Day 75

 

Stones On A Plane

 

So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake he lived.

 

Numbers 21:9

 

 

Some of you may have seen the movie Snakes On a Plane. I am  not revealing any plot secret to tell you that it involves a bunch of deadly snakes at loose on a plane. I have never been attacked by venomous snakes while flying in a plane  but I have been attacked by something extremely painful while on a plane. On a flight from Miami, Florida to Lima, Peru I had my first and hopefully last kidney stone attack.

It began in the first hour of the flight with great discomfort. In a short time the great discomfort turned to raging pain. I went to the flight attendant to inform them that something was wrong, seriously wrong with me. Evidently I looked like death on a stick because they began to search for a Doctor on the plane. They found one who asked me a few diagnostic questions and then told me what I had already guessed; I had a kidney stone problem. I had never had one before but had been informed that there is no pain like kidney stone pain.

The Dr. gave me the strongest pain killer he had with him on the plane - Tylenol with codeine. He told me it probably wouldn't help much. He was a doctor and a prophet because it didn't help at all. He might as well have given me a jelly bean for the pain. In fact a jelly bean would have been better because it would have tasted better.

I watched the seconds go by on my watch for hours in sheer agony waiting for the plane to land in Lima. I told God, "You have got to help me, I'm going here to do your work." I just couldn't fathom God having me travel all the way to Peru just to pass a kidney stone and miss out on visiting the orphanage and ministering to people in need. I knew if I was going to do anything in Peru that God would have to do something.

He did. As I buckled in for our descent into Lima I suddenly began to feel better. The pain subsided and the flight attendants informed me that I had got my color back. I don't know if God dissolved the kidney stone or postponed it for another day (I'm hoping for the former) but I do know God took care of it. Like the Israelites looking on the bronze snake with faith and living I had looked to God with stones on a plane and lived through it. I ministered to people in Peru that week before returning home without a further problem. I'm sure it is not as exciting as Snakes On a Plane but knowing that God will take care of you is pretty exciting stuff.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Numbers 21:4-9

 

• When Moses prayed did God take the snakes away?
• Did looking at the bronze snake prevent them from getting bitten?
• Does God sometimes take us through problems rather than removing them from us?

Day 74

 

The Apple of God's Eye

 

Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings.

 

Psalm 17:8 

 

Have you ever thought about the expression, "the apple of your (or my) eye?" What does it mean? And why apple? I like bananas better than apples so why can't someone be the banana of my eye?

First of all, how we use the expression today is different than its use in the Bible. When we say someone is the apple of my eye today we mean that they are someone we take great pride in or pleasure from and someone we hold dear. When the Psalmist says we are the apple of God's eye he means something similar yet different.

Often times in the Old Testament the writers would repeat the same idea in a different way to emphasize a point. A prime example of this is Psalm 119:105. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." The psalmist uses "a lamp to my feet" and restates the same truth with "a light to my path."

That is what is happening in Psalm 17:8. The psalmist asks God to "keep me as the apple of your eye" and then restates the same request as "hide me in the shadow of your wings." We know that God is spirit and doesn't have eyes (though he sees all) or wings. What the psalmist is asking for is God's protection.

The metaphor of "hide me in the shadow of your wings" is easily understood. It brings up the image of a mother bird sheltering its chicks from harm beneath her wings.

The apple of your eye means the same thing though the metaphor is not as clear. What is the most important part of your eye? The pupil is the most important part if you want to see. It is the part of the eye you must protect. The pupil is that little round apple shaped center of your eye. In asking God to "keep me as the apple of your eye" it is asking God to guard me like you do your eyesight. (see Deuteronomy 32:10)

So banana of you eye doesn't work. Pupils are shaped like apples not bananas. They also didn't have bananas growing in the Promised Land so they would didn't know what they were. We can join with the psalmist  in praying, Lord, "keep me as the apple of your eye" and know that the Lord will never leave us or forsake us.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Psalm 17:8-15

• What is the condition of the wicked's heart?
• Where do the wicked find their reward?
• When we are righteous what will satisfy us?



