Jehovah Nissi means, “The Lord is My Banner.” We first see it used after the Hebrew people defeated the Amalekites in Exodus 17:14-16“14 After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”).16 He said, “They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.” So…what does that mean?
When we think banner today, we think advertisement, right. Those pop-up banners on the internet that are always in the way. Well, in Old Testament times, before the internet, banners had a different significance altogether. In fact, they had several different meanings.
First, they identified you. In the first 2 chapters of Numbers, God had each tribe of Israel put up a banner that identified which tribe they were. Numbers 2:2, “When the Israelites set up camp, each tribe will be assigned its own area. The tribal divisions will camp beneath their family banners on all four sides of the Tabernacle, but at some distance from it.”
Second, the banner was to call them to come together. Psalm 60:4 says, “But you have raised a banner for those who fear you—a rallying point in the face of attack.” When the soldiers were under attack, it could get chaotic and they didn’t have 2-way radios or satellite tracking…or satellites for that matter. So, they would raise a banner to regroup the troops. Later, in Isaiah 11:10-12, the profit prophecies about the second coming of Christ, and Him being a banner (Jehovah Nissi) to gather the saved, “10In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people—those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands. 12 He will raise a flag among the nations and assemble the exiles of Israel. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from the ends of the earth.” This goes back to what I keep saying. One of the key messages of the New Testament is the unity of the body of Christ. If the Lord calls us together, then why do we keep dividing ourselves with denominations? Now, in case you missed my earlier blogs, I’m not talking about the dread “ecumenicalism”, where, as some believe, everyone sets aside their beliefs and comes together, I’m talking about seeking God. For more depth on this subjects, you will need to go back to previous posts, but to put it in a nutshell, if we quit trying to interpret scripture and just believe it literally, in context, as a whole, we won’t need these divisions. The Lord is Our Banner, He wants to call us together.
Third, the banner would guide them through the battle. Depending on which banner was raised, the soldiers would know exactly where to go, where to stand when they got there, when to attack, and even when to retreat. Jeremiah 4:6 says, “Raise a signal flag as a warning for Jerusalem: ‘Flee now! Do not delay!’ For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you from the north.” So, God positions us where He needs us. And, He may reposition us on occasion. God has repositioned our family many times. Throughout the early years of our marriage, Michelle and I sang an old hymn by David Livingston, called “Lord, Send Me Anywhere”, and He did. Over the last 33 years of marriage we have moved more times than I want to count and lived in 7 different states, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. Let the Lord position you where He wants you. It will probably be difficult, but it will never be boring.
Fourth, banners kept the truth in front of them. Whether in battle, where they could always see what was happening or in the tabernacle, where the banners would focus them on the provision of God. But here’s the thing, banners don’t have to be literal banners either. In the first example, Moses built an altar; that was a type of banner in and of itself. Banners, proclaim the truth and remind us of it. And, remember what we learned in a previous post, the Lord is truth. He doesn’t just show us the truth, He is truth.
Lastly, banners proclaimed victory. As soon as they knew they had won the battle, they would raise their banner. We even saw this as recently as 1969 when Neil Armstrong planted the American flag on the moon. That act was signifying that we won the space race to the moon…it was a Victory Banner. Psalm 20:5 says, “May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory and raise a victory banner in the name of our God. May the Lord answer all your prayers.” And, in Christ we have the victory, 1 Corinthians 15:57“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”Romans 8:37“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”1 John 4:4“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”
So, Jehovah Nissi has a lot of meanings. It doesn’t mean He’s our pop-up ad, and it doesn’t mean He’s a long narrow sign. What it does mean is, that the Lord is who identifies us, the Lord calls us together, the Lord guides us through battles and through life, the Lord keeps truth in front of us, and the Lord is our victory…that is truly awesome!
One of the songs we sang a lot back in the 90s was one that said, “Jehovah Jireh, my provider your grace is sufficient for me.” Jehovah Jireh, The Lord is My Provider.
