Look at the Bronze Snake!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of this earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

This song encapsulates such a beautiful concept that I've been meditating on a lot recently.  The source for these cogitations comes from a somewhat odd story in the Bible.

I seem to be drawn to odd stories in the Bible...mostly because the more it goes against the grain of what I would naturally think or expect, the more likely there is that there's an important truth contained within it. The strange stories force me to study and contemplate more deeply than the ones everyone preaches about that have obvious practical applications.

With that introduction, I submit for your consideration the story of the "fiery serpents" in Numbers 21!  The book of Numbers is the story of Israel traveling in the wilderness from Mount Sinai to the new Promised land and is chock full of some of the craziest stories in the entire Bible! From the earth swallowing people up, to talking donkeys to spies bringing back gigantic grapes and tales of gigantic people, expect your sensibilities to be challenged when you read this book! (Which explains why it makes recurring appearances in my blog, e.g., Sanctify the Lord (or Moses' Mistake; You Think You're Special?)

Our story we're focusing on today comes in the midst of Israel's 40 year long wilderness wanderings. It's on the heels of Miriam and Aaron's death, Moses's being banned from the Promised Land (if they ever get there!), and even a victory over the Canaanite king Arad.  However, it opens with discouragement.

Numbers 21:4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 

In the previous chapter we learned that Edom would not allow Israel to pass through their borders despite Moses's insistence that they would go straight through and pay for any resources they used. The king of Edom even comes out with an army to ensure that there will be no trespassers. Deuteronomy 2:4-8 gives us the additional information that God had forbidden Israel from fighting with Edom because He had not given Israel Esau's land.  This meant that Israel had to go the long way around...through the desert, as you can note from this map.

The Bible tells us that the result of this detour was the people's soul being much discouraged because of the way. It is very common for us to find ourselves in similar situations. Life is full of ups and downs, victories and defeats, people we respect letting us down, others dying, and sometimes the way is just hard. The people may have questioned God's command. After all, they had just won a battle against the Canaanites, surely they could have won against the Edomites! And yet, here they were, marching through the wilderness the long way around. I am positive they were upset with the king of Edom. How unreasonable! What a jerk! We were going to pay after all! But nooooo, he just HAD to make our life more difficult for no reason at all!  Sound familiar to things we might say? The people lashed out at their leaders, which we often do, and their specific respond is recorded in the next verse.

Numbers 21:5  And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 

Ironically, these are repeat complaints which have already been dealt with several times in Exodus 15-18 and Numbers 11 and 20. Each time God has provided for them, yet they are making the same complaints. How often we fall into the same pattern. Complaining about things God has already given us answers for in the past. We quickly forget God's old provision when we're in a new situation demanding new provision. Unfortunately for the people, there are consequences for not trusting God.

Numbers 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 

The specific punishment about what was allowed in to inflict the people strikes me as interesting, as well as the words used.  The word for "fiery", interestingly enough, is also used to describe the seraphims flying around God's throne in Isaiah 6.  As for them being serpents, the first thing that comes to my mind when the word serpent is mentioned is the representation of the devil in Genesis chapter 3. Serpents are often used in Scripture to refer to punishment or consequences when going your own way (Proverbs 23:22; Ecclesiastes 10:8, 11; Isaiah 14:29; Jeremiah 8:17; Amos 5:19, 9:3). All that to say, to me, the fiery serpents in this story are representative of the consequences of going our own way, of the problem that is killing us as punishment for not trusting God.

Numbers 21:7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 

The people realize their error in the face of the consequences and come in contrition and repentance. But what stood out to me recently was what they were specifically asking for. They wanted God to take away the serpents from them. This is similar to what Pharaoh continually asked Moses to do with each of the plagues...take away the frogs, take away the lice, etc. Each time in those instances God removed the offending punishment, once even allowing Pharaoh to determine the time period when it would happen.  I've often prayed similar prayers and people have also related to me similar prayers.  We usually want God to just remove the problem that is inflicting us. 

• "Just take away my desire for this sinful thing (fill in the blank)." 
• "Lord, just remove these people who cause me to have sinful attitudes from my life." 
• "God, please take away the consequences for what I've done wrong! Shield me from the results of my sin!"

It's a perfectly natural prayer and desire with which I sympathize.  However, I noticed that in this case, the request was not granted.  Notice the solution given in the next verse.

