setting and backstory. This one begins with a lot of ballyhoo.

Ahasuerus inherited a huge empire; he reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, what we know that area as modern Pakistan to northern Sudan. The Persian army swept up peoples wherever they went. There was nowhere to hide.

As we enter this story, Ahasuerus was in the third year of his rule, 483 BC, feeling so good about himself that he wanted to take over more of the world. The fact that the army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him indicates that he was both showing off his riches and his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness, but also in the beginning stages of preparing for battle. Herodotus makes it plain, recording that Xerxes said:

“I was struck by the realization that we could gain glory; take possession of lands fully as extensive, productive, and fertile as those which we have now; and at the same time obtain vengeance and retribution, too. That is why I have assembled you here to communicate my thoughts to you. I intend to bridge the Hellespont and lead my army through Europe to Hellas, so that we can punish the Athenians for all that they did to the Persians and to my father. Now you saw how even Darius had his mind set on marching against these men, but that he did and did not have the opportunity to exact vengeance on upon them, I, however, on his behalf and that of the rest of the Persians, shall not give up until I conquer Athens and set it on fire….” (The Histories, Book 7 Section 8, found on page 496 of The Landmark edition)

Darius lost at Marathon in 490, then died in 486, after which Xerxes took power. It’s now 483. The Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480, which the Persians won, but then Xerxes lost at Salamis a couple weeks later. Xerxes married Esther in the seventh year of his reign, 479 (Esther 2:16), and the book of Esther ends with events in the twelfth year of Xerxes 473 (3:7). That means that everyone who read Esther knew that this party was exaggerated hype; a ballyhoo banquet.

Some sort of celebration took place for 180 days, but it may have been a rotation of officials rather than six months of no one being at their posts. He was showing off, buying loyalty, gathering support. At the end of this convention he threw a feast lasting for seven days. Verse 8 is an interesting decree, that ”There is no compulsion” which may indicate that you didn’t have to drink every time the king did.

Herodotus noted that a lot of Persians made decisions drunk and then approved them sober.

“[Persians] are accustomed to deliberating on the most serious business while they are drunk, and whatever decision they reach in these sessions, it is proposed to them again the next day by the host in whose house they had deliberated the night before. Then, if the decision still pleases them when they are sober, they act on it; if not, they give it up. Conversely, whatever provisional decisions they consider while sober, they reconsider when they are drunk.” (Book 1 Section 133, page 72 of The Landmark edition)

This is a big buildup, a banquet for the army, a banquet for the citizens of Susa, a ballyhoo to psych everyone up to go to war.

Verse 9 says that Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women, though gender segregated banquets weren’t the cultural norm. It is part of the set up.

On the last day the heart of the king was merry with wine, isn't necessarily the same as drunk, but close enough for government work.

Something provoked Ahasuerus to send for the Queen. She was lovely to look at, and Ahasuerus wanted other other guys to have a look.

Making a judgment about whether Vashti was boldly virtuous or willfully rebellious is not the point. Did she refuse being objectified? Was she refusing a kind of ancient drunk-dial? In the end, her reasons are irrelevant.

The point is this: at the height of his power, displaying his wealth and preparing to lead his nation into battle, Ahasuerus couldn’t even get his own wife to follow orders. Mike Tyson once said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. He might have also said, everyone has a plan until they try to make the queen obey. The king did not take being turned down in front of all his officials very well.

Ahasuerus’ unbelievable power was completely dependent power. This moment reveals the irony. It was embarrassing.

The author of Esther isn’t focused on the queen’s refusal as foreshadowing of the upcoming military loss, but as opening up the queen’s seat for another woman to fill.

Esther is a story of providence. There’s no naming of God, no mention of Jerusalem or the temple, no prayers, no Books of Moses. Instead, “Esther loses her virginity in the bed of an uncircumcised Gentile to whom she is not married” (Jobes), and the Jews kill almost 76,000 men. It’s not quoted in the NT. Not everyone loves the story, including maybe most famously for us, Martin Luther, who called himself an enemy of Esther and questioned Esther’s place in Scripture. But still God’s hand is all over these pages.

Esther is the narrative form of Romans 8:28. It is the story version of “don’t lose heart.”

“God was not overt, His word not direct, and His face not revealed, still, behind the veil of purim, God’s providence towards His people, would uphold them against adversary and ideological force alike, as in Passover of old.” (Abraham Cohen, quoted in Baldwin)

“Providence is God’s attention concentrated everywhere” (Augustus Strong, Systematic Theology). “Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

Remember, “Providence is God’s attention concentrated everywhere” (A. Strong). Lift up your eyes, your help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2). He sees, He takes note, He strengthens the heart of those who commit themselves to Him (Psalm 10:14, 17).

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33–36 ESV)

In order of testimonies:

"Do not grow weary in doing good." This is Paul's command in 2 Thessalonians 3:13. Christians are not allowed to collapse.

As we considered last Lord's Day, the word engkakeo occurs six times in the New Testament and is translated either as “grow weary" or "lose heart." Always this is what we're not to do. The idea behind the word is to do badly in a situation. Flexibility is one thing; crumpling into a puddle is prohibited.

There are four arenas in which we are called to keep heart:

So, if at the heart of losing heart is a failure in the situation, what went wrong? And if we get this right, here is where we scratch at the how we can not grow weary.

Again, the temptation to lose heart is as necessary as the imperative to not to. You must not quit, and also you must know what it's like to want to quit. When you’re ready to walk away—what do you need? You need to recognize four parts of reality.

These are four axioms, meaning established truths that are self-evidently true. They are as true as the law of gravity. God made the world one way not another. God made the world to work one way not another. You do not make these things true, but if you do not identify and acknowledge them then your worldview is off.

I'm emphasizing this because, while we do need faith to see and hold onto these truths, faith is not in an imaginary object. Our faith is in the deeper magic (think of how Aslan not just described it, but depended on it), the principles by which God governs the cosmos. It’s not just that keeping heart is God’s will, we keep heart because of God’s will.

The four axioms undergird the four arenas.

In the parable Jesus told in Luke 18 about the persistent widow pestering the unjust judge, Jesus does not try to prove anything. He compares His Father to a self-absorbed and reluctant judge in order to highlight His Father's character. We don't pray to make God listen, we pray because He is the listening God.

The argument is a lesser-to-greater, an "if this, then how much more so this." But again, this assumes the greater is true.

Jesus told the parable "to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1), and how He effects this is by building up their faith/their heart in who the God of sovereignty and justice and time and attention is.

If we think that God doesn't care, we are saying that we do not accept who He told us He is. If we think God won't act, it exposes our wrong theology. The reality is, God wills solutions through supplications. To deny this reality is pride. Those who keep heart in supplication remember what is true.

Christians are correct to resist pragmatism, that is, we shouldn't do whatever gets results. But in some cases this has become a justification to "let go and let God." Pragmatism does get results, but it sows to the flesh. The opposite is sowing to the Spirit, and it too guarantees results.

Paul said, "in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). This statement is not a motivational cat poster. It is part of the deep magic. It is realty, which we can deny but which we cannot disrupt. Paul argues from it; it is the basis on which ("for") we ought not grow weary of going good. Faithful sowing brings fruitful seasons because God is not mocked.

The "Creator of the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 40:28) is indefatigable in this. He doesn’t grow weary of turning seeds into fruit. God can create out of nothing, but He does not violate math on earth. Grace gives what we don’t deserve, but grace never multiplies by zero. Burying your talent is not the same as sowing your talent.

Included in this axiom is the principle of growth, and even of compounding interest. Of all the options for how the world could work, God loves both being unto becoming, when the immature develop maturity, for humans to start as babies, for Time and Effort to have their place. Sweat equity is part of the cosmos.

While we could say that laziness is a denial of reality, laziness always works, as in laziness is a cause with it's own guaranteed effects. Cause and effect is an inescapable reality. Everything is a kind of seed, even hoarding your seed. To deny your agency is laziness. Those who keep heart in sowing expect a harvest because God says to expect it.

God is the listening God, and God is the merciful God. Jonah was big mad about it (Jonah 4:1-4). He knew that if he told the truth in Nineveh that God would grant repentance and then accept that repentance. “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.”

Paul endured by this axiom. “Having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart" (2 Corinthians 4:1). The ministry is a speaking ministry, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ as Lord. Of course, that reality is veiled to those who are perishing. But in our world blindness isn’t sovereign, God's mercy is sovereign over blindness.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). The reality works through embodied ministry as well. "So death is at work in us, but life in you" (2 Corinthians 4:12). God makes it happen. His mercy saves and transforms. We can no more stop God's mercy than we can stop God’s existence. (See also Exodus 33:17-23, especially verse 19, which is quoted in Romans 9:15.)

If we do not speak it is because we do not believe (see 2 Corinthians 4:15). To attribute to God’s mercy the weakness of our mercy, or to act as if others don’t deserve mercy, is short-sighted and self-righteous respectively. Instead, Christians, keep heart! God's eternal purpose has been to glorify Himself through blessing rebels into the joys of a life of submission.

Both 2 Corinthians 4:17 and Ephesians 3:13 share a trifecta: both verses have the same word for “affliction" (even though translated as “suffering" by ESV in Ephesians), the same for “glory,” and the same for "don't lose heart." The word affliction refers to trouble that inflicts distress.

It’s the same word that goes to work in Romans 5.

we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:2b–5 ESV)

Pressure produces endurance, endurance shapes character, character fuels hope, and hope ends in no shame. In other words, the end of the troubles is glory. We know the reality that fire is hot and light is bright but somehow we think that glory is easy. God highly exalted Christ Jesus after Christ Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:8-9). So “have this mind among yourselves” (Philippians 2:5).

Charles Spurgeon said in his sermon “Holding Fast the Faith”:

“Doth that man love his Lord who would be willing to see Jesus wearing a crown of thorns, while for himself he craves a chaplet of laurel (an evergreen garland)? Shall Jesus ascend to his throne by the cross, and do we expect to be carried there on the shoulders of applauding crowds? Be not so vain in your imagination.”

