Killing of the Innocents

Last week I saw a clip from a movie about the life of Jesus, one of the many shown each Christmas and Easter season. It is a disturbing part of the life of Jesus (Matthew 2:16-18) where King Herod orders the murder of all boys two years and younger. It is a prophetic echo from the prophet Jeremiah when he foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem hundreds of years prior to Herod (Jer 31:15). Herod orders the killing of these innocent children out of his own self-absorbed anger and jealousy. It was pure evil.

Reflecting on the recent evil killing of innocent children in Newtown, CT, I'm reminded how often such killing takes place unnoticed by the general population of the world. But it doesn't go unnoticed. Not by those parents, children, and communities who witness these atrocious and evil acts. Neither does it go unnoticed by God.

The Heart of Redemption

There are many biblical truths that are only known in what I call Bible talk—words and phrases directly taken from the Scriptures. No problem with doing that, the Scriptures are the foundation for our faith being grounded in truth. The problem comes when they are used as if everyone does or should understand them, but no clear understanding is given of these Bible terms, words and phrases. Redemption is one of those terms that gets repeated often, but I wonder if it's understood very well. What is redemption from God's point of view? What does it mean for us as humans?

It's not too hard to find a dictionary definition for redemption, there's plenty of online sources for that. I like looking at things a little more "organically," that is, understanding things from a more natural sense. One way to do this is looking at the biblical context of a word. But this may lead to more Bible talk where words stay hidden in a theological form. For instance, Ephesians 1:7 gives a specific working definition right within its own context. It says that redemption comes "through His blood" and results in "the forgiveness of our trespasses," declaring that it is a work of God's great grace.

Our Double Bind

I'm amazed how a somewhat obscure Scripture will catch my attention, as the Lord begins speaking to my heart. It's often subtle and easy to glide past, until the Lord begins adding insight to it. I was reading through Zephaniah in my daily devo's and thinking about all the imagery and somewhat obscure reference to historical events. They're obscure unless you're an ancient history buff, which I'm not.

In the wake of Christmas celebrations and end of the year news re-caps, I came across Zeph 1:5-6– "...those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom." What caught my attention is how revealing it is of human nature—not just unbelievers, so much as believers. Many of us get caught in a double bind, one Jesus addressed in Matt 6:24, about trying to serve two masters. Nowadays we call it being distracted, but it's more like being "torn between two lovers." For example, doing something on a smart phone while listening to someone. Sound familiar?

Repentance Is Not About Behavior

"You've turned your backs, not your faces, to me" (Jeremiah 27c GWT). This is what God says to His people through Jeremiah. It's a recurring theme in God's messages through Jeremiah to Judah (the southern kingdom of Israel). Judah had abandoned the living God for lifeless idols. It wasn't just misplaced worship or foolish religion, it was accompanied with gross immorality and perversion of justice. The behavior of the leaders and people was atrocious. But this wasn't God's main issue.