Tag: Travis Peterson

Joshua 20:1-3

1 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.
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Many people pay very little attention when reading through the latter part of the book of Joshua. After all, it’s all maps and land allotments and stuff like that, isn’t it?

Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that all scripture, not just some scripture, but all scripture is inspired by God and useful. That means that the end of Joshua is, according to God, useful to us to help us to grow in him. So we want to be careful not to glaze over when reading through something that is unfamiliar to us, because we might miss something important.

Now, take a look at the verses above. Here we see Joshua setting aside the cities of refuge. These cities, as the scripture describes, are places where a man who has unintentionally killed another person can run so as not to be put to death by a relative of the person he accidentally killed. That man would flee to the city, present himself to the elders of that city, and ask to be protected there from the one who would come to do justice on him.

How much is this like a picture of us before God? Really, there is one striking difference, we have sinned against God intentionally, not unintentionally. However, the rest is quite similar. All of us have sinned against God (Romans 3:23). All of us are guilty, and we deserve to die because of our sin (Romans 6:23). And, if you understand scripture rightly, we all are being pursued by an avenger—God himself—who rightly should punish us, pouring out his wrath on us for our sin against him (Ephesians 2:3).

Where shall we run? There is no town of safety, but there is something much like a city of refuge for us. While we were sinners, guilty before God and deserving his wrath, God chose to make a way for us to be forgiven. God sent his Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for our sins (Romans 5:8). If we will run to Jesus, like a city of refuge, and plead with him for shelter, admitting all the while that we are guilty of our crime, he will take us in and put us under his protection (Romans 10:9-10, 13; John 3:16). We cannot pretend that we do not deserve God’s wrath. We cannot pretend that we are not guilty of our crimes. We cannot pretend that there is anything that we can do that would ever make us worthy in God’s sight. All we can do is run to Jesus, our refuge, and take shelter under his care.

The amazing thing is, when we get to the city of refuge, we will find that the one who set up that city for our protection is the very God we have so offended. God set up a refuge for people he knew would sin against him and deserve his wrath. Why did he do this? He is glorious, loving, merciful, and just. He chose to pay our penalty himself and offer us a way to be rescued, saved.

Next time you are reading through the Old Testament and come across the city of refuge, perhaps it would do you good to pause and think about the fact that we have our very own city of refuge, the Savior, Jesus Christ. He shed his blood so that our souls would be saved. He is kinder than anyone we have ever met. He is worthy of our praise. He is truly glorious.

And if you do not yet know Jesus, I urge you to realize your condition. You are guilty before God. You have committed sin against God that places you under his wrath. He has established a refuge to which you can run. Fly to Jesus, confess your sin, place yourself under his protection, and commit yourself to live in him for the rest of your life. He will forgive all who come to him seeking his grace in truth. He will be a city of refuge for guilty sinners like you and me.

Deuteronomy 32:45-47

45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
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What do you love? What do you treasure? It is easy to discover. To what do you devote your time and energy? To what do you give your attention? To what do you listen when conflicting voices arise?

Here near the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses gives the people of God a command that is worthy of our attention. HE calls the people to take God’s word, his law, to heart. They are supposed to look at the law as something real, something important, something sacred. They dare not ignore it. They dare not give it too little weight.

How important is God’s word according to God’s word? Moses says, “For it is no empty word for you, but your very life” (v 47). You cannot overemphasize this issue. The law as Moses presented it to the people of Israel was no empty word, it was their life. With the word of God and in obedience to it, the people of God would live. Apart from God’s word or in disobedience to it, they die.

Now we think about this issue from a gap of over 3,000 years. And, you know what, the value and importance of God’s word has not changed. We now have more books than Moses wrote. We now have the entire canon of God’s written revelation to man. We now have the words of and about the Lord Jesus Christ. But these words of God still hold true. We are to take God’s word to heart. His word, all of it, is no mere collection of empty words, it is—it must be—our life.

What do you love? What do you treasure? Do you love and treasure the word of God? How can you tell? It’s easy to determine. Do you spend time with God’s word? Do you take God’s word seriously? Do you receive God’s word as authoritative on all issues of life? Does God’s word guide your thinking on every issue? When you have an opinion, do you judge the validity of your feelings based on the written revelation of God? Do you allow God’s word to govern your actions and motives?

What is the alternative to loving God’s word? The result is death, but what does that alternative look like? Such a person would ignore God’s word. They would look at God’s word as a mere collection of writings of fallible men who are no longer in touch with our modern realities and sensitivities. Such a person would give the Bible only the most cursory of readings, or would not read it at all. Such a person would allow his or her own opinions and emotions to overrule anything written in the scripture. Such a person would find ways to justify the ignoring of clear commands of God. Such a person would be able to say that the word of God will not interfere with his or her day-to-day decision-making.

Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? If so, do you love God’s word? The Bible is no mere collection of words, it must be your very life.

Numbers chapter 7 is 89 verses long. Twelve times in this passage, the following text is repeated:

his offering was one silver plate whose weight was 130 shekels, one silver basin of 70 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one golden dish of 10 shekels, full of incense; one bull from the herd, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old.

At the end of the chapter, there is a summary in which God gives us the same information, totaled, in only 5 verses.

As I’m reading this chapter, I first think to myself that this is dull or boring. Then it hits me: IF this stuff is boring to me, it’s my fault. God is not bored with this information. Even when the identical offering is presented again and again over twelve consecutive days, God is not bored. He is actually pleased with the monotony. This is not because God is uncreative—far from it—, instead, it is because God is pleased when things are done correctly. Obedience pleases God far, far more than creativity. Right worship when offered in accord with God’s commands never bores God.

While I’m not suggesting that we should be come intentionally dull, I do think that there is something to learn here. If we are bored in our worship services because we are doing the same old thing week after week after week, the problem is not with God or with the worship service. IF we are bored with singing songs of praise to our God, with hearing his word, with participating in communion, with giving, with praying, and with whatever else God has commanded, we are the ones with the problem.

Lord, would you fill us with such delight in your presence that we never again would dare to think that regular worship is boring. We want to please you. Our goal is your glory. Let us be overjoyed with the opportunity to offer you praise and to follow you faithfully. Let us remember that obedience is our greatest joy.

Numbers 4:20 – but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”
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Ephesians 3:12 describes for us that we, in Christ, may approach God freely and confidently. This is a wonderful truth and a blessed freedom that we have received from God. We have not, however, earned this right. We are free to approach God, to spiritually enter into his presence, because God grants us an imputed righteousness in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). This means that we wear a righteousness, a perfection, that is not ours—that is foreign to us—but which God allows us to have because of Christ’s perfect sacrifice.

While I am thrilled to know that I have freedom to enter into God’s presence because of Christ, it is also important that the people of God remember that such a freedom is no small thing. Reading in the book of Numbers, we see God give a set of instructions for his people as to how to handle the holy things in the tabernacle. The job of the Levites is not only to care for the objects in the tabernacle, but also to guard against the people of God getting too close to them, seeing them, touching them, and dying for their lack of holiness.

In the verse above, God tells the Levites exactly how they are to deal with the holy things. IN the prior verses, he had told them that a particular group of Levites were to go into the holy place and cover up the holy things so that no other Levite could see them. They were to use the specially designed carrying poles to carry the items so that nobody, absolutely nobody, would dare to touch the holy things. And in the verse above, God warns that for an unauthorized person to look upon the holy things would be for him to forfeit his life.

Now, think with me for a moment. Why is it that these men would die for looking at the holy things? They are not, after all, touching them or making them dirty, are they? No, but there is a sense in which an unholy person would defile a holy thing by looking upon it. The only alternative is for the holiness of the object looked upon to cause the immediate death of the one who dared look at it.

Mankind in our sinfulness simply cannot look at God or any of his things. We cannot bear to hear his voice. We cannot bear to stand in his presence. Were we to speak his name, talk of his things, or look upon him without his protection, we would surely die, and it would be right. However, God has chosen to be merciful. He has chosen to protect us from the all-consuming holiness of his glory. He has chosen to offer us a way, not only to be forgiven of our sin, but to be able to actually look into the word of God and to behold, in a small way, his glory. God has granted us the highest joy and the greatest mercy imaginable by allowing us to enter into his presence through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, let me say this to you who are believers: Don’t take this for granted. Don’t miss this point. You and I do not deserve to know God. We do not deserve to hear his word. We do not deserve to get to sing his praise. WE do not deserve to be allowed to pray to him. We do not deserve to partake of the Lord’s Supper. We do not deserve to be allowed to hear a sermon. WE do not deserve to be allowed to see the beauty of his creation. But he has chosen to love us. HE has chosen to give us mercy. HE has chosen to allow us to become his children (John 1:12-13). And we should give him thanks. We should marvel at his mercy. We should be in awe of his holiness. We should fall to our knees and cry, “Glory to God!” We should tremble to think of entering his presence, and then, by Christ’s grace, we should eagerly and humbly talk to, obey, and worship our loving heavenly Father.

Leviticus 11:45 – For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
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Leviticus 11 is a chapter full of the descriptions of the types of critters that the people of Israel under the Levitical law could not eat. It is a strange-feeling set of commands. God tells them not to eat animals with certain kinds of feet, certain kinds of birds, fish without scales (outlawing catfish eating which is fine by me), and bugs that don’t hop.

