Luke 11:17-22 - Overpowering the strong man

11:17-20

The claim that Jesus was using demonic power was somewhat ridiculous, as a moment’s thought would show. If a kingdom was divided against itself then it could not have long to go before it would collapse. We should not expect the claims of opponents to have much logic to them. This includes the claims of so-called intellectuals. Atheism claims to be intellectually superior to theism, but atheism is actually self-contradictory. In short, if the claims of atheism are true, then the thoughts of atheism are worthless, so its claims are worthless. If you want a much fuller and well argued case for this then I strongly recommend the book Finding Truth by Nancy Pearcey.

Moreover, driving out demons was not an unknown enterprise, indeed the critics themselves did the same (though no doubt far less effectively!). So they brought criticism upon themselves.

So if Jesus was not driving out demons with demonic power, but by the “finger of God” then the kingdom of God was among them. That is what they should have been focusing on. So we see yet again that Jesus considered demonic activity to be real, and that one of the signs of the kingdom was the casting out of demons. We should expect the same to happen today.

11:21,22

It is interesting that in most accounts of casting out of demons the emphasis has been on the person who has been set free, eg the story of the demoniac with legions of demons. In this section (11:14-28) apart from a very brief mention in v14 all the emphasis is on the wider significance of the fact that Jesus has authority over demons, and has come to overturn their work (1 John 3:8). We have just seen those who claim Jesus was doing this by means of demonic power Himself. Jesus pointed out the ridiculousness of such a notion, then He said that the fact that demons are cast out is a sign that the kingdom of God is at hand. We now get further explanation of the significance. These two verses clearly view events as warfare, as a battle. The enemy, Satan, has possession of the earth and the people in it. Jesus has come to change things, and this involves overpowering the devil. There are two key aspects to this mentioned here. One is that Satan’s armour is overcome. The root of Satan’s power is our sin and the judgement we were under, but on the cross our sin and its debt were cancelled out, Satan’s hold over our life was broken. And people can now be brought from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Jesus Christ (Col 1:13,14).

Luke 11:14-16 - Driving out demons

11:14-16

Today there are many “discernment ministries” which take great care and delight in pointing out the errors in various, often charismatic, ministries. In one sense things were not that different in Jesus’ day and with Jesus Himself. Jesus regularly cast out demons, and verse 14 tells us of one such incident. A demon had caused the man to be mute, after Jesus cast out the demon the man could speak, and many were amazed. But there were also those who accused Jesus Himself of being demon possessed, of using demonic power to cast out demons. Others did not go this far, but asked for a sign from heaven.

Now there is a crucial difference between Jesus and any modern day ministry. Jesus is the Son of God and all His healings and casting out of demons were completely genuine, and were done for furthering the kingdom. That is not the case today. There are some who are complete charlatans, just trying to get money or fame. There are others who are deluded, some who overclaim. But there are also some who are genuine. The point is that when someone, or some group, is genuinely doing the work of God they will challenge the norms of society, including the norms of church life. “Charismatic” type incidents are not the only way this can happen, they may challenge the thinking of society, or challenge society’s attitudes to the poor. But opposition is normal.

Luke 11:11-13 - How much more

11:11-13

But what if we ask for the wrong thing? Well if we are asking from wrong motives then we cannot expect to get very far. But Jesus has just urged us to be bold in prayer and we might think that that is risky. So the second parable assure assures us that God will only give us what is good for us. If we are asking from good motives God is not going to give it to us if He knows it is going to cause nothing but trouble.  The key point is that we can have complete trust in our Father. “How much more will the your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” In some ways it seems a little odd for Jesus to suddenly introduce the Holy Spirit at this point. Yet what do we desire most? Is it not to be more like Christ? Do we not often get frustrated with our own slowness, our seeming inability to do all that God wants? Do we not sometimes then think that God will be looking on us disapprovingly? Yet what do we need most? We need the Holy Spirit to help us, to transform us, and Jesus is assuring us that our Father In Heaven will gladly give us the Holy Spirit. God wants us to grow much more than we want to grow.

Luke 11:5-10 - Asking

11:5-8

Having given the “formal” teaching on prayer, Jesus now gives two parables which correct wrong attitudes. These two attitudes are (i) God won’t answer; and (ii) God doesn’t like me or will give me something nasty. Most of us are prone to these at least some of the time and to some degree. The first parable involves seeking food from a friend because you have an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night. There are two cultural aspects that we need to be aware of. The first is that food was not as readily available as it is in our society, so not having food to provide for an unexpected visitor is not surprising. Secondly is the importance of hospitality in their culture. It is perhaps also worth mentioning that a house would often have only one room, hence everyone sleeping in the same room.