Numbers 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 

This is where the story gets odd, but also where the power and impact of the story comes in!  Rather than complying with the people's request to take away the serpents, God has Moses make a replica of the very problem that is inflicting them, set it on a pole where people can look up and see it, and then AFTER a person is bitten, if they look at the serpent, they'll live.  What in the world is going on here?  There are so many questions that spring to mind when I read this. Aren't the Israelites supposed to avoid making images of any kind? Why make the image of the very thing that's causing the problem...a snake for that matter! The very thing we use to symbolize the devil! (Revelation 12:9) Why have them look after they've already been inflicted with the poison of the serpent? Why does just looking at this image bring healing?  No doubt more questions as well as answers to these questions and possibilities are already flooding your mind.  And unfortunately I don't even have answers to all of those questions! (I know, I know--why are you even reading this then? Please feel free to enlighten me with your ideas in the comment section...but don't leave, stay with me--I do have SOME good things to say!)  Here are the thoughts that come to me.

1. The people were being required to face full on the consequence of their sin up on that pole; to look on the results of their sin which was bringing death.
2. Rather than removing the problem, as God did with Pharaoh (who never repented), God is requiring them to reverse the process that caused the problem. If a lack of faith in God brought on the problem, a renewal of faith in God by obeying this strange commandment will bring healing from the problem.
3. The introduction of an act of faith (i.e. looking at the pole) separates the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats. Rather than removing the consequences from all the people, this leaves the outcome up to the individual. Will they have faith and obey or will they blow it off and die from the snake poison?
4. Lastly, believe it or not, God is introducing a principle that points to a New Testament truth which is immensely applicable to us today answering our deepest problem.

The New Testament often refers to Old Testament passages and brings out incredible depth and truth, even from those which we find confusing (as may be the case for this one).  And Jesus makes mention of this story in the middle of one of the most famous passages of the Bible (though his reference to the story is often unfortunately ignored).  Let's take a look at the comparison Jesus makes. This is POWERFUL so buckle your metaphorical seat-belts!

John 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 

John 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 

Do you see what famous passages this seemingly obscure reference is sandwiched between?  First, the next verse is John 3:16, possibly the most well-known and oft-quoted Scripture in all of Western civilization.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." And the chapter opens with his conversation with Nicodemus about being born again of water and of spirit to enter the kingdom of God.

This analogy completely confused me when I first read it.  Jesus is comparing himself to a bronze snake on a pole?  Uh...weird! Let's skip over that and get to the woman at the well.  But Jesus is making a powerful allusion.

First of all, in what way will the Son of man be lifted up as the serpent was on a pole by Moses the lawgiver?  We find an answer later on in the book of John.

John 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 

John 12:32  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 

John 12:33  This he said, signifying what death he should die. 

John 12:34  The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?

I can't dig into every aspect of this passage (you guys can do some inference on your own), but I do want to highlight John's commentary on what Jesus was referring to when he spoke of being "lifted up". It was the sort of death he should die. And in what way did Jesus die? He, of course, was lifted up from the earth on the cross.

But there's more to the analogy we see at first blush, that we must look to Jesus on the cross to be healed.  Let's follow it through.  What is our problem which brings death as a consequence for our lack of faith in God?  I submit that our problem also began with a fiery angelic serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted humanity to doubt God's provisions and sovereignty, to disobey His commands and go their own way, thereby introducing sin and death into the world.  We've all been bitten in some form or another by that fiery serpent when we don't trust God and go our own way, complaining that He isn't providing for us in the way that we think He should.  The problem lies within our own sinful flesh.  So to follow the story, when we begin to experience the consequence of that fiery serpent bite, in this body of death, we sometimes come to God in repentance asking Him to remove the problem and the consequence. "God, take away my desire for cigarettes or pornography or my temper or my doubts!"  Yet, many times God doesn't directly remove those things to our bewilderment.  If He won't remove them how can we be healed?  Ah, but He HAS provided a solution.

Romans 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 

Romans 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

Let's look at the way the people escaped the consequences of their sins in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Moses made a perfect representation of the serpent causing the problem for the people but without any of the poison.  In the same way, God sent his son in the as an exact representation of the problem--our sinful flesh--but without any of the poison (he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin-Hebrews 4:15).  And when that perfect, reflective representation was lifted up on a tree...on a pole...on a cross...whoever has been bitten by that fiery serpent of sinful flesh can behold the perfect image and live!  Do you see what's happening here?  This story is a type and shadow of the solution to our very deepest problem in this life!  We must turn our eyes to the cross!  We must look to the consequence of our sin which is death, and LIVE!  That is cause for celebration! We can turn our eyes to Him and be saved!

