“The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength.  Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved. [His] throne is established from of old; [He is] from everlasting.”

If you wanted to sum that up, you could go with the old song “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” And we are glad He does. We’re glad our God has everything established, figured out, and under control.

Back in May, who knew that flooding was going to define our summer? Well, God did. The rest of us, not so much. Around here, we started talking about it on a Wednesday night, I think May 18th. I had seen something about a flood threat on the news that night, and I mentioned it during prayer meeting. I can remember a couple of people looked concerned, but I think most of us thought it wouldn’t amount to much.

Boy, did that change. Here’s how it was:

As the threat grew, a count of our church’s people showed we had 5 families who might lose their homes, and 2 who would lose their jobs as well. (We have about 20 members, and attendance runs around 40.) Maps published on the internet along with some quick measuring indicated that we could have as much as two feet of water in the church auditorium for at least weeks, if not months. We never did appreciate the effect that the water would have had, because for some reason we never considered that it would be flowing, not standing, water. I think there wouldn’t have been much recognizable or usable left on our property.

What seemed a little crazy that Wednesday night turned into reality within just a few weeks. Prayers for no more rain, helicopters in the night, mayors who had no trouble sleeping, meaningless meetings with officials, a prayer meeting that turned into an inventory night, hymnals that were boxed up, a near obsession for more information, many trips with boxes (of hymnals and other stuff), and a lot of other frustrating and sometimes frightening moments were all part of those days.

There were emails with representatives from our church fellowship, a “pastoral” visit from a dear friend who is now the president of a Bible College, and an evening spent with the director of Baptist Builder’s Club, calmly taking pictures of the property and eating Italian while talking over what we could do if the church lost everything.

I spent time trying to figure out how to respond sensibly and in a godly manner without overreacting. I canceled a series of sermons from Malachi in favor of some comfort from Isaiah.

I gave two of the most difficult parental lectures in my life, telling my visiting daughters that if the levee broke they were to get their babies in their cars and get out to high ground as quickly as they could, no hesitation. Don’t worry about us, just get the babies out.

In a word, and to be honest, it was terrible. We cried, we raged, we fretted, and we prayed. That’s how it was. And here’s what we did:

Our church ran the best VBS we’ve had in recent history – staffed mostly by people who left homes that were “up the hill” to come to what had begun to feel like a dangerous place. VBS was made greater, I think, by the fact the children to whom we ministered were even more poorly equipped to face the threat than we were.

We collected water and mops and rubber gloves and other needed items and gave them away, trusting they would be helpful to others more needy than ourselves, and knowing that the day might come when we would wish we had them back. I’d love to know if any of those items ended up helping family, friends, and sister churches back east, where unexpected flooding has wreaked horrible havoc.

We reached out to each other. Every person in the church who was at risk received support and help from other church members, I believe.

We were taught by the good people that are Temple Baptist Church of Omaha – we were taught what fellowship is. They comforted us by making space available for storage, as well as for meetings if we had needed it. One of our people told my wife, “I could handle losing my home and my stuff, but I don’t think I could handle losing my church.” The folks from Temple had real, tangible ministry to us. We learned from them and were blessed by them. We cannot repay, but we know that our God keeps the records and sees to it that all debts are finally made right.

One couple in the church here had special ministry to Jan and I. They opened their home for us to live in if we had needed it and gave meaningful, caring advice more than once. They stored some of our things that couldn’t go to Temple, and they did it all while living through their own personal crisis and receiving less-than-nominal pastoral care. Great folks.

A number of times I stood in the pulpit and told the church what I thought we should do. I shared the actions that seemed necessary to me, and promised everyone that if there was no flood we would have a party, we would sing “God Leads Us Along,” and they could laugh at me for being too excitable. And so this past Sunday we ate together, and sang the song, and nobody laughed at me, as far as I know. The flood could have so easily happened, and I have very few regrets even with hindsight. I’d do it the same way if I had it to do over.

And we looked each week at the words of 2 Chronicles 20:12: “O our God, … we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

So what did God do as we kept our eyes on Him? Well, the song we sang says it – He led us along. The church had already faced the fire years ago. Now it has faced the flood. And the scriptures say it – God showed Himself faithful, and great, and good.

He held back the waters. The politicians didn’t save our church, the National Guard didn’t save us, the millions of dollars spent didn’t save us, our personal and corporate preparations didn’t save us, not even the levee saved us. God saved us. “The floods lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.” And God saved us.

