April 20 Paths in the Sea

April 19

Paths In The Sea?

Ps 8:8 …the fish of the sea, and whatsoever

passeth through the paths of the seas..

 The Bible is not a science book. But when it mentions things in the realm of science it is accurate. But most people in the world today do not believe that.

Ge 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Scientists now know that the earth was created by a big bang. They also know by study of meteorites that the material in them is the same age as the earth. But they do not know what caused the “big bang”.

Ge 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground,…

Wonderful old Matthew Henry summarized this verse in his 6 volume commentary. He said “And God created man from the dust of the earth….The workmanship exceeded the material.”  But modern science also knows that is not true. A puddle of water had some dissolved minerals in it, then a lightning bolt, or cosmic ray or something caused those chemicals in the water to take on life.

It took a few Gagillion years but the result is a myriad of animals, plants, bugs, birds, and man. The diversity that evolved is nearly unimaginable. From that puddle of water eventually came trees and  fleas, rice and mice, whales and snails, dogs and frogs, slugs and bugs, gnats and cats, etc. Evolution is true and the Bible is false. That is what they want you to believe. Even if scientists have not been able to duplicate the creation of life from dead minerals, they are convinced that God is a liar and they have the truth.

The same is true of our verse today. The psalmist mentions “paths of the sea”. What are paths of the sea and why would they be included in a psalm that is exalting our God? The phrase seems at worst meaningless and at best a poetical expression.

Great Bible scholars like Matthew Henry are silent on this phrase. They could make no sense of it and therefore did not comment on it.

Some history may shed light on it. In the 1700’s when England ruled the seas there was a nautical mystery. It took weeks longer to sail to New York than it did to Newport Rhode Island. Some leading thinkers in England correctly guessed that the sea must have some kind of current that flows from America toward Europe and the ships headed to New York had to fight against the current.

   

Benjamin Franklin helped that study in 1769 by dragging a thermometer behind the ship he was on. He noticed there was a place where water temperature was higher.  He published a map of the gulf stream in England in 1770, which the British ignored for years.

If you had asked the British about our verse they would have scratched their heads and perhaps made a wild guess at its meaning. But today, with our knowledge of the gulf stream as well as numerous other ocean currents the verse makes perfect sense. The inspired author of the psalms wrote “…paths in the sea..” because God knew about them. Perhaps you may think that an ocean current is not a path. But the Gulf Stream is usually about 60 miles wide and about 3000 feet deep. Almost like a huge river.

So what is the point? Only that the Word of God is sure and accurate, even when it mentions things we do not understand.

Ps 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words:

as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Just because you do not understand a passage, or are unlearned about some reference the Bible mentions does not mean the Bible is wrong. It means you do not have sufficient knowledge to understand it.

Scientist take what they know and use it to judge the Bible as false. That silliness has been going on for centuries. The Catholic church locked up Galileo for saying the earth rotated around the sun. Dr.’s in Vienna nearly revolted when it was suggested that they wash their hands between every patient, even though Leviticus describes how to stop the spread of germs.

Le 15:13 And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.

The lesson for today is to know that the Bible is accurate. But while it is not a science textbook, what it does say is accurate. There are many scriptures which mention scientific phenomena that were unknown or not understood when they were written, such as the paths of the sea. I believe they were written for our encouragement that the Bible is accurate, truthful and can be depended on. What a delight to stand looking into the heavens on a clear night and see the handiwork of God. Or walking through a garden and marveling that the Creator could encode all the instructions for tiny seeds to grow into flowers, vegetables, trees, or grass. Let us conclude with the same psalm we started with.

Ps 8:3 ¶ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

Please remember that pure science is limited. If a scientist finds a fossil in Nebraska he can record it’s weight, size, exact location, temperature, and perhaps identify the creature it came from. But he cannot tell how it got there, why it is there or even that it is where the creature died. If the scientists comments on anything he cannot measure with certainty he has moved from science to speculation based on his personal philosophy.

Ps 8:9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent

is thy name in all the earth!

What a fantastic privilege we have to be able to freely read the Word of God. It is a sure buckler for our souls, the Sword of the Spirit and a light for our paths. May we not allow those who do not believe it to confuse us with their philosophy.

Ps 119:89  For ever, O LORD,

thy word is settled in heaven.

 

 

April 19 Old and Poor

April 19   

 Old and Poor

Pr 28:22 ¶ He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye,

and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

If your reaction to this verse was the same as mine you may have wondered “Why is wanting to be rich an evil thing?”  An example may help us understand what this verse requires.

A few years ago a successful lawyer in the town I live in wanted fast riches and thought gambling in Casinos’ was the answer. He wound up borrowing money from people you should never borrow from. Then he gambled away that money. To save his kneecaps he decided to rob a bank. But since he was a lawyer, and college educated he knew how to avoid being caught. Go to a big town, a couple hours away, and cover the license plate with masking tape so no one could read the plate number.

“Be on the lookout for a red pickup truck with tape over the license plate.”  He actually made it about two miles before they arrested him! I bet when the guys in prison found out he was a lawyer they all wanted his advice, until they learned how he got caught.

Our verse says “he that hasteth to be rich….”  The people who run telephone scams from Nigeria love people who want to get rich in a hurry.

But what about the Evil eye?  It does not mean that the person is an evil criminal that does immoral things. The person could even be a Christian and be afflicted with an evil eye when it comes to riches. It means the way they look at people who have a lot of money, is evil.  

And it means the way they look at what they have is also evil. It is a twofold problem. First they are envious of people who have more than they do. “They have too much”. Secondly they despise what they have.  “I have too little”. That attitude is the evil part.

