The Glory of His Grace

Let me ask you today, “Don’t you want to be an Asher—a child of blessing?” Yes, we all want to be Ashers—to be particularly favored by the Lord, of all the children of God. But God blessed the people of Israel even though they haven’t done anything to deserve those blessings.

Did Lot deserve the blessing of God? No, Lot disobeyed God many times. He did not like to go with his uncle Abraham in a journey of faith. He looked to Sodom by sight, instead of going with Abraham by faith. In Sodom, he compromised his faith, offering his daughters to the homosexuals of the town, just so that he can save the two angels.

What did Asher do to be a child of blessing? I cannot think of any significant thing that Asher did to earn the blessing. But throughout the OT, we see that God blesses those who obey his will. Moses said that the LORD shows “mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Ex. 20:6, NKJV). The word, “mercy,” or “unfailing love” here is a strong word, from the Hebrew, hesed. “It speaks of a favor given to someone who does not have a right to that favor by someone who does not have to give that favor.”[1]

We see this hesed of God in action at Mt. Sinai. While God was giving the 10 Commandments to Moses at Mt. Sinai, the people below decided to hold a “fiesta” (festival). It is a festival of Yahweh, Aaron said. Like most fiestas in the Philippines today, mixing Christian and pagan symbols of idolatry, the Israelite fiesta was syncretist (mixed). The one pagan symbol that Aaron approved was the golden calf, which mirrored the pagan practices of their neighbors.

While Moses met with God, they committed idolatry. God was sorely offended by their actions. These people did not really deserve God’s favor. God also did not have to give that favor. But because of hesed, his unfailing love, his mercy, he forgave them and gave them a second chance. This mercy or unfailing love is for those who love him and obey him, but also those who do not deserve his love.

Thus, blessings may be received two ways—by the favor of God that we don’t deserve, that God is not obliged to give; but also by obedience to the will of God for our lives. And so the right attitude in worshiping God is to obey God, not to get his blessings, as if we are paying God to bless us, but to obey God because God has called us to be related to him, and because he has called us to love and serve him.

Blessings therefore are the benefits of a covenantal relationship with God. We obey him to show him that we are committed to loving him and trusting him in everything. Our obedience to his commands is therefore our response to the unfailing love or mercy that he shows us. If you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are already blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. But if you obey God in the days to come, then God will bless you more with his unfailing love.

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[1] T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, eds., Dictionary of the OT Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2003), 850.

1. Spilling Over Favor from God

In this chapter, Moses blessed the twelve tribes of Israel (Deut. 33:1). To the tribe of Asher, Moses declared four kinds of blessings. The first blessing is, “Let him be the favorite of his brothers.” (ESV) Actually in the Hebrew, it literally reads, “Let him be pleasing to his brothers.” The word, “favorite,” is from ratsah, “To be pleased with, be favourable to; To make acceptable” in the Qal stem. (BDB) It is actually a Qal Participle in the passive voice—thus, the literal translation would be, “be pleasing, acceptable, or favored of his brothers.”

The name Asher itself means, “To be made happy, be blessed” in the Pual stem. (BDB) Who is Asher anyway? He was the son of Leah’s maid, Zilpah. He became the second son of Jacob. Gen. 30:12-13, “And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.  Then Leah said, ‘I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.’ So she called his name Asher” (NKJV).

Getting back to Deut. 33:24, Moses said Asher will be “most blessed of sons.” (ESV). Moses is saying, “Asher, you will be blessed of all the sons of Israel.” All the sons of Israel are already blessed, like Asher. But Asher is to be the one particularly favored and blessed by the Lord, of all the sons of Israel.[1] Moses is blessing Asher, who is blessed already, with more blessings. Asher is to be a child of blessings and a father of prosperity (Gen. 49:20). Asher will be spilling over with the blessings of God.

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[1] C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 10, trans. James Martin (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), PC Study Bible CD-Rom, version 5.0., ed. Jim Gilbertson (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft, Inc., 1988-2007).

“Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be” (Deut. 33:25, ESV).

Do you remember the song, “Footprints in the Sand”?

One night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me, and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that many times along the path of my life there was only one set of footprints. I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it: “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I need you most you would leave me.”

The Lord replied: “My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”[1]

Isn’t that song inspiring? God does carry us through every trial and trouble in life. But in reality, the location is not the sandy beach but the rocky road. In this rocky road of life, God would rather have us walk on our own two feet, in a spiritual journey of knowing Christ.

The reason is that we grow in faith while we walk with God on the rocky road of life. Often it is the only way we can find the strength of God. Throughout the Bible, we see people of faith who have faced their trials and troubles with the strength of God. In other words, they’ve learned to grow in their faith in God, while walking with him on the rocky road of life.

