Marvelous In My Eyes? – Zechariah 8:6

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, will it also be marvelous in My eyes?’ says the LORD of hosts.”

In the previous chapter of Zechariah, the prophet reproved the people who were disobedient and rejected the truth.  They would, or should, have been left with a deep sense of guilt about the state of their nation and the desolation of their land.  God designs such events, or allows them, to bring people to repentance, but not to despair.  As we see in this chapter, the prophet speaks God’s words of encouragement to the remnant who are willing to be obedient.  He tells them of the restoration of Jerusalem, the richness of the land, that men and women will grow old and children will play in the streets without fear.  He tells them to reform their ways to be ready for these blessings, and he tells them the times of their previously non-ordained fasts will be turned to times mercy when there will be feasts and celebration.  In the midst of this good news, God points out that such a turn of events is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant.

‘Marvelous’ in their eyes (Strong’s 06381) is to “be beyond one's power, be difficult to do, to be difficult to understand, to be wonderful, be extraordinary.”    Well…yes!  For the remnant, ‘these days’ were dark and difficult.  The challenges before them to rebuild the temple, the city walls, and the nation, looked impossible from their perspective of being a small and feeble people.  God described for them a city and society that seemed out of reach.  The news was too good to be true.  How can these things be?  Maybe they marveled as well at the mercy of God.  What had the people done to deserve such blessings? 

God’s ways are not our ways, which is why God shows the contrast: “will it also be marvelous in My eyes?”  With this question, God is pointing out that what He said will transpire is not too difficult for Him, it is not beyond His power.  To consider that something is beyond His ability is a foreign thought to God.  Such a thought must be rejected.  God assures us in His Word of His power over the impossible.  “For with God nothing will be impossible.”  (Luke 1:37)  “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  (Matthew 19:26)

Such good news from God is marvelous in their eyes because they cannot see how it can come to be.  Typically, once the remnant experiences the fulfillment of God’s promises, it is no longer marvelous in their eyes, but a blessing worthy of joyful praise.  But because of their current situation, it is at this point marvelous in their eyes.

There are days in everyone’s life that are dark and difficult.  Whether you are plagued with financial troubles, injury or sickness, relationship problems, legal issues, maybe you are suffering persecution because of your stand for Christ, or you are beginning to think it will be impossible for that friend of yours to surrender to Christ.  Remember that with God all things are possible.  So often we cannot see our way through the troubles, or see a way for that loved one to know the joy of a relationship with Jesus.  But God has a way.  His way is not our way, and that is why we marvel.  God can easily get over the difficulties that seem insurmountable to us.  It is not marvelous in God’s eyes that one day the burdens that now have you buried will be forgotten and all the mourning replaced with “joy and gladness and cheerful feasts” (Zechariah 8:19b). 

“I remember when a boy being taken to see the residence of one of our nobility, and the good friend who took me noticed my astonishment at the largeness of the house. I was amazed at it, having never seen anything like it, and so I said, ‘What a house for a man to live in!’ ‘Bless you, boy,’ said he, ‘this is only the kitchen!’ I was only looking at the servants’ apartments, and was astonished at the grandeur thereof; but the mansion itself was a far nobler affair. Oftentimes when you see what the Lord has done, you are ready to cry out, ‘How can all this be? His goodness, his mercy, is it as great as this?’ Rest assured that you have only seen a little of his goodness, as it were the kitchen of his great house: you have not seen the palace of the Most High, where he reveals his full power and splendor.” (Charles Spurgeon)

However desperate your situation remember that nothing is impossible with God.  He said so!  Take your troubles to Him, talk to Him, trust Him.  It may be marvelous in your eyes now (beyond your power), but soon it will be turned to the reality of joyous praise! 

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Human and the Divine – Mark 12:35

“Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, ‘How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?’”

When Jesus asked a question, he was teaching.  He wanted His hearers to think about a subject that was well known, what the scribes had taught, and then he was going to expand upon it.  He was going to help the hearers understand the Messiah, the Christ, in an entirely new light.  In a way the scribes were lacking.

