Ah yes...God's wild kingdom.
All throughout the Bible we see
God’s revelation to man because the Bible is
God’s revelation to man. What we also see is God revealing His will through His
creation…even that of his wild creation in the animal kingdom. We see God use
the animals to parlay spiritual truths, salvational truths or similar actions.
We see animals play a direct or indirect role in the lives of people in the
Bible. In the end we know that all man will ever need to know about salvational
things is in God’s mind open to us in Scripture. I think it is quite skillful
that God can and does use the beast of burden and beasts of the field to make His will either known
or carried out. Even when people fail to carry out God’s will, God is sovereign
and powerful enough to communicate truths even through that of a creature lower
than man. Sometimes this is solely for the purpose of God’s Kingdom to come to
the fore. So in essence what we see is the animal kingdom bring honor and glory to God's Kingdom.
Genesis
22:13 ~ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its
horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering
instead of his son.
God provided Abraham a ram to be
sacrificed instead of Isaac. Here we see God reward Abraham’s faithfulness with
a substitute…just as we will see in Jesus. Here we see that for those the most
faithful there are often the severest trials to continue to build the character
of that faith. Having endured the trials the spiritual truths that often lie
behind them come into clearer contrast and focus, in this case we see a shadow
of Christ.
We then have the story of Elijah who
hid from Ahab at the brook Cherith, and ravens brought him bread and flesh,
morning and evening in 1 Kings 17:6
1
Kings 17:6 ~ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he
drank from the brook.
Ravens are carrion birds. Either
Elijah was close to starvation at times or he had few scruples. Ravens scavenged
the dead. In eating from the Ravens Elijah was gaining life and sustenance from
the dead. We see life gained from that which has died-perhaps a shadow of
Christ in its subtlety.
There are many (mostly liberal
theologians) that will discount miraculous stories like this because of the
almost human nature of the duty of the ravens. Rationalistically, these events are
hard to explain so they are readily discounted as myth. I disagree. The “matter
of fact” method of narration precludes discounting them as embellished myth.
They are written as historical narrative accounts. A style that was unheard of
at the time of the writing of the book of the Kings. In effect what we are
really seeing here is not a repeated visit from a dumb raven with pieces of a
dead carcass in its beak but instead we are seeing a continued act of the
supernatural orchestrated by a supernatural and sovereign God.
To discount as not miraculous and
not supernatural is to deny the act of God behind the bird. This passage is
utterly clear in that God commanded or instructed the birds to supply Elijah’s
needs (verse 4). For these episode and those like the floating ax head we must
put aside our doubting rationalistic skepticism and leap out in faith just as Elijah
had to in waiting for this bird to bring him his meals. Do we suppose it was
any easier for Elijah to believe in faith that a bird would continue to supply
him with sustenance than it is for us to do the same? It just shows how
faithful Elijah was towards God’s assurances and how little faith we have to
doubt it. It shows a complete lack of faith for those who deny it.
God has the entire creation under
his Sovereign control. To me, between humans and animals, the animals should be
the easier of two to work with because they have no self-will or self-awareness
and as such working with animals to create an outcome seems straight forward. We
must remember that the stories of the Kings, which are really stories of the
prophets like Elijah and Elisha are historical narrative, not fiction. In this
respect they are documentaries.
Speaking of Elisha we should
mention the cursed children at Bethel, in the name of the Lord, that taunted
him for his baldness. Two she bears appeared and tore forty-two of the children
in 2 Kings 2:24
2
Kings 2:24 ~ He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of
the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
The first thing we notice right
from the start is Elisha does not seek to defend himself or seek retribution
directly. He does so through the Lord if it is His will. Apparently it was as
the bears inflict some serious carnage and death. God does this in Elisha’s
defense. In reality God is only staying true to his nature as He has already
outlined that those who disobey God’s statues (or essentially fight God’s
people who do obey---will be cursed). Elijah is then only asking God to stay
true to His nature by calling down the curse in real time. As it is within God’s
perfect will, God obliges. God will defend His own if He so desires and wills
it.
Like Christians nowadays Elisha
is met with derision and contempt instead of the honor and respect that a man
of God deserves. This is the nature of true persecution…yet he does not
actively defend himself he calls on God to do so. Why? Because it is not Elisha
per se that is being mocked. Because he is a true man of God, these boys are in
reality mocking God. God will not be mocked.
It was true then and it is true today. We should not think evil people
are getting away with horrendous evils and haughty attitudes. God is a patient
God and at some point his longsuffering and patience ends. I suspect that time
is coming sooner than later.
