Whisper Of God Ministries

Tipping God

This week we finished up Zechariah and move into Malachi. I want to spend my entire time today looking at this wonderful final book of the Old Testament. If you want a good overview of Malachi, please go to our website – www.WhisperofGod.org and find the book overview section. The website is a great place for asking questions, posting comments, and finding past material and lessons.

Malachi is a book of questions. God asks questions and the people ask questions in this great oracle. The book also has much to do with worship – much more than we can get into today. In chapter one, God accuses the people of bringing to him sacrifices that are blemished or animals that are blind or lame. He asks if they would offer such a gift to their earthly ruler. The Lord goes on to say that he would rather have them close the very doors to the temple and let the fire go out than receive the dregs of their flocks. Chapter two is God’s condemnation for the priest. We know from Ezekiel 11 and from 1 Peter 4 that the judgment of God will begin with the church and its leaders.

The main passage for today comes from Malachi 3:8-11. “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, How do we rob you? In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – the whole nation of you – because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessings that you will not have room for it.”

I was having dinner in Charlotte the other night with a dear longtime friend. When it came time to pay the tab, we got into a discussion on tipping and giving. My friend works for The National Christian Foundation, which helps people give more strategically and easily and helps to educate and vet ministries. My mind raced to this passage as we talked. In these slow economic times, I have read article after article in newspapers and magazines about how we should better tip our waiters and waitresses because they depend on tips. The logic is that 15% is not enough if fewer people are eating out so we should consider 20% - maybe more if the service is fantastic. Dan and I began to discuss how we readily “tip” a waiter or waitress at a restaurant but tithing is on the decline in America in many churches and Christian organizations. How rare it is to find someone who would actually give to the cause of Christ 10% of their income.

How often do we fall into the trap that the Israelites were in during the resettlement period in Jerusalem? They had begun to not give God their best. In fact, they were bringing to him their worst, their leftovers. Times were tough. They thought that surely God would understand that in tough times they needed to hold on to as much as they could. God was getting the short end of the stick. The Lord Almighty eventually tells them that they are robbing him. Would he say that to you and me today? While many have distorted these verses to a prosperity gospel use, the point here in this passage is that God wants your very best – he demands our very best. After all, we are only stewards of his creation; we own nothing. He wants to see our love for him, our appreciation of him, and our worship to and of him. Part of that worship is tithing.

God’s challenge here – he actually says we are to “test him” on this promise, to be faithful to him in all that we have and do. If we are faithful, he promises to bless us. His blessing is not more material wealth, but his watch care and love.

Some churches now refuse to “pass the plate” on Sunday morning. They think that the active work of the collection is not appropriate for a worship service. Many of these churches now teach more about tithing and stewardship than ever before but just have removed it from their regular worship service. Others pass the plate every time they can. The important thing is not what your church does but what you do. Tithing is a personal thing between you and God – just like your salvation. Your level of appreciation for all he has done for you – in “good” and “bad” times as we label them. Are you tithing 10%? The next time you think that 10% is too much and that you just cannot possibly survive if you give God that much, remember what you tipped at your last restaurant. Was it 15% or more for “good service”? God does not want our “tip,” he wants our love and appreciation. How much do you love him and how much are you willing to “test” him on his promise to open the floodgates of heaven to you if you will but bring him the small portion that he asks for as a sign of your adoration of him? Don’t give God the leftovers, the “blemished” parts of your time and talents and gifts. He wants your very best. Remember this – he gave you his very, very best - his only begotten Son – our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Thirty Pieces of Silver

This week we continue in our reading of the book of Zachariah. I am amazed at the power of the prophetic word and how God has covered and preserved his Word. I hope you saw the many messianic references in this week’s verses. One I caught was from 11:12, 13.

“I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.’ So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’ – the handsome price at which they paid me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.”

Of course this takes us to Matthew 26 and 27 where Judas Iscariot agrees to betray Christ for thirty silver coins. Chapter 27 tells us that Judas, when he had seen that Christ had been condemned, was overcome with guilt and went back to the chief priest to return the money, admitting he had sinned. When they rejected him and refused to take the money back, Judas threw the money into the temple and left. The Scripture tells us that he went out and hanged himself. The priest could not use the money for the treasury because it was blood money so they bought the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.

This passage started me thinking about how often we sell out Christ for such a small price. In the days of Israel, thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave. It was a small amount of money. Today, we are often so quick to sell out Christ for things that are not monetary – societal acceptance, being popular, fitting in with the crowd, a round of golf, a trip to the beach and in so many other small ways. We are willing to turn our backs on the Gospel for the moment of peace, the comfort or security of the day. Sometimes we think that the stakes are higher – to get that job or promotion, to build a relationship that will assist us, or even to avoid the hard work of spiritual disciplines. Opportunities and examples are everywhere.

This week I have been attending some classes at Wheaton College sponsored by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. One of the topics of discussion was the New Atheists Movement. This infection has spread like wildfire into the realm of academics. Such bright people as Dr. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and others have written, debated and helped to spread this very dangerous worldview. The question was asked of the lecturers about the cost they had paid for standing up in the face of radical movement when it meant loss of income or academic standing. These great men of the faith are glad and willing to sacrifice much for the cause of Christ in each of their fields of expertise. They were willing to pay the price to stand with Christ.