In 1^st Kings 21 we find the story of Naboth’s vineyard. It was near king Ahab’s palace and Ahab wanted it. But Naboth said it was not for sale because it was an inheritance. So Ahab went back to the palace, threw himself on his bed and pouted. Jezebel asked what was wrong and when she learned he was pouting over Naboth’s vineyard she set up circumstances that resulted in Naboth’s death. Then she told King Ahab he could just go and take it. After all wasn’t he the king.

There we have the story of a king who was pouting because he did not have enough! So it doesn’t really matter how rich or how poor a person is. Our verse today can affect anyone who wants to have something right away.

It still baffles me that so many people have not figured out if you spend more than you have, it will eventually catch up to you. Now I am not suggesting that having things is wrong. It is not even wrong to have some goals and work and plan to get something you would like. What is wrong is trying to get rich, or live that way, in a hurry.

People have complained to me that they are so poor they can hardly make ends meet.  Perhaps I am not as sympathetic as I should be, when I see they have a new car in the drive, the latest phone with a $100+ monthly fee, and the latest TV with another monthly bill for cable. They want me to look at the pictures of their boat on an expensive tablet or Ipad. I wonder how they afford all that?  Simple. Credit cards with an 18% interest on their unpaid balance. No wonder they are always short of cash.

Our verse does not condemn any of those things. It says that people who are in a hurry to get rich, (or live like they are) will wind up poor. Suggesting to people they could get along with a few less electronic toys, and stop piling debt on top of debt is out of the question for many who want it all and want it now. They could not imagine how awful life would be if they didn’t have what they think are necessities.

Our verse suggests that they try to imagine what it is like to be old and poor!

This is not a new problem. Ahab was depressed when he could not have Naboth’s vineyard. Solomon, a very rich man, penned the verse we are considering today. He had learned that money and things did not equal happiness.  As you consider this verse you can think of many people who have fallen victim to wanting too much too fast. They seldom have a happy ending.

The Bible has some thoughts on our topic today. May we consider them as we review the blessings that God has given us. Before we gain more we need to learn to be content with what we have. These verses imply we should not seek more to gain contentment but learn to be content with what we have before we acquire more.   

 

Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

1Ti 6:8 And having food and raiment

let us be therewith content.

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:

April 18 Dry Cleaning Won't Work

April 18

Dry Cleaning Won’t Work

Ps 51:7 … wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

The men of the church grabbed him and lifted him over their heads. They carried him around the church while everyone rubbed their hands on him. Who was he and what were they doing?

Several years ago I read an article in the religious section of a weekly news magazine that described the above scene. The man being carried about the church was just one of the members. They were carrying him so the other members could wipe their hands on him symbolically transferring their sins onto him. Then they carried him into a bathroom and shook him over a toilet while the pastor flushed all their sins away.

No that was not a joke. I actually read about a church doing that. I guess they had figured out a way to dry clean their sins. But the Bible requires more than dry cleaning to remove sin.

Ps 51:2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

The old hymn says it well “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”  But people have been trying to solve their sin problems without the blood of Christ for centuries.

Different beliefs have offered a multitude of ways to care for the sin problem. One of the most common is to change how people view sin. The Bible says  “There is none righteous, no, not one”(Rom 3:10) but modern thinking is we are born good, with a spark of the divine and if we nurture goodness and do not do horrible things we are fine. Some religious leaders from the past dealt with sin by excusing it as “errors”. 

Another line of thinking is to admit we do bad things but we are not responsible. If we do bad things it is not our fault because our mother potty trained us too early. It is her fault. Or it is society’s fault. We grew up hungry or poor or any other excuse you want to add to the list. So even if we did something we should not be blamed. People will believe anything that they want to believe. It does not matter how silly it sounds they will believe it rather than admit they have a sin problem .

In the town where I live they have a winter tradition called the “burning of the Boog”.  It is a custom carried on in Switzerland. The Boog is constructed of paper mache and is hollow. People write all their troubles on pieces of paper and put them inside the hollow Boog. Then at some point the Boog is set on fire and all their troubles burn up with him. I doubt anyone really believes that is what happens. But there are similar silly things that people do, as in the flushing of sins mentioned above.

The purpose of our devotion today is to remind us of two things. First that we should not be lulled into a false sense of right and wrong by the worlds standards. There is so much in our world today that is wrong. Courts and judges may have ruled some evil things are legal but that does not mean they are no longer sinful. It is legal to abort an unborn baby, but the Bible says thou shalt not kill. It is legal for homosexuals to get married, but the Bible says it is an abomination. Now it is illegal to label such activities as sinful. You could be arrested for hate speech. Never the less the Bible says;

Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world:

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,…

 Secondly, we should become more sensitive to what the Bible requires of Christians. Most of us are well aware that we should not kill people, rob banks and tell lies. We are careful to avoid sins of commission. But what about those sins of omission. The ones that require us to do certain things, that we do not do.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God,

a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth.   

It is wonderful to read a portion of scripture every day. But this verse says we should do more than just read. We should study and understand what we read.

Peter has a laundry list of what we should be doing.

2Pe 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.

 

It is unfortunate that so much of society has not learned these qualities. It is tragic when we meet Christians who have little knowledge of Christ, are intemperate, impatient, ungodly, are not kind, but declare how much they love Jesus. Yes love covers a multitude of sins, but does not erase them, or forgive them. That requires the blood of Christ.

May we spend a few moments during our day to dwell on our sins of omission, and ask God to bring them to our mind that we might confess and forsake them. God bless you as you seek to please Him.

Let us close with some good reminders from James.

1Jo 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

 1Jo 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

 1Jo 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.