The title ‘Son of David’ is a Messianic title.  The scribes used this title for the Christ, the expected Messiah, the long awaited for Deliverer.  “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”  (2 Samuel 7:12-13)  This is a prophecy of the anointed one to come, whose kingdom will be forever.

This phrase ‘Son of David’ made it clear to the scribes that the Messiah would be of the lineage of David.  But there was a problem with their singular thought.  There was a prophecy that, due to his sins against God, King Jeconiah’s descendants would not rule on the throne of David, see Jeremiah 22:24-30.  Based upon this curse of the descendants of Jeconiah, it appeared to be impossible for this eternal king to come from the lineage of David.  “If the kingship is passed father to son, but none of King Jeconiah's descendants would rule, then how could the Messiah, the son of David, rule? The answer is that Jesus inherited the throne through Joseph without being a physical son of Joseph, and at the same time was still a son of David through his mother.” (lavistachurchofchrist.org)  Even though Jesus came to earth through immaculate conception, since Joseph and Mary were married prior to Jesus' birth, Jesus is considered Joseph's son.   Joseph is from Solomon’s line of David, as shown to us in the first chapter of Matthew.  Solomon is the royal line.  Mary is from Nathan’s line of David as detailed in chapter three of Luke.

Jesus complicated His question to the scribes by quoting the inspired statement by King David from Psalm 110:1, “The LORD said to my Lord…”  The question from Jesus combined with the quote from David point out a scriptural difficulty for the scribes who looked only for a human fulfillment by the Messiah.  It is not possible for a descendant to have authority over an ancestor, yet David was not mistaken because he was inspired with these words by the Holy Spirit.  If the Messiah is David’s Lord, then the Messiah must be something greater.  This is the point Jesus is making.  The scribes were unable to answer the question due to their limited view of the Messiah.  Jesus was helping the scribes and those in attendance to see that the Messiah had an additional nature:  divine.  Until this point, the scribes’ understanding, and therefore their teaching, was of a Messiah that was less than what the scriptures described.  Mary should have known.  She knew how Jesus came to be, and she was told by Gabriel that the child would be divine: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David" (Luke 1:32).

To the dismay of the scribes and Pharisees, many people proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah and therefore called Him ‘Son of David.’  “When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ‘Son of David, have mercy on us!’” (Matthew 9:27)  “And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.’” (Matthew 15:22)  “Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!’” (Matthew 20:31) 

“David was promised that one of his offspring would rule forever. Jesus was called the "Son of David" while he was here on the earth. He was born in David's city, Bethlehem. The gospel of Matthew records that various people, on six different occasions, acknowledged Jesus as the Son of David. This is a messianic title. Jesus never denied that he was the Son of David. In fact, on Palm Sunday he received the praise and worship of the people.”  (Don Stewart)

As a result of this teaching, the common people, some of whom had called Jesus the Messiah by referring to Him as the ‘Son of David,’ had a greater understanding of the Messiah.  They had a greater understanding of Jesus.  “…and the common people heard Him gladly.” (Mark 12:37b)  I thank God for this passage, because now we can have a greater understanding of the human nature and the divine nature of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Contentment and the Tenth Commandment – 1 Kings 21:4

 “So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, ‘I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.’ And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food.”

Have you ever considered the tenth commandment?  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”  (Exodus 10:17)  I have heard it said that this is the only commandment that cannot be proven in a court of law.  This is true because it is a condition of our heart.  God knows our hearts and He knows how our hearts can control us.  He includes this in His Holy Law to protect us from ourselves.  Covetousness is a dangerous sin that drives us to other sins. 