Being awesome doesn't feel awesome, and being transformed into glory usually doesn't feel glorious. Not yet. Ah, but don't lose heart! The process of being tempted to lose heart is when your heart has reason to rejoice in hope of the glory of God! Trouble is no time for self-pity. Those who know the plot keep heart.

Having a difficult season in your marriage? Wondering if your kid will get through this phase? Frequent antagonism from an unbelieving co-worker, neighbor, extended family member? Don’t grow weary. These axioms aren’t wishful thinking.

There is no time to faint because God wills answers, God wills fruit, God wills mercy, and God wills glory. Here is a weltanschauung without wobbles. So Christian, keep heart!

Brothers, do not grow weary in your praying, in your seed sowing, in your gospel ministering, in your trouble enduring. Believe what is true, that God answers, God gives fruit in season, God delights to show mercy, God is preparing you for an eternal weight of glory. Keep heart! (And keep company!)

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. (2 Thessalonians 3:16 ESV)

This sermon started a couple weeks ago while working through my regular Bible reading plan. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 provoked me in a couple ways.

“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” (ESV)

The first thing that I thought was that I wanted to see what the Greek word was behind "grow weary" and then see if it's used in other verses. The second thing I thought was that it really seems like one of those exhortations that can feel useless because it states the obvious.

Any husband learns quickly the single most counterproductive instruction in the English language. Not only does it not typically hit the target, the exhortation accomplishes the opposite. When you are in a discussion or situation when things are tense, or are starting to get that way, and you say, "Calm down,” has that ever calmed anyone down? It’s the same when you say, "Just relax."

So now let's say you were in a situation that was hard enough to make you tired, as is the reason why it's called a "hard" situation, and you are looking haggard like a rubber band that’s been holding your mailbox together for twenty years, and someone said to you, "Hey, don't be tired!” You might have some choice words for that fellow.

But there it is from Paul to the Thessalonians: “do not grow weary.”

In context, it’s actually tougher than it first appears. The ESV starts a new paragraph at verse 13, but most translations place this sentence mid-paragraph or even at the end (also represented, respectively, in the Greek UBS4 and TGNT). It follows a long and repetitive stretch addressing the issue of idle brothers, those who made it harder for others because they weren’t willing to work (verses 6-12). They were "not busy at work, but busybodies" (verse 11), working their criticisms from the sidelines. "Do not grow weary in doing good" isn't just a contrast in outcome, it's a call to suck it up when you’re surrounded by annoying people who want you to do their work for them while they’re complaining about what you’re doing.

We'll get to the word itself in a moment. It is used five other times in the New Testament, though this is the only time it's in the form of a command. But it is a command.

It's a command because a certain kind of weariness is a threat. The boat is tipping and taking on water. Your eyes are as wide as the main sail, your heartbeat visible through your life-jacket. People are freaking out. When dad says, "Just relax," the listener might wonder how but probably not why. We need neither to panic and jump overboard or just lay down because then we’re all going to drown.

I find this exhortation: "do not grow weary in doing good" to be relevant. It hits my heart. Because it is a biblical command, it has required my own biblical repentance for disobeying the command.

I don’t want to be dramatic here, but I do work hard to not look like I'm having problems. Especially when fulfilling the role of minister, I seek to do the work and point to the Word rather than say everything I’m dealing with. People want me to fix things, people think because I’m trying to have a good attitude that I must not care about fixing things.

I’m saying this not just to be honest, but for your encouragement. No one lives by faith who does not know great tests of faith. Lewis talked about this in Mere Christianity.

"You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later."

It's why Paul told the Corinthians, "we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself," so that they would "rely not only ourselves but on God who raises the dead," and so be able to "comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9, and 3).

I know what it's like to have the weakness of my heart exposed. I know the temptation to grow weary and lose heart. Though on one hand I would say I've never been tempted to give up faith in Christ, I would also have to say that I’ve been tempted to believe that I could somehow have my faith and not the difficulty. You too? We have to obey: "do not grow weary in doing good.”

When I looked at the Greek text for 2 Thessalonians 3:13 I found that the word for “grow weary” is a form of engkakeo (ἐγκακέω). It seemed familiar, as if I'd spent some time digging into dictionaries for that word before. And indeed I had.

It is the word used in 2 Corinthians 4:1 and 16, though in those verses the ESV translates it as "we do not lose heart." Grow weary and lose heart are two ways to say the same thing. There is always a negative before it in the New Testament, so don’t do it. And we might say the positive alternative, “Keep heart!”

William Tyndale, the first to map the meaning to an English word, translated it as "faynte." Other modern takes have "discouraged" or "give up." A well known Greek dictionary: “to lose one’s motivation in continuing a desirable pattern of conduct or activity” (BAGD).

The word is formed from "in" and “do badly.” So it's doing the bad/wrong thing in the midst of a (hard) situation. By extension it's being overwhelmed when you were meant to be the one doing the whelming. It's being worn down by circumstances when the circumstances call you to work through. You want to quit holding up the roof, but all the other columns went home; it’s up to you.

So this kind of losing heart is culpable negligence. Don't do it. Collapse is not neutral. Collapse is bad! Collapse is disobedient.

The word occurs six times in the New Testament in at least four contexts, four arenas in which you ought not lay down.

The first occurrence of engkakeo is in Luke 18:1. "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart." The parable is not subtle. The widow kept bothering the unjust judge by her continual coming. She didn’t give up, she made him give up.

The point of the parable is that God is better than any human judge, so keep praying. “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?" But the final rhetorical question is, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (verse 8). We have not because we ask not, and we ask not because we lose heart.

Twice engkakeo belongs with doing good. We've already seen the command in 2 Thessalonians 3:14, and it is the word found in Galatians 6:9, "And let us not grow weary of going good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

This work is like seed. We recognize the analogy from the context. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (verse 7). It’s easy to take this as warning only, but it is a promise. Sown seed will succeed—because God is not mocked. Laying down in the ditch beside the field with your bag still full of seed because you are tired and you think the sowing won't work anyway is not just lazy, it’s defiant. Again, it is culpable negligence.

Paul particularly connects engkakeo with the work of the ministry of the Word in 2 Corinthians 4:1. "Having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart." "Ministry" is a form of diaconia, so serving, and the rest of the paragraph is about God's Word and proclaiming and embodying the gospel. It’s sovereign mercy that God’s Word accomplishes His purposes, to save and to transform to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Does God use your breaking points to show that the surpassing power belongs to Him (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)? Does God make it that when death is at work it us it brings life to others (2 Corinthians 4:10-12)? Then keep heart!

The final two uses of engkakeo come in contexts of pain. And here we can see twofold division, which is between our own suffering and the suffering of others.

2 Corinthians 4:16-17, "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."

Ephesians 3:13, "So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory."

Not only does lose heart occurs in both, so glory belongs with both. It is good when suffering increases your capacity. It is good when others suffer for you.

Again, the temptation to lose heart is as necessary as the imperative to not to. You must not quit—but you will know what it’s like to want to. And in that minute, when the towel is in hand and you’re ready to throw, what do you need? This will require a part two of the sermon.

Christian, this is no time to faint because there is no time to faint. The Lord commands: keep heart! Your people need you not to collapse. God is working for your share of glory, and it includes not growing weary in your walk against the wind.

Maybe you’re thinking, “I’ve already lost heart.” Look again to the Lord.

they who wait for the LORD shall renew

Einstein probably didn't define insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. Paul did define mockery of God as sowing one kind of seed and expecting different fruit, which also applies to not sowing and still expecting fruit. Sow, and keep heart!

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7–9 ESV)

The end of the return-from-exile record, all has been heard. And…it's sort of a let down. Maybe this is the kind of story arc that inspired Tolkien to imagine the need for scouring the Shire after the climax at Mt. Doom. Of course Nehemiah, let alone the Holy Spirit, could have finished the story on the high note, but there are some Very Important Principles we can take away.

There are five final issues Nehemiah addresses.

The first problem is that one of the guys who should have been on Nehemiah's side made room for one of the guys who was Nehemiah's nemesis to take up shop in a temple office.

Before looking at the situation, we've actually skipped forward some unspecified number of years in the story. Nehemiah writes, While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem (verse 6). All five of these issues apparently happened after he went back to see the king in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes. He'd first come to Jerusalem in the 20th year (Nehemiah 2:1, 445 BC), so he'd been governor for 12 years. He doesn't say why he went back, but then he asked leave of the king and came to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes died in 424, so Nehemiah’s return was sometime between 433 and 424.

It was on his return that he discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah. Eliashib was the name of the high priest (see Nehemiah 13:28). In verse 4 Eliashib was one of the priests "appointed over the storerooms" (see also 12:44). It doesn’t seem that the high priest would be in charge of the closets, but it also seems odd to have two men both named Eliashib subverting Nehemiah in similar ways. Tobiah was an Ammonite (Nehemiah 2:10) who had married a Jew, so he had family ties inside the walls, and clearly had his own ideas for who should be in charge.

Eliashib prepared for Tobiah a large chamber...in the courts of the house of God. It was a big room used for storing the tithes and worship supplies, and now this enemy of the Jews was given a headquarters from which to do business in what should have been the center of Jewish life. What would this even look like today, giving the local head of Planned Parenthood an office next to the pastors’ offices in a local church? They really must not have expected Nehemiah to come back.

And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. He got the temple rooms cleansed.

Remember in Nehemiah 10 when the people made a new resolve to support the work of the temple? And in chapter 12 the people “rejoiced over the priests and Levites who ministered” (verse 45). They've already stopped; when the cat’s away the mice quit paying their taxes. Here's the second issue: I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them so they left the city and went back to their farms where they could support themselves.

Nehemiah confronted the officials (verse 11). This exact word is used two more times (verses 17 and 25), with the formality of taking them to court. The leaders should have done better; he “set them in their place” (KJV).