Fifty-two years ago a small group of common people banded together to form a church. And someone wisely decided to call it “Faith.” Here’s part of the reason it’s a good name for us: if it had gone differently – if we had flooded – some things would have been the same. There would have been a meeting when I stood before my church (maybe even on October 2nd), but it would have been in a different room in a different building. We might or might not have sung “God Leads Us Along,” but regardless of that, there is no doubt that God would have led us. We easily might have had to vote to dissolve our church, but we would not have lost our faith.

And even if it had happened that way, I still would have told my people, although with more tears, that God had showed Himself faithful, and great, and good. Because He is.

We at Faith Baptist Church are small and weak and often unnoticed and not particularly successful by most standards. But our God is great and powerful, and He has helped us, and He chose not leave us to the water. We have seen, and learned, and by faith we know, that “the LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.”

And we know that His “testimonies are very sure;”

“May holiness adorn His house forever.”

Regarding this last kind of trouble, let me remind you that Jesus suffered on our behalf. He took all the punishment that we might have had coming. If you believe in Jesus, then there is no punishment for you, either in this life or in the next. And as far as chastisement is concerned, I remind you that the children of a good Father always know why they are disciplined. The good God is not cruel. He does not discipline us without making us aware of the problem.

So anyway, I see these three kinds of trouble, all of of which are definitely trouble, and all of which are capable of causing us great pain. And I find in the scriptures (Isaiah 40:1) the amazing fact that God desires that His people be comforted when they have trouble, even when that trouble comes from His own hand.

What form might such comfort take? Generally we expect comfort to make the trouble go away. The easiest and most obvious way to ease pain is to take away the hurt. This is not always what God does, however, as the scriptures demonstrate time and again. Even the apostle Paul was left with a thorn in his flesh, despite the fact that he begged God three times to remove it. God gave Paul grace, but not healing, and Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians show that God’s grace was sufficient comfort.

When God provided comfort for His Old Testament people, what He gave them was hope. Look at Isaiah 40 -

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth;

5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

In the prior verses, Isaiah had heard the voice of God commanding that His people be comforted. In verse three, he heard another voice, the voice of a herald, crying out the command to make a straight highway for God.

Former President Bush was here in Omaha recently. Do you think he stayed overnight at the Motel 6? Do you think he was driven to the stadium in an old Ford Pinto? I doubt it. I suspect that if he was here overnight he stayed in one of our nicest hotels, and I’m sure he traveled by limo, not Pinto. People of importance travel in style.

Things were no different long ago. When important folks traveled, arrangements were made to see that they were comfortable. That’s what verses 3&4 are about. When the king was coming, a decree would go out, and the roads he planned to travel would be rebuilt. The tops of hills would be pushed into the valleys, the twists and turns would be removed, and the bumpy places would be smoothed over.

So what the voice was saying, “Get the highway ready. Make it level and straight and smooth, because the King is coming – and not an earthly king – the reference is to God: the King of kings! His glory will be revealed, He will be here with us!”

This was the comfort that God offered to His troubled people in Isaiah’s day – the comfort of a hope in the form of a promise, that one day their King would come. That one day His glory would be revealed, and He would make it all right for His people. To those who understood, these words said, “Take heart, don’t give up. He’s on His way.” There was comfort in that, and there still is.

When it came time to fulfill this promise to His people, God gave more than He had promised. And He gave it in an unexpected fashion. Look at Matthew chapter 3:

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.’”

It had been a few hundred years since Isaiah, and a lot of history had happened, and then John came along, quoting those words from chapter 40. The message is the same – He’s on His way. He’s coming. But this was no longer a hope for the distant future. Instead it was current events, because the Promised One was there, walking among His people, and would very soon begin His ministry.

So, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in Jesus. And “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son.” And His people saw Him, and sat under His teaching, and saw the miracles, and in doing so they experienced a bit of the glory of God that had been promised.

And then they killed Him.

But even in the murder of Jesus, especially in the murder of Jesus, God had a plan, and accomplished it. And that plan provides hope, not just for the nation of Israel, but for all of mankind, because Jesus died for the sins of the world and to redeem all who believe.

Remember I said that God gave more than He promised and gave it in an unexpected way?

In the darkest of days, in the most troubling of times, in the most hopeless of moments, the comforting hope that God came to earth and died to make things right is historical fact. It’s a done deal. Your circumstances may be dire and your tunnel may have no light, but the Comfort of God’s people has already come, and our sins are forgiven if we believe. In Jesus, we are guaranteed that the weeping only lasts for the night. Joy will come in the morning, because He has given His life for us, shed His blood for us, and has risen victorious over sin and death. If we find no hope in that, then surely we are beyond all comfort.

But there’s more.

