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Embracing Uncertainty

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 6 Listen: (6:15) Read: Titus 1 Listen: (2:24)

Scripture Focus: Judges 6:39-40

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

John 14:8

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Reflection: Embracing Uncertainty

By Erin Newton

Anxiety was always part of my life, so adding it to my faith was natural.

If your early days in the faith look like mine, you repeatedly prayed for supernatural signs. I always needed God to prove my salvation was secure. Did that prayer “stick”? Maybe I should do it again.

When I read Scripture that spoke of “ye of little faith,” I was the “ye.” Paired with comments that doubting was a lack of faith, I assumed my doubt meant my faith was in jeopardy.

Unfortunately, this mindset about faith caused me to read the story of Gideon in a condescending way. Gideon, he of little faith. An Old Testament Doubting Thomas.

Susan Niditch calls Gideon our most “pleasingly insecure” hero. Yet God loves this insecure hero. He doesn’t back away from using him.

Gideon is called to save Israel from the hands of the Midianites. Despite the God-given instructions, he’s not free from his own insecurity. Has his faith faltered? Have the previous days or years following God suddenly become nullified because he asks God for a sign? And one more sign? No. Gideon the hero struggles with anxiety just like any one of us.

Philip, one of the apostles, repeats this same scenario in John 14. Jesus tells his disciples that he is about to leave them. Things are about to get a lot worse. Philip, looking for some place to alleviate his insecure feelings, says: “Show us the Father and that will be enough.” One more sign. Then I can keep going.

God didn’t hesitate to answer Gideon. Insecurity does not offend God. Jesus answers Philip by pointing out the answer has always been his presence. He was answering his insecurity before Philip realized his own anxiety.

Gideon cannot escape his insecurity. Philip is not immune to doubts. Our repetitive pleas to God to help our uncertainty is not a sign of diminishing faith. Asking for a sign is met with God’s own reassuring words, “I’ve been with you all this time.”

The indwelling of the Spirit will not erase our anxieties. (Oh, how I wish he would remove this thorn in the flesh!) Embracing uncertainty is a part of faith. But like our own fears—our best method is to embrace the overwhelming uncertainty, learning to live in the tension between the surety of our faith in Christ and the common human reaction to ask for one more reassurance.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

You are my helper and my deliverer; O Lord, do not tarry. — Psalm 70.6

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Count Your Hardships

Balanced with the various ways God provided, the anxiety-inducing “what-if” turns into the hope-filled “even-if.”

Count Your Hardships
Read The Bible With Us

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Victorious Remnant Songs

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 5 Listen: (4:36) Read: 1 Timothy 6 Listen: (3:16)

Scripture Focus: Judges 5.1-3, 12-13

1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song:
2 “When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer themselves—
praise the Lord!
3 “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers!
I, even I, will sing to the Lord;
I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel, in song…
12 ‘Wake up, wake up, Deborah!
Wake up, wake up, break out in song!
Arise, Barak!
Take captive your captives, son of Abinoam.’
13 “The remnant of the nobles came down;
the people of the Lord came down to me against the mighty.

Reflection: Victorious Remnant Songs

By John Tillman

Deborah confidently led Israel out of a time of decline, crime, oppression, and spiritual torpor. Then she sang about it.

The three sections of Deborah’s song each have three phrases of three lines. The song also mentions three women, Deborah, Jael, and Sisera’s mother.

The first section (v 3-11) compares the victories God brought in the past to the one he will bring in Deborah’s day.

The second section (v. 13-21) is a wake up call to battle. It describes those who gathered for battle or hesitated to join. It describes Sisera’s army being swept away in a river, echoing Egypt’s army drowned in the Red Sea.

The third section (22-31) zooms in on Jael and Sisera’s mother. Jael kills Sisera, echoing the promise of Eve’s seed crushing the head of the snake. (Genesis 3.15) Sisera’s mother waits impatiently for financial benefits from the battle, unaware that loss is coming instead.

There are several notable themes in Deborah’s song.

Divine iteration is a biblical pattern. To paraphrase Mark Twain, God’s salvific acts don’t repeat, but they rhyme. God acts in ways similar to, yet distinct from, his previous actions. We can miss what God is doing if we expect the exact same deliverance as before. There will always be a twist of something new. (Isaiah 43.19)

Not everyone will wake up. Not everyone needs to. Despite Deborah’s call to wake up, much of Israel stayed asleep. Only a remnant responded, but it was enough. The recovery of spiritual vigor, justice, and freedom is possible because God works through remnants rather than regiments.

