Advent Word Study: Shalom / Peace

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Video: Advent Word Study: Shalom / Peace 

The Peace Of God With Us

God's people will have peace when sin is defeated.

Peace On Earth, Good Will To Men

Is there really any peace?

Peace With God

Find out from Billy Graham.

The Peace Of God With Us

God's people will have peace when sin is defeated.

Isaiah 9:1-5 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 

4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.

God redeemed his people from Egypt and ended their slavery to that kingdom of darkness but it didn't last forever. Another dark kingdom would come along and oppress God's people again and again but most of the time it was their own fault. 

God was using the nations to reprimand his people, they are living in the same darkness as the rest of the world because they are living just like the rest of the world. Despite the warnings from God through Moses that they were given before they even got to the Promised Land they have failed to live by God's standards over and over again. (Deuteronomy 31:14-30, 32:1-47)

Since Israel refused to be a light to the nations God eventually chose to punish his people, the one nation became two and later they both were defeated. First the Northern Kingdom was taken away by the Assyrians 800 years before Jesus comes, and then the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians 200 years later.

The people of Isaiah's day needed the message of hope that peace was coming to their nation. The message of peace was received by King Ahaz that he would have victory over his enemy but there is more to the prophecy than that, there was a distant prophecy and also another application of the prophecy that we are still waiting for thousands of years later.

God's message through Isaiah told about a new ruler, that would be victorious over their enemies, a ruler that will bring true peace that will end all wars. It sounds like God must be sending a mighty warrior to save the day but suddenly we get a prediction that a baby boy is on the way.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!

They wanted a great military victory that would get rid of their enemy forever but that's not the way God works. The people living in darkness that heard Isaiah speak these words probably didn't find much comfort in the announcement of a baby. They wanted to immediately see a great light of hope that would give them the peace that was promised in the previous verses.

One of the most difficult things to understand is why God loves to send a baby to do a man's job. Why can't a full grown man arrive on the scene and take care of things right away? We want someone with strength, know how and determination but God prefers to send a special baby to do the job.

Jesus first advent was prophesied for hundreds of years and then there was another 400 years of silence after Malachi. When baby Jesus finally arrives it is very similar to the situation when God's people were in bondage to Egypt. 

Back when they were in Egypt for 400 years without a word from God, there was a baby that would eventually be their savior, he would have to be protected from Pharaoh, and then the baby reached 80 years old before his ministry began. 

The light of the world came in peace to be with us.

Luke 1:78-79 Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

If you look at world history in Europe and the Middle East for hundreds of years before Jesus arrival you will begin to understand how miserable the conditions are when Jesus is born. The Promised Land has been invaded by many different countries, various world powers will rise and fall, many of them will invade Israel, including Jerusalem, and the temple.

Finally God is with us, up close and personal, but without the fear that was always present back in the Old Testament. When God came to us as a baby there wasn't any restrictions on who could see or touch him. But, as accessible as he was and as exciting as the news was, his arrival was unnoticed by almost everyone.

Eventually the baby grew up and although he did nothing wrong, he became a disappointment for his people, they were just like King Ahaz, they wanted a military victory. They wanted a savior from today's problems but Jesus came to solve their eternal problem.

The final war that will bring us permanent peace is on the way.

Daniel 7:13-14 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal-it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

There will be a final war to set-up the eternal kingdom of our savior, God's people will rejoice at his arrival and his final victory over evil. (Isaiah 9:3-5) The everlasting kingdom of the Messiah will give permanent rest for his people but the sad truth is this peace is not for everyone. 

God's peace will be rejected by the enemy and the children of the enemy, they will not survive the harvest that Jesus told us about at the end of the age. You must accept God's offer of peace before it is too late, those that are not a part of the kingdom now cannot become citizens of his kingdom later. (Matthew 13:36-43)

Peace in this world can only happen if you have peace with God. 

My ultimate enemy has been defeated and I have accepted God terms to make peace with him. Even in the worse chaos I know that I am secure for eternity in God's eternal kingdom of peace. 

When this world has no peace to offer I need to remember that: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

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The Peace Offering

Celebrating the restoration of shalom with the King and with our neighbors.

Leviticus 3:1-3 "If you present an animal from the herd as a peace offering to the LORD, it may be a male or a female, but it must have no defects. 2 Lay your hand on the animal's head, and slaughter it at the entrance of the Tabernacle. Then Aaron's sons, the priests, will splatter its blood against all sides of the altar. 3 The priest must present part of this peace offering as a special gift to the LORD. This includes all the fat around the internal organs,

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From my previous post, you may get the idea that sacrificing animals began in the book of Leviticus but sacrifices have already been around ever since the first sin while man was still living in the Garden of Eden. Right after they left Eden the Bible moves on to Cain and Abel worshiping God and somehow they knew that they shouldn't approach God without a sacrifice.

