Reading Reality

And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.  And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” (Judges 6:9,10 ESV)

Reading Reality

God’s People are delightfully unique.  Because our God is unique.  He IS the Lord our God. 

It is easy to misunderstand that… to water it down… to miss the profound strength of it.

When the Israelites were not listening to THEIR GOD’S voice, they did not stop being His People. 

Their relationship with God was completely due to HIS love of them.  And their disobedience did not change that relationship.

Their disobedience did cause God to react.  He sent enemy nations against them. He sent them famines.  He sent them troubles.  He sent them pain.

NOT because He had stopped loving them.  NOT because they had been so terrible that they drove Him away.  NOT because He was no longer their God.

But because He DID love them God pushed them, taught them, troubled them, guided them, discouraged and encouraged them, and when they were foolish they might have misinterpreted reality.

But the really real reality was that God was their God.

And Christians today are in the same situation.  When we disobey God, ignore God, misunderstand God, and even when we blame God… He does not stop loving His people.

He died for us.  He redeemed us.  He loves us.

The battles we are involved in are never God against us. 

They might be us against Him.  They might be us against what we truly know.  They might be us against our poor decisions.  They might be us against what we can really know.

But do not forget, or doubt, or fear, that God, through His Son, Jesus Christ… is your God.

The Best Strategy

The Best Strategy

So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. (Judges 3:18-30 ESV)

King Eglon of Moab is displayed in the book of Judges as a comical man.  He is an excellent example of a Fool in the Bible.

For a time, he held sway over the people of Israel.  Because he chose an apparently good stratagem.  When Joshua had led the Israelites into the Promised Land, he first conquered the key region of Jericho, guarding the fords over the tempestuous waters of the Jordan River. 

That was a good strategic decision for the people of Israel.

And when Eglon decided to lead the Moabites to rule over the Israelites a few years later, he chose to follow in Joshua’s sandal-steps.  Eglon took the region of Jericho, too.

For a time, it worked.  Israel was subject to Moab.

But Eglon had neglected the most important part of any plan.  It is not enough to have a well-formulated plan.  It is not enough to have courage and willpower.  It is not enough to have experience, knowledge, and skills.

Any plan, to succeed, needs God.

And Eglon did not follow God.

Joshua did not defeat and hold Jericho because of his wit.  Joshua defeated and held Jericho because of the One True Living God.

Joshua did not defeat and hold Jericho because of his skilled troops.  Joshua defeated and held Jericho because of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Joshua did not defeat and hold Jericho because of good timing and strategic understanding.  Joshua defeated and held Jericho because he believed in the coming redemption of God’s people.

Good planning and strategy are nothing.  Good planning and strategy in service to the Lord is everything.

Plan accordingly.

Rational Disobedience

Manasseh… Epohraim… Zebulun… Naphtali… Dan.  (Judges 1:27-36 ESV)

Rational Disobedience

Cut from the descriptions of which tribes of Israel failed to fully conquer their portion of the promised land, we can add Benjamine and Judah from earlier verses.

These failures led directly to the troubles Israel had during the time of the Judges.  These failures led to the struggles for Kingship between King Saul and King David. These failures led eventually to the division of Israel and Judah after the death of King Solomon.

There were clear reasons for each tribe’s failure.

Some of the Israelites were tired from years of wandering and war.  In some cases, the enemy was too firmly rooted in defensible geography.  In some cases  the remaining enemies made useful laborers, so getting rid of them was not practical.

But really, simply, at core… it was disobedience.

And we see in the Israelites that disobedience to God usually seems to make sense.  Rebellion against God (which is another name for disobedience) is often well-dressed… sensible… practical… and rational.

But only in the short term.

 Because disobedience always leads to death.

Our rational disobedience looks a lot like the Israelites.  Obedience, even for heart-changed believers, can be hard.  Disobedience seems sometimes expedient, and we always disobey ‘just this once.’  We disobey God for practical, profitable reasons.  We disobey God because obedience takes more time than disobedience.  We disobey God because other folk have paved the way.

We disobey because we still need Jesus.

Israel’s disobedience did lead to the troubles in the time of the Judges, to the conflict between Saul and David, and to the tearing of Israel in twain.

It also led to the necessity of the Messiah. 

Of course, this does not mean that disobedience ultimately is a good thing.  But God understands it and provided a solution, Christ Jesus.  It does not alter His love for His people.  It does not change His mind about us.  Our disobedience does not defeat God.

Because even when we don’t get rid of the sin lurking, Christ on the cross finishes the job!

