The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? –Jer 8:20-22.
From the pen of the weeping prophet arises the renowned lamentation that has been the subject of many sermons throughout the ages. Is there no balm in Gilead? To those who understood the ancient geographic region, this question was an obvious idiom. Is there cheese in Wisconsin, maple syrup in Vermont, rain in Oregon, or sunshine in Florida? Of course, there is. After tossing the envied Joseph into a pit, the sons of Jacob …sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt –Gen 37:25.
Gilead means “to be rough” and was a mountainous region east of the Jordan. It extended from the Sea of Galilee to the upper end of the Dead Sea, about sixty miles long and twenty miles wide. While it was ‘a good place for cattle;’ –Num 32:1, it also boasted fertile hillsides and forests where a vast array of wildflowers and herbs grew prolifically.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured –Jer 46:11. This is a discouraging scenario, for Jeremiah is speaking of spiritual matters. Many are reaping tremendous troubles, and the Balm of Gilead is their only cure. America has been a land of unbounded religious freedom, but her citizens continue on a downward infectious spiral of sin sickness. We are free to worship, preach, and even receive tax reductions for charitable gifts. Yet, every thirty-six seconds a divorce occurs within our borders. That equals 2,400 per day, 16,800 per week, and 876,000 per year. Our senators spend three million dollars to get a job that pays $125,000 per year, and the government is trillions of dollars in debt. As the whole economic structure decays at its roots, the moral fiber of the nation is ebbing away internally, and the virus of immorality has spread contagiously throughout.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies –Rev 18:2-3.
Is there any hope for healing? Under the heated duress of deplorable conditions and incessant oppression there arose a song of hope from the black slaves laboring in the cotton fields. There is a Balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a Balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. Sin has plagued mankind since it first entered the Garden of Eden, and its contagious nature has left no one exempt. We can page through the catalogs of multiple businesses selling a vast array of natural, herbal remedies boasting healing relief for everything from our teeth to our toes, from arthritis to arteries, from burns to bad breath, plus guaranteed cures to alleviate everything from candida to colds. Yet, amidst the hundreds of promising products there is not one capsule, curative, or concoction that can offer any relief for the sin-sick soul.
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer –Psa 32:3-4. It is the sick that require a physician, while the dying seek their God. To silently live in denial and seek no cure is to forfeit the reward of an eternal heaven. Many have sought the Balm to no avail. They have added Jesus to their lives and are none the better for doing so. Their marriage is still in shambles, their children still disrespectful, their relationships to church brethren remain strained (if they even go to church), and their overall spiritual health seems to be gasping for breath. Though they sincerely try God, it materializes to be little more than an unsuccessful experiment, …and the last state of that man is worse than the first –Luk 11:26. While some will blame the Balm, we would do much better to read the instructions and apply it in a correct fashion.
Perhaps those in underprivileged countries of Africa can understand this better than we. In their unsanitary living conditions, they are much more likely to contract a skin ulcer. Their bodies react to the invasion of foreign bacteria and a huge welt appears on the surface of their skin. As the ulcer penetrates deeper into their skin, the outer layer rises and forms a black ugly scab of decaying and dying flesh. The discomfort and sight of it leaves no alternative but to make their way to the nearest clinic for help.
The missionary doctor gets out the balm, but he doesn’t open it. If he layers the balm on top of the blackened boil, he is wasting his time. The infected area is one quarter inch proud above the rest of the skin and the sterile knife is the first instrument needed. He deftly cuts an incision around the entire infection and lifts off the surface layer. Under the blackened scab lies a pool of discolored puss which must be scraped clean. Then come the swabs. Deeper and deeper he swipes until some pink flesh appears, but he doesn’t stop there. The swabs are worked, and the infection scrubbed until blood begins to seep through the open wound. Only then will the balm be applied and rendered effective.
And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer [allow] me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God –Luk 9:59-62. Many have sought help from the Great Physician to no avail. They have attempted to smear Jesus on top of their sin-infected soul. They want Jesus. They need Jesus. They state their intent to follow Jesus, but then also stipulate that He must “allow me first” to maintain control of their life.