What Jesus did 2000 years ago was amazing and wonderful, but it was not the complete fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 40. Did “all flesh shall see it together”? No. The literal glory of the Lord was not revealed to every eye. Not in the way Isaiah promised. Some folks saw a little of God’s glory in the miracles. And a very few saw more of God’s glory at the Transfiguration. But His full glory was not openly revealed for every eye to see. God keeps His promises, so there must be more. Look at Acts 1 -

9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,

11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

There’s a reason to smile. He’s coming back. The same way He left. Alive. In the clouds. And revealed in His full glory. In Titus, Paul calls it the blessed hope. In 1 Thessalonians, he calls it a comfort.

So, no matter what your lot right now, listen to Isaiah and hear the voice of the messenger, because the King is on His way. Let your mind go back to the cross. Find comfort there because your eternity has been cared for and assured. And then find some more comfort by anticipating the moment when “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Because as bad as it may be right now, it’s guaranteed that you will see the glory of the Lord. It’s guaranteed to get better. He’s on His way.

Audio link here.

Then along came the digital camera and I was hooked by the photo bug.

When  I started taking pictures, life on the river gained added value. There are so many pretty places nearby, and Jan and I have gone to most of them many times for walks and to take pictures. Places like Boyer Chute, Dodge Park, Haworth Park, DeSoto Bend, Wilson Island, Indian Cave State Park, and Omaha’s Downtown Riverfront have all been wonderful places for us to visit time and again.

Today all those places are underwater. Here are some pictures (not taken by me) of how it looked around here yesterday.

The troubles along the Missouri are just beginning to make the national news, but we in the Midlands started to hear about it back in May. Very heavy snow and rain in locations upriver were stressing the reservoirs and dams. Extra water would have to be released or the dams themselves would break. That turns out to be record-breaking extra water – at a rate more than twice what has ever been necessary in the past.

Jan and I live a little more than a mile from the river, as the crow flies. We are about 14 feet above “normal” river level. Our neighborhood is protected by a levee that was built to protect from flash floods, but is untested against extended high water (the river will be above flood stage at least until fall, maybe longer). Should the levee fail, there will be 4-6 feet of water on the ground here. And, of course, in the buildings.

To say the least, these are rather tense days. Next week Jan and I plan to move some of our belongings to higher ground. We’ve canceled our vacation this summer. We always look forward to seeing our friends and relatives back east, but there’s just too much risk involved to leave our belongings and our work here unattended.

Living this way is very strange. One minute you’re planning for the future and the next minute you’re wondering what the future holds. I think I have never felt the responsibility of the pastorate as heavily as I do now. Seldom have I felt my responsibility as a husband as heavily as I do now. It’s very strange.

We are people of faith. Jan and I are convinced that God will see us through whatever is ahead and that He will care for us well. And He will.

So would you pray for us?

But I was feeling a little beat up myself, and had no desire to inflict or afflict others. So the words here are an attempt to encourage rather than hurt.

The nation of Israel was in a tough situation when they returned to their land after the Babylonian captivity. Everything was different. They had been a powerful kingdom, and now they were a vassal state. They had been ruled by their own king in Jerusalem, and now they had a governor appointed by their pagan overlords. The glory of God had dwelt in the Holy of Holies in their temple, and now the Holy of Holies was empty. Their worship had been centered around the temple and the presence of God, and now it was changing and becoming centered around the synagogue and the local community. Before, pretty much everything had demonstrated that they were God’s people in God’s place, and now it was clear they were just another little conquered kingdom that existed only by the whim of a distant king.

This all worked together to make it easy for them to give up on God and look to their own needs and desires. And a lot of them did. They gave up their convictions, forsook their God, and began to worship other, false gods that were more attractive to them. And God was displeased, because they were His people, after all, and the other gods were no gods at all.

I think this should be a little familiar to most of us. We all experience times that are spiritually empty, when God seems far away, when circumstance seem hopeless, and it looks like everybody is doing well but us. It’s tempting to think about walking away, about forsaking the Lord, and the church, and the faith. It’s tempting to do what the Israelites did.

It’s tempting, but it’s wrong.

If we leave the Lord, what exactly are our options? The old song asks, “Where Would I Go but to the Lord?” It’s a good question, and one that Malachi speaks to. Look at Malachi 2:10:

10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?

Both of these questions require a “yes” answer. And they deserve a little pondering.

In his sermon at Mars Hill in Athens in Acts 17, Paul pointed out that all people are the “offspring” of God. He meant this in a very general sense – since God created us, we are all His offspring, and all of us owe Him some allegiance and trust, although few if any are willing to pay.