Mizpah

And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. (Joshua 11:8)

Mizpah

Years ago, many Christians purchased Mizpah coins.  Medallions split jaggedly in half, and shared between good friends who were separated by circumstances.  The two coins were a promise that the coin-holders would remain connected, even when apart.  Originally, while at Mizpeh and separating, Jacob and Laban made Mizpah promises to each other along those lines.  "The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another" (Genesis 31:49).

Perhaps it is no accident that Joshua and the Israelites fought against a horde of Northern Canaanites Kings at the Valley of Mizpeh.

Because God, in giving Israel a surprising impossible victory, proved Himself once again to be bonded with His people.  Even without a jagged medallion, God watches over us, is with us, and unites us to Himself.

He did not abandon Joshua, and He does not abandon you.

He did not forget His promises of a Land, and He does not forget His promises of peace to you.

He did not leave the Israelites in terror, and He does not leave you without joy.

And it is not a vague idea, any more than the Battle at the Valley of Mizpah was vague.  Jesus is God not abandoning us.  Jesus is God keeping His promises.  Jesus is God watching, and keeping, and helping, and redeeming, and forgiving, and loving.

Already But Not Yet

After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” (Judges 1:1,2 ESV)

Already But Not Yet

In the opening verses of Judges, a number of important geographic locations are listed.  Places like Jerusalem, Negev, Bethel, Hebron, and Gaza…

You have probably heard of them.

At the beginning of Judges, none of them are part of Israel yet.

Even at the end of Judges, many are not yet part of the Land.

But eventually, they all are a part of ancient Israel.

It took warfare, bloodshed, sacrifice, and effort.

But really, God is showing that in HIS mind, these places are already completed promises.

For us, heaven is like that.  For us, sanctification is like that.  For us, being closer to God is like that.  For us, oneness in Christ is like that.

In God’s eyes, they already ARE.  Our eyes and history just need to catch up with Him.

Common Sense

And the men went up and spied out Ai.  And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.”  So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai,  and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water. (Joshua 7:2-5 ESV)

Common Sense

Among some folk today, we might be developing a Cult of Common Sense.  Probably due to many silly and irresponsible activities and solutions observed in Western Culture, many are decrying the lack of Common Sense, and advocating a return to the Good Old Days of the Rein of Common Sense.

It can be observed in Politics, in Old Man porch conversations, and in Social Media bumper stickers.

But God’s Sense sits on a higher throne than Common Sense.

For the Israelites, Common Sense urged them to bring less troops to attack Small Ai. It just made sense.  It was logical.  It was pragmatic.  It came from their recent Jerichoan experience. 

But the Highter Sense could have nudge them to choose adherence to God’s Way as a path to continued progress in the Promised Land.

The Israelites left God out of the equation, and so their Common Sense was actually Foolish Sense.

For us, too, pragmatism and experience are dangerous.  Not because pragmatism and experience, those things usually found under the umbrella of Common Sense, are bad things as such.

But because too often pragmatism and experience leave Christ’s power, grace, experience, and Revelation out of the picture.

May Godly Sense become so prevalent that it becomes Common Sense…

Worship and War

You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. (Joshua 6:4 ESV)

Worship and War

When Joshua received his marching orders from God, I wonder if he saw the same numbers that I see this morning.

March for six days, and then the seventh day is something special.

That sounds a lot like God’s commandment to work six days, and the seventh is the Lord’s Day.

Work and Worship were originally similar words, both rooted in the idea of service.

During Joshua’s army’s march, they blew trumpets and praised God… a form of worship.

During the seventh day, they marched around seven more times, still blowing the horns, doing the hard work of worship… and then the walls came tumbling down.

Yes, we worship on the Lord’s Day.  But all week long we serve God as we work, and focus on Him in an ongoing low boil worship.

On the Lord’s Day, our worship is not casual and lazy.  But energetic, with focus.  With loud and quiet praises.  It is a form of work, in a special way.

And these concepts are tied together even more closely.  We are at war.  Our daily work, wherever we labor, is bringing God’s Kingdom into more obvious fruition.  And our worship is the same thing.  We join heaven and earth in a time of Jesus’ presence.  Each day of work and worship is a victory!  Sometimes a small victory.  Sometimes a big victory.

The Good Start

Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. (Joshua 6:2 ESV)

The Good Start

No subterfuge here. 

Simply the people of God arriving in the Land. 

Joshua did not try negotiation.  Joshua did not strive to find common ground with the people of Jericho.  No clever stratagems.

Such things are appropriate at times.

But here, as God plants His people in the Land that He had promised them, God starts with a moment of strength.

He has come.

And the enemies are afraid.

All through the wilderness wandering, God has been building the reputation of His people.