Remember the story of Abraham, when he had to sacrifice his only son Isaac to God? At the last minute, God provided a ram as a replacement sacrifice. Abraham named that place Jehovah Jireh, Genesis 22:14“Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
But, here’s the thing, God’s provision didn’t stop with Abraham. Paul told the church at Philippi in Philippians 4:19, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.” God will provide. Throughout scripture, we see example after example of God providing for His people. Whether He was providing Angels to fight a battle for them or making water come out of a rock, or making manna fall from heaven, or even having ravens bring them food, He always provides. Deuteronomy 31:6, “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Did you get that? God will personally go ahead of you…personally! Think about what that is saying. The God of the universe, not the lowly king or president of some country, but the God of the universe will prepare the way for me…wow! Also in Exodus 14:14, “The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Stop and think about this for a minute. The God of the universe will personally go ahead of you, He will fight for you. It doesn’t say He will send an angel to go ahead of you or fight for you, it says He will do it Himself. That’s huge! It goes on to say, “He will never fail you nor abandon you.” He provides for us in any situation. He will never fail us and He will never abandon us. Keep calm and trust God!
When we look at Matthew chapter 6, starting at verse 25 and going through the rest of the chapter, we see instructions on how to handle anxiety. We first have to answer the question, is worry a sin? In this passage, it says that it is a sign that you don’t have enough faith in God. It also says in verse 32 that these are the things that “dominate the thoughts of unbelievers.” So yes, it is a sin not to trust God. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, how can we not worry? This passage compares us to birds and wildflowers. Christ is telling us that God takes such good care of these insignificant things, there is no doubt that He will take care of us. He provides for birds, He provides for wildflowers. He will provide for us…but there are conditions. It says, at the end of verse 32 that He already knows what we need, but remember, He tells us in James 2:14-26 that faith without works is dead. So, we must have faith. Faith doesn’t mean that we just sit back and wait for God, we must put our faith to work. The next verse says, Matthew 6:33, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” God will not take second, or third, or fourth place in our lives. He is a jealous God, as we will see in a future post. We must seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and we must live righteously, that’s the works that are behind our faith. In Micah 6:8 we read, “No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” A lot of people treat salvation as a “get out of Hell free card”, but the Bible makes it clear, repeatedly, that salvation is a changed life. God expects his people to do what is right, He expects us to love mercy, He expects us to be an example to the world, Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Then, and only then, will He provide for us.
We are not saved by our good works, the Bible makes that very clear as well, Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” But, we are required to do good works so that God will be glorified. Glorifying God is our full-time job as Christ followers, Isaiah 43:7 says, “Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them.’” You see, that is why we were created, for His glory. Besides, if we truly love someone, we want to please them. So, if you truly love God, you will want to spend time with Him and others who love Him, and you will want to please Him, that’s just human nature. If you are in love, whether with your spouse or someone you are dating, you want to be around them, and with people who like them. You won’t want to spend time with people who don’t like the person you love. So, if you truly love God, you will desire to spent time with Him and His people.
So, glorify God, do justice, love mercy, seek God’s Kingdom above all else, and live righteously, and He will be your provider and you will have nothing to worry about. KEEP CALM AND TRUST GOD!
I mentioned in the last post how we will continue to see the name Jehovah used in other names to describe different attributes of God. Here is one of them, Jehovah Shammah. This name isn’t as commonly used as many of the others, in fact, we first find it in Ezekiel 48:35“The distance around the entire city will be 6 miles. And from that day the name of the city will be ‘The Lord Is There.’” They named the city, Jehovah Shammah, The Lord Is There, or more literally, I Am There.
Through this name, God wants to remind us that He is here…wherever here is. In Hebrews 13:5-6 it says, “5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” First, He says He will never fail us or abandon us…He is there, then He says, so don’t be afraid. Listen to this, WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR! The world goes around with their “No Fear” gear, but we really have nothing to fear. God will never fail us and He will always be there.
When Jesus was leaving the disciples to ascend to heaven, they were worried. We see this story in John chapter 14. In verse 12 Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” He said that we will be able to do greater works than he did because He went to be with the Father. Then He went on to tell us how, in verse 16 when He said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.” Christ told the disciples that He had to leave so that He could send another Advocate, or as some translations say another Comforter. You see, even though Jesus was 100% God, He was also 100% man. When He chose to take on flesh to redeem the world, He put some limitations on Himself. In the flesh, He could only be in one place at a time, but when the Holy Spirit came, He could be in all believers at the same time. This is the very definition of “The Lord is Here.”