For the Christian believer, though, this idea of God as Father goes further and deeper. John 1:12 says “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” That’s a lot more specific than “offspring.” Believers owe allegiance and trust to their Father not merely as offspring, but as children. In Christ, the general, distant relationship to a Creator-Father is replaced with an intimate relationship with Abba, “Daddy,” who has adopted each believer as His child and heir. Romans 8:16 and 17 say, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” So the questions here in verse 10 certainly require a “yes” answer. We all have one Father, and one God has created us. This, being true, leads us to the next question in verse 10:

Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?

Having been adopted into a position of favor which we never deserved, why would we ever want to disobey? Why would we ever walk away? We are children of the King. What could provide more promise? What could offer greater advantage? Why would any believer ever profane the very covenant which promotes them to such an amazing life?

But people do. The Israelites did so back then, and Christians do so today. They let their thinking and their hopes focus on something else. And then they forsake God and they leave. But where it is that they go? Where would you go? Look:

11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the LORD’s holy institution which He loves: he has married the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, being awake and aware, yet who brings an offering to the LORD of hosts!

Do you see what I meant when I said that there’s not a lot of positive here? God compares Israel’s rejection of Him to a husband who is unfaithful. Just like a man who cheats on the he woman is married to and plays around behind her back with someone else, the Israelites had gone after other, false gods while still pretending to faithfully worship the Lord.

I hear that when men behave this way, wives tend to get a little distressed. And I would say rightfully so. So it’s easy to understand why God was unhappy with Israel.

But back to my question: If you decide to forsake God, where do you go? The answer is there in Malachi. The only place to go is to what this text calls a foreign god. A false god. A god of nothingness. A god that is no god. So, presuming you decide to forsake God, you can:

• Become an atheist, and lose all hope.
• Become an agnostic, and lose all direction.
• Become a hedonist, and lose all restraint.
• Become a materialist, and lose all perspective.

There are other options, but they all go the same way. The simple truth is that anywhere you go, if you leave God, you lose. You end up with less, not more. Less hope, more doubt. Less provision, more needs. Fewer answers, more questions. Like the prodigal, if you leave God, you find that the life you fantasized as fulfilling is in fact a far cry from your Father’s house. Husks are much less satisfying than living water. The mud hole is a lot less comfortable than the mansion.

So I suggest that the best course, no matter how difficult things may be, is to stick with it. To stay with God, to continue to love and serve Him. To fall back on your first love and cling like never before. Every indication is that this is the wise thing to do. Consider a few lessons from Bible history:

• Cain forsook God and brought a sacrifice that was unsuitable. He became a murderer and permanent outcast from society.
• In Exodus 4, Moses ignored the covenant of God and nearly lost his life.
• Nadab and Abihu tried to worship God on their own terms and lost their lives because of it.
• David forsook God for the lust of his flesh and suffered great loss because of it.
• Solomon, despite his great wisdom, forsook his God and went looking for fulfillment in wine and women. And found that all was vain.
• Nebuchadnezzar thought he could make himself his a god, and spent a year eating grass and saying “moo.”
• Ananias and Sapphira made money their god and lost their lives for their trouble.

And on and on I could go, but it would get depressing, if it hasn’t already. The great lesson of Bible history is that it never works out when you forsake the one true God. The best place to be is in the place God puts you. The worst days with Him are better than the best days without Him.

So don’t give up. Stick with it. If you have trusted Christ, God is your Heavenly Father and Jesus is your Savior. You couldn’t be in a better place. If you feel forsaken, you are not. If life is overwhelming, stick with your God: it’s even more whelming without Him. If the noisy calls of the world and the flesh seem overpowering, run to your Father before you find yourself wallowing in the mud.

The truth is that there is no better place to be than with God. No greater life to live than for God. No higher path than walking with God. No greater work than the work of God.

So don’t quit. Stick with it. Despite all of the troubles and trials of life, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. There’s just nothing better out there.

Audio version here.

If the ancient Israelites had written pop music (it’s to their credit that they did not), “The End of the World” would have been written during Malachi’s time. Israel, once the glorious nation of God and still at the center of His plan, had been reduced to pretty much nothing. Nothing remained of Israel’s previous spiritual and cultural wonders. The temple was nothing but a shadow of the one Solomon had built. Worship was halfhearted, poorly done, and led by a corrupt priesthood. People’s lives, intended to be lived in victory to the glory of God, were shameful and lustful and selfish. Israel was simply fading away. And as it faded, the sun went on shining, the sea went on rushing to shore, the birds went on singing, the stars went on glowing, and out in the wide world, everything was the same as it was.

But Israel was in darkness.

