More Joy

Just in case you somehow missed it, I have a precious granddaughter named Joy. As I read my Bible I mark every time I find “Joy” in the Scriptures. After three years, there are a lot of pink hearts in my Bible. One day she will inherit my Bible with all the notes and pink hearts of Joy. This morning I was reading Psalm 21 and I found two more. I said aloud, “I thought by now I had found them all.” According to Bible Gateway, there are 242 verses with the word “Joy” (in the NIV). That doesn’t count all the “rejoice” references, which have their root in Joy. That’s a lot of Joy. Because Joy has its foundation in God who is our constant source of Joy. The Bible is God’s Word so it’s no wonder that it is full of Joy.

Habakkuk laments the hard season Judah was enduring just before Jerusalem fell to Babylon when the fields failed to produce and the livestock were all gone. He said, “Yet (there’s a whole message in that one word) I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be Joyful in God my Savior” (3:18). When God’s people look to him in hard times there is more Joy.

After they returned from captivity and rebuilt the city wall, Ezra, the scribe, stood for days reading “the Book of the Law of Moses” to the people (Nehemiah chapter 8 ). After Ezra finished reading, they were deeply grieved at how far they had fallen from the Lord. Nehemiah told them, “The Joy of the Lord is your strength” (v. 10). The people had a great celebration and “their Joy was very great” (v. 17 – that’s another one I had missed). When God’s people live in faithful relationship with Him, there will always be more Joy.

Joy (and rejoicing) is scattered throughout the Bible in almost every book from Genesis to Revelation. If you are looking for it, you will surely find it. And even if you’re not really looking for it, Joy will pop up in unexpected places at unexpected times in unexpected ways. My prayer for you today, Beloved, is that you will find more Joy.

Hebrews: Everything Old is New Again

New Testament writers often referred back to the Scriptures – what we know as the Old Testament to confirm the fulfillment of prophecy. The writer of Hebrews is one of them. One key I learned in hermeneutics (how to study the scriptures) is to go back to the OT reference to gain the writer’s context.

In Hebrews 10:38 the author loosely borrowed from one of the OT prophets when he wrote, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”  Verses 19-39 are a call to persevere in Christ. The promise of Jesus’ return was given in verse 37 and is followed by this “gentle” warning. So what was happening in the OT that influenced this NT verse?

Habakkuk prophesied to Judah in the final days before Jerusalem fell. He lamented the injustice, violence, strife, lawlessness, and wickedness in the land. Does that sound familiar? God’s answer was to announce judgment – the nation would be destroyed and taken captive by the Babylonians, a “ruthless and impetuous people . . . bent on violence . . . guilty men, whose own strength is their god” (1:6,9, 11). Habakkuk questions God’s plan and the Lord responds by contrasting the evil Babylonians with “the just” – the one who remains righteous despite the circumstances. The one who perseveres.

This was the author’s theme throughout Hebrews. The Babylonians would take the Jews that survived the onslaught and either enslave them or indoctrinate them into their culture and completely erase their way of life in God. Just as the enemies of the believing Jewish community were trying to do. Just as the world, satan, the culture, and our own sinful nature are trying to do today.

“But,” said the author, “we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (v. 39). He expressed his confidence in their faith and their ability to persevere in it under the most dire circumstances. Our enemies may look different today, but they all spring from the same root – satan, the devil, the enemy of God and God’s people.  The call to persevere is as important today as it was thousands of years ago. Only those who stand firm in their faith please God and inherit eternal life. I want that.  And I want that for you, Beloved. Let’s hang on to Jesus together.