Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Not So Smart" for Tuesday,
July 18, 2017
Psalm 19:7-11 - The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is Your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Generally speaking, scientists are smart folk ... generally speaking. Of course, scientists are also human and that means they are sinners and they make the occasional mistake.
As proof of that, I place before you the 100 scientists who gathered in Nevada in 2014. The job placed before them was a safe nuclear pulse experiment, using a machine called Godiva.
Wait. Change the second line of that text and make it read "a supposedly safe nuclear pulse experiment." The change is necessary because, when the Godiva machine was rebuilt in 2012, someone forgot to install a protective cover. Without that cover, bad things began to happen.
Bad thing 1: Without the protective cover, every time the Godiva machine went on radiation alarms began to sound.
Bad thing 2: Finding the radiation alarms to be a nuisance, the scientists shut them off.
Bad thing 3: Shutting off the radiation alarms shut down the ventilation systems and the air filters, which meant ...
Bad thing 4: those scientists breathed in radioactive air, and they didn't know anything was wrong.
Indeed, they didn't find out until months later.
Now here's the point of all this: the scientists would have been all right if they had just listened to those alarms -- if they had only remembered those alarms had been put there to save lives.
But they didn't listen and they didn't remember and no one knows how that will affect their futures.
My friends, anyone who reads Scripture for any length of time will quickly realize the Lord has given humanity some warnings and alarms. This He has done because -- as our Creator -- He knows what is best for us. His alarms, all given by a caring and gracious Lord, tell us what to do and what to avoid if we are to live lives that are pleasing to Him, beneficial to us, and an encouragement to those whom we meet.
The great difficulty with all of the above is that many people decide they don't want to hear the Lord's alarms; they don't want to have their plans subordinate to His. As a result, they turn off those alarms. They set up their own parameters where there is no church, no Bible, no discussion on religion, no room to hear of the Savior. There is only their will and their way and neither of those will take them to heaven.
Far better for them to repent, be turned, and see how the Lord loves us in His Laws, and how He loves us in His Son, whose sacrifice has won our forgiveness.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, how foolish is mankind when we feel we are smarter, wiser, and able to control our destinies. Grant us a dose of humility that acknowledges Your care, compassion, and our Savior, in whom there is forgiveness. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one written by Jenn Gidman for Newser on June 28, 2017. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written. Please click here.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: 2 Kings 19-21; Galatians 5
2 Kings 19:1 On hearing it, King Hizkiyahu tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of Adonai. 2 He sent Elyakim, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and the leading cohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz. 3 They said to him, “This is what Hizkiyahu says: ‘Today is a day of trouble, rebuke and disgrace. Children are ready to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. 4 Maybe Adonai your God will hear all the words of Rav-Shakeh, whom his master the king of Ashur has sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the message which Adonai your God has heard. So pray for the remnant that is left.”
5 When King Hizkiyahu’s servants came to Yesha‘yahu, 6 he said to them, “Tell your master that this is what Adonai says: ‘Don’t be afraid of the words you heard the servants of the king of Ashur use to insult me. 7 I will put a spirit in him that will make him hear a rumor and return to his own land; then I will cause him to die by the sword in his own land.’”
8 Rav-Shakeh returned and, having heard that the king of Ashur had left Lakhish, found him making war with Livnah. 9 Then, on hearing it said that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia was on his way to fight him, the king of Ashur sent messengers to Hizkiyahu, telling them, 10 “This is what you are to say to Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “Yerushalayim will not be handed over to the power of the king of Ashur.” 11 You have heard what the kings of Ashur have done to all lands — they have completely destroyed them. So how will you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them? No, my ancestors destroyed them — Gozan, Haran, Retzef and the people of ‘Eden who were in Tel’asar. 13 Where is the king of Hamat? the king of Arpad? the king of the city of S’farvayim, of Hena and ‘Ivah?’”
14 Hizkiyahu took the letter from the messengers’ hands and read it. Then Hizkiyahu went up to the house of Adonai and spread it out before Adonai. 15 Hizkiyahu prayed as follows in the presence of Adonai: “Adonai God of Isra’el, who dwells above the k’ruvim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth. 16 Turn your ear, Adonai, and hear! Open your eyes, Adonai, and see! Hear the words that Sancheriv sent to taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Adonai, that the kings of Ashur have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have thrown their gods into the fire. For those were non-gods, merely the product of people’s hands, wood and stone; this is why they could destroy them. 19 Now therefore, Adonai our God, please save us from his power — so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you are Adonai, God — you only.”
20 Then Yesha‘yahu the son of Amotz sent this message to Hizkiyahu: “Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘You prayed to me against Sancheriv king of Ashur, and I have heard you.’ 21 Here is Adonai’s answer concerning him:
‘The virgin daughter of Tziyon
despises you; she laughs you to scorn.
The daughter of Yerushalayim
shakes her head at you.
22 Whom have you taunted and insulted?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and haughtily lifted your eyes?