So the situation isn’t promising, yet the man will give his friend the bread for the sake of peace and quiet, or to preserve his good name (ie not refusing to help a friend). The important thing is that he will provide the bread, but not for particularly honourable reasons.

11:9,10

So if we expect to receive when someone is not well-disposed towards us, how much more should we expect God to give to us. Note also that in v8 Jesus refers to the “shameless audacity” of the man who asked. Prayers do not always have to be polite! Jesus is correcting a wrong view of God, perhaps even an overly religious approach to prayer. And He encourages us to ask, seek and knock. We should be bold, not timid, in prayer.

Luke 11:1-4 -Hallowed be your name

11:1

“One day ...” The “One day” and “in a certain place” show that Luke’s emphasis is on the teaching, here he is not particularly concerned with exactly when or where this took place. Evidently, John the Baptist had taught his disciples how to pray, Jesus’ disciples now wanted him to do the same.They had just seen, or at least been aware of, Jesus praying. They wanted to be able to pray like Jesus did.

11:2-4

We have here a prayer similar to that found in Matthew 6:9-13, though a slightly shorter version, and debts are replaced by sins. First of all we address God as Father, we forget how profound this is. Muslim’s would never dream of addressing Allah as Father. We are meant to live as children of God, in an intimate and trusting relationship with Him. We are not alone in the universe, and we need to remind ourselves of this daily.

The name of the Lord is to be honoured and treated with reverence. We live in an age when God’s name is not held in respect in our society. This should encourage us to pray all the more earnestly that His name will be honoured. Alongside this we are to pray that His kingdom will come. Our desire is to see God’s kingdom come on earth. Again, we should not be discouraged when we see men rebelling against God, but should pray all the more fervently.

So we start with praise to God and praying for His kingdom to come. Then we pray for ourselves and our daily needs. It is not that our daily needs are not important, but if we seek first the kingdom, then these things will be taken care of (Matt 6:33).

As well as practical needs, we need forgiveness, and we need to forgive. We are to live in an atmosphere of forgiveness, not one of bitterness or seeking revenge. In teaching about prayer Jesus tells us that we need forgiveness. We should change, we should become better Christians, more Christlike, but this side of eternity we will still sin. This is not an excuse for sin, or for taking a lackadaisical approach to sin, but we should not let our sin utterly dishearten us.  And we must have an attitude of forgiveness towards others.

We can fall so easily. Part of our response is to act carefully, but part of our response should also be to ask God to keep us away from temptation.

Why the Church of Scotland Decision is so wrong

So the Church of Scotland is continuing its seemingly inexorable march towards affirming gay marriage and, by implication, homosexuality. In this post I do not intend to focus on the homosexuality issue in particular, but to look at the wider errors  and total lack of understanding of the gospel that is demonstrated by the CoS’s move. I am writing this not as a diatribe against the CoS, but so that all of us, myself included, can learn. Furthermore, while the direction of the CoS as a whole is wrong, there are many good people, good ministers and good churches in the CoS. 

I have written elsewhere on the homosexualtiy issue in the light of Romans 1:26,27. If you want to read these you can go to:

Romans 1:26,27(a) - Homosexuality : Biblical and cultural background

Romans 1:26,27(b) - Homosexuality : What the Bible says

Romans 1:26,27(c) - Homosexuality : Some pastoral comments

There are many others who have written much more fully, and more eloquently, than I have. If you want more in depth stuff then look up work by Jame White, Michael Brown or Robert Gagnon. For an excellent, and very readable book, I would recommend Is God AntiGay by Sam Allberry. He is same-sex attracted, but also totally committed to Jesus and to Biblical teaching. You may also find the Living Out web site helpful. David Robertson recently delivered an excellent sermon on Romans 1:24-27.

So what are the fundamentals that I want to look at that are highlighted by the CoS decision? First of all, there are three fundamentals that should govern our lives as individuals and as churches:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and strength (Luke 10:27; Deut 6:5)

Love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27; Lev 19:18)

Fulfill the Great Commission (Matt 28:19,20)

The CofS decision falls down on all three. With regard to the first, God has made it quite clear in His word that homosexual acts are sinful. Indeed, all sex outside marriage is sin, and this includes sex before marriage. So much of the church is deciding putting the teaching of the world above the teaching of the Lord. 

