Almighty God

God is Sovereign and We Aren’t Robots

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Whatever Yahweh pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all deeps.”  (Psalm 135:6, LSB)

Whether it is the terrifying storms in the skies (v. 7), the crushing plagues He brought to Egypt (vv. 8-9), the conquests that left the nations decimated as the Lord handed Israel their lands as His gift (vv. 10-12), Psalm 135 speaks loudly about the overwhelming power and plan of God to do whatever He pleases within all of creation. He made it all and He rules it as the sovereign and only Potentate.

For some Christians, the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is a hard pill to swallow. They accept that He is all powerful, but they often will mitigate this truth with additional disclaimers and rebuttals. “God’s sovereign, but He gives up some of His rule and authority over us so that humanity can be free to choose.” But in saying this, they had neutered what the Bible says and inserted something it very clearly doesn’t say. In fact, they have taken the Sovereign God and made Him a little more like the powerless idols spoken of in verses 15-18:

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

The work of man’s hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

They have eyes, but they do not see;

They have ears, but they do not hear,

Surely, there is not any breath in their mouths.

Those who make them will be like them,

All who trust in them.  (Psalm 135:15–18, LSB)

The God who rules Israel also rules the other nations and the world. In contrast, the gods of the nations were deaf, dumb, and blind. They were not sovereign over anything. And don’t miss the results of such ideas—you become like what you worship.

For those who reject the biblical doctrine of God’s sovereignty, in attempting to protect man’s free will (thus exalting man) they lower God (just a little, they reply). After all, they reason, God wants us to worship Him freely. He doesn’t want worship from robots.

Ah! But the psalmist doesn’t see a contradiction between his praise of this sovereign God who does what He pleases and the open worship of His people. The psalm opens with a command to “Praise Yah! (vv. 1-3) and then closes the psalm with more calls to worship (vv. 19-21). Yahweh is sovereign and thus we must worship. We are not forced to do so, but we cannot contain our exuberance for our God.

Far from squashing genuine worship, the biblical truth that God is unfettered in his power and sovereignty impels worship to greater heights. We are not robots! The sovereignty of God does not teach that a mindless fatalism is at work in the universe. It inspires praise.

In fact, we can attribute the grand and glorious works of God totally to Him because “whatever Yahweh pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all deeps.”  (Psalm 135:6, LSB)

Sleeping Under the Threat of a Tornado

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“So Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they began to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. And the sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”  (John 6:15–20, LSB)

Last night, while half way across the country, I received weather alerts telling me that there was a growing threat that tornadoes were possible back home. I saw the weather map in the morning when I passed by the TV screen in the hotel lobby and the dark red spots over home made me a little concerned—but these things always seem to pass by, right?

Last night the text appeared on my phone: “We are going down [into the basement]. Please pray.” The accompanying photo of an emergency weather alert didn’t settle my heart: “National Weather Service: TORNADO WARNING in this area until 10:45 PM EDT. Take shelter now in a basement of an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building…”

After feeding 5,000 men, not counting women and children, Jesus knew that the people wanted to make him their king. I wondered, what kind of king could they have wanted? Israel was under Roman occupation and a part of the Empire, though they wouldn’t have accepted that truth. Surely they didn’t think Jesus would become the new Emperor of Rome. The Herodian Dynasty was still active, and Herod was called a “king” even though he ruled locally at the pleasure of Rome. Would Jesus simply take Herod’s place as the “king of the Jews” in Palestine? The more I think about it, not only did Jesus refuse to allow them to make him their king because he needed to be crucified for the sins of men, but add to that the fact that the type of king the people wanted was far too small of an office for Jesus. He wasn’t satisfied to simply be a king, or the king of the Jews, or even the Emperor of Rome. No, Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. The people weren’t thinking big enough.

That may have been why John shows his readers that Jesus crossed the sea in a storm by walking upon the water. Jesus was overqualified to be a simple client-king. He was too powerful to fit into the hierarchy of rulers and petty lords that dotted the earth in those days. The God-Man who can feed his people, had complete power over nature. He was not scared of the storm as the disciples in their little fishing boat were. Of course not. He made that body of water, and he commanded the wind and the waves. He wasn’t a victim of gravity and didn’t need to obey the laws of nature that say a man’s mass is heavier than water. Just like he was Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus is Lord over all, so that even the wind and the seas obey him.

