I don’t know quite where I’m going with this blog…

Did you see the story of the massive earthquake in Panama, Friday, October 9? The AP report starts:

LA VILLA DE LOS SANTOS, Panama (AP) — The government of Panama declared a state of emergency Saturday as the aftershocks of two powerful earthquakes that roiled the country shook communities for hours. Officials did not attribute any deaths to the quakes but reported damages in all 10 of Panama’s provinces and two Indigenous territories.

The 7.7- and 6.6-magnitude earthquakes on Friday toppled buildings near the epicenter and prompted evacuations across the Central American country. Seismologists recorded more than 100 aftershocks, including ones measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2.

The story continues:

Two back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes roiled Venezuela’s La Guaira state in June, killing more than 6,500 people and leaving 17,000 homeless. In August, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia killed at least 289 people.

There were no deaths in Panama:

The notably lower toll in nearby Panama may have been due to the country’s strict building codes, especially governing construction of skyscrapers in the capital, said Carlos Valdés, head of the Seismology Department at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

If you’re like me, you were only vaguely aware of the earthquake. We’re inundated daily with news events from all over the world. We can’t possibly process it all. Yet in the middle of this one, someone I “know” experienced one of those events.

Regular blog readers will recognize the name Sahil Bloom, whom I quote from time to time. I’ve never met him, never even exchanged emails with him, but I do get a letter twice a week. Sahil was there. He wrote on October 14:

Last Wednesday, I flew to Panama to deliver two keynotes. I was excited for the trip. I’d been once before as a kid and remembered the beautiful country.

I completed the first talk on Thursday evening and the second on Friday morning. I left feeling energized and headed back to the hotel to take a few calls before heading to the airport.

At 12:56pm local time, I was on the top floor of my hotel, sitting at the desk, when I started to feel a light rumbling sensation in my chair. I brushed it off as the AC unit firing on.

But then, chaos. The floor started to shake. The entire building started to sway. I looked outside the window and could see windows billowing in and out on nearby buildings.

It started getting worse. I headed to the bathroom doorway, but the large glass shower door was swinging wildly. Things started falling off the counters and onto the floor. I would shortly find out that a 7.7 magnitude earthquake was underway. The largest such event in Panama’s recorded history.

Puts a different feel on it, doesn’t it? His essay is worth the read in its entirety. He closes with:

The stories we tell decades later are never about the easy, smooth days. They’re about the ones that shook us.

Quite literally, in this case. (Sorry!)

As I pulled back into my driveway 30 hours later, I was filled with gratitude.

For the incredible hosts in Panama, who took such great care of me to make sure I made it home.

For the resilient hotel and airport staff that showed up and provided calm throughout the experience.

For the strong infrastructure of the country that meant that a massive earthquake led to zero fatalities. And most of all, for my wife and son, who were waiting to hug me when I walked in the door.

As I say, I don’t know what our takeaway should be. We still can’t process all the events we’re aware of, but maybe we can remember that there’s a human element in them all. We can pray for the people affected. We can give thanks.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. (Ephesians 6.18, NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4.6, 7, NIV)

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1.6, 7, NIV)

My friend DuAnne Seeley just posted a blog entitled:

THE GOSPEL IS WORDS – Why our lives matter – and why we must speak.

She opens:

I visited a church where the pastor spoke about how we are ambassadors for Christ. He said something simple that stayed with me.

“The gospel is words.”

I loved that because we so often hear Christians say, “My life is how I share Christ.”

I understand what they mean. Our lives should reflect Jesus. Our kindness, integrity, generosity, and willingness to forgive should give people a glimpse of His character. How we live matters.

But can someone understand the gospel simply by watching us?

…

Watching our lives will not tell them that Jesus died for their sins, rose from the dead, and offers forgiveness and eternal life to those who trust Him.

That message requires words.

A Good Life Cannot Explain the Cross.

The blog is worth the read in its entirety. It reminds me of this couplet:

Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. – incorrectly attributed to Francis of Assisi

It will be necessary. – Leroy Eims, The Navigators

Re Francis of Assisi, there is no evidence that St Francis ever said, “Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” In fact:

St. Francis was an active and vocal preacher who delivered passionate verbal sermons to crowds, merchants, and passersby on a daily basis. He viewed spoken words and Christian action as a necessary “both/and” combination rather than an either/or choice. – FOCUS.org

DuAnne lives it out. She recently wrote to say:

One of my [discipleship group] ladies prayed to receive Christ last week. Torrey just turned 70! Did not even own a Bible. She is in my 2:7 group, and I shared the plan of salvation with her after everyone left. The next day she texted that she had never felt such peace and joy in her life.