What does this mean? Well, we all know the 23rd Psalm. Look at verse 4, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.” God protects us and guides us throughout our lives, Psalm 48:14 says, “For that is what God is like. He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die.” He lives in us and works through us. He speaks to us in many ways; sometimes through His word, Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” And, sometimes He speaks to us through a whisper. 1 Kings 19:12, “And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.”
In my lifetime, God has spoken to me in many ways. Sometimes through answered prayer, like when we were driving back to Indiana from my father’s funeral in Florida. The next week we were supposed to move to Ohio where I was going to be a Youth Pastor. The only problem was, we had spent every dime we had to go to my father’s funeral. So as a family, we prayed that, if God wanted us to take this position, He would provide a way. We prayed the whole 25-hour drive. When we got home there was a message on our answering machine, yes, we had one of those back then. The message was from the man we would be renting the house from in Ohio. He said that he just wanted to let us know that someone had paid our first month’s rent and security deposit for us. God spoke.
Other times God has spoken to me through His word. In fact, I’d have to say that has been most of the time. Sometimes in my Bible reading, I will find the answer I had been looking for, and other times He would bring a passage to mind that I had memorized years before. This is one reason it is so important to memorize the Bible. He will always bring those verses back right when you need them, whether it is something you have been praying about, or when you are speaking to someone and they have a question about the Bible.
And yes, God has spoken to me in an audible whisper…once. I had quit serving as a Youth and Music Pastor and was a crew foreman for a large lawn service in Indiana. I wasn’t running from God, rather, I was waiting to see what He had for me next. One day I was running a mower in an apartment complex. This one took me 6 hours to mow. I made mowing my prayer time, so for that six hours, I would pray. This day I was praying about where God wanted me, and over the drone of the mower, I heard an audible voice in my head telling me it was time to start perusing full-time service again. And, yes…that’s when I found the job in Ohio. I don’t believe God talks to us like that often, but He knows when we need it. In fact, there were many things like that leading up to starting that position in Ohio, and later I would realize just why. The next year at that church was the hardest year I have ever experienced, but I never questioned whether God wanted me there or not, so I kept on my course because God was there.
Jehovah Shamma will always be there for us. The problem is we get so busy in our lives that we often don’t notice Him. Just remember that no matter what you are going through…God is There!
When you hear the name Jehovah, what do you think of? I know, the guys in the white shirts and tie going door to door in your neighborhood. Well, Jehovah is actually another of the Hebrew names used in the Old Testament…a different name for the same God.
Jehovah simply means I Am. In the Bible, Jehovah is usually translated as Lord and appears 6519 times, but its root word is the Hebrew word Hayah which means “I am”. When Moses was talking to God at the burning bush and he asked God in Exodus 3:13, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” God’s answer was to tell them “Hayah Hayah”, or “Jehovah, Jehovah”, “I am who I am”.
Okay…I am what? As we’ll see in upcoming posts, He is our provider, He is our banner, He is our shield, He is our everything. Jehovah, our Lord, is the I Am. He is everything, He is our Creator, our Father, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is GOD! David Crowder has a song called I Am, and it says:
There’s no space that His love can’t reach
There’s no place where we can’t find peace
There’s no end to Amazing Grace
Take me in with your arms spread wide
Take me in like an orphan child
Never let go, never leave my side
I am
Holding onto you
I am
Holding onto you
In the middle of the storm
I am holding on
I am!
The Hebrew people of the Old Testament believed this name to be so holy that it was not allowed to be spoken. In fact, the only one who was permitted to speak the name Jehovah was the high priest, and only on the Great Day of Atonement when he entered the holy of holies. Even when they were reading the scripture, any time they would come to the name Jehovah, they would pronounce it “Adonai”, and this is something the Jewish people still do to this day. During the “Burning Bush” incident, in the very next verse Exodus 3:14, “God replied to Moses, “I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” Jehovah has sent you! Through this one name, He is proclaiming that He is the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God, the “I am that I am”.