The second is in some ways the most important, and the one that so clearly demonstrates lack of understanding of the gospel. Those who are choosing to adopt the world’s ways on sexuality claim to be having a more loving attitude towards people, so why is this so wrong? Well Jesus tells us that whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). And Paul tells us that the wages of sin are death (Rom 6:23). All sin is destructive. My sin is destructive to my life, it is destructive to the lives of others. This applies to all sexual sin, whether it be homosexual, heterosexual, pornography, or whatever. This applies to all types of sin, whether it be violence, exploitation of others, greed, hatred etc. The gospel tells us that all of us will one day have to give an account, it tells us that without the forgiveness in Christ we are all destined for hell. It tells us that there is a way of salvation, and that way is through faith and repentance. So where is the love in telling someone to continue along their path of destruction? Especially when we have been shown a very different path, one that is a path of life? Where is the love?

We would do well to remember the words of John in his first letter: “If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you” (1 John 2:15-17)

Now let’s look at the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). First, He tells us that all authority has been given to Him. So why should we listen to the world rather than to the Lord of All? Isn’t this a rather foolish thing to do? Many times we see in the Old Testament that Israel or Judah wanted to be like the nations - it never ended well. Then we are told to make disciples of the nations, teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded us. How does teaching the world to continue on its own corrupt way fulfil this? If we look at the New Testament we see that the church did indeed seek to teach people how to live godly lives.

The gospel tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). That include me, it includes you, and it includes “them”, whoever “them” may be in any context. It tells us that we all need forgiveness, forgiveness that can only come through the justification of the cross. It tells us that we can be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives to make us step by step ever more like Christ. 

We can take heart, because the true gospel is the power of salvation. Moreover, the gospel thrives in hostile environments.

So what message should the church be giving? A life changing message or a sin affirming one?

Luke 10:38-42 - Choose what is really important

10:38-42

The village will be Bethany, which is where Mary and Martha lived (John 11:1). As is often the case with Luke, we see the emphasis on women, and in this section the emphasis is on the importance of women paying attention to God’s word. Martha is mentioned as opening her home, and it is likely that she was the elder of the two sisters.

The younger sister, Mary, sat at Jesus feet listening to Him. Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She was exasperated by all the things she thought needed to be done, and Mary’s failure to help. She also rebukes Jesus! Just consider for a moment what is going on here. She is rebuking the Son of God. It says she “asked” but it looks pretty much like a rebuke to me. Maybe, this is just a cultural thing, with a more direct approach being more acceptable than it sometimes is with us. Note the reality of the situation. We all know people who are like Martha, and we may well be like that ourselves.

Jesus urges Martha to get things into perspective. The Son of God has come to visit. What is more important, to learn from Him, or to get the meal ready? As I write this I think that Martha’s attitude is typical of many women, especially of my wife! But I had better not say anymore as she does read this blog! However, there is a lesson for us all in this, male and female. When we are worried about things we tend to focus on practicalities, to the exclusion of the spiritual things, think we cannot afford to spend time on them, the situation is too urgent! Now practical things do matter, but if you are beset by worry, then a good thing to do is to praise the Lord, study His word, pray for others. The things that are demanding attention are not always as important as they make out.

Luke 10:30-37 - Good Samaritan

10:30

Jesus now tells the parable, and we need to remember that He is telling this parable not in answer to a question of “how can I be saved”, but in answer to “who is my neighbour”. The man in the parable is probably Jewish, though this is not explicitly stated. The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho was seventeen miles, and involved a descent from 2,500 feet above sea level, to 800 feet below. The road took you through rock country, ideal country for thieves. The man was beaten up, stripped naked and left half-dead.

10:31-33

A priest and a Levite came by. Both of these are religious figures, people considered to be of good standing, both with men and with God. Both, rather than going to see if they could help the man, passed by on the other side. Why did they do this? Quite possibly because of concerns about ritual purity, especially if the man actually was dead as this would render them ceremonially unclean. Maybe because they didn’t want to be distracted from their plans for the day, maybe because they didn’t think they would be able to help, or didn’t want to help even if they could. Now this parable has not be given to us so that we can sit in judgement on priests and Levites, it has been given to us so that we can examine our own attitudes. For we too often pass by on the other side, and for a multitude of reasons.

Thirdly, the famous Samaritan then come along and he takes pity on the man. Now there was great enmity between Samaritans and Jews, going back centuries.