On the other side of the Jordan River, God has been building the reputation of His people.

As Israel crossed the Jordan River, God has been building the reputation of His people.

And the result is, that Jericho knows who has come.

And they cowered behind their walls.

From a practical perspective, this made Joshua’s job easier.  The key city of Canaan, Jericho, was already boxed in.

From an emotional perspective, this made Joshua’s job easier.  As unlikely as it might have seemed, the result of this battle was already determined.

From a spiritual perspective, this made Joshua’s job easier. 

Because ultimately, the enemies of God are not afraid of Israel.

They are afraid of God.  And they should be.

Still true today!

Totally

Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses  and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” (Numbers 31:48-50 ESV)

Totally

Every Israelite Soldier survived.  Every Midianite Soldier perished.

Every bit of plunder was brought to the Lord.  Every valuable Midianite possession was destroyed.

There was no middle ground in this battle.

It was all or nothing.

God’s ways are ‘all or nothing’ more often than we, His people, are often comfortable.

He demands and deserves total submission to Him.  Not merely submission when convenient, or when we agree with what He is doing and saying.

He loves His people completely, doing ALL things for our good.  Not merely giving a nudge or two at key moments of history, or at an important moment in the development of our hearts.

Jesus, in His suffering, did not redeem us from most of our guilt. 

Jesus, on the cross, did not mostly die.

Jesus was resurrected… completely and even improved.

Jesus ascended to the right hand of God the Father, and was given the throne… not brought a little bit closer to His reign.

God saves totally… because we need total salvation.

Accept Help

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. (Exodus 17:11-13 ESV)

Get Help

The battle against the Amalekites was in Moses’ hands.

Literally.

As Joshua led the army in tactics, Moses raised his hands, presumably as a symbol of prayer and submission to God.  When Moses was able to keep his hands raised, the army did well.  When Moses grew tired, the army faltered.

So Moses accepted help.

Aaron and Hur (father of Ben, perhaps) helped Moses keep his hands up.

It is hard to ask for help.  Maybe harder for leaders than for the rest of us.

But Moses accepted help.

As we fight our battles day in and day out, we grow weary. 

Learn to accept help.

Moses’ help ultimately came from God, but God used human agents.  He desires the same thing for us.  They might not be named Aaron or Hur… and they might help in other ways than holding up tired arms.  But we have helpers, too.

Parents, siblings, friends, pastors, elders, deacons, employees, employers, co-workers, professionals, amateurs, doctors, nurses, mechanics, craftsmen, gardeners, authors, podcasters, teachers, and even strangers are all around us to lift our arms.

Accept help.

Weak Stength

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.  The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. (Exodus 14:22,23 ESV)

Weak Strength

The Egyptian army was mighty, it kept an empire in Pharaoh’s control.  The Egyptians had the best technology, vast numbers, and the will to subdue all enemies.  Some have said that until Pharaoh encountered God on the shores of the Red Sea, Pharaoh’s dynasty had never faced a defeat.

The winning streak of Egyptian seemed to be continuing.  A large rabble of slaves had left Egypt heading off to the Northeast.  Egypt’s natural border, the Red Sea was an unbreachable wall.  So Pharaoh sent his army, complete with chariots, cavalry, and soldiers, to press the rabble against it. 

Pharaoh’s confidence is shown in the word ‘pursue.’  Pharah did not merely move against the people of God… Pharaoh pressed, Pharaoh raced, Pharaoh pursued.

No one would have expected the rabble to survive.

But God took the strength of Egypt and used it against the Egyptians.

First, God brought the Israelites through the impenetrable Red Sea border.  He did not provide rafts.  He did not let them walk on top.  He did not change their solidity and allow them to walk through the water unwet.

He opened a path, a firm hard path, and the Israelites walked through the Sea wall.  What was strong, in God’s hands, became meaningless and weak.

And that act pulled the Egyptians right along the path behind Israel.

And then God released HIS wall of water and crushed the mighty Egyptian army.

If the Egyptians had been patient, Israel might have escaped but Egypt would have remained a world power.  If the Egyptians had been a walking army, when the water crashed down, they could have swum.  If the Egyptians were not tech-heavy, the army could have easily survived.

But God used what Egypt thought was strength into the means of their demise.

God often works that way.

Our pride makes us fall.  Our favored sins wreck our lives.  God brings down civilizations that have built themselves up with rebellious worldviews.

And Satan thought he had won when the Messiah was killed on a cursed cross.  But that death… that apparent Satanic victory… was like chariots in the Red Sea.

It was no defeat for God.  It was the necessary glorious Victory over God’s enemies.  He, taking the manipulative strength of Satan, turned it into the absolute Victory God was enacting all along.