The Apostle Paul did too:

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (Colossians 1.28, ESV)

We come to Obadiah, consisting of just one chapter, 21 verses. Hence references include only the verse numbers. I’ve read it, of course, but I’ve never blogged it or taught it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sermon on it.

Who Obadiah is about is immediately clear:

The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom… (Obadiah 1)

Before we go further into the message of Obadiah, let’s recall that Jacob, renamed “Israel,” patriarch of the 12 tribes, had a twin brother Esau, who was also called Edom.

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) (Genesis 25.29, 30, ESV)

“Edom:” an alternate name for Esau and also the country where he lived.

The first observation is about the high cliffs of Edom:

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD. (Obadiah 3, 4, ESV)

The Hebrew word for “rock” is Sela. We had an orthodox Jewish neighbor in Charleston, SC, who told me “Selah” in the psalms just means “rock.” A rock of truth. Stop and think about it.

Strong’s Concordance definitions. First, from the Psalms:

h5542. סֶלָה selâ; from 5541; suspension (of music), i.e. pause: — Selah.

AV (74) – Selah 74;

to lift up, exalt Selaha technical musical term probably showing accentuation, pause, interruption

Then from Obadiah:

h5553. סֶלַע sela‘; from an unused root meaning to be lofty; a craggy rock, literally or figuratively (a fortress): — (ragged) rock, stone(-ny), strong hold.

Here’s a photo of the entrance to “Sela,” a natural fortress in ancient Edom:

The main message of Obadiah is that the Edomites were practicing what we call today Schadenfreude: the German word for enjoying the suffering or misfortune of others.

The problem was the Edomites rejoicing over Judah’s captivity, made doubly bad because “Jacob” was “Edom’s” brother:

Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.

But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity. Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. (Obadiah 10 – 14, ESV)

And for that, Edom will be judged:

For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. (Obadiah 15, ESV)

The application is clear.

PS Decades ago we attended a live session of Walk Through the Old Testament. Here’s what he said about Obadiah. “The Edomites ridiculed the Israelites when they were taken into captivity. That was bad. Oh, that was bad. Oh, bad… Oh bad iah.”

We come to Amos 9 – the last chapter…

It’s hard to know what to do with it. 15 verses, of which the first 10 are literally death and bodily destruction, a summary of all that’s gone before: 8 chapters plus 10 verses of judgment. Then?

“In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the LORD who does this.

…”I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God. (Amos 9.11 -1 5, ESV)

It reminds me of Hosea:

For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days. (Hosea 3.4, 5, ESV)

Both Hosea and Amos are prophets to the Northern 10. Both these passages refer to King David, NOT the kingly line of the Northern 10 who split off. But they will come back to the true King David: Jesus.

When? How? We don’t know, at least I don’t know other than, according to Hosea, “in the latter days.”

What’s the lesson for us? Maybe that none of us is too far gone to repent and receive God’s love.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are [or what we have done]. (Romans 3.21, NLT, last phrase added, I believe, in keeping with the spirit of the verse)

PS Romans 3.21 contains a clear, positive presentation of the gospel. I was talking with a fellow recently who told an inquiring unbeliever: “You’re a sinner. We all are. No good is in any of us. We can’t seek God. God has to seek us…” When the fellow asked me if I agreed with him, I said something like, “I probably agree with most of what you said; however, that’s not what I would tell someone who wants to consider following Jesus.” If I have a chance to talk with his friend, I hope I lead with something more like Romans 3.21. People will “return and seek the LORD their God…” And when they do, the LORD will receive them.

We come to Amos 8 where there’s another picture and a clear message of what they’re being condemned for:

This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the LORD said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. (Amos 8.1, 2, NIV)

Same language as chapter 7: “I will spare them no longer.” Why?