10:34,35

The Samaritan did everything he could to take care of the man. He dressed his wounds, then took him to an inn and provided for him. Two denarii is two days wages and would be more than ample for the innkeeper to look after him.

10:36,37

Jesus then asks the man who he thinks was a neighbour to the man who fell among thieves, and of course there is only one answer to this: the Samaritan. Jesus then tells him to go and do likewise. Notice that the lawyer had asked “who is my neighbour”, Jesus did not answer this question, but told him how to be a good neighbour. When we have a legalistic mindset we focus on what we have to do, what we can get away with, and how can we justify ourselves. In truth none of us can meet God’s standards. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). We need to come to Christ seeking mercy, seeking forgiveness. We are then free to live by grace, free to love others. Not so we can prove anything, but so that more and more of the life of Christ is manifest in us.

Luke 10:28,29 - You have answered correctly

10:28

Naturally, Jesus agrees with the man, then He says “do this and you will live”. Is Jesus teaching salvation by works? Is He giving a legalistic command? No. Rather He is saying that if we live like this we will be living in accordance with eternal life. And the emphasis is on love, love for God, love for people. We all too easily focus on the action, not on the motivation. In life, whether at work, or in society in general, we have an ever increasing mountain of rules, procedures and laws. These are usually introduced with good intentions. However, we all know that if an activity becomes a mere case of trying to follow the rules then we do not do things properly, we do not live properly. We need to have the correct attitudes and motivation, we need a right heart. If we have a good heart, then rules can be helpful, but if me make the rules the focus we are lost.

10:29

Notice the difference in approach of Jesus and the lawyer. Jesus has told us how we should live, the lawyer wants to justify himself. So the lawyer is immediately concerned with the precise definition of “neighbour” (typical lawyer, you might say!). The lawyer is concerned with providing proof that he is good enough (ie justifying himself). This is what happens when we aim at self-justification. Love goes out of the window. The same thing can happen today with tithing. All too often tithing is treated in a legalistic manner. How much should I give? Is it based on my gross or net income? If we ask these questions, especially the latter, we can be pretty sure that our attitude is wrong. God does not provide for us because we give, He provides for us because He is our father. We can never give too much. We are to give because it is the nature of God to give, we are to love because it is the nature of God to love. We need to become ever more Christlike.

Luke 10:25-27 - How do I inherit eternal life?

10:25

This parable is unique to Luke, and is one of the best known. It is also well loved by non-believers. Why is this? It is because, at least on the surface, it is just about being kind to people, a message people can accept without having to worry about any of the God-stuff.

“On one occasion”, Luke is fond of using phrases like this, ie somewhat vague references to time. Luke does give a roughly chronological record of Jesus’ life, and accuracy is important to him. However, he is not merely providing a record of events, he wants to convey the theological truth and significance of who Jesus is and what He did.

The “lawyer” would be an expert in the Law, rather than the sort of lawyers we have today. He sought to test Jesus. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” One of the reasons many like this parable is that it can seem to teach a “salvation by works”, ie “if I want to get to heaven I need to live a good life”. But the man is not actually asking “how do I get to heaven?”. He is actually asking how does he live a life that is suitable for eternal life, for the age to come. Ie what is a life that is consistent with God’s way of living.

10:26,27

As was often the case, Jesus referred the man to the Law, and does so by asking a question. Note the implication that Jesus regarded the Old Testament as the word of God and thoroughly trustworthy. If anyone thinks they are being faithful to Jesus, yet regard the Old Testament as no longer valid, then such a person is deluded. The whole of the New Testament regards the Old Testament as the word of God.

The lawyer replies that loving the Lord your God with all that we have, and loving our neighbour as ourself is the key to the Law. Now remember that in Matt 22:37-40 Jesus gives the same answer to a similar question, but there Jesus gives the answer and states that it sums up the Law and the Prophets. Here the lawyer essentially does the same. This shows that in Jesus’ time people were not totally ignorant of the truth. They actually had grasped something of the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

Luke 10:21-24 - Things hidden, things revealed

10:21

We perhaps don’t often think of Jesus as being full of joy, but there obviously were times when He was. This is one of them. These next few verses tell us about how the Father has committed things to Jesus and to us. Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived His life on earth in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and we are to do likewise. Human nature is to depend upon our circumstances for our happiness. Now as Christians we do not ignore our circumstances, but our source of joy is to be the Holy Spirit. He will reveal to us what is really going on in life, and what God is doing. Why does Jesus praise the Father for hiding things from the “wise and learned” and revealing them to “little children”? Is Jesus anti-intellectuals? No, for perhaps the foremost apostle was Paul, a very learned man. It is proud intellectuals that are the problem. Those who think they are clever, and make their own cleverness the starting point, instead of the fear of the Lord. It is only those who put reliance on God first who will be truly wise.