The Holy One of Isra’el!
23 “‘Through your messengers you taunted Adonai.
You said, “With my many chariots
I have ascended the mountain heights
even in the far reaches of the L’vanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best cypresses.
I reached its remotest corners
and its best forests.
24 I dug [wells] in foreign lands,
and I drank the water.
The soles of my [soldiers’] feet
dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”
25 “‘Haven’t you heard? Long ago I made it;
in antiquity I produced it;
and now I am making it happen:
you are turning fortified cities
into heaps of ruins;
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of power,
are disheartened and ashamed,
weak as grass, frail as plants,
like grass on the rooftops
or grain scorched by the east wind.
27 “‘But I know when you sit, when you leave,
when you enter — and when you rage against me.
28 And because of your rage against me,
because of your pride that has reached my ears,
I am putting my hook in your nose
and my bridle on your lips;
and I will make you return
by the way on which you came.
29 “‘This will be the sign for you: this year, you will eat the grain that grows of itself; the second year, you will eat what grows from that; but in the third year, you will sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 “‘Meanwhile, the remnant
of the house of Y’hudah that has escaped
will again take root downward
and bear fruit upward;
31 for a remnant will go out from Yerushalayim,
those escaping will go out from Mount Tziyon.
The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot
will accomplish this.’
32 “Therefore this is what Adonai says concerning the king of Ashur:
‘He will not come to this city
or even shoot an arrow there;
he will not confront it with a shield
or erect earthworks against it.
33 By the way he came he will return;
he will not come to this city,’
says Adonai. 34 ‘For I will defend this city and save it, both for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’”
35 That night the angel of Adonai went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of Ashur. Early the next morning, there they were, all of them, corpses — dead. 36 So Sancheriv king of Ashur left, went and returned to live in Ninveh.
37 One day, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisrokh his god, [his sons] Adramelekh and Shar’etzer struck him with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. So his son Esar-Hadon took his place as king.
20:1 Around this time, Hizkiyahu became ill to the point of death. Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz, came and said to him, “Here is what Adonai says: ‘Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not live.’” 2 Hizkiyahu turned his face toward the wall and prayed to Adonai: 3 “I plead with you, Adonai, remember now how I have lived before you truly and wholeheartedly, and how I have done what you see as good.” And he cried bitter tears.
4 Before Yesha‘yahu had left the city’s middle courtyard, the word of Adonai came to him: 5 “Go back, and tell Hizkiyahu the prince of my people, that this is what Adonai, the God of David your ancestor, says: ‘I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, and I will heal you. On the third day, you are to go up to the house of Adonai. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. Also I will rescue you and this city from the power of the king of Ashur; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’” 7 Then Yesha‘yahu said, “Prepare a fig-plaster.” They brought it and laid it on the inflammation, so that he would recover.
8 Hizkiyahu said to Yesha‘yahu, “What sign will there be that Adonai will heal me and that I will be able to go up to the house of Adonai on the third day?” 9 Yesha‘yahu said, “Here is the sign for you from Adonai that Adonai will do what he said: do you want the shadow [of the sundial] to go forward ten intervals or backward ten intervals? 10 Hizkiyahu answered, “It’s easy for the shadow to go down ten intervals. No, let the shadow return backward ten intervals.” 11 Yesha‘yahu called out to Adonai, and he brought the shadow on the sundial of Achaz ten intervals backward after it had gone down that far.
12 B’rodakh-Bal’adan the son of Bal’adan, king of Bavel, heard that Hizkiyahu had been ill, so he sent a letter and a gift to him. 13 Hizkiyahu listened to [the messengers] and showed them the building where he kept his treasures, including the silver, gold, spices and precious oils; also the building where he kept his armor; and everything in his treasury — there was nothing in his palace or in his entire domain that Hizkiyahu did not show them. 14 Then Yesha‘yahu the prophet came to King Hizkiyahu and asked him, “What did these men say? Where did they come from?” Hizkiyahu answered, “They came from a distant country, Bavel.” 15 Yesha‘yahu asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” “They have seen everything in my palace,” said Hizkiyahu. “There isn’t a thing among my treasures that I haven’t shown them.” 16 Yesha‘yahu said to Hizkiyahu, “Hear what Adonai says: 17 ‘The day will come when everything in your palace, along with everything your ancestors stored up until today, will be carried off to Bavel. Nothing will be left,’ says Adonai. 18 ‘They will carry off some of your descendants, your own offspring; and they will be made eunuchs serving in the palace of the king of Bavel.’” 19 Hizkiyahu said to Yesha‘yahu, “The word of Adonai which you have just told me is good.” He thought, “Isn’t it, though, if peace and truth continue at least through my lifetime?”
20 Other activities of Hizkiyahu, his power and how he built the pool and aqueduct to bring water into the city are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. 21 Then Hizkiyahu slept with his ancestors, and M’nasheh his son took his place as king.
