Reconciliation Father's Day - Bob Stark

Bob Stark

I think our tendency, as Western Christians, is that when reading scripture we tend to over spiritualize the stories and to jump to the conclusions we are looking for without really engaging in the story with our heart, and without asking the hard questions that make us uncomfortable.

Life is messy. Our lives are messy. And the lives of the bible characters were messy. And that's the point. With the exception of Jesus, they were just like us in many ways. They were stumbling through life, trying their best to follow God, yet they all lived in a very imperfect way. However, despite their weaknesses and struggles, God always had a plan of redemption.

God is big enough for us to ask hard questions….whether it be about the scriptures, or whether it be about our lives. In order to fully live, we need to fully engage with the scriptures, and to fully engage with life. We need to allow ourselves to look at things honestly, and engage with hard questions, and to wrestle with things that make us uncomfortable.

That’s actually a very Hebraic way to look at things, and is, I believe, the way that God would have us look at things. We are going to look at a familiar story, the story of the sacrifice of Isaac , with fresh eyes, and we are going to connect with the story with our hearts, not just our heads. To do this, we will refer to Genesis chapters 22, 23 and 24. Here’s what we know: God told Abraham to offer his son as a burnt offering on a mountain in the land of Moriah What we don't know is how Abraham handled this with Isaac….we don't know what conversations Abraham had or didn't have with Isaac leading up to this.

Let’s look at Genesis 22:1-19:

22 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” 3 So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will [a]provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to [b]slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you [c]fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

Here is a question to ask ourselves at this point in the story: “What was that experience like for Isaac?”

15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your [f]seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your [g]seed shall possess the gate of [h]their enemies. 18 And in your [i]seed all the nations of the earth shall [j]be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

Can we put ourselves in Isaac’s place for a minute? How must Isaac have felt? Could this have been traumatic for him?

One of the most prevalent Midrash viewpoints on this story is that Isaac was so traumatized by this experience that he didn't come back down the mountain with Abraham and instead, he ran away. Where does this come from? Let’s look further.

What is Midrash? Midrash is an ancient Jewish/hebraic form of commentary which leads to raising questions in an attempt to cause us to look deeper into the text for clues that are intentionally left there by the writers.

The purpose of Midrash is discovery. It teaches us how to think, how to wrestle and discover, but not what to think. As compared to our Western biblical commentary which typically tries to answer questions through explanation or interpretation

Findings: Abraham, Isaac, and two young men journey from Beersheba to the land of Moriah to make a sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac go up the mountain for the sacrifice. Abraham binds Isaac and is about to kill him when the angel of God stops him. God gives Abraham a prophecy about his legacy. There is no mention of Isaac coming down off of the mountain with Abraham and returning with him. Abraham returns with the young men to Beersheba.

Let’s continue in Genesis chapter 23:1-2. Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

Abraham then returns with the young men to Beersheba. Chapter 23 opens with the death of Sarah (Abraham’s wife) in Hebron. The original Hebrew text in vs 2 implies that Abraham “came to” where Sarah had died to mourn for her. In other words, Abraham was not with Sarah when she died  Sarah dies in Kirath-arba which is about 25 miles north of BeershebaSarah dies 25 miles away from where Abraham was (Beersheba)  Why were they separated? What must this experience have been like for Sarah? What conversations did Abraham have/or not have with Sarah about this? There is no mention of Isaac at all in this chapter.

In Chapter 24 we see the story of Abraham sending his chief servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. We find Isaac in Chapter 24, verse 62: “Now Isaac had come back from a journey to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev. 63 Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.”

• Beer-lahai-roi - This is the well that Hagar named when God met her after Abraham sent her away with Ishmael.

• Well - “You are a God who sees me.” Beer-lahai-roi is about 50 miles south of Beersheba 

• Meditate - the original Hebrew can be interpreted as “muse pensively.”

Why would Isaac go to Beer-lahai-roi? And why is he pensively musing?

• Let’s now put this all together: God speaks to Abrahan and tells him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering.

• Abraham, Isaac, and two young men go from Beersheba to the land of Moriah to make a sacrifice.

• Agraham and Isaac go up the mountain for the sacrifice.

• Abraham binds Isaac and is about to kill him when the angel of God stops him.