10:22

“All things” have been committed to the Son by the Father. Jesus is the focus of everything, the focus of all God’s plans. This was not something that the Father suddenly decided to do, for the whole universe was created through Jesus.  It is the way things are. So any philosophy or religion that does not give Jesus absolute pride of place is doomed to be wrong. Knowing God is completely dependent upon knowing the the Son. And it the Son who chooses to reveal the Father to people. Notice that all this is dependent upon Jesus and the Father, not the will of man.

10:23,24

Jesus then spoke privately to His disciples. “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see”. The blessing was not for the disciples alone, for many would come after them who, while not seeing Jesus physically, would see what they see. They would see that Jesus is the Son of God, the sole means of salvation. The faithful people in the Old Testament had longed for the day that Jesus would come. They knew there was something lacking, something missing, in what they had. They wanted to see more of God, to see true fulfillment of His plans. In Christ all of God’s plans come to fruition. We must never lose sight of the value of Jesus.

Luke 10:18-20 - I saw Satan fall

10:18

Jesus then says that he saw “Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. Now this can be taken in two ways (at least). One is that Jesus is referring to Satan being cast out of heaven after his rebellion, so is putting the disciples experience into perspective. Another way is that Jesus is declaring that the defeat of Satan is imminent. The crucial act in the defeat of Satan is the cross and the person of Jesus Christ, but as the church we also have authority, as will be made plain in the next verse. Satan is real, Satan can do much damage, but he is a defeated enemy, and an enemy that in Jesus Name we can defeat.

10:19

This verse emphasises the power and authority that we have, remembering again that Jesus is speaking to the seventy two, not just the twelve. The stuff about snakes and scorpions is not giving any licence for the stupid snake stuff that some idiots in America go in for. Jesus is saying that we may face all sorts of dangers and threats, but we have been given authority to “overcome all the power of the enemy”. “Nothing will harm you”. We do need to look at the wider context here. Jesus was going to suffer greatly, He had earlier told His disciples that they needed to carry their crosses, and the church will be persecuted. So any superficial reading that this means nothing will ever go wrong, or we will never suffer, is clearly mistaken. However, we can approach life and mission with confidence. We may see forces at work in society, as we do today, but we do not need to be afraid. We need to take things seriously, but Jesus has all power and authority, and He gives authority to us as well.

10:20

One danger is fear and a defeatist attitude. Jesus’ words in the previous two verses, and the experience of the seventy two, should put paid to that. However, we are not to go to the other extreme. Defeating demons is not to go our heads, it is not to become the focus of our lives. Instead the things that is to give us greatest joy is that our names are written in heaven. We are close to God’s heart, we are involved in His plans, we are going to spend eternity with Him.

Luke 10:15-17 - The demons submit

10:15,16

We do read quite a bit about Capernaum in the gospels, it is even called “His own town” in Matt 9:1. Yet even Capernaum did not repent and believe. Capernaum had a high opinion of herself, but far from being exalted she would be brought down to the depths. The Greek actually has Hades where NIV puts depths, contrasting this with heaven.

Jesus explains the stark nature of their mission. If people listened to them they would listen to Jesus, if people rejected them they rejected Jesus, and in doing so rejected the Father, the One who sent Him. We are Jesus’ representatives on earth, we are to live and act as His representatives. Note that Jesus puts the disciples first in the listening and rejecting phrases, ie He does not say whoever listens to me will listen to you, but whoever listens to you listens to me. We are to speak the words of Jesus or else we are nothing.

10:17

As we have been reading, the disciples went out with very serious instructions and warnings from Jesus, yet they returned with great joy. We need to appreciate the seriousness and the solemn nature of the task that we have been given, and the atmosphere in which it will be fulfilled. But we also need to appreciate the authority given to us by the Lord, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, and the joy of working together with the Lord. The thing that struck the disciples most was that the demons submitted to them. There are two things to note here. One is the reality of demons, and secondly that they will submit to us when we act in Jesus name. It is essential that in the church we have a proper view of demons. Note also that it is the seventy two that these things happened to, not just the twelve.