Into that darkness God sent one final prophet, His messenger sent to call Israel to come back from the brink. We know him as Malachi and he wrote clear, harsh words of exhortation to a fading, uncaring people.
The first few verses of Malachi describe Israel’s core spiritual problem as well as the solution. Israel had become blind to God’s love. They were considering it from an improper perspective, and they needed to have their eyes opened to the truth. The blindness is described in verse 2:

2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’

When God said to them “I love you,” their response was “Prove it,” or “We don’t see it,” or even “You do not.” They couldn’t see His love, even as He was pouring it out on them. They wanted more of it, they wanted it different than they were getting, they wanted to be loved on their terms. They wanted what they wanted, not what God was giving.

God spare us from such blindness! May we never become so selfish that we doubt God because He is not doing things our way. May we fear falling into the trap of viewing God as one who has to perform our every wish in order to prove Himself. May we always be content simply to be loved by God in Christ. May we glory in spiritual blessings in heavenly places, and be satisfied with what we have been given. May we never be blind to the truth of how greatly God loves us and cares for us.

If we are to avoid the blindness, we will need something to correct our vision. That something is seeing God’s love in a proper balanced. Look at the rest of verse 2:

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved;
3 But Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness.” 4 Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; they shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, and the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever.

The patriarch Isaac had two sons, fraternal twins, one named “rough” and the other named “sneaky.” Now Isaac was what I call a son of promise, meaning that he was part of God’s plan to provide a Messiah for His people. So either Esau (rough) or Jacob (sneaky) would have to be a son of promise, too, or the line would die out and there would be no Messiah, no Christ.
What would you do, given the choice between “rough” and “sneaky”? Well, God chose “sneaky.” He chose Jacob. Why? The best reason I can give is simply because that’s what He did. The reasons for His choosing are deep within His own mind, not revealed to us.

So Jacob was the chosen, the one who was loved by God, and Esau was not the chosen. It says that God hated Him. Some of the reasons for that are given in Genesis, if you want to go there and read for yourself.

It is possible to interpret much of Israel’s history in relation to the struggle between Jacob and Esau, and the way that God intervened in the lives of both men and the nations that their descendants became (Israel and Edom). Malachi knew this, and so did the Israelites of his time. And so God says through Malachi, “If you want to know how God has loved you, take a look at how he has dealt with you compared to Esau/Edom. There you’ll find your proof.”

So, when we are feeling abused or unloved by God, we need to balance what God has given us with what He gives those who are under His judgment.
There is no doubt that we are loved. We may not receive all of the things we think we should, we may not receive all the things others do, we may struggle to get by and even think that God is not blessing us, or even that He has forsaken us.

But all of that thinking is not true. It’s a selfish and unbalanced. In Christ, God has given believers forgiveness of sins, the promise of heaven, the guarantee of the Spirit. He has promised strength for the day, to never to leave us or forsake us, to provide for us, and to see that all things work out for good. When you balance it out, that’s an awful lot better than the unbelievers get. And it’s an awful lot better than we deserve. Should we really presume that we should have more, or that it would be better if we received from God on our terms rather then His?

In Malachi, God promised the Israelites that if they got these things balanced in their minds, they would stop being blind to Him. He would open their eyes to His works, His greatness, and his power. Look at verse 5:

5 Your eyes shall see, and you shall say, ‘The LORD is magnified beyond the border of Israel.’

God is busy in the world. His works are not invisible to those with eyes to see, and certainly they are not limited to the little bubbles we live in. Out in the wide world, God is exacting justice, He is blessing His people, He is bringing glory to Himself, He is caring for His own.

Beyond our borders, it is possible to see God at work. And within our borders, we would be wise to be magnifying Him. We would be wise to be living for Him. We would be wise to be forsaking sin for righteousness, and selfishness for selflessness, and spiritual blindness for spiritual sight.

Does it seem that God is missing from your world? Are you tempted to be lackadaisical or uncaring toward God? Get your eyes off yourself and see how big God is in the wide world. And then, even in times of trouble or leanness, you’ll understand why the sun goes on shining, why the sea rushes to the shore, why the birds go on singing, and the stars go on glowing. It’s because your God is busy at work making it all happen, to His glory. If you get the balance right, you’ll see He’s busy in your world, too.

Link to audio.

For some reason we humans seem to give extra value to the sharing of food. It’s deep within us, and it’s a phenomenon that has been around for a long time. People just like eating together and talking about life. It makes us feel closer, it bonds our friendships, and it creates community.

In America, we practice this with relish. And turkey. And ham. And steak. And potatoes. And pie. Give us a holiday and we will roll out the food and gather in the friends and family. And when the food is done, the talk begins. The older men solve the world’s problems, the women talk about family and friends and whatever else it is women talk about, the younger people talk about jobs and raising children, the teenagers sit around texting or rolling their eyes, and the little kids are just underfoot. And at the end of the day, we are all feeling good, full of food, and all talked out. And the introverts go home exhausted, and extroverts go home energized, and everyone feels closer and happier.