If you have ever gone through a Bible study on Leviticus, you have probably heard somebody give you all sorts of interesting reasons why certain animals could not be eaten. Perhaps someone comes out with a medical reason why it was unsafe to eat pork in that time period. Of course, many of the forbidden birds are scavengers which would have carried disease. These and many other such reasons are often cited in order to help us in modern America to be OK with the fact that God gives restrictions.

But, take a look at the verse above. It is the reason that God gives for not allowing that particular people to eat those particular foods at that particular time. He offers them no explanation. He offers no justification for his reasoning. He offers them no nutritional or medical validation for his decision. Instead, he gives them an answer that Americans don’t’ like, but which Christians should learn to love. It basically comes down to this, “I’m God, I’m holy, and I said so.”

God is holy. Part of his holiness is that he is different than the corrupt world around him. He therefore has the right to make his people look and act differently. He has the right to tell them to eat different things and abstain from different things for no other reason than that it reflects to others that God is different and his people are different, special, set apart, holy.

I have no problem with people discovering ways in which God’s nutritional laws were good for the people of Israel during that time period. I think it’s rather fun in reality. But such thought is not necessary. God is holy. God told them what to do to be like him. His commands do not have to make sense to our human understanding. In fact, the first lesson that we should learn is that we do not have to make sense out of God’s commands in order to obey them. He is our God, and we are his followers. That is why we obey.

Does this mean that I’m eschewing pork chops and sushi? No way. Jesus relieved us of the legal constraints regarding clean and unclean foods in Mark 7 (for which I’m grateful). In fact, much of the New Testament points us in a direction that teaches us to live under love for God rather than under legalistic restrictions.

But we still should learn at least two things from Leviticus 11. First, God’s commands do not need to make perfect sense to us for us to obey them. Second, God’s people will necessarily look and act differently than the world around them. So, if it’s not about pork chops, ask yourself how you look different than your friends, neighbors, and co-workers. How do you demonstrate the holiness of God in your life?

Exodus 8:9-10

9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
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In case you miss the ridiculous nature of man’s own sinfulness, realize that we, in our sinfulness, will allow ourselves to suffer longer than necessary out of sheer foolishness. Why do I say that? The Pharaoh has Moses standing before him. Moses asks Pharaoh, “Exactly when do you want the frogs gone?” The Pharaoh answers, “How about tomorrow?”

Think this through, if you are suffering some sort of plague, when do you want it gone? How about Today! How about right stinkin’ now!

I don’t know exactly what kind of devotional thought to make of this, but as many have not thought about this concept, I thought it worth sharing.

OK, I will make one (or two) devotional observation. Some people, perhaps even those who read this, are presently separated from God. Some people do not know Christ. How do they respond when you call them to receive Jesus? Sometimes these people actually say something like, “I’m just not ready yet.” What is that statement other than something like Pharaoh’s answer. It may well be a statement that says, “I know that what you are saying is right, but I will continue in my present state for just a little longer.”

Or, how about the Christian that knows that he or she needs to repent of a sin, but does not want to do it right now?

So, if that is you, let me offer this loving encouragement, “Don’t be that guy.”

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:7

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Genesis 2:22

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
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Over the past few days, I have been thinking about the creation. And I am noticing, today, some of the beauty of the contrast between Genesis 1 and 2 in their accounts of creation. This is not to say that the accounts contradict, because I do not believe that there is any contradiction there at all, but it is interesting to see how God has this event described differently. It is as if we are allowed to see a diamond from another angle, and the facets shine in a different and equally brilliant way.

In Genesis 1, we see the creation in terms of power. God speaks, an, as my daughter is saying with me, “Poof!”, things happen. The account demonstrates God’s powerfully moving the universe first from non-existence to existence and then from chaos to order. We marvel as we imagine God moving the waters around creating sky, land, and sea (Can you even begin to picture the power needed to move an entire sea?. We watch the creation of the heavenly bodies, the plants, and the animals of all kinds. And then, as a crowning achievement, God creates mankind in his image, to demonstrate his glory, and to rule over creation.

When we think about this creation in Genesis 1, the power is amazing. The awe that we should have over God’s ability to simply speak things into existence is wonderful. And we see mankind is very high in the creation order, the final, crowning creation.

Then comes Genesis2. Though we saw the creation of mankind from a distance in Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2 demonstrates for us a more close-up, frame by frame, view of how God created humanity. And notice, the big explosions of power are not how you picture this taking place. Instead, you see God forming, fashioning, or crafting mankind. He shapes or sculpts the clay into exactly what he wants. There is more room here to picture God intricately molding every part of the body, the bones, the lungs, the systems. If in Genesis 1, we were awed by the power of God’s creation, in the creation account of man in Genesis 2, we are equally stunned by the gentleness, the artistry, the utter skill of God in the creation.

