“Unless the Lord builds the house,

                        they labor in vain who build it…

                        Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

                        So are the children of one’s youth.”    PS 127:1,4

Until recently I did not see the relationship between building and having children who are like “arrows in the hand”.  But when this Psalm was read during a time prophetic words were being spoken as we waited on the Lord, I saw it so clearly.  A warrior who goes out into battle and forgets his arrows has certainly done a vain thing!  A builder who does not take into account the next generation is the same.  His work will not last.

The Bible has so many examples of people on either side of this equation.  Some invested in the next generation; some did not.  Did you ever wonder why Joseph is the only one of the 12 sons of Jacob who brought his own children to the bedside of their dying grandfather to receive blessing and an impartation of prophetic destiny?  Joseph was a wise man, to whom God and man (i.e. Potiphar, Pharoah) entrusted great responsibility.  He showed this wisdom in preparing his sons, yes, both natural and spiritual, to continue to build upon his legacy.  He preserved and provided for his whole family when he established them in Goshen.  He bounced his great-great grandchildren on his knees, and he spoke hope and promise to the children of Israel that God would “surely visit you” and restore them to their own land, which of course He did.

Was Elijah the only prophet to prepare a “mantle”, and impart a double portion of anointing on to the next generation?  Why don’t we see this happening among the other prophets?  Or was it only Elijah who placed a priority on making himself available to a spiritual son?  Even his own prophetic “son” Elisha failed.  The man to whom he had committed his ministry, Gehazi, fell prey to greed and spent the rest of his days as a forlorn leper.

Very few kings of Israel’s kings prepared their sons to rule.  The results were catastrophic.  How could Hezekiah, one of Judah’s brightest stars, raise a Manasseh, a king whose evil included such abominations as returning to witchcraft, mediums, Baal worship, and sacrificing his own son to the false god Molech!  Even David appeared headed for a train wreck when Amnon his first son raped his half-sister, only to be killed by his brother Absalom out of revenge, who later led a full-blown rebellion against David, his father the king.  David’s problems continued when he foolishly refused to name an heir, bringing more confusion and even treason in its wings, until he finally established Solomon as his true successor.  David somewhat redeemed himself when he not only crowned Solomon as his heir, but passed PROMISE and PURPOSE to him, gave him PLANS for building the temple, PROVIDED gold and timber and all needed materials to build, and established PEOPLE of skill, wisdom, and authority to complete the work.  At the end of his life, then, David became an example to us all of the importance which must be placed on the next generation.  The temple which was built stood as the symbol and center or Jewish life for the next 400 years.

A Chinese proverb says, “one generation plants the trees and the next generation gets the shade”.  Actually, they get more than shade.  They get fruit, and furniture, and, if you are from Vermont, maple syrup!   But the point is that many are so absorbed in the “important” things they are doing now, that they fail to cast a vision for and therefore prepare for the future.  What a contrast was the ministry of Jesus.  His plan to change the world was focused squarely on 12 men to whom he could pass on promises and power, and then commission to take his message of hope and redemption to the ends of the earth.

Paul appeared headed for the fate of many who had stumbled over this fatal flaw during the initial years of his ministry.  Going it alone, his first attempts in Damascus and Jerusalem ended poorly.  And while there was some fruit from his first missionary journey, it was during his second tour that he realized Jesus’ method was second to none.  He began to assemble a team of young men around him, pouring into them daily for two years with remarkable results, “so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:10).  These young men included:

• Gaius (Derbe)
• Timothy (Lystra)
• Aristarchus & Secondus (Thessalonica)
• Sopater (Berea)
• Erastus (Corinth)
• Tychicus & Trophimus (Ephesus)
• Titus & Luke (Antioch)

The Psalmist said, “Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies” (45:5).  A warrior dared not go to battle without sharpened, polished (IS 49:2) arrows in his quiver.  For him, it was a matter of life and death.  May God help us to also realize the urgency of our having our quiver’s full.  Yes, God, help us to prioritize, and then raise up the next generation.  Amen.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because He has anointed me
To preach the gospel to the poor…” IS 61:1

One of the kids came back from school and said the teacher had criticized a ministry that was targeting the rich and upper class of society with the gospel, stating unequivocally that “the gospel is supposed to be preached to the poor!” I realize that this is what this text says, but is that what it means?