There is one caveat I must make...one danger we must beware of...one pitfall we must avoid in this analogy.  The children of Israel kept this bronze serpent which had healed those who looked on it in the wilderness, and it resurfaces in the Biblical story years later in the time of King Hezekiah.  During his reforms, as he removed all the idols he came upon this ancient relic.

2nd Kings 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 

2nd Kings 18:5  He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. 

The children of Israel had turned the instrument of salvation in the wilderness into a tool of idolatry.  They had missed the point of what the thing represented and began worshiping the thing itself rather than the God who gave the thing.

We face a similar danger of becoming flesh worshipers. It's tempting to hang a crucifix on our mirror or neck or have a nice picture of the crucifixion or last supper on the wall and begin looking at that as some magical charm or even idol. But we must look past the thing itself to the God who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.  We don't worship the broken body or the piece of wood upon which our Savior was crucified...though we must look upon the sacrifice in order to be healed...we don't worship the sacrifice itself.  We worship the One who made the sacrifice. The One who provided a way out of our mess.  Let's not make the mistake of the Israelites in the time of Hezekiah.

In closing, let these words from Isaiah become your mantra.  Look to Jesus!  He is the only means of salvation!

Isaiah 45:20  Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 

Isaiah 45:21  Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 

Isaiah 45:22  Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 

Isaiah 45:23  I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 

Isaiah 45:24  Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 

Isaiah 45:25  In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. 

When God Takes Your Dream

I have wanted to write blog posts about several subjects that I have spoken on in church, but seem to inevitably run out of time to do them justice.  But since I believe the concepts would be beneficial, I decided to post a link to some of the videos so that people can see what I've been thinking about via me speaking rather than writing.  So for what it's worth, here's the latest message I gave at our church!

Here's a link to the church website to access some of the topics I've spoken on...

http://www.altonline.org/?wpv_sermons_tag=michael-schroeder

Running from the Pharisees into the Arms of the Sadducees

I've noticed a trend over the last several years of people railing against the attitudes of the Pharisees and equating modern church leadership or conservative practices with Pharisaical thinking.  Generally, the hardest critics of the "Pharisees" are those who have grown up in conservative church cultures and witnessed abuse of leadership or restrictive legalism.

The word "Pharisee" in our modern day has become a synonym for "legalist" or "hypocrite" or "self-righteous."  Those word are included in the secondary definition for "Pharisee" in most dictionaries.  Merriam-Webster defines the word "pharisaical" as a person who is "marked by hypocritical censorious self-righteousness".

This, of course, is a sensible definition if you are familiar with the gospels.  Jesus often sternly warned and rebuked the Pharisees and when we hear the word, we automatically associate it with indictments like:

Matthew 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 

Many places in the gospels record run-ins with the Pharisees, and Jesus gives us many rebukes against them, which we can find in abundance in chapters like Matthew 23 or Luke 11.

I find though as I speak with people that the concept has grown, possibly beyond the its own reach.  The minute any kind of personal discipline or external standard is mentioned, people who scarcely read their Bibles start quoting verses about "not judging" and are quick to remind us that Jesus's sternest reprimands were for the "religious people" like the Pharisees, while he welcomed publicans and sinners.  The moment any convictions or teachings on obedient righteousness and holiness are brought up, you can be sure the word "Pharisee" isn't far to follow from some offended listener's lips.

Now, before going further, I want to be clear that Phariseeism is a danger.  There is a reason so many verses deal with their errors in thought and doctrine.  However, I find that we forget that not all "Pharisees" were inherently wicked. We forget that this was a historical sect of Judaism that broadly had many of these traits but from which we have heroes of the New Testament such as Nicodemus (John 3:1), Gamaliel (Acts 5:34), and the Apostle Paul (Acts 23:6, Philippians 3:5).  There was a sect of believers from the Pharisees according to Acts 15.