Day 73

 

The Eyes Have It

 

And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

 

2 Kings 6:7

 

A lady, who was not a church member, came to my office asking for financial help. The way churches in our community handled these requests was through  the Ministerial Alliance. The Ministerial Alliance had a set of rules we operated under, one of which was that each request needed to get the signatures of 3 different pastors in town before the request could be granted. There were several good reasons to do it that way but I won't get into that now. I started the lady in the process, got her form filled out, signed my name and sent her on her way with directions to where she might find other pastors.

She had not been out of my office 2 minutes when my son called. He had a lawn mowing business and was loading the riding mower on the trailer when a belt came off of the mower as he was loading it on the trailer.

So I left the church, drove to my house and went to my back yard where Ethan was working on the mower. I began to help him and had not been at it very long when the lady who had been asking for financial help showed up. She saw us in the yard and came back to where we were and said, "Brother Jess sent me over here with this form to be signed."

"No he didn't," I informed her.

"Yes he did. He said I could get it signed here."

"No he didn't tell you that. Brother Jess sent you to the Methodist or the Presbyterian Church to get the form signed."

"No, he told me to come to this house."

"I'm pretty sure Brother Jess didn't send you to this house because this is Brother Jess' house and I am Brother Jess."

Then, quiet to my astonishment she said, "No you're not."

I had to tell her, "Yes, I am. I spoke to you less than 10 minutes ago at the church. I am wearing the exact same clothes. I assure you I know who I am. I did not send you here because I never send anyone to my home, plus I have already signed your form."

She took some convincing but I finally persuaded her to move on. I don't know what her problem was (besides lying). Could she really not see that I was the exact same person she had talked to just minutes before?

You know a lot of people don't see things clearly. They see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe. Some people see things objectively and that is a vast improvement over seeing things subjectively. It is still not the way we need to see things though. We need to see things not only objectively but also with eyes of faith.

Elisha was a thorn in the Aramean's side. The king of Aram sent a sizable force of soldiers to deal with Elisha. A servant of Elisha woke up one morning to see that they were surrounded by Aramean troops. Objectively things looked bad for Elisha but Elisha had eyes of faith. He could see what his servant could not. He prayed that the servant's eyes would be opened to the army of angels that was protecting them. The end result was that the army that was sent to trap Elisha wound up being trapped itself.

We all need to see things clearly, objectively. We also need eyes of faith to see God at work and the wonders he can perform.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read 2 Kings 6:8-23

• Why was the king of Aram upset with Elisha?
• Who was it that was outnumbered?
• Of all the people in this story who was the only one could truly see what was happening?





Day 72

 

A Flock of Goats

 

How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!

Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.

 

                                                Song of Songs 4:1

 

I have a confession to make. Though I have preached over a 1,000 different sermons in my life I have never preached one sermon from the Song of Songs (also known as The Song of Solomon). There is a reason for this. The reason is the same as why Bibles that are printed with illustrations never have a picture from the Song of Songs. If you have read it then you know; it is adult content.

The content makes some people uncomfortable and they try to explain it away. Some Bible experts try to tell us it is a allegory about how God loves the church. They must have been drinking Lord's Supper grape juice that had been left in the fridge too long when they came up with that one. It is the only book of the Bible that some people aren't comfortable taking literally.

Other than the amorous nature of the Song of Solomon there is another thing that strikes me about its content. Solomon must have majored in agriculture in college. He is always referring to his lover as pieces of fruit or some animal. She is compared to gazelles, doves apples and grapes. She has teeth like a flock of sheep, eyes like a dove and hair like a flock of goats.

So what are we to make of all of this? God wants us to understand that we are to love and be attracted to our spouse. In fact we are to be attracted to them either because their hair looks like a flock of goats or despite the fact that they have goat hair. Paul tells men in Ephesians 5 , "husbands love your wives." We are to love our own wife and not some other woman with sheep teeth and goat hair.

The other thing I get from this book of the Bible is: Thank God I live in a day and time where we have discovered just what conditioner can do for your hair.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Ephesians 5:21- 6:4

• Who is supposed to submit? (Eph. 5:21)
• What is the wife's role in mutual submission? (Eph. 5:24)
• What is the husband's role in mutual submission? (Eph. 5:25)
• What is the child's role in mutual submission? (Eph. 6:1)
• What is the parent's role in mutual submission? (Eph. 6:4)