Also, if in Genesis 1 we see man as the glorious crowning achievement of creation, Genesis 2 helps us to remember that we are still only clay. We are fashioned by God, and that is what gives us value. We carry in our lungs the breath of God, and that is what gives us worth. We are not made of any fine stuff, only well-shaped dirt. But we are made by God’s hands, and that makes us special. Yes, mankind in Genesis 2 is clearly shown as superior to the animals, but there is a humility that must also be present as we realize that we are created by God, from dust, and under God’s total authority.

Then, toward the end of Genesis 2, we see the creation of woman, from man, with a purpose. She is equal in worth, but she has a distinct role to play as the helper of the man. She is taken from man, and their joining serves as a picture of two halves being united to form a more perfect whole. She, like the man, is a work of art, an evidence of God’s glorious craftsmanship. She is fashioned, not simply told to “be.” And like man, she carries in herself all the dignity and all the glory and all the majesty of God’s touch as his masterpiece.

Which picture gives you more awe? Is it the booming voice of God declaring, “Let there be. . .!”? Or is it the intricate craftsmanship and artistry of the hand of God fashioning mankind? Either way, the Genesis accounts of creation are marvelous to behold.

Acts 13:46-48 – 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
“ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
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These verses contain in themselves a fascinating pairing of God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom. Often people will ask questions about God’s sovereignty in our salvation that basically amount to questions of the fairness of what God does. Specifically, there is a false assumption out there that God chooses to save some, but prevents others from being saved.

Such a view is not true, but only by half. God does choose to save some. Did he not, none would be saved. However, those he does not choose to save are not somehow prevented by God from salvation. Instead, they, by their own will, nature, and desire oppose God and his plan of salvation. Or, as a friend of mine recently wrote to me, “For those God does not choose to save, he chooses to allow them to suffer the consequences of their own free sinful choices—most notably their choice to “suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness.”
What I am saying here is clearly depicted in the verses above. Notice the two groups. One group is lost and the other is saved. What language does the Bible use to describe the lost? To them, Paul says regarding their response to the gospel, “you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life.” Thus, in the language of Paul, the lost person is fully responsible for his lostness. Each lost person should believe. Each is commanded to believe. But, when Paul presented the gospel, those who were not saved thrust aside the gospel, shoving it away like a child who pushes away a bite of something healthy. They simply do not want it.

On the other hand, how does the scripture speak of those who were saved? Luke, the author of Acts, writes, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Notice that those who believed were also those “appointed to eternal life.” Those who were saved were already, beforehand, appointed to receive eternal life from God. There was a prior action of God that was followed up by the people believing. This depicts God’s sovereignty at work, as God appointed those men for salvation and then they believed.

What does this tell me? What it tells me is that, if any person is not saved, they are not saved by God because they do not want the gospel. It also tells me that, if anyone is saved by God, they are saved because God did it, appointing them to eternal life before they believed. This gives God total credit for and glory for anyone’s salvation. It also places the responsibility clearly on the shoulders of the one who rejects Christ for rejecting him.

Why am I saved? I am not saved for wanting God. Ephesians 2:1-3 and Romans 3:10-ff tell me that I did not want God at all in my sinful state. I am saved because God, in his own wisdom and for his own purposes, chose to appoint me for eternal life and change my heart so that I would believe. Yes, I chose to believe, but only because it was granted me to believe by God (John 6:65). Thus I take no credit for my salvation, as it all is a work of God from beginning to end.

But, were I not saved, I would have no grounds for blaming God or accusing him of unrighteousness. Were I lost, I would be doing exactly what Paul accused the lost men of Acts 13:46 of doing. I would have chosen, by my will, to thrust away the gospel and turn away myself from the only thing that could save me. And, were I to remain lost, that would only be God giving me that which I, in my heart, wanted.

Does God violate man’s free will in this process? Yes, when a man is saved. But he does so in such a way as to change our evil desires to a desire for him. Therefore, when we believe, we feel that we believe and we also know that we could not continue in our unbelief. When we are saved, we know that something has changed in our hearts that makes us realize that God is wonderful and we want to serve him. People often speak of “a light coming on” or everything suddenly “becoming clear.” This is the wonderful, powerful, sovereign hand of God breaking into our hearts and making them alive whereas they were dead before (cf. Ephesians 2:1-9).

So, how does this impact my life. First, it reminds me that my salvation is a total gift from God. He did it, he deserves the credit, and he gets all the glory. Second, it encourages me to share the gospel, as I know that God can and does break into the dead hearts of sinners to make them alive. Third, it reminds me of the justice of God, because those who do not come to know God do not want to come to know him, and God responds to them with perfect justice. And finally, it causes me to thank God, because I deserved his perfect justice, I wanted nothing to do with him; but he broke into my heart, changed me at the point of my desires, and showed me the ultimate of mercies in Christ.