Having said that, though, we obviously want to be aware of "the leaven of the Pharisees" which is "hypocrisy." (Luke 12:1)  One of the greatest follies is in claiming to do things "for the Lord" or be so strict in the commandments and doctrines and traditions that we have constructed around the commandments of God that we, in the end, transgress the very commandments of the Lord we claim to be following. (Matthew 15:1-20)

But I have a fear that, in striving so hard to avoid the one danger we are falling right into the trap of another.  Jesus mentioned two groups in Matthew 16 that we need to be aware of the leaven of...

Matthew 16:6  Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

These two groups are often lumped together in people's indictment against the church. But I believe they represent two distinct dangers.  The differences between the two is highlighted in Paul's trial in Acts 23...

Act 23:6  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. 
Act 23:7  And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. 
Act 23:8  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. 
Act 23:9  And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God. 
Act 23:10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.

Notice which group Paul sides with in this case. The Pharisees. Why? Because of their belief in the supernatural.  And this is what I want to emphasize.

There is a group that is rapidly growing in the church world that wants to get away from the fundamentalism and radicalism of the last few decades.  As the world turns a more and more critical eye to the church, portraying caricatures of uneducated, ignorant hatemongers, there are elements within the church itself that begin squirming and want to get as far away from that as possible.  So we start talking about the Pharisees and how Jesus reached out to publicans and sinners.  We start to toss aside ideas and rules that seem hopelessly outdated and legalistic in the hopes of distancing ourselves as far away from the legalism and hypocrisy that has wounded so many.  We begin searching for ways to establish ourselves in our communities as loving and compassionate neighbors, throwing the doors open wide and producing all kinds of gimmicks to entice people in.  We want to align ourselves with local politics and become heavyweights with positive influence, so we reach out to the community groups that seem to carry the most weight.  And if some of our strict teachings or crazy rules start to offend, we downplay those things, and either don't talk about them or throw them out altogether.  And when we invite a local political candidate or humanitarian cause to partner with our church, we quickly step in front of the older woman who still believes young people should dress up for church and try to schedule things when that one guy who prays way too loud is out of town and explain away the group that believes they see angels and demons every service or the elder who still believes in giving tongues and interpretations. The discipleship class that wants to talk about modesty is cancelled and the enthusiastic convert who preaches on the street corner is asked to tone things down.  After all, we don't want to be narrow-minded and legalistic like the Pharisees...right?

My concern in that in our horror of becoming associated with the Pharisees we are actually starting to become like a group that is little discussed from Scripture, but whose leaven must also be avoided at all costs.  The Sadducees.  And I submit that the leaven of the Sadducees is just as dangerous.

The Sadducees of Jesus's day had become a very powerful sect.  Most of the high priests were selected from this faction.  They were intricately involved in Temple administration and thus were very involved with the political power of their day...the Romans.  The Pharisees mostly came from the common people (contrary to the common way they are described today) whereas the Sadducees were very worldly-wise and politically savvy.  Since they didn't believe in a resurrection or after-life involving Hell and torment or a resurrection to rewards, their focus was naturally shifted to the things of this world.  They wanted to get back to the bare bones basic elements of the first five books of the Bible as the basis for life and rule in this world, but deemphasize all the material following that involved interpretation and angelic appearances and prophecies and Messiahs and heavenly realms.  All that was a distraction from the here and now.  They despised the Pharisees for being so "heavenly minded that they were no earthly good."  Though they would have acknowledged that God sent messengers in the past and appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai to give him the law, their disbelief in angels and spirits, visions and supernatural occurrences in the modern day gave them license to dismiss many of the radical claims of people like those Jesus-followers, unlike the Pharisees, who had to urge caution.  We can see this difference in vivid detail in Acts chapter 5.

Act 5:17  Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, 
Act 5:18  And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. 
Act 5:19  But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 
Act 5:20  Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. 
Act 5:21  And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 
Act 5:22  But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, 
Act 5:23  Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. 
Act 5:24  Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. 
Act 5:25  Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. 
Act 5:26  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. 
Act 5:27  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 
Act 5:28  Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. 

One of the most remarkable things about this story to me (other than the angelic deliverance and the humorous misplacing of the apostles only to find them doing what they thought they had stopped them from doing in the same place as before) is that when the high priest had the apostles back in custody, he doesn't even address how they got out of prison.  Doesn't that strike you as odd?  They arrested these men for preaching in the temple, have them locked away in all safety, all night, with guards posted, but in the morning when they send for them, though the prison is still shut safely up and the guards are still in their positions, the prisoners aren't there.  Then to add insult to injury they are found in the same place doing the same thing as before.  I feel like my first question would have been, "How in the world did you get out?"