John 14:6“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” Did you see what Jesus, Himself said? I AM The Way. There are so many people out there, who claim the name of Christ, and go around saying, “there are many different roads that lead to God.” What are these people doing with this verse and so many others? Christ didn’t say, I am a way, He didn’t even say, I am one of the ways. He said, “I am THE Way, THE Truth, THE life.” And, if that wasn’t clear enough, He said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that. There are not many paths to the same place. God made eternal life very simple. He made one way, so it won’t be confusing, He made one truth, so we know what to believe, and He made one life, so we know where we are going.
If you haven’t found the One Way, take care of it before you close this blog. Christ died so we don’t have to experience death. All you need to do is, first realize that you, like all of us, are a sinner and in need of salvation, Romans 3:23“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Next, you must realize that there is a price for sin that must be paid, Romans 6:23“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Did you catch that last part? God doesn’t leave us destitute, He always provides a way. The free gift of God Is eternal life, through who? Through The Way, Jesus Christ. So, What’s the way out? Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Christ died for us, while we were still sinners. The price for sin is death, but Christ paid that price for us on the cross so that we don’t have to. It’s as if we were on trial for murder, and just as the judge was about to sentence us to death, Christ stepped in and said, “I’ll take his place.” That’s amazing grace! So how do you accept this gift? I’m glad you asked. Romans 10:9-10“9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” It’s just that simple. So many people ask, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” The answer is…He doesn’t. He made the way out so simple that even a child can do it. In fact, He said we must come to Him as a child in Matthew 18:3, “Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” How do you know it will work? He says in Romans 10:13, For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He says it, and remember, He is THE Truth!
Have you ever noticed all the different names for God in the Bible? If you’re old enough to remember Amy Grant’s song, El Shaddai, you might remember that this song alone used several of His names; El Shaddai, El Elyon, Adonai. We’ve probably all heard the name Yahweh, that’s the name that the Jewish people called the unspeakable name and would write it with no vowels.
Looking at the Hebrew language in the Bible, we see that there are many different names for God. Of course, they are all talking about the same God…the one true God, but each of these names describes a different attribute of Him. This isn’t an unusual phenomenon, we do it all the time. My parents call me son, my sons call me dad, in high school I was called “Little Moose”…I don’t want to talk about it, my wife calls me honey, and the guy behind me on the freeway giving me the one-way sign calls me…well, you get the idea. The point is, we all, no matter what our culture or language, use names that describe a person. God is no different, and He has so many truly awesome attributes that we need a lot of names to describe Him. Today I want to start looking at some of the names the Hebrews used for God and what they mean.
The first name we want to look at is Elohim which simply means God. This is the most commonly used names of God because it just means God. It’s used 200 times in the book of Genesis alone. In fact, the first time it is used is in the first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1“In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.” If we break down the word to its origin we find that it comes from words that mean “Power” and “Might”. It is a name of power, a name of majesty.
There is a great song from the late 70’s, written by Rich Mullins called “Awesome God”. The song says:
When He rolls up His sleeves
He ain’t just putting on the Ritz (Our God Is An Awesome God)
There’s thunder in His footsteps
And lightning in His fists (Our God Is An Awesome God)
The Lord wasn’t joking
When He kicked ’em out of Eden
It wasn’t for no reason
That He shed His blood
His return is very close
And so you better be believing that
Our God is an awesome God
There are songs all through the history of the Church that expresses the power and majesty of God. Songs like, “How Great Thou Art”, and “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, as well as new worship songs like, “How Great is Our God”, and “Whom Shall I Fear”.
What’s interesting about the name Elohim is that, with this one word, God describes the Trinity. You see, Elohim is a plural word used as a singular word, and in the Hebrew language, plural means 3 or more, unlike English where plural, of course, means 2 or more. This is obviously a case of Moses trying to emphasize the Trinity. Rabbi Simeon ben Joachi had this to say about the name Elohim: “Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other.” Clarke adds: “He must be strangely prejudiced indeed who cannot see that the doctrine of a Trinity, and of a Trinity in unity, is expressed in the above words.” Leupold quoting Luther on Elohim said: “But we have clear testimony that Moses aimed to indicate the Trinity or the three persons in the one divine nature.” Interestingly, it is never used in this way when speaking of heathen gods. It will talk about a group of them plurally, or one of them singularly, but never one of them plurally.