Hear this, you who…

• trample the needy and
• do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”—
  • skimping on the measure,
  • boosting the price and
  • cheating with dishonest scales,
• buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals,
• selling even the sweepings with the wheat. (Amos 8.4 – 6, NIV)

Business owners cheating the poor in a variety of ways. Running a business, selling goods and services to those who need them, is a good thing. Cheating, however, is not!

“Skimping the measure,” for example. It’s perfectly legal, but have you noticed that containers are smaller than they used to be? Orange juice that used to be sold in 1/2 gallon containers comes in similarly shaped containers containing, maybe, 56 ounces instead of 64.

I don’t know into what category this falls, but do you remember when eggs came in “small, medium, and large”? Today, those same eggs are labeled “large, extra-large, and jumbo.” Not cheating, perhaps, just marketing… I guess the lesson is that God is watching, and if you’re an owner, best be careful.

And what happens when a nation rejects God’s Word long enough?

“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.” (Amos 8.11, 12, ESV)

I’m not sure what that looks like – a “famine of hearing the words of the LORD,” but as the late Navigator Skip Gray said about other passages, “I don’t know exactly what that means, but it’s a bad scene, and I don’t want to make it!”

That “famine” is predicted elsewhere:

Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD. (Proverbs 1.28, 29, NIV – the whole section is worth reading: Proverbs 1.20 – 33)

For now, the Word is available in the US. However, having bibles in our homes but not reading them is the same as a “famine of hearing the words of the LORD.”

We’re in Amos 7. “Let justice roll down…” is a famous quote from chapter 5. Chapter 7 contains another well-known picture:

This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.” (Amos 7.7 – 9, NIV)

The plumb line is one of the pictures of Amos often shown. “I will spare them no more.” The plumb line reveals a problem.

I’m reminded of current attitudes toward GAS (Gambling, Alcohol, Sex). It doesn’t matter what the new societal standards are. God’s standards don’t change. They don’t change with respect to justice, righteousness, and not oppressing the poor either.

There’s more in chapter 7. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, is offended:

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, “ ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ” (Amos 7.10, 11, ESV)

Israel (the northern 10) will go into exile, according to Amos. Solution? Get rid of Amos! Much easier than changing the way you live.

And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” (Amos 7.12, 13, ESV)

Go to Judah, where you will be welcome. After all, that’s where you’re from. (See Amos 1.1, he’s from Tekoa, a town of Judah, about 12 miles south of Jerusalem.) We have a different religion up here.

But it doesn’t matter. You can believe my words or not, but it won’t change the outcome:

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now therefore hear the word of the LORD.

“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore thus says the LORD: “ ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’ ” (Amos 7.14 – 17, ESV)

Ouch. And Israel (the northern 10 tribes) did go into exile as recorded in 2 Kings 17.

The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. (2 Kings 17.5, 6, NIV)

Again, why?

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods… (2 Kings 17.7, NIV)

See the whole condemnation: 2 Kings 17.7 – 23. The Lion has roared.

Amos 6 contains another prediction of judgment:

The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” …For behold, the LORD commands, and the great house shall be struck down into fragments, and the little house into bits. (Amos 6.8, 11, ESV)

Why?

…you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood— (Amos 6.12, ESV)

No justice. No righteousness. Judgment will come. “The city will be delivered up. The houses shall be destroyed.”

And the scary part of chapter 6 is what life looks like before:

“Woe to those who

• are at ease in Zion, and to those who
• feel secure on the mountain of Samaria…
• lie on beds of ivory and
• stretch themselves out on their couches, and
• eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who
• sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and
• like David invent for themselves instruments of music, who
• drink wine in bowls and
• anoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! (Amos 6.1, 4 – 6, ESV)

In other words, the life of the wealthy…like us.

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24.37 – 39, ESV)

I have written about the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad before. Go here for the first in a mini-series of two blogs that will give you a bit of the flavor. We try to make the first problem really easy, but we don’t always succeed. This year’s problem 1 was so easy we almost didn’t use it, yet students had trouble with it: only 40 of 200 solved it.

Triangular Question (A. Soifer).Each side of triangle T is longer than each side of triangle R. Does that mean that the area of T is greater than the area of R?

If you think about if for a few seconds, you know without any complicated mathematics that the answer is NO. Here’s the figure accompanying Dr. Soifer’s solution:

The shortest side of DEF (triangle T) is longer than the longest side of ABC (triangle R) and DEF’s area is half that of ABC. In my solution, I simply compared an equilateral triangle of side 2 (area square root of 3) with a triangle with sides 3, 4, 6.9999 (area virtually 0). As I say, a very simple problem.

