Look, he is coming in the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn for him. So it is to be. Amen
Just a short thought from reading yesterday.
Look – turn your focus, lift your head, Look. I like the old school word, “Behold” – this isn’t a glance, but STOP… and LOOK. whatever you are facing today, Look at this…
He IS coming. Know the Certainty the Jesus is coming. That is a Future reality and a Present confidence. Know this.
With the Clouds… So many references to clouds in the Bible. Of course they often represent Judgment… but also Fanfare. And then I think of the time to come in Revelation 19. He comes with Justice and with the hosts of Heaven, including those of us who are the Redeemed. We will be part of the Cloud that returns WITH him. Life horses stirring up clouds of dust. We will just be part of the cloud. No one notices us…
But Every Eye will see him. The Blind, the blinded, those refusing to look, the Hopeful, all will see, perceive attend..
EVEN those… don’t worry about “those” – you have a list of “those”… their time will come… even those who have rejected, persecuted, raged against… even those
Every nation and people group… all will mourn… either gratefully or regretfully. Zechariah 12:10 says that the people group who rejected him, will mourn the one they pierced. Again, some will mourn in repentance… and others will mourn as they reject him still, but time is too late
So… I love to use the word “So” in sermons, it’s like “therefore” – because he is coming in the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him… all will mourn… So…
It IS to Be… Amen – Amen means “so be it” and so this final word is forwards and backwards – it IS to BE… So Be It – can we say that now… Yes Lord, It IS to be… So Be it. It will be and all God’s people said “Amen”
Isaiah lived with a good and faithful king, Uzziah, who perhaps was even a relative. He was his hero… hope… the highest. Late in his life, Uzziah had tried to supersede the ways of God and dealt with sickness and seclusion and then died.
I think it is significant that Isaiah 6:1 says in the YEAR that King Uzziah died… When exactly in the that year? How long did Isaiah deal with the loss, seeking the Lord, looking for answers? We don’t know, but it devasted him for sure, and in that year… I saw the Lord…
The place of our hope, the highest thing in our lives, our hero, must die for us to truly SEE the Lord.
“saw” = ra’ah – to see understand, spy, reveal, look at – NASB says access, appear, become aware
It is amazing how things get in the way of “seeing” the Lord. They could be “good” or “bad”, but things get in the way of us seeing the Lord.
If you get everything you want, what do you have?
This passage of Isaiah’s true awakening to God is one of the most significant in scripture. He saw God in majesty, sovereignty, holiness, and immensity. He saw HIMSELF insignificant, unholy, and he confessed his sin and need for God.
I could spend a long time in 6:1-8, but that’s not for now. Today, my question is “what / who must die for me to see the Lord?”
If you go back to chapter 5, there is a “Song of the Vineyard”. The Lord speaks of his love for his people. It talks of the process and purpose of planting, cultivating, and protecting his people.
V2 says he expected it to yield good grapes… but it yielded worthless grapes.
V4 what more could I have done
V5 I will remove the hedge, tear down the wall… 6 make it a wasteland… 7 expected justice but saw injustice… expected righteousness, but heard cries of despair
As I read this chapter, my mind goes in many directions… but remember the question is “What must DIE for us to SEE the Lord?”
Then notice verses 8-10 and I’ll go back to the question…
V8 … woe to those who add house to house… field to field until there is no room and you are LEFT ALONE in the Land
Sometimes we are so busy building that we “gain” and yet lose everything we wanted. I remember Jesus saying, what does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? What good is it to get the whole neighborhood if no one lives there but me?
V9 houses will become desolate
And then v10 is the reverse of the principles of the harvest. Instead of reaping MORE than you sow, they sow and reap exponentially less.
Let me encourage you to go and read the rest of the Song of the Vineyard in Isaiah 5. Singing of the Lord… Everything we are doing, when we lose sight of the Lord, is failing to produce what we desired and intended.
V20 woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
v21 woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever…
v24b …they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of Armies… despised the word of the Holy One of Israel
And this song ends as the Lord is calling distant lands to come to his vineyard to desolate them and start over…
And then…
6:1 in the year King Uzziah DIED… I SAW the Lord… high… exalted… on the throne
What needs to die so you can see the Lord? This is a very personal question.