With all this in mind, look at a somewhat unusual piece of scripture from Leviticus 7:

(11) ‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the LORD: (12) If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil. (13) Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering. (14) And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. (15) ‘The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.

What is being described here are the peace offerings, which are discussed in chapter 3 of Leviticus as well. Some translations call these the “fellowship” offerings. They were brought, it seems, not so much to gain peace with God, but instead in acknowledgment of the peace God had given and for fellowship with Him. Sometimes the fellowship offerings were brought to God out of thankfulness. If you were living right, had no sin that needed to be dealt with, and God had done something for you that was thankworthy, you could bring this sacrifice.

So, when someone wanted to thank God for something, they would bring a lamb or a goat (that’s in chapter 3), some cakes or wafers, and bread made with yeast. The animal was slaughtered, and the priest burnt part of it on the altar. He sprinkled its blood on the altar, too. And part of the rest of the meat was given to the priest. So far this is pretty much like the other offerings, but now it gets completely different. From the cakes or wafers that were brought, one was offered to God (as a “heave” offering, meaning it was lifted up before the altar), and given to the priest. It doesn’t say what was done with the bread.

So the person who brought the sacrifice was left standing there with (a) some of the meat, (b) some of the cakes or wafers, (c) probably at least some of the bread. Why? What was he supposed to do with all this food?

Here’s what he did. He took it home, gathered his family around, and they ate. They ate with the understanding that they had shared with God and He had shared back with them by not keeping it all for Himself.

What does this all mean? What’s this all about? It’s about the fellowship. With some adaptations because God is spirit ( you couldn’t sit down across the table from Him) God was sharing food with His people. Symbolically He was sitting down to dinner with them. And with no reference to sin nor any indication that anything was dividing them. Just fellowship. Just enjoying each other. What a privilege this was for the Old Testament saints, to share with God a meal that specifically thanked Him for His goodness.

There are things for us to learn here.

• God wants to fellowship with us. He wants to share the joys and trials and ups and downs of our lives.
• God finds delight in our fellowship with Him. He wants us to bring to Him things which will bless Him, which will please Him, which will make both of us smile.
• Our relationship with God is not limited to things relating to sin. It’s not supposed to be all confession and atonement and forgiveness. There is supposed to be a very large component of thankfulness involved. Of joy expressed over God’s greatness and goodness to us. Of simple pleasure of being together through the common moments of life.

I don’t think this works the same way for New Testament believers. We aren’t expected to show up before God’s throne carting roast lamb and cakes and bread. But there are things we ought to share with God in thanksgiving. Things we should bring to Him. What might they be? A review of the New Testament indicates that they might be these:

• Romans 16:4: We bring those who minister to us to Him.
• 1 Corinthians 15:57: We bring our spiritual victories to Him.
• 2 Corinthians 9:11: We bring our blessings to Him.
• Colossians 2:7: We bring our spiritual maturity to Him.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:2: We bring each other to Him.
• 1 Thessalonians 3:9: We bring our joys to Him.
• 1 Timothy 4:3,4: We bring the holy pleasures of life to Him.

So here’s what I think. I think Leviticus 7 teaches that a necessary part of fellowship with God is bringing to Him, as an offering, those blessings he has shared with us. And doing so thankfully, with joy as we share back with Him what He has shared with us.

To be blunt and brief, I don’t think that Christians have much fellowship with God if they aren’t actively thankful.

Hebrews 13:15 and 16 sums it all up: “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

Might it be that the “sacrifice of praise” parallels the peace offering of thanksgiving, continually offered to God as God  continually pours good things into our lives? Thanks to God should always be on our lips. Thanks should be in our hands, too, as we share the goodness of God in tangible ways with others.

This pleases God. It draws us into a relationship with Him that might be likened to the closeness and camaraderie and warmth and love you feel after a great day of food and chat with friends and family. It draws us into fellowship.

Check out your life. If you you are lacking a closeness with God, it may be because you are lacking in thankfulness. Learn to be thankful and you’ll find Him drawing you ever closer.

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These distinctions certainly make the grain offering unique, but don’t imagine that that the lack of blood makes it of lesser importance than the others. Three things show the grain offering to be a very important sacrifice: (1) these offerings were brought to God on a nearly daily basis, (2) they were the basis for one of Israel’s major holidays, and (3) they were so holy that they had to be consumed on the tabernacle or temple grounds. No leftovers were to be taken home to share with the wife and kids. So undoubtedly the grain offerings were important, and they had great significance in the worship system of Israel.