You don’t see the singular form of the word, Eloah, very much. It’s almost exclusively used in poetry and poetic expression. Interestingly, we see it most frequently used in the book of Job, which is believed to be the oldest book, chronologically.
Another root word of Elohim is El, and as with Eloah, it is mostly found in Job and the Psalms. The name El means “to be strong” or “to be in front”, and it is often combined with nouns or adjectives to other names for God that refer to some of His various attributes. We see this in names like El Shaddai and El Elyon.
Over the next few installments, we are going to look at many different names for God. I have compiled a list of 18 names, which isn’t by any means an exhaustive list, but it gives a good understanding of the attributes of God. The idea of this is not to be a fact dump, but to help us all understand who God really is. You see, the world has a different idea of who God is. If you doubt that, just watch a night of TV. The world sees Him as angry and they see us as ignorant, and that’s on us. We Must portray Him in the right way, and we must portray his Church in the right way. We have allowed this perception to go on for far too long. Sadly, we have allowed others, claiming the name of Christ, to perpetuate it. We’ve all seen them holding a sign on the street corner saying “God hates this” or “God hates that”, but here’s the thing…God doesn’t hate anyone. Don’t get me wrong, God does hate the sin, but He loves every sinner. The Apostle Paul called himself the worst of all sinners, but Christ died for him, just like He died for you and me.
But, you see, the early church wasn’t looked at as stupid or ignorant, they were a force to be reckoned with. Just look at Acts 4:13, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.” They realized that they were uneducated, but didn’t look at them as being stupid, they were amazed at their boldness and could tell that they had been with Jesus. That’s how we need to be. Ask yourself, “When people see me, can they see that I’ve been with Jesus?”
I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. The Bible was not written in chapters and verses, in fact, many of the New Testament books were written as letters to churches. I don’t know about you, but I don’t start out letters, “Dear Church, Chapter 1: Verse 1: How are you doing?” So, keeping this in mind, we are going to look at 1 Corinthians 13, what we call “The Love Chapter.”
Let’s take a sidebar here and talk about that word, Love. You see, the ancient Greeks felt it was important to distinguish the various types of love, so they had 4 words for love:
Éros (ἔρως érōs) – Eros is obviously the root word for “erotic,” but it does not describe sexual love only, it actually describes all emotional love; the feeling of love. Eros love is that insatiable desire to be near the target of this love. The exciting, passionate, nervous feelings that sweep over people in the appropriate circumstances. This is the love that says “I love how you make me feel.” The word Eros does not appear in the Bible.
Philia (φιλία philía) – Philos love, or brotherly/friendship love, is the next kind. Philos describes the love between two people who have common interests and experiences. Philos is half about the circumstances, and half about the commitment of two people to one another; it says “I love who we are together.”. Philos is the root word for the word Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. It is commonly used in the New Testament, as in Matt. 10:37, John 12:25, and Revelation 3:19.
Storge (στοργή storgē) – Storgy is the love that one has for a dependent. It is commonly called “motherly love.” When the dependent is no longer dependent, this love remains only in its emotional remnants. It is one of the stronger loves because it involves a commitment that relies on only one trait of the receiver – that he or she is dependent.
Agápe (ἀγάπη agápē) – Agape love is the final of the four loves we look at here. Agape love is entirely about the lover and has nothing whatsoever to do with the one loved. Agape love, in its purest form, requires no payment or favor in response. Agape is the word used for God’s love for us (as in the book of I John, John 3:16) and the love we are commanded to have for one another (in Matt. 5:44, I Cor. 13). This lack of input from the recipient makes it possible for us to love our enemies even though we may not like them or the situation they have put us in – because Agape love is not in any way dependent on circumstances; it says “I love you because I choose/commit to.” Unlike eros or Philos, Agape creates a straight line that neither fades nor grows in its perfect form (which of course only exists from God outward). And this is the word used in 1 Corinthians 13, which we will be studying.
So, to fully understand 1 Corinthians 13, in context, we must first have studied the entire book of 1 Corinthians, as well as all of Paul’s other writings, the rest of the New Testament, and the rest of the Bible, not to mention, the original language, and what was going on in the world at that time, customs and traditions. Don’t worry, we’re not going to study the whole Bible…not all at once anyway.