Not the Sadducee high priest.  He doesn't believe in supernatural occurrences or angels.  And this is bordering just enough on the weird side that he doesn't want to hear an explanation.  So instead, his first question is, "Didn't we tell you not to talk about Jesus anymore? He's dead so leave it alone!"

But the apostles don't believe he's dead.  They saw him rise from the dead and they saw an angel that let them out of the prison.  Two experiences that completely contradict the Sadducees' basic mode of belief.  But here's what's interesting to me...

Both here in Acts 5 and in Acts 23, the Pharisees and Sadducees differ in opinion on how to handle the apostles.  In Acts 5:33, the Sadducee group takes counsel to slay the apostles, and it's only the intervention of a Pharisee named Gamaliel that saves the apostles from certain death.  Why?  For the same reason as the Pharisees of Acts 23.  "If an angel or spirit hath spoken to him let us not fight against God!"  Or in Gamaliel's words:

Act 5:38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: 
Act 5:39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. 

Though the apostles are spared in this instance, it demonstrates a trait of the Sadducees that scares me.  Since the Sadducees have already dismissed most supernatural occurrences as impossible...even when it's before their eyes, their tendency is just to kill it.  That's a scary place to be in.

Why this long diatribe about two ancient sects of Judaism?

Because while the error of the one is emphasized, the error of the other has crept silently up on us.  It is tempting to group legalistic rules and supernatural occurrences together as a product of uneducated minds.  We in our arrogance know better.  So we dismiss sincere, passionate, excitable, sometimes over-zealous Christians with cynical jokes and knowing sneers, labeling them as Pharisees when they get too close to us and step on our toes.  We mock their super-spiritual religious experiences and condemn their strict lifestyle as suffocatingly narrow-minded.  We scoff at their end-time fervor and dismiss their "words from the Lord".  We smile as they weep at the altar and turn away in embarrassment when they preach about Hell.  And we come up with church programs and talk about grace and decry the Pharisees and become more and more worldly, all the while embracing more and more of the ways of the Sadducees.

My Sheep Know My Voice

My Sheep Know My Voice

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

I've been thinking a lot about being real and learning to distinguish the actual voice of God from my own thoughts and ideas. Living for God is about so much more than being a good person and coming to church occasionally. I want REAL relationship and interaction with the Maker of the universe who has power over every disease, every bit of weather, and every created thing.  But the REALLY crazy thing is that God wants that too! That blows my mind. I was standing on a dock here in Puerto Rico the other day, and while I was standing there, watching the sunset, I saw fish jumping out of the water, lizards scurrying through the leaves and a pelican plunging into the bay to get dinner. And as I was watching all the details in nature, I had a Psalm 8 moment being blown away that the God who made all this wants an individual relationship with us. God wants to know us and wants us to know Him intimately.

But that doesn't mean that we don't have to be proactive. Ephesians 4:14 warns us about being too spiritually naive. We have to know the difference between our Savior's voice and all other voices.

In John 10:27, Jesus is speaking and He says His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Earlier in the chapter, He says it even more clearly.

John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  

10:2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  

10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.  

10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.  

10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

In other words, the shepherd calls the sheep by name and since the sheep know His voice, they follow Him. They don't follow the voice of a stranger, a hireling or a thief because they don't recognize the voice!

In doing a little brief internet research, I read a story about how sheep know the voice of their shepherd and are able to distinguish it from all other voices. A lady was traveling in Israel and as she was walking along the road she saw three shepherds with three flocks of sheep. They met on the road and the shepherds stopped to greet and talk with each other. As they did, the sheep all mingled together forming one huge flock. The woman watched, wondering how the shepherds would be able to separate the sheep and get theirs back. When they left, the shepherds just called their sheep and like magic, the sheep separated into three flocks again and followed their shepherd. They knew which shepherd was theirs just based on his voice.

There are two stories from the Bible that really illustrate this...one story is about a man who did this well and another story is about a man who did not do this well. We'll start with the one who didn't.

This is kind of a strange story. In fact, a girl once told me in college told me that this was one of the hardest Biblical passages for her to accept. But everything in the Bible is there for a reason and this is no exception!

