Snow in the Bible

Today, 3 March 2008 we had snow in Abilene, Texas. Snow is not very common in this part of the USA. We might get as much as six inches during the winter, but often much less, if any.

It is so much fun watching the snow falling from the sky. When we lived in Nashville, we experienced beautiful snows with huge flakes. Such an event sends me back to the Bible to think again about how the Bible uses "snow."

Exodus 4:6; Numbers 12:10; and 2 Kings 5:27 compare leprosy with snow.

Job 37:6; 38:22; Psalm 147:16; and Isaiah 55:10-11 declare that Yahweh stores up snow in his heavenly treasure houses and from time to time dumps it upon the earth like wool to make plants grow and produce seed for the sower and bread for the eater. Hence, Psalm 148:8 summons the snow to praise Yahweh who sends it. Job 6:16 and 24:19 describe snow melting to form cold rivers.

Proverbs 25:13 compares faithful messengers with fresh snow:
"Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
are faithful messengers to those who send them;
they refresh the spirit of their masters."

Psalm 51:7 and Isaiah 1:18 compare God's forgiveness of sins with the whiteness of snow.
Psalm 51:7: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Isaiah 1:18: Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Matthew 28:3 says the appearance of the angel who rolled back the stone at Jesus' tomb and sat upon it "was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow." John describes the "one like the Son of Man" which he saw with these words in Revelation 1:14: "His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow, his eyes were like a flame of fire."

So the Bible uses "snow" in various ways. Snow provides rich imagery for expressing wonderful truths of God.

John Willis

Proverbs 15:30-33

Proverbs 15 concludes with some very positive affirming maxims.

15:30: The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
and good news refreshes the body.

15:31: The ear that heeds wholesome admonition
will lodge among the wise.

15:32: Those who ignore instruction despise themselves,
but those who heed admonition gain understanding.

15:33: The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and humility goes before honor.

Very uplifting, encouraging assurances arise from these verses.
1. As a messenger arrives with good news from far away with a sparkle in his eye, he encourages the recipient of the good news by his pleasant smile as well as by the message itself. In a world where "bad news" fills newspapers and magazines, such a reminder is very uplifting.
2. All of us make poor decisions and speak or do bad things, and thus we need admonitions from loving friends and associates. The important thing is how we respond to admonition. If we accept admonition as an attempt to improve us, we will become better people. If we despise admonition from those who love us and want to help us improve, we are hurting ourselves.
3. Holding God in the highest respect [fearing God] is the first principle in living the godly life. He is God, and we are mere human beings. Our proper stance before him is "humility." From that vantage point, and from that vantage point alone, can we truly honor him and serve others.

John Willis

Proverbs 15:26-29

The four sayings in Proverbs 15:26-29 contrast various attitudes, words, and activities of the righteous and the wicked.

15:26: Evil plans are an abomination to the Lord,
but gracious words are pure.

15:27: Those who are greedy for unjust gain makes trouble for their households,
but those who hate bribes will live.

15:28: The mind of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil.

15:29: The Lord is far from the wicked,
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

Note briefly a few thoughts for spiritual living found in these words.
1. Verses 26-28 contrast what takes place in the heart of the righteous and the wicked. The wicked conceive "evil" plans to carry out against the helpless based on the "greed" of covetousness or self-centeredness which dominates their thinking. On the other hand, the righteous have a passionate "hatred" against offering or accepting bribes, which seem to support and secure a rich person's lifestyle and future; and they think through the best way to speak in any given circumstance.
2. Verses 26 and 28 contrast the speech of the righteous and the wicked. "Evil" words of all kinds gush out of the mouth of the wicked and harm those who hear, while the righteous are very careful to speak "gracious" words which will edify and affirm the hearer.
3. God is ever present to hear and respond appropriately and positively to the prayers of the righteous, but when the wicked pray God stands at a great distance and thus is slow to respond.