Luke 10:10-14 - Woe to you

10:10-12

The eating and the healing were what was to happen when they were welcomed, but what if they were not welcomed? We should note that throughout the Bible there is a recognition that sometimes the word of God is welcomed and sometimes it is rejected. We sometimes seem to have the rather strange notion that it should always be welcomed, and if it isn’t welcomed then it is always our fault. If we faithfully present the word of God then sometimes it will be rejected. An equally strange notion is that the word of God will always be rejected. In all circumstances there will be some who welcome the Lord. If a town did reject them they were to wipe the dust of their feet as a sign of judgement. Again, note how this goes against the notions common in the church today. “If the message is not being accepted we need to make it more acceptable”, and we should not mention hell or judgement. Well these sort of ideas are directly against what Jesus taught. Believing in the gospel is a command not an option, and there are the most severe consequences for rejecting the gospel. Rejecting the gospel is like a sick and dying man rejecting the medicine that can heal him. Of course he is free to reject the medicine, but if he does he will die a horrible death. It is much the same with the gospel.

10:13,14

Remember that Jesus is giving the disciples a “pep-talk” before they go out on mission and all the talk seems to be about people rejecting them! These warnings are a severe judgement upon the pride of Israel. In John’s gospel he says that no book would be large enough to contain all the miracles that Jesus did, and here we have a hint of that. There is no information in the gospels of what Jesus did in Chorazin, and very little on Bethsaida, yet apparently He did great miracles in these places. Tyre and Sidon had been part of the Phoenician empire and had been singled out for judgement in Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 26-28. Yet Jesus says that if she had seen the miracles that He did she would have repented. Israel did not repent. This is a severe warning against pride, and all of us need to take it to heart.

Luke 10:5-9 - Peace to this house

10:5-7

These verse expand on the earlier instructions to the twelve (Luke 9:4). “When you enter a house, first say ‘Peace to this house’”. We start with an attitude of peace and goodwill, expecting the best. Now if that house (and we can apply this to a group of people) accepts the blessing then the blessing of God will remain on that house. If they reject it then God’s peace will not rest on that house. We go as God’s emissaries. In 2 Cor 2:16 Paul says we to some we are the fragrance of life, to others the odour of death.

We are also to accept what is given to us. If people choose to bless us then we are to gratefully accept it, for it is God providing for us. Now, of course, there are those who exploit people. There were in the early church, and there are such people today, and the New Testament letters contain many warning against such behaviour. But we must not go to the other extreme. It is perfectly right and proper for a church to provide a reasonable living for its workers.

They were also to be settled, not going around from one place to another. We could extend this to say that we should not flit around from church to church, never settling. No church is perfect, you and I are not perfect, but we will only fulfil God’s will for our lives as imperfect members of an imperfect church.

10:8,9

There is a repeat of the instruction to eat what was set before them. Some of the areas they were going to would have a significant number of Gentiles living there, so possibly this instruction is about not being too fastidious about whether or not food met the strict Jewish dietary laws. They were to heal the sick and tell them that the kingdom of God is among them. So we see that miraculous healings were a normal part of mission. We also see that they are not just an end in themselves, they are a sign that the kingdom is among them.

Luke 10:3,4 - The workers are few

10:3,4

Immediately after telling the disciples to ask for the Father to send out workers Jesus commands the seventy two to go. Being servants of the Lord in the world is not a choice, it is obedience to the command of God. Yet so often in our Western mindset we see it as a “choice”, just as we see believing the gospel as a “choice” in the sense of it is “my choice”. No it isn’t! We need a change of mind, a renewal of our thinking (Rom 12:2). Now with our western thinking we might react against this, but actually it is liberating. For when we live with a “my choice” mindset we effectively make everything dependent upon ourselves and we are back in the fall in Eden. When we view life as being part of God’s plan, ultimately dependent upon Him and not on ourselves we become truly free.

And part of the reason why this is so important is that we sent out “as lambs among wolves”. For a long time we have been so fortunate in the West in that we have had a Christian culture which has been broadly favourable to Christianity. Now things are changing and our societies increasingly view Christianity with suspicion and consider many Christian views to be wrong or even criminal. This is the situation that is perfectly normal for many of our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world, and has been so throughout history. But we have not chosen to go out as sheep among wolves, we have been sent out by the Lord as sheep among wolves. There is a crucial difference, we have absolute security in the Lord.