In verse 14 we see the first of four calls for God to remember in the chapter. Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. It’s fascinating that good deeds translates the well-known Hebrew word hesed, so “loyal deeds” (NASB), “what…so faithfully done” (NIV). It was “personified hesed” (Breneman).

One of the things that made Israel unique among the nations is that God had given them the Sabbath day as part of the Mosaic Covenant, with particular instructions/prohibitions. Their failure to honor the Sabbath day was one of the reasons God judged them through the Babylonians in the first place (verse 18). But they had become slack.

Here is the third issue. Nehemiah saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also, wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads (verse 15). They were working, which is exactly what the Fourth Commandment prohibits. Others were trading or buying. There were some who were not Jews that were selling, so apparently some of the Jews thought purchasing food/supplies wasn't against the Law.

He confronted the nobles (verse 17).

Some of the merchants moved their tables outside the walls. Nehemiah had the gates shut from Friday night to Saturday night, and even stationed some of his own men as guards. On weekends the sellers lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice, and Nehemiah made them a deal they could not refuse. I warned them and said to them..., "If you do so again, I will lay hands on you." And it’s actually sort of funny, they didn’t come back (verse 21).

Then he set up a more longterm solution, transferring the duties from his servants to the Levites. They were to help keep the temple sanctified, so now also the Sabbaths.

Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love (verse 22). Nehemiah showed steadfast love for God (verse 14) just as God showed steadfast love to Nehemiah.

The fourth issue also had already been dealt with, by Ezra and by Nehemiah, but continued to require fresh attention.

It wasn't just the fact of marriages between Jews and non-Jews that got Nehemiah's attention. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah (verse 24). This was a cultural issue, sure, but even more so a religious issue. How were they going to learn the law of the Lord if they could not understand the language of the law?

So I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair (verse 25). You won't find this sort of corporal punishment many places in the Bible, by example or by explicit "do this" instruction. Somehow it must have made sense to get their attention. Cursed is what they agreed to in Nehemiah 10:29-30.

He made them vow, and reminded them of the soul-implications from the life of Solomon. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? (verse 26) He really did sin, and no amount of public relations spin could keep his behavior or the consequences hidden.

The other nemesis, Sanballat, is referred to again. A grandson of Eliashib the high priest married a daughter of Sanballat, so Sanballat’s son-in-law. This son must have been in a meeting, and either based on something annoying he said or just his presence irritated Nehemiah so that I chased him from me.

Then this "remember" is different. Remember them, O my God, because they have desecrated the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites (verse 29).

The last section isn't as much a new issue as it is a summary of Nehemiah's work to sanctify and supply the worship of the house of the Lord. He established the duties and provided for wood and firstfruits. Rebuilding the house of the Lord in Jerusalem is where it all started with Cyrus’ decree (Ezra 1:2-4).

Remember me, O my God, for good.

Why weren't there better systems/persons in place to keep things running while Nehemiah left? It’s a reasonable question. That said, Nehemiah kept doing what he could. “If on his first visit he had been a whirlwind, on his second he was all fire and earthquake” (Kidner). Nehemiah’s second admin reforms had even more spoude.

Here are some very important principles.

The real anti-climax of Nehemiah is not about Tobiah's storage-closet in the temple, but where is the glory of the Lord filling the temple? Where is the King of David?

Of course He did come, four centuries later, and cleanse the temple. He is coming again to judge the world. And yet we who read Revelation 20 as prophecy of future events believe that near the end of the Millennial Kingdom, after a thousand years of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, ruling in perfect justice and mercy, even then a final resistance will be made.

The forgotten rule of reformation is that reformation is always necessary. Only in the eternal kingdom will we not have sin to battle. Don’t like the current results? Praise the Lord, you’re reading the story rightly.

What a day when the walls of Jericho fell. What a day when the walls of Jerusalem were finished. Praise the Lord when He thwarts the wicked. Praise the Lord when He exalts the righteous. And still there are trees that need more manure every Monday. Keep fearing, keep reforming.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV)

It's good to thank the Lord. Thankful people move in the opposite direction from apathetic or anxious people. Gratitude and Joy know how to stop and smell the roses while also knowing that there will be more weeding to do to keep the roses from being choked.

Apathy and anxiety are weeds, and they both grow in the soil of living only by sight not by faith. When you look around and see all the problems, and you think it's not worth the effort, you do nothing. Or, when you look around and see all the problems, you think there's no time to sleep and AAAAAAA!

Thanks and joy grow in the soil of filtering what you see as you live by faith. Faith doesn't deny good fruit, faith doesn't deny the need to get back into the field and sow and water and weed.

This all connects with Nehemiah 12. There's a list of men from multiple generations whom the Lord used to get the people where they're at. They're back in the holy city, they're back listening to the Law, and they're back with a wall built. It’s time to thank the Lord, then establish pure worship for sake of God’s blessing.

Verses 1-26 include the families of worship leaders (priests and Levites) from the initial return from Babylon to the time of Nehemiah, about two generations.

The first group came up with Zerubbabel, and we remember him from Ezra 1-2 and the original decree by Cyrus that the Jews could head home.

Verses 1-9 are priests and Levites in the first generation of returnees. Verses 10-11 are the high priests from 538 BC until Nehemiah’s day around 445. Then verses 12-25 are priests and Levites of the second generation, followed by some notes on the sources of info. It's appropriate to remember them now as having done the work to get the city and people where they are today.

A few comments about the extra descriptions in verses 22-26. Darius the Persian is distinguished from "Darius the Mede" in Daniel. The Book of the Chronicles could be translated "the book “of day-to-day events” per Kidner) and so it isn't the same as what we have as 1&2 Chronicles.

The group who stood opposite (verse 24) are not antagonists, but antiphonal singers, that is, back-and-forth singers. The group was to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David, the man of God, watch by watch. These are vocational minstrels, so to speak.

Man of God in verse 24 applies to David when referencing his organization of worship liturgy. He's called "man of God" again in verse 36. Moses was the first one to get this label (Deuteronomy 33:1), and Paul picks up on it in his letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:11).

In the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra, the priest and scribe put both names in the same verse for the first time. Some assume that the time of these two men in Jerusalem did not overlap because they aren't directly connected anywhere else. That assumption leads another assumption that someone else must have added one of the names to this verse later. Others assume that because Nehemiah is named first that our timeline of Ezra returning before Nehemiah must be wrong. But the order is due to their positions: governor (who organized the wall building) first and then the priest.

"The wall was finished" according to Nehemiah 6:15. Now the dedication of the wall is described in 12:27. A lot has happened between, but that doesn't require a long delay. Nehemiah was setting up the repopulation, and personally setting up the ceremony (see "I" in verse 31).

The only other comparable moment in Ezra-Nehemiah is the completion of the temple (Ezra 3:10-13). The thanks and joy of the people made a ruckus. There is even more of that here. There were singers, there was a procession, there were sacrifices, and joy is the theme.

They called the Levites into town (verse 27), made sure they were purified (verse 30), and then divided them into to “thanks-choirs” (verse 31). One of the choirs went south/counterclockwise, the other went north/clockwise, and met together in the temple (verse 40). They had strings (harps and lyres v.27), percussion (cymbals v.27), brass (trumpets vv.35, 41), and vocals.

The who thing started because of the report: “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down” (Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah had walked the walls (Nehemiah 2:13-15), and now they were in a completely different condition.

Something like Psalm 147 might have gone with the dedicated joy. Or:

Walk about Zion, go around her,

The phrase On that day in verse 44 and again in 13:1, with another time indicator in 13:4, means the first few verses of chapter 13 go along with dedication day.

That's signifiant because the partying didn’t make them passive. Gratitude got to work. There is a time to sing and a time to separate from foreigners. Joy before the Lord belongs with obedience to the Lord.

In the first section (verses 44-47), men were appointed to take care of the supplies for the ongoing service of worship. Things were set apart (verse 47) for those leading the liturgical charge.

In the second “on that day” section (13:1-3), based on the Book of Moses (in particular Deuteronomy 23:4-7), the people separated those of foreign descent, and see Balaam (see Jim's message). As we've seen, this is less about race/nation and more about refusing to worship false gods, though Israel's relationship between the magistrate and morals was even more direct than ours. This is the only place this vocabulary of the assembly of God is found in the Bible.

Our God turned the curse into a blessing! Their dedicated joy also recognized how God brought them from captivity to blessing.

A man of God is known by his joy in ordered worship and obedience to the Word. The assembly of God is known by their thanks to God and ordering their ways before God.

It's easy to imagine that some of those who read the list of names could come up with a list of problems that So-and-so had (“I’ve really got a problem with Bakbukiah and Unni and their brothers...”). It's easy to imagine someone with a bad attitude watching the thanksgiving-choirs and assuming that it was just a show (“Those cymbals were way too loud.”).

But don't you want to be in the rejoicing ruckus? Don't you want to sing in thanks and work from thanks? Living by faith we need not be apathetic or anxious. We don't need to read a list of shoulders before every party, or to march choirs around the roof perimeter. But we could. We are an assembly of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who turns curse into blessing.

The apathetic aren’t motivated to work on their apathy by faith. The anxious worry about whether they are working by faith, maybe it’s not enough or maybe it’s fleshly. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish and guard you. Look to your God who turns curse into blessing.

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 3:5 ESV)

Automated transcript of the sermon audio, generated with OpenAI Whisper (small.en). It has not been checked against the recording and may contain errors, especially in names and Scripture references.

But the reason we've gathered this morning is to corporately join ourselves in one heart and one voice to sing of our great God and be instructed and refreshed by his holy word. And as we do so, we remember that our help is in the name of the Lord. And our call to worship this morning comes from Psalm 24 verses 1 through 6. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and those who dwell therein for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in his holy place. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul toward his faults and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. And Father as we gather here this morning we thank you that we can stand in your holy place because of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf.