But, since it is all written as a letter, let’s start at chapter 12 verse 31 which is the introduction to chapter 13. Chapter 12 is talking all about the different gifts of the Holy Spirit, and comparing them to the parts of the Body of Christ, making special note that we all have different gifts. Continuing that thought Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 12:31 “So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.” In some translations, it says “let me show you a more excellent way.” Which leads into chapter 13verse 1, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
Okay, he has been talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and especially the gifts of tongues, because the church at Corinth had blown that one gift way out of proportion. They were trying to say, as many today still do, that every Christian would have the gift of tongues, but Paul was showing them why that is not true. Notice I said “gifts” of tongues, plural. The Bible describes 3 different gifts of tongues. The gift of speaking other languages that you have never learned, as in Acts chapter 2, the gift of prophetic tongues which requires an interpreter, as in 1 Corinthians 14:27-28, and the third type of tongues is a prayer language, 1 Corinthians 14:15-17. But, here in verse 1, he says, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” So, what he’s saying at the beginning of this section of his letter is, even if I possessed all three gifts of tongues, but didn’t love others, I’m just making a lot of noise. The Greek word translated here as noisy is, echeo {ay-kheh’-o}, which is translated as “noisy”, or in the KJV, “sounding”. It is also translated once in the Bible as roaring in Luke 21:25. When you read this verse, you see it isn’t talking about roaring like a lion, it’s talking about roaring, like waves. Have you ever heard roaring waves? Lions are loud, but waves can be almost deafening.
We’ll start with verse 2 when we meet again. Between now and then, take the time to at least read 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 – 15, but read the whole book, if you can. I know…homework, right? But, if you are reading these blogs, you must want to see the Word for what it is, so increase that passion for the Word of God. See you next time.
A More Excellent Way – Part 2
Welcome back as we pick up where we left off last time. The next thing we see is in verse 2 where Paul goes on to say, “If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.” Now he’s referring to the gifts of the Spirit he talked about in chapter 12. What he’s saying here is, even if I had the gifts of prophecy, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, or even the Spiritual gift of faith…you know, that mountain moving faith, but I didn’t have an Agape love for others, I WOULD BE NOTHING! Spiritual gifts are great and we should find out which ones we have and use them for the glory of God, but if they are not used out of God’s perfect love, they are worthless.
The Church today, as it has always been, is a church of extremes. We are either afraid to acknowledge the Holy Spirit and His gifts at all, or we put way too much emphasis on certain gifts. The gifts of the Spirit are truly important, and we need to use them to the glory of God, but only in love…perfect love…Agape Love.
In verse 3 he says, “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.” We see this all the time with celebrities, they rally behind some cause, but just for the photo op. But, it’s the same way with so many of us. We think we are doing good because we give to the poor, or make sacrifices for the less fortunate, but if we don’t do it out of love, all we end up with is bragging rights.
So, let’s sum up these first 3 verses? It doesn’t matter who you are, what your gifts are, or what you do for your community or the world. If you don’t do it out of love, godly love, it is worthless and all you are doing is making a whole lot of noise. I want to express this again, if you don’t have a relationship with God, you can’t fully understand His love. He loves us unconditionally…NO STRINGS ATTACHED! And if you haven’t yet experienced that perfect love, stop now…that’s right stop reading and take care of that, now. Nothing else is more important than having a right relationship with God.
In verse 4 Paul starts describing exactly what God’s love is. He says in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
So, let’s break this down.
Patience – Vs 4 “To be longsuffering, as opposed to hasty anger or punishment. To EXPERIENCE understanding and patience toward persons.
Proverbs 10:12“Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.”
Proverbs 17:9“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14“Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.”
1 Peter 4:8“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”
Kind – Vs 4
Ephesians 4:32“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Not Jealous – Vs 4
Proverbs 14:30“A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.”
Does not brag and is not arrogant – Vs 4
1 Corinthians 4:6“Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures, you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another.”
Does not act unbecomingly – Vs 5
Philippians 4:8 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Does not seek its own – Vs 5
1 Corinthians 10:24“Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.”
Philippians 2:21“All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.”
Is not provoked – Vs 5
Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.”