The first sacrifice that the book of Leviticus shows us is the Burnt Offering which was a gift wholly given to God, they did not approach God casually like we do today. Next was the Grain Offering that was given to show our gratitude to God for providing for our needs.

After the worshiper finished the obligatory Burnt and Grain offerings it was natural to celebrate their renewed fellowship with God. It wasn't enough to have peace with God and just keep it to yourself, to receive shalom and not celebrate it would be a sign that you don't really appreciate the amazing deed that God has done for you.

Since God is the host of this party the food must be eaten in his house. Parts of the sacrificed animal belong to God, other parts to the priest and other parts to the person bringing the offering. It reminds me of the covenant meal that God served to Israel's leaders when they ratified the covenant at Mount Sinai.

Exodus 24:11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!

All of the religious systems around God's people had sacrifices and celebrations but none of them had the demand from God to be ceremonially clean and celebrate by his rules. This celebration time had to be free from the immoral practices that Israel had learned from the culture. (Leviticus 7:19-21)

Luke 1:78-79  Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,  79  to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.

God has done everything necessary to give us the only way to obtain peace with him.

The solution to our sin problem could only come from God and it was always his intention to go to the extreme to restore our relationship. Only the perfect sacrifice that God provided could provide our pardon and bring back the shalom that was lost in the garden.

God provided my peace offering which isn't really mine unless I accept it, I need to admit that Jesus is my only way to have fellowship with God, and he is the only way that I can come to the table and eat the bread and drink the cup. Do you have peace with God? (Romans 5:1-2)

God has done everything necessary for us to obtain peace with everyone. 

The peace that I have with God should naturally bring joyful, peaceful and loving relationships with my enemies, my neighbors and especially with the rest of God's family. True peace should bring an amazing joy that has to come out and be shared with others. (Matthew 5:9)

When my sins, which are way more offensive to God, are forgiven how can I refuse to forgive other sinners who have sinned against me? If I cannot forgive the sins that have been committed against me, which are so small, then I must not appreciate the undeserved forgiveness that I received. (Matthew 18:21-35)

As a priest of the king of kings I need to do my job, showing the world the only source of everlasting peace with God that will bring great joy. (Mark 9:50 / 1 Peter 2:5, 9 / Colossians 1:19-20)

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Perfect Gifts: Peace

We can all use some more peace on earth.

Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

Colossians 1:19-20 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

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The infant child arrived on a night that was just like any other as far as most people could tell. But in this small corner of the world there was a magnificent event taking place. The God of all creation became Immanuel, God with us, hardly anyone knew that the Prince of Peace came as a baby to change our relationship with God and with our fellow man.

Ever since the original sin in the Garden of Eden the world has been in chaos. Satan hated mankind because they were the most excellent part of his creation because we were made in his image. That's the reason Satan hates you so much, God is his enemy and since you are made in God's image, you force Satan to see his enemy everywhere.

So Satan went to work to break the relationship that God enjoyed with man. Maybe he thought that God would destroy us because of our sin but God had a better plan to make a way for us to have peace with him.

The original sin was the beginning of strained relationships, suddenly relationships were tainted by fear, man and woman tried to hide from God in the bushes and from each other by creating clothing to cover themselves.

Peace with God

Romans 5:1,10-11 Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. 

Our situation was hopeless and there wasn't any way for us to fix our broken relationship with God. As soon as you were conceived you became an enemy of God, your sin nature put you at odds with him, but he loved you too much to leave you in that condition.

A just God must punish sin but thankfully our God is also a God of mercy and peace. The same all powerful God that is your judge is also the provider of your pardon. Jesus told us over and over again during his three years of ministry that he came so that he could die to pay the debt that we owed for our sins. That was his main agenda.

Peace with Man

Romans 12:16-18 Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.  

We are to approach our relationships with our fellow man the same way that Jesus treated us, he didn't give us what we deserve, he didn't seek revenge for those that hurt him, he didn't even raise his voice in anger to defend himself. 

As a follower of Jesus we must put aside our natural reactions to being wronged and allow the characteristics of the Holy Spirit to be our guide. It is amazing that we think that the Holy Spirit can dwell in us and yet we can be so at odds with one another. (Galatians 5:22-23)

"True love never thinks evil of the beloved. It is never suspicious, but always supportive and inspiring. True love bears all things. Nothing weakens or undermines it." -Billy Graham 

We should be able to make peace and live harmoniously with those around us as a result of the peace that we have with God, he went to the extreme to fix relationships and he expects us to do the same. How far will you go to mend a broken relationship?

