arrogance

Sketched V Day 3 Saul, The Persecutor

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Acts 5:33-8:3
Acts 26:1-23
Psalm 110

Sketched V, Day 3

Somehow the prisoners had escaped!
Not only had they escaped, but they had literally returned to doing exactly what I had imprisoned them for in the first place: preaching in the name of Jesus.
Even now the guards were returning to the Temple to bring them back before the Council. What level of geniuses are we dealing with? Obviously, they are not in their right minds to disregard the commands of this authority.
We are the Council.
We are the teachers of the Law.
We decide if you are in good standing before God.

The more I thought about their disrespect of our authority, the angrier I became.
A few of the members of the Council laughed about a recent happening in the marketplace as we waited, and I caught the eye of the man facing me.
I’m not completely sure what my facial expression communicated, but the smile on the other man’s face dimmed and their conversation dropped several decibels. Maybe idiots aren’t only outside this group.
Scandalous disrespect for the Torah and our traditional laws is no laughing matter.

When the guards arrived with the prisoners in tow, I stared at the leader.
If I caught his eye, maybe I could convey a similar message to him as I had to my compatriot. I intensified my gaze and straightened my spine.

The high priest questioned them as to why they had disobeyed their previous orders to stop teaching in the name of Jesus and the leader had the gall to promptly reply that they were obeying God rather than man.
We are the authorities God put in place.
We are the teachers of the Law.
We are the ones who know the texts and are required to implement them.
Who is this man that implies he has heard from God and we have not?
Disgusting arrogance!

By now my temperature was rising and my hands were clenched tightly in my lap. I willed the leader to look my direction, but he continued to boldly meet the eyes of the high priest. It was a mercy he did not look my way. If looks could kill…

Suddenly Gamaliel stood and directed the guards to take the men outside. Once the doors were closed, Gamaliel addressed the group and suggested the men be released. He reasoned that in previous uprisings of this sort, incidents faded away once the leaders were gone. He instructed us to remain out of the scenario just in case they truly were speaking for the Lord.

Gamaliel is a well-respected, wise man, but my anger burned at his plan. These followers had already proven disregard for our authority, and I did not foresee that changing if we simply let them go. Thankfully, someone echoed my thoughts and agreement arose to flog the prisoners before releasing them. I barely controlled myself. Flogging? I scoffed under my breath, these traitors deserved nothing less than death.

Some time later, I found myself once again sitting among Council members as another follower stood before us. Stephen was his name. Accusations against him had been raised and we’d called him before us. The high priest asked him for the truth and suddenly I found myself listening to a history lesson. How degrading to have such a lesson from one so inferior. He covered the gambit from Abraham to Joseph to Moses to King Solomon.

My patience waning quickly, I hoped my distaste was clearly communicated each time I ignored his words and smoothed my robes, my every action mocking him with disdain. Every muscle tensed and my heart began to race as he closed his argument by saying, “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your ancestors did, you do also. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it.”

The atmosphere in the room shifted.
Necks went red and white knuckles appeared.

Stephen continued as he stared to heaven, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

The first man stood up and growled low. He broke the floodgates and a wave of men drove Stephen to the city gates. I hurried along with them, grateful my thoughts paralleled those around me. Death was coming quickly for this heretic!
Once we cleared the city gates, the men began shedding the robes and entrusting them to me. If this enabled them to more accurately select their stones and aim well, I would gratefully take care of their robes. I would be a unifying player in the destruction of this uprising.

As the stones flew, meeting their mark. Stephen cried out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” He fell to his knees and cried once more, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” The thud of stones hitting soft flesh and others colliding mid-air lasted only minutes. As the rage lessened and the evidence of the stoning’s success was apparent, the men gradually returned to me and gathered their robes. They dusted them off, pulling them back on as though this was any normal day’s work.

As the last robe was retrieved and I found myself standing alone at the city gates, Stephen’s last words reverberated in my mind. “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
This sin?
Against us?
He asked God for forgiveness.

Forgiveness for me?

I shuddered at the thought, at all the thoughts that began swirling much too close to the surface, bringing a heaviness aching in my chest.
Hatred for Stephen and all followers like him silenced the thoughts.
Determined, I turned my steps back to the Temple.
Stephen would not be the last to learn their proper place at my hands.
Forgiveness? No.

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A Note About Sketched
In this series, we are stepping into the shoes of various characters throughout history. Some are biblical, some are well-known in modern day times, and some are people our writers know personally. We do our best to research the culture and times surrounding these individuals to give an accurate representation of their first-person perspectives on life and the world, but we can’t be 100% accurate. “Sketched” is our best interpretation of how these characters view(ed) God, themselves, and the world around them. Our hope is that by stepping into their everyday, we will see our own lives a little differently!
Enjoy!
And keep watching for Sketched Themes to pop up throughout the year!

Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Sketched V Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Sketched V!