Over the years I have come across a number of cases where translations of the Biblical text have led people down some real slippery slopes. The person who had said this was the Bible teacher at the school, so how much more should he have known that the Hebrew word translated “poor” here does not have an economic intent. The word anav conveys the idea of being needy, or humble, or weak. It is the same word which described Moses when he was effectively serving as a redeemer, savior figure over the nation of Israel during the Exodus. It is one of the terms King David often used to describe his heart condition before God, expressing his hunger and intense need for more of God in his life.

I have heard this sentiment spoken of, and seen it written in books, and though there is an appearance of “working with the poor” that sounds spiritual, I have come to believe this sentiment is misguided. The gospel is not for the economically poor; it is for the anav who sit in seats of power and who are wealthy too. Consider for a moment these words to Paul:

“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before
Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” Acts 9:15

And how he testified obedience to God’s call near the end of his life:

“Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I
stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other
things than those which the prophets and Moses…” Acts 26:22

The Greek word for great is megas, and means persons eminent in ability, virtue, authority, or power. The point here clearly is that Paul was called to reach all people, not just the poor.

So what about Jesus? When He first stood up He opened Isaiah’s scroll to exactly this passage in 61:1. Did the Son of Man, therefore, specifically approach the people in the slums or ghettos of his day? Some may quote Jesus’ words about a camel going through the eye of a needle, or about his interaction with the rich young ruler when he tells him to “go, sell what you have and give to the poor”, and how he “went away sorrowful” (MT 19:21-24). But did Jesus always and only favor the poor in His three plus years of ministry?

In fact, Jesus reached out to rich and poor alike. He loved those in high places, and those in low. The gospel is not just for all nations, it is for all types of people too. His blood was not just shed for people on welfare; it was shed for people on Wall Street too. While Jesus did spend a lot of his time with common folk, spoke parables about servants and people who held lowly denarius-a-day jobs, he also did not rebuke the woman who could have sold her alabaster ointment and given it to the poor.

It is true, many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, a class of people considered to be hard-working and yet very ordinary. It is also true that he had a Levi, a tax collector, yes, a man of means, among the twelve. It is true, his greatest conflict was with the powerful religious leaders of his day; but it is also true that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both of the Sanhedrin, were among His disciples. Jesus did not just minister to the little children, he reached out to a nobleman, a centurion, and a lawyer. In some of His parables he even indicates that sometimes it is those who have less who prove to be less worthy.

One of the most dramatic examples of Jesus’ perspective is when he is literally days from his death and making his final ministry tour, passing through towns and villages to make it to Jerusalem in time for the Passover. The last major city to en route before his famed triumphal entry on the foal of a donkey into the Holy City was the ancient city of Jericho. Known as the City of Palms, Jericho was the richest part of the country, also called the “Little Paradise”. Due to his increasing fame, the outstanding miracles–including Lazarus being raised from the dead–throngs of people were now gathering in the places where they knew he was going to pass. Mothers wanted him to touch and bless their children. The blind, the lame, the infirmed, were certainly among the most hopeful that Jesus would single them out.

The atmosphere must have been electric. The excitement. The anticipation. Would this be my day? To whom did Jesus go? To the bewilderment of every man and woman in the crowd, He stopped and called out the name of a short man by the name of Zacchaeus. Short in stature, mind you, but not small in influence or reputation. Outside of the Roman royals, Zacchaeus was one of the richest men in the richest city in Palestine. A “chief tax collector”, he was the top of the MLM ladder of his time. And yet, on this day, Zacchaeus was the poorest in the eyes of Jesus.

Jesus was not conflicted, nor was he being hypocritical when he chose to preach the gospel to this rich poor man. He was giving us an object lesson in the true definition of poor.

Within a few years of the resurrection, “a great many priests” had become obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7). Among the first leaders of the Antioch church was Manaen “who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch” (Acts 13:1). By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, members of “Caesar’s household” had come to Christ (Phil 4:22). His impromptu “Shipwreck Crusade” had resulted in an island-wide revival following the conversion of Publius, the highest ranking person in Malta (Acts 28:7). Within a couple hundred years, the Emperor himself of one of the most powerful empires in the history of the world bowed his knee to the Savior.

The call of God may lead one to this type of ministry, one to another. Peter was called to the Jews; Paul to the Gentiles. Mother Teresa went to the poorest poor in Calcutta; Ravi Zacharias speaks in the world’s premier universities and at the UN. There are poor people everywhere: in slums, in penthouses. They are in rags, and in Armani’s. God help us to preach to them whoever, wherever, they are. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed you for this. Come on, say it: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.”