We claim no righteousness of our own, for all of our righteousness is filthy rags. It is in Christ we receive our blessing and righteousness and we humbly come before you now to offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. May you find our worship this morning pleasing and acceptable in your sight. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. We know that hypocrisy is no good. The Lord Jesus made this abundantly clear. Over and over again he called out the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy. He did so so much that the label even Pharisee has become synonymous with hypocrite. Jesus warned the people to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy. He compares it to leaven that spreads through the loaf.

Jesus presented hypocrisy as the sort of leaven that eventually does take over the entire loaf if it is not dealt with. So like a virus, hypocrisy contaminates, it infects, and it spreads through the entire organism. Tolerated hypocrisy does not just take down the perpetrator, it brings down those connected with him either by imitation or exasperation. So those close or connected with the hypocrite are taken down with him either by imitating him, stumbling alongside, or by exasperation. They stumble in reaction to what he is doing or saying. We see an example of this sort of hypocrisy with Peter when Paul rebuked him.

After Peter was playing the hypocrite, Paul says the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. Tolerated hypocrisy becomes total hypocrisy. And even the world knows that hypocrisy is bad. Maybe this is the accusation that unbelievers throw at Christians, right? You're all just a bunch of hypocrites. They'll disagree, the world, unbelievers will disagree on many other sins, on most all of them, but this one they like to keep in their back pocket, at least as a weapon, it's not a mirror. Hypocrisy is so hated that it's also the sin that is most often used as a scapegoat for why former churchgoers left the church.

We've heard this sort of phrase, I grew up Christian, but all the hypocrisy drove me away." It's sad that a lot of the time that statement is true. It's revealing and pointing to something that is true. Although people are accountable for their own unbelief, God did instill causality into the created order. So our hypocrisy can and does drive others away from the gospel. what it means is saying one thing and doing another. We say one thing and we do something else or we act one way in public and in another way in private. So this is indeed a dangerous and wicked sin and it is a cause for stumble like I said in those who observe the hypocrite either through imitation or exasperation. So apart from the sin of hypocrisy, hypocrites are also condemned for leading others astray. The hypocrisy, for example, of parents that leads their children to reject the gospel is piling sin on top of sin. So we all know this.

We talk about this sort of thing a lot. We hear about this a lot. It's talked about plenty of times and rightfully so. So it's not hypocrisy that that I wanted to address in this exhortation. I'm sure we have all that under control. There's a near cousin to hypocrisy that isn't talked about as often, but one that is just as vile and wicked. Where hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another, its cousin, Guile, is saying one thing but thinking another. The sin of Guile, or what the some Bible translations called deceit, is to some degree more wicked than hypocrisy because it is intentionally misleading and misdirecting for the purpose of selfish gain. It's like the addressed in Psalm 55 21 his speech was smooth as butter yet war was in his heart his words were softer than oil yet they were drawn swords guile is intentional deception rooted in selfish ambition it's a bit more actively wicked than not living up to the moral standards that you're promoting.

Guile is also, to some degree, more dangerous than hypocrisy because it's more difficult to pinpoint, address, and then root out. Guile is rooted in our motives. It's the disposition of our hearts. It's where our thoughts are directed. We can be saying and doing good, and yet all for the sake of selfish ambition. It's when we're demonstrating Christian virtue, we're serving and teaching others, but for the end of self-promotion and praise. Guile is rooted in selfish ambition, but it is watered and nurtured with bitter jealousy. We see the fruit of others, and our heart leads us towards envious competition. We want to showcase wisdom, knowledge, and good works so that others would notice and praise us.

This is saying and doing one thing, but thinking and feeling another. So after telling his audience that not many should become teachers because of the danger of the tongue, the Apostle James then contrasts worldly wisdom with heavenly wisdom in chapter 3. In verse 13, James asks, Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct, let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but as earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice."

James says that in grasping for that which is not given, through bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, a Christian lies, is false too, is deceptive against the truth. He is living a lie. This sort of grasping is not just evil, but it says is demonic. This is Satan's attempted a serpation of God's throne. This is the temptation that the serpent used to deceive Eve. And this leads to disorder and every vile practice, James says. There is a way to outdo one another in showing honor. The Bible does call us to do so. And there is also a good way to outdo one another with motives for praise and gain. The Bible also does draw us to that sort of motivation.

But the praise and gain that we are to seek through our good works is to be sought from God, now and in the life to come. It is not selfish gain rooted in bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. James calls this sort of approach that we are to pursue the meekness of wisdom. That's how we are to pursue doing good works, not out of bitter jealousy or selfish ambition. It's not just our works that matter, our motives and aims count too, and are eventually made manifest. Pretense and guile manifesting in a church community are killers of order and joy. But good conduct done in the meekness of wisdom is what promotes flourishing and peace.

In James chapter 3 verse 17 he continues and says, but the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

If we lack a harvest of righteousness in any areas of our lives—family, work, church, perhaps it's because we haven't been sowing in peace but rather in strife and bitter jealousy. So if this brings to light sin that needs confessing or perhaps there are other sins that need to be dealt with now is a good time to confess those. So you're invited if you desire and are able to kneel in humble confession before the Lord and then I'll pray for us us corporately. Let's pray. Father, we confess that we are a people with not only impure words and actions, but also impure thoughts and ambitions. Even in trying to demonstrate good works, we can do so with the desire for selfish gain.

Forgive us, Lord, for our bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. Forgive us for our falsehood to the truth. Lord, we live in a culture of deception, manipulation, and lies. We are surrounded with envious strife and bitter jealousy. They desire and do not have so they murder. They covet and cannot obtain so they fight and quarrel. We are not a trustworthy and honest people. Grant repentance and revival to our city, state, and nation. May they submit to you and pursue the wisdom that is from above with pure hearts and hands. May we see a harvest of righteousness that is sown in peace. In Jesus name we pray, amen. You're invited to stand for the reminder of the assurance of your forgiveness. In our text today is from Hebrews chapter 4 verses 12 through 16. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked

and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. God doesn't just see our actions and hear our words. His word discerns the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. When we consider our thoughts, when we think about our intentions, we can be tempted to hide. But we can't hide from God. We are fully exposed before Him. And this This God who sees us and knows the intentions of our hearts tells us to draw near with confidence, believing that Jesus was also tempted to sin with His thoughts and His intentions and yet did not.

We hold fast this confession, and with faith in the righteousness of Christ, we believe in his sinless life and atoning work, and we are able to draw near to the throne of grace, to not only receive mercy, but find grace to help when we are being tempted to sin with our words, our deeds, and our motives. We can be wholly consecrated for righteousness, deeds, words, thoughts, and all. We must be. And it's through Christ alone that we are. And that's a reason for us to worship. So let's worship. Our scripture reading for this morning comes from the book of Isaiah. I'll be reading in verses, chapter 29, verses 13 through 24 from the ESV.

So Isaiah 29, 13 through 24. And the Lord said, because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men. Therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder. And the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden. Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, who sees us, who knows us, you turn things upside down. Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, he did not make me?

Or the thing formed, say of him who formed it, he has no understanding. Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off. Who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right?

Therefore thus says the Lord who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob Jacob shall no more be ashamed No more shall his face grow pale for when he sees his children the work of my hands in his midst They will sanctify my name They will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel and those who go astray and spirit Will come to understanding and those who murmur will accept instruction And father, that is our declaration that we will declare of your goodness as we open your word. Father, I pray that you would illuminate it by your spirit for us, that we will draw from it all that you have for us.

Help me, father, as I deliver the message not to mess it up, but we thank you, father, that this is about you and about what you have said. And may we be edified and blessed as we sit and consider what you have for us this morning. We pray in your son Jesus' name. Amen. You may have noticed I'm not Shawn. Shawn and Mo are taking a well-earned vacation and getting away over to Moscow as their daughter attends a conference over there. So hopefully they're getting refreshed after a whirlwind few weeks with a wedding and all. When the Bible mentions something once, it's enough to warrant our attention. When it mentions it several times, we better pay close attention.

When it refers to it ten or more times in seven books of the Bible running from numbers all the way to revelation, that should really arouse our curiosity. The something I'm referring to is the story of Balaam, the seer, found in the Book of Numbers and the ensuing sin of Peor. In my regular read through the Bible, I have been struck how often Balaam and or the sin of Peor is mentioned. Evidently, this was something that lived on in infamy in the minds of the Jewish people.

ten times throughout the scriptures. This is brought back to remembrance. From the time when the event took place to when it is last mentioned in the book of Revelation, about 1,500 years have elapsed. That's a long time for something to stay in the nation's collective memory. Now, anybody who grew up in Children's Sunday School knows the part Balaam's talking donkey, but the real lesson is to be learned have often been overlooked. Balaam is not someone to emulate. One of the lessons learned from the story, besides paying attention when a donkey talks to you, is to examine our motives when we think we are following the Lord's leading. We are going to dig into this interesting bit of Israel's history and find out why Balaam's actions were so grievous that it earned him a place in the Hall of Shame.

So let's begin by setting the scene. Israel is nearing the end of 40 years of wandering in the desert for refusing to enter the Promised Land the first time God said enter. After going in circles for 40 years, Moses under God's direction is now leading the people towards the Promised Land located west of the Jordan River. To get there, they have to cross the territories occupied by the Amorites ruled by King Sihon and the land of Baishon ruled by King Og. The Amorites were an ancient Semitic people descended from Noah's son Ham. The land they occupied had once been occupied by the Moabites until they had lost it in a war.

And among the gods they worshiped were gods such as Martu, El, Baal, Azura, Ishtar, and Sin. So they had a plethora of gods they worshiped. And their religious practices included idolatry, divination, ritual sex, and both animal and human sacrifice. Their sin was such an abomination to God that he later ordered Israel to completely wipe them out. They are mentioned in the Bible as far back as Genesis 1516, where God tells Abraham that his descendants are going to spend 400 years in Egyptian captivity before they receive the promised land. He then says, and they, referring then, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

The back here refers to Canaan where Abraham is actually standing when God spoke to him, or was lying when God spoke to him in a dream. God's comments on the Amorites shows that his sovereign plan extends over all nations, including evil ones. And he sometimes lets them go on for quite a while in their sin. This was hundreds of years they got allowed the Amorites to go on before he dealt with them. And his plans extend to all of them, even though they are ignorant of his purpose for them. The second region Israel had to pass was the land of Beshan, which was occupied by people known, among other things, for being giants.