John Willis

God's Amazing Ways

A few days ago, my wife Evelyn and I were flying from Salvador, Brazil to Porto Alegre, Brazil. We were scheduled to fly to Rio de Janeiro, and change planes there to go to Porto Alegre. Our flight left Salvador three hours late, making it impossible to make the connecting flight in Rio de Janeiro. Having flown many overseas flights to and in many countries around the world, we began talking about how God was going to get us to Porto Alegre. We imagined these scenarios:
1. We will get to Rio three hours late, and there will be a late flight to Porto Alegre which we can catch.
2. We will have to spend the night in Rio and wait "standby" to Porto Alegre in the Rio airport the following day.
3. We will get to Rio three hours late, and find out that the flight from Rio to Porto Alegre was delayed three hours, so we could still make the plane going to Porto Alegre.
All these [and perhaps other] scenarios are very reasonable from a human point of view.

Here is what actually happened. We landed at the Rio airport and were taxiing to the terminal. A voice came over the loud speaker, saying that those passengers who were going to Porto Alegre should stay on this plane, because it was the plane that would go to Porto Alegre. Why didn't we think of that? This is just one other experience which reassures us that God is at work in his world, and keeps taking care of us when often we are unaware that anything "unusual" is happening.

John Willis

Gluttons and Drunkards

In Holiday vacation times in the United States, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter, many people typically "over-eat" and "over-drink." These behaviors are a daily problem for millions. Doctors and counselors [and many in the general public] think of and refer to these practices as "diseases," so as not to offend those who are addicted to food or drink and in order to give the impression that those who are "obese" or are "addicted to alcohol" suffer from a "condition" over which they have no control, about which they can do nothing to change their lifestyle, and for which they are not responsible.

According to the Bible, gluttony and drunkenness are "spiritual" problems that bring reproach on God the Creator, harm others whom God's people should love and help, and injure the participant's own physical health, influence, and self-control. God does not divide an individual into compartments or categories, such as physical, moral, social, political, recreational, mental, and religious. On the contrary, God created and sustains a "whole person." To think, say, or do things which dishonor God, hurt others or demean oneself is sin--a word which modern humans try to avoid at all costs in any way they can. But still, it is sin. There are some important truths about gluttony and drunkenness which deserve serious consideration.

1. It is ironic, but true, that those who are "obese" are often outspoken about the "dangers" of alcoholism, and those who are "alcoholics" are often outspoken about the "dangers" of obesity. Interestingly, several times the Bible speaks of gluttony and drunkenness in the same passage in such a way that it is clear that both of these practices are displeasing to God for essentially the same reasons. Proverbs 23:20-21 is one example:
"Do not be among winebibbers,
or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags."
(See also Deuteronomy 21:20; Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34).
Over-eating and over-drinking prevent one from attaining the maximum potential for which God created that individual.

2. Gluttony and drunkenness are symptoms of a much deeper "spiritual" problem which also produces adultery and laziness: ingratitude. God gives humans the gifts of sex, creativity, food, and drink, as well as abilities to engage in sex, work to support a family and to improve society, eat, and drink. God's intention is that a human use each of these for the purposes for which God designed each gift. Sexual activity is a beautiful behavior between one man and one woman who are married to each other. But one abuses God's gift of sex if a man or a woman has sex with more than one living member of the opposite sex. Similarly, God created food for a person to eat in order to maintain good health. But one abuses God's gift if that person eats too much or too little. Whether it be sexual abuse or obesity or drunkenness or laziness, such practices indicate that the one engaging in them is not really thankful for God's blessings but is using them selfishly. Pride or self-centeredness or ingratitude is a human being's basic heart problem.

3. God intends for his people to be "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-16). They do this only when their lives are such that others can see they are seeking to honor God as Creator and Lord, to influence those around them to be like God (see Ephesians 5:1-2), and to glorify God in their own bodies and minds and relationships (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

All of us are sinners. We need one another's prayers and help to let God transform us into the people he wants us to be. May God help us see our own shortcomings and needs, repent of each one, and strive daily to be more like Him.

John Willis

1.

Proverbs 15:20-25

The primary themes in Proverbs 15:20-25 are: (1) the contrast between wisdom and folly; (2) speech; and (3)the fate or destiny of those who practice certain behaviors.