Sketched IV Day 6 Samson

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Judges 13:1-5
Numbers 6:1-8
Judges 16:1-31
Jeremiah 9:23-24
2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sketched IV, Day 6

As I am led out into the temple, the noise of the crowd is overwhelming. It sounds like there are thousands of them there, mocking and jeering as I approach.

Though I am unable to see, as my eyes were gouged out by my enemy’s jealous, fearful hands, my ears work perfectly. Their drunken shouts assault my senses, and I can easily imagine their scornful faces.
To them I am a joke, an object of ridicule.

As they praise their god for giving them victory over me, I rest my hands against the temple pillars, and I wonder:
How did it come to this?

I had such a promising start…
I was marked out even from before my birth as someone special, dedicated to God as a Nazirite. My name, Samson, means “like the sun,” and my future looked bright.

Of course, the Nazirite vow meant restrictions, but this was a high calling as judge and deliverer. I would be the one to finally begin freeing my people, the Israelites, from the Philistines, our relentless oppressors for 40 years.

Then there was the gift of my strength, which was beyond anything people had seen before.  When a lion attacked me, I was able to rip its jaws apart with my bare hands.  I fought off the Philistines barehanded on several occasions.  When they attempted to ambush me at Gaza, I simply picked up the city gates and carried them away.

Outwardly I was strong, invincible even,
but inwardly I was weak.

I failed to keep my Nazirite vow by eating honey from a lion’s carcass, rendering myself unclean.  My pride and stubbornness over a foolish riddle led to the deaths of several people, including my new wife.  At times my anger was out of control; a fiery rage ready to devour anyone or anything that crossed my path.

On top of that, I couldn’t resist a beautiful woman, no matter how unsuitable she was or how many vows I broke in the process. The Philistine woman I insisted on marrying despite my parents’ protests, the prostitute I spent the night with…

…And then there was Delilah.
Beautiful, charming, intoxicating, and highly dangerous.

I should have realised the truth about her when she was so insistent on discovering the secret of my strength, but again, as was my habit, I gave in to my weakness. My self-reliance.

Three times I lied to her about how I could be defeated.  Tying me up with seven new bowstrings would do it, or using new ropes, or weaving my hair into the fabric on her weaving loom and tightening the shuttle. She wanted my secret, no, she wanted my allegiance, but I had vowed it to Yahweh. I flirted with telling her, but I always felt I could stop when I wanted to.

Three times Delilah betrayed me, trapping me and then calling the Philistines to attack, but it didn’t matter. I had the strength to fight them off. Something in me still protected my Nazarite vow.

Delilah was determined.  I’m not sure why I finally told her the truth.  She said that if I really loved her I would share my secret, and eventually her constant nagging wore me down.  I think by this point I believed I was invincible, that my strength would always be enough, but that was the beginning of the end.
My weakness…
it never left, eventually it overtook me and I gave in, only to lose everything.

I confided in Delilah that if my hair were ever cut, I would become as weak as any other man. Before long, my head was shaved as I slept in her lap; the pounding of the Philistines’ awakened me.
Arrogantly, I believed I could free myself just as I always had,
but this time my strength had gone. 

The Philistines chained me up, gouged out my eyes, and forced me to work as a slave, grinding grain.  It was a great triumph for them: victory over the mighty Israelite hero.

But as I stand here, blinded,
for the first time I truly see.

My strength was never my own.
It came from God.

How foolish I was to think my victories were due to my own merit.  I remember my words to God after one of the battles against the Philistines and I cringe:
“You have accomplished this great victory through your servant.”  (Judges 15:18)

How arrogant!
As if He needed me!

Yet, despite it all, He was gracious, continuing to give me strength and empowering me to defeat the Philistines again and again.

At last I see the truth: I am weak; He is strong.
My only power comes from Him.
True strength is found in submission to His ways.

Could it be that God can still fulfil His purpose even in our weaknesses and failures?  Could He use me to defeat the Philistines even now, in this weakened state?

With a prayer for strength, I push against the pillars,
and as I feel them move I know that God has answered.

Arms outstretched, I stand, as the rubble begins to fall, and the temple comes crashing in. I knew death was waiting for me, along with the countless deaths of my enemies drinking to their false god.
But I would die knowing truth: it was my weakness Yahweh wanted most. My weakness as I depended on Him alone!

You can read Samson’s full story in Judges 13-16.  Although he had many faults, he is included in Hebrews 11:32 in a list of examples of people who had faith and were used by God.  His story is a proof that God can work through us, even with our weaknesses and failures, but it also challenges us to remember the futility of self-reliance while holding tight to the importance of trusting in God rather than ourselves.

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A Note About Sketched
In this series, we are stepping into the shoes of various characters throughout history. Some are biblical, some are well-known in modern day times, and some are people our writers know personally. We do our best to research the culture and times surrounding these individuals to give an accurate representation of their first-person perspectives on life and the world, but we can’t be 100% accurate. “Sketched” is our best interpretation of how these characters view(ed) God, themselves, and the world around them. Our hope is that by stepping into their everyday, we will see our own lives a little differently!
Enjoy!
And keep watching for Sketched Themes to pop up throughout the year!