Og was their king, and they were the last of a mysterious race known as the Refim. To emphasize their size, we are told in Deuteronomy 3.11 that Og's bed was made of iron and was 13 ½ feet long. Beshon sat largely in what is called the Golan Heights today. It was a very lush area known for its strong cities and abundant livestock. We are not told much about their religious practices, but it was likely similar to the Amorites and other Canaanite cultures around them. In later times, Beshan became a symbol of excess and decadent living. The prophet Amos referred to it many years later when he was insulting the rich women of Samaria by calling them the cows of Beshan and rebuking them for being calloused to the suffering going on around them.

So even Bayshaun had a legacy in the people's minds, as this opulent, rich place, and yet very decadent, very excessive in our living. Deuteronomy 9, four through five tells us that God drove these people out of the land because of their extreme wickedness. And elsewhere in Psalms it refers to the strong bulls of Bayshaun, we're just saying that, as symbols of the people's pride. Now Numbers 21 introduces the events leading up to Balaam and Baloch's bargain. It tells the story of Moses requesting permission to pass through the Amorites territory only to be denied and then attacked by Sihan's army who ends up being completely defeated.

And then following this defeat, King Og, who's next in line, his forces preemptively attack Israel and they are also completely destroyed by Israel who then occupies the land and then later this land if as you read the scriptures we'll learn this we're still on the east side of the Jordan River but later that piece of land is going to be given to the half tribes of Manasseh as a part of their inheritance. Well this sets the stage for Balaam and Balak's unholy alliance so and if you want to track along with me you can flip over numbers at 22.

starting there we read then the people of Israel sat out encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho and Balak the son of Zipper saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites and Moab was in great dread of the people because they were many Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel and Moab said to the elders of Midian this horde will now lick up all that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field. So Balak, the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, at Pethor, which is near the river in the land of the people of Amoth. And to call him saying, Behold, the people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth and they're dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed and he whom you curse is cursed." So we're now introduced to Balak, King of Moab. The

Moabites were descendants stemming from the incestuous relationship between Lot and his older daughter found over in Genesis 19 36 through 37. They too by now were a polytheistic religion with their primary God being Kimosh who is referred to in 1st Kings 11 7 as the abomination of Moab. Like the Amorites and the people of Beshan, their worship rites also involved idolatry, child sacrifice, and and ritual sex. Chemosh was considered a god of war. It was one of the gods Solomon later built a high place to when he is corrupted by his Moabite concubines. You can't make this stuff up. The wisest man who ever lived builds an altar to a false god that was requiring child sacrifice.

It's just amazing when you read this, but I digress. back to the story. Balak, to say the least, is worried as he observes what Israel has done to Sihan and Ag. He knows Moab itself has been defeated in the past by these groups and he's afraid that they're no match for Israel. So he complains to his counsel, this horde will now lick up all that is around us as the ox licks up the grass of the field. And he decides to resort to supernatural means to try to fight them. He seeks to hire a local soothsayer named Balaam. Now ironically, the common Hebrew meaning for the name Balaam is swallower of the people. Balak tries to hire a guy whose name literally means the thing he's worried that Israel's going to do to him and his people.

He's thinking these Israelites are going to lick us up like the ox, lick up the grass, so he hires a guy named Devourer of people. Perhaps God is showing a sense of humor here. It is normal for those cultures to place faith in divination and sorcery to accomplish their goals. There is some indication that demonic forces may have been at play here, for Balaam was well known and he was also for hire. He apparently was good at what he did because he was commonly sought out to pronounce blessings and curseings on individual groups and people. And I'm assuming he wouldn't be hired so often if he didn't actually have some effect.

So that's why I speculate that perhaps demonic forces were at play. Some of what we know about Balaam comes from an archaeological discovery made in 1967 at Deir Allah in modern day Jordan. It is commonly called the Balaam inscription. And it begins with these words, warnings from the book of Balaam, son of Beor, the man who was seer of the gods. The inscription describes the visions of Balaam telling of the gods' anger with men, an impending doom, and how Balaam in this dream pleads with them. It's filled with descriptions of gods and goddesses, birds and omens. This tells us that Balaam wasn't a man devoted to the true god, but counted him as just one more deity in a catalog of gods.

Who do you want me to beseech today? Just give me some money and we'll talk to whoever you want me to talk to. In Numbers 22, 4 through 14, continuing on, we read that Balak's first efforts to hire Balaam, where he sends a delegation with Divenor's fees in hand. And Balaam tells them to spend the night while he waits for a word from the Lord. So starting in 22.9, we read, and God came to Balaam said, who are these men with you? And Balaam said to God, Balak, the son of Zipper, son of Moab, he has sent to me saying, behold, the people has come out of Egypt and it covers the face of the earth. Now come curse them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them and drive them out.

But God said to Balaam, you shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people for they are blessed. So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balaak, go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you." So the princes of Balaam rose and went to Balak and said, Balaam refuses to come with us. So far, so good, Balaam appears to be obeying God with the whole heart. Keep in mind now, Balaam is not a Jew and likely of Aramaic or Mesopotamian descent. And later in the book of Joshua, he is mentioned as the one who practiced divination or sorcery, which was something that God forbid Israel to practice. Well, Balak isn't willing to take no for an answer, so he sends another envoy made up of higher ranking of individuals and he sweetens the offer with the equivalent of a blank check. He tells Balaam, I will surely do great honor and whatever you say to me I will do. And once again Balaam seeks a word from the Lord and again Balaik's offer, and again the Lord rejects Balaik's offer. Look at verses

18 through 21. And Balaam answered instead of the servant of Balaik. Though Balaik were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. So you too please stay here tonight that I may know what more the Lord will say to me. And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, if the men have come to you to come to call you rise, go with them, but only do what I tell you." So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the Princess of Moab. Again, it appears Balaam is trying to do right by God, although we'll see from some of the other biblical writers criticisms of him in a few minutes that his motives were not wholly pure. This is where the story is, it gets extra perplexing because as will see, God has told Balaam to go, but then in verse 22 we read, but God's anger was kindled because he went and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way of as his adversary. Numbers 22, 23 through 35 goes on to describe how the

donkey kept stalling because he saw an angel of the Lord with a drawn sword, but Balaam didn't see it. The donkey bears the brunt of Balaam's wrath until the angel opens his eyes to see what is going on. And so picking up the story at verse 31 we read, then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand and he bowed down and fell on his face and the angel of the Lord said to him, why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside for me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live. Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have sinned for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore if it's evil in your sight I will turn back. And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, go with the men but speak only the word that I

tell you. So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak. So what's going on here? The Lord told Balaam in verse 20 he should go with Balak's men, but in verse 32 the angel says, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. This is an example where God will permit something that differs from from his revealed will for the sake of exposing impure intentions or motives. As we'll see, Balaam's motives were not purely centered on what God wanted. Psalm 106, 9 through 15, as an aside, gives an example of this kind of permissive will of God as it recounts what happened during Israel's exodus from Egypt.

The Psalmist writes, and kind of follow along here, it's interesting, the progression. But the Psalmist writes, he rebuked the Red Sea and it became dry. And he led them through the deep as through a desert. So he saved them from the hand of the foe and redeemed them from the power of the enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries. Not one of them was left. Then they believed his words. They sang his praise. But they soon forgot his works. They did not wait for his counsel. But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness and put God to the test in the desert. He gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them."

The psalmist is recounting the events found in Exodus 15 where God has just destroyed the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. The people celebrate by singing the song of Moses, and then the next thing we read is that they're complaining because they're thirsty. There are numerous places in scripture where God either orchestrates a situation else allows men to pursue their own desires to test the motives of their hearts. God allowing Israel to have a human king for example is another example. It appears allowing Balaam to meet Balak was another case of him letting a situation play out. God sometimes allows what he does not approve of for the sake of testing, teaching, or judging.

giving men over to their depravity in Romans 2 would be another example of the latter and so we have to be careful but one of the things we want to draw out of this lesson is we can often convince ourselves God's given us the green light when in fact our motives are not pure and we're starting to look for evidence is to support that we're on God's plan when in fact we're far from it but God will for various purposes for judgment for teaching for whatever he'll allow it to play out and we can take that as evidence that the gods are opening the doors when in fact our motives may not be what they ought to be. As the story of Balaam and Balak unfolds we see three attempts by Balak to get Balaam to curse Israel. On the first attempt he takes him to the top of Baymuth and Baal where he can see only a portion of Israel. There's first location was a place where pagan worship regularly occurred. Its name means high places of Baal. I keep going back and forth Baal, all there's different pronunciations. Evidently, Balak thought this would give the curse extra power

coming from such an important worship site to the Moabites. But God overrules and causes Balaam to give the first of three blessings. And this first blessing emphasizes Israel's unique status before God. In Numbers, 3rd 23, 9 it says, For from the top of the crags I see him, from the hills I behold him, behold a people dwelling alone and not counting itself among the nations. He goes on to affirm that God has not cursed Israel but in fact blessed it unlike any other nation. So, Beelac takes Beelam to the top of Pisgah where he could see more of the Israelites and Balak's second attempt at a curse results in another blessing that explicitly says Israel will rise up like a lion and overcome its prey and again we see Balak's anxiety increasing like well you didn't see all of them so we're gonna move over to this location where you can see more of them and by the way this is another mountain controlled by another God and we're gonna get all the gods in play here we're going to bring all the forces to bear. So starting in verse 21 we read,

The Lord their God is with them and the shout of a keen is among them. God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel. What has God wrought? Behold a people as a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself. It does not lie down until it is devoured the parade and drunk the blood of the slain. This blessing doubles down on the first and shows that Israel is not only God's chosen people but that they would ultimately prevail over those who oppose them. As a side note this location is also very close to where God eventually would take Moses to overlook the promised land before he dies. But now Belech is more than by now he's more than irritated and figures the third time is going to be the charm.