After I prayed for my family—and pray I did!—I was able to rest. I didn’t have the best night of sleep, but I slept. Being half-way across the country reminds a person that they are helpless to do anything to help. But had I been huddled in the basement with my wife and daughters, what would I have done if a tornado had touched down in our neighborhood? I was powerless to help them—either away or at home.

But as I called out to the One who has all power, who is greater than any earthly king or president or prime minister, I was reminded of the final words of Jesus above as I prayed, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

Sin Makes Us Stupid

/ Richard Bargas / 2 Comments

“Then the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” And one of his servants said, “No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told to him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”  (2 Kings 6:11–13, LSB)

Elisha was a prophet of God, and as far as prophets go, the Lord was very powerful through him. In 2 Kings 6, this is shown through several vignettes about how God did miracles through the hands of this man of God.

In the above account, Elisha spoils the plans of the Arameans by warning the King of Israel when an ambush was set for him and his army. Clearly God, who is all knowing and nothing is hidden from his sight, was sharing this military intelligence with his man Elisha so that he could warn the Israelite king.

Elisha’s field reports were so accurate that the King of Aram was certain that he had a spy in his midst. “…Which of us is for the king of Israel?” It was an obvious conclusion to come to under the circumstance. If the battle plans are made known to the enemy, clearly there is a leak. But there is a twist in the plot. No one among the Arameans is being unfaithful. There is no spy.

Somehow, the servants had found out that the source of the leak was not among them, but was the prophet Elisha. This man of God was so privy to the king’s secret plans that even if something was spoken of in the innermost chambers of the king’s bedroom, Elisha would know about it.

Okay, we understand that much. But what is dumbfounding to me is the way the Aramean king sought to fix this intelligence leak—by silencing Elisha. It shouldn’t be hard because his location wasn’t a secret. They knew exactly what town he was in, and where to find him.

So, the king who couldn’t keep a secret from God was now demanding that his soldier go and arrest this prophet…Do you see the hole in his logic? Would they sneak up on him? Perhaps wear camouflage? Ninja-style?

In the next section of the account, we find out that Elisha wasn’t surprised. Why not? Because God isn’t blind and he’s not deaf either. Of course, the Lord could have allowed Elisha to be completely ignorant of the plans. But he didn’t let that happen.

Back to the king. He knew God saw and heard everything. He knew God was telling Elisha his plans. And yet he thought he could somehow swoop in and surprise Elisha and arrest or maybe kill him?

The Bible is filled with examples of how sin makes us stupid. Life is filled with even more examples. I’ll probably prove this truth myself, today. I hope I don’t. But I am not sinless, and neither are you, dear reader. We will mess up, and we will need the blood of Jesus to forgive us again.

But that’s not the point of this little article. The point is that we can’t hide our sins from God. We might be able to hide them from others, maybe for a long time. But God knows and sees. All of it. Doing dumb stuff is a result of our fallen nature. But acting like God doesn’t see it all? That’s truly stupid.

Sometimes Faith Seems Too Simple

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean. But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in wrath. Then his servants approached and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet spoken with you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy and he was clean.  (2 Kings 5:10–14, LSB)

O how we love our religious rituals. The more complex and complicated, the better.

The scene was simple. Naaman wanted to be healed of his leprosy and he had heard that there was a man of God in Israel who could do what no one else could do. So, piling up all the things you think you need, a letter of introduction, lavish gifts to help grease the wheels of the prophet and to motivate a positive response, and a long, arduous trek through arid lands to show that he was serious about being healed. When Namaan finally arrived, he must have been filled with expectation and hope.

But when the man of God didn’t even come out of his house, instead sending his servant with a message, the sick man was disappointed. Then there was the instructions—go and bathe in the Jordan river, washing seven times. In case you don’t know it, the Jordan is brown, not crystal clear. Now, Namaan grew angry. After all, he was an important man back home. Couldn’t the prophet at least come out and speak to him? And bathe in a dirty river? What about the rituals, the odd dances, potions, sparks, incantations, beads, smoke, chants…but nothing? Just take a bath in this muddy river?