15:20--A wise child makes a glad father,
but the foolish despise their mothers.

15:21--Folly is a joy to one who has no sense,
but a person of understanding walks straight ahead.

15:22--Without counsel, plans go wrong,
but with many advisers they succeed.

15:23--To make an apt answer is a joy to anyone,
and a word in season, how good it is.

15:24--For the wise the path of life leads upward,
in order to avoid Sheol below.

15:25--The Lord tears down the house of the proud,
but maintains the widow's boundaries.

Note briefly some of the great truths for daily living these proverbs teach:
1. Like Proverbs 10:1; 17:21, 25--so 15:20 stresses to children of any age what they can do to bring joy or sorrow to their parents. In the eyes of the world, a person's behavior reflects on his or her parents. This can be a great motivator for doing the right thing IF a person's parents are godly.
2. A fool reveals her or his folly to the world by living recklessly without restraint, blissfully unaware of the wrong she or he is doing and the harm it brings to others.
3. The key to success is careful planning, which involves consulting as many good and experienced people and sources as possible, and listening to the best advice. One would not think of going to a doctor who had not spent several years studying under successful older doctors and professors to learn the parts of the human body and how they function, the various kinds of diseases, and the proper treatment for each medical problem. Similarly, faith communities make a great mistake if they employ people to be ministers, pulpit preachers, missionaries, and the like who have not spent years studying the Bible, modern culture, effective communication, missions thought, and how the teachings of the Bible apply to contemporary society at home and abroad under older ministers, preachers, and professors who have been effective in ministry.
4. Many "major" in talking. Wherever they are, they love to talk. Such people are poor thinkers and poor listeners. Godly talk is brief, but says the right thing to the right person or persons are the right time.
5. The Bible often reminds us that there are two ways to live on earth [see Psalm 1]. The wise takes the "upward" path which leads closer and closer to God, even though it is more difficult and more demanding. By doing this, he or she avoids Sheol, which here refers to a life which takes spiritual vitality out of a person.
6. Those who are proud, arrogant, self-centered seek opportunities to take advantage of those who are defenseless: widows, orphans, aliens, the poor [see Exodus 22:22-24; Isaiah 1:10-17, 21-23; 10:1-2; Micah 3:9-12). But God loves those who suffer oppression, and thus intervenes to deliver them from the proud and to punish the proud (see Deuteronomy 10:12-18).

John Willis

God Continually Works Actively in His World

It is very easy to overlook great truths in the most familiar Biblical passages. One such passage is Jesus' teaching that his followers are to love their enemies in Matthew 5:43-48. Let us notice the reason Jesus gives to Christians for doing this in verses 43-45:

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, SO THAT YOU MAY BE CHILDREN OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN; FOR HE MAKES HIS SUN RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD, AND SENDS RAIN ON THE RIGHTEOUS AND ON THE UNRIGHTEOUS."

The argument Jesus gives here to persuade and motivate his disciples to love their enemies is that when they do this, they are imitating their Father in heaven. The assumption behind this argument is that good, obedient, loving children desire to and actually do imitate their parents.

But what does God do to love his enemies, as an example to his children [Jesus' followers] to love their enemies? Jesus names TWO specific things:
1. Some human opposes God by blaspheming God's name or disobeying one of God's commands or pretending to love God when he or she really does not or in some other way, and God ACTIVELY MAKES HIS SUN RISE ON THAT ENEMY OF HIS, thereby blessing that person who has ridiculed God.
2. Some human takes God's name in vain or denounces God for doing something that person does not like or the like, and God ACTIVELY SENDS RAIN ON THAT ENEMY OF HIS, thus empowering his or her crops to flourish and giving him or her a wonderful day.

But these two examples of Jesus "will not stand up in court," "cannot bear the heat of careful scrutiny," if God does not ACTIVELY WORK IN HIS WORLD--by causing the sun to rise each day and by sending rain.

Many Christians CLAIM the Bible is their authority for beliefs and practices and worship, but are VERY HESITANT to accept the Biblical teaching that God ACTIVELY WORKS IN HIS WORLD, even though Jesus Himself claims that His Father does.

John Willis