As I pondered how to summarize an overview of the Israelite’s history as they settled into the land during the time of Joshua and then encountered all kinds of drama through the period of the judges, this verse was echoing in my heart.

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Psalm 86:11

An undivided heart. God longs for us to have undivided hearts that are focused only on Him. It is why He began the ten commandments like this:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:2-3

It is why Moses pleaded with the people in his final address, “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.“ (Deuteronomy 4:39) Why Joshua cried out these familiar words in his own final address:

“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:14-15

Interestingly, the people responded vigorously to Joshua’s address, claiming that they would never turn their backs on the LORD in favor of the false gods of Canaan.

Sadly, that is exactly what they did.

The book of Judges is a horrifying tale of depravity, starting badly and cycling downward until it leaves us with some of the most disturbing stories in the pages of Scripture. [We took a more in-depth look at Judges here.] Judges 2:19 summarizes the state of the nation succinctly:

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

Divided hearts. They refused to give up their idolatry, the evil practices they loved, they refused to bow their knee to the God who demanded their whole hearts and souls and lives. Oh, they gave Him a portion of their hearts – after all, He was the one they would cry out to in distress – but not all. Their hearts were divided, and they did not fear God’s name.

So, as I ponder these portions of Scripture, I am left with this staggering reminder of how very quickly our hearts can become divided, how quickly my heart becomes divided. Oh, I want to love and serve God, but am I undivided in my focus? Or have other things – even worthwhile things – crept into my life and heart and divided my affections?

Undivided hearts cause us to fear and love and worship the Lord in all aspects of our lives, mundane or extraordinary. Divided hearts allow idolatry, pride, stubbornness, and rebellion to sneak into our hearts and lives and destroy us. Sometimes we have divided hearts even while loudly proclaiming our single-minded focus on the Lord who rescued and saved us, just as the Israelites did.

We must choose for ourselves this day whom we will serve – who is it going to be? And before we point to the “as for me and my household” plaque on the wall of our living rooms… let us seriously reflect: who are we really serving with our time, energy, emotion, talents, money? Do we have undivided hearts? Do we fear His name?

He is the only one worthy of our undivided focus – give it to Him freely, for it is painful when He must demand the adoration He is due.

We’re continuing our One Summer, One Story series – a fast-paced overview of the “big story” of the Bible! Missed anything? Find all the past posts here. Just a reminder, also, that we have two different “blog ministry projects” going on right now – please consider joining us for Got Milk? and the SOS Project – because although the problems are overwhelming, our God really IS BIGGER!

Missed any of our Revelation series? You can catch up here!

Scoffers have always been present in the world.

Scoffers dismissed the message of Noah for years as he built the vessel which would carry him and his believing family through the horrors of the flood safely.

Scoffers dismissed the Old Testament prophets as they forewarned of God’s judgment against Israel and Judah.

Scoffers will dismiss the first five seal judgments in unbelief as wars, savage persecution, famine, disease, and pestilence wrack the earth. The sixth judgment will bring even the most hardened scoffer to a point of recognizing the supernatural nature of what is happening.

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Revelation 6:12-14

The world will be falling apart around them. Henry Morris suggests that a massive earthquake such as referenced in these verses would trigger huge volcanic eruptions, spewing ash, steam, and smoke; this would darken the atmosphere and cause the sun to appear red.  Added to this terror will be meteors plunging to the earth and the earth’s crust shifting violently.

Fear will grip the inhabitants of the earth on an unprecedented level. And they will know, without a doubt, that they are experiencing the wrath of God against sin.

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Revelation 6:15-17

The heartbreaking part of this passage to me is that the people know they are experiencing the beginning of God’s wrath against their sin…

But they do not repent.

As believers, we should fear the Lord. But this fear is a reverence, an awe for His power and holiness that is proper when dealing with the sovereign Creator and Lord of the universe.

Those who do not bow the knee will not fear Him in this proper way – they will stand in utter terror of Him. The demons shudder in His presence; they do not fear Him, they are afraid of Him. In the same way, the unbelieving of the world, of every station in life, will cower before Him but refuse to submit with proper reverence.

The great day of His wrath has come. Reading these judgments is a sobering call to pray fervently for those who do not yet know Jesus Christ as Savior – and it is also a call to remember the extravagant grace He has shown to those of us who are already in Christ.

While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! What amazingly good news we have to share with those around us – as time marches steadily on toward the day when God will judge sin, we must share about His amazing grace and pray that scoffing hearts will be opened to the Truth.

Missed any of our Revelation series? You can catch up here!

In Revelation 5 we found that Jesus Christ was the only one worthy to take the scroll and reclaim ownership of the earth. Through the following chapters of Revelation we find several series of judgments against sinful and rebellious humankind; each of these judgments is detailed in the scroll and comes about as the seals are broken and the scroll is unrolled.

It seems that the best way to understand the sequence of these events is that all of these judgments “telescope” out from one another.

• The scroll is described as having seven seals.
• The seventh seal contains a series of seven trumpet judgments.
• The seventh trumpet judgment contains a series of seven bowl judgments.

All of the judgments are found within the scroll, detailed in the seven seals; these judgments form the main outline of the remainder of the book.