Namaan almost left in disgust. We do love our rituals.

But rituals don’t heal. Neither do clear or muddy rivers. And for that matter, neither do prophets or servants of prophets. Only God has the power to heal. And God works on faith.

When his servants saw his anger and frustration, they knew they would soon be heading back home, and Namaan would still be leprous. So, they tried to reason with their master. “If the prophet had come out and made you swing a chicken over your head and then drink water upside down while you sang “Ave Maria,” would you have done it?” “Well, yes of course,” reasoned the soldier. Now that would be a proper ritual!

“Then, since we have come all this way, why wouldn’t you do the simple thing, trust the man of God, and simply wash as he asked in the Jordan river.”

You know, for some people, faith is too simple. Just trusting that Jesus died in your place for the forgiveness of sins is too easy. We need to do something. Self-flagellation or penance of some sort must be necessary. One hundred “Hail Mary’s” or skip chocolate for a month. I mean, I’ve been bad, but not as bad as that guy, we reason. But just believe? Just trust? It’s too easy! Just place my faith in the finished death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus? There’s got to be more. After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch!

It’s true. The forgiveness of all our sins, which is more complicated than cleansing from leprosy, did cost more. It cost the life of the Son of God, who willingly gave it because of love, by dying on the cross. There’s nothing more you can do other than receiving this free gift.

When Namaan went into the muddy waters of the Jordan, he came out with skin as soft as a baby’s bottom. And when we come to Christ by faith alone in what he has done, trusting in Him, not our own works, our heart will emerge white as snow. It’s that simple.

Popularity Doesn’t Equate with Truth

/ Richard Bargas / Leave a comment

“Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire first for the word of Yahweh.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of him?”” (1 Kings 22:5–7 LSB)

As I was reading the passage above, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before in my previous readings in 1 Kings.

King Jehoshaphat requested that King Ahab first inquire about the will of God before agreeing to go to war with him. Ahab obliged by calling 400 so-called prophets who told him that the Lord approved of the war.

But Jehoshaphat was not fooled. Something didn’t sit right with the message these prophets gave. The text doesn’t tell us why, but Jehoshaphat didn’t accept these 400 prophets as speaking from the Lord. As a matter of fact, this is what caught my eye.

Again, it says in verse 7, “But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of him?”” It is almost as if the king told Ahab, “Yes, yes, I have heard the popular opinion of all these men, but…don’t you have any actual prophets of Yahweh, or only these fakers? I’d actually like to hear what Yahweh has to say.”

Ahab doesn’t seem to be confused because he knows that his sleight of hand trick hasn’t worked. He knows that he has been keeping the good stuff in the back and hasn’t brought out the real prophet of Yahweh. Ahab wasn’t looking for truth, only for a confirmation of his preconceived plans.

You know, some people claim to want the truth, but they want their truth, as the current foolishness of our day would say. But the truth is a stubborn thing. Something is either true or it is not. And the number of people you get to back a lie doesn’t increase its truthfulness. A lie is always a lie no matter how many false prophets can lip-sync in unison the siren song of the culture or popular opinion.

We need to ask ourselves this as well. Do I really want to know the truth, or am I wanting to fit in, to follow with the cool crowd (whoever the “cool kids” might currently be)?

Appeals to “science” or straw man arguments, or the number of books written or Instagram followers may sway those who want to affirm their own preconceived notions, but popularity and doctrine don’t equal truth. Whether it is the cultural doctrines of gender politics, abortion, or feminism, or the theological doctrines of eschatology, pneumatology, or ecclesiology. Memes don’t prove the truth. Mic drop blog posts and Facebook rants bring more heat than light.

What we need is to hear a true prophet of Yahweh speak. God has spoken, and He has done so perfectly in His Word. So, instead of gathering polemics and talking points from Fox News, CNN, Twitter, or YouTube, for those of us called out by Christ, let’s open our Bibles and listen to God speak.