Stop right now and Seek the Lord… Say…
“Lord, you are God, Lord of Heaven’s Armies, Holy and Righteous
Forgive me for raising other things above you
Lord, I lay down everything else, that I may See YOU, see myself as I am, and FOLLOW You”
“If this were EASY, everybody would be doing it.” That is a quote offered by many, I say it often, it is attributed to many, but isn’t directly from one person. “Jimmy Dugan” in “A League of Their Own” said it, but it wasn’t original to him. The sentiment and understanding is important.
Oswald Chambers said, “we have to remember that all noble things are difficult… the Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty does not make us faint or cave in, it rouses us up to overcome.”
I set my sights/heart four years ago on running a marathon – not because it was easy, but BECAUSE it was Hard. I put in the miles, dealt with a myriad of pains and challenges, then went and did it. I Ran a Marathon! I was 58 years old. People would say, “I heard you are a marathoner.” I said, “no I ran a marathon.” But about a month later, I had booked for number TWO. Now I have done Three, now I say, “I RUN marathons”, because it’s easy? Nope – it is still very hard.
I had a stroke 6 weeks ago, and guess what, it’s hard(er) to run, but Lord willing… I will run #4. Last week I signed up for 2026 Ventura “Mountains2Beach”
Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate… how narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.”
Training for running marathons, for me, involves not as much prep as some people, but it is still about 800 miles a year, and I run about eight other races of varying lengths throughout the year, 5k, 4mi, 7k, 5mi, 10k, and 1/2 marathons are all part of the path.
Jesus says in Matthew 7, “every good tree produces good fruit… many will say, ‘Lord, Lord’, but only the one who does the will of my Father will enter Heaven.”
When I register for a race, my name gets on the list, I get a number. When I check in, I get a shirt, but the MEDAL comes when I FINISH.
Chambers, about this passage, says, “Do we SO appreciate the marvelous salvation of Jesus Christ THAT we ARE our Utmost for his Highest.”
Praise God we don’t have to complete the “Race” to Receive Salvation… Jesus paid it all — Yet…
… do we SO appreciate our salvation THAT we ARE all we can be… Our Utmost for his Highest?
I want to hear “well done, good and faithful servant.” – that’s the “medal” I seek. I can’t earn my salvation, but I want him to feel like his sacrifice was worth it for me. I want to give everything, my all, my best, as a sign of my deep appreciation, gratitude, for his Highest Gift of Grace.
Chambers says, “we are not to be milksops… but have a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ.”
Our Savior, who was heading to the cross to die for my sin, said, “take up your cross and follow me”.
Again quoting Chambers, “His salvation is a glad thing, but it also tests us for all we are worth.”
Let’s GO, if you call yourself a “Follower of Jesus”, don’t use that title unless we are willing to DO it.
*today I quote extensively from Oswald Chamber’s most famous writings “My Utmost for His Highest” – Yesterday, July 7, is the devotion which has the “namesake” quote in it. Chambers died at a young 43. His wife, Biddy Chambers, used to take shorthand notes when he spoke, and she compiled the devotional book that is read by countless millions every day. I have used it for more than 40 years and strongly recommend it
Humble, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, rejoicing in hard times… that’s the kind of people we see as Jesus begins this message… then he says, You are the salt… you are the light. My question, are you tasty, are you visible, do you attract or repel?
Salt without desirable flavor, “it’s no good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled”. If you are light… what do you reveal? “Let your light shine before others so that they may see… and give glory to your Father.”
Nothing radical, or revolutionary here right? You decide. Often people say, “We are under Grace now, not The Law.” Ok, but that doesn’t release us, but rather binds us to deeper things. Jesus says, “I did not come to Abolish the Law, but to fulfill.” And then, “whoever breaks one of the least… and teaches others to do the same will be called ‘the least’… but whoever DOES and teaches theses… will be called ‘great’ in the Kingdom.”
Point? (warning oversimplification alert) Much of the rest of Jesus’ sermon is not releasing us from but taking us to a greater level of living.
Hateful thoughts / unjust anger is like internal murder – SHINE the Right Light
Failure to settle disagreements quickly and honorably – SALTLESS gritty sand – useless
Impure thoughts – we are already walking an adulterous path – Light is shining that within and without
Unfulfilled Promises, Fake commitment – Taste Terrible and don’t Point to Jesus. What’s the light? Where’s the flavor?
Go the Second Mile, show faithfulness and give more than is demanded – again we are talking Light and Flavor.