This story takes place after the times of David and Solomon when the Kingdom of Israel was divided from the Kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam had become the king of Israel under miraculous circumstances, and was told by a prophet that if he'd follow God, he'd be blessed like David. But a time came when he compromised because he was afraid that if people went back to Judah to the temple to serve God they would leave his nation of Israel and not be loyal to him as king anymore. So he built two golden calves, one on each end of his country, and said, “You don't need to go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord! You can worship God right here in Israel at these golden calves.” But God was very displeased that he had made these golden calves and that he had made an altar to burn incense outside of Jerusalem, and that people were starting to worship the golden calves instead of the Lord. So God sent a prophet to him out of Judah to speak to him and warn him about what he was doing and how wrong it was. And we know that there are times in our lives when God has told us to do things a certain way but we are worried about losing things. Jeroboam was worried about losing people from his kingdom if they obeyed God and went to the temple in Jerusalem to worship. So he compromised. Sometimes we are afraid of losing things (like our friends, our job, money, power, respect, credibility, etc.) and so we compromise what God has said to do to keep from losing things. But God will always take care of us if we follow His voice. He is a good shepherd and when we follow His voice then we can know He will take care of us. Our story picks up here.

1 Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.  

13:2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.  

13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.  

13:4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

Sometimes we are like Jeroboam. When God gives us a message through the man of God, instead of obeying the word of God, we want to ignore it and kill the messenger. If we can get rid of the messenger then we think we do not have to listen to the word of God that came from him. We think the message from the messenger no longer applies to us. But God has sent men of God into our lives to give us the word of God and we have to listen when the Lord speaks to us and not take out the messenger.

13:5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.

13:6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

13:7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.  

13:8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:  

13:9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

Now this is very important. God had already spoken to this man of God. The man of God has a word directly from the voice of the Lord.

13:10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.  

13:11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.  

13:12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.  

13:13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,  

13:14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.  

13:15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

13:16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

13:17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

13:18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

Why did this old prophet lie to him? This is a terrible part of the story but it still happens today. There are people who claim to be prophets of God, messengers of God, pastors and teachers of God’s word but will lie to you. You may be tempted to listen to them because they are good people or seem to have been used of God in the past. But this is why it is so important to know the voice of God, of our Shepherd, for ourselves. Somebody may lie to you and tell you things contrary to the Word of God! If it doesn't line up with God’s Word, it is a lie.

13:19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

13:20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:

13:21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,  

13:22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

13:23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

13:24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

What happened to the man of God who disobeyed? He was eaten of a lion! The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

When we disobey the voice of God, when we do not distinguish the voice of God from other voices, we open ourselves up to be devoured by the enemy of our souls, the roaring lion, Satan. What happened to the old Prophet that lied to the man of God? Nothing! What does that teach us? It teaches us that it is our responsibility to know what the voice of God is speaking to us. We are the ones who have to take responsibility for knowing the voice of God so that we are not let astray or deceived.

Kind of a bummer story, huh? But don't worry! I have one more more positive one! This is another story that can be confusing to people but it illustrates what I'm talking about well.

This is a lesser known story in the book of Acts and comes just before the arrest of Paul in Jerusalem and the trial which takes up the rest the book which takes him to Rome where he eventually is beheaded by Nero for the name of Jesus. Right now in the story they're traveling from Asia minor where they've been evangelizing trying to get to Jerusalem. They're almost there but have stopped to stay awhile with Philip the evangelist.

Acts 21:10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

21:11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

21:12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.

21:13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

21:14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

21:15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.

As I was reading this story, I was picturing what I would do. I think if a prophet came and told me that I was going to be tied up and imprisoned in the place that I was about to go and then would be handed over to the Romans to be tried (who were very cruel and crucified people) then I would probably say, “Oh! Okay God, I will not go then! Thanks for the heads-up!” And that is what everybody thought who heard it--all of the disciples who were there, they all told Paul, “Don't go to Jerusalem because we don't want you to go to prison or to go and be killed or beaten or anything like that!” But Paul would not be persuaded! The Bible says he was ready to go to Jerusalem! What gave Paul so much courage and determination? He actually explains this a couple versus before in the last chapter when he was speaking to the elders of Ephesus. Let's look at what he told them:

Acts 20:22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:  

20:23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.