He takes Balaam to the top of Mount Peor which overlooks the desert and they can now see the entirety of the nation of Israel. This location is associated with a different god, the god Bael Peor. These polytheistic religions tended to believe that gods ruled over certain geographic locations so by moving around Balaam was trying to bring as many of the gods into play as he could to curse Israel. Once again Balaam has no choice but to bless Israel. Notice something different about this third blessing though starting in 24-1. When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel he did not go as the other times to look for omens but set his face toward the wilderness and Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe and the Spirit of God came upon him and he took up his discourse. Unlike the previous two blessings, Balaam did not resort to looking for omens before pronouncing a blessing. This time he was overcome by the Spirit of God as he spoke. This third blessing builds upon the first two and reiterates that Israel will become a

strong nation and it's keen more exalted than the other nation's kings. He says that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse it, which was obviously a pointed jab right at Balak. At this point, Balak is furious and tells Balaam the deals off. He can go home and not expect any payment for services rendered. And then Balaam then enters, utters his fourth and final blessing starting in verse 15 of chapter 24, which contains a future prophecy. He says, the Oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, the Oracle of the man whose eyes is opened, the Oracle of him who hears the words of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty falling down with his eyes uncovered. I see him but not now. I behold him but not near. A star shall come out of Jacob and a a scepter shall rise out of Israel.

It shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed. Seir also, his enemies shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities. Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction. And he looked on the Kenite and took up his discourse and said, enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock. Nevertheless, cane shall be burned when Azure takes you away captive. And he took up his discourse and said, alas, who shall live when God does this?

But ships shall come from Kiddom and shall afflict Azure and Eber, and he too shall come to utter destruction. So all of that for us who are ignorant of the geography and the allegories and the illusions that are weird like what's he talking about we just know there's a trouble for a bunch of people right but it's really fascinating when you dig into what he's actually prophesying. He's prophesying that a future ruler or a rise who will have complete dominion and obviously referring to Christ. The persons and places mentioned refer to some of Israel's nadir and present enemies like Moab, as well as to future kingdoms far and wide.

It predicts the future rise of Assyria, Kenites, Cain, Babylon, Azure, and other western powers, possibly Greece and Rome. All of these will be subject to the future star of Jacob. Well things didn't go as Balak hoped for, and that brings us then to the end of chapter 24 of Numbers and the end of Balaam and Balak's association. Or does it? We need to look briefly at one more event in Israel's history and then we can begin to understand why so many biblical writers keep warning about not being like Balaam. The event I'm referring to picks up right away in the next chapter, chapter 25 of Numbers. It's the story of Israel falling into Baal worship at Peor.

The story is relayed in just a few verses, but the impact it made in the minds of the future generations of Jews was huge. Starting in chapter 25 verse 1 we read while Israel lived in Shittim the people began to horror with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and the Lord said to Moses, take all the chiefs of the people and hein them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor. And behold one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family in the sight of Moses and the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel while they were weeping in the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. And when Phineas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron,

the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were 24,000." In a few more verses. And the Lord said to Moses, Phineas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, behold, I give him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made a tomen for the people of Israel. Consider Israel's timeline as a nation just before and after the story of Beelik's attempt to curse them. They are just coming out of 40 years of wandering because of disobedience when God gives them a tremendous victory.

They are just coming out of the 40 years and God gives them this tremendous victory over King Sihan in Og. And then God uses Balaam to pronounce tremendous blessings upon them. And then the next thing we read is that they're in the middle of Baal worship. And they're whoring with the Moabite women who convinced them to worship the worship Baal. Hello? Who led you out of Egypt? Who captured Fedding Clothes for 40 years in the desert? Who just enabled you to clobber two powerful kings? Who just declared you his chosen people? Who will be greater than all the nations of the world? This timeline would be laughable if it wasn't so unbelievably tragic.

It is no wonder that God's judgment was so severe on Israel for their sin at Peor. They wouldn't soon forget 24,000 of their friends and family dying. Now that we have all that history, we can begin to learn why Balaam isn't quite what he seems to be from a simple reading of those passages. One of the clearest pieces of evidence is found in the book of Revelation where Jesus is speaking to the angel of the church in Pergamum. And starting in verse 12 he says, the words of him who has the sharp two edged sword, I know where you dwell where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you were Satan the Wells. But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food, sacrifice to idols, and practice sexual immorality.

So then you have some who hold the teachings of Nicolaitians, therefore repent, if not I will come to you soon, and war against them with the sword of my mouth." This clearly indicates that although Balaam did not curse Israel as Balak wanted, he still found a way to undermine Israel's relationship with God. He gave Balak suggestions on how to corrupt Israel. This has corroborated in Numbers 31 where we read about God directing Moses to make war on the Midianites who were complicit in drawing Israel into the Sennepiore. They were constructed to destroy everything, but upon returning from battle, Moses learned that they had taken captive some of the women and the livestock and other goods.

It was also during this campaign that Balaam was killed. So I'm flipping back and forth trying to again show the history and why people had such a abhorrence for Balaam. You understand what's going on with the Moabites and the Sin of Peor. With the Midianites, also a people group had also been involved in that sin. And so part of God's judgment later on, he says, hey, go in and wipe out the Midianites. So he sends off the Israelites to go take them out, scorched earth, nothing left. They disobey, they come back with some of the Midianite women, some of the livestock, and the other goods. And Moses is, let's just say, not happy.

So in chapter 31, verse 14, Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds who had come from service in the war. And Moses said to them, have you let all the women live? Behold, these on Balaam's advice caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor. And so the plague came upon the congregation of the Lord. He's like, what on earth are you doing? These are the people that caused us that big sin. Don't you remember 24,000 people that died? What's wrong with you? You can just hear Moses' frustration. Moses indicts Balaam as the instigator of the Sennepior that led to 24,000 Israelites dying by plague.

In addition, several other passages revealed that Balaam's motives were not pure, even as he blesses Israel. In Deuteronomy, we read God's instruction about who is to be excluded from the assembly of the Lord. And in Deuteronomy 23, three through six, it says, no Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the 10th generation. None of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt.

And because they hired against you, Balaam, son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse you. But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. Instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you. Because the Lord your God loves you. You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever. And again you can just see and understand how ingrained in the Israeli mind this occasion was, this sin, and they keep referring back to it. This reference makes it sound like Balaam was more than willing to curse Israel, but God prevented him from doing so. And see also to back that up Joshua 24 9 and Nehemiah 13 2. I'm not going to go there. Joshua 13 22 mentions Balaam's death and describes him as someone who practiced divination, which again I mentioned earlier was something God had forbidden by, who had been forbidden by God. The memory of the sin of Peora comes into play in Joshua 22 when we read about the tribes that were given an inheritance on the east side

of the Jordan. And if you remember that story, so now they're beginning to enter into the Promised Land and some of the tribes have Tribe of Manasseh and I, a couple others, said, hey this land here on the east side of the Jordan looks good to us. Do you mind if we get if we inherit this and they finally bargain and Moses says well as long as you promise that you can put leave the kid the wife and the kids here but you guys better cross over and help us do business on the west side and they said we promise we'll do that and so it's agreed to give them that land. Well after all the conquest have gone on and they've now starting to settle on that east side of the Jordan they actually begin to erect an altar.

And word gets out to the rest of the tribes that have crossed the Jordan. Hey, our other tribes, they're building an altar. They're setting up false worship. And they actually pick up arms. They're getting ready to go over there and do some serious business. And they're very concerned. And they come over ready for war. And they go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, time out. We're not setting up worship here. We're setting this up because we live a long ways from wherever that recommended, or where God's going to say worship should occur. We're going to be a long ways away from it. So we want to set up an altar here as a memorial so we can point our kids to it and say, hey, remember the God we serve, but we're not going to do worship here.

We'll do worship where God tells us to do worship, which then gets everybody to calm down and they're okay at it. But in that whole argument that goes on, it was wrongly assumed by the other tribes that they were about to repeat the sin at Pior by setting up false worship. So again, they bring up that remembrance of, you're about to do the exact same thing that got us in trouble. They said, no, no, no, no, we're not doing that. And then in the book of Micah, the prophet rebukes Israel for turning away from the Lord and reminds them of the incident with Balaam. In chapter six of verse five, he says, oh, my people, remember what Balaam, king of Moab, devised and what Balaam, the son of Bior, answered him.

and what happened from Shidom to Gilgal that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord. And it's not just the Old Testament that keeps making reference. We can go, I already took you to Revelation, but let's look at a few more real quickly in the New Testament. Several writers state that prophet was Balaam's motivation. In chapter two of Peter's second epistle, he's blasting false teachers. And in verse 15 and 16, he says of them, forsaking the right way they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression. A speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

And in Jude 1.4, Jude writes, for certain people have crept in on notice who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. And he goes on in verse 11 to include Balaam in a list of examples of certain people he had his warning about. Woe to them for they walked in the ways of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. So again, I said Balaam made it into the Hall of Shame and I would think being counted among those people certainly counts. Various theologians have variously categorized Balaam's sin as greed, deception, compromise, and double-mindedness.

The biblical text makes it clear that he was a man who appeared outwardly compliant in his actions, but inwardly corrupt in his motivations. The story serves as a cautionary tale for us today about letting anything other than simple faith and obedience motivate what we do to our service to God. Many Christian endeavors throughout history have ended up in disaster because of motives that weren't pure. It is possible to convince ourselves that our motives are true when they aren't. Proverbs 16 too tells us, all the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the Spirit. There are times we know our motives aren't right, like in James 4.3.

