It is not simply that society just happens to be antihistorical in the way it approaches history. It has a vested interest in the actual erasure of history, of those things that conjure up unpleasant ideas that might disrupt happiness in the present. Carl Trueman
Scripture
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said,”Mighty hero, the Lord is with you.”
Observation
After 40 years of peace under Deborah, the Israelites turn away from the Lord. The Lord hands them over to the Midianites, who for 7 years invade Israel and destroy their crops.
The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon while he is threshing whet at the bottom of a wine press. The angel of he Lord addresses him, “Mighty hero, the lord is with you.”
Gideon replies, “If the lord is with us, why hasn’t he rescued us as he did our ancestors from the Egyptians?” The angel tells Gideon that he is the one the Lord will use to rescue them.
Gideon goes off to prepare an offering for the angel of the Lord. He brings back a goat, some bread, and broth. The angel touches this with the tip of his staff, and fire flares up to consume it all.
Application
It is while Gideon is hiding in a winepress fearful of being caught by the Midianites that the angel of the Lord calls him the mighty hero.
The Lord does not describe us by our current circumstances. He sees the potential that we have and the destiny He has for us. He draws out of us those qualities that he already placed in us.
When God calls us, we might be tempted to think that he is wrong. How could I ever do that? I am the weakest person in the whole country.
When God gives us a task, He gives us the resources and the ability to fulfil the task. We could never do it, but we don’t have to because He does it in us.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for the calling you have on my life. Thank you for the assurance that you will provide all that I need. Amen.
In short, the major problem with pornography is not what many religious conservatives might understand it to be—its promotion of lust and its objectifying of the participants. It certainly does both of those things, but the problem is also much deeper: it repudiates any notion that sex has significance beyond the act itself, and therefore it rejects any notion that it is emblematic of a sacred order. Carl Trueman
This definition brings out neatly the deathwork aspect of pornography. It is a cultural artifact that takes human sexual activity and divorces it from any moral content. We might add that it also divorces it from any larger narrative or historical context. The sex in pornography is presented as an end in itself. Carl Trueman
Scripture
So on that day, Israel saw God defeat Jabin, the Canaanite king. And from that time on Israel became stronger and stronger against King Jabin until they finally destroyed him.
Observation
Sisera gathers his troops and chariots to go to battle against Barak.
Barak attacks the Canaanites, and the Lord throws Sisera and all his warriors into confusion. Barak chases the entire army and kills them all.
Sisera flees on foot and comes across the tent of Jael. She invites him to lie in the tent. When he falls asleep, Jael drives a tent peg through his temple, killing him.
On that day, the Lord gave Israel a great victory over King Jabin. They grew stronger and stronger until they were able to destroy Jabin.
Application
Sometimes our victories are quick and decisive. Other times they take years to achieve.
This victory over Sisera’s army was very quick indeed, but it took a long time for the Israelites to overcome King Jabin.
This battle was a turning point. From that day they grew stronger and stronger.
Whenever we face battles and have victories, no matter has small they may seem, they lay the groundwork for the later total victory.
A small victory over sin today, or an answered prayer, might be the catalyst that enables me to go on to the bigger victory later.
Prayer
Thank you Lord that every battle I face belongs to you because I belong to you. I pray for victories today, whether victory over sin or breakthroughs in prayer. Amen.
What marks the debates of the present day is that there are no such accepted authorities, and so the cultural game is marked by a continual subversion of stability rather than the establishment of greater stability through clarification of the social order in light of the sacred order. Carl Trueman
Scripture
“Very well,” she replied. “I will go with you. but you will receive no honour in this venture, for the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.”
Observation
After Ehud dies, the Israelites again sin, and the Lord hands them over the Canaanites. The commander of the Canaanite army is Sisera, who has 900 iron chariots.
After 20 years of oppression, the Israelites cry out to the Lord. A prophetess named Deborah calls for Barack. She tells him that the Lord wants him to call out 10000 warriors. The Lord will give him victory over Sisera.
Barack says he will do this on the condition that Deborah goes with him. She says she will go, but he will receive no honour from this victory as the Lord will kill Sisera at the hands of a woman.
Application
Barack hears the command of the Lord, but he lacks the faith to know that the Lord can give him victory in battle. Instead, he places his trust in Deborah, the Lord’s prophet.
How many Christians refuse to believe that God can speak to them or use them? They place their hope in a prophet, a pastor, or some other man or woman of God.
We all have the Holy Spirit in us. Every believer should be hearing the direction of God, the encouragement of God, the affirmation of God, without having to hear it through another person. This is not to deny the power of anointed ministry, but to say that our faith must be in God and not in His servants.
So Barrack is warned that because he doesn’t trust the Lord for victory, then the fame and honour of the battle will go to another.
When we trust in God alone, we discover that He can use us in ways we never thought possible.
Prayer
Lord, please help me to trust you in the battles I face today. Teach me how to hear your voice more clearly. Amen.
A nice run along Yarrie Lake Rd this morning
In practice, it is we who decide our own preferred ends and shape our ethics to that purpose. Any greater sense of purpose, any transcendent teleology, is now dead and buried. Carl Trueman