Does not take into account a wrong suffered – Vs 5 An intentional wrong that was done
2 Corinthians 5:19“For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.”
Does not rejoice in unrighteousness – Vs 6
Psalm 119:1-3“1How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord. 2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their 3 They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways.”
We miss out on true love so often because we are so self-consumed. We are an arrogant generation, we are so self-absorbed that we can’t experience true love. We need to put ourselves, our pride, our jealousy aside and focus on God and His true Agape love.
We’ll finish this up next time by looking at the characteristics of Agape Love and how they can change our lives. See you then.
A More Excellent Way – Part 3
So, let’s wrap up this post on 1 Corinthians 13. We see in this next section, Paul lays out for us some of the characteristics of Agape love. It’s a litmus test of sorts, for us to see whether or not we have it. If we don’t, we can’t rest until we Get it. This love, this perfect Agape love, is a clear proof of our salvation, it’s proof of our regeneration, and is evidence of our faith in Christ. Take the time, when you are finished reading this, to read 1 John 4:7-21.
You see, this beautiful description of the nature and characteristics of love was intended to show the Corinthian church, and us, that the way they were behaving had, in many respects, been the opposite of God’s love. Remember, this was a letter to the church at Corinth… Agape love is the enemy to selfishness; it does not desire or seek its own praise, honor, profit, or pleasure. Not that agape love ignores itself, or that we should neglect ourselves and all our interests. But it never seeks its own to the hurt of others, or to neglect others. It always puts the welfare of others above its own advantage. Think about this, how awesome would Christianity appear to the world if those of us who profess the name of Christ, lived by this Divine principle! We need to ask ourselves whether this agape love lives in our hearts. Has it guided us in the way we treat others? Are we willing to lay aside our selfish ambitions? This chapter is a call to inner searching and prayer. Psalm 139:23-24“23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
There was a “church” I knew of in Florida. Notice the quotes, they called themselves a church, they claimed to Christians, but that is not how they lived. The pastor constantly preached hate and fear. Now, don’t get me wrong, we must fear God, the Bible tells us that over and over, in fact, the Bible tells us in Proverbs 9:10, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.” We must have a reverent respect and fear of God. But, God sent Christ to die for our sins out of love…Agape Love. This man used to preach full sermons on the different groups he hates. After hearing him once, I went to him and told him that God doesn’t hate anyone, that He even loved Osama Bin Laden. He then proclaimed me a devil and asked me to leave. His “church” now consists of ten or twelve men, living in a compound in Northern Florida. But, the point is, we must love everyone as God does. We don’t have to accept what they believe, or condone their sin, but remember, we aren’t here to condemn their sin either, we’re just here to love them. 1 John 4:7-8 says, “7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Paul concludes this section with 1 Corinthians 13:8-13“8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
I have heard pastors use this passage to say that the gifts of the Spirit are gone now. They “interpret” it as saying, when the Bible is complete, we won’t need the gifts anymore. Just another example of why we can’t interpret the Bible. When we take this in context and don’t try to twist it to fit our preconceived beliefs, we can clearly see that this is saying that love is the only Spiritual gift we will take to heaven with us. Look at it. In verse 8 he says that prophecies, tongues, and words of knowledge will become useless…when? Verse 9 & 10 tell us, “when the time of perfection has come.” When will we be perfect? Look at verse 12 again, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” When he compares what we see now to looking in a mirror, we need to think about what a mirror was at that time, just another way to keep it in context. The reason it was a “puzzling reflection”, or as the KJV says, “see through a glass dimly”, is because it wasn’t a mirror as we know it, it wasn’t a looking glass as they had when the KJV was translated, it was a piece of polished metal or bronze. Don’t you see, in today’s mirror it wouldn’t be a puzzling reflection, but that’s all they knew back then. Looking at yourself in polished metal isn’t very clear, but it will all be perfectly clear when we are in Heaven! When we are living in perfection we won’t need prophecy, we won’t need tongues, we won’t need words of knowledge because we will know everything completely.
Then he leaves us with verse 13 where he tells us that only three things will last forever; faith, hope, and love. In today’s church, we put so much emphasis on faith, and yet Paul tells us that the greatest of these is LOVE!
Cathedral Made of People 