21:1 M’nasheh was twelve years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for fifty-five years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Heftzibah. 2 He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, following the disgusting practices of the nations whom Adonai had expelled ahead of the people of Isra’el. 3 For he rebuilt the high places Hizkiyahu his father had destroyed; he erected altars for Ba‘al and made an asherah, as had Ach’av king of Isra’el; and he worshipped all the army of heaven and served them. 4 He erected altars in the house of Adonai, about which Adonai had said, “In Yerushalayim I will put my name.” 5 He erected altars for all the army of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of Adonai. 6 He made his son pass through the fire [as a sacrifice]. He practiced soothsaying and divination and appointed mediums and persons who used spirit guides. He did much that was evil from Adonai’s perspective, thus provoking him to anger. 7 He set the carved image for the asherah he had made in the house concerning which Adonai had told David and Shlomo his son, “In this house and in Yerushalayim, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Isra’el, I will put my name forever. 8 Also I will not have the feet of Isra’el wander any longer out of the land which I gave their ancestors — if only they will take heed to obey every order I have given them and live in accordance with all the Torah that my servant Moshe ordered them to obey.” 9 But they did not take heed; and M’nasheh misled them into doing even worse things than the nations Adonai had destroyed ahead of the people of Isra’el.
10 Adonai spoke this message through his servants the prophets: 11 “Because M’nasheh king of Y’hudah has done these disgusting things; because he has done things more wicked than anything the Emori, who were there before him, did; also because with his idols he made Y’hudah sin; 12 therefore here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I am going to bring such calamity on Yerushalayim and Y’hudah that the ears of all who hear of it will tingle. 13 I will measure Yerushalayim with the same measuring cord that I used over Shomron, the same plumbline as for the house of Ach’av. I will scour Yerushalayim clean just as one scours a plate, scouring it and then turning it upside down. 14 I will abandon the remnant of my heritage, delivering them into the power of their enemies — they will become prey and plunder for all their enemies; 15 because they have done what is evil from my perspective and have provoked me to anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt to this very day.’”
16 Moreover, M’nasheh shed so much innocent blood that he flooded Yerushalayim from one end to the other — this in addition to his sin through which he caused Y’hudah to sin by doing what is evil from Adonai’s perspective.
17 Other activities of M’nasheh, all his accomplishments and the sin he committed are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. 18 Then M’nasheh slept with his ancestors and was buried in the garden of his own house, the Garden of ‘Uza; and Amon his son took his place as king.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for two years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Meshulemet the daughter of Harutz from Yotvah. 20 He did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, as had M’nasheh his father. 21 He followed entirely the manner of life of his father, serving the idols that his father served and worshipping them. 22 He abandoned Adonai, the God of his ancestors, and did not live in Adonai’s way.
23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and put the king to death in his own palace. 24 But the people of the land put to death all those who had been part of the conspiracy against King Amon. Then the people of the land made Yoshiyahu his son king in place of him.
25 Other activities of Amon and all he acomplished are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah. 26 Amon was buried in his tomb in the Garden of Uza, and Yoshiyahu his son took his place as king.
Galatians 5:1 What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words — I, Sha’ul, tell you that if you undergo b’rit-milah the Messiah will be of no advantage to you at all! 3 Again, I warn you: any man who undergoes b’rit-milah is obligated to observe the entire Torah! 4 You who are trying to be declared righteous by God through legalism have severed yourselves from the Messiah! You have fallen away from God’s grace! 5 For it is by the power of the Spirit, who works in us because we trust and are faithful, that we confidently expect our hope of attaining righteousness to be fulfilled. 6 When we are united with the Messiah Yeshua, neither being circumcised nor being uncircumcised matters; what matters is trusting faithfulness expressing itself through love.
7 You were running the race well; who has stopped you from following the truth? 8 Whatever means of persuasion he used was not from the One who calls you. 9 “It takes only a little hametz to leaven the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident that since you are united with the Lord, you will take no other view; and I am confident that the one who has been disturbing you, whoever he may be, will have to bear his punishment.
11 And as for me, brothers, if I am still preaching that circumcision is necessary, why am I still being persecuted? If that were the case, my preaching about the execution-stake would cause no offense whatever. 12 I wish the people who are bothering you would go the whole way and castrate themselves!
13 For, brothers, you were called to be free. Only do not let that freedom become an excuse for allowing your old nature to have its way. Instead, serve one another in love. 14 For the whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: “Love your neighbor as yourself”;[Galatians 5:14 Leviticus 19:18] 15 but if you go on snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other!
16 What I am saying is this: run your lives by the Spirit. Then you will not do what your old nature wants. 17 For the old nature wants what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is contrary to the old nature. These oppose each other, so that you find yourselves unable to carry out your good intentions. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism.
19 And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; 20 involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue 21 and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God!
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things.
24 Moreover, those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake, along with its passions and desires. 25 Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
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Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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