Love your Enemies, Pray for Persecutors – Just like the Sun Shines on everyone, our light should shine on anyone/everyone. Salt tastes good on every tongue that tastes it. The reward is in the giving and the shining, not in choosing the Recipient.
My questions for myself today are
to whom do I shine?
from whom do I desire a reward?
am I tasty or tasteless?
Is everything I do to Please the Father and Portray the Love of God?
If I can give to the Father this way… he repays in His time, and there may be a personal return of people in heaven thus my investment resulted in Eternal Dividends
Let me say at the beginning that we are reading “Jesus stuff” here, and we can’t do what he did, even if we try, we still cannot accomplish what he did… However, Philippians 2 teaches us to “let this mind be in you… Adopt this same attitude as that of Christ”
So, I come back to Isaiah 53 – God did this whole thing much differently than we would. I’ll be the first to say that all my life, I’ve wanted to do “great things” for God. That very definer though has been my struggle, “great” things. Let me say then, that the greatest thing we can do is to hear him, his call, his plan, and say, “YES”.
I included a picture of me running, because I do it a lot now, but I’m nothing special as a runner, just that I do it. My times aren’t remarkable, my finishes aren’t special, just that I do it. I will be the first to admit that I am a quite “unremarkable” person. I’m not big, not strong, not wealthy, I’m not a person who looks like much. I have struggled with that all my life. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to “become” something, and do something, but that’s ok because it keeps me moving forward.
Yet, I also struggle with not “being”. I always looked too young, so I acted older. I looked incapable, so I tried harder, and on and on. A lot of anquish comes with those struggles.
Yet Jesus – Creator of all things, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, he “emptied himself” – he “laid aside his glory”, Paul said.
So Isaiah 53 says of the Messiah to come, “he grew up… like a young plant… like a root out of a dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form (toar=handsome) or majesty (hadak = an ornament, honor, splendor) that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him.
Jesus could have come as a dashing “movie star” type… but he came unremarkably… we wouldn’t have given him a second look. He wasn’t handsome, he wasn’t splendid or honorable in appearance, no unremarkable.
v3 “He was despised and rejected, a man of suffering who KNEW what sickness was” – interestingly that word yada – “knew” is in the passive tense… he didn’t just do it, he experienced it. “he was like someone people turned away from… we did not value (chasab = to think or account).
You know growing up, I’m certain that he often heard “that’s just Jesus, he’s nothing remarkable”. Why do I say that, because his own brothers and sisters said those things, and the people of Nazareth said, “isn’t that the carpenter’s son”.
So the question then comes for us as we serve God, do we need to “BE somebody” to be used by God. Or, is what matters that we are from somebody, have something, for somebody?
Embrace the unremarkable, FOR the remarkable mission, with an eternal remarkable message, for the Glory of the One who is Worthy and Remarkable.
You read through Isaiah 53 and see in this passage what Jesus did in spite of it all.
v10 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely… he will see his seed and prolong his days and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished.
Perhaps if Jesus HAD BEEN remarkable in appearance he never could / would have died for us.
v11 After – not before or during but, After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied.‘ That “satisfaction” means to drink until quenched. That is embracing the unremarkable and doing the eternal with all glory focused OUT.
v12 Therefore I will GIVE him… he will RECEIVE… because he willingly SUBMITTED… and was COUNTED…
Yes, I left out the specifics in there because they are part of Jesus’ call… our results will be different, but let this ATTITUDE be the same
Empty Self
Be Yourself, even unremarkable
Seek to accomplish what pleases the Lord and
We will Receive… as we Submit… and be Counted faithful…
And Find Satisfaction
After this
Philippians 2:13-15 It is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you might be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless… Shine Like Stars in the World
I have preached many times from John 21 about the interaction between Peter and Jesus as he is calling him again to service. Peter had denied Christ three times before his crucifixion. He felt like a failure and was perhaps considering forgetting it all and going back to fishing.
You probably know that Jesus asked Peter, Do you love me? He used the word agapao. (unconditional God-like love. Peter answered less confidently, but honestly, you know that I phileo (love) you. That word means “love” but it is more conditional, more “like” than “love”. We would say that’s a step below agapao.
Jesus asks again – agapao? Peter answers the same, phileo.
Then, the Third Time, Jesus changes his word to match Peter’s and says, “do you phileo me?” Peter answers, “you know everything, you know I phileo you”
Agape is a God kind of perfect love, we strive for it, but Phileo is a friendship.