Yet, I go back to our text and examine my own life. What has the Gospel cost me? Have I found it of such great value that nothing is too great a price to pay to stand with Christ? Or, have I often sold Him out for my own comfort and ease? Has family time been more valuable than time in worship and study of Christ? Is my favorite TV show a better use of my time than Bible reading? Did I worship him truly in the host of fellow believers or did I kid myself into thinking I could “worship” him on the course? I suspect that when many of us stand before our Holy God, if he replays all of our lives for us to see, we may very well say, I cannot believe I decided to spend my time here or there, or picked this or that, or saw this thing or that thing as more important than Christ. For the cost of a slave, Judas sold out the King of the universe. Are you selling out Christ for something that has no eternal significance? The Creator of all is more valuable to you than you will ever realize. Pray that he will instill in you this day a true sense of his worth and help you correct any misplaced priorities of life.

Zechariah 5 – 8

In last week’s teaching, Bill encouraged us to slow down as we read God’s Word. Meditate on it and ask ourselves questions such as: What is God saying about Himself? What is He saying about sin? What is He saying to me?

In this week’s reading, God says much about sin. The last three of Zechariah’s visions were about sin, including individual sin and corporate sin. And sin brings judgment. His sixth vision was of the flying scroll which represents God’s Word or His law. The scroll is a symbol of a curse that will be on all those who have disobeyed the law of God, which of course is God’s divine standard by which people are to live. Through the prophet, God is addressing individual sin. This vision deals with God’s judgment of the sinner based on His standard written in His Word. Interestingly, the exact size of the scroll is given. Why? John MacArthur points out that the scroll is the exact size of the Holy Place in the Tabernacle. God’s detail fascinates me!

Zechariah’s seventh vision is about the woman in the basket (ephah). The woman represents wickedness which is the sinful system or corporate sin. Chapter five, verses seven and eight indicate that wickedness is active, not something of the past, because she pops up from the basket and then is forced down in the basket as the lid covers it. Then, the ephah is taken to Shinar, another name for Babylon, which symbolizes the ultimate wickedness in Zechariah’s day. God is telling us here that He will remove the sinful system from His people.

Think on this picture. Christ died to satisfy God’s judgment for the sin of His Chosen. Through His death, He took away sin’s power and its penalty. To the people of Zechariah’s day, God was telling them of the Messiah to come-that He would provide a way for their sin to be removed. We have the privilege to be on this side of the cross and experience freedom from sin’s power over us. Only through Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord will you experience this freedom. Glory to God! I think it also represents the day upon which Christ will permanently remove all sin from this earth, which will be the glorious day of His return. Oh, Lord, may You return soon!

The last of his visions was about the four chariots and horses patrolling the earth to execute God’s judgment. Most of the translations I read state north and south but do not mention east or west. This distinction is probably because most of their enemies were north or south. To the east and west was desert and sea. However, the NIV does mention some horses going to the west. Chapter six, verse eight tells us that God’s wrath is appeased (by judgment) and His Spirit is at rest.

Chapter six ends with the word of the Lord coming to Zechariah introducing the Messiah. This One called “Branch” would rule and reign as king and priest. (In Zechariah’s day, two people were in these positions. One was king and one was priest.) After so much “talk” of sin and judgment, God encourages His people telling them He will send the Messiah.

In chapter seven, the returned exiles seek an answer from their God. They ask an interesting question in verse three. “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?” God begins His answer with questions in verses five and six. “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?”

Since the destruction of Jerusalem, the nation had fasted during the fifth and seventh months, as well as two other times throughout each year. So for many years, the people fasted together as a nation. Since Jerusalem was being rebuilt, did they need to continue these fasts? Throughout the years of fasting, it had become just a habit. Perhaps, too, the people were fasting due to self-pity instead of having an attitude of sincere worship. They had lost their true focus of the fast and just did it to do it. Has anything in your life become that way? Attending church? Serving on that committee? Staying in a position just to be associated with it? Do you do these things out of habit or out of true worship of and submission to our Lord?

Throughout chapters seven and eight, God answers his people with four responses. First, He rebukes them for their wrong motives. Then He encourages them toward repentance. God tells his people that practicing justice, kindness and compassion is more important to Him than fasting. Finally, God writes that He will restore Israel to His favor and their fasts “will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts.”

May we always remember for Whom we do what we do and that it is Christ we represent, not ourselves. May we repent and walk in God’s favor. And may the day come quickly that our fasts become feasts.

Ashley Jones

Snatched from the Fire

As you will notice, the reading requirement for each day has been reduced. The main reason for this is that as we move through the year, we have been reading less so that you can spend more time in meditation of God’s Word. Unfortunately, the idea of meditation has been lost to the eastern religions of the world that promote the notion that you need to empty your mind to properly meditate. For the Christian, the call from God throughout Psalm 119 is to think deeply on Scripture. What does the passage say about God, or about sin, or about me? These are the type of questions you should think about when reading the Bible. So, as we move through the last three Old Testament books and begin the New Testament in July, think deeply on the Bible. Think about what God is revealing in his truth to you each day as you pray and read.