• God gives Abraham a prophecy about his legace.

• No mention of Isaac coming down off of the mountain with Abraham and returning with him.

• Abraham returns with the young men to Beersheba (presumably without Isaac).

• Isaac is in a field, having returned from Beer-Lahai-roi (a well named by Hagar after being sent away by Abraham and Sarah, 50 miles from Beersheba).

• Isaac is “pensively musing.”

Remember, this is about discovery, about wrestling with questions, not about trying to put a definitive answer to all of the questions.

So we have to admit what we don’t know, and not go too far to draw concrete conclusions, but I think there is enough here to say that not everything was perfect in this family, and likely there were some significant issues within the whole family unit. And it is very likely that this family has experienced some level of religious trauma as a result of these events.

So what do we do with this? We apply what we’ve learned here and we ask questions of ourselves: Have we experienced some type of religious trauma in our lives? Fathers: How many of us as fathers have done our best to follow God’s call on our lives, and have said yes to God as best we knew how, but in the process of us proceeding in an imperfect way, might have inflicted some level of trauma on our wives and children?

Maybe we went into ministry, and God used us mightily. But have we wrestled with the questions of “what impact has this had on my kids?” “What impact has this had on my wife, and our family as a whole?”

Have we allowed ourselves to ask these questions?

Have we asked this question to our wife, and children in order to get their perspective? Have we acknowledged our own “human-ness” in this equation and owned our mistakes in how we might have carried out our journey to follow God’s voice in our lives. This isn't to say that following God’s direction has caused trauma to our families, but that the way that we have walked it out may have. It begs us to have those honest conversations with our wives and children. Not to justify our actions, but to truly see them, and acknowledge our part if there has been hurt, and take whatever steps to ask for forgiveness and move toward mending the relationships.

The point here is that despite our best efforts as Fathers and Husbands to follow God's will and direction in our lives, the ways that we have walked this out have been imperfect at best, and our mistakes, no matter how well intentioned, may have led to consequences for the ones we love.

Children: How many of us as children have suffered trauma to our lives because of the imperfect way that our fathers have devoted their lives to “the ministry” in service to God?

• How has that impacted our relationship with our father? How has that impacted our view of our heavenly Father? How has that impacted our relationship with our heavenly Father?

• Has that caused resentment in relation to God?

• Have we acknowledged that trauma as real, and how have we dealt with that?

• Have we tried to speak to our parents about this?

The goal here is reconciliation. The goal is to “see” the impact of our decisions, and our actions on those we love….and own that in the fullest way possible… with the ultimate goal of bringing healing to our relationships.

Malachi 4:5;“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.”

It’s easy to look at this in regard to our society, but what about in our own household? It has to start with us as fathers, especially fathers in the church…

Bob Stark

You can watch this message at: https://www.youtube.com/live/kneeaHrN5Ls

Bob Stark and his wife Anita are Ordained ministers and Elders in The Covenant Center. Bob dives into God’s word bringing wisdom, insight and truth to his messages and teachings. He has a heart for the hurting and wounded and a desire to see people prosper. Bob encourages others to develop a relationship with God which brings intimacy and guidance from the Father. He and Anita enjoy spending time with their family and grandchildren. An avid fisherman, Bob enjoys the open water and the discussion of lively fishing tales.

Contact - www.info@thecovenantcenter.com

The Gospel of the Kingdom - Bob Stark

Bob Stark

Several weeks ago, Becky shared about us being in a time of transition - from Church Age to the Kingdom Age. Her message declared the transition, however most of her sharing reviewed the past church age. I was a bit confused and then realized we don’t really know what this future age will look like. So what do we do with that?  How do we respond, and what is even the difference between the two?

 I love questions, because questions lead to discovery….and discovery leads to intimacy In my observation (Big Picture) the Church Age was was mostly about “us” the Church. The overall focus was “inward.” Even our outreach, was focused to bring people “in” to the Church and getting people “in” to heaven.

But what does the Kingdom age look like?  Where do we start?

Question:

1. What does “the Gospel” mean to you?

1. My take:   Western, modern, Evangelical Church - predominant theme:  Gospel of Salvation  (Jesus died for our sins)

2. This viewpoint has shaped the world view of most of the church (maybe without us even realizing it). Almost everything is seen through or in relationship with that lens

Question:   “What was Jesus really trying to communicate when He referred to “the Gospel?”