As before (Luke 9:3) they were to travel light, they were also not to greet anyone on the road. Ie their mission was urgent, and they had to be focused.

Luke 10:1,2 - The Seventy Two

10:1

Earlier we had the sending out of the twelve (9:1,2), now we have the sending out of the seventy two (some manuscripts have seventy). These were in addition to the twelve, showing that there were many others apart from the twelve who followed Jesus, and whom He interacted with. There have been various suggestions as to the significance of the number seventy two (or seventy). Some see it as representing the nations of the earth in Genesis 10, so Jesus is sending the gospel out, symbolically at this stage, into the whole world. Others see it as paralleling the elders appointed by Moses (Num 11:16), and yet others as paralleling the Sanhedrin. Luke, of course, draws no such parallel, so perhaps the number has no great significance at all!

What is significant is that Jesus sent them out to every town He was going to go to. So they were in some ways like mini John the Baptists, preparing the way for Jesus.

10:2

Perhaps this verse gives us more insight into the significance of the event, rather than speculation about the number seventy two (or seventy). “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, therefore ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into the harvest field.” This is addressed to the seventy two. A similar instruction was issued in Matt 9:37 and John 4:35. Israel as a nation rejected the Messiah, yet there were still many who did believe. So even in today’s secular West we should ask God to send out workers, for there are many to be saved. The harvest belongs to the Lord, it is not a manmade enterprise.

Habakkuk 3:16-19 - The Lord is my strength

3:16-19

This prayer is set firmly in real circumstance, Babylon is invading the land. Habakkuk is reminded of all the things he has spoken about in the earlier verses of this chapter, and of God’s answers to his two complaints. The word had a severe effect on him. Maybe it is God’s earlier pronouncement that Babylon would be used to inflict punishment upon Judah that is most troubling him. But now he knows that a day of calamity would come upon Babylon as well one day. The punishment was not for ever.

Fig trees, the vine, olive crops and wheat fields were essential to the economy and food of the nation. So although the outward signs are dire, with no obvious prospect of help, Habakkuk would rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in Him. Note that he is not saying these things do not matter, nor is he resigned to good never happening. Rather he now knows that God will act, God has not forgotten, in due time, at the right time, the Lord would act.

Habakkuk’s strength is not in the circumstances, but in the Lord, the Sovereign Lord. The Lord does not just enable Habakkuk to endure, but “makes his feet like the feet of a deer”, and enables him to tread on the heights. We should aim to become a people not governed by circumstances, but a people whose strength is in the Lord. This manifestly does not mean that the circumstances do not matter. But it does mean that we live by the Spirit, not by the flesh. Then, instead of being governed by the circumstances, we reign in the midst of the circumstances.

Habakkuk 3:8-15 - God's wrath

3:8-15

It is difficult for us to appreciate these next few verses. There may be allusions to pagan myths held by other nations such as the Canaanites, or the allusions may be to the rescue of the Israelites at the Red Sea. God does have power over all creation, and this has been demonstrated at various times in the Bible. There was Moses and the Red Sea, and Joshua and the Jordan. Then Jesus stilled the storm. However, it was not the sea or the mountains that God’s wrath was aimed at, though the pagan nations tended to deify nature, with gods of rivers and mountains. In verse 12 it says “in wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations”. Man without God makes images of nature, or deifies nature in some respect. Now we might think well they did that then, but we are much more sophisticated now and don’t do such things. Yes we do. The whole scientism approach to life that says matter is all there is is a deification of nature. But the real “battle”, the real issue, is between God and man. God acted, and God will act, to save His people. People may think economic or political forces work against them, and God may use such forces, but the real issue is God judging nations. God is active in defending His people.

Habakkuk 3:1-7 - I have heard of your fame

3:1

This final chapter has the appearance of a psalm. Indeed, 3:1 and 3:19 include musical terms normally associated with psalms. “Shigionoth” is such a term, “selah” also occurs in v 3, 9 and 13. This psalm, or prayer of praise, comes after Habakkuk’s complaints to God, and God’s response. If we just bottle up our frustrations or lack of comprehension we will never fully praise God. If instead, we are open with God, but knowing that it is us who need to change, not Him, then we will reach far deeper levels of praise and faith than if we just pretend to trust God.

3:2

Remember the situation Habakkuk was in. He was a prophet, so he knew of the things that God had done in the past. Yet in his day he looked at the nation of Israel and saw little apart from disobedience and lack of faith. He looked at the nations and saw nothing better. He now stands before God in faith and calls on God to make His presence felt in this day. He also calls on God to have mercy as well as wrath.