Three Dollars’ Worth of God
I
would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,
but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk
or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man
or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
— Wilbur Rees
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it –Mat 13:44-46. We live in a society where we have come to expect more yet pay less. There are cheaper products at big box stores that do the same thing as the items that are name brand. But there is no replica that can remotely produce the effects of the healing Balm of Gilead. This, God will not sell so cheaply. Those who can see the value of the costly ointment will lift up both their heart and their voice with the hymn writer:
To win this precious treasure and matchless pearl
I would give honor, wealth, and pleasure, yea, every earthly good.
I gladly would surrender the dearest thing which might,
Obscure the Sun’s bright splendor and rob me of His light.
-Zions Harp
Thus, those who will apply the healing balm unto their soul must expose their ugly sin, submit themselves to the painful surgery, and allow the accumulated layers of selfish contagion to be removed. In the deep recesses of our soul, hidden under the pious cover of a smiling religion, we often find…
…Self-Centeredness
We have learned this well. At our command, chain restaurants push steaming lunches out through a small window and says, “have it your way.” We have come to expect immediate accurate service at our slightest dictation and expect a variety of options catered to our liking. But we have neglected to notice that this doesn’t fare too well when it comes to the kingdom of heaven. Those of us who believe that life must revolve around us must some day awake to the stark reality that this conceited attitude stands between us and the coveted balm of our Saviour. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you … For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s –Php 2:19-21.
…Self-Sufficiency
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God… –1Ti 6:17. It is no virtue to be dependent on others for our basic needs, but to carry this attitude into our spiritual life is a crippling element. The self-made man who will say to his soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry –Luk 12:19, is soon to find that his independent prowess cannot reach into the spiritual realm. Within the borders of the kingdom of heaven lies a great equalizer. The prince, the pauper, the preacher, and the penitent must all prostrate themselves before the Physician and those who administer the Balm.
…Self-Pity
Many are the mournful cries of the poor. Sadder still are the complaints of those who think they are. It is always possible to find someone with a greater disadvantage than our self, but many are unwilling to acknowledge this fact and allow their attitude to be brought into perspective. Paul had learned that in whatsoever state he was, …therewith to be content –Php 4:11. He knew how to handle poverty and prosperity, hunger and fullness, limitations and excess. Abundance is to be accompanied by generosity; but suffering through need should be met with contentment. Those who meet their discomfort with self-pity and complaint will have a difficult time reaping the benefits of the Balm.
…Self-Consciousness
Some doubt that self-consciousness is even to be classified as a sin. Perhaps that is how a number of the chief rulers solaced themselves, as many of them …believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God –Joh 12:42-43. The …Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue –Joh 9:22. Even the parents of the young man who was born blind could not openly rejoice in their son’s recovered sight for fear of what others might think. Self-conscious people are insecure because they long for the praise of men. This is a spiritual palsy that indiscriminately takes hostage many a timid vessel, leaving them in the chains of the fear of men, while seeking compliments.
…Self-Defense
Christ was …brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth –Isa 53:7. While many have been duly trained in the doctrine of nonresistance and have surrendered their sword, it takes humility of soul to leave the mouth silent in times of intense accusation. We are apt to correct any description which could cast a poor reflection on our chartered character. But this is poor character. The snake and the worm are both creatures who must live their lives among the lowly dirt. The worm has submitted to this and is thus an emblem of humility among the humus. The snake is of a different sort. When it is confronted, it rears its ugly head, sticks out its tongue, sounds forth an awful hiss, and will strike out according to its ability.
…Self-Righteousness
Even amidst our obvious character flaws, it is amazing how slowly we release our pious estimation of our self. Peter bragged of leaving all, lied about his relationship to Christ, swore in public, jumped to conclusions, and offended Jesus with his flattery. All this, while astutely adorned in his self-righteous cloak, he refused to eat with the Gentiles. …Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean –Act 10:14. While thanking God that we are not the grotesque sinners that other men are, we are often hopelessly infected with foot-in-mouth disease. The Balm is for the unrighteous, for …They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance –Mar 2:17. The balm is for those who need it, seek it, and dig deeply to apply it. And thus, Peter was one of them. Amidst the raging war within his own heart, he armed himself …likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; –1Pe 4:1. The swarthy fisherman (Peter) found it… applied it… lived it… and died it… upon a cross; upside-down. This he chose because he felt that he was not worthy to suffer the same death as his Lord. His testimony alone leaves us little doubt that there is a Balm in Gilead.
0 Comments