This week we have been in the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah. Both of these prophets preached at about the same time – 520 B.C. They spoke to the Israelites who had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and resettle Jerusalem. While the settlers had finished the foundation of the temple, work had stopped on the building program due to internal laziness and external pressures. Both of these Godly men tried to motivate the people to begin building again. Darius the Great, king of Persia, encouraged them to start rebuilding again and with the push by God through Haggai and Zechariah, the temple was finally finished and dedicated to God in 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:13-18)

What I want us to contemplate for a moment this week is Zechariah 3. In this passage, which is the fourth vision of Zechariah, we see Israel’s forgiveness and restoration played out in a vision of the High Priest Joshua. This fascinating vision shows us Joshua standing in the presence of God and Satan standing there as well on Joshua’s right side to accuse him. The Lord rebukes Satan twice and then gives a marvelous metaphor – “Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire.” God is referring in the vision to the fact that Joshua was in the fire (Babylon) but has now returned (snatched) to Jerusalem to serve God. The vision continues with the Lord ordering the angels to remove Joshua’s filthy clothes and to put rich garments on him and a clean turban on his head to symbolize his restoration as High Priest. The Lord goes on to teach about things to come and about how he will send his “Branch” to save the people.

This vision is such a great mental picture of what happens to us as well. We are like Joshua standing before God in judgment, snatched from the fire of this earthly world. Satan has all kinds of accusations to hurl against us as he flaunts our sins before a Holy God. Yet in the beauty of what we call our salvation, God removes our filthy rags of sinfulness, takes away our sin and provides us with “rich garments” of his glory. He will restore us to a right relationship with him just as he restored Joshua.

His Branch has indeed come in the person and work of Christ whose death has taken away our sins and clothed us in the rich garments of his righteousness (verse 8). The fulfillment of verse 9 takes away my breath as I read it, written 550 years before the day, “and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.” Yes, when Christ gave his life for you and me on that blessed one day, God removed our sin forever if we call him Lord and Savior. Has that blessed day dawned in your life? Do you truly call him Savior and Lord? What are you doing for the Kingdom of God?

On a recent beach trip, my family was picking up shells on the beach. I was reminded of that great chapter in John Piper’s book, Don’t Waste Your Life, where he talks about the couple that retired early to the shores and later stood before the King of Kings and was asked to give an account of what they had done with their life. They pulled out the shells they had picked up as they wasted away their years walking on the beach and said to the Creator of the universe, see what beautiful shells we found. Will you be like this couple that only has a few shells to present to your Master or will your portfolio be full of Kingdom work? We get to heaven by God’s grace and Christ’s blood, but he calls us to work for his kingdom and to accomplish those works he has prepared for each of us before the foundations of the earth were created (Ephesians 2:10). What is in your portfolio for the Kingdom of God? He has snatched you from the fire because of his great love for you and for his purpose. Are you fulfilling that purpose today?
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He Did This For Me
Have you ever been surprised by someone who did something just incredible for you without it ever dawning on you that they would do it? Sometimes it happens – even from complete strangers. I think of John Foxe who found himself penniless, almost starved to death, out of work and sitting alone in a pew in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in 1553. A complete stranger walked up to him, handed him a bag of money and told him to cheer up, go home and recover himself and get on with what God had planned for him to do. Foxe never saw the man again and never knew who he was, but the gift renewed him and he went on to pen the most influential book in all of Christianity beyond the Bible – Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

This week we have read the great messianic chapter in Isaiah – chapter 53. This chapter deserves to be read and reread to digest the depth that it contains. It is a chapter that many of us are familiar with from our churches. It is a masterpiece written 700 years before the events described and yet they contain such great detail about our Christ and his death. I remember teaching on this passage a few years ago when I read it out loud in my class and personalized it to individuals in the class. I like to read it and personalize to myself.

He was despised and rejected by me, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom I would hide my face, I despised him and esteemed him not. Surely he took up my infirmities and carried my sorrows, yet I considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for my transgressions, and he was crushed for my iniquities; the punishment that brought me peace was upon him, and by his wounds, I am healed.

Verse 10 goes on to say that it was God’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer for me. In other words it pleased God to do that for me. I am overwhelmed.

I mentioned the John Foxe story in conjunction with this section of Scripture to make this point. I was dead to Christ when he did this for me. He was a stranger – worse than that he was an enemy to me when he did this for me. There was nothing that I had done to deserve such an eternal gift. In fact I avoided God like he was a plague. In my sinful nature I was dead to him and despised him and all that he stood for. Yet in that condition, it pleased God to pierce and crush his only begotten Son for me.

When was the last time you truly contemplated the gift of your salvation? When was the last time that you personalized these verses so that they hit directly at your heart? Fortunately, unlike John Foxe, this gift allows us to know the giver after the fact. When we receive this gift, we begin at that point to build our relationship with Him. He has known us before the foundations of the world, but when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior by faith, we begin a new journey of discovering and loving our Father, Son and Spirit. Yes he did all this for you and for me.