Hope From the Word

Bill Luebkemann: You can trust in God because he is trustworthy. God always provided for them wherever they were. So, the Chronicler here wanting to encourage them that you can trust in this God who is the same God we can trust in today. He is the same God that came to redeem us and to pay the price for our sins and the same God that will not forget us, that will not leave us behind, that doesn't need to be reminded of his promises. He knows what they are. It is the same God that we are called upon to put our trust and faith in today, and he'll take care of us just like he took care of his chosen ones, those that believe in him and that cling to him.

Guest (Male): No matter how dark the day, the light of God's promises are shining brightly. It's good to be with you today for Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. We come your way from Calvary Chapel of Marlton. On today's broadcast, we continue through the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles. This book, written long ago, applies to us today in great measure. It speaks of God's faithfulness to his people and that he keeps his word. He kept it with his people in the past, and he will do so today and in the future. One of those promises concerns the land of Israel. That's where we begin today. From 1 Chronicles 16:18, here is Pastor Bill.

Bill Luebkemann: We were in 1 Chronicles chapter 16. We left off in the middle there. We looked at the beginning of this psalm, which starts in 16:8. We got about to the halfway point. We got up to verse 18, but I'm just going to re-read 14 to 18 here for a couple of comments. "He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: 'To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.'"

Chronicles was written when the Jews were returning from Babylon to Israel after the time of the exile. This was not written contemporaneously when these events happened. This was written long after the fact. You can read through 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, and you can ask the Lord, "Lord, why didn't you just put all that together in one book? It would be so much easier than jumping around trying to figure out, you know, you have to look in three places sometimes to figure out everything that happened about a given event."

But the reason is, of course, they were written at different times by different people with different angles on it. This book of Chronicles was written hundreds of years after these events happened, maybe 400 or so. Israel had come and gone, been exiled, and now they were returning. The person who wrote it, who no one knows who wrote it, we refer to him as the Chronicler, but this person wanted to encourage the returning Jews so that they would know their history, so they would know their background, they would know where they were descended from, that they would know that God had made promises to them, and that he was going to keep them.

This Chronicler wanted to remind them of these things. He's reminding them that the Lord God judges all the earth. His judgments are in all the earth, not just one country. The idols that many nations worshiped and the gods that they worshiped, which were made with their own human hands, usually they believed that different idols had authority in different areas. They would fight a battle, and they would say, "Well, we lost because the god in that area didn't like us."

And so when you read this with that understanding, you see that he's reminding them to forget all the idols. We're going to see more on that in a minute, but the Lord our God, he's our God, and he's the Lord, and he's the one whose judgments are in all the earth. They're everywhere. Idols amount to nothing.

He remembers what his promises are, his covenant, the word he commanded. He remembers for a thousand generations. That's more generations than have been. So, essentially what this means is he remembers his word forever. It's the covenant that he made with Abraham. All you have to do is look all the way back in Genesis chapter 12 to see where that all began. Actually, you can look back in Genesis chapter 3, but God's plan was in place since the beginning. He knew before the beginning of time what it was that he was going to do to redeem mankind.

In Genesis chapter 12, verses 6 and 7, it says, "Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land.' So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him." This promise was being made to Abraham all the way back here, that your offspring are going to get the land.

Even earlier than that in 12:2, "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." This is why I hope the United States does not abandon this nation. We're the only friend they have right now. The way things are going, it doesn't look like we're going to be their friend for long, and it's a dangerous place to come up on the wrong side of God's chosen people and his chosen land. I want to be blessed as a nation. "And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Messianic promises all the way back here in Genesis.

Over in chapter 13, verse 14, "The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, 'Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you forever.'"

His promise to these people did not end. Make no mistake about it, why would anyone think there was such a fuss over a piece of land only as big as New Jersey? When the Arabs have enough land probably equal to the whole rest of the United States, and who out in the rest of the United States would want to have New Jersey anyway? Even the people here want to get out. In fact, it's so bad they even charge you an exit fee to move out of New Jersey, if you can believe that.

But here's a country only as big as New Jersey in the middle of Arab lands many times bigger. What's all the fuss about? It's a God thing because Jerusalem is the center of the universe as far as God's economy is concerned. Make no mistake about it. If it wasn't because of that, the tensions wouldn't be as high as they were.

In chapter 15, verse 18, "On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, 'To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.'" Girgashite, it sounds like something going down the drain and it's bubbling. I need to get the plumber out here to fix my Girgashite.

This land was promised all the way back here to Abraham and confirmed to Isaac in Genesis chapter 22, verse 15. "The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by myself,' declares the Lord, 'that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me.'" This was spoken to Abraham but in the presence of Isaac, who had just about to be sacrificed.

And over in chapter 35, promised again to Jacob. I probably missed some places also, but after Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, "God appeared to him again and blessed him. And God said to him, 'Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.' So he named him Israel. And God said to him, 'I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.'"

So these promises that God had made, a covenant that he made with Abraham, he confirmed it, he swore an oath to Isaac, he confirmed it to Jacob, and it was to the nation of Israel as an everlasting covenant. "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit." Remember this in context: they are returning from exile to Israel, and they're being reminded now.