John Phillips summarizes this well:

“For two breathtaking, soul-inspiring chapters, we have been in heaven. The scroll has changed hands, and the right to judge and rule the world has been placed upon Jesus. Now we must come down fromt he mount and out of the ivory palaces. Down here, on the rebel planet of earth, the tempo is increasing, passions are rising. Evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse. Disobedience to parents has grown up into brawling maturity, defying all authority. Men have become inventors of evil things, and their fearful inventions have become Frankenstein monsters, threatening to destroy the globe. The time has come for God to intervene in human affairs, so judgment is given to the Son. The seals on the scroll are to be broken.

There are three principal series of judgments in Revelation – the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, and the vial [bowl] judgments. The action of the book is carried forward, for the most part, by these series. The rest of the book is mainly parenthetical, either anticipating or reviewing a phase of that action.” (110)

These judgments are hard to read. They describe conditions on this earth that are nearly unthinkable. Before we plunge into studying these judgments you must settle in your own mind the fact that our God is loving and gracious, but He is also holy and full of righteous wrath against man’s sin and rebellion.

I urge you to take some time to look through these two posts which dealt with this topic in the past.

• Is God Loving, or is He Angry? Can He Be Both?
• The Wrath of God and Extravagant Grace

The wrath and judgment of God in these coming chapters stand in stark contrast of the grace and forgiveness we have been offered through Jesus Christ. They stand as sobering reminders that we all deserve that judgment… the only dividing line is being covered by the righteousness of Christ and saved from God’s holy anger.

There’s been a lot of uproar lately about President Barack Obama. My own political opinions aside, I am deeply concerned about the way believers are handling their political differences. My friends, we must Fear God and honor the King. This is where belief in God’s sovereignty gets real – consider carefully how we speak and act. “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” [This was originally published on January 20, 2009.]

Last week we started our study of 1st and 2nd Samuel with a look at Hannah and then at Hannah’s prayer, which provides the framework for the rest of the books.

Today, in light of the inauguration, it seemed appropriate to pause on that and discuss the “if, then…” applications of all of this.

True understanding of the sovereignty of God over rulers, as discussed in our look at Hannah’s prayer, raises the topic of the “S” word – Submission. (In God’s timing, we discussed the discipline of submission in our ABF on Sunday!) Submission seems to be an uncomfortable word across the board – I remember vividly teaching a section on submission when I was a high school Bible teacher, watching the older students squirm in their seats as I asked them about submission to things like speed limits or school rules that they disagreed with. I daily watch my young daughter wrestle with the inherent rebellion in her soul – at almost three years old she hates to submit. Throw out the word submission in any women’s Bible study and you get eyes cast down at their shoes, looks of angst, internal tension. Add to our innate hatred of submission as human beings the ingrained understanding of the right of independence as Americans, that “conquer the world” mentality, and the pop culture ideal that all authority is meant to be mocked, and what we’ve got is a big mess.

It seems appropriate to spend some time looking at Romans 13:1-2.

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Submission, no doubt, is much harder when you disagree with your authorities. Any child, wife, employee, etc. clearly understands that. I do not agree with Barack Obama. I did not vote for him, I do not like his political views. Nevertheless, I have been clearly commanded in Scripture to submit to his authority and give him the respect he is due as the president of our country. On what grounds? He has been put in that position by God Himself. If God is truly sovereign, if God is my ultimate King, and He has placed this human being in power over me… rebellion against this human leader is rebellion against God. Period. [Obviously there's always the caveat of "unless you're commanded to do something directly against the Word of God... I'm assuming we all understand that.]

1 Peter 2:12-17 further elaborates on this issue:

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

It’s interesting to me that Peter’s argument for submission to authorities revolves around the public testimony of the believers and the glory of God. Although I agree that as citizens of the United States of America Christians have the privilege and responsibility to engage in the political arena, I fear that in many ways our well-intentioned efforts to fight for the good have turned into fights against people. Whether real or simply perceived, Christians are seen as arrogant, ignorant, prejudiced, partisan, hateful… the list could go on. How does Peter instruct these believers to “silence the ignorant talk of foolish men”? By doing good. By submission to authorities. By showing proper respect for everyone.

So, let’s get practical. What does it mean to fear God and honor the king? I’m sure you could add volumes to this, but this is just a teaser to get our thoughts going. Showing honor is more than obedience. Showing honor to Barack Obama is more than me paying my taxes and living as a law-abiding citizen. (although, it certainly does mean that.) Honor for someone comes out in my attitudes and in my words. Am I honoring the president of our country if I slander him, repeat fallacious statements, or seek to incite others against him personally? Clearly, no. This is not unfounded reverence for him or blind acceptance of what he does. I can disagree strongly and still honor him in the way I discuss the way my views vary with his. However, a true fear of God and understanding of His sovereignty necessitates that I respect the leaders placed over me in my life.

Truthfully, this is much more convicting on a local level for me. There are leaders in my daily life that I strongly, hotly disagree with. I may feel at times that I am being treated unjustly. As I interact in these situations and even seek to address these deep issues, it must, MUST be done in a respectful way. For if God is sovereign, it is no accident that they are over me.

So, whatever your feelings were as you watched or listened to the inauguration today, remember this: We serve a sovereign God who sets kings up and takes them down, and nothing is out of His control. Barack Obama is officially our president, and it’s time to live out our faith in authenticity before those with whom we disagree.

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:1-4

*Picture from wikipedia.org