3:3-7

Teman and Mount Paran were both in Edomite territory, and is reminiscent of God helping Israel in the Exodus and subsequent conquest. Habakkuk is looking back to the times spoken of in v2 when he says “I have heard of your fame”. Habakkuk is expecting God to act once again on Israel’s behalf. God came in great power and glory and rescued Israel.

Plague and pestilence were used in the signs against Pharaoh, but they were also used against Israel herself when she sinned against God. As the people of God we need to follow the ways of God, otherwise we put ourselves in great danger. The Lord came with power and the earth trembled.

“I saw ...” Habakkuk is now expecting God to act again. At the start of this book he had been complaining that God was doing nothing, now his faith has been restored and he fully expects God to act. God works by producing faith within a man or woman, for faith is evidence of what is to come. As the KJV says “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). Faith that comes from God, and is founded on His word (as opposed to the vain imaginations of men) is what will come first before the outworking of God’s plan. It is how He will often work in our lives. We so often want to see the reality first, but God’s way is to produce faith in us, then the manifestation of that faith will take effect.

Habakkuk 2:15-20 - And still more woe

2:15-17

The next woe is for Babylon intoxicating her neighbours and then taking advantage of them. This is done in a very literal way in society. There are many industries which exploit people’s vices, making them dependent upon some vice or other, then fleecing the. Drugs are perhaps the most obvious, but pornography, gambling and drink all do the same some degree. We need to be aware of the spirit that is behind these things. The devil seeks to entice people and then humiliate and destroy them. Babylon would herself become drunk and be put to shame, she would receive justice for her evil ways. The same principle will apply to all society today. Her evil ways would rebound on to herself. We need to be fully aware that judgement is real.

2:18-20

The Bible is sometimes mocked as being superstitious, but the Bible is brutally honest about the utter uselessness of idols. The chapter closes with a mocking of those who trust in idols, for they are utter fools. They are trusting in their own creation, how can their own creation help them? The idol is lifeless, so how can it give any guidance? So instead of facing up to the truth the cover it in gold and silver, as if that will magically bring the thing to life. But of course, we are so much more sophisticated now. Or perhaps we aren’t? What is the dominant worldview in the West? It is that life came from nothing. But science keeps proving that atheistic notions are wrong. The fact that the universe had a beginning had an awful hard job getting accepted, it was resisted because if it had a beginning, then maybe there was a creator who began it! The fine-tuning arguments show how finely tuned so many aspects of the universe are, so scientists come up with multiverse theories. We cannot see or detect, or interact, with any of these other universes, but we must do something to avoid there being a God! In the media you will hear that evolution is a “fact”. It isn’t, there are many holes in the theory and it cannot explain all it purports to explain. But people are desperate for there not to be a God, for if there is a God there is One to whom we are answerable.

The truth is that there is a God and there are times when the wisest thing is to be silent before Him, waiting to hear what He has to say.

Habakkuk 2:9-14 - Yet more woe

2:9-11

This woe could be directed at Babylon, but also applied to some in Judah, for gaining wealth by unjust means was something that took place in Judah. Using unjust means can seem attractive, it can seem to offer some sort of security, but ultimately it will lead to ruin. In the course of pursuing unjust gain will mean that one day we have to answer to God, to answer to Him for the lives we have ruined in our pursuit. The ultimate cost of pursuing unjust means is our loss of respect and ultimately loss of our lives forever. There is a God who sees all, and to whom all will one day have to give an account. A society that loses sight of this is one that will ultimately collapse. As we become increasingly secular we become a society that is accountable to no one, with the ensuing consequences. The stones and timber in Babylon were often plundered from other nations, and quite possibly built with slave labour. They would cry out in testimony against Babylon.

2:12-14

Babylon used brute force to build her empire, having no concern for justice. For a time force with no regard for justice may seem to work, whether on an individual level, or at a national level. But a time of reckoning will certainly come. Earlier in the book we have seen Habakkuk complaining about the seeming lack of justice, and God’s apparent inaction. We now learn that the Babylon has just been mounting up her own punishment. All her efforts will ultimately be in vain.

The eventual outcome is that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord”. In the West today governments and the elite are abandoning God’s ways as quickly as they can. For a time they may seem to be triumphant, but ultimately their efforts are all in vain. For the final outcome is that God’s glory will fill the whole earth.