So relax… God turns His enemies’ strengths into weakness!

Battles are Personal

Battles are Personal

When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.  Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people. (Genesis 14:14-16 ESV)

War and Battles are, of course, usually fought about principles, ideas, and worldviews.  We usually speak about fighting for freedom, fighting for rights, or fighting to end an evil thing.

But this first battle in the Bible is personal.

A war of rebellion had just finished in the Fertile Crescent.  Five kings fought against an high king and three other kings… making a war of five leaders against four. We do not know what mottos had been shouted from city walls, or what motivated either side to fight. 

But we DO know that Sodom and Gomorrah were on the side that was rebelling. And what we know about Sodom and Gomorrah gives us confidence in saying that they were likely the bad guys.

Abram did not take part in the war.  He was not a king, nor dwelling in the lands ruled by the nine fighting kings.  But when the Big Fight was finished, his nephew Lot had been taking captive.

And for Abram, that was personal.

So he took a force of 318 soldiers, and rescued Lot and Lot’s folk.   God aided Abram, of course.  How else could that small force defeat the victorious army made up of the soldiers of five kingdoms?  And Melchizedek praises God for saving Abram during the victory celebration and worship that followed.

But notice that Abram fought a battle when it was personal.  Yes, principles matter.  But when we choose to fight, whether with swords or words, spears or speeches, arrows or conversations… it is personal.

And when the BIG battle of the Bible… Christ defeating His enemies on the cross, and in the empty tomb, it was also personal.

Yes, Christ saved His people.  Yes, Christ defeated Sin.  Yes, Christ was providing the way for rebels to return to God.

But it was also personal.

Christian, He did it for you.

Biblical Battles

Biblical Battles

War and battles have played a very present part in the Story of God’s People.

Obviously, Spiritual Battles began in the Garden, with catastrophic results.

The providential progression from Seth to Joseph and Mary is obvious.  This was a strategic war that God planned, orchestrated, and carried out.  With the result of the Messiah’s birth.

The Gospels and Paul’s Letters describe with military terms what the life of believers often looks like.

The Old Testament, and occasionally the New Testament describe actual physical battles… both in terms of strategy and tactics.  These events did not just happen randomly in history, to be recorded at a Biblical author’s whim.

Rather, these battles or examples of God’s active part in our history.  These battles are examples of sin’s terrible effects.  These battles are examples of some of the work that God’s people might be called to do.  These battles are important enough to spend some time considering them.

So for the next while, let’s look at Biblical Battles.

God's Justice and Tasting

God’s Justice ----- Tasting

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6 ESV)

Justice is understood by the idea that everyone should receive what we deserve.  Much more than a legal or judicial concept, Justice can include ethics, opportunity, and respect.

God, because of His omniscience and holiness is the best arbitrator of what is just, and how to achieve justice.

God seems to believe that humans (each person) deserves information… or as he puts it, “answers.”  Thus, God has given us revelation.  Thus, God has given us knowledge.  Thus, God has given us understanding.

Paul suggests an interesting side note here, when WE give information.  He tells his readers to season our ‘answers,’ the information that we give, with salt. 

Not to give due information or answers blandly, but seasoned with salt.

Not to focus our information, or answers, in a way that will fade, but seasoned with salt.

Not to horde information, or answers, only informing what WE think is necessary, but to speak, write, and sing graciously! To be God-like in our answering, copying HIS gracious giving of information.

Food without seasonings like salt would be bland, less helpful, and boring.

This is true with God’s information that He has given His people, too.

Information without seasoning would be secretive, cold, and dull.

Be glad God uses salt when He justly gives the information we need.

And we get to season liberally, like Him.

God's Justice and Smelling

God’s Justice ---- Smelling

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:21-24 NIV)

At the dining room table, as a young boy, I sometimes was commanded to apologize for misbehavior.  I sometimes said the words, but did not mean them.

When in the middle of a financial crises, I have sometimes tithed purely out of obligation, with no gladness in my heart.

I remember worshipping one particular Lord’s Day, while failing in a struggle with Sin.  I sang praises.  I read God’s Word.  I muttered prayers.  But I meant none of it.

All of those things are a stench, in Amos’ words.

And the answer to all of them, and others like them, is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer… Christ Jesus.

Because He brings justice.  He takes the penalties of Sin on Himself, and frees my back from those burdens.  He brings justice.  He covers me with His holy robes so that I become, in God’s eyes, righteous.  He brings justice.  He takes all my stenchy insincerity, when I cry out to Him, and changes me in God’s eyes.

It is a surprising Justice.  It is a gracious Justice.  It is a saving Justice.