When Jesus walked the earth, He had a narrative that centered around “The Gospel of the Kingdom”

The writers of “The Gospels”  were each telling a story, in their own way; each had their own unique “agenda” as they wrote their Gospels…they were never intended to be simply a historical account of Jesus’ time on the earth, …and their intentional use of the term “Gospel” had a very clear meaning based on the culture of their day.

The word for GOSPEL in the Greek is “Euangelion”.  The meaning is "good news" but the context was governmental or Kingdom oriented. The “Gospel”  was an imperial proclamation that announced a new king and a new kingdom had come on the scene. It is a term that was used in ancient Greece, (centuries before Jesus' time on the earth) and by the Romans after that. In fact, the use of the term “Gospel” by the Gospel writers was a very subversive statement against the well established culture of their day….

History Lesson:

Lets go back in history….Centuries before Jesus came to the earth, Alexander the Great, the Greek conqueror had a problem. He wanted to conquer the whole world for Greece, but he didn't have an army large enough to keep all of the people under his rule in submission and still have enough of an army left to conquer new territories (which was the same problem that others before him had). So Alexander utilized the Euangelion as part of his strategy. Now Alexander believed that the Greek way of life was superior to all of the other kingdoms in the earth, and so once his army conquered a particular kingdom or people group, if he could evangelize the new people to the Greek way of life, and show them that their lives were better under the Greek system than they were under their old system, then he had won the people and he wouldn't need large armies to keep them in subjugation.  He used “the Gospel”.  (The euangelion)

He spread the Gospel, or “Good News” that there was a new king and a new kingdom at hand, and proceeded to evangelize the benefits of the Greek Empire . The Greek worldview which became known as Hellenism) .  Hellenism was anchored by four tenets:

-       Healthcare

-       Education

-       Athletics

-       Theater (entertainment)

And in order for this strategy to really work, this “gospel” had to be backed up with tangible action.  In other words, the Greeks had to implement the 4 tenants of their ideology in each of the kingdoms or societies that they captured…So this gospel was also accompanied with tangible signs, which were seen to improve the lives of the local people.  And he successfully used this strategy to literally conquer the known world for Greece.   

As the Roman Empire grew in power, and eventually overthrew the Greek Empire, the Romans used this same successful strategy of the GOSPEL (euangelion) to evangelize that their new King and the new Kingdom of Rome had now come on the scene and was superior to the Greek way of life.

And each new Roman Emperor that came into power after that , would be proclaimed with this same gospel message.. So this idea and context of "THE GOSPEL" was very well known in Israel when Jesus came on the scene as the Jews were under Roman occupation at the time and were very familiar with this whole scenario. 

The Point:

The gospel writers use of this term (GOSPEL (euangelion) was intentional, and would have given the people hearing it a clear understanding of the context in which Jesus was referring to (i.e. there is a new King, and a new Kingdom that has come which is far superior to the Roman kingdom you are under, or any earthly kingdom for that matter ...this did not imply a religious or spiritual message at all. This message is why many of His followers tried to crown Him King, and expected Him to free the Jewish people from their Roman Occupation by force.

However, this Kingdom was different. Jesus used this contextual understanding of Gospel as His starting point or baseline for the people's understanding…ie. That this was about a kingdom on the earth, however, from there, He then taught and modeled that the Kingdom He was talking about was very different from any kingdom they had witnessed on the earth…That the Kingdom He was referring to operated on a whole different set of principles than they were used to.

-       Up was down

-       Down was up

-       If you want to be in authority, then be a servant

-       Everything about the Kingdom of Heaven was different from the common observation and understanding of earthly kingdoms. Jesus not only taught these principles, he demonstrated them…He brought the reality of Heaven to the earthly realm….He taught it, He demonstrated it, He lived it.

Unfortunately, when we look at the modern day church, we don't often see the kingdom principles that Jesus taught and demonstrated in actual practice….most of what we see is a top down approach, with many church leaders demonstrating more dominion, than servant leadership. And much of what is done, is done to support the structure of the organization, not the broader Kingdom of God….this isn’t ok.