All three times, Jesus then tells Peter, feed my sheep/lambs. God can use us where we are, but more than that he wants to…
Go back to the night before his crucifixion:
Jesus is walking after the Passover meal toward the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, and talking with The Twelve in John 15
I am The Vine… you are the branches
Abide in me… apart from me you can do nothing
As the Father agapao (loved) me I have agapao you
then… agapao one another
v13 no greater agape than to lay down your life “ton philos” (the Friends)
Being one who has phileo for Christ is not coming short of expectations, but falling in line with his desires for us. The greatest love, agape, comes out of commitment to being ton philos – the Friend.
v14 you are my philos if you DO (poieo = to make / fashion) what I command
They have come a long way in their walk with Christ from hearing him, to following him, to believing him, to serving him, and now…
v15 I don’t call you servants anymore… I have called you friends (philos)
v16 you didn’t choose me, I chose you, and appointed you to produce lasting fruit
As I read these verses this morning I immediately thought of John 21… Jesus was telling Peter, “you won’t always get agape correctly, but I didn’t call you to be perfect, I called you to be MY FRIEND.”
He was saying, “Peter I knew you before I called you, before you answered, before success or failure, good days or bad. I chose you to be MY FRIEND. Do and Shape what I have said, and the agape will come along the way.
If there is a marker one day to say something about me, maybe just a tag on a bench at a golf course, I want it to be:
Romans 8 is beautiful! v12 says we are not obligated to the flesh, to live according to it – our obligation was released by faith in the finished work of Christ at the cross. I CAN sin, but I’m not bound to it any longer.
v15 – we’ve received a Spirit of adoption… 16 the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God 17 … (we are) co-heirs with Christ.
This world is hard and suffering is real, but so is our inheritance. We were born sinners, under condemnation, but IN Christ, we gain more than just being an heir – kleronomoi – but immediately Paul strengthens his statement to co-heirs – SYNkleronomoi= co-inheritor.
I’m mindful of John 10 Jesus saying that no one can take us from his hand, nor from the Father’s hand.
So the connection to the Love of God is deeper than emotion or feeling, but there is a legal commitment, knowledge, and purpose of God.
v23 – The Spirit, elsewhere is called a deposit, but here is called a firstfruit – God gave him to us as a taste of a greater harvest / inheritance that is to come – aparchen = firstfruit or first piece.
My bride often makes cupcakes. When she does, she brings me one, the first one, it’s just a taste, but I know that a whole plate is in the other room. The Spirit is a first piece, first taste, first fruit… of what God has for me in the other room
v25 – we hope for what we do not see
v26-27 – the Spirit helps us pray right and intercedes for us
v28 – then we all quote – all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Too Often one of two things happens here. 1) we stop right there on that verse alone 2) we read the next verses without connecting them to this verse. God has a connection based on legal obligation, his knowledge of who we are, and his purpose in adopting us.
v29 – for those he proginosko (knew beforehand) – those God knew beforehand would become his adopted sons (children) – How do we become his adopted sons? John 1:12 – to as many as received him… believed in his name… gave the right to become the children of God. “To all” – hosoi = whatever, as many as, how much, inasmuch, those whom – “THOSE” – he – proorizo = predetermined, foreordained, predestined – to WHAT? to be conformed to the image of his Son.
God knew I would receive, believe, and become his child, with full rights and become a Co-Heir WITH Christ – So,
v30 he called… justified… glorified me. All of that action is “past tense” from antecedent history, that I would be a son that shares in the inheritance of Christ.
v31 what then are we to say about those things? – Oh we are going somewhere here – what then are we to stay… if God is for us, who can be against us?
Oh I Might SHOUT HERE!
v32 he who did not spare his own son… will he not also grant everything?
* All of this Connects us to the Love of God
In ancient Hebrew Law, you could not disinherit an Adopted Child. We have been Adopted, knowing we would believe, receive, and become his children – He knows that while I may not appear as much right now, He is Conforming me to the image of Christ, so that Christ is the Firstborn of MANY Sons – That’s his Purpose – SO
v35 – WHO – Greek word is tis – a pronoun interrogative meaning it asks a question. tis = who? what? which? why? – So, “who, what, which, why, how can we be separated from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Make a List – can it?
v37 NO – in all things we are MORE than conquerors through him who Loved US… It’s not that I loved HIM, but that he LOVED ME…
It’s not just emotionally, but willfully, purposefully, legally, with full knowledge of me and what he is doing in me.