And it smells wonderful.

God's Justice and Touching

God’s Justice --- Touching

They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. (Daniel 5:4,5 ESV)

Some Christians focus a lot on the Spiritual aspect of God.  Others focus a lot on the Physical aspect of God.  Of course, God is both.

And the Physical aspect of God is connected to the sense of touch.

In Daniel 5, the finger of God wrote on King Belshazzar’s wall.  God touched the wall, and wrote a message to the King.

And it was a message about justice.  In essence, the message proclaimed that God had numbered the king's days, weighed him on the balances, and found him "wanting".

In this event, God communicated about justice by touching that plaster wall, with a sort of holy and righteous graffiti.  King Belshazzar was judged, and found guilty… with the result of God’s wrath.

God’s interaction with the world often involves physical touch.  He blesses physically, and H curses physically.  All of God’s blessings and curses found in Deuteronomy 28 involve the Hand of God, in fact. 

Christians, those whom Christ replaces in God’s judgement, have no reason to fear God’s justice.  We can examine our life and find physical, touch-oriented ways that God blesses His people, because of the curse/blessing exchange made on Christ’s cross.

God’s touch reveals His justice.

God's Justice and Hearing

God’s Justice – Hearing

An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. (Proverbs 17:4 ESV)

It is easy to blame liars, deceivers, and gossipers for a lot of the troubles today.  Justice seems hard to find when liars distort the truth, deceivers hide the truth, and gossipers make truth a game.

But right along side those who abort justice with words, are those who listen to those liars, deceivers, and gossipers.

Justice is nurtured when we listen carefully rather than believe whatever is being told.

Justice is nurtured when we listen with discernment rather than doubt whatever is being told.

Justice is nurtured when we listen humbly rather than eagerly hear of others’ faults.

Justice is nurtured when we listen to God rather than to those who oppose Him.

Justice is nurtured when we have filled our minds with God’s foundational truth, centered around the gospel, rather than tickle our ears with selfish self-promoting fiction.

God's Justice and Seeing

God’s Justice – Seeing

So the king arose and sat in the gate. When they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate,” then all the people came before the king. (II Samuel 19:8 ESV)

One of the best visual evidences for God’s justice is found in the existence of the governments that He has established.

Mankind does not naturally like justice, other than when it suits us.  We like to receive our own perception of justice a lot more than we like to dispense fair justice.  We like to receive the blessings that we think we deserve rather than ensure blessings that others deserve.  We like to get OUR way, rather than be concerned that true justice is found.

So God gives us governments.

Whether ancient kingdoms, modern republics, or something in between, God sets up (delegates) authority structures as an expression of His Justice.

It does not always work perfectly.

Some government forms, and some individuals within those forms are better at Justice than others.

But the fact that Almighty God institutes such things is evidence of His justice.  Our acknowledgement that we NEED that help is evidence of His justice.  And our conscience regarding the value or failures of those governments is evidence not of our nobility, but His justice trickling down through His people.

Admittedly, it is hard to see at times.

But that is why God’s people strive towards MORE justice in our societies, communities, and governments.

God's Faithfulness and Tasting

God’s Faithfulness ----- Tasting

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103 ESV)

God’s ways are sweet. 

I am often grateful to God that He not only gives us food to eat, but that He gives us tasty food to eat.  He COULD have made all vegetables taste like kale.  But He did not.  He also gave us carrots, peas, squash, and yes… Brussels Sprouts.

He COULD have made all meat taste like chicken.  But He did not.  He also gave us beef, salmon, pork, and possum.

He COULD have made all bready things taste like saltless saltine crackers.  But He did not. He gave us birthday cake, sourdough, biscuits, and Fritos™

His Faithfulness to His people is demonstrated in His gift of taste…

And then add the Old Testament Feasts, culminating in the Lord’s Supper! He sweet is the bread, because it is the Body of the Lord!  How sweet is the wine, because it is His blood!  That bread and wine celebrate His faithfulness!  And isn’t it sweet?

God's Faithfulness and Smell

God’s Faithfulness ---- Smelling

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9 ESV)

Dirty socks are stinky socks.  Dirty automobile trunks are stinky automobile socks.  Dirty dishes are stinky dishes.

Unclean things have a smell, an odor, a stench.

While perhaps mostly in a metaphorical sense, our sins and unrighteousness are dirty, and smelly, and stinky.

But God is faithful to clean up our stench-causing dirt.

He is faithful to His promise to forgive.  Really forgive, not just a hope for forgiveness.  Really forgive, not just a symbol of cleansing.  Really forgive, not just a future holiness.

God is faithful to remove our stench.