What these sacrifices like?

1 ‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.

2 He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

3 The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.

These are the general instructions, and describe the grain offering as it was to be brought by those who were relatively well-to-do. A quantity of flour was taken, oil poured over it, and frankincense put on it. It was brought to the priests, and some of the flour and oil, along with all of the frankincense, was burnt on the altar, with the rest belonging to the priests.

There were variations on this, probably for the less well-to-do:

4 ‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, [let's call this a cookie] it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

5 But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan [actually a griddle, so let's call this a pancake], it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.

6 You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.

7 ‘If your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan [I'm calling this one a cake], it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

These variations included no frankincense, which was somewhat expensive, and were either baked in an oven (with the oil added either before or after the baking), or fried on a griddle, or baked in a covered pan. The scriptures don’t say if other ingredients are allowed, although the common understanding and practice among Jews has been that they are. The cooking was done ahead of time, and the resulting cookie, pancake, or cake was brought to the priests, who burned part of it and ate the rest. As far as we know, the type of grain offering (whether it was a cookie, a pancake, or a cake) to be given was left up to the person bringing it.

So what did those who brought this offering think and feel as they brought it? I think 1 Kings 17:11 and 12 will helps us to know:

11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

12 So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

This scripture tells us where flour and oil stood on the food chain in ancient times. As today, they were staples. A poor widow, fallen upon hard times, stocked her cupboard with flour and oil. These things weren’t exotic or fancy, or even particularly tasty. But they were plenteous, affordable and nourishing. When one was starving, flour and oil were the last things you ran out of.

How does this help us understand this sacrifice? To a poor person, it hurt to give up food that could sustain them, even when one was giving it up to God. And that may be why the rather costly frankincense was added to some of the grain offerings – so it hurt the rich people, too. Nothing is truly a sacrifice if it’s painless, you know.

The simplicity of this offering is also significant. Because it was simple to prepare, it was possible for anyone to bring it. Poor folks could bring it easily, and because it was cooked ahead of time, they could make it fancy by forming it creatively. Rich folks couldn’t bake it, but they could make it fancy by putting frankincense on it. Rich or poor, fancy or not, anyone could bring this offering to God, because it was simple to prepare.

One of the times the grain offering was brought to God was to celebrate the harvest or “firstfruits.” The firstfruits offering could be brought either by an individual or by many people at once during the holiday that went by that name. In this case, there are some other things to think about, too:

The firstfruit offerings were brought to God to acknowledge that He had provided harvest for another year. This leads us to consider two more important components of these offerings: thankfulness and faith. Thankfulness because God had provided. Faith because giving away what has been harvested today, even when giving it to God, does not guarantee a harvest tomorrow. To give away one’s food at the beginning of the harvest, when one did not know if it would be plenteous or not, required faith that God would provide in the days to come.

So the grain offerings were brought by God’s people with simplicity, with some hurt, with thanksgiving, and with faith. Of course, this is the Old Testament. We don’t do things this way in the church. So what might this all mean for us? James 1 helps:

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Whenever one receives a gift, it is right to be thankful and it is common courtesy to express that thankfulness to the giver. Good gifts and perfect gifts come from God, and it is right to thank Him for what He gives. We may not be farmers, but we all benefit from the harvest, and although God does not require us to give to Him a part of our breakfast or bring Him cookies, pancakes, or cakes, it is still right and good for us to thank Him for our food. And not just our food, but every good thing He gives. God’s people, of all people, should be thankful people, for we recognize that every good thing we receive comes from our unchanging, perfect Father in heaven.

And then there is the most perfect gift, the gift of salvation. Look at verse 18:

18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

God has provided salvation through His Son’s death and resurrection, so that all who believe will be saved. And there’s no better gift than that. He has made believers a kind of firstfruits, a kind of harvest, from among His creatures. And so believers come to God, rich and poor, prepared in many different ways, but all of us thankful for the great gift of His grace.

How do we show this thankfulness? Not with cookies or pancakes or cakes, but by presenting our lives to Him and pleasing Him with our lifestyles. Verses 19 and 20:

19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Based on the good and perfect gift we have received when He saved us, believers are compelled to thank Him by living well, with listening ears, and cautious speech, and long tempers, working out our salvation in our relationships to each other and to the world. This is true thankfulness – a simple life offered back to God as a response to the greatness of His gifts.

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The covering provided by the Day of Atonement also made available certain privileges and responsibilities to God’s people, most of them expressed by a number of voluntary sacrifices that could be brought to God. Leviticus 6 describes one of them, the whole burnt sacrifice:

8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

9 Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.