Some will say that God was cruel
for killing these boys in this manner. My question is simple. What do rebellious
little boys grow into? They grow into rebellious grown men capable of bigger
evils than the children. God may have very well done them a favor by preventing
them from performing more heinous evils in adulthood by executing them in
youth. The more a man knows the more he will be held accountable for on the Day
of Judgment. It is the same reasoning that goes into justifying the genocide of
murderous pagan societies condemned to complete eradication in front of Joshua’s
army and at the point of his sword.
It is sadly ironic that we will
see the same ridicule and mockery in the story of Jesus. The same type of
judgment will fall on those that did as these boys did and did not repent. As
then…so too now. On the other hand, those that did repented of this monstrous
evil were saved as we will see in Acts 2 and Peter’s preaching of the Gospel to
the Jews.
Acts
2:22-24 ~ “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man
accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among
you through him, as you yourselves know, this man was handed over to you by
God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,
put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead,
freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to
keep its hold on him.
Then later following Peter’s
sermon we read…
Acts
2:36-39 ~ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this,
they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers,
what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your
children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will
call.”
The last animal “transaction” I
will mention also happens to be one of my favorite. It is the fish Jesus
provides Peter with to pay tribute in Matthew 17:27
Matthew
17:27 ~ However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”
We see many things. The first of which
is the obedience to the authorities. Christ obeyed the lex terrae and paid the
tribute due being the Son of God. No harm no foul. A tribute was due to
magistrates for public service, they were being paid to do a job. Not all were
crooked and as such some workers would’ve been worthy of their wages…but that
is not the true issue here. Jesus is living out Romans 13 long before Paul
writes it. We see a confirmation of biblical principles espoused by Paul
through the actions of Jesus thereby validating Paul’s words as true and
accurate Scripture. If you want something to back up you actions as being
biblical and within the will of God, there is no better place to look that God
Himself!
Nor does Jesus exempt His disciples/ministers
from the civil or civic duties. To me this would include being a police
officer, fireman, government official and soldiers. Being the Son of God Jesus
was under no obligation to do so but being free to do as He pleased being God…He
chose to pay the tribute. Why? If for no other reason to serve as a perfect
example of what a Christian should do and what they should be. Here we see a
great example of what Hebrews 2 and Philippians 2 says of the humbleness of
Christ and purposes of Christ within the will of the Father. For doing this
Jesus would be exalted by the Father. So too shall we if we persevere to the
end because we will be coheirs in Christ. In God’s economy, down is up and
lowering is to be raised. Jesus voluntarily made himself low and poor so that
we could be raised and made rich in righteousness and holiness.
Hebrews
2:9 ~ But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little
while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by
the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Philippians
2:6 ~ “….have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did
not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being
made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted
him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.
So it is ironic that in this
poorness He would not readily have the money available to pay the tribute at
hand but could easily produce it through supernatural means. So in the story we
see a willing submission to beings of lesser authority but in an effort to obey
them, Jesus displays profound supernatural power over the creation in producing
the coin from a fishes mouth. It is as if Jesus is saying without words, “I
will obey your laws of the land but do not forget who made and owns the land, who
made the metal that made the money and even created you in God’s image.” It is
just another way of saying, “…do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
A paradoxical Life for sure but all the more evidence that it is a Life that has
to have been of divine origins for divine purposes.
Jesus did not have to pay this
tribute, He chose to so there is would be no offense caused. I suggest it was to not besmirch or bring scandal to the
Gospel that He preaches and teaches. We must learn a profound lesson from this.
Everything Jesus did was to bring glory to the Father. It is a lesson that
should be second nature to the Christian. When Jesus allows Himself to be subject
to this tribute He shows Himself Lord over all creatures because His humility
is by choice and always at the perfect will and glory of the Father. For this
He is put above all…forever.
I also find it ironic that Jesus will tell Peter (a fisherman), to find tribute money in the mouth of the very thing from which Peter had formerly found gainful employment. Although allegorical, this can be seen as God sending us back to things we were familiar with to find the things we need to move forward. Peter must go to the very thing he left behind as a fisherman to get something he needs to move forward. This is a lot like our testimony as believers. He must fish money from a fish's mouth to better serve Jesus and become the fisher of men Jesus is training him to be.
God didn’t necessarily put the
money in the fish’s mouth. He put the fish and the money where Peter could find
it and in so doing, showed He was sovereign over man, animal, elements, timing and
even…humility. He was willing to submit Himself to the laws of the land of His time like all other human beings. Let me say that again. He is sovereign over humility…an
unfathomable paradox considering He is exalted above all. Only though a
suffering servant and Triune God is this possible. Only through Jesus who is part of One
Being but three functionally different personalities is this possible. Only
through a servant can a King be known, through a death can life eternal arise or as it is said in John 12:24 …unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth
and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
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