You ask what you but you do not receive, because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passion. Or in Philippians 1.15 through 17, some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel, the former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. And then also in Isaiah 29, 13, this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me. And then lastly, Matthew 6, 1, beware of practicing your righteousness before other men in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

So lots of scriptural evidence here of the possibilities of us doing good things, right things, for wrong reasons. Sadly, the Balaam problem isn't a rare one off. Consider all the modern day pastors who have caused harm to the gospel witness with therapy, apparent financial motivations, or the slate of well-known pastors who've lived a double life in sexual sin while preaching against it. It seems like I don't think I can get three days in a row without hearing about some other pastor that's fallen. In contrast to this, I glossed over Phineas, the grandson of Aaron, who God commends for taking bold action and stemming the plague that was killing the Israelites.

As soon as he learned of the sexual immorality by a fellow Israelite, that a fellow Israelite was involved in with a Midianite woman, he took a spear and killed them both. In Numbers 25, 11, and we saw, I think, already, God said, Phineas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them. The fact that Phineas was jealous with God's jealousy suggests that the sin wasn't a simple case of fornication, but was likely part of a Midianite religious sexual rights. So when that guy took the woman and they went off, probably there was more involved than just, you know, again, fornication, but again, provoking God's wrath.

And Phineas stepped up. Who knows how many more would have died in the plague if Phineas had not stepped up when he did? This is as pure a motive as it gets. He was consumed with a passion to obey and honor God. And because of his zeal for the Lord, God made a covenant to him in verse 12. And behold, I will give to him a covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel. His deed earned him a special mention in Psalm 106, Word says, then they yoked themselves to the bale of Peor, and eight sacrifices offered to the dead.

They provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. Then Phineas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed. And that was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation. Where else in the Bible we've heard the phrase, that was counted to him as righteousness. An interesting aside here is that one of Phineas's descendants named Zadok who served as the first high priest in the temple that Solomon built. So God honored that promise to Phineas and I think it was the eighth generation Zadok. The first Zadok shows up and he becomes the first high priest in the temple that Solomon builds. And then there's another reference to Zadok or sons of Zadok in Ezekiel 44 where it's discussing a future temple and it says God calls Zadok sons to serve as the inner temple priests.

What to make of that depends on whether you see the future temple as a literal or some type but nevertheless it's interesting to see Phineas's lying continues to be honored that God is even referring to Zadok hence Phineas's descendants as somehow being noteworthy in this in some future. So in summary So there you have the story of Balaam and Balak. On first glance it appears that Balaam is trying to do the right thing, but then we learn that he did not have the jealousy of the Lord like Phineas did. It's a cautionary tale preserved in scriptures for us to learn from so that we might not deceive ourselves by looking good on the outside when our motive is not solely what pleases God. This kind of godly jealousy is not automatic because of our fleshly desires. Those desires must be constantly put to death and the right motives of love and pleasing him need to be cultivated by our ongoing repentance and delighting ourselves in him as evidenced by our obedience to him. We don't have to only look to the past to find examples of saints who led

zealous lives for the Lord. I think this morning it's appropriate to recognize John MacArthur, who for 56 years defended the faith with a Phineas-like zeal. He was just a man, but a man who from all appearances served God with pure motives. He's a modern-day example of the kind of unyielding zeal that we should all pursue. So a good place to start the quest to purify our motives then would perhaps to be pray as David did in Psalm 51 where he prays, created me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. And let's pray.

Well, Father, as we've taken a whirlwind look at this curious story in your word, we see from the testimony of the New Testament and other writers that Balaam was not as straightforward as the story seems to indicate. And Father, we must confess that there are too many times that we ourselves find our motives are not where they ought to be, perhaps out of habits, perhaps duty or other forces are at work on us. And it's not a pure jealousy for your jealousy. Father, we want to be a people who have the right motivations, who have the right heart for doing what we do. For we know when we don't have those motivations, whatever we do is of the flesh, and it will have no lasting fruit, of any fruit at all.

So please, Father, as David prayed, create in us clean hearts that we might serve you in a way that is pleasing and acceptable and holy in your sight, that your goodness would be upon us and operating through us, and that we might bear good and righteous fruit. We pray this all in your son, Jesus' name. As we come to the communion table this morning, we remember Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was before him, set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. That sounds like a verse it is. Hebrews 12 too. John 3 16 tells us that love for his elect was the motive driving the father's decision to send his son to die on the cross. Those verses and many more explain why we are associating here this morning shoulder to shoulder and taking communion together. There are a lot of questionable motives people can have for associating with others, the craving for acceptance, the hope of personal gain, to avoid being pestered for not associating, to curry attention

or favor from others, guilt, coercion, and more. Why are you here this morning? Hopefully not for those reasons I just listed. Good reasons This would include a longing for the Word of God, a love of being with other brothers and sisters, a delight in setting off smartwatch volume alarms as we lift our voices and song, an opportunity to bless and be blessed, or a refreshing spiritual drink for a parched and world-weary soul. The rhythms of the Christian life can easily become, wrote, mundane and exhausting when our motives are amiss, and they too often are. So when we find our external Sunday habits no longer align with our internal heart motives, what should we do? Remember. Remember Jesus, the beginner and the finisher of our faith. He who died for us is calling us to enter into communion with Him so that we might share in His joy. He is the fountain of living water, the one who calls the weary and heavy laden so that he may give them rest.

Come to this table with gladness and thanksgiving and delight in the one who died so that we might live. And let's set off someone's smart watch as we sing. Staying motivated to do the good works we were created for mentioned in Ephesians 2 can be challenging. Maintaining the right motives as we do those works is equally difficult, especially when those efforts aren't recognized by others and the fruit from those works seems so little and Philip kind of touched on that. Sometimes our motives can be for that. Paul understood the slog it can feel like at times and so he encourages the saints at Colossae with this charge found in Colossians 3, 23 through 24.

Whatever you do, work heartily. As for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. The Lord sees your labors and you will receive your inheritance. Stand firm abounding in faith as you do your work. And for the benediction this morning it comes from Philippians 1 9 through 11 and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God and you're dismissed have a blessed week.

The phrase "ins and outs" means not just knowing the details, but knowing the details that might not be obvious. It started with reference to a knowing the ways in and out of a building or terrain. We use it to describe understanding that's better than simplistic or superficial.

I want to apply the "ins and outs" in two ways to Nehemiah 11. First, there are people who live in Jerusalem and those who live out of the city (verses 1-24). Not only that, there are other cities named (verses 25-36) that are in Judah but they are the ones out of the city's walls. That's the easy ins and outs.

But second, understanding these lists of people and places, gets us to the ins and outs of God's promises, and in particular related to "the holy city."

The description, "the holy city," is used twice in Nehemiah 11, verses 1 and 18. These are the only uses of it in the Ezra-Nehemiah record. One door of understanding opens up for us to see the confession and consecration of the people. They are separating themselves, they are a people who have committed themselves to holy ways, and some of them are moving into the city, so, the holy city.

But a second door opens into a wider context. There are only 11 uses of this phrase in the Bible altogether, and just three other uses in the OT. Isaiah prophesied about 250 years before Nehemiah's day about "the holy city" that would awake and put on strength (Isaiah 52:1). Then Daniel prophesied, from Babylon about 90 years before Nehemiah, about how at the end of seventy weeks “the holy city” would have iniquity atoned for and everlasting righteousnesses brought in (Daniel 9:24).

By calling Jerusalem “the holy city” Nehemiah self-consciously refers to these prophetic promises, to God's covenants, as the people return and resettling in their places. That said, the holy city is not quite what the prophets prophesied that it will be.

Let's look at what’s in and out of the chapter and then come back to the ins and outs related to God’s promises.

Remember that after the wall was finished, Nehemiah recorded that "the city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt" (Nehemiah 7:4). The rest of chapter 7 was a list of returned exiles, those who would be eligible to resettle in the city, both to bring it back to life and offer defense. Chapters 8-10 were about the reading of the Law and the people's response to it, and with understanding comes more willingness, and that willingness applied even down to their home address.

Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in other towns. And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 11:1-2)

As people returned from exile they returned to their family lands; "everyone lived on his property in their towns" (verse 3), "in his inheritance" (verse 20). This was right. This was also necessary, since they needed to grow their own food which required land/“fields” (verse 28). But Jerusalem was the capital, the place of the temple, and the special place designated by God Himself for His name to be known.

To cast lots was a religious, not superstitious, means of determining God's will. After Pentecost believers have God's Spirit dwelling in us, along with a completed copy of His written will, so we don’t depend on divine lottery to know God’s will.

Verse 2 seems to describe the blessings and thanks expressed to those who willingly offered to move, or at least their willingness to accept divine delegation. Their lives would be significantly changed, and in some sense there was more work to do and greater danger in the city.

Verse 3 gives a running start as to the kind of people we'll meet as chosen by the Lord of lots to take up a lot inside the city. Israel has one of its specific uses, here a reference to the laity. Otherwise, thus begins the moving directory.

The non-temple-worker groups are first, and specifically, from two tribes: Judah and Benjamin. When it comes to the ins and outs, these are the two tribes who had stuck with David. There is significance in the expectations, not just as the Lord promised a Lion from the tribe of Judah, but also Benjamin, the son of Israel's old age.

verses 4-6

There’s only two actual men named who move in: Athaiah (from the sons of Perez, a son of Judah, Genesis 38:29) and Maaseiah (from another son of Judah, Shela, 1 Chronicles 4:21, not Perez).

Valiant men, “exceptional” (NET) or at least “able” (NASB) men who could help defend the city. We might call them Choice Men.

The connection to Perez is particularly significant because he was an ancestor of King David (as shown in Ruth 4:18-22 and Matthew 1:3), reinforcing the royal and messianic lineage being maintained in the restored Jerusalem. This anticipates “the offspring after” David, who will take the throne of His kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12).

verses 7-9

Of these are men of valor, similar to the valiant. They’re the kind of guys who make a city a destination. From this group also came a couple leaders, Joel the overseer and then Hassenuah the second over the city.

verses 10-14

These did the work of the house of God. Among these were mighty men of valor, an even stronger term than valor/valiant.