Ahab wanted Naboth’s garden.  It was conveniently next to the palace.  Seeking to buy a property is not a sin.  The woman in Proverbs 31 is praised for such diligence, “She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard.” (Proverbs 31:16)  The difference here, though, is according to Numbers 36:7 and Ezekiel 46:18, God did not want his people to sell their property, except in dire situations, even then it would be leased or returned in the year of Jubilee.  The point being that God gave them the land and they were to keep it within the tribe, generation after generation.  Ahab knew the law, or should have known it, yet he tempts Naboth to sin in the sale of his land, “But Naboth said to Ahab, ‘The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!’” (1 Kings 21:3) 

Naboth was presented with a choice we often see in our own lives:  will you obey God or obey man?  Naboth obeys God.  Why Ahab becomes so distraught over Naboth’s response can only be explained by obsessive covetousness.  Good grief!  Ahab has the palace and all the perks of a king, what is this little piece of land?  Yet Ahab spirals downward and becomes useless, he ceases to carry out his duties as a king. 

“Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment and makes men torment themselves; it makes the spirit sad, the body sick, and all the enjoyments sour; it is the heaviness of the heart and the rottenness of the bones. It is a sin that is its own parent. It arises not from the condition, but from the mind. As we find Paul contented in a prison, so Ahab discontent in a palace. He had all the delights of Canaan, that pleasant land, at command the wealth of a kingdom, the pleasures of a court, and the honours and powers of a throne; and yet all this avails him nothing without Naboth’s vineyard. Inordinate desires expose men to continual vexations, and those that are disposed to fret, be they ever so happy, will always find something or other to fret at.”  (Matthew Henry)

Oh that the story would have ended here.  But what follows ranks near the top in the saddest stories in Scripture.  Jezebel, that cursed woman, as Jehu calls her in 2 Kings 9:34, sets out to solve Ahab’s problem.  Not by getting Ahab to snap out of it over such a small matter, but to engage elders and nobles to call for a fast under the pretense of a pending judgment from God, seating Naboth at high honor, and then to bear false witness against Naboth that he blasphemed God and the king.  Both actions Naboth is falsely accused of are punishable by death.  These men must have been perfectly lost to all that is honest and honorable.  Jezebel’s letter “to oblige them to find the witnesses, sons of Belial, to suborn them themselves, and then to give judgment upon a testimony which they knew to be false, was such an impudent defiance to every thing that is just and sacred as we hope cannot be paralleled in any story.” (Matthew Henry)  It is awful to see the power of the law used to murder the innocent who should be protected by the law.  Apparently it was not just Naboth that was killed, but 2 Kings 9:26 indicates that Naboth’s sons were also killed.

It is astounding, the wickedness of the wicked.  Ahab’s coveting – breaking the tenth commandment – of Naboth’s garden brought about such villany:  bearing false testimony against Naboth (breaking the ninth commandment), murdering Naboth and his sons (breaking the sixth commandment), and stealing his land (breaking the eighth commandment).   When Ahab hears that Naboth is dead, he goes to take possession of the garden.  It is at the very time when Ahab takes possession that God sent Elijah to try and condemn Ahab.  The judgment is pronounced which puts Ahab into mourning.  Ahab never gets to take possession of that which he gained by fraud.

Beware of breaking the tenth commandment.   Are you inordinately obsessed with obtaining some material item?  Do you feel bodily sick that you do not have it?  Keep in mind, every form of advertising (television, internet, billboard, magazines) are all constructed to bring discontent with our present situation.  It is designed to tell us we are what we have and what we have is not good enough, not easy enough, not connected enough, not networked enough, or it is just plain obsolete.

Does some other type of discontent have a grip on you?  Are you jealous over a co-worker’s promotion instead of celebrating with them?  Are you jealous over someone else’s ministry?  Are you depressed and unable to function in your responsibilities?  Can you always find something to fret at? 

Maybe you cannot see the abundance of blessing God has bestowed upon you.  Pray that God’s desires be your desires.  Pray that God help you see how wonderful He is and how wonderfully He has blessed you.  Flee from the people who say you just need to follow your heart to be happy.  Scripture says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome and be obedient to the tenth commandment, and therefore the other commandments.  God’s law is perfect and holy, and He gave it to us for our own protection.

 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)  We have Jesus and His gift of salvation.  Praise God!  Is that enough for you?  It was enough for Paul in prison.  

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.