If you look up the same event earlier, you can see in this case whoever wrote Chronicles is emphasizing to them: this is our God, he's the Lord God, he's the God everywhere, he's the God that can be trusted. He made this covenant with you; you're his chosen people. He doesn't change his mind. He keeps it to a thousand generations. He confirms it, and this is your land that you're returning to.

They were nervous. They were scared. There were other people in the land. They are going to return, they're going to be faced with different kinds of people there, maybe a war, maybe they're going to get killed. They're worried, they're concerned about it. And he's saying here you don't have to be because God Almighty, the Lord God who is over all the earth, here, there, and everywhere else, he's sending you back to this land that he promised to give you.

And moving on, "When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no man to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: 'Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.'" Here he is speaking about how the Lord has protected the nation of Israel over the years. When they were wandering, when there was only a few of them, when they went down to Egypt during that time in Egypt when there were less than a hundred of them and there was a famine, and they moved down to Egypt because there was the food.

They were few in number and they were strangers in the land, wandering around from nation to nation, one of the nations being Egypt, and God protected them there. And when the Egyptians began to abuse them, they called out to God and he rescued them. As they wandered around in the desert, there were kings that wanted to get rid of them, that wanted to oppress them, that wanted to fight them and kill them. And yet, God saw them through all those things, saying, "Don't touch those people." They're my anointed one, referring to all of Israel as the anointed one.

Look, this was something they needed to hear when they were returning to their land. They needed to know what we're doing is not so different than what happened a few hundred years before, actually maybe 800 years or so before these events here. Probably happened maybe 400 years after the time of David, and that was probably 400 years after the time of Moses. So some 800 years before, to be reminded of something that happened that long ago and to be reminded that God always provided for them wherever they were.

And when they were even in Babylon, he provided for them there. And when they were captured and taken away to that other land, he provided for them. He did not allow them to be oppressed, and he's bringing them back here. And so the Chronicler here wanting to encourage them that you can trust in this God who is the same God we can trust in today. He's the same God that came to redeem us and to pay the price for our sins and the same God that will not forget us, that will not leave us behind, that doesn't need to be reminded of his promises. He knows what they are.

It is the same God that we are called upon to put our trust and faith in today, and he'll take care of us just like he took care of his chosen ones, those that believe in him and that cling to him. "Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples."

"For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved."

Look, this here section is almost like a definition of who he is, and I think we see in here a lot of instructions or commands that we need to be praising the Lord. And here in verse 23, "Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day." You have to be careful reading this because you might get confused and think you're reading the New Testament.

During the Old Testament times, the Jews were God's chosen people. Of course, they still are today his chosen people, but now it's known that his salvation is available to everyone. We knew that all the way back in Genesis 12 when God told Abraham, "Through you all the nations of the world will be blessed." But even though it was known since Genesis, it took a while for the Jews to connect the dots.

Remember when you were a kid, I used to love those connect-the-dots things. They have all these dots and they're all numbered, and you can't figure out what it is, just looks like a bunch of dots on the page. But you draw the line between them, and when you're done, "Whoa, look what I did. Isn't that amazing? It doesn't look anything like what it was before." It's kind of like all the hints were there and you had to follow the trail to get to the end.

And that's what the Jews had to do. Remember the story of Peter in Acts chapter 10? He finally got it when God said his salvation is available to everyone. When he told Peter, "Kill and eat, and don't call anything that I made unclean." And when Peter went then to the house of Cornelius, Acts chapter 10, read all about it, and the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles, and Peter said, "Now I get it. God's salvation is available to everybody, not just the Jews." He had been reading the Old Testament; he probably knew the Old Testament better than any of us do. But he didn't connect the dots until this point. And he got in trouble for it. He got called on the carpet for it. "What are you doing going to the house of a Gentile? You shouldn't be doing that."

And he gave a defense and explained how the Holy Spirit had worked and what God had spoken to him, and then they accepted that fact. So you would think from reading this verse here, "Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day," you would think that this was telling Israel to sing to the Lord, and it was. But maybe Israel was wondering, "Why should everyone else be getting in on our act? Why does it say all the earth? Why isn't it just us? Why do they get to do it and not just us?"

But God's plan always was from the beginning to redeem everyone who would call on the name of the Lord, for all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The work of God is this: to believe in the one he sent. It matters not whether you're Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, short, tall, fat, or skinny, where you come from, where you grew up, or how you comb your hair.

His plan begins all the way back in Genesis, and it's becoming more clear along the way and becoming more clear here when we read this. "Sing to the Lord, all the earth." Everybody is invited into God's family by putting their faith in the one that he sent. Everyone is invited. All the earth, everyone in the whole world, matter where they're from.

Look, people live on Mars, they're not included. Other planets, it doesn't say that. It just says people who live on the earth. Maybe this is one of the reasons why I don't think they'll ever find extraterrestrial life. They keep sweeping the skies, looking for signals. Can we find any life? Let's look here, look there. I think they should point them big radio telescopes at Washington, D.C., and see if they can find any intelligent life there. Scanning out in space looking for intelligent life. Hello, look home.

"Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation." Look, this is everywhere. Everybody should be singing to the Lord, proclaim his salvation day after day. How about that? The word "salvation" in the Old Testament. And notice whose salvation it is. It's his salvation. If it was our salvation, it wouldn't get us very far. If you're counting on getting into heaven because you did something to deserve it, because you worked for it, you earned it, you're entitled to it, "I want to buy my salvation, please. How much does it cost?" You don't have enough money for that. It's his salvation.

"Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day." In other words, this is something so good you never get tired of talking about it. Day after day, week after week, month, year, forever, for all eternity, proclaim his salvation, what he has done for us. You know, it seems like so much the church today is off trying to get wealthy or trying to get more material things. Or, "God wants to bless you. He wants you to have that new car, the flat-screen plasma TV, and he wants you to have that vacation," and what have you.

And I'll tell you, after you listen to a guy talk about giving everything up to go to Ecuador and live in the jungle with headhunters that don't even have a written language, that have never heard the gospel before, probably never met too many people from the outside world before. I mean, they must know there's an outside world; they see planes flying overhead once in a while.

When you hear that kind of a testimony, you look at the Christianity in America here, you see how lame it is. What we need to be doing is singing to the Lord about his salvation, not about the fact he got us a new flat-screen television that we read about in that magazine, "Lust for Electronics." I mean, I still get that magazine. But we got to be singing about what he's done for us, and it's his salvation. "Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples."

In other words, it's his glory. I don't tell people how great we are or what we did or how we serve the Lord. Some ministries, you can tell they're man-made ministries when you see the guy's picture prominently portrayed. Here it is the "such-and-such healing ministry." And here you see the so-called guy that's got this so-called gift of healing.

You know, World Magazine looked into the so-called healing ministry in Florida of Todd Bentley. He wound up in drunken fornication, leaving his wife and hanging out with another gal, and that was the end of that ministry. And World Magazine asked, "Hey, can you give us a list of people who God healed?" And they were only given like a dozen names, two of which were dead. And the other ten of which, not one single case could they confirm a single healing.

I believe that God heals people, and I believe I've been healed by God, and maybe many of you have been probably also. But when we make a big show about it and it's the XYZ, Joe Jones, Sam Smith, Todd Bentley healing ministry, "Come look at how great I am," we're focusing on the wrong thing. It's his glory that we need to be proclaiming among the nations. His glory. Declare his glory. He already has the glory; we're not giving it to him. We're just telling other people about God's glory.

Everyone needs to know the good news. Every nation, tribe, and people. Declare his marvelous deeds among the people. What marvelous deeds? Well, this whole book is full of them. Now in the New Testament times, we have even more marvelous deeds that we can talk about. Because when Jesus came, he healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, gave sight to the blind, offered salvation, everlasting life to anyone who put their faith in him.

Back in this day, they didn't know about all that stuff yet, but they still had plenty of miracles they could point to that God had done: the parting of the Red Sea and providing manna from heaven when they were in the desert and water from a rock. They had lots of marvelous deeds. Just making us and allowing us to breathe and live every day and to see the light of a new day in the morning and to suck air into our lungs. God's marvelous deeds are amazing and beyond anything that we can imagine.

And we need to be living our lives for him. And if we're living them for ourselves, that's going to be a self-centered, short little lifespan that at the end of it, you're not going to have anything to show for it. One of the guys said at the conference is one hour in heaven and you'll regret all the grumbling you ever did. To which a few of us said, "Do you think it'll really take one hour? More like one minute or something in heaven, or a second even."

We need to be thinking about his marvelous deeds, and he is God Almighty, the Creator of the universe. He should be the center of our lives just as he is the center of the universe. And if he's not, then our lives are out of balance. And if we're living for ourselves so that at the end of our life we can show people how much we have to show for it, "Look at all my stuff that I got," when you leave this place, it'll all be left behind. You won't be able to show God, "Look at all the stuff I brought. I brought buckets of gold." To which God would say, "Well, we already have enough asphalt up here in heaven." The most valuable thing on earth is the least valuable thing in heaven, it would seem.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Hope From the Word. We're currently in a study of 1 Chronicles. You can hear this message or more Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann by going to ccmarlton.org. Pastor Bill's messages can also be found by downloading the Hope FM app on your smartphone or tablet. If you prefer to listen via podcast, you can find Hope From the Word wherever you find your podcasts.

We'd love to have you join us at Calvary Chapel of Marlton either in person or online. Our Sunday service begins at 10 a.m., and there's a Wednesday evening service at 7. To catch us online, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel of Marlton or just go to our website for the link at ccmarlton.org. And if you'd take a moment to write Pastor Bill, it would be such a blessing to us.

We're thankful each and every time we hear what God is doing in our listeners' lives, and we want to pray for you, too. Either email us through the website at ccmarlton.org or call 856-983-1662. We'll continue our study in 1 Chronicles next time on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann, a presentation of Calvary Chapel of Marlton.