20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

He already knew before Agabus came and prophesied what was about to happen! The Holy Ghost had been speaking it in every city! So why in the world would he go through with this? Why would he go somewhere where he knew that bonds were waiting for him?  Some people may disagree with me but I believe it is because he had already heard the voice of the Shepherd saying, "Paul, follow me to Jerusalem and then to Rome." I believe that Paul knew the voice of his Shepherd so well that even when well-intentioned people came and were telling him something different than what he had already heard, he was already so confident in what his Shepherd and told him and where his Shepherd was leading him that he was determined to go anyway. And the people there were well-respected brothers and sisters in the church! Philip, the guy who led the revival in Samaria and won the Ethiopian eunuch and was teleported in the spirit, as well as his four prophesying daughters, Agabus the guy who prophesied the famine in the days of Claudius, Luke the beloved physician who wrote the book of Acts and one of the four gospels... these are people who are spiritual and love God and love Paul. And yet his decision wasn't based on what everyone else in the church thought.

And he, unlike us many times, didn't make his decisions based on how many hardships he'd have to go through. He made his decisions based on the will of God! Paul had a stronger Bond than the ones that were waiting for him in Jerusalem. Paul was "bound in the spirit," the Bible says. He was so close with his Shepherd that he felt he had no choice but to go through with this and do what he was supposed to do. What is God calling you to do that you may be resisting because it may be difficult? When your Shepherd is calling your name and saying, "My beloved sheep, come and follow me. I have a task for you--I have a job for you to do." Are you obeying and following because you know the voice of your Shepherd, or are you resisting because you see that there could be some hardships waiting for you if you do follow your Shepherd? I am not saying that it will be easy. It wasn't for Paul! But God is with you and if you will follow through with what he wants you to do, follow him wherever he wants you to go, then he will be with you and provide the way and take care of you even unto death...even past that! In fact, we see that in Paul's case.

In Acts 23, after Paul has come to Jerusalem and been in the center of two riots, has been taken into custody by the Romans, and kept in prison, in fact, there are even a band of 40 Jews, who have taken a great oath that they will neither eat or drink anything until they have killed Paul! Sounds like a pretty great time, huh? Those sound like rough circumstances. Paul hasn't even been there for a week and already he's in prison, bound, a mob tried to tear him apart, and a group of people has taken a vow to kill him. Just like was prophesied. But look what happens in Acts chapter 23:11, the night that Paul is sitting in a prison waiting to find out what is going to happen to him, and a group of men are deciding they are going to kill him, the Bible says that the Lord stood by him.

Acts  23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

Even in the midst of all of Paul's difficulties that are happening to him just because he felt bound in the spirit to go to Jerusalem (even though it was prophesied that a lot of troubles would come!) the Lord Jesus, Paul's Shepherd, is standing right there, telling Paul to trust him, to take courage and to be of good cheer. Can I tell somebody today that if Jesus is with you nothing is impossible? Can I encourage somebody and tell them that if they are following the voice of your Shepherd you can face anything, because your Shepherd will still be with you! I don't know what you're going through, and I don't know what the voice of the shepherd is leading you to do, but I do know that if you obey him, he will be with you!

If there's anything I want you to take out of this post, it's to seek to know and be able to discern the voice of your Shepherd! We read in the first verse "my sheep hear my voice." That means that God still speaks to us. It means that we can hear the voice of Jesus! But we have to be so familiar with it that we are able to recognize his voice and distinguish it from all other voices even if they look spiritual even if they are from well-intentioned and well-meaning family and friends. We have to know the voice of Jesus beyond all other voices!

I have one final question for you. How do you think the sheep know the voice of their shepherd? According to one article that I read, sheep can come into a fold and a lot of times when they first come into the fold, the new sheep, they follow the other sheep and eventually they learn the voice of the shepherd. You may be in a place where you don't feel like you can distinguish the voice of the shepherd right now. But if you are in the flock with the other sheep who are listening and no the voice of their Shepherd, then soon enough as the shepherd feeds you, as he takes care of you, as he protects you, as he guides you, as he gently prods you with his staff, as he rescues you from danger, then you too will be able to distinguish the voice of your Shepherd. But that involves being in a relationship with him and seeking him. It's okay when you start out to be amongst the flock who are following the shepherd and just follow them. But there will come a time where you will need to know the voice of the shepherd for yourself so that you don't follow a thief and a robber. And I encourage you to seek the voice of your Shepherd today! Follow after your Shepherd! Follow his voice! Follow him!