<–SHOUT GOES HERE–>
v38 for I am pitho – persuaded, assured, confident, convinced… neither death nor life, angels nor rulers, nor present nor future, nor powers, height, depth, not ANY other created thing… will be ABLE (dynamai = have power) to separate us from the Love of God that is IN Christ Jesus our Lord
Come On NOW…
Are you IN Christ? Then you are IN the Love of God
if you are NOT in Christ, you CAN be… as many as, to all that… That’s YOU… ANY you
Ready, Rational, Restrained, Resounding in Love, Realistic about the End
1 Peter 4:1 – Peter writes, Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding – “understanding” – ennoia = thought, knowledge, insight – these days are hard, but we need an understanding, an insight. Days are hard, and suffering – physical, emotional, natural, supernatural, persecution, are normal, but we must make a change in response based on our understanding.
v2 – in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires, but for God’s will. Why? v3 we’ve already spent enough time on worldly things…
So, in days like this – what is our understanding? v7 the end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer – v8 above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sin.
We need the understanding, in suffering, that the end is near, that this too will pass. Because the end is near, we need to focus on the right things because we only have a short time, so focus on the right things…
Be Ready, Rational, Restrained, Resounding in love, Realistic about the times… but CONSTANT?
I can’t get passed v8 saying “constant love”. He doesn’t mean, constant constant, does he? ektenese = eager constant, earnest. It’s from a word that means, “stretched”. If you aren’t being “stretched” you aren’t loving.
Understanding – vv10-11 says to use the gifts we receive to serve others.
Understanding – v12 don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes… as if something unusual were happening – Woah Folks – the ordeals that are physical, are natural because of the sin cursed world we live in; those which are spiritual are because our enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. So, don’t be surprised…
Then v13 – INSTEAD – Instead!! – there are plenty of ways we CAN respond to the challenges of life – anger, fear, frustration, disappointment, dejection, withdrawal… there are many natural ways to respond… but Instead… (rather, but, yet)
Instead – REJOICE
“Give me something about which to rejoice, Pastor”
That you Share in the Sufferings of Christ – Philippians 3:10, Paul says, I want to know Christ… power of the Resurrection (YES) fellowship of SUFFERING… conformed to his death – Albert King’s blues song, “Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to Die” – you have to fellowship in the suffering, to know the power of the resurrection. Thank you, Jesus, for letting me walk a little part of your path. Galatians 5:24 if we belong to Christ we have crucified the flesh, it’s passions and desires. My wants have changed, and my “joy fuel” has changed.
Rejoice with Great Joy when the glory is revealed – Some things we go through are the only or best way for his glory (reputation / weight) to be seen, revealed (apokalypsia). See, a world without Christ is also suffering, and they need to see us, in suffering, and see a “God-Response”, reveal, unveil, Jesus.
v14 if ridiculed for the name of Jesus… you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you – WHEW
v16 if anyone suffers as a Christian, don’t be ashamed, but glorify God in having that name
v17 for the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s house
v19 those who suffer according God’s will, entrust themselves to a Faithful Creator
Psalm 118 – what a wonderful song of David. I know you know many songs that have been written from this Psalm. One day in Heaven, the Psalmist himself can sing it for us.
We know songs like, “Forever” and “This is the Day”, “Hosana (blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord)”, and so many others. Today I am thinking of Hezekiah Walker’s song, “God is For Me”.
Psalm 118:4 says, “let those who fear the Lord say, ‘His faithful love endures forever.” That’s a good place to start, then there comes action and understanding for us to experiences.
David knew trouble, he says in v12, “they surrounded me like bees… 13 they pushed me hard to make me fall 14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” It is often only THROUGH it all, that we understand who is IN it all, and is FOR us.
Let me come back to the verse that spoke to me today: this phrase David used elsewhere because Life is Hard. v5 “I called to the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and put me in a spacious place.” Let me tell you the “spacious place”; the spacious place is faith, truth, and love.
Here is the understanding, I often say, “not all things are good, but God IS good in all things.”
v6 – “the Lord is FOR me” – FOR = Toward
Oh people, if we call to the Lord, take our eyes off the distress, and put them on the Lord… When I look to the Lord, I find he is looking on me, toward me, over me, and what I face. Our adversary, that liar, says God doesn’t car… but The LORD IS FOR ME. and so, I will NOT be afraid… I will recognize then, what can a mere mortal do to me?. David sings this also in Psalm 56:4, 11 – a passage I love, and have written my own song along that verse. David is quoted in Hebrews 13:6 and recalled in Romans 8:31.
