A Brand Plucked from Fire

During one of our earlier visits to US, Pastor Jerry Van Dyken, a Methodist Pastor (who was then serving the Christ Methodist Church, Venice, Florida) on hearing my testimony of how my life was spared from a burning bus (the link to that story is: http://graceidarajan.blogspot.in/2011/08/grace-my-life.html ) said that I was like a brand plucked from fire like the one mentioned in Zechariah 3:2. I have always realized that this miracle in my life, is not a matter of pride, but is an act of God’s grace to fulfill His purpose for me in my earthly life. I also learnt that John Wesley always considered himself as a brand plucked from fire. Because when he was a mere five year old, he was graciously spared from a fire that engulfed the Wesleys house. So I found this phrase “a brand plucked from fire” interesting and was curious to study Zechariah 3:2.

Joshua was that man mentioned in this verse as a brand plucked from fire. He was a high priest, who had returned from the Babylonian exile. Some say that, he was spared in a fiery furnace that Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king used to punish prophets from Judah. The fire consumed two false prophets Ahab and Zechariah, who were liars and adulterers of neighbor’s wives (Jeremiah 29:22-23). Some extra Biblical records say that Joshua was spared when 8000 priests once fled to a temple and were burnt in it.  His rescue from fire is true whatever be the case. After his rescue he received a covenant from the Lord : 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts… (Zechariah 3:6-7). God also spared Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the punishment of a fiery furnace given by the same king Nebuchadnezzar, just like how he spared Joshua. Through these miracles, the King and the people in the kingdom came to know the power of the Yahweh God (Daniel 3).

Miracles such as these are acts of grace from a God of mercy. It also affirms the purpose of God in the recipient's  life, which has to be lived out for His glory. We also need to know that sin is more dangerous than a physical fire (Isaiah 9:18).  It follows a person who committed it (Numbers 32:23) and also affects people around. More importantly, the Bible says that sin leads a person to eternal fire (Matthew 25:41). For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Salvation from sin is the process of getting plucked from eternal fire. Who will not like to be a brand plucked from eternal fire and enjoy the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ?

Stamping Stigma Out From Your Status

To live with stigma nearly kills one's life. How can stigma be stamped out of an individual's life?

Jephthah in the Bible had a stigma, a tag around his neck labeling him as a “prostitute’s son.”  It was the pain and the ridicule he earned from his father’s other children and the then society that made him run away from them. But Jephthah was a godly man (Judges 11:11). He was honored because of his relationship with God. He delivered the Israelites from the Ammonites. Jephthah is mentioned in the New Testament in Hebrews 11:32 as a man of faith.

The sons of Korah had a collective label, branded as the sons of a rebellious father. Korah was a notorious name in the Israelite history .The details about Korah and his rebellion along with Dathan and Abiram is narrated in Numbers 16:1-40. They resisted Moses' leadeship and as a result were swallowed by the earth along with many of their households. However the children of Korah were spared and remained alive (Numbers 26:11). Now, who will want to be called as a child of a notorious person? But the sons of Korah realized the grace of God that saved them from the death pit. They remained thankful to God all through their lives for the grace that spared them. They wrote 11 psalms (42, 44-49, 84-85, 87-88) These singer-gatekeepers surrounded the Jerusalem temple, standing every morning and evening to thank and praise God (1Chron 23:30, 31).

Well, Jesus did not consider it an ignominy to be called as a child of a virgin. In the christian faith, we believe that Jesus was born out of a miraculous conception of the seed of the Holy Spirit and virgin Mary. Now, Jesus' own human story helps him to identify with all children who have stigmas stitched to their labels. But, what matters is something more than such stigmas that comes out of past. Ezekiel 18 in the Old Testament drives in the fact elaborately and clearly that the sins of the parent are not a disadvantage to children as long as the children repent for their sins and turn to a God who sets them free.

The stigma statuses in our present situations are varied ranging from being born in a low caste, or an abominable race or having a status as an orphan, a widow, a divorcee or as ones suffering with stigmatic diseases like leprosy, AIDS. Whatever the status is - being a child of God as Jephthah did helps. God honors his children like how he honored Jephthah. Serving God, realizing the grace of God like how the sons of Korah did, helps. Above all, Jesus understands the pain of a person suffering from a stigma. He is concerned about something more, that is, the sins and wrong doings of an individual. It is Jesus who helps to get rid of the stigma of sins in the life of an individual.  A life free from sins is possible with the power of Jesus Christ. To me, it is Jesus who helps me to walk with my head straight stamping any kind of stigma out, during my brief stay on earth!