From Paul to Saul to Paul

Have you ever noticed how fond Jesus seems to be of paradoxical statements?

"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant."

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

"Blessed are they that mourn..."

"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad!"

"Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."

"And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant."

A lot of these sayings don't seem to make very much sense to our natural minds. But spiritually, seen from God's perspective, they make all the sense in the world.

Among these principles runs a common thread of the greatest vs. the least. And it seems clear that the qualification to being the "greatest" in Jesus's eyes is humility...servanthood...smallness.

The grandest stories are oftentimes due to the overwhelming odds facing the small protagonist. It's why we love stories like Rudy, David and Goliath, Gideon, the 300 and the Hobbit.  One thing I think that draws people to the Lord of the Rings trilogy is that the hero shaping huge events isn't of the great races of men, elves, dwarves, wizards or ents. It's the small, insignificant, unimpressive hobbits who are the greatest heroes.

J. R. R. Tolkien writes:

"Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."

I believe there is an essential spiritual principle we must grasp hold of here.

As I was praying a few months ago for revival, the thought that kept coming to me was that God delights in working among the simple, weak and small. That in order to have great things happen amongst us we must see ourselves as small in our own eyes. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It brought to mind a lesson I learned in one of the first Bible studies I participated in.

We were studying the book of Romans, and as we often do, we brushed by the first couple verses to get on to the "good stuff" but the teacher stopped our reading at verse 2. 

"Don't rush by this!" he cried out, passionately. "You don't realize what lessons we can learn from these verses...every word is important!"

I laughed. "So we should stop at the first word, 'Paul', and analyze it?" I asked, somewhat incredulously. 

"Yes!"  he insisted. "Look at what it says...'Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.' What do you know of this man?"

I briefly recounted what I knew about him.  That his name used to be Saul as he persecuted the church, believing that he was doing God a service by rooting out this heresy and protecting Judaism, until God appeared to him on the road to Damascus and Saul realized that this Jesus whose followers he was persecuting was the God he claimed to serve.  Saul was converted and became the greatest missionary the world has ever known, changing his name to Paul and writing two thirds of the New Testament.

"So why did he change his name?" the teacher asked.

I shrugged.

"Do you know what those names mean?"

I shook my head.

"Paul comes from a Latin word meaning 'little'.  'Saul' comes from a Hebrew word which means 'desired'."

As he explained a light dawned in my mind. He was one of the brightest minds in the Jewish faith, training under Gamaliel. As he explained himself in a letter to the Philippian church much later in his life:

Philippians 3:4  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 
5  Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 
6  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 

In terms of the flesh, his credentials in Judaism, he was aptly called, 'desired'.  But when he had his revelation from God, he ceased thinking of himself as 'desired'. From then on, he started calling himself 'little'. All of his accomplishments and desirable elements faded in light of God's glory...he writes of this also:

Philippians 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 
8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 

It's interesting that of the two most famous Biblical figures named Saul, they seemed to have had opposite journeys. One went from Saul to Paul, but the other seems to have gone from Paul to Saul.

Saul was selected and anointed by the prophet Samuel to be king over Israel. At first he hid among the stuff, but as he grew more and more used to the kingdom, he started trusting his own judgment and several times he broke God's commands to do what he felt more expedient. When the Lord takes the kingdom away from Saul, Samuel goes to the root of the problem.

1st Samuel 15:17  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 

Saul's success came from the Lord when he was little in his own sight. But when the success came, so did the pride and Saul grew larger in his own sight than was good for him, and the Bible says that the spirit of the Lord departed from him.

This is the danger we all face. Not to confuse God's blessings as accomplishments that come through some personal credit in ourselves. In contrast, we can see this attitude of humility in David's prayer after Nathan the prophet tells him the Lord's message that he can't build a house for God but his son will. Check out this prayer...

2nd Samuel 7:18  Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
19  And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? 
20  And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant. 
21  For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them. 
22  Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 

So how can we maintain the attitude of humility that is essential to walking with the Lord?  I love this quote from Phillips Brooks:

"The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is."

I believe the psalmist was doing this when he proclaimed:

Psalm 8:3  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 

So what about you? Where are you at on the Saul-Paul scale? If you were small in your own eyes once, but now see yourself as inherently desirable, perhaps it would be wise to get into the presence of God and see what the real smallness of your greatness is! To realize where all your value comes from...and then God can use us for great things!