The simplicity didn’t prevent students from answering incorrectly. Some, because they were very inexperienced at math and didn’t know what they were doing.

Others, however, way more experienced in mathematics, used formulas I hadn’t thought of in decades. One student based his “proof” on the formula Area = .5 x a x b x sin(C), where a and b are two sides of the triangle and sin(C) is the sine of the angle between them. Very sophisticated, and the student wrote two or three pages “proving” that the area of triangle T is always larger than the area of triangle R. Beautifully written, completely wrong.

Of course, it’s not just in math…

Certain persons…have wandered away into vain discussion…without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. (1 Timothy 1.6, 7, ESV)

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions… (1 Timothy 6.3, 4, ESV)

And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray…And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.” (Matthew 24.4, 11, ESV)

PS The formula the student attempted to use could be used to arrive at the correct answer. The closer angle C gets to a straight line, the smaller the triangle’s area is. And as angle C gets larger (approaching a straight line) its sine approaches 0, and the formula will tell you that the triangle’s area approaches 0 no matter how long the sides are.

University of Alabama (Bama) lost to University of George (UGA) last Saturday. A key factor right at the end was Bama cornerback Dijon Lee, Jr, “shoving” a UGA receiver after a play. ESPN reports on the play and the coach’s reaction:

Lee, who was targeted frequently by the Georgia offense, shoved a receiver in the helmet after a 1-yard run that would have set up a third down with less than 2:30 to play. With a stop, Alabama could have gotten the ball back on a punt with a chance to tie or take the lead. Instead, the penalty gave Georgia a first down and allowed the Bulldogs to kneel with the ball on the next three plays to end the game.

“We preach emotional maturity, and I really feel strong that across the board we had that with our team and would’ve never expected that to happen,” [Head Coach] DeBoer said. “You got to give yourself a chance.

“You’re out there giving everything you got. You just got to give yourself a chance. And so, emotional maturity is what it comes down to. And we’ve been pretty good at that going on the last two years. Obviously, the moment comes up like we had just now, we didn’t respond the right way.”

I think “shoving” is an understatement. “Shoved the receiver in the helmet” looks more like a punch. But that’s not the point of this blog.

The coach said, “…emotional maturity is what it comes down to…” Really? Later in the ESPN report we read:

DeBoer didn’t go into detail regarding another key moment with the officiating. Before Georgia’s final drive, with 3:28 left, Alabama quarterback Russell threw a pass into the end zone to wide receiver Scott, who was contacted by a Bulldogs defensive back. No penalty was called after the incompletion as DeBoer was seen screaming at officials in the aftermath.

“Seen screaming at officials…” for several minutes! Long after the play was over, while the game was continuing. Coach DeBoer should have been managing the game in progress, not screaming at the officials for a bad call no one can do anything about.

From my vantage point, Coach may preach emotional maturity, but he certainly doesn’t demonstrate it. It might be argued that the cornerback was just modeling his coach.

I don’t think Coach can say what the Apostle Paul said:

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4.9, ESV)

The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control. (Galatians 5.22, 23)

We move into Amos 5, which contains an often quoted verse. Here’s an excerpt from the description of the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama:

On a curved black granite wall behind the table is engraved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s well-known paraphrase of Amos 5:24 — We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Amos 5 begins:

For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live; but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.”

Seek the LORD and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel, O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth! (Amos 5.4 – 7, ESV)

What was Bethel? When the kingdom split after Solomon, Jeroboam, king of Israel didn’t want his people (the northern 10 tribes) going to Jerusalem to worship…

So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” And he set one in Bethel… (1 Kings 12.28, 29, ESV)

Don’t go to Bethel! It’s not even the right God! And it’s more than that:

“You turn justice into wormwood…”

…you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him… (Amos 5.11, ESV)

The solution?

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. (Amos 5.14, 15, ESV)

And don’t forget, the Day of the Lord is negative:

Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? (Amos 5.18 – 20, ESV)

And don’t try to substitute religious ritual:

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. (Amos 5.21 – 23, ESV)

What does God want? He is clear:

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5.24, ESV)