The lowly will overcome the mighty. Jael was not a prophet, warrior, or leader, like Deborah. She was the wife of a nomadic relative of Moses’ father-in-law. However, it was “at her feet he sank” (v. 27) not at the feet of a warrior. Sisera’s mother represents those who benefit financially from oppression, even if they don’t directly participate in it. God uses the lowly and few to bring down the mighty and many, emphasizing that his hand acts to strike down evil, repaying suffering and loss to those responsible for it.

Celebrate ahead of time what Deborah wrote about, for it will happen again. Sing victorious remnant songs. God will save in ways familiar, yet new. Don’t be discouraged. We need only a remnant of the faithful to change the fate of many. The mighty will not prevail over the lowly who trust in God.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

My mouth shall recount your mighty acts and saving deeds all day long; though I cannot know the number of them. — Psalm 71.15

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: No Asterisks

Deborah’s judgeship doesn’t deserve an asterisk…The biblical writers make no apologies or explanations for Deborah.

No Asterisks — Readers’ Choice
Read more: Prayer For Faithful Shepherds

God describes to Ezekiel what he will be like when he comes as a shepherd…a promise fulfilled by Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Prayer For Faithful Shepherds
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Nuance, Judgment, and Hope

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Judges 4 Listen: (3:57) Read: 1 Timothy 5 Listen: (3:22)

Scripture Focus: 1 Timothy 5.24-25

24 The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.

Reflection: Nuance, Judgment, and Hope

By John Tillman

Some sins are obvious. Some aren’t. Some show up early. Some arrive late.

Paul used an analogy of sins arriving either before a person or after them. Obvious sins are the ones we see as the person approaches. Hidden sins we don’t notice until after they arrive.

Paul warned Timothy about being too quick to select leaders and elders. He implied that “laying hands” on them hastily might mean sharing “in the sins of others.” (v. 22) Paul implied that Timothy’s personal purity, and that of the church, could be stained by the sins of someone the church or Timothy endorsed.

If one has been a Christian long enough, one has seen leaders who seemed holy at first, turn hellish when hidden sins were exposed. The long history of fallen moral leaders might make us hesitate to “lay hands” on anyone, but Paul’s analogy called for discernment and patience, not doubt and paralysis. When we rush to judgment, we rush toward error, but patience and wisdom can discover those ready for leadership. Sin will come out.

As a young pastor, Timothy navigated many complex problems. Both of Paul’s letters to Timothy are devoted to the wisdom he needed. The topics Paul discussed required nuance, judgment, tact, and balance. They involved not just selecting leaders but granting them appropriate respect, (v. 1) correcting them with gentleness and purity, (v. 1-2) and holding them accountable publicly. (v. 20) Paul also described efficiently using limited resources to do the most good for those who most needed it. (v. 16)

This wisdom is not just for pastors. All believers need godly wisdom to live with nuance, judgment, and hope. We must be careful “laying hands” of approval on any leader, whether spiritual or political. Leaders we hastily endorse (or refuse to correct) can leave stains on the church that last for generations.

But there is a more encouraging part of Paul’s analogy. Good, not just evil, can surprise us. There is good that is obvious and that is not obvious. There is good blooming instantly and good that blooms long after seeds are planted.

Perhaps you aren’t seeing blossoms of good right now. But there are seeds planted long ago awaiting God’s timing. Good that is now hidden one day will bloom.

Hate what is evil whether it surprises you or not. And cling to, plant, and pray for good that will surprise us all.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Let them know that this is your hand, that you, O Lord, have done it. — Psalm 109.26

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: What If I Don’t Have an Ox?

Paul made an amazing claim…when Moses wrote this down, God was concerned about wisdom for his people, not grain for oxen.

What If I Don’t Have an Ox?
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De-Thumbing Tyrants?

Links for today’s readings:

 Read: Judges 1 Listen: (5:08) Read: 1 Timothy 2 Listen: (1:38)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Judges 2 Listen: (3:19) Read: 1 Timothy 3 Listen: (2:10)
Read: Judges 3 Listen: (4:30) Read: 1 Timothy 4 Listen: (2:05)

Scripture Focus: Judges 1.5-7

5 It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. 6 Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7 Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

Reflection: De-Thumbing Tyrants?

By John Tillman

People often do to fallen tyrants as those tyrants have done countless times to others.

The reverse golden rule of retribution says that when one is generous in pain and oppression, it will be measured back, pressed down, shaken together, running over. (Luke 6.38b)

We rarely get details of the wickedness of the Canaanite kings and city-states. However, the glimpse we get from the confession of Adoni-Bezek is a gruesome hint at the type of societies Israel displaced.

