Unfinished Business

Name: "Dog"
Date: 15th Century BC
Identification: Son of Jephunneh, one of the 12 spies sent into Canaan
Story Line: Caleb took on giants at age 85 to secure his inheritance
Read it in the Bible: Numbers 13:1-33, Joshua 14:6-15

Caleb has some unfinished business of his own. Of the twelve spies sent on a reconnaissance mission into Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb returned with a positive report. The others confirmed the land was lush and inviting, but there were giants in the land, the Anakim. So imposing were these descendants of Anak that the Israelites appeared as tiny grasshoppers by comparison. As a result, Israel followed the majority report, refused to enter the Promised Land and wandered in the wilderness for forty years.

When Israel finally occupied Canaan, Caleb was an 85 year old man. Still he had unfinished business with the Anakim. He requested that his inheritance be the rugged mountainous region around Hebron, the stronghold of the Anakim. Caleb said "Give me this mountain…It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out" (Joshua 14:12). What Israel feared to do forty years earlier, Caleb was eager to do as an octogenarian.

The Right Woman for the Job

Name: "A Bee"
Date: 13th Century BC
Identification: The fifth judge in Israel, the only female judge
Story Line: Victories of Deborah, a prophetess and a "mother of Israel
Read it in the Bible: Judges 4:1, 5:31

Israel felt the crush of Jabin's hand for twenty years. The Canaanite king was one of the most powerful enemies Israel ever faced. He had nine hundred iron chariots, and his army seemed unstoppable. Israel needed a champion, but couldn't find one. Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman. Deborah was a homemaker, wife of Lapidoth. They lived in the hill country of Ephraim, between Bethel and Ramah. But Deborah was also a prophetess. People from all around came to her for advice and to hear her dispense God's wisdom.

God impressed on Deborah that Barak should assemble an army of ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun to stop Jabin. Barak agreed, but on the condition that Deborah goes into battle with him. Barak led the swords of the troops but Deborah led their hearts. The poorly equipped Israelites defeated the Canaanites in the Plain of Esdraelon. Not bad for a "mother in Israel" (Judges 5:7)

Restored

Name: "Stone"
Date: 1sth Century AD
Identification: Bethsaida fisherman; became chief disciple of Jesus
Story Line: Peter promised to be faithful but denied Jesus anyway
Read it in the Bible: Matthew 26:31-75, John 21:15-19

Restoration is good for people, ask Peter. Peter made his home in Bethsaida on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. He was the first disciple Jesus called, and his name heads every list of the Twelve in the New Testament. Peter had a strong personality and often served as the disciples' spokesman.

But Peter was impetuous, often speaking before he thought. When he predicted all his disciples would abandon Him on the night before His crucifixion, impulsive Peter objected - the others, maybe but not him - yet within hours Peter denied his Lord three times.

While Jesus hung on the cross, Peter must have felt lower than a snake's belly. But after Jesus' resurrection, the disciples went to Galilee to await a rendezvous with their Lord. There Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, the same number of times Peter denied his Lord. Peter's confidence was restored by Jesus' tender words. He became the principle preacher of Christianity in the first century.

Intellect and Faith

Name: "Divinely Touched"
Date: 1st Century AD
Identification: Prominent man in Athens; member of Aeropagus
Story Line: Philosopher was saved when a Paul preached on Mar's Hill
Read it in the Bible: Acts 17:16-34

Some people believe that intelligent faith is an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp are bittersweet. But Dionysius disproved that.

Paul had just arrived in Athens and found the whole city engaged in various forms of idolatry, even intellectual idolatry. When the Greek philosophers heard Paul teaching about the resurrection, they wanted to debate him on the Aeropagus, a bald hill near the famous Acropolis where the Athenian Supreme Court met. Here everyone sat together and exchanged ideas. Here everyone was an equal in the Athenian democratic way.

Burt when it came time for Paul to speak, the smallish Jew stood up and told them they could know the God they considered to be unknown. He explained the Gospel to them, but as is often the case, there were few takers. Not many believed that day but a few did, including Dionysius, the Aeropagite. An intellectual and brilliant philosopher came to Christ, not on the strength of his intellect, but on the strength of saving faith.

Paul said not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called to salvation (1 Corinthians 1:26), but he did not say any. Be faithful in your witness even to those who may be your intellectual superiors. It's not intellect that saves; it's faith. Some will believe.

Hospitality

Name: "Of Lydia" or "Standing Pool"
Date: 1st Century AD
Identification: Business woman from Thyatria who became a Christian
Story Line: Upon trusting Christ, she provided lodging for the apostles
Read it in the Bible: Acts 16:6-15

There's not much left of ancient Thyatira today, just some ruins in the center of modern Ak-Hissar Turkey. But once this city was famous for its "purple," not the color, but the cloth beautifully dyed purple. Residents of Thyatira settled throughout the Greco-Roman world and became distributors of their hometown cloth. One of them was a woman named Lydia.

When Paul and his entourage reached Philippi, Lydia was already a "God-fearer." That means while not Jewish, she nonetheless worshipped the God of the Jews. When Paul preached the gospel in her town, God opened her heart, and Lydia believed in Jesus as Messiah and Savior. She became the first convert to Christianity in Europe.

Maintaining Christian testimony in business is not easy. It never has been. But as a Christian businesswoman, Lydia chose success as a Christian over success in the business world, and God gave her both. Upon embracing the gospel, Lydia did two things that could have adversely affected her bottom line. First she chose to identify with Jesus Christ through baptism. And second, she immediately inconvenienced herself by opening her home to Paul and his fellow travelers.

That Lydia had a home large enough to accommodate multiple guests proves she did well in business. That she would use what God gave her to further the work of the gospel proves she did well in the Lord.

If God has blessed you in business, take a page from Lydia's story. Find special ways to be a blessing to those who minister the Word to you and others. Who knows? Hospitality and support may become your most important business.