…

12 And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.

13 A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.

The whole sacrifice was placed on the altar; not part of it, but all of it. And the fire of the altar was kept stoked so that the sacrifice burned up completely, leaving nothing but ashes.

So how did it feel to bring this offering? What was it like to bring an offering to God that signified a willingness to die for God, that signified that one’s life was completely in God’s hands? I can’t imagine anyone doing that without feeling at least three things:

1. Awe over God’s greatness and the privilege of being part of His plan. This God allows and even desires people to interact with Him.
2. Humility at the recognition that one’s life in God’s hands, with all of the safety and all of the risk that implies.
3. Deep desire to give one’s self completely to God.

This sacrifice must have been an act of love for God. It must have caused feelings of great personal loss as well as great personal satisfaction to see one’s heart’s desires displayed through the symbolic giving of everything to God. Folks who brought this sacrifice thoughtfully and with understanding certainly must have felt driven to give themselves wholly to God.

Now consider the New Testament equivalent of the whole burnt sacrifice:

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

As a part of what He has done on the cross, Jesus has made available to every believer the privilege and responsibility of bringing ourselves, all of us, body and mind, to God as a sacrifice. He makes this possible while we are yet living – we don’t have to wait for heaven. He makes it possible for us to present ourselves to Him in a holy fashion. He makes us acceptable to God, not someday in heaven, but right now in this life. He gives us power to be different and not conformed to the world. He gives us the privilege of a new and changed mind. He empowers us to do our reasonable service, bringing ourselves as sacrifices to God, and proving though a new way of living that His will is good and acceptable. He allows us to bring to God that which is His, and that which is ours, because we recognize that it is His, too.

The whole burnt offering is a sacrifice of consecration and service that acknowledges God’s right to consume all of the worshiper if He wants to. And your reasonable service does the same thing. Have you brought yourself, body and mind, to God as an offering? Has Jesus’ work on the cross reached beyond your sins and engulfed everything that you are and everything that you have? It’s your responsibility and your privilege to place your all on the altar.

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The Temple, and before it, the Tabernacle, provided Old Testament saints with a way to worship God that was very different from what we have today. Then there was much ritual, and things had to be done just so, and there was a great deal of symbolism. These things are pretty much not so anymore.

The Tabernacle was designed to be portable, to go along with Israel as it traveled though the wilderness. Scripture indicates it was patterned after things in heaven. Skilled and wise workmen took the design given by God and put together the building and its various parts. This Tabernacle served as Israel’s worship center for many years, until they were settled in the land, when it was replaced by the temple Solomon built. In that temple, and the one that followed it, the basic design remained the same, only the scale was different.

This place was the core of religion and theology in Israel. Here sacrifices were made, the priesthood labored at their tasks, the people came with their sacrifices, and sins were atoned. It was the center of all true worship in Israel.

But it was a very different kind of worship.

Should a common, everyday person wanted to meet with God, He had to come to the Tabernacle. There was no other divinely designated place. He had to bring his sacrifice with him. If it was a long trip, or expensive, he still had to come to the tabernacle if He wanted to meet with God. There was no other way, no other place.

He couldn’t show up at just any time, either. He had to wait until the Tabernacle was functioning for the day and its gate was open. It was there at the gate that the sacrifices were killed, that the blood flowed, and then the priests would carry the dead animal and put it on the altar to burn.

But that front gate of the tabernacle was as close to God as the common person could get. God met with them, but He stayed out of sight behind the altar, the tent, and the veil. And along with these physical barriers, there were procedural barriers as well. The priests served as go-betweens, as a buffer between God and man. Only the priests could approach God, and only the priests could take the sacrifices to Him.

It was worship. But it was different. From our viewpoint it seems distant and almost alienated. Impersonal or even inadequate. But it was worship. It was fellowship. It was a relationship with God that was real and meaningful. And through it God offered to His people everything they needed to maintain their relationship with Him.

But to us, even with that knowledge, it still feels like something’s missing, and something is. What’s missing is access. The ancients could worship God, but they couldn’t get to Him. Their worship was done through symbolism and go-betweens and always at a distance.

But that changed the day Jesus died. That’s why the veil was torn in two. Since that time, things are very different. Ephesians 2:17-19 says this:

And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners.

That difference is Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead. Living on this side of the cross and of the tomb, believers have access through Jesus to God. The altar, the place of sacrifice, that used to block the view of God? Now Jesus is Himself the sacrifice. The priests that served as go-betweens? Now “there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” The veil? Torn asunder, so that believers who want to worship God can now experience a very different kind of worship. Worship that is close, and has access to God Himself. And it’s only possible because of Jesus. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

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