Adoni-Bezek had cut off the thumbs and big toes of seventy kings, forcing them to scramble for food at his table. If this is how kings were treated, imagine how he treated the poor.

Mutilations of ancient captives were common. Captives were made eunuchs, branded on the soles of their feet, or mutilated in other ways.

Some mutilations were practical. Making eunuchs prevented future dynastic threats. Branded feet made slaves unlikely to escape. Toeless and thumbless warrior kings would struggle to rise to their feet and never wield a weapon. Resistance, rebellion, and revenge were cut off.

However, the primary purpose of mutilation was humiliation and dominance. Adoni-Bezek’s victims were not only defeated, they were made dependent on him, scrambling for scraps, like beggars. It was unusual for Israel to use mutilation. Those who defeated Adoni-Bezek must have witnessed his crimes and made an exception in his case.

But what about our case? What about the tyrants of today?

We must remember that the Canaanite conquest was not a blueprint for anyone to follow, especially the church. The Canaanite conquest shows us more failure than success. Israel wins battles but their heart is all wrong. They defeat humans but remain enslaved to sin. The entirety of the Old Testament demonstrates that violence fails to establish righteousness and political change fails to bring spiritual change.

It is not wrong for us to long for tyrants to be paid back or to celebrate when God brings the mighty down. (Luke 1.52) But that is not the church’s role. When God sends retribution, he typically chooses locusts, gnats, snakes, and other plagues. He whistles for wicked empires. (Isaiah 5.26-27; 7.18-20)

Retribution is not the church’s calling—spiritual change is. That doesn’t mean politics is unimportant, but spiritual change is the key to every other kind of change our world needs. Instead of looking for tyrants to de-thumb (even some who deserve it) we should be looking for hearts responsive to the gospel.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Who is like the Lord our God, who sits enthroned on high, but stoops to behold the heavens and the earth? — Psalm 113.5

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Dethroning Kings and Powers

The destruction of Canaanite city states made theological statements, disarming the gods of Canaan’s kings.

Dethroning Kings and Powers
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The Testimony of Scripture

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Joshua 24 Listen: (5:49) Read: 1 Timothy 1 Listen: (2:59)

Scripture Focus: Joshua 24.24-27

24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.” 25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord. 27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”

Reflection: The Testimony of Scripture

By John Tillman

We sometimes overlook how politically odd the Hebrew community was. Moses was their singular spiritual, civil, and military leader, but he was not a king. He did not extract wealth from the people or pass down leadership in his family line. Tribes chose for themselves leaders who exercised delegated authority. (Deuteronomy 1.13-17)

Joshua took over this role from Moses, but did not hand it down to anyone as he stepped down from his position. Joshua essentially turned the people over to lead themselves as they followed God under the guidance of the priests and elders. It wasn’t exactly representative governance, but it was a stark differentiation from the despotism that was typical in that region and time period.

Many passages in the Bible describe how the documents that became the Bible came to be. They often are moments of transition, victory, or recommitment. This moment in Joshua is all three. Joshua reaffirmed the spiritual covenant and the decrees and laws, then wrote them down for the people. This would have included the writings compiled by Moses in other similar moments. (Exodus 17.14; 34.27-28; Deuteronomy 17.18; 27.3-8; 31.19-26)

Many times the writings are described as witnesses against the people. Scriptures were intended to remind the people not to forget God, but were also evidence against the people when they forgot God. The written words left no excuse for future wickedness.

Like the Israelite tribes, we do not have a tyrant over us forcing us to “do righteousness.” That’s how empires work—idealistic principles at the top and wicked brutality at ground level. However, we are representative ambassadors of a different kind of kingdom. Christ is our true king. His kingdom “comes from another place” and is not established by violence. (John 18.36-37) We announce and represent Jesus’ kingdom which frees us from the empires we live among. (Luke 4.16-21)

However, being Christ’s representatives brings responsibilities. We are accountable to Christ’s new covenant and the wisdom gained from the whole of scripture. We need regular reminders of God’s faithfulness and our unfaithfulness. This is not for our discouragement but for our encouragement.

Make the Bible your teacher and listen to its testimony through the Holy Spirit. When we transgress, its words testify against us. When we repent they redeem us. When we obey, they help us repair and restore wrongs. Jesus’ words are life for us and his wisdom comes to us from every corner of scripture. Eat, heed, and live out Jesus words.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading

Jesus taught us, saying: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more. You are pruned already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you.” — John 15.1-3

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Streams of Scripture

When you know the scriptures inside and out, they get inside you and come out of you…we can search our souls for streams of scripture.

Streams of Scripture
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