When I’m looking at my trouble, my adversary, they might seem large, formidable, but when I look to the Lord, I put them in perspecive, and even if they seem bigger than me, God is Bigger, God is For / toward me.
So, I will not BE afraid. In that understanding, David sings, in Psalm 56:4, “in God, whose word I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
I love the comparative options in Psalm 56:3,4 – WHEN I am afraid, I will trust… 4… in God I trust, I will NOT BE afraid. If fear sunk in, trust God, and in that spacious place, fear, like darkness, is pushed out by light, and if I will trust, sit in that spacious place, then fear’s darkness can’t get in.
In Distress, say, “God is For me” keep singing that – Look to Him – Call to Him – Trust Him – He is God – He is in Control – Victory is Coming.
What is the “worst” a human can do? Take your life? Well, only if God allows, and then Sudden Death = Sudden Glory –
In Judges 7, Gideon is being used by God to free the people of Israel from Midianite oppressors. God had cut down his force from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300, but God is getting ready to do something amazing.
v7 – The Lord said to Gideon, ‘I will deliver you with three hundred men…’
v9 – The Lord said, ‘Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.’
I love that God knows us, and when he has already made provision he still gives instruction. He told him to go, but knew what Gideon was feeling, so without a pause immediately says,
v10 – But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down…(to the camp) 11 Listen to what they say, and you will be encouraged to attack the camp
Encouragement to Go and DO as God says, is my whole point today.
So, Gideon goes down, not to attack, but to Listen… You have to see the picture. It’s night, and an army is like a swarm of locusts and their camels innumerable as the sand
He goes down the edge of camp with his servant and v13 says, there was a man telling his friend about a dream… ‘I had a dream: a LOAF OF BARLEY BREAD came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent and it fell. The LOAF turned the tent upside down so it collapsed.‘ v14 His friend says, ‘this is… the sword of Gideon, son of Joash… God has handed the entire camp to him.’
We need to know that God can do ANYTHING, use ANYONE, if we will go and do as he says.
I chased this rabbit a little and Josephus is credited as saying that a loaf of barley bread, “men can hardly eat for its coarseness. Barley was “the poor man’s food and less desirable.”
Now, the Midianites had been watching all year as they planted and raised good wheat, and then would come in with their mass of men, and steal all they had like locusts. So Israel was left only with what the locusts wouldn’t eat or couldn’t carry off. They were left with the hard grain barely, poor people’s food. Josephus even says that Israelites were negatively referred to as “barley eaters”.
Yet a Barley Loaf, was dreamt rolling into the camp and wiping them all out.
My mind then jumped to John 6 when a massive crowd of thousands is following Jesus, and they were hungry. Jesus asks the question of his disciples, v5 “where will we BUY bread so that these people can eat?”. We are immediately told in v6 that he was testing them with this question.
Philip said, two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each to have a little. That’s eight months wages… not enough.
Now you put that with Gideon’s 300 men against a swarm of attackers, and they are just like a poor man’s loaf of barley bread – yet they take down the enemies.
So, Jesus, 1150 years later on the shores of Galilee, wanting to feed thousands in John 6, and good old Andrew, such a practical, “let’s see what we can do” guy, in v9 says ‘there’s a boy here who has Five Barley Loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?’
Lord, we have Five Barley Loaves…
Then if you have a “red-letter” bible, Jesus is recorded as saying two things, ‘have the people sit down’… ‘collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.’
In between those two sentences, he took the Barley Loaves and little bait fish, blessed them, and distributed them – as much as they wanted… when they were full
Wow – as an old gospel song used to say, “Little is Much when God is In It”
The simplest, poorest thing we have is powerful when God has it in HIS hands and we give it freely and use as he instructs.
Then I must connect the next day – they all came again looking for Jesus and he says, ‘you come because you ate the loaves… but don’t work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life.
They were filled with poor boys food, touched by Jesus, but now v35 I am the bread of life… comes to men never hungry
He goes on a long explanation, I am the living bread… the one who eats lives forever… and yet that day many turned back and never followed him again. God in Christ IS the Bread We Seek.
We may not think we are much, and we are right. We may be Barley Loaves, but God does Transformative things with “poor man’s bread” if we will believe and come
Pastor Goforth 