Join the GT Community and share your thoughts!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Sketched IV Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Sketched IV!

Sketched II Day 12 Darius & Daniel: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!

We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s
Journey Study?
Check out Darius & Daniel!

Psalm 115 English Standard Version (ESV)

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.

9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord,
both the small and the great.

14 May the Lord give you increase,
you and your children!
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!

16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to the children of man.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!

The Questions

1) What is this psalm contrasting?

2) In verse 8, how do “those who make them, become like them”?

3) Who will the Lord bless? (verses 12-13)

4) Who is being referred to in verse 18 and why are they contrasted to the dead?

The Findings for Intention

1) What is this psalm contrasting?
Verse 1 starts out by saying, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be glory.” Herein lies the contrast of the psalm: God vs any other idol we would claim as being deity or God. Anything humans can fashion with their hands, their minds, or their abilities compared to the Almighty Glorious God is the focus of this psalm.

2) In verse 8, how do “those who make them, become like them”?
In the original context, “those who make them” are human beings who spend time crafting physical idols from stone or wood for the purpose of worshipping them. In that culture, people believed they could sway the “gods” to do certain acts by sacrificing to them and even “feeding” them with actual food and drink. The psalm details out how foolish it is to think that an inanimate object created with your own hands can do your bidding or satisfy you or protect you in any way. It’s merely a block of wood or piece of stone! The Psalmist’s point in saying that they will “become like them”, is to say that just as stone or wood are utterly lifeless, those who worship them will themselves become lifeless.

3) Who will the Lord bless? (verses 12-13)
These 2 verses specifically call out three people groups who will be blessed: Israel, Aaron, and those who fear the Lord. Israel is the nation and can be thought of as the political, social, and civil areas that the Lord would bless. The house of Aaron refers to the descendants of Aaron, all of whom are priests in the temple. Those who fear the Lord were those who were not of Israeli heritage, but still worshipped and honored the One True God.

4) Who is being referred to in verse 18 and why are they contrasted to the dead?
Those who “will bless the Lord” are those who have been blessed by Him, those who have found delight in His ways, in worshipping Him, and have found that satisfied, full life offered through relationship with God. These are contrasted with those who have chosen false, empty idols to be their “gods”. When idol worshippers die, there is no longer an opportunity for a relationship with God to worship Him; their choice will separate them from the Living God and their lips cannot praise Him from the grave. Their choice to serve idols will go into a lifeless eternity of perpetual death. But for those who fear the Lord, even death will not separate them or keep them from worshipping the Creator “from this time forth and forevermore”!

The Everyday Application

1) What is this psalm contrasting?
Gracefully Truthful is all about honest transparency. Why don’t you sit with us for a minute and challenge yourself to be transparent. Sit somewhere quiet (even if it’s the bathroom!), invite the Holy Spirit to guide you, and breathe. Right now, in this moment, in the middle of your everyday, who are you trusting? Start from the moment your eyes opened and consider where you have put your hope, what have you trusted, what are you counting on to be your protection? Who or what is holding the most influence over the places of your heart that mean the most to you? Read this psalm 3 times over and focus in on where the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. We’d love to share in what God is teaching you! Share on our Facebook page or give us a shout via email!

2) In verse 8, how do “those who make them, become like them”?
Feeding physical idols, praying to them, and crafting them isn’t overly common in our Western culture, though these practices are very much alive in other parts of the world. The idea of idols that we worship is most definitely still applicable to us, however. Our idols don’t have to be wood shaped with a knife we hold in our hands, but they could be those things we hold onto in our hearts. The intangible idols are just as dangerous and pointlessly ineffective as the tangible ones. Money, bosses, spouse, children, our bodies, our plans or schedule, all of these and many more can easily fall into the category of “idol” if we are willing to put it before our worship of the One True God. Don’t let idol worship steal away your life!

3) Who will the Lord bless? (verses 12-13)
The bottom line take-away from these verses is that the Lord will indeed bless His chosen ones, those who are fear Him and honor Him, and, in keeping with the rest of the psalm, He will be their shield, their protector, and their ever-faithful God. The Lord doesn’t guarantee physical, material wealth and abundance, but He promises something far richer, His presence. You may be neither a Jew (Israelite), nor a church leader/minister (Aaron/Levite), but if you set the Lord apart in your everyday life choices and seek to honor Him, He will bless you! Consider the ways you are already honoring Him, and ask Him to be your protector, shield, and faithful God, making good on His promises. Also identify some areas where you may not be honoring Him; choose to turn those over to His hand!

4) Who is being referred to in verse 18 and why are they contrasted to the dead?
Have you wrestled with your eternal destination? Have you considered that what you worship today with your whole heart, in this right-now-moment, carries weight into your eternity? The line in the sand could not be more clearly drawn in this psalm, what about in your heart and life?

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I Can Do That!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

The Community!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into
Sketched II Week Three!
Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Tools!

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Why!

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Sketched II!