Speaking of the Sabbath being made for man, not man for the Sabbath, a 49 hour Sabbath observance may be a little over the line. http://ow.ly/8ipYS
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I’m reading Scripture using the Moravian Text this year and really enjoying it. Today’s passage in Daniel recounts the story of King Nebuchadnezzar who was changed and became like an animal because of his pride. Scripture records the king’s thoughts in Daniel 4:30, which says, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” Someday I would love to know exactly what happened to the king that made him grow dread locks as long as eagle’s feathers and some very creepy fingernails. However, that’s not really the point of the story.
The point of the story is this: a king who had received God’s blessing used that blessing to build something for his own glory, which eventually led to his undoing because of his pride. Rather than giving credit to God for his favor, he claimed all the glory for himself. Rather than recognizing the role others had played, he acted as though he alone had given Babylon to the world. God did not tolerate such pride, and Nebuchadnezzar soon found himself living like an animal with the animals.
So I ask myself, how many times have great people been undone by their pride? How many times has someone built something for their own glory and honor and then to preserve it, destroyed the very thing they loved. I can’t help but think of the Penn State horror in those terms. I also think of various ministries over the years, ministries that once enjoyed God’s blessing, but which eventually became the object of his opposition. More painfully, I ask myself the same question: what peril do I risk because of my own pride, and what blind spots have been created because of my unwillingness to recognizing God’s blessing in my life? Lord, teach me the truth of Proverbs 11:2, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
I went to a great prayer meeting this morning at our church. We have a wonderful group of people who commit themselves to pray for the church and the pastors and today we met to talk and pray. This past week I’ve been thinking about what prayer means to me and how it affects me. One particular image has been with me all week, a postal scale.
If you’ve ever sent mail using a postal scale, you understand what I’m saying. If you want to mail an item, or several items together, you have to know how much it weighs before you know how much postage to put on it. In order to weigh multiple items you have to put them in a container and zero out the scale with the empty container on it so that you know exactly how much the contents weigh. Then any time you change the container, or don’t use a container, you have to zero the scale again. Otherwise you would underestimate or overestimate the weight of the item being measured.
Question: 2Corinthians 12:2 says, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.” What does this mean? Are there three heavens?
Here’s my take on it. It’s a little bit lengthy, but since I don’t think it’s an easy question, I don’t think there’s a short answer. Some commentators argue the Israelites/Jews believed in three levels of Heaven–the air or atmosphere (Genesis 2:1, 19), the sun, moon, and stars (Deuteronomy 18:3, Matthew 24:29), and the place where God resides (Matthew 5:12, 16, 45, 48). We can debate the three-tiered belief among the Israelites, but one thing is clear, Paul wasn’t very clear about what happened, where this acquaintance went, or what the structure of the universe was really like.
The Bible provides a couple of similar examples to 2Corinthians 12:2. Ezekiel 8:3 says, “He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood.” While Ezekiel recounts an experience somewhat similar to the one in 2Corinthians 12:2, it adds little to our understanding of the structure of the universe. Acts 8:39 says, “When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” Once again someone is caught up or taken away and we’re left with scant description of what actually happened other than they disappeared.
Rather than thinking of the universe in terms of a pancake with layers stacked on top of each other, I think of the spiritual and physical realm as occupying the same “space.” While we’re living, we normally only see the physical realm. However, sometimes God reveals the spiritual realm to those living in the physical world, just as we read about in 2Corinthians 12:2, Ezekiel 8:3, and Acts 8:39. I’m not sure we’ll really understand things here until we’re there, wherever there is.