John 14:27  "I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid." 

The biblical concept of peace does not focus on the absence of trouble. It is ironic that Jesus taught his disciples about peace on the night before He was arrested and sentenced to die. Jesus didn't give us any reason to believe that this world was going to be easy but he did say that we can have peace in the middle of our trials.

Thank you Lord for bringing peace to our relationship, a peace that affects every part of my life. Help me to show peace to the world so that they will know the Prince of Peace.

A Heart Of Thanks: Has Peace

Peace comes to those who think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

 

Philippians 4:2-9 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.

7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me--everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

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You cannot be full of joy and have a thankful attitude if you are arguing or if you are worried about something. The enemy hates peace and he will find a way to make it difficult to "think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise" when somebody has done you wrong, when somebody sees things differently or when difficult events comes our way.

Being thankful, rejoicing, and praying all work together to produce a peace that surpasses understanding. I need to decide to be considerate even if I don't want to be or feel like it. Sometimes it is a deliberate choice that goes against our real desires.

Prayer is a great way to change my attitude so that I can have peace and be thankful, Paul told the Philippians not to worry, tell God what you need and thank him for what he has already done. When I pray I can thank God for revealing the end of the story, I know he has the solution for my sin, I know that he is in control and I know that someday peace will be an eternal condition.

Help me Lord to be thankful for those around me even when they don't do things my way or when they treat me poorly. I want to dwell on the things that are excellent and worthy of praise so I can appreciate the people and the circumstances in my life and live with peace.

God's Friends Act Like They Are Not

Two kinds of people in this world and sometimes you cannot tell them apart.

Genesis 20:1-5 Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, 2 Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.

3 But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!”

4 But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.”

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After the destruction of Sodom in the previous chapter of Genesis, Abraham is on the move again, we don't know why he moved or if he was in God's will but I have to wonder if maybe he was too close to Sodom and he couldn't bear the sight of the destroyed city and the family and friends that he lost. 

We do know that when he moves his insecurities come out, the last time that he moved was to go to Egypt during the famine that was in Canaan, that trip was the beginning of a lot of trouble that continues today.

You would think that he would have learned from the very serious lie and the extreme consequences. In his attempt to save his own life he jeopardized his promised son and his promised future including the lineage of the Messiah. 

It seems odd that he would be so insecure when he has such a personal relationship with God and such amazing promises. But it is a blessing for us to see that God's people have never been a perfect people that didn't mess things up.

The Bible makes it clear that there are two kinds of people in this world and sometimes you cannot tell which is which.

Abraham the troublemaker

Genesis 20:11 “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’

Abraham and Sarah didn't learn from the previous time that they told this same exact lie, King Abimelech looks more like God's friend than Abraham or Sarah, but God is gracious and steps in. God is the only one that can fix this mess and protect the lineage of Jesus.

The integrity of the king turns out to be far greater than Abraham imagined, his lie about Sarah and her willingness to go along with it caused a lot of trouble and tarnished the reputation of God's people.

How could the promised Messiah come from Sarah if she belonged to Abimelech? We can make a big mess of things with our little lies, the little half truth that Abraham and Sarah told had huge consequences that they never dreamed of.

Abraham the peacemaker

Genesis 20:17-18  Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, so they could have children.  18  For the LORD had caused all the women to be infertile because of what happened with Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

Genesis 21:22-24  About this time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his army commander, to visit Abraham. “God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do,” Abimelech said.  23  “Swear to me in God’s name that you will never deceive me, my children, or any of my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so now swear that you will be loyal to me and to this country where you are living as a foreigner.”  24  Abraham replied, “Yes, I swear to it!”

Abraham got right with God and he was restored to his position of ministry and blessing to those around him. He couldn't be a blessing when he was busy being a troublemaker. When we fall away from God and lose our peace with him we also lose our ability to fulfill God's desire for us to bless others.

It would have been very easy for these two powerful men to become enemies but they were able to have a peaceful relationship. First Abraham prayed for his new friend and later he made a peace treaty with him.

God's word shows us that the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise of an heir wasn't dependent on Abraham's success. Abraham put the promise in jeopardy, from a human point of view, several times. 

God's people have never been a perfect people and many times we act like we aren't his people. It is important that we look at the overall direction of our life instead of dwelling on the individual mistakes that we make.

Thank you Lord for using me despite my tendency to follow my old sin nature. Help me to overcome my fight against the world, the flesh, and the Devil so that I can be a blessing to those around me. I will only be successful with your intervention.