In Matthew 3, John the Baptist's message in the wilderness was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Then when Jesus started His public ministry, He continued the same message. We find in Matthew 4:17  Jesus speaking: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Question:   What does this mean to you?

My opinion: In the modern evangelical church, we have framed this in light of the Salvation message - many would interpret this as “Stop sinning, do an about face from sin, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand…i.e. We need to stop sinning in order to “get into” the Kingdom of Heaven

The original greek word for Repent is “Metanoeo” which literally means “to change ones mind, to think differently, to do an about face in ones thinking”.

What I believe Jesus was really saying and what the Gospel writers were trying to communicate was:  Repent (change your way of thinking) because the Kingdom of Heaven (which has a very different way of operating or doing things) is now here…and to fully access it, it takes a complete change in the way you think.

In order for us to truly access and benefit from the Kingdom of Heaven being “at hand” we have to change our way of thinking and change our perceived understanding in order to align with the higher way of thinking and Higher purposes of the kingdom of heaven.

This was not a religious statement….it was a practical one. Jesus came to earth in an environment where the prevailing thinking of his day was Greek thinking (left brain), and even the Jews of his day had succumbed to that way of thinking. Remember, the Jews were under Roman rule, and most had bought into the GrecoRoman way of thinking and were living more Greek than Eastern at that time. Greek thinking is left brain (analytical, logical, linear, facts, logic). And Eastern thinking is right brain (creative, imagination, intuition, rhythm, artistic).

In addition, the way the Roman Empire worked (and Empires before that), was to try to assimilate the people to the Roman way of life, but those who rebelled, would be crushed…ie ultimately, it was dominion by domination. Yet Jesus modeled that the kingdom of Heaven operated the opposite of that. To lead, you must serve,. To go up, you must go down. Everything operated differently.

Our whole way of thinking must change, for us to enter (now) and fully participate in and with the Kingdom of heaven. The Kingdom message, the one that Jesus brought, is much larger, over arching and consistent with the totality of scripture, way back to God’s original intention for the earth. The message of Salvation is extremely important, but should be interpreted through the lens of the Kingdom, not the other way around.

In Luke 19 Jesus said “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” We sometimes limit this in our thinking to lost souls, but the full meaning here is that Jesus (as the Son of Man) has come to seek and to save all that was lost by Adam’s sin in the garden. This verse, Luke 19:11, is sandwiched between a story of Salvation (Zaccheus) and a Kingdom teaching about righteousness in finances leading to being put in authority over Cities. These two messages (Salvation and Kingdom) are connected, we just need to get them in the proper order or perspective.

Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:14  “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

We find in Matthew 11:12 (Jesus speaking),  “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”

The kingdom of Heaven is now accessible here on the earth (in the natural realm), but there are significant forces resisting it, and therefore those that contend for it, must do so with violent resolve. in other words you will not fully access the kingdom of heaven in this earth in a passive way, it takes spiritual violence to overcome the forces of evil that are trying to prevent it from coming to earth in fullness. It also takes physical risk and effort as this is a spiritual battle that is contending for the natural earth, which includes, but is not limited to the souls of the people.

The coming of Jesus ushered the kingdom of Heaven to the earth and empowered us (by the shedding of His blood and the gift of the Holy Spirit) to lay hold of it. But we have to fight and contend for it to fully come to earth and over take the current systems that are currently controlling the earth.

This is a spiritual battle, that is contending for the natural earth.

It starts with each of us with a change in how we think and our understanding of God our Father, and an understanding of our individual gifts and purpose on the earth.

The End Goal:

Habakkuk 2:14

The earth will be filled with the knowledge (Yada) of the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea.

Yada = intimacy.

Bob Stark

Bob and his wife Anita are Ordained ministers and Elders in The Covenant Center. Bob dives into God’s word bringing wisdom, insight and truth to his messages and teachings. He has a heart for the hurting and wounded and a desire to see people prosper. Bob encourages others to develop a relationship with God which brings intimacy and guidance from the Father. He and Anita enjoy spending time with their family and grandchildren. An avid fisherman, Bob enjoys the open water and the discussion of lively fishing tales..

Contact: info@thecovenantcenter.com