If the priests did the ins work of the temple, these do the outs, they were over the outside work of the house of God (verse 16). This may refer not just to property and building maintenance, but to collecting the temple taxes (10:32), gathering supplies for sacrifices, and even helping with security.

verses 15-18

Mattaniah, the leader of the praise, who gave thanks. Note: we never meet a “director of complaints” in the Bible.

Verse 18 has the second reference to the holy city in the chapter.

Here are some gatekeepers and Solomon's servants.

verses 19-21, 22-24

More descriptions related to the king, who gave a command, and then Pethahaiah who was at the king's side in all matters concerning the people. This was not King David, it was the Persian king. Which reminds us that 1) Israel was still not completely free, and 2) they were not yet ruled by the Davidic King, as expected from the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7.

The most interesting part about this list of villages and towns is that we know that not all of these towns were back under Jewish control. There were some Jewish occupants, but the land was not occupied yet! Jews didn’t regain some of these places for almost 300 more years (164 BC per Williamson). For just one example, Geshem the Arab lived in Ono (Nehemiah 6:1-2, and 11:35) was likely considered neutral territory at best.

verses 25-36

The valley of craftsmen (verse 35) was know as an industrial district.

Why would Nehemiah include places that aren't all back under Israel's rule? To appreciate how far they've been brought back by the Lord while anticipating what the Lord still has for them.

Rebuild in chapters 1-6. Revival in chapters 8-10. Repopulation and organization in chapters 11-13. It’s “the holy city.”

But it’s also not completely the holy city yet, not as prophesied, because the Messiah/King isn’t there.

Remember in Nehemiah 9, the people are confessing their sin. They start with praise, including praise for God’s calling of Abram and giving him the land of Canaan. “And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous” (verse 8). The very return of Judah from Babylon is recognized as God’s righteousness.

But that doesn’t mean that all the ins and outs of God’s promises were fulfilled. Even theses lists in Nehemiah 11 are a conscious remembrance of God’s covenants to make a people in a land with a King. Nehemiah expected all these cities to come under the King’s domain, and lists them as if they would be. The holy city was promised to them, and many willingly moved in because they anticipated more.

The next time “the holy city” is seen is when the devil took Jesus “to the holy city” to the top of the temple to test Him (Matthew 4:5). Then when Jesus died, some of the bodies of the saints were raised and “went into the holy city” (Matthew 27:52-53).

And we are headed to a share in “the holy city” (Revelation 22:19, see also Revelation 21:2, 10). Like Nehemiah we wait for the return of the King, when He establishes His kingdom on earth and rules from His throne in Jerusalem for the blessing of the nations.

God has chosen for you to live in your current zip code, not by the casting of lots, but by other movements of His providence. You are where He wants. And so, more than living willingly, live valiantly. Get good at all the ins and outs of doing good for your people, in Jesus’ name.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 ESV)

Sundays after Saturday weddings, let alone late wedding festivities, are a blessing of their own kind. This is the second such Sunday after a Saturday wedding of one of my own kids, and these big life events take up a big portion of heart and mind. So preaching something related seems fitting, and fits with where my heart and mind have been.

Psalm 128 fits. Cal and Bazen had us sing it during their ceremony yesterday; actually, Bazen walked down the aisle to the instrumental version of “Blessed the Man That Fears Jehovah.” It is the first psalm that I remember learning to sing in its entirety (so, different than just lines of psalms; “thou, O Lord, are a shield about me” 3:3; “as the deer panteth for the water” 42:1, and others). There is no psalm in its entirely that I have sung more times; I know all the words by heart (which is, of course, a key feature of singing psalms). Around our sabbath dinner table we typically choose between "Blessed the Man" and the doxology to kick off our meal. And I while there isn't deeper meaning in it, it is providential fun, that in my Bible reading program Psalm 128 has been on July 5 for years (since around 1983).

There is no other song that has caused me to lose my hair more than Psalm 128. In my mind, it is the perfect soundtrack to Genesis 1:28, blessed responsibilities and blessed relationships. It is a Mike Tyson-in-his-prime punch in dualism's throat; it's blessings on earth not as we wait only for what's in heaven. It is a blessing that challenges a man's weltanschauung and changes a man's mind about what it means to be blessed and how to get the blessing. In just six verses there is blessing for a man, his vocation, his marriage, his kids and grandkids, his community, and his eschatology, all wrapped up in jealousabile blessings.

While this could be a psalm that describes the fruitful life or fruitful labor of a man, I think a couple things from the song argue that this is a psalm that stirs up the fruitful wants of a Lord-fearer.

Even as “A Song of Ascents" it is a song of anticipation. The worshipers were going up to Jerusalem, and this song informs their anticipation of blessing. This psalm shows them what the blessings of the Lord look like, it portrays the blessings they should want.

The first part of the psalm is bookended with blessing: "How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD” (verse 1) and "thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD" (verse 4).

Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,

There are two Hebrew words translated blessed in this psalm. Here in verse 1 and again in verse 2, it's asheri, which emphasizes the happiness of all fearers of Yahweh (or as some previous scholars though to pronounce the Hebrew letters, Jehovah). Remember: the Bible doesn’t make distinctions between happiness and joy like we tend to do.

To fear is to revere, to fear is to worship, to fear is to live in light of the Lord like a planet lives in light of the sun. Everything revolves around, depends on, gets life from, the LORD.

These Lord-fearers are law abiders, as in, they obey. "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." The words are sure, even if the typical melody to that song is more sentimental.

And, beloved, this is what it looks like when you pass by the home of the blessed man.

You shall eat the fruit of the labor

This verse isn't immediately about lack of taxation or financial exploitation, but it could get there after some application. This verse also isn't about vacation, but rather vocation. You'll be working, but you'll see the harvest, or at least the paycheck. Fruit is added in translation; the original lyric is "you shall eat the labor of your hands." Again, your hands will be dirty.

“Sweet is the sleep of a laborer” (Ecclesiastes 5:12). Being tired is useless if the Lord doesn't bless the sacrifice (Psalm 127:2), but with His blessing the labor leads to good. Being blessed sometimes feels like not sleeping quite enough, but it comes with some satisfaction.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

This is a family psalm, even more, a father’s psalm.

Responsibilities and relationships, so what it means to be image-bearers. God said it’s not good for a man to be alone (Genesis 2:18), and an excellent wife is a gift from the Lord (Proverbs 19:14).

She may not always feel fruitful. Men, you don't have to flatter, but you certainly better see all the things she's doing that you would have to do (and likely in some cases do poorly) and be grateful for her fruit. Depend on it: harmonious marriages have spouses who are more thankful for their spouse than their spouse thinks he/she deserves.

Wives (and young women desiring to be wives), want to be this blessing. You are not merely eating the fruit of your labor, when you fear the Lord then the fruit of your hands brings you praise (Proverbs 31:30-31).

In the previous psalm children are "arrows" (Psalm 127:4, and "how blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them" (Psalm 127:5). Here they are like olive shoots around your table.

The day after Maggie and Taylor's wedding, in a message titled “Blessed Fruitfulness,” I said that I don't think couples need to have kids AMAP ASAP = as many as possible as soon as possible. It turned out, by God's blessing, that my first grandson was born nine months later. Praise the Lord, and also, we don't have a “grandkid quota" to see who gets more of our stuff when we're dead.

But kids are great. And they make more messes than oxen in the stall (see Proverbs 14:4). Trash. Dishes. Can't find anything because your extra freezer in the garage is too full. A hundred tough questions that they ask, a hundred tough questions that you need to ask. And all are signs of blessing.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed

Look again at this picture; “lo, surely” (YLT), “yes indeed” (NET). This is blessed, the Hebrew barak. It's not just filled with happiness but filled with favor and the favor is a strength for more fruit.

We praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow, and so we pray to the Lord for more. This part of the song must represent a priestly blessing, but we get to sing it on ourselves.

The LORD bless you from Zion!

Zion calls to mind the Mountain where the temple was. It was, at that time, the place of God's presence and strength.

The desire for the prosperity of Jerusalem, and even peace...upon Israel depended ultimately on the coming and ruling of the Messiah.

Your children's children are your grandkids, who are called the "crown" of the aged (Proverbs 17:6). Generations make jealousable. They also are going to take care of you in your old age better than cats.

Two points of clarity.

First, ALL of this song applies to us, Gentile Christians in the church, who are NOT in Jerusalem nor are we Jews making pilgrimage to Mt. Zion. That said, Spirit-filled men will sing psalms (Ephesians 5:18), and so if we are to walk in His ways, then we must sing psalms. AND, as we get these blessings in kind if not in particular, God is using us to provoke a kind of jealousy for the blessings so that those who should be fearing the Lord will return to the Lord and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 11:11-15). Eschatology is about more blessings!

Second, these blessings are for the near future. John Calvin was nervous about this. I like John Calvin so much that I named my only son Calvin. And also, as an example of how we ought to keep reading the Bible, Abraham Kuyper showed how Calvin's life work to clarify and praise the sovereignty of God meant that blessings were possible here not just in heaven. There are terrestrial, not just celestial goods. The implications of this are exhaustive and exhausting, but in the best ways, the blessed ways.

Could you be a workaholic and work instead of worship? Could you depend on your hands rather than God's provision? Could you make an idol of love? Could you seek political success apart from naming Christ? Could you be a man "of the world whose portion is in this life" (Psalm 17:14) as a judgment from God? Yes.

And also none of those qualifications are here. So sing the psalm! Seek the blessings! This is what Lord-fearers learn to want, not what Lord-fearers fear to want. Blessed the man that fears Jehovah and that walketh in His ways.

Train yourselves for being blessed and to be a blessing. Bodily training is of some value, but godliness—starting with the fear of the Lord—is of value in every way. Long for the blessings of the Lord, in the present life and for the life to come. May the Lord bless you!

The LORD bless you and keep you;