In Deut. 33:25, we see here that God did not spare the tribe of Asher from walking on the rocky road. He did better than carrying them on his arms. He gave the portion of the promised land to Asher, but he also equipped them with shoes of iron so they can inherit the land. This means that God gave them strength equal to the challenges they faced.

This Year, God shall equip you with shoes for the rocky road and strength equal to your days. Your part is to claim his strength for the journey.

I see here 4 promises of God for us for this New Year.

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[1] “Footprints in the Sand,” http://www.sapphyr.net/largegems/footprints.htm (accessed January 9, 2010).

Let us therefore run the race with endurance. Let us learn from the faithful witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and sin that stops us. Let us look to Jesus, fixing our eyes on him who is the author and finisher of our faith.

Do not turn back to the world. Stop looking at your situation, no matter how hard or painful it may be, but go back to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Get back to the promises of God’s Word. Get your bearing and direction from the Word of God.

Do not be distracted by your circumstances. Keep your eyes on Jesus, as you run the race. For at the end of the day, he who founded the faith in you will be faithful to finish it to a perfect completion in his perfect time.

What did Jesus do as the author and finisher of our faith? First, He set his eyes on “the joy that was set before him” (12:2, ESV). What is this joy? It is the joy of glorifying the Father. It is the joy of calling out a people for his name. It is the joy of fulfilling the work of the Father. It is the joy of receiving the highest honor and authority over all creation as Messiah and Mediator (Eph. 1:21-23).

Second, He “endured the cross, despising the shame” (12:2,ESV) “Endured” here is the verb form of the noun, “endurance” in v. 1, from hupomeno, “to continue to bear up despite difficulty and suffering.” (Louw-Nida). For the joy set before him, Jesus put up with the suffering of the cross.

When I first read this verse years ago, I thought “despising” meant, “insulting,” that Jesus looked down upon the shame of the cross. But now I know better. “Despising” is from kataphroneo, “‘to think that something has no value’ or ‘to reckon something as being worthless.’” (Louw-Nida). The crucifixion was the most shameful and excruciating punishment of criminals in Jesus’ time. It was shameful because it was intended to bring shame to the criminal. It was done to a naked criminal and in public, causing much pain and prolonged suffering until death. But Jesus despised the shame of the cross. This means that he disregarded its shame,[1] treating it as worthless compared to the joy that was set before him!

Third, he “seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2, ESV). In Filipino parlance, the expression “right hand” usually means the second in command, the executive assistant, or the vice-chairman. However, “right hand” (Gk. dexia) in the Bible symbolizes honor, power, and authority.[2] It means: (1) “power,” according to Hebraic usage of the word. (see Ex. 15:6; Job 40:14; Ps. 17:7, 18:35; 20:6; 21:8; 44:3; 60:5; 98:1); and (2) “the place of highest honor”[3] and “glory”[4] (see Ps. 109:1; Matt. 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 14:62; 16:19; Luke 20:42; 22:69; Heb. 1:13).

Before the world began, the Son of God had this glory and exaltation with the Father already (see John 17:5). Yet, He left His splendor in heaven and came down to earth to live with sinners. He offered Himself as an atoning, substitutionary sacrifice on the cross for our redemption. The Father worked His mighty power by raising Him from the dead, with the concomitant power of the Son and the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:18-22). At the right hand of God, the Father gave the Son the highest honor over all creation in heaven and on earth, making Him “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). As both Messiah and Mediator and Lord over all creation in heaven and earth, Jesus now rules at the right hand of the throne of God.

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[1] Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, in Power Bible CD v3.0, ed. John Gilbertson (Bronson, MO: Online Publishing, 2001).

[2] A. T. Robertson, Robertson’s Word Pictures, in Power Bible CD.

[3] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, in BibleSpeak CD, v.3.07, ed. Steve Quick (Hyde Park: Q Software, 2001-2007).

[4] B. L. Johnson, People’s New Testament Commentary, in Power Bible CD.

Who is this Christ whom you should trust today? First, Jesus is “the author of our faith” (Heb. 11:2, NKJV). The noun, “author,” (Gk. archegos), means, “originator, founder” (BAGD); “one who causes something to begin – ‘initiator, founder, originator.’” (Louw-Nida).

Christ originated, initiated, and founded the faith that is founded on his death and resurrection (Heb. 2:10). While the witnesses of the faith in Heb. 11 testify of their faith in God, Jesus is himself the originator, founder, and initiator of that faith in God. While the witnesses of the faith in Heb. 11 are examples for us to follow, Jesus is the supreme, ultimate, and pre-eminent example. While the witnesses of the faith are themselves followers of faith in God, Jesus is himself the leader of the faith that brings salvation to all those who believe.

Second, Jesus is not just the author, but also “the finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2, NKJV). A certain king called his court joker one day and gave him a stick. He said, “Take this stick and keep it until you find a bigger fool than yourself.”  The time came when the king lay in his deathbed. He called his court joker again and said, “I am going away.” The joker asked, “Where?” “To another country,” the king replied. “What preparations and provisions has your majesty made for this journey to another country?” The king answered, “None.”

Then the joker handed the stick to the king. “Here’s your stick,” he said. “I have finally found a bigger fool than myself. For I play with the things of time, but you play with the things of eternity.”[1]

Jesus does not play with your future! He is the author and finisher of our faith. This means that he heals your past and gives you hope for your future! He is the finisher of our faith. “Finisher” (NKJV) or “perfecter” (ESV) is from teleiotes, “one who completes, perfecter.’” (Louw-Nida)

Jesus brings our faith to perfect completion. He founds the faith of those who believe. Jesus gives us reason to believe in him. He forwards the faith that enables them to believe. When we feel like quitting, Jesus gives us the faith to keep on running the race. He also finishes the faith of those who believe in him. He brings us to a complete maturity of faith in him.

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[1] Alan Carr, “Avoiding Future Mistakes,” in  http://www.sermonnotebook.org/new%20testament/James%204_13-17%20(2).htm, accessed June 4, 2009.

3. Look Unto Jesus. “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2, ESV). The third thing to do to endure in Christ, like runners endure the marathon, is to fix our eyes on Jesus.

First, the writer of Hebrews tells us that to endure in this race, we must look back at the testimony of the leaders of faith and learn from them about trusting God. Then, he tells us to look around you and lay aside every weight and sin that weighs us down in running the race. Now, he tells us to look ahead to Christ, fixing our eyes on him in order to endure.

The verb, “looking,” is from the Greek, aphorao, “to keep thinking about, without having one’s attention distracted – ‘to think about, to fix one’s attention on.’” (Louw-Nida)

A story is told of a man who climbed the Swiss Alps with a guide. After many hours, they came to a mountain pass. To the man’s dismay, he saw that the path ahead of him was gone. What should he do? To his left is a rocky cliff and to his right is an abyss that drops about 1,000 ft. “Looking down, the man felt his head growing faint and his knees beginning to buckle. At that moment his guide shouted, ‘Do not look down or you are a dead man. Keep your eyes on me, and where I put my feet, put yours there as well.’ The man did as he was instructed and soon he passed from danger to safety.” [1]

For this New Year, the road ahead may be rough and difficult. You may plan to do this or that this year, but at the end of the year, the success and failures and the pleasures and the pains of life are in the hands of God. If you look to the left, there may be a rock barrier; and to the right, a deep abyss dropping down to nowhere. You might feel your head fainting and your knees wobbling this year. You can do only one thing—either you look down at your situation or you look on the Lord Jesus Christ, fixing your eyes on him, and following his steps carefully. If you follow his every step diligently, you will find at the end of the year that God has kept you safe by his power in Christ.[2]

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[1] Ray Pritchard, “Let Us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus,” in http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2001-01-07-Let-Us-Fix-Our-Eyes-on-Jesus/, accessed December 30, 2009.

[2] Pritchard, “Let Us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus,” in http://www.keepbelieving.com, accessed December 30, 2009.

We are to lay aside, not only every weight, but also every entangling sin. What is this entangling sin? Heb. 11 talks about faith in God. Therefore, the sin that hinders endurance in the race would be the sin of unbelief. This sin of unbelief refuses to believe in the finished work of Christ, but holds on to the requirements of the Law. “It was unbelief that kept Israel out of the Promised Land, and it is unbelief that hinders us from entering into our spiritual inheritance in Christ.”[1] The sin of unbelief will stop us from persevering in this race.

The verb phrase, “clings so closely,” is actually one word in the Greek—ehuperistatos, which means, “easily ensnaring” (BAGD); “holding on tightly and causing entanglement” (Newman).

I read a story about a four-year-old who was found walking the streets, drinking beer and wearing a dress. Hayden Wright escaped from his home one night. His mother April said, “He runs away trying to find his father. He wants to get in trouble so he can go to jail, because that’s where his daddy is.”

The boy rang the doorbell of a nearby neighbor, who found him holding a partially drunk can of beer. He got the can of beer out of his father’s cooler at home. Hayden then got “into a nearby house, and stole five Christmas gifts, one of which was the brown girl’s dress that he was wearing when he was found.”[2]

Listen! The sin of parents always entangles their children. Any kind of sin always entangles our lives.

What sin easily entangled you in 2009? For some people, it is the sin of talking bad about other people; for others—the sin of looking at women with lust; lying; cheating; gossiping; selfishness; etc.

God sees your heart today and the Spirit of God may be urging you to throw off that sin. This New Year, you may need to do only one New Year’s resolution—to throw off any sin that easily entangles you last year, so that you will endure in running this race.

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[1] Wiersbe, “Hebrews,” in Bible Exposition, PC Study Bible CD-Rom.

[2] “4-year-old found drinking beer on the streets,” in http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6600395/four-year-old-drunk-street-beer, accessed December 18, 2009.

2. Lay Aside Any Weight of Sin. The second thing we must do to persevere in Christ is to lay aside every weight and entangling sin. “Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (HEB. 12:1, ESV). The present participle, “lay aside” (Gk. apotithemi) means, to “put off; take off” (BAGD). The picture here is of an ancient Greek athlete taking off any weight that would weigh him down in running the race.

Back in high school, I joined the 400m dash. To prepare for the race, I had to run several lapses around the race track in La Salle High School, Bacolod. I remember how some runners would wear the thinnest shorts and the lightest running shoes. I couldn’t buy the best running shoes then, so I used whatever rubber shoes I had. I finished only third place, but I have an excuse—I didn’t wear the lightest running shoes.

To endure in this race, the writer of Hebrews says that we should lay aside two things—every weight and every entangling sin. “Every weight” here for the first century Hebrew readers would be the Law and its requirements.[1] You see, some Jewish believers believed that Christ’s finished work on the cross is not enough. Some of them thought that you still need to follow the requirements of the Law. You need to offer blood sacrifices. You need to be circumcised as the Law requires. You need to follow the Sabbath religiously. You need to stop eating pork and other prohibited foods. You need to do all the requirements of the Law to be justified before God. Christ’s work on the cross is insufficient, they say.

For these Jews, the writer of Hebrews says that Christ has fulfilled the Law. Therefore, you are no longer under its yoke. You must put off every weight of the Law that pulls you down.

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[1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 1919.

To endure this spiritual race, we need to do 3 things.

1. Learn from the Winners. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1, ESV). While we run the race, we must learn from the testimony of the great cloud of witnesses before us.[1] Who are these witnesses? These witnesses are the great heroes of the faith listed in Heb. 11. The plural noun, “witnesses,” is from the Greek, martus, which means, “one who testifies.” (Louw-Nida). It refers to people “whose faith is tried and true” (BAGD).

The “cloud of witnesses” does not mean these witnesses are heavenly spectators standing on some heavenly cloud in some heavenly stadium, and watching us struggling souls on earth. The “cloud of witnesses” means that there is a “crowd of witnesses,” or many, many witnesses (Louw-Nida) who have testified with their lives about trusting God.

What can we learn from them? “These people are not witnessing what we are doing; rather, they are bearing witness to us that God can see us through.”[2] These many witnesses listed in Heb. 11 have taught us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1, KJV).

From Enoch, we learn that faith in God pleases God (v. 5-6). From Noah, we learn the obedience of faith, constructing an ark through obedient faith in God (v. 7). From Abraham, we learn to trust God based on his promise, looking forward to the promise of a city, whose builder and designer is God (vv. 8-10). From Sarah, we learn to trust God for the impossible, seeing that Sarah became pregnant in her old age (v. 11). From Abraham again, we learn to obey God even though he had to offer his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice, believing that God will raise Isaac from the dead afterwards (v. 17).

One day, God told Abraham to bring Isaac to Mt. Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice there. When they got there, Isaac asked Abraham, “Dad, where’s the sacrifice?” Abraham replied, “Don’t worry, son, because there’s Jehovah Jireh—the LORD will provide.” Abraham believed God that even though he will kill Isaac as a sacrifice there, the LORD shall still raise Isaac from the dead. He believed God that he will come down from Mt. Moriah with Isaac alive and well by his side, believing that at the end of the day, God will raise Isaac from the dead.

Heb. 11:39 tells us that “all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised” (ESV). They did not receive the promises of God in their lifetimes. (This means that unanswered prayers are not necessarily a sign of lack of faith. Some of God’s promises were not meant to be fulfilled in church history, e.g. Christ’s second coming.) They saw only glimpses of the future. But by faith, they looked forward to a future hope of fulfillment through Christ, the Son of God, who fulfilled all those promises (Heb. 11:40). And so to endure in this race for Christ, we need to learn the endurance of faith from these witnesses—even though we don’t get answers to our prayers in our lifetimes! In other words, learn from the winners!

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[1] Actually in the Greek, there is one subjunctive (“let us run the race”) and four present participles in Heb. 12:1-2: (having a cloud of witnesses; laying aside every weight and sin; looking unto Jesus; and despising the shame).

[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, “Hebrews,” in The Bible Exposition Commentary (Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 1989), PC Study Bible CD-Rom, version 5.0. Jim Gilbertson, ed